Prologue

"Jim! Go… Go!"

That was the last thing he heard before a blinding white light covered him. And the moment the light lifted off, he found that he and the rest of his men were thrown back into the Hyperion. The great big battle cruiser shook violently as he held onto the nearest console he could reach. From where he stood and through the hangar's opening, he could see the Spear of Adun, together with the Hyperion, was propelled away from the battle scene. Several blinding white light later and both ship found themselves drifting on the other side of the universe but still within the Alterian Rift, facing Ulnar.

The Temple of Creation shook as it tried to control the huge amount of energy that flows through it. And little by little, it began to close. All the once separated triangular sides of the temple closed in towards each other and after a final burst of raw energy came out of the temple, sealed themselves together. The energy burst died down and Ulnar once again fell silent.

The vibration died down. It took a while before everyone within the hangar managed to get back onto their feet.

"You okay, sir?" asked one of the marines as he grabbed the back of Jim's CMC armor suit and helped the commander to stand up.

"I'm okay, son," said Jim. He dusted himself off and walked towards the hangar opening and stared at Ulnar. He suddenly felt a sudden urge to go back into the temple and travel into the Void, just to find out what happened to her. But he did not know if it was possible to do that. He did not know how to activate the temple and even if he had the knowledge, he did not have the power required to do it.

He was just a human.

Jim sighed. His eyes were still fixed onto the huge construct. She was still out there, on the other side of this realm. He knew that. The only thing he did not know was whether or not she is still alive.

His comm suddenly came to life.

"Commander? Jim?"

Jim recognized that voice. "Yeah. I'm here, Matt. Waddup?"

There was a sigh of relieve. "Thank God you made it. Where are you?"

"At the hangar," replied Jim. "How's the ship?"

"The ship is intact. It suffers a few major damages but it can still fly. I need you on the bridge, sir. Artanis wants to talk to you," said Matt.

"I'll be there in a minute," said Jim. "In the mean time, do a recount on all of our survivors and casualties. Send medics to attend to the wounded. I also need you to do an inventory list on all of our ammos and equipments. Make sure they're good and we have enough. Just in case. I don't want us get caught with our pants down. It's gonna be a long way back to civilizations and I just found out that I hate surprises."

Matt chuckled. "Noted, sir."

Hyperion's bridge, a few minutes later…

The blast door into the bridge opened with a loud hiss and Jim, after making a quick stop at the armoury and was now freed from his combat suit, walked in. On his way there, he made a mental note to ask the Protoss leader about the possibility of going back into the Void. He had a hunch that Artanis would say no, but it won't hurt to ask.

Artanis, the Hierach of the Daelaam, or rather the image of him on the monitor, was waiting for him.

Jim walked towards the bridge central monitor and greeted the Hierach. "Artanis," he said as he gave a slight bow.

Artanis replied in kind. "James Raynor, I hope that all is well for you and your men."

"Well we did take quite a pounding from the battle," said Jim. "But yeah, we survived. At least what's left of us. A lot of my men died today, Artanis."

"And their sacrifices will always be remembered," said Artanis. "I want to thank you, James Raynor, for what you did. You have proven yourself time and time again, against all odd, and stood beside us against our adversary. We will always be indebted to you and I am proud to call you… my friend."

Jim did not have any telepathic ability, but nevertheless, the feeling of gratitude emanated from Artanis washed over him like a heavy summer rain. "I did what I could," he said. "It's all about saving lives. That's what a soldier does and I'm a soldier. You and the rest of your kind owe me nothing. We were in this together." He suddenly paused upon realizing something. "Speaking of which… the Zerg. They ain't here."

"Yes. They're still within the Void."

Jim walked closer to the monitor. "I've been meaning to ask you this, but is there any way to reactivate the temple?"

Artanis did not answer at first. His glowing blue eyes stared at Raynor for quite a while. "You want to know her fate," he finally spoke a few moments later.

Raynor let out a sigh. "Yeah."

"She may not survive the battle," stated Artanis firmly. "And even if she did, I'm not incline to reopen the portal and let her and the Zerg out."

"She killed Amon-"

"As a repayment for what she did!" said Artanis sternly. His eyes glowed even brighter, a well known signature of anger that boiled within him. It took a while for him to calm down and continue speaking. "And even then, that may not be enough. For the sake of everything, it would be better to let her and the Zerg stay in the Void. For all eternity."

Jim was about to argue further when Artanis cut him off. "Do not let your feeling cloud your judgement, James Raynor. Do not let the sacrifice of your men be in vain. A lot of good souls died so that the rest of us who survive could see this day. Remember Tassadar. Remember Zeratul. Remember their sacrifices. Forget about her. Throw her away from the deep recesses of your mind. It won't do to continue to dwell in the past when you have a better future ahead of you."

Jim shook his head. "It ain't gonna be easy, Artanis."

"I have full confident that you will be able to do it," said Artanis. "But if you fail, I will arrange for you to meditate within one of our temples on Aiur. Perhaps there, your soul can be heal. But you are a strong one, James Raynor. You will be able to heal on your own. I believe in you."

It took a while before Jim finally nodded. Somehow, the Hierarch veiled threat unnerved him. he decided that it would be best to let the matter go for the moment. Besides, Artanis was right in a way. "I will do what I can. Thank you, Artanis."

Artanis nodded. There were crinkles forming around his eyes. He was smiling. "And this is where we're parted ways, James Raynor. Let's hope that this won't be the last time we met. En Taro Tassadar. May Adun keep you safe throughout your journey."

Jim smiled. "It won't be the last. En Taro Artanis."

Artanis then signed off.

Jim watched as a huge wormhole opening appeared in front of the Spear of Adun. The huge Protoss ship slowly entered the wormhole which immediately closed once the Spear of Adun was completely swallowed.

"Orders, sir?" asked Matt.

Jim was about to speak when all of a sudden, he heard a deep mental voice within his head:-

My friend James Raynor, it was not for nothing that I offered you a place within our sanctuary. Tassadar once told me that you are more like us than we know and I could see the truth in it. We shall meet again when the time comes.

It came from Artanis.

"Sir?"

Matt's voice brought him out of his stupor. "Yeah, Matt?"

"Orders?"

Jim paused for a moment. He turned his gaze towards Ulnar. The temple revolved lazily among the gas clouds that surrounded it. He sighed. He then back turned towards Matt.

"Let's go home."

The engines were fired and the battle cruiser slowly drifted away. Jim stood and watched silently as Ulnar drew farther and farther away. He kept his eyes on it until it finally disappeared behind the thick gasses nebula.

She left him on Korhal. But now, he will be the one who would be leaving her. It was not something that he wanted to do but he was left with no other choices.

"Goodbye, Sarah."

To be continued...