Chapter 001: The Girl Who Sold The World
Sarah Kerrigan Returns
"This is Racer One. I think I found the Queen."
Sarah Kerrigan opens her eyes, and she sees nothing. Her vision is blurred. However, her ear is fine. She can hear voices. There are so many noises entering her ears. The sounds of war… Gunshots, explosions, bomb drops, shouting, ground shaking, hissing… There is a fierce battle fighting around her. What happened?
"You found the Queen? Is she alive?"
Kerrigan moves her neck to look around, but she still can't see. Kerrigan's memory is lost. She can't remember how she gets here. She doesn't even know where she is or why she is being here. Everything surrounding her is so alien.
"The Queen is alive, but she doesn't look good."
This place doesn't look like a building. It is more like a cave… or an alien hive…
"What do you mean?"
Kerrigan brinks her eyes again. Her whole body is exhausted… Lying on the ground… She tries to reach out her hand but be stopped by immense tiredness. Her limbs are just too numb. All her muscles do not move properly...
"The Queen of Blades' look… changes, she looks like… human."
An uncleared figure moves closed to her quickly. It is too long and doesn't look like human…
"This shouldn't be possible. Terran technology cannot reverse infestation."
Kerrigan's eyes slowly get better. The thing in front of her is touching her. Kerrigan feels its hand touching her neck to check the pulse.
"I agree. It's clear the terran fail to turn our Queen back to human. Her hair is still the same. This proves that some Zerg cells survive in her body."
The unknown creature starts touching Kerrigan's whole body. It seems searching for any possible wounds or broken bones. "There is no any trace of surgical opening, biological weapons, or nanites. How could this happen?"
"There's a high possibility that the Xel'naga Artifact did this. Nothing had achieved such devastating effect before."
The alien moves closer to Kerrigan's face. Kerrigan can see the vertical pupils within its purple eyes. They look straight at Kerrigan's eyes with great care. "My Queen, are you alright? Can you hear me?"
"What're you?" Kerrigan speaks weakly with her dry throat. She gets a feeling that she cannot get enough air into her lungs. The thing in front of her looks like a snake. It is bigger than a terran and smaller than a Hydralisk. Despite its resemblance to a snake, it has humanlike breasts and two feminine long arms.
"My Queen, I am Foxii, Viper Specialist from BB Corps. What happened to you? You… can't breathe?" The Viper notices Kerrigan's breathing problems. So, she opens Kerrigan's mouth to checks the airway.
"It seems the Queen's condition is… troublesome This problem should not happen to her. It only happens to non-Zerg or non-native being on Char. Despite the air of this planet has oxygen, it has too much sulfur content and ashes. An unprotected human would quickly get sick in this hostile environment. Since the Queen's body is mostly human now, you need to give her respiratory protection."
Foxii quickly takes out a respirator mask from its backpack and puts it on Kerrigan's face. With the mask, Kerrigan's breathing returns to normal. Her mind and vision become clearer without the harmful gases affecting her. "You said Char? Why am I here?"
"Char is your throneworld. You control the Swarm from here. Don't you remember?" Foxii gives a clean white hazard suit to Kerrigan. Kerrigan gets frustrated and looks down. She realizes herself being naked in shock. 'Where is my hostile environment suit?'
"What do you mean? I control Zerg here? I can't remember…" Kerrigan is wearing the hazard suit with Foxii's help. Her mind is still in confusion. Kerrigan recalls that Mengsk betrays her. He leaves her behind on New Gettysburg. Then, she is captured by the Zerg and they do… some terrible thing to her.
"My Queen. Can you remember your name? When were you born?" The unknown voice talks again. Kerrigan can't find its source. "Can you recall?"
Kerrigan thinks difficultly when Foxii moves her into sitting position. She still feels dizzy and unfamiliar images appear in her head. There are many things missing. "I'm… Sarah Kerrigan. I was born in 2473 on TarKossia."
"My Queen, you usually don't use your Terran name. This doesn't match your style. Do you know what year it is?"
"2500." Kerrigan sees more aliens arrived. They look like Foxii, but their size is smaller. These Vipers have different colors and features. Most of them are yellow. Kerrigan can feel all aliens suddenly looking her strangely after they hear her answer.
"It is already 2504. 4 years after 2500." Foxii says first in shock. Thought of uncertainty, doubt and fear spread through different aliens' minds.
"My Queen, what was the last place you remembered?"
"I was… in New Gettysburg… fighting the Protoss… and Zerg. There was… so many deaths and… pain. What happened after the Zerg got me?" Kerrigan touches her head and only finds tentacles. 'Is this my hair? They are too thick…'
"My queen, after the Battle of New Gettysburg, you joined the Zerg Swarm and adopted the title "Queen of Blades". You eventually controlled the whole Swarm and became our leader…"
"This doesn't make sense! I'm a terran! How could I join the Zerg? Am I infested?" Kerrigan feels panicked. She realizes that she can feel every Zerg around her, and they also know she is here. She and the Zerg are in the same hive mind. Kerrigan never gets so close to them before… Suddenly, Kerrigan realizes Foxii is Zerg. All aliens around her are Zerg. They are here for her…
"Calm down, my Queen." Foxii grabs Kerrigan's hand to stop her from pulling her own Zerg hair. To stop her from self-harm. Kerrigan struggles against the Viper but her arms are too weak. "Calm down. Try not to panic, my queen. Try not to panic. You'll be alright. We won't hurt you. We won't let anyone hurt you."
"My queen, we are here to save you. If you die, all life in the Koprulu Sector may be eradicated. The galaxy we know may be destroyed. You need to calm down and come with us…"
"Lie! This… is impossible. What did you do to me? Why?" Kerrigan's emotion totally goes out of control. There are just too many things happened to her. She can't accept. She doesn't care anymore…
At this moment, a shock wave of blue light appears from nowhere. It washes through everything and they catch on fire. Kerrigan feels herself being burnt alive again. Other people are not excepted. Foxii and other aliens… All Zerg including Vipers are enveloped by the same "fire".
'What is going on?' In pain and exhaustion, Kerrigan loses her conscious again…
Prologue
On December 2504, the combined Raynor's Raiders and Terran Dominion battle group invaded Char. They sustained heavy casualties at the beginning but eventually gained a foothold on the planet surface.
After part of the Zerg Nydurs network was crippled by Raynor's close-nit team, terran engineers moved the Xel'naga artifact to the base of the Zerg Primary Hive, and Terran commanders rallied their remaining troops around it.
The Terran managed to hold their ground until the Xel'naga artifact was fully charged. Their task was assisted by the Xel'naga Artifact's tactical applications; a less powerful version of the fully charged effect, an Energy Nova, could be released intermittently to destroy all Zerg near the Keystone. The Energy Nova was repeatedly used to repel Zerg attacks before the Keystone was fully primed.
The Queen of Blades was impressed by the Energy Nova, but she refused to be deterred from sallying forth personally to destroy the Terran invaders. This was because she had launched the Second Great War to secure this particular Xel'naga Artifact and now the Terran had delivered it to Char.
Unfortunately, even with the Queen of Blades' personal participation, the Zerg were unable to break through the Terran. When the Xel'naga Artifact reached its full charge, it unleashed a massive energy shockwave that scoured the Zerg from the immediate area and made the Queen of Blades "human" again.
Broken Heart
10 minutes later
"My Queen, wake up. Wake up! There is no time!"
Kerrigan is waked up by the same Viper again. She opens her eye and faces Foxii. Foxii's appearance had changed. Her color had changed from brown and yale blue to white and maya blue. "The Zerg Defense around the Primary Hive Cluster is collapsing. The Xel'naga Artifact just released another Energy Nova as strong as the one which had taken away your memory again. It's not safe here. We need to move!"
"Leave me alone! I'm done. I don't care anymore. I… killed so many people." Kerrigan cries in frustration. "I don't deserve to live…"
"My Queen, if you die here, Mengsks win. They would doom the Koprulu Sector one way or another. The whole galaxy would burn to ashes…" Foxii tries to calm Kerrigan down.
"I am not your Queen! I have nothing with you. Get out of me!" Kerrigan shouts at the top of her lungs.
"So, you're okay with this? Abandoning the people who follow you. Leaving your own daughter behind to face Mengsks?" The unknown voice spoke again.
"What…" Kerrigan stopped screaming when Foxii shows her a photo through a tablet:
Two aliens and a terran child stood before a terran dropship in broad daylight. They all looked toward the camera, and the little girl who was in the middle of the image had the brightest smile. She looked exactly like Kerrigan's former self. An innocent child had no fears before being abandoned, before being an assassin, before losing her mother, before all the tragedies… This child had the same red hair and green eyes Kerrigan used to have... Her right hand held a humanoid alien with a pair of bone wings on her back, and her left hand held another alien who looked like a snake…
"The person on the right side is you before this battle. The girl who hold your left hand is your daughter. The last one in this photo is Dr. Vahlen, one of the few Commanders who is still fighting for you…" Foxii explains.
"When was this photo taken?" Kerrigan watches the photo.
"It's taken a month ago. You have a daughter waiting for you on Tarsonis, but the terran coming here want you dead. They are taking over this hive cluster now. You must leave immediately. Otherwise, I fear you won't see her again." Foxii says.
"I… I don't want to fight anymore…" Kerrigan avoids looking at the image. She still can't believe what the aliens say.
"Do you know your daughter loves you? Carlye will do anything for you to make you proud. She will be very sad if you leave her behind."
"I should be death… I'm not worthy to be someone's mother… I only bring death and destruction to everyone around me." Kerrigan mutters.
"Mengsks won't stop even you die. They will kill everyone including your daughter after your death." Foxii injects something into Kerrigan's left upper arm. "Try this, overdrive serum. It's designed for human by XCOM hundred years ago. It should get you back on feet."
Kerrigan feels part of her strength coming back. Foxii pulls her up from the ground. The ground shakes again. Gunshots come closer and closer. Foxii briefly looks away and says to Kerrigan seriously, "Enemies are coming. Our remaining troops can't hold them back forever. Can you walk by yourself now?"
"I can… but why don't you run without me?" Kerrigan stands up unsteadily.
"You are important. We can't afford to lose you. Giving you to Mengsk is not an option." Foxii orders her personal remote-controlled airborne drone to initiate its scanning protocol. The GREMLIN Mark II drone instantly scans the surrounding area. "There are Dominion Ghosts coming to our location. We must leave now."
"Ghosts?" Kerrigan asks and follows Foxii.
"Mengsk began a new Ghost Program once he formed his Terran Dominion. He abducted psychically-gifted terran with force and turned them into Ghosts. I guess they sense your presence here."
"When I was in Son of Korhal, Mengsk told me that he would make a difference. Doing better than the Confederacy. Now, he makes new Ghosts… What was I fighting for?" Kerrigan says in disgust behind Foxii.
"All Mengsks are liars. As long as they are still in power. Nothing will change. This is how most of the terran work. Would you fight them?" Foxii asks when she leads Kerrigan out.
"I won't let Mengsk get away from this." Kerrigan feels angry entering her heart.
"Good. Use my handgun. Shoot anyone who is on Mengsks' side." Foxii gives her mag pistol to Kerrigan.
"You don't worry that I shoot you?" Kerrigan finds it surprisingly light compared to the traditional terran revolver.
"I believe you know what is right and wrong, because you are the Queen of Blades," Foxii says…
Another 10 minutes later
Kerrigan and Foxii finally exit the maze-like primary Zerg hive cluster, but the Terran also find them…
"Sarah!"
Kerrigan looks back and immediately notices the person she trusts the most. To Foxii' dismay, Kerrigan stops running.
"Jim?" Kerrigan notices that the man she loves had changed. He looks older and has grey hair.
"Sarah, come back," Jim says.
"My queen, you can't trust. He is your enemy. He is on Mengsk's side!" Foxii says when she catches Kerrigan's hand.
"You can't trust a snake. Come back." Jim Raynor yells. The Terran marines behind him point their guns toward Kerrigan. Kerrigan and Foxii do the same.
"My queen, please keeps going to the extraction point. I will hold them back." Foxii says with smoke coming out from her mouth.
"Put down your weapon, Sarah. I'm not your enemy." Jim says.
Hearing Jim's words, Kerrigan lowers her gun without a second thought. She ignores everyone but Raynor. Walking slowly to him.
"Don't go! It's Raynor brought the Xel'naga Artifact here! It's him wiped your memory, my Queen!" Foxii shouts.
"I know Jim. He's the only one I can trust." Kerrigan keeps going.
"Soldiers, lower your weapons!" Jim Raynor orders but other Terran marines maintain their firing posts.
"I said LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Jim shout to the Terran soldiers beside him.
"Sorry, commander. This is Emperor Mengsk's order." All Terran marines open fire at the same time…
Codex
Sarah Kerrigan - A Queen robbed of her Identity
Jim Raynor - A Rebel drunk by Lies
Dr. Vahlen - A Snake living a Phantom
Carlye Kerrigan – A Child carring a Legend
Foxii - A Medic being a Mother
Secondary Heart of the Swarm
2 days after Battle of Char (Dangerous Game)
"Is mommy okay now?" A child asks.
"She will be fine soon. Her internal organ transplantation is complete. Her wounds are closed. What's left to do is her external organ transplantation, but first, I need to ensure her internal organs function properly." A polite voice answers.
Sarah Kerrigan hears words. More precisely, psionic voices. She doesn't know what they mean but those voices are so close. Her eyes are closed. She feels like having a hot bath but is in blood instead of water. She can smell iron… 'Am I in hell?'
"Can I wake mom up now?"
"Yes, you can. I want to know whether her new organs work properly."
"Mom. Wake up."
Sarah Kerrigan feels a pair of small arms sit her up. Then, someone hugs her tightly.
"Can you hear me now, mommy?"
Kerrigan slowly opens her eyes and sees a little girl hugging her. This girl has the same sizzle red hair she used to have. Kerrigan looks away and finds a Viper in white coat watching them from her right side. This Viper has a pair of crystal-like horns over her glowing purple eyes. Kerrigan looks down and finds she is on a surgery table. There is another alien surgery table side by side. All equipment around her looks alien. Further away. There are numerous terran bodies placed around. Each dead body was submerged in greenish liquid inside a large transparent cylindrical tank. This mysterious place was quite dark and illuminated by green light. It seems to be underground because Kerrigan cannot find any window.
"Where am I?" Kerrigan asks weakly.
"You are safe inside my Blacksite now. We are under the Temple of Blades which was built by aliens to worship you, the Queen of Blades. Right at the location where the Swarm found you." The Viper answers softly.
"New Gettysburg, the central district of Tarsonis City… Why?" Kerrigan is shocked.
"Yes, the safest place beside Char. This is all for your protection." The Viper explains calmly.
"What happened? I should be dead after those marines shot me." Kerrigan touches herself. There is no scar on her chest but discomfort. Her body just feels different. The shooting pains still linger especially on her chest and stomach. There is blood on her hands…
"Yes, you were killed two days ago. I personally brought your remains back, so we can revive you." The Viper says with a smile.
"How?" Kerrigan asks.
"The short answer is: Put your corpse in stasis. Transport it here. Using your daughter's body to bring you back from dead. This surgery is… undoubtedly inhuman and brutal, so do you really want to know all the bloody details?" The viper asks.
"Just tell me, and who are you two?" Kerrigan asks.
"The one hugging you is your daughter, Carlye Jovanna Kerrigan. She went through the worst part to save you. Endured pain child should never experience." The Viper points to the crying child.
"And I am Dr. Vahlen. People usually call me Dr. Snake." The Viper introduces herself. "When I found you on Char, it was already too late. You were killed right in front of us. We froze your pieces in ice and brought them back in stasis tank."
"Your daughter agreed to use her bodies to save you, therefore we linked you and her bodies together. Using her circulatory system to restart your blood flow. Stimulate your cell regeneration."
"Unfortunately, the damage on your body is too serious. Since you lost too much Zerg mutagen, and there is a Xel'naga Artifact which can extract zerg essence in enemies' hand. We decided to reconstruct your body with your daughter's organs…"
"What do you mean "reconstruction"?" Kerrigan asks.
"Organ transplantation. Most organs in your chest were completely destroyed. Since your daughter still has her Zerg regeneration, she could live even I took out her major organs to replace your damaged ones…" Dr. Vahlen explains.
"My heart is beating in your chest…" Kerrigan sees the little girl puts her ears on her chest.
"Heart?" Kerrigan asks in disbelief.
"This is not an exaggeration. Your chest including your heart was destroyed, so I put her heart inside you to rebuild your circulatory system." Dr. Vahlen answers.
"If I took her heart, then how could she survive?" Kerrigan questions.
"Zerg physiology and Secondary Heart gene mod. They enable your daughter to distribute vital functions throughout her body. Carlye's blood flow won't stop even her vital organs are gone." Dr. Vahlen gives the shortest answer she can.
"Why did you save me? Aren't you giving your heart to the wrong person?" Kerrigan asks the little girl in doubt.
"I love you." The girl simply answers.
"I… can't remember you." Kerrigan says bitterly. "Why would I have a daughter?"
"I didn't know I have a mother too... but… I'm happy that I save my mother this time… This is all I want." The child releases Kerrigan and stands up. Only this moment, Kerrigan realizes they are still connected. Physically, sharing the same blood… A navel string links them together…
"The internal organ transplantation is done, and your new body parts work perfectly. You don't need this umbilical cord anymore." Dr. Vahlen removes the cord when Kerrigan is still in shock. "Only two things left, and you will be whole again."
"What?" Kerrigan has never been in such awkward situation.
"The only things left to do are external organs and memory transplantation, then you will become the Queen of Blades again," Vahlen explains.
The child's appearance dramatically changes. First, it likes boiling water. Bubble rapidly covers her whole body. Then, it disappears as fast as it came. After that, the psionic signal of the little girl is not terran anymore but zerg. Her calmness is replaced by rage. Her skin color changes from pale ivory to purplish. Her eyes are no longer green but glowing yellow. An armored carapace covers most of her body except her face. Her finger nails turn sharp and become claws. Kerrigan looks at her daughter's face. Her childish pink is replaced by zerg greenish. A pair of bone wings form and hang on her back.
"Mom… I want to give back everything you've lost!"
Author's Note
Credits go to magostera, Fanfiction Dragon, Fangtom, PoweredByDarkness and Ragnarok666 for their helps.
Avatar of Liberty written by NamThunder also inspired me to create Dr. Vahlen's phantom. He is the one triggered me to write this crossover.
This is a FanFiction. Details of actual persons, organizations, events, etc. featured within include fictitious elements.
Different communications, thought patterns and sounds:
"Speaking"
'Thinking or speaking mentally'
Her Samples
"Did you receive my package?"
"Yes, but how did you get it? The Queen won't give her samples to you willingly."
"She was killed, and that became my golden opportunity."
"So how is she now?"
"We brought her back to life."
"You know Terran can use her samples against her, against the swarm, against you. Why did you give it to me?"
"I trust you. We both become doctors because we want to help people. We both know the enemies afraid of the swarm, not us. This sample can give you the perfect deterrence."
"Aren't this playing god?"
"I feel myself being a cuckoo whether than playing god."
"You are a snake, not a bird."
"I laid cuckoo eggs in other birds' nests, so those eggs would be safe."
"I can't do the same. I'm a doctor, not a mother."
"That's why I'm sure that you won't burn the Koprulu Sector into ashes. You won't let that happen. If the Queen of Blades dies, all of her children die, and I die, these samples will be your insurance policy. The genes and memes of the Queen of Blades will pass on."
"Why would I create another Queen of Blades? She just killed at least 8 billion people."
"You know Zeratul's prophecy is rational, and the threat of Protoss-Zerg Hybrids is real. If there is no Queen of Blades, there may be no life left in the Koprulu Sector in the near future. Think carefully. Even no alien remains in the Koprulu Sector, the United Earth Directorate will come back, and war within the human race will be unavoidable. The Queen of Blades would be your ace when that happens."
"The last time you hid a cuckoo egg in Haven failed, the human Templars knew. What makes you believe I can make a difference this time?"
"If you lay new cuckoo egg without adding the memory from war orphan and the growth acceleration, place it in a normal human family, no one knows."
"I still don't like this idea. Putting so many faiths to her children."
"I believe children are our future."
