Starcraft (c) Blizzard Entertainment.

Dashed Opportunities

Captain Matthew Horner stood at the bridge of his ship, peering out the display window while the bridge officers attended to their tasks with great efficiency. His attention was encapsulated by the Moros, the Dominion Prison ship that held Jim's cell, and he felt the distinct unease at the fleshy tendrils piercing through her hull from Kerrigan's flag ship, the Leviathan Zerg.

They had performed their role to the best of their abilities, de-crypted the Adjutant's AI and managed to locate the vessel despite its random jump patterns by catching it unawares.

All that truly remained was for Kerrigan to rescue Jim. As for what condition he was in, and what his reaction would be to the new Queen of Blades? Well, only time would tell in that regard.

"Hail from the Zerg Leviathan, sir." The communications specialist called, and Horner immediately snapped to attention.

"Thank god," he breathed in relief.

"I can only hope Jim is in one piece." The Crown prince Valerion stood at the holographic matrix, exhaling a visible sigh of relief. An unusually casual display of concern before he cleared his throat.

"Please, put Kerrigan through." He told the comms officer with a nod as Horner came to his side, his hands behind his back in a formal manner.

The screen flickered to life, and Horner didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing Kerrigan as she was. Years of conditioning had transformed Kerrigan into an irredeemable monster, even now their goals aligned this was still something that made him uncomfortable to see on a fundamental level.

"Matt." Kerrigan's voice came over the com channel, unnaturally echoing thanks to the duality of her voice and her telepathy speaking in unison. "He isn't here."

"Kerrigan?" Horner questioned quietly, not quite believing what he'd heard.

"I cannot sense him anyway on this ship."

"What-! ... but - that's not possible." Valerian declared. "Our specialist, he decrypted the adjutant's instructions perfectly."

"Then that information was obsolete." The Queen of blade's voice was like razors, the edge of anger in her tone. "Jim is still out there, and outside of our grasp."

"For all we know, he could be on his way to my father, by now." Prince Valarion growled.

The mention of Mengsk caused a twitch across Kerrigan's infested features, a look of anger flashed across her features before it coaxed to a stoic mask again. And against the powers of a god made flesh, angering her was not conducive to a long life.

"Its possible he was transferred to a different facility before our arrival. It could have been merely days or hours." Horner cursed under his breath, leaning heavily against the holo-projector with a growl of frustration. "Damn it. We're back to square one."

Kerrigan's gaze flickered downwards, her luminescent eyes glowing an unnaturally bright purple with a huff of irritation before she resolved herself.

"Not entirely." Kerrigan began, "The piece of the wreckage remaining contains the memory core of the main computer manifest. Perhaps if we can salvage it, your specialist can retrieve the information we will need to rescue Jim. And then... then I intended to head for Korhol."

"We will send a scouting and engineering crew over to the derelict to retrieve the core immediately." Horner said, directing silent orders to an officer with a quick chop of his hand.

"And then, we should retreat to a safe system via the FTL." Valerion suggested, "Doubtlessly my father knows what we've done here and will send the Dominion fleet to destroy both of us."

"Kerrigan, I'll send you the co-ordinates over the Comm relay," Horner said, pressing a sequence of holokeys on the panel below. "We'll rendezvous here as soon as we're done with the salvage."

Kerrigan paused to examine the transmission and inclined her head once. "We will see you there."

The holographic screen shut down, and with it, it felt like all their hopes had drained with it.

Two Hours Earlier

James Raynor's eyes flickered opened, and found himself forcing them closed again against an intrusive light that burned into his retinas. He found himself on his knees, but his entire body felt like it weight a thousand tonnes. Even the effort of keeping himself conscious was monumental, but he could feel two heavy pairs of hands seizing him by the arms and holding him up.

The light flickered across his eyes again, and Jim knew it wasn't from the door opening to a bright hallway, but something far more focused. But he couldn't take in much else. The details were slowing being lost as a powerful sedative was seeping away his consciousness. He didn't even know when he'd been stuck with the needle, but a twinge at the back of his neck told him it must have been while he slept.

"It seems the sedative isn't working as quickly as I had expected," The Doctor said with a note of delight. "It seems our Marshal Raynor is far more persistent than even I anticipated. How absolutely marvellous."

Jim would have spat at the back-handed compliment if his body weren't so wrapped up in the haze of lethargy.

"Yes... yes, he will serve our purposes quite nicely." The Doctor said with his thick accent, pocketing the small touch light after giving a cursory visual inspection.

Jim was hoisted to his feet by two thick-set men, hauled him to his feet and dragged him out by the arms. Unfortunately, the sedative in his system left Jim with little strength to spare. The toy thugs unshackled his wrists and forced him onto a flat metal patient's cot. Large thick straps of leather followed by bands of metal pressed him down hard against the uncomfortable surface across his shoulders, torso, waist, thighs and ankles. They were so tight, Jim could hardly breath, let alone think about escaping.

"Wh... where are you taking me...?" The words were heavy in his throat, and his tongue was woollen and fuzzy.

"Oh my dear, Marshal Raynor, its nothing you need to worry about." The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder sagely, as though father imparting wisdom to a son. "We are simply carrying out our orders. It seems a great mind has taken notice of you, my friend. And he's deemed you worthy to receive his blessing, in doing so wishes to award you with a station that will befit your coming status. So, we as his loyal agents are going to help you transition into your new role on behalf of the Great Dark One."

The Doctor, a man wearing surgical robs and a visor over her eyes smiled down at him. The ship's lights, still painful to his drug addled vision, illuminated his outline like a halo as the creep smiled unconvincingly down at Jim, like two meat hooks pulling flesh into an unnatural stretch.

Jim tried to fight against the restraints by the last of his strength felt like it was being sapped away, a question like ice dripped down his spine followed him into unconsciousness.

"Now Mr Raynor, do tell me... how familiar are you with the Zerg infestation process?"