Author's Note: This is mostly just the buildup from the opening Heart of the Swarm missions/cinematics to get a good ground to build off before I launch into the actual story. Also a good way to practice getting back into the swing of writing (It's been a while). I promise I have no intention of simply putting the campaign into words since that's boring. So again, this is just a starting point hence: prologue. Reviews/Critics are more than welcome as the story progresses (or even now if I've already screwed up). Thanks in advance :)

PS: If you don't wanna bother with reading through the opening cinematics, feel free to skip to the next two chapters. Chapter 1 handles the actual escape and chapter 2 begins the new story.

Prologue:

Location:
Umojan Protectorate
Remote Planetoid XT39323

Research Station EB-103

Whirr, click click, whirr. A woman's lithe body stirred as she rolled over, the now-familiar sounds of the machinery waking up pulling her from the half-slumber that she had fallen into since the last test.
"Damn machines…" Sarah Kerrigan muttered to herself as she sat up from the not-quite-comfortable "bed" that her current accommodations provided her, working the kinks out of her back. The machines descended and she raised her arms to allow the various appendages to attach and do their work. She shuddered as the metal appendages bring forth half-remembered memories from a time where she became something other than herself, a time her mind was trying hard to repress.

She heard the sound of muffled voices, a deep gravelly voice penetrating the thick walls. Even if she couldn't make out the words she recognized the voice. Jim. Probably protesting some form of treatment slated for her next as he always was. The overprotective fool… she thought to herself but with a small smile she only showed when he was around. The metal appendages pulled back, finishing their latest battery of tests and medication and she shrugged her shoulders as they released, finishing her loosening up exercise. The main doors opened, revealing a crowd of scientists and two others that stood out like sore thumbs, a solidly built man with grey in his beard and a much younger blonde man with a ceremonial sword attached to his waist. Jim Raynor and Valerian Mensk. Even with the doors open, the force field around the room didn't drop for a moment. Still can't trust me…guess I can't blame them, she thought to herself as splintered images flashed before her eyes. No true memories but more of a sense of horrible things that had happened, with her at the center.

"Make the most outta this test. It's your last one." Raynor said. His tone broke no argument from the much younger, blonde haired man. Valerian Mensk, the son of the man who caused Kerrigan's initial transformation and the hell that followed, was now helping Raynor and Kerrigan in a bid to further his own agenda. But to Raynor, "Junior" was simply a means to an end, with that end being reunited with his Sarah. A symbiotic relationship with the son of his enemy if you would. "Now give us a moment." Raynor told Valerian.
"Very well." Valerian nodded and the crowd dispersed, leaving the two of them alone. Or as alone as they could be in a guarded research lab.
"We're getting out of here tonight, darling. Just you and me." Raynor said.
"Good. Then we can go after Mensk." Kerrigan replied, absentmindedly using telekinesis to repair a destroyed piece of machinery on the ground.
"Now don't be talking like that. I moved heaven and earth to bring you back and I'm not going to watch you throw that all away for vengeance!" Raynor slammed his fist against the force field, his voice rising.

Kerrigan turned her back and closed her eyes. "That's not the point. He's the cause of all this. Until he's taken care of he'll keep coming after me. After us."

"Then let's do this right. Reconnect with the Raiders and build up a force. Take the fight to him after his support is gone. Don't just rush headlong into a fight you can't come out of alive. His death is not what we need. It's not what I want if it means you won't be with me. I never gave up on you, so you don't give up on us!"

The doors started coming down as a mechanical voice announced the beginning of the next battery of tests. Kerrigan turned and locked eyes with Raynor as the doors closed with a bang, his pained expression barely hidden under a layer of gruff. She walked forward and placed her hand against the force field, a pained expression filling her own eyes before they started glowing orange as she channeled her psionic powers.

A half hour later Raynor was at the mess hall as an alarm began going off and alerts sounded throughout the base. ZERG IN THE BASE. SEALING OFF ALL LOWER LEVELS. "What the hell?" the curse slipped out of Raynor's mouth as the facility was rocked by small explosions. He dropped the tray holding his lunch as he sprinted down the hall, past his quarters and into the armory. Once inside Raynor made a beeline for a black CMC-400 powered combat suit that stood out from the other white suits set up in the row. He climbed inside and the suit began its start up procedure, sealing its occupant inside. Raynor picked up a C-14 Gauss rifle from the rack and rammed a full clip of ammo into its feed while packing a few more into storage compartments in his suit before rushing back out the door and towards the source of the alarms.

A short time later Raynor arrived in the testing chamber over-watch area, where Valerian was frantically barking orders. "Evacuate the lower levels! Release the security bots and power up the enforcer. Get the Zerg under control!"

"Having trouble there, Junior?" Raynor asks as he steps up to the monitors. "Wasn't your most recent test supposed to be testing her ability to control Zerg in a 'controlled environment?' What happened to that control?"

Valerian looked over at Raynor, annoyance plainly expressed on his face. "It was going to be controlled until Sarah decided to not play along."

"She never did play nice with others. Still remember the first time we met…" Raynor chuckled at the memory of how the two of them had been at odds soon after Raynor joined the Sons of Korhal.

"This is no laughing matter Jim." Valerian snapped, bringing the older man back to reality. "She's released a horde of Zerglings throughout the lower areas. Who knows what kind of casualties she'll inflict."

"None, knowing my girl. Property damage sure. And a lot of it. But check your records and I bet no one has been seriously hurt by the Zerg under her control. She never was that kind of gal." Kerrigan's voice suddenly came through the speakers.

"Do you understand now, Valerian? You can't control the Zerg. I'll send them back to their pens but next time I suggest you not test your luck."

Valerian sighed. "I understand. I appreciate your…lesson." His expression showed an even deeper annoyance as Jim simply grinned. "Well, I guess she made her point. I believe this serves as a…valid stopping point for the tests. Anything further and we might bite off more than we can chew."

Jim nodded agreement, "Good thing we're leaving tonight then, isn't it?" he taunted as he headed out of the command room. He only made it half way back to his quarters before another alarm was set off. "Damn it Sarah, now what have you done?"

PROXIMITY ALERT. ENEMY SHIPS CLOSING ON FACILITY. ALL UMOJAN PERSONAL TO DESIGNATED AREAS.

Damn it. Already? They move quick… Jim cursed himself for not getting Kerrigan out of there sooner as he spun around to head back to the command center.

WARNING. DOMINION FORCES IN SECTORS 3, 4, AND 6

"Sarah…" Jim changed course again and sprinted off towards Sarah's quarters. Or holding cell to be more accurate. He heard gunfire from just ahead and doubled his speed, moving as quickly as the bulky suit would let him but he still arrived a second too late, watching with dread as the door to Kerrigan's chamber inched closed behind a team of Dominion soldiers, a Ghost in the lead. He fired a few shots in desperation but none of them penetrate the blast doors and it closed shut with a thud. In a fury he crashed his shoulder against the metal as the security lock engaged.

From within Raynor heard screams of pain and sparks began arcing from the door. "Sarah!" The door buckled as a shockwave radiated out from the room, knocking Raynor onto his back as smoke and debris filtered through the now cracked open doorway. Coughing, Raynor climbed back to his feet and lifted the top half of the now destroyed door up enough to let himself through. He made his way through the room filled with hanging wires, still sparking from random energy surges until he reached Kerrigan, standing in the middle of a burn ring with the Dominion soldiers spread out against the walls, all dead.

"The killing will never stop…until Mensk is dead." Kerrigan said, sensing Jim entering the area. "I'm going to make. Him. Pay," she said, cutting each word short.

Raynor grabbed her arm with a hand and turned her toward him. "That's enough of that. Get it together darling." The enemy Ghost's radio crackled to life and a feminine voice came across the line.

"Bravo team, come in…" a slight pause. "Bravo team, respond…" another pause. "All teams to sector 6. Go Go Go."

Raynor walked over to the now dead Ghost and picked up his C-20A canister rifle, tossing it to Kerrigan. "Time to go."

Kerrigan checked the rifle over, the old, ingrained muscle movements coming to mind as she removed the magazine and checked on the ammo before putting it back in and loading a round into the chamber. "Been a long time…" she muttered, mostly to herself.

Raynor moved to the door and lifted it up for Kerrigan to go through. "Like riding a bike." As Kerrigan passed through the door directly in front of Raynor, she looked directly into his eyes before pulling him down by the collar of his suit and planting a long awaited kiss onto his lips.

"Yep. Like riding a bike." She said with a grin before passing through the doorway. Raynor smiled back and stepped through himself, letting the doorway slam shut behind him.