Author's Note: This is my second attempt on writing this story. I love receiving feedback, so please read and review. Flames are definitely acceptable. Upcoming chapters should be longer!
StarCraft: My Angel Queen
Queen of the Zerg, Kerrigan, and the Emperor of the Dominion walked together, side-by-side through broad, fortified halls. The empty penitentiary corridors seemed to have looked better in the past, its walls now took a more rustic form. Corners were bruised of dark green, tainted from lack of appropriate ventilation. For years, the Koprulu Sector's most notorious, some even revered, convicts had been contained in this very same jail. It lied on opposite axis of Arcturus' own home, guaranteeing safety to its workers. Now it suited the most renowned walking faux pas in the world. Kerrigan had finally been captured, what a commando mission that had been! A note-perfect victory for the Terran race. Surprisingly caught by her own primordial cast. Ghosts. The Emperor's military had been decimated to a substantial few post-struggle, while Kerrigan's myriad continued growing. Now the Dominion's existence had been guaranteed. Arcturus couldn't help smiling even as he walked beside his greatest foe. Men in suits followed closely behind, gun hafts protruding from clandestine houlsters. Not that they'd need it. They turned a right from the main hall into a narrower tunnel-like walkway. It seemed like a badly lit maze, more halls branched off and detached to create even more passages. Farther down, where light had seemed non-existent, a faint halo of blue light pulsated weakly.
"How many more of these security breaches are necessary, Arcturus?" Kerrigan asked promptly, keeping her head low and shrouded. Her voice retained its incogitant and peremptory tone. She hunched a little too; Her virulent exoskeletal wings had been contracted and bound with an alloy security brace, straying the impuissant Queen off her balance and having her deal with its massive weight. Her hands and feet had been shackled, but most importantly, she wore something resembling a crown. It consisted of a jewel embedded on her forehead, and bands that veined through talons of hair into the back of her head and stopped at a knot, where wires shot into her cranium.
"Not many, in fact, I believe this is the last one." Arcturus Mengsk replied, still unable to keep his smile to himself.
They approached the halo, where a guard had become erect at the Emperor's beckoning shout. Doughnut powder had thoroughly been sprinkled over his uniform.
"I spared no expense to this place, Officer Brooks. Make it count for something, would you?" Arcturus dutifully spoke before the officer allowed him to go any further. Which technically he didn't need his assent. Hell, he owned the place. Even better, he governed the planet itself and its colonial appendages. How could such a powerless and lower-than-actual wage official serve as a deterrent?
"My apologies, Emperor." He said in a perfunctory manner. His meaty powdered fingers probed a few blue buttons that suspended mid-air between him and Arcturus through a projection. Arcturus saw only a mottled blue pad, the Officer was the only one who could view the buttons. He scratched his head with his hat, managing to secure his half-eaten doughnut. The perimeter halo whirred a bit, beeped and flashed green three times, then remained. Arcturus continued, his men following behind him and Kerrigan. Brooks stepped aside, palmed his oversized waist, excitedly looking for his suspenders until he groped them, running his fingers through the tightly stretched strips. "My my, who is this fine slice of a lady? Oh..." A moment of realization crept across his face. "Queen Bitch of the Universe! Hah! Take a look at yourself, lady. You're my bitch now."
Brooks' hysterical laughter faded behind them. Arcturus relished the kind of attention she'd been receiving since the moment she took her first footstep into captivity, yet he tried his best to shield her from slandering detrimental to his reign. Kerrigan seemed strangely unaffected by it all, making Congressmen abnormally concerned. Step one had been set for Kerrigan, but they continuously held aperiodical councils to decide her fate and annoying press meetings to glean the public's reaction of it all. They had taken a few more turns until Arcturus decided to break the silence. Kerrigan did it before he could.
"I thought you and your quasi-governmental colonies held high beliefs in free agency and will. Somewhat against proselytizing others to your ideals?" Arcturus took a moment of thought before replying.
"Understand, I am all for the free agency of humankind, beyond what you have become, Kerrigan. More than that, I'm highly esteemed in homeland protection. For me, a formal schism seemed far more diplomatic, and you did away with that long ago. You drove the Dominion to its final resort. Yet, I'm curious, Kerrigan, you have taken a turn for the better since last I saw you. When did you begin caring about my policies?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I had to care. Mundane subjects such as politics bore me now, Mengsk, it just seemed to me that you should care; being Emperor and everything. Mind you, these expensive Terran tools are no match for the will of the Swarm. This suzerain and the quixotic anthropoids therein won't last much longer, Arcturus. " She said dismissively, desperately wanting to rub her burdened shoulders. Arcturus had his share of threats from the Queen, but the thing that secretly worried him now was that all the threats she inflicted upon him and his predecessors had actually come true. Not this time, he convinced himself, straightening his eminent posture.
"In your position, I'd have something other than words to back me up." Arcturus added with a touch of sybaritic hubris. "All sizzle, no steak. Besides Kerrigan, we've already been through your progress compendium countless times. You can't do anything with that inhibitor entombed in your nervous system. That is, if you went against it, cerebral encephalopathy would be your outcome. The Queen would be no more. Honestly, Kerrigan, I admire your gallantry; Crowning involuntary domination of your entire race over death. Bold indeed." Arcturus finalized with a triumphant sneer.
They were reaching their destination when something caught their attention in the ambiguous distance. Bright glistening red had been reflecting through the cracks of Kerrigan's cell, beaming light streaks had seeped out, illuminating the sable ambience. Pure energy seemed to be living in there. Arcturus flashed a grin and broke into a stride. Kerrigan looked up, hatred burning in her eyes. The men behind him ran to catch up, hurrying the Queen as well. Arcturus threw the door open, enough momentum to close it again if he hadn't stopped it.
"Kerrigan, meet Elzahen, the Protoss's most potent Dark Archon. He is here to take your mind."
Step one had been in motion.
StarCraft: My Angel Queen
Queen of the Zerg, Kerrigan, and the Emperor of the Dominion walked together, side-by-side through broad, fortified halls. The empty penitentiary corridors seemed to have looked better in the past, its walls now took a more rustic form. Corners were bruised of dark green, tainted from lack of appropriate ventilation. For years, the Koprulu Sector's most notorious, some even revered, convicts had been contained in this very same jail. It lied on opposite axis of Arcturus' own home, guaranteeing safety to its workers. Now it suited the most renowned walking faux pas in the world. Kerrigan had finally been captured, what a commando mission that had been! A note-perfect victory for the Terran race. Surprisingly caught by her own primordial cast. Ghosts. The Emperor's military had been decimated to a substantial few post-struggle, while Kerrigan's myriad continued growing. Now the Dominion's existence had been guaranteed. Arcturus couldn't help smiling even as he walked beside his greatest foe. Men in suits followed closely behind, gun hafts protruding from clandestine houlsters. Not that they'd need it. They turned a right from the main hall into a narrower tunnel-like walkway. It seemed like a badly lit maze, more halls branched off and detached to create even more passages. Farther down, where light had seemed non-existent, a faint halo of blue light pulsated weakly.
"How many more of these security breaches are necessary, Arcturus?" Kerrigan asked promptly, keeping her head low and shrouded. Her voice retained its incogitant and peremptory tone. She hunched a little too; Her virulent exoskeletal wings had been contracted and bound with an alloy security brace, straying the impuissant Queen off her balance and having her deal with its massive weight. Her hands and feet had been shackled, but most importantly, she wore something resembling a crown. It consisted of a jewel embedded on her forehead, and bands that veined through talons of hair into the back of her head and stopped at a knot, where wires shot into her cranium.
"Not many, in fact, I believe this is the last one." Arcturus Mengsk replied, still unable to keep his smile to himself.
They approached the halo, where a guard had become erect at the Emperor's beckoning shout. Doughnut powder had thoroughly been sprinkled over his uniform.
"I spared no expense to this place, Officer Brooks. Make it count for something, would you?" Arcturus dutifully spoke before the officer allowed him to go any further. Which technically he didn't need his assent. Hell, he owned the place. Even better, he governed the planet itself and its colonial appendages. How could such a powerless and lower-than-actual wage official serve as a deterrent?
"My apologies, Emperor." He said in a perfunctory manner. His meaty powdered fingers probed a few blue buttons that suspended mid-air between him and Arcturus through a projection. Arcturus saw only a mottled blue pad, the Officer was the only one who could view the buttons. He scratched his head with his hat, managing to secure his half-eaten doughnut. The perimeter halo whirred a bit, beeped and flashed green three times, then remained. Arcturus continued, his men following behind him and Kerrigan. Brooks stepped aside, palmed his oversized waist, excitedly looking for his suspenders until he groped them, running his fingers through the tightly stretched strips. "My my, who is this fine slice of a lady? Oh..." A moment of realization crept across his face. "Queen Bitch of the Universe! Hah! Take a look at yourself, lady. You're my bitch now."
Brooks' hysterical laughter faded behind them. Arcturus relished the kind of attention she'd been receiving since the moment she took her first footstep into captivity, yet he tried his best to shield her from slandering detrimental to his reign. Kerrigan seemed strangely unaffected by it all, making Congressmen abnormally concerned. Step one had been set for Kerrigan, but they continuously held aperiodical councils to decide her fate and annoying press meetings to glean the public's reaction of it all. They had taken a few more turns until Arcturus decided to break the silence. Kerrigan did it before he could.
"I thought you and your quasi-governmental colonies held high beliefs in free agency and will. Somewhat against proselytizing others to your ideals?" Arcturus took a moment of thought before replying.
"Understand, I am all for the free agency of humankind, beyond what you have become, Kerrigan. More than that, I'm highly esteemed in homeland protection. For me, a formal schism seemed far more diplomatic, and you did away with that long ago. You drove the Dominion to its final resort. Yet, I'm curious, Kerrigan, you have taken a turn for the better since last I saw you. When did you begin caring about my policies?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I had to care. Mundane subjects such as politics bore me now, Mengsk, it just seemed to me that you should care; being Emperor and everything. Mind you, these expensive Terran tools are no match for the will of the Swarm. This suzerain and the quixotic anthropoids therein won't last much longer, Arcturus. " She said dismissively, desperately wanting to rub her burdened shoulders. Arcturus had his share of threats from the Queen, but the thing that secretly worried him now was that all the threats she inflicted upon him and his predecessors had actually come true. Not this time, he convinced himself, straightening his eminent posture.
"In your position, I'd have something other than words to back me up." Arcturus added with a touch of sybaritic hubris. "All sizzle, no steak. Besides Kerrigan, we've already been through your progress compendium countless times. You can't do anything with that inhibitor entombed in your nervous system. That is, if you went against it, cerebral encephalopathy would be your outcome. The Queen would be no more. Honestly, Kerrigan, I admire your gallantry; Crowning involuntary domination of your entire race over death. Bold indeed." Arcturus finalized with a triumphant sneer.
They were reaching their destination when something caught their attention in the ambiguous distance. Bright glistening red had been reflecting through the cracks of Kerrigan's cell, beaming light streaks had seeped out, illuminating the sable ambience. Pure energy seemed to be living in there. Arcturus flashed a grin and broke into a stride. Kerrigan looked up, hatred burning in her eyes. The men behind him ran to catch up, hurrying the Queen as well. Arcturus threw the door open, enough momentum to close it again if he hadn't stopped it.
"Kerrigan, meet Elzahen, the Protoss's most potent Dark Archon. He is here to take your mind."
Step one had been in motion.