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I hope you enjoy my fanfic about one of my favorite games of all time. Please R&R.

StarCraft: The Queen of Blades

Prologue

Early Morning, Shakuras

'Brother Zeratul, are you there? Can you hear me?' Praetor Artanis said using the telepathy that the Protoss needed to communicate.

'I am here Praetor, I can hear you,' responded the Dark Templar Zeratul. He squinted at the horizon as the bright light of the Shakuras sun slowly raised into the sky. His eyes still burned from the blast that had come from the Xel'Naga Temple where at the base they now stood.

'May Adun be praised, Zeratul, for the power of the two crystals worked, the Zerg have been scoured from Shakuras, we must inform Raszagal,' Artanis exclaimed.

'Easy my young Praetor, for the crystals seemed to have worked, we must remain cautious and exterminate any rogue Zerg that might have avoided the blast,' informed Zeratul. He looked briefly at Artanis then back at the towering Nexus in the distance. 'We must also remember that Kerrigan is still lingering and may still yet have forces at hand, waiting for our next move.'

'I admire your wisdom Zeratul, we shall meet with our brethren and pray for our victory at the Citadel of Adun, our time of reckoning is upon us,' Artanis said proudly. As he finished, he and Zeratul began their journey back to Razsagal's temple where the Dark Templar already were beginning to congratulate the two of them.

Midday, Korhal

"Listen to me, are you hearing me right? You damn fool, there ain't no way that those Protoss survived the battle, I don't even know why you would come here looking for help," Emperor Arcturus Mengsk said to the figure in his office. He stared blankly at him.

"I'm not looking for any help, Mengsk, you know why I came here," the figure told him. He walked closer to the desk. Jim Raynor stood in the dim light, his hand resting lightly on his holstered handgun.

"Oh, so you're here to kill me, is that it?" Mengsk questioned sarcastically. He looked squarely into Raynor's eyes. "Listen, you cannot take on Kerrigan yourself and you know it."

"Just give it up, Jim."

"I know I can't and that's why I'm here, I wanted to know if you would be interested in a new program that I'm comin' up with," Jim told him with a grin slowly forming on his face. "I know you can't pass up on bargains, especially ones that could benefit yourself."

"Hmm, what'd you have in mind?" Mengsk asked, listening more closely. Raynor began to explain his new idea to Mengsk. He wanted to train Ghost specialists that could take out Zerg Hive Clusters even in just small squads of 5 or 6. He told Mengsk that he was working with Zeratul and other Protoss to design a new form of cloaking ability that even Zerg observers couldn't see through. He explained to Mengsk that not only could it wipe Zerg from the universe but could also be a heavy monetary gain as well.

"Tempting offer, James, very tempting," Mengsk was indeed interested. He could eventually make this a major advancement to his military strength along with money to help rebuild his pathetic Dominion and fleet. "Alright Jim, you have yourself a deal, go talk with your Protoss friends and get back to me within the next Lunar year."

"Good doing business with you Mengsk, I will be getting back to you," Raynor said as he turned towards the door and headed back to the Hypernion which was docked at Mengsk's Starport.