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Prologue

Chapter 2

From Beyond the Void

The Void wasn't her home. Something was wrong, something was different about her. For some odd reason, it rejected her. It didn't happen at once and it wasn't a violent reaction. It was slow and steady, yet it treated her like a foreign body that was getting evicted from an organism.

As the being that had once been known as Sarah Kerrigan floated through space, she no longer possessed any sense of time. Not because she had forgotten what time was or how it felt like, but because the perception of time as a human being, or even a zerg, were completely different from what she was experiencing right now.

As a human, she had considered time as something strictly physical. There was the past, present, and future. Actions had been done, were performed or she would prepare for them. Age was also a concept, but to her it had never truly been an issue. She had never felt the burden of growing old, when the bones would start to ache and the muscles would no longer regenerate as fast as they used to. She had been in her physical prime when the Swarm had claimed her. Most people reached the peak of their physical strength around their thirties, some truly exceptional individuals managed to keep this level until they reached their forties. Sarah had been twenty-six when they had infested her. Because of that, she didn't know what old age meant.

Other humans thought about the future with fear. Most had good reasons for doing so, especially when living under the constant threat of a violent death. Yet, some looked with a smile into the future, thinking of the joys and adventures that waited for them. There was a term for people like that. They were called optimists. Like Jim.

She could feel how that thought annoyed her. Hadn't she dealt with that pesky emotion before?

Apparently not, as her emotions towards him seemed to be still embedded in her psyche, and it was starting to become bothersome. Maybe, if she could move forward, those memories and feelings would finally fade away. Yes, that was a good idea. Let the universe wash everything away. She would be like a mountain that is getting washed away by the sea eventually.

Why only human memories anyway? Her time as a human being hadn't been the most successful anyway. The Zerg had a different approach to time. There were only two times: When you fight and when you don't. And if you don't fight, you prepare for a fight. It was far easier to purge these memories from her mind. Or at least banish them into the darkest corners of her psyche. And so she decided to move forward, to eradicate everything the old Sarah Kerrigan had been by becoming one with the universe itself.

It might be extreme, perhaps, but it was necessary A god couldn't think, act and feel like a mortal being. The abilities to love, to hate, to cry and to be afraid were useless to her. No, they even were dangerous to her. As long as they remained a part of her mind, she would always make poor decisions.

She didn't care for the Xel'Naga's Infinite Cycle, that much was true. Though to be perfectly honest, she did not know the exact details of the Cycle anyway, but she didn't care much about it either. Their power was now hers, her will the embodiment of their whole existence. She had become life and death itself, transcending through time and space. She was the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Yeah, you guessed right. She had totally lost it.

There was a small part in her mind that questioned those thoughts. If the Xel'Naga had been so great, why were they all dead now? What about Amon? He hadn't been exactly the most tranquil being in the history of existence, now had he? Unfortunately, it was the very same part of her mind she had decided to cut or at least block out, so she didn't bother dealing with those questions. She felt like she was above such trivial things.

Instead, she marched forward, figuratively speaking. She was trying to leave her old self so far behind that she would outrun the numb pain in her heart as well. And at times it felt as if she was finally able to win this race.

When her mind merged with time and space, her personality ceased to exist. Or at least it felt like that. You could compare it to a drop of ink that falls into a glass of water. Only that the drop of ink was her consciousness. And that the glass of water was bigger than all the oceans of Ancient Earth combined.

Try to recreate this image in your head. A drop of ink, falling into the Pacific Ocean. She had never been to Earth or learned anything about it. She only knew that it was the birth place of a stubborn little species of mammals. They were strange creatures, they lacked the strength and determination of the Protoss yet, at the same time, weren't as ferocious or focused as the Zerg. They were unwilling to give up in the face of total annihilation, yet there was no force in the universe that could unite them. They were caught in an eternal conflict with themselves, yet they called this weakness their greatest strength. It was laughably pathetic.

They were doomed, but they refused to accept that.

Yet, as that drop of ink fell into that ocean, it did not cease to exist. It dissolved, yes. Every molecule was swept away into a different location. Some fragments ended up in the Atlantic, others made it even further. Some evaporated and became rain that fell down onto the tip of a mountain, only to freeze and stay inside the ice for centuries, where it was thought to be lost forever.

But those particles weren't lost. No, they were far from that. Instead of being lost, they watched. They watched and learned. They saw everything at the same time from different perspectives. And during all that time, they never truly lost their connection to each other.

Only that we aren't talking about ink, but Sarah's consciousness. And that it was not Ancient Earth, but the entire galaxy her mind was currently covering. Even for a godlike being, that was quite a lot of ground to cover. Seeing all of this was almost too much. With her mind scrambled all over the Milky Way, all she could do was to see and receive information, but nothing more. She witnessed how stars were born and died. Some just flickered one final time before they expired and became white dwarfs. Others went out with a mighty bang, how they shattered everything around them and turned into all-consuming black holes.

Every second, dozens of stars wiped out life across the galaxy. And at the same time, new stars were born, new worlds came into existence and new life appeared. The sheer number was too much for a mere human mind to comprehend. It was during that time that the questions started no nag her even harder. Darn it, was there no end to this? But with her mind scrambled all over the galaxy, she lacked the strength to push them further into the back of her mind. Suddenly those questions were very loud and very clear.

Amon's reign of terror had only affected most of the Koprulu Sector and the surrounding systems. But those had been just a few sectors; hundreds, maybe thousands of systems. But it was nothing when compared to the total number of far more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, let alone all the other countless galaxies out there. Why was she staying here, in the Koprulu Sector? Why not venture out there to all the galaxies that were just waiting for her to discover them? Had the Xel'Naga not ruled the entire universe? Hadn't they been responsible for all of creation? If so, why could she only see the Milky Way? The nagging voice in the back of her head kept asking that question over and over again, yet she couldn't find any adequate answer to that.

She tried to expand her mind even further, proving the voice inside her mind wrong by stretching her own psyche over the entire universe. But no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't possible for her to do so. It felt like there was some sort of wall blocking her senses, something that prevented her from ascending even further.

It had to be her lingering humanity. She couldn't think of any other reason. She was so close, so very close to overcoming the very last border, the final frontier. She could feel it; she knew it was the truth. Yet the voice in the back of her mind didn't seem to care about that one bit.

The questions didn't stop to bother those Sarah-particles. Watching the galaxy was simply not enough as it didn't answer any of those questions...or how the Xel'Naga had made sure that the cycle continued, or what lied beyond the boundaries of the Milky Way.

So after seeing countless worlds, stars, and systems, the basic Sarah-particles started to, well, vibrate as they began to pull together. The questions in her mind started to become even louder, it was like waves crashing against a cliff. The noise started to choke every single one of her thoughts. Unable to continue like this, she decided to take drastic measures. And as she pulled herself together, the drop of ink started to become whole again. But even then, it took time before that what could be considered Sarah Kerrigan's consciousness returned into existence.

Returning to the physical realm proved to be difficult. She still felt confused. This wasn't the Void anymore; this was the universe she had been born into. A weak voice in the back of her mind told her that this was the place she was supposed to be because this was her home. How long had she been gone? She didn't know. The concept of time had long since faded away from her mind, yet when she saw the all too familiar stars of the Koprulu Sector, she felt relieved that not even one human life time had passed, only to remember that these useless sentiments were exactly the things that kept her bound to this place. Of that she was certain.

It was hard to accept, but she sought answers that her newfound godhood couldn't provide her with. Luckily there was one place where she would find her answers...hopefully.

A surprise waited for her consciousness once she had pulled herself back together: Her body wasn't gone, not really. It was still there, floating between the stars amidst the endless blackness. How had it ended up here? How had it returned from the Void? It was another question that she couldn't answer, but it was her body, there was no doubt about it. Maybe the Void had decided that she didn't belong there. That, even after everything that had happened, this universe was still the place where she was supposed to be. It was a nice sentiment. No spaceship or psionic being could have found her floating body. It was just a black, lifeless body, as if it was made out of onyx.

Still damn pretty if you ask me...his voice still lingered in the back of her mind. He would probably be happy to see that she hadn't turned into a gigantic floating bloated sack of flesh covered with tentacles. No, the body still resembled that of a human being. Apparently, the essence of that ancient Xel'Naga had not turned her into one of Ouros kind, but had triggered her own evolution and turned her into a completely new life form.

She could have sworn that her body had stopped to exist altogether. She had felt how her body had fallen apart, how it had dissolved into its base particles. It was highly unnerving since it meant that what she felt wasn't necessarily the truth, that she couldn't trust her senses anymore. Maybe there was more to this whole godhood thing than she had initially thought...

As her mind slipped back into her body, it came to life again. Its energies were reignited and suddenly there was a bright flash of golden light in the darkness. Scientists would later be puzzled at the sudden outburst of energy that would reach their instruments thousands of years later. The energy equal to the birth of a star, only that there was no star around.

Her appearance hadn't changed since she had ascended. The flaming being resembled a human woman, fiery wings sprouting from her back just where her blade-wings had been. As she stretched her limbs, she felt something. It felt...good?

No, that wasn't it. She felt something, yes. That alone was enough to make her question herself even harder. Apparently, she hadn't transcended entirely. Or was this body holding her down as well? Were her human memories and emotions part of this physical shape? Maybe she could rid herself of those parts of her psyche by destroying this body, leaving any physical form behind for good. Questions started to nag at her mind. Even though she had seen the universe from a unique perspective, she did not understand everything. It was frustrating.

Her fiery body set itself into motion, moving through the blackness of space faster than the speed of light. Her powers enabled her to bend the rules of physics at her will. It was time to find answers in order to deal with that problem. While traveling between the stars, she passed by a large sun that had already reached the end of its life cycle. It was an enormous star, hundreds of times bigger than Sol. She stopped for a moment and decided to take a closer look. As she floated only a couple of thousand kilometers above the raging inferno that was the star's surface, she enjoyed the feeling of the hot plasma dancing over the surface of her skin. Maybe a physical body wasn't so bad after all. This certainly took "sunbathing" to a whole new level.

Yet the nagging questions continued to bother her: Why would she need the ability to feel the energy of a star on her skin anyway? Shouldn't a godlike being be free of such ordinary pleasures? Shouldn't she be above these things?

As she averted her gaze, she could sense a nearby planet. There was life on this world and she could sense something else. Sentient beings lived on the world. Sarah didn't really know why she decided to take a closer look. The inhabitants of this world were primitive creatures. Yet for some odd reason, she just felt like she should seek them out...

The chief was tired. He was old and had seen over forty winters, which was impressive for his species and the fact that they were still on the same technological level as caveman. Only they resembled cavebats, at least their upper bodies. By human standards they were hideous, yet no human had ever set foot on this world. It was very unlikely that any human would ever stumble upon this little purple planet at the ass end of the Milky Way. Purple, because both the oceans and the plant life on this world shared the same color.

Yet the chief didn't even possess the ability to see colors, just like all males and females of his kind alike. Only their young ones possessed that ability, but everyone lost it once he or she reached adulthood. On this world, it was far more important to hear than to see. Yet children were always children and many didn't listen to what their elders told them, especially when they told them to not trust their five eyes but their two enormous, bat-like ears.

The chief hurried down the trail from their little settlement to the river. They were wanderers, hunter-gatherers that followed the large herds of herbivores during the summertime and spent the cold winters near the hot springs at the feet of the Throne of the Gods.

That was the name their ancestors had given to the impressive mountain range. Of course he remembered the songs and legends his old teachers had taught him. Like any future chief, he had learned from the tribe's shaman about their past and the battle of the gods and how their death had created this world.

The core of their belief was that the gods had fought an ancient evil. By sacrificing themselves, they had sealed the dark creature below the earth and used their own bodies to form a prison. Those bodies were the soil he and everyone else walked on, and the water that filled the rivers and oceans had been the blood of their gods. And it was a good explanation for the everyday volcanism that was going on on this world. Every time a volcano exploded, it was because the Dark One was angry and tried to break free. Prayers to the gods and sacrificing a hunted animal was usually enough to calm the Dark One.

The chief had never questioned those beliefs. It was neither his place nor his time to do so. His species had only discovered how to use fire a few thousand years ago and their weapons were still just pointy sticks. It had taken humanity several thousand years to invent swords and bows. These cavebats still had plenty of time. Or so they believed.

In his forty winters, the chief had seen his fair share of tragedies. Sometimes he just wanted to be left alone, but the duty of a chief never ended. When the second-born of his brother had stormed into his tent and told him that the river was about to swallow three children, he hadn't hesitated even one second. Getting on his four stumpy feet, he had left his tent and hurried down the trail to the riverbed. He knew the river well. His tribe settled here every winter, even before his grandfather had been born. But in the last few years, things had started to change. The summers had always been short and the winters long and hard. They had lost many children during that time, including two of his own. But in recent years, the summers had started to last longer and the winters weren't as cold and brutal as they used to be.

Now, of course, global warming was not exactly a concept he was familiar with. To him and all the others, it was just a benevolent act of their gods.

As he hurried down the trail, the chief could already hear the cries and sobbing of the females. At least to him, it sounded like cries and sobbing, any human would have only heard a strange, screeching sound. Even a Zerg broodmother would have called this sound annoying.

One of the side effects of the changing weather was that the river near their settlement could suddenly turn into a deadly torrent, drowning everything and everyone that was stupid enough to get too close. He had told his people at least one thousand times that they should stay away from the river during those times.

Apparently, it was time for another lecture.

Well, at least these creatures knew what frustration felt like. So at least they had something in common with most other intelligent lifeforms out there.

When he finally reached the river, he saw the whole tragedy before his own eyes, all five of them. It was not as bad as it could have been, but it wasn't good either. The good news was that the three young were still alive, although their cries were heartbreaking. The bad news was that they were stuck on a rock that was barely large enough for all three of them to stand on. How they had managed to get on that rock was beyond him.

The two mothers that stood at the edge of the river were screaming and crying and the three males with them had a hard time keeping them from just jumping into the raging waters. The chief knew that such a gesture would only end in their deaths, but he couldn't blame them. A mother's love did not care for such things as a raging river.

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" he demanded to know. Two other men of his tribe that had accompanied him hurried over to their comrades and immediately started to help the other three to pull the mothers back from the river. One of them turned around, his white fur covered in mud.

"THE LITTLE ONES TRIED TO CROSS THE RIVER BECAUSE THEY SAW A BINEK ON THE OTHER SIDE." A binek was a small, rodent-like creature. Children loved them because they were harmless and cute, the perfect pet. It was not the first time that a child had done something reckless because he or she had wanted to have a binek of their own.

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THEY WENT INTO THAT CURRENT?" the Chief wanted to know both in anger and disbelief. The other man shook his bat-like head.

"NO, THEY TRIED TO CROSS THE STREAM FURTHER UP. IT APPEARED HARMLESS TO THEM UP THERE." the hunter replied. The chief clenched his three-fingered hands into a fist. Fools! He had told them so many times that the river might look calm, but the true danger was beneath the surface.

"WERE THERE ANY OTHER YOUNG ONES?" he asked. The hunter shook his head. Well, at least the situation was not completely hopeless. The chief looked around. There was no way for them to reach the children without risking their own lives. As a father, he felt the urge to throw himself into the water and swim right over to them. But he felt the age of his bones. Even a young hunter of half his age couldn't go up against these currents. And as a chief, he knew that sometimes the survival of the tribe meant to let others die. But those were children, the very future of their tribe, and he wouldn't just stand here and watch how they would be drowned by the waters. The Goddess of the Sea was angry, that much was for certain. If only the God of the Sky would come to their aid or even the mighty Rock Worm. For a second he even considered calling upon the Breath of Fire, the Dark One that rested deep under the surface of their world. But that was, of course, a stupid idea, the great Bird of Fire would never help them for he was the devourer of life itself.

The chief looked at the river. The riverbed wasn't very deep. The water would only reach up to a hunter's chest. But the stream was so fast and powerful that it would wash everyone away that tried to cross the river. It was too much for one to do. But if the whole tribe would work together, then...

The chief turned towards another hunter.

"RETURN TO THE CAMP, BRING ALL HUNTERS HERE AND ALL WHO ARE STRONG. HURRY!" he ordered and the hunter only nodded before he ran back to their settlement. Though running was the wrong word. With their four, stump-like legs these creatures weren't exactly fast runners. Even compared to a human their speed was pathetic. While the hunter went to get more help, the chief turned back towards the children. The rock they were holding on to was wet and slippery and the water was ice-cold. Their thick fur wouldn't protect them for much longer from the cold. The screams and shouts of the mothers started to get on his nerves and he yelled at them to shut up. But they chose to ignore his order.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" one of the hunters asked scared. "WE CAN'T LEAVE THE LITTLE ONES BEHIND!"

"WE WAIT FOR THE OTHERS, THEN WE'LL TRY TO FORM A LIVING BRIDGE. THEY'RE NOT FAR AWAY, MAYBE WE CAN SAVE THEM THAT WAY." But even then it was risky. The chief inside of him knew that he couldn't risk losing a good hunter. But they were children, for crying out loud! Couldn't the Gods show them any mercy this day?

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who wondered where the gods were right now.

"OH GREAT DEVOURER, FLAMING BIRD OF DESTRUCTION, PLEASE HEAR ME!" one of the mothers cried out in despair. He didn't know that she had prayed to all other gods before. "I PROMISE TO HONOR YOUR NAME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE IF YOU SAVE MY CHILD!" That was the last straw. The chief turned around and yelled at the hunters in anger.

"GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT! THE LAST THING WE NEED NOW IS THE GODS GETTING ANGRY AT US!" he chirped in his strange tongue. Personally, he didn't care if she decided to pray to the Dark One. There were other tribes who did so. To them, he was less an evil god and more like a force of nature, a part of life if you wish. Yet the shaman would definitely tell him to ban this woman from their tribe afterward. And even though he was the chief, he couldn't decide everything by himself. This would cause him some headaches later on, that much was for certain. And it didn't help that the shaman was his wife either.

When the hunters finally arrived, the chief felt how hope returned to him. There were eight hunters, three men and five women. These creatures did not really distinguish between men and women, mostly because they could change their gender once during their life time. Those who had the talent to become hunters became hunters. The only real difference was if they had given birth or not. A mother would always stay a mother. The chief himself had never changed his gender, he was born as a male and he would die as a male. Yet his own wife had started her existence as a man. But since it was a natural part of their biology, no one considered it strange. Of course humans would have made jokes about that specific part of their biology.

As the hunters gathered around the chief, he explained his plan to them. They listened carefully and no one dared to question his authority. He then gave them the order to form a living bridge. While holding each other's hands, the first one stepped into the cold water. He didn't get far though and the current almost flushed him away. Only the strong grip of the other warriors kept him from drowning. However, the chief refused to give up. He told them to form a phalanx and stem the tide. As they tried again, he could hear the cries of the children. They were calling for help and they started to sound tired. Soon they would lose their strength and then the raging currents would claim them for good.

Yet the river proved too to be too powerful for his hunters and they had to pull back again. Now the chief could feel how his hopes started to fade away again. He couldn't risk the life of his hunters! Without them, the whole tribe could starve to death! Yet letting those children die...

These were the moments he had always hated. The responsibility of leadership was rarely enjoyable, it was a burden. In the end, he was the one who had to make the hard decisions. And as he looked at his wet and freezing hunters, he knew that he couldn't do anything about it anymore. He turned towards the two mothers with sadness in his eyes.

"I AM SORRY..." he said and lowered his head.

"NO! YOU HAVE TO TRY! YOU CAN'T LEAVE THEM JUST THERE!" one mother screamed in terror. The other one pressed her hands together and started to pray to the Dark One again.

"OH, GREAT DEVOURER, I ASK YOU: PLEASE SAVE MY CHILD! I WILL GIVE YOU MY LIFE, MY SOUL! HEAR ME, OH GREAT..." she prayed. Even though it was heretical, the chief felt genuine sympathy for the mother. He knew what it was like to lose a child. He turned his head around one more time, looking at the three little wet furballs that started to lose their grip. It would be over soon...

Suddenly the sky above them started to lighten up. They all looked up and watched how the clouds over their heads suddenly turned from purple into a bright and angry red. The chief blinked in surprise and disbelief. He had never seen anything like that before. It was like the clouds had turned into fire.

Fire.

No, it couldn't be.

His five dark eyes widened in shock and fear as the Flaming Bird of Destruction descended from the skies above...

As Sarah moved closer in order to take a good look at these creatures, she was amazed by their ugliness. Maybe a god should be above such trivialities, but damn! An overlord who had been turned inside out looked more attractive than those things!

Their upper bodies possessed a normal chest. Their heads resembled bats, only that there were five black eyes on the front of their faces. Their strange, chittering voices sounded like a broken synthesizer. Their lower body ended in four stumpy legs. They resembled Protoss Immortals, only much uglier. They had just discovered how to use fire, but it was already clear that they would evolve even further. Their world was about to change, a 10.000-year-old ice age was about to end. However, Sarah was caught in her own greatness and didn't realize the similarities between this species and humanity.

Did she mention that they were ugly? Like, really ugly?

Given 10.000 more years and they would probably join the other races and travel to other worlds. Unless the first species they'd encounter would be the Zerg. It would shorten their life span drastically.

Yet as she watched them from above, she felt intrigued. They were running around scared, looking at the sky while screaming and shouting in panic and disbelief. They were praying to their gods, asking for help. As she looked around, she could see why.

There were many adults standing at the edge of a large river. They could be easily identified by their white fur. They were looking at small and dark creatures sitting on a single rock. There were three of them in total. It was their young, and they were trapped. The waters around them had turned into a raging torrent that made it impossible for the adults to save the children.

She didn't know why she decided to interfere. As she descended from the heavens, every creature looked at that strange, burning being with their five eyes. They had never seen anything like it. Their first reaction was fear, which was probably only natural. Some ran away. But others stayed. They couldn't leave their children behind!

As she descended upon them, her will alone stopped the water. The raging currents calmed down and it was as if the water froze. The cavebats were confused, but then some realized that this was the golden opportunity they had been waiting for. One especially brave creature stormed forward, throwing itself into the calm waters. Its fur was not white but gray. Sarah didn't know if this one was special or just old. But the creature didn't hesitate one second as it tried to save these young. Others followed shortly. It didn't take them long to return the young to their crying mothers who pressed their children against their strange, furred chests.

As Sarah watched the whole scene below her, she felt nothing. She didn't even know why she had helped them. Maybe she wanted to test them, see if they possessed the qualities necessary to survive in the blackness of space. Then again, the Zerg weren't exactly the most caring beings in the galaxy either...

It was the right thing to do, Darlin'...

Again...that voice...

She watched as the mothers hugged their offspring tightly. She could feel their happiness. Something inside her mind felt relieved, yet she knew that this feeling was truly bothersome. She couldn't help every stray dog in this galaxy. She had to keep the bigger picture in mind. As the creatures below her started to throw themselves in the dirt and prayed to her, she knew that this had been a mistake. By helping them, she had changed them forever.

Images flashed through her mind. She saw a golden age where they would unite all tribes under the flag of the Flaming Bird of Destruction that had become the Bringer of Life. They would raise their children to believe that destruction and creation were the same thing. They would travel to the stars and bring their gift to others, showing them the mercy of the Flaming Bird of Destruction by purging everyone they met. They would become the scourge of this galaxy...

Now that was only one possible outcome, but Sarah realized that they were now no longer the same species. She had changed them, maybe even corrupted them. So did that mean that they were now her responsibility too? But...how should she do this? Maybe the Xel'Naga knew the answer to that question. They had seeded many worlds, created many species. It pained her to admit it, but she needed answers. And she wouldn't find them in this place.

As she adverted her gaze, her bright glowing body ascended back into the sky and the creatures below her started to thank their one true goddess. She decided that she had wasted enough time. As she left this world and this part of the galaxy, one of the mother-creatures embraced her child, thanking the burning god, praising its power and its benevolence.

As the star behind her went supernova, Sarah turned around and witnessed the destruction of the entire world with her own eyes. She had not seen a supernova with her own eyes before, not like this. It had been the reason for stopping by in this system in the first place. As she saw how that little, purple planet was ripped apart by the star's shockwave, she wasn't sad. It happened all the time everywhere. Those creatures had just been unlucky. A few thousand years longer and they would have been able to escape their fate.

But that too was part of life. It ends.

Sarah needed answers. Even now it was impossible for her to move beyond what she called the "Wall of Frustration". It was unnerving. It drove her mad. It was like there was a voice in the back of her mind, calling out for her. But every time she thought that she had found it, the voice was suddenly somewhere else. It felt as if it was eluding her senses.

And during all that time the questions continued to bother her. And their numbers had increased drastically.

When she had ascended, she had thought that all secrets of the cosmos were right in front of her eyes. But now she could barely remember any of it. It was like having a dream, a very nice one. And once you wake up, the memory already starts to fade away until the only thing that remains is the knowledge that it had been a wonderful dream. But you just can't remember it.

It had something to do with her physical form, she was certain of that. It had to be the reason why she was unable to free herself of those useless memories and emotions. It got even worse because said inability made her angry. And she knew that the anger was her greatest enemy, it would cloud her mind to the point where she couldn't make any logical decision anymore. The fear of turning into another Amon was a very real one to Sarah. And it was this fear that made her swallow her pride and go where she would find answers to her questions. Hopefully.

The place she traveled to had a name.

Ulnar.

The Protoss called it the cradle of life. It wasn't entirely correct though. It was more like a focal point in time and space. Many roads lead to this place, finding it with a spaceship was merely one possible way. Of course, she hadn't known that back then. She had been here before, but that had been another life. The mighty Queen of Blades and her Swarm had fought Amon's horrible hordes for days, including his disgusting hybrids. Under normal circumstances, one hybrid wouldn't have been a threat to her. But after so many battles and waves after waves fighting those damn abominations, she had reached the limits of her strength and most of her forces had lain in ruins. Coming to this place without any additional back up might had been a bad idea, yet she had felt the urge to do it her way. It had been shortly after she had killed Arcturus and left Korhal in order to hunt Amon and his army of hybrids.

No, not just Korhal. She had left him behind back then...

Damn...just damn...

Those damn memories! She wanted them to be gone, to rid herself of them!

She remembered when she had attacked a Mobius-facility, only to find Zeratul poking his noseless face into things that hadn't been his business to begin with. Their encounter had been brief, yet his obnoxious talk about prophecy here and prophecy there had continued to linger on her mind. Of course she knew that killing hybrids would not stop Amon. So instead she had started to hunt and interrogate some of those damn beasts. Abathur had been most helpful in extracting at least some information.

Well, interrogation might have been the wrong word. Lobotomy was far more fitting.

She had never heard from Ulnar before, but the pictures inside the hybrids minds had been clear enough. Zagara had protested at her decision to go there alone. She had been afraid that there would be a great battle and she wouldn't be there to enjoy it. But even she had accepted the wisdom behind Sarah's decision. As long as she was gone, Zagara had continued the hunt for the hybrids. Besides, if Sarah had died, Zagara would have taken over as leader of the Swarm. From all her servants, Zagara had been the only one fitting to lead the Swarm. Stukov of course had just chuckled, saying that he did not envy the Queen of Blades. He was a strange one, unreadable even to the mighty Sarah Kerrigan. She couldn't have cared less about Abathur's opinion and Dehaka's "Take...Their...Essence!" had become annoying very fast. In fact, Sarah was pretty certain that Zagara had thrown his ass out into cold space the moment she had left her Leviathan. And she couldn't blame the broodmother for doing so.

Yet there was one had shown genuine fear...

The Queen of Blades' Leviathan

A few weeks after Arcturus Mengsk's death...

"You...are...already...dead..." the hybrid hissed in anger and pain. Sarah frowned when she heard those words.

"Really? That's odd because I feel very much alive. You, on the other hand, don't look so good." She pointed at the open skull of the creature. Its brain pulsed as it tried to focus its psionic abilities in order to break free. But it was pointless. In a one on one situation, she would outclass any hybrid. And now they were on her turf. This was a home game for her. Keeping the psionic abilities of that abomination sealed away was very easy for her. Gaining access to its mind was a different story, though. She knew how to manipulate the mind of a human or a Protoss. But those damn hybrids possessed abilities that made it almost impossible to read them.

Almost.

As the broken creature thrashed inside its cage, Sarah looked over to Stukov, who sat on a fleshy structure. The former UED-officer looked like he was bored, but Sarah knew that he was completely aware of the situation around him. With a nod, she gave him the signal to take over. He got to his feet and looked at the creature.

"I will not lie to you, Tinkerbell." he chuckled as he walked towards the hybrid before a cruel smile appeared on his disfigured face. "This will hurt you very much." And he continued to chuckle when he started to reach out and attack that brain with his psionic energies. They were not nearly as potent as Sarah's, but they were more than enough to deal with that broken monster.

"NOOOOoooo...get out...get out of my mind...I will not...tell you...I will not..." the hybrid yelled in pain and anger. It tried to break free, but without any limbs that was somewhat difficult. The tendrils of the Leviathan kept the creature pinned down and two abominations stood right next to the mutilated body, ready to rip the creature into pieces should the situation require it.

Sarah could see how that brain started to pulse. It was a disgusting sight, but for her it was just another day at the office. She looked over to her other servant.

"Abathur, get to it!" The Evolution Master nodded, at least she thought that it was a nod. It was kinda hard to tell when your opposite is a disgusting spider-slug. But she didn't keep Abathur around because of his good looks, or his sense of humor. The Evolution Master turned around and moved towards the hybrid. The once mighty creature tried to turn its head away, but more tendrils pinned it down to the slimy floor. Sarah's blade wings started to rattle in anticipation. This time it would work, she was sure of it.

As Abathur towered above the mutilated body, he pressed his long and sharp claws against the soft tissue of the hybrids brain. Disgusting squishy sounds filled the evolution chamber and even Sarah had to fight the urge to vomit. Screams of pain and anger filled the living chamber as the hybrid felt how Abathur started to work on its brain.

Sarah had seen brains before, many times actually. But she had never seen a hybrid's brain that was brutalized by Abathur while that brain was still alive. As Abathur continued his gruesome work, Stukov concentrated on keeping the raw psionic energy of that abomination in check. The hybrid, not Abathur. While the limbless body was tied to the floor, there was no way for the creature to escape or cause any damage. Those were extreme measures, but they were necessary. These hybrids possessed a ridiculous amount of strength and a tenacity that was beyond ridiculous. Even though they were hideous abominations, Sarah had to admit that they were formidable enemies.

Cutting through the soft brain tissue, Abathur was preparing the organ for the next step of the procedure. Those huge hybrid brains contained a lot of nasty secrets. The intention of that was clear: Amon, the Dark One didn't want anyone to find out something that could be used against him. Yet at the same time, these security measures meant that there was something important inside that skull.

Something that was worth digging for it.

Quite literally.

Sarah had discovered this possibility by mere coincidence. While fighting a hybrid on a nameless world, it had tried to take over the control over parts of her Swarm. Instead of sending Zagara or any other broodmother, the Queen of Blades had decided to deal with that creature herself. In that battle, she had touched the mind of that wretched thing. For the fracture of a second, she had seen images of countless other hybrids, ravaging one world after the other. But there had been even more. Orders, imperatives, and visions of the Dark One. And a strange place...

The vision had been too short to get anything out of it. But Sarah had been intrigued. Unfortunately, that hybrid had not been very cooperative. Still, it had caught her interest and together with Abathur she had worked on a way to access those hybrid minds. The Swarm had hunted down dozens of these creatures, giving Abathur enough biomass to experiment on. When her patience had started to run thin, he had finally told her to be ready.

As Abathur's fingers cut through the soft tissue of the hybrid's brain, the creature howled in pain and anger. It was extreme, even for Zerg standards. But it was necessary. Cutting the pieces away that acted as a fail-safe meant that the hybrids brain wouldn't explode once Sarah would try to dive into its mind. Because that had happened before. Wiping all that gray matter from her face was not something she would like to do again.

Some of it had even gotten in her mouth.

"GET...OUUUT...MAKE...US...WHOLE..." the hybrid gurgled.

"Fat chance." Sarah replied before looking over to the Evolution Master. "Abathur, how much longer?" she wanted to know. They were on a tight schedule over here!

"Primary and secondary temporal lobes disconnected, removing optical sensory nerve clusters now." Sarah had no idea what that meant, but she urged Abathur to hurry up. She could feel how the creature started to grow weaker. If it would die now, they would have to find another specimen and they would lose even more time. Time that they couldn't afford to lose.

"Optical sensory nerve clusters removed, Queen of Blades can now commence." Abathur said with his gurgling voice. The hybrid seemed to realize that something was wrong.

"MY...EYES...CAN'T...SEEEEEE..." it yelled. Well, it would not hear, smell or taste anything else again too, so tough luck.

"Very well..." Sarah announced before mentally preparing herself for what was coming next. "Stukov, get ready! Should this abomination try something stupid, I want you to liquefy its brain!" The former UED-officer chuckled at those words.

"It'll be my pleasure."

She gave him a nod and turned her head back to the hybrid. She then closed her eyes and started to probe its mind. Sarah didn't bother to be careful, she plunged in "headfirst" and dove deep into the creatures subconsciousness.

HEAR ME AND OBEY! she could hear the raging voice of the Dark One. KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE TOOL OF MY WILL. YOU WILL FIGHT MY ENEMIES IN MY NAME, YOU WILL CRUSH THEM IF I TELL YOU, YOU WILL DIE IF I DEMAND IT.

For a moment she thought he was referring to her, but then these lines started to repeat over and over again. She then realized that this was part of the mental imprint Amon had placed inside these creatures mind. No wonder they were always so angry and pissed, hearing nothing but the same voice inside their heads over and over again would drive her mad too. At least the Overmind had used different lines from time to time.

Yet she wasn't here for that. It wasn't exactly a sightseeing tour, more like "grab and run". The hybrid was dying (that tends to happen if you cut a brain into pieces) and so she had to grab anything that seemed of any interest and value to her. She saw places where other hybrids were hiding, but it was uninteresting to her. She saw the faces of both Terrans and Protoss who were aiding Amon, hoping to become his favorite pets ones the war was over. Disgusting little traitors, but of no importance right now. And then...then...

She saw a place in space. Only that it was not in space but between space and the Void. It was Xel'Naga and it was huge. Was it a space station? Or a floating temple? She didn't know, but as its image burned itself into her mind, she heard Amon's voice again.

NO ONE SHALL ENTER THIS PLACE...

Her eyes snapped open and she was back inside the evolution chamber. The hybrid was still screaming and thrashing around, but its fate was already sealed. One of her blade wings came up and she rammed it deep into the open brain, killing the creature for good. As she ripped her wing out of the hybrids head, destroyed gray matter flew through the air. But this time none of it landed on her face. Or inside her mouth.

"I take it you've found something inside that creatures mind?" Stukov guessed correctly. Yet Sarah was already planning ahead. She knew where to find that place.

"Deal with this mess!" she ordered Abathur, who pulled his claws out of the now ruined skull. She didn't care if he decided to play around with it some more, maybe he would find something interesting, though she had her doubts about that. When exiting the evolution chamber, she sent a mental message to Izsha, telling her to prepare her troops for war...

As she reached her nerve-cluster, Zagara and Izsha were already present. Usually, the mighty Broodmother remained at her side, studying every move and every action the Queen of Blades took. Zagara had changed during those last months. She had become much calmer, more controlled. Well, that was not exactly the right way to describe it. Her anger was still there, it was a basic component of her whole being. But she was able to control it and used it only when she truly needed it.

When encountering a new situation, she no longer rushed into battle head first unless she decided to do so. By now she was the Queen's most competent military leader. Well, aside from the Queen herself. She had even surpassed Stukov, though Sarah still had the feeling that the infested Terran did not take his job seriously. Both Zagara and Izsha turned their heads towards Sarah as she entered the nerve cluster and they bowed their heads to show their respect.

"My Queen..." Izsha began. "...I have relayed your orders to the other broodmothers. Their broods will arrive here within one cycle."

"Thank you, Izsha." Sarah could feel Izsha's happiness when she heard so much as a simple thank you from her Queen. Her most trusted advisor was a unique being, just like Abathur was. But while Abathur had been created by the Overmind for a strict technical reason (to improve the Swarm), the Queen of Blades had created Izsha in order to help her deal with everyday problems and operations.

Izsha had once been a human being, but those memories were no longer available to her. Her life as a human was of no interest to Izsha, all she cared for was to serve her Queen. In a way, their relationship was like that of a mother and a daughter. Albeit in a rather weird way. Sarah even had doubts that Izsha would serve under someone else just like that. For a Zerg, her devotion towards a single individual was very unusual.

But she was Sarah's very own creation. And because of that, she was special to her. In a way, Izsha represented a more innocent approach to what it meant to be Zerg. Sarah did not remember much of her time as the old Queen of Blades, even though she had restored part of her memories thanks to Izsha, but it was reassuring to know that there was at least one being among the Swarm that she could completely trust and share even her most private thoughts with.

Due to their special relationship, Izsha always knew when Sarah was brooding over something. Yet this connection worked both ways. As Sarah felt an uneasy feeling emitting from her advisor, she looked up to the dark Zerg.

"I sense your anxiety, Izsha. What is it?" she wanted to know.

"Please forgive me, my Queen..." Izsha said while lowering her gaze. "...I sense the strength of our enemies, and I fear that their strength might be a match for yours, my Queen." A smile crept over Sarah's face.

"Izsha, are you worried about me?" she said with an amused tone in her voice. Her advisor did not dare to look into her eyes.

"I would never question your strength, my Queen. You promised to return to us and you kept your word." For some odd reason Sarah felt like Izsha actually wanted to say "me" instead of "us", but she did not bother asking. She knew that Izsha adored her. Like said, their relationship was more like a mother and daughter than queen and servant. She remembered the fear in Izshas voice just before the final battle on Augustgrad.

"Once you have your revenge, will you leave us again?" she had asked Sarah back then, her voice filled with fear. It was only then when Sarah had finally realized that the Zerg were not just tools for her own ambitions. Not all of them anyway. No, some of these creatures were far more. They were family. As she now sensed Izshas emotions, she moved towards her advisor.

"Izsha, come closer." The large, snakelike body of her advisor lowered itself until their faces were almost on the same level. In a rare moment of affection, Sarah decided to brush with her fingers over Izsha's soft face.

"Have faith in me, Izsha. We will defeat Amon. And you will continue to serve me as my trusted advisor. Like I said before: There are still many glorious battles waiting for us." A shy smile appeared on Izsha's face. It was enough to put her mind at ease. Sarah then turned around and looked at Zagara.

"Zagara, I want you to muster our troops. Where we're going, we will need all the strength we have." Zagara bowed her head.

"It shall be as you command, my Queen. But where are we going, exactly?" she wanted to know. Sarah's eyes wandered towards the big, organic window. She could see the endless stars outside.

"Ulnar..." she said. "We're going to Ulnar."

Ulnar

The present...

In the end, Sarah had not been able to keep her promise. She had not returned to the Swarm. And to Izsha. Great, as if the memories of Jim weren't bad enough, now she had to deal with this crap as well...

The battle on Ulnar had been a very unpleasant one. Upon arrival, Sarah's forces had been under constant siege immediately. Amon's forces had already been present and had started to attack the Zerg the moment they had set foot on this place. Under normal circumstances, a fight against corrupted broods, fanatical Tal'Darim and lobotomized Mobious-thugs wasn't that much of a problem. But they had been under the command of countless hybrids. Their numbers had been legion and so Sarah had no other choice but to join the party and fight them with all the strength available to her.

The battle had gone on for days without either side gaining an upper hand. But even though Sara had possessed the superior numbers, Amon's thugs simply had refused to yield. It was like some power had taken possession of them, making them fight twice as hard as usually possible. And after weeks of fighting the impossible almost had happened: The Swarm had started to wear out.

The sudden appearance of the Protoss Hierarch Artanis had changed the tide of the battle. Seeing him on Ulnar had brought back unpleasant memories. She had caused much pain to him and his people. The hybrids had weakened her, so she had tried to reason with him, had told him that she was not his enemy. But she hadn't had any faith in her own words. She had expected to die either at the hands of those damn hybrids or to be sliced into pieces by Artanis's psi-blades.

Yet he had decided to spare her. Even more so, he had saved her. Their unlikely alliance had helped them both. She had never believed anything about Zeratul's stupid prophecy, but seeing her own image on the walls of that old Xel'Naga artifact, well, let's just say that Zeratul might have been more than a senile old fart.

She remembered how Artanis had read the inscriptions with almost no problems. To her, it had been gibberish. But he had understood virtually everything it said. Answering her question how he could do so, he only had replied that every image had its own meaning. She hadn't really believed him back then, but his results had been sound and solid. Yet even thenm they had only scratched the surface. There was so much more to this place. There had to be.

In the end, she returned to Ulnar to look for a goddamn user manual.

Master of the Universe for Dummies, if you like.

I bet that Jim would have loved this turn of events...

Hmm, strange. Where had that thought come from? And why wasn't she able to keep those thoughts away. It was like no matter what she tried to do, they came back to her. But she couldn't afford to live in the past anymore. She had cut all ties to her mortal past the moment she had accepted the essence of the last Xel'Naga. No, that wasn't true. She had made this decision long before that when she had decided to become the supreme leader of the Zerg Swarm yet again.

When she had freed Jim from the Moros, his shock expression seeing her new old appearance had caused her heart almost to break. He had been the only one to ever believe in her. Yet she had repaid his love and kindness with pain and despair.

Those feelings, they were annoying. No, not just annoying, they were distracting her. They kept her from being able to focus at what lay right in front of her. Yet she had no idea how to get rid of them. She had left Jim for good. It was impossible to return to him. And for what reason? She had inflicted so much pain to him, how could she even look into the eyes as long as there was as even a tiny part of her humanity inside her? Sarah Kerrigan was no more, she now had to learn to accept that and move on, to become the entity this galaxy needed.

We're a great team, you know that, right?

"No, Jim. Let it rest, please."

Her frustrations reached new heights. Had it really only been regret, was it possibly guilt? Yes, she felt guilty. When she had turned into the Queen of Blades again, she had believed that the only man she had ever loved was dead. She had told herself that there was no one left to care for. But once she had returned to the Swarm, she had met her trusted advisors and made new allies. Just like Jim didn't stop bothering her inside her mind, Izsha reminded her of the good times she had experienced while being Zerg. Oh, it hadn't been nearly as horrible as everyone believed.

Sarah Kerrigan had committed many atrocities in her life, even before becoming the infamous Queen of Blades. Her long and impressive kill record as a Confederate Ghost was proof of that. Yet thinking of friends and allies seemed just so pointless to her. Not just Jim or Izsha, but also others. Well, aside from Zagara and the former Magistrate of Mar Sara she couldn't think of anyone right now, but still...

Aw, who was she kidding? She had no friends. She never had had any friends in the first place. Perhaps that was why her relationship with Jim, Izsha and Zagara had been so important to her. In the end, they had been the only ones staying at her side without trying to kill her. Well, that didn't count for Zagara, she certainly had tried to kill her. But they had worked that out pretty quickly.

Floating through the endless halls of Ulnar made her feel uneasy. Her golden body and the fiery wings lightened the path ahead of her. Every now and then she stopped at an inscription, studying it with keen eyes. Suddenly those symbols made sense to her. Most of them anyway. But she did not like what she saw. Mostly because it was just useless stuff that no one cared about.

Like that Uvanar once uplifted someone called Nrians because he or she had such a nice...broof? Okay, that made no sense at all. Apparently reading Xel'Naga wasn't so easy after all. Still, most things that were inscribed on the walls were pretty straight forward. It was about the philosophy the Xel'Naga followed, well, had followed. Interesting enough it seemed that Xel'Naga wasn't the name of the species, it was a word to describe their essence. At least that's what Sarah thought.

There were parts she still did not understand. Something about a journey to enlightenment that every Xel'Naga had to do by itself. And more, so much more.

As for the things she did understand, well, it was not what she had expected. The Xel'Naga were no gods, they never had been. Most importantly, they hadn't considered themselves to be gods. They too could die (as impressively demonstrated by Amon). Yet even the mighty Protoss were mere bacteria compared to those ancient beings. With a lifespan longer than most stars, they had roamed this universe far longer than one can imagine. Yet, they had not been the first.

It was surprising. And somewhat shocking. Again, Sarah had to realize that her first assessment had been incorrect. Yes, the Xel'Naga had possessed incredible abilities. But they too had been uplifted. The cycle was even older than they had been. It preceded the very universe and would continue even in the next one.

Once the current iteration of the Xel'Naga reached the end of their life cycle, they would look for two species they could uplift. They would look for the infamous Purity of Essence and Purity of Form. The last Xel'Naga had found these qualities within the Protoss and Zerg. Once they reached the end of their life, they would have transferred their powers to special individuals, turning them into Xel'Naga. Well, in theory anyway.

But that was no longer possible. The essence of the last Xel'Naga now rested inside her. It had an interesting side effect though.

The pictographs of the Xel'Naga on the walls of Ulnar had shown those huge, tentacle things. They had looked like Amon and Ouros. But now they were gone. In their place, she could see humanlike figures. Two arms, two legs, a head...and a halo of fire around them. So Ulnar had changed the inscriptions on the wall to show that it had accepted her as its new master?

Still, there was one thing that surprised her. Instead of just one being, there were many. But she was the last of her kind...

...or wasn't she?

She stopped and floated in the middle of a faceless corridor. As she looked at her own glowing hands, she felt even more confused than before. No, it had to be a mistake. Both Amon and Ouros had been the last of their kind. But what if there was a way to create more Xel'Naga...

Ha, so much for knowing all the answers. Even the mighty Xel'Naga couldn't tell her what she really wanted to know. It made Sarah angry. She had hoped for more, for final clarification. She needed to know so she could finally move along, leave the rest of her lingering humanity behind.

Yet all she saw right in front of her was a huge gate.

She blinked. That was no metaphor. One moment she had studied the inscriptions on a wall that either told her mind-blowing secrets or utter nonsense. The next moment she turned around, only to stand in front of a huge gate which doors had been sealed shut.

It was big enough to let even a dozen Ultralisks pass through easily and she was immediately intrigued. Up till now, she had sensed everything inside Ulnar. She could see the corridors and gigantic rooms inside her mind. But this thing, it was different. It felt like the Void. Was it another path to the other side? She had her doubts, but she couldn't say why. All that she knew was that she wanted to know what was on the other side. She couldn't just stay here forever. She had to move on! There was so much ahead of her...

She reached out and could feel something cold as her finger touched the heavy doors of the gate. She tried to push, but it wouldn't move. Neither her physical strength nor her mental powers could move the doors even one iota. It remained closed, denying her entry.

How is this possible?she asked herself and the voice inside her head actually echoed through the corridor behind her.

She was deeply lost in thoughts and didn't really pay any attention to her surroundings. Why should she, there was no reason for that. She was immortal, she had ventured beyond the boundaries of her own existence. And with Amon gone, there was nothing that could harm her.

And that's when she felt that presence.

She turned around and focused her eyes on a place in the shadows.

Who are you? Sarah demanded to know and her voice echoed through the empty halls of Ulnar. She could sense it, there was someone close by. A presence, one that felt strangely familiar.

I know that you are there. Come out and show yourself! Whatever that was hiding in the shadows, it had to be something immensely powerful. Only something truly powerful could hide from her senses.

Very well, have it your way. But don't say I didn't warn you. Sarah explained and gathered her powers. Whoever, whatever this thing was, it had managed to elude her senses. Therefore it was dangerous. She would just purge it and then-

"That..." a soft female voice suddenly spoke out to her. "...won't be necessary." For a second Sarah thought that she was listening to herself. She had heard her voice many times in the head of others, so she knew what her voice sounded like. But even Sarah couldn't be at two places at once.

The voice almost sounded like her own, but there was something strange about it. Something oddlyfamiliar. But most importantly, it sounded human.

Who are you? Sarah demanded to know once more. It was her last warning.

"Someone who cares deeply about you." the voice explained. Sarah could see the outlines of a figure standing in the shadows, yet even then this one continued to elude her senses. Whatever this thing was, it was either extremely sneaky or immensely powerful.

What do you want? Sarah was in no mood for mind games. If this thing would so much as look at her in a funny way, then she would purge this creature immediately.

"I wanted to see you, with my own two eyes. You may not believe it, but you mean a lot to me. To us."

Us? Sarah growled. Who is Us?

And then the figure stepped out into the open. It was indeed a woman, a young one. For a second Sarah thought that she was looking at a younger version of her human self, but then she realized that there were some differences. Still, this woman was...

Who...are you? Sarah whispered and then a warm smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"All in due time. What you need to know now is that you are not alone. Please remember that. And please, don't give up, no matter how hard it might be. Everything will turn out alright in the end."

Just who do you think you-

But before Sarah could finish that sentence, she was engulfed by a bright flash of light. For a moment Sarah thought that the gate behind her had finally opened. She closed her eyes as the light around her became too bright even for her to handle. As the light faded away, she opened her eyes again. There were still sparks flickering in her vision, which was odd. She had watched stars from up close before, now it felt like she had taken a flash-bang to the face.

She shivered when the cold air touched her skin, even though she still wore her Ghost-suit and-

Wait, Ghost-suit?!

She looked at her own arms in shock. The shining surface of her godlike body was gone. No longer did she produce her own light. Her body...it was...it was...

...human again?

"What is this?" she said in utter shock and disbelief. Suddenly her mind felt like it was imploding. All her thoughts and visions were forced back into a skull made out of flesh and bone. It hurt. She yelled in pain as her hands grabbed her own head and she stumbled backward. Fear and confusion took hold of her, something she had thought to have left behind.

"What...what is going on? What is this?" she repeated in confusion and denial.

"You want to know what this is, oh wretched creature?" a new voice suddenly asked behind her. Sarah turned her head to the right. Something emerged from the shadow next to the gate. For one moment she was afraid, thinking that a hybrid had waited for her in the darkness, ready to strike her down. But it was not a hybrid. It was much smaller. Yet even then the massive figure was much larger than she was now.

"No..." she gasped. "You're dead." she whispered as she recognized the bulky figure whose blue eyes burned with cold rage.

"Indeed. And I have to thank you for that." The Protoss warrior ignited his psi-blade. The usually blue color of the blade had turned into a bright white. She remembered that some Protoss could channel additional emotions into their weapons, making them burn even brighter. She could feel his anger, how his righteous fury was pouring from every part of his body. He was dead. She had killed him. Yet every part of her mind told him that he was the real deal.

"I have waited a long time for this moment, oh wretched Queen of the Zerg!" the Protoss warrior announced before he lifted his arm to ram his psi-blade right through her once more mortal heart.

As Fenix plunged his psi-blade into Sarah's body, his words roared throughout the halls of Ulnar and beyond.

"I shall claim your life now, creature. Your life, FOR AIUR!"