I'm back! Sorry for the wait, computer was broken.

Yttrius finished his mental calculations. "I believe we have a greater chance of success if we bargain with Zagara. Transitioning to a mechanical body has an overall success chance of around 60%. But with the essence we have gathered on board, I believe we can organise a deal. Nova. We need you to return Dehaka to this ship so that he can pilot it. I only have basic commands recorded."

There was radio silence, to Yttrius' dismay. "Nova, respond. I need Dehaka to pilot this ship."

Nova had not actually left Yttrius' channel in rage, but rather was dealing with a secondary problem- Reigel.

"Nova, we're moving away as fast as we can, but we need extraction now. The ship is damaged and won't last much longer. We're heading towards an island we saw from orbit." Crackled Reigel.

"We'll send down one of the other ships for you! Have you shaken off any followers?"

Dehaka looked to Nova. "No. Do not send them there. That island is a large mutalisk nest. They would rip apart your ships."

Nova looked ready to question that, but was low on time to give commands. "Reigel, the island might be mutalisk-heavy. Scan it."

"Okay..." There was a heavy pause. "Gods above. Never seen so many in one place. Now where do we land?"

Nova brought up an orbital map of the planet. She picked out Reigel's red dot and zoomed in, quickly surveying the land in reach of the ship. "Try the clifftops to the west. They have the sparsest jungle."

"Confirmed. Pick us up in five." There was a click as Reigel closed the channel.

Nova looked at Dehaka in total confusion. "Why would you help us then? We were about to wipe ourselves out."

"Casa will not realise her potential under disabling negative emotion. Do not mistake me for an ally."

"Fine." Nova clicked the headset back to a frantic Yttrius. "Right, how does she die?" Said Nova resignedly.

"Infestation has a greater overall chance of success. Now, for the last time. I need Dehaka back to actually control this ship. His pack is growing agitated."

Nova looked back to Dehaka. "Well. You heard him. Get out. The hangar can take a nydus."

Dehaka left the room wordlessly. Nova watched him go, and collapsed backwards onto the floor. No matter what. No matter what I have to endure. I'll save you, Casa. I'll make it all up to you. Tears and blood streamed down her face.


Reigel's ship careened into a rough landing on the cliffs, but it was enough. A few of the most gravely injured soldiers didn't survive the impact, but everyone else was fine. "Alright. Pick us up quickly."

To his relief, a transport broke through the clouds rather than a zerg.


Dehaka was able to pull himself aboard The Behemoth.

The first thing he saw was Yttrius with the angriest face a purifier had ever held. It was only a visor with a light array, but it had the emotion of a man betrayed. "How could you allow this to happen?" He said, voice as hard and grating as steel.

"I did not allow it to happen. I was incapacitated. I must heal, before we face Zagara. Time is short, and she respects strength above all." Answered Dehaka.

"Set our course for Char first. I must continue to tend to Casa." Yttrius snapped before marching off.

Dehaka made it to the nerve centre easily enough. A few sounds, and The Behemoth started to move towards Char. Dehaka limped over to his room, and lay down on the floor. He relaxed all his muscles, allowing his mind to properly assess the damage and work out what he needed. All things considered, it was time for a more dramatic change. Now would be a good time, since so much of his body would need to be regrown anyway.

Dehaka limped out, and dragged himself to the spawning pool. He carefully climbed in, and allowed the top to coat over in a seal. It was best described as the polar opposite of sleep. While Dehaka could feel his stamina refilling and his wounds mending, he was more and more awake as the nutrient-rich liquid allowed him to replace his lost blood. Now for some more changes. The chest plating could go. It was only as protective as the rest of his hide nowadays, and his hide healed faster and was more flexible. Posture? He didn't need to stand fully upright, a slight forward leaning would be much stronger. Body shape was redone largely, and Dehaka melded his head plates together into a more protective piece of armour. His back spikes went from thin weapons that might be driven into an unlucky foe to large, special blades he could use to absorb low-class psionic attacks. More muscle was focused to his attacking arms, while refining the bone structure a little. He opted to remove most of the spikes on his tail, and allow for stronger armour and a single, powerful spike. His mouth reshaped into a wider thing without skin attached to the mandibles on the side. He grew additional glands on his shoulders, copied from other zerg to project a damaging field. Internally, he opted to expand the amount of essence he could store in exchange for reduced jumping power. He could still climb surfaces if need be. After ten minutes, Dehaka swiped a claw through the membrane at the top of the pool, and burst out. He spat some of the green fluid onto the floor and growled, feeling his new body. It felt good, fresh and tough.

He moved for the bridge, preparing to contact the overqueen.


The Behemoth sent out a quick psionic signal in Char's general direction. Zagara's response was swift.

"You are either bold or foolish to address me. Cerebrate, we will rip you to dust!"

Nova spoke through Yttrius, who was also on the bridge. "Enemy fliers dispatched. We have been in this system for twenty seconds."

"I am no Cerebrate. You should know this." Dehaka instructed the ship to say.

"...Dehaka..? You dare return?" Came the reply.

"Call back your forces. I require something. Have essence to exchange." Dehaka growled.

Zagara's words seethed with venom. "What could you possibly require of us? We offer you only one service: Swift death!"

"I require Abathur to remake a Terran personally. Does that interest you?"

A new voice joined the conversation "Organism Dehaka. Offer, lacks context. Explain." The slug himself had joined. Apparently he had psionics of his own now.

"I have found a Terran with potential close to the queen of blades. But, badly wounded. Will not survive long without remaking. They will not realise this potential if dead." Dehaka explained.

Abathur interjected. "Organism Zagara. High chance powerful sequences can be obtained, little cost. Recommend agreement."

"Fine. Your life will be insurance, Dehaka. Meet us on the surface. One false move, and your end will be immediate. We expect all the essence you can offer." Came Zagara.


Yttrius had no choice but to remain on board for the trip to Char. No matter how strong one unit is, if you go up against an entire planet without the means to counter thier armies, your end will be swift. Dehaka carried Casa's unconscious body onto the surface of the hellscape. In all fairness, it wasn't a hellscape to the zerg. The constant volcanic activity meant the soil was always mineral rich, so who cared about the burning lava?

Zagara didn't greet Dehaka personally. A lesser queen had the honours. "Bring the Terran this way. You will stay here, while your drones unload what essence you offer."

"Abathur. I know you listen. Do not fail the swarm now." Said Dehaka, directly to the queen's face. He walked to a Nydus worm, and carefully slid Casa into it.


Casa became aware of... something. Something really... vivid? It was like a very vivid dream... You couldn't tell what was weird, because your mind wasn't active enough to recognise it as weird. She dreamt she was falling... falling, oh so calmly... just looking up into space, while falling. And then, she stopped. Now she was floating. Operating by her subconscious, Dream-Casa looked around. She was in a computer. She couldn't see anything to suggest that, but she knew she was. She could see red, a dark red, like blood. And the light beige of skin.

Suddenly, she doubled over in pain. It felt like every inch of her was burning, being ripped to shreds, and boiling. The pain was immense. She should have blacked out, but she was already unconscious. She looked at herself, so to speak, and instantly knew- she was different. She could see forever...


Abathur was brutally efficient. Casa had been cocooned into a bag of fluid that would allow for drastic alterations in seconds. After just a minute, Casa was, rather messily, being optimised. Entire systems were ripped out and discarded, replaced with better ones. Growth hormone production was increased exponentially. Bone structure and muscle mass? Reworked from the ground up. That was Abathur's quick preliminary. Now for the part he cared about.

Analysing Casa's psionics was a delicate affair. There was no question that there was some kind of slight mutation in the girl. Dehaka had picked up on it. But Abathur was the one who could analyse it. Carefully, he identified and isolated the strand.

First, he examined it as a whole. It made no sense at all, for a Terran sequence. There were only four Terran amino acids. This strand had six. He broke it down further. The two extra acids seemed normal enough... but they were being used to transmit an entirely different command to cells.

He created a cell, and exposed it to the isolated strand of psionic DNA. And in that moment, he made a mass of deductions. Terran females were better psionics because testosterone drowned out this command. The command fundamentally altered the cell, giving it a slight psionic potential. And like everything else in the universe, it could be improved. The main mystery... was how it had evolved. It was shockingly well done for a random evolution. As if ten thousand years were passed in five.

Carefully, Abathur swapped a few links in the DNA around. He cut one or two parts. And he transplanted the genetic update. Previously, every cell in Casa had added an almost imperceptible amount of psionic potential to her. Now... Well, the rest of the body might need some more updates to handle this.


Dehaka was glaring at the small army assigned to guard, and probably execute him. Zagara really didn't have any reason to keep him alive. He was planning to dive underground and have his pack charge the army to generate an exit route, but then the lines parted.

Zagara was here. "Dehaka..." She said. "Why sacrifice yourself for a Terran? You knew we would not allow you to leave."

Dehaka's tail made that involuntary flick of amusement. "Do you not see it yet?"

"See what? You have no forces afoot here! Your resources are mine. No trap you can spring. No ship could even come into orbit here."

"The potential. That Terran... is different. I would not collect from them. Do you know why?" Dehaka said.

Zagara stared Dehaka directly in the face. "I know you do not wish for psionics, false kin."

"She is the same... as Kerrigan. Not simply similar. Her very body... it has the faintest trace of the Xel'naga. She is not just the spawn of Nova. She is the design of the Queen of Blades. She is surely destined to bring essence. And so, I will facilitate her growth. And in time, I will follow, as she will bring essence." Dehaka explained.

"LIAR!" Zagara's spine flew for Dehaka's head. "She is NOT linked to the Queen of Blades! The Queen would not trust her spawn to any but the swarm!"

Dehaka ducked under the spine, and growled. "Abathur is proving me right as you speak. She will have her potential unlocked... just wait."

And so, they tensely waited. Each poised to strike.


Casa woke with a start. This had the immediate effect of generating a psionic shockwave that burst her container to shreds. Abathur was already fleeing from his creation. He'd known full well how Casa would need to adjust to the power, so he'd set her to wake up in five minutes and slugged away.

Ever had a lot of caffeine at once? Enough to feel unstoppable, limitless? Casa felt a lot more powerful, and ten times as jittery. She shouted a war cry, oblivious to the fact it was a scream befitting a zerg, and blasted herself upwards. The bedrock was parted like air as the seven-year old tore through the mantle, in a surge of intense blue light.


Nova looked incredulously at her display. "Reigel... I think the display is broken?"

Reigel hobbled over "Psionic index fifteen? Yes, it must be broken. Look, it's already fading."


Casa was, technically speaking, not psionic index fifteen. Abathur had just... been a bit clever with her. He'd removed any kind of restraint her body had on its power, and made sure it had effectively no cap on how much it could discharge at once. After making every cell have decent psionic capability, akin to the old Queen of blades. The result: Casa able to reach up to absurd psionic indexes, just not for long. At all. Casa breached the crust of the planet, and her psionics sputtered out, dropping her unceremoniously onto the floor, a few meters away from her exit crater.

She picked herself up, and went to brush the dirt off her environment suit. Claws scratched her carapace. Casa stopped in shock, and looked at herself. Her arms were plated in some kind of carapace, as was the rest of her body. Her fingernails were gone, replaced with claws. And at the same time, she felt almost like she could read her own body's stats. She had a second heart. Her psionics were currently in need of additional fuel. Her tail was- wait, what.

Casa turned to look at her back. True to her thoughts, she now had a tail, or rather, a dozen small tails. Each was a thin brown thing, the same colour as the rest of her body, and Casa experimentally moved one. It was completely natural. But what were they for?

Abathur had been psionically eavesdropping on Casa's thoughts. "Additional appendages, defensive mechanism. Can regrow quickly, and extend. Useful to protect from ranged attacks, also good at melee combat once body has developed. Highly flexible. Possible uses, numerous."

Casa moved the tail to the side, willing it to stretch. It extended to about two metres in total. It was then that she realised she had no idea where she was, why she was here, and whether anyone she cared about had survived the last battle. "Crazy voice person. What happened?" She whispered.

"Organism Dehaka instructed your recreation. Deep wound, beyond other repair. Body now product of design. Enhanced to move closer to perfection. Sequences optimised, copied. Beneficial trade between swarm and antiquated zerg."

Casa's mind jumped back to her family, blood and bond. "Where is..." Dehaka? Mom? Dad? Yttrius? "My family?"

"Organisms related to you... Exact location, unknown. Within sector. Now, must test abilities. Obtain data. Beginning combat. No mercy."

A pair of zerglings charged Casa. For a moment, she remembered the harmless ones on The Behemoth. And then, despite her new skin, she felt a phantom, painful sensation of teeth biting into her side, lifting her up. Any other zerg will not hesitate.

Casa made a finger gun. Unlike a normal seven-year old's finger gun, this one shot a laser. The first zergling was cut in half. The other one closed the gap, and Casa reflexively moved her tails to block the bite. She did not expect every tail to sprout a short psionic beam, but they did. While four of her tails were severed by the others, eight were more than enough to dice a regular zergling into salsa.

Abathur talked again "Calibration, complete. Inefficient, much to improve. Require far more data. Have task. Location, here. Engage overqueen's forces. Gather data."

"Why? That's dangerous!" Said Casa.

"Organism Dehaka in danger. Dislike, would terminate, but, understand importance to you. Useful motivation."

Casa prepared another surge of power.


Zagara looked at the blue speck that had risen into the sky in panic. "You were not lying?!"

Casa dashed towards the overqueen. She slammed into the floor at just under mach one, the shockwave forcing the zerg to step back or be knocked over.

"Abathur! Again with your testing!" Zagara stared Casa in the face. "Destroy the new breed! I will not have a repeat of the Typhoon strain!"

Casa stamped on the floor. The result was akin to a wave seen when you flick a rope but in a wide cone, Zagara's forces flying into the air briefly. And then Casa's body ran out of fuel.

As Casa fainted, Dehaka saw his chance and seized it. He tackled the falling Casa, and held her tightly with his small arms as he dove into the ground. He was under before Zagara hit the floor. After a few dozen metres, he burst out onto the surface, and just ran. Nydus worms erupted around him, but none were able to fully intercept. The Behemoth was getting closer...

And then, a leviathan descended. Dehaka roared at it in hatred and frustration, but he couldn't stop it as it fired grappling tentacles onto his ship.


To Yttrius' credit, he had been waiting by the doors for when things went wrong. He did not expect them to go wrong by The Behemoth getting attacked. The ship was lifted from the ground.

He did not panic. He was used to stress. Yttrius calmly climbed out of the doors, up the side of The Behemoth, and started hacking away at the leviathan's tentacles. He smiled as he recalled memories of previous fights, before even the brood war. He and his team versus all the zerg there were. Glorious.

This was where he belonged. A tentacle descended, and Yttrius leapt into the air to slice it. He could feel all the pent-up stress finally finding a suitable exit. In just a few seconds, the emotionless, cold Yttrius was gone, and the original templar Yttrius, the templar who inspired his warriors and was loved by all, the Yttrius who would proudly give his life for his allies, was alive. For the second time.


Dehaka watched as Yttrius hacked through the descending tentacles, and sprinted faster, closing the distance. He could hear zerglings screeching as they charged, and they were certainly built for speed, more than twice as fast as Dehaka.

As one got close, Dehaka put all his considerable weight onto one foot and swung his tail into the zergling, hard. The spike was able to break something, since the Zergling was reduced to limping.

Many more would have followed, but Dehaka reached the Behemoth. The entrance sealed behind him immediately. Dehaka dropped Casa into a corner and ran for the nerve centre, all too aware that there were forces trying to kill his ship at that exact moment.

He didn't bother trying to take off normally, and immediately ordered a blink to Nova's ship.


Yttrius found he was suddenly in space. He was very glad he didn't need to care about pressure or temperature. Unfortunately, he did still have to care about momentum. The weight of his own swing had carried him a gut-wrenching few centimetres from the behemoth's surface.

This wouldn't have been a problem if he had time, but he could already see hints that both ships were powering up for a long-range warp, out of Zagara's sight. Training never covered this.

Five seconds to warp. Yttrius flailed in vain, trying to touch the Behemoth. What to do?! Four seconds. He needed to move himself three centimetres. Three. How...? Of course! Two. Yttrius pointed his newer arm away from the behemoth and fired the shockwave. One. The recoil gently nudged him to safety, and then the warp completed.


Everyone was meeting in the hangar of Nova's ship. Yttrius had climbed around the behemoth and entered, and was easily the most spirited in the room. Something subtle had changed about him overall, as if a mental chain had finally snapped.

Casa was drinking from a bag of vespene. She'd woken up and immediately shouted to Dehaka for help, because she was on the brink of starving to death. Without much essence on board, Dehaka had begrudgingly hacked up his earlier meal, before finding something else Casa could feed on. Nova was more than a little concerned at the fact vespene was also commonly refined to rocket fuel, but was too busy trying to process everything to complain.

Dehaka was sitting around, watching the room. He was a little impatient, knowing that his quest for essence needed to be continued.

Reigel was inadvertently showing off his new arm. Considering he'd lost the original only ten hours ago, he was very collected. The metal limb was a sleek replacement, designed to replicate the original as closely as could be, but it was also a computer, and capable of withstanding a lot more force. Aside from that, he looked at his daughter bewildered.

Casa finished, and tossed the bag aside. For a few moments, everyone looked at each other, unsure what to say. "So..." began Casa "Who am I now?"

Nova jumped in with an answer. "You're still Casa, to me. I won't abandon you."

"No, I mean, when I did history, Kerrigan got called the Queen of blades! I want a cool name!" Said Casa.

Reigel smiled, if only for Casa's sake "That's our girl alright. Given nigh unlimited power, and not even fazed."

"It isn't very unlimited, don't let her scare you. We should all decide on a name for her." Said Yttrius.

Dehaka glanced. "By previous standards... Princess of psionics. Not developed to Queen. Specialised only to psionic combat."

Reigel leaned forward "Maybe we should hold off on names until we've got some more important things figured out. Firstly... the Dominion. We simply can't conceal power like this for long. So how are we going to explain this? Second, the Swarm. Zagara isn't known for forgiveness, and every time Casa uses her power every psionic in range will feel it. And lastly, the Daelaam. If we make enemies of them, then they're more tenacious than any zerg. They'll not stop until Casa is..." he trailed off.

Nova's eyes narrowed "I can handle the Dominion. At least, better than the rest of us."

"Hold. They know already of Casa. They wish to capture you, and believe you are a great threat to them." Said Dehaka.

"Well, they're right. Anyway, I can contact Valerian directly, they never revoked my old messaging codes, since I changed the records to show that they already did. I'll fill him in so we don't get half the battlecruisers in Koprulu sent after us. Of course, he may still go after us. He's a kind man, but a true leader- threats to his people are not tolerated."

Reigel chipped in again. "As for the swarm... we have no chance of keeping them off our backs. We need some kind of method of reliably escaping them. Our ship's warp drives will do in the short term, but Zagara can easily block a warp from afar. It's a near miracle she didn't earlier."

Dehaka considered everything "I am no expert in your 'laws', Yttrius. Will the agreement of our kinds extend to Casa?"

Yttrius had no mouth, and never had, but everyone could tell a proud smile would have crept onto it. "Do not worry. Infested Terrans are bound by the neutrality agreement too, thanks to your commander Stukov. Although, technically, we could be recognised as a faction outside the agreement, as rogues. Even so, I have the utmost faith in Hierarch Artanis to act with pure reasoning."

"Alright then. What do we do for Casa? Who does she stay with? Both parties could be referred to as her family now." Asked Reigel.

Nova glared "Reigel this is our daughter!"

"I- yes. That was a bit thoughtless, but I'm trying to be neutral here." Reigel stuttered.

Yttrius held up a hand, identifying the potential fight between Dehaka and Nova. "We allow her to choose. While seven is young for a Terran, she's grown a lot lately. I think she can make a serious decision. And even if she makes the wrong one, she can change it later."

The two commanders stared each other in the eyes. "...I guess it's the best way." Conceded Nova. "Casa. I promise I'll spend more time with you if you come back. I'll let you go anywhere. I'll be the parent you always wanted. So will your dad. We'll both do everything we can for you."

Dehaka just looked at Casa. "Casa. Realise your potential. That will bring essence. That is all I desire."

Casa could feel her two hearts thumping. "But... What if I never get to see someone again? Why can't we all go together, mom?"

"We can't travel together... I have to care for the people at home too, Casa. Without me there for them, they would die." Nova said sadly.

"Then... Then..." Casa held back her breath... she carefully exhaled. "I think I have to go with Dehaka, mom. If we have to stay at home, the swarm will find me. And then everyone would die."

Nova hung her head. For the longest time, she as silent. "Reigel... can you take care of the colony?"

"I can. November, what are you planning to-"

"Casa. Forget what I said before. I'll take you anywhere you want. Anywhere. Please, come back to me." Nova begged.

Casa looked back to Dehaka. "Do not ask me for guidance. I do not think as a Terran. Act for yourself. You will not bring essence until you realise your potential." He said.

Casa finally turned back to Nova. "Mom." She said confidently. "Let's go and explore everywhere."

Nova, for the first time in three years, knelt and hugged her daughter.

Yttrius watched. "We should go our seperate ways now, Dehaka. Casa, remember all you have learnt here. En Taro Adun, primal."

"Eh... En taro adun. I'll visit you loads, Dehaka!" Said Casa.

Dehaka had nearly forgotten Yttrius was Casa's bodyguard above all. The Purifier had become a trusted right-hand. "I will remember you. It is customary to express positivity to allies, yes? Casa. You will succeed. Good bye, for some time. Yttrius. En Taro Adun."


It felt oddly cold on board the behemoth that night. Dehaka reflected on Casa as he rested, trying to work out when she would realise her potential. He didn't mind waiting, he concluded.


Yttrius went into a reduced power state, recharging for the day to come. A part of his mind was locked on Casa, as she slept inside the room he was guarding. She was his duty. He would never fail in his duty.


Nova thought about the fact her daughter was a zerg now. That she'd nearly chosen not to return to her. That she'd failed as a parent. But nonetheless, she had her most restful night in weeks, difting to sleep calmly.


Casa couldn't sleep. Her new body might have been great for combat, and hunting, and being a zerg in general, but she hadn't needed the bathroom in over a day and she wasn't sure why. Aside from that, her sleeping chamber didn't accommodate her tails very well. It was a good thing that she didn't feel pain as more than a notification now.

Author's notes: Dehaka's transformation is to the body he has in Heroes of the Storm. It was confirmed as canonically what he looks like after the end of SC2, but doesn't appear in-game. In case you're wondering, he has not got his full moveset from Heroes yet, still lacking Isolation.

Next chapter will be a timelapse, spanning the time the main characters spend apart. It will cover a few developments, and introduce the main issue of the story. Zerg won the vote five to three, in total. Not a crushing victory, but decisive.

Electron97: I did heavily consider dragoon, but I like my characters to be at least a little different to the established lore figures. I was planning to basically give her a mechanical form like a small mothership core: A capsule with Casa's lifesupport, then a layer of really good psionic amplifiers, then a few small drones and other weapons to control from in there. After very nearly not making it several times, and gaining a distrust for a lot of people.

Mpopl2: Okay, first things first- your arguments were kickass. Really well done. I nearly decided to count you for three points. While I fear the infestation thus far is as stereotypical as you may fear... let's just say I have some surprises in store.

Samateus-Taal: How's that for pushing limits?