One month after infestation, Nova was holding to her promise hard. She'd taken Casa to every major planet she could manage, even Korhal. It was difficult, and often a covert operation since Casa was unmistakably zerg, but every time Casa stepped foot on a new world she was thrilled. In those moments when her joy was so vivid, Nova could almost forget their circumstances, and just be happy for her daughter.

She could almost forget Casa was a zerg. She could almost forget it was her fault. But even the most fleeting glance brought her crashing back to reality, filled with regrets.

Casa was not a very apt mind reader, and could never tell what her mother was thinking. But she often felt Nova was never particularly warm. Always subdued around her, even as she was smooth and confident around everyone else. As if something in Nova just... didn't like her.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to plant a tiny seed of doubt. That maybe she shouldn't tell her about this feeling that sometimes, it felt like someone was trying to control her. No... supposed to control her.


Six months later, Casa had grown from the size of an eight year old to a sixteen year old. She'd seen a lot more of Koprulu, and was steadily becoming a seasoned traveller. And hunter, too. Her new form demanded essence, but it seemed the ability to incorporate new traits was restricted.

Nova was growing to appreciate her daughter's incredible combat prowess. Those tails could stretch deceptively far, and the beams were almost as lethal as psi-blades. She'd been working on flight, energy projectiles, duel tactics... Yet despite her physical power, her mind was still developing. She needed the attention of Nova and Yttrius, and Reigel often.


One year later, Dehaka was hauling biomass aboard his Behemoth when his foot hit something hard and metallic, very unlike the rest of the floor. He looked at the object. It was dirty and scratched, having been lost around the ship for so long, but he recognised it as Casa's psionic focus. Yttrius must have forgotten it. He wondered how Casa and Yttrius were growing. Were they even still alive? He'd given Casa all she needed to survive, so yes. The girl was in good hands.

The radio bug was still active, too. He listened, as the behemoth wandered through space. 'Earlier, the UED broadcast the following message to our people through a satellite they launched.'

'Surviving citizens of the Terran Dominion. The United Earth Directorate wishes to enter negotiations with your leader. You have twenty four hours to respond.'

'Do they bring peace, or war? And more importantly, do we? Donny Vermillion, signing out.'

United Earth Directorate? Who? Probably not a threat to him, but worth monitoring...


Two days after that, Valerian was sitting down to a video conversation with the UED leader. He could feel just a flicker of anxiety at his first contact with the faction his father had so many tales about. "Greetings on behalf of the Terran Dominion. I am Emperor Valerian Mengsk."

The UED leader was a sour-faced lady in a grey suit. Hair hair matched the colour perfectly, and was cut to an exactly uniform length. "Greetings, Emperor. I am Billia Ridgewell, the current president of Earth and it's colonies. We have contacted you to inform you that while your Dominion has had a severely negative past with the UED, you may still become our allies if you comply with our terms. You must require our help, with the threat of the Zerg?"

Valerian broke down the offer in his head. They wanted to form an alliance despite the history? And they thought the Dominion needed help... but the way she worded it... "I am always interested in securing peace, Mrs President. I would like to hear your terms."

"We wish to re-integrate the Dominion into our Directorate. Return our colonies to our command. You will retain your position, to a degree, but will legally reform to UED standards and will answer to our command. In exchange, you will recieve access to our military might for eradicating the zerg." Billia's words were cool and calculated.

Valerian was careful to let no emotion or unnecessary information slip. "I apologise, Madam President, but we do not currently desire military assistance. I am still open to mutual alliance, if we can negotiate terms."

"I find that difficult to believe, given our records of the zerg. What terms would you propose?"

"Creation of an embassy for both our peoples on our respective homeworlds. Exchange of information regarding current events in both sectors, and the right to open trade routes between our parties." All options that would help him assess the UED's trustworthiness.

"We cannot guarantee you will not betray us. We have not forgiven your transgressions, and you were originally our colony. Why should we agree?" Billa said sharply.

Valerian felt a proverbial lightbulb blink on inside his head. Billia didn't know he was at peace with the Zerg, Protoss and had been running a flourishing economy for months. "Madam President, I wish to act for the good of my people, and starting a war with you has our defeat as a real possibility. Betraying you makes no sense."

"Ah." Billia's eyes narrowed, like she'd locked onto something. "So you admit your ragtag empire's weakness. I offer you once again- return to us or there will be war. We have the might to overwhelm you with a token force, mere pocket change for us. You can't hope to win on three fronts at once, child. Do you want to pick a losing battle?"

"We will fight back if attacked. I will defend my people, and that means giving them an empire that will treat them fairly. If you are so sure we belong to you, then I doubt my people will see anything more than discrimination and injustice."

"Farewell, Emperor. It is a shame you couldn't see reason." The call cut out.

An officer at the back of the room actually smiled. "Well. I suppose if she wants a war..."

"She'll get one." Matthew Horner confirmed. "I'll contact our allies, they'll be more than happy to defend themselves. And Tosh can chase up our End War commanders. I fully support your decision to resist, Emperor Valerian."


Eighteen months had passed since Dehaka and Casa parted ways, and a few small skirmishes had occurred between the UED and Dominion. They were nothing but probes of defences, to test the waters.

The 'Fleet' that was leading this assault barely qualified for the name. It was clearly little more than a flying forwards base, with four large battlecruisers in formation, surrounded by a few smaller ships.

Stukov looked at it through an overseer, and couldn't help but chuckle. If the UED thought that was going to be able to take on Koprulu, the command structure had clearly gone insane in DuGalle's absence. No, this was a scouting force. Still, there was one worry. "Oh, son... I hope you're no following in my footsteps."

Information they gathered made the UED attack plan clear. Launch two small diversionary conquests, and then go straight for Korhal. Zagara was indeed quite happy to be handed an advance warning by Valerian that one of her worlds was about to be attacked.

She moved all broods underground. Every inch of the planet concealed nothing but chitin and death. Suffice to say, the assault was disastrous.

Aside from other fortifications, Nova was called on to help. Valerian put out the contract for her, and by some sense of duty, she answered. Her work was seriously impressive, and the reason behind the outstanding failure of the UED's every action.

She and Casa were currently on board one of the main UED ships. Every command the UED general gave reached Valerian before the UED troops. Aside from that, Casa was slowly breaking the mind of every UED ghost on board with feedback. It was a protoss technique, which Yttrius had graciously shared what he knew of.

They intended to kill the enemy general, but for the time being, he remained under too competent a guard.

Still, the skirmishes hurt the Dominion. Matthew wasn't as inspiring as Raynor, and couldn't pull morale from seemingly nowhere. Keeping the public calmwas the most difficult task he'd faced in a long time.


And six months after that, when the UED was in a passive standoff, having switched tactics to passive ones, the most important part of the altercation occured.

Casa was resting in the storage bay of the ship, and glanced at the tip of one of her tails. She noticed the blue tip was orange, and felt a shot of confusion. THat had never happened before...

She went to tap Nova, who was sleeping in a crate next to her. But her arm didn't respond. She wasn't in control of her body. It just wasn't responding. And then she sensed it, an unmistakable feeling. Like seeing a door you locked opened, a copied key in the lock. Someone else was in her head.

Before the hivemind took away access to her psionics, Casa panicked. And as loudly as she could, projected one single cry for help.

"DEHAKA!"

Every trooper in the fleet doubled over in agony at the volume. The call was of such magnitude that even thousands of lightyears away, many Dominion troops heard Casa's cry clearly. The Overlord that had been acting as a relay for the hivemind connection, drifting through space, popped like a balloon.

Nova jolted awake, her own power only just saving her from being killed outright. But it left her stunned inside her crate, as Casa felt herself regain control of her body.

Then the alarms started blaring.

In a mere minute, an armoured squadron burst into the room. Casa was holding herself against the ceiling with her telekinesis, having hastily turned the crate to face the wall.

"The explosion came from here, chief."

"Sweep the room. All our ghosts are in sickbay or dead, but we can still scan. Find what let off that blast and destroy it or contain it."

"Yes sir!"

Casa wasn't holding her breath, but she couldn't levitate forever, especially after sending out a distress call at that volume. She could feel herself slipping, but held out for a few extra moments. If the squad moved just a little further forwards, then maybe...

She dropped down, igniting her tails. With twelve precise cuts, she killed all six soldiers before they had any chance to react. A perfect victory, but she knew the security cameras had her now.

She grabbed Nova's box with her mind and ripped a hole in the wall with her psionic energy. Her reserves of stamina were draining away fast. She needed to escape immediately. She stumbled, as the lack of energy left in her body started to catch up to her.

She felt her mind wobble, dipping in and out of consciousness. She'd already needed food and rest before this. Ripping through the wall had taken too much energy. The hangar was ahead, but troops were rounding the corner behind her. She took a few more steps, and it all went black as she fainted, brain undersupplied.

Author's notes: Had to rewrite this thing from the ground up, because I didn't save the original. Minor alterations have been made to better fit with Exile Of The Swarm. Updated to this version Jan 2019.

Review answers will be transcribed below, fear not.

Mpopl2: Well, here goes. No more time skips from here forwards.

Samateus-Taal: Abathur is the ultimate perfectionist. If it can be improved, he WILL improve it or destroy it. Sarah's touch will be explained in the end, and I'm pretty sure you won't guess why it's there. Zagara only let Dehaka leave because Kerrigan left orders to let him go. The two despise each other, since Dehaka doesn't have absolute loyalty to Kerrigan, and he's a primal, which the zerg see as inferior.