Imperial Palace, Korhal

Emperor Mengsk was pacing around his throne room. Normally, events would unfold around his whims. As a master of manipulation, he was usually the one pulling the strings. The only time he didn't was during the Brood War, a conflict he'd personally rather forget even if history remembered it as his 'great' victory over the UED. In reality, the only reason that he's still breathing is because Kerrigan, his former lieutenant turned Zerg queen, wanted him to live. She probably couldn't ask for a better revenge: in spite of all the power Mengsk had, he could always sense the hungering eyes of the Swarms, watching him and his empire from the shadows. Watching, and waiting. The threat alone unnerved him more than all his other enemies put together.

In an effort to stop her, the Emperor sunk billions into the Moebius foundation and their xenobiology projects. If the Zerg had an Achilles' heel, they'd find it. As an added bonus, it gave Valerian something to do. Maybe the crown-prince would learn to be useful somewhere along the way. Maybe.

When Narud came to him with his Protoss-Zerg hybrid project, the Emperor's funding finally seemed to bear fruit. A creature like that, once controlled, as Narud assured him it would be, would give the Dominion the power it needs to fight the Zerg on equal terms. How the doctor managed to create such a thing, Mengsk didn't know, or care for that matter. As much as he disliked being kept out of the loop, there were some things even he couldn't understand. Between the doctor's rambling about ancient artifacts, epigenetic silencing, and his preposterous accent, talking with Narud about anything related to science was like being hit on the head repeatedly with a hammer. Arcturus Mengsk was a smart man, nothing less than a genius, but even he had his limits. Relying on Valerian to translate the techno-babble into normal spoken English was just too embarrassing for the most powerful human in the sector, so he let the two do their thing more or less unsupervised. As long as they provided results, it really wouldn't matter. He was wrong. Very, very wrong.

His first clue should have been when Valerian insisted he'd free Tychus Findlay and let him persuade Raynor's Raiders to collect some artifacts. These artifacts were supposed to be the final component needed to control the hybrids. Though the emperor was assured that he'd have a finger on the man's kill-switch if he turned rogue, letting a criminal like Findlay loose didn't seem like such a good idea, even if he would lead Moebius to the artifact. Why did they need that damn thing anyway? Oh yes, 'to facilitate the hybridization of the Protoss and Zerg's nervous systems by silencing their respective rejection mechanisms through the use of psionic emanations in order to stabilize and control their behavior.' Why couldn't he just say 'to get their brains working so they won't try to eat us'? It almost seemed like they didn't want him to fully understand what the artifact was capable of. Given how events have transpired, he could probably be forgiven for his suspicions.

Apparently Valerian found a way to turn the artifact into a Zerg repellant behind Narud's back. Or so the good doctor claimed. Mengsk had a 'sixth sense' for reading people, and he felt that Narud wasn't entirely honest about his little toy. Perhaps the doctor knew, perhaps he didn't, but even he couldn't have foreseen what Valerian was going to do once the artifact was completed. Taking half the fleet from under his father's nose, teaming up with Raynor, getting him to successfully lead an invasion force to Char, and locking him up afterwards to take all the glory; it was very impressive. Who would have thought that wimpy excuse for a crown-prince would have it in him? The Emperor would even have considered it admirable if he didn't lock Warfield up and tried to use Kerrigan to gain enough popularity with the public to commit a silent coup. His son was stretching the Emperor's patience to the limit. The fact that the prince's plan seemed to be working didn't make the situation any less infuriating.

All this wasn't what bothered Mengsk the most. There was a tiny kink in Valerian's plan: the Zerg managed to break Kerrigan free. How or why wasn't important. All that mattered is that the most powerful psychic in the sector was on the loose again. While there was no telling what she'd do now that she has her broods back, the Emperor knew that it probably wasn't in his, or the Dominion's, best interest. How long did he have before she would be strong enough to come after him? Dammit, she should have been killed when they had the chance. She would have been killed if it weren't for that damnable pirate Raynor stopping Findlay before he could finish off the Zerg problem once and for all. Arcturus sighed. Getting on Raynor's bad side was probably the second biggest mistake of his life.

In a way, Mengsk saw himself as the chess master of life. The thought of having someone beat him at his own game was downright shameful. However, he wasn't out of the game yet. Sure, he lost some valuable pieces, but his opponent forgot to notice one of Mengsk's rooks: the completed artifact. The fleet was still loyal to him; making the artifact mobile and finding troops to escort it around the sector shouldn't be a problem. Even if Kerrigan somehow managed to regain control of her broods, the artifact could wipe them out with ease. Perhaps the situation was salvageable after all.

Prison facility, Char

Every man has a breaking point. A moment or an event where he just can't take it anymore. Hope, dreams, idealism; whatever meaning they once had, whatever strength you could draw from them just isn't enough anymore. For Jim Raynor, that moment was growing nearer by the minute. His Raiders, once beacons of hope and freedom, have been reduced a caged heap of anger and sorrow. At least their anger was directed at the Dominion and not at him. It provided little consolation for Raynor, however. They were his men, his responsibility. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he had failed them by allowing them to be locked up like this. To make matters worse, he didn't even have any booze to drown his sorrows in.

Raynor chastised himself for his thoughts. Now, more than ever, he needed to stand tall. If he lost hope, his men would follow soon after, along with any chance of ever getting out of this place. If he was going to get lost in his thoughts, they better involve Valerian, Arcturus, and a gun.

General Warfield entered the room, dressed up in his CMC power armor. "I thought you were arrested too?" Raynor asked. "Doesn't seem very smart of the Dominion to let you walk around in fully-armored."

"Don't get any ideas, they haven't let me off the leash." Warfield pointed at the ghost hiding in the corner. "Officially, I'm still in charge of the invasion fleet, directing the 'purging of this planet'. Apparently I'm too famous to simply disappear in some prison cell. Lucky me."

"So you just sit here twiddling your thumbs?"

"No, I've decided to help my boys clear the planet, even if I have to do it from here. The only good Zerg is a dead Zerg, so I don't see any harm in helping out. I'm not putting the lives of my men in the hands of that incompetent moron Valerian sent to replace me. Don't know what's gonna happen to me after this is over, though. They'll probably drop me in the nearest volcano and tell the people I tripped."

Raynor chuckled. "I hear ya, General. You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Hmph, do I? I still don't know what Valerian's planning and I don't like the thought of being used and double-crossed like that again."

"Well, you'll get used to it. Do you think he's doing the right thing?"

"I think he thinks he's doing the right thing. Me, I'm not so sure." It was hard to disagree with the general when you're imprisoned too.

"So, how's the bug bustin' coming along?"

"Worse than I'd hoped, better than I'd feared. Most of the surface has been cleared, but the underground tunnel network is massive. I'd figure it'll take several years to clear the whole planet with troops and seismic charges. At least in the tunnels their numbers won't count for much. Our losses have been…acceptable." The general's expression turned grim. He really regretted not being there for his men. "I just hate sending my boys down there with the order to shoot everything that moves. I wish there was a better way."

"What about Sarah? They won't give us a TV in here and the guards have been strangely quiet about it when I asked."

"About that…Right. I have good news and really, really bad news. I've kept my ears to the ground and found out that the Dominion no longer knows where she is."

"What do you mean, 'no longer knows where she is'? Don't they have her guarded in a cell, or something?" As much as the commander hated to admit it, Kerrigan was the most wanted criminal in the sector now. There's no way Valerian and his cronies would let her out of their sights.

"They did, but she was busted out."

Raynor's expression suddenly turned into a ear-to-ear grin. "Zeratul, you magnificent bastard. I knew you'd come through in the end."

"Zeratul?"

"A high ranking Protoss dark templar and a old friend of mine. We fought together on Aiur against the original Overmind four years ago. He is the one who told me not to allow Kerrigan to be killed, or he thinks the universe will end. 'Figure he must have known about our invasion and followed Sarah's transport after the battle."

The general paused, trying to muster the courage to talk. "Raynor…I don't know how to tell you this. It wasn't your Protoss buddy who freed her, it was the Zerg."

It is funny how fast a person's emotional state can change. How one can switch from hope to utter despair in an instant. In Raynor's case, the word despair probably wouldn't adequately describe the feelings going through him in that moment. Part of him always feared the artifact would kill Kerrigan, so he mentally prepared himself for her death the best he could. Heck, he even swore to kill her after Fenix' death. To lose her like that would have been acceptable, but to lose her to the Zerg… in any other situation the sense of déjà vu would almost be funny.

The memories of his first encounter with the Queen of Blades still haunted his dreams. Weeks of visions from the ash world, fighting through hordes of alien monsters, only to arrive literally moments too late to save her. As he blasted his way into what appeared to be some sort of breeding ground, he noticed a strange chrysalis about to hatch. His gut told him to run, to escape before whatever was growing inside the chrysalis fully awoke, but he just stood there, frozen in horror as a creature appeared arose from it. A creature who seemed to radiate malice and evil in its purest form. A creature, both grotesque and beautiful at the same time. A creature that wore the twisted face of the woman he loved. Mother of god, what have they done to her?

"How…how could this have happened?" He stammered.

"I don't know how the Zerg managed to find her, but they hit the guards hard and fast. I didn't even think they were smart enough to pull off something like that, at least not without the Queen of Blades to guide them."

"Doesn't matter how they got her, it only matters that they did. If the Queen of Blades regains her power…well, I don't need to tell you what will happen to us, to humanity in general."

Matt Horner, sitting in the cell next to him, decided that now was a good time to speak up. He had always believed in his commander, even if Jim lost faith in himself. In spite of everything that has happened the past four years, the one thing Horner never lost was his depthless optimism. "Commander, we don't know what Kerrigan will do. There is no way of knowing if she's still the Queen of Blades. Chances are the artifact worked as intended and she's trying to fix things using the Zerg as her tool."

"Do you really believe that, Matt? What's keeping the Zerg from changing her back the moment they get their grubby hands…claws…tentacles, whatever on her." Even to Raynor, who wanted to believe with every fiber of his being that she'd become human again, it sounded like wishful thinking.

"Tell you what, if she comes busting us out, you're buying the drinks. Either way, we'll find out soon enough."

Raynor chuckled. Can't argue with that logic. Still, it did little to make him feel better. He didn't have the luxury of foolish optimism: the universe had disappointed him far too often. It seems like waiting to see what would happen was the only option. If the Zerg had infested her again…No, he couldn't think about it. He barely lived through it once, he wouldn't survive it happening again.

A/N For the Raynor meets infested Kerrigan flashback scene, I used the book 'Queen of Blades' (or rather the wiki's synopsis of the book because I've not actually read any of the books, shame on me), not the version from the game. I just like it better this way.