Author's Note: All right everyone, although this is against my better judgment, the recent reviewer of Swedish0spartans wanted me to update right away.

I will honor this request, but just be aware that there will be no further updates for the remainder of the week. This chapter will begin to shift the picture to tell more than just Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship, but they will still play their central roles in the future chapters.

As always, please read and review!


Chapter 11

Protoss Fleet, High Orbit Over Aiur

"Hierarch Artanis," announced a Templar. "Zeratul's Void Seeker has joined the fleet."

"Very well," Artanis replied. "Open a channel to him immediately."

"En Taro Tassadar, Artanis," Zeratul spoke. "It is good to see the rest of my brothers have taken the initiative in the reclamation of Aiur following the Queen of Blades's defeat on Char."

"We are honored by your presence among the Protoss once more, Prelate Zeratul. In moments, our fleet will be ready to enter Aiur's atmosphere. Have there been any signs of unusual activity of the Zerg on our world?

Zeratul shook his head. "During my brief visit, I had uncovered the data recorded by the few functional observers that chose to remain behind since the evacuation. Although over 5 billion Zerg remain on our homeworld after the Brood War, it would appear that after James Raynor had begun his assault on Char, Kerrigan recalled much of them to the fiery planet to quell the invasion. While the observers detect that there is still almost 2 billion that have remained, they are nevertheless much weaker and more thinly spread."

"Hierarch, we have Zerg attack waves incoming!" exclaimed a nearby Templar.

"On screen!" Artanis ordered.

The display showed exactly what had been expected: thousands upon thousands of Mutalisks, Corruptors, and Scourges were flying up towards the command Mothership.

"Admiral Urun, Executor Selendis, unleash the power of your Phoenixes and Carriers!"

The golden ships of the Phoenix Fleet opened up with their ion cannons, and the Interceptors poured out of the Carriers. Within minutes, the sky was filled with roar of battle. Hundreds of Zerg flyers were being shot out of the sky every minute, but more flyers simply took their place, still heading for the command Mothership.

"They're swarming at our flanks!" Artanis exclaimed. "Launch the Scouts!"

Hundreds of Scout fighters poured through each individual Mothership, their anti-matter missile launchers already blazing. Most of the Scourges were shot down as they were ineffective against smaller ships, but Corruptors continued to pour through the gaps.

"Hierarch, initiate the Time Bomb and slow them down!" Zeratul urged.

The flanking Motherships glowed for a moment, before giant transparent bubbles fell over the Protoss ships. Within them, the Corruptor attacks immediately slowed, making them easy prey for the Scouts and Carriers.

From the command Mothership, Artanis began channeling his psionic energy into the vessel. As the bubbles disappeared from the other Motherships, they began to do similarly.

"Prepare yourselves, my brethren!" Zeratul announced. "We are about to warp down to the surface of our homeworld! Slay all Zerg creatures that oppose us!"

Within moments, the first of what will be many Mass Recalls have been completed. Artanis watched from above as thousands of Protoss warriors were on the battlefield, greeted by an equal number of Zerg ground forces. The cries of battle could be heard everywhere, as the psionic and war blades Zealots and Dark Templar slices through the carapace of Zerglings. As they fell by the hundreds, dozens of them began morphing into Banelings, knowing that their suicide role will take many Protoss with them.

However, by now the first of many Colossi have also been brought down to the battlefield, and the power of their thermal lances had been unleashed. Most of the Banelings were unable to complete their chrysalis phase before being fried by them, those that did were carefully slain by Dark Templar, piercing their bellies to prevent the volatile burst of highly concentrated acid.

Roaches were brought up to reinforce the defense, but only a few were able to get within acid firing range of the Zealots before sliced apart by Dark Templar warp blades. More and more Roaches tried to rush in to overwhelm the Dark Templar, knowing that many of them would be sacrifice as their foes possessed the invisibility of cloaking and they cannot detect them. Overseers had been moving towards the battle, but the prismatic beams of Mohandar's Void Rays had sizzled most of them before they could get within detection range.

"We must cut through the Zerg air defenses immediately! The Motherships are low on energy to continue the Mass Recalls!" Artanis urged from his Mothership. "Admiral Urun, proceed down to the planet's surface to assist Prelate Mohandar! We must locate and eradicate their hatcheries!"

Thousands of Observers had already been deployed groundside to record the battles and provide tactical data to the ground forces, but more and more of them were being shot down as spore crawlers were moving within range, their accelerated movement assisted by the creep excretion from the Overlords and Creep Tumors from the Queens.

The air threat remained as Scouts were being shot out of the sky by the Corruptors, their fighting abilities weakened by Urun's departure. Although Selendis's carriers were still holding their own against them, one by one the Motherships were forced to cease their Mass Recall abilities and open fire with their purifier beams against the incoming waves of Mutalisks. The older Corsairs were deployed to combat the incoming threat, but their Neutron Flare attacks were only designed to assist Protoss air fighters, not replace them. Although dozens of Mutalisks were shot down, more took their place and headed for Artanis's ship.

"Hierarch, we have located Zerg hive cluster that has been supplying the air units to combat the fleet!" Mohandar announced.

"Eradicate it immediately!" Artanis ordered. "We must gain a foothold on Aiur!"

Without another word Mohandar ordered his Void Rays to unleash their prismatic beams at the Zerg structures, while the Phoenix ships held off any Mutalisks and Corruptors. One by one, the Zerg buildings succumbed to the Void Rays, and from high above Aiur, Artanis saw the Zerg air power began to weaken.

"Corsairs! Deploy to the surface of Aiur to assist our ground forces!" the Hierarch ordered.

By now, the Zerglings, Roaches, and Hydralisks were starting to hold their ground against the waves of Zealots, Dark Templars, and Immortals. In a last defiant gesture to deny the Protoss a foothold, hundreds of Brood Lords have arrived at the battle scene, their broodling attacks greatly weakening the assault. Although Stalkers have been sent down to deal with them, the broodling attacks have kept them occupied while other Zerg forces picked them off.

The ground trembled beneath the Protoss warriors, before giant Nydus Worms popped up from beneath. As their biological mouths opened, Ultralisks began pouring out of them. Together with the Brood Lords, the Protoss assault began to sputter out.

The psionic blades of the Zealots were no match for the thick carapace of the behemoths, who simply trampled over them. Although the thermal lance attacks from the Colossi slowed them down, they nevertheless continued to advance. The Colossi attacks began to slacken as they came within attack range of the Brood Lords, and while the Stalkers were able to destroy hundreds of their broodlings, few were able to get within particle disruptor range of the Brood Lords themselves before being swarmed by Zerglings.

Zerg Infestors were also starting to arrive at the battlefield. To compensate for the Zealot's charge attack which significantly increased their movement speed, dozens of Infestors unleashed their Fungal Growth ability, as Zealots, Stalkers, and Immortals were immediately immobilized, and then instantly pelted by Hydralisk needle spines. The High Templars on the battlefield began casting psionic storms as the sky crackled electric blue. As the Zerg advanced, hundreds of Roaches and Hydralisks were dying from its power.

However, the Ultralisks rushed forward, providing a biological shield for the other Zerg as their hardened skin strong were enough to withstand a storm and keep fighting. The Infestors remained behind, many of them now releasing swarm eggs, each of them hatching an infested marine, the unfortunate victims of the Zerg during their battle against them on Aiur. The Templars continued to cast psionic storms to pick the Infestors off, but they simply borrowed under the earth to avoid them.

"Slay them all!" Admiral Urun shouted, as his Phoenix Fleet returned to the battle scene. The newly arrived Infestors were suddenly yanked from the ground by gravitation beams. Suspended in midair, they were defenseless as Stalkers picked them off.

Suddenly, the Ultralisks were stopped dead in their tracks as a white bubble of energy surrounded them. They roared in anger, but none could break through. The Protoss warriors looked up to see hundreds of Corsair fighters unleash the power of their disruption webs, as all Zerg units unfortunate enough to get caught within it were trapped.

By now, the Mohandar's Void Rays had also returned, and unable to move, the Ultralisks were incinerated where they stood by them. With the heavy assault support gone, the Colossi renewed their efforts against the Hydralisks who desperately tried to shoot the Void Rays out of the sky to protect the Brood Lords.

"Away, veil creatures!" A commanding voice shouted. Within seconds, the skies were filled with robotic interceptors. With the Zerg air support greatly weakened, Selendis's carrier fleet has descended down to the surface. Like a swarm of locusts, the interceptors poured out of their Carriers and descended on the Zerg. Most of the Hydralisks were torn apart before they could even get within range of the Void Rays, as the latter picked off the Brood Lords. With Protoss air superiority, the Zerglings and Roaches were being annihilated at ease on the ground. Although Hydralisks continued to pour in, the relentless attacks from the air was ensuring that many of them were unable to get in firing range of the Carriers. The remaining Mutalisks and Corruptors tried to break through, but with the air reinforcements reduced to a trickle, more and more of them were being shot out of the sky by Scouts, Phoenixes, and Corsairs.

Finally realizing the battle has been lost, the remaining Zerg forces withdrew in disarray.

"It is done," Zeratul announced from his Void Seeker. "With this victory, we have gained a foothold on our homeworld. Now the 2nd phase must begin, as the remaining Zerg shall be mustering their forces to expel us from this planet once more."

"From what we have collected from the Observers, it would appear the Zerg are concentrating in two areas," Artanis announced. "One is our capital of Antioch, and the other is at the final resting place of the Overmind itself."

"If that is true, then they will be weak in other sectors of the planet," Selendis observed. "We should claim such sectors as soon as we can, so that we have greater staging points to assemble our forces in the greater coming offensives."

"Very well, executor. Our next step will then will be to push towards Scion province and eradicate the Zerg there."

"You must do this without me," Zeratul said slowly. "I have matters of my own to which I must seek in an enigmatic location on Aiur. Once I have sought that out, I will join you in retaking the rest of our world."

Artanis nodded, before opening a channel to the rest of the Protoss. "My friends, we have done well today. Despite the casualties we have suffered, we have been able to establish a forward position. But make no mistake: despite the fact the Zerg swarm is now leaderless, they remain every bit as dangerous. They will stop at nothing to see us forced off this world once more. By defeating the Queen of Blades, James Raynor had given us our greatest opportunity to take Aiur back, so we must use it to our advantage. We will rid the Zerg infestation of our world once and for all, or die in the attempt."


Dominion Lab Complex, Castanar

Gestalt 112 ducked from another swipe from the hybrid's claws. While the damage they had inflicted had been much greater compared to the previous attempts in subduing the creature, the overall situation remained unfavorable to them.

Of the 25 gestalt soldiers sent for the mission, 6 were dead, 3 injured, and 5 more had been temporarily incapacitated by the hybrid's slime attacks, unable to move. He and the remaining gestalts have been using their fragmentation grenades to distract the hybrid from killing the ones still recovering from the slime, but the majority of them have been used up by now, and they have done nothing but anger the hybrid further.

Sure, their psionic blades where able to pierce the creature's carapace, but the incredible Zerg regenerative abilities meant that unless this was exploited within seconds, it'll simply heal right back up. They had tried piercing it in different places, trying to locate a spot that was weaker than the others, but so far the only one is located at the hybrid's neck.

Despite the fact the creature wasn't very smart, it was intelligent enough to keep that part of itself better protected compared to other parts. Clearly it understood that was where it was most vulnerable. To make things worse, it was able to use the tendrils and tentacles on the back of its head and its entire rear in melee combat.

Now, he was falling back with the other gestalts, carrying one of their wounded on his shoulder, whilst firing his gauss rifle at the hybrid. While this was had no effect on the creature it terms of damage, it nevertheless was distracting it.

On his right, Gestalt 104 was dragging the other two wounded down the corridor, while the remaining gestalts continued to provide firing support for them.

"We're not going to be able to keep this up much longer!" Gestalt 112 shouted over the fire.

"Fall back to the lab room immediately!" Gestalt 107 shouted back. "The rest of our squad should be almost recovered from that thing's slime by now, we just have to lure the monster to the room!"

The gestalts continued to provide fire support for one another, but the hybrid had clearly had enough. With a roar, it charged forward and unleashed a blast of assimilating energy, instantly killing two gestalts, while knocking the rest back. Most did not get a chance to get up before the hybrid was on them, where they met a most painful death. Only Gestalts 104, 107, and 112 were left, running for their lives towards the lab room, as the hybrid stayed behind to feed on its prey.

Once they sealed the lab room days, they breathed a sigh of relief. The 5 other gestalts were glad to see them, but were also filled with dread, knowing they were all that made it.

"What do we do now?" asked Gestalt 112, looking at the incapacitated gestalts. "There's only 8 of us left, and that lab door can't last forever."

Gestalt 104 touched his comm-link. "Sir, we're going to need reinforcements. My squad is holed up in a lab room with the hybrid banging on the door outside. We can't last very long."

"Can you keep the creature where it is?" Mengsk's voice came over the intercom.

"Wherever there's something for it to feed on, it's determined to get. But the door can't keep it out indefinitely. I'd give it maybe an hour before it breaks in here."

"I've got more dropships arriving. This time I'm bringing a whole company. If you can keep the hybrid where it is, you'll be getting reinforcements within the hour."


Construction Yards, Haven

"You're doing great, Nova!"

Sarah beamed at the former Dominion ghost as she practiced her telekinesis abilities with her at the construction yards. Jim had already informed her that while the Protoss are off to get their homeworld back, they'll turn their attention to clearing the Zerg from other worlds. The Raiders still aren't strong enough to take on the Dominion, but with every world liberated from the Zerg, it improves the chances of them gaining more allies. The hope was that once the Protoss had cleared Aiur of the Zerg, they will aid the Raiders with their endeavors. For now, they would start by clearing Agria.

The former Confederate ghost felt obligated to go there and clear it personally. It was during this week of recovery that she had been treated by Dr. Hanson. Although the doctor was unable to remove the remaining Zerg blood in her, she nevertheless ran tests to make sure they would do no harm to her. For Kerrigan, it was a great relief to know that the tests had confirmed there wasn't enough Zerg left to infest her again, and she felt the least she could do in return was help get Ariel's world back.

After refreshing her shooting skills at the firing range, she had Nova had run obstacle courses together. While a few of the pop up targets had Dominion faces on them, the vast majority of them had Zerg instead. Jim felt she had to overcome her fear of being infested again, and until she faces the Zerg head on, this was the best way.

His efforts had paid off quite well. Under Nova's training, Sarah had regained her sharpshooting skills within a few days, and her hand to hand combat abilities remained as strong as ever. The obstacle courses she had trained in had rapidly turned her fear of infestation into determination for killing those who turned her into a monster.

Nova panted heavily as she telepathically set the siege tank back on the ground, relieved for what Jim had done. Even before Sarah had been de-infested, he had seen the similarities between the two ghosts, and knew that she too shared his dream of a liberated Koprulu sector. As such, he felt she should be free of all forms of enslavement. After they had left Char, Jim had revealed to her that during the 4 years he had been fighting the Dominion and before the Science Vessels were taken out of commission, his Raiders had gained access to the old ghost program files.

She had been surprised when Sarah told her there was a way to reverse the hypnotic effect that limited a ghost's psionic powers. Sarah explained that after she became the Queen of Blades, she had raided a Science Vessel called The Amerigo and acquired the same thing. The files were intended to restore psionic abilities if a ghost's mind was damaged, but by working backwards, it could unlock the full potential of one's mind. Kerrigan went on to say that this was the reason why since then, her mind's psionic abilities had just kept growing in power.

Apparently, Jim trusted her so much that shortly after arriving on Haven, he had given Nova access to the files. With Sarah's help, Nova was also able to undo the conditioning, allowing her mind to be fully freed. While she was grateful for Jim freeing her like that, she couldn't help but notice a lot of the Raiders were a little uncomfortable with another powerful psionic individual walking around the ship.

Jim had tried to assure them that he was just taking their precautions, since they still don't fully trust Kerrigan. While there were still a few on the ship uneasy about her, Nova knew that by now she had earned the trust of most of the Raiders. Thus Jim used the logical excuse of saying if Sarah went crazy again, unlocking Nova's mind would give them the best chance of stopping her given her immense psionic potential.

Of course, during the days following, Nova learned even fully released, her psionic abilities were still nowhere near that of Sarah's. For starters, she couldn't cast psionic storms like Kerrigan could. Sarah assured her that's actually not a bad thing. From her time in fighting the Protoss, she had quickly learned that they followed some sort of religion called the Khala. While it grants an immense amount of psionic energy, it also requires discipline to control the higher powers, like the psionic storm. Without it, the storms can only be controlled by sheer willpower alone, something she had learned the hard way when she first encountered Zeratul on Char. If the willpower fails, it was entirely possible for the storm to harm potential allies. Although Nova was slightly jealous at such a power Kerrigan had over her, Sarah informed her that such power comes at a cost, and she would have traded all her psionic powers in a heartbeat if it freed her from the Zerg influence. For Nova, this was a clear sign that her years of competing against Kerrigan had been misplaced. Sarah never wanted the spotlight to begin with, she never wanted to be special. She just wanted a regular life.

As Nova stood there catching her breath, she suddenly felt guilty for the luxuries she had been given in comparison, and had not realized until now. If what Jim told her about what he had uncovered in the ihan crystal was true, Sarah's path had already been chosen for her long before she even existed. She had been manipulated by the Confederacy, by Mengsk, and then the Zerg. And now, after all the efforts to bring her back and restart her life anew, destiny had chosen her for an even grander role.

"Are you ok, Nova?" Sarah asked, coming over to her.

"I'm fine, I've just been thinking about clearing out the Zerg from Agria, that's all," Nova lied.

Kerrigan sighed, as she and Nova sat down on a nearby bench. "I know that look on your face. I've seen it enough times to know it's a feeling of guilt without having to probe a guy's head. Just tell me what's on your mind."

Nova hesitated, before deciding there's nothing she could say that the red head couldn't understand. "I just realized being the best isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"You can say that again."

"I mean, I was the top Dominion ghost. I had thought during that time I would be humanity's heroine, securing a place for our survival. But all I got was mission after mission of assassination targets. Now that I look back, I wonder just how many more people did I have to kill to keep humanity safe."

"You're far from the only one," Sarah pointed out. "When I was part of the Confederacy, I too arrogantly thought I'd get such a status, and all I got was horrible experiments done on me when they played with Zerg specimens."

"But I have it easier than you," Nova countered. "I realize that now. I originally wanted to be special, but now I see there are times where it's better to be the expendable pawn. This new threat we eventually have to deal with, you're the key. We all have the luxury of getting ourselves killed and escaping the madness, but you have to fight on. Like you I'm afraid to die, but it's still better than being condemned to suffer the burden of watching everyone around you die and you cannot."

Sarah closed her eyes painfully, clenching her fists in frustration, as her psionic powers flared up. Not realizing it, she telekinetically lifted a nearby Vulture and flipped it onto its back. "I've been cursed, Nova. Jim showed me the visions of Zeratul's memories from the ihan crystal. I had honestly thought that after Jim saved me on Char, I was finally free from slavery, finally free to choose my own path. Instead, I just got another burden forced on my shoulders. I'm forever doomed to be a slave. I already lost everyone close to me when I was the Queen of Blades, and now I have to lose the ones I got back because of this. It's all clear now that I'm meant to be miserable forever."

Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "That will never happen as long as I'm alive, Sarah."

She turned around to see Jim standing behind them. Nova knew this was a signal that they needed some alone time, so she immediately got up and walked away.

Jim waited until Nova had disappeared into a construction yard warehouse, before turning to Sarah again. "There is no such thing as something that is written in stone that can accurately portray the future."

"You saw it yourself," Kerrigan said miserably. "You saw what Zeratul found on the shrines at Ulaan. It is my destiny."

"We are who we choose to be," Jim said softly. "Because of that, the future can never be fixed."

"How can you be sure of it?" Sarah's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Because we all choose our own destinies and futures. No one has the power to choose it for us. No matter what the circumstances, no one has the power to make us lose all measure of control."

Sarah rested her head on Jim's chest as he stroked her shiny hair. "We all have our parts to play in the upcoming battles ahead. Even if you're the key to it all, you won't have to face it alone. We too must decide to fight on or not, and you know my decision."

"I just don't want to make another mistake like before again," Sarah said quietly. "You suffered far too much than you should have when I had been taken by the Zerg."

"We all must learn from our past actions, Sarah. You had been a broken woman when you woke up, but since then I had seen your determination and resolve come back. You wanted to fight to make up for your past. If you believe we'll make it through this in one piece, I know it's true."

Jim looked over to the flipped over Vulture. "I can see your psionic powers are as strong as ever. I'm glad you and Nova weren't training at the Thor building section."

"Are we going to be heading out soon?" Sarah asked.

The commander nodded. "Matt will remain here with the Hyperion to continue to look over the fleet build-up. I'm going with General Warfield on the Helios, we'll be leaving in two days. I hope you're prepared."

"I've recovered, Jim," Sarah said, gripping her C-10 Canister Rifle tightly. "You said it yourself the first step in atonement is to fight for those who died. I'm ready."