Lucio became vaguely aware of a bedsheet stuck to him, before waking up fully and remembering the drinking last night.

He'd kept things casual, or at least casual enough for the hangover to pass soon. He hoped. At the very least, he felt like he knew the rest of the group a lot better, having traded stories with them all. Lucio took a deep breath and moved the cover off, telling his body to sit up before he could think about the action too much.

"Ah, morning!" Muradin looked over, chipper. He was holding a glass of water. "Thought you might need this, considering how Valla was!"

Lucio blinked groggily and took the water. "Thanks, man."

"Dwarf. Ah, anyway. Looks like the plan is to stick around here until the other heroes find us. You want ta go check out the training grounds later?" Muradin slapped on a shoulderpad and started buckling it. He'd already been in his chestplate, raising the question of if he'd slept in armour.

"Valla?" Lucio sipped the water. "And sure I'll go do some training. Just let me get a shower and some breakfast."

"Ah, Jo's still working on getting her out of bed." Explained Muradin. "Just a bit too much whisky, ha!"

In the neighbouring room, Valla clamped her pillow around her head and rolled over. Johanna sat watching dutifully, occasionally whispering in prayer that they'd be able to explore the tower together.

Valla clenched her teeth. "Hells, I can endure being stabbed or burned with ease, why not this?" She hissed into the pillow, keeping sunlight from reaching her eyes at any cost.

"You are not to blame for your constitution. Some can handle drink. Some cannot." Said Johanna softly. "Can I bring you anything?"

"..." Valla gave the pillow a crushing grip. "My clothes."

Johanna noted the neatly folded pile of red cloth at the end of the bed, several plates of armour next to it. "I was about to have them cleaned, if you'd prefer that. You're more than welcome to take mine if there's a pressing matter." She said as innocently as she could. There was a moment of amusement as she noticed Valla's cheeks go red.

"Are you not sworn against flirting?"

"I have taken many vows, but none concern who I choose to show affection to." Johanna answered. "Anyhow, I'll wash them myself, it won't take long." She reached over and grabbed a second neatly-folded pile of white clothes, before placing those next to Valla, and swinging into the bathroom.

Valla reached out and gently drew in the pile of garments, wondering exactly how Johanna managed to maintain such standards. It was time to get up, she knew that. No drink would stand in the way of staying disciplined.


Brightwing had felt at a loss for where to go at first. Exploring was an enticing prospect, but she didn't quite feel comfortable moving around the leviathan when it held so many dangers. Diablo could be out there. But more than that, she needed someone to interact with. She'd always been incredibly social, and infestation hadn't changed that.

So, nervously, she'd found her way back to Dehaka. This time at the ship's nerve centre. "Um..." Words withered inside her mouth instantly as he looked back.

"You, seek me?" Questioned Dehaka. "Your essence is, strong enough, that you can collect."

She finally managed to unblock her mouth. "Brightwing was... um... lonely."

"Do not understand."

"Want person to talk to. Please..?" She added hopefully.

Dehaka looked back to the nerves, and spoke. "Follow, ship of Stukov." He looked back to Brightwing. "Why, do you, want to... talk? Do you seek information? Instruction?"

Brightwing felt herself shrink back. "Just talk."

"...Strange. I, do not have time, to, idle. Must sedate Diablo. Must collect essence."

"Brightwing, um, wants to ask question." She fluttered in the air. "...How are you not scared? This all scary. Don't like being scared, want to be happy."

Dehaka had been moving to leave, but paused. "You, must adapt. Learn, to survive- to change as you must."

Brightwing took a nervous exit, grappling with the words.


Greymane watched Kel'thuzad float out of the spellcasters' room. He eyed the lich, arms crossed. "Oh? Tired?"

"Never too tired to expand the scourge." Kel'thuzad immediately answered. He clicked his fingers, and a spiky ball of ice floated between them. "Would you like me to prove it?"

"Oh, you can try." Greymane made no move. "I'm VERY confident in my quick draw. Have you seen what a ball of lead will do to your skull?"

"A very basic assumption you're making is that it will reach my skull." Kel'thuzad grinned- an impressive feat for someone who had no lips. "Could there possibly be some manner of magical defence on one of the scourge's most powerful liches?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Greymane brushed a speck of dust off his shoulder. "But I digress. Was the spell successful?"

"...You're that curious, hm?"

"Don't push your luck. I should just ask Jaina, really."

Kel'thuzad folded his hands. "Thanks in entirety to the immense powers and wisdoms granted to me by my liege lord Arthas, I can say that-"

"We've located Mira? Good."

"Wh- insolent... I didn't even finish!"

Greymane smirked a bit. "It's never a good idea to monologue. Even as a king."

"You are most insufferable, dog. You are standing before the archlich of Naxxramas, and you think to interrupt me, and lecture me?!" Huffed Kel'thuzad. "If not for our situation, I would shatter your blood."

"Perhaps. If not for our situation, I think we wouldn't talk very much."

"The same can be said of most. Now, are you going to hound me all day with meaningless words, or will that be Uther's job? I have been meaning to show him what wonderful care I've been taking of Mr Menethil's urn."

"I will be your assigned watchman today." Admitted Greymane.

"...Blast. It's more fun to taunt someone you killed."


Thrall looked around, and then shut the door of the room. Rehgar grabbed a chair from one corner, while Gazlowe folded one out of the bottom of his robot. "I've been trying to find out what I can about the mission we were given..."

"Mission?" Asked Rehgar. "I had honestly forgotten, with everything that happened."

"We gotta kill or recruit whoever's leading the zerg." Gazlowe prompted. "Which I am starting to think might be more trouble than it's worth. I am NOT being paid enough to go up against all those things."

"Kerrigan is certainly our target. I do not know if we can overcome her, three as we are. Nor do I believe we could sway her to our cause- she is legendary for her betrayals. She's been the death of so many from this world that I truly don't think the horde should ally with her, even if opportunity arises."

"Then we will find a way to beat her." Rehgar said sternly. "I refuse to back down, not when the horde is counting on us."

"Agreed." Thrall said. "And that's why I think we need to form a temporary partnership with the Alliance, and with this ship's admiral."

He expected his two fellows to recoil at the idea, or shoot it down, or at the very least for it to be a tough sell.

"Sure thing." Agreed Gazlowe. "No point just throwing our lives away against those things."

"You are right, Thrall. We can't hope to take on the swarm with two orcs and a goblin." Said Rehgar. "Earning the respect of these otherworldly people through feats on the battlefield would be a more effective plan than just moping around waiting for a chance to do something. Maybe we can influence their decisions, with enough time."

Thrall picked up his hammer, and held it firm. "Then I shall speak with Varian. I'll see to it we're at the forefront of the next battle. Rehgar, I will leave it to you to make sure I'm not betrayed. Gazlowe... hmm..."

The goblin smiled innocently, making the arms on his robot fold behind the head. "Eh, I could use a break!"

"...Find out what tactics we need to use against these zerg."


It had been a full 24 hours since Brightwing awoke, and the initial bout of confused horror had faded, leaving her nervous and wary, but no longer scared witless. Now felt like a good time to explore.

So off she went, resolved to have a look around.

Gravity inside the Leviathan was somewhat low. Jumping off the floor and sailing into the top of the room with a harmless bump managed to spark a bit of enjoyment in her. Spreading her wings, she flew onwards, along branching paths, staying high above where most of the zerg were on the floors, and skirting far around some of the other strains.

She got hungry again, and this time killing something was easy- no more difficult than it had been back in her homeworld, before all this.

It was around then that she finally noticed... the zerg were scared of her, for the most part.

She bared fangs at a zergling.

It ran.

It was almost like flipping a switch, but suddenly the fear and nerves were crushed under the resurfacing playful nature that even infestation hadn't managed to truly remove.

"Come back, haha!" She called, scrambling after it with tongue hanging out. Scaring the life out of things was a surefire way to make herself feel better.

She swept around a corner, watching the zergling scarper into a swarm of others, and survival instinct kicked in, halting her. But she did feel a lot better after a little chasing. With another flap, she went off, into the rest of the ship, wary of danger and yet more and more comfortable with each passing second.

The feeling of being in this leviathan, where she could kill and chase as she pleased...

She felt like she belonged here more than the Hyperion. For a moment, she wondered why she'd stayed there.

Unbidden, memories of Malfurion's understanding, Illidan's harmless irritations, Lucio's kindness, and so many people she could chatter at ran through her mind.

She looked around again, the fun mood she'd been slipping into disappearing. How could I forget about them so quickly..?


Mira spent the day cleaning out every individual millimetre of her armour, then having a nice powerful shower and heading down to the shooting range. Paperwork lined her desk, but she knew there was enough time for some self-care first.

She was expecting to find at least one of the heroes down here practicing. She wasn't expecting to find all of them.

Raynor seemed to have taken over as firearms instructor as Valla nailed targets from a hundred metres away with a rifle. Johanna provided a spot of polite applause, while Lucio cheered a bit.

Valla took aim, and shot a second, more distant target.

"Why, you're a natural!" Raynor said. "Maybe you should think about keeping this thing up?"

Valla glared down the sights, and put the safety on the gun before dropping it down. "It seems like a workable weapon, certainly very deadly, but I question the capabilities of dealing with larger numbers of demons. Although the range increase is good, I do also need to bear in mind the encumberment... and lack of magical properties."

"Ah well." Raynor looked over. "Hey there, Mira."

"Didn't expect to find you all down here." Mira grabbed one of the practice rifles, and took aim. "Not shooting today, Raynor?"

"Oh, I was showing the others how it's done. You want to see how match up to me?" Offered Raynor, picking up a sniper rifle from the corner of the room.

"Ah, sharpshooting is just a hobby of mine. I just use a shotgun and move faster than whatever managed to get close."

"Risky tactic, but... you do you. Here, watch this." Raynor brought up the rifle, and after a mere second fired, scoring a hit on the most distant target. "Still got it."

"Showoff. I only came down here for some late-night relaxation, don't you go making a competition of this." She took a pistol and blasted the closest three targets in quick succession. "Valla, why don't you give this one a try? It's a favorite of mine on this range, nice and accurate but easy to wave around."

Valla set down the practice rifle with almost military practice, and took the gun off Mira. "Hmm... it's lighter than my crossbows, still no magic... but..." She pointed it and fired at the closest target, hitting off centre. "A different flight path, too. I'd need some time to adapt to this, but it might be a useful addition to my arsenal."

"Oh, mind if I have a go with your crossbow?" Asked Mira casually.

Johanna flashed a warning look. "I... think it might be better if you, ah..."

"You may not."

Mira shrugged, and shot another few times. "So, how long do you think it'll take before Matt turns up and we all get thrown against the zerg again?"

"Matthew is a nice reliable man, I'd give it another twelve hours." Said Raynor confidently.

"Wanna bet?"

"...Fine, ten credits." Said Raynor. "Hey Lucio, you want a turn shooting?"

"I'm good. Muradin?"

"Well, sure thing! Pass that here..."

As Muradin awkwardly tried to work out how to use the modern rifle compared to a dwarven musket, Lucio sat back. This was a nice place. He did wonder about the outside of the tower though. After living in the streets of Rio while Vishkar sat high and dry, he didn't want to accidentally become the thing he'd stood up to.

But still, Mira and the rest of this team were all great people.


The Hyperion warped into the general area of Deadman's Port, but there was still a significant amount of space to cover. From the bridge, Matthew looked out into the darkness briefly, before returning his attention to his latest visitor. "So, you're actively volunteering to be put onto the front lines?"

"Yes. We cannot stand aside, or we will all be crushed. Teamwork is a necessity." Thrall explained.

Horner nodded. "Very well. I'll make sure you and yours are the first considered when I'm looking at deploying heroes to help the marines."

"Excellent. Do not let our abilities go to waste."

"I shall try my utmost. But I may need to use you a few times to understand your capabilities, so please have patience."

"...Very well. I'll expect to fight soon." Thrall turned to leave, when a console started pinging with an angry red light. "Is that an alarm?"

Matthew stepped over to the computer urgently. "It's a warning. Our scanners have picked up a zerg presence."

"It seems we shall prove ourselves shortly, then." Thrall added.

"...We may not need to engage them. Our only objective is to find Mira, and they might not have succeeded in that task either." Reasoned Matt. "Regardless, Adjutant, ready the marines for deployment. Thrall, Rehgar, Gazlowe- if there's an orbital engagement, you know about the dangers of space."

"It'll kill us. We are aware." Confirmed Thrall, taking hold of the Doomhammer and exuding inspiration. "Come, brothers! Let our enemies be destroyed with elemental rage!"

As he left the room, Matt ordered one of the crewmen to fly them closer, to try and see exactly what the zerg were up to. He feared there was only one thing in this area they could possibly be concerned with...


"We've successfully located Mira Han thanks to my newfound abilities." Kerrigan's voice called from the nerve centre. "Once we have the planet surrounded, then we need to capture it as quickly as possible. It gives her less chance to escape, or worse call for reinforcements."

"I understand." While he made no motion to express it, Dehaka was impressed at the sheer speed with which Kerrigan had managed to accomplish such a feat. It had been only thirty of her hours, and she'd pinpointed her prey across billions and billions of miles of space. "What, is my, role?"

"I'm leaving the finer details to Stukov. I need more time to try and create a way home, and even with only a fraction of my normal forces I'm sure we can overrun Deadman's Port. I'm stepping out of this conversation now."

Kerrigan's voice disappeared from the nerve centre, and a russian accent replaced it. "We have four hours to prepare, and then we'll strike, while the natural light on the world is low. Come to the Aleksander for a detailed briefing... and bring those reptiles you infested. They should make for valuable assets."

"Will be there, soon." Dehaka said, before leaving the room.

It wasn't hard to find Diablo. The rage and demonic energy within him was impossible to conceal, and while he was undoubtedly capable of outdoing Dehaka in both strength and smarts, his chance had since passed. The infestation no doubt left thim confused while he adapted to a new mindset in which he too could feel fear, and his defeat at the claws of the zerg had hard-written into him that he couldn't oppose them. Dehaka found him crushing a hydralisk against the wall as slowly as he could.

"Stop."

Diablo cringed, and dropped the Hydralisk. The fury he emanated was almost tangible now, fear aura stirring Dehaka's urge for fight or flight, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome him.

"Follow."

Obediently, Diablo fell into line behind Dehaka. "I should destroy you."

"You, cannot."

Diablo growled, but the sound petered out, as if he found himself unable to try and challenge Dehaka.

Finding Brightwing was a little more difficult. Without the inner rage consuming her, and a healthy survival instinct then blending into the pack was entirely possible. Advanced tracking was needed to find her. Smell was a great option outside the leviathan, but there were too many other zerg here for it to pick out individuals. No, the way he could find her would be by looking for the one thing she had that the rest of the swarm didn't: Magic.

Detecting a force that is entirely absent from your world is difficult. And at the same time, easy. Dehaka was still an absolute novice in the field of magic, understanding only that it was capable of more than he knew. But he'd felt enough to at least recognise the traces, the subtle difference it left in the world. And like a bloodhound, Dehaka went into the depths of his leviathan and into a tiny, secluded niche, finding his target waiting. She watched him tensely, ready to try and dart off at a moment's notice.

"We, must go to Stukov's, ship. Fight, approaches."

She nodded, and got into the air. The moment she laid eyes on Diablo, she flew back. "...Do not trust!"

Dehaka looked forwards. "Does not, matter. We, go."

Reluctantly, she followed. They made it to the nydus worm that served as a transport to the outside of the ship before she spoke again. "Brightwing does not like Diablo. Nasty. Full of mean."

Diablo stood tall and chuckled. "You know that the moment I am free, I shall rend you apart. The day is inevitable..."

"Stoppit!" She hovered back, and bared teeth.

"Ha ha ha... Your fears course within you, consuming your mind... you could never hope to so much as trouble me..."

Like a whip, Dehaka lashed out with his tail and hit Diablo in the eye with the barb. Diablo staggered back and roared in moderate anger, before again his free will withered. "Do not, waste time."

Diablo grunted, moving a hand over the blinded eye while it regrew. They went through the Nydus.

For her own peace of mind, Brightwing found herself staying much closer to Dehaka than Diablo during the ride. They were spat out on board the Aleksander, and she was once again reminded of the Hyperion. For an infested vessel, the hangar of the ship was relatively clean. Creep covered the walls and tendrils were laced around the doors, reinforcing them, but the floor was metal. Perhaps to help with the launching and landing of small ships?

The corridors again had a much different aesthetic to the leviathan Brightwing had been starting to grow accustomed to, metal with reinforcing tentacles and large patches of creep in areas. However, it didn't feel all that alien to her, after the last few days.

She went past zerg, too. Unlike the primals that had some slight resemblance in body type to animals she knew, these ones were all unquestionably humans that were zerg at the same time.

Curiosity rapidly won out over apprehension. "Hey, what are you?" She fluttered ahead, posing the question to a random infested terran.

"For... the swaarm..." They managed to get out, before pushing past.

"Huh? Hey!" She called. They didn't react at all.

Dehaka weighed up his options, and decided it would be faster if he explained. "Infested Terrans. They, have not been infested, to your standards. Little mind remains."

Diablo eyed one of them, but let it be. Brightwing looked on at them sadly. "Little mind?"

"Thinking ability, restricted." Clarified Dehaka.

She fell silent.

"Come. Cannot waste, time."

They made it to the bridge of the Aleksander without any further incident. The doors to the room were guarded by a pair of infested that stood straight with some modicum of intellect. It was a testament to the craftsman's skill that the doors retained an imposing presence even after decades of use by officers and even infestation. A specially treated wooden facade covered two inches of highly tempered neo-steel, with the lightning skull of the UED military woven into the patternwork of the metal uncountable times. Dehaka had no problem pushing them open, although even he would have needed a while to get through had they been locked.

Stukov was in the middle of a war meeting, Zagara leaned over the great table in the middle of the room as Stukov used the touch screen on it to draw up a battle plan. He stopped and stood straight to greet his other commander. "Dehaka. A little slow."

"I, am ready. There is much essence to collect..." Dehaka looked down at the war map. It showed a region of desert, a city in the middle. "Your, plan?"

Stukov zoomed in a little, and gestured to the city. "Deadman's Port has been positioned to prevent ground assault from any non-frontal direction. That is true of most forces, anyway. But as it stands, Zagara will be in charge of the main attacking force. She simply has to strike as hard and fast as possible with zerglings and hydralisks, while landing to prepare a second wave of stronger zerg to mop up any survivors left after the first three hours."

"A simple task." Summarized Zagara. She turned her attention to the two heroes behind Dehaka. "...These must be the newly infested. Would they not be of greater use under..." A few spines slid out from her throat, primed to fire. "...my command?"

Dehaka dropped into a combat stance. "Mine." He snarled, staring at Zagara's face.

There was a momentary standoff as Dehaka rejected Zagara's challenge of authority. Stukov looked on in a combination of boredom and professional disappointment. He was about to remaind them of his rules regarding infighting, when not a second after the spines had been bared, Zagara turned into a sheep.

It didn't last for that long. Zagara had the mental strength to fight off magic, and reappeared as Brightwing spat a bolt of magical energy at her. She dodged, and it hit a swivel chair on the far side of the room. Unlike the chair in chapter one, this chair survived the blast.

Stukov snapped out of watching, and raised his voice. "Halt!"

Zagara halted. Brightwing didn't stop for a moment, but Dehaka stuck out an arm and barred her from going in for more.

"Very well, I'll concede them to you." Zagara said tautly.

"If I didn't make it clear enough to anyone, you will NOT fight while you are on board my ship!" Stukov said angrily. "This is my domain, with my men, and I won't let it be damaged by your squabbles."

"..." Dehaka regarded him silently.

"She started fight!" Brightwing said indignantly.

"While turning her into a sheep was amusing, you have damaged one of my chairs. I cannot replace such an object. If I were a petty man, you would be given very unfavorable treatment for that." Warned Stukov. He brushed his jacket, and looked back to the table. "Now, as for the matter at hand... Dehaka, you will approach from the back. Your goal is to take out the power station, and then push through the back of the city. Use your new units as you see fit."

"...And are you too afraid to step into the fight?" Questioned Diablo.

"Far from it. As soon as the power station is down, its orbital defences shall fail. That is when I will drop directly into the city, and aim to infest what I can to strip the targets of manpower." Announced Stukov. "However, there is a chance the orbital defences will have backup power supplies. In that case, we will have to approach the walls and bring them down the old-fashioned way. Dehaka, if the turrets on the walls do not deactivate, then aim to break through from this point." He gestured to a section of wall counterclockwise from the main entrance.

"I see, and then in that case, you will attack here?" Zagara pointed to the opposite location.

"Correct. Now, here are our drop zones..."

Dehaka studied the plan carefully, but could find no fault. Charging into a battle so deadly as this went against instinct, but he knew it was necessary. Survival ultimately lay only at the end of this path. Amon had to be killed, regardless of the detours they made on the way.


"That's Deadman's Port..." Confirmed Matt, looking at readings. They were as far away as they could be from the zerg without risking detection. If Overseers were sent out to scout space, they'd be in deep trouble. "It looks like the zerg are preparing for an assault."

He turned to his adjutant. "Percentage chance of victory in a spacefight?"

"Negligible." Answered the adjutant. "Serious enemy numbers renders all pre-programmed strategic routines ineffective."

"Right... Dammit, if only the protoss were here we could take them." Matthew looked at the table, assessing his priorities.

Save Raynor. Keep Mira out of Kerrigan's hands. Don't lose the Hyperion.

"..." One option presented itself, but he didn't like it. "Adjutant... please page Jaina Proudmoore."

Could he manage to pull this off? Magic was the one tool he had that could give him an edge here. But he didn't know the limits. He didn't know Kerrigan's capabilities- only that she'd reflected the Purifier Beam, so they were probably enhanced.

Either way... Deadman's Port was about to have to defend itself from the Zerg.

Author's notes: A lot of zerg this chapter. Do you think I gave Kerrigan decent motivations, or is she being too aggressive? Is everyone in character?

We'll be going into Dead Man's Stand next chapter, but trust me- the fic is very far from finished!