One year later.

Casa was waiting for the ship to land as she did every other friday, and had been for nearly an hour now. A bag full of art supplies was strung over one shoulder, while her gym clothes stood out against the rest of the port's staff in uniform. She pulled up the display again, and watched the little blip grow closer and closer. Ten... nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two-

The ship landed. It was a somewhat outdated model, but constant trips to the workshop kept it powerful. Casa could see all kinds of blast marks and repairs on the plating. Still, it wasn't too ugly, either. A door on the side unlocked, and a boarding plank descended.

Dehaka lumbered out. "Casa. Hello."

Casa jumped and punched the sky. "You're back! It's been ages, where have you been?"

"Char. Kerrigan also wished me to see Zagara occasionally. Peh. Also, hunting." Said Dehaka.

"Ooh. Did you find anything good?"

"Much essence. The crew of this ship are very useful. How is your... art?" Asked Dehaka.

Casa clasped her hands together. "I'm getting better. That one picture of the nebula was best in class!"

"Glad. Where should we go this time?"

Casa pretended to think about it. "Well, actually, there's something I want to show you here!"

Casa led Dehaka back to her house. "Hey, open up! He's here!" She knocked at the door.

A protoss in what could best be described as casual zealot wear- superficial golden plates with cloth strips, opened the door. "En taro Tassadar, Dehaka. Remember me?"

Dehaka tilted his head in confusion. The voice was familiar... "Yttrius? You were a purifier."

"Right first time! Kerrigan's resurrection trick might have worked better than she intended. And- oh, what happened to your arms?" Asked Yttrius, noticing two were still missing.

"Can regrow at any time. Saving as a surprise trick."

"Clever. Well, I guess we've all got some catching up to do. Shall we?"

Nova was sitting across a desk from Valerian. Valerian checked over a single file in his hands. "Okay, it's finalised. You're cleared of all charges relating to going rogue. You're officially no longer a wanted lady. Now then, why do you think I did this personally, since I have the whole Dominion at my side?"

Nova smiled. "If I took a guess... You want to have me back? Especially since you closed your official ghost program. It can't be easy to raise new agents without tipping off the media."

"Your contract is here. I've also taken a few liberties to completely erase any trace of your family from the official records, should you accept." Valerian produced a sheaf of papers from under his desk.

"Well, I can imagine worse things to be doing." She got serious, and started reading through the contract. "Okay, it's all in order. Hey... just a side question... how did you clean up all the mess I caused with Alarak and the attack on the civilians?"

Valerian smiled. "I called in a favor from Artanis and we forced him to compensate us and that world, richly. Not actually a good move, since it nearly threw his faction into civil war for showing weakness, but perhaps that'll make him think twice before he does something that rashly again, hm? Now, you know the drill. You might not be a conventional ghost, but you're still expected to follow the rules."

"Of course, Emperor Mengsk."

Zagara and Stukov looked out over the horizon of Char, watching dozens of drones sift through the volcanic soil.

Zagara's psionics were making Stukov and the other nearby zerg uncomfortable. Eventually, Stukov couldn't deal with the brooding air any longer. "Can you stop that?" He said.

"No. I am considering something... risky."

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "I'm interested. What's the plan?"

"Those terrans... they intrigue me. By all rights, we should have crushed them like larvae. Yet they persist. Not only through us. Through the Protoss, and the Xel'naga. Why?" Zagara asked.

"If I took a guess, I'd say it's our minds. They work differently. I suppose they're weaker in some ways. They can give up. They can make wrong choices. But they're unpredictable. They can choose paths that you can't see. And of course, we have thumbs. Thumbs help." Theorised Stukov.

"You see... we still have a copy of that girl's essence, from when we infested her. Casa. It has been drained of it's psionic powers... yet I may have a use for it."

"The girl has also lost her powers if you're going to hunt her."

"No... I am considering creating a zerg-human hybrid. Not infested, but truly integrated, from birth. We will not make the mistakes we made before, nor those Dehaka made. I may be able to open new powers to the swarm." Said Zagara.

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Now that is risky. I love it. Any concerns, outside of creating a psionic that accidentally destroys Char?"

"We will not create a powerful psionic. It is why we are using Casa's essence- it no longer has any potential. None but that which Abathur will implant. She will be a weak psionic naturally." Affirmed Zagara.

"She? Already decided you want a girl, eh?" Said Stukov.

"The males of the species present increased physical strength, and lack of significant weaknesses in the body's cycles. We are already far stronger, and we will remove the weaknesses their lesser reproductive system afflicts them with."

"Well then. When are you going to start?"

"As soon as Abathur finishes collecting what I need."

Author's notes: Aaand it's over. Now is the time I reveal what some of you have guessed, this is actually a prequel to Princess of the Swarm by Howling Din. (It wasn't originally intended to be, but everything fell into place really nicely a few chapters ago, and I worked from there).

Final reviewer answer!

Mpopl2:...I can't actually find it! I found about a dozen typos because I posted it while VERY tired though, so thanks. And you have my blessing if you're taking inspiration from me, as long as you don't outright copy.

And as I always will when officially putting a story to rest, a thanks to everyone who reviewed: Mpopl2, Howling Din, Guest, Arachnodon, pt1oef, PrometheusTheXelNaga, TerranMain, Electron97, and Samateus-Taal.

Thanks for reading!