Author's note: In this story, Falmart and the Koprulu sector aren't going to be part of the same galaxy, instead the gate is a bridge between two different universes. So, Kerrigan cannot just make a leviathan and hop back over to the Koprulu Sector. This means that there are actually stakes involved in this fight.

Chapter 14

For several days after the apostles were captured, there was seemingly not much happening. The gods were waiting to see whether the zerg would comply with the order. So far, while none of the captured apostles were released, none of them were killed either. So, the gods found it acceptable to wait a short period of time as to allow the zerg to come to make the correct decision, as the gods were quite confident that they would have their way in the end.

Nearly all of the zerg on the world began withdrawing, assembling at the hive cluster on Alnus Hill. While such a move might have been seen as concerning, the gods saw this as a sign that the zerg were preparing to leave the planet. However beneath all of this, great preparation was being made for an undertaking that would shatter the expectations of the gods.

Not long after Hardy had given her ultimatum, Kerrigan and Lelei discussed their next course of action.

"Do you believe that Hardy was making a legitimate threat?", Kerrigan asked. "Could she really close the gate, or was she bluffing?"

"The analysis I had done on the gate suggests that it is a breach through the fabric of the world", Lelei replied. "The gate is anchored and stabilized by the physical structure which keeps both sides of the gate open. While there is some strain on the gate, it isn't very damaging and it is likely that the gate could stay open for many months or even years at the current rate. Very little is needed to keep it open, the main difficulty was opening the gate which required a great deal of energy to do. It likely took a god's power to establish the connection, and it is reasonable to believe that Hardy had the power to do so and she was responsible for the creation of the gate. As for whether she could close it, it is certainly a possibility. If Hardy is the one with control over the power of space, she could disrupt the connection and cause the dimensional corridor to destabilize. Once that happens, we wouldn't be able to move through safely, and eventually the connection will collapse. While a brute force attack would not be the normal method of closing a gate before its time is up, the gods will definitely not care about it this time since damage to the area around the gate from the resulting backlash would not worry them."

"So it looks like Hardy may indeed be capable of carrying out her threat. How troublesome. Would we be able to kill the apostles and get through the gate before it closes?", Kerrigan asked.

"Even if you did get into the gate, there is still some distance to travel before you get to the other side", Lelei answered. "And being stuck inside while the corridor destabilized would be very bad. While it might be technically possible to survive, the chances will be very low. And once the connection is destabilized, it is only a matter of time before the two universes drift apart. Once that happens there will be no way to reconnect. Even Hardy only creates a gate when it is convenient."

"How do we know that the gods will keep their word, and not break down the gate while we are in the middle of moving through", Kerrigan said. "Once we release the apostles we will lose our leverage."

"There isn't anything preventing them from doing that", Lelei said. "We just have to trust that they will keep their end of the bargain. Of course, they probably will because if they close the gate prematurely, then they will be stranding millions of zerg on their planet. Even being feral, it will be a mess for them to clean up. And if they wait until all of the zerg have gotten into the gate, most of us will be on the other side by then and we will only lose a trivial number inside the tunnel. Of course, if they are very committed to killing you, then they might just do it anyways regardless of the trouble they make for themselves. But their spite probably isn't that extreme."

"I am not liking this", Kerrigan said. "Do we have any other options. Is there any way to restabilize the gate?"

"Restabilizing a dimensional rift once it has been destabilized will be very difficult", Lelei answered. "It would require a lot of power, and only Hardy would be able to do so."

"Well then. The answer is clear", Kerrigan said. "I shall kill Hardy, and take her power."

"My queen…" Lelei seemed quite shocked. "Hardy is a goddess. The deities have had absolute power over this world for millennia. Will we even be able to defeat her?"

"These so called gods are nothing more than pathetic creatures drunk on their own power", Kerrigan said. "They have never faced a threat to themselves and cannot even conceive of being attacked. It is time for that to change. Lelei, I want you to find a way for us to attack the gods."

"The gods reside in a separate realm, but one that is very close to the world", Lelei said. "While mortals cannot travel there except through death, the separation is actually quite weak. That is what allows the gods to have such a strong influence on the world as they can project their power and grant blessings to followers. So, it is a matter of piercing through the barrier between the two realms so that we can leave the mortal realm and enter the domain of the gods."

"Then that is what I want you to do", Kerrigan said. "Find a way to make a portal so we can launch an expedition to kill a god."

The most important task was to actually locate Hardy's Underworld, as they didn't want to be searching for a long time for it. So, Lelei focused her efforts on studying Giselle as the apostle's connection to her goddess could be traced. In addition, Hardy's recent act of connecting directly to her apostle to speak had temporarily made the connection more apparent. Meanwhile, Kerrigan looked through the minds of the apostles to extract any relevant information.

As this was going on, the zerg armies were preparing. The massive buildup of forces, which the gods had interpreted as preparations for a departure, were instead an invasion force. In addition, new strains were being added into the Swarm. After analyzing the dragon corpses, Abathur was able to create a new strain called the Dracolisk. The Dracolisk was a large flying creature which was capable of ejecting high temperature substances from the mouth. Furthermore, it was given sharp claws that could dig through ship armor, allowing it to rip apart smaller ships. It could also damage capital ships like battlecruisers by attacking critical areas. In addition, the Dracolisk was covered in tough armor which could block anti-air fire from guns and even help it survive against missile turrets.

Also, production of the magilisks was ramping up as many were spawned for the coming attack. The remaining problems had been fixed after some testing and now they were capable of casting a variety of spells, allowing them to bombard a battlefield from above.

However, this was only the tip of what could be accomplished. Their greatest power lied in the ability to utilize formations to accomplish wide scale attacks by combining the power of multiple magilisks. The traditional formations used by the mages of Falmart were limited in many ways, which made them not very prevalent. The key issues was that it was difficult to set up, as each participant had to be in a very specific location, and that the formation would break if a single participant was felled. In addition, the formation had to be stationary by necessity, since movement would cause the formation to become misaligned. While several mages in the past had theorized that it would be possible to move in formation if each participant moved at the same speed and direction, this was impossible to accomplish due to the primitive transportation means and the fact that people can't move so precisely. However, the zerg were able to overcome this obstacle. All organisms in the swarm were connected together through the hive mind and could communicate in real time. Slight deviations in trajectory could be corrected immediately before it reached the point where the flow of energy would be disrupted.

Also, a formation could be made on the spot, with the participants being able to communicate with each other instantly. This means that the participants need not be determined until they reach their destination. While a death would normally be crippling to the plans of an ordinary group of mages, the zerg specialized in flood tactics, and this applied even to advanced strains. As such, the zerg would be able to send in a large group, and only a few would need to survive to accomplish their task.

This greatly widened the range of tactical options available to the zerg, and would function as an effective force multiplier which helped increase the effectiveness of other forces. With support from magilisks, the zerg forces on the ground could be protected from air attacks and hard targets could be bombarded.

With all of the military preparations ready, it was finally time to begin the attack. The zerg would devour the gods once more.

Once the preparations were ready, Kerrigan killed the apostles, absorbing their essence and empowering herself to greater heights. Then, Kerrigan went to the clearing where the portal was to be made. Lelei had finished perfecting the formation which would be able to break through the barrier between the mortal world and the realm of the gods. Now that the foundation was created, all that was needed was the power to create a portal straight into Hardy's realm.

Kerrigan stepped up and began pouring psionic energy into the formation. After several seconds, a crack in space appeared, before growing larger and larger. A path into the realm of the gods was created, and the zerg began to swarm forward.

Meanwhile, the gods were thrown into great confusion. They had been utterly certain that the zerg were going to leave and Kerrigan's decision to kill their apostles had been completely unexpected. Now, the rest of the gods waited for Hardy to make her move. However, Hardy was the most surprised out of all of them. She had never thought that the zerg would be so audacious as to directly defy her. For a short while, Hardy was too busy staring out in shock to do anything. However, she was soon shaken out of her daze when she detected a disturbance within her realm. To her horror, the zerg were pouring in and her realm was being invaded.

The underworld was filled with Hardy's minions, which consisted of all manners of creatures. Demons prowled through the dark land and gargoyles flocked through the skies. There were even several ancient dragons slumbering within their caves. It was a desolate landscape, filled with horrifying creatures and if a human army had set foot here they would no doubt be terrified in the short moments before their death. However, in this case the invaders were a far more terrifying force than the native inhabitants.

The zerg quickly began pouring through the portal, flooding the land with bodies. While normally, one might be tempted to describe the denizens of the underworld as being limitless, it seems that now they have met their match in a clash of numbers. The first wave of zerglings struck the demons swiftly and suddenly, catching them by surprise. Uncountable flocks of mutalisks rushed through the skies, tearing through the scattered gargoyles. Along with mutalisks followed several flights of the newly created Dracolisks.

After the initial strike, Hardy took control of her minions and had them regroup, before sending them forward in a counterattack against the swarm that was still unceasingly flooding into her realm. The attacking demons cut through swaths of zerglings, beginning to take back ground. However, behind the initial rush of zerglings came hordes of roaches, hydralisks, and interspersed ogrelisks. The counterattack stalled, and although Hardy's minions killed scores of zerg, more kept coming.

A trio of massive demons began approaching, carrying thick black swords. They were some of Hardy's elites and they charged into the zerg lines, trampling over many of the smaller zerg while smashing apart ogrelisks with a single hit. As they plowed a bloody swath through the zerg lines, a horde of lesser demons followed through. Several infestors began spraying fungal growth, and although it was able to incapacitate the weaker demon escorts, the elite guards could not be stopped so easily.

Several dracolisks began divebombing the trio of elite demons and through sheer numbers they began to wear at them. The scene somewhat resembled fly swatting as the powerful demons slashed through several close dracolisks, but there were still more coming.

Then, a bright flash soon lit up the air. Several clusters of magilisks hovered in the air, charging up a powerful combined attack which bombarded the area, blasting apart the demons. As the enemy advance faltered, the magilisks began to turn their attention toward bombarding the rest of the battlefield as they began tearing apart the advancing demons.

Hardy had awoken the slumbering ancient dragons which began rising up as they flew toward the zerg. Endless flocks of mutalisks swarmed around the great dragons, stinging them like gnats. However, the dragons didn't make it very far before massive lightning bolts began shooting through the air, striking at the dragons. With a dozen magilisks working in formation, the attacks were powerful enough to seriously hurt the dragons. Following up this attack were swarms of dracolisks which began surrounding the enemy dragons and tearing in.

When the injured dragons fell to the ground, the surrounding zerg quickly pounced, tearing apart the downed dragons. All around, Hardy's forces were in full retreat as the zerg began to overwhelm them. However, even with the zerg approaching Hardy's dark castle, the goddess wasn't too worried yet. After all, losing minions wasn't too crippling as she could casually create more. The only unpleasant bit was that the zerg didn't seem to be running out of minions anytime soon either. However, this wasn't enough to cause concern for Hardy. After all, this was her world and she was at the center of her power base. As this land belonged to her, any invaders would perpetually have to face a threatening environment.

As Hardy began to creating more minions to enter the fight, she noticed something alarming. The zerg were establishing hive clusters and already creep was beginning to spread across the land. It seemed that the zerg were trying to subvert this land and claim it for themselves. As the zerg began entrenching themselves, Hardy decided that it was time to take direct action.

Hardy stepped out of her castle, and with a wave of her hand she sent out a massive burst of power which destroyed a portion of the incoming zerg, buying her minions a brief reprieve. However, the zerg continued to flood in infinitely. As Hardy killed thousands of roaches, several more thousands soon took their place. The magilisks continued to hover overhead, bombarding Hardy's forces with their magic.

Now, Hardy turned her attention toward the skies, sending a dark ball of energy into the air in order to kill the floating fleshbags. A massive explosion surrounded one group of magilisks, but to Hardy's surprise, when the smoke cleared the magilisks were still intact. A flickering barrier surrounded them, a shield collectively maintained by their formation. The synergy from the multiple participants allowed for a shield of impressive strength.

Still, all this did was make Hardy angrier, and this time she used an even stronger attack which was able to overwhelm the shields and kill that group of magilisks. By now, the other magilisks were beginning to target Hardy, striking the goddess with fireballs and bolts of lightning. Hardy continued to retaliate against the flying magilisks, striking them down with her own attacks. Still, it didn't seem like the number of magilisks in the sky were decreasing, in fact the amount seems like it may be increased.

Meanwhile, Hardy's minions were slowly being overrun by the ever increasing flood of zerg. Soon, the zerg were at the gates of Hardy's castle and they began to attack the goddess standing outside. While Hardy would occasionally purge the surrounding zerg, her divine body was still being struck by an endless stream of acid, spines, and claws. At the same time, the magilisks continued to attack Hardy. The goddess used her powers to protect herself, but the constant attacks were beginning to take a toll.

Hardy yelled out toward the battlefield. "You better get your creatures out of my realm!", Hardy shouted. "I haven't closed the gate yet but I will do it. If you don't stop attacking now, I will cut you off."

Even after several moments, there was no response and the zerg continued to attack Hardy.

"I am really going to do it this time", Hardy said. "This is your last chance. If you leave now I will still let you go."

However, the zerg attack continued to be relentless, and Kerrigan made no move to withdraw the zerg. Finally, Hardy recognized that there was no way to get her opponent to back off, and that this would have to be a fight to the death. Hardy struck out with her will, working to sever the connection from Alnus Hill to Zerus.

"My queen, the gate's connection has begun destabilizing", Lelei reported.

"It sure took her long enough", Kerrigan said. "I would have thought the goddess to be more decisive. It seems she isn't really good at making decisions under stress, after all she has never really been challenged before. Well, now that this has escalated, it is time to move onto the next phase."

Hardy snarled in rage as she disintegrated another cluster of zerg. The assault was utterly brutal, and by now nearly all of her minions were killed. Even as she continued to create more, they were continuously being crushed by the zerg tide. Soon, Hardy herself was being strained by the battle. While her body was unblemished, completely protected by her power despite the nonstop attacks on her person, each strike she blocked cost her a bit of energy. In addition, she was constantly expending energy as she wiped out horde after horde of zerg with her powers. Yet, this was all to seemingly no effect.

She was incredibly powerful, but she had never fought a fight so intensely and for so long. In addition, the loss of her mortal worshippers had left her weakened. Faced with the unending zerg assault, Hardy found herself being slowly drained of stamina as she was forced to defend herself continuously. If she could get a reprieve and rest, she could begin to recover her strength, but surrounded by all of these hostile enemies, she could do little but continue to fight on.

Then, the tide of zerg parted as a singular figure walked through.

"Well, it looks like we finally get to meet in person", Kerrigan said. "Are you ready to die now?"

Hardy huffed. "So you finally show yourself. Are you done hiding behind your minions."

"I'm just here to have a nice personal view as your existence comes to an end." Kerrigan smiled.

Hardy roared in anger as she now turned her attention toward Kerrigan, attacking with a dark bolt of energy which shot toward Kerrigan.

Kerrigan jumped to the side as Hardy's attack sailed past, hitting the zerg behind her. "You are going to have to do better than that."

Now, Kerrigan began to attack, blasting Hardy back with a stream of psionic energy. Hardy wasn't stunned for long though and she soon retaliated with a massive torrent of energy focused toward Kerrigan. The dark energy struck the shield Kerrigan had raised, and despite Hardy pouring in all of her effort, Kerrigan was able to hold the attack back. During all of this, the zerg continued to attack Hardy, now able to focus on the goddess without impediments while Hardy was occupied fighting Kerrigan.

Once Hardy finally ceased her attack, Kerrigan immediately followed up with a concentrated psionic storm, many times more potent than an ordinary psionic storm. The stream of psionic lightning struck Hardy, tearing at the shield surrounding the goddess's body. While Hardy wasn't actually hurt by the attack, it was clear that she was coming under a lot of strain at the moment.

Now, the desperate goddess decided to charge directly toward Kerrigan and handle the fight in close range. As Hardy dashed in, Kerrigan met her by slashing forward with a wing which Hardy blocked with her arm. Then, Hardy unleashed a blast of energy from her palms, striking at Kerrigan's chest. Kerrigan blocked the attack, though it did lead to her being thrown backwards. However, she landed on her feet and immediately struck back at Hardy, slamming the goddess with a psionic blast.

Then, Hardy ran forward again, but this time Kerrigan caught Hardy's arm and twisted the goddess onto the ground. Kerrigan pinned Hardy into the dirt and focused an intense current of psionic lightning toward the exhausted goddess. Hardy struggled to escape from the devastating attack, but Kerrigan kept a firm grip and soon Hardy started screaming in pain as the psionic lightning began leaking through the cracks of her rapidly failing shield.

Kerrigan's wings extended outwards and began glowing purple as she channeled psionic energy into the blades. Then, Kerrigan brought her wings downward, slicing into Hardy's body. Hardy let out a low moan, and Kerrigan began drawing out the essence from the goddess. As Hardy slowly died, Kerrigan absorbed the goddess's strength, adding it to her own. Kerrigan could feel the power coursing through her body as she finished collecting Hardy's essence, leaving herself stronger than ever before.

Now, it was time to deal with the issue of the gate. Kerrigan and her zerg departed from the former realm of Hardy, leaving behind a completely devastated land. After returning to the mortal realm, Kerrigan examined the state of the gate. The spatial rift was chaotic as it fluctuated in shape and size. Already, the tear had become out of control as it stretched several kilometers long. Cosmic energies leaked from the rift as the passage was filled with chaotic energies. No one could pass through such a thing.

However, despite it seeming to be an untamable beast, the rift could be brought under control. Using her new power, Kerrigan began to seize the chaotic rift and suppress the disintegration. Then, with an influx of power she solidified the boundaries and locked it in place. As the leaking energies began to dissipate, the new gate emerged. It was not an elegant structure like the previous gate. Instead, it was an amorphous, though stable corridor stretching for kilometers on end.

The tremendous expansion of the rift was unexpected, a result of the chaotic nature of the destabilization as a greater hole had been torn in the dimensional barrier. No longer was the gate a narrow tunnel where only a small amount of material could pass through. This passage was very wide and stretched over a large area of land. And this vast increase in the capacity soon drew the attention of the primal zerg on the other side. Their path to a new world which had been blocked, was now wide open.

Hardy's death had sent reverberations through the world of Falmart, and soon the gods felt something they had never felt fear, fear far greater than anything they have felt before. The gods were now in complete panic. With their death now a distinct possibility, they needed to take drastic actions.

Well, once it's time to go into the void to fight Amon, it will be a familiar experience. Except with an ugly space whale instead of a pretty goddess.

Original Xel'naga: We are gods.

Overmind: Munch munch.

Hardy and co: We are gods so you have to do what we tell you to do.

Kerrigan: Yeah no.

Amon: I am a god, I am invincible!

Kerrigan: Not this again...