Shock.

There was no other way to describe what I felt at that moment. Pure, unmitigated shock.

As she moved closer, I could make out more of her features. She was infested, that much was clear. I was familiar enough with the Zerg, and infested Terrans, to recognise that. But I knew Sarah well enough to recognise the features that were hers as well. The biggest hint was her expression, a sadness that I had seen all too often.

Despite the fact that all of us had weapons drawn and ready to strike, she did nothing, simply waiting for us to make our move. She looked directly at me, waiting for my reaction.

On one hand, I had a Zerg standing in front of me. Months of experience told me to start emptying the shotgun's magazine in her direction.

On the other, a woman who claimed to be Sarah Kerrigan had guided us here. Given how much power she would likely have, if she wanted us dead, we would be already. But I was fairly sure that she had helped us on Tarsonis. Even if I left aside all her talk of other powers, that was fairly compelling evidence to at least listen.

In the end, it was enough for me. Lowering the gun, although I kept it ready, I asked, "How is this possible?"

She smiled slightly, a smile that was all Sarah. "I'm not the Sarah Kerrigan that you know, but nonetheless I share much of my history with her. One pivotal moment was all it took to set us on different paths."

"New Gettysburg." I realised. "Without your warning, we wouldn't have been expecting trouble, or been ready to go down there. We would have been too late."

"Yes. In the timeline that I came from, I was captured there by the Zerg. Everyone had thought I was dead, but while I was undergoing my transformation, I managed to reach out to Jim and Mengsk. Jim came and Mengsk sent Duke, but both were too late. I was already claimed by the Swarm and its influence. While a part of me remained aware of what was happening, the hive mind meant I had no choice but to obey the directives of the Overmind. From that day on, I was one of the most feared people in the sector, and after the Overmind fell at your hands, Tassadar, I eventually became the leader of the Swarm."

She lowered her head and sorrow was apparent in her voice. "Even without what I did, that was more than enough for me to become the most feared and hated being of all."

She looked back at me. "Billions died because of me, because I wasn't able to remove the influence that was over the Zerg from me. I worked with practically everyone in the sector, then betrayed them as soon as I had no further need of them. By the time Jim succeeded in freeing me from that influence, it was too late for us."

"Wait, back up a bit." I interrupted. "I imagine that you'll explain this whole timeline thing at some point, but you became the leader of the Swarm? I assume that the Overmind was the original leader, but how the hell did it die?"

"After Jim discovered me on Char after my transformation, he was cut off from his fleet. During that time Tassadar and Zeratul arrived, though separately. I was hunting all of them, but they managed to survive long enough for a Protoss fleet to evacuate them. During that time, they worked out that the energies of the Dark Templar were the only weapons able to kill the Overmind and its commanders, or Cerebrates. Unfortunately, when Zeratul slew one, the Overmind managed to touch his mind and learnt the location of Aiur."

"Our home-world!" Selendis gasped.

"Yes. The Zerg descended on it, and slaughtered much of the population. Only the rebellion of Tassadar against the Protoss leaders, and the alliance between him, Jim and Zeratul was able to slow the advance. Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind. But the slaughter did not end."

I closed my eyes. "Of course not. That would have been too easy."

"After the Overmind's death, the Zerg fractured. The remaining Cerebrates maintained control of most of the swarm. Most of them merged together to begin forming a new Overmind. By that time, I was free of the Overmind's control however, and so I was able to control a portion of the swarm myself. But while I might have been free of the Overmind, I wasn't free of the wider influence on the Zerg."

"Wait? Wider influence?" Nova asked.

"Yes. The Zerg were not always the mindless monsters that they appear. They were forced to obey an overriding directive, consume all life. The hive mind was the corruption of the Zerg, and the sector has already begun to pay the price. The Overmind was created to impose that directive, but it too was trapped within its own mind. It could come up with only one way to break that leash."

I took a step back as I realised the implications. "You."

The others looked at me. "What do you mean?" Selendis asked.

"Think about it. None of the Zerg that were under the Overmind's direct control, or that were spawned, would ever be able to escape the Overmind's control. The Zerg are directed psionically, we know that. But if someone with enough psionic power could be infested, but still retain their own free will, and the Overmind was destroyed..."

Nova's eyes went wide. "They might be able to take control of the Zerg and break that directive."

Zeratul objected. "That could only work if they were already free of this so-called influence over the Zerg."

Something else registered at that point. "You said that Jim helped you remove the Zerg influence?"

The Queen of Blades nodded. "He led a task force to Char, with an alien artefact, capable of reversing the infestation. While it wiped out a lot of Zerg, it turned me back to being mostly human."

I raised an eyebrow. "Evidently not permanently."

"No, the artefact worked perfectly. But shortly after, Jim was captured by Mengsk. With no other option, and blinded by vengeance, I returned to the Zerg, and, at Zeratul's suggestion, I found the birth-world of the Zerg. They did not have the hive mind, or the corruption, so when I allowed myself to be re-infested, I remained free too."

I looked at Zeratul. He looked as confused as I did. "I told you to go to this place, and re-infest yourself?"

"You had learnt of this influence, and were trying to find a way to stop it from destroying us all. You came to the conclusion that if I was free, but remained in command of the Swarm and with my full powers, we might stand a chance. You guided Jim in much the same way."

"One thing confuses me." Tassadar said. "You have mentioned Jim, Zeratul and myself taking an active part in the war. What of Jason, or Nova?"

She fell silent, looking at me with something I could only describe as grief and sorrow. I realised then what had happened.

"We weren't in the picture." I concluded.

Everyone looked at me as I continued. "If we hadn't got down to New Gettysburg in time, then it's likely we wouldn't have found Nova, either. So I imagine that she was conscripted into the Dominion Ghost program."

The Queen nodded. "As for you." She bit her lip, obviously finding it hard to continue. "I killed you."

My eyes widened. I had expected that I'd obviously died somewhere along the way in her timeline, but I hadn't expected that she had killed that version of me.

"How?" I breathed.

The Queen bowed her head. "You never forgave yourself for failing to reach me in time. You stayed with the Raiders just long enough to get them off Tarsonis, then you vanished. All through the war on Char and Aiur, and the battle for control of the Zerg and the sector after it, you were nowhere to be found. It wasn't until after I had cemented my control of the Swarm that we found you, quite by accident."

I thought about it. Would not being able to rescue Sarah in time have done that much damage to me? To completely abandon everything and everyone I had fought with for so long. I grimaced as I worked out that, yes, it was quite possible.

"By that time, only one Cerebrate remained, the one that had aided me to reach my position. I couldn't risk having it around, so I exiled it here, to Antiga Prime. It and its brood arrived, only to find you already here."

She shook her head. "Even now, I can scarcely believe it. A full, battle-hardened Zerg brood, with a capable commander, against no more than 1000 terrans that had been out of war for over a year, led by a man that blamed himself for everything that had gone wrong."

"Just how badly were we annihilated?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know.

She smirked. "Not at all. Despite everything, you were still good enough, and had enough of a spark left, to rally your people and defend against the assault. You knew the land, and the Zerg's capabilities. By the time the Cerebrate begged me for help, you'd destroyed over half of its forces, with minimal losses of your own. It wasn't until I arrived, with the entire Swarm at my back, that you even started to look like losing."

She turned away slightly, pain evident in her stance. "In the end, we met face to face, in the very spot where we had set the Psi-Emitter, so long before. No human was ever able to best me in open combat, but on that day, you fought like a man possessed."

Despite the grim tale, I chuckled slightly. "Haven't you ever heard? There's nothing so dangerous as a man with nothing left to lose."

"Funny. You said the exact same thing to me, before we fought. You stayed in too close for me to be able to use my psionics, and in any case I didn't want to kill you."

"Why?" Selendis asked.

"Why kill an enemy when you can turn them." I replied. "I imagine that was your reasoning then."

She nodded glumly. "Only partly though. I'd betrayed Jim by that point, and destroyed everything I had fought for, before my infestation. Jim swore to kill me. When I found out you were still alive, enough humanity remained that I didn't want to kill you. Not that you gave me a choice. You'd obviously still heard what I was like and how I treated people. When I gained the upper hand, you blew yourself up, rather than surrender to me."

I considered that idea. Again, there was far too much that seemed like what I would do in that situation for me to be able to refute it.

"I can understand that. I've always believed in free will. I think I would rather die, than lose that, infestation or otherwise."

"I don't blame you in the slightest now. Then, I was infuriated, despairing and relieved. I knew how much of an ally you could have been to the Swarm, but the small human part of me was glad that you didn't have to go through what I did, and by my own hand. Still, I had caused your death, and I couldn't forget that either. I couldn't bring myself to finish off your people. After that battle, I returned to Char and remained there for several years. Partly because I had achieved what I needed by that point, but also I was tired of the bloodshed. It was only when I discovered the existence of the artefact that I began to move openly in the sector again. Jim ended up beating me to it. He joined forces with half the Dominion fleet, and launched the assault on Char."

She looked me in the eye. "That was the only battle that I never threw myself completely into."

"Why not?"

"That day on Antiga Prime, the human part of me began to break free of the bonds the Zerg placed on her. There were really only you and Jim that I could have considered friends before the Zerg. Knowing I was responsible for the death of one friend, that part was not going to let Jim die too. She threw herself into the fight, working to stop the Queen of Blades. In the end, she managed to break through just enough for Jim to succeed."

She sighed. "That day, and when Jim and I killed Mengsk, was probably the only victories we had in the final war. After that, nothing made a difference. We united the sector. Protoss, Zerg and Terran, standing side by side against abominations that aimed to consume us all. It still wasn't enough."

I remained silent. It didn't take a genius to work out this was as hard for her to tell as it was for us to hear.

Finally she continued. "I thought watching on, beating on the prison walls of my mind, while my body was inflicting such horrors on those around me was bad. Watching everyone die around you, despite everything you can do? It turned out to be far worse. I held Jim in my arms as he faded. I watched humanity be consumed, the Protoss be slaughtered, and the Zerg fighting among themselves before their extinction. Finally I was all that was left."

She laughed bitterly. "The Queen of Blades. The most hated being in the sector. Surviving until the end, against those committing horrors that made mine look like kindness, and able to recognise that fact. Fate does not appear to like me very much."

"So how did you survive?" I asked quietly.

"Once the battle was lost, I ran. Not something I'm proud of, but there's a long list of those. They tracked me from place to place, until finally I was cornered on Aiur. I knew it was pointless to fight, but I couldn't go down without one. They destroyed me. My body was completely ripped apart, but my mind somehow escaped, was pulled out. I still don't completely understand how. I was weak, but I had been able to project myself mentally for a long time. I managed to project myself away from that place, and to here. But something else happened. Not only did I pass through space, but crossing dimensions as well."

"A final gift from the Overmind, perhaps?" I wondered.

"Maybe. Either way, I found myself here. I spied on the colonists and worked out what had happened. Over time, I was able to gain enough strength and biomass back to recreate the body I lost. The brief Zerg assault here helped with that."

"I did not think travelling between dimensions was possible." Tassadar said suspiciously.

"Neither did I. Either way, it doesn't matter right now."

"I am not so sure of that. While the powers of the Void work similar to what you have described, they are not nearly powerful enough to achieve that feat." Zeratul said.

Diplomatically, I put in. "I guess what they're trying to say is how on earth can we trust you? You have to admit, it's a pretty unbelievable story."

"Oh, I know. The other half of that question is how do you know that any of this is real? For all you know, I could simply be something the Overmind created to lure you into a trap."

"The thought had occurred to us." Selendis said quietly.

"If it hadn't, you wouldn't be the people that I know you to be. Ultimately, I have nothing I can really use to convince you that I am who I say I am."

I paused as a thought occurred. Glancing at Nova, I saw her grimace but nod.

"That may not be entirely correct." She said, looking at the Queen of Blades.

"What do you mean?" The Queen looked surprised.

I stepped forward. "You obviously still have your memories. Faking one or two might be possible, but an entire lifetime?"

She stared at me. "You want me to show you everything. Do you have any idea what you're asking? The risks you're taking?"

"And the risks you're asking us to take? You want me to tell one of my best friends that in order to save everyone, she has to give herself to the Zerg, and another that he has to watch the woman he loves get twisted into something else? I'd be lucky to survive that, let alone convince them. And if I can't and you're right, then we all burn. Damn big risk from where I'm standing, and something I sure as hell want to be sure about before I do it."

She closed her eyes. "I hadn't planed to be quite so blunt about that, but yes. And it is a big risk. But entering my mind, it could destroy you."

"Perhaps," Nova spoke up. "But without that knowledge, we're already dead."

"You're the one who told me my whole career was taking chances and seeing them come out right. This might be bigger than most, but that doesn't make it less necessary." I added.

"I've already seen you die once. I've no desire to see it again."

"Then show me what I need to know now. The rest can wait for another time."

The Queen walked right up to me, her eyes seeing deep into me. "You always were determined, weren't you?"

"Isn't that why you contacted me in the first place?" I countered.

She smiled. "Perhaps it was you who needed to survive, not me."

"I think we'll do better with all of us, working together. If this turns out to be true, of course."

"Of course. Are you ready?" She asked, holding out her hands.

I took them. "As I'll ever be."

Images and emotions flashed through my mind. I recognised New Gettysburg and the horrifying scenes of the Zerg overrunning everything in their path. I watched Sarah throw everything she had into holding them off, hoping desperately for extraction. I felt her despair when she realised that no one was coming. I felt her agony as the Zerg began to change her body, and watched her mind be twisted and warped until what humanity she had left was buried so deep that no one would ever find it.

I felt her ecstasy as she emerged from her chrysalis, fully infested and ready to serve the swarm, and the tiny remnant of her humanity's utter horror at finding what she had become. I felt the overwhelming pressure of the Overmind's control press upon her, to a point where it was impossible to register that there had ever been anything else. I felt her conflicting emotions as she realised that Jim was among her opponents. I watched her humanity break through long enough to allow him to leave. I watched her threaten the Cerebrates, gain access to the Ghost Program files, hunt the Protoss across Char, and finally watch them escape, with Jim.

I felt the shock as the Overmind died, and the overload of information it gave her at the moment of its demise. Its imprisonment within its own mind, its understanding of its intended purpose, and the chance it foresaw to defy its masters. I felt her astonishment as she realised that it had planned her infestation, and its own death, to ensure she gained control of the swarm. Finally I felt her determination to do the impossible; reunite the swarm by whatever means possible and oppose those who had once enslaved them, even though she expected to die in the attempt.

As I came back to myself, I found I wasn't able to stand on my own. Only the fact that both the Queen and Nova were supporting me, in the Queen's case with wings as well as hands, was keeping me upright. The three Protoss looked rather unsure of what exactly they should do. I shook my head a couple of times, trying to regain my balance.

"It will take some time for you to adjust and truly assemble what I have shown you into a form that you can use." The Queen said, looking apologetic.

"Jason?" Nova asked.

I nodded slightly, and rested one hand on the wall of the chamber. "That was rather intense."

"I did warn you." The Queen said, frowning.

"I know. Frankly, I'd be stunned if it wasn't intense." I managed to look at her, a new respect for her in my mind. I had been inclined to believe her before. Now, I was certain of her honesty. "Just seeing that was enough, but living it? It's a wonder you're still sane."

She chuckled. "And you haven't even seen it all yet."

I looked at Nova, raising an eyebrow. She understood perfectly, diving into my mind and seeing everything that I had just been shown. It didn't take long for her to finish. She took a shaky step backwards, before looking at the Queen.

"That is one hell of a story."

I glanced at the Protoss. "Are you willing to see it for yourselves?"

They looked at each other before nodding reluctantly. Nova stepped back to them, and the four quickly began to view the vision themselves. I turned back to the Queen.

"You mentioned that there were other powers starting to make their own moves. I assume that the Ghost on New Folsom was one of their agents."

"Yes. He serves those that would control the Zerg. You were extraordinarily lucky to survive that encounter."

I raised an eyebrow. "You know who he is?"

"I have my suspicions but nothing more, not yet. But be careful. I would imagine you will see him again, and fighting him hand to hand is probably not the best idea. Certainly not until you're more proficient yourself."

I smiled slightly. "I'll do my best, but war is rarely fought on friendly terms. One other thing confuses me though. Why did you interfere at New Gettysburg?"

She looked surprised. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You've just proceeded to tell me that Sarah has to be infested. Why not then?"

She nodded in understanding. "A couple of reasons. Firstly, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Necessary or not, I was able to stop it, and I knew that I should."

"Well I can't complain on that count. We ended up with her free, plus Nova and the Protoss siding with us after that fight, which we wouldn't have had otherwise."

She chuckled. "Very true. But I also interfered because of you. That battle had to play out differently. The only way that might have meant you would stay on-board was if Sarah escaped. I didn't expect you to get the Protoss and Nova out too, or have such a big force follow you."

"You gave me warning. It's really quite amazing what you can do with some notice."

I thought carefully about my next words. "I'm going to have to work out what to tell Sarah and Jim about all this. But I'm certainly not going to force either of them into this. Whether we face the end-times or not, I will not decide for them."

She smiled. "I'd be appalled if you did. As you said, we all need to work together. If you forced her, then I imagine she would hate you as much as Mengsk. That would not be beneficial to anyone. In any case, you wouldn't be the man I know you to be if you did."

"Good. That would be crossing one line too many for me."

She smiled. "There is a couple of other things you should probably know now. While I was showing you my past, I took the liberty of establishing a mental link between us. It may be useful for us to be able to communicate more directly after today."

I considered that idea. While I wasn't overly keen on letting other people into my head, I'd already allowed Nova in. There was no way that I'd be able to keep the Queen out, but I appreciated the courtesy of telling me, even if she hadn't asked before doing so. However if I was honest with myself, I might have suggested such a thing in any case. "That's probably a good idea, thank you. I don't really want to have to rely on being unconscious if you need to tell me something."

She laughed. "I can see how that might be a problem. If there had been another way, I'd have taken it, but even talking to you directly wouldn't have worked then, I suspect."

"Probably not. You said there were a couple of things?"

"I've already told you that the Zerg are on the move. Just be careful. They won't stop trying to take Sarah, and they won't care how many people they have to kill to get her."

I grimaced. "That is going to be a problem. Especially if Sarah agrees that this is necessary. I can't just see us rocking up to the Zerg and handing her over as being likely to work. Talking to the Overmind might end up being necessary, but that's got its own set of problems."

"I agree it would be the best chance, but the Overmind is on Char, perhaps the most heavily defended Zerg world around. Just getting to it would be a major achievement. If you got its attention beforehand, you might be able to do it."

"Convince it to talk to us? That's a tall order. But then I guess it's no worse than everything else."

Behind me, Nova and the three Protoss had finished their telepathic discussion and moved up behind me.

"So what you're essentially saying is that we have a lot of impossible tasks to pull off?" Nova summed up.

I shrugged. "As long as they're merely impossible, we're still in the fight." I turned to the Protoss. "What do you think about all of this?"

Selendis spoke nervously. "I may not be fully convinced just yet, but I do not believe we can ignore this. If you think that we must act, I will support you."

Tassadar nodded. "When the impossible is eliminated, the improbable, however unlikely, must be the answer. I agree, there is simply too much risk to set this aside."

"My brethren must be told of this. I came here for knowledge, and I agree we now have it. But the time for war is upon us. I will stand with you." Zeratul said simply.

I glanced at Nova. She smiled. "We've come this far together. We can't turn back now."

I nodded, looking at the Queen. "Then it's time for us to go. There is much that we have to do, and little time, if we are to succeed."

She smiled."I'll show you a shortcut." Turning around, she led us through another passageway that spiralled up. As we reached the top, a wall of rock blocked our progress, but with a brief flash of psionics, she moved it aside. As we emerged, we found ourselves on top of an island off the coast. Before I could ask about how we were supposed to get back to the shuttles, her psionics flared once more, and I turned to see our shuttles approach and land around us."

"Nice tricks." I commented.

"I've had some time to practice and focus my skills." She grinned.

I chuckled. "I imagine you would. Until we meet again, then."

She nodded, before stepping forward and giving me a brief hug. "Thank you, Jason. Good luck."

"To us all. We're going to need it."

(Author's Note)

Ok, I know I said I was planning to speed things up a bit, but this chapter is going to be pivotal in how the story plays out. I wanted to take the time, and get it right, make sure that the important things were covered. I hope that it makes sense to everyone, if I've missed something important, let me know and I'll clear it up. That being said, I'm only covering up to the end of the original here in any real detail. Can't have Jason knowing everything, or that would be boring.

Review time, and there's one hell of a lot of them to cover. Thank you guys, I love seeing them, and you've actually put this story into the top 25 for reviews.

Darth, firstly I have to say, wow. I know you said you were going to review them all, but it's great to see them. It's nice to see that you anticipated Primal Kerrigan, although I do have to admit I didn't expect many people, if anyone at all, was going to spot it, so kudos to you. You're right, there aren't many stories at all that try to cover this possibility, and it's a gap that I thought needed filling. Your assumptions about the gut feeling is correct, but I've always believed that one of a commander's best tools is their gut instinct. I do try to not overuse any particular thing, with varying degrees of success, but I do want to try and put some emotion into the characters. As for Nova, there's a major difference in canon for her and what I've depicted, which if you haven't read her back story, does come out slightly in this chapter. As for your comments about the Liberator, Mengsk definitely knew that she was an advanced ship, but I'm going to say Jason never trusted him enough to let him board and have a look himself. Having said that, he is obviously aware of some of its systems, and a few chapters ago, I put in something about him and the Liberator that was quite important, although it wasn't directly connected I admit. As for Jim's back story, I've covered the important parts of that in the Bio chapter I posted a little while ago.

Dredd, balancing this is certainly something of a challenge. Having said that, it's the kind of challenge that I enjoy, so I'm going to do the best I can.

Almighty, Chris, MP, I hope you don't mind me addressing your reviews together, but since they're along the same lines, I think it's best. Primal Kerrigan is here through changing dimensions or realities, not time travel. Given that the Protoss are at least partially capable of this, I think it is at least plausible, at least for the purposes of the story. But it is no illusion, I'll say that right now.

Scott, I know you had mentioned that theory a while ago, but I had already planned for Primal Kerrigan to be here for this, rather than a Xel'Naga. So I didn't write it this way just for you to be wrong.

Timber, as much fun as it would be to write JasonxSarah, I can't do that to Jim. It just wouldn't be right, but maybe in another story. All I can do is hope that Nova lives up to what you hope for.

Idea, THANK YOU!. Your review was almost exactly the kind of reaction I was hoping for. I'm sorry, but I do like occasionally messing with people's heads.

Capo, at this point, I'm going to say that Primal Kerrigan's calls were directed towards those that would aim to help her achieve her goals, so they are too focussed for anyone else to detect. Don't forget, she knows that Amon has his agents around, the last thing she'd want is for him to become aware of her presence.

Finally, the Guest review. When I began writing this story, I decided not to delete any relevant reviews, good or bad. But you came very close to me bending that rule. If that was all you had to say, at least put a name to it, don't just hide. Still, 1 flame in 99 reviews, I'll live with that.

Ok, another chapter down, and things are going to ramp up from here.

Until next time.