"You know, going against orders is almost unheard of within the zerg." Stukov said, the men behind him keeping their guns trained on the three targets in front of them. "One would be forgiven for not anticipating it."

Dehaka's expert analysis of the situation was: Bad. All of them were too injured to fight off Stukov alone, forget about a squadron of his troops on top of him. Escape? He might be able to tunnel out, digging wasn't Stukov's forte... but truthfully, he'd likely be killed before he could get to a safe depth. Running through his options, bluffing was the only one. "...You, should, leave."

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "I think not. I have got eyes on all my enemies. I must say, Dehaka... Your betrayal was most unexpected. Perhaps she's had some influence on you?" Stukov nodded his head at Brightwing, who was hovering between the other two, prepared to try and cast something. Her only spell that would possibly be useful in this situation would be the wind nova, and the chances she'd be able to use it were low.

"You two, run. I'll hold him off; I still have a bone to pick with the zerg." Lucio put a hand on the handle of El'druin, wondering how many bullets his armour could stop.

Stukov held up his human hand, for silence. "Do not be afraid. I am here with my own motives." The three heroes in front of him stopped. Stukov looked between them. "Dehaka. As the only other zerg here with any measure of authority, you will listen to my demands and obey them. Or I will turn over the memories of what I just witnessed to Kerrigan. I have shielded my mind from her for the time being, so your little conversation currently remains between me, and your two... friends."

"...What, do you, want?"

"You three will come with me. I will give you some small sets of orders, and you are not to question them, or allow anyone to learn of them. Am I clear?"

Brightwing went forwards a little. "You... do not hurt Lucio!"

"I will say, childish thing, that if you value the life of Dehaka OR Lucio, you will keep your mouth shut."

"...Friend, what do we do?" She whispered. Everyone could hear.

Dehaka looked ahead. There was no escape from this. He needed to get back his strength before even considering a move, and that would take time... And it seemed he'd need to try and keep Lucio alive too now, if they were in this together. "Stukov. We, will follow. But... do not, make, mistakes. Kerrigan would kill, all of us."

"...Then come with me, all of you. Dehaka, you're to leave the battlefield. Take Brightwing and Lucio with you. Take Lucio to the brig of the Aleksander, place him in a cell, and stand guard. I will be watching."

Lucio bit his lip, as he walked along with the group, aches pinging through his body. He'd been given so much power, but right now it was useless- he felt a pawn, despite the might he'd been granted. Then again... maybe there was more at play here. Stukov's plans didn't seem like they were engineered entirely for the benefit of the swarm.

Stukov's forces branched off, leaving the three of them alone. "Uh... so, guys..?"

"Follow, Stukov's orders." Dehaka said, as he limped forwards at a fairly quick pace. "He is... tricky. When on board, ship... stay, close."

"...Brightwing sorry. Will still keep you safe, but I..." She flapped a few times, the usual glow on her dimmed a little. "I... do not know what to do."

"Guess we're a team now, then. Man, hope the others make it through this okay..."


Stukov needed to sit down. This wasn't a normal man's petty 'I need to sit because my legs are tired', this was a serious matter. The upcoming steps of his plan would need absolutely all the available brainpower he had, and standing did still use a tiny amount of his mind, controlling his balance.

He got to his forward base, at the heart of the three lanes, slammed the door open, and grabbed an office chair, quickly seating himself. "Ensure I am not disturbed."

Without even spending half a second to confirm his order was heard, Stukov closed his eyes and focused. Going out to bring Dehaka and company into his plan had been a necessary move, but now salvaging this battle and manipulating this to his ends was going to require all his intelligence.

Raynor's fight here was effectively doomed without his healer. But he had nukes and troops at his disposal, and if he took down too many of Stukov's forces then Stukov wouldn't be able to capture him.

How ironic, that the limitation of forced mercy would finally be removed, and the first thing he found himself doing was placing it back upon himself.

Aside from that, he had to keep his section of the hivemind closed tight, but still appear like it wasn't hiding anything. That was where most of his mind had been dedicated for the past few hours, and would remain.

Lastly, he had to clear out a few handfuls of rooms on the brig of his ship...


Twenty minutes had passed. Nukes had been expended, the mechanisms of the Junction working to create new ones. Raynor found his forces dwindling, falling lower and lower. They'd pushed in and gained ground, they'd been pushed back and lost ground. Hive and fort alike lay in ruins across the battlefield, strewn with the savage horrors of a prolonged battle.

Sonya struggled to stand, looking out at the massing forces. Hell itself was not so relentless...

"...Hm." Arthas stood straight, leaning Frostmourne on the ground. "It seems we are outmatched." He commented, in a tone that didn't sound at all outmatched.

"Nukes will be ready in three minutes." Called Valla, slipping a targeter into her pocket.

"...Hell. Everyone, fall back from that keep. Mass defences around the core!" Raynor shouted, the last pocket of his troops fleeing as an Ultralisk crushed the fort, Roaches swarming ahead of it to soften up the defenders for one last push.

Arthas picked up his sword, and twirled it into his hand weightlessly, ice freezing the ground around him. "Raynor. I will raise the dead against our enemy, once they have sent their final push against us. If we can encircle and destroy a large section of the enemy force here, then we may be able to push forwards and tear down the enemy base before they can muster anew."

Raynor blinked. "Is that even possible?!"

"We've little choice but to hope it is. We can't win without new units." Johanna kept her shield up, watching the roaches get closer to the final defence before the facility behind them, the core unit that controlled all the now-destroyed forts.

"I would place my trust in Arthas." Sonya advised, getting up once again, a hard look on her face. "We will have to assault them swiftly."

"Enough talk, here come the uglies!" Raynor started gunning, all too aware that he'd run out of ammunition soon.

Arthas clenched his empty hand, and raised it up into the air. The wind of the dusty world blew with an unnatural chill, one that sent a shiver through the rest of the team. And a blue light shone and sparkled, settling into diamond dust that never should have been, before coming alive with a terrifying power.

Corpses of zerg were almost burying the battleground. Many had been salvaged for biomass by Stukov, but many more had just enough of their skeletal structure intact for one last push. They rose up, that eerie blue glow spilling from their eyes and mouth, and charged.

Arthas drew his hand back with poise, and gripped Frostmourne. "Come forth, Army Of The Damned! Serve your king in death!"

Raynor looked at the advancing zerg wave visibly halt, and try to get into a defensive formation. Whoever was in control clearly knew what had just happened... but the tide had turned, dramatically so. With a cheer, he stepped forwards and got to work shooting, inspiring the rest of the team to get right in and help the rush of scourge crush the enemy forces.

It barely took thirty seconds, and the 'final push' was utterly dismantled. "Alright! Now we attack!" Raynor called, looking around at his team. Everyone was battered and bruised, but all standing tough. The counterattack started with a charge, one last chance to get to the heart of the enemy fortifications before they were inevitably overwhelmed. The reanimated wave of zerg hobbled along fervently, many of them with broken bodies.

Raynor couldn't lie to himself, Arthas' power was horrific. But right now, it was the only way to win. Sonya had been right to rely on him.

The first layer of hives had already been pushed down. They'd mostly been a sacrificial layer of defences intended to provide a good point for the many attack waves to mass at. The second layer was damaged, but they'd been repelled when they attacked earlier. Now, with barely a single zerg to defend them the one in the way was steamrolled.

The command centre was so close. Just within reach. Tearing it down would effectively equate to a win, unless Stukov was hiding somewhere on the battlefield. The zerg weren't even half as dangerous without a mind to lead them.

All five of them were battered, bruised, and needed healing ten minutes ago. They charged, Raynor doing everything he could to bolster their strength and inspire his troops, even as his tired state dulled his senses.

As five, they ran, and the floor gave way.


Stukov exhaled in relief. He was beyond needing oxygen, but sometimes the old human reflex would surface in him. Now to take care of the undead wave, before the walls came down around him.

Gunfire sounded as his personal guard engaged the enemy. This base had some defences, Stukov was confident that his men should be able to pick off the reanimated wave. Now it would just be a matter of binding them and taking them to the brig, and putting this facility to the torch.

He couldn't help but show a small, cynical smile. Of all the things to have defeated Raynor, the legendary Raynor himself who had bested the zerg at every turn, who could spot most traps a mile off, who had luck in spades, accuracy in aces, and a royal flush for leadership...

It was a pitfall. A tactic as old as the first tribes of humans, all those thousands of years ago. A big hole in the ground was all it took to finally subdue this legendary man.

Well, time to see how his little band of pawns was getting along in the brig, while he waited for his next batch of hydralisks to finish maturing.


"Hey Cassia." Lucio walked into the brig tiredly, the guards standing aside.

For the first time in almost thirsty hours, Cassia stopped struggling. She was beaded with sweat, and her wrists were raw from rubbing against whatever was binding her, as she took a few long breaths. "...An angel? I... should have known my limits. Eurgh, how foolish to die in a cell because I overexerted myself."

Lucio pulled his hood down. "Don't worry, you're still alive. It's me, Lucio."

"Lucio! I am glad to see a friendly face... but you must have been captured too." Cassia stared straight past him, at Dehaka. "Was it you?! It's one thing to assist in imprisoning an amazon, but now I'll kill you myself for touching someone like him!"

"Hey, calm down. We're... uh, not really on the same side, but kind of in the same situation. For now, he's with us. So's Brightwing by there."

"Hello!"

"...It seems you have some explaining to do. And where did you get that armour? I could swear it's the same design as a real angel."

"Long story, but I'll answer it all. Hey, do you know where Zarya is? I should let her know I'm okay for the moment." Lucio said, leaning back against the least disgusting section of the wall.

"Just around the corner. You're not being put in a cell like the rest of us?"

Lucio shook his head. "We were told to wait here... Hopefully I can get a chance to get you guys out."

"Should you really say that in front of- well, if you're really sure they're on our side." Cassia looked at Dehaka cautiously. "Go on, you should talk to Zarya."

Lucio walked around the corner, looking at the cells. Each one was a steel room, with multiple sets of bars across the front, sometimes reinforced with creep or other suspicious growths. A few were empty. He reached the far end of the small corridor.

"Hey there, lad! They got you too?"

Lucio jumped, and spun to see a dwarf sitting in his cell. "Muradin! You're okay too!"

"Of course! Dwarves don't die, we just get a bit closer to the ground." Muradin laughed, despite his situation. "Now, what's with the fancy gear?"

"I'll explain everything. I just want to find Zarya and make sure she's okay first."

"AYE! ZARYA!" Muradin shouted. "Behind you, kid."

Lucio turned to the last cell. Zarya was dishevelled, rising from what must have been sleep. "...Lucio? What are you doing here?"

"Whew, glad to see you, Zarya. All okay in there? I've got my tech if you need some healing."

"Go on. I could use some rejuvenation- if you find miss Cassia, then she was taken away fighting. She may be in even worse shape." Zarya got up, and walked over to the bars. "But how are you here? Loose, without guards? And you're not acting like you've been sneaking around."

"I'll explain now, but long story short, I got caught and I wasn't in any state to fight back, so I surrendered to try and help Brightwing get out of a bad spot because she did just save my life."

"...Hm. Good enough summary. So why don't you have any guards? Nor were you executed."

"I don't think we could fight our way out. When I got caught I'm pretty sure I was one solid punch away from dropping dead. And Stukov is apparently watching all of us right now, so... I don't really have any choice but to trust him. If I try to go anywhere without Dehaka, then he could probably just have his troops swarm me."

"Okay. Then what is the plan?" Zarya walked up to the bars. "I've been biding my time to try and find an escape, but no good. These are too strong."

Lucio shrugged, and drew El'druin. "I could try cutting them, but that'd probably set off an alarm. For now, let's play along with Stukov's plan. Whatever it is."

"...Very well. Since you're allowed to walk around, apparently- go and look for our weapons."

"Got it."


Dehaka made it over to a corner, and leaned on one arm, feeling the impact wound. The huge shatter-shaped scar across his front still refused to close. This wasn't the first time he'd taken a particularly bad injury- acids in particular could leave wounds that were hard to regenerate. But normally, he could easily recover more quickly by use of essence, the new form replacing the old in seconds.

Yet here, even as he collected, essence eluded him. An unknown curse of the nexus confined his form to the current one, and the best he could do to heal quickly was to eat things, break them down, and wait for his body to do the rest.

So now, here he was. Hungry, injured, and vulnerable. Picking a fight would require serious caution. He watched as Lucio came back, talking to Cassia, telling her all about the fight... he did what he could to track every possible threat in the room, planning out the best course of action for each and every one. Most plans boiled down to escape, due to his current circumstances.

Brightwing had been resting, just lying down on the floor a few steps away from him. Again, completely unguarded. She wasn't even out of the way of someone walking around the corner carelessly, she'd probably get kicked unless they were particularly alert. It was clear she was lingering on the edge of going to sleep. Strange, considering she hadn't even been doing much fighting.

"You should, move."

Brightwing opened her eyes, and lifted her head. "Hm? No-one is over by here..."

"They, would not, see you if they, came here. Might, walk into you."

"Oh." She moved herself across the small corridor, to the outer part of the corner, and then managed to halfway stand, looking up to Dehaka as she sat next to him. "Better? ...Was friend lonely?"

"No." His answer was completely serious.

"...You have not healed, friend. What is wrong?"

"I do not, know. Your, magic, cannot help?"

"No..."

"It may be, because I have, consumed my reserves of essence." Dehaka commented, quietly. It was one thing to discuss your vulnerability with someone trusted, another to announce it. Trusted? I believe I can trust her, after that fight... but I must be careful not to put her in situations where she's forced to choose between me and another 'friend'. That is the only time when I cannot trust her.

"You are hungry?"

Dehaka nodded. "I, can live without food, for some time. If I could, change... use essence, like I always have... I could heal. But here, I cannot. I will, wait."

"Friend should not wait. Danger might happen soon. I was sleeping to get more ready."

"...Hunting safely, like this, would leave you for too long. I will wait."

A short while passed, as they sat there, patiently observing what they could of the small U-shaped room.

"Brightwing changed, when got turned into zerg. So did bad demon. Why friend cannot change?" She said, after a while.

"...I, do not know."

"Brightwing knows."

How? She must be wrong, there's no way she worked this out when Stukov couldn't. Kerrigan couldn't! "What?" A glimmer of hope came into his rough voice, regardless.

"Brightwing sort of... feel it. When Brightwing got changed, Brightwing wanted to change. Wanted to live, because I had a stabby hole in my back. And... think nasty demon too, because you ate his face. He was dying. Wanted to live. And, Brightwing think your weird green pool thing wanted to change us."

"Spawning pool. Primal version, converts to zerg, if the organism, can withstand the microbial attack. Control microbes with mind, and survive, if will, strong enough. If, you cannot, it will, break you down."

"...Brightwing not understand any of that. Brightwing just think... if Brightwing wanted to let friend change, and friend wanted to change too... maybe it will work?"

...If this is the actual rule, then that's the single most awkward restriction I've ever faced. Needing prey to actually 'let' me use their essence, regardless of whether or not I've eaten them. "It seems, unlikely... But, I will try." A second part of that theory clicked with him, considering that Brightwing had just offered... "Your essence... why are you offering it? You will not, gain anything."

"Brightwing might be hurt, but-"

"No. I will, only take, one bite. That is, all, I need, to change. Quantity, is only for, regrowth." She's literally willing to die?! What kind of... is something wrong with her? I can't understand. Every action she takes, I understand her less. But I at least know she's trying to help me. Enough that I should protect her as if she's my own body, considering how much of an asset she is. The confusion ran deep, but resolved itself in a few moments. Regardless of her motives, it was a chance he couldn't pass up. With her healing... a single bite ought to heal itself in just a minute or two. He could protect her.

"Okay. Um... where are you... going to bite?" She said nervously, her own words seeming to hit her. "Oh! Friend, bite tail. Tail will grow back, Brightwing has seen that."

Dehaka nodded.


Lucio had overheard the conversation, and not really understood a lot of it, but he managed to understand two things. First, he shouldn't look to the side unless he wanted to see something very graphic. Second, there was almost certainly a joke hidden somewhere about eating ass, and damn if he wasn't going to find it in his spare time.

Don't look. Don't do it, Lucio. You made it this far in life without being permanently mentally scarred. His head did everything it could to try and distract from what he was 90% was about to happen, but the 10% uncertainty was incredibly hard to ignore. He found himself slowly looking over. What are you doing, you're just going to see something disgusting at best.

He watched for five seconds, and then became extremely deeply uncomfortable as both of them looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'll just... give you two some privacy."

He slipped around the corner, ignoring the perplexed look on Cassia's face. Zarya was doing warm-up moves, getting ready for a potential jailbreak. Muradin was sitting on the cleaner half of a bench in his cell.

He wasn't really sure what conversation to make, but he did know that he heard some heavy, swift footsteps and the door to the brig opening and closing.

"Uh, all okay back there?" He called.

"Brightwing okay!" Echoed the voice. "Friend went to get food."


Mira was just sitting in the bridge. The finishing touches on the cannon were being put into place. The plan was coming together, at long last.

But now... She looked at the singularity. It didn't feel quite right... She looked out of the window, as a pipeline was connected. Shortly, a huge quantity of liquidised vespene would be pumped in from the Hyperion's refineries, and the gun would become operational. They had enough for four shots, per Swann's calculations, so providing the leviathans couldn't react AND dodge at the speed of light, this should be checkmate.

"Matt." She said, simply. "Are we ready?"

"Ten minutes to fully load it." Matthew answered easily. "I was just going to go and take those messages we agreed to for Varian, if you'd go and get the portal open for us?"

"Oh, of course." It all didn't quite feel real. Kerrigan had never gone down easily, in most cases she came out decidedly on top. Evil zerg, perhaps- but she was unquestionably a devious leader. Could she somehow do something about this cannon? Even now? "Matt, if we win... want to go on holiday somewhere?"

"...There'd still be a lot to do, even if we beat Kerrigan. For starters, what about that realm where you pulled all the heroes from. Deciding whether or not we intervene to help would be tricky at best."

"Hm. Another realm, full of magic, mercs and ale. Sounds close enough to a holiday for me!"

"Sounds like tuesday, if you swap the magic for psionics."

Mira chuckled, and walked out of the room, heading down to the bar where the alliance would be waiting, maybe alongside some other patrons.


Stukov watched the facility. It was crumbling under his attacks, the concrete turning to dust and the machinery to scrap. By now, his men should have taken the captured enemies through warpspace, to his ship... and so, he knew it was time to begin the next step of his plan.

'Benjamin, relay best-case orders to Dehaka.'

'Yes, vice-admiral...'

Stukov smirked. Oh, this was going to be too good. Knowing your actions were cosmically irrelevant was... deeply relieving, to say the least. It almost made the pain of infestation go away, as glee roiled around inside him briefly, before his quashed it. There would be time for that later- now, he had the most delicate steps of the plan. His psyche would have to be as normal as breathing... not that the zerg needed to breathe.

First, he linked his mind to the Overlord Raynor was inside. They normally weren't bred with this functionality, but making one with a voicebox wasn't too hard.

"Okay, can everyone hear me?"

"What the f-"

"Stukov speaking. Be silent." He considered his words for a moment. Should have planned those out, but he was preoccupied with everything else. "Do exactly as I say, and you might get out of this alive. Raynor, get the visor out of your suit. I'll need something to show Kerrigan, to prove you're dead."

"Stukov, what are you doing..?" Raynor murmured. "You're defecting?"

"I think 'utterly betraying' might be more accurate." Stukov attempted to come across as humorous, although that got bogged down by normal self. "Now, when I release you all into the hangar, you need to hide. The floor panel to the left of the door will come up if you stamp the right corner of it."

"...Got it..?"

"In a few minutes, you'll have some more friends. Get them under the floor too. Then just hold on and wait, because I can't be sure how long it'll take to pull off my final step. Whatever you do, do NOT allow any detectable energy to build up, or we're all dead. Do you understand?"

"I think so. Where do I leave this visor?"

"The floor. Anywhere will do." Stukov tapped out of that mental conversation, and steeled himself one more time. This was the most important conversation of them all, now. He very carefully joined a conversation with Kerrigan, his facade impenetrable. Short of utterly breaking down his whole consciousness with her powers, she would never find what he'd done.

Her voice came through shortly. "Stukov. Your report?"

"The facility is destroyed, although we are still dismantling the last of the machinery. I recommend you strike now, in case one of the defenders had a distress beacon of some kind." Stukov said, acting flawless.

"Excellent. I'll raze them to the ground..." Kerrigan's mind receded from the conversation, even though Stukov could still feel it's presence now.

His plans were all falling into place once again. As long as Dehaka came through, then things should be just as he desired...


Mira had a tiny portal open, feeding through the letters Varian had written. Varian was chatting with Uther, while Jaina sat back. Thrall was over by the bar, and she spared him a glance, as if to make sure he wasn't somehow reading closed, pre-written letters. Gazlowe attended the warchief as always, fiddling with some kind of gearbox on the counter, grease over his fingers.

With the jukebox trundling away, and Matt enjoying a water break from his normal job running the whole ship, it was a wonderfully calm and wholesome atmosphere.

She hated that. Calm and wholesome places had an annoying tendency to either conceal an assassin, or worse it was set up by a particularly pig-headed bureaucrat, in hopes of impressing the poor, filthy mercenary he expected would throw down her life for a few credits. At the same time... this was kind of nice. Just add some idiot in the corner juggling knives or something, so there was tangible danger, and she'd have been right at home.

"Okay, mail delivered." Mira finished. "Although really, we're almost done in this place. You should be back home tomorrow."

"At last." Varian smiled. "Can't just run around and leave my people unattended forever. Though, what about Muradin?"

"With any luck, you'll see him tonight, sweetie." Mira got up, and stretched... then tensed. Her singularity was burning, screaming danger-

"Mira?" Matthew lowered the little plastic water cup he'd been drinking from.

Mira held a hand up to the air to on obvious effect, and would have looked outright comical if not for the huge, resounding explosion that shook the room hard enough to knock Gazlowe over. "We're being fired on! I... I can't block another shot like that!"

"Oh, shit." Matthew threw the cup aside. Matthew Horner was the kind of person who the marines might make jokes about being incapable of swearing. When he dropped the s-bomb, it actually hit like a bomb. "Okay, I know what to do. I'll get to the bridge and fire the cannon, it should have at least one shot ready by now- that will buy us some time! Mira, you get everyone that you can out!" He sprinted out of the room faster than anyone in uniform should be able to, before Mira could say another word to stop him.

"MATT! You can't sacrifice yourself, you moron! MATTHEW! MATTHEW, I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU THROW YOURSELF AWAY LIKE THIS! MATT!" He was already gone, the words halted by the metal of the walls.

"Everyone, get ready to move!" Varian took command, the least shaken. "Mira, you'd best listen to your man, or everyone here is dead."

"...I know what I have to do. Everyone, over here. Step out of line and I'll shoot you myself." Mira kicked a table across the room, clearing a space.

Varian, Thrall, Jaina, Uther and Gazlowe lined up around her, as she opened a portal. "We've got one chance to save everyone before Kerrigan blasts us, so damn it, that what we're doing! All in! Now!" She jumped through, shortly followed by the heroes around her...

A/N: Two more chapters. That's what I expect from this. Stukov's revealed his hand, and the endgame is all coming to a head. Drama abounds!

TJtrack99: You are indeed correct! I was dropping hints for a short while, but always worried they were a bit too vague. And Lucio is now incredibly OP. If this were a playable campaign, he would be THE character of choice for the last levels. I'd buff up all his numbers, and give him all of Tyreal's abilities on top of his old ones. Ranged attacks that are sword beams, because why not. He's got the power of god and anime on his side.