A/N: Special thanks to SolarisAce, FtDLulz, mivpus, mbh040, Asuka Sakura26, and izwan for reviewing last chapter! Your support means a lot to me and I am very grateful for it, so I hope I can continue to hear from you all!

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(Present Time, Captain O'Shannon, Halcyon)

Rare is the time when one finds themselves leaving their own Battlecruiser to go on another Battlecruiser entirely just to slap someone across the face.

"It's good to see you in person—"

Stahd did not finish his half-hearted sentence by the time the back of my hand struck across his hollow cheekbone. The spoiled brat gasped as his cheek turned red and all eyes on his bridge turned to the action.

Stahd's soldiers stood hesitantly, unsure as to what to do in this situation while he himself clenched his fists with fury. He would not stand for this it would seem.

"How dare you strike a fellow officer!"

My next non-verbal response is a straight punch to the bridge of his sorry nose.

I pull my hand back as he stumbles into the monitor behind him, the impact having once again caught him off guard, "Save it for someone who cares. Tell me, how many have you killed today, Stahd?"

I am not happy if one cannot notice, nor am I afraid of lending this brat the punishment his parents never gave him. Rich, spoiled brats like this are no good for our Dominion outside of the wallets they use to fund it.

He wipes his bleeding and bruised face. When he pulls the hand away it reveals a smirk, one that tempts me to step forward so he is once again in my reach, "Dozens, hundreds, what does it matter? They're all rebels, and they deserve it."

The sneer had not brought him to any more harm, but those words sure would. I rush forward to close our short distance, using the momentum gained to swing my metal knee up into his crotch.

He howls in pain and bends over, allowing me to grab him by his sandy hair.

"You keep saying and doing things that bring me to physical violence. I really wish you would stop doing that."

I ram his skull into the monitor he had previously crashed into, notably cracking a part of it where the collision took place. This monster deserves no pity or leeway with an attitude like that.

My hand lets go of his bleeding face to let him sink to the floor weakly, "There are plenty of planetary overseers who do their job, look after their people, take care of the planet itself, and let life go on. Have you ever thought that your hard-handed tactics are exactly what these people despise? That you are only causing them to rebel more?"

"Get off my back! I am doing as his majesty Mengsk wills for his Dominion, so you best—" He tries to stand up, but I kick him back down and pin him with a heavy metal leg.

Still stepping on him, I bend my body down to bring my face as close to his sad mug as I can. With the hand I held him I wipe the blood I've shed off on his uniform, taking particular aim at the medals he has plastered as if they mean anything.

"I too am serving the Dominion, but we are nothing alike. If you mow down one more civilian who is peacefully protesting against your brutality, the Zerg will not be your only enemy on this planet."

My hand moves up to his rank patch and I tear it off roughly. With a look down at it, I decide to shove it in his gaping mouth that is trying to come up with something to say.

"Start acting like your rank."

I have a feeling his crew is sympathetic to my cause, as none even moved to stop me in any way. It is nice to see that there are some decent souls out there. I only hope their hesitation is not because of my rank.

Still, I have made my point, as the bleeding and now choking bastard underfoot acts as a testament to. Asking nicely would not reign in this kind of smug son of a bitch.

My leaving of the ship is met with silence, and it is only as I turn around that I notice my lieutenant has been behind me the whole time. I cannot even remember ordering her to come with me, but she is right there the majority of the time so I cannot say I am surprised.

This…was supposed to be a great day. A moment of triumph as we eliminate a huge Zerg foe. But instead I get called off the frontlines with the Zerg to come deal with this sad excuse for a human being because he was murdering countless people without any sort of evidence for their supposed crimes, other than that they do not like it when Dominion soldiers slaughter their families.

I wonder why they would possibly have that view?

Just as I reach my own shuttle to take me back to my Battlecruiser on the frontlines, something else decides to interrupt me. The communicator in my pocket lets me know that someone is trying to reach me, so I dig it out to answer the call.

"This is O'Shannon."

The soldier I put in charge of the Jacks, pretty much the closest person to me at the time who was not my lieutenant, speaks over the line, "Captain, we have found trace amounts of Zerg life in the wreckage of their destroyed ship. It is possible more have already escaped."

Zerg 101: instead of calling to report that there are Zerg, kill them while calling to report there are Zerg. What the hell do they teach recruits these days?

I am not in the mood for dealing with any more stupid today, "Contain them. Do not let them spread, not even a single Drone. Don't contact me about things you should be able to do and know on your own."

"Sir," comes the nervous response before the call ends entirely. Good. At least it was short.

"Lieutenant, describe Stahd to me in three words."

"Arrogant, rich, bastard."

And this is why I keep her by my side. It is always nice having a second, but similar, opinion.

(Present Time, Tessa'Fash POV, Halcyon Zerg base)

The chamber we set up shop in is actually quite nice. Spacious, completely hidden from both the Terrans and Protoss, located near resources we can harvest, a nice cool drift that I can feel pass by certain less carapacey parts of me…

My skin is so thick that I do not even mind the shudders that ripple through me at the cold air. It is good to feel again, and not just feel the occasional pain when something tears through my skin. This is much nicer…soothing even. I would have likely felt put-off by this sensation as a Terran, but now it is just something I can enjoy.

Still, such comforts will not save me as relaxing and pleasure rippling as they may be. What will save me is making sure this base is up and running, as well as set to carry out the tasks I ask of it.

A constructed Hatchery greets me in the main chamber of the cave. Many other recognizable Zerg structures surround it, and I'll admit it is a pleasing sight when I notice a Spawning Pool. To be on the ground with familiar Zerg things puts me much more at ease than the flying deathtrap that was the Leviathan.

What I am more interested in, however, is the less familiar structure that is off in a smaller section of the cave. As I approach it I notice that the structure has enveloped the entirety of the cave subsection, forming a room very much similar to what Abathur's was like.

It seems Dan has done his part in reconstructing the lab…

"A fully functional evolution chamber," I say to no-one in particular while observing the living machine before me. The organs that construct it are throbbing as they do their work. Disgusting, but necessary.

I notice that Dan has arrived behind me to observe his creation. I have to admit I am impressed he has managed to get this up and running so soon.

"Well done. I trust that we can use this to empower our forces?"

"Yes, my queen. I may not be able to craft entire new strains like Abathur could, but I can finish the work he initiated. The chamber also has access to stock Zerg improvements, ones that you and I both could benefit from possibly."

I could be improved? That sounds like quite the nice prospect, "Explain."

"Tougher carapaces, stronger claws and projectiles, and not to mention things like increasing the movement speed of Zerglings to better use them as scouts."

All of this seems too good to be true…and I am quite sure I know what the price is. We're strapped on supplies as it is…

"We will need resources for these projects, yes?"

He seems as distraught by this fact as I am, "Affirmative. With these same resources we could make entirely new forces…"

I shake my nigh featureless face. That will not do. We need to make sure the units we do make count, and these upgrades will prove cost efficient in the end. We need to have an elite set of units to accomplish our one mission to get off this planet, not a standing army like our last visit to a Terran planet.

"No. We will die in any fight we get in anyways, so I rather would not expand our presence by increasing our force size. When we need forces for our strike to get off this planet we will create all the forces we need then, all of which will then benefit from the work we do here."

Dan questions me on this, seeming less confident in the whole evolution chamber idea than me, "And what of Abathur? Could he not attack us in the meantime?"

That slug? I suppose he could pose a threat, but we'll be in trouble no matter what if he comes our way. Still, that should not be for awhile given that if he's even alive he has no actual army...

"He has a lot of catching up to do, even if he has greater resources than us with the sunk Leviathan to scavenge from. Let him be. He will first have to rebuild before even thinking about finding us, as his situation is just as if not even more dire."

Dan yields to this point, "Very well. Our workers will see about acquiring the resources we need to finish every possible evolution we can do."

Speaking of which, there is one project I care more for than all the others combined. Abathur's "gift" of sorts to us, lending us just the tool we need to escape this damnable situation.

I try to snap my fingers at Dan, but find that they make no significant noise when the large appendages click together. Another issue of having such thick skin I suppose, not that it hasn't saved my life elsewhere.

"Begin by finishing that transforming strain Abathur was working on. Having it will grant us even greater scouting information than our regular scouts can acquire. After all, a fake Terran can walk into a city while a Zergling would be shot on sight."

"Finishing the strain will require time to make sure it functions correctly," Dan notes, and I ignore.

I don't care if it takes a little time, I just need it done. And the sooner the better.

"Do whatever is necessary. Just get it done."

Dan takes a moment before he comes up with an idea to propose, "Do you wish to see the current, unfinished product?"

Given that this is unfinished, and thus not whole, it should not strain our resources too greatly I presume.

"It will require minimal resources, correct?"

"Yes, my queen."

That is all I need to know.

"Go ahead."

Dan has one of the Hatchery's larvae morph into the being, and after half a minute of silent waiting the…finished product emerges from its cocoon to come join us.

A vile looking purple creature with a humanoid top half and a blob for its lower body. Disgusting. Oh how I do hope it can at least morph at this point.

I try and sense if it has any sort of will of its own. When I feel absolutely nothing, not even a basic set of emotions or drive, I am left very pleased. A blank slate I can use as my eyes and ears…

And arms…Legs…Head…Feet…not to mention every other part of what made me what I was before this whole mess.

Oh the temptations this being rises in me…

"Mindless at the moment…it makes Mutalisks appear intelligent," I snort as the creature just blankly sits there waiting for orders, "Keep it this way. Do not alter the brain structure at all, except where necessary to make it function."

I observe the being more and find myself revolted by its body, with it being even more disgusting that my own and all let alone other Zerg. I should go about fixing this poor being, "Can it transform freely?"

"No, my Queen. Once it has transformed it is bound to what it has become. It also has a limited palate of what it can become."

That is…unfortunate. Well, let's see what we can do about that, "I see. Would allowing it to transform freely require any more resources?"

"It would complicate the genetic structure, thus making it require significantly more."

Well that is just unfortunate. I suppose we can devise ways around this issue though, "Keep this then as well for the main strand, but develop the free changing one should we need it later. There is only one face I need on them for now. Any other limitations of how it is currently that I should know of?"

Just as I say this, the creature crumples and dissolves into a pile of flesh, bone and goo before me. As if it could look no worse, it somehow had to find a way to do just that. Wonderful.

"It has a limited lifespan," Dan notes, tempting me to discipline him. Nice job stating the obvious there.

"I can see that. Clean this up and process the remains so we can reuse what it just wasted."

(Present Time, Magistrate Swallow, Halcyon)

It is not often these days I get to come down to the docks and greet people personally. Normally I just have to waste away in my deluxe office room while regretting my life, because even being the most influential woman on this planet now means just about nothing when you can't live with yourself.

I wish work would not stop me from coming down here, but it is what it is. I even had to dress in ill fit, dirty clothes so as to not telegraph that I am who I am. You never know who you'll run into in the city…Dominion loyalists, rebels without a cause, rebels WITH a cause…

At least I know the people in my office are loyal. I'd have had them locked away and never heard of again if not for that. They will serve the people of this planet or else.

"You are the Raiders Horner sent us I presume?"

The dock chosen for this rendezvous was one that no-one goes to if they can help it. Known for being shady, the Dominion soldiers supposed to regulate it instead shy away from it.

The soldier in front of Marines, one wearing black instead of blue power armor, salutes to me in his giant suit, "That we are, ma'am."

Off the shuttle had come a few dozen power armored soldiers. Good. I think we can put some use to them—

The voice of the man strikes me a second after he speaks. With his visor down I cannot see his face, but I know for a fact who it is now. I suppose life can be funny like this…

"Jim Raynor himself…what brings the leader of such a notable group to our planet?"

He raises the visor and the good ol' cowboy shows his face, a tight smirk on his face as he looks down at me, "The Dominion wants you all to kneel down and kiss its boots even while it's killing your citizens. I can't just hang back when people need help."

Is that so? I suppose it does fit his MO, but there is something about it I do not like. Something about what I've learned about the Zerg here, as well as who may be leading them.

"The rumors that the Queen of Blades is here had nothing to do with it?"

That startles the man, who obviously did not think I do my homework. Despite my habit of destroying my liver every day all day, I make sure I am in the know on such matters. Knowledge can be power after all.

I narrow my eyes at Raynor while keeping my ever present smile, "I thank you for your aid, but know that if you are here looking for that bitch you are not welcome. Our innocent people need your aid, not the monster you used to sleep with."

Raynor nods to me, his face impassive and quite difficult to read as he closes his visor, "Understood. We'll go see what we can do to help out your forces, ma'am."

He and his men walk past me on their way out. Seeing the beat up armor, secondhand weapons, and other scrap they are using up close gives me a feeling that the Raiders are not exactly in tip top shape.

Good thing for them I control just about everything of importance here and can help out, but only if they pull their weight.

"Good luck, and do try to stay out of the Dominion forces hunting down the Zerg. I will not have this planet come to ruin because the actually helpful Dominion forces get tied up fighting the similarly good rebel forces."

Raynor waves back as he continues out.

"Will do. We won't let the Zerg or Dominion take Halcyon, Ms. Swallow."

To that, I take a sip of the flask I stole from the front of his suit as he passed by. He won't be needing it.

A/N: Hope to actually hear from some people this time!

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