The Reckoning – 8
A roar was heard as one of the primal fell, pummeled by the incessant bullets sent their way as the primal try to make their exit from the ventilation duct. The rest of the pack behind the fallen one had to back step and take cover, using the corpse of their fallen comrade as a shield.
"What now?" asked one of primal to Dehaka, who at that time stood behind him.
Dehaka didn't answer at first. He was thinking.
It happened just like what the Queen of Blades predicted. The terran would rally their defenses in order to protect the remaining powerlinks. They won't make the same mistake as they did when defending the first powerlink. Kerrigan herself had warn Dehaka that the second and the third attempt on the powerlinks won't be as easy as the first one. The situation he and his pack ended in right now was more than enough of a proof.
"Remember this Dehaka. Compared to the Swarm your pack is at a distinct disadvantage. You don't have the same evolution curve as we do. It is unfortunate that none of the member of your pack have the long range attack abilities. Your pack will be dangerous in a close battle but fairly useless in long range attacks and that is where the terran will have the upper hand. Your attempt on the first powerlink conduit will be easy. They won't expect the Zerg would be able to get within the range of the psi destroyer. Their defense will be fairly weak but the situation will change the moment the first powerlink is destroyed. They will regroup and the defenses for the rest of the powerlinks will be strengthened. You will meet much tougher resistances the moment you begin your attempt on the second and the third powerlink. My force won't be able to assist you for as long as the psi destroyer remains online. One saving grace would be that the terran don't have the knowledge of your existences. They will place lighter infantries and will heavily depend solely on the psi destroyer itself. You must not be complacent. You have a fairly small force. Use them wisely."
Those were the advice the Queen of Blades gave him during the briefing, just before he and his pack took off and headed towards the psi generator. His respect for her grew. This would be his first battle with something not from the Zerg after all. He did question the wisdom of attacking the powerlink rather than the psi generator itself but upon seeing the psi generator and the defenses set up around it with his very own eyes, he began to understand the Queen's decision. His force would perished within minutes if Kerrigan set the psi destroyer destruction as his main priority.
The terran seems to have anticipated their arrival by training their weapons towards every ventilation duct available within the area. The primal pack was certainly caught off guard.
"What now, Dehaka?!" asked his companion once again.
"We proceed as plan," answered Dehaka.
"One down. Many more will die. Proceeding won't be prudent."
"Terran at our front, the Swarm at our back," said Dehaka. "We don't have any way out. Only way of survival is to destroy the terran and be quick we must. We will brave their bullets and we will kill them. Absorb their essence and we will heal. Once heal, we will go to the third powerlink. Only then the Swarm will help us."
"The Queen won't back out on us?"
"She won't if we help her."
His companion was about to argue even more but Dehaka raised one of his hand, signaling the primal to silent his tongue and to indicate that he had made up his mind. The primal relented. It was a reluctant agreement but Dehaka knew he had won the argument. Being the wisest of all within his pack, Dehaka could anticipate what he would get himself into the moment he signed up with the Swarm. It won't be just a free ride. He and the rest of his followers would have to earn the tickets out of Zerus. Not that he had any other choice. The evolutionary chance within Zerus was nearing its peak especially after the Queen of Blades destroyed the Five. Being the independent one with no ties with the Five, Dehaka knew that his chances of survival would be out there, away from Zerus which was exactly why he struck an agreement with the Queen of Blades. Due to differing intelligences each of the member of his pack possessed, it would be difficult for them to apprehend the issue involved. Dehaka could only hope that in time they will understand.
Dehaka took a peek behind the body of the fallen primal. He needed to assess the battlefield before making the decision. Right from his position, he saw that although the defenses were indeed been tighten, it was still consisted of light infantries, a mixture of marines and firebats. He never fought with those before but he saw what they could do before he and his group were deployed.
Dehaka gave out the signal. With a roar, the primal pack leapt over their fallen comrade and dashed into the hail of bullets that bear upon them. It was not just the matter of a leap of faith though. Dehaka made sure that those with much thicker carapace to be place at the front of the assault and those without at the rear. It worked quiet well. The marines at the nearest were the first casualties. Dehaka and a few of his companions rammed those marines head on. He pinned one of the marine onto the floor and let his scythe do the rest of the job by divorcing the poor man's head from his neck. He then turned his attention to his right hand side. At that moment, he saw one of the primal went down, roasted alive by multiple flame thrown its way. With a roar of anger he dashed towards the trio of firebats. Flames engulfed him, threatening to melt his carapace along with him but Dehaka didn't stop. As he got near to one of the firebats, he suddenly stopped and swung around. A loud cry was heard as the pointy end of his tail pierced through the faceplate of the nearest firebat to him. He then swung around once again, dragging the hapless firebat along with him. The firebat crashed into the other two firebats. Both went down and the other primals quickly took the chance to overpower them. Dehaka stop to observe the battlefield. All around him, his pack continued to work relentlessly to bring the enemy down and minutes later the primals were the only one left standing.
"Absorb their essences," he commanded. "Heal."
Dehaka then turned his attention towards the powerlink right in front of him. Slowly he raised his scythe. "Destroy."
Moments later huge voltage arcs spiked throughout the powerlink structure and the powerlink went up in smoke and fire.
The Zerg Hive…
The skull of the ultralisk cracked open by the incessant pummeling of the Mjolnir 120mm shock cannons onboard the terran siege tanks. Another loud explosion and the ultralisk slowly toppled over, leaving its brain splattered all over the place where it once stood.
"Second powerlink destroyed. We shall move on to the next."
"Very good, Dehaka. Make haste as we are already running out of time. I will have my army ready."
It was a relief. Kerrigan did not deny that she was worried. That psi destroyer alone could grind her effort to get to Mengsk to a halt. The fact that she could not see what the Dominion had as a defense to protect the psi destroyer makes matters worse. She had to rely completely on the primal. It was not a prospect she was looking forward to but as of now since the primal had next to zero experience in fighting the terrans, she had no choice.
"Stukov."
"Yes Kerrigan," came the reply.
"Yours are the nearest to the psi destroyer. Deploy some of your troops and have them ready to take down the psi destroyer at a moment notice. Form a blockade around it but do not go too near to the destroyer's energy field. Do not allow any Dominion's reinforcement pass until I give the command."
"As you wish."
All around her, bodies in the hundreds laid on the ground. Not far from her a couple of siege tanks engulfed in flame. All of them were no doubt the results from her own handiwork. She may no longer be the old Queen of Blades but her attacks were still vicious. Silently she wondered what Jim would say to her if he saw what she did. They were still human anyway.
Mengsk certainly did not make it easy for her. Early on, the Dominion pounced directly at the middle of the group led by Kerrigan in their effort to split it into two. They succeed initially and Kerrigan had to pay the price. Nearly half of the Zerg within her group perished within the first ten minutes. Some of the essential structures within the Zerg base were also demolished. She lost some of the abilities to produce and mutate her own units. Luckily both Zagarra and Stukov swooped in just in time to rally the defenses. Kerrigan took that chance to rebuild some of the demolished structures and to reorganize the attack. Together the trio managed to push the Dominion back. Unfortunately not much progress was made from then on. She had to do something about it and Stukov somehow got an idea how on to deal with the mess they were in.
Tremors were felt coming from the ground on which she stood signaling that the idea had already gone underway.
Imperial Palace, Augustgrad…
Acturus watched as three Nydus worms burst out of the ground behind his troop and within seconds, everything turned into chaos. He was irked. Kerrigan certainly was far more resourceful than he initially thought. Being friendly to Jim Raynor certainly had its own advantages.
He already had her in his hands at the beginning of the assault but the speed of which the Zerg manage to regroup took his army by surprise. Not only that they were now had to face vicious attacks from both front and rear. Acturus knew his troops won't last long. He began to wonder if Kerrigan were receiving any help unknown to him. From the look of it, she might did. What happened at the psi destroyer site was the proof.
It was supposed to be his main primary weapon against the Zerg. Unleashed its wave of radiation upon the unsuspecting Zerg and watch them fight each other. His own military would have no need to waste another bullet. The severance of the psionic link from every Zerg caught within its range would be more than enough decapitate the Zerg abilities to communicate and to be control and considering that the psi destroyer had planet wide reach, it had indeed become the one thing most dangerous to the Zerg.
If only he knew that there were Zerg who would be immune to the destroyer effect. Those Zerg that mount the attack on the powerlinks somehow were different from the normal garden variety and they seemed to know on where to strike.
One main drawback of the psi destroyer was that it required humongous amount of power which was why it was fed by three main powerlinks. Which each destruction of the powerlink, the radiation field shrank greatly. The Dominion engineers would have to reroute the power through the remaining powerlink conduit to prevent further shrinking and to reinitiate its expansion. That won't be much of a problem though. Just a few flick of the switches and the jobs done. Unfortunately due to the reduced energy limit of what the remaining powerlink could carry, the maximum coverage would be reduced as well.
As of now, two powerlink conduits had been destroyed. The third conduit was already under attack. Kerrigan already formed a blockade around the energy field. It won't be long before she destroys one of his last remaining hopes.
Acturus push a couple of button on the panel right in front of him. General Tabascus appeared on the main central monitor of the palace's command center.
"General Tabascus," greet Acturus.
"Your Highness."
"Continue defending Korhal. That is my order," said Acturus.
"That is exactly what we are doing, Sire," said Tabascus. "I thought you want detail reports of what is going on in the battlefields. To be honest with you Sire, we're not doing that well."
"I understand, General. Nevertheless, keep doing as you were told." A push of a button and General Tabascus disappeared from the view.
After a few words made with one of the commanders stationed at the palace, Acturus exited the command center and made his way towards the throne room.
The inevitable remained inevitable. Once the psi destroyer is disabled, the path to the palace will be cleared. Even the security gates won't be able to stop her. The hostage will only slow her down but not to the point where she will stop the attack altogether. Acturus knew that Kerrigan would never give up. That was indeed one of the main traits he once came to admire from her.
Acturus didn't plan to run. Kerrigan would continue to haunt him anyway and he was tired of become a fugitive like he once was. He will go down. There was zero doubt about that. But he won't be going alone. Something or someone will come along with him, one way or another.
Hyperion's command bridge…
"So I was dead?" asked Raynor who was now sitting on the captain's chair. "You had my funeral?" Not once his eyes averted from Horner.
"Embarrassingly yes," replied Horner, cringing as the memory continued to play inside his mind. "That event was huge, fit for a royalty."
"I saw that clip," said Raynor. "I'm touched. That's a nice eulogy by the way. You wrote that?"
Horner nodded. He blushed.
Raynor smiled. "I like that eulogy. I don't plan to outlive you anyway so there is a chance that you might be able to reuse it. No, I'm serious, Matt. Really I am," said Raynor when he noticed the change in expression on Horner's face. "It's been long time since someone says something nice about me and being honest about it."
"I seriously doubt that, sir. I know a lot of people who really like you. Maybe you didn't pay that much of an attention to them."
"Probably," said Raynor. "But that is not what I'm going to discuss with you right now."
Horner had a hunch. "Let me guess. It's about Kerrigan, isn't it?"
"Yes," replied Raynor. "It's about her."
Horner sighed. "I don't know what else I could tell you, sir. I thought you would be more interested in the invasion."
"That will come later," said Raynor. "But first we need to get this issue out of the way. Now we all know that Kerrigan had now return to become the Queen of Blades the second time. I want to know why? What made her chose that path?"
"I truly and honestly don't know, sir," came the reply. "We came in contact with her briefly after the attack on the Umojan facility. After that, no news of what she was doing or where she went until that one time she came to us, informing us that you were still alive. By that time, she had already become the Queen of Blades."
Raynor shook his head. "Sarah showed every indication that she didn't want to have anything to do with the Zerg after we rescued her and now she returned as the Queen of Blades. Something must have happened back then that causes her to do just that. I want to know what it is?"
"And once I again I tell you that I truly don't know," replied Horner. "We managed to escape the Dominion the moment they mounted the attack on that research facility. Valerian came in half an hour later. After that we heard nothing from both of you until Kerrigan came onboard. She left the moment she finds out that you're not with us. We thought she was with you. Apparently we were mistaken."
"Matt, we had a discussion about this just before I departed to that research facility. I told you that whatever happens, we need to ensure that Sarah remains with us, that not for a minute should she be left alone. I've given you the reason as why to that," said Raynor. "You should've stop her from leaving and yet you didn't." There was an accusatory tone in his voice.
"Sir, I did try to stop her. I told her that she need to work together, or at least help us to find you. She didn't want to listen," explained Horner.
"Maybe you weren't trying hard enough."
Horner was about to retort before Valerian tapped him on his shoulder. "Let me take over this conversation," he said. Valerian then turned towards Raynor. "Captain Horner may have not tried hard enough to convince her to stay but when it comes to the matter of Kerrigan, there's only so much that he could do. I thought by now you would have realized that you're the only one who could control her."
"That is absurd," said Raynor. "She will listen even if I wasn't there."
"And yet she didn't!" said Valerian. "She demanded to see you the moment she entered the bridge. She threw up a huge tantrum once she found out that you're not here with us. She tried to kill me. She even went as far as preventing the fleet from escaping when the Dominion found us. She relented somehow but decided to walk away. That was truly a narrow escape we had so you have to forgive Captain Horner for not 'performing' his task up to your standard."
"Those were the things that really happened? Since when do you plan to tell me all of these?" asked Raynor to Horner, clearly perplexed by the new revelations.
"When you're ready, sir" answered Horner. "Both mentally and physically."
There was a moment of silence before Raynor finally speak up. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" asked Horner.
"For jumping on your throat just like that, when I should have allow you to explain the true story. I'm sorry."
Horner waved down Raynor's apology. "It's okay, sir. You were just been rescued. A lot of things happened until then. I'm not sure how much information trickled to you when you were stuck in that cell but I know it would be hard for you to stomach everything that you will eventually hear."
Raynor nodded. "You're right. But still there's no explanation on why Kerrigan would realign herself with the Zerg. I hate to think that she went back to them willingly. Char would have been for naught."
"I'm going to say that something else did happen," interjected Valerian. "Something that we don't know of. One thing was clear though, she was worried about you. Her reappearance as the Queen of Blades caught us by surprise but at same time I saw that something was different. When she contacted us about you still being alive, she appeared to be distraught and was panicking at the same time. She won't even let us join in the rescue attempt. It could be that she was trying to prove something to you. I don't know what it was to be honest."
Raynor remained quiet. There was a distance look appearing on his face.
Valerian took that chance to continue, "She and Nova managed to rescue you and brought you back to this ship. You were in a really bad shape back then. You were dying. Kerrigan pleaded on her knees, asking us to save your live."
"It is hard to believe that Kerrigan was the one who initiated the rescue mission," muttered Raynor.
"Yeah I know," said Valerian. "But that exactly what happened, Jim. She was the one who informed us about your situation. She was the one who rescued you, with some help of course. You know I hardly could accept it at first. I mean why would she? Why would she care? She could have left you dead. But then I realized that this Sarah Kerrigan we're talking about. Not the Queen of Blades. I think she knew that you will reject her the moment you see her ended up being that thing but it seems thatshe didn't care about that. I think she simply wants you to be safe. We were lucky, Jim."
"Lucky for what?"
"You're basically our collateral, commander. We were lucky that you're still alive. I hate to think what Kerrigan might do if you ended up dead," explained Valerian.
That was too much information for him to process and still there were questions left unanswered. This dilemma was pulling him towards all kind of directions at once.
Raynor stood up and slowly walked towards bridge observational windows. The stars looked tranquil, belying the fact that a huge battle was currently raging somewhere near the innermost of Korhal System.
They will join the battle sooner or later. It is now just the matter of getting the right signal.
A beep was heard. And then a second one. Raynor turned around.
"Sir, General Jor-el and the Queen of Blades hail us."
Not a moment too soon.
Hyperion med bay…
She sat alone on a chair right in front of Lily's work desk. Tears running down her cheeks.
She went off for Jim once she found out that he wasn't at his bed. It wasn't that difficult to find him. She was so in tune to his mind that she could practically sense Jim's location and immediately made her way straight to him. She was about to knock on his door when she sensed Jim's emotion radiated from within.
She stayed on the other side of his door, taking in everything that Jim unexpectedly throw her way. It came to a point where she could not take it anymore. She was about to leave when the door slide open revealing a surprised Jimmy.
Sitting on his bed, Nova had set in telling him the whole story, of what Kerrigan told her and what she truly feels about him. Her courage failed at the very last moment. The fact that Jim was in a hurry exaggerated it even further and the window to the opportunity seemed to close upon her.
There were times when Nova could not figure out what really happened to her. She knows that she wasn't this emotional before. She was cruel, strict and calculating. That is what being a Ghost operative is all about. Emotion would only bring failure to any mission they deemed to carry. Emotion will only bring bad memories and Nova knew that her past wasn't that good to be treasured. But having spending her time here with the Raiders, having being accepted as part of the family, things that she thought she had lost forever returned. Love, empathy and the need to care for others. All of it came back to her. She was no longer Agent X41822N. She is now November Annabella Terra who simply wants to love and be loved.
"Nova?"
Nova was pulled out of her thought. She looked up and saw Lily standing in front of her, looking at her with concern. She was so deep in her thought that she didn't realize when Lily entered the medbay.
"You're okay?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Well not really," answered Nova.
Lily nodded. "So you found him?"
"Yeah. He went back to his quarters."
"Thought so," said Lily. She then took a seat facing Nova. "What's troubling you?"
"Well an opportunity opened up back then. I was planning to confess to Jim."
Lily's eyes brightened up when she heard that. "So did you?"
Nova shook her head.
"Aww, why don't you?"
"I can't Lily. He still loves her. I can feel it. I can't barge in just like that. I don't think his heart is going to change. Jim isn't someone who would change his loyalty that easily."
Lily leaned forward and cupped Nova's face with her hands. "Honey, listen to me. Even if he still love her, that won't change the fact that they won't be able to be together. Just look at her. How do you think they're going to continue with her looking like that? As far as I'm concern the commander is single unless Kerrigan could find a way to revert back to human. I highly doubt that'll happen. Not after everything we've gone through."
"Well, there's more."
"I'm listening," said Lily, now crossing her legs and leaning back against her chair.
"I've been keeping this for a while," said Nova. "Well, a few nights ago Kerrigan came to see me."
Lily's eyes popped wide open. "She came to see you?! On this ship?!"
Nova nodded. "Yes. More specifically at the observation deck."
Lily suddenly stood up. She then grabbed Nova's arm and guide her towards the nearest medical bed. She gestured Nova to sit on the bed and made her way towards one of the medical equipment rack. "I need to have you check."
"Lily I'm fine."
"You can't be sure of that," replied Lily sternly as she came back with a scanner. "Now hold still." Lily waved the scanner all over Nova's body. After a few minutes she stopped. Her eyebrow creased. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"I told you I'm fine."
Lily put the scanner aside. "What does she want with you?"
"Talk," answered Nova. "She wants to talk."
"That's curious. What did you girls talked about?"
"About herself. About Kerrigan. Her life story. About Jim. Her time as the Queen of Blades until after she was deinfested."
Nova began to recite the tale of Kerrigan with Lily listening to her intently.
"Did she tell you on why she returned to the Zerg?" asked Lily once the tale was done.
"Yes she did. She explained to me that aside from her desire for revenge, her hands were forced into it. She told me to be prepared. She told me that the darker days are about to come that no one may survive from it. She said that she will fight it no matter what," said Nova.
"Wow. Did she tell you what she meant by 'darker days'?" asked Lily.
"No she didn't. I have a hunch that it would something huge. She was a little bit scared when she talked about it."
"I see. Anything else that you both talk about?"
"Well, yes. She wants me to promise," said Nova.
"What promise?"
Nova took a deep breath. "She wants me to promise that I will love Jim, that I won't back away from him and that I will always be there for him. She wants me to give Jim all the happiness that he deserves. She wants me to give Jim everything that she won't be able to give. She wants me to take care of Jim and that I would never give up on him. She requested one small favor in return."
"What favor?"
"That I will make Jim remember her not as the Queen of Blades but as a lonely young girl who had once loved him," said Nova.
Silence.
Minutes later Lily slowly spoke, "I never thought she would do that. That is noble of her."
"Yeah I know. It's hard to believe isn't it? After everything that she did. But still I don't know if I could do it," said Nova.
Lily took both Nova's hands into hers. She looked deep into her eyes and said, "She told you not to give up. That is one of the promises you made to her. You have to honor those promises. I know it won't be easy but at the same time it's not impossible as well. Your chances will come. You just have to be patient. Someday, he will see you for who you are."
Nova nodded. She smiled a bit. Whatever Lily said to her brings her hope. Perhaps she knows now on what to do. "Well then in that case I better get to the bridge."
"That's my girl. It's never too late to start early. Go get him, tigress."
Nova hopped of the bed and gave Lily a big hug. "Thank you," she said.
"Your welcome. Now go."
Nova nodded. She was about to step out of the medbay when Lily called her back.
"Nova," Lily said. "Someone once told me that love is just a word until somebody comes along and gives it meaning."
A smile formed on Nova's pink lips. "I'll remember that."
She then took off, making her way towards the bridge.
To be continued…
A/n: Hey guys! I'm…. eh whatever.
First of all I would like to thank you for all those wonderful reviews and pm that I received. Your support is highly appreciated. I intend to finish this story before LotV comes out so you guys can expect faster updates from here on.
Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy the latest chapter. Please read and review and I'll see you next time.
*The big Five - Zurvan, Brakk, Yagdra, Kraith and Slivan.