Chapter 48
James Raynor grunted with effort as he side stepped an attack from one of Zerratul's warriors. In one fluid motion he had dodged the attack and positioned himself to deliver the killing blow on his opponent. The Protoss warrior was much larger than Jim but that was no longer a deterrent for him. Once in position it was easy for him to lunge a little into the air and imbed his blade into his enemy's back, severing the spinal cord.
Jim landed heavily and was already prepared to deflect another assault from a different direction. When none came Jim righted himself and glanced back at the fallen Protoss.
Jim reached out which his hand and helped the Protoss to feet. Had the battle been real the Protoss would have been dead or at the very least been paralyzed. Despite his age Jim seemed to develop a knack for hand to combat. Those who analyzed the way he fought could not explain it. He was indeed a little bit stronger and faster than he should be but those never seemed to be the determining factor in his practice bouts. Jim always seemed to find a way to strike at his enemy when and where they least expected. Simply put James Raynor found ways to win when none seemed to exist. Some called it luck but Zeratul knew better. The Terran was now an unstable element in already escalating situation.
Zeratul continued to watch from the shadows as Raynor wrapped a towel around his neck. Raynor had started his workout early and Zeratul suspected that the reason was the young ghost that was now rapidly walking towards them. Zeratul sighed heavily. Terran were certainly a complicated bunch. Killing one another indiscriminately. Enemies one minute, friends the next. Their loyalties shifted as easily as the winds of Aiur. But then again the Protoss were not much different were they?
"Done already?" Nova asked as she walked up to Jim.
"Yeah. I started early today." Jim left out why he had started early. While he appreciated what Nova had tried to do for him, she had actually intensified his belief that so many deaths were on him. He was responsible for the people he had brought aboard. They needed him and he was failing. How could he not? He was a human and nothing more. He had no special gifts or powers. How was he suppose to lead when he couldn't protect himself? Hell, he used to be a freaking outlaw.
"Oh." Nova quickly tried to hide her disappointment. She had wanted to train with him but he seemed to be going out of his way to avoid her.
"Sorry. Some other time. There are things I have to do." Before she knew it Jim's back was already turned to her and he was already swiftly walking away.
Like all the ghosts before her Nova was a fierce fighter, a deadly soldier, am experienced assassin. She could disarm and kill most people before they even had time to blink. She was proficient in hand to hand combat and a multitude of weapons. What her training did not provide was a way to deal with what she was currently dealing with. She wasn't even sure exactly what it was she was dealing with. She had shared a moment with Jim, yes, but that moment was fleeting at best. It was possible that she reading way too much into it. It was, after all, just a hug. Nova ran her fingers through her hair thoughtfully. It wasn't like she had anyone to speak to about such things. The one person who could possibly give her some advice was the one person she could absolutely not go to. Sarah Kerrigan. No, Nova scoffed. Sarah would probably kill her on the spot. The rest of Jim's friends were no more approachable. Most of them still harbored resentment towards her for her role in Raynor's capture. She doubted they would appreciate some one such as her seeking affection from their commander.
He may be avoiding her but there was something else he could not avoid.
"Wait, Jim." Nova raced up behind him and placed her hand against his arm. It was strange. Nova had never before felt intimidated by anyone but when she touched Raynor she couldn't help but notice how much physically larger he was than her.
He stopped but didn't turn his head to look back at her.
"Stettman has been trying to see you for days now. He has found a way to remove the nanite." Nova had thought that Jim would welcome the news but instead she saw traces of anger and fear.
"I'll see Stettman when I chose to. Not before."Jim was ready to continue on but he was interrupted by another voice.
"And when would that be exactly, Commander?" Jim turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from to see Matt, Chase, Stettman, and Sarah walking towards him.
Jim's eyes angrily met Stettman's. "You went to them behind my back?"
It was Matt, however, who answered. "You didn't give him much choice. Why won't you let him remove the nanite? The Dominion have already exploited it once. The next time it could be fatal."
Jim Raynor was a stone mask. His face said nothing of what the man was thinking or feeling.
Sarah studied him carefully. She knew him well enough that his blank expression said all that she needed to know. "That's what you are hoping for isn't it?"
They all looked at him, horrified. None of them knew what to say. Of all the reasons they had imagined, James Raynor wanting to die was the furthest thing from their mind.
"That's ridiculous." He said weakly after a moment.
For the first time since their separation Sarah walked towards Jim, really walked towards him. Sarah ran her hand along his arm, tracing the shape if his muscles. "What are you afraid of?"
At first Jim wanted to rip his arm away. What business did she have asking such a question but when he looked up at her Jim saw concern. Genuine concern. It was the look he craved every time he saw her. It was like he could do no wrong in her eyes.
"I-I-" Jim stuttered. He could not find the words to voice the storm of emotions thundering in his mind.
Then Sarah felt it. A sensation that she had feared she would never again feel. Like an opened dam his mind crashed against her own.
Those watching, even Zeratul, stood in awe. While most of them had seen Sarah and Jim's mind linked before it had only been to a certain extent or at the very least under duress. This time it was different. Their joining filled a need that neither could satisfy without the other. The intimacy of it all was so evident that those present felt like they were invading the two's privacy.
Sarah then understood the concerns Jim could not voice. She saw in his mind the inadequacy he felt. He felt powerless and insignificant. She saw clearly the root of his concern. How could he lead or save humanity when he could not even save her? Twice he had failed to reach her and because of his failure Sarah had succumbed to the Zerg. He can't even protect the woman he loved much less the rest of his species.
Sarah wanted to smile. How different was Raynor's image of himself to that of everyone else. So that was what she tried to show him. She showed him not the outlaw, not the drunk, not even the Marshall or even the leader of the Raiders. He was a man, one of them. He was defiant and larger than life. A man who saw the world how it truly was and not how others said it was. He showed them that they did not simply just have to accept their fate. A fate handed down by those with power.
People followed him not because he was special but because he was ordinary. An ordinary person that had, in every turn, defied the odds and survived.
The life he had was over, she told him. Circumstances and events had forged him into someone he had never seen himself as. Until that moment he had been floundering in the dark. His whole world, his universe was measured by reacting to what had happened and what was happening. Sarah needed him. They all needed him. It was time for him to lead, truly lead.
It was over in less than a minute. Thoughts and feelings could be shared faster than words ever could. She showed him the truth of things. She could see that he still doubted but at the very least he was beginning to accept or at the very least he had no other choice in the matter. These were the cards he was dealt and no amount of protesting would change that. The others watched silently as unspoken communication passed between the two. Finally it came to an end. Lowering his head in defeat Jim nodded his head at Kerrigan.
"What do you need to do?" Jim asked Stettman.
"We can remove it." Stettman said hesitantly.
"But?" Raynor knew there was a complication. There were always complications.
Stettman adjusted his glasses nervously. "The procedure is ummmmm dangerous."
"Figures. Might as well get it over with. Not afraid of dying." Jim said.
"Not life threatening but something worse. The nanite has imbedded itself in your nervous system. That's why you couldn't move when it was activated on Tyrdaor. If we attempt to remove it then there is a chance you could be paralyzed... Permanently." Stettman did not want to be the one to deliver that news. He was glad the others were here as well. He had always been better with science than people.
Jim looked up nervously at what Stettman said. The young man seemed to wilt at Raynor's gaze. He slid his hands in his pockets to prevent them from shaking.
Jim was not afraid of dying but this was something else entirely. This terrified him. An image of himself popped into his head. He was laying in bed, unable to speak, unable to move. Helpless in every way.
"No!" Jim said defiantly. If he was going to go down then he would go down fighting. He would face his enemies just like Fenix and Tassadar had.
"Wait. There maybe a way to minimize the risks. With the Protoss help I believe that if your linked to someone during the procedure then the physical and mental trauma could be dispersed." Stettman coughed as he looked at those gathered. He knew one of them would be the likely choice. "The pain would be horrifying."
"I'm accustomed to pain." Sarah said without any hesitation whatsoever. It made the most sense. She was the most powerful there and there was the added advantage that she had already been liked to Jim in the past.
"Absolutely not!" Zeratul stepped into the middle of the little group. They had forgotten that he was even there. "You are the one being that we cannot risk. In your hands rests the fate of this sector and that is not worth the life of any one man."
Suddenly the air in the area felt thick. They could almost feel the temperature rising. It was a much for the intensity burning in Kerrigan's eyes. She was about to rebuke him but Jim stopped her.
"He's right Sarah. If you were injured in anyway there is no telling if the hybrids would be able to take advantage by asserting their will over the swarm." Jim smiled weakly but he could see he had taken the fire out of her.
Sarah could only nod at what he said. Things used to be so much better, easier when it was just the two of them. They used to be a team. They looked after one another and no matter how grim the situation the other would always come through.
"I'll do it." Matt said but Raynor shook his head as well.
"If something happens to me you have to lead the Raiders. There are too many people counting on us now." Jim appreciated what his friend was offering but he could not take him up on it. He would have just chance the procedure on his own.
Chase tried to step forward next but Nova's hand on his shoulder kept him back. "Next to Kerrigan I'm the most qualified to deal with the mental challenges. My training also makes me the most physically prepared."
Jim tried to protest but Nova silenced him. "No arguments. Haven't we already established that people need you?"
Jim did not want this. He did not want any of it. He was sick and tired of people sacrificing themselves for him. He tried to protest again but he was shouted down. His friends would have it no other way.
Several hours later Kerrigan waited in the hallway for her chosen prey. She knew eventually that her target would have to enter here. Her wings were unfurled and was ready to strike. She had been seething since the decision was made that Nova would be the one linked to Jim. She knew it was a necessity but that did not stop the storm raging in her heart. She was jealous, yes but it was more than that. Nova would be exposed to Jim completely and vice versa. It was something that she alone had shared with Jim and the sudden addition of Nova felt like an intrusion or violation of something sacred.
Slow footsteps shifted her attention back to her prey. She would deal with Nova at another time. There was someone else that needed to be reminded of who she was. Kerrigan stayed so still that there was no possible way anyone could have seen or heard her. It was if she had almost melded with the shadows. Then she struck. Her wings lashed out like lightning trying to impale her target's shoulder.
Her wings scraped empty air as Zeratul materialized a few feet away. He had not even fully come materialized when he was struck full on the face with a psionic blast. Although it was a delve staring blast Sarah had made sure that it would cause the seasoned Templar no real damage. He flew backwards and slammed into the steel wall and before he could hit the ground Sarah already had his throat in one hand and his arm with the psi blade in the other. Sarah had to fight the urge not to rip him in half.
"Kerrigan." The Templar struggled futilely.
"Do not ever to presume to tell me how to live my life again Zeratul. I have been your puppet long enough." Sarah hissed.
"You still don't understand, do you? Billions of lives hang in the balance. Not just the Protoss but the Terrans and the Zerg as well." Zeratul said in between gasps of breath.
"No its you who does not seem to hand." Sarah squeezed her first a little tighter. "We never finished out little talk. Did you know Jim was still alive before you sent me off to Zerus?"
Zeratul looked her straight in the eyes before answering. "Yes. I knew. For the time being at least. Without your transformation all life in this sector will be extinguished. Know this Kerrigan, for this galaxy's sake I will sacrifice anyone!"
With a scream of rage Sarah slammed Zeratul back against the wall. The crash echoed through the empty hall. With a heave she hurtled him as hard as she could. He landed through some glass and into some some equipment. In a blink of an eye Sarah was on him again. She lashed out at him with a closed fist, drawing blood.
Sarah was tempted to finish his meddling once and for all but knew that the entire Protoss race would turn against their little battle group. With a final shout of fury she blasted his head with a psionic blast. It was enough to engulf his head in blinding light.
When the light cleared Zeratul was dazed. Smoke was hissing up from his flesh. He tried to search out Kerrigan but he could not find her. From the darkness he heard Kerrigan's voice ring out one last warning. "This I promise you Zeratul, if anyone is going to survive this war it will Jim. Nothing else is more important to me."
