A/N 50 chapters and 50,000 views! WOOHOO!
Bridge, Bucephalus, In the Shadow of L-540's Moon
Kerrigan walked towards the nearest communication console, never talking her eyes of the crown prince. If the Raiders wanted her to stand down, she'd comply. That didn't mean she was willing trust Valerian, at least not yet. Just to be safe, Tiberias had his gun trained on the prince's head. He may not be responsible for everything she accused him off, but that doesn't make him an innocent bystander. After turning the console on, the familiar faces of Horner and Warfield.
The general eyed Valerian almost immediately and angrily demanded that the prince explained himself. "Before we do anything else, I think you owe us all an explanation. Why the hell did you lock us up after Char? We were on your side, dammit! It would have been easy to knock the emperor off the throne. We both know he's got it coming, after all that has happened the past four years." The Hyperion's bridge officers cheered in agreement.
The crown prince picked himself up from the table, doing his best to maintain eye contact with the general in spite of Warfield's irritated glare. "What makes you think I wanted a violent uprising?" Shocks of surprise could be heard as the cheering began to die down. "Don't misunderstand me, I hate my father as much as you people do…"
"Somehow I find that hard to believe." Kerrigan interjected.
"…but I won't let humanity descend into a civil war to do it. My father can die, but the Dominion can't. Right now, he turned the Dominion into a system that completely revolves around him. If he were to disappear, the resulting power vacuum could plunge our species into anarchy. I cannot risk that, not with the Zerg Swarm still intact, not with alien powers out for our blood."
"So you would let your father's oppression continue?" Horner was visibly angry. A very rare state of mind for the usually up-tight captain to be in. "Ever heard of that old cliché: 'All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing'? Sometimes clichés are remembered for a reason."
"I had no intention of sitting on my hands, waiting for my father to die of old age. That is why I hired you to find the artifact for me. When the first piece was unearthed at Mar Sara, we realized it could be used to destroy the Swarm. I could have used that victory and Kerrigan's subsequent execution to marginalize my father's power." Valerian suddenly realized that he was standing in the same room as two rather annoyed Zerg. "Umm, it was nothing personal…"
"Riiiight…" Cain answered, menacingly playing with the safety switch on his rifle.
The crown prince continued, occasionally shooting a frightened glance at the Zerg. "I was hoping to use my newly-acquired influence to force my father to make concessions. Give away power, either to me or to other branches of the government. Contrary to what UNN may have said the past few months, his approval rating has been decreasing rapidly and his grip on the colonies, especially the fringe worlds, was growing weaker by the day. He would have had no choice but to agree. Slowly but surely, we would have been able to take away his power until the Dominion was a monarchy in name only."
"If that's what you wanted we've only helped you." Horner replied. "Our broadcast has pretty much destroyed your father's powerbase. Anyone still under the illusion that he isn't a tyrannical despot would have helped us kick him out. The colonies are begging for a new leader. Why did you want to get rid of us? That Morrigan fellow that's chasing us managed to down one of our ships, damage the rest of the fleet, and left Raynor himself stranded on Dead Man's Rock."
Kerrigan felt her rage boil in her chest. So that's why Jim wasn't with the Raiders. If he got hurt and that petty excuse for royalty is in any way responsible, there would be hell to pay.
"General Morrigan is beyond my control and he refuses to reason with me. Besides, do you know what you have done? Do you have any idea what you've let loose when you made that broadcast? The Dominion is falling apart, thanks to you. Most of the fringe worlds have declared independence and many core worlds will soon follow. The army is divided, and we're losing more men to desertion than the enemy. Unless something big happens, the Dominion will crumble in a few months. Now, I don't think that's a bad thing. I just don't know what is supposed to happen next. Tell me, does Raynor have a plan for a new government? Has anyone of you thought about what to do if you were victorious?" The only response was a series of blank expressions. "That's exactly what I was afraid of. I have looked to history for the safest way out to get rid of my father and found that a violent revolution will rarely lead to freedom. Chances are, you are going to end up as the next batch of tyrannical despots and the people will cheer when you are overthrown."
"Now that's not right. We're not…" The crown prince smiled when Horner started stammering. Time for the killing blow.
"Like the Emperor? How many would-be tyrants have said that, captain, right before they crowned themselves god-king? Tell me, how would you reunite the colonies? What if a colony doesn't want to join with you? How would you react when you start to disagree over what to do next? What about pro-old-regime elements that always remain after a violent insurrection? What if some other great leader comes along and challenges your authority? If your plan is 'let's kill Arcturus Mengsk and worry about the future later', then humanity is done for. The result will be years, if not decades of anarchy, probably resulting in another dictatorship or humanity's extinction at the hands of alien powers. I cannot let that happen, gentlemen. I dare not. Though it pains me to say it, had I known you were going to destroy my father's reputation in such a way, I would have tried to stop you. Since I couldn't, I did what I thought was the best way to ensure humanity's survival: destroying the Zerg and making sure you wouldn't be a threat anymore. I'm…sorry that it had to turn out like this, but you forced my hand."
The bridge fell silent. No one really knew how to respond. Valerian had a point: the Raiders really didn't have a plan other than 'kill Mengsk'. Raynor himself had admitted it to Horner several times over the years; the commander often said that it would be up to men like Horner to pick up the pieces when the smoke clears. Most of the men wanted to get rid of Mengsk, but never thought about what would happen next. They were doing the right thing, but for the wrong reasons. Only a few of them looked to the future and none of them had a clear plan.
Warfield finally broke the silence. "You were rather quick to turn onto me and my boys, kid…"
"You were always a man of honor, General. When you spoke so highly of Raynor and his men, I was afraid you would not be able to see things the way I do. When you proved me right after the battle…"
"I had become a threat, too."
"Unfortunately, yes. Though I doubt you'd still believe me, I want you to know that ordering your arrest is probably the hardest thing I've ever done…"
Cain shook his head and sighed. "Look, this is all very touching, but we're not looking at the big picture here. If this was just about humanity, then kiddo over here was right to put you lot behind bars. Now that we're done with the finger-pointing, we should get down to business."
"Tai's a bit insensitive, but he's right." Kerrigan said, while silencing her subordinate with a murderous glare. "The Zerg aren't the biggest issue here anymore. Those damned hybrids we found are."
"Exactly. We followed the trail to the Moebius Foundation and some messages sent by a 'Dr. Narud'. I'm sure you know him, Valerian." Horner stated accusingly.
"Not as well as I'd hoped. As far as I knew, the hybrid project was a program designed to protect the Dominion from the Zerg and the Protoss. Give us the strength to fight them on equal terms. We abandoned it a series of unsuccessful tests and an incident involving one of them being released by a certain rebellious element. He must continued it, however, probably in service to an unknown foreign power." The mention of Narud weighed heavily on Valerian's heart.
"The Umojans?"
"No. Someone used their long-range transmitters to send their reports into deep space, somewhere well beyond the sector. The recipient was almost certainly not a human faction. No one we know off has the technology to stay that far away from the Koprulu sector and still affect things here."
"Just like the artifact…" Tai stated, his voice thickening with worry. "Raynor's rogue Xel'Naga theory seems to fit better by the day…" He seemed to grasp his weapon a little more tightly than usual.
"Raynor thinks the Xel'Naga are behind this too?" Valerian said. "Well, that makes sense. I took the liberty of looking through the memory crystal we found when we…confiscated the Hyperion. The reason why I'm here is to make sure you, Kerrigan, saw it too. I hoped it would convince you to spare the Dominion and ready yourself and the Zerg for the Hybrid invasion."
Kerrigan sneered. "It that's so, why did the ghost you sent as a delivery girl try to kill me?"
"I don't know. I only know that I didn't order her to harm you. She's a telepath too, and I know she read my mind. Nova understood the importance of her mission. My best guess is that either my father or General Morrigan had some sort of hidden control measure implanted within her. Speaking of Nova, what happened to her? Is she all right?"
"We're taking care of her, don't worry." Kerrigan saw the prince's face turn pale and opted to explain herself a bit. "Not like that. We had to knock her unconscious. She's fine otherwise. She's not infested, if that's what you're thinking."
"Good." Valerian was visibly relieved, a fact that somewhat surprised the Zerg queen. Maybe he's not like his father after all…
"So, with that out of the way, what do we do now? I assume you have a plan of some sort of plan, don't you, 'your highness'?" Kerrigan asked. "You'd be quite the hypocrite otherwise."
"I propose we all build up as large an army as possible without using it on each other. We'll need all the strength we can muster if we are to defeat this new foe. I didn't expect the Raiders to be here, but I have to ask you to do the same. As for me, I will do everything within my power to hold the Dominion's army together and keep it from my father. When the time comes, hopefully there will be enough of the military left to do any good."
"A decorated Dominion general might help in that respect, pup." Warfield wasn't ready to put his trust in Valerian again just yet, but something told him the crown prince wasn't lying. Offering his help to the boy would enable him to keep an eye on things.
He was rudely interrupted by a slightly inhuman burst of laughter. "General, our dear friend Morrigan knows you're a part of the Raiders now and that you're working with us Zerg." Tai sat down in one of the chairs and put his feet on a nearby desk. "If I know Jack, and trust me, I do know Jack, he'll tell that to anyone willing listen to the second you contact anyone in the Dominion. Having the stink of Zerg corruption around you is more than enough to ruin your career and his majesty's recruitment opportunities. You know, we're leaving soon. This would be a great opportunity to make our withdrawal sound like a major victory. You can tell everyone how you 'stopped our nefarious plans', 'smote the enemies of man with your righteous fury', and 'sent the vile aliens running to their misbegotten maker'. Just be sure to forget to mention that Morrigan had any part in this." The others nodded in agreement. The people weren't that fond of the Zerg anyway, and a 'victory' here would seriously improve Valerian's public image. "Speaking of Jack, is there any chance you could make sure he won't come after us again? I'd rather not have to shoot him, if I can avoid it."
Kerrigan wondered what he meant by that. There was some history between them and she became increasingly worried that it might affect them sooner or later. Now was not the time to ask, though. She knew Tai well enough that he would never admit weakness in front of a human.
"I doubt that, but I'll do what I can. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to change my pants. There are probably things you need to discuss." With that, the crown prince left. Kerrigan stared at the spot he stood five minutes ago, thinking. He wasn't like Arcturus at all, even when compared to the 'noble' Arcturus she remembered from the Sons of Korhal. The crown prince had an air of arrogance about him, but was much more capable than he seemed at first. What he lacked in strength of character, he made up for it in intellect and knowledge. He was more a scholar than a ruler, which ironically would probably make him a better emperor than his father ever was.
"Did he lie to us?" General Warfield asked her. "I can usually tell when he is, but I'd rather not take any chances."
"No, he didn't." The queen conceded. "Even if he was wearing one of those high-end psi-screens that emit some thoughts but block others, I would have been able to tell. I think he's being sincere with us. By the way, I picked up about a dozen or so survivors from your downed battlecruiser. I'll return them to you, along with Valerian's ghost. She might need some medical attention."
"Well, thanks. A pleasant surprise, for once."
"Speaking of surprises, what happened to Jim? Is he alright?"
Warfield laughed. "Oh, don't you worry about that old drunk. Commander Raynor is nothing if not persistent. If he was dead, the news would have been all over it by now.
"Good to hear. I'll be going to Dead Man's Rock to find him."
The smile on the general's face slowly vanished. "Look, let us handle him. A Zerg invasion of Dead Man's Rock might not be the best course of action. You've chased most of Morrigan's fleet back to the core worlds. Once we get our ships repaired, we'll pick him up immediately."
"You're in no shape to fight for a long time, General, and the Dominion has plenty of other fleets available. I understand your worries, but I won't leave Jim to rot." With that, Kerrigan turned off the console. She needed Jim, more than any of the men realized. The fact that Warfield tried convincing her not to go angered her a bit. No matter, though. She wasn't part of his chain of command; she didn't need to follow his orders. Kerrigan could not bear the thought of Jim being in danger while the humans slowly glue their ships back together. He had to be rescued, as soon as possible. She would do as she saw fit, and no one would stand in her way.
