Chapter Eleven: Epilogue
The aftermath of Agria was a lot less messy than the aftermath of Mar Sara, which wasn't saying much.
Raynor, Serena, and Matt were all working overtime transporting the refugee fleets. The process took a lot of work and finding enough food for everyone was hard. They had to break out a lot of the emergency supplies. A lot of people were hurt, inside or out.
Still, there were some silver linings.
Raynor had gotten a lot of new recruits from the Agrian militia. His ranks were getting filled out now, and they had some serious medical tech. Mark had apparently chosen to join up with Serena. The two had always had more of a respect for one another.
"Great job, sir," said Matt. "Dr. Hanson's offered to stay on with us for now, and I think her skills will be invaluable."
"It's hard to believe I'm even here," said Ariel.
"Great to have you, Doc," said Raynor. "How you plannin' on pitchin' in?"
"Well, your medical facilities are medieval, and your science expertise is non-existent," said Agria. Her gaze was on Serena as she said that. "Perhaps I could start there?"
"Ouch," said Raynor, looking to where Serena was speaking with an officer. The Hyperion had become the de facto flagship of their growing fleet. "Well, I guess you might be able to teach Stetmann a thing or two. Welcome aboard, Doc."
"I've heard a lot about you, Commander," said Ariel. "The Dominion always portrayed you as a criminal - a terrorist. There's more to you than it seems."
"Well, with the Dominion being what it is - someone's got to stand up for the little guy," said Raynor. "It sure isn't going to be Mengsk."
"Doesn't seem like the Emperor cares at all," said Ariel. "My people from Agria and displaced populations from across the sector. They have all fled to a refugee staging area on Meinhoff.
"There are reports of violence and disease spreading throughout the camps, but the Emperor's done nothing!"
Raynor nodded and then looked to Serena. "I'll look into it, Doc."
Serena finished speaking with the officer and looked up as Raynor approached. "Serena?"
"Yes, what is it?" asked Serena.
"I need to know if there's anything you can do for us on the refugee situation," said Raynor.
"I've actually found a solution," said Serena. "I'm offering free room and board in exchange for joining as a soldier. We have a great need for bodies to throw at the zerg, and they need to not die. It's decreased the number of refugees heading to camps.
"Also, with marines having a high casualty rating, the surplus population will be reduced in a productive fashion. More food to go around and less expensive for us. So everyone wins."
"That's not funny," said Raynor.
"What's not?" asked Serena.
"Nevermind," said Raynor. "I was hoping to do something for the people who can't or won't kill zerg."
Serena shrugged. "Prince Valerians has established factories where refugees can earn a small wage. In exchange for helping the Dominion industrially. But it can't cover everyone. And there are tales of abuses.
"We could do the same and promise more humane treatment. The competition will probably force the Dominion to treat them a bit better."
"I was thinking we could provide them with supplies. Food aid and such" said Raynor.
"We're in the middle of the end times, Raynor," said Serena. "The human race is about to go extinct. Our goal is to die, taking the Swarm with us. Pouring resources into useless assets is not on the schedule.
"Our focus should not be on helping the refugees, but on helping them help themselves.
"Give a man fifty credits, and he'll blow it on alcohol. Give a man a job where he has to work hard to get ten credits, and he'll spend it wisely. And, having contributed to our war effort, they will have accomplished something.
"If you're really deadset on food, we could try hunting zerg. Some strains of them are edible, and we can preserve it and send it back."
"And what about the diseases?" asked Raynor, liking the option. "We gotta set up some kind of order here, Serena."
Serena sighed. "I'll make contact with the locals on Meinhoff and see what I can do.
"For now, I managed to get in contact with Artanis. He's agreed to speak with you via a psychic crystal. We can go right now."
"Great," said Raynor. "If we can get the protoss in on this fight, it'll go a long way to winning this war."
"Prepare to be disappointed," said Serena, opening the door.
Raynor found that surprising. Serena had always gotten on well with Aldaris. "You don't think they'll help us? The protoss have always been more reasonable than terrans in my experience."
"Maybe, but they also got hit harder," said Serena. "Terrans grow up and die within a hundred years. Protoss take a lot longer than that to fully physically mature. Tassadar and Artanis are considered incredibly young.
"They didn't lose nearly as many people in raw numbers as terrans, but the losses hit them harder."
"Yeah, but Kerrigan's a threat to us all," said Raynor. "If any of us sit this one out, we could lose everything."
"Sure, but so is the Dominion," said Serena as they walked through the halls. "Mengsk is constantly going on about how the protoss are the enemies of humanity. I think he's planning to use them as a scapegoat after he takes out Kerrigan.
"If the protoss think we'll stalemate Kerrigan, they may prefer to let us and her fight it out."
"Ever the cynic, huh?" asked Raynor.
"Of course," said Serena, sounding surprised. "Why aren't you? You've had an even worse time of it than I have."
Raynor smiled. "Wishful thinking, I guess. Let's open our channel."
They got to the lab, and there Raynor saw a protoss communications crystal. Moving up to it, Raynor set a hand to it. Instantly, it flared to life, and the crystal began to buzz with energy. The image of Artanis, clad in golden armor, was before them.
"Commander Raynor, your message was received, and we stand ready to hear you," said Artanis.
Raynor decided to cut right to the chase. "Right, Artanis, listen, how much do you know about what is going on in the Koprolu Sector?"
"We have observers at all major points of contention," said Artanis. "Our people are impressed at the resolve your people have displayed in battle. The resistance you now present Kerrigan and her broods is heroic. Far greater than the meager attempts made during the Great War.
"We had expected you to descend into infighting and destroy yourselves."
"Everyone's a critic," said Raynor. "Either way, that's why I'm calling. Artanis, we're fighting well here, but Kerrigan has huge numbers of broods. She's throwing them at us even now, and she hasn't even sent in Kaloth.
"I won't lie to you; I think we're gonna get overrun eventually.
"Do you think you can get your people to help us out?"
"You ask us to aid the Dominion, Raynor?" asked Artanis. "They have made their hatred of us quite plain."
"Look, I'm not asking you to fly into Augustgrad and put yourselves at Mengsk's service," said Raynor. "He'd send you to die in the worst parts of the fighting. But I think we both know the protoss have other ways to help out the terrans.
"Ways that don't involve getting out of a ship."
"You refer to the extermination of worlds?" asked Artanis. "That ability is now within our power. But it is an... indiscriminate weapon, perhaps used too often."
All Raynor needed to hear. "Just do what Tassadar did.
"Send the golden armada to any planets that get completely overrun. As soon as all hope's lost, you wipe them out and take a serious chunk of the zerg with you. That kind of scorched earth tactic could really slow Kerrigan down. That could cause her some serious problems."
Artanis nodded, and though he did not make an expression, Raynor had the feeling he was mulling it over. "I will have to discuss this plan with my advisors.
"However, I believe that such a plan may well be within our power. The Golden Armada is now larger even than the Conclave's fleet of old. But many of the crews lack practical experience. This mission you suggest will remedy that.
"It will aid in the eventual retaking of Aiur."
Raynor smiled. "Glad to be of service then."
"If there is nothing else, I have matters to attend to as Hierarch," said Artanis.
"No, I'm about done," said Raynor. "See you in orbit, I guess."
The channel cut out.
Raynor felt Serena's gaze on him from behind and turned to look at her. "What?"
"You do realize that most protoss commanders would have dismissed Agria as a lost cause?" asked Serena.
"Maybe during the Great War," said Raynor. "I'm willing to bet they'll be a bit more conservative these days."
"Well, if you lose that gamble, a lot of people are going to die," noted Serena.
"Are you saying we don't need the protoss?" asked Raynor.
Serena shrugged. "No.
"I'm saying that if you lose that gamble, a lot of people are going to die. Take what you want from the statement. I need to get back to the Medea; I'm setting things up for an invasion of Redstone.
"If we can strike when the protoss start glassing worlds, we'll be golden."
"What kind of setup are you making anyway?" asked Raynor.
"There are certain special interest groups who see Redstone as an opportunity. And that they would be only too happy to coordinate with us," Serena paused. "Matt could probably give you a lot of the information if you want more of it.
"Their leader is called Gabriel Tosh, and he should get in touch soon enough when it's time. For now, we've got a refugee crisis to settle."
"Right," said Raynor.
It was... a bit of a weird setup they had here.
Raynor objectively knew a lot less than Matt and Serena; he probably wasn't as good a leader. But both of them seemed to take his orders and consulted him on everything. Raynor didn't feel comfortable about this.
He'd almost have preferred to be a figurehead, but everyone wanted his orders. Even Serena seemed to be treating him as a pseudo-superior. When they hadn't been officially working together, they'd been partners but now...
It was like Serena was looking to him to make the call. And she was the one giving him options.
Raynor went looking for Tychus. He wasn't sure why, but he found him in the cantina, watching the news. Some ways off, Raynor saw Nova Terra.
Matt had become aware of her very early on, but Raynor had ordered him to let her be.
Apparently, she'd tried to kill Serena, and well... failed seemed a bit of an understatement. She'd ended up moving all over Mar Sara trying to get off the planet and ended up having to use the Hyperion. From the looks of things, she'd decided to stay on.
It couldn't have been as a spy to Mengsk since Tychus was already fulfilling that role.
Either way, Nova was currently looking a bit dead. Raynor had seen the expression a lot during the Great War. One horrible thing after another happened, and it had never let up. Little by little, the nonstop atrocities stop getting to you, and you shut down. Serena had never recovered from Tarsonis, even if she'd never admitted it.
Still, at least the news was good.
Donny Vermillion was in full glory, talking about heroic Dominion resistance. That part was more or less true. Little mention was made of non-Dominion defenders, but that was business as usual. Then he moved on to Agria. "Donny Vermillion, UNN. We've got Kate Lockwell on a remote feed from Agria, a fringe colony. Are you there, Kate?"
Silence.
"Okay, we seem to be having a sound problem with - I'm being told Emperor Mengsk is going to address us? Let's take you to his announcement, already in progress," said Donny, moving on.
The view showed Arcturus Mengsk in all his glory. He went clad in leather garb custom-tailored to look humble and stylish. The Emperor wore now crown and addressed his people with an expression of solemn duty. His was the bearing of a man tormented by unbearable responsibility. But he was enduring in performing it.
It was a good act and what made it worse was that Mengsk actually believed it. It was the only way he could sleep at night.
".. My finest military minds are being brought to bear, and it's my pleasure to announce that they'll soon be led by the hero of Torus himself, General Horace Warfield," said Mengsk.
"Warfield? I thought he retired years ago," said Raynor.
"With General Warfield at the helm and our finely honed Dominion military under his command, I have every confidence that this new zerg threat will be contained very soon," said Arcturus.
Then it cut back to Donny. "There you have it, viewers. With Warfield in command, the zerg Swarm will be defeated in no time. Up next: Raynor ups his campaign of terror - just as the zerg reappear. Coincidence? You decide after these messages."
So, Arcturus had pretty much come out of this so far like a bandit. He'd lost virtually nothing and managed to purge a lot of his less reliable minions. In the process, he'd also gotten Raynor and Serena to do serious damage to Kerrigan and gotten all the credit.
And as long as Raynor played along with Tychus's paper-thin explanation, he'd be helping Mengsk. But as long as Raynor knew he was part of Mengsk's plans and Mengsk didn't know about Raynor...
Well, that might just give Raynor an advantage, wouldn't it?
"What was Torus anyway?" asked Tychus.
"Oh, Torus was a world that got attacked by the zerg during the Brood War," said Raynor. "Warfield was based on it and ended up fighting there nonstop. The battle lasted the entire war, and Warfield eventually won.
"It was pretty nasty, I hear. A lot of terran casualties, and a lot more zerg. Apparently, some Tal'darim even got in on the actions. It was First Contact, and they were the enemy.
"One of the only major victories the Dominion got without any outside help. So Arcturus made Warfield a real bigshot hero."
"Needed Warfield to distract from the real refounding of the Dominion?" asked Tychus.
"You could say that," said Raynor. "See, after we got wrecked on Korhal, Mengsk and I had hit rock bottom. The only thing that mattered to both of us was hurting the Queen of Blades. Mengsk is a good strategist but not much for tactics. Serena and I were good tacticians but had no real plan. So, we ended up falling back in together.
"I put one or two conditions after recolonizing Mar Sara, we combined forces and drove the zerg off Korhal. And Mengsk actually fulfilled his end of the bargain, with a few strings. Later we did a preemptive strike and headed off a war with the Kel'Morian Combine. Seized some leadership, I guess.
"We were doing pretty well until Kaloth wrecked everything."
"Again?" asked Tychus.
Raynor blinked. "Hmm?"
"Well, every time I ask someone for some context, the story always ends with some badass named Kaloth. Usually with him wrecking the place up," said Tychus. "I'm beginning to wonder who the real threat is."
Raynor laughed. "It's sort of an uh... duo thing.
"Kerrigan comes up with the evil plans, and Kaloth carries them out. They're a pretty deadly team. Like Serena and me, actually.
"Anyway, you meet Dr. Hanson yet?"
"Sure did," said Tychus. "I asked that sweet thing if she'd like to give me a physical. No harm in askin', right? I think she's got her eye on some pansy-ass, though."
"Yeah?" asked Raynor. "Who might that be?"
"Oh, I dunno, some white knight kinda guy, came charging down to save her colony?" asked Tychus. "Damn, Jimmy - you never could read the ladies."
"You might not want to judge too quick, Tychus," said Jim. Then he looked over to Nova, who still looked borderline comatose. The ice in her drink was almost melted. "But at the moment, we've got plans for the future to set up. Don't go giving up yet."
"Who do you think you're talking to, Jimmy?" asked Tychus.
"I'll let you guess at that," said Raynor.
Raynor was aware that Nova had been working for the Dominion. But then he'd been working for the Dominion a few years ago. As long as she was helping out, no need to press things further than they had to go.
He had more than enough ghosts to avenge as it was.
Author's Note:
And I feel this is a good place to end this.
While the story is definitely not complete, the focus of this fic was about Nova. More specifically, Nova and expanding on the events of Mar Sara. However, the focus of the story is becoming more cosmic, and I've done most of what I want to do with this concept.
I may do a continuation, but for now, the fic is done.