Chapter Eleven: Escalation
Prince Valerian was in a very bad mood as he stepped off the landing pad into Antiga Prime.
He knew what was happening on Umoja; he'd figured it all out with the information available. But it was too late to do anything about it, and he was not sure if he could talk with Arcturus. The flight to Antiga Prime had been hell. There had been constant waiting and pacing, trying to keep working past disillusionment.
But he was here.
And fireworks were lighting the sky. Cheers were resounding through the cities as people fired guns into the air. As he made his way over to the guards, he saw them salute.
Father had wanted him to get a hero's welcome on Korhal.
Valerian had instead spent his time ensuring the Umojans were well looked after. There had been a time when he'd thought of himself as one of them. He'd grown up there but now...
Now could he say that?
He'd had nothing to do with the decision, though.
"Prince Valerian, welcome. We weren't alerted you were coming," said the guard.
"Yes, well, I felt I ought to take Commander Calabas by surprise," said Valerian, keeping his cool. "What is... all this?" He felt like he'd lost a friend, though he knew he hadn't. There was an absence in his heart.
"We're celebrating," said the guard. "The Emperor has declared a national holiday to celebrate the victory."
"Victory, what victory?" asked Valerian. They hadn't thrown this kind of party when Serena and he wrecked the zerg.
"The Fall of Umoja, sir," said the guard. "They've been undermining us for years, after all."
The fall of Umoja was to be a national holiday? Was Father drunk when he made that decree? But then, there seemed a lot of enthusiasm down there. Valerian paused. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Where is Commander Calabas?"
"Oh, reading in her office, I think," said the guard. "The Lady is a real beauty. But she doesn't go in for normal entertainment much. Though Yamanov tells me she used to."
Valerian nodded and kept his cool.
He managed to keep his cool until he got to the office and found Serena reading the Chronicles of Narnia. She did not acknowledge him when he entered.
"Why are they celebrating?!" shouted Valerian.
Serena looked up with surprise. "Oh, Valerian, I was wondering when you'd show up here. They're celebrating because they hate Umoja and are glad the planet is gone."
"You..." Valerian stared at her. "You're not serious. I mean, I know relations have been poor lately-"
"Poor?" asked Serena. "Valerian, they tried to murder our Emperor and your father. This after they sold the entire Dominion up the river to help Alan Schezar stage revolution. Entire worlds have been destroyed because I was fighting him instead of the zerg.
"Tassadar might still be alive if not for them. And billions of others."
"Serena, you talk about how we should be ruthless and pragmatic," said Valerian. "How is what Umojan did differently? The Dominion looked after its own best interests, and we looked after ours. Father probably would have done the same thing if their positions were reversed."
"Would that have made it right?" asked Serena, turning the page. "Oh, so that's where the White Witch came from. She was Jadis the whole time. I hope they don't do something stupid like reveal she's the chosen one.
"That would completely wreck this book series."
"...What does that matter?! You did this, Serena! I'm not stupid!" snapped Valerian. "That zerg attack was perfectly timed! Every zerg offensive was made to avoid the evacuation! Every Dominion defense was attacked only lightly!
"The assault was custom-tailored to break Umoja as a power with minimal collateral."
Serena sighed and shut the book. "And what if I did?"
"Why?!" said Valerian. "You unleashed the zerg on a terran planet! How is that any different from what you stopped Arcturus from doing?"
Serena put the book down. "The difference is between a scalpel and a hammer, Valerian.
"Umoja needed to be taken out of the picture for the Dominion to live. With them in play, the UED had access to immense resources and spy networks. Now that they have been removed, we have destabilized the UED occupation.
"And it's not as if we killed them all. Most of the population is healthy and well off. Those we couldn't get off in the first rounds of evacuation are being left alone by Kerrigan's broods. They'll be pulled off as soon as possible."
"And what about their living conditions?" asked Valerian.
"I've personally arranged for camps to be furnished with proper food," said Serena. "I'm told you did one or two better.
"We'll set them up with the same deal we give all the other refugees. Work in factories to manufacture for the war effort, join up with the marines. There should be plenty of food, and Emperor Arcturus personally oversaw the setup.
"It's better than most of their victims got.
"We've improved conditions for refugee workers a great deal. We've even given Umoja special treatment. We live in the world they created, and they're still being coddled."
"Will you listen to yourself!" said Valerian, feeling himself almost panicking. How did a stalwart defender of humanity do such things? "You're acting like this is no big deal! These people have lost their homes! All of their belonging! All the places they used to love!"
"How sad," said Serena. "What about the Khalai's home? The Khalai's belongings? The Khalai's beloved places? All of those went up in smoke because we were unable to defend Aiur. And why were we unable to defend Aiur?"
Valerian paused. "...We didn't have the manpower."
"Right," said Serena. "We didn't have the manpower. We'd been fighting a two-front war with the zerg and Alan Schezar.
"Now imagine a world where Alan Schezar got no support from Umoja. One where he chose to join up with the Dominion for lack of a better option. That means all the Confederate Squadrons go with him. Overnight, our resources are doubled. More than doubled because Schezar and I never have a showdown on Valhalla V.
"We'd be easily able to hold the line in the Dominion. And our surplus troops could have gone to help the Khalai. Perhaps we could have killed the Overmind with conventional weaponry.
If we'd done that, then Tassadar wouldn't have had to die. Or failing that, we could have held Aiur.
"It's funny, isn't it, how a single act of betrayal can cause so much carnage.
"If Umoja had stuck to its principles and helped us establish order in the sector, billions would be alive.
"This is too good for them."
"And what about the people of Umoja?" asked Valerian. "Should they suffer for what their government did-"
"YES!" snapped Serena in sudden emotion. "People get the government they deserve. What if the people of Umoja had pressed their government to do the right thing? They wouldn't have dared backstab the Dominion. But they weren't.
"They sat back in their little island and let everyone else foot the bill.
"It didn't matter to them if billions were dying, as long as it didn't interfere with their day to day affairs."
"And what about the Confederacy?" asked Valerian.
Serena stood up and stretched, bust swaying as she moved. "As I said, people get the government they deserve. The Old Families survived because they were fighting people who were as awful as they were. As soon as Mengsk and Tassadar entered the picture, they collapsed in on themselves.
"The Dominion is the reward that the people of the sector won by their actions during the revolution. How good or bad it was is a direct result of what they did during the revolution.
"I could have run away on Mar Sara, Valerian. I didn't have to press Mar Sara's people into dying in droves to defeat the zerg and destroy their hive clusters. And they didn't have to obey my instructions. But if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have done that on Antiga Prime either, so we'd have snuck some dropships to the Norad II. I probably wouldn't have stopped Arcturus from activating the Psi Emitters, either. And knowing him, we'd have used them on Tarsonis next.
"Without the victories on Mar Sara and Antiga Prime, how many colonies would have just run away? There would be no precedent for victory. The zerg would have been completely unchecked. The blood of the men of Mar Sara, of Antiga Prime, and so many other worlds is what purchased the future we have now.
"And the treachery of Umoja is what marred it."
"If that's what you believe, then why don't you tell the press what you've just done," said Valerian.
"I just did," said Serena.
"What?!" said Valerian, hardly able to believe his ears.
"I sent the data to every major news source and told them to report on it accurately," said Serena. "It was a condition of my cooperation with Arcturus' plan.
"Our relationship with the public is based on trust. Deep, dark secrets will eventually get pulled to light anyway. Better to bite the bullet and explain what we did on our own terms.
"We'll be explaining to the entire sector how we played Umoja before we explain it to their prime minister. They'll hear about it on TV."
"There are going to be riots in the streets?!" said Valerian.
"Are there?" asked Serena.
"You just unleashed the zerg on a populated world, Serena!" said Valerian. "What happened when it came out the Confederacy did that?!"
"True," said Serena. "Now, let me ask you this. Which would have been less or more destructive to the population of Umoja? To have a pitched battle between modern armies? Or have their world taken with both sides working to make them lose.
"Siege tanks in the streets, with battlecruisers hovering overhead pouring plasma into buildings.
"I've seen urban warfare, Valerian. It isn't pretty.
"Well?"
Valerian would admit this was very different in execution from the Confederacy's actions. But the very idea of using the zerg disturbed him. "...This could backfire badly."
"More than it being revealed in an inconvenient moment by someone who'd doctored the truth?" asked Serena.
"And what about the people of Umoja? You think they'll accept this?" asked Valerian.
"Oh, for the past week, we've been given them and their children crash courses. The subject is what their actions have done to the sector," said Serena. "War documentaries, footage, meticulously well researched. I've had survivors of worlds ravaged by Schezar's raids talking to them. As well as extensive details on just how terrible the zerg are as a threat.
"I mean to give them proper context for why we did this to them before we arrange their return to Umoja."
"Return?" asked Valerian. "I thought you gave it to the zerg."
"Well, yes, but Kerrigan owns the Broods on that world. And she reports to us," said Serena. "There's no reason we can't just have her stay there as a Sword of Damocles and let them live in peace. Say what you want about the zerg, but they always follow orders. If she tells them to leave the Umoja citizens in peace, they will.
"Of course, that will be after the present conflict with the UED is resolved.
"Best to give them an incentive not to rock the boat."
Valerian looked at her and had no idea what to think. Her actions had brutal rationality to them. She had done everything possible to limit the damage. You could even argue that the zerg had been less destructive than a traditional invasion. "So that's it then?
"You're just going to admit what you did and hope the population lets you get off scot-free?"
Serena sighed. "Stop whining, Valerian."
"Whining?" asked Valerian. "I am not-"
"Complaining without proposing a solution is called whining," said Serena. "I've already made it plain to you what I'm going to do. If you have a better idea, suggest it as an alternative, or make it happen yourself."
Valerian looked at her. She knew full that his power came from her and Father. "...How exactly am I supposed to do that?"
"Tassadar and Christ, you're a Prince and war hero! That's a lot more than I had!" said Serena. "Prepare a statement condemning what happened! Reveal what happened ahead of time! Renounce your claim to the throne! Anything! Or if you're not willing to do any of that, accept the decision and focus on what you can affect!
"If you want to be your own person, then you have to take steps to establish yourself. You have to make yourself something beyond the trappings of a position handed to you! If you don't want to make your own decisions, then accept your status as a figurehead, and play the role as best you can!"
"That's easy for you to say," said Valerian. "You have actual power. I didn't even know what was going on."
"You could have stopped the fall of Umoja Valerian. Easily," said Serena. "You had the same information I did. If you'd asked some inconvenient questions, you'd have been able to see what was going on. Once you had that, all you had to do was be willing to accept unpleasant truth; you could have figured it out. Given your status and abilities, you could have forced Arcturus into backing off on the plan.
"I could have too, but I decided it had to be done. Maybe if you had been there, a better way could have been found. But you weren't there, for better or worse. And so you were not a factor in the fate of Umoja. You chose not to pay attention. And you got the government you deserved because you were a nonentity.
"I'm the Iron Fist of the Dominion, Valerian.
"Who are you?"
Valerian did not have an answer to that.
So, he left. Valerian Mengsk focused on helping the refugees with resettlement programs and humanitarian projects. He tried to clarify legal matters and watched as the war between Dominion and UED continued.
And he wondered what would happen when it reached Antiga Prime.