"Heeeey! I'm baaaack! Huh? Where is he? Was I gone for that long? Hey, do any of you readers know where the dear author went? I hope he ain't mad." (⊙_⊙;)

*Looks at computer*

"Well, it seems that he wrote the draft of this chapter before he left, and he left a note too, I'll type it out since it's important."

(The last edit to the story has been made (and I swear it's the last one) so here it is: "...as she realized that she's meeting a fellow telepath. She had never met one in person for her entire life..."(Chapter 21)

TO

"...as she realized that she's meeting a fellow telepath. She hadn't come in contact with one in years..." Very important, remember to change ASAP!)

(PS, Ask readers if I should edit all the chapters to correct grammar mistakes or leave them to show the story's progress history.)

"It seems that he has something planned and a story element needed to be changed, classic him. I should do him a favor and type it out, I'm better at writing than he gives me credit for, now lets get to it readers!"

Chapter 38: Memories 3

It's been three days since Isaac and his family arrived at Haven, and so far things have been going well, he's been assigned to manual labor with the transportation of resources around the currently unfinished zone five. Recently news have been going around about a few missing people cases in the area for unknown reasons, setting back the progress of the project quite considerably. As a result guards have been set up around the area to ensure the safety of everyone working in it, one of which he's passing right now with a crate in hand. Despite the extra security he can't help but be worried for May and Isabel who have been assigned to the mechanical sector for the maintenance of the colony vehicles.

But hopefully all of this will be resolved soon since for the first time in his life, the old man has actually felt a great sense of peace since his childhood days, and with the added news of Ariel renouncing her allegiance from the Dominion he has no reason to worry about them anymore. With the planet so out of the way as well, the war seems to be nonexistent as well, hopefully this will stay permanent this time. He's seen enough combat for any honest man to witness.

Eventually he reaches the center of the work site and checks around the area to look for the site manager for assistance. Eventually, he was able to spot out a woman looking down at a datapad intently in a black uniform which contrasts from the teal uniforms of the other workers around her. He approaches her causing her to look up from the device seconds later to meet his gaze and waited patiently for him to approach.

"Isaac, reporting with a full crate of building supplies, where should I put them?" He greets in a professional manner, not earning an immediate reaction from the woman for a second.

"Good, just set it right over there with the rest." She responds calmly and points her pen towards a nearby pile of boxes within a storage room.

With a clear path he nods to the woman and begins walking towards the building to complete his task. Upon entering the building, he sets the crate down gently and rolled his shoulders around now that his arms are finally relived of their cargo. After wiping the sweat off his forehead he looks up to the sky, figuring he has a little time to relax before he has to continue his work.

He listens to the nearby birds chirp their songs as he stares into the calm blue sky, stretching even more to ease the aching his arms are feeling. Despite this pain it was all so peaceful that he could easily just ignore it.

He gives a heavy sigh, if only Maria was here right now.

5 Years ago

Within the sprawling towers of Tarsonis City, two individuals walk among the sparsely crowded streets under a dawning sky. They both wore brown cloaks that shield their faces from the world leaving only the bottom of their faces exposed. Though they both walk easily on their path, one expresses a slight limp with each step while another is giving subtle support to his companion, that companion being Isaac.

The hood hides a face of pure exhaustion with each breath being hidden but heavy for every step he takes. The reason for this is because something had happened on the estate of the Terra family, an incident comprised of a group of attackers that tried to capture the three children of the head of the family, Constantino Terra, during a small retreat at the family's swimming pool.

He was posted as a security guard along with his partner Mac, who is the man currently carrying him, along with four others posted around the area to watch out for any incoming threat as uncommon as they are. But this particular group seem to have been confident enough to try and take the children for ransom to the point of active engagement with him and his fellow men. He along with Mac were the ones who guarded the three while the others engaged the aggressors, but that didn't stop one of them from putting a bullet in him in the chaos and even went into a fist fight with the man causing even further injury.

Though victorious, it had left its mark on the man with injuries such a bruised eye, some internal bleeding, and the aforementioned bullet that he took for one of the children. Luckily the medics were able to take it out before the lead poisoning was able to set in, but it left him with a stinging pain that spiked in intensity with each step he took, luckily Mac volunteered to carry him back to the house once their shift ended.

They went down their trek for some time until they reach the entrance of a dark alleyway where he decided to break off from his partner. Before he continued his friend speaks.

"Are you sure you can continue on man?" Mac asks, his voice heavy with concern. He looks back to the man, finally looking into the blue eyes his colleague.

"I will, thank you for your help." He waves off his concern before continuing down the path.

"Alright then, say hello to Maria for me." The two went their separate ways as Mac goes down the road while he limp down his.

The cold, dark alleyway was riddled with garbage and grime despite its location in the upper sectors of the city which is usually ruled the old families, but he and his wife had chosen this location for the exact reason of it being usually overlooked by the authorities. It was lucky for them honestly, not only is it relatively secluded, but also safer than it being in the Gutter, the ruthless underworld of Tarsonis which contains the most villainous of criminals and killers the city has ever produced. He had been down there before on a few occasions on some assignments during his days in the Confederate militia and that was enough to show that it is no place for his family to live in. Here at least there's little to no crime thanks to the Tarsonis police force, as corrupt as they are, at least they do their job well enough.

This was also the reason why he had chosen to be a guard for the Terra family as well, they held great influence in the area, and he plans on gaining favor with the family by using his military background to its fullest potential. Plus the Terra family is more merciful and good-willed among the old families, with Constantino Terra even speaking out against the nuclear annihilation of Korhal when the planet decided to rebel against the Confederacy. As a result, they decided to stay under their provenance in hopes of giving their daughter, Isabel, a safer life within the family, but only if he can get into their good graces through his work. It was drastic, but if they ever try to move anywhere else, they will risk getting caught by the Ghost Program and have Isabel taken away just like his son before.

He eventually reaches the end of the alleyway coming upon a large two-story house surrounded by metal walls on all but one side which its own structure has constituted for. This has provided a defendable position if things were to ever go wrong at their residence, but for fourteen years nothing has ever found them. Hopefully, it'll stay that way for a few more.

Though this isn't a lavishing home, it's good enough to comfortably house all three of them, it's the least that he and his wife cold afford for their little girl.

The man reaches the entrance of his humble home and stares at the worn-out green paint of the door for a few moments, having to recover from yet another ping of pain, before taking out a lone silver key from his pocket and inserting it into the lock. With a click the door unlocks and he opens it with a gentle move, swinging it open to reveal the familiar sight of his living room in front of him consisting of a T.V., a red decorated table across from it, and a black couch right after being flanked by a matching chair.

On the couch sits his wife Maria whose dirt blonde hair is tied up in a neat bun and is currently watching the T.V.

She immediately turns to him showing her ruby red eyes which seem to be filled with fear before they turn to that of relief once their eyes met. Getting up to reveal to be wearing a blue dress, she rushes towards him with heavy breath.

"Isaac, I'm so glad you're alright!" Maria states in worry as she comes up right in front of him.

"What do you mean, dear?" He asks, confused as to what she's referring to, as another sting of pain travels across his back.

"The incident today, it's all over the news, look!" It seriously can't be that right? It just happened hours ago.

She swings one of his arms over her shoulders and carried him to the soft cushions of the couch before setting him down and letting him sink into the furniture. She then goes over and picks up the remote where she then proceeds to press the rewind button causing the device to rapid flash images as the T.V is reverting back to its previous frames before it was halted to an overhead image of the pool resort he was just at before.

"Just minutes ago, a shooting has occurred within the estate of the Terra family. Reports say that three of the family's children were present and that they were the assailant's targets." A male voice announces as the camera continues to rotate over the sight. "However, thanks to the brave actions of the security guards present at the site, they have failed in their mission. We now go live with Kate Lockwell who is currently on the location right now." The image quickly switched to a woman with short jet-black hair and grey eyes wearing a black jacket bearing the UNN logo, and what he presumes are pants based off what he could see.

"Thank you, James. I am here in the currently blocked off area that used to be a leisure swimming area for the inhabitants of the Terra family. Now it is a crime scene littered with bodies." Of course they would overexaggerate, there was only about thirteen people there max, including the three children. Last that he heard, they only took one casualty in the attack. "Here is now one of the security guards that had partake in the defense of the children, Mac Oswald." His eyes widened a little in response pf the news. Of course his own college would be in the spotlight while he was too busy recovering, but honestly it was better him than Isaac, he doesn't like to be in it himself.

The woman then passes the microphone towards Mac.

"And thank you Kate. The attackers certainly took us by surprise when they, well, attacked. They held some rather advanced equipment for a bunch of brigands and had the tactics to back it up. But we were able to recover in time to fend them off, but unfortunately we suffered a loss in return and had two more critically injured and currently in the infirmary."

"So, what information do you have on these unknown assailants?"

"Unfortunately, we do not know, those that we did capture chose to kill themselves rather than be prisoners, those that did bolt covered their tracks well. But to any of those that did survive, you better watch your back, because any one of us will catch it sooner or later."

"You have it here everyone, the brave men of the Terra security forces have ensured their employer's safety once again. This is Kate Lockwell of UNN, signing out." The video was then paused making Isaac turn back to his wife.

"You see now? I was so afraid that you might have been that one guard that was killed. I know how much you like to be the hero." Her voice was calm yet quivering when it mentioned the topic. He could not blame her for this, there were plenty of examples where he did play the part, hell he even did it today.

He looks up to his wife's eyes and reaches up to touch her cheek, but yet another sharp ping strikes his back yet again causing him to visibly wince in pain earning yet more worry from her.

"Are you okay?" She kneels to act as support for him.

"I am, dear." He looks up again, but this time more skeptical eyes stared back, and he quickly realized that there's no lying to her. "I may have played hero again and took a bullet for one of the kids, I think it was November." This was what broke the woman's composure as she begins to look like she's going to go ballistic on him, but instead took a heavy breath to relive the stress and leans in to give a soft embrace.

"My love, you've got to stop taking such things, we're all Isabel has left, and I don't want her to grow up without you." He could feel her breathing grow heavy as her chest tightly press against his and her voice almost on the verge of breaking.

He couldn't help but feel guilty about this, every action he takes outside their home is another risk to his life that may separate him from his family for good, leaving them all alone in this hostile universe, a prospect that terrifies him every day. But it is a fear that he often holds down just to move forward.

He hugs his beloved wife tightly, putting one hand into her hair, and nearly sheading a tear himself before closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time." He whispers into her ear, something he could feel brought a little comfort to his lover as he felt her breath grew lighter.

His eyes then darted to the doorway leading into the kitchen as he could feel a pair of eyes looking at him, they're the ruby red eyes of his daughter which he makes eye contact with for a split second before their owner darts back behind the doorframe.

Giving a faint smile the two part their embrace and once again look into each other's eyes with Maria now giving a look of yearning for any additional news which he intends on giving.

"The security chief gave me a few days off to recover, so I'll be keeping watch of Isabel for you now." She smiles to this news. Since Isabel was born, the two took jobs with schedules that wouldn't overlap as much as possible to ensure that at least one of them would be at home to watch over her. But in the event that they do overlap, May was often called in to watch over her, as so far, they seem to be getting along nicely.

"That's good, it also means that I get to spend more quality time with my handsome husband." She leans in again, but this time to give him a firm kiss on the lips, a gesture that he graciously returns with the same passion. Whatever fatigue he was feeling before disappeared as they remained locked together.

The two stay like this for a few seconds before parting again leaving the two blushing heavily before they both regained their composure.

"I'm sure you're quite hungry after what you've been through, I'll put something together for you right away."

"Thank you dear." He watches as she walks away towards the kitchen with a relived sigh.

It took him a few seconds before he gazes lower towards the doorframe before talking.

"I know you're there Isabel, you can come out now." He said warmly, and like a shy cat she pokes her head out from behind the wall with what he could see is worry in her eyes.

She eventually fully comes out showing that she is wearing a dark blue, knee-length skirt with a matching collard top. Her slightly brownish blonde hair was neatly brushed giving him a clear view of her face which resembles that of Maria, but younger. If he didn't know better, he would think that she's a clone of her. She walks rather shyly towards him quickly showing that she is rather nervous.

"What's wrong sweetie?" He leans over while ignoring the resulting sting in his side.

"Is it true dad, that you got hurt at work?" Isabel's voice was slightly quivering with fear as she asked that question sending a different sting to his heart.

"I did sweetie, but I'll be fine. In fact, you're going to see me here for a few days straight." He responds in the most gentle and comforting way possible while keeping his own thoughts positive and accurate knowing that his daughter will pick up on them.

"Really?" Her eyes suddenly showed a glint of hope as she walked closer.

"Really, now how about you come sit next to your old man. I think your favorite shows on right now." He pats a hand onto the space next to him which the girl quickly accepts.

She scoots herself right up against him and snuggles her head against his neck, letting him swing an arm around to hold her other shoulder to keep her in place while he fetches the remote. He begins to navigate the channels for almost a minute before he stops at a channel which contains an animated cartoon which they normally watch together when he has the chance.

Though he may have taken a bullet for someone else's daughter, at least he gets to spend a lot more time with his own.

Present Day

Isabel feels rather awkward today, and a lot more than usual, it's because of the near dozen people that she and May are around right now. While the latter is currently talking up a storm with the others, talking about adult stuff like how things are going with family and other stuff she's not interested in, she's just sitting a little distance away behind her on top of a log.

As much as she wants to learn how to talk to new people, the fact is that she's really hearing two voices from all but a couple of people she's blocking out, with one that coming from the mouth and the other coming out of their mind, it's all overwhelming for her to listen to at once. At least on the shuttle everyone was quiet and so she had to listen to just one set of voices, but here it's just headache inducing. As a result, she decided to distance herself away from everyone until she learns how to cope with that many people being around her.

With everything they needed to do for the day done she can do nothing but look at the bright blue sky, watching the clouds slowly pass by peacefully above them, and practicing her ability to block out more people out of her head.

She taps her large black boots against the wooden body of the log as she sorts out the voices she's currently hears, such as bits and pieces of the conversation going on near her. The small vehicles going about carrying their cargo, and even the chatter of people around her age, and blocks them out one by one. This is when she hears the close footsteps of someone treading across the grass to the left of her causing her to dart her head to its direction.

It was a bald man wearing heavy clothing across his body and a grimaced face with a mind to match, just what has gotten him all worked up? With the man clearly walking towards the group, she becomes curious as to his intentions and decided to break some rules. He scans his mind to see the answer to his actions.

"I swear I'm gonna be late for my quota at this rate. Someone here better know how to fix a vehicle." So that's what it's about, maybe she should inform May.

The blonde hops off the log and walks towards the group in a calm manner as to not attract any attention to herself while keeping note of where the man currently is. He eventually reaches the others and singles out the redhead from the rest of the group, making sure to block out as many of the voices as she could, and walks to her getting her attention. Not wanting to intrude into their conversation she decides to do something else.

"A man is coming your way, he's going to ask if someone knows how to fix a vehicle, I thought we can help." The telepathic message briefly startles the woman, but she quickly gets it as she is familiar with her abilities and shows it with a subtle nod.

The two were the only ones aware of the man when he approached the group and stood over one of its members.

"Hate to interrupt this talk, but do any of you know how to fix a cargo hauler?" They all turn to the newcomer and hesitate to answer his question, all except May.

"I can. Isabel, come with me." She stands up and the girl follows her as requested with the latter now happy that they can get to do something other than talking.

After walking through the neighborhood for a couple of minutes they come upon a large vehicle with two large wheels on the front with equally large back treads all supporting a large metal cabin that Isabel quickly figures out to contain its cargo and is large enough to fit a couple dozen people inside.

"Okay, so what's wrong with it?"

"The damn thing won't start no matter what I do, I figured that you would know."

"Alright then, let's have a look." She nudges her head for Isabel signaling her to walk with her which she quickly does.

They make their way to the front of the vehicle and she watches as May inspects the front for a few seconds before popping a few latches holding the hood down causing it to pop open revealing all of the engine's components hidden within.

"Alright Isabel, see anything wrong?" Despite being put of the spot her eyes quickly dart around the engine looking for any component that looks compromised, but everything seems to be in working order.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." She shrugs.

"Alright. Hey, can you give her a go?" The man nods and jumps inside the driver cabin making the pair wait for a few seconds before he makes the engine roar to life which startles the girl but barely phases the woman.

They watch as the main engine light up a blue energy through its openings and the turbines within spinning up creating a whirling sound causing some of the other components to visibly vibrate slightly. Just as the sound was reaching its zenith it suddenly died off causing the turbines to cease their spinning and the blue light within to fade away as fast as it appeared. This was a huge hint as to what's wrong with it and they know it.

The man opens the door and leans out the cabin.

"So, do you know what's wrong?" He shouts.

"Yeah, do you?" May asks directing her eyes towards her. She obviously wants her to figure it out.

Gladly obliging, she begins to think about what she saw. The engine started up so there's nothing wrong with the main generator or the power cables, and the fact that it winded up as far as it did shows that all the turbines and power cells are fully operational. The engine didn't explode or overheat either so the coolant systems are good, so what's wrong?

That's when it all came together.

She snaps her fingers before she darted down and dived under the vehicle to find what she was thinking about. She remembers May saying that larger vehicles needed what is called an igniter in order for the power to jumpstart the engine to make it be able to initially move extremely large vehicles such as this transporter here.

Her body was briefly moved across the dirt and was laid on its back to give the blonde the view she needed to prove her theory, and she came face to face with the problem. Within the body of the engine, she could finally see a cylinder-shaped device under the main generator, but it had two large gashes bisecting the entire structure, and all the surrounding parts also had visible gashes as well. The weird thing about them though is that they were all consistent with the number of gashes on them, like some sort of creature dug into them.

"So, what is it?" She heard May asked.

"It's the igniter, something cut deep into it and the surrounding components." She answered before crawling back out to the open world.

"Well, there you go, a broken igniter and a few scratched up components."

"Can you fix it?"

"Can do. Just need some spare parts including a new igniter. You got any around?"

"I'll go get some." The man jumps down and begins to walk away leaving the pair alone.

"Nice job remembering that, I was starting to think you forgot about it." She looks at the girl with a glint of glee in her eyes.

"Almost did, but luckily I didn't."

"Well, are you ready to replace your first igniter? It's a tricky process, but after a few tries it'll be as easy as everything else."

"Darn straight." She was legitimately excited about the prospect of replacing a brand-new component, especially on she figured out on her own.

"That's the spirit, now let's be ready to get our hands dirty." The blonde just smiles as they wait for the man to come back.

But she looks back at the vehicle with one question in her mind: What caused that damage?

"WHAT THE F***! That damn bug thing took him?! Oh he's going to wish he hadn't done so because I'm going to make Hell look comfortable by the time I'm done with him!" o(≧口≦)o

*Inhales and exhales heavily*

"But first I must attend to the readers, I'm sure he'll like that so lets see, he seems to have the responses ready too."

emoryjmorrill: More words of encouragement, thanks. 😊

Ihasan997: Oh thank you! I always saw the hybrids as something interesting in the Starcraft Universe and originally thought that a hybrid between all three races would also be interesting back in my high school days. As you will come to see, a lot more thought was put into it later down the line and I decided to make hybrids the protagonists instead of the enemy like I've seen in other stories. I did look for any other stories like this to make sure that I wasn't unintentionally copying someone else, but never came upon it. If you think it's interesting now, wait for what else I have planed.😏

"Wow, you really got him riled up new guy, what a feat. Well now excuse me because I've got a bug to hunt and a friend to save." (* ￣︿￣)

*Cocks shotgun with killing intent*