Chapter 2: The Ship of Deception
Kerrigan, having just entered the battlecruiser, noticed it wasn't the Hyperion, which the scouting units first thought it was. Knowing the ship well, she started to realize that she'd been set up. Yet, she wouldn't stop. She wanted to kill Raynor so badly that nothing would be able to stand between her and her prey. Her twisted mind even acted out a scenario where Raynor's decapitated head was next to Artanis and Zeratul's, plotted nicely in her incubation chamber as a dazzling ornament in it.
Then, she started to tread carefully inside of the warship, treating every door like a pressure-sensitive bomb. A few times, she heard noises that sounded like embedded machine gun getting out of the walls, but every time she turned to check, no guns were seen. "Perhaps I'm getting paranoid", she thought, wondering if that's what Raynor wanted.
Because of her precautions, it took Kerrigan almost half an hour to reach the center of the ship, at which point she noticed a door that had the Captain's insignia etched upon it. Though it was vaulted in neo-steel, she blew the lock away with her gun's armor-piercing canisters and entered.
The dark queen was in a strange, dimly lit room. Her analytical mind later wandered over the three corners of the room, hinting its triangular architecture. There was also had a door at each wall, including the one she came in from. It seemed empty as she looked around the room with her Zerg heat-sensitive eyes focused on the shadowy corners. A familiar voice called out to her. She was puzzled, since she had not sensed anyone there.
The enigmatic voice echoed in crescendo, "Why, if it isn't Sarah Kerrigan! How are you doin', honey?"
"Don't call me that!" she snarled, "Sarah Kerrigan is dead, impertinent fool, and I am the Queen of blades, leader of the Swarm!"
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, sure took you a while." Jim Raynor's voice said, nonchalantly.
She replied angrily, "Jim! Where are you? What is this place? I demand that you answer me!!!"
"Calm down. Nothin' is going to happen to you...for now."
"What do you mean, "for now"? Come out and speak to me face to face, you jerk!!!!"
After she made that comment, Kerrigan looked at the door on the far left, which opened. Then, she saw the one she wanted to kill, Jim Raynor, who was coming out of that door and walking slowly towards her. He looked expressionless and calm, as though he was prepared for combat. In addition, he was wearing a thick combat armor, with a gun in his hands. He said,
"What do you want to talk about, sweetheart?" he teased, "And come to think of it, why would the Queen of Blades come in person to investigate an abandoned battlecruiser?"
"Since you asked," her lips twisted a wicked smile, "Jim, I know about this new treatment, I know that you can cure me. In fact, I'd be ready to bet all that I have that you lured me here for that reason. Am I right?"
"Clever as always, Kerrigan. Now, darlin', come with me peacefully, or die." Saying those words, he took his gauss rifle and pointed it at Kerrigan's head. "Now, are you coming or not?" he finally said.
Kerrigan deftly drew her canister rifle, but darted onto the ground when Jim Raynor opened fire. The Zerg Queen then did a gravity-defying somersault into the air, barely touching the ceiling lights. In mid-air, she quickly pointed her rifle towards Raynor's heart and fired. The canister smoked out of the rifle and impacted an armored surface. "I did it!" she thought. But after a few seconds, Jim Raynor started to speak in a fuzzy and repeating robotic, inhuman voice. He said many things quickly, though only this could be heard clearly,
".....WARNING! COOLING SYSTEM OFFLINE! SYSTEM OVERLOAD! EXPLOSION IMMINENT!....WARNING!"
"Oh, shit," Kerrigan cursed shamelessly. Not only did she not kill Jim Raynor, but in addition, the robot impersonating him was going to explode in a matter of seconds. She ran for the door, but too late. The robot exploded, engulfing Kerrigan and the entire room in bright flames. The force of the impact sent Kerrigan flying through the wall of the room and on to the metallic floor of the hallway.
It took hours before a hydralisk (sent by Daggoth) could find her. When Kerrigan was carried back into the ship, her cerebrate was astonished to see her so weakened. He asked her what had happened, and she yelled vehemently in great anger, yet explaining the situation, from the exploding door to the false Raynor. Then, she finished with one comment:
"It took so long for your units to find me that I thought you left me behind."
Daggoth's reply showed not indignation but he sounded like he found it amusing that she made that comment. He said: "My Queen, may I remind you of what happened the last time you thought I had betrayed you?"
"No need to remind me. That was a huge mistake on my part. But what exactly happened? You never told me."
"Why would you wish to know?"
"Because, I want to be sure you aren't on Raynor's side."
"Sorry, my Queen, but I'd wish to keep that for myself."
"If you wish."
Daggoth remembered the events only too well.
Flashback
Daggoth was desperate. The Overmind had been destroyed and Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades and the Overmind's "protégée", was now claiming the leadership of the Swarm.
"This worthless terran does not deserve to lead the Swarm." he said to another cerebrate.
"Daggoth, our leader, the Overmind, is gone," The other cerebrate said "and we are completely useless by ourselves. Unless the Overmind would come back from the dead..."
Daggoth interrupted him, "What if we would make our own Overmind?"
"What are you saying?"
"You heard me. We could make our own Overmind by fusing all of us together. We would gloriously lead the Swarm through a new era. What do you think, Crass?"
"It may work. I am convinced. I shall gather all of us as quickly as I can."
A few weeks later
Crass told Daggoth, "I gathered almost all of us. There are still some of us who'd follow this weak terran."
Daggoth asked, surprised, "Why is that?"
"When I approached them, that fool Araq started to interfere, saying that Kerrigan was the rightful leader of us all, that the Overmind had left her to lead us, and that we would only cause great disaster. That imbecile. He only follows her because he had to protect her while she was in her chrysalis."
"Well, he does have a fair point..."
"How can you say that, Daggoth? Weren't you the one who got me into this in the first place?"
"Yes, but..."
"No buts. I will not let you back out now. And do not expect you'll be able to go back to your weak terran leader. I'll insure myself that you'll be known as a traitor. Farewell, weakling."
Daggoth escaped and left the Kopruru sector, realizing that death awaited him would he even approach Kerrigan or the new Overmind.
Time passes on, until the end of the Brood war
Daggoth, angry and betrayed, had been hidden on a distant, unknown planet, for years, trying to arrive to a conclusion about Kerrigan. Was she worthy of trust or not?
"I cannot make a decision without seeing her leadership. Even if it would be dangerous, I'll go back to her, for now, and see for myself how well she leads the Swarm."
Daggoth went to Char, clearly ready to see what Kerrigan could do. Upon his arrival, though, another cerebrate's voice echoed in his mind, saying,
"I am Araq, second in command to the Queen of the Swarm, Kerrigan. Leave immediately, or see my wrath!"
Daggoth said, "Araq? You probably won't believe it, but I'm Daggoth."
"Daggoth? Impossible! You were one of the rogues who fused into that other Overmind. The fool...His overmind got manipulated by a terran force. Kerrigan stopped both easily, though."
"She vanquished an entire terran force AND the new Overmind?"
"In addition to the protoss."
Daggoth thought, "Astonishing. She's a better leader than I thought."
Araq said, "What were you thinking?"
"Oh, hem, could you please announce to the Queen that one of the first Overmind's best cerebrates has returned to her?"
"Of course. She'll be quite pleased."
Flashback end
Daggoth had been so lost in thought that he didn't hear Kerrigan talking. She said:
"Daggoth? Are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, my Queen. What were you saying?"
Kerrigan answered, clearly annoyed: "I was asking if you had the blockade I asked for done."
"Yes, of course," Daggoth replied. "We have placed a wall of Mutalisks and guardians everywhere around those planets, plus some ground units as support."
"Good. Raynor won't have reinforcements. Has our spy called yet?"
"No, my Queen. I think he'll do so soon, though."
"I hope he hasn't been discovered...."
Kerrigan, having just entered the battlecruiser, noticed it wasn't the Hyperion, which the scouting units first thought it was. Knowing the ship well, she started to realize that she'd been set up. Yet, she wouldn't stop. She wanted to kill Raynor so badly that nothing would be able to stand between her and her prey. Her twisted mind even acted out a scenario where Raynor's decapitated head was next to Artanis and Zeratul's, plotted nicely in her incubation chamber as a dazzling ornament in it.
Then, she started to tread carefully inside of the warship, treating every door like a pressure-sensitive bomb. A few times, she heard noises that sounded like embedded machine gun getting out of the walls, but every time she turned to check, no guns were seen. "Perhaps I'm getting paranoid", she thought, wondering if that's what Raynor wanted.
Because of her precautions, it took Kerrigan almost half an hour to reach the center of the ship, at which point she noticed a door that had the Captain's insignia etched upon it. Though it was vaulted in neo-steel, she blew the lock away with her gun's armor-piercing canisters and entered.
The dark queen was in a strange, dimly lit room. Her analytical mind later wandered over the three corners of the room, hinting its triangular architecture. There was also had a door at each wall, including the one she came in from. It seemed empty as she looked around the room with her Zerg heat-sensitive eyes focused on the shadowy corners. A familiar voice called out to her. She was puzzled, since she had not sensed anyone there.
The enigmatic voice echoed in crescendo, "Why, if it isn't Sarah Kerrigan! How are you doin', honey?"
"Don't call me that!" she snarled, "Sarah Kerrigan is dead, impertinent fool, and I am the Queen of blades, leader of the Swarm!"
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, sure took you a while." Jim Raynor's voice said, nonchalantly.
She replied angrily, "Jim! Where are you? What is this place? I demand that you answer me!!!"
"Calm down. Nothin' is going to happen to you...for now."
"What do you mean, "for now"? Come out and speak to me face to face, you jerk!!!!"
After she made that comment, Kerrigan looked at the door on the far left, which opened. Then, she saw the one she wanted to kill, Jim Raynor, who was coming out of that door and walking slowly towards her. He looked expressionless and calm, as though he was prepared for combat. In addition, he was wearing a thick combat armor, with a gun in his hands. He said,
"What do you want to talk about, sweetheart?" he teased, "And come to think of it, why would the Queen of Blades come in person to investigate an abandoned battlecruiser?"
"Since you asked," her lips twisted a wicked smile, "Jim, I know about this new treatment, I know that you can cure me. In fact, I'd be ready to bet all that I have that you lured me here for that reason. Am I right?"
"Clever as always, Kerrigan. Now, darlin', come with me peacefully, or die." Saying those words, he took his gauss rifle and pointed it at Kerrigan's head. "Now, are you coming or not?" he finally said.
Kerrigan deftly drew her canister rifle, but darted onto the ground when Jim Raynor opened fire. The Zerg Queen then did a gravity-defying somersault into the air, barely touching the ceiling lights. In mid-air, she quickly pointed her rifle towards Raynor's heart and fired. The canister smoked out of the rifle and impacted an armored surface. "I did it!" she thought. But after a few seconds, Jim Raynor started to speak in a fuzzy and repeating robotic, inhuman voice. He said many things quickly, though only this could be heard clearly,
".....WARNING! COOLING SYSTEM OFFLINE! SYSTEM OVERLOAD! EXPLOSION IMMINENT!....WARNING!"
"Oh, shit," Kerrigan cursed shamelessly. Not only did she not kill Jim Raynor, but in addition, the robot impersonating him was going to explode in a matter of seconds. She ran for the door, but too late. The robot exploded, engulfing Kerrigan and the entire room in bright flames. The force of the impact sent Kerrigan flying through the wall of the room and on to the metallic floor of the hallway.
It took hours before a hydralisk (sent by Daggoth) could find her. When Kerrigan was carried back into the ship, her cerebrate was astonished to see her so weakened. He asked her what had happened, and she yelled vehemently in great anger, yet explaining the situation, from the exploding door to the false Raynor. Then, she finished with one comment:
"It took so long for your units to find me that I thought you left me behind."
Daggoth's reply showed not indignation but he sounded like he found it amusing that she made that comment. He said: "My Queen, may I remind you of what happened the last time you thought I had betrayed you?"
"No need to remind me. That was a huge mistake on my part. But what exactly happened? You never told me."
"Why would you wish to know?"
"Because, I want to be sure you aren't on Raynor's side."
"Sorry, my Queen, but I'd wish to keep that for myself."
"If you wish."
Daggoth remembered the events only too well.
Flashback
Daggoth was desperate. The Overmind had been destroyed and Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades and the Overmind's "protégée", was now claiming the leadership of the Swarm.
"This worthless terran does not deserve to lead the Swarm." he said to another cerebrate.
"Daggoth, our leader, the Overmind, is gone," The other cerebrate said "and we are completely useless by ourselves. Unless the Overmind would come back from the dead..."
Daggoth interrupted him, "What if we would make our own Overmind?"
"What are you saying?"
"You heard me. We could make our own Overmind by fusing all of us together. We would gloriously lead the Swarm through a new era. What do you think, Crass?"
"It may work. I am convinced. I shall gather all of us as quickly as I can."
A few weeks later
Crass told Daggoth, "I gathered almost all of us. There are still some of us who'd follow this weak terran."
Daggoth asked, surprised, "Why is that?"
"When I approached them, that fool Araq started to interfere, saying that Kerrigan was the rightful leader of us all, that the Overmind had left her to lead us, and that we would only cause great disaster. That imbecile. He only follows her because he had to protect her while she was in her chrysalis."
"Well, he does have a fair point..."
"How can you say that, Daggoth? Weren't you the one who got me into this in the first place?"
"Yes, but..."
"No buts. I will not let you back out now. And do not expect you'll be able to go back to your weak terran leader. I'll insure myself that you'll be known as a traitor. Farewell, weakling."
Daggoth escaped and left the Kopruru sector, realizing that death awaited him would he even approach Kerrigan or the new Overmind.
Time passes on, until the end of the Brood war
Daggoth, angry and betrayed, had been hidden on a distant, unknown planet, for years, trying to arrive to a conclusion about Kerrigan. Was she worthy of trust or not?
"I cannot make a decision without seeing her leadership. Even if it would be dangerous, I'll go back to her, for now, and see for myself how well she leads the Swarm."
Daggoth went to Char, clearly ready to see what Kerrigan could do. Upon his arrival, though, another cerebrate's voice echoed in his mind, saying,
"I am Araq, second in command to the Queen of the Swarm, Kerrigan. Leave immediately, or see my wrath!"
Daggoth said, "Araq? You probably won't believe it, but I'm Daggoth."
"Daggoth? Impossible! You were one of the rogues who fused into that other Overmind. The fool...His overmind got manipulated by a terran force. Kerrigan stopped both easily, though."
"She vanquished an entire terran force AND the new Overmind?"
"In addition to the protoss."
Daggoth thought, "Astonishing. She's a better leader than I thought."
Araq said, "What were you thinking?"
"Oh, hem, could you please announce to the Queen that one of the first Overmind's best cerebrates has returned to her?"
"Of course. She'll be quite pleased."
Flashback end
Daggoth had been so lost in thought that he didn't hear Kerrigan talking. She said:
"Daggoth? Are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, my Queen. What were you saying?"
Kerrigan answered, clearly annoyed: "I was asking if you had the blockade I asked for done."
"Yes, of course," Daggoth replied. "We have placed a wall of Mutalisks and guardians everywhere around those planets, plus some ground units as support."
"Good. Raynor won't have reinforcements. Has our spy called yet?"
"No, my Queen. I think he'll do so soon, though."
"I hope he hasn't been discovered...."