Chapter 13: A Time of New Alliances
Raynor gaped at the base with horror. It had been nuked.
Corpses were lying everywhere and medics were rushing to soothe the wounded people who screamed with pain, some mutilated beyond recognition. All the buildings were scorched and torn by the raw power of the impact. Raynor was feeling as though he was going to be sick from such a sight. Samir Duran's voice was heard on his left, completely calm, saying,
"This is what'll happen if Mengsk gets Kerrigan," the voice echoed.
Raynor jolted in surprise. He looked around and saw Samir Duran on his left, a rifle strapped on his back.
Angry, Raynor said, "YOU! What is this?"
Duran answered, simply,
"Don't worry. This isn't your base." He then pressed a few buttons on his wristband and the site of the destroyed base faded away, showing a metallic dome. Duran continued. "This was just a simulation. I needed to show you this to make you understand the current situation." He stopped talking, as Raynor was looking around for the extraction crew, which was unfortunately not there. Seeing that, Duran said, "Your extraction crew is with your main force on Aiur, and so is Kerrigan. I only transferred your recall here to have a word with you. We both want information. I only want an exchange."
Raynor, tense, said, "What information would you have for me?"
"Well, first, Kerrigan's mind is that of her older self, for one. It's no longer influenced by the zerg." Hearing this, Raynor said: "Yeah, right. Do you have any proof?"
Duran smiled and answered, "How come Kerrigan didn't try to leave your base when you had her?"
"She didn't want to get killed by the guards. That's why."
"That's ridiculous, she is the most powerful entity in the Kopruru sector. And you're telling me she's afraid of your guards? Alright, then why did she seem panicking when she told you her cerebrates wanted her away?"
"Well...Hey, how did you know about that?"
"I have ears that can hear you from miles away."
"What???"
Raynor seemed surprised that Duran could hear that far. "Then again", he thought, "maybe those ears aren't his. Maybe he has a spy." Duran smiled and said,
"I don't have a spy. Your communications are easy to intercept, Raynor, especially by shooting the base's IJS. It's as simple as that."
Seeing Raynor's puzzled expression, he continued, "By the way, you of all people should remember ghosts could read minds. With one of the memories that I just saw...Kerrigan is right. You ARE a pig."
Raynor smiled, embarrassed, but something was bothering him. He asked, "If Kerrigan is back to normal, how come Kalis wanted me to stay away from her?"
"I eavesdropped upon his brief conversation with Kerrigan. For what I heard, she still has her zerg instincts, which are particularly deadly when she sees you. I can't blame her. You've been torn in her flesh, but at the same time, her humanity," he paused, staring at Raynor's perplexed face, "Indeed, she still has feelings for you. Because of it, she is resisting her zerg instincts as we speak." Duran paused to let the fact sink into Jim Raynor, who was speechless.
Duran stared pensively at him for a moment. Jim Raynor shook his head and responded with a small nod.
"It's your turn to explain something," Duran told Jim Raynor, "That treatment your medics created. Can it remove all zerg mental conditioning?"
"The nano-mach restores them to their original human DNA, with that, all zerg thoughts and instincts are out. So, yes."
Duran said, "Do you think your medics could help me?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I have eluded myself from the control of my former masters, but even now I am struggling with the zerg mental conditioning, though I can think freely for now."
"Okay. My crew's going to help you out if you want. Head towards Aiur anytime you----." Before he could finish, he felt as though he was again being recalled. He disappeared from the metallic dome, to really end up on Aiur seconds later, near the extraction crew who looked panicked. Kealer asked Raynor,
"Sir! Are you all right? How come you weren't recalled with the rest of us?"
"Duran intercepted my recall and we had a little chat. He might come by later. If he does, do NOT kill him or hurt him in any way."
Kalis quizzed, confused, "Why?"
"He wants to get rid of all of the mental conditioning the zerg gave him. Well, that's what he says, anyway. By the way..." Raynor said, looking around, "Where's Kerrigan?"
A female medic spoke behind him, saying, "Sir! We currently are preparing her treatment. In fifteen to twenty minutes, she'll be treatable."
Raynor said to the medic, "Good. Give her the maximum dosage of nano-machs. With her infested DNA, we gotta be ready for anything. Get it done, doctor."
The medic saluted and headed towards the infirmary. Raynor asked Kalis to go see him. He asked,
"Duran told me what you were hiding from me. Kalis, why didn't you tell me about the fact that Kerrigan's gotten her human thoughts back?"
Kalis explained, carefully, "First, I didn't have time. Second, if you would have known, you would have insisted on seeing her, even though her instincts would have caused her to kill you. It was for...."
A marine had just arrived. He interrupted Kalis, "Sir, there's a problem over at the east of the planet. Mengsk and all of his men have just left without notice." The marine then headed back towards the command center.
Raynor swore under his breath and said to his two lieutenants, "You two, organize the defences. Tell the guys not to let a single dominion unit in. Also, Samir Duran is not to be harmed in any way and he will have maximum, but supervised, access to the base, is that clear?"
Kalis and Kealer nodded and went to organize the defences. Raynor turned to the three ghosts and the three dark templars of the extraction crew and said,
"You guys just have to head towards your quarters for now. I'll contact you if I need you. Dismissed."
When everybody was gone, Raynor tuned his radio and said,
"To all of Raynor's raiders. This is commander Raynor. I have multiple announcements to make. Let's start with the bad news. Mengsk is after us once more and he'll stop at nothing to try and kill us. Because of that, we'll reinforce security around here. Lieutenants Kalis and Kealer are in charge of that. Now, for some better news, we managed to catch Kerrigan. We'll get her treated today, though she'll still look like a zerg for at least a month. So, don't be surprised if you see her around and do not-I repeat- DO NOT try to kill or harm her, no matter what the Zerg have done to you or your loved ones. Commander Raynor, over and out."
Raynor headed to the medical facility. The head medic saluted and guided him to the treatment room. Kerrigan floated in green liquid, a helmet plugged onto her head. Her eyes were closed. She was ready to be treated. Raynor sat in a chair, and a helmet was firmly placed on his chair by the head medic. Raynor looked around and saw Dark Archons assisting the medics, plugging different wires on themselves. They would provide the necessary energy to weaken Kerrigan's mind defenses.
"Begin." The head medic said, pale, crossing her fingers.
Immediately, Raynor saw the Dark Archons releasing their energy. It came through the wires and hit Kerrigan head on, who winced from the pain. Raynor then felt as though a part of him was being taken. He took a deep breath and saw Kerrigan holding her head, screaming with all her lungs. The Zerg instincts had been very firmly implanted onto her by the Overmind.
Then, suddenly, she stopped screaming. She just wept, trying to calm down. Her body was still infested, but any trace of her conditioning was gone.
"Begin treating the body." Raynor said.
"NO!" Kerrigan yelled. "Just...leave me like this."
"What?" Raynor said. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I...can still control my broods. Please, let me keep this body..." She fainted, exhausted.
"Put her in an infirmary bed." Raynor said to the medics. "We'll respect her wishes."
"Yes, sir!" The medics quickly carefully picked her up. As she was being carried, Kerrigan said faintly:
"Thank you."
Five days later, Duran arrived on Aiur. He landed his scout (which he stole when he freed the Salaha tribe) on the frontier of the Protoss home world. Then, he was surprised to see a mixture of zerg, protoss and terran forces guarding the planet. He said to one of the terran guards,
"Ah, excuse me, but can I pass? Raynor's been expecting me. I'm Samir Duran."
The marine radioed Raynor. Afterwards, he said, "Raynor says you can pass. Follow me, sir. I'll take you to the medical facility."
Duran nodded and followed the marine into a transport, which brought him to a huge building with a red cross on it. No one really remembered what the red cross meant, but all terrans knew it as a sign of a medical institution. Duran went in the building. The marine followed him. Duran said,
"No need to follow me everywhere. I can do it alone from here."
The marine answered, "Sorry, sir. I have my orders."
"Great." Duran thought. "I'll have to wait before collecting information. Well, I can at least start with him." He turned to the marine and asked,
"By the way, how come zerg, protoss and terran units guard this planet?"
"The terrans are, of course, us, Raynor's raiders. For the protoss, this is the protoss home world of Aiur, so it only makes sense they have some of their people guarding it. And for the zerg, well, Kerrigan, from what I've heard, after getting treated for whatever was in her head, decided to keep that f$/%?& zerg body. So, she still controls her broods and she sent a few of 'em to guard us."
Duran smiled. He never could have guessed that the situation would be this good. He didn't have much left to do, as the last remaining problem was Mengsk. He'd never agree to follow Duran's plan. "Bah, I'll think about it later. Right now, I'd better just get treated. It'll be easier to think without that blasted mind conditioning." And with that, he went to see the medic on duty, luckily having met her before while serving in the Confederacy, and he got treated, though for a reason he didn't want to explain, he wanted his body to stay infested, for now.
Raynor gaped at the base with horror. It had been nuked.
Corpses were lying everywhere and medics were rushing to soothe the wounded people who screamed with pain, some mutilated beyond recognition. All the buildings were scorched and torn by the raw power of the impact. Raynor was feeling as though he was going to be sick from such a sight. Samir Duran's voice was heard on his left, completely calm, saying,
"This is what'll happen if Mengsk gets Kerrigan," the voice echoed.
Raynor jolted in surprise. He looked around and saw Samir Duran on his left, a rifle strapped on his back.
Angry, Raynor said, "YOU! What is this?"
Duran answered, simply,
"Don't worry. This isn't your base." He then pressed a few buttons on his wristband and the site of the destroyed base faded away, showing a metallic dome. Duran continued. "This was just a simulation. I needed to show you this to make you understand the current situation." He stopped talking, as Raynor was looking around for the extraction crew, which was unfortunately not there. Seeing that, Duran said, "Your extraction crew is with your main force on Aiur, and so is Kerrigan. I only transferred your recall here to have a word with you. We both want information. I only want an exchange."
Raynor, tense, said, "What information would you have for me?"
"Well, first, Kerrigan's mind is that of her older self, for one. It's no longer influenced by the zerg." Hearing this, Raynor said: "Yeah, right. Do you have any proof?"
Duran smiled and answered, "How come Kerrigan didn't try to leave your base when you had her?"
"She didn't want to get killed by the guards. That's why."
"That's ridiculous, she is the most powerful entity in the Kopruru sector. And you're telling me she's afraid of your guards? Alright, then why did she seem panicking when she told you her cerebrates wanted her away?"
"Well...Hey, how did you know about that?"
"I have ears that can hear you from miles away."
"What???"
Raynor seemed surprised that Duran could hear that far. "Then again", he thought, "maybe those ears aren't his. Maybe he has a spy." Duran smiled and said,
"I don't have a spy. Your communications are easy to intercept, Raynor, especially by shooting the base's IJS. It's as simple as that."
Seeing Raynor's puzzled expression, he continued, "By the way, you of all people should remember ghosts could read minds. With one of the memories that I just saw...Kerrigan is right. You ARE a pig."
Raynor smiled, embarrassed, but something was bothering him. He asked, "If Kerrigan is back to normal, how come Kalis wanted me to stay away from her?"
"I eavesdropped upon his brief conversation with Kerrigan. For what I heard, she still has her zerg instincts, which are particularly deadly when she sees you. I can't blame her. You've been torn in her flesh, but at the same time, her humanity," he paused, staring at Raynor's perplexed face, "Indeed, she still has feelings for you. Because of it, she is resisting her zerg instincts as we speak." Duran paused to let the fact sink into Jim Raynor, who was speechless.
Duran stared pensively at him for a moment. Jim Raynor shook his head and responded with a small nod.
"It's your turn to explain something," Duran told Jim Raynor, "That treatment your medics created. Can it remove all zerg mental conditioning?"
"The nano-mach restores them to their original human DNA, with that, all zerg thoughts and instincts are out. So, yes."
Duran said, "Do you think your medics could help me?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I have eluded myself from the control of my former masters, but even now I am struggling with the zerg mental conditioning, though I can think freely for now."
"Okay. My crew's going to help you out if you want. Head towards Aiur anytime you----." Before he could finish, he felt as though he was again being recalled. He disappeared from the metallic dome, to really end up on Aiur seconds later, near the extraction crew who looked panicked. Kealer asked Raynor,
"Sir! Are you all right? How come you weren't recalled with the rest of us?"
"Duran intercepted my recall and we had a little chat. He might come by later. If he does, do NOT kill him or hurt him in any way."
Kalis quizzed, confused, "Why?"
"He wants to get rid of all of the mental conditioning the zerg gave him. Well, that's what he says, anyway. By the way..." Raynor said, looking around, "Where's Kerrigan?"
A female medic spoke behind him, saying, "Sir! We currently are preparing her treatment. In fifteen to twenty minutes, she'll be treatable."
Raynor said to the medic, "Good. Give her the maximum dosage of nano-machs. With her infested DNA, we gotta be ready for anything. Get it done, doctor."
The medic saluted and headed towards the infirmary. Raynor asked Kalis to go see him. He asked,
"Duran told me what you were hiding from me. Kalis, why didn't you tell me about the fact that Kerrigan's gotten her human thoughts back?"
Kalis explained, carefully, "First, I didn't have time. Second, if you would have known, you would have insisted on seeing her, even though her instincts would have caused her to kill you. It was for...."
A marine had just arrived. He interrupted Kalis, "Sir, there's a problem over at the east of the planet. Mengsk and all of his men have just left without notice." The marine then headed back towards the command center.
Raynor swore under his breath and said to his two lieutenants, "You two, organize the defences. Tell the guys not to let a single dominion unit in. Also, Samir Duran is not to be harmed in any way and he will have maximum, but supervised, access to the base, is that clear?"
Kalis and Kealer nodded and went to organize the defences. Raynor turned to the three ghosts and the three dark templars of the extraction crew and said,
"You guys just have to head towards your quarters for now. I'll contact you if I need you. Dismissed."
When everybody was gone, Raynor tuned his radio and said,
"To all of Raynor's raiders. This is commander Raynor. I have multiple announcements to make. Let's start with the bad news. Mengsk is after us once more and he'll stop at nothing to try and kill us. Because of that, we'll reinforce security around here. Lieutenants Kalis and Kealer are in charge of that. Now, for some better news, we managed to catch Kerrigan. We'll get her treated today, though she'll still look like a zerg for at least a month. So, don't be surprised if you see her around and do not-I repeat- DO NOT try to kill or harm her, no matter what the Zerg have done to you or your loved ones. Commander Raynor, over and out."
Raynor headed to the medical facility. The head medic saluted and guided him to the treatment room. Kerrigan floated in green liquid, a helmet plugged onto her head. Her eyes were closed. She was ready to be treated. Raynor sat in a chair, and a helmet was firmly placed on his chair by the head medic. Raynor looked around and saw Dark Archons assisting the medics, plugging different wires on themselves. They would provide the necessary energy to weaken Kerrigan's mind defenses.
"Begin." The head medic said, pale, crossing her fingers.
Immediately, Raynor saw the Dark Archons releasing their energy. It came through the wires and hit Kerrigan head on, who winced from the pain. Raynor then felt as though a part of him was being taken. He took a deep breath and saw Kerrigan holding her head, screaming with all her lungs. The Zerg instincts had been very firmly implanted onto her by the Overmind.
Then, suddenly, she stopped screaming. She just wept, trying to calm down. Her body was still infested, but any trace of her conditioning was gone.
"Begin treating the body." Raynor said.
"NO!" Kerrigan yelled. "Just...leave me like this."
"What?" Raynor said. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I...can still control my broods. Please, let me keep this body..." She fainted, exhausted.
"Put her in an infirmary bed." Raynor said to the medics. "We'll respect her wishes."
"Yes, sir!" The medics quickly carefully picked her up. As she was being carried, Kerrigan said faintly:
"Thank you."
Five days later, Duran arrived on Aiur. He landed his scout (which he stole when he freed the Salaha tribe) on the frontier of the Protoss home world. Then, he was surprised to see a mixture of zerg, protoss and terran forces guarding the planet. He said to one of the terran guards,
"Ah, excuse me, but can I pass? Raynor's been expecting me. I'm Samir Duran."
The marine radioed Raynor. Afterwards, he said, "Raynor says you can pass. Follow me, sir. I'll take you to the medical facility."
Duran nodded and followed the marine into a transport, which brought him to a huge building with a red cross on it. No one really remembered what the red cross meant, but all terrans knew it as a sign of a medical institution. Duran went in the building. The marine followed him. Duran said,
"No need to follow me everywhere. I can do it alone from here."
The marine answered, "Sorry, sir. I have my orders."
"Great." Duran thought. "I'll have to wait before collecting information. Well, I can at least start with him." He turned to the marine and asked,
"By the way, how come zerg, protoss and terran units guard this planet?"
"The terrans are, of course, us, Raynor's raiders. For the protoss, this is the protoss home world of Aiur, so it only makes sense they have some of their people guarding it. And for the zerg, well, Kerrigan, from what I've heard, after getting treated for whatever was in her head, decided to keep that f$/%?& zerg body. So, she still controls her broods and she sent a few of 'em to guard us."
Duran smiled. He never could have guessed that the situation would be this good. He didn't have much left to do, as the last remaining problem was Mengsk. He'd never agree to follow Duran's plan. "Bah, I'll think about it later. Right now, I'd better just get treated. It'll be easier to think without that blasted mind conditioning." And with that, he went to see the medic on duty, luckily having met her before while serving in the Confederacy, and he got treated, though for a reason he didn't want to explain, he wanted his body to stay infested, for now.