Chapter 1-Ascension

Zerus

"Finally, I have succeeded. While the Swarm was a powerful and deadly weapon, and had its purity of essence, and the Protoss having purity of form, I now have created a weapon far deadlier than either. When it is time to awaken them, my psychic link shall reanimate itself, and my armies shall control all."

"Excellent, my lord." Said Duran.

"Yes, the Xel'naga shall finally have their wish. Daggoth, are you ready for your duties to begin?"

"Yes, the Tiamat Brood shall gladly do so." Replied Daggoth.

"Then go now, invade Shakuras, but avoid killing the swarm. While they will not be as effective as my hybrids, they are far more numerous. Go, Daggoth and slaughter those on Shakuras and let the Ascension begin."

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Primary Hive Clusters

Char

Kerrigan, Queen of Blades, now the ruler of the Swarm, the most powerful army in the Universe, was preparing to meet with her the Cerebrates, Duran, and the Sub-Cerebrate Andarq, who had nurtured her in the Chrysalis and aided her in the Brood War, who was a hero for the Swarm, defeating Arcturus Mengsk, Artanis, and the UED.

Duran entered the Hive Cluster suddenly, and an outraged Kerrigan immediately starting yelling at him. "Where have you been? We were just attacked by three enemy armies."

"My Queen, I had been following Zeratul, who for some reason went onto an uncharted moon. I wanted to make sure he was not going to attack." Duran said.

"Duran, none the less, you will be reprimanded for disobedience." Kerrigan commanded. "But now, we have to meet with the Cerebrates. They'll want something for sure. Now Duran, reports."

"Out of the seven broods, you control four." Duran said.

"Only four? What of the others?" Kerrigan said.

"Gorn and Zasz, as you know my Queen, are dead. Because of this, you have lost control of the Baelrog and Garm Broods." Duran answered.

"That only accounts of two of the three lost broods. Where is Daggoth?" Kerrigan said.

"That is the other brood, my Queen. The Tiamat Brood remains free of your control. Apparently, Daggoth is strong willed enough to remain free of your control. His forces, however, have vacated Char, including himself and the Tiamat Sub-Cerebrates." Duran replied.

"So we've lost the two smallest broods and the largest. This is unthinkable. We have to control the Tiamat Brood. Its Zerg are the most powerful and that brood is the largest." Kerrigan said. "Apparently the Brood War isn't over."

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The remains of Talematros

Shakuras

Zeratul, Artanis, Taldarin, Jim Raynor, Alexei Stukov, Mojo, Danimoth, and the Executor of the Templar, Khas were in the ruined Nexus of the great city, destroyed by Kerrigan and her forces under the command of Duran.

The heroes were all just arriving from various worlds. Zeratul had just returned from a moon of Braxis, Artanis, Taldarin, Jim, Alexei, and Khas were all on Braxis, while Mojo and Danimath were overseeing the Protoss on Shakuras in the absence of the Matriarch, and later Zeratul.

As the last of the heroes entered the room, Zeratul said, "En taro Adun. I have grave news of which you must be briefed. But, first I must ask, what is he doing with us?" He pointed to Stukov. "He was killed inside the Psi Disruptor when the UED suspected him as a traitor."

Artanis replied. "Stukov was resurrected by a Zerg Cerebrate in the Tiamat Brood. He was obviously infested, but my scientists developed a serum to cure infestation. We've decided to wait for the rest of you to receive his information, no matter how little."

"Very well. But nonetheless, I come baring word of something more dangerous than Kerrigan!" Zeratul said. The rest of the group was shocked, as Kerrigan controlled the single largest army in the Sector. "On the moon of Braxis, we found a horrifying creature-a Zerg/Protoss Hybrid!"

The group was shocked to here this news. Khas said, "This thing you saw, the Hybrid, what was it?"

"It appeared to be a combination of a Zergling and a Zealot. But that is not all-it was being seeded by Kerrigan's lieutenant, Duran, who was acting on behalf of another power, one that, he says, has slept for many ages."

Taldarin then said, "That's not possible! The Zerg system of control makes it Biologically impossible for a Zerg to act against the Swarms leader."

Danimoth then said, "No. It is impossible for the Zerg to disobey the Overmind. Kerrigan has forced the Cerebrates under her control, making it so that they must listen to her. But Duran was apparently infested in a unique situation. This means that he was only bound to the original Overmind. He obviously tricked Kerrigan into believing that he served her."

Khas then said, "By Adun! That could only mean that the Xel'naga run this operation!"

"That is not possible. The Xel'naga are extinct. They were obliterated by the Overmind." Artanis said.

"Actually" said Taldarin "in all likeliness a few of the Xel'naga survived. However, because of this-"

Khas, who was watching the monitors of the Nexus, then said, "We are receiving an incoming transmission."

A Dark Archon appeared on the screen. It said with urgency, "New Antioch is under attack. A large Zerg force has just landed. Due to the confusion of the Matriarchs kidnapping, after she ordered the deactivating of the Temple, we never restablished its power. The Zerg have already taken the temple however, and a Cerebrate as landed near it. Our forces are without Dark Templar, and the probes are dead, and we are lacking minerals."

"Oh my God!" Raynor said. "Kerrigan's already attacking!"

"Not necessarily." Said Stukov. "What brood is attacking?"

"We've identified it as the Tiamat Brood." Answered the Archon.

"The Tiamat Brood is not under Kerrigan's control." Said Stukov. "While I was infested, I learned that the Tiamat Brood was serving a very powerful being, who I assumed to be Daggoth, who is the most powerful being, aside from Kerrigan, the Brood could serve."

"Stukov, I'm afraid we'll have to hold on to your reports." Zeratul said. "Taldarin and I will go to New Antioch and aid in it's defenses. Khas, you and Artanis shall give us orbital support from the Garnithor II and Artanis's scout. Everyone else, stay here, we will be back as soon as we can. En Taro Adun." Zeratul said, leaving the room with Taldarin.

"Artanis, start organizing the fleets." Khas said. The four-hundred year old executor said with authority.

As he was leaving the room, Artanis said "En Taro Tassadar."

Moments later, Danimoth, who had taken Khas's position at the monitors, said, "We are getting a transmission being redirected from the Hyperion."

"Jim? Is that you?" Said the blond haired, female Terran that appeared on the screen. "It's Chloe."

"Chloe!" Shouted Jim. "Where have you been?"

"Stranded on uncharted moon. After our fleet was intercepted by Arcturus as we fled Tarsonis, by Battlecruiser was shot down and damaged. I haven't been able to get the communications devices working perfectly; even now, I'm getting static. I think we're on a moon of Umoja. I've been to busy trying to fix the engines, because fortunately we landed near fuel. Unfortunately, otherwise the moon is lacking in resources." Chloe said. "But now, it's worse. We've found a Terran Base being run by an infested Terran, and we've even found Protoss Stasis Cells and pylons."

"Chloe, I'm sending a fleet over as soon as I can to help." Jim said. The transmission ended. "Mojo, Danimoth come with me."

Danimoth asked, "Who's Chloe?"

"Chloe was the magistrate of the Colony Mar Sara until the Zerg overwhelmed it and she started her association with Arcturus Mengsk. After Arcturus betrayed Kerrigan, she and I left his forces. We were attacked as we were leaving Tarsonis, and her ship was shot down. I thought she was dead!"

Jim, Danimoth, and Mojo left the room, going towards the Hyperion. Stukov was left there alone.

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Primary Hive Clusters

Char

"My Queen." Said Duran. "We've detected a large Zerg fleet attacking Shakuras."

"It must be Daggoth. Andarq, summon the broods. We're traveling to Shakuras. Daggoth must be stopped so I can destroy the Protoss."

"Yes My Queen." Replied Andarq.

"Duran, tell me the status of the Garm and Baelrog Broods." Kerrigan ordered.

"The Garm brood has been exterminated, while the Baelrog Brood has become part of the Tiamat Brood." Duran answered.

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Uncharted Moon

In a Stasis Cell, a hybrid was resting. It was a combination of a Hydralisk and a Templar. Soon it would awaken, and soon it would slaughter those who opposed the ruler of the Hybrids.

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An: I have a lasting question for all of those who want to guess. Can anyone guess who the mysterious figure in the first section is? There are only a few clues in this chapter, but if you look hard enough, you will find the answer.

Well, I'll try to update soon, but till then, try to figure it out.