A/N Warchief if you read this chapter, I added to the space and ground battle to increase the pacing of the battle and edited some of Malkira's bits.

Chapter 26: Retrofits, upgrades and impossibilities

As the group of unlikely allies arrived back on the Liberator, there were plenty of shocked people. Firstly, there was the Liberator's crew, who were extraordinarily surprised to see not only the original group, not only an additional Protoss, but also an infested Zerg. Jason had to do some very quick talking to convince them that everything was under control.

It was just as well that that took a little bit of time, because Zeratul needed that time to recover from the shock of being relocated millions of kilometers by portkey. He had been nervous about the idea when it was raised, but nothing could prepare even someone of his skill and experience for such a means of travel.

"It is intriguing to think that there are methods and abilities that remain unknown to us, despite our many experiences. I would not have believed it possible, if not for witnessing and experiencing it myself."

"Magic has its uses my friend, even those who have used it for tremendous and ridiculously long periods still discover new forms for it to manifest," Xapferey said.

Zeratul chuckled. "Then at least things are not so different as they seem."

There wasn't time for any more discussion. "Commander!" The pilot called from the bridge. "We have a problem."

Jason pushed past the group and headed at a full run for the bridge. "What is it, Ros?"

"The Dominion are on to us. All three ships are closing on our position."

Jason skidded to a stop, diving into the command seat as the others arrived behind him. "ETA?"

"Two minutes."

"I can make the ship harder to damage if needed," Xapferey offered Jason.

"What I want to know is a: how they found us and b: when?" Jason shook his head. "Jess, time to warp speed?"

"Three minutes, Commander. We still have to finalize the warp calculations for the jump."

Jason's face went hard. "We don't have time to run, then. All shields and weapons to full power. Ros, come to full speed, course 257 up 65."

Jim looked at Jason. "You're mad. You want to take on a trio of battlecruisers?"

Jason grinned. "You don't know this ship like I do, Jim. Neither does Mengsk. But that doesn't mean I won't take every advantage I can right now." Jason looked at Xapferey. "Whatever it is you can do, do it fast."

"Right, Sarah, Louise, I'll need a teensy bit of help. I need both you hand on my shoulder, find and connect with my core, I'll share the power and shape it as we need. I did this on the Defiance alone, though I'm not confident doing it on something 5 times its size without suffering adverse effects."

"Just do what you can, all of you." Jason said. "Ros, give me full power to forward shields. Ready missile salvoes on my mark. Prime starboard thrusters and prepare for flat spin."

"What the hell are you doing?" Nova yelled.

Jason grinned at Ros. "You got your part figured out?"

The grin was equally matched. "Been awhile since we pulled this stunt."

"Xapferey, we can handle the first hit. Take the time you need. Everyone, brace yourselves for some high-g maneuvers in thirty seconds."

"Jason?" Jim yelled.

"Ros, aim me at the lead ship." Jason's grin was feral.

Connecting with the duo of high powered psionics, Xapferey invoked his spell "Vers di kovgam, vers di ternesj xurwk tonn nomeno driik shio erekess wer drihli." The hull of the Liberator hardened to five times its normal durability under the sheer power infused into the armor. Though the readings the hull gave off now startled the sensor operator as he gawked at what his station was showing.

"Commander!" He attracted Jason's attention to the new readings and Jason nodded. "Ok boys. You've hooked a shark. Now, what are you going to do?"

The Dominion ships didn't hesitate. All of them fired a full laser barrage at the Liberator. The ships was far too close for the more devastating Yamato Cannon strikes that might have stood a chance; but, with Xapferey's modifications, even that wasn't going to be enough.

"All batteries, return fire on the lead ship." At Jason's command, a firestorm of firepower ripped through space, smashing into the lead ship's shields. The captain, thinking the Liberator was planning a ramming run, desperately threw all power to his forward shields and began to alter course. It proved to be his final mistake. He failed to comprehend that he wasn't dealing with a slow and bulky battlecruiser.

He was dealing with a Stingray.

The Liberator skidded past the ship, its thrusters blazing and engines complaining as a massive change in direction and speed was suddenly forced on the ship. But the Liberator hadn't been built tough without reason and Xapferey's enhancements had improved its durability even further. All of this resulted in the Liberator sitting neatly above and behind the battle-cruiser's stern and the ship's captain was far too slow to respond to the new threat.

"All missiles, away!"

A flurry of missiles ripped out of the launchers. They took time to cross the distance between the two ships, but the Liberator was practically on top of the helpless battlecruiser. It wasn't a battle.

It was an execution.

The missiles smashed straight through the ship's shields and into its now unprotected rear. As the Liberator darted away in search of its next victim, the onslaught reached the ship's reactor and the battlecruiser ripped itself apart. Jason smiled.

"One down."

The second battlecruiser was quicker to respond, spinning around enough to target the Liberator. In a split second, it risked a Yamato Cannon blast at the Stingray - class gunship. Whether by luck or skill of the battle-cruiser's gunners, the Liberator took the blast head on. Without the enhancements, the Liberator may well have been crippled. With them, it shrugged it off without any damage at all.

Xapferey grinned as he pulled his larger most powerful spells. "Ini arcaniss si jikmada wux," he commanded in a powerful tone, pointing at the second battlecruiser. Though it left him breathless for a moment, the second battlecruiser rippled like a disturbed pond for a moment before explosions ripped it apart. Jason grinned.

"One a piece. Open a hailing frequency to the remaining ship."

"Channel open, Commander." Jess replied.

"Dominion ship, as you can see, you are outgunned and outclassed. Surrender your ship or we will be forced to destroy you."

"My next spell would be to banish them from time," Xapferey murmured softly to Jason with a dark grin.

Jason grinned as he continued. "My colleague is not as patient as I am, nor is he as nice. If you'd prefer to die painfully, by all means, keep shooting."

"No I am not, and my patience is waning quickly," Xapferey allowed some of his true voice to slip into his tone, causing it to have a nonhuman reverberating effect.

"Liberator, this is the Cyrus. We surrender. Shields and weapons are powering down and we are heaving to."

"Acknowledged, Cyrus. Prepare to receive a boarding party. Bear in mind that if we consider you to be performing any act that may be hostile, we will blow you out of space."

"Understood. Standing by." The Cyrus matched actions to words quickly and Jason lent back, smiling at Xapferey.

"That's why I wanted to bring the Liberator. It's always better to force a surrender with the element of surprise."

"Or magic," Xapferey smiled back.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"Anyone who says that should feel quite sheep-ish afterwards," Xapferey joked emphasizing the animal.

"Depends on how shocking what they're responding to is." Jason shot back.

"So if you're an android, would you dream of electric sheep?" Xapferey grinned.

Jason shook his head in amusement. "Doesn't much matter which path you use, if they get to the same place. And both your methods and ours seem to be rather effective. That was quite something to see."

"Well like I said Jason, 36 years I've been in a magical environment. Being from my original land, I was much less constrained when it came to my perceptions of what magic could do. It's funny you know… when I was first dropped on Forceria, I was mistaken for a nobleman early on by my bearing and the quality of my gear. I built Draconia with my two hands, from a General, to King, then Emperor. I did everything to make a legacy of love and caring for my people…my modern ideas in a land at swords at castles societal level..." Xapferey trailed off in reminiscence.

"Must have been quite something to achieve. And here I am, having gone in almost the opposite direction." Jason blinked, before turning to Ros. "Get a team across to the Cyrus, then get us back to the fleet."

"Aye, sir."

"Oh?" Xapferey asked after Jason gave his orders.

Jason gestured the group after him and headed for the tactical room. He turned as the team entered behind him.

"It's not commonly known, in fact, only a dozen people alive are aware of this, but I was born into one of the most influential of the Old Families, groomed to take over as the head one day."

"Malkira can sympathize in many ways," Xapferey grinned at him.

Jason managed a small grin. "I've no doubt. The difference is that I walked away from it all."

"I don't blame you, what I had learned of the Old Families was not pleasant," Xapferey agreed. 'I was doing some thinking about or technology sharing; my drives could be refitting on the fly metaphorically. But your ships could get some upgrades in the black but you'd have to make some sacrifices."

"I won't say I'm not interested, but what sort of sacrifices?"

"You wouldn't be able to power an ablative generator and your Yamato cannons at the same time for starters. Aside from that, your shields would have to go too," Xapferey said tapping his lips in thought. "From what I've figured out about your ships, you won't have enough power."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "That implies you have a hell of a lot more power available to your ships than we do."

"You use fusion right?" Xapferey asked in clarification.

"That's right." Jason said slowly.

"We use matter/anti-matter reactors on all our ships, our Defiant class's core puts out over 6,000 terajoules per second."

"Anti-matter?" Jason looked thunderstruck. "Even on Earth, that was never achieved. How did you manage it?"

"We have a material called dilithium, it acts like the control rods in a reactor. It allows us to control the flow of the reaction and power our vessels. We could do it for your ships, but they would have to be drydocked at our yards at Forceria, along with replacing your tactical systems. Our photon torpedoes, our weakest torpedo, mount a modest anti-matter warhead."

Jason frowned. "We've a war on our doorstep and neither the Zerg or anyone else are going to give us the kind of time that we'd need to refit the fleet, especially if we manage to pull off our raid at Dylar."

"Well I can give you ablative generators, 3 days, it's your choice, advanced protections, or yamato cannons and, to be frank, crappy shields your choice… we could have your whole fleet refitted in… a month, 6 weeks tops," Xapferey said.

"In six weeks, the Zerg will have overrun the majority of the terran sector, or found the Protoss. Who's going to stand against them? Mengsk? Unless he sees a benefit, he'll cut and run, he always has. The Combine or the Protectorate? Neither have anything like the firepower to do anything at all. The rest of the Protoss? They told Tassadar to burn any infested world to the core." Jason shook his head. "No, Xapferey. We cannot sit idle while the Zerg advance around us. Every world they take is another one they can adapt to support themselves. They can replenish their numbers far faster than we can. They can afford to lose an army more than we can afford to lose a squadron." Jason sighed. "We can start some upgrades, yes, send some ships away to be refitted, if we can get Terra Firma, we might even be able to build new ones with the upgrades already in place. But we cannot back away now. The Zerg are on the hunt and they are hunting for Sarah. Six weeks is more than enough time for them to track her to Forceria, if we stay there. We have to keep them busy, there is no other choice."

Xapferey began laughing ruefully. "What if I told you that we could refit the whole fleet in 3 days completely to our specs? If not for magic, the Sovereign would only be less than a quarter done. It's not the same amount and, with energy from Sarah, Nova and Louise, we could enhance our old time dilation spell," Xapferey grinned at him. "For us, we did eight years of work in three weeks, finishing three of our ships. Hell, we could even build more at the same time we upgrade yours," he offered.

"3 days." Jason began to pace. "It's tempting, I'll give you that."

"Think about it Jason, with the upgrades, the Liberator could go toe-to-toe with minimum five enemy battlecruisers in a straight up fight. Five… you'd be even able to cream a Zerg Leviathan. 3 days, we have the remnants of the field powered up and we have our Elf and half-Elf workers inside it, by the time everything is done, the field will collapse for good. But I will triple my fleet, and have yours a force to reckon with."

"Then we only have one chance and we are going to make the most of it." Jason said, a decision clear. He stared at Xapferey. "Terra Firma, Dylar, New Fulsom. Before we do any kind of upgrades, we need them, but the first most of all. I know what sort of work they were up to there, better than anyone else. Trust me, you're going to want them there."

"Then let's go get it… truth be told Jason. I can pull over 2.1 million in armed forces alone without leaving my lands vulnerable. Upgrading would be quick enough as we can easily swap systems on my ground forces as I had already begun a changeover program a year ago. 2.1 million, complete with armor, artillery and mechanized capacities," Xapferey informed him. "New Fulsom will help majorly," he agreed. "First we need to get my drives up to specs, that'll take a couple hours of refitting the EPS manifolds. Then we'll be able to keep up with you. On board my flagship, I'm carrying a full division."

Jason grinned as the Liberator's engines whined, signalling their jump into warp space. "Sounds like a plan."

"Let's get moving."

As the Liberator dropped out of warp with the Cyrus in formation, the fleet was quick to respond to its presence.

"I trust all went well, Commander." Matt Horner of the Cormorant was the first to contact the Liberator.

"You might say that. We even picked up an extra ship into the bargain. Have all captains ready for a discussion in two hours. We have some operations to plan."

"My ships will be ready to go by then and we should have them attend the meeting; our Protoss allies as well," Xapferey suggested.

"You'd be more than welcome." Jason replied.

"Well that's good, I've been thinking, what if we hit New Fulsom and Terra Firma at the same time," Xapferey said thinking out loud.

"Funny you should say that. I was wondering about that possibility. I have to go to Terra Firma, there's no other way to get them on our side. But I don't have to be at New Folsom and it's likely that, between your forces and mine, I don't need to be there either."

"Fair enough, I will be sending Malkira with you so you will still have arcane support, that and she can intimidate anyone trying to stonewall you… Ever seen an annoyed or pissed off half-Dragon? It may be the last thing you see if you're the culprit," Xapferey grinned toothily.

"Lovely. I'm agreeing to share a ship with four women, all of which capable of killing me in very prolonged, messy and painful ways. Why exactly did I agree to this?"

"Considering you're falling in love with one of them… multiple reasons. Don't try to deny it; I can still smell pheromones in this form, and I'd be a hypocrite to say anything of an age difference. When I met her, Deedlit was five times my age."

Jason glared at him. "I do hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"Jason, I'm 66, Deedlit is 186, If anyone complains I'll just point that out… we are cursed, Deedlit and I… cursed because we will see the majority of our friends die, one after the other… time no longer ravages us."

Jason sobered. "That can't be an easy thing to come to terms with."

"I still haven't, I watched one of my first real equal friends of Forceria die, and for all my great power, I cannot stop it. It's why when I make friends; I do all I can for them, for the time we share together is far too short. It'll be something I can never truly come to terms with, it's why due to dint of magic. My daughter's boyfriend is thankfully as immortal as her and I am grateful for it."

Jason nodded. "You don't have to be immortal to watch your friends die. I've seen far too many go too soon. But I do take your point."

"I know, life is a sexually transmitted disease with a 100% fatality rate," he joked bitterly.

"Perhaps, but you can do a hell of a lot with it in the meantime."

"Yup, though part of me wonders what the hell I was thinking… I won't even be finished growing for another 1134 years," the Dragon grumbled.

"And on that vaguely concerning thought, shall we continue with our plans?"

"By all means, my young friend," Xapferey gestured grandly to Jason in a deliberate over the top move.

Within two hours, a sizable number of commanders had assembled. Between Jason's forces, Tassadar's expedition and Xapferey's troops, the gathered leaders represented a sizable fraction of the sector's firepower. Jason was the first to speak.

"Alright everyone. We all know that the Zerg are the biggest threat we've got right now. But, as much strength as we have right now, we've got to pull together a fighting force capable of matching anything in the sector. To that end, we have a number of operations planned. Emperor Xapferey will be leading the majority of the fleet to New Folsom, where Mengsk has imprisoned many of the former militia that has refused to accept his rule. He will brief you on his plan."

"Right, since we are reasonably certain that the Dominion has a powerful garrison in place, I decided to err on the side of caution and predict a force of 20 battlecruisers. Now, we will need to take the orbitals quickly. My plan involves my fleet entering and hitting them hard. Then we hunker in. While my fleet occupies the Dominion force, the others will commence landfall and unload our forces before returning to assist. Between my assets and yours, we have at least 10, maybe 11 thousand troops to throw against the garrison with full armor and artillery support. I will want 4-6 battlecruisers for air superiority and we will be deploying our fighters to assist as soon we have the orbitals. Any questions?"

Tassadar raised a hand. "I know that your ships are powerful, but do you truly think that between your forces and six battle-cruisers, you can deal with the defending ships? They will not have been under fire this time?"

"Executor, my ships were designed for heavy battle based on the original designs from another series I knew," Xapferey clarified. "They can handle it, that armor they can deploy just enhances their survivability."

"Very well. How do you plan to take the prison itself?" Sarah asked.

"By pulling something right out of the history books. A full Blitzkrieg, my armor will let my heavy artillery open holes in the prison's larger areas, letting in my armor into the yards. From there my mechanized infantry will deploy right as the guards begin their mustering. From there they will be fragmented into isolated pockets, pockets which then can be curtailed by artillery. By that time, we'll have their motor pool and at minimum ¾ of their garrison combat ineffective."

"Risk of collateral damage?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Less than 2%," Xapferey said. "With MIRN, our forces have full access to what the forward line is seeing, danger close isn't a problem when you can reference data right from the front lines in real time."

"What about property damage? It would be good to take those vehicles as well." Jim asked.

"Confined to the prison, this attack was designed to leave the motor pool intact," Xapferey displayed his plan in holo form in the air above them. "Watch, the motor pool will be seized, the prisoners freed, and the guards pocketed before they could even begin to muster to face one strike force. By the time we are contesting the orbitals, my division will be beamed down, and commence the attack and give your forces time to form up. All told, we'll have this done in an hour tops. After that is mop up and clean up then moving out."

Jason considered the various angles. "Solid, fast and effective. If I can give you one piece of advice?" Jason tapped several coordinates on the map. "Get at least some of your strike teams to beam in directly to these points. I remember the layout from my time there; those are security stations. I was planning before to attack them by stealth, but if you can drop in and take them by surprise, it will make your lives a hell of a lot easier."

"Thank you Commander, I hadn't considered that, I'll have heavy strike teams beam down and raise a hell of a ruckus while we commence the attack."

Jason nodded. "This is the kind of stuff I'm here for." He looked out among the assembled captains. "Anyone else have any questions?"

"I've got one." Captain Roland of the Sanctuary asked. "You said most of the fleet. Why is the Emperor leading this and not you?"

"Because while your commander is skilled, I've been fighting wars longer than most of you have been alive," Xapferey replied gently.

Jason smiled. "I'm pursuing other options. You all saw how effective the Emperor's fleet was against Mengsk on Tarsonis."

A shiver ran through the captains at the memory of that destruction. Jason nodded in appreciation of that. "Well, he's offered to help us upgrade our ships to similar capabilities, while we give him a hand in moving at a half decent pace."

Laughs echoed around the room at that. Jason smirked, "Anyway, I'm chasing an advanced mobile shipyard facility that we can use to help with that. I know who runs it and it should be a straightforward mission, which is why I'm not taking a massive force. I'm hoping that your assault on New Folsom will draw Mengsk's attention that way so that, even if he knows about the shipyard and I don't think he does, he'll think he has time before going after it."

"How advanced is this shipyard?" Roland asked.

Jason grinned. "It built the Liberator."

"All right, in another half hour, our drives will be up to your standards. When they are completed we will begin our operation. Good hunting everyone and good luck," Xapferey said.

"I'll transmit your assignments to your bridges." Jason added.

"I'll be on the Sovereign If you need me." Opening his communicator, Xapferey signalled his Flagship and disappeared in blue shimmering light. A moment later, Malkira beamed in along with a trio of heavily equipped Royal Guards.

"Commander," she greeted Jason.

"Princess." Jason returned as the captains departed. "I'll show you to your quarters. This should be an easy run, but I don't believe in taking chances."

"Indeed not, Commander, hence why I am here; to offer you arcane support if you need it. My powers are similar to those of my father's, after all he was one of my main teachers in magic."

"We'll be glad of your assistance." Jason led her towards the LIberator. "How much has your father told you about Terra Firma?"

"Just that it was an advanced mobile shipyard, nothing more than you told him about it, and that it built your flagship. There was talk of converting our own primary shipyard into a mobile one, but the project was back burnered a couple years ago."

"Right. Then I'll fill you in, along with the others. I haven't told many people about it."

Soon enough, both entered the Liberator's tactical room, to find Jim, Zeratul, Sarah, Louise, Nova and another Protoss that Malkira recognized.

"Commander, I am Master Selendis. Executor Tassadar sent me to aid you in your mission." She greeted Jason.

"Good to have you on board, Selendis." Jason brought up an overview of Terra Firma. "Ok everyone, look closely. This is Terra Firma. Built in secret by the Terra family, it was designed as a classified shipyard and research facility for the special toys that the Terra's didn't necessarily want the wider Confederacy to know about. As I said, the Liberator was built here and I'm hoping there's still a few prototypes of them that we can put to good use. It's nowhere near as big as the Dylarian shipyards, but it produces quality ships, it's cloaked and mobile, making it just about ideal for our purposes. Right now, the guy running the show is a man named Wilkes Butler."

"Butler?" Jim asked. "Former marshal?"

Jason frowned, "Yeah, that's him. You know him?"

"I wish I didn't. Back before I was a marshal and still on the run, Butler was the marshal that was after me and Tychus. He caught Tychus, but only because he stayed back to give me time to flee."

Jason sighed. "Well, that's going to complicate things."

"And on seeing you he's probably going to have a hissy fit," Malkira grumbled. "If he annoys me I'll cast something unpleasant on him."

"You'll have to beat me to it." Nova said. "I know Butler too. He's not a bad guy, but he has his moments. Good thing is, he remembers me too and I'm quite capable of scaring him to within an inch of his life."

"Wait till he gets a load of me then," Malkira grinned as she flexed her wings, opened her mouth to show off her sharp draconic fangs, and flexed her fingers, tipped with long well filed claws. "How badly you think he'll be scared by my looks alone?"

"Probably not nearly as much as he will be by me." Louise pointed out fairly. "You're intimidating, but I have the Zerg factor on my side. Nothing quite as frightening to most people these days as the idea of being infested."

"She does have a point." Jason commented. "Anyway, hopefully, it won't come to that. This should be a simple case of walk up, talk to him and convince him to help, get whatever we can right away and point him towards Forcenia."

"Nova, smack him, he's jinxing us again," Malkira groaned.

Jason, rubbing his head and glaring reproachfully at Nova, shot back. "I said hopefully, not that that was definitely what was going to happen."

"Let's just say Fate has a very strange sense of humor and it's not wise to give opportunities."

Jason sighed. "Typical pessimist. Now, if I said 'What could-"

"Silencio," Malkira cast, removing his voice. "Don't you dare," she glared at him. "Nova?" she asked her follow blond sweetly as she flicked her eyes at Jason in an emphasising manner.

Neither of them, however had noticed Jason pick up a datapad and type, "All I was going to say was 'What could we do to prevent Murphy and O'Toole from messing with us?'"

"Really? And you weren't going to say that forbidden sentence?"

"Of course not. I don't need to say it, thinking it is bad enough to tempt Fate."

"Good, then you can have your voice back," Malkira ended her silencing spell.

Jason looked reproachful. "You do realize that you've been thinking about that sentence, so it's you that's tempted Fate now?"

"Fate owes me, so I can tempt Her as much as I want. Let's just say due to… aborted timelines, She needs to make good with my family."

"Sounds like yet another story there. Some other time, though. Anyone unclear about anything?"

"Short story, Mother would have been sacrificed in an attempt to resurrect the Goddess of Destruction. But no, I'm good," Malkira said.

There was a stunned silence around the room. Jason found his voice first. "Ok, that's enough for me. Jess? Tell Ros to get us clear of the fleet, then I'll give her coordinates to head for."

"You know Louise, I will say this, father is working on a surprise for you," Malkira sent to the Zerg.

"I'd ask you what surprise, but I'm sure you'll just tease me with vague hints that have no meaning, so I'll settle for thank you. Louise replied.

"Oh, it'll have meaning, a changing meaning to your life. But… It's a bracelet that lets you change your form to any you desire within the same size range as yourself." Malkira sent a mental smile to the Zerg.

"What? That…." Louise was speechless.

"He couldn't stop your original infestation, but he can give you back your old form when you want to use it."

Jason had evidently noticed the discussion, judging by the looks he was shooting both women but elected to not get involved. "All right, people. We've got a bit of a wait while we get to the station, so everyone should get some rest. We'll probably end up needing it."

"Of course Commander, if you wouldn't mind showing me and my guards some quarters, I'll get some sleep myself," Malkira said.

"Of course, Princess." Jason led her to the living quarters and gestured towards a group of rooms. "Probably not as comfortable as you might be used to, I'm afraid, but it's what we have."

"It's fine, thank you," Malkira said with a smile, one of her guards entered with her, while the other two took up their positions on either side of the door.

"Very well. I'll have Jess wake you when we're approaching the station. Good night, Princess."

"Good night Commander," she said as the door closed behind her and the guard.

Jason himself, however, didn't take his own advice immediately. Things were happening quickly, far too quickly for him to be able to put into order reasonably. Firstly, there was Mengsk's actions leading up to and at Tarsonis. Then there was the appearance of Xapferey and his forces. Next, there was Louise and Zeratul. Finally, there was the reality that Jason was now, if not leading, then substantially involved in leading a small force that was enemies or, at best, neutral, with practically everyone else in the sector. As he finally gave up and retreated to his own quarters to rest, one thing ran through his mind.

He didn't need to tempt Fate. There was more than enough bait hanging out there for her as it was.

After a restless night, Jason was, again, the first to rise in the morning. Meeting the night crew, he reviewed their position and came to a decision.

"Jess, start getting everyone else up. We're coming up on Terra Firma."

"On it, Commander." The AI replied.

Muttering and groaning, the other members of the team made their way up to the bridge. Malkira was there, a mug of coffee in her hands as she walked to join Jason.

"Please tell me none of your close friends are morning people," she begged. "Mother is bad enough."

"Jim and Sarah definitely are. Nova, not so much. Part of the joy of being fighters, I'm afraid."

"Joy… *mumble* transfigure morning people into birds *mumble*" Malkira half-grumbled under her breath.

"You want us to help you, yes?" Jason asked quietly. "Then play nice."

"I'm pretty sure grumbling falls under freedom of speech," Malkira joked. But she grinned to show there was no true heat behind her grumbling.

"Hmm. I don't know." Sarah bounced onto the bridge, looking absurdly cheerful. "I think that we need to train everyone to wake up at zero-dark hundred."

"I'm sure any court in the land would find that a cruel and unusual punishment," Malkira groaned. The Royal Guards following her were as faceless and impassive as usual.

"Good thing we're outlaws, then. Isn't it?" Sarah replied.

"In eyes of the Terran Dominion, you are welcome within the realm of Draconia you know?"

"But does that mean that early mornings are banned?" Jim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I could make it illegal, but I'd be overridden. I'm the heir, not the Empress. So no, they are not."

"Good to know, otherwise that would have been a deal-breaker, right there." Jim snarked.

"Alright, cut the chatter." Jason interrupted. "We're coming up on the station. So stay quiet and let me do the talking, got it?"

Sarah and Jim exchanged looks. " Yeah, alright."

"Sure, unless Butler becomes too antagonistic," Malkira agreed. "He seems really grumpy, reminds me of dad after a night without sleep," Malkira sent to Sarah.

"I know. He's not normally like that, though. Something's got him worried."

"You mean things moving very rapidly. Betrayal, Zerg and help from unexpected quarters? I've seen Dad like this, he really needed a better lock code on the Lodoss anime series. Really, mom, dad and my ages together as a code? But Jason is unsure of his next move and is questioning himself. Dad had that same exact look decades ago, wondering if he was making the right choices and if his knowledge was still good."

"No, it's more than that. Jason's coming to conclusions and he doesn't like what he's reaching. He doesn't second-guess himself, he's determined about picking a tactic, then adjusting it as required. No, he's worked out something else."

"Hm, guess we'll just have to play this out then… hopefully I don't have to smite someone," Malkira said as she turned her attention onto Jason.

She was just in time. "Terra Firma, this is the Liberator. We'd like permission to land."

"Davis." A voice snarled back. "I never picked you as being crazy enough to come back here after everything."

"Wilkes, I know there's a lot of explaining to do. Why do you think I came myself?"

"You're going to have to come up with a better reason that that."

"Well, I can think of a couple. Mengsk is the main power in the sector and I know you aren't thrilled with that. The Zerg are running rampant and sooner or later, they'll come for you. You need fire support, I need a support facility. But all that pales into nothing compared to the last reason."

"And that is?"

Nova took her cue perfectly. "I'm with him, Wilkes."

The comm was silent for a moment. "All right, Davis. I'm clearing you to land. But this had better be good."

Jason snorted. "Believe me, it is." Cutting the comm, he gestured to Ros. "Take us in. Let's get this over with."

"Lovely," Malkira sighed as she tossed her hair back slightly.

"You think he'll listen?" Louise asked.

"Eventually, but he'll take some convincing. But he needs to be certain that we're serious first. So, I think we'll all greet him at once, rather than some of us staying back."

"That works, throw him onto the back foot, especially with a half-Dragon and a Primal Zerg," Malkira grinned.

"Not to mention me." Jim added.

"Exactly. Rip the wound wide open, deal with it in one go." Jason replied.

"Then let's do this," Malkira said as the guards waited for their orders. Within minutes, the LIberator set down in the docking bay and the group assembled at the hatch. Jason hit the hatch and the ramp lowered. As Jason lead the group out, Butler and the marines at the bottom of the ramp flinched slightly as they saw Jason and Nova. They stared nervously at Malkira as she took her place on Jason's right side. But they outright shook in terror as they saw Louise stand beside Nova.

Jason smiled grimly. "You prepared to listen, Wilkes? I've got to warn you, it's been a long day and I'm not in the mood for posturing."

"Indeed, and we have limited time to get everything going on. I would hope to have good news for my father before he returns from his mission," Malkira added.

Butler didn't look any better than his men. "Jason, what is going on?"

"Simple, Wilkes. We're in the middle of a war for the entire sector and we're going to need everyone we can get, because if we lose, we lose everything. That clear enough?"

Butler shook his head. "That still doesn't explain why you have an infested human that looks a lot like Sarah Kerrigan alongside Sarah Kerrigan and a pair of Protoss, not to mention….her." He gestured towards Malkira.

"That's highly complicated, needless to say, my Father's realm is a new player on the galactic playing field. As for her," She gestured towards Louise, "Let's just say, if things went a certain way, she'd be the result. That's a long story, I'll just say that Mengsk backstabbed Sarah… in more ways than one and we need Terra Firma," Malkira interjected.

Butler frowned. "I'm not sure that I care for your attitude, missy."

Malkira snorted, letting a tongue of flame erupt from her nostrils.

"It's not attitude, it's me trying to save time and avoiding needless posturing."

Butler froze, realizing that things were well and truly outside of his comfort zone. Jason elected to intervene. "Butler, with the Confederacy gone, where exactly does that leave you? The Dominion? Mengsk would kill you as soon as he had everything he thought he wanted. The Combine? They won't have forgotten the Guild Wars either. Umoja? They can't protect you."

"And you can? You have even less forces than the Protectorate do." Butler lashed back.

"That's true. But I have a hell of a lot more allies, including some very powerful ones. We're more of a coalition than anything else. You're running out of options, old friend."

"I can provide coordinates to a system outside of known space, but you must agree to work with us, and truthfully too," Malkira said.

"You're not leaving me any choice." Butler complained.

"If we didn't come here and give you a good clip round the ear and forced the situation down your throat, would you have listened to us?" Jason asked.

"No, though you have some interesting company. Raynor, Davis? I thought you had better taste than that."

Jason moved fast, whipping out a pistol and sticking it under Butler's neck. "Don't. Insult. My. Friends." Jason backed off, slipping the pistol back into its holster. "Without Jim, a lot of people would be dead. Do I make myself clear?"

Butler was pale. "Crystal."

"Good, now we should head for the Forceria system, I'll provide the coordinates, we have a lot of work to do."

"We'll have to secure the station for warp, that will take a bit of time. I'll call you when we're ready."

"That'll be fine, as it'll take some time to clear the systemic minefield," Malkira warned.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting little addition to your defences."

"Yup, cloaked, self replicating mines, programmed to swarm detonate. Only way in is the access paths, or command codes."

"You definitely go all out. In the meantime, Butler, what sort of stuff you been up to?"

"Funny you should mention that, Jason. The Stingray project got full approval. Guess the Confederacy didn't like you using one of their best ships against you. We've got three others ready to go and a lot more well on the way to completion."

Jason's grin was massive. "Now, that's some good news."

"There's better. The Temeraire and Thylacine projects got their issues sorted out. We're about to commence construction on them."

"Well, we'll add them to the list, we have a way that'll allow us to build ships outside the normal timestream. Though for safety we'll need all species that are short lived to be off the shipyards," Malkira warned.

Jason frowned slightly at that. "Means your people are going to have to walk everyone through how their stuff works, Wilkes. It's not ideal, but at least it will mean those projects are operational now, when we need them, rather than when we're too dead to use them."

Buler looked at Jason. "You sure about this?"

Jason shrugged. "Well, they haven't led us wrong so far. Given what we're up against, how many options do we really have?"

"Fair point. All right. Not sure how my people will take it but they'd rather that than being dead, I think."

"Indeed, being long lived can be a curse at times," Malkira sighed.

"Everything has its advantages and disadvantages." Jason replied.

As Terra Firma prepared for its trip to Forceria, the allied fleet finished their preparations and jumped towards New Fulsom. The short duration spent in warp allowed Xapferey to finalize his attack plans and his ships were prepared to fire the moment they came out if warp. Thanks to a stealthed probe courtesy of the Protoss forces, Xapferey had the numbers and positions of the defending fleet right from the start. The estimates had been practically right on the money, leaving the Dominion forces with very little room to maneuver as the fleet dropped out of warp in firing position.

The Draconian forces opened up with their quantum torpedoes. The powerful zero-point warheads were considerable more powerful than the photon torpedoes. Shields collapsed and armor plating buckled and warped under the terrible fury of the Draconian onslaught. The terror of the defenders were increased the moment the phasers and pulse phasers added to their misery. Moving at full impulse, the Draconian armada entered transporter range and beamed down their forces while hunkering in against their enemies. As the Draconian fleet engaged the defending ground forces, much of the Terran and Protoss fleet moved against the crippled Dominion fleet, launching boarding operations. The remaining fleet took up positions to provide orbital fire support to Xapferey's ground troops.

Hunkering down at near pointblank range, the Draconian ships diverted auxiliary power to their forward shields and launched their fighters; while the Dominion forces hammered away at them, while trying to power up their yamato cannons. The Wraith fighters of the Dominion quickly clashed with the Draconian ones, supported by allied Wraith and Protoss interceptors and scouts.

The Dominion fighters were outnumbered and outgunned, but they made a valiant effort to keep the Coalition''s forces off their motherships but each one died valiantly.

At the same time, the battlecruisers were floundering. Their captains screaming orders, and the engineers running around; each of them overworked while trying to keep the ship they were on from being blown apart and they were failing. Two battlecruisers crumbled into sections from withering phaser fire, and another three had huge whole blown out from photon or quantum torpedoes.

"This is Xapferey to all ships, even if a ship cannot be taken intact, try to leave as much of it as possible, so we can send them to the breakers."

"Understood." Tassadar replied.

On the ground, the Draconian forces were beamed down in position thanks to the cargo transporters of their Flagship. Preparing for the assault, it began with three artillery barrages from plasma cannons left gigantic holes in the walls.

Commanding them forwards was the Draconian Empress herself. Deedlit watched as the tanks and mechanized forces headed forwards in the opening moves of their massive pincer. All of this admittedly impressive firepower attracted the defenders' attention perfectly, distracting them from the special forces transporting into each of the checkpoints that controlled the security systems for the prison. Once inside the checkpoints, the Draconian forces mowed down what security officers were inside before they began securing the systems to assist the assault. One of the first things they did was isolate each remaining vehicle yard from the main access, limiting the ability of the defenders to deploy mechanized support in their favor.

The various plasma weapons made quick work of any obstacle the guards managed to throw in Draconia's onslaught; chewing through the enemy lines with a ferocity that only Zerg could properly match. Draconian tanks were both better armored and shielded than the siege tanks of the Terran forces, so any that were active were blown apart faster than they could deploy their heavier cannons. The sheer speed with which the Draconian forces tore through them caught the Dominion flat footed, unable to adjust or adapt to the attack. Within moments, the Dominion defenders were in full retreat towards the main gates of the prison, relying on the advanced defenses, ghosts and nuclear weapons to help them even the odds.

Seeing this Deedlit sneered slightly as she dismounted from her command tank. While the High Elf normally despised the metal armor types, she recognized the importance of them now. Hence why she was wearing the power armor of Draconia's royalty.

"I summon thee Salamandra Great Queen of Fire," Deedlit called as she tugged open her elemental pouch. The great elemental spirit's form manifested visually for a moment before she shot forward and engulfed the gates. Being a fire world, the planet enhanced Salamandra's already great powers until the entire gate was engulfed in a tremendous firestorm that charred everything in its path. Metal melted in seconds under Her fiery wrath leaving an open path for the Draconian assault. "Forwards! Second battalion head left!" she shouted through her coms as she continued on foot, using her Elven abilities to keep up with the ground troops.

Around her, her troops moved in to secure the prison, while Deedlit elected to observe the battle still raging around her. Satisfied with the progress of her forces, she turned to follow her forces into the prison.

Only problem was, she had a sword coming at her neck.

Deedlit flitted backwards, using her Elf abilities to teleport three feet backwards. She drew her rapier in answer as she stepped into a ready stance.

"Nice try," she sneered.

"Interesting." The masked Ghost, for Ghost it was, replied coolly. "You're not the opponent I expected to find here. No matter, this world will still be your grave."

"I doubt that, I've been threatened by greater beings than you and I am still here."

"That, I rather doubt." The Ghost swung up, his blade spinning murderously like a buzzsaw, far too fast to see. For a human the sword would have been near impossible to track, for the reactions of a High Elf, it was no harder than her duels with Pirotess. The Ghost didn't seem to be surprised, swiftly moving from one move to the next, dancing around Deedlit, searching for a way past her defenses. Her rapier met every attempt with ease, similar to her husband's Juyo based style, this was something she knew how to fight. She parried two strikes, knocked the third aside, flitted behind him and slashed his leg. He snarled, but used the momentum of his stagger to slash up inside her guard, catching her arm with the tip of his sword.

Her shields absorbed the blow, protecting the armor and keeping her from harm. Deedlit slid under him, jumping upwards to catch him in the shoulder with her rapier tip. Releasing his grip on his sword, he spun and blasted her at point blank range with a powerful psionic attack, throwing her away from him.

"Oh you want to play that game? I summon thee Slyph Spirit of Wind," she growled. Sylph flowed around and past Deedlit to form into several elemental spears slamming into the Ghost and throwing him back. The Ghost skidded, before rolling back up to a ready stance.

"Well, you are full of surprises, aren't you? Tell me, where have you hidden that pathetic little Magistrate friend of yours?"

"Elsewhere, Do you really think I would tell you?" She smirked under her helmet.

"Oh, I think I could persuade you. After all, aren't you curious as to why I'd like to meet him?"

"I am, may I have your name? You possibly have heard mine?"

The Ghost laughed. "What use is a name when I have so many? But as for you, Empress Deedlit, I know you well. Did you think you were truly safe on that pathetic little world of yours?"

"Perhaps not… Duran," she sneered at a guess. "But it's not so pathetic any more, you or your plans can no longer reach it."

"Oh please. You don't seriously think that you can stop me, do you? Even with your husband's 'future knowledge', it will simply make your extermination take a little longer. You're talented, but few. Not nearly enough to stop what is coming for you. But, I will admit the pair of you have some talent. Not many could have escaped the trap that Wagnard laid for you and your family at my master's request."

"What? Even Amon would be a fool to challenge Kardis," Deedlit growled.

Duran laughed. "Oh, my dear. Have you not yet worked it out?"

"Amon is Kardis?" Deedlit wondered, feeling ice in her stomach.

"Perhaps you are not so dim, after all. Still not enough, however. There are always plans in motion and you have interrupted only some of them." The Ghost lowered his sword, his smugness evident. "I think that I'll leave you alive. I'd rather like your comrades to work out exactly how deep they are."

"Oh I get it, Amon serves Kardis… fine then, I summon thee Uruku Great King of the Wind." The massive elemental spirit appeared above her, shielding her in his powerful aura and deadly powers of air.

Duran laughed. "Save your power, little girl. You will need it soon enough." He disappeared, hiding both his body and mind from Deedlit. Yelling in annoyance, Deedlit waited, not dismissing her spirit until the transport to the Sovereign. Stamping forwards and removing her helmet, she walked to the bridge, through it and into the Royal Ready Room. Once the doors were closed, she started a bad habit she blamed on her husband; she started swearing in Elvish and Draconic before flopping onto the couch angrily.

In the meantime, the forward Draconian assault had pinned down the last of the Dominion guards in a bunker.

"We need to fall back," Dominion guard shouted to his comrades as he fired blindly out the window.

"Fall back where? This is one of the last holdouts, my team here is the last reinforcements or supply this bunker is likely to get," another marine shouted as he kicked the door shut behind him and barricaded it.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Another marine swore as plasma burst through the wall beside him.

"I'm OUT!" Another shouted before three plasma bolts struck his visor; shattering it and killing him instantly as plasma fried the blood in his brain.

15 minutes of fighting saw half the bunker's remaining garrison dead, the other half out of ammunition and watching in fear as the Draconian forces ripped open the door to the helpless bunker. The troops were rounded up quickly without further incident and brought to a ship before tossed into a cell inside a Draconian ship.

Soon enough the prison was secured by the Draconian forces and the prisoners released. While that was being taken care of, Xapferey held his furious wife in silence.

"Once we return to Forceria, we need to scour everything and everyone possible. We have a major leak."

"That's not good," Xapferey sighed.

"Bunker protocol once we return."

"Agreed, no one in or out till everything is taken care of." Once she was calm, she went to oversee the prisoners being released. Soon enough the fleet was arranged and both the captured and ruined battlecruisers were tractor-beamed back to Forceria to await the Terra Firma's arrival. Once the rest of the fleet was through the field and on the arrival of the mobile shipyard; the Bunker Protocol was to be enacted, meaning all pathways into the minefield were closed by the mines. But as the time passed and there was no word from either Jason or Malkira, Xapferey's worries, already heightened by the events on New Folsom, only increased. Without knowing the location of Terra Firma, Xapferey had no way to know what was happening and with Duran's apparent interest in Jason, his imagination ran wild with the various possibilities that might have occurred.

As it turned out, he had good reason to worry.

At the same time that the strike force departed New Folsom, Butler was finishing showing Jason and his companions around the station, reviewing the various projects underway and examining the completed Stingrays. Jason had left Selendis out beyond the edge of the sensor systems that Terra Firma possessed, both as support in case things went ugly with Butler, and as an early warning for anyone else.

That fact, and that fact alone, would save the station and everyone onboard.

"Commander! I am detecting multiple Zerg signatures closing on your location." Selendis's transmission rudely interrupted a very technical discussion between Jason and Butler, while the others watched the warp preparations. Jason spun around, his hand on his helmet.

"How long?"

"Ten minutes, at most."

"Shit." Jason turned to Butler. "Sound battle stations, right now. We've got incoming." Striding towards the holographic display, he activated it as he patched Selendis in. "What are we looking at, Selendis?"

"I am relaying my sensor data, but it is more than I believe we can handle." This prediction was well supported by the data that appeared in front of Jason. He'd heard rumors of the massive Zerg attack beasts before, but never encountered one himself.

Now, he was facing twenty of them, converging on them from three directions.

"Leviathans," Malkira gasped before she flung her wings and arms wide before she cast. "Si naushind shio Zerg shafaer nomeno goawy." Symbols appeared everywhere on the walls, ceilings and floors barring any and all Zerg from the station, yet Louise was powerful enough to struggle against the spell, though it was incredibly uncomfortable and bordering on painful for her.

Jason shook his head. "How long until we can get moving?"

Butler shook his head. "An hour, at least."

"Cannons to right of them, cannons to left of them. Cannons in front of them." Jason muttered.

"Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred." Nova whispered.

"Lovely," Malkira groaned. She knew that quotation, "well they'd have to rip the entire station apart literally down to the molecule before any Zerg can board it."

"Then, that's exactly what they'll do." Suddenly, Jason's expression hardened. "And I'll be damned if I go out like this. Butler, you have crews for those Stingrays?"

Butler stared at him. "You are not serious. You want to go against that?"

"Want to? Hell no. Do we have a choice? Same answer."

"We do have a choice, though, the risk will be as big as taking on the Zerg, but I can get us to the gates of the minefield with a portal, if you want to risk a trip through the hells?"

"And if we don't make it there?" Jim wanted to know.

"We will, might have to detour through another dimension or two, but we'd get there. The question is what dimension we go through… as I won't know till we encounter someone."

Jason shook his head. "It's too risky, even for me. Not that I don't trust your abilities, but the Zerg could get close enough to follow us through and it would leave Selendis behind to fend for herself."

"Sarah could let off a quick psionic pulse, they'd home in on that, and if we end up somewhere I am kinda afraid of, they know about and handle the Zerg."

"Still leaves Selendis behind though and if the Zerg turn on her, she'll be no match." Jason nodded grimly. "How's your piloting ability, though?

"I can handle anything with wings," she grinned.

"Good. Then let's saddle up. Jim, Sarah, you take one of the Stingrays, Louise another and Malkira, you take the last. Butler, I'll need you to send a good copilot that knows the Stingrays with both Malkira and Louise. I've got an idea that can help to level the odds, but it's not going to be easy and we have no time to waste. Get the sublight drives up and us moving away from the Zerg as fast as you can, we need all the time we can get."

"No, Sarah should stay onboard, shielded by the wards, it's not that I don't trust her skills… they want her, and unprotected. If something happens, she'll be vulnerable," Malkira countered.

Jason and Sarah exchanged a look. "Believe me, I'm counting on it. We don't have time to argue, in any case." Jason took off at a run for the hanger, Nova hot on his tail. The others followed suit, reaching the hanger swiftly and splitting up into their assigned ships. With the speed that showed the skill of the pilots, the four Stingrays shot out into space, Butler launching the station's fighters behind them. Strangely, Jason pulled them up not far from the station, still inside the cloaking field.

"Stingrays, I'm sending you your assigned positions. Malkira, take centre, Jim top and Louise right. We're taking left. Slave your weapons and targeting systems to the Liberator, we need to make these first shots count. Malkira, if there's anything you can do to boost your weapons power, now's the time to do it."

"Jason, I'm a sorceress, not a miracle worker," Malkira grumbled thinking over her spells.

"So, you can't magnify something, then?"

"Tir ti dartak ve, yth re thurirli, tir ti lowd udoka," Malkira focused her will onto the Zerg. She then began forcing the Overmind back with a brutal psionic onslaught to distract the Zerg and hopefully make them feral enough to attack each other. Within moments, they were embroiled in a close-quarters bloodbath. Shoving everything deep into her core, Malkira protected everything she knew from the Overmind as she lashed out against it, driving it back with the surprising fury before it began rallying. "Back off you oversized eyesore," she screamed at it mentally as her mental energies clashed back and forth.

On the mental battlefield time had no meaning as energy collided. Malkira struck hard in a massive psionic wall against the controlling tendrils. The forward tendrils had been shattered against the power the half-Dragon brought to bear, but they regrew and focused on breaking through the powerful wall with some results as they dug into the wall seeking to regain control.

Jason's grin was apparent over the comm. "That will do just as well. All ships, firing solutions have been forwarded to you. Preparing to fire."

"NO!, You fire… I lose… this...fight… the Overmind will… regroup… and...control...them again," Malkira protested, the strain in her voice evident as she fought with all her magic.

"By the time it does, the Zerg here will be dead." Jason replied.

"Better safe...than...sorry… the…*pant* backlash… will hurt...me… too."

"How fast can you cut the connection?"

"A moment… NOW!" She shrieked as she pulled back suddenly, leaving the Overmind flat-footed for a moment and the Zerg uncontrolled.

That moment was all Jason needed. Slamming his hand down on the firing switch, the Liberator's cannons, all that could come to bear, fired. Beside them, Jim's and Louise's Stingray's did the exact same thing, at the exact same time.

Malkira's was a fraction of a second later, meeting the other three beams about a kilometer in front of her ship. The resulting beam, amplified by the combination of energy to a point far ahead of what would normally be possible, surged towards the Zerg.

Even at that distance, the results were spectacular. Many of the Leviathans, first thrown into close combat by Malkira's efforts, and then drastically confused by her sudden withdrawal, were closely gathered; far too close to avoid the strike. The beam plowed into a pair of them, now wide enough to touch both of them at once. The resulting blast of energy ripped the entire sides of both beasts straight off, sowing further havoc among the attackers. Continuing on, the beam caught another dead centre, boring clean through it and splitting it in half. Finally, another leviathan took a direct hit, draining the beam of its remaining power, but at the cost of its life. Many of the smaller Zerg fliers that had been surrounding the fleet were crushed against the dying carapace of the monstrous creatures of space.

"Phew, can we… get out of here yet? I'm wiped," Malkira groaned.

"We have to be quick, we can't give them a chance to react. But this shouldn't take long. We probably won't get them all, but it will either be a manageable number left for us to handle, or they'll run, but that's unlikely."

"Then let's get them."

Jason grinned. "Fire two!" In a moment, a second beam traced along a similar line to the first, smashing into the Zerg's left flank. Within seconds, a third had dialed in on the other flank. The Zerg, seeing a substantial portion of their forces wiped out without even managing to fire a shot, chose to depart, breaking up their formation and racing into warp.

"I'm going to pass out now," Malkira warned as she collapsed. The copilot, seeing her condition, ordered a team to take her to the medical bay. Within minutes of the Zerg's retreat, the ships retreated back to the station, Selendis joining them. Within twenty minutes of their docking, Terra Firma was gone, having leapt to warp speed, heading for Forceria. Jason ensured that Malkira was transferred to the station's med bay and remained, along with her guards, with her. He knew that victory would not have been possible without her and he was damned if he was going to face her father without doing everything he could to ensure her own safety. A few hours later, Malkira groaned as she woke up from her exertions. A moment later, a guard passed her a glowing blue vial and another purple for her to drink. Swallowing them both with a grimace, Malkira then made her way up to the bridge of the station, noticing Jason standing from her bedside and falling into step beside her.

"You sure you should be up yet?" Jason asked.

"I took a mana regeneration and a mana potion. I'm fine, I just exhausted my magical reserves, if I were human I'd be in trouble but I'm much hardier than humans."

"Just as well. I'm not sure we'd have made it out without what you did. I'm grateful, Princess, even if it may not seem that way. I've buried enough people already, I've no desire to add to that list."

"Don't get into a mental fight with the Overmind… that was a little silly of me."

"Maybe, but it gave us the edge that we needed. Everyone on this station owes you their lives. I just hope your father doesn't kill me for this."

"You're safe… me on the other hand… he's going to not be happy with me. But then again, I am an adult."

"Exactly, and I think he'd have been less happy with your original idea. But I'll try and head him off if I can."

"Thanks, but to be honest, Dad would be a hypocrite if that were the case. Considering he was thrown into Lodoss with very little, making the trip… we would have had far more than that."

"True, but you said it yourself. He was thrown into Lodoss. You'd willingly risk entering something that unpredictable….well, I can't imagine that he wouldn't worry about not seeing you again and I know enough from what you've all told me to know that's a valid concern." Jason replied as they entered the bridge.

"Fair enough, we're approaching the minefield. Please open a com on frequency Sierra-097," Malkira requested.

Butler bent to the controls and nodded. "Channel open, Princess."

"Code, Wingover-Gold-Omnicron-187. Continue on this heading, you'll pass through. Just for the record that code is no longer good once we are past the field."

"A reasonable enough security concern. Take us in, Lieutenant." Butler ordered.

Despite the massive size of the station, it cruised through the minefield without incident, dropping its cloak before arriving at the other end. As soon as the planet came into view, an incoming transmission from the planet was picked up.

"About time Malkira, you took your time," Xapferey said to his daughter.

"Sorry Father, we had some unexpected company, we are ready here."

"Great, move the shipyard into position and get your friends down here to New Vancouver. Bunker Protocol is being enacted, no one in or out until everything is checked and re-checked."

"Understood Father, see you soon," she closed the channel, looking slightly perplexed.

"I take it Bunker Protocol isn't common." Jason asked.

"Bunker Protocol involves the minefield replicating to close off the hidden access paths. There is no entry or exit and 10 layers of cloaked self-replicating minefield between the entire system and the outside worlds."

"So the question is, why would he do that now?"

"I dunno, either In Utter Darkness. Or something big enough to spook him, not even the Zerg could get through those mines."

Jason looked unnerved. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like finding out the answer?"

"Because Father doesn't worry like this without cause. If something spooks him, we all suffer," Malkira said as her ears and wings drooped slightly in response to her worry.

"Great. Not exactly reassuring there." Jason turned to the others. "Mount up, we'll take the Liberator down as soon as we're cleared."

"No, Father has not declassified the space fleet yet, we'll have to beam down to the private meeting rooms. He'll make a MIRN announcement soon enough then we'll handle the Liberator and the fleet."

"Fair enough. We're still mounting up though. Something that can rattle him….I'm not taking chances."

"Let me just warn you now, Father's magical familiar is something you won't see for many years. They haven't evolved yet… A Raptor-strain Zergling."

Jason stared at her. "I'm not even going to ask. Thanks for the warning, though. Let's get on with this."

"Hold on, I gotta talk to Louise, make something that might make her either laugh or groan..." Malkira grinned.

"I'll leave you girls to it." Jason walked out, heading for his rooms on the Liberator. Malkira on the other hand went to go find Louise with a slight smile on her face.

"Hey Louise, you know Dad has a Raptor-strain Zergling as a familiar?" She asked.

Louise stared at her. "You have to be kidding, really?"

"Yup, guess what he named it…" Malkira grinned at her. "Imagine, Abathur meeting Abathur."

Louise smashed her head into her palm and groaned. "Of course he did."

"Personally I hope I took after mom's sense of humor… but that bracelet I told you about is ready. Why don't you go get Sarah then maybe have fun by messing with Jim a little after I get the bracelet?" She suggested.

Louise's laugh was loud and clear. "Remind me, if I ever get the desire to play a prank on you, don't, I think you'd come up with something cruel and heartless to repay me."

"No, I'm a Gold… not a Red. I'd just find something to up the ante and have you laugh… you've had enough cruelty to last a Dragon's lifetime," Malkira said honestly.

"Alright, then. Thank you." Louise smiled genuinely.

"No problem… be back in a flash," Malkira left in a flash of light. Returning a couple moments later in another flash. "Here you go, just run your finger over this rune line here, then think of the form you want," Malkira said passing the runecrafted bracelet over.

Louise took it eagerly, following Malkira's instructions. In a burst of light, she stood before Malkira in her original, terran form.

"Looking good Louise," Malkira smiled. "Let's get Sarah over here then drive Jim nuts."

"Oh this is going to be good." Louise grinned. Searching out mentally for Sarah, she called to her, "Sarah, can you come here for a moment?"

"This is going to be fun," Malkira cackled as she rubbed her hands together.

Sarah came around the corner and froze at the sight of herself. Her hand itched closer to her sidearm. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's ok Sarah, it's Louise using a gift that my father made," Malkira explained.

Sarah tilted her head.

"And it does what exactly?"

"Allows the keyed user to cast polymorph on themselves. They can pick any form they know within the same size as themselves. I figured you and Louise could use it to prank Jim and have some fun messing with his head. Especially with two Sarah Kerrigans around," Malkira grinned.

Sarah's expression suddenly went absolutely devious. "I think we can do a lot more than just mess with his head."

"Ha, this is going to be great, what do you have in mind?"

"Let's just say he's going to be wanting to find privacy fairly quickly." Sarah grinned.

"Oh this I gotta see," Malkira gestured towards wherever Jim was, as she rubbed her hands together in gleeful anticipation.

The three women, wearing decidedly gleeful expressions, strode towards the main deck, where the boys, Nova and Selendis were waiting. Jason, standing apart slightly with Nova, saw them first and his eyes narrowed. At Louise's finger on her lips, he stayed silent, but he was shaking as he worked out what had happened and what the ladies were planning.

Malkira stood off to the side with a small bag of popcorn in her hands as she waited for the fun to begin. Nova and Jason walked over to join her as the other two walked towards Jim, who hadn't noticed them yet.

"Are they going to do what I think they are?" Nova asked.

"Depends? What do you think they are going to do?" Malkira wondered.

"Knowing those two? Tease the living hell out of Jim." Jason replied. "Using their, uh, assets to maximum effect."

"Most likely… after what Louise went through I think she deserves to have some fun."

Jason's hand shot out and grabbed some of the popcorn. "Share the love." He insisted, handing some to Nova. Malkira grinned as she magically duplicated the popcorn to share with the trio as they watched the scene begin.

Sarah was first, wrapping her arms around Jim from behind, before sliding around to his front. "Ready to go, Jim?" She asked softly.

Jim smiled down at her. "Of course, darlin'. You enjoying yourself there?"

"Of course. And I doubt I'm the only one."

"Definitely not." Louise, with perfect timing, wrapped her own arms around Jim from behind, leaving him sandwiched between two very fit and attractive women. Jim tried to look around, confused, but Sarah distracted him with a light kiss on his lips. Louise, not to be outdone, pulled Jim's head around and placed a similar kiss on his cheek, not wanting to press too far into Sarah's territory. Jim finally managed to look at her and froze, stunned.

"Uh, uh, wha-?"

The two women giggled. "Enjoying yourself there, hotshot?"

Jim blinked, looking back and forward between the two, identical women. Suddenly, he pinched himself.

"Ouch. Ok, that rules out a very, very weird dream."

Malkira had pulled her wings in front of her and clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle her giggles at Jim Raynor's utterly perplexed expression. Nova and Jason weren't much better, trying desperately to restrain their own laughter

"I gotta record this, this is comedy gold," Malkira grinned.

Jason grinned and gestured towards the cameras in the corners subtly. "You think I didn't warn Butler to do just that when I worked out what you three were up to?"

"Oh gods…" Malkira couldn't help but let out a snigger. "He's never going to live this down."

"Not if we can help it." Butler's voice came quietly over their comms. "You're right, Jason. I'm making sure to transmit this to the Liberator live."

"BAHAHAHAHA!" Malkira couldn't hold it any longer as she began howling with laughter. "Oh Raynor… you should see the look on your face… I wonder what your friend Tychus would say if he could see it," Malkira managed to call out before she started laughing again.

Jason and Nova collapsed, laughing just as hard, but Jim hadn't noticed; his brain was still in the process of restarting. Both women leaned into his side and whispered together, "Pig."

With that, the pair turned and walked away, hips swaying provocatively. Jim was still frozen, his eyes tracking them as they departed. Finally, the noise of the other three's laughter penetrated his brain. None of them were in any condition to speak as tears ran down their faces. Malkira's wings were flapping gently on her back in response to her mirth.

"Oh I have to show that around," Malkira grinned as she continued to laugh.

Jim looked at them, before deciding that discretion was the better idea right now. All three were sure that he had some 'adjustments' to make.

"Just don't confuse one for the other," Malkira called after him. All three collapsed again at her words and Jim increased his pace out of the room. "Oh gods… this is the gift that keeps on giving," Malkira grinned through tears of laughter. "Ok…" Malkira pulled her amusement behind her mental shields. "Now we need to get to New Vancouver for planning and the fleet upgrading before we… reveal things to Draconia at large."

Jason managed to wrestle himself back under control. "All right, then we better get moving."

"Sovereign, this is Malkira, beam myself, Commander Davis, Captains Raynor and Kerrigan, Louise and Master Selendis to the private meeting room in New Vancouver."

The named members disappeared into blue shimmering light appearing in the beautiful meeting room. The walls were painted elegantly and the banners on the wall in Draconia's rich gold, white and red. The other Draconian royals were there already including Nethalus and Pirotess; alongside Zeratul and Tassadar. Jason bowed his head in greetings. "Well met, your Highnesses. I am Commander Jason Davis." He gestured towards the others in succession. "With me is Captains Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor, Master Selendis of the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet, Louise Kerrigan and Nova Terra."

"Welcome to New Vancouver everyone; I am Nethalus Manaweaver, Archduke of Draconia. This is my wife Pirotess Manaweaver," Nethalus gestured to the Dark Elf as she nodded in greeting. Nethaus gestured to the chairs around the meeting table, though some of them shifted magically to be more comfortable to the Protoss visitors.

"Everyone I'm going to be perfectly blunt and not waste time. We have spies among our forces, spies deeply embedded to the point where they serve Amon, who apparently is a servant of Kardis herself. For our visitors, Kardis is the Goddess of Destruction who slumbers under the Isle of Marmo to our south."

Jason stared at Xapferey. "If that's a joke, it's not funny."

"Does my husband seem the type to joke about such matters Commander? Samir Duran, an advisor and powerful servant to Amon said as much to myself," Deedlit said firmly.

"How? When?"

"New Fulsom, near the end of the fighting. Duran thought to try and kill me… surprisingly he was looking for you Jason. If you had been there it would not have ended well. Duran is powerful, and he knows about Forceria and our future knowledge. Thankfully he didn't seem to know about Louise."

"Which is why I'm going to settle this once and for all," Xapferey growled as his magic pulsed outwards. The bug hidden in the room was found and shattered by the furious Dragon actually pouring all his arcane powers and skill into finding it and breaking it. "Someone planted a bug early on… it's been there for years. Before the oaths could be fully locked."

"Most of those people are dead or retired," Deedlit growled.

"Have each of them questioned and fully investigated. It's clear I've been too lenient among the religious sects. Make note as of this moment any worship of Kardis or any of the Dark Gods are banned until further notice. Sign it under section 33 of the Charter," Xapferey ordered, invoking the notwithstanding clause. "Now we can talk freely."

Jason, noticing the location of the flare, crouched down, picking up the bug's remains. "Would have been nice to have tracked down the receiver for this; it's very complicated." He noticed something. "Sarah, you want to have a look at this?"

She crossed the room. "What is it?"

Jason pointed. "I'm not an expert, but that looks familiar to me. Not on that scale, though."

"Who's been messing around in my lands?" Xapferey snarled feeling his hackles rise.

"Someone with access to advanced Terran technology." Sarah said grimly. "That's a Moebius Reactor, but miniaturized to an incredible level. I've never seen anything quite like it."

Tassadar crossed the room and examined the device. "For good reason. They have not only done that, but combined it with a Khaydarin Amulet, similarly scaled. This shouldn't be possible."

" Amon is a Xel'naga my friends… he is the one who uplifted your society or had a part in it. Getting your tech or crystals would be easy enough for him. Bah… no matter, we will deal with them in the end. So now, we will prepare our way… we will now introduce our allies and the grand chessboard we are playing on, with that we will then have the means and ability to finish Amon for good."

"From what everyone's been saying, that's not going to be easy." Jim said.

"Can we back up a little, please?" Nova asked.

"Of course Nova," Xapferey agreed after calming himself a little on images from Starcraft of the Xel'naga Kerrigan blowing Amon's head off. "What's the problem?"

"Why is Duran after Jason?"

"I don't know," Deedlit said honestly. "He was expecting Jason at New Fulsom, not me."

"A fair assumption to make, if Duran doesn't know about Terra Firma. But what reason would he have for hunting Jason?" Sarah replied.

"Again we don't know… from our knowledge perspective Jason didn't exist or wasn't developed as a character. Face facts Sarah we're groping in the dark here. Louise, can you form larvas to become drones?" Xapferey wondered.

"I can do it, sure. Speaking of the Zerg, though, they retreated at Terra Firma. The Zerg never retreat."

"I may have given the Overmind pause, as such he recalled his forces to ponder matters," Malkira theorized.

"That close to Sarah?" Jason asked.

"When Zeratul killed the Cerebrate Zasz, It was silent for some time… things that it does not expect make It cautious… a being strong enough to force it back from the Zerg in psionic combat? I'd withdraw in its situation to regroup and figure things out."

"Yes, but you're not the Overmind, either. From what you and Louise told us, it's essentially chained to Amon's will, with only the smallest room for adjustment. The Zerg have never shown any reluctance to continue fighting to the death before, why is this different? Too much isn't making any sense."

"Because of us… the meddlers. Events are beyond measure now, all we can do is work towards Amon's death and to do that we need to get allies. We need Terrans, Zerg, Protoss and Draconians together," Xapferey said.

"Agreed."

"Now, please get the shipyards moving and the time field powered up. I have to take care of something." Xapferey departed the room, his protections ready as he slipped into his private shuttle. Stealth launching it into space via its phasing cloak, he used his override codes to make a path through the minefield and jumped to warp with its upgraded drive. Once secure and Malika taking over control, he slipped into his ritual circle.

Surrounded by shielding, cloaking and empowered wards Xapferey cast his mind into the ethereal plane. He headed towards a volcanic world he knew well: Char. Once there, he homed in on the strongest psionic presence, and thanks to his wards, it would give him time for a short conversation with the powerful Overmind, a conversation with the Overmind, temporarily protected and shielded from Amon's influence, and thanks to the slumbering of the Dark Being, he would get away with it unnoticed.

"Overmind," Xapferey greeted.

"Emperor Xapferey. This was not foreseen."

"No, nor did I ever foresee the need or ability to speak with you in person… more or less. In this place we can speak freely. Things have spiralled beyond reckoning for the moment. I'm certain we have questions for each other. Tell me, at Terra Firma, why did you retreat? It does not strike me as normal Zerg behavior."

"Why would you expect me to give up such information to you? We are enemies, after all."

"Are we? I respect Purity of Essence. Secondly we both are enemies of Amon, you seek to overcome him, as do I."

"That may be so, but even without his direct influence, the fetters placed on my mind by him are not easily broken. I cannot give you what you seek."

"Perhaps not, but I know what it is you seek… and what you plan. Every part of me is highly reluctant to go through with that plan."

"Yet, you know there is no other option. Not if you wish to save your friends."

"Untrue, there are other options, some are more viable than others. With practice I could mimic your control over the Swarm and create my own."

"That would be dangerous and you must know that. In addition, you do not have the time it would take."

"Agreed, but I do have a final weapon, neither you nor Amon know about, nor shall they till it is time to reveal it."

"This conversation serves no purpose for either of us."

"I suppose not, farewell Overmind… we may speak again, if we do I will concede to your prior plans for getting around Amon."

Breaking the connection, Xapferey snuck back to Draconia and into his meditation chamber. Exiting it and controlling his emotions, Xapferey went to Louise.

"Louise, we need you to take position on the fourth planet in this system, every moon possible, I need you to build a Swarm of your own, I'll provide the biomass you need. I know of several good sources for lots of biomass and resources."

Louise sighed. "I'm not so sure about this, but alright. It will cost you, though."

"Louise, in this situation I will pay what is necessary to avoid annihilation."

"Nothing so dramatic. But you can tell me where you have been."

"I did something foolish, while heavily warded so nothing could find me… I went to talk to the Overmind through the astral plane."

Louise was frozen in shock before doing something she never would have thought she'd do.

She slapped Xapferey right across his face. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

"Jury's out…" he cracked his neck slightly. "I wanted to see what I could get from It… it got nothing from me either, you couldn't break my shields; neither could it before I cut the connection. I am trying to prevent your younger self from suffering your fate."

"That is irrelevant." Louise snarled. "The only way you could have done that is at close range. That means you went to Char, alone."

"No, and no… I didn't go to Char; I didn't even enter the system physically. My runic circle hid and shielded my presence while boosting the range I could project myself. Nor was I alone."

"What did you have, a ship? A shuttle? Not to mention that if you got out, then someone else could get in."

"Stealth shuttle, and again wrong, the minefield will only allow my command codes in Bunker Protocol or Deedlit's if my codes are no longer valid."

"And if someone was close enough to monitor you, they'd be able to read your codes and use them."

"No they would not, they need my current brain pattern scans, gel handprint, magical signature, DNA code, and the damn code which rotates randomly and constantly. I don't even know the code till I get myself directly validated by my blood-locked AI. Unless they have all of them the minefield ignores that code and launches mines at the attempter, impersonating or trying to impersonate a royal code is a treasonable offence."

"All of which can be bypassed by someone of Duran's power and ability. I know him, Xapferey, better even than you. He was holding back against Deedlit, believe me."

"And yet you managed to kill him… twice. Besides. Now my codes are locked out to exit or enter until all of us lift Bunker. He's not getting in."

"I defeated his physical form, yes. But he has more power available than that."

"According to what I know, you trashed him in the Void as well."

"If I did, then it would have been as bait."

"Ok, I'm going to have to park you in front of a computer with Starcraft," Xapferey said with a slight smile.

"Oh no, you're not distracting me. Why did you do something so stupid?"

"Because I wanted to see what I could find out, and I took every precaution I could."

"And what exactly did you discover?"

"Bugger all really… He wants Sarah go figure I won't give him Sarah. I know what it's like Louise; I underwent a similar situation as you did with Abathur. Which is why I want you to make your own Swarm."

"Then I'm adding a price to it. You tell the others what you did."

"Fine, my oath I will tell them what I did," Xapferey promised.

"Now, mister."

"By your command Your Royal Bladeness, and who would you like me to tell exactly? If we are being specific."

"Jason and his team, the Protoss here on the planet and your family, since you want to play like this."

"Fine, I will, and I'll do it now… for the record Louise, I am already a demi-God, I'm just missing a component to make the ascension. My people venerate me, soon I will make that last step."

"No need to tell me." Jason's voice came from behind them. "That was easy enough to see."

"How do you figure?" Xapferey groaned as he rolled his eyes and turned to Jason.

"The way your people react to you. Seen it often enough." Jason crossed his arms. "I'm not sure if I should simply beat you to a pulp, or call Deedlit and Malkira down and explain what you did to them. Malkira was beating herself up over her little fight with the Overmind, but if you're trying to eclipse her, you've succeeded."

"I've done stupider, I've fought dragons whose jaws are bigger than my whole body. Secondly, if you want to beat me to a pulp, I'll let you try, but I'll be in my real form."

"Which is why I'll settle for talking to your wife and daughter."

"Go ahead, I wasn't going to give Malkira a hard time over what she did, I'd be a hypocrite… a big one."

"I notice how you didn't mention your wife."

"Because in accordance with Elf traditions, everything she shared with me from her life before she left her home is secret; and not to be shared without her permission. Secondly Deedlit faced off against Duran, I'd call that a little crazy."

"Yeah, had a similar discussion with your daughter about some of her ideas. I'll say the same thing to you; she was forced into it, you chose to do it."

"Jason, I've had to do a lot of stupid things. I've walked on lands cursed by Kardis herself at the height of her powers. I've handled and made magic equivalent of a nuclear bomb. I'm nearly a god, as my power grows so does my wisdom and plans."

"That may be so, but no one is perfect. Not even you. You yourself have proven that gods can fall." Jason looked serious. "Don't ever assume that just because you are close to a god, you can't be stopped, outthought or beaten. Everything that has a beginning also has an end. Arrogance is a very quick way to reach that end. I may not have been alive for hundreds of years, or be able to manipulate time and space, but I've stayed alive by knowing when to fight, when to take risks and when to cut and run. What you did was a stupid risk with no real possibility for gain, and I think that you knew that."

"I suppose I did, but it is not arrogance, but confidence that I speak. I know my limits far better than you Jason, and I am cautious to not step outside them."

"I hope so, my friend. I hope so." Jason turned and started walking away. "You mind giving me a lift back to the Liberator? I've got some things to sort out."

"Of course my friend, though I will need you back down here in a couple hours for the announcement." Xapferey made a portkey for Jason to use as he handed it to him. "It's a returning portkey, it'll activate when you say, 'meeting our destiny.'"

"I'll be here." Jason activated the portkey and disappeared with Louise.

"Now… to prepare my speech for the Empire and tell them we gotta stop the universe from ending," the Dragon grumbled as he walked to his office.