Matthew knew that, with the death of Jim, the Raiders were in a bad sort, but their duty was to protect Valerian Mengsk from the hostile hand of his hand as they had been bouncing around the system, keeping two steps ahead of Mengsk when the Dominion started to lose traction, reports of Zerg attacks started to pop up on the more Dominion-dependent worlds and the Emperor was forced to give up the chase on the Raiders as they caught a breath while in Dominion space, but something was not... right as tech moved about and Matt found something was not right indeed as he spoke to Valerian. "Valerian, we're picking up some kind of reading-"
"Warning. Psionic waveform detected. Scale unclassifiable." Matt narrowed his brow in confusion to what the Adjutant had just said, the strongest reading of a Psionic being was that of Kerrigan while she was under whatever control or something as the screen started to fix itself from the white noise to display a familiar face, too familiar as the carapace lined down her neck, her hair were unleashed to long tendrils of Zerg, but her appearance was a real worry as she now had wings again, Mutalisk-like wings to compliment her now-violet essence and presence as Matt spoke in disbelief.
"Kerrigan! What happened to you? How..."
"There's no time. Listen carefully, Jim is alive and I can't find him. But you can." His heart jumped in hope, he held to that hope and it blazed in his body like ten shots of his Hyperion Awakener coffee as Kerrigan continued. "Hack the Dominion network and figure out where they're holding him." Valerian glanced to Matt for clarity on what to make of it.
"How can we trust her?"
"Valerian... if there is even a chance that Jim is alive, I'm going after him." Valerian nodded as he spoke on the chances of them getting into the network without getting noticed.
"Hacking the Dominion security network will prove difficult."
"Only one man can hack that network: Colonel Orlan." His hope blazed on as he knew who had the 'good' Colonel and suspected that it was only right to do something different than just running. "And he's being held prisoner by... Mira Han."
"The mercenary leader? Isn't she a friend of yours?"
"Not exactly, Valerian. It's a bit more complicated than that." He rolled his neck as he spoke. "Let's get this done."
"Find him, Matt. We both owe it to him." Kerrigan's face disappeared from the screen before Matt went through the console and spoke to the other side that he rang up.
"Wrench, you were right, you were right all this time, and now I need you and the Phobos to meet up with the Hyperion at these coordinates, Kerrigan's back and she has a lead on Jim..."
Kerrigan breathed to the open void of space, knowing that Matt would come through with finding Jim, only he was the reason why she didn't move on Korhal, she could rid Mengsk of his playing pieces before hitting him with everything she had as Izsha spoke, having coming from the walls again. "We have arrived in Dominion space. Should we move on Korhal?"
"Not yet, I have to deal with something first."
"Will this give us some special advantage, my queen? Should Abathur be ready for new essence?"
"Silence, Izsha. This is a personal matter. It will end badly, but I must see it through." Kerrigan paused before she spoke again. "Mengsk thinks that he will hold me back with holding a... friend hostage and using him as a causality if we struck now, I intend to rid him of that chance before we move on Korhal, so no essence to find or gather here... unless Abathur somehow manages to get another strain available for evolution."
"As you wish, my queen." Izsha left and Kerrigan took to strolling through the Leviathan, taking in the various strains aboard before finding Stukov peering out to the void as well and listening to him speak of it.
"When I see the stars arrayed before me like this, I think of Earth. I remember its green hills."
"You can't go home again." The Vice-Admiral pushed off as he answered back.
"I know, I have no place on Earth now."
"I mean I won't let you. Your return will be noticed by the government of Earth. They might consider another expedition to our little corner of space." He glanced over to her as he spoke.
"They will come back someday, you know."
"I do. And I will be ready for them." He nodded before resuming to stare out to the stars while Kerrigan continued on her path before finding Dehaka with Skorch slumbering for now before she thought about something and turned to the Primal leader to ask.
"Why are you so obsessed with collecting essence?"
"It will mean survival."
"Because new essence makes you powerful?"
"Power will be a trap. The pack leaders fell to this." Kerrigan didn't quite grasp it firmly as she asked further, essence could mean anything and it was often, form the Primal Pack Leaders, that essences means power, but Skorch and Dehaka didn't favor that thought.
"If is not power, what is it you get from essence?"
"Essence is change. Change is survival. Collect and live. Stay still and die." Change... Kerrigan hummed as she continued, change to alter yourself to match the surroundings, change to give you something new than before that would help, change to make you better in some way or another.
She too has changed to match her new role, but she was still the same, just different in a number of ways and she hoped that it was... enough to show Jim if they ever met face-to-face one day as the Zerg roamed Dominion space, avoiding the area where Kerrigan could sense Matt and Valerian were, as well as another as she headed into the Evolution Pit to ask Abathur a foolish, but interesting question.
"Is it possible for the Swarm to hack into the Dominion network?"
"Terran systems, inelegant. Problem with interchange. Many factors obstruct request. Biology, language."
"So our thoughts are too different for anything beyond simple transmissions."
"Accurate. Zerg processes complex. Incompatible with Terran machinery."
"Then it's up to Valerian now." Then Abathur spoke again.
"Entity Izsha made claim of discovering essence by Queen of Blades challenge. Will find new strain or evolve untampered strain to new limit."
"Oh god..." Kerrigan rubbed her temples in disbelief, just her luck that Abathur would be a bit upset about it and would want to prove her wrong...
Valerian didn't quite understand what the problem was with Matt, enough to invite the new captain of the Battlecruiser Phobos, their old friend of Alexander Wrench, back into the fray when he could be aiding in keeping the Dominion intact in some part on another world, but he didn't push it as he spoke to the comm connection to Mira Han. "Mira Han, this is Prince Valerian. Do you read me?"
"Of course I do, Princess. I know you're working with Matthew. Put him on, please." He forced himself to not scowl at her clear disregard for him as he spoke.
"You forget yourself, mercenary!"
"Hello Mira." Matt spoke as he approached the console and the spark popped out as Mira gleeful spoke.
"Matthew! You never write, you never call. It's almost as if you don't care!"
"Been running an outfit against the current Dominion, you can't blame me for that." He resolved his stance as he spoke. "Now I'm here to ask for your help. You've got Colonel Orlan and we need him. He's the only man who can hack the Dominion's deep-encryption network."
"Well, I'd love to help. I just need the permission of James Raynor."
"Mira, we both know that this isn't a game if I came looking for Orlan and if Jim is not here to answer. Mira, we need him to find Jim so we can rescue him, so I don't think it fair that you would withhold him while we have this argument about it." Mira bit her lip, glancing to the side before she spoke again.
"I am sorry, Matthew, but I can't give you Colonel Orlan." But Matt could speak, she continued. "Recently, someone took Orlan while you and the Raiders were on Deadman's Port, it was done under the mutiny. Now, they are using a repurposed space station stolen from the Marauders to keep him secure and hidden." She hummed as she spoke. "Now, for someone with your devilish good looks and brooding intensity to clear them out and take Orlan, I am certain that it would be fair game and keep us from arguing too much in the end, don't you think, darling?" The link cut and two blinked in confusion before Alexander spoke with looking to Matt.
"I guess that is one way to avoid getting into a feud, just point at another sort of issues and clear it up for the other member to honor their arrangement." Matt hummed with pointing at him before he gave up.
"Someone else, get the coordinates from Mira, I didn't plan for this change up." The crew chuckled as Valerian was left confused before he spoke to glancing to the disappearing Matt and the console.
"What... what was all that about?" Alex huffed with a smile before he leaned over and whispered, Valerian listening before he frowned and spoke. "Oh... OH! I don't want to know now!"
Both the Hyperion and the Phobos arrived to the asteroid field where the 'good' Colonel was being held as Valerian spoke. "We could destroy the operations in this asteroid field. That will get their attention."
"We'll have to cripple the prime space station. They won't make it easy for us and we need Orlan alive to hack." Valerian nodded as he spoke.
"We'll need to set up our own base." Thankfully, there was a site close by that could serve as their main base of operations against these pirates.
"One of Mira's fleet stations is nearby. We can take them out and set up our own station." With that, both capital ships moved in and, while the Hyperion had a crack team of men in her hull to move her, the Phobos, with its sleeker and more compacted form of a Minotaur to the Behemoth-class, her crew served to service the Phobos to the same standard as the Hyperion, short-jumps being the same, but the Tac-Fighters were replaced with a wings of Hel Angels, automated to be safe, and the Yamato cannon were exchange for a short burst of Drakken Laser as they took out the position and moved in to take over as a surprise came.
A space station came, but its colors and ships were under a different leader as she joined the fray, the Talos, an old Behemoth Battlecruiser repurposed and reserviced by Mercenaries and her captain the same love-struck wife of Matt Horner. "Matthew, I apologize for cutting in, but when mercs don't listen, they need to be taught a lesson."
"Oh boy..." Matt utter with a short rub of the temples before he spoke again. "Understood, but we need Orlan so you are going to have to hold back on your 'punishment' until after we get him back."
"Of course, Matthew, I wouldn't dare try anything of that matter with you, nor with your ally." The station was the same as what Valerian was going to call in as he told them to standby for another time as Mira also explained to Valerian that, while the inner circles listened and did things through politics, the outer limits were more feral, might makes right, you have to possess cunning and strategy out there or you are going nowhere fast.
Between the Griffins fighters and Valkyr bombers, the addition of Mag Mines made the fight a bit more challenging with the strike platform and starports, but they quickly even the fight with finding mineral fields and collecting them as Mira's ship had the same jump, but her 'Tac-Fighters' was replaced with refashioned wing of Valkyrie frigates and her 'Yamato Cannon' had lost its power of one hit to make up for it in a burst of three smaller ones.
The space station manufactured the same as the pirates, but when they pushed, the line got deeper as Horner spoke to a new signal. "Sensors are picking up a Kel-Morian operation nearby. They've got some tough defenses."
"And they've got capital-class ship... We could always bypass them."
"They might have some valuable resources or equipment."
"A detour to purge the miners and enforce our ships, I like the sound of that."
"Of course you would, you pirate." Wrench smirked as the trio headed in, they push having gotten the line far along the the pirates would be hard-pressed to kick them back to the station as the Kel-Morian operation came under attack, but the Capital was a problem as it fought back, cloaked, and unleashed an EMP to knock the ships out of commission for a moment, but Mira had a few choice words about getting hitting herself and that fueled their interest in putting the ship down, an old Cerberus-class Battlecruiser, if Alexander recalled correctly before the ship buckled under their fire and the Hyperion picked up what was causing the EMP with Swann whistling.
"They had an electric field generator. This baby overlords enemy craft, disabling them for a little while."
"Let's get it installed, chief engineer!"
"It's already online, Scooter. I do good work."
"Scooter?" Valerian's naming crisis would have to wait as the trio headed back into the fray, the Phobos getting outfitted with the Kel-Morian's fleet station remains to give it a heavy-duty bombardment while the Talos picked the cloaking field and augmented it into her body, as they cut through once more before Mira spoke with glee.
"Oh Matthew, I hate when we fight. But I love it when we fight together."
"Do you two have some kind of strange history?" Valerian asked and Matt just huffed as he spoke.
"Please, don't encourage her, we will deal with it later." Valerian closed his mouth about it as they found one of the starports and blasted it to pieces as Valerian exclaimed.
"Nice work. Let's keep pushing forward." The station now unleashed Valkyries to fight as it warped to the new threshold as a voice over the comms exclaimed.
"What the hey, Dominion lapdogs, breaking my wares, I am going to treat you to a large feast of Yamato blitz."
"Of course, it's this lowlife."
"You recognize him, Mira?"
"His name is Hans D. Lowdon and he is one of the more annoying of mercs on Deadman's Port, he is credited for making a profit in civil conflicts and large-scale operations among Terrans, he has no spine for a fight, and will use up his entire stockpile to protect his hide from possible ends." The two captains nodded as they pressed on against the mines, the fleets, and the stations, while also improving the ships to stronger and better levels of power against the mercs before crushing the second threshold and Valerian cheering as they breached it with their space station.
"We're winning! Keep moving forward!" Other than Hans complaining that they stole all of the minerals along the path and in the pockets, the station now sent Cerberus Battlecruisers to fight, and good thing too as the mercs were now sending Minotaurs to fight them, making the push harder, but not impossible as they arrived to the station before Mira and Matt started to 'play' with each other.
"Matthew. When this is over, I want a nice time, so don't think I will make this easy on you!"
"When have you ever made anything easy on me?"
"I always thought you like it rough, but you surprised me, so I want to get a run for my credit with your performance."
"Good heavens..." Alexander rubbed his temples as he spoke back, his crew chuckling with the Hyperion's crew. "Mira, did my actions at the Port AND our short drop by make you insatiable?"
"I don't know what you mean, Wrench, I am just commenting about my actions and what comes after."
"That's what I'm mildly afraid of, that I can't keep up."
"Do not test my patience, Matthew."
"You bought this on yourself, Mira. I wanted to play nice." The battle against the space station was rough, made easier with the destruction of the starports supplying ships to the mercs before the station erupted and was crippled, signaling their victory...
Mira joined them in a chat as she spoke, across three ships at that. "Well, it would seem Hans pooled his last credit into the station, so now he is broke and I now have free reign here, but first, I will need to rebuild the forces here and start supplying scrap, minerals, and possible vespene to possible buyers first."
"She is very strange." Valerian spke ot Matt as he lightly shook his head before he asked.
"Please, can we just take Colonel Orlan and go? Possibly right now?"
"Matt..." Matt cleared his throat as he spoke.
"Just saying, the change in behavior kind of scares me a bit." Alex nodded as Mira spoke up with getting Orlan.
"I'm sending that disreputable fellow to you in a shuttle, he actually brought these mercs with what is left of his minerals."
"You people are all crazy. Why would I help you?" Valerian Mengsk made a counter point to the terrified Orlan.
"We could send you back to Mira Han." Orlan hung his head as he spoke.
"Tell me what you need."
"I must rebuild the location for Mira's Marauders, thanks to you, Matthew. But I will see you again, maybe... spend some time?"
"I can do that, Mira, just let's keep it mild, I need to go get Jim after." The comm cut to Mira as he called out. "All hands, ready for shore leave, I am entrusting Valerian to watch over the Hyperion and Orlan with some of his troops, we earned this." Valerian muttered to Alex as the crew cheered to help the Marauders with clean up and drinking.
"And I thought Dominion politics were vicious."
"That's what we get, but they are trustworthy, the Phobos stands by to keep Orlan under lock and key."
Kerrigan was informed of Naktul's return into the Swarm with her leadership over the remaining broodmothers not joined back up and Kerrigan sent them to locations of the Dominion where the Dominion held tough against the Swarm, not Korhal as that was a personal battle to fight before Izsha spoke again with the full return of the Swarm. "The broodmothers dislike you working with the Terrans."
"They were necessary to my plans."
"They are asking if we may destroy the Terrans, now that they are no longer useful." Kerrigan shook her head as she refuted the desire to destroy the Terrans that she had sent for a mission.
"Tell them those Terrans are not to be harmed. It is my will."
"I will tell them, my queen." With that, Kerrigan turned her attention to the Hyperion and the Phobos, both hovering there in space before she channeled herself into the comms again and spoke to Valerian as she inquired.
"Have you found anything?"
"Colonel Orlan is hacking into the Dominion net right now."
"Tell him he's got one hour."
"I won't do that, Kerrigan." Her fury grew as she growled, she was desperate to find Jim and Valerian was making it harder for her to trust him.
"You've already in over my head. Don't make it worse."
"If the Dominion senses our intrusion, they'll move Jim, or kill him. I am not going to risk failure because you are impatient, so save your threats." Kerrigan calmed with a nod as she remarked.
"You're done some growing up since Umoja."
"Zerg are not the only ones who adapt." She nodded as she spoke.
"Very well, I will wait for your expert to do his work." She reached out and... quickly pulled back in closing the call, blinking a few times to clear her mind. 'Not what I was expecting, but how Matt got that hellion as a wife is BEYOND me, even now!' She sensed some argument and headed down to one of the other chambers to find Dehaka and Zagara about to duke it out while Skorch and Alice looked ready to stop them from doing so.
"There will be no essence here. I cannot collect if there is none."
"We are here because our queen orders it. Do not dare question!"
"I follow for essence."
"You must learn obedience, Primal!"
"Yes, come to me. I will collect your essence now." Both tensed to strike before Kerrigan willed her power and all ceased their attempts to attack as she commanded.
"Enough! Zagara, do not speak for me, you shouldn't fight my battles for me. Dehaka, do not collect from my Swarm. We will head out soon, THEN you can collect essence." Both bowed as Skorch and Alice breathed before they turned to her.
"Queen of Blades makes point, her will done here and we will follow, but many here are restless, our claws and talons are meant for places where our tracks can be made, not in the void of space."
"We have the aid of the Terrans with us, but how long will it take before they yield the location of Raynor?"
"I tried to push it, but the 'Prince' made it clear that was was getting antsy myself, so I will wait for news, you all must divide and rest, we will not head into battle quite yet, but when we do, it will be against the strongest force of Terran that had emerged since the Brood Wars, so bare with it."
"As you command, my Queen." The four headed off before Kerrigan went searching and found Stukov before he spoke as she barely passed him, his eyes on the Hyperion.
"You know I never told you about how I was uninfected." She paused before joining him.
"You never didn't."
"It was due to the same person we're now rescuing. James Raynor."
"Jim? He's the one that uninfested you?" Stukov nodded as he explained.
"The Protoss were working on a serum that would reverse the infestation on the Terrans. Raynor had leading his forces to defeat me before reverting me back. That man is a smart one. I can see why he risked his life to save you."
"It's time I did the same." She headed down and found that Abathur was true to his word.
"Strains discovered for Corruptor mutation, Queen of Blades will judge and deem new mutation for Swarm to use and to be mainstay for all, if most of Swarm."
"Here we go..."