Author's Note: In a bout of dissatisfaction with the execution of my works, I decided to revise the stories I had already uploaded, starting in early 2019. In my infinite idiocy, I appear to have misplaced an entire chapter of Star Reaver and only realized it when uploading Chapter 15. Now everything is where it belongs. Hopefully.

Chapter 9 – Scouring Ruins

August 16th 2502, 00:00

Outskirts of Tarsonis City

"Man, why the hell do we always use Dominion Standard time everywhere anyway? It makes no sense." one of the Alpha Squadron marines muttered to a fellow soldier as they covered the rear of the formation.

"Beats me." the other marine replied with a shrug.

In fact, it was high noon in that section of Tarsonis, and even with their hi-tech armors, they still felt some discomfort. It didn't help that they were crossing a large section of asphalt, likely the remains of an ancient highway. There were lots of things about Dominion regulations that nobody really understood, so they usually attributed them to Mengsk imposing them as an exercise of his power. Forcing all Dominion worlds to universally adopt his capital city's timezone was just one of his extravagant edicts.

"Cut the chatter you two!" A sergeant shouted through the radio. The two marines quickly snapped to attention and resumed scanning for threats.

Kain had insisted in taking point, not wanting to miss the action. He was dreadfully bored and quite unimpressed with the former Confederate capital so far. He had refused to wear any armor, and the only weapon he was carrying was a neosteel sword strapped to his back. It was a poor substitute for his esteemed Soul Reaver, and he only carried it for variety's sake. He figured he might as well see how the locals' weapons fared against the Zerg, seeing how easily he had dispatched them with only his claws and telekinetic abilities. The men under his command had found it quite strange that he would go on a mission unarmored, but after what had happened the last time he'd fought, nobody dared to openly question him. It had also been his idea to perform the tactical insertion on the outskirts of the city, rather than using drop pods to land closer to their objective. He could sense a considerable hidden Zerg presence in the area, and though he was confident in his own abilities, he was no fool.

Two hours passed as they made their way across the ruins, often climbing over the remains of toppled buildings. The billions of Zerg that had once overrun the planet had made ample use of infested Terrans in the area, causing untold mayhem. Still, he managed to find an abandoned railway line that was relatively intact.

"Where does this lead?" he asked an adjutant via his portable communicator.

"Records indicate it connects to Hapsburg Station." the adjutant replied. "One moment. Additional information accessed. There is a hidden underground access tunnel leading to the complex housing ATLAS. It was built for emergency evacuation purposes, with a separate power source from the rest of the network."

"How do we get in?" Kain asked.

"One moment. Uploading navigational data."

The AI transferred the relevant data to a wrist console Kain had been issued along with the rest of the paraphernalia indicative of his rank and position. He had found the device to be quite useful, though its tendency to spout Dominion propaganda was unnerving and an unwelcome distraction.

Soon, a path appeared on the screen, indicating the appropriate route to the railway station and the subway tunnel beneath it. Kain led his men through the deserted streets, past a few crashed hovercars and a building that had suffered the impact of a large, bulky freighter ship. Even though the Zerg invasion had taken place long before his coming, Kain could picture scenes of utter chaos and devastation just by looking at the ruins. In his eyes, the Zerg were more terrible foes than any force he had commanded in the days of his ascent. Though individually weak compared to him and his kin, with their sheer numbers they could give the Hylden pause.

The railway station was a large, ample building with an architectural style that could be considered impressive were it not for the state of disrepair, with trampled skeletons littering the hallways, and for the overabundance of golden decorations shaped like scantly clad women with large busts and carrying various oversized guns that had clearly been picked by someone with very bad taste. Kain noticed an intense, unpleasant smell that reminded him of horses as he made his way further inside, and after making it past the main lobby he came across a large bar with round chromed tables, mahogany seats with red cushions and a thick wooden counter littered with nicks and cuts over its surface. There were dozens of Confederate flags all over the walls, along with various old guns and trophies.

It would seem, Kain mused to himself, that Vorador was not the only one who combined affluence and poor taste. Behind the counter he found the source of the offending odor, a stack of metal kegs containing some sort of local beverage.

"Holy shit!" a young private cried at the sight with an accent that was, at least to Kain, rather annoying. "Sir, that's Type 49! There's some top grade moonshine right in these here kegs!"

"And what, pray tell, is so special about this so-called moonshine?" Kain asked, surprised at the outburst.

"Well ya see sir, back before the Zerg came down on Tarsonis, there was a family of famous brewers livin' around here. Their stuff was good enough to make grown men cry, but for some weird reason they only produced it locally. We all thought this stuff was gone for good, but if we take these back with us, we can figure out the recipe and make more."

Kain sighed and stared at the man.

"Look here, Private. We have a mission to accomplish and it is already troublesome enough without us having to haul these things around. What could possibly make this beverage worth the trouble?"

"Well sir, I have it on good authority that the Emprah loves Type 49." He said hopefully.

Kain pondered his options, and realized that the discovery of the kegs had provided him with a good opportunity. He was growing frankly bored of babysitting the troops. They were far too noisy for his taste, and after his mission in the mining colony he doubted they would be of much use in case of any real trouble. With an unsettling smile, Kain turned to the communications operative that had been assigned to the squadron.

"Change of plans." the vampire said. "I could do with a little exercise, and I am sure the Emperor will appreciate this little surprise. You men secure the goods and signal for retrieval. I shall go ahead on my own."

The members of the squadron looked at each other and then at Kain as if he was crazy. Still, nobody dared to question him. The way he always emerged unscathed from combat wasn't just eerie. He had often been the only one to return in one piece, and the survivors would tell strange tales of how he singlehandedly put the Zerg out of commission. General Kain of the Vempari Segment was admired by those who worked with him, but there were times when he, quite frankly, scared them.

For about fifteen minutes, Kain just dashed through the tunnels. Much to his boredom, nothing seemed to jump out of the shadows to get in his way. Just as he came upon a large metal hatch, his communicator rang.

"What is it?"

"Sir, the cargo is secure. Orders?"

Kain sighed in frustration. He wasn't expecting them to finish so quickly. He tried to open the hatch, but it wouldn't budge. According to the navigation data, the secret subway line was just beyond it.

"I have reached some sort of hatch, but it is not being very cooperative." Kain grunted as he attempted to pry it off its hinges.

"Sir, that access point is magnetically sealed." the communications officer said.

"So how do I open it?" Kain asked with a hint of annoyance.

"We're going through the old Confederate access codes as we speak."

"Forget it." Kain said, before grabbing the hatch and pulling with all his might. The metal groaned in protest, but did not give in right away. Feeling he had wasted enough time, Kain called upon his telekinesis to supplement his physical strength. Soon, he was tearing out the oversized piece of metal and casually throwing it over his shoulder.

"Sir? What was that?" The communications officer asked through the comlink.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Kain said with a look of utter boredom on his face.

He jumped down the vertical shaft the hatch was blocking and found himself in a wide tunnel. Ahead of him were some subway tracks and a three-car train covered in dust. It was clear that nobody had been to those tunnels since the Zerg invasion. Kain wondered if he was going to have to smash or tear something else to get the train moving, but after prying open a set of double doors and stepping inside, he found that the whole thing was operated through a very simple console. The subway train quickly picked up speed and started darting through the lightless tunnels. After about ten minutes, it seemed that the trip would be without incident, but then Kain saw a large mass ahead and was forced to stop the train. With a sigh of frustration, he leaned forward to see what was blocking the way, and to his disappointment, the entire tunnel seemed to be blocked by a blend of huge chunks of broken concrete, earth and metal debris.

"The tunnel has collapsed." he said into the communicator. "We have already wasted enough time. Find me an alternate route."

A few moments later one of the engineers who had come with the squadron reported the existence of a small maintenance shaft that ran parallel to the tunnel. After a few more minutes backtracking ad looking for the entrance back in the station, Kain finally made some progress. The maintenance shaft was cramped, completely dark and had a moldy smell that irritated his nose, but at least it ran all the way through.

Half an hour later, Kain was emerging at a large plaza dominated by a massive metal dome. Kain checked the maps in the device's memory and saw that the dome was a mere shell, and the real prize lay underground, protected by twenty layers of neosteel.

He approached the dome and saw a bulky blast door. Upon examination he realized that the opening mechanism was nowhere in sight.

"I have reached the site." he spoke into the communicator. "How do I open this door?"

"Uh... there's a bit of a problem sir." One of the engineers said. "For security reasons, the door can only be opened from the inside."

"Wonderful." Kain sarcastically replied. "Is there any other way inside? Does the building have any air vents?"

"No sir. It was designed to be completely sealed."

Kain sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering something about incompetent paranoid humans.

"Do we have the means to cut through this material?"

"Yes sir. Our engineers have brought the appropriate tools."

"Then send them in." Kain said, before glancing around for a moment. "Establish a perimeter around my location, and do not stray far. There is something moving around here."

While he waited for the troops to reach him, Kain reached for a pocket inside his uniform's coat and pulled out a blood pack the size of his fist. He then took a bite, draining the fluid for a few moments as if enjoying a fine wine. Satisfied, he withdrew his fangs and the plastic sealed itself.

While Kain wasn't too thrilled about his association with Mengsk, he knew the Dominion's resources would prove useful to locate and lure Raziel. Kain was worried about the effect all the delays might have on his plans for the wraith, and hoped that Raziel wouldn't end up in more trouble than he could handle. There was a lot that Kain did not know about this strange galaxy, and the last thing he needed was for his plot to restore balance to be stalled due to the key figure in it going missing. He had heard some rumors about the Protoss fielding a new agent whose abilities sounded quite familiar, but he needed a definite confirmation and a way to return to Nosgoth.

Ten minutes later, a dropship flew into the area, carrying a group of six engineers with heavy duty tools and an additional marine squad. Kain turned to them and pointed at the door.

"Well, here it is. Take care of that."

The men hastily saluted him and the engineers advanced upon the door with fusion cutters while the marines set up a makeshift barricade around the area. Ignoring them, Kain stepped around the plaza, still feeling a lingering presence. Then the dropship left, and as soon as it was out of sight, a low rumbling was heard beneath his escort's feet.

"What was that?" one of the marines asked.

"Probably just the metal straining." another one said.

Then the engineers finished cutting out a small section of the door, which fell on the ground with a loud clang. As the sound echoed throughout the ruins, the rumbling intensified, and a pack of Zerg shot out of the ground, hissing and snarling.

"What the hell?!" one of the marines shouted. "There ain't supposed to be no Zerg left around these parts!"

"Clearly the intelligence we got was faulty or outdated." Kain muttered with a sigh. "You are grown men with large weapons. I suggest you act your age and use them."

The small pack of Zerglings and Hydralisks proved little trouble once the soldiers got their act together, but the incident only served to put them on edge. The unwelcome surprise, coupled with their commander's unsettling presence on the field, was making everyone tense up. A few moments passed, after which nothing else crawled out of the ground to assail them.

"Stay here and maintain the perimeter." Kain commanded. "I will handle the rest myself."

The troops, having spent their share of years running various missions for the Dominion, were used to being left out of the loop and informed on a need-to-know basis. Normally, given the Emperor's taste for dangerous relics and forgotten ruins, that tended to come back to bite them, but there was little they could do, and risking his wrath by disobeying orders was something most of them would rather avoid.

For his part, Kain was relieved to be able to move on his own, unencumbered by a pack of barely functional space bumpkins. He had read about the Koprulu Sector's history, and the Confederation and later Dominion's taste for neural resocialization and employing ex-convicts as cannon fodder in the Marine Corps. For his part, he was not impressed with the results, finding them to be clumsy, unprepared and frankly unintelligent. The batch assigned to his covert outfit was somewhat better than the average, but still nothing to be particularly proud of. He pondered asking Mengsk to assign some Ghosts to his unit, but did not relish the thought of having agents with unknown powers and abilities answering directly to Mengsk too close to him.

After making it through the hole the engineers had cut into the metal door, the first thing Kain noticed was the smell of stale air. It seemed that the facility had not been accessed for many years. The second thing he noticed was that the inside appeared both very old and somewhat makeshift. He saw several kinds of metal and machinery cobbled together, as if the structure had been set up and adapted over many decades. Thankfully, he did not spot any turrets or other security measures. Though they were hardly a threat to him, he found them a considerable annoyance, especially since their mechanical nature prevented him from detecting them beforehand and the Terrans seemed overly fond of using them in large quantities in their facilities.

As he made his way through the ancient metal corridors, some of them barely enough for an average human to walk upright, Kain noticed that the place, despite old and showing signs of neglect, had remained largely unscathed. From the files he had accessed regarding the fall of Tarsonis, it seemed that the Zerg had been largely uninterested in the facility, given its complete lack of organic life to infest and consume. Either way, the facility did not seem to be completely functional. A few emergency lights lined his path, but other than that he saw very little sign of electronic activity. After a few more moments he came upon a large security door, with what appeared to be a keypad. Though he might have been able to work with his telekinesis and inhuman strength, he was reluctant to take the risk of damaging anything important. With an annoyed sigh, he reached for his communicator again.

"Engineering team, do we have the access codes for the facility?"

"Negative, sir. All related files were lost during the Zerg invasion and the chaos that followed."

"Lovely. I don't suppose you would know how to restore primary power to this section then?"

"The ATLAS core is down to emergency power? That could mean the generators gave in from lack of maintenance. Even before the Zerg invasion, the place was under near constant lockdown and only a handful of Confederate officials had regular access."

"Your predecessors and their construction skills do not exactly impress me." Kain retorted dryly. "If I am to access this core mainframe, then emergency power will simply not do. I require solutions."

"Sir, if it comes down to it, we can hook up some portable generators to the power grid long enough to get the job done. It would probably be faster than attempting to repair what is already there, but we don't know the specifics of your mission, or if the Emperor has further plans for ATLAS, so it's your call."

"We are not here to do custodial work." Kain said. "We are here to interface with the machinery, make it do what we need, and return posthaste. If the Emperor wants a permanent presence, he will have to send another unit. We are on a schedule. Furthermore, the longer we linger, the more likely we are to have more unpleasant encounters."

Kain knew exactly what he was doing with that last remark. Though Zerg could be fought and killed, the way they managed to burrow through earth, rock and even metal and spring out of nowhere absolutely terrified Dominion infantry. He couldn't help wondering if Zephon's evolution might have allowed for similar abilities given a few more centuries to mature, but conceded that giving Raziel even more abilities to absorb through the souls of his brothers would have made him far more difficult to handle or predict. Either way, he could feel the palpable dread emanating from the men. If they lingered much longer, he doubted even their resocialization conditioning and combat stims would be enough to keep them in line.

"Bring in the portable generators." he commanded. "Old as this structure is, and given its patchwork design, we cannot rely on the good fortune of finding enough generators in serviceable condition."

What he didn't mention was how seriously he doubted that this "ATLAS" would still be functional, given the state of disrepair on the outside. Another half hour was wasted as the engineering team shuttled in portable generators from their command ship. Then twenty more minutes as they hooked them up to the facility's power grid and set about manhandling the old keypad. Kain sighed with boredom at the sluggish pace of their work, but knew there were things beyond his expertise and that he needed to be patient at times. Once the door finally opened and power was restored, he stepped through, casually swatting away some old rusty turrets that popped out of the walls to greet him. A few more hallways and keypad protected doors and he came upon a larger one, this time equipped with a different security system. Visually, it appeared like a large, bloated eye, hanging ominously over the doorway. In addition, there was a touchpad on the wall to the right of the door frame. As he approached, the eye came to life, opening to reveal a red glaring light.

"Biometric scan initiated." An artificial voice said, before it projected some kind of strange light over Kain's body. "Pattern unrecognized. Species unrecognized. Access denied."

Kain sighed in annoyance at those humans' reliance on their strange toys. What came next should have been no surprise to him, either, having known the Dominion for a while. The eye retracted and red lights started flashing along the walls as a shrill siren started blaring.

"Security breach in progress." the same artificial voice trumpeted, seeming almost smug to Kain. "Unauthorized access attempt in ATLAS Core Room."

"Engineering team, get down here and kindly shut off this racket before every Zerg on this rock comes running." Kain growled, sounding like he was on the verge of punching someone in the face.

Just then, about twenty old turrets popped out of hiding spots in the walls. Kain leaped forth and started ripping into them with his telekinesis, tearing four out of their sockets before they could finish booting up. The rest assaulted him with a variety of bullets, small rockets and flamethrowers, but their sensors clearly hadn't accounted for a target with such speed or the ability to teleport. Dodging their clumsy attacks, he sliced some of them to pieces and ripped others out of their sockets. A few that he found particularly annoying found themselves crushed for good measure. By the time the engineering team arrived, their leader was standing in a hallway littered with various mechanical debris. The alarm sirens, however, were still blaring.

"General?" the lead technician called out. "Turrets are coming online across the structure. Our escort had to take cover."

"Enough." Kain snarled. "This appears to be the final door. Get us through and let us shut down these infernal contraptions. I have had about enough of this planet."

Once inside (and blissfully free from the horrid noise), Kain recalled Mengsk's instructions and plugged a small data drive on the mainframe. The mainframe itself looked like the oldest part of the entire facility. From what he had learned perusing the history records, this unimpressive looking device had been the key to the Confederacy's rise to power, both through its processing capabilities and the files it held within. Though currently it was functionally obsolete, it had been the pinnacle of Terran technology on the sector for many decades. It still had held considerable strategic value in the waning days of the Confederacy, and a few upgrades attested to their attempts at getting it up to speed. The technicians following him around managed to get the system to start up much faster than they had sliced through the defensive mechanisms barring their access in the entrance and hallways, and Kain was thankful for that. While doing Mengsk a few favors was helping his own plans, he had always detested playing errand boy, and he had a feeling that the so-called Emperor would be trouble somewhere down the line.

As the screens hooked to the mainframe started coming to life, displaying various interface options, the system seemed to recognize the data being inserted, and the images changed, displaying various schematics and what appeared like simulation data as the ancient computer appeared to be completing old, unfinished calculations. Kain frowned as he watched the display. He definitely did not like what he was seeing, and he would have words with Mengsk about it later. A few minutes later, the machine finished its work and a large prompt appeared on the screen.

CALCULATIONS COMPLETE. FILES UPDATED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAVE TO AN EXTERNAL DRIVE?

Transferring the files, Kain had a quick thought. He turned to the lead of the engineering team.

"Since we're here, try to salvage as much useful data as possible. I doubt we will be coming back here anytime soon."

"Yes sir!"

Hours later…

August 16th 2502, 10:35

Vempari Segment Base S-01

Commander's Quarters

Kain stood in front of the holographic projector, facing an overly enlarged image of Mengsk's face. The vampire scowled internally, thinking the human must be overcompensating for something, or simply an egomaniac.

"The mission to Tarsonis was a success." Kain stated with a hint of indifference, as there could have been no other possible outcome. "I have your data, but I must ask what you intend to do with it. This feels like overkill on several levels."

"I would be disappointed if you didn't ask, General." The Emperor's hideously enlarged visage cracked a grin. Kain could distinctly see pieces of his last meal peeking between his teeth. "I have to admit it is somewhat refreshing to have someone around who asks questions instead of the sycophants I'm surrounded with. To answer your question, I intend to pay an old acquaintance a visit. As for the data you're holding, it is the last crucial element to my plan. Do not transmit it on any wireless frequency, and do not share its details with anyone on the staff. I will come and retrieve it personally soon."

"I will be expecting you then." Kain said, keeping a formal posture despite what was on display in front of his eyes. The transmission ended and he sighed, sitting down on a black leather couch in his office and reaching for a small fridge next to it. It was not his throne by any means, but it would do.

He absentmindedly pulled out a few blood packs and bit down on them. He found the taste frankly bland, the temperature unappealing, and the plastic wrapping a hassle, but he knew better than to indispose his sponsor and put a dent on his own resources by snacking on the staff. Around the same time, said sponsor was loudly berating his household staff for failing to inform him about the food stuck in his teeth during a holographic conference...