Chapter 17 – Clashing Schemes

August 30, 2502, 12:00

Raynor's Raiders Command Ship Hyperion

Outskirts of the Mammon System

"Now that's… a vision of hell." Shepard said as he stood near one of the bridge's windows.

In the distance floated a barren orb dotted by superheated rock in oceans of churning magma, encased in a seemingly endless web of metallic scaffolding, as if trying to keep the entire planet imprisoned in a net. Along the scaffolding, several modular metal structures were hanging precariously.

"Yeah…" Raynor noted. "Tosh wasn't kidding. I don't think anyone in their right mind would come anywhere near this place… Not willingly."

"A vision of hell indeed…" the wraith pondered as he stood next to them with his arms crossed.

"If the demons mentioned in the tales of Kain's fledgling days did exist and were not simply fabricated for the benefit of his ego… they would likely hail from a place like this."

"So what exactly do you require my assistance with?" Raziel inquired, glad to leave the minuscule barren rock behind him – even if it meant spending time in another, even more inhospitable one.

"We're gonna need a lot of people to help bring Mengsk down." Raynor explained.

"There are several different factions with their different ideas on what to do…" Shepard added. "Some want to change the regime, some want to tear the whole Dominion down. But they do agree on one thing. That so-called emperor is out of control."

"People already had to put up with too much during the days of the Confederacy." the female Specter added, shaking her fist as she stood next to Rowena, pouring over some maps. "The constant threat of force, having our friends and families kidnapped and experimented on for the Ghost program and other sick shit."

"Korhal was the tipping point." Rowena said. "After that, anyone with a shred of conscience couldn't look away."

"It wasn't so simple for folks in some backwater colony at the ass end of nowhere." Shepard remarked. "We had no idea what was going on. Tarsonis and Korhal might as well have been in another galaxy.

"Mengsk's success and fancy words managed to convince a lot of people." the third Specter added. "But in the end, he's no better than the ones he replaced. All that bullshit about unity and protection… It didn't take long for the mask to fall off."

"I have some experience dealing with tyrants." Raziel remarked. "They tend to dispose of any dissenters rather swiftly."

"The lucky ones, some might say." the female Specter mused. "The others… end up in places like this."

"And so we're headed to one of the places where the Dominion keeps people they wanna get rid of, but don't want to just kill for whatever reason." Raynor added. "New Folsom prison."

"Several of our people are also locked inside." Shepard said grimly. "After overthrowing the Confederacy, Mengsk took over their Ghost program. Kidnapping people, wiping their memories, conditioning through drugs and torture, implants, the full package."

The Specter's armored body flared with an eerie purplish energy that somehow felt familiar to the wraith. For his part, Raynor simply tried to ignore the prickling sensation in his spine.

"We broke free from our conditioning and Gabriel Tosh brought us together." Shepard said, casting a hateful glare at the prison planet that was unequivocal even through the helmet. "We'll die before they break us again."

The change in his demeanor was apparent. The polite, soft-spoken young man that might have passed for a student in the Dominion's military officer academy was suddenly projecting a nearly palpable rage.

"We could use an extra pair of hands… or claws." Raynor noted, glancing at Raziel. "What do you say buddy?"

"I say…" Raziel said, clenching his fists. "Woe to the conquered."

If anything, the strange worlds he had found himself treading upon had provided new knowledge and ample opportunities to hone his skills in preparation for the eventual conclusion of his hunt. The Zerg, though grotesque, had not particularly impressed him, save for their numbers and their talent for corrupting everything they touched.

From the Protoss he had learned to hone his mind and developed an appreciation for their pursuit of martial perfection. From the Raiders he had learned that humans could be surprisingly capable and driven, even honorable. The hatred and rage of the Specters, however, called out to him in a more personal way.

An hour later, the group descended in a cloaked dropship and touched down on a landing pad in an older section of the facility, devoid of surveillance and in clear state of disrepair.

Kain's empire had no need for prisons. Anything that displeased the vampiric overlord or his lieutenants was swiftly and brutally disposed of, and Raziel himself had been no exception. While the wraith understood the concept of a prison, the size and scale of the massive complex standing before him still baffled him. It easily dwarfed other structures he had seen in Nosgoth, from the Hall of the Clans to the Silent Cathedral. Even the human citadel he had encountered during his journey could have probably fit inside the sprawling walled structure. The sheer amount of metal its construction would have required also impressed Raziel.

"It would have taken centuries to extract and shape all of this by hand…" he pondered, once again realizing just how far ahead the strange worlds he had found himself treading upon were in terms of technology.

"Are we gonna be safe here?" Raynor asked, casting a glance at the aging neosteel structure.

"If push comes to shove, we can always steal a new ride." Shepard said. "But we've done our homework. This pad may be nearly abandoned but it's still structurally sound."

With that, the three Specters activated their optical camouflage.

"Sit tight." Shepard said. "We'll scout ahead and let you know when it's safe."

"I did not come here to let others do all the work." Raziel noted.

"No, but if you make too much noise and start going around killing guards and wrecking stuff, you'll have the prison go on lockdown and the planet's entire garrison coming down on you." Raynor pointed out. "I've seen what you can do buddy, but sometimes you've gotta play it smart."

A stealthy rescue operation was definitely a novel thing for the wraith, and while he grew bored with waiting, this was offset by a growing curiosity on what exactly the humans could do.

"Very well then." Raziel conceded. "Show me your way of doing things, but know that if it fails, I will be more than ready to step in."

"And that's why we asked you to tag along." Raynor said with a vicious smirk.

Moving unseen, the Specter trio bypassed the reinforced gate by prying an access panel open and climbing through a secondary maintenance passage that provided them a limited view of the metal corridor below.

"No alarms?" the male Specter wondered. "Seriously? What a bunch of amateurs."

"Good thing we didn't use the door though." Shepard remarked, pointing out the locations of concealed turrets his suit's visor was picking up and tagging them.

"Patrol up ahead." the woman warned. "Just two marines."

The two marines in question were standing guard in front of a reinforced metal doorway leading further into the facility. They were silent, but by their body language the Specters could tell they were tired of standing around and bored out of their wits.

"How do you wanna play this Shepard?" the man asked.

A mischievous grin crept over the young Specter's face as he eyed his targets.

"There's a new trick I've been meaning to try…"

Without the mental conditioning or the restraining implants, the former Ghosts were able to make full use of their psionic potential both in overt, flashy displays and in more subtle applications. Summoning the memories of one particularly bad taco joint in Chau Sara, he projected the ensuing discomfort upon his intended target, amplified a thousandfold.

The marine twitched and let out a groan, then suddenly tried to clench his stomach through the armor.

"Aw shit…" he hissed.

"Somethin' wrong?" his colleague asked with a thick drawl.

"I've gotta hit the can, man…" the first marine groaned.

"Just go." the second marine retorted.

Needing little else in the way of encouragement, the first marine did just that, breaking into a full sprint and running out of sight.

Finding himself alone, the second marine sighed and grumbled.

"One of these days I'm gonna frag those mess hall cooks… Not even Zerg would wanna eat that shit!"

"What did you do?" the female Specter asked, casting a suspicious glance at Shepard.

"Just paying it forward." Shepard retorted, grinning under the helmet.

"Guess it's my turn." she said, before quietly making her way out of the maintenance passage through a ladder, avoiding some infrared alarm tripwires and positioning herself behind the lone marine. Without a word, she raised her right hand, brought it near the back of his helmet and knocked him out cold with a burst of psionic energy.

She quickly caught the unconscious marine before he could stumble down and her male companion rushed into help drag him to a less conspicuous location while Shepard reached for his suit communicator.

"First room clear. There's a bunch of wall and floor turrets right in front of the door, so come in the way we did instead."

A few moments later, the rebel leader and the wraith found themselves surveying the Specters' handiwork from the top of the ladder.

"Definitely quieter than how most of my ops turn out." Raynor noted appreciatively.

"Don't jinx it." the woman said, though by her tone Raynor couldn't tell whether she was serious or not.

Something else caught Raziel's attention though, as he spotted the unconscious guard in a corner of the room, behind a large metal container full of old construction material.

"He is still alive?" he noted, a little surprised.

"Most other Specters probably would have just wasted him on the spot." Shepard noted. "But we're not most other Specters."

"Why?" Raziel asked, feeling a hint of curiosity.

"Most of these marines probably didn't ask to be here at all." Shepard explained. "They were either conscripted from civilian life or prisoners forced to undergo the so-called resocialization program."

"Ah…" Raynor understood.

"Resocialization program?" Raziel asked.

"When the Dominion or the Confederacy before them need cannon fodder…" the woman explained. "They press gang some civilians or they just round up a bunch of convicts, pick through their brains with chemicals and sometimes surgery to make them obedient, seal them in one of those lovely suits and off they go to kill and die."

"So that is why they bother keeping prisons at all." Raziel deduced.

"That's not all." Raynor added. "As much as the military like to pretend otherwise, the resocialization program does jack shit when the subject is already a psycho. It just turns psychos into ticking time bombs."

"Can you believe they actually tried to put the spin on it and make it sound like a more humane solution?" the male Specter scoffed. "But yeah, unless they're shooting at us or abusing the prisoners, I'd rather not kill them."

It was then that the wraith gained a glimmer of understanding about how truly monstrous humanity could be. Scorching a planet and turning it into a barren wasteland out of spite and as an intimidation tactic was the sort of thing he would expect Kain to do, given what he had already done to Nosgoth. Tampering with one another's minds to produce compliant thralls, however, revolted him on a more visceral sense, given his personal history.

Using the access card he had pilfered from the unconscious marine, Shepard opened the doorway the pair had been guarding and scouted farther ahead.

To their surprise, the next few hallways were almost deserted, with only a few more marines standing guard here and there.

"Something's not quite right…" the woman noted after reaching the end of a corridor and the door leading to some sort of inner courtyard.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Raynor asked.

"Either that or there's something else going on." Shepard reasoned. "Let's not jump to conclusions."

Next to the doorway, a ladder was mounted into the wall, providing access to an elevated catwalk and an observation post that offered a decent view to the courtyard.

"I'm going up to see what's going on." he informed.

With practiced ease, he peered over the view port and abruptly froze in place.

"Son of a bitch…"

"What?" the female Specter asked.

Not waiting for an answer, the male Specter climbed up and peered outside as well.

"This mission just got a lot more complicated."

"What do you mean?" Raynor asked.

"They've got one of ours on the chopping block!" Shepard growled.

Raynor cautiously opened the large metal door just enough to peer through. What he saw made him clench his teeth.

A skinny woman with a shaved head, clad in a prisoner uniform and with obvious signs of mistreatment, was shackled to a metal slab in the center of the courtyard, while a uniformed man paced around with a pistol in hand.

"You worthless lot were given an opportunity to serve." he prattled on, his voice laden with arrogant contempt. "To put your gifts to use for a noble cause. Instead you rebel time and again. This cannot be allowed."

Around them, row upon row of shackled prisoners stood, with their arms and legs chained up, seemingly having been rounded up to witness the warden making an example of someone. By the tattoos some of them bore and the fact that every single one of them had a bulky neural inhibitor helmet, it did not take a genius to deduce they were captured Specters.

Though the woman looked sedated, in her anger she broke through the effect, raising her head to glare at the man with dark, bloodshot eyes.

"Fuck you!" she spat. "Where was your precious Dominion when my world burned?!"

As he saw her face, Shepard tensed up again.

"Talitha..."

"You know her?" the female Specter asked.

"Remember how my world got raided to the ground?" Shepard growled. "How the Dominion didn't lift a finger but was more than happy to show up later to conscript the survivors?"

"Shit…" the woman hissed.

"Yeah…" Shepard said. "That girl lived next door to me. I thought she was dead until Tosh picked her up."

"And now they want to put her down like an animal just to show they can?" Shepard growled.

The young Specter loaded a cartridge into his rifle and locked it in place, before peering through the scope.

"Not on my watch."

Raziel had heard enough.

While his vampiric upbringing had taught him to regard humans as little more than cattle, this clashed with the discovery of his previous life as a Sarafan. Though he remembered nothing of that life, he knew their reputation as protectors of humanity.

Then there was the fact that the humans he had encountered in this strange new sea of stars were not the same band of mewling, whimpering weaklings he had grown to despise – for the most part. As much as he loathed to admit it, he had grown to sympathize with some of them, and seeing what they were about to become embroiled in, he seized the initiative.

"Perhaps I was brought here for a reason…" he mused as he made his way through another catwalk and located a roof access hatch.

"Raz?" Raynor called out. "Where did he go?"

Still, the warden prattled on.

"The Emperor is just and merciful. The fact that any of you scum are still alive is a testament to that. But sometimes, words are not enough."

Then he pressed the pistol to the woman's forehead.

"Sometimes an example must be made."

The man sounded more like a self-appointed priest than a soldier, but regardless of what he thought himself to be, he was marked – both by the sight of Shepard's rifle and the pair of eyes glaring upon him from a rooftop.

Perhaps, most of all, beyond any growing sympathy Raziel might or might not be developing for the strange new breed of humans, something else drove him – the memory of impotent anger at his own humiliation and execution. While he could not find Kain's neck just yet, the wraith had come upon someone almost as loathsome in his eyes.

"Enough sermonizing!" Raziel roared, before unleashing a telekinetic blast that knocked the man on his ass.

With every pair of eyes in the vicinity fixated on him, Raziel decided to make the most of his entrance, igniting the Reaver and unfurling his tattered wings before descending upon the courtyard, eliciting screams of superstitious terror from some of the guards.

"What the hell is that thing?!" one of them shouted.

"What the hell is he doing?!" the female Specter hissed.

"Giving us an opportunity." the male Specter realized, before descending from the observation post and running out into the courtyard. The other two followed suit.

First, Raziel unleashed a flurry of telekinetic blasts, knocking several of the guards away. Then, he folded his wings again and broke into a dive.

The warden was the first to fall, with the Reaver searing through his flesh and baring the soul within. Without wasting any time, Raziel dodged the guards' fire and reached for his cowl, baring the gaping abyss underneath. Though the humans could not see the soul, the unsettling sight and the unearthly glow emanating from his maw were enough to make a few falter.

Meanwhile, the three Specters moved swiftly. As Shepard located a weak spot in the back of a guard's armor and plunged a knife through it, his male colleague made short work of the neural inhibitors and the female started severing the chains with a plasma cutter. Meanwhile, Raynor provided covering fire, using the reinforced door frame as cover before throwing a concussion grenade at a pair of marines.


August 30, 2502, 14:15

Kain's Quarters

Vempari Segment HQ

Magus Asteroid Belt, Crono Star System

"Say again?" Kain hissed as he stood in front of a console.

"Sir, the New Folsom correctional facility is under attack by armed insurgents." a woman in a Dominion military uniform reiterated. "So far we have identified the outlaw Jim Raynor and some of the rogue former Ghosts – the so-called Specters – but it looks like they also have some Protoss support."

"And the Emperor wishes me to deal with this… breakout attempt then?" Kain deduced, rather irritated. "Can an entire planetary garrison not deal with a handful of malcontents?"

"See for yourself, sir." the woman said, forwarding live footage from the prison's security cameras directly to his console.

As the vampire beheld the scene in the courtyard, he stiffened and his eyes immediately narrowed. Even through the Dark Templar garments, the identity of the creature was obvious.

"That is no Protoss." the vampire said resolutely, as he abruptly stood up from his chair. "Ready my shuttle immediately."

"I may have been forced to withdraw last time under that accursed sun…" Kain mused with annoyance. "But I will not let him slip out of my grasp again. I have wasted far too much time with this nonsense."

Feeling the collar of the black uniform's shirt begin to chafe, Kain paused for a moment and undid the two topmost buttons, then cracked his knuckles. Though he would never admit it out loud, much like his former lieutenant, he hated staying idle. For the sake of appearances he had played the part, but he was growing increasingly bored of dealing with the Dominion and its emperor.


August 30, 2502, 14:20

New Folsom Correctional Facility

Mammon System

With the courtyard cleared, Raziel approached the woman shackled to the slab.

"You are Talitha, correct?" he asked, trying not to be so unsettling for once.

The combination of prior mistreatment, the bizarre scene that had just unfolded before her and the sedatives, however, was taking its toll. With one look at the wraith's face, she let out a muffled gasp of horror and blacked out.

"Is she gonna be OK?" Raynor asked, stepping in her direction.

The female Specter hurried over and undid the restraints, then performed a cursory medical examination.

"Exhausted, unconscious, beaten and drugged." she summed up. "She'll be OK after we get out of here."

Despite the circumstances, Raynor found the presence of spirit for a little levity.

"You do have that effect on people, Raz. No offense."

Meanwhile, the Specters they had just finished releasing scrambled for the fallen guards' weapons. Though the suits of armor were too bulky and complex, requiring specialized equipment to don or remove, the gauss rifles were thankfully far simpler, if bulky.

"All right, listen up!" Raynor said, falling into the role of a leader. "We've got a dropship ready to get your asses outta here. We've gotta haul ass before this whole place goes into lockdown."

"We could always let some of the other prisoners loose." Raziel pointed out. "If anything, they might provide a distraction."

"Cold, but pragmatic." Shepard noted. "We can't take all of them out with just that one cloaked dropship, but…"

"I get wanting to get your folks outta here first." Raynor said. "But there's probably a lot more who don't deserve to be here."

"What do you propose then?" Raziel asked.

"We've got a couple more dropships." Raynor said. "Just not cloaked. If you're up for it, I say we try to get a few more people out. Just not from the psycho wings."

"Whatever we do, we'd better do it fast." the female Specter noted.

"Ash, Kaidan." Shepard said. "Lead these guys the way we came. Signal the dropship and get them out of here."

"And what are you gonna do?" the female Specter asked.

"The Commander has a point." Shepard said. "If we leave innocent people to rot just because it's not convenient to lift a finger, then we're no better than the Dominion."

"Fine, boy scout." she conceded, though noticeably displeased. "But you'd better not get yourself killed, you hear me?"

With some of the Specters liberated and eager to unleash some retribution upon the guards and more prisoners being freed from their confinement, the prison descended into utter chaos in less than twenty minutes.

After clearing another prison block, opening all the cells and directing the prisoners to the landing pad, Shepard paused for a moment to study the prison schematics on the wrist-mounted computer and frowned underneath the helmet.

"I talk a big talk sometimes, but I'm not sure if we can pull this off…" he admitted.

"Whaddya mean?" Raynor asked.

"I mean it's only a matter of time until the Dominion sends in a fleet or two. We're on the clock here."

"You really ain't like most Specters I've met." Raynor remarked.

"I owe Tosh my freedom, but I'm not gonna throw my humanity away just for revenge." Shepard said resolutely. You understand, don't you?"

"Better than you think, son." Raynor said, eyeing the younger man with growing respect. "I know this ain't the kind of place where you'd want to leave innocent folk, but if we bite more than we can chew, we can always come back later."

"You've got a point." Shepard conceded."Anyone we get out of their cells but don't bring with us is likely to get shot."


August 30, 2502, 15:32

Vempari Segment Command Ship Orlok

Outskirts of Mammon System

The black battlecruiser traversed space as swiftly as its propulsion systems could carry it. By this point, Kain's aides knew better than to question his decisions, and once he had decided to handle the matter alone, the dropship had been quietly and swiftly prepared.

"Maintain communication silence while I remain on the surface." Kain instructed as he made his way to the dropship. "Avoid any engagements until I give the command."

"Yes Sir." Kaplan acknowledged, by this point growing increasingly uneasy with his strange commanding officer.


August 30, 2502, 15:40

New Folsom Correctional Facility

Mammon System

The rebel leader, the wraith and the Specter continued on their way, as the sounds of gunfire continued in the background. By their estimates, they had freed around a hundred low security prisoners on top of the twenty Specters they had agreed to break out. It would not be enough to bring the Dominion down overnight, but it made a difference.

"Wait…" Shepard said, coming to an abrupt halt.

"Somethin' wrong?" Raynor asked.

"This section isn't on the map." Shepard realized. "There's not supposed to be anything here at all!"

"Shit…" Raynor hissed. "Ya know what that means."

"It means somebody is doing something here that they don't want anyone else to find out." Shepard deduced.

While the rest of the prison facility looked old, dirty, worn and ugly in general, the section they were entering seemed to have been constructed more recently, and as such it did not bear the marks of prolonged use. It was also suspiciously devoid of guards.

What it did not have in short supply, however, was turrets, as the trio discovered once they sprang to life from the walls, floors and ceilings.

"We have no time for this." Raziel said, rushing forward. "Stand back and cover your ears!"

Though he loathed using his Glyph charges frivolously, not knowing when he might have the opportunity to recharge them, the situation called for it, given that his two erstwhile companions were considerably less durable and could not simply reconstruct their physical forms. Dodging a burst of machine gun fire and two flamethrowers, Raziel positioned himself as close to the center of the turrets as possible and then called upon his power reserves.

The humans did as they were told and watched on as a strange energy gathered around Raziel's body, and then was abruptly released in the form of some sort of sonic waves, which ripped through the turrets and ruined the delicate electronics within, reducing them to oversized paperweights.

"What the hell was that?" Shepard muttered incredulously.

"You will find that I am full of surprises." Raziel retorted rather smugly, feeling somewhat amused at the human's shocked reaction.

"Huh…" Raynor noted. "Wish I'd thought of that back in the day. Those turrets were always a pain in the ass."

They continued forward and were surprised to find a decontamination chamber of sorts.

"What's this doing here?" Raynor wondered.

"I guess whatever they're doing in here, they really want to keep it contained." Shepard deduced. "Maybe some kind of biological weapon?"

"That explains why they'd set up shop in a goddamn prison…" Raynor realized with a wince. "Test subjects."

The entryway was protected by some an encoded lock, but while they did not have time to look for a card or someone with authority, the system became surprisingly cooperative once Shepard had finished his tampering.

"I was planning on becoming an engineer once upon a time." the Specter explained. "Making my colony a better place and all that. Maybe in another life."

Once they got past the decontamination chamber, the trio came upon some sort of research facility, though it was difficult to say what exactly was being researched.

"Lots of expensive high power equipment…" Shepard realized.

"Wait a minute…" Raynor said before coming to an abrupt halt in front of an array containing what looked like pilfered crystals. Then his gaze drifted upon a set of constructs that bore the unmistakable golden hue of Protoss alloys.

"Oh shit…" Raynor hissed. "I know what this is…"

"Care to elaborate?" Raziel asked.

"Remember what I told you about the evacuation of Aiur?" Raynor asked. "Well, the dimensional gate that carried us was much bigger, but I definitely recognize some of the designs."

"It's no secret that the Dominion has been trying to snatch any Protoss or Xel'Naga tech they can get their hands on." Shepard pointed out. "But why this? Why here?"

"A pity we don't have time to pick through these computers." Raynor said, checking the time on his armor's onboard computer.

Raziel wandered close to one of the devices – a metallic hoop of some sort, fashioned from a familiar type of metal. Before he could do anything else though, he heard a suspicious noise and turned in the direction of what seemed to be a small adjacent storage room. Glancing at the two humans, he knew they had heard it as well.

Raynor raised his rifle while Shepard moved next to the doorway. Unconcerned, Raziel unceremoniously kicked the door open, eliciting a startled yelp from the man hiding inside.


August 30, 2502, 15:50

New Folsom Correctional Facility

Mammon System

The black shuttle touched down in a landing pad adjacent to the research facility. Kain leapt out as soon as the engines stopped and glanced around.

He did not appreciate the fact that Mengsk had wanted his assistance so urgently but only divulged the presence of the laboratory at the last minute, being evasive and dismissive about the reason why it was so important.

"I am not your errand boy." the vampire thought with growing annoyance. "Should you become too much of a nuisance, then this partnership may be revoked sooner than you think."


August 30, 2502, 15:50

New Folsom Correctional Facility

Mammon System

The shivering man, with an unkempt beard that was little more than stubble, clad in a dirty hazmat suit with goggles instead of a helmet, kept backing away against the wall.

"I've told you everything I know damnit!" he protested. "I don't know what they're doing here! I just keep the place clean!"

"And what is to keep you from running to your masters as soon as our backs are turned?" Raziel hissed, pressing the tip of the Reaver into the wall, uncomfortably close to the man's neck.

"I'm just a fucking janitor!" the man pleaded. "I've got a family to feed, man!"

Shepard and Raynor exchanged glances and after a tense pause, Raynor simply sighed.

"Let him go man. We're not gonna beat that bastard Mengsk by becoming like him."

"Keys?" Shepard asked.

"If you use mine, it'll be logged in the system." the man pointed out. "They'll know, and I'll be as good as dead."

Feeling Raziel's glare upon him, the man suddenly had another idea.

"The eggheads are already in the panic room, but they're sloppy as all hell. They keep leaving their key cards in the break room."

"Leave." Raziel said curtly. "Leave and forget you saw anything."

The man did not need to be told this twice, scrambling out as if the devil were on his heels.

"Guess you've got a talent for playing bad cop." Raynor noted.

"All that whimpering and pleading and whining just irritate me." Raziel retorted. "The humans in my world were the same… when they were not attacking me on sight."

"We should go." Shepard said. Though he couldn't argue with the results, he seemed to have a distaste for such tactics.

A cursory search of the adjacent rooms revealed the break room in question. Sure enough, there was an access card left forgotten amidst the cushions of one of the couches. Raynor quickly grabbed it and the trio continued into a more secure section.

The card was accepted, with the reader flashing a green light, and the reinforced neosteel door parted, revealing an ample chamber.

"What the hell is this?!" Raynor muttered, glancing at the disturbing scene laid out before his eyes.

The chamber was filled with large metal tables, some of which were laden with more pilfered Protoss artifacts and computer terminals. Others, however, held what could only be described as fetid, mangled biological matter, vaguely reminiscent of human bodies.

"It's all starting to make a little more sense now…" Shepard realized. "The Protoss tech, this being set up in a prison…"

"Yeah…" Raynor added. "Those fuckers are messing with warp gates… and the prisoners are test subjects!"

"Indeed." another voice commented, as a side door opened and a familiar figure stepped into view, clad in an overly decorated Dominion uniform, but still with his personal banner draped around his back like a cloak.

"Kain!" the wraith hissed, his entire posture instantly shifting to something more feral as the sight of his nemesis brought back the fury he had been distracted from.

"I must say I'm rather disappointed." Kain taunted in his usual deadpan manner as he stared at Raziel and his traditional Dark Templar garments. "An entire set of new worlds to explore and you run around playing with the wildlife and dressing like a buffoon?"

"Return to the ship." Raziel hissed, keeping his gaze fixated on his quarry. "I shall deal with this."

"But…" Raynor tried to protest.

"We have prisoners to evacuate and are already pressed for time." Raziel retorted. "And I doubt any of you could pose a threat to him as you are now."

Raynor wanted to make a snappy comeback, but one glance at Kain was enough to tell him that he was facing something alien and unfathomably dangerous – perhaps even more so than whatever Kerrigan had become.

"You'd better make it back, you hear?" Raynor finally replied after a tense pause.

Kain had no interest in the humans or whatever they were doing. Still, he recognized a change in his former lieutenant's demeanor, and seized the opportunity to rile him up.

"Now this is interesting." Kain said with a vicious grin. "Growing attached, are we? Should you fail to provide a suitable challenge… Perhaps your new friends will suffice."

"Not if I tear out your throat and feast on your soul first." Raziel hissed, igniting the Reaver.

Instead of going for a frontal assault like the previous time, however, Raziel instead focused and harnessed the power of psionics to generate phantom replicas, much like Patmos had demonstrated. Four of them materialized in the air, surrounding Kain, though there was still a slight shimmer to them that distinguished them from the original.

"New tricks." Kain noted, watching the replicas. "So your time here has not been a complete waste."

The replicas charged, and Raziel did the same, all five taking a swing with the Reaver simultaneously.

Then Kain abruptly turned and raised his hand in a gripping motion, catching the real Raziel by the neck and suspending him in the air.

"But you wield those abilities like a novice. You are a fool if you think those parlor tricks will suffice."

Raziel retaliated by activating the telekinesis glyph, knocking the vampire back.

"Perhaps." the wraith retorted, igniting the Reaver again and circling around his quarry. "But I can do this indefinitely. Even if you strike me down, I will simply conjure a new form… as many times as it takes."

"You forget your place." Kain sneered, before unleashing a blast of lightning that Raziel barely had time to dodge.

"And you forget how my strength has grown since you discarded me." Raziel retorted, countering with a telekinetic blast. "Perhaps I should show you all the useful trinkets I have amassed during my journey."

While Raziel had been keeping his glyphs in reserve, not knowing when or where he might be able to find the energy to recharge them again, Kain's mere presence was incentive enough to stop caring about such things. With a burst of speed, Raziel closed the distance and activated the Water Glyph, unleashing a torrent in every direction. However, Kain swiftly transformed into mist and backed away beyond the attack's range.

"Perhaps I have allowed you to find too many toys." Kain remarked, as lightning crackled in his hand. "You are growing arrogant."

"Again you criticize your own work." Raziel retorted.

They were interrupted by a sudden loud crash as a towering monstrosity plowed through a nearby wall, barreling in their direction. A black bipedal beast of some sort, with bulging muscles, a pair of prominent horns, bony spikes protruding from its back, hoofed feet and a pair of glowing crimson eyes, staring at them with malicious intent.

Raziel had never seen such a creature before, but Kain's eyes widened in recognition.

"What…?"

"Did you truly think it was over, little vampire?" the creature gloated with an unearthly voice.

"I killed you!" Kain snarled, clenching his fists.

To Raziel's surprise, Kain seemed genuinely caught off guard, for one of the first few occasions in his lifetime.

"Fool." the creature scoffed. "Our numbers are endless and our vengeance will be completed. How unfortunate for you that you discarded your trump card… for the benefit of a pawn who does not know how to wield it."

"I am no one's pawn!" Raziel growled, incensed by the remark.

"You have been most troublesome to track down, Scion." the creature remarked, its tone dripping with contempt as it glared at Kain. "You are a long way from Nosgoth… and we will ensure you do not make it back."

The fact that he was being actively ignored only served to incense Raziel further.

"I do not know who you are…" Raziel hissed. "And I do not care. This mongrel's life is mine to end… and you will not interfere!"

Again, the Reaver turned into a shade of bloody red and let out a deep, rumbling growl, twitching under its own volition. Kain quirked an eyebrow at the unexpected reaction, but decided to watch how things would unfold.

The beast was several orders of magnitude stronger than Raziel, knocking aside the contents of the room with the same ease one would swat insects as it charged headfirst into the wraith. A split second too late to dodge, Raziel found himself hurtled against a wall, and the Reaver flickered out.

The creature towered over him, laughing as he tried to stand.

"How disappointing." the demonic apparition sneered.

Kain watched, trying to decide if he should intervene or wait to see how events unfolded, seeing how there was no apparent way for anyone to permanently dispose of the wraith.

The demonic fiend rose one of its hooves, ready to bring it down upon Raziel, but he was having none of that. He rolled to the side, scrambled to his feet, and through sheer rage focused his will on summoning the Reaver once again. A single thought crossed his mind as he did so.

"Return to nothingness…"

It felt as though Raziel was pushing against a very thick wall. He did not know how much longer he would be able to sustain his corporeal form in such a state, but the only thing that mattered at the moment was to strike down the arrogant interloper.

Trying to gain some time, Raziel unleashed another series of telekinetic blasts, knowing full well that they would do nothing against such a towering behemoth. While the creature laughed and began hurling some of the heavy metal tables, the wraith kept focusing… and the wall in his mind eventually began to give way.

Again the phantasmal energy coiled itself around his arm, and the Reaver returned, with its strange crimson tint. Kain watched as the blade let out a strange, rumbling roar, which he had never heard it do before, and then the wraith rushed forward, tumbling to avoid a swipe from one of the beast's massive arms and then thrusting the blade into its exposed belly.

The reaction was even more violent than the previous time, causing the beast's entire belly to burst as if a grenade had detonated within. Only the creature's bulk had likely kept it from being instantly blown apart. Whatever had happened to the Reaver, the ravenous spirit seemed to bear an actual hatred towards the demonic apparition.

"Again, the accursed Reaver…" the beast taunted as its form began to dissolve. "But no matter. One day it will be your doom as well, little wraith."

As the battered wraith hastily consumed the creature's fleeing soul to mend his ravaged form, his sight momentarily faded… and he heard a voice once again.

"And now you understand." the male voice said, gentle and serene, but resolute.

"What are these creatures?!" he head himself ask.

"Enemies of all life." the other voice answered. "From the pits of the seven hells to the pinnacle of the heavens, they would twist and consume until nothing is left unsullied by their touch."

"Do you see now how pointless this conflict of yours is?" the voice added. "Do you see now why I turned away from your brethren?"

"It is true then…" Raziel heard his own voice say with a haunted tone. "You are…"

"And now you realize the difference between knowledge and wisdom." the voice said. "They look, but they do not see. They hear, but they do not listen. They know, but they do not understand."

As the wraith lay on the ground in his strange fugue state, Kain watched, trying to understand what had just happened.

"You were always willful and troublesome, even back then…" Kain mused, kneeling next to him to check on his condition.

Glancing around to make sure he was not being watched, Kain let out a deep sigh.

"This was not what I wanted." he bitterly admitted with a clenched fist, though he would never in his life or unlife say those words out loud. "I am tired of being fate's plaything. I still believe you will be the fulcrum upon which all our chains will be broken, but the method of your reforging was..."

He quietly pondered his options. He had no idea how long Raziel would remain in that state, and for the time being he still had no concrete way of getting either of them back to Nosgoth in order to resume his plot. Still, letting the wraith continue to roam around out of his sight would be problematic.

"Well then…" the vampire pondered. "I was always pragmatic."

With that, he wove an ancient spell from the vast repertoire of tomes and scrolls he had pilfered from the Circle's archives many lifetimes prior. Once the incantation was concluded, he thrust his finger upon Raziel's forehead.

"Looking back, I should probably have done this in the first place." he realized, rolling his eyes. "But no matter."

He stood back up and cast one last glance at his former lieutenant, who was beginning to stir.

"I suppose I cannot fault you for wanting to explore this strange new sea of stars. In fact, your inquisitive nature was always something I counted on."

The vampire stood up with a satisfied smirk.

"Go on. Have your little adventure. Who knows? Perhaps you will be the one to find a way for us to return."

With that, Kain dissipated into a cloud of bats and started swarming around the laboratory.

"Well then… Time to see what else these fools are tampering with here." he thought, still shaken by the confrontation with the horned demon, nearly identical to the one he had cut down in his younger days.

Moments later, Kain located an unlocked workstation and the bats gathered again. As he started peering through the files, he slowly clenched his teeth.

"Inconceivable…" he hissed.

And yet, the evidence was laid bare. Experimentation on matters seemingly more magical than scientific, attached to a name from his past – Project Azimuth.


August 30, 2502, 20:30

Vempari Segment Command Ship Orlok

Mammon System

Fatigued, but knowing he had done all that he could for the time being, Kain exited the dropship, ignoring the guards, and proceeded out of the hangar. Then, as he recalled something, he paused and changed direction, heading towards the laboratory wing.

"That obsequious toad did promise he would have something new ready soon." Kain mused. "Perhaps I should remind him of his promises."

While he did not much care for his surroundings or the humans he was working with, Kain did recognize the value of the advanced technology his erstwhile partners possessed. In particular, he had developed an interest in psionics, given the telepathic and telekinetic abilities manifested by some of his kind – himself included.

To stave off boredom while waiting for a sign of the wayward wraith and detesting idleness, Kain had taken to discreetly perusing the Dominion's scientific archives. While he was loathe to allow the eccentric scientist to study his unusual physiology, the professor had still promised to showcase some of his own personal research into psionically powered devices. Something about the man still gave the vampire a slimy, uncomfortable feeling, but he seemed to have his uses.


August 30, 2502, 22:00

Vempari Segment HQ

Magus Asteroid Belt, Crono Star System

Silent as a whisper, Kain entered the laboratory wing and saw that the professor was standing in front of a console, once again conversing with Mengsk behind his back. Realizing he had not been noticed yet, Kain silently faded into mist and edged just close enough to overhear the rest of the conversation.

"New Folsom could have proved much more troublesome…" the greasy balding man said. "But this was merely a temporary setback."

"If such a small group could cause such a disruption, maybe it's time to start considering a relocation." Mengsk pondered.

"For now, we still need a steady supply of test subjects." the man countered. "But yes, it might be in our best interest to move somewhere a little quieter, more out of the way."

"I'm not prepared to hand over the asteroid base to you just yet." Mengsk said, as if guessing his intent. "Not until I have some warranty that this Project Azimuth can actually produce some tangible results."

"And results you shall have, Your Highness." the professor said, rubbing his hands. "Very soon."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Mengsk said. "And what of Operation Char?"

"The material retrieved from ATLAS was a tremendous help." the professor said with glee. "If only we could secure the site or have the whole mainframe moved to a more convenient location…"

"ATLAS may be an impressive piece of hardware, but it is functionally obsolete. We could build a more powerful replacement if needed."

The professor sounded disappointed by the remark, but did not openly express his disagreement.

"Even the databases alone would be considerable assets. Could we by any chance prepare a new mission to retrieve those?"

"I will consider your request, Professor." the emperor said. "Provided you can deliver some concrete results soon."

"I do not know what game you and Mengsk are playing..." Kain thought in annoyance. "But tread lightly, Professor… lest you have an unfortunate accident."