The Koramund, low orbit over Aiur, June 27th, 2500 (just after the fall of the Overmind)
As the noise of celebrations began to echo around the Koramund's bridge, I forced my mind to turn towards practical matters. The Overmind might have fallen but we weren't out of the woods just yet. I turned to Selendis. "Can you get me a comm channel to the commanders?" I asked.
She nodded. "Certainly. Jess can assist you in that regard. Her integration with our systems has been very effective."
Jess's avatar popped up as we approached the display. "Well, I can't hold things up, can I? Opening channel to the fleet commanders." she reported.
I nodded and gripped the display. "Executor Artanis, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Commander. I am glad you succeeded in escaping the detonation."
"You're telling me. What's the word on the rest of our forces, Executor? How many others made it out of there alive?"
"More than expected. I have reports that Executor Tassadar and the Dark Templar strike force were successfully evacuated to the Spear of Adun before the detonation. The combination of both the crystal's energies and the blast triggered by the four of you, however, caused substantial damage. Almost every member of the Dark Templar team is currently occupying much of our medical capacity. Both Executor Tassadar and Zeratul are currently non-responsive. Only Vorazun and her team is uninjured from the battle, as she was assisting with the defence elsewhere. The remainder of our Templar forces were primarily evacuated before the blast wave could reach them. I have less information on your own forces, but certainly at least some of them were extracted in time. But much of the Zerg forces assisting Captain Kerrigan have been almost certainly killed. I have not heard from the Cerebrate Sert since the Overmind's death, nor seen any evidence that he and his brood survived the blast in anything other than vastly reduced numbers."
A familiar voice cut in next. "Commander? Horner here. Casualty reports are still coming in, sir, and we'll need to confirm things with the Adun, but it would seem that most of the Terran forces were withdrawn in time as well. Still, there are a lot of dead and wounded across the fleet."
I nodded grimly. "I guessed as much, Matt. This wasn't ever going to be easy. Let's try and get a final tally, though. Start transferring the Terrans that can be moved from the Protoss ships back onto our own, there's still a lot of refugees down on Aiur. We'll need every bit of space we can and it's a good bet they'll be more comfortable on Protoss ships than ours."
"You do not intend to wipe the zerg off Aiur, with the Overmind dead?" Executor Kaldaris asked.
I sighed. "The Zerg might be fractured and weakened, and I'm sure Sarah might be able to recruit at least some portion of them, but their numbers here are too many for us to handle, at least right now and in our current state. The civilian population has to be our priority, or all of this will be for nothing. Of course, that leaves the question of where does everyone go after the evacuation is complete."
"What about the remaining ark ship? Can we locate and launch it?" Kaldaris asked.
Lasarra stepped up beside me, but she was shaking her head. "I have already searched for the remaining ship and located it, but the Zerg infestations in the area are immense and we do not have the advantage of a base in the area this time. The Zerg do not know the true number of the ark ships and I would advise against advertising the existence of another. It is better to leave it hidden, in the hope that we can utilise it at a later date."
Artanis did not look happy, but he nodded. "As much as I dislike it, I agree. It is best to draw attention away from it. The majority of the survivors appear to be on the southern continent. Since the temple and the capital were all located on the northern half of the planet, that is where the Zerg have concentrated much of their assault. There is a functional warp gate remaining on the southern land mass, but, as you pointed out Commander, we do not have a safe planet where we can lead the survivors to."
"We may." Vorazun entered the communication stream herself and drew everyone's attention. "Shakuras, the home of the Dark Templar. My mother would likely assist with this."
"Your mother?" Fenix asked.
"Raszagal, the Matriarch of the Dark Templar." Vorazun replied.
Many of the Aiur Protoss froze at her words and I immediately knew exactly why. While the Conclave had attempted to cover up the mistakes that had led to the exile and formation of the Dark Templar, many of these present knew at least some element of the truth. Zeratul and Vorazun had told me the full story of the Dark Templar's origins while we had been stranded on Char. Of the Conclave's desire to covertly remove the 'rogues' that refused the Khala and how the great hero Adun had been tasked with this. How, in order to assist with his efforts, the Conclave had sent him a captured young rogue to interrogate; a young woman called Raszagal.
The same Raszagal that had now, by virtue of her age and experience as one of the few Dark Templar left old enough to remember Aiur prior to their exile, had become the leader of the Dark Templar.
No, Raszagal would not be a name that the Templar would have forgotten in a hurry.
Silence filled the room for seconds. Even Artanis was shocked by Vorazun's statement, though given that he hadn't been present at the discussion where the rest of us had learned of the origins of the Dark Templar near the beginning of our stand on Char, that was less surprising.
Artanis was the first to respond. "The Dark Templar were driven out by us, derided as demons and hunted wherever we found them. Now, you have not only aided us in our darkest hour, but you offer your home to us. Why?"
Vorazun looked at Artanis like he was an idiot. "Because you are our kin and you need aid."
A small smile crossed my face. Vorazun had just won herself and the Dark Templar a lot of friends, I was certain. Seeing the separate peoples like this, it was impossible not to feel hope for the future. A rivalry and hatred over a thousand years old, buried in seconds. I didn't doubt there would be speed-bumps and issues along the way, but history was being made in front of my eyes. Glumly, I reflected that humanity could learn a thing or two about forgiveness and kindness from those in front of me.
Most of the Templar looked as emotional as I had ever seen them, in itself quite an achievement. Then Artanis bowed to Vorazun. "Then on behalf of the Templar, I thank you for your kind offer of aid in our time of need and humbly accept." To my shock, and clearly to Vorazun's, the other Protoss followed Artanis in bowing in thanks.
Vorazun recovered swiftly, bowing in turn. "It is only right. Regardless of any differences we have, we are Protoss and we do not abandon our own in their hour of need."
"Agreed." Artanis affirmed. "And we do not forget our allies that have stood, bled and died with us." He turned to face me, along with Vorazun.
"Indeed not, Executor. Commander, you and your forces would also be welcome."
Smiling slightly, I made a shallow bow of my own. "I won't deny that we could use the rest, though I'm uncertain about how your kin would react to Sarah and her Zerg."
Vorazun nodded grimly. "I doubt that there will be no issues, but without her aid, it is unlikely that even the victory we have achieved today would have been possible, certainly not without a far higher cost. She and her forces will be welcome on Shakuras."
Which wasn't to say that they'd be accepted by the Protoss, but at this point, I knew we'd have to take what we could.
A faint whisper of movement beside me announced Sarah's presence, with Jim and Nova behind her. "You are certain?" She asked quietly.
Vorazun nodded. "I am."
Artanis was just as quick to affirm Vorazun's words. "Much of the surviving Protoss on Aiur saw you engage directly against the Overmind's forces. Even without that, you have long since proven yourself to be a loyal friend and ally. It would dishonour us to exclude you."
I rested a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "You need to stop doubting yourself, sister."
The expression Sarah turned on me was haunted and startled me. Suddenly, it occurred to me that our victory against the Overmind had had another cost that we'd all but forgotten about.
The Overmind had been running interference against Duran all this time to protect Sarah. With its death, she'd be facing the full strength of whatever corrupting influence was embedded within the Zerg and worse, she'd have to do it all but alone.
Our victory had already been hollow and costly before, but the ashes I tasted now were bitter indeed.
Sarah saw my expression and nodded in understanding. "You understand why I doubt myself?"
I closed my eyes. I truly did, and Louise's story echoed in my ears. Better than almost anyone else, I could understand Sarah's fears. "I understand, Sarah. And it kills me to know that there isn't much we can do to help you. But what we can do, and will do, is have faith. You are strong, perhaps the strongest person I know. You can win this."
"If only it was that easy." She whispered. "But I doubt it will be."
Jim pulled her into a close embrace, with Nova and I wrapping an arm around the pair. "You have us. You are not alone." He said firmly. "We're with you, all the way."
Selendis stepped forward as we separated slightly and, unusually for the normally restrained Protoss (already a race not given to open displays of emotions), abandoned decorum and joined our group hug. "Our friends are correct, and they have not led you wrong so far. Do not doubt them, they are truer than you can imagine. We believe in you. How can we not, after everything you have done for us?"
Sarah curled inwards slightly, then straightened, looking us full in the eyes. "Thank you. Remembering that gives me the strength to keep going."
"Believe us, we won't hesitate to remind you." Nova smiled, bumping her shoulder slightly.
She laughed slightly. "Oh, I know. Doubt I'll ever get rid of you lot." She joked, though the pain in her eyes remained obvious. She nodded at the table, focussing back onto the task at hand. "I can confirm that Cerebrate Sert and his brood are primarily destroyed, although I have already absorbed the survivors into my forces. But I agree with Executor Artanis and Jason. Our focus has to be on the survivors, rather than continuing to battle for territory across the planet. Territory can be regained if lost, lives cannot."
Kaldaris nodded. "Very well. May I suggest we break the fleet up to assist in locating survivors sooner rather than later? The Zerg's lack of coordination is likely not permanent and the sooner we can depart, the better."
"Agreed." Artanis nodded. "There is, regrettably, no time to waste."
I nodded. "Matt, work with the fleet, provide supporting fire for any extraction effort and send a couple of battle-groups to secure the Warp Gate. You have the fleet, Captain."
"Aye, sir."
After the stress of the battle and particularly the heated duel we'd just survived, nobody argued when the four of us elected to sit out the opening stages of the evacuation. Duran's seemingly endless power and sheer strength had taken its toll on all of us, to say nothing of the rest of the battle. With the help of the warp technology, we each returned to our own ships, Jim and Sarah to the Hyperion and Nova and I to the battered Liberator, docked on the Spear of Adun. As Nova and I entered our familiar quarters after stowing our gear, we both felt the adrenaline that had been fuelling us drain away and we practically collapsed onto the nearest surface that could support us. Nova dropped onto the bed, while I slumped heavily into a nearby chair. Silence filled the room for a moment, before Nova finally broke it.
"This is just the beginning, isn't it? We haven't won, not really."
I sighed. "We've won a battle, certainly. But the war is far from over and far from won. Still, we have to take our victories where we can. But we now have a couple of problems."
Nova nodded. "Sarah's exposed to the influence on the Zerg directly and our chances of sneaking away to find out exactly what we need to avoid to stop her falling from Louise is next to nil."
She'd summed matters up well. We knew small bits and pieces of what had happened to Louise after the fall of the Overmind, but far from the full story. We knew, for instance, that the long-forgotten Earth government would send forces to take control of both the Terran and Zerg forces throughout the sector. We knew that there would be a bloody fight for control by all factions to fill the power vacuum left by the Overmind's death.
We knew that the Queen of Blades would play with everyone's fates, forging and breaking alliances, before devastating every other faction to ascend as the true power of the Korpulu Sector.
We'd already changed much of that particular future, I knew. I'd parted ways with Jim long before any of these events had happened in her past, Nova had never been found by us and the Raiders and Protoss forces were far stronger than she had experienced at the time. Above all, however, we had Sarah and her Zerg forces at our side. Whatever was coming, we were far better placed to deal with it than Jim and the Protoss had been in her world.
Even so, the fact remained that we were outnumbered, outgunned and starting on the back foot. Even worse, Sarah was potentially now a primed nuke in the middle of our forces, not that I'd ever tell her that, or even think it if I could avoid it. If she was forced to turn on us, as she had feared since before her infestation, we'd be up against the odds trying to simply survive, let alone win.
Yes, I decided, we had plenty of reasons to be unhappy about our circumstances. But I also reasoned that we had to take the positives where we could. The odds were good of preserving a far larger portion of the Protoss civilisation than anyone had dreamed of. Duran had, if not been destroyed outright, certainly been dealt a massive setback. The fragmentation of the Zerg gave us opportunities to either deal with them piecemeal, or let Sarah recruit them. We also still held a couple of trump cards that might give us the edge. United, we stood a chance. But I didn't doubt that if doubt and division was allowed to get a hold, our strength would crumble away swiftly.
Finally, I replied to Nova, "Yeah, probably not. Things aren't about to get any easier, that's for sure. But we've made it this far together. Only a madman would have expected that. All we can do is have faith. Faith in each other and that we can stop Sarah from falling."
"Naturally. But will it be enough?" She asked as I hauled myself back to my feet.
"It will be." I replied quietly, crossing to the bathroom as I spoke, before turning to look back at her. "Because I don't know what I'm going to do if it's not."
After getting far too little sleep (since Nova and I were both thinking far too hard about our conversation and the situation we found ourselves in, the pair of us were back on the bridge of the Spear of Adun around 10 hours after the death of the Overmind. Jim and Sarah, not looking much better, entered shortly after, followed by an exhausted looking Lasarra. Artanis clearly hadn't rested at all, but still seemed alert as he greeted us.
"I hope you are sufficiently rested, my friends. The Zerg have not made things any easier for us in the intervening hours."
I shrugged. "I suspect we're about as good as we can be. What surprises have the Zerg laid for us?"
"They are still highly disorganised, but that is not precisely an issue for them, as you know. The Zerg thrive on chaos. While there are examples of in-fighting among them, we remain their primary focus. Reports of Zerg harassment of our positions are almost never-ending. Even if I believed otherwise, it is clear that Aiur cannot be held against their onslaught for much longer."
"How long do you think we have, before our position becomes untenable?" Jim asked, concerned.
"Optimistically, a solar day. Pessimistically, our predictions suggest ten hours." Lasarra replied, looking harried as she reviewed her own displays.
"Either way, we're running out of time." Sarah said.
"Indeed. The majority of the civilian population have been gathered into our military centres, but we still need to transfer many of them to the southern continent and secure the warp gate to Shakuras before it is overrun."
I nodded. "I suspect that us Terrans would be better securing the Warp Gate itself, and any evacuation or transportation centres, rather than the evacuation. Your forces are far more mobile than our own and static defence is something we do better than anyone else."
"I concur." Artanis agreed. "There are a number of short range gates that we can use to get close, but the final approach to the Shakuras gate is overland. Once the Zerg deduce our intentions, that will be where they will strike."
"We have to ensure the security of the gate and the overland route above all. If the Zerg are allowed to cut us off or destroy the gate to Shakuras, billions will die. We simply cannot evacuate everyone using the fleet, there isn't enough space and many of the ships are already approaching full capacity. Even the Spear of Adun is beginning to fill up." Lasarra added.
"Then we have to make sure that the gate and route do not fall." Sarah said firmly. The funk she had been in yesterday had clearly been forced to the back of her mind as she focussed on the task at hand. "Jason, I think my Zerg are better suited to securing the area around the route, while you concentrate on any locations where the Zerg could break through and the security of the gates themselves. Seeing Zerg around, regardless of their affiliation, would encourage the civilians to move faster, out of sheer terror if nothing else.
I smiled, pleasantly surprised at Sarah's sudden confidence and commanding ability as I considered her plan. It had a lot going for it, I realised. The Zerg were best as a roving mobile force, better at that than even the Protoss. Her proposal played to all of our strengths. "Agreed. It's the most sensible deployment."
"Then we will leave you to it. Fair fortune, Commander." Artanis nodded, turning back to the command console as the four of us left the bridge. A number of files began to download to our suits, making the locations of the various planetary gates and the all-important Shukaras gate. Vorazun slipped out of a cross-corridor and joined us as we headed for the docked Hyperion. A thought occurred to me as we walked and I asked, "Is your mother and your people ready for this? There's a lot of people that are about to descend onto Shukuras."
"It will be crowded for a time, I admit." She conceded. "But our needs do not require as much space as Terrans and we have other planets that we can spread the refugees onto. Shakuras is simply the most convenient staging and transportation point from which to travel from, given the direct link to Aiur. What about you and your own forces? What will you do?"
I grimaced. "I doubt we'll stay long term. I don't think we can afford to. It's hard to remember now, but the Zerg that followed the Overmind are not our only concern. Nor do I think we're done facing them. There's still a fight to be had and I can't see us sitting it out. Having said that, there's a lot of civilians that we have on board as well. Having a safe place for them would be much appreciated."
"I believe that that can be arranged." Vorazun replied. "Certainly the numbers of your civilians will not be more than a drop compared to the Protoss."
That was undoubtedly true. While we'd recovered a large number of civilians during the course of our campaign, primarily from the New Folsom mission, they numbered in the thousands or, at worst, tens of thousands, not the billions that were fleeing Aiur. Working out what to do with them had been rattling around as a problem that had to be dealt with, but I'd never worked out a decent solution.
"Thank you, Vorazun. Having that issue dealt with takes a weight off my mind." I replied with heartfelt passion.
"Given everything that you all have done for our race, it is the least we can do. Still, we are perhaps looking too far ahead at the present time."
"Agreed." Nova said gloomily. "Aiur's proven to be a deathtrap and no mistake. We still have to escape before we can plan for the future."
"Perhaps, but we're still alive." Jim countered. "As long as we're alive, we're in the fight."
I hadn't ever heard truer words and they would continue to sustain me for years after, during times when I desperately needed that support.
As the Hyperion pulled into position above the warp gate and began to disgorge its cargo of troops and vehicles, Nova and I looked over the battlefield that we both knew the surrounding area would soon devolve into. The warp gate was placed on the top of a local plateau, with only a few, well constructed paths leading up to it. Heavy defensive positions were being constructed at key choke points along each path. On the plateau itself, support camps were being quickly constructed to provide assistance for the refugees before they travelled through the portal, along with encampments for the defending forces. Despite the exhaustion that everyone had to be feeling, not a single soul was moving slowly. The urgency of the situation filled the air. Walking to a nearby cliff-edge, I looked over the approach winding up the mountain-side. Already, I could see lines of Protoss beginning to make their way from the local gate network towards the inter-stellar gate behind me. Regrettably, I knew that if they were here, the Zerg would not be far behind. Even now, I could hear the faint sounds of their screeches getting closer.
Our readiness for them, however, was unquestioned. Numerous squadrons of wraith fighters swarmed over the prospective battlefield, with the larger battlecruisers taking positions above them, ready to interdict any Zerg offensive. The far rarer Stingrays, with their numbers supplemented prior to our arrival on Aiur, swept in between, a graver threat to the Zerg numbers than almost anything else we possessed. A pang hit me as I watched their movements, recalling and lamenting the fact that the Liberator was not among their number and wouldn't be again for some time. Far below them, our ground forces assembled and set up the various buildings and equipment required to protect against any Zerg that made it past our aerial and orbital defences. Bunkers and missile turrets lined the perimeter and various defensive positions, supporting the Protoss fortifications. Marines and firebats streamed into the bunkers, along with the occasional ghost, while our mechanised forces took up supporting positions. Siege tanks, along with the few Temeraires we had available, set up overlapping fields of fire over the approaches, while our various Vulture variants and Goliaths patrolled different sections, reinforcing them against attack as a quick-response team. Dropships lingered behind the lines, in case rapid extraction was required.
Our allies hadn't been idle either, the preparation of both the Protoss and Sarah's Zerg were clearly in evidence. Photon cannons, shield batteries and pylons lined the approach on both sides, while further out, sunken and spore colonies protected against even approaching the pathways. While the majority of the Protoss defending forces weren't visible to me, being clustered around the entrances to the passes and the warp-gates currently discharging their loads of civilians, I knew they were there and ready, and large numbers of their scouts and carriers covered the skies against enemy incursion. While the Spear of Adun itself was not taking part in this battle once more, due to its need to be defended as it continued to return to its full potential and its use as an evacuation vessel, and so required a portion of the the allied fleet to defend it against a Zerg counterattack, enough of the fleet remained to be a credible threat to the Zerg. Threaded between the ships were the Zerg mutalisks and scourge from Sarah's brood, no doubt concerning the newer members of our alliance, but the rest had learnt to largely ignore the Zerg within their formation if they weren't attacking, trusting at long last in Sarah's ability to control them. Ironic, then, that her ability to defend her own mind and control the Zerg under her command had been weakened by the Overmind's death. Like the Protoss troops, the Zerg ground forces were largely not visible, but I didn't doubt that Sarah had them burrowed away, ready to ambush any enemy force stupid enough to attack.
All in all, we were about as prepared as we were likely to be to fight the rearguard action needed to secure the Protoss civilisation against the wrath of the Swarm. The quality of our forces was undoubted. But the numbers against us were, once again, immense and while their organisation and coordination was severely lacking, their sheer numbers had a quality all of its own. Nothing less than our best efforts would suffice to hold the Zerg at bay.
As I heard the roar of the approaching Zerg forces gain in strength and volume, I knew that, here at least, the argument of quality versus quantity was about to be answered once and for all, and with devastating consequences if we were found wanting.
(Author's Notes)
Well, this has taken long enough to get done, and I'm sorry about that. Work has been insanely busy and it's been hard to find the time and, sometimes, motivation to keep pushing this chapter out. So, I'm ending it a bit early compared to where I originally had planned, as I was going to have the battle as well. I suspect you all are probably used to cliff-hangers anyway, so I'd hate to disappoint. Think of it like this: you've just started on your roller-coaster ride, it's climbed to the top and now you're staring at an inverted spiral right in front of you. THAT'S where we're about to go.
I have to admit, I thought the world had run out of ways to surprise me, but Murphy clearly had other ideas for everyone. So, I hope all of you are staying strong and hopefully we can all get through these difficult times together. Have to say, I'm not much of a fan of how this decade has turned out so far.
I think for the most part, I'm going to try and keep the chapter sizes down a little bit, rather than pushing them to where they ended up near the end of WODF. In part, this is so that I can get this section done, because while I have a lot of ideas for the Brood War, I am a lot more excited for Wings of Liberty. Mostly though, I want to try and get to updating on a more regular basis, though I'm not making any promises about that. I'm also not saying that I'll split sections up into multiple chapters to keep to a word limit, sometimes I want to keep events flowing naturally, rather than break the flow.
Anyway, review time. I'm going to respond to reviews from WODF after the last chapter was published first, before replying to reviews here. I'll break them out so that you can see what review relates to what story.
WODF reviews:
Blaze, you couldn't be more right. The first true chapter might not have much blood shown, but it's coming. Oh, it's coming.
Firetemplar, you're welcome and I'm glad you like them.
Lastful, I'm glad you like the biography. You're quite right, and I've made those changes.
JackBlaze, at the time I wrote the prologue, over half the story, including Sarah's infestation, was already published. I also didn't want to be completely cruel and so there are a few minor spoilers for the final outcome. But the journey is as important as the destination.
Your maths is quite right, less than a day did pass between the battles of Dylar and New Folsom. However, I never said that the ships that attacked Jason came from New Folsom. There's a few other things to explain here as well, but I'm not going to elaborate on all of them.
To be honest, that ship has crossed my mind a few times as well. Is it going to happen? Probably not, but it's not impossible. If it does, it won't be until the far future in terms of the story.
Morrom, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Hopefully the sequel continues to keep you entertained.
Spartan, I'm glad you liked it and I hope that this sequel meets your standards.
WTDL reviews:
Isokage, no worries, hope you enjoy this.
The Glorious Executioner, I'm glad you like the original and hopefully, you'll enjoy this one just as much.
Darkerby, yes it is!
Lusians, the siege tanks are winding up. Consider it brought and thank you.
Deathknight, I'm glad to bring this back and be ready to cause utter chaos across the three races.
Blaze, yes you can take some comfort. Some. The space ahead is lousy with asteroids, black holes and supernova. A simple cruise to the destination is NOT in my expectations for this story.
Capo, I am SO glad for your comment. Trying to get the feelings of Jason right for this section took ages and no small amount of my brainpower to get right. The PTSD section was probably the single hardest piece of writing I have ever done for this story, particularly since I can't claim to have any experience or training in this area to fall back on, so thank you so much! You're not wrong, things are about to get messy and this is going to have a very different tone to WODF. Highly entertaining still, I hope, but the drama and angst will be strong with this one.
Firetemplar, thank you.
l3loodKnight, compared to the wars that preceded and followed, the Brood War probably was a little more cooler than either of them. But I certainly wouldn't call them quiet times and calm they were not. I think it's also fair to say that the Brood War was far more wide-spread than the original Zerg invasion from a game perspective and the story is going to cover a lot more territory than the game did. But the problem with knowing the future, the more you act on that knowledge, the more unpredictable the future becomes.
Lastful, I'm glad it made you stop and think, because that is what I intended. Would everything be for nothing? I don't think so, too much has changed for it not to have an effect. What happened? That I am not giving away. Some you will be able to guess, some you definitely won't.
NightmareRuby, hopefully this chapter is as good as you hope for. As for Zeratul, I'm making no promises on him just yet. I definitely like shipping him with Selendis, and I HAVE stated that Selendis survived the war, so you might have room for hope. But hope is a dangerous thing. But I will certainly be prepared for any retaliation if I kill him off.
JumpingToaster, I don't blame you for being a little wary. I did agonise over whether having prologue chapters like this was the right approach or not. Ultimately, I decided that for what I want to do, it was. Does it set certain facts in stone? Yes it does. Does it set the path to those events, or detail the effects that they have? Not at all. There is more than one road to an objective, and not all of them are straight. All I ask is that you keep an open mind on this.
Well, I think this sums up everything for this chapter. Please read, favourite, follow and review if you have not already. Hopefully you enjoy the first steps into the world without the Overmind and are willing to come with me to find out how things will change from here.
Until next time.
