Author's Notes:

I do not own Starcraft or any of its characters.

Thanks to Warchief for beta reading.

Enjoy!

Different communication, thought patterns and sounds:

"Speaking"

'Thinking or speaking mentally'

*Sound effect*

Starcraft: A New Generation

Chapter 2: The new arrival

— 22nd of September, 2522—
— Location: Psionics Academy, Korhal. Headmaster's office —

"Miss Wiggins, you have to understand! You cannot assault other pupils only because they dared to insult you," Mr. Glendale said.

13 year old Terra had once again found herself in the headmaster's office. She sat in the chair in front of his desk, leaning backwards with her arms crossed. Didn't really want to care either. If there was one thing she had in common with the headmaster, then it would be the lack of enthusiasm in being here. But those idiots deserved it. They started it, again! Why couldn't they just leave her alone?

"Even if what they did is unacceptable, you cannot take matters into your own hands the way you did," he continued, with a hint of concern in his tone.

Terra didn't answer. Like so many times before, the long pony-tailed blonde girl just sat there, just staring at the headmaster and waiting for him to finish, before letting her go. Same shitty routine as always.

The elderly Mr. Glendale lowered his head down a bit, supporting it with his arms on the desk, so that his hands covered his lower face, as he tried to calm himself down a little and think of what to say, while appearing to look at her in a scrutinizing way. One way or another, he had to find a way to reach out to the girl, but the task had over the years proven to be very difficult.

"Listen," he began, with his British Cockney accent, "I understand that it is tough for you, and that you have your own struggles. I sympathize with you, I really do, and I understand that it is not easy, especially for you, to keep yourself calm when someone dares to insult you the worst ways possible. But for your own good, you need to resist your anger."

Terra remained silent, and kept staring at the elder man in front of her, with as little care as she could put on.

"Are you done, yet?" she finally asked, after a long moment of silence.

Mr. Glendale sighed.

"Miss Wiggins… I have tried to hold out for you, and I have tried to be patient with you. But it is now reaching the final line. I am afraid that there will be severe consequences, if this goes any further," he said, with his voice firm.

"Consequences?" Terra snorted, "Like the ones Dylan gets?"

'Oh bloody hell, not again…' the headmaster groaned, as he took off his glasses and pinched his nose bridge.

Terra could be really difficult, highlighted when she brought up Dylan. If there was one problem greater than Terra, it was the said boy. Mr. Glendale would more than eagerly have Dylan permanently expelled from the Academy a long time ago. Sadly, he never could, his hands were tied in this specific matter.

The blonde girl often brought up Dylan in these conversations only to make it more difficult for him, no doubt about that. If Dylan were never subjected to any punishment for what he was doing, then why should she heed Mr. Glendale's words? Or was he showing favoritism? But truth was, she used this as a sorry excuse for her to ignore the headmaster's words, and he knew it all too well.

He cast a look at the girl, serious, yet with sadness hidden behind his face. Sadness for the blonde girl.

Any other headmaster would have just yelled at her in fury at this point, and she would be gone from the Academy, probably a long time ago. Headmaster Glendale, on the other hand, was more sympathetic to Terra. He really could not blame the girl for her troubles. While some people out there happened to be despicable by nature, the girl in front of him was one with a very troubled past. That she once again found herself in his office was upsetting.

He really felt for the girl, and wished he could help her further, but to this day his attempts seemed to be in vain. And he was headmaster, at one point, duty must come before sympathy.

"Miss Wiggins," he began speaking again, "Mr. Hadgers is a different case. I am concerned about yours. Please, give my words some thoughts, and control yourself next time. For your sake, please heed my words. You may leave."

Terra rose of from the chair and went for the door, grabbing the door knob and opened it. Most doors would be opened automatic, but Mr. Glendale preferred old fashioned solutions.

As soon as the teen had disappeared from his sight, Mr. Glendale rose up and walked over to a mirror that hung on the side wall. He gazed at himself in the mirror, wondering about what to do about the girl. Was there anything that could be done at this point? He put on his glasses and looked into his own image. The years had not been too gentle with the elderly man, shown by the many wrinkles in in his face, and the white hair surrounding his head. The hair he once had on top of his head was long gone. (1)

"Charles, my old fellow…" he sighed to himself. "What to do…"

A knock came from the door.

"Come in," Mr. Glendale said, as he turned towards the door.

No adjutant was present to announce who arrived, he had a secretary for that. And the new arrival had no need for such introduction.

"Sir, I brought you some tea," a younger man said as he entered the door.

"Ah, Chris. Excellent timing, God knows, I could use a cup," Mr Glendale said, relieved as his assistant, Chris Ford, brought in the hot beverage.

"Was it Terra Wiggins again, sir?" Chris asked, as Mr. Glendale took a sip from the tea cup.

"Yes. God knows how many times the troubled young lady has been here in my office," he answered, somewhat sad in his tone.

"She got into a fight again, sir?"

"Yes," Mr. Glendale nodded. "Threw someone into the wall with her power. The young lady can't keep her temper under control."

He sighed, before he walked over and sat down behind his desk.

"I've tried to help the girl for years, yet everything I do makes no change."

Chris knew very well of the one the headmaster were speaking of. Among the children attending the Academy, she was very renown. And not for the reasons one would cherish.

"Wasn't a counselor appointed to her?" he asked.

"Years ago," Mr. Glendale answered, after taking another sip of his tea.

"And not just one. Three. But none of them made any progress with her, as she kept skipping her appointments. And she has not broken any laws severe enough to enforce such a treatment on her."

"What about other staff? Or what about Nova Terra? I think she has a hard upbringing herself."

"Chris, Instructor Terra is occupied with teaching in combat and special operations for the students that have graduated from the basic level, and have chosen to become ghosts," Mr. Glendale pointed out.

"Besides," he continued, "Nova has already tried her best. But the girl is too stubborn. To be honest, in moments like these, I ask myself why the Emperor abolished mind wiping."

"But sir, mind wiping is today considered a horrifying act," Chris fired.

"I know that, Chris, I know," Mr Glendale shot back, a bit annoyed that such an outburst of a reply had to come from his assistant.

"And usually I agree with that opinion. But to be fair, with her troubled past, miss Wiggins could really use a fresh start away from her haunting memories."

No one said any more words for a minute. Mr. Glendale continued to slowly drink his tea, while Chris remained in his thoughts.

"Sir," he began after a while, "Maybe it's time you let her go?"

Mr. Glendale looked sternly on his assistant, with his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

"Sir, you have done all you can, but in the end nothing is working. I don't think anyone of us can do anything differently. I need to remind you of the complains on the girl. We've held onto her far longer than anyone else would, but if this keeps up much longer, the authorities will intervene and have Wiggins kicked out themselves. Maybe along with you. Who is then to run the Academy?"

The headmaster sighed once again, rose up and walked over to the window, looking over his view of Augustgrad City.

"Remember the old days, Chris?"

"When we ran the school and orphanage at Denahar III?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"The greatest reward for me those days was whenever we helped a troubled child into a better life, and we gave the child the hope and faith in himself, or herself. The changes we made in one person's life, for the better."

He looked out at the window again, and sighed.

"Sometimes I ask myself why the Emperor requested me to take up the role as headmaster for the Psionics Academy. I'm not even psychic."

"It is because of your experience with troubled children, that he selected you for this job," Chris answered.

"The psionic instructors deal with the fields you can't, while your leadership and your passion to help the children is what makes you suitable for this. Don't forget that many of our previous students lost their parents during the war, and you have gone far to provide for their needs."

Mr. Glendale gave him a smile, and a nodded at the praise the assistant gave him.

He then looked once more out of the window.

"Then again, back at Denahar III, there were also the times when there was a person that we couldn't help," he said, as he sipped the last of his tea.

"No matter how much patience we had, or how much care we tried to show, some simply couldn't be saved."

He turned to Chris, and continued.

"Some people cannot be redeemed, simply because they do not wish for any redemption. Others cannot because the only right person who could have reached them was nowhere near."

He looked over at his desk, contemplating his next words.

"You may be right, Chris," he continued

"Maybe it is time that I let Terra Wiggins go."

The assistant nodded.

"It's a shame though," Chris added, drawing Mr. Glendale's attention.

"We end up expelling one who needs help, while the one that really needs to be removed, he stays," he said.

"Referring to Dylan Hadgers again, Chris?" Mr. Glendale asked.

Chris couldn't respond before an alarm bleeped from the headmaster's desktop computer. He walked over, and pushed touched the monitor, where there image of his secretary, a woman with dark blue sweater, red hair and glasses showed up. Just like he preferred, human interaction, instead of trusting everything to the adjutants.

"Yes, Mrs. Erin?" he asked.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Mr. Glendale, but the new exchange student has arrived."

"Ah, thank you, Mrs. Erin."

The woman disappeared from the monitor, and the headmaster turned to his assistant, and smiled.

"Chris, today is a special day for the Psionics Academy. Never before have we or anyone else in the Dominion undertaken such a task."

—Location: Psionics Academy, hallway —

There weren't much students in the hallways at the moment. Terra had been called out to the headmaster halfway in the class, but she figured it would soon be break, so she might as well wait for the next lesson, walking with a slower pace towards the classroom.

The blonde girl had her blonde hair in a ponytail, reaching down just below her shoulders. The hair rested on her light-brown leather jacket, which was her usual outfit. Beneath it she had a black t-shirt, and she was wearing brown trousers on her legs, with a few holes on the knees and reaching down to her shoes.

As she passed an intersection in the hallway, she felt a presence behind her. Her presence.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I hear you got sent to the headmaster again," a older feminine voice behind her spoke up.

"It's none of your business," Terra muttered, as she looked over her shoulder, and saw Nova leaning against the wall near the intersection corner, with her arms crossed.

The woman had same hair style as her, in a long blonde ponytail that reached far down her back. Her jacket was dark, with teal on her shoulders, and the pants were dark blue. Typical her casual outfit these days before getting into training gear, as the classes she taught were mostly on the later half of the days.

The famous ex-ghost kept staring at her, until she broke the silence.

"Your temper flared up again?" she asked.

No response.

"Let me guess: Dylan?" she continued asking.

"No, just some other idiots from another class. But they deserved it," Terra said.

"I didn't even think of bothering them, I would just have left them alone. Yet they come and shout their words at me! Those damn idiots!"

Already now her anger was getting her riled up.

Nova gave no response, she just kept looking at the blonde in front of her.

"Why don't they just leave me alone," Terra sighed, turning her head away, looking on the ground.

"Because of your anger," Nova said.

"That's why they're going after you."

Terra looked back up at the instructor again. True, this she already knew. She had had this conversation over and over again with both the headmaster and with Nova. She could relate a bit to the instructor's own tough past, yet somehow these conversations with her never gave her any sense of relief.

"Terra, listen to me for once," Nova spoke, having the girl's attention.

"I'm sure the headmaster said it as well, but… you are already on deep water. He can't get you any more second chances, this is it. If you continue, you will get kicked out of the Academy. Do you understand?"

Terra didn't respond.

"Look, I know you think it doesn't matter, but it does. If your anger gets the best of you again, you will lose any chances to fulfill the goals of your life, or to become anything worthwhile."

"Goals… What a waste, what good are goals for me…" Terra muttered, as she turned away, and started waling.

"Oh, I know of your true goals," Nova said, causing the girl to stop and look back at her.

"I don't approve of them, and I hope I can convince you to find something better to live for, but I won't stop you if you intend to go through with it. But if you lose your opportunity here, you won't be able to fulfill anything"

The older woman walked over to Terra, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Terra, I would like to have you among my own students, if you manage to graduate. I would like to teach you personally. So please, don't throw this away," Nova implored.

Terra didn't respond. A typical trait of her, often saying nothing.

"And what do you think I should do?" she finally asked.

'Finally, there's an opening,' Nova sighed mentally. She didn't know if she would dare to hope for the girl. There had been so many incidents.

"If someone tries to rile you up again, leave. Just go, before your anger gets you," Nova said, with concern written in her eyes.

Terra backed away from the instructor as the words fell in, and she looked at her with anger flaring in her eyes.

"You want me to run away like some damn coward?!" she shouted, angered by the very suggestion.

"If it saves your future, yes," Nova nodded sternly.

"Besides, I call it 'tactical retreat'."

'Still the same bullshit!' Terra thought.

Nova noticed the thought, and frowned a little, but let the girl continue.

"So, if I run into Dylan, I'm just to go away? Wouldn't that just give new reasons to come after me?" the girl hissed.

"Terra, listen to me: If you attack Dylan, you will lose. Because getting you kicked out is exactly what he would enjoy. Don't give him that satisfaction."

A bell-sounding alarm rang throughout the hallway, sounding from speakers spread around, and other students now began coming out as the current lectures were over, leading into a break.

"Remember," Nova said, before turning to leave. "You attack Dylan, he wins."

With that as her final words, the blond woman turned and walked, as she had her to prepare for her own classes of the day.

Terra kept looking after her as she disappeared into the crowd, but not before noticing all the students standing aside to let the famous woman pass unhindered, showing their respect and admiration for the legendary former ghost.

Only Sarah Kerrigan was more famous, for obvious reasons.

She thought over the last words Nova gave her. While she hated the prospect of running away, something that would give Dylan and any other punks more to go on, the idea that Dylan would revel in pleasure by seeing her kicked out was a thought she cherished even less.

The blonde couldn't think longer on it as she was bumped from behind. She turned around in blazing anger at whoever it was.

"What do you think you-" she began to yell, but she saw that it was a young boy, one from a younger age group.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" the fear-stricken boy said as he quickly backed away.

One of the traits of being a student at the Psionics Academy was that not only could you see the anger on this girl, but you could feel it wash over you as well, like a tidal wave. That was, if you had stronger abilities than just mind-reading. But it wasn't few these days, as several nearby students turned around to see the intense source of the rage they sensed, causing a cascade as the rest of the students turned to pick up on why their classmates and friends were suddenly turning.

Terra took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down. For once it had actually been an accident, and if she let her anger take over this time, for something this trivial, it would only confirm to everyone, even herself, that she truly was a messed-up person. She turned and walked for the classroom, where her next lesson would be held.

— Location: Outside classroom 329 —

A small group of young people, spread around in the hallway outside room 329, their classroom, looked with disdain at the blonde as she approached. Once again, Terra, the spitfire of their class, had gotten herself into trouble. Once again the girl had been to the headmaster's office. Once again, she did nothing but tarnish the reputation of their age group. Some had even begun betting how much longer this would last, and whether she would return back or disappear forever, any time she was sent to the headmaster. But except for the usual slander, her classmates usually left her alone.

Terra couldn't tell if this was one of the few fortunes she ever had in life, or if her classmates were secretly terrified of her. But neither did she care. They left her alone, she left them alone. That was what she wanted. If only the rest of the Academy would do the same…

She placed herself along the wall, waiting for the break to finish. She looked over to her side, and spotted Annabelle on a distant corner, down the hallway, all on her own.

Annabelle… One of the oddities in the class.

She always wore an old-fashioned dress that spread out below her waist, and also covered her shoulders (2). Today it was deep ocean blue. On her wide blond hair, she had a headband with a clothing hanging down from her forehead, covering her eyes (3). Everyone knew that she was blind. At the same time, everyone also agreed that she likely had strong psionic powers. For she always knew where to walk. The silent girl never hit into any walls or obstacles, and she always found the way on her own. Some had even observed her taking the city tram system alone, without anyone to guide her. Heck, she was one of the very few who never bumped into Dylan, as if she always knew whenever he was close or not. The infamous bully had very strong powers, and could hide his own presence from others, even the staff. Yet Annabelle never ran into him.

It was believed that she could see the world around her, in spite of being blind. Whether this was a testimony of her true strength, or simply a psionic adaption to compensate for her lack of sight, people disagreed on. But her limits were not known. Many students at the Academy were competitive about their abilities these days, yet Annabelle always stayed out of those affairs. She rarely involved herself with other students at all. Some said she was an arrogant bitch with superiority issues, but Terra figured that was not the case. The very few times she had bothered to actually look more closely at her, she had rather seemed shy and insecure. And for some reason, the odd girl never wanted to train her powers during the psionic lessons. At least, not openly.

The very few times she had heard Annabelle speak, she could hear an accent with a somewhat rolling R, like a light variant of Russian accent.

In the end, she was a quiet girl, always on her own, and Terra didn't really care about her. She didn't want to, she had enough problems in her own life already.

The bell finally went off again, marking that the break was over, and that the next lessons were starting. Terra followed her classmates, and entered the classroom. Everyone sat themselves at their chosen seats. She preferred to either sit along the wall, or at the back. Somewhere away from the front. But sometimes others beat her to it, like today.

The Academy had a much higher number of students these days, compared to the previous generation. Terra's age group, however, was the smallest one, with ten students. For Terra it meant less people to pester her, so she couldn't complain. Most of their non-psionic lectures were held in this room, the one numbered 329. It was small and had few seats, but the present features of the classroom made up for it.

The classroom was like the most: Rows of seats, with each row higher up the further behind they were. Each seat had a corresponding desk in front, which included a monitor used by the teacher to pass on information, lectures, assignments, etc., and used by the student to solve assignments by running the needed simulations, calculations, or looking up the holonet for information.

She ended up on the second row, with Annabelle to her left front. Not her luckiest day when it came to the seats, but this would have to do. All the other nine students were present.

Then it her: The current subject was history, and the topic was the colonization of the Koprulu sector. She had no interest in history, with few exceptions. And even better: Her teacher was way too passionate about it, and had low tolerance for students not paying attention, or doing their given tasks. If she noticed it, that was, for she was an easily distracted teacher, which made her all the more unpredictable, and today was really not a day where Terra could afford more trouble. So, she would have to force herself through this boring lecture.

'This day keeps getting better and better,' she rolled her eyes sarcastically.

However, the history teacher, Mrs. Jane Sullivan did not arrive alone today. She was accompanied by the class's main responsible teacher, Mr. James Henry, and the headmaster, Mr. Charles Glendale. And the history teacher appeared to be more nervous than usual, fidgeting with her fingers.

'Now what?' Terra thought to herself, wondering if the headmaster was here because of her.

When all the students saw the headmaster appearing through the entrance door, at the right front of the classroom, they all rose up from their seats, as was the common courtesy when the headmaster stopped by. He motioned for them to sit down.

"Students, the headmaster is here with important news for us," Henry said. "If you will, Mr Glendale?"

"Thank you, Mr. Henry," the headmaster replied, before turning his attention to the class, also making a side note that Terra was present as well.

"My dear pupils, we are here to inform you that a new exchange student will join your class and attend the lessons together with you."

"Yo, what do you mean with 'exchange student'?" an dark-skinned (4) boy interrupted, instantly, earning an angry glare from Mrs. Sullivan.

"Young Mr. Ridge, let me finish, please," the headmaster responded, "But to answer your question first: What I am saying is that the new arrival comes from outside the Dominion."

"When does he arrive? Or she?" another student, a red-haired girl named June, asked.

"Yes, about that…" the headmaster began.

"The exchange request arrived to Korhal a few weeks ago, and the process has been rather very sudden and quick, but I regret to inform that I discovered only yesterday that due to some unfortunate circumstances in my administration, you have not been informed about this, like you should have. For that, you have my sincere apology."

"Wait," June said, "Sir, are you saying that this student is arriving very soon?"

"Today, actually," the headmaster answered, taking them all by surprise.

"Yo, what?! Today?!" the dark boy blurted out.

"I understand that this is very sudden for you, and again, my deepest apologies for this abrupt change. What I ask of you is that you receive and treat the new girl with the same respect you treat each other. Can you do that?"

Several of the students looked briefly at each other, before they nodded at the headmasters request.

"I guess we'll try our best," June said.

'Oh joy. Another one joins the fray…' Terra rolled her eyes.

"You have my sincere gratitude," the headmaster smiled. "Now, I should warn you that… her outfit is quite… unique. Try to look past it, and please treat her well."

That last part confused everyone, wondering what he meant about 'unique'.

Mr. Glendale walked towards the door, which automatically opened up for him, unlike his own office door, the one rare exception in the building. He motioned for someone outside the room to come in.

"Pupils, this is Miss Catherine," the headmaster introduced, as a figure entered through the door.

'Unique' turned out to be an understatement, as a strange sight fell inn to the group. They stared at what appeared to their front. In walked a figure, with the entire body covered in large dark brownish-grey robes. The only exceptions were the face, in its place a mask, and the arms that stuck out from the robes, wearing dark thick gloves.

The mask was metallic grey, with a line of black glass crossing horizontally over the center of the mask, apparently where the eyes were. From the middle of the glass line ran another carved line downwards to what appeared to be some sort of mouth piece. It stood slightly outwards from the mask, with the vertical carving running straight through it, accompanied with small horizontal lines running over the mouth piece. (5)

It looked as if the figure was bent slightly forward, with a giant lump sticking out on its back. Like if it was a hunchback of some sort. A huge one.

'What the hell am I looking at?!' Terra thought, finally breaking her own mental silence.

The next surprise came from Annabelle, however, who suddenly gasped loudly. Everyone turned to where the said girl was sitting. For one thing, a weird figure had entered their class, but for another, Annabelle never ever made a sound, that including gasping. Until now. As a joke among her classmates, this had become an universal rule, and now she had broken it. She was the only one on the front row, but those on the second row from her right could see enough of her face to notice that she seemed shocked. But what was it?

The headmaster gave Annabelle a stern look, and after a few moments the girl nodded. He turned over to the new arrival, and gave her a nod. The figure looked at the class, and then spoke:

"Um… hello. I'm Catherine," the figure introduced itself, waving slightly with its hand.

The voice was a female, with a metallic rasping sound. The class was in total silence, and this lasted until Ridge spoke up:

"Yo, what's with that mask?!"

"Michael Ridge! It is rude to ask such questions!" Mrs. Sullivan, the history teacher, rebuked him with a stern voice.

'Screw rude, he's simply saying what we all are thinking! Hello?! She has a freaking mask on!' Terra thought.

'Keep yelling your thoughts a little more, and even Henry will pick it up,' she heard June's voice in her head.

'Shut up, June, and stay the hell out of my head!' Terra responded angrily, glaring back over at the said red-hair on the row behind her.

"Very well, now that you are introduced, I will leave the class to you, Mrs. Sullivan," the headmaster smiled.

"Mr. Henry will also stay for this lesson," he added, to which the class's main responsible teacher nodded.

As Mr. Glendale left, Mr. Henry, sat down on the right edge of the front row, and the new arrival sat down in front of Terra. Mrs. Sullivan stood in front, and spoke up.

"Ah…well… We're honored to have a such a… special and unique new student as yourself with us today, Miss Catherine. W-We will all do the best we can to teach you along with your new fellow co-students," she said, openly nervous.

Terra smirked at what she was seeing.

'Figures, our history teacher sucks at hiding her discomfort. Congrats newcomer, you officially freaked her out.'

"We will do our best in overlooking that you are faceless… uh, I mean… you do have a face… it's just that… um…. well, what was today's topic again? Oh, yes, the colonization!" she nervously changed the topic, as she turned over to the main monitor in the front of the classroom, to start the lecture.

Terra noticed that Mr. Henry discreetly face-palmed at this, and half of the class fought the urge to laugh. The history teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, had done it again! Terra was convinced that if she ever took a pause to reflect on how people looked upon her, she would pack her belongings and flee Korhal in shame. She wasn't a bad teacher in her field, but she was a horrible people's person. Especially when faced with what she would call 'an unusual element', and the masked person was exactly such an element.

History… Terra was never really fond of that subject. Rarely was it interesting, it was boring and mostly useless to her own goals. Depending on her mood, Terra had often gambled by not paying attention, especially since Mrs. Sullivan was easily distracted and didn't have psionic abilities either. Ghosts and psionic operatives with expertise in history, art or other such fields had pretty much been non-existent in the Terran Dominion, so it fell upon the common people to teach these gifted students in these fields. After all, it was a different Academy now, than during the old days.

This time she wouldn't gamble, she was already in deep, and Nova's words did bother her. Furthermore, Mr. Henry was also present, and unlike Mrs. Sullivan, he was a former ghost operative. Staff like him, those with head responsibilities for the different classes, they were all psionic. They knew their own kin the best, after all. If she spaced out, Mr. Henry could catch her in the act if he for any reason began to read their minds and check if people were paying attention. However, Mr. Henry had confronted her less and less about her behavior lately, and she figured that he had begun to give up on her, even against the headmaster's sincere pleas to not to.

Today's lecture was about the colonization of the Koprulu sector, and how the Confederacy of Men, the Umojan Protectorate and the Kel-Morian Combine came to be. Pretty much a dull topic to Terra, but even if it had been interesting, she would not had paid attention. Not today. The newcomer who sat in front of her kept her distracted. Of course Mrs. Sullivan didn't notice it, already greatly stressed out by the event already. And Mr. Henry simply ignored it, since half the class shared the same problem.

Many times, as the lesson went on, Terra looked at the newcomer. The cloaked figure sat leaning forward, and it… no, she, it was a female… she was turned partly sideways, in order for the huge lump on her back to fit within the seat.

'What is she?' she asked herself. 'Why is she wearing a mask? And what's with that big lump on her back?'

She looked over to Annabelle, who seemed to be very quiet. Well, that girl was always quiet, but now she seemed even more quiet than 'usual'. Even with her upper face covered by that headband-cloth, the others could tell that she was spaced out. This itself was very rare, since Annabelle, as far as she could tell, never displayed any emotion openly. She always kept to herself, and was always quiet.

'Annabelle has been like this ever since she… that… arrived. What is it that she's so freaked out about?' Terra thought, and turned her eyes back to the figure.

There was not much she could learn about her on what she was wearing. It was mostly layers robes that covered the newcomer. The only exceptions were the wask that covered the front of her head, if she had any, and the gloved arms that stuck out.

Terra took a look at her gloved arms. Those gloves had some darker brownish color than the rest of the robes. Quite long too, they went all the way from the tips of her long edgy fingers and up to… at least the elbows, she figured. It was then she noticed it:

Her fingers, they were long. They about halfway longer than her own. Than anyone's!

'The hell…' she thought.

From the point where most fingers would stop, they continued, but got thinner and thinner, until they reached their pointed edges. Strangely enough, the finger joints didn't seem to be further away from the palms, as compared for a regular human. So the fingers were extended from the outer joints?

The next thing that surprised Terra was her own curiosity. Never would she even care about unusual things, yet here was one that drew all her attention, in spite of her own usual attitude.

She couldn't hold herself anymore, for once her curiosity became too much. Usually she would refrain from reading other people's minds or trying to get a sense at their powers. She didn't want to bother people, preferring that they left her alone. However, this figure had peeked too much of her interest. What was she hiding?

She slowly extended her senses, trying to read or sense whatever she could from this person.

She felt… nothing… nothing she did gave anything back, that she could understand.

'What? How?… Is she a robot?' she asked herself.

She began to push her powers, and increase her senses. That was when the figure turned her head around and looked sideways at her.

'Oh shit! Definitely not a robot! She noticed me!' Terra thought in a small uncomfortable surprise, as the figure kept looking at her. She had been caught red-handed.

However, adding to her surprise, the figure just gave her a nod. Somehow she felt that the figure was…. friendly. Dumbfounded, Terra gave a small nod back, before the figure turned her head back to follow the lecture. Or what was left of it, as poor Mrs. Sullivan was franticly going through the materials in higher speed, accompanied by increasing stuttering.

'Okay…' Terra thought with herself. 'She somehow noticed that I was trying to do… She has psionic abilities, no doubt about it… That means she is not a robot. At least not fully. Yet I couldn't sense anything… It has to be some sort of barrier. Just what is she?'

'Terra, you won't get anything out of this by using your powers,' she heard a male voice in her head.

She snapped her head immediately towards Mr. Henry, who was looking sternly at her.

'Sorry, Henry,' she responded telepathically.

'It's all right,' he mentally sighed.

'Just for the record: You were the sixth person trying to see what's under her mask,' he added with a smirk.

'But please respect Miss Catherine's privacy about this, and don't press on this issue.'

Terra looked back over to the figure on the row in front of her. Just what was this Catherine? Why was she hiding beyond robes and a mask?

These questions kept going through Terra's head, until the bell went off, signaling class to be over, saving Mrs. Sullivan from further downfall. All her fellow students in class got up and began to take their leave, the newcomer included.

Just as Terra was about to get up, the thought finally hit her:

'Is she… alien?'

Some moments later she finally noticed that everyone else were gone, and so she got up and walked out of the classroom. This was the final lesson of the day, so most students were either meeting others to hang out, or leaving for their own homes.

As she left the classroom and found herself in the hallway, she noticed Annabelle at a corner in the hallway.

She was not alone, as Terra quickly noticed the robed figure beside her. They were standing there and stared at each other… at least as far as Annabelle was able too, given that she was blind. But they just stood there. Just looking at each other. No words said. No sounds made.

Terra, along with few others, stood there and looked at the scenery.

'Ok, this is getting weird,' she thought to herself. 'I'm out of here.'

She turned around and walked down along the hallway. Since she had remained behind in the classroom, and then in the hallway staring at the odd two, most people to have left the building by now. However, some had stayed behind.

"Well, well, if it isn't angry spitfire Terra?" she heard a certain ruff voice behind her, after crossing an intersection.

'No… not now! Not today!' she thought with herself, as she turned around to face Dylan.

The boy stood there in his dark pants, shirt and black jacket, joined by the dark hair and the malicious look in his face that meant trouble. (6)

He was a year older than her, belonging to the much larger age group 14, and ever since she came to Korhal, to the Academy three years ago, he had done everything he could to make her life at the school miserable. Hers, along with other selected individuals and otherwise random students who just happened to be unluckily crossing his path. And he always got away with it.

"Got sent to that sorry excuse of a headmaster again, didn't you?" he asked with a mocking smile.

"Did the little bitch get angry again?"

"Dylan, just shut up. It's none of your business!" Terra growled. She tried to stay calm, but beneath she felt the seething anger hit against her like a rising tidal wave.

"And? You think we care for your little privacy?" Dylan asked, looking over to his two buddies who would always follow him around.

They were clad in much of the same and his, as they were a small gang of their own, the only difference being the faces, hair colors (light brown and blonde), and the slight height difference.

"We don't!" one of them grinned to his leader.

"Little bitch should learn to behave nice. Little bitch only get's in trouble when she's angry!" Dylan continued in a overly mocking voice, with his two followers chuckling at his insults.

"Why you…!" Terra growled, as she was about to flare out a shockwave against him.

The bully beat her to it. Sensing what she was about to do, he tapped into his own powers and threw her into the wall behind her. The blonde avoided any damage as her own powers shielded her back from the impact, as much as she could. Nevertheless, it hurt a lot.

"So, you wanna fight, huh? Wanna be beaten to a bloody pulp? Or are you gonna be a coward and run away?" he asked with his mocking tone.

"I…am….not… a….coward…" she growled, as she were building up her energy, intending to strike back at Dylan.

It was then that Nova's words flashed through her mind, briefly reminding her about their last conversation:

'Terra, listen to me: If you attack Dylan, you will lose. Because getting you kicked out is exactly what he would enjoy. Don't give him that satisfaction'

For a moment Terra hesitated, and was torn apart between her choices. She felt so angry at Dylan right now, and wanted him to pay, but if she did get kicked out, Dylan would have the last laugh. This was a no-win situation, and it only angered her further.

'That bastard… I so want to kill him right now… No, don't… But… aargh!… No!… Run… Run away! Get out of here before anything more happens!'

She got up, but instead of attacking him, Terra turned and quickly walked away. Dylan and his two companions were surprised that blonde for once turned and ran, and began laughing madly.

"Hah hah hah… Now that's a surprise!" his shouting voice followed after her through the hallways.

"Did the spitfire bitch girl become the cowardly whore?"

Terra just kept walking. Her back hurt, but it didn't compare to what she felt inside.

"Hey, what's going on?!" she heard another voice in front of her. One of the academy staff, he had undoubtedly heard the commotion and came to check what was going on.

"Nothing! It's nothing!" she muttered as she quickly passed by him.

'Damn it!' she thought to herself.

'Why does that bastard always have to…. why can't people leave me alone!'

She kept walking, ignoring anyone else she passed.

'I did what you said, Nova. For once I left instead of fighting. I know this is better… but… why does this have to hurt so much?' she asked herself, as she barely held her tears back.

Author's Notes:

(1) Headmaster Charles Glendale is based upon the actor Michael Caine (Alfred in Nolan's Batman-trilogy)

(2) Similar type to the one Princess Peach from Mario wears, except the color

(3) Google "Miraluka" from Star Wars for examples of clothes in front of eyes.

(4) I would say Afro-American, but I'm not sure if the people of Koprulu at this point would use or even know the terminology. So, dark-skinned.

(5) What I am basically trying to describe, is a mix between Darth Revan's mask and the face features of the sith stalker armor helmet (worn by dark side Galen Marek/Starkiller), both from the Star Wars universe.

(6) First of all, my inspiration for the bully and his gang comes from the Tunnel Snakes in Fallout 3. This is not to stereotype people who generally wear a lot of black, and depict them as evil. I wear a lot of black myself.

As you probably have noticed by now, I'm not jumping straight into battles, war, tac-room briefings or any of that sort which is common ingredients for a Starcraft fanfiction. This is a next-gen fic, and it opens up so much for what one can do. Believe me, war and battle will come in its time, but I'm taking an Harry Potter-ish approach to the first set of chapters, as I'm more interested in exploring the main characters and their lives more deeply. I hope you will enjoy as well.

Until next time!