*Destroy. Destroy*

The voice pounded away softly in the mind of the Queen of Blades as it always did. It didn't bother her too much, she was happy to obey.

*Destroy. Destroy*

Of course, it must be admitted that her goal wasn't going too well. She was already cornered. But she wasn't worried. She had the entire Zerg swarm under her command, and what did they have?

Well, they had the Keystone. What her master was after. While it was true that it could be a formidable weapon when used properly, she felt sure that the pathetic Terrans had only the barest understanding of what it could do. Of course, Jim had already surprised her in the past, and had been surprising her all day.

Not only had he managed to steal every single part of the Keystone from under her nose, he had also survived a charge into the Zerg Homeworld of Char itself, fighting through thousands of her minions to rescue General Warfield and establish a base on the surface. Not to mention all his escapades in the past. His role in killing the original Overmind cannot be ignored. And now here he was, facing her fortress, Keystone in hand having completely destroyed her Nydus network. She would never have imagined he'd get this far. And now here he was, sitting bold as brass on his little hillside as she sent wave after wave at him. She was making ground far slower than she expected.

Still, she was the Queen of Blades. The most powerful creature in the universe, more powerful than the Overmind, her 'father' ever was. She smiled at this. Her father. She knew perfectly well why it had created her. Those secret thoughts it tried to hide even from itself. It was a fool. Amon's power was absolute. There's no resisting his command, even if she'd wanted to. And she didn't. Why would she? If her master wanted the end of creation, why would she even consider disobeying? What was there in this universe worth saving anyway?

Unbidden, an answer sprung to her mind.

~Jim~

A small part of her, not quite under the control of her master gave the answer that was once so important to her. She shoved that part of herself away angrily. That wasn't her anymore. She wasn't Sarah Kerrigan; she was the Queen of Blades. She was the Swarm. Anyway, he had left her. He had abandoned her on Tarsonis. He was just as bad as Mensk.

~You don't believe that. He'd never abandon you.~

Ahh, again that voice; that part of her. Jim was nothing. Jim didn't matter. All that mattered was fulfilling the commands of the Master.

~Then why did you let Jim escape on Tyrador VIII and Monolith, or even Mar Sara?~.

But she didn't let him escape. He had slipped through her fingers. She had tried her best…

~You can't lie to yourself. You could have killed him at all those locations, but you held back. Something made you hold back.~

No! She silenced the voice. She couldn't afford these distracting thoughts. She had in invasion on her hands. These Terrans will all die today. Jim included.

Oh, how many times had she had that thought recently? She had it when he first arrived on the planet, and took control from the imbecile Warfield. She had been sure he would die trying to rescue all those pathetic Terrans who survived her Bile Launchers, and led them in what by all rights should have been a suicide charge.

~Except you held back, even then.~

She hadn't, though. She had ordered her swarm to kill them all.

~But they could feel your reservation. They didn't fight outright, because you weren't sure you wanted them to.~

But she was! She needed to win this battle, and take her swarm out to the Universe; to conquer it in the name of her master.

And yet, he continued to surprise her. With four people… FOUR PEOPLE! He had managed to completely flood her Nydus network. The entire system filled with burning lava, and everything down there is now dead. She'll have to start tunnelling from scratch, but at the very least, she doesn't have Nydus worms for this battle; which is a shame, because they could have really been useful to get her Zerg here from other parts of the Planet. She still had her flyers, admittedly, but they've proven ineffective. Not even her Leviathan could make a dent in their defences. She had tried everything. She had sent in flyers from all angles, overlords carrying troops, and thousands and thousands of Zerg all bent on destroying one little encampment of Terrans. How is it possible they are still alive?

~You held back.~

Why is that all the voice ever says? Can't she say something else for once! Still, she was making progress. She had driven them back, and completely decimated their supply lines. All their production facilities were destroyed. All he had left was his force on the final hill; his entire army surrounding the Keystone. This will be easy, although, she was running out of time. The Keystone was nearly charged up, and soon he will kill her with it.

~you don't believe that.~

What?

~You know what the Keystone is capable of. And you know why he brought it~

He brought it to kill…

~He brought it to free you. To free me. To remove all traces of Amon's corruption.~

Amon is the master. He will…

~You felt what the Keystone did during the minor discharges. You could feel how it started wiping everything Zerg. Everything that isn't YOU.~

No, she is so much more than Sarah Kerrigan now. She is the Queen of Blades. She has betrayed and killed mercilessly to achieve the final purpose of her master. This artifact will not stop her. No, she couldn't sit idly by anymore. She had him cornered, and now was the time to strike. Personally. For the last time. If this attack failed…

It wouldn't.

"This has gone on long enough. Time to die!"

She opened the gate of her fortress with a mental stab, and marched out gathering psionic energy in her hands as she walked. She could feel Amon's command echoing in her mind.

*Destroy. Destroy*

She was visibly glowing from the rage and energy she was channelling at that point, and no Terran could possibly stop her. She didn't even need the force of hydralisks following her meekly. Soon, she was within range of the Keystone, and felt the expected lurch of pain and nausea as he triggered it. It hardly mattered, though. It killed her hydralisks though. She continued regardless, picking up a siege tank easily with her psionic force, and crushing it into powder. Then setting of an explosion of cutting psionic blasts in a force of marines, and they ran for their lives. Very few of them made it.

She was so angry. So determined she noticed no injury as she charged right in, delivering blast after shattering blast. Killing left right and centre. However, she wasn't as effective as she should be. She was immensely distracted by that part of herself. That inner voice that was once Sarah Kerrigan writhing and straining to escape. Concentrating on keeping her contained meant she wasn't as powerful as she should be, and suddenly. Unexpectedly, unbelievely she was injured. Injured so badly that, even at this crucial stage she couldn't stay for fear of her life.

Dammit, she had to leave. She deep-tunnelled back to her fortress, and in her dazed fury screamed psionically.

"You will pay for this treachery!" She meant this to target that inner voice, but in her distraction shouted it further than she expected. And so distracted was she by this slip, that for a moment, the voice was free, and shouted in its own right.

"Don't give up, Jim!"

The Queen of Blades immediately regained control of her, and put the voice away. But it was too late.

"I can hear Sarah!" she heard Jim say over their intercom.

"She's losing it!" said that brute who he kept with him.

Was she? Was she really losing herself? She is certainly more distracted than she's ever been. Damn him! She'll rip him limb from limb for this.

*Destroy. Destroy*

She got up and was about to leave her fortress, standing in the doorway, when she felt it. A snap, as the Keystone exploded, sending out shockwaves of such power and intensity that every Zerg organism within this half of the planet was evaporated. She watched, as if in slow motion, as the shockwaves approached. This is it. She had lost. She had failed to obey her master's instructions.

~Finally~

Pain beyond pain. She faded in and out of consciousness as her body slowly writhed in agony. She felt everything in her that wasn't human. Everything that shouldn't be there burned off. She felt as if she were in the centre of the sun. She couldn't even move, or scream.

She heard a noise. Someone was entering the fortress. Lights shone through her closed eyelids. She was still fading. Suddenly she was being lifted. She felt herself being moved into a sitting position. She opened her eyes slightly.

She saw the most glorious thing she could imagine. His face.

"Sarah" he said. His voice gentle. She closed her eyes again.

Noise. Noises in the background, voices. They didn't mean anything to her. She opened her eyes again, and saw the light. The blue light coming from one of Jim's companions. As they kept talking, she became aware of a sense of danger. Some survival instinct, and she paid attention.

"I made a deal with the devil, Jimmy. She dies, I go free."

Sarah's heartrate quickened as she realised what was happening. She was naked, defenceless, with only Jim standing between her and oblivion. After everything the Queen of Blades did to him. After all the betrayals, she wasn't sure if that was enough. She looked at him, imploringly; trying to tell him with her eyes that it was her, Sarah Kerrigan. Not the Queen of Blades.

"We all got our choices to make." He said finally as he reached for his gun, and she relaxed. He wasn't going to let her die. She was safe. She closed her eyes again, and the world faded.

The first thing she felt was motion. She was moving, supported by two metal and leather arms. She was afraid. Who was it? Could it be…?

"Jim?" she asked tentatively.

"It's ok. I got ya" He said gently.

She relaxed in his arms, feeling content. As they left the fortress, the light hurt her eyes, and she turned inwards. Towards him. Towards Jim. She opened her eyes again, and looked up at his face, framed by the helmet of his suit. He looked down at her tenderly, and then up again at the horizon with a slight smile on his face.

Sarah smiled too. For the first time in years, she was happy. She was safe. She was with Jim. She relaxed in his arms, and let him carry her. It didn't matter where, so long as she was with him.

/if you have any suggestions on what to write next. Please send it.