Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or anything associated with Blizzard or anything else associated with them, or anything associated with the state of…oh forget it.

I may take some liberties with dialog in order to move things along (dodges knives and rotten fruit) yes yes I know but all to tell the story better and I'll make sure to keep it as close to the game as possible because I too loath it when someone doesn't match the dialog correctly. Please don't hate me ; P

Now here's where things will get a little interesting now that the adventure has truly kicked off. As always everyone please read, review and enjoy!

General Status

14 Minutes Later

The next few minutes passed by in a blur to me and I'm not even sure how long I sat in that chair thinking about Kerrigan's return. I vaguely recall finally getting out of that chair and briefly introducing Matt to Tychus before walking to a nearby corridor to grab a quick drink from my flask.

As I gulped down more of the burning liquid than I probably should have, I tried to put my thoughts in order. Ok Jim, just calm down. Kerrigan is back and from the look of things she's gonna make her way into terran space a planet at a time. You don't have the resources or the manpower to take her on. So focus on what you can do.

I brought my flask down and for a moment, I slumped against the wall. What could I do? Even if Kerrigan's left the safety of Char killing her is still damn near impossible. Then again…Mengsk on the other hand, maybe…

Back during the first great war Mengsk used the Zerg invasions to the advantage of his revolution. Picking at the Confederacy while a lot of there forces were busy with the alien invasions. If it worked for him maybe I could do the same thing. With Mengsk being busy with the Zerg, I might have more breathing room to make a difference with this revolution.

And if Kerrigan shows up…there might just be a chance however unlikely, a chance to kill her.

I shook my head to remind myself to not get too far ahead of myself. For now, I need to build up my forces again, repair our equipment and the ship maybe recruit some more soldiers if were gonna make any sort of difference. And to do that, we're gonna need credits. Looks like these Moebius jobs of Tychus should keep us busy for a bit.

Finally calmed down, I straightened myself out and walked back into the bridge. Matt looked at me in understanding, knowing that the return of the Zerg had rattled me.

Hell, it probably rattled everybody.

"Are you alright sir?"

"I'm fine Matt. Let's just get down to business."

Matt nodded, "Yes sir. Well there's no telling what the Zerg will throw against us this time. Sir we need to make sure our hardware and munitions are up to the challenge."

I nodded thinking the same thing.

"Yeah I'll check in with Swann down in the armory. Knowing him, he's already got upgrades for us."

An uncomfortable look crossed Matt's face.

"I hate to ask sir, but is there a reason that convict's still on my bridge?" The disdain in his voice was all but askin' why haven't I thrown him in the brig yet.

He must have done some diggin' on Tychus while I was in the hall. Always was thorough. Reminds me of a time when Matt wouldn't have minded havin' Tychus aboard no matter his past. The years have hardened the boy a bit.

"Easy Matt. Tychus is one of my oldest friends. He helped me out of a real bind a few years back. I owe him."

That didn't seem to settle Matt though.

"Well your friend, has a criminal record as long as…"

"Mine?" I asked dryly. Reminding Matt I didn't exactly have a squeaky clean past myself. But the thing Matt really wanted to know was weather we could trust Tychus or not.

"Believe me, if Tychus Findlay wanted me dead, I'd be dead already."

"Understood sir," he accepted it but still didn't seem happy about it. Ah well, he'll get over it. With that done, Matt walked over to one of the consoles on the bridge to get more news about the Zerg.

Tychus in the meantime, still seemed in awe of the ship. Looking around at the many furnishings in admiration.

"One hell of a ship you got here Jimmy. How'd you get a hold of a floatin' palace like this?"

I smiled as I remembered exactly how we got this ship. Stealing it right from Mengsk's shipyards. Hell of a way to tell the boss you quit that's for sure.

"The Hyperion was Mengsk's flagship back in the day. Me an' Matt decided to borrow her when we parted company with him."

I looked around, I'd be lyin' if I said I hadn't grown fond of the old girl in the years since we first started out on this venture. Home sweet home I guess.

"This old baby's seen us through some tight spots."

Matt looked up from the console he was working at.

"Speaking of tight spots Tychus, why are you still wearing that suit on my bridge?"

That's a good question actually.

"Yeah, what'd you bust the zipper or somethin?" It's been known to happen occasionally. But only to really unlucky people.

Tychus though, seemed a bit put out by this.

"Ok, so I might've had a little help when I broke out of prison. Let's just say it came at a price. I get to stay locked up in this suit till I pay off all my debts."

Huh, knew there had to be some sort of catch.

"And who's collectin' those debts? Who sprung ya?"

"Them Moebius boys O'course." He said as though it were obvious. " I didn't just run into them in a museum y'know. They want them artifacts somethin' fierce."

I still couldn't let go of the feelin' that Tychus was hidin' somethin'. But what could I do? Tychus always was one to play things close to the chest. Had it just been me an' him like in the old days I would have let it lie. But now I had people to look out for.

"Your debts better not bite us in the ass Tychus," I warned him. "Coverin' for your shenanigans ain't part of the deal."

He just nodded in an alright alright kind of gesture. But that was enough about that, I better go say hi to Swann.

"Uh sir? Sir?"

I turned around to see Egon Stetmann running down the corridor after me.

Oh boy, I know what this is gonna be about.

"Any chance you'll get the lab up and running soon? That'd be great."

"For the millionth time Stetmann, I'll get to it when I have the chance alright?"

"Yes I know sir."

I started walking away.

"Its just that lately I've been coming up with so many ideas and without a proper work space…"

"I get it Stetmann."

" I mean just think sir! New armor prototypes, new munitions capability, radical breakthroughs in medicine and AI…"

"How many of those drinks have you had today?" I interrupted.

Stetmann looked confused. "Uhhhhh, just the one…"

What the hell was in those drinks?

"…dozen," he finished after a mercifully lengthy pause.

Ah, that's more like it.

I sighed. "Report to the med bay for something to calm you down before your heart gives out. If you need something to do write down your ideas and you can get to them when I get the lab up and running. Deal?"

The young scientist looked like he wanted to continue dazzling me with science talk but he relented with a slightly disappointed "ok" and started speed walking down another corridor.

"Uh Stetmann?"

"Yes sir?"

"The med bay is that way," I said pointing to the opposite direction he was walking.

"Ah thank you sir. Now let's see, dividing by the negative inverse, no, no, no, no. Argh where are my notes? If only I didn't lose that stapler of mine…"

He continued down the hall muttering something about a red stapler and shook my head a little. He's a damn fine kid and smart as hell, but he does tend to talk your ear off sometimes especially when he's had too many of those Blizz drinks of his. I don't know what the hell is in those drinks but Kachinsky, one of the engineers around here sampled a can, from Stetmann and we had to kickstart his heart again after it stopped. The cans do have a cool logo though can't deny that.

I neared the armory and as the doors opened a familiar voice called out to me.

"Hey everybody our glorious leader has returned!"

The short, stocky figure of Rory Swann gestured dramatically with his human arm while the claw on his robotic one opened and closed to make a kind of clapping sound.

I smirked at his smartass antics that had him chuckling while I neared the console he was standing at.

When I got close he finally stopped his laughing. "Hey man what's up cowboy?"

I decided to get straight to business.

"What do you got for me Swann?"

The engineer somehow looked rather proud as he replied.

"Oh the usual, building up our standing forces."

"Bringing my troops and hardware up to speed huh?" I like the sound of that. A happy Swann usually meant a productive Swann. And a productive Swann meant lots of upgrades.

"Yep, we can go over upgrades to our tech right here on the console over here. But building an army on the run ain't cheap. You brought back credits this time right?"

He almost seemed to be accusing me of not earning enough money to fund his projects and get materials for the ship.

"Look I know money's been tight. But that artifact we just picked up on Mar Sara is gonna solve everything."

I'm glad I wasn't expectin' Swann to be impressed, because he sure as hell didn't look impressed in the slightest.

"I've heard that before brother."

"Its different this time," I insisted.

Swann looked downright bored. "Yeah, I've heard that one too."

Damn smartass dwarf.

But back to business.

"Upgrading what we got is all well an' good but when are we getting new hardware? A lot of gaps in our inventory right now."

"There'd be less gaps if I had the materials to fix our old equipment. Hell we got a squadron of Wraiths and a bunch of old Goliaths that we could use if they weren't practically in pieces. But in all honesty I'm going to need schematics to upload to our factory network in order to make new stuff. Sometimes we get those on jobs as payment but other times, we're gonna need to beg, borrow or steal them. I've also got a couple already in the network that I'm trying to work on but I'm gonna need the materials to build them and to get materials I'm gonna need…"

"Credits I know Swann I know."

The engineer sighed. "Sorry bout that cowboy, just a bit stressed right now. Zerg tend to have that affect on people yeah?"

"Heh, tell me about it. Well even with all the gaps in the inventory at least we still got the Hyperion."

A look of horror crossed Swann's face.

"Wait, Matt didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" I don't like where this is goin'

Swann started to look more than a bit pissed at that. "I can't believe it, he let me get stuck giving you the bad news."

With a sound between a sigh and a groan, Swann looked back at me. "The Hyperion's practically out of commission Jim. We're not gonna be able to use her in a fight anytime soon."

Damn.

"What do you mean by that? You just saved our butts from getting eaten alive by the Zerg with the Hyperion. She seemed to be doin' just fine during all of that."

Swann looked like someone just killed his puppy. "Yeah well, that was kind of her last hurrah before things started fallin' apart. We just haven't been able to give her the care she needs cowboy. Ship like this needs a lot of maintenance. Without it, you get the problems we have now. Like lack of ammo for the guns, hardly any energy for the laser batteries, systems going offline left and right. Half the doors won't even open on some of the lower decks Jim. And don't get me started on the damage we took."

Great, my ship is falling apart. Bracing myself I asked him the one thing I didn't want to ask.

"How much damage we talkin' about?"

"Well considering we dropped right out of warp almost directly into the atmosphere of Mar Sara, nearly burnt out some of the engines making sure we didn't crash and then went in all guns blazing to pull you and your boys assess out of the fire, all the while being pounded by mutalisks, and then warping out of the Sara system while we were still in the atmosphere. Not bad. Considering that one bad move could have torn the ship clean in half."

I felt a major need for another drink right then.

"But don't worry cowboy. She's not going to fall apart anytime soon. She's too tough for that. She's just not in any condition to get into any big fights."

"Alright Swann I got it. Just tell me the yamato cannon still works at least?"

"Nope. Burnt out the magnetic coils on it. We''re gonna need to replace those unless we want to blow off our front end when we use the cannon. So for now we've taken it completely off line."

Really need a drink now.

"Well ok then we'll make due without it. I'll see what I can do to get you credits and materials for the repairs. Try to get her ready for a fight when you can Swann."

"On top of all my other projects? You sure know how to keep a guy busy hotshot. Haha, I'll do my best. Just make sure we don't run out of coffee anytime soon ok?"

"Hah! It'll be a cold day in hell before I let that happen brother. Now let's take a look at some hardware."

Swann and I spent the next half hour talkin' about what to get for our troops. Eventually we settled for the new combat shields and a projectile accelerator for our bunkers. After that, I told Swann to use the rest of the petty cash as he saw fit. Not that there was a whole lot of it left but still.

After that was done with, I figured it was time to check in with Matt again, see what else was up.

When I got back onto the bridge, Tychus was still on the bridge talkin' to a couple of people and Matt looked very grim. I knew this wasn't gonna be good.

"Just how bad is it Matt?"

"Zerg are attacking all over the sector sir. Mengsk pulled the fleet back to protect the Dominion core worlds, leaving the fringe worlds to fend for themselves." He shook his head. "It's a nightmare."

Damn.

"There's no way we can stop an alien invasion with one capital ship and a handful of volunteers." Especially if the ship if broken.

Tychus chose that moment to cut in.

"Best we just stay clear partner. We can earn ourselves a fortune workin' for Moebius while this whole thing blows over."

Wrong thing to say with Matt around cause he looked pissed right now.

"You don't get it convict," anger dripping from his words.

" This isn't gonna just blow over. The Zerg won't stop until we're all dead!"

"Don't worry Matt," I said quickly before things became a shouting match. "We ain't sittin' this one out. But we're not exactly in tip top shape either. We'll earn some cash and build up our forces so we can make a difference when it counts."

Matt reigned himself in and was smart enough to know that I was right on this one.

"Yes sir."

"But for now, we're gonna take some time off. We gotta repair what we can and we also got a lot of new recruits we gotta add to the roster."

"I've already started on that sir. The list should be in your room so you can go over it."

I wanted to say "good man" but the only thing that came out was a sudden yawn.

Luckily my XO decided to have some sympathy for me. "But for now I suggest you get some rest sir. You've been fighting Zerg all night. Most of the new recruits as soon as they got their quarters passed out on their bunks. Get a few hours of shuteye I'll take care of things here."

I wanted to argue, say that there was too much work to be done to waste sleeping. But my body wasn't having any of it. And all the adrenaline and coffee that was in me finally ran out leaving me tired as hell.

"Alright then Matt but get me if anything big comes up."

"Always sir."

"Hey ,Tychus" I looked over at him. "You got a place to sleep?"

"Yeah, one of your boys, Cade I think set me up with something cozy. I'll make due."

I nodded and without another word I left the bridge to make my way to my quarters.

Over the years I made some improvements to Mengsk's old quarters. Truth be told it now looked a lot like my old marshal's office on Mar Sara. With a nice desk to do work on and a few mementos here and there but for the most part the room was pretty sparse.

The only real luxury I allowed myself in the quarters was my own private liquor cabinet right next to my bunk.

As I laid myself down I grabbed a bottle from the cabinet and popped it open. Taking a long gulp of the whisky.

With a sigh I grabbed the vidsnap of Kerrigan from my pocket and looked over it again.

Well darlin' you're back. Back to kill us all. I thought with another swig of whisky. Sooner or later we're gonna run into each other and when we do, if I get the chance I'm gonna put a bullet right between your eyes. For everything you've done and are gonna do, you have to die.

It's the only way to make things right. Only way I can make up for my mistakes.

I don't know when I finished the entire bottle or when I passed out, but when I did I was glad for it, too many ghosts haunting me.

Too many faces of people I've failed.

Two hours later.

After making sure that the convict got his own quarters and that they weren't near anything too important or vital to the ship, I was going to head toward my own bed to get some shuteye but I had a hunch that I should check in on Jim.

I opened up his doors hoping that the wheezing sound they would inevitably make wouldn't wake him up (I'd ask Swann to look into it but with all the things that need taking care of on this ship, wheezy doors are the least of our problems)

And sure enough, Jim was passed out with an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor near him.

I couldn't hold back a sigh. I can't say I wasn't expecting this. With the Zerg's return I knew that wouldn't have a good affect on Jim's mental state.

Quietly as I could I grabbed the empty bottle and threw a spare blanket over Jim. Hate to say it but I've gotten pretty good at this. Granted I haven't needed to do this for awhile now but every now and then…

Not for the first time I thought about throwing out all the booze from the ship but that wouldn't solve the problem, and we'd probably have a mutiny if I did that.

As I threw the blanket over him I caught a glimpse of the vidsnap in his hand.

I didn't need to see the front of it to know who's picture it was. It was a picture of a rather attractive red headed woman in ghost gear. The woman that Jim had vowed to kill.

And a constant source of guilt for him.

"Damn it Jim, when are you gonna stop torturing yourself?" I asked quietly. The only answer I got was a light snore.

With nothing else that could be done I silently left his quarters to grab some sleep.

I still believe in him, he's still the best man I've ever met. But if he keeps going on like this, the Jim Raynor I know is just gonna get swallowed up by his own bitterness. Then they'll be hardly anything left of the man I admire.

The crews noticed it a lot too. Jim just doesn't have the fire that he used to have and its been getting worse lately. Even spreading to some of the crew. Hell some days it even gets to me. Can't even think about letting it show though, cause once it looks like I'm doubting things then the Raiders will really fall apart.

But enough about that. The Zerg coming back has changed things and maybe we can really start to finally make a difference. That's why everybody signed up for this. And its been too long since we've done that.

And we better do it soon, for Jim's sake if nothing else.