Aloha.

Here we are, another chapter. Numero deux!

Don't look at me like that, I told you: Me is lazy! I can't help myself...

Oh well, what can I say? Sorry? Pardonnez-moi?

Anyway, here we go!

Darkness.

It was all enveloping, swallowing her whole. But despite the lack of light, she knew that it was darkness; it was "something", not "nothing". That was a most welcome change. Sense of time had long since eluded her; as such she didn't care if it passed at all. For her, the time spent in her self-induced coma had flown by in a couple of heartbeats, a couple of minutes at most. Galaxies could have gone extinct, worlds could have crumbled, nations could have been eradicated. All in a couple of heartbeats. And she found that she didn't care for it.

But that didn't matter now. The mere fact that she was feeling "something" told her, that she was being told to "wake up" from her slumber. She didn't want to, but she had – maybe too liberally – given her subordinates much authority over the Swarm. Maybe she shouldn't have given Abathur "wake up" duty. Why didn't I give this job to Stukov? He'd have forgotten it by now...

But, alas, all was for naught. If she had to wake up, why not find out what happened in her absence?

Chapter 2

The Queen Awakens

"You shall not take me!"

A sudden flash of excruciating pain took over. Suddenly her mind exploded with images and memories she could not place. They passed in such a flurry that she couldn't even focus on them; in the end the only thing she could see were vaguely familiar faces which either caused short bouts of warmth or intense flares of pure rage.

She was having an intense flashback. The likes she has never had in her days as a Terran Ghost.

Slowly but surely she could find a correlation between image and memory.

Amon dying at her hands, she herself being near at death's door.

Destruction all around her. In her quest to destroy this monstrosity she had to create countless Zerg troops. Planet after planet, system after system had to be occupied to create her brood. In the end, no home was spared for the creation of her army.

In the wake of this epic fight, a whole galaxy had been forsaken. Trillions of lives had been eradicated.

"Don't be angry with yourself, darlin'. We both knew it could've come to this."

'Another flashback, when will it end?' Those memories were becoming an inconvenience.

His blood-stained face came to haunt her. The love and adoration still evident in his eyes. She knew he still loved her, even if he had said they were "through". Seeing him like this, broken and bloodied, just made it hurt more. There was nothing she could've done at the time.

Amon's troops had done a great job at destroying everything she had known. His "check mate" came in the form of the utterly destroyed body of one James Raynor, leader of the Raynor's Raiders. The Raiders, along with many troops of the former Dominion, assisted in the final fight against the Dark One. What ever happened to the Protoss, she still didn't know. Not that she cared for it.

He was dying. She didn't have to read his thoughts to know that. And she didn't have to read them, that he was ready for the eternal void to take him beyond. He seemed to be welcoming it with open arms.

"It was a great ride, wasn't it, Sarah?" He wasn't even looking at her anymore, his gaze somewhere above.

He was ready to go. They both knew it was time to say their last farewells.

"The best…" was all she could say. Her vision was blurry, her cheeks dampened with tears. The Queen of Blades was crying. After everything she had lost, the most powerful being in the known galaxy was crying.

"No tears, Sarah. I never liked to see you cry…" She could only give a short smirk. Flatterer, even when dying.

"I'm sorry, Jim." There was nothing she could say. Emptiness had taken hold of her.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. You know that." He was right. It was Amon's fault and he being destroyed was all the revenge there could ever be.

"I'm sorry, too, Sarah. For not being able to stay with you, for leaving you." He was apologizing to her. For whatever reason.

"It's okay, Jim. I understood it then and I can understand it now." She didn't want him to die with regrets. He had to be able to go in peace.

"Cold. It's cold, Sarah…" His eyes were half-lidded, his breathing labored. It was time.

"I'm here, Jim. You did well. You can go now. It's over." Tears were dripping from her chin onto his face.

With one last breath, James Raynor passed away. He left with his head held high and a smile on his face.

"Goodbye, Jim."

She looked at his peaceful smiling face.

"Thank you, for everything…"

A long journey has ended. Time for a new one.

"Mother!"

She didn't know what to feel as she saw Liara join her dying mother on the platform. The only thing Jane Shepard could feel was a certain emptiness. After the heat of the fierce battle had passed and most of the adrenaline had left her system Matriarch Benezia just looked like a number; another casualty caused by Saren. Her subconscious was telling her to be furious with the rogue Spectre; to curse him till the ends of the galaxy. It was telling her to go to Liara and at least try to console her. But she couldn't. When she tried, images flew through her mind.

Countless humans impaled by Dragon Teeth and turned into mindless cybernetic zombies on Eden Prime; Shepard had to kill things that used to be people: mothers, fathers, children.

A whole colony mind-controlled by the Thorian and ordered to attack her and her team; she didn't see any other possibility but to defend herself and her crew: countless people dead. In the wake of this whole ordeal such casualties were becoming mere drops in the ocean.

Leaving Kaidan Alenko behind on Virmire - almost having had to kill Wrex mere hours before; it just left a nasty taste in her mouth.

And now Liara's own mother. Another casualty. More blood spilt.

She wanted to blame Saren, but in the end it was she who pulled the trigger. And she pulled it a lot. Countless thermal clips used, innumerable weapons thrown away to be replaced by upgrades or newer versions of said weapon, just to kill more, to kill faster. Shepard knew that Saren had to die; arresting and detaining him had never crossed her mind, it never became an option. But with every shot, every drop of blood, every death lying in her wake, she died a little bit herself. The lines between her and Saren were slowly becoming blurred.

And now she had to deal with a Rachni queen. The day couldn't have gotten worse.

"Awaken."

Her eyes sprung open without giving her brain permission to do so. Stupid brain. Making me do things…. It was weird that she reprimanded her own brain for the simple act of thinking. She knew it should have been a good thing that she could think but doing so brought up memories she had to violently suppress. She was not yet ready to face her violent past. The only thing she wanted to concern herself with right now was the present.

She tried to move but her body didn't respond. Everything felt as if she was held down by a ton of iron. At least her eyelids had complied. Looking around, all she could see was green. Her hearing was as if she was submerged in liquid. Must be a spawning pool, she thought. Nonetheless, she could hear the voice clearly, as if it was in her head. It felt slightly familiar.

"No muscle atrophy. Body in excellent physical condition. Paralysis due to extended coma. Should be resolved in due time."

Abathur, of course. A being she disliked and distrusted as the remade Queen of Blades and knew she despised when she was the old Queen. Looking up - or at least what felt like up to her -, she could make out a dark shape above the surface of the green liquid, its glowing eyes looking at her from beyond.

Beside Abathur another shape began to form.

"Welcome back, my Queen. It is time for you to rise again."

The soothingly feminine voice indicated that it was Izsha, who had spoken. She wanted to scream at them, order them to put her back to sleep. How dare they order the Queen of Blades to wake up? But there was no menace in her thoughts, no bite. In the end, there was just calm acceptance. Whatever was going to happen should be so.

She wanted to get her bearings. Wanted to know the reasons for being woken up. And she wanted to know how long it has been. But she wasn't able to speak.

"It has been approximately 10,000 years since we left our home, my Queen."

10,000 years? As a Terran, this timeframe would've been enormous. But being immortal, such a long time was just a blink of an eye. It didn't matter to her.

"We have followed you instructions and can finally report a positive result."

What? She couldn't mean…could she?

"We have a new home."

A/N: Okay. So, what do you think?

Was it worth the wait? (I sure hope so)

Anyway, I hope you'll like it.

Relax, read, review, etc.

Also, I want to reiterate, that should someone of you have some sort of idea for this story, don't hesitate to PM me or something. I'm like a scientist dog, I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm just going with it.

Thank you, and goodbye.

- The Soilst