Author's Note: All right everyone, since I left you off with a foreshadowing last chapter, I thought it might be good to explain a little of it here.

This chapter is a nod towards Guardian54's fic "Supreme Commander: Koprulu Sector". For those of you who have read it, this idea is somewhat inspired by his missions on Haven.

Personally, until I read his Haven chapter I did not believe it was possible to do "Safe Haven" and "Haven's Fall" at the same time, but he proved me wrong.

Thus it had been my intention to do something similar regarding the choice missions "Breakout" and "Ghost of a Chance". From what I pieced together from the cinematics and interactions with specific characters after each mission, it would appear siding with Tosh was the correct choice.

However I simply couldn't find a way to make his character work, and in any case Nova's character seemed much more deserving of character development, and that is why this fic had begun based on the assumption Jim had sided with Nova instead during that mission branch.

As Nova is part of the Raiders now and will fight for the liberty of others, I thought it would be a good idea to return to the New Folsom choice and revisit what would have been so.

Thus I hope you enjoy this chapter I made. Please read and review!

Chapter 19

Agria

Nova hesitated, somewhat uncomfortable about the topic that brought her and Jim face to face in the first place. "I've been to New Folsom quite a few times to send the Spectres I captured to be placed in cells, why do you ask?"

"Raynor, you planning to bust the prison open?" Warfield asked.

The commander nodded. "I know there are the dangers in letting them out of the cage, that's why I sided with you over Tosh, Nova. But Tosh was right about one thing: that prison must be full of people that ever raised their voice against Mengsk. Tychus told me that the facility holds thousands of inmates, you can't honestly expect me to believe every one of them is a psychopathic killer."

Nova nodded slowly. "Of course not, Jim. When I said that to you back then, it was merely to get you to stop Tosh and his Spectres. Contrary to what you might think, the Dominion citizens are far from mindless drones. I remember the people there now that my Neural Inhibitors have been removed. The ones that I told you were psychopathic killers account for barely three percent of the total."

"So what were the rest?"

"For the most part, I'd say scientists, philosophers, and free thinkers. Mengsk concluded on those were the types of people who challenged him and he didn't want, but also couldn't kill. The scientists' skills were too valuable and he could have uses for them someday, while the philosophers had a great influence over the public. If Mengsk killed them, he'd just turn them into martyrs, and they'd end up posing an even greater threat to him in death. Therefore, Mengsk kept them alive and put them in New Folsom because he knows eventually their reputation would fade and they'd be forgotten."

"General, we may be able to acquire more than just soldiers to the revolution," Jim pointed out. "Tychus told me New Folsom used to be an industrial production planet, but the surface conditions made that virtually impossible. It took 4 attempts just to build the mine because the planet's crust kept shifting, and the casualty list for that was long enough. That's why it was just too expensive to maintain it as a mine, and the Confederates converted it into a prison instead."

"That's true," Warfield admitted. "After the Dominion was established, the prison was used for the same purpose: using forced laborers for mining."

"I've only seen the mining a few times myself," Nova explained. "But it appears to be something needed for neosteel production, and we all know that is used for Dominion ships, vehicles, body armor, and buildings."

"Then the people there would welcome us if we let them loose," Jim concluded. "Tychus told me the conditions there were hard enough as it is. He was treated slightly better than the others were, though I didn't think it would be due to Mengsk using him as a pawn."

"The prisoners there are mostly expendable," Warfield explained. "I visited the prison a few times myself before the Zerg invasion. Only the scientists are given some measure of protection, their knowledge being their only bargaining chip. All the others are sent to some of the most dangerous parts of the mine, and if killed, the Dominion just sends more people in to get the goods. Once the material is acquired, they're simply sent to the production facilities located right next to the mine, where they are nearly worked to their deaths to build the Dominion's projects."

"How bad are we talking here?"

"Before the war began, I'd say probably 200 to 300 deaths a day. When the Zerg invaded and Mengsk ordered the industrial complexes to step up production, that number jumped to the thousands. Normally the prison complex is supposed to house only around 3500 prisoners. Before you and I met up for the Char invasion, there were over 800,000 prisoners there, and more were still pouring in."

"Good, we'll be getting a major boost to our numbers if we bust it open. Since you mentioned the production facilities, exactly what's being manufactured there?"

"Given the fact how much we all rely on the neosteel, it'd range anywhere from infantry CMC armor to Minotaur-Class BattleCruisers. New Folsom's environment may be extremely dangerous for neosteel production, but it's still got the richest elements for it. Mar Sara and Chau Sara are both safer and also have enough of the material for neosteel, but they're buried much deeper underground and therefore are tougher to mine out. You factor in the time it took for the Zerg to overrun the Dominion worlds, you can see why the mining on New Folsom suddenly became so important."

Jim nodded in understanding. "General, what do you think the chances are we can also acquire the weapons built there as well?"

"I'd say reasonably well. The prison's probably locked down to prevent the Zerg from attacking it, but even they know of what had happened on Char. With the Zerg now leaderless, it's likely Dominion security will lower their guard a little bit. No Zerg ever attacked them during the invasion, and now there's no one to order them to."

"The weapons we acquire are going to be useless without the ammunition to go with them," Nova pointed out. "My last few trips to New Folsom saw munitions factories being built next to the processing centers where the neosteel was being produced and the weapons made from them. Those factories came online about a year ago. By the time I contacted you about Tosh, those factories were working around the clock to supply to Dominion fleet with the arms necessary to deal with the invasion."

"You think there'd still be large stocks of ammo there?" Jim asked.

"You said it yourself it'll still be a while before the Zerg can recover," the blond ghost replied. "The Dominion military has its times of arrogant thinking, and I'm sure by now they'll be under the impression they can take their time in manufacturing the arms and ammo and delivering them to the fleet since there's no Zerg threat anymore. And since you turned your attention to the Zerg after your broadcast on Korhal, the media has made it clear your revolution went silent. I doubt they'd be expecting an attack at the prison."

"If we're going to do this, we have to do it quickly," Jim said. "Most of the Zerg have been cleared from Agria already, I'm sure the surviving Agria marines can handle the stragglers. The starport will be cleared in a few more hours. Once we do that, get everyone up to the ships immediately. I want us to warp jump New Folsom as soon as possible. Every second lost here only increases the chances that by the time we reach New Folsom, they'll have shipped out the goods, and I don't want to miss this opportunity."

Xel'Naga Caverns Entrance, Aiur

Zekrath fired from the ion cannons of his Phoenix fighter, as Urun and the other Phoenixes continued to provide fire support for the Protoss ground warriors. Without the ability of long range attack, the Mutalisks were rapidly being shot down, but more continued to take their place. The Zerg were smart enough not to use their Scourges because they were ineffective against smaller Protoss ships, and instead used Corruptors instead. Many of them had already morphed into Brood Lords, but others remained in their original state, as the Brood Lords have no defensive capabilities against aerial opponents.

"Do not allow the Zerg to enter the caverns!" The templar ordered. "We must hold our positions at any cost!"

Scouts had also joined in the battle, their anti-air missiles adding to the destruction of the Zerg flyers above. But the Scouts did not had as durable armor as the Phoenixes, and the Corruptors used their corruption ability to cover the Protoss ships in slime. Many of them were unable to maneuver as quickly, and they fell victim to the Corruptors' parasite spores.

On the ground, the Zealot warriors again fought bravely against the Zerg ground units, but many of them were losing power to their psi generated plasma shields as they couldn't recharge fast enough due to the constant fighting. Attempts were made to warp in Probes to build Shield Batteries while the Warp Prisms enter phase mode to act as a mobile Pylon, but while the Probes could be brought in relatively quickly, the Zerg quickly caught on what was happening, and the partially built Shield Batteries were destroyed by Zerglings.

Stalkers continued to blink back and forth to find a way around the battlefield, but many of them were forced back as the Zerg Lurkers moved into position and attacked them from beneath the earth with their subterranean spines. The Observers that had been brought with them had been mostly shot down by Hydralisks as enough Overseers were able to get through the screen of Phoenixes and Scouts, and this forced most Protoss ground warriors to fall back towards the cavern entrance, out of range of the Lurkers' spines. However, as the Lurkers did not possess underground movement capabilities, they had to resurface to move within range. Zealots used their psionic blast ability to charge up their movement speed when this happened, forcing the Zerg to divert some of their minions to protect the Lurkers while they were above ground.

More and more Zerg were forced to be diverted away in this task, however, as the Protoss Sentries warped in. Using the hallucination abilities, they were able to make multiple copies of Zealots, Stalkers, and Immortals. As there was no way to tell which were real and which were fake, the Zerg minions had no choice but to attack them all. Other Sentries used their force field ability to cut off the Zerg attackers, and with the mighty Colossi warping in, most of the Zerglings and Hydralisks were roasted by their thermal lances.

Once again, the Roaches burrowed underground to avoid the attacks and to get around the force fields, as the ground shook. Zerg Ultralisks were brought in. Although they too could not break the Sentries' force fields, their hardened carapace provided a cover for the other Zerg to shelter behind against the Colossi attacks, as they knew the force field effect was only temporary. From above, Urun scowled in anger as massive Zerg creatures protected their weaker counterparts, and the graviton beams built into their Phoenix ships were never designed to lift a creature that heavy.

"Release your storm powers at once!" Ataldis ordered from his Star Relic. Immediately, the area lit up with cracks of blue lightning, as the High Templars focused their psionic powers and unleashed the storms. The combined might of the storms and thermal lances proved too much, and many of the Ultralisks finally gave way. Those that survived tried to burrow underground, but as they were among the most massive of the Zerg strains, their burrowing time took longer compared to their smaller strains. This got a few of them to be decimated by the Scouts' photon blasters, as well as the Sentries' disruption beams.

However, their sacrifice served its purpose, as when the Scouts turned to the Ultralisks, their young and smaller counterparts immediately took their place. While much weaker in comparison, the Pygalisks were much more numerous in number, and could move much quicker. They were also extremely agile compared to the Zerglings, and while the former were being roasted by the hundreds by the Colossi, enough Pygalisks were able to avoid some of the thermal lance beams and get right under the towering Protoss machines. Although their Kaiser Blades did less damage even compared to Zergling claws, the Colossi were designed to pick off their targets at a distance, not engage them at point blank range. As a result many of them were forced to retreat, but their slow speed meant the Pygalisks were able to catch up to them with ease. The Immortals did what they could against them with their phase disruptors, but as the Pygalisks did not possess heavy attacks, their hardened shields could not activate and this made them much less effective in battle.

With the Stalkers blinking back to deal with the Roach threat that were increasingly surfacing from behind the lines, the Protoss warriors were slowly being pushed back towards the caverns' main entrance.

"We need more reinforcements now!" Urun shouted from his Phoenix. "We're not going to be able to hold our positions like this!"

"All our other brethren are still engaged against the Zerg elsewhere on Aiur," Zekrath reported. "The Shelak Guardians are doing their duty to protect the entrance, as Zeratul requested."

"It is not enough. If the Zerg attacks continue like this, we'll all be wiped out," Urun pointed out. "We must prevent them from reaching the entrance by any means necessary."

"Then we will simply have to break our original fighting tradition in times of emergency," the Shelak leader said, before sending a signal to his warrior brethren and the Warp Prisms. "Awaken the Purifiers, Vindicators, and Soul Hunters. Their services are needed now."

"What is this, Zekrath?" Urun demanded. "Such Protoss are only myth! You send word to warriors that do not even exist?"

"All myths contain an element of truth. The Shelak was part of the Judicator Caste, and we are still represented for our leadership roles in the Hierarchy. The Judicator Caste had banned the Xel'Naga teachings and archival access, the Shelak was the only exception. As we continued to acquire a greater understanding of our fathers, we had also acquired the ability to understand the necessity to break old Protoss traditions. The Purifiers, Vindicators, and Soul Hunters were based on the terran combat characteristics, and as a compromise such an act was kept secret, to be revealed to the Protoss only when the time is right, or during the direst of situations."

Dominion Base, Aiur

General Ridgeway looked out on the battlefield, disgusted. He still didn't fully understand why Mengsk had sent him with the gestalt soldiers to Aiur. Unlike his son, Mengsk was no archeologist and had no interest in Protoss religious artifacts. All he wanted was to rule his Dominion, which was just fine until Raynor's broadcast about what had really caused the fall of Tarsonis. Now, although the Dominion military were finally starting to gain control and beginning to put down the riots from its citizens, there was no denying the evidence. Even some of the Dominion's own military were beginning to question why they were still serving under their emperor.

To an extent, he felt the same way, but despite the past, the fact remained that Mengsk had helped the people of the Dominion grow strong again after the Brood War. True part of that reason is because the Zerg simply vanished from sight during those years, but they were only one factor. Now that the Zerg have returned to kill them all, the public would want to know just what their emperor was capable of.

After Char, many of the Dominion officers that weren't part of Valerian's invasion force tried to justify their actions by saying that with the Zerg spreading so quickly, the first priority had to be defending the Dominion worlds, while taking the fight to the Zerg was to happen after those worlds had been secured. However this didn't fly as reporters pointed out that the Zerg attack waves continued to pour in, and therefore under such logic the Dominion military would have been forced to defend their worlds indefinitely. He had stood by the Dominion because he felt it was impossible the military could be that incompetent, but when the reports came in that the Dominion fleet would have been annihilated in the Char invasion had it not been for Raynor's leadership, he began to have his doubts.

Even worse, even if they do achieve victory over the Zerg on the worlds they had overrun, it won't mean as much anymore. With the Queen of Blades defeated, the Zerg leadership has been crippled. Now the media will see this as nothing more cleaning up the stragglers as the public will think the Zerg are no longer capable of fighting effectively, even though Ridgeway knew otherwise.

Similarly, thanks to Raynor's broadcast on Korhal, the public now knew of the existence of psi-emitters. Of course Ridgeway never felt their usage was a good idea to begin with. Back during the days of the Confederacy, the plans were to use the emitters to lure the Zerg into taking care of their enemies. Instead, the numbers lured in were far beyond the Confederate military's ability to handle them. It was upon this fact that Mengsk had used the emitters on Tarsonis, knowing the Confederacy would be destroyed this way.

Now that this news has been made public, the media branches have all announced that in the event the Zerg all gather at a place to be conveniently destroyed by the Dominion forces, the speculation would be that the Dominion used the emitters in such an extent. While many Dominion officers felt this would still give them the recognition that they were competent, Ridgeway quickly pointed out that the Zerg's advantage had always been overwhelming numbers. Even if leaderless, that factor still remains formidable in war.

He was deeply frustrated with the fact that the Psi Disruptor had been destroyed on Braxis. When the Dominion took control of the ice world and rebuilt its defense systems, they had found the site of where the UED had positioned it. It had been destroyed by the Zerg because the Psi Disruptor had posed a serious threat to them, disrupting their telepathic communications to one another. Despite careful inspection of the site, the Dominion engineers had deemed its wreckage unsalvageable, and impossible to reverse engineer from its rubble. With the Confederacy destroyed, there was no one left who could provide any clues as to how to build another one like it.

If only the Dominion had found the Psi Disruptor sooner! The trouble with the Zerg would have been taken care of easily! All they had to do was lure them to a location with the emitters, then turn on the disruption signal and the Zerg would have ended up killing one another. The Dominion would then move in and clean up the stragglers, and virtually no casualties at all would have been on the list.

As it stands, all they had at their disposal were the emitters. While it could be used to destroy Raynor and his raiders, the problem was it required an inside man to infiltrate his organization and plant the emitter. Before the Zerg invasion, this wouldn't have too difficult, but as long as he had the Dominion's strongest ghost at his side, infiltration was virtually impossible. No Dominion ghosts have ever succeeded in hiding their thoughts from Nova, and Ridgeway knew Raynor would be on the lookout for Mengsk to strike back at him after the way he humiliated the Dominion emperor.

Ridgeway turned his thoughts away from this, as his comm-link went off. "Sir, we're going to need to pull most of our men into the base perimeter."

"What's going on?"

"Although there's Protoss and Zerg forces battling it out all over the planet, it appears we have been spotted. A nearby Protoss base seems to be mobilizing their forces against us."

Ridgeway shook his head. "And here I was thinking the Protoss will show bigger leniency towards the terrans. Lock and load boys, we're about to have company."