Author's Note: Everyone, the next chapter is here! Was lucky to find the time to write this one due to summer school.

At the end of this chapter though, I encourage you to look back at chapter 17, and the last part I had written in it.

If you go back and look, you will see the connect between the last part of chapter 17, and the second half of this chapter.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please read and review!

Chapter 26

High Orbit Over Redstone III

General Madison frowned as Mengsk gave him the further news. After all the Zerg attacks from Redstone III, all of his boys were happy to be off the planet still alive. The payload of the mineral crystals meant nothing to them as it wasn't worth their lives. Besides, they had no psionic potential so it whatever their emperor had planned wasn't for them anyway.

Now, however, the general was being told to head off to another planet to collect the remaining substance: terrazine gas. He knew both components were necessary for whatever Mengsk had planned, but he didn't think he'd have to be the one to retrieve them both.

"Sir, unless we're going to a place that's virtually devoid of life, I doubt my boys will agree to it," Madison explained on the communications screen. "The attacks from the Zerg on Redstone III took a terrible toll on all of them. The infantry strength is down to less than 15 percent, mechanized ground strength down to barely 20 percent, and air support at 27 percent. Factor in all the ammunition expended to defend the mining operation, those levels are down to only 12 percent. If we have to defend another mining operation against attacks like that, we'll be lucky to survive even a single attack."

"So be more stealthy, general," Mengsk replied. "I told you to steal the jorium from under the Zerg's noses, not shoot your way in and force them to hand it over."

"Sir, the location of the substances is not something I can control. Whoever gets to it first has the opportunity to fortify the area. Once that happens, anyone else who wants to take it has to fight on his terms."

"I understand that. That's why I'll be sending some reinforcements for you. Won't be as much as you'd like, but it should help in the terrazine mining operation."

"Why can't we just use the terrazine refinery on Mar Sara? We built it there less than a year ago."

"The recent Zerg invasion ruled out that possibility, general. Remember, we're not the only race that wanted this substance. The Zerg and Protoss have applications for it as well. I have no doubt the Dominion fleet can wipe out all the Zerg in Mar Sara, but the reports from my scouts have clearly indicated that the Zerg have already taken all the terrazine there. Attacking them won't gain us anything."

"You got another location in mind, sir?"

"Just one: Bel'Shir. It's some sort of a jungle moon in the Mackan System. There have been the occasional Dominion fly bys near it, but none of us have actually set foot on it, so you'll be the first."

"Do we know the moon's inhabitants?"

Mengsk shrugged. "Orbital scans have indicated some Protoss monuments, shrines, and altars there, so they'd probably still be on that moon when you get there. The altars are where the sources of terrazine are coming from, so you'll have to take it from there. The scans have indicated there's a far greater concentration of terrazine compared to Mar Sara, so I doubt collecting it will be much of a problem."

Madison frowned. "Unlike the Zerg, technically we're not at war with the Protoss, sir. If the terrazine signals are coming from altars, that must mean they'll consider it a religious relic. I don't much like the idea of barging in there and fighting them over it."

"So be diplomatic. You just said we're not really at war with them, so maybe they'll let us walk away with it. If not, just be sneaky. Take from under their noses, and leave before they even know what's going on."

The general paused, thinking about the situation. While he had hoped to avoid more bloodshed, he knew there was no such guarantee. The reports he had received from General Ridgeway on Aiur had clearly indicated the hostility of the Protoss to the terrans. It deeply frustrated him in that they were on friendly terms with Raynor and his Raiders, while attacking the Dominion on sight. Clearly while Mengsk had made the rebel commander to be a terrorist, the Protoss never got the media message. On the other hand, whatever message Raynor sent to the Protoss of the Dominion they had heeded without question.

He was hoping on Aiur it was merely a matter of the Protoss attacked Ridgeway's forces because they were trespassing on their homeworld, but he already suspected the terrazine being something holy to the Protoss. They may be of a different culture to the terrans, but desecrating a holy site is hardly something that would go unpunished. All he could hope for was to land on the moon, get what they came for, and get out as quickly as possible.

This, however, seemed unlikely. These were altars were the terrazine gas was being stored, not some vespene refinery. Thus it would be logical to assume the extraction process would take much longer, and the longer they stayed, the likelier the Protoss would react to them with animosity.

Madison himself was not a desk general. He left diplomacy and politics up to the government, not soldiers. Despite no all-out war with the Protoss, he did not believe in indefinite peaceful resolutions. That was one of the major flaws in Mengsk's constant expansion of the Dominion, as inevitably this will lead to encounters on worlds where the inhabitants will be unwilling to join hands with the Dominion. In the case with the Protoss, he had every reason to believe they wouldn't be so diplomatic to them, as that would send the message the Dominion is free to take whatever they wanted from the Protoss without the slightest fear of retaliation.

Mengsk noticed the general's silence and spoke into the screen, "You really think diplomacy won't work?"

"Everyone's luck runs out eventually, sir. You can't expect the diplomacy tactic to work forever."

"Then just make do with the forces I'm giving you, general. You're not going there to wipe the Protoss out anyway."

The general saw there was no point in arguing further, as Mengsk was simply refusing to accept the terrazine mining operation won't be successful, so he gave a curt nod to his emperor and turned off the communications screen. He then nodded to the ship's captain. "Take us to Bel'Shir, skipper. Let's hope this time the resource collecting won't result in a bloodbath."

New Folsom

"Jim, are you reading all this?" Nova asked.

"What the hell are those things?" the commander demanded. "They look like ghosts with parts of Protoss technology infused into them."

"There was a secret project the Dominion had conducted, though I thought it was pure myth," the blond ghost replied. "Rumor had it that Mengsk wanted a new generation of super soldiers, starting with ghosts. It was said that the Dominion captured individual Protoss because of their high psionic abilities. They would then be genetically spliced into the ghosts to create what is called a gestalt, a Terran-Protoss hybrid type ghost."

"This just keeps getting better and better. It was bad enough of the Protoss-Zerg hybrid we encountered at Castanar. Now Mengsk is breeding a whole new variety."

"I've never seen anything like it myself, Jim. There's no telling what they're capable of."

"Well at least you've spotted them before they spotted you. Stay hidden for now and wait for Sarah to join you."

Nova nodded. She had ventured ahead after they had taken care of the Vikings. Kerrigan's psionic powers had paid off greatly, using the entire siege tank as a shield as they advanced forward. When they were within a reasonable distance, Sarah had used her telekinesis to swing the whole vehicle as a weapon, easily smashing the Vikings apart. As Nova had predicted, the prisoners were uncomfortable in seeing a Dominion ghost as a liberator, and they welcomed Sarah much more openly. As such, the red head had remained behind to bust open the cell blocks, while Nova was to scout ahead to see if the Dominion security guards had any surprises awaiting them.

"Do not engage these monstrosities just yet," Jim warned. "You may have been the strongest ghost in the Dominion, but you know as well as I do that the Protoss are psionically stronger than the average terran ghost. These hybrids could be stronger than you."

"We have to fight them one way or another," Nova replied, still hiding behind the wreckage of a Goliath.

"I know, but I want to see first-hand just how powerful these things are. The cell blocks you and Sarah just liberated had Hellions in them, remember?"

"You're just going to use them as cannon fodder?"

"Of course not, Nova. But you know how angry they are at Mengsk that the moment they're released it's impossible to control their anger. They'll probably go into a wild attack on the Dominion security anyway. If it fails, you and Sarah can rally the others to attack more strategically. I don't like that strategy myself in expending them like that, but as of this moment they're not part of the Raiders yet."

Suddenly, a small light refraction shined next to Nova, as Sarah decloaked next to her. "Jim, I was able to get a slightly closer look at these things. I don't think you're going to like the news."

"What did you find out?"

"These gestalts as Nova called them have parts of the Protoss power suits built on them, very similar to the Zealots I fought when I had been infested. In particular, their right arms appear to have the part of the suit that allows them to use psionic blades in battle. The cybernetic leg parts are also of Protoss Zealot design, where they're able to charge really quickly and close the distance with their enemies in battle. It's not as powerful compared to my psionic speed ability when I had been the Queen of Blades, but it's certainly more effective compared to the ghost's psionic speed ability."

Jim shuddered at the thought. When he had been fighting the Tal'darim Protoss on Xil to get the Xel'Naga artifact fragment, he has seen with his own eyes the Zealots use their speed to great effectiveness, by charging quickly up to his Siege Tanks and then using their psionic blades to slice through their armored hulls. "I thought you said that speed is only temporary."

"It is, but we're on a volcanic planet here. One wrong step and we'd be an instant barbeque, so there's not as much room to maneuver as you think. Combine that with all the powers they have, I wouldn't be surprised if they had been sent here specifically to kill me and Nova."

Suddenly, the sounds of roaring engines knocked Sarah out of her train out thought. The two ghosts turned around to see Hellions speeding out of the cell blocks, while other prisoners have grabbed C-14 assault rifles had were heading in their direction. "Well it looks like the cavalry has arrived," Sarah mused.

"Just remember what I said. If those Hellion attacks fail, keep the rest of those prisoners safe and try to organize an attack. I'll have Warfield send down his own troops to assist, but you're still going to have to lead the way."

"Burn in hell, Dominion scumbags!" A Hellion driver shouted, as the vehicles opened up with their Infernal Flamethrowers at the New Folsom security marines. This immediately caught the attention of the gestalts, as some of them opened fire with the arm mounted miniguns, while others ignited their psionic blades and charged toward to attack.

Xel'Naga Caverns Entrance, Aiur

Zeratul listened to the report with a grim look on his face, as Ataldis used his Khaydarin Crystal to relay the message he had for the Dark Templar from Zamara, and allowing her to speak through it. "This is dire news indeed, Zamara. How is it that not one Protoss among the Alysaar had detected this until now?"

Zamara's voice from the crystal was calm. "Whoever had done this had a far greater understanding of how to manipulate energy signatures for their own benefit. Our Alysaar brethren are still investigating how any of this had come to pass."

"What have you discovered so far?"

"We have discovered that the Dark Archon energies of Ulrezaj have in reality been cloned energy signatures, they were not actually his to begin with. I know I had sealed the traitor within the Khaydarin Crystal, now being kept within the Alys'aril Nexus, but it would appear that during the course of year he had been imprisoned, he had found a way to escape his confines, yet leave an energy source behind to deceive us all."

"Is there a way to determine when or how he had escaped?"

"Not as of yet. The Alysaar are still uncertain of how Ulrezaj had managed to clone his very energy in the first place. He may be much more powerful compared to other Dark Archons, but until this date there has never been a successful case where a Dark Templar or Dark Archon had been able to replicate his energies in such a manner."

Zeratul clutched his fist in frustration. It was bad enough of learning the Xel'Naga prophecy on Ulaan and the threat of the hybrids. The last thing he needed now was further disunity between the Khalai and Nerazim Protoss.

However, he also suspected Ulrezaj may not be loyal to either sect. The vat creatures in the Aiur Caverns were clearly Protoss-Zerg hybrids. They appear to be Zerg dominant in terms of biological makeup, and he had seen many of them present in the Overmind's apocalyptic vision of the future. Thus although the Dark Archon had been responsible for the creation of the Tal'darim, it would appear they were merely tools and instruments to him. After the drained bodies Felanis had shown him in the Khaydarin Crystal chamber, it seemed likely that Ulrezaj has also been planning to merge the Protoss and Zerg together to form the hybrids.

Still, Zeratul could not understand why that is the case. Samir Duran was clearly a being of unknown origin, neither a regular terran nor Kerrigan's consort. Ulrezaj, however, was still a Protoss by nature, and he could not understand what could have caused him to turn against the entire Protoss race. When he had first encountered the Dark Templar, Ulrezaj's goal of exterminating the Khalai Protoss from Shakuras was at least understandable given the hatred of the Nerazim's for them. The usage of enslaving the Zerg to do such a bidding was a clear indication he had succumbed to insanity, but back then it had appeared to Zeratul that Ulrezaj was simply looking out for his own brethren.

Now, however, it would seem that Ulrezaj serves a completely new master, more than likely the Fallen One from the prophecy he had learned about prior to the Zerg invasion. This of course was understandable, as Zeratul had seen first-hand the power of its creations, when the hybrid Maar had taken control and corrupted the entire Zhakul Guardian tribe until he had freed them. It would not be impossible, therefore, for a being as powerful as Ulrezaj to succumb to the corruption as well.

"Is there a way we can determine where he is now?" Zeratul asked.

"No. Because we had detected the change in energy only after it had dissipated, it could have meant that Ulrezaj had escaped Ehlna as long as a year ago, when I had first imprisoned him within the Khaydarin Crystal. For all we know, his plans could already be in place, and ready to execute."

"We must begin the adequate preparations immediately," Ataldis urged. "The Alysaar Guardians have already been placed on maximum alert ever since we had discovered this news. This time, there will be no such surprise attack from the traitor, no matter what he has planned for us."

"We will all assist you," Vartanil said. "I was a servant of the Tal'darim myself, and it was only with the help of the Daelaam Protoss that I had broken the hold of Sundrop on me. It was Ulrezaj who had corrupted me by this very substance, and he will pay in blood for his treachery."

"Greater matters must be tended to first, young Vartanil," Mohandar explained, having arrived at the battle scene shortly before Zeratul and the other Dark Templars had emerged from the Xel'Naga Caverns with Felanis. "There are still Zerg that must be scoured from Aiur. Most of them have been eradicated across our planet, but the largest concentrations still remain. Once we have retaken our homeworld, we will immediately turn our attention at hand to Ulrezaj. If he has any relation to the prophecy on Ulaan, we must know about it immediately."

Unknown Location

Duran watched as the re-energizing cycle's final phase reached its end. After months upon months of effort, the being's recovery had been complete. Now it was time he continued the role in carrying out his master's plan, as he did.

"What is this place?" the being asked, emerging from energy chamber.

"You are in the presence of my master, dark one," Duran warned. "You would do well to show your respect."

"Samir Duran. I had expected you to still be at Kerrigan's side, using her to your schemes."

Duran shook his head. "The situation had changed since then. By now, we have far greater difficulties ahead of us. The terrans and Protoss both of realized her importance to jeopardizing our master's intentions for the universe. Our progress will now be hampered by this knowledge, now that they are aware she is not true threat."

"You should have killed her yourself when you were at her side! You had more than enough chances for such a strike!"

"I had expected her arrogance to bring about her own downfall," Duran said, somewhat in guilt. "As the Queen of Blades she had foolishly believed no force in the universe was mightier than her, and the unity of strength from the terrans and Protoss would have inevitably killed her in time. They would have done the work for us, but now we're forced to deal with Kerrigan ourselves."

At this point, a booming voice interrupted the two of them. "What has happened is past," the Dark Voice said. "We must focus on the matter at hand. Now Duran, you will go to the designated location I had instructed for you, and retrieve the specimen I deem fit to be used in the forging."

"Master," the being bowed down in respect.

"Rise, young one," the Dark Voice said, as Duran left. "I had known you would remain a valuable asset in my grand schemes, as I had known all along that it would be better to have more than one agent to carry out my bidding."

"What is thy will?"

"You must gather your forces in strength, to which I have also provided you. Events have transpired that have left your loyal minions in disarray, and a strong being as yourself is needed to unite them together again, and to assist in my goals."

"I will do as you ask, master."

"You have always been loyal to me. I know you will use this chance to prove to me that your abilities have not diminished since what had once happened to you. As Duran did not greet you back, I shall do so myself. Welcome back to the land of the living, Ulrezaj."