Author's Note: Hey guys! I managed to get the next chapter up slightly sooner than expected. With work and family, writing is becoming more and more difficult, so please bear with me. Even so it's still my intent to continue on with this fic, so don't worry about that part.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Chapter 37
Antioch, Aiur
Mohandar watched from his Void Ray as the combined might of terran and Protoss fire rained down on the Antioch Water Reservoirs. Despite the heavy concentration of Zerg flyers in the area, they were behaving in accordance to the tendencies of the Protoss warrior, which was by glorious combat in proximity. As such, despite the fact there were 85 million Zerg defenders, along with the hundreds of Spore Cannons, protecting the reservoirs, virtually none of them were deployed in high orbit.
This was something the terran Jim Raynor had quickly pointed out when his ship was nearing the Protoss capital city. Although many Protoss warriors still wanted to fight the Zerg in hand to hand combat, many were quickly convinced that they will still have that opportunity, as the largest Zerg concentration on Aiur had yet to be eradicated: the defenders around the rotting mass of the Overmind itself.
As the initial strategy for assaulting Antioch was to destroy the water reservoirs and drawn the Zerg due to their inability to adapt to the water, it took only minor effort on Raynor's part to convince many of the Carriers and Motherships to move away from the city and back into high orbit. Together with the terran ships known as BattleCruisers, firing what they called plasma torpedoes, the Protoss capital ships unleashed concentrated fire from high above, while smaller terran ships they called Vikings, sharing a slight similarity to the designs of Scouts and Phoenixes, were deployed to defend them against any Zerg flyer attacks.
Although initially Mutalisks and Corruptors had shot down many of these Vikings, the number of Zerg flyer attacks dwindled. This was due to the fact that in order to better reinforce the Zerg numbers at the reservoirs, many of the Hatcheries, Lairs, and Hives had positioned near there. As a result, it also meant that when the high orbit bombardment began, these Zerg buildings came under heavy fire, and many were destroyed this way. There were still some that remained, but they were unable to hatch their cocoons at the rate required and therefore unable to send up sufficient numbers of flyers to confront the terran and Protoss ships and threaten the bombardment.
By now, although the walls had been reinforced with Zerg creep and thus made the reservoirs exceedingly difficult to destroy, the continued attacks from the terran and Protoss ships had clearly taken its toll. Some of the smaller water reservoirs had already been blown open, and water was beginning to flood into Antioch. Many of the Zerg defenders there were forced to withdraw immediately, while the less fortunate ones simply drowned to death.
Despite the fact that the flow of water into the city was only moderate, by now it was clear to most of the Zerg still entrenched in Antioch that they had to find a way to break out of the Protoss capital. Many of the Zerglings, Roaches, Lurkers and Hydralisks burrowed into the earth, but wherever the water could flow, it would simply fill their hide outs, and the Zerg creatures drowned.
The Zerg creep on the other hand is a different matter. Unlike other Zerg creatures and buildings, it was capable of growing over water, and thus allowing Zerg ground creatures safe passage over the deadly substance. As such, when the water flowed over it, the creep did not recede, to the dismay of most Protoss warriors. However, this was compensated by the destruction of the Zerg Creep Tumors that generate the creep, and those were vulnerable to the water. As had been seen all too often on Aiur, each time a creep generating building was destroyed, such as a Creep Tumor or Hatchery, all of the Zerg creep around it would recede, and this was still the case at Antioch.
The Zerg Queens made no attempt to rebuild the Creep Tumors. Like all Zerg creatures, the Queens couldn't adapt to the water either, and therefore had to join all surviving Zerg to break out of the ancient Protoss city. However, unlike the Zergling, Hydralisk, Lurker, Roach, Infestor and Ultralisk, the Queens move extremely slowly if the creep underneath them is removed, and this gave them virtually no chance at all of survival when it came to trying to outrun the water. In frustration, Zerg Overlords were called to the area to transport the Queens away, but with so many Zerg desperate to escape the water and only stopping to fight the Protoss if they're in the way, it left many Protoss Stalkers and Sentries free to target the Overlords.
Nevertheless, while the water from the reservoirs wreaked havoc on the Zerg ground creatures, the fact remained that it could do nothing about the Zerg flyers. As Stalkers blinked into position to open fire on the Overlords, they were immediately targeted by Mutalisks flying from above. Brood Lords were useless in this situation as their broodlings couldn't adapt to the water, and therefore would leave the Brood Lords as nothing more than defenseless targets. Corruptors were thus used to attack the Scouts and Phoenixes, also moving into the area to attack the Overlords, and their corruption ability proved as deadly as ever, many of the Protoss ships falling victim to that, before being shot down by the Corruptors' parasite spores.
This in turn allowed many of the Queen transporting Overlords to escape the net, but to make it out of the city still proved difficult. As the Overlords knew that the best chance of survival lay within the vast numbers of other Zerg, they all headed in the direction that the Zerg ground creatures were moving towards. Further back and away from the Antioch Water Reservoirs, many of the Protoss Carriers that remained behind and had not taken part in the orbital bombardment were positioned at the city's exits. Just as the Zerg had used these corridors as choke points in the hopes to channel the Protoss into killing zones, now the roles had been reversed with the Protoss using them to prevent the Zerg from escaping. Many of the Roaches had initially thought that due to their ability to move while burrowed would allow them to overcome this difficulty, but this was quickly proved to be wishful thinking as Admiral Urun and his Phoenix fleet were also positioned in this area with Observers, and any movement from burrowed Zerg would immediately attract their attention, to be pulled right out of the ground via their graviton beams.
Many of the Overlords had dropped off their Queens near this position, and together with Hydralisks, had hoped to shoot the Phoenixes and Carriers out of the sky regardless of their numbers, but this was being constantly frustrated by the continued interference of Protoss Corsairs, using their disruption web abilities to imprison the Zerg creatures in it, while the Carrier Interceptors slaughtered them from above as the disruption web ability prevented the Hydralisks and Queens to attack as long as they were trapped in it.
As such, more and more Zerg Scourges were sent into the area to rectify this problem. As they were so effective against the Carriers and very easy to produce due to their simple genetic makeup, many of them were used in suicidal attacks against the Protoss capital ships, knowing that this would divert the attention of the Phoenixes and Corsairs to deal with the flying creatures, and this in turn would allow greater numbers of Zerg to escape the city despite the deadly gauntlet that they had to run.
It has certainly proved effective, as while this strategy had was leading to the expenditure of hundreds of Scourges every hour, if not more, it has nevertheless forced the Phoenixes and Corsairs away from their normal duties, and from the Observer reports Mohandar was seeing, hundreds of thousands of Zerg were escaping Antioch on an hourly basis, most of them heading towards the Overmind's corpse and joining up with the 600 million Zerg defenders already entrenched there.
This was certainly not what he had wanted. Indeed, all of the Khalai and Nerazim Protoss had wanted to slay all the Zerg in Antioch where they stand, instead of giving them a chance to fight another day. Nevertheless, the Dark Templar quickly saw sense in Jim Raynor's logic, that because the Zerg ranks could be replaced so easily in comparison to those of the terrans and Protoss, it is better to some of the Zerg to escape the net than risk the lives of more Protoss warriors. Each Protoss warrior lost only makes it that much harder when the time came to clear the last of the Zerg from Aiur, and Mohandar knew that assault the final resting site of the Overmind itself will prove to be the most difficult task of all.
From what he had learned from Artanis during the time he had spent with the terran, it took little effort for Mohandar to believe the Hierarch's words that there is more to terrans than what meets the eye. Unlike Urun, Mohandar was much quicker to see that superior strength and numbers alone were not enough to prevail in battles, and Jim Raynor's victory on Char was a testament to that.
With the former Queen of Blades on his ship called the Hyperion, the Nerazim knew that it would not be long before the risk of internal conflict began with the Protoss. Only a year ago, Mohandar had been part of the Hierarchy meeting to discuss the matter of Zamara, a Protoss Preserver. Selendis had accompanied a young terran female called Rosemary Dahl there, accompanied by the young Protoss survivor Vartanil.
Although he had recommended Artanis to reach a decision, Mohandar was none too pleased when Selendis had pressed the matter of bringing Khalai Protoss to the sanctuary of Ehlna, as the Alys'aril Nexus forged by the Nerazims and therefore only they should be allowed to go. The Dark Templar was further frustrated by the fact that Dahl was allowed to go as well, as he had pointed out that the Protoss were not done evaluating her, as Kerrigan had left a bitter impression on both Khalai and Nerazim Protoss alike of terran female tendencies and treacheries.
Although Dahl had indeed helped the Protoss there and saved most of the treasures from the sanctuary, the fact remained that virtually all Protoss still distrusted female terrans. Seeing the former Queen of Blades again would certainly spark such hatred, and Mohandar had no doubt that it was possible that some Protoss may not be able to control their hate for Kerrigan, despite orders from Artanis that she was not to be killed given the ancient Xel'Naga prophecy.
Artanis was correct, however, in that the Protoss has only known her as the Queen of Blades, and not what she was like before that. Although history goes a long way in Protoss traditions, Mohandar eventually agreed that after seeing the behavior of Zerg infestation on terrans and how they act normally, it was entirely possible that Kerrigan was a very different person prior to the Zerg infestation. For that reason, the Nerazim hoped that the order would go out to begin the assault on the Overmind's grave as soon as possible. Given what he had seen from Zeratul's ihan crystal, mighty Tassadar would still be there.
Of course, Mohandar had another reason than to see the legendary hero of the Protoss. According to Artanis during his mission to retrieve Tassadar on Char and bring him back to Aiur to be judged by the Conclave, Tassadar had been on the very world that the Zerg had attacked when Kerrigan was taken by them and transformed into the Queen of Blades. If so, then Tassadar is the only Protoss that has seen what she was like before her infestation, and therefore would be able to explain what Kerrigan is truly like.
For now however, his attention remained the purging of the Zerg from Antioch. Once the terrans have securely settled on Aiur and mobilized their forces, Mohandar hoped that would be the sign for Artanis to order the assault on the Overmind's grave.
Bel'Shir
"How much longer before the amplifiers before functional?" Madison demanded.
"We're going as fast as we can, general," an engineer answered. "If all goes well, in another 10 to 20 minutes."
"Make it sooner," the general ordered. "We may not have that long. The ghosts are moving into position as we speak."
"Yes, sir," came the reply, and Madison turned his head back towards the direction of the terrazine altars. With so little military strength left, he knew this was their last chance to acquire the substance for Mengsk. Orbital scans had confirmed that while most of the Tal'darim had left Bel'Shir, a small force remained behind to look after their "Breath of Creation".
The force was relatively small in number, and this would not have presented much of a problem during their initial landing on the moon. However, as the situation stands now, it is more than enough to wipe out all of Madison's remaining military forces with ease, no matter how fiercely they resisted.
As such, when Madison came up with the plan in distracting the Protoss, there was almost immediate consensus. After the appalling losses in confronting the Tal'darim when they had first landed, no one was particularly interested in fighting them again. Instead, Madison hoped to use the elements of nature to provide cover for them.
As Bel'Shir was a jungle moon, there were numerous waterfalls located all over the moon's surface. Fortunately for the Dominion forces, a few of them were located near the terrazine altars. Although only one of them was actually considered a large waterfall, that was enough for the general and his plans of putting sound amplifiers near the cascades.
While the initial attempt to collect the terrazine had been a failure, Madison had nevertheless learned something from the scanning of the terrazine altars. The scans had indicated collecting the terrazine from the altars wasn't as simple as collecting vespene gas from the refineries. Because the altars were a significantly different design compared to what SCVs are used to, it also meant a longer period of time would be needed to collect a terrazine canister from it each time the harvesting process began. This meant that not only was it necessary to protect the ghosts as they tried to deactivate the psionic energy and open the terrazine altar, but each and every SCV had to be protected during the harvesting process, which no one seemed to know how long that would take.
Given the sounds of the SCVs working as they begin collecting the terrazine, Madison had no doubt that this would attract Protoss attention. Scans from the BattleCruisers had indicated that with all the altars in their landing area sealed, there were no Protoss nearby because they felt there was no longer any risk of anyone tampering with their altars. Thus as soon as the terrazine collecting process began, the Tal'darim would know that there were intruders on Bel'Shir, and would mobilize against them.
For that reason, Madison had hoped that by using the sound amplifiers and positioning them near the waterfalls, the sounds of the cascades would drown out the mechanical sound waves the SCVs would produce when they're extracting the terrazine from the altars. If this plan works, the SCV Corps here would be able to obtain all the terrazine without any of the Tal'darim noticing. This of course also meant that none of the Dominion infantry assigned to protect the SCV as it works stir up a scene, but Madison doubted that would be a problem given all that's happened during the initial attempt.
Of course, none of this would matter if the theory to open the sealed altars proved wrong, and in this situation the general had no backup plan. All he could hope was that the theory would be correct. This was why he was urging the Dominion engineers to get the sound amplifiers online as quickly as possible. Given the fact that Protoss psionic powers were superior to those possessed by terran ghosts, it was probable that the Dominion agents would need to focus all of their psionic energy to deactivate the altar seal, including the energy needed to cloak via the hostile environment suit.
This would render the ghost completely defenseless while trying to open the sealed altar, and may not have the energy left to fight even after breaking the seal. Yet using Medivac Dropships to evacuate them was out of the question, as they would be immediately spotted by the Tal'darim. Thus the remaining Dominion Vulture bikes had to play a secondary role as transporter, much to the annoyance of their drivers.
"General, the amplifiers are online now," a Dominion engineer reported over the radio. "The charging sequence will be completed in a few minutes, and we'll be good to go."
"Very well," Madison replied. "Once I give the order for the ghosts to head for the altars, maintain total radio silence under any and all circumstances unless I order otherwise. We send too many transmissions off, the Protoss will be likely to intercept them and pinpoint our location. We cannot allow that to happen."
Antioch, Aiur
Sarah gripped Jim's hand tightly as their Dropship reached the outskirts of Antioch. Thanks to the continuous bombardment from the BattleCruisers, Carriers, and Motherships, the city's water reservoirs have all been blown, and huge amounts of water were flooding the ancient capital. Any ground based Zerg unfortunate enough to still be there had either drowned, or slaughtered by Protoss forces. Zerg flyers didn't last long either, as with their ground support taken out the Protoss could turn their full attention to them, and they had emptied the city as fast as they could fly.
Despite the best efforts from the Protoss, approximately 8.8 million Zerg were nevertheless able to escape the net and successfully break out of Antioch, most of them joining up with the Zerg defenders at the Overmind's grave. According to the reports from Protoss Observers, millions more from the scattered Zerg over Aiur were also heading in that direction.
To Jim, it was clear that even with the combined might of terran and Protoss, expelling the Zerg from there will prove to be extremely difficult. The three Zerg Leviathans in particular will most likely the biggest thorn of all.
Unlike the one he had encountered on the orbital platform during the Char invasion, the Leviathans here were much bigger in comparison. Given the fact that the smaller one on Char was capable of summoning an entire Zerg air army had it been given the time to, Jim knew there was absolutely no telling what the larger Leviathans were capable of.
To make matters worse, Matt had just reported to him from the Hyperion that the Zerg forces there were already anticipating such a strike, and were mobilizing accordingly. The Hatcheries, Lairs, and Hives were spawning Zerg Larvae at an alarming rate, with Zerg Queens using their abilities to inject their own blood into the Zerg structures, thus increasing the rate of larvae production. Although the mobilization process was only a few hours old, hundreds of thousands of Zerg creatures had already been hatched from the cocoons, and this would only worsen with every passing moment.
It was exactly this thinking that got Jim to order the liberated prisoners to be pressed into service. As Nova had said, upon checking the profiles of the prison inmates, it was found that less than 200 of them actually matched the descriptions of the psychopathic killers the blond ghost had told him about. Hundreds more were scientists, philosophers, and free thinkers, which was exactly what Nova said they were upon joining the Raiders.
But it was the status of the other prisoners that became important to Jim for his revolution. Despite being used as miners and workers to mine out the elements needed for neosteel production, along with the fact that they were mostly expendable, leading to the deaths of thousands of workers on a daily basis, it would appear that the Dominion security teams still had some limits of morality for these prisoners.
With more than 1.8 million of them liberated, it was certainly no easy task to determine what faction they belonged to. However, it didn't take long before it was discovered that more than 98 percent of the liberated prisoners were once soldiers. Warfield explained that due to the extreme conditions of the mines, each worker's strength, stamina, and endurance levels has to be much higher than the average Dominion miner. If not, they will be too easily killed by falling debris, cave-ins, and so on. It was the reason why enemy soldiers of the Dominion were used in this manner, as Mengsk hoped they would be able to last longer in the mines and extract the goods.
Matt, however, was still hesitant on using these liberated prisoners, as after being in Dominion captivity for so long as treated as expendable assets, there could be many who could be completely out of control and blinded by their sheer hatred.
He wasn't wrong about such a concern either. The liberated prisoners comprised of mercenaries, pirates, scoundrels, spies, criminals, and murderers. Some of them were free lancers. Others were Umojan soldiers, Kel-Morian soldiers, former Dominion soldiers that spoke out against Mengsk, and even soldiers of the former Confederacy.
Fortunately, Jim had already thought of such a situation. After explaining to them how badly the Dominion had treated them under Mengsk's rule, he offered them a deal: if they agree to join the Raiders for his revolution, all of them will be given the opportunity to be to take the fight to Mengsk. He said that there is no telling when that could happen due to the fact that the Zerg currently represent a greater threat to the Dominion, and that they will first have to help the Protoss in their times of need. Only when their homeworld has been fully cleared of the Zerg will there be any consideration in turning their attention back to toppling Mengsk from his Dominion throne.
Surprisingly enough, most of the prisoners gave little signs of resisting such an idea. One of them had spoken out, saying that they had been under some of the cruelest Dominion treatments for years. At this point, most of the prisoners didn't care who liberated them and what they wanted in return, as long as they were given the opportunity to take their revenge on the Dominion. Another had pointed out that as long as they weren't going to be treated as cannon fodder for the big guns, they would gladly fight alongside the Raiders. A further prisoner had said that many of them had waited for years for their chance of retribution against Mengsk, so obviously they would have the patience to wait a little while longer.
With the prisoners secured and now as soldiers for his Raiders, Jim knew he now had the force necessary to help the Protoss on Aiur. Some of the prisoners had shown him the structural support beams for the mines, and his engineers had detonated huge amounts of explosives in the designated locations. The mines on New Folsom are now all buried, and even under ideal conditions, it would take the Dominion at least six months before they are able to begin mining for neosteel elements in there again.
Nova had ensured that the Dominion would never be able to quickly restore their industrial buildings by method of nuclear strike. Using a tactical nuclear warhead, she had aimed it at the Dominion production centers, processing facilities, and munitions factories located next to the mine. Although the radiation from it would quickly dissipate, all of the Dominion buildings on New Folsom had been destroyed, and Warfield's engineers deemed it would be years before they could be fully rebuilt. A second tactical nuke was used on the underground facility that Dr. Saunders was working in, ensuring that the Dominion secret weapon projects be halted in their tracks.
Indeed, with the success of the New Folsom raid, the Raiders had made off with some 400 Minotaur-Class BattleCruisers, along with vast qualities of military ground and air vehicles, the ammunition to go with them, as well as huge amounts of the necessary ore for further neosteel production. Nevertheless, while an impressive force, and certainly one to be reckoned with, it was still considered weak in comparison to the Dominion Armada. It would certainly give the Dominion fleet a very bloody nose, but such a course of action would require Jim to pit his entire force against the Dominion, with orders to fight to the death, and even then it wouldn't be enough to fully destroy the Dominion military arm.
Given the fact that rallying other worlds that are sympathetic to the Raiders cause would take too long, it was his hope that the Protoss could aid him in toppling Mengsk and his corrupt government.
"All right everyone, we've reached the landing site. Beginning our descent now," the Dropship pilot announced. "Looks like the Protoss welcoming party has already arrived to greet us."
Sarah suddenly gripped Jim's hand harder as she looked out from the Dropship window. As the ship began to land, she could make out the individual Protoss waiting for them on the ground. A group of High Templars were present, flanked on their sides by Zealots and Stalkers. And in front of them, leading them towards the designated landing site, was Zeratul.
No words of comfort Jim could say to her now would have any effect in calming Sarah. While she had known all along that she and Zeratul would have to cross paths again at some point after her de-infestation, she was not looking forward to the meeting at all. After what had happened to Raszagal on that fateful day on Char, she knew nothing she did could make up for what she had forced Zeratul to do. She had seen the visions from the ihan crystal, of Zeratul's discovery on Aiur about why the Overmind had infested her all those years ago, but to Sarah, this meant absolutely nothing. The Xel'Naga prophecy was the only reason why she was still alive right now, and after the suffering she had caused Zeratul, Kerrigan had no doubt that the instant she had served her purpose, or if the prophecy was proved false, the Dark Templar prelate would kill her.
Unknown to Sarah, Jim was thinking the exact same thing. Despite assurances from Artanis that Sarah was not to be killed on sight, he knew it was too much to ask the Hierarch to give the same assurance once she had done her part. His encounter with Zeratul on the Hyperion shortly after he had acquired a fragment of the Xel'Naga artifact on Xil did not reassure him either, as although the Protoss warrior had said only Sarah could save them all, justice still demanded her death for her crimes.
Thus Jim knew that it was essential to begin the assault on the Overmind's corpse as soon as possible. He was uncomfortable to see Sarah fighting alongside Protoss, but it was the only way in which she could find redemption in their eyes.
Author's Note: Again, the ending here is to keep building up the suspense until Kerrigan has to confront the Protoss face to face, which will be very soon from now.
I looked over Blackhole1's "Her Body's Plaything", specifically for the three cliffhangers he gave at the end of chapters 17, 18, and 19. And I thought to myself, well two can play that game.
Anyways, I hope you guys review. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter.