Author's Note: With MLG Anaheim behind us, it's time to update once more. Now while there hasn't been any solid promises, it does appear that Heart of the Swarm may be released very soon. As such, I will now be speeding up my updates for the fic via the chapters I've already written, at least until I can get a better idea of when Heart of the Swarm will come out.

I never promised that this fic will be completed by the time of its release, but I will certainly try to get it out as quickly as possible if the release is soon.

I looked back at chapter 50 where I last mentioned Kate Lockwell. Right now I'm still a bit unsure as to how she'll play into my fic, but she's definitely not going to be some character that just gets mentioned every few chapters for one line or anything, she'll be more important than that.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter. Please read and review and I'll see you next time.

Chapter 56

Osborne Port, Tarsonis

Kate Lockwell walked down the ramps of the shuttle with the rest of the UNN journalists and reporters, to be greeted by Dominion personnel. Some of her crew were very nervous around them, but the anchorwoman held her ground. She refused to be convinced by them to leave this place without even the slightest bit of media coverage. Short of maybe putting a gun to her head, she would not allow her nervousness to be shown.

"Miss Lockwell," one of the marines greeted. "You should know better than to come here. Tarsonis is under the strict quarantine zone of the Terran Dominion. For years, we had turned away media personnel from here because everything we do is top secret and military classified. We may be in an open state of war with the Zerg right now, but our policy still stands."

"I'm fully aware of your policy," Kate replied. "But you left out one important factor: during the 4 years of peace the enemies of the Dominion had done little to harm the Dominion as a whole. Jim Raynor's broadcast on Korhal changed all that. The street rioting on the Dominion core worlds may have been quieted down, but that does not change the fact that the citizens are thinking dangerously about leaving the Dominion due to what the broadcasts had revealed."

"Why should we believe you're here to help us?" Another marine scoffed, disgusted. "Your broadcasts on the air had always tried to show the views of the Dominion's enemies."

"That's enough out of you, soldier," a Dominion officer spoke out. "Get back to your post and do what you're here to do."

He then turned his head to Kate. "I apologize for that, Miss Lockwell. You must understand that the vast majority of the Dominion marines were once criminals taken from high security prisons and incorporated into the penal system. The neural resocialization process may keep them from going psycho, but it does have the drawbacks of making them mentally retarded at times."

The two of them shook hands. "I'm lieutenant Corbin, the Dominion's public relations officer here. Got assigned to the Dominion team here because the high command had anticipated there'd be reporters and journalists coming to Tarsonis. Looks like they nailed that part down pretty well."

"Hey, the Dominion has to be able to anticipate something," Kate said, smiling. "Otherwise it would be completely ineffective both as a military organization and as a government body."

"I'll agree with you on that," Corbin replied. "Still, the marines had a point about you coming here. After what Raynor had done on Korhal, your news broadcast had you stating that the emperor is nothing but a war criminal. UNN had always been part of the Dominion news network. Now that the head honcho Vermillion is gone, you turned it against us."

"I did no such thing," Kate defended. "I merely stated that UNN will now look for other sources of news to broadcast, as well as look at over people's perspectives. You know as well as I do that with each story, there are multiple point of views, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle."

"I'll accept that, but that still doesn't explain how you plan to help us here."

"When the emperor used the Zerg to overrun the whole of Tarsonis, he wasn't head of the Dominion just yet. He was still the leader of the Sons of Korhal, a terrorist group to the Confederacy. When the Confederate government had been overthrown, the Confederate military was simply incorporated into the Terran Dominion. The Sons of Korhal had relatively few people in its ranks, which means the vast majority of the Dominion military had nothing to do with Mengsk's actions on Tarsonis that day. In fact, I doubt any of you even knew about it until Raynor had broadcasted it."

"That's true," Corbin admitted. "When we saw the broadcasts, we were shocked to hear the real reason behind the devastation that had been brought upon the planet. Many of us rejected it initially, as we believed Mengsk couldn't possibly be that malevolent. Even now, when it's clear the broadcasts weren't faked, there are still plenty in the Dominion military who have a hard time accepting this."

"The public can accuse you all they want, saying the Dominion military knew all along about what really happened on Tarsonis and hid the information from the public," Kate explained. "The reality of the matter is except for maybe the higher ups, just about everyone had been left in the dark in this situation."

"I don't see how the public is going to accept that."

"It may take years before they can see otherwise," the female reporter admitted. "The fact is right now the Dominion military has been utterly humiliated not only by what Raynor did on Korhal, but also what he accomplished on Char and stopping the Zerg invasion."

"You had broadcasted the news about that," Corbin folded his arms. "You supported Raynor and his actions."

"Only because there was virtually no Dominion military news coming to UNN about pushing the Zerg forces back. General Warfield's actions in leading offensives against the Zerg were encouraging, but it was still the matter of defending the Dominion Core Worlds. On the other hand, Prince Valerian struck a temporary alliance with Jim Raynor to take fight to the Zerg stronghold on Char, and the prince had praised the rebel commander for his actions in turning the invasion into a victory. The only thing I did was broadcast what Prince Valerian had said."

"Which in effect had weakened the public opinion on the Dominion military even more," Corbin pointed out. "Explain to me how you plan to get our reputation back up."

"That's going to have to depend on your actions," Kate replied. "Right now the Dominion public sees you as nothing more than a gang of ill-educated and incompetent scumbags, utterly useless in the heat of battle and incapable of helping others in times of need. The latter should be the way to go. I think you know what I mean."

Corbin nodded. "Although the Zerg invasion has been stopped, there's still plenty of worlds out there that the Zerg need to be cleared from."

"Exactly, lieutenant. Show the people of your good intentions by killing the Zerg there and giving them their homes back. Jim Raynor is only one man, and his Raiders are far less in number compared to the Dominion armada. This means you should be able to clear the infested worlds a lot quicker than he can. Once you do that, just tell me about it and I'll broadcast the news of this over UNN."

"Which doesn't explain the purpose of you being here. We're here only for a salvaging operation, it has nothing to do with pushing the Zerg back."

"Maybe not," Kate agreed. "But because the Zerg had overrun Tarsonis so quickly, I have a gut feeling that the Confederacy didn't get a chance to keep their military secrets safe. After all, that's the main story about the Dominion operations on Tarsonis. Therefore, if you manage to dig up something of military value, it might be possible to use it against the Zerg, and that too would count for something."

The Dominion officer nodded. "That is true, Miss Lockwell. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to my post to prepare for deployment onto the planet's surface with the rest of the Dominion troops. I recommend you and your news crew stay here at Osborne Port, at least for now."

"What for?" Kate asked.

"Osborne Port is one of the main space stations that orbit the former Confederate capital world," Corbin explained. "It was among the few areas that wasn't completely overrun when the Zerg invaded Tarsonis. This space station had remained relatively secure while the Zerg wreaked havoc on the planet's surface. As such, it served as a flash point during the evacuation process when the Confederates realized they couldn't stop the Zerg from rampaging throughout their entire world."

"But all the Zerg have left Tarsonis," Lockwell protested. "There's no danger of being eaten alive by them anymore."

"Not exactly, Kate. When the Dominion began the salvaging operations on Tarsonis, we did some surface scans to check for Zerg bio-signatures. The readings were relatively weak, but they were there nonetheless. We don't yet have an exact count, but I can tell you with certainty there's definitely still Zerg on the planet. I have not yet been told just where the salvaging operation will take place, so we don't even know if it'll be near the Zerg or not. This is for your own safety."

"I understand. How long do you think before you'll know?"

"I don't have an answer to that, Miss Lockwell. But I'll tell you this much: I'll let you know of your intentions to the Dominion commander here Colonel Kim. Hopefully she can be persuaded to allow you to come to the planet's surface. If so, I'll let you know as soon as I can."

"I appreciate it, and thank you," Kate and Corbin shook hands again, and the Dominion officer turned around and walked back to join the rest of his troops.

"You sure put on a good show for that guy," one of the journalists whispered to Kate. "Think he believed you?"

"It'd certainly be hard for him to dismiss it," Kate said softly. "Remember, the Dominion needs all the good media coverage they can get right now after what Raynor did to them. When they get desperate, there's little room for suspicion."

"So what happens if Raynor doesn't show up like you think he will? You going to broadcast the Dominion's intentions here?"

"I'm not going have a choice in the matter. I made a promise to them, and if I backstab them the Dominion troops here will just kill us all. As I had stated before, the UNN policy is not being revised to ignore everything from the Dominion perspective, it's merely to listen to other perspectives as well. If there's no one but the Dominion on Tarsonis, then we have no choice but to listen to everything they have to say to us. We must show them that the UNN has not completely cut off its ties with them."

Bridge, Dominion Command Ship, High Orbit Over Dead Man's Rock

General Ridgeway was none too pleased upon speaking to Mengsk once again on the communicator console. Just hours ago, the cargo ship that the emperor had promised him with the special equipment had arrived, and it was not what he had been expecting.

"General, I'm surprised by this of you," Mengsk said smugly. "I just delivered to you weapons of raw power and destruction and you're actually hesitating?"

"With three Apocalypse-Class nuclear weapons sitting on the ship, of course I am," Ridgeway stated. "I thought the Dominion command had forbade such usage of nuclear weapons of this scale. For that matter, I thought the Dominion stopped manufacturing the Apocalypse-Class weapons altogether."

"This is a critical situation, general. In times like these, exceptions can be granted to the rules."

"Sir, you of all people know what kind of devastation these weapons can cause. The Confederacy launched 1000 of these at Korhal back in 2491 and it killed virtually the whole population on the planet."

"Please," Mengsk scoffed. "You really think the people down on Dead Man's Rock deserve anything better? That planet is a lawless world, and I'm being very lenient to the people down there. Three of these weapons aren't enough to kill the whole population, which is more than what I can say for the Confederacy and their actions against Korhal."

"Still, doing so may just cause the population down there to unite against us," Ridgeway warned, but Mengsk just laughed at that response.

"General, you're being unrealistic about them. Virtually all the people down on Dead Man's Rock are just crime lords, mercenaries, criminals, murderers, spies and scoundrels. Most of them have military training that is inferior to that of the Dominion, and all of them possess obsolete equipment. True, some of them are still a force to be reckoned with, but the majority only pose a minor threat to the Dominion armada. All you have to do is show the Dominion strength on their towns, and they'll get the picture pretty quickly."

"What if you're wrong, sir? What if all this does is unite all the people down there?"

"Makes no difference to me, general. If they unite together, they can die together. Their unity is no match for the superior firepower of the Dominion anyway, and if they aren't smart enough to see that on their own, the piles of corpses they suffer through will set them straight."

"But what about allies?" Ridgeway protested. "Dead Man's Rock isn't the only planet to have mercenaries, sir. They could reach out to mercenary groups on other worlds and ask them to come to their aid."

"Don't be ridiculous. The Dominion is the most powerful force in the Koprulu Sector. Other than Jim Raynor and his so-called Raiders, no mercenary force has ever dared to challenge the might of the Dominion fleet and expected to get away with it. If they called out for aid, the other mercenaries would be too scared to go up against the Dominion. Even if by some miracle they did, once the casualties start piling up they'll immediately withdraw their support so they can save their own skins."

"You think pretty lowly of mercenaries, sir."

"They're cowards," Mengsk said calmly. "They put on a big show making it look like they're all powerful, but in reality they're just a bunch of spineless hacks. They'd be trembling even at the threat of tactical nuclear weapons, let alone Apocalypse-Class ones. All you have to do is send them the message you have such weapons at your disposal, and you'll see for yourself just how quickly their morale and confidence will crumble."

"Then why the need to send me the weapons at all?" Ridgeway asked. "I could simply fake a transmission to them saying I have nuclear weapons in my arsenal ready to drop on them."

"Well, although most mercenaries would accept that as the truth out of fear, there would be a few who may think you were just bluffing. Some of them could be high ranking mercs, and they might be able to convince their troops that you were lying. For that reason, it may be necessary to use one of these weapons on Dead Man's Rock to prove to the people down there that you're telling the truth. When that happens, none of their officers would be able to prevent panic from spreading. Even if their officers issue specific orders not to divulge any information to the Dominion troops, their fear of you using a nuke and dropping it on their heads would be sufficient to get them to disobey that order."

The general nodded in agreement. "I will begin the preparations immediately, sir."

"Your mission on Aiur turned out to be a success, and fighting the Protoss is a lot more difficult compared to dealing with mercenaries. I have no reason to believe anything could go wrong here, so don't let me down." With that, the communicator screen turned black.

General Ridgeway turned to one of his officers on the bridge. "Begin preparations for our men immediately. Personally, I don't want to go down there, but we can't factor out that possibility. Have all the landing troops prep their gear right away. I want to be ready to enter Dead Man's Rock's lower atmosphere in less than 24 hours."

BattleCruiser Helios, En Route to Tarsonis

Nova tossed and turned in her bed, trying to rest her mind and sleep, but it proved to be impossible. The experience of having relived the last few years of her life during the memory recovery process had impacted her significantly. Although she had pulled herself together from her weeping state on Jim, the fact remained that she still had plenty on her mind with regards to her actions spent under the Dominion.

In that view she was unsure if Jim could understand her. Sure, he had killed his share of military troops when he fought alongside Mengsk under the Sons of Korhal, but Jim too had been manipulated by Mengsk into thinking they were toppling the Confederacy to bring freedom to the Koprulu Sector. During the time he spent there, Jim had been known to the citizens on multiple worlds as the people's hero. On the other hand, the only reputation she's earned was the Dominion's deadliest assassin, one who struck fear into all who had heard of her. Hell, her assassin reputation was so great that some of the Dominion's enemies had seen her as a legend, some Dominion weapon that was so powerful that it could sweep all before it.

With the exception of the Guild Wars, almost all of the military personnel Jim had killed belonged to the Confederacy, which her family had repeatedly felt was too corrupt for its own good. The Confederate government had proved to be tyrants who exploited the welfare of others in order to feed their own high living standards. Even herself was no exception, as the memory recovery process had shown her that the Confederates had planned to incorporate her into the Ghost Program for their own needs against the Zerg. For this reason, it came as no surprise that there were so many freedom posters with Jim's face on it.

As for herself, her duties to the Dominion had involved cold blooded murder of victims that spoke out against Mengsk and his government. Families had been torn apart by her actions, the lives of so many children ruined as they had to grow up without a mother or father, or sometimes even both. And at the end of the day, none of it had been for anyone's benefit except Mengsk's. From reliving her memories, Nova saw the sheer oppression the Dominion emperor had imposed upon his people.

She sat up and swung her legs over the bed. It was clear she couldn't get her mind off of the matter. In fact, it was something she wasn't sure even Kerrigan could understand. No one fully understood the specific details of the Zerg infestation, and this was exactly the reason why Sarah continued to blame herself for everything that had happened during her time with the Zerg. Nova wasn't convinced the mass murders the Queen of Blades had done were of Sarah's own free will, but the fact remained that no one could prove it. And unlike Sarah who had been taken by the Zerg and infested against her will, the blond ghost knew she had volunteered for the Ghost Program in the hopes to finally escape her dark past.

To that end it made her crimes even more guilty than Sarah's. She hadn't been given a choice in the matter of whether to become the Queen of Blades or not. In fact, as Kerrigan had informed her shortly before leaving Aiur, she had been given very little choice in the matter of joining the Confederate Ghost Program either, as the Confederates threatened to murder her family if she refused.

On the other hand, when her family had been assassinated, Nova had lost the will to live and wanted a means to escape the traumatic events. The Ghost Program had offered her a way out, and she saw salvation in it.

Now, she realized she had been a fool. When she found out from Mal Kelerchian on Tarsonis that day of the memory wipe, it had completely blinded her to the greater picture. Gabriel Tosh, Kath Toom, and Lio Travski all offered her friendship during her time at the academy, and she rejected them in the hopes to complete her training faster so that she could receive the memory wipe so the voices in her head could be quieted down. She had made no attempt to look beyond what would happen after the memory wipe, other than knowing she would become a dedicated Dominion ghost. The killings that she had done during her training days had not been enough to sway her into realizing that she had little idea of what she was really getting herself into.

Unlike Kerrigan, she had openly admitted that the path of the Dominion ghost was something she had wanted. Although Sarah admitted she had reveled in the power the Zerg had given her, none of that might have ever happened had Mengsk not abandoned her on Tarsonis. During their training on Haven, Sarah had made it clear to her that she never even wanted the psionic potential to begin with, let alone the task of being the savior of all creation from the Xel'Naga prophecy.

It was exactly why the question of redemption had been on Nova's mind. The Dominion's actions had clearly had negative effects on the Protoss as well, despite the fact there does not exist a state of war between them. The Protoss council were clearly not pleased with her during the meeting Jim held with them on Aiur, and blond ghost had no doubt that other terrans would feel the same way about her once the Raiders turn their goals towards the Dominion once again.

Her head fell into her hands, as a single tear slid down her cheek. She had been every bit a monster under the Dominion as Sarah had been under the Zerg. Had it not been for her skills and high psionic abilities, she would have been just an expendable pawn in Mengsk's army, all to be sacrificed to feed his megalomania.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, knowing no one would hear it, but deep down hoping that would at least offer some comfort to all the people she hurt and killed. "I'm sorry for what I did in Mengsk's name."

At last, you understand, Nova.

Nova raised her head up, her eyes widening at the familiarity of that voice. "Tosh? Is that you?"

Then, before her eyes, the figure of Gabriel Tosh appeared, standing before her in his Spectre suit.

The blond ghost scooted back fearfully. "It can't be, you're dead."

I am, Tosh stated calmly. What you're seeing right now is only a side effect of what you had undergone on Aiur.

"You mean the memory recovery process? I thought only the terrazine substance does that," Nova said.

The terrazine affects brain cells, my friend. Do not forget, the memory wipes that ghost are subjected to suppresses their memory. Since the Protoss had helped you recover them, I'd say it's pretty obvious that whatever technique they had done had affected your brain cells as well.

Nova nodded slowly, before she felt her eyes water up again. "Tosh, I'm so sorry for what I did to you, and to all of your Spectres."

Tosh gently stroked her hair, making the blond ghost shiver slightly. It's all right, Nova. You had been played just as I had by Cole Bennett. He tried to kill you, tried to force you to obey him by threatening Mal Kelerchian's life. That was a complete rejection for everything I stood for when I joined hands with him in reviving Project ShadowBlade.

He sat down on the bed, next to Nova. Now that you gained your memories back, do you understand why I left the Dominion now?

"You felt Mengsk betrayed the people," the blond ghost murmured. "You told me of that after the battle on Shi, but I didn't remember."

That wasn't your fault, Tosh reasoned. Mengsk wiped the minds of all the ghosts who participated in the battle because he didn't want them to rise up against him. The only reason I was spared this was because my injuries were too severe, and so Mengsk wanted to wait it out.

The Spectre paused for a moment before continuing, Don't forget, although the Dominion Ghost Program treated us as a little bit more than just tools during our training, their attitudes towards us were virtually identical to the Confederate Ghost Program upon graduation. We became nothing but tools and weapons to them. Sure, they gave us a small degree of respect due to our killing skills, but you take that away, we would have been discarded immediately.

"I understand that now," Nova whispered. "We had all been brainwashed to serve a tyrant."

This was exactly the reason why I had no intention of hurting you a year ago, Tosh said. Do you still remember the Spectre raid on Korhal where we had exposed you to more of the terrazine? Off Nova's nod, Tosh continued, Had the Spectres went on the killing rampage, it would have made us no different than the standard Dominion ghosts. I admit some of them had to be killed because they had remained far too loyal to the Dominion, but I knew you would be different. This was why when you stood in the way of reaching the emperor and refusing to join us, I simply called off the assassination attempt and ordered the Spectres off Korhal.

Nova couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "What did you see in me, Tosh?"

I saw someone who had been traumatized by the events of her past, Tosh answered. Deep down, somewhere inside you, you still wanted things to go back to the way they were. You may have continued to insist you wanted the memory wipe because you wanted the voices in your head to stop, but somewhere deep in you there was another reason.

"How could you know?" Nova asked. "Even now, I'm not sure I could see another reason then."

Because before the memory wipe, you still had the personality of the kind girl you had been when your family was alive, Tosh replied. You may not have realized it on a conscious level, but the other reason you chose this path was because you wanted to stop the assassinations. You didn't want other families to suffer the fate your family did. You wanted to protect lives, and that proved you had noble intentions at heart.

She shook her head sadly. "And that turned out horribly. I turned cold and arrogant upon when I became a full Dominion ghost agent."

It was the brainwashing they had forced onto all of us, Tosh said calmly. It meant that Mengsk was every bit as ruthless as the Confederacy ever was, if not more. Remember, the constant memory wipes every bit a Dominion ghost agent completes his or her mission is the trump card in which that agent would remain loyal to the Dominion. It's not too much different from the neural resocialization process used on Dominion marines, and that is why you rarely see cases of them turning against the Dominion.

"That changed somewhat on Char," Nova pointed out.

An extreme situation involving billions of Zerg out to kill you would do that, Nova. The point is, when I broke away from the Dominion, I realized right away that the only way to free the people from Mengsk's slavery was to find a way to undo the brainwashing and memory wipes. When Cole Bennett had informed me that the terrazine substance could make that happen, I jumped at the opportunity.

"But I saw with my own eyes that when people inhaled it, the substance made them go completely psycho," the blond ghost insisted. "Mengsk wasn't completely lying about that part."

I too had been somewhat blinded back then, Tosh admitted. There was one thing Bennett had been correct about: the jorium factor. Terrazine had the ability to regenerate brain cells, but it leaves a man constantly addicted and craving for more. Unless stabilized, he will experience hallucinations, mental breakdowns, and so on. Jorium was the key in stabilizing this, and that was why when I joined hands with Raynor, I immediately asked his Raiders for their help in mining the jorium crystals on Redstone III. Without them, the terrazine collecting on the jungle moon of Bel'Shir would have been completely pointless.

He nodded towards Nova. For that reason and your encounter with how Bennett had acted towards you, I understand why you tried to convince Raynor that every Spectre turned out to be a murdering psychopath. Other than Bennett, none of us had understood anything about the terrazine stability requirement via jorium back then.

"We defeated Bennett together, Tosh," Nova said softly. "He tried to force me into the Psionic Waveform Indoctrinator to turn me into a Spectre until you came to destroy it. Even after Bennett's death, you still chose not to harm me, and still offered me a chance to join you."

The terrazine had the ability to enhance your psionic powers, Tosh explained. On a psi scale, the average Protoss had a higher psionic ability than the average ghost, but terrazine would have enhanced a ghost's psionic potential to match that of a Protoss. Your psionic abilities were near unparalleled, and terrazine would have strengthened them to the point where you would have been stronger than any psionic individual, save the Queen of Blades.

Nova frowned slightly at that. "Sarah's not a threat anymore. That ancient artifact Jim collected had restored her to human form. She's on our side now, also with the Raiders."

Tosh nodded. Then everything is slowly coming to fruition. Off Nova's confused look, he continued, Now that you know how much the terrazine would have strengthened you, it was exactly the reason why I tried so hard to get you to join the Spectres' cause. You were the strongest ghost in the Dominion, and among the strongest in the whole Koprulu Sector, second only to Kerrigan. The goal of the Spectres had been to bring down Mengsk once and for all, and ensure that his tyrant government would never rise again. I had been thoroughly convinced that if you had joined us, nothing would have stood in our way of that goal.

"That's why you opposed Bennett's actions for what he did against me," Nova realized. "You felt persuading me to join the Spectres could take a considerable amount of time and energy, and this wasn't something that could be sped up by cutting corners."

You were always a fast learner, Nova. Once again, you're right. I admit I did somewhat give up on persuading you after Bennett's death, as you chose to return to the Dominion instead. Nevertheless, I knew that sooner or later you and I would cross paths again.

"I saw all the Spectres to be just like Bennett: ruthless and power hungry. As the Spectres leader, I didn't see the people under him would have had different views from his own."

If I had known of his true nature I would have broken away from him, Tosh said angrily. His plan had been to kill Mengsk and then take the Dominion throne for himself. Had that happened, the only thing I would have accomplished was trade one monster for another. It would have been no different than when Mengsk overthrew the Confederacy and formed the Dominion. The Psionic Waveform Indoctrinators were a clear sign that Bennett had planned slavery himself as well.

"But you had one on Avernus Station," Nova pointed out. "You used it to complete the Spectres activation process, which was exactly what I told Raynor about."

That one was different from the ones Bennett designed. The one that Bennett had forced you into had an excess of the terrazine liquid which would have completely brainwashed you into his slave. The one I had on Avernus Station had a much lower concentration of terrazine, only enough to regenerate enough brain cells so that the subjects would remember what they were once like, nothing more. It was never meant to reach the point of brainwashing as you thought it would have been.

Nova lowered her head in guilt. Her actions had killed innocent people there, and she even persuaded Jim to help her out with that.

It isn't your fault, Nova, Tosh said. Personal experience had undoubtedly played a factor into that, and I can imagine your experience when being in one of those tanks and slowly being submersed in terrazine liquid would have been terrifying. It would come as no surprise that you felt all Spectres would turn out to be monsters. The ones that would have emerged from Bennett's machinations certainly would have had the station not been destroyed.

"If I had known there were different goals with different Spectres I would have thought more carefully instead of just obeying Mengsk's orders to have you all killed," Nova said glumly.

That's still open to debate. Despite the terrazine exposure you had been subjected to on Korhal that day, it clearly had not swayed you to turn against the Dominion. That was among the other factors when it came to getting you to join the Spectres' cause, as every ghost requires a different amount of exposure to terrazine before he or she could be affected enough to overcome the Dominion brainwashing. Bennett had been a fool to use threats to persuade you, that did nothing more than strengthen your resolve towards the Dominion, something I had wanted to avoid.

I do not regret joining hands with him, Tosh continued. My only regret was staying with him for so long that I had been blinded by my own goals to see his.

"You mentioned to me that your goals were about freedom."

Ghosts are still people, Nova. Yet during the days they had trained us at the academy, the instructors had forced us to embrace one thing, and one thing only: to serve the Dominion without question under any and all circumstances. Personal goals, dreams, history of families were pushed out of our heads, and we were trained that nothing is more important than the survival of the Dominion government, namely Mengsk himself.

"And you realized that had to change," Nova said softly.

I felt the terrazine would finally free the ghosts from the Dominion. They would finally be able to cut the strings from their puppet master. Once the strings are cut, the ghosts would be free to choose their own path, instead of just being squeezed and hammered by tyrants who would never view them as anything more than a machine.

"Those memories that terrazine had brought back weren't exactly pleasant to relive, Tosh."

It was another risk factor, Tosh agreed. Combined with the neural inhibitors implanted into the ghost operatives, the mind would certainly have trouble letting go. It was exactly why the terrazine exposure had to be done very carefully, or the flood of memories could make a person go completely psycho. Either way, none of this matters now.

Knowing what he was referring to, another tear slid down Nova's cheek. "Tosh, I'm sorry for killing you."

That's not what I refer to. One aspect of Bennett's plan had been to force Mengsk to confess to his crimes in the past, as he has no conscience at all and constantly craves power. That was something that had been achieved regardless.

Nova suddenly understood what Tosh was getting at. "You're talking about the UNN Studios broadcasts on Korhal."

It was you who had personally held the broadcasting tower positions, which had allowed Raynor and his Raiders to send the transmissions. You had played a crucial part in exposing Mengsk for what he really is, and it was your actions that had caused the Dominion worlds to riot. True, Mengsk is still on the throne, but it's nevertheless a major step in the right direction. Don't forget, you and Kerrigan had liberated the Dominion prisoners from New Folsom, something I had hoped to accomplish with the Raiders. To that end, I'd say everyone would now see you as a Raider and a liberator, not a servant of the Dominion.

Nova shook her head sadly, remembering the impressions she got from the liberated prisoners at New Folsom. "There are still plenty who aren't convinced."

It takes time, that's all. You're not Agent X41822N anymore. With Raynor and his Raiders, you have an identity again, not just some serial number. That too was something I had wanted to achieve with the Spectres: I wanted them to know they have a purpose outside of just being a weapon for power hungry bastards like Mengsk.

The blond ghost nodded slowly. Tosh was right on that aspect. During her years with the Dominion, the neural inhibitors and constant memory wipes prevented her from remembering anything, and that made it extremely difficult to build relationships. Of course, that was the way the Dominion wanted it, as they felt if ghosts got close to others, it would be a sign of weakness and thus inhibit them during their missions.

Yet with the Raiders, she felt she had a sense of belonging, and it wasn't weakness at all. Even before the Char invasion, Nova had quickly seen that having people around that cared for her had made her stronger. Jim had valued her for far more than just her killing skills, though she still feared that would disappear once he got Sarah back. When that didn't happen, a feeling that had been buried deep inside her had been awakened.

From the point of her family's death all the way until she joined hands with the Raiders, Nova had only been used by others to suit her own purposes. With the Raiders, despite the hesitation of trusting a Dominion ghost, some of them eventually grew to care for her and her wellbeing, and she ended up caring for some of them as well.

It was the first time she finally felt special again, and not just as a means to accomplish one's own ends.

Tosh smiled at Nova's silence, seeing her deep in thought. You may have killed me, but the fact remains that you had joined hands with Raynor and liberated the people I hoped to free at New Folsom, and then some. You helped Raynor with his revolution in turning the Dominion public against Mengsk, and now many of the Dominion media branches have severed their complete and total loyalties to him. For that reason, I'd say you have done enough to be forgiven. I'm sure the rest of my Spectres would agree.

"When we take up arms against the Dominion again, there will be no holding back," Nova promised. "The Raiders will keep fighting until Mengsk is off his throne for good."

Then my goals have been accomplished regardless, Tosh replied. The Spectres' goal may have been to bring Mengsk down, but we knew if we could turn you against him, there would have been no stopping us. The Spectres project may have been stopped, but you have nevertheless turned against the Dominion, and that's enough of a victory for now.

He gently padded Nova before continuing, The burden is on you now, Nova. Finish what we had started so many years ago and bring the Dominion government down.

"Thank you, Tosh," Nova said quietly. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I did."

Even the dead forgive, you know that. If they could see what you're doing now, they'd forgive your past transgressions very quickly.

The blond ghost nodded. "I made a promise to keeping fighting for the liberty of others, and I won't go back on that."

Then you don't need me here to inspire you anymore, Tosh said, as the image of him began fading. Farewell, Nova. Never forget who you are: you're a freedom fighter, you always were. The people will never forget what you have done for them.

BattleCruiser Helios, En Route to Tarsonis

Nova shot up in her bed. Sometime after her grieving for the others she must have fallen asleep. But the dream vision she had experienced with Tosh had been more vivid than she had thought possible.

But either way, Tosh was right about her: she was a soldier, and that came with a sense of duty.

And this time, she knew that the duty she had devoted to had been the right one.