Author's Note: As today marks two years since when Wings of Liberty was released, I thought it'd be a good idea to update the fic with the next chapter.
This, however, will have to be the final update to the fic for a while due to my computer problems. Long story short, I've been trying to save up money for a computer upgrade, but my computer died on me two weeks ago and I'm still quite a while away from being able to scrape up enough.
Therefore, please don't PM me and ask when I will have all this fixed and be ready to update the fic again, that's impossible to predict. The only other computer in my house was bought back in 2003 and has been on life support for the last two and a half years and is incapable of doing almost anything.
I now have no choice but to suspend writing activity and put the fic on hold until these problems are fixed, which definitely won't be happening anytime soon. To all my fic readers, I sincerely hope you'll be able to understand this.
While I don't know how long it will take to fix my computer and all that, I'm positive that this means there is now no way I can get this fic finished before Heart of the Swarm comes out (unless Blizzard delays it to like November 2013 or something like that).
Therefore, to my reviewers, I ask one thing from you in your review: by the time Heart of the Swarm is released, will you continue to read and review this fic? If yes, it'll of course give me further inspiration to continue writing it once I get the computer problems out of the way.
Chapter 63
Khor-shakal, Aiur
Nahaan looked down at the fortress ruins from his Scout superiority fighter. Once, this place represented the ultimate symbol of power for his Ara Tribe. Now it was nothing but rubble, and Artanis had reminded him that this was a reminder of how much the Protoss had changed ever since the Zerg invasion of Aiur.
Yet for the Ara leader, the reminder remained bitter to him. Not only was the fortress completely destroyed, but it had not even been done by the Zerg. Rather, it had been done by the Khalai Protoss that had chosen to side with Tassadar in bringing Zeratul and his Dark Templar to Aiur.
This was the Khor-shakal, the Heart of the Conclave. For millennia, this was where the very core of power had originated, where the Judicator Caste had ruled over the Protoss population on Aiur. His Ara Tribe had enjoyed great power from this fortress, where all of the other Protoss tribes came to respect it. The ruins before him had been caused during the Zerg invasion of Aiur, where Tassadar had ordered an attack on the Conclave for clinging to their traditions and blind to the threat that the Zerg posed.
The loss of this great fortress had deeply affected Nahaan. Upon arriving at Shakuras for the first time and meeting with the Dark Templar Matriarch Raszagal, he knew that there was little chance that the Conclave could ever return. Nevertheless, as the years wore on and the friction between the Khalai and Nerazim Protoss continued, it had brought him hope. Artanis still believed that Protoss civil war could be avoided, but Nahaan knew the Hierarch's efforts were just delaying the inevitable. The risk of tribalism grew on a daily basis, though their united goals in the reclamation of Aiur had quelled that for the time being.
Still, Nahaan knew this wouldn't last forever, and in any case the Hierarchy was setting itself up for destruction. By permitting the Queen of Blades to live due to the lack of details regarding the ancient Xel'Naga prophecy, Artanis had provoked extreme resentment from the Daelaam Protoss. Although many had accepted the fact that no actions against the vile creature should be taken until a clearer picture of the prophecy is known, there were just as many who were beginning to feel their patience tested at how much more time is necessary in order to circumvent the prophecy.
The Ara leader had exploited this impatience. He had sent out word to the other Protoss tribes that due to Zerg blood still present in Kerrigan, the possibility that she would again become the vile creature that had once terrorized them could not be factored out. For most, this took little effort to convince, and Nahaan knew that no Protoss alive would want to see the Queen of Blades regain control of the Zerg swarm. It is possible that currently, she was not strong enough to do such a thing, but that did not mean it would remain that way indefinitely.
For this reason, Nahaan knew he was gaining the support more and more Protoss with each passing day. News had spread to the Hierarchy that the Xel'Naga prophecy must be determined as quickly as possible so that the Firstborns could better prepare. To the Ara leader, this was not exactly the form of support he had wanted, but it was nevertheless a step in the right direction. For if the prophecy could not be fully determined within a set amount of time, there was the danger that Kerrigan would use this time to regain her power, and no one would allow such a thing to happen.
Under such a situation, it was Nahaan's hope that enough Protoss would rally to his belief that it was worth taking a chance with the prophecy. If so, then he would have delivered the justice that the Protoss had sought for so long. He would be revered as a hero to his people for saving them from the wretched Queen of Blades when all others had failed. And he would be praised even more so than James Raynor in his actions, as he would have permanently neutralized the Zerg threat to the Protoss.
Nahaan's eyes then turned back to the fortress rubble that once was the Heart of the Conclave. Should such an event occur, he would at least be able to restore the Ara Tribe to its former glory. The Hierarchy would be restructured, where the Ara Tribe would once again dominate it just as it had in the Judicator Assembly. Artanis hadn't been wrong that the Conclave influence still lingered about his tribe, as far too many of them were unwilling to let go of the power they once held. If his plan worked, then the Ara Tribe would be grateful towards him for restoring their seats of power within the Protoss ruling body.
With regards to the Xel'Naga prophecy itself, the Ara leader saw little need in understanding its full meaning. Zekrath and the rest of his Shelak Tribe may have continued to show interest in the Xel'Naga texts, but the Conclave had only allowed this for the purpose so that if the mysteries of the Xel'Naga became clear, they might be able to expand their knowledge through the Khala. The way Nahaan saw it, the prophecy showed very little insight on that, and any mention of the Zerg in the Xel'Naga texts should be discarded.
The Protoss had no need for the Xel'Naga. This was something that even the Dark Templar tribes understood to an extent, although they continued worship them, a complete contrast in comparison to the Khalai Protoss. After Khas had united them under the Khala and reorganized the Protoss society into Judicator, Templar, and Khalai castes, most of the Protoss on Aiur had seen little need to reconnect with the Xel'Naga any longer. Of course Xel'Naga artifacts were still considered sacred to all of the Protoss tribes, but the idea of fully immersing themselves with their creators had been abandoned.
As for the Khor-shakal fortress ruins, Nahaan was confident that its restoration was only a matter of time. Artanis had already consented to consider his recommendation to have it rebuilt once the remaining Zerg creatures were cleared from Aiur. If restored, the Hierarch had agreed that it would serve as one of the governing locations for the Protoss once again, though not to the extent that the Conclave had used it for. According to him, as far as the majority of the Khalai Protoss see it, these ruins only serve as a reminder to them of how the Conclave had nearly led the entire Protoss population on Aiur to extinction.
That was irrelevant now. Nahaan had every intention of restoring the Khor-shakal to its former glory, and his plans were already in motion to bring him ever closer to doing just that.
Dead Man's Rock
"Well it's good to see not every piece of Han's aerospace vehicles is utter crap," Franklin grumbled, as he looked out the window of the Dropship he and his squad were flying in.
"This isn't one of the Dominion Core Worlds," Kerrigan reminded him. "Dead Man's Rock had never had a reputation higher than a toxic waste disposal planet. Therefore, there's virtually nothing modern here, all you'd see are ghettos, if even that."
"This is why it'll make it easy for the Dominion base established here to stand out," the lieutenant said. "Whoever is in charge of the Dominion strike force here has to be smart enough to know that. Furthermore, regardless of how modern or primitive the technology, rumors tend to spread pretty quickly. There's no way the Dominion troops could stay here very long and not have the towns be alerted to their presence."
"Once we find the base, I'll go in for the infiltration," the red haired ghost operative assured. "Whatever their military strength is, I'll get all the intel on that."
"Can't you go in and just kill a bunch of officers and screw up all their plans or something? Even before what happened to you on Tarsonis, you had the reputation of being the fiercest ghost alive."
"This has to look like a combined victory for the Raiders and Mira's mercenaries," she told him. "The Dominion has to get the impression that the alliance between the two factions is still in effect. In addition, they have to be convinced that Mira's forces are not the weaklings they think they are, and this is why a combined assault on the base is necessary once we locate it."
"Speaking of the Raiders, I'm surprised you chose to select me and my squad to go with you on this reconnaissance mission. We may no longer serve the Dominion, but the fact remains that we once did, and the Raiders resent us for it. I would've expected you to have chosen one of Raynor's squads for this."
Sarah pointed to her head. "I'm a telepath, Franklin. Even now, when I picked up on the Raiders' thoughts, for the most part what I see is just frustration, anger and hatred. Just about all of them are still displeased about being denied their justice simply because their commander couldn't get over his love-struck problems. Half of them want to tell Jim that his feelings for me had rendered him completely blind to everything else."
"And you think that makes my boys a better choice?" Franklin retorted. "Given the sheer savagery of the Zerg, the Dominion didn't exactly need propaganda to convince its people about them. Most of General Warfield's troops still don't see you as anything other than the Queen of Blades, and after Char we're all of a sudden fighting alongside you. It's just a complete rejection of everything we had believed in." Seeing the reaction on Kerrigan's face, his expression softened. "I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but I can only speak for myself in believing you're not like that Zerg monster anymore."
"It's all right," Sarah said quietly. "It's all I have been for the last four and a half years. Who knows how long before I can convince people otherwise, assuming that's even possible anymore."
"Well, given everything we've learned, they have to start sooner or later. I'm not saying I believe in this alien prophecy myself or anything like that, but Warfield was right when he told us that we're not the experts on this subject. Furthermore, from what I've been told, this is about the lives of every man, woman, and child in the Koprulu Sector. You can't just gamble that many lives like this, the stakes and risks are just too high."
"It's one of the things that sets you apart from so many of the regular army troops I've encountered," Kerrigan commented.
"What are you talking about?"
"After our raid on New Folsom, you seemed a lot more sympathetic with me than the others."
"Hey, if it weren't for you I'd be nothing but rotten burning flesh back there," Franklin defended.
"It's more than just that," Sarah said. "I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was more to you than what meets the eye. Eventually, curiosity prevailed. I asked Jim to pull up your military file and everything."
"And?"
"You may have been among the tens of thousands of people taken from the prisons and sent into the Dominion Marine Corps, but you're not like most of the other criminals the Dominion pull out of the penal systems. Those guys are mostly serial killers and psychopaths, where the slightest spark would ignite the powder keg. The records for you on the other hand only seem to indicate armed robbery and property damage. As such, it looks like the Dominion authorities felt you were safe enough, so you weren't subjected to the neural resocialization process like almost all of the others were. This meant that you had retained a lot of your free will and had the choice to think for yourself, instead of just obeying from above like some obedient puppy."
She clenched her teeth in frustration as she continued, "It's barely any different than what the Confederacy did to me, enslaving me with their psionic dampeners so that I wouldn't turn against them."
"I'm sorry," Franklin said quietly. "I didn't know the process was that excruciating."
"Few people do," Sarah replied. "But back to my original point, the fact here is that because you didn't undergo the neural resocialization process, it meant that you were not just some obedient drone to the Dominion. You would have been one of the more intellectual people in the Dominion army, one who had a conscience, instead of just blindly following the orders from above without even thinking about it. In comparison, for most of the other Dominion marines, all they seem understand is point a gun and shoot the target, nothing more."
"Raynor said similarly to us when we landed on Char," Franklin stated. "Though after we all left the planet, he promised that he would do everything in his power to change all that. He said Mengsk had treated us as little more than cannon fodder, that even the high ranking Dominion officers were treated in the same way, all in the name of feeding his power cravings."
"Jim's right on that part. Think about it: suppose you had beaten back the Zerg legions in the invasion. You honestly think Mengsk would really care how many of you had perished? Of course not. He would have simply manipulated the media so that they would say it was thanks to his genius that the invasion was stopped, and not acknowledge the Dominion soldiers at all."
At this point, a voice called out from the cockpit. "People, you may want to get up here. I think I may be on to something."
"You located the Dominion base?" Franklin asked, coming into the cockpit with Kerrigan.
"It's possible," the mercenary pilot answered. "The long range scanners just picked up increased movement in a remote location on the planet."
"Where is it?"
"Some place we call the Toxic Slums. The terrain is considered a wasteland even by Dead Man's Rock's standards, and the stench there is overpowering. Don't bother considering being able to breathe fresh air. The place is a dumping ground for toxic and radioactive waste. Over the years, hundreds of millions of tons of it have accumulated there, so you'll be breathing nothing but their contaminants. Near the dumping site is a junkyard for the rusted hulks of abandoned ships and vehicles."
"I thought you used these hulks to build the towns here," Sarah mused.
"We do, but no matter how crappy a state the towns may be, we still have standards for our buildings," came the response. "The ships and vehicles in the junkyard I'm talking about are of inferior quality, their plating too brittle and fragile for building anything."
"So how does this lead to you suspecting the Dominion base might be there?" Franklin asked.
The pilot shrugged. "I can't say for certain, but the movement activity has been for prolonged periods. Normally, people just come here every now and then, dump off the wastes or scrap metal, and quickly leave. The mercenaries on Dead Man's Rock don't have the decent quality CMC armor like the Dominion does, so the longer we stay at the Toxic Slums, the greater the chances we could get exposed to the radioactive and toxic waste, which would be hazardous to our health."
"And the movement you're seeing is considered too long for mere dumping activity," Kerrigan finished. "It makes sense for the Dominion to put their base there. If the place is as toxic as you say it is, then no one on Dead Man's Rock would ever stay there for longer than a few minutes. That isn't enough time to launch a full scale assault, especially against an enemy with the most modern weaponry. In addition, you just said it yourself that people only go there occasionally, so there'd be little risk of the base even being detected."
"Then that's where we're going," Franklin said. "Take us to the coordinates where this Toxic Slums is located. If the Dominion base is there, the others must be notified immediately."
Tarsonis City, Tarsonis
Jim sighed in relief as the remaining Zerg creatures in the latest attack wave retreated away. That last attack had taken a serious toll on his men on the ground and in the air. Although casualties were minimal, most of the marines, Marauders, Reapers, and Firebats were in a state of collapse. Vast quantities of ammunition had also been expended to hold on to their defensive positions. By now, most of the marines' C-14 Rifles were completely out of bullets, the Firebats and Hellions had no more flame fuel for their flamethrowers, and the Siege Tanks were running dangerously low on artillery shells. Orders were issued accordingly to the BattleCruisers to send down more Hercules Cargo Ships loaded with all the ammo they could carry, but Raynor knew that his troops needed a rest from the constant fighting.
Ravens had deployed their auto turrets to keep watch for any unsuspecting Zerg waiting to get the drop on them, and the Diamondback hover tanks were standing by in the event of another Nydus Worm attack in the form of Ultralisks. Goliath and Viking pilots kept their eyes in the air should the Zerg launch another attack with Brood Lords, while Vulture hover bikes laid the Spider Mines around their position to deal with mass Zergling hordes.
Fortunately, he was relieved to hear that scans from the Ravens and Banshees had indicated that with the sun slowly setting, it would appear the Zerg have stopped their attacks. Vast numbers of them are still gathering in the hive cluster, but they don't appear to be attacking.
Of course, with so much experience under his belt in fighting Zerg, Jim had no intentions of taking any chances. Zerg attacks were relatively common at night, though in this case it might be different. In all his years of dealing with the Zerg, they had all been on worlds where they were either actively infesting it, or vigorously defending it. The ones here on Tarsonis, however, for the most part have wandered around like discarded tools for the last four years, and there was the possibility that there would be no night attacks. It would certainly be welcoming news to the men under his command, who desperately needed the rest after all the fighting.
But even if this was the case, it did not lift Jim's own anxiety about Nova. The rebel commander had no doubt about the blond ghost's abilities, but even she had limits. If the Zerg attacks continued, sooner or later they would wear her down, and she would become vulnerable.
Wraith and Banshee flybys had confirmed that the Vulture she was driving to escape the Zerg had been destroyed, along with Nova's radio equipment. This only worried Jim more, as now there was no longer the prospect of even contacting her.
"Don't worry, sir," came the reply from one of the Banshee pilots. "She's the Dominion's best ghost, a survivor against almost every odd she's ever been in."
"Yeah well until she joined up with the Raiders, I seriously doubt she's had much experience in dealing with mass hordes of Zerg, especially in the case like with what happened on Char," Jim grumbled.
"Perhaps, but she's a fast learner. Graduated from the Ghost Program in only two and a half years, faster than any other known ghost. I'm sure she'll be able to adjust to the situation."
"I hope you're right," Raynor said. "I have no intention of leaving her behind, and the last thing I want is to see an infested Nova."
"We will continue our flybys all night if we must, commander. There's no sign of a body yet, so it's safe to say that she's alive."
"Even so, we don't know anything more than that," Jim countered. "Make every attempt to scout over the Zerg hive cluster as well. If there's any sign of infestation activity, I want to know about it. It was bad enough to see what the Zerg did to Kerrigan, I will not allow the same thing to happen to Nova."
"Understood, sir." The channel then closed, and Jim sighed. Leaving Nova to find another way to reach him was turning out to be a total catastrophe. With thousands of Zerg moving into the ruins of the city, hiding from them was going to be extremely difficult. Tarsonis City itself may be huge, but that could only protect someone for so long.
Even if he ordered his Vikings, Wraiths, and Banshees to exterminate all the Zerg in the city from the air, it'd make no difference. There were tens of thousands more in the hive cluster, and Jim knew he simply didn't have to forces available to deal with them all, even if the Zerg made no attempt to replenish their numbers, which he knew they obviously would.
He turned to one of the officers. "You think anyone here would have the strength to go on a night patrol?"
"Not likely, commander. Now that it seems apparent that the Zerg may not attack us at night, most of the boys have dropped their level of alert. More than half of them have dropped to the ground and are already asleep. As for the rest, well most of them are so exhausted that they can barely even remain standing. I know you're worried about Nova's safety, but with this many Zerg still in the city, what you're proposing will require hundreds of men. That way, in case you run across Zerg, you'll have a chance to escape and everything. Right now, it'll be pretty lucky if we can even pick out a dozen of them still in any condition for the patrol."
Raynor clenched his teeth in frustration. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he knew it was the truth. All of his troops had reached their endurance limits, and they needed a night of peace and quiet to regain their strength. They needed his leadership to make it through the night in the event the Zerg attack them again, which meant he had to remain here. Nothing could be done until at least morning, which meant all he could do right now was hope that Nova could find a way to avoid the Zerg for the time being.
Tarsonis City, Tarsonis
"You can relax, Ms. Lockwell," Lieutenant Corbin assured the UNN reporter and her news crew. "The Zerg attack waves have been beaten off. The marines at the frontlines have confirmed that the remaining Zerg are retreating."
"That's what you've been saying for the last 7 hours," one of the journalists pointed out. "And only a few minutes after you said that, the alarm went off again, signaling another Zerg attack wave. What makes you so confident that this time is any different?"
"Nothing is ever certain, I'll give you that," Corbin admitted. "But the boys have been on the line with the scouting Wraiths. They have visual confirmation that there does not appear to be any more Zerg heading our way."
"Well I'm glad for that then. These Zerg attacks are even more fierce than I had imagined," Kate commented.
"I hate to break it to you, but by Dominion standards, such attacks are considered light. I'm betting the Zerg are still just probing us, still trying to determine a weakness in our defenses and all that."
"But you also said the last few waves have been heavier."
Corbin nodded. "Exactly, and this could mean that the Zerg have gotten what they wanted, and are beginning to launch major attacks to try and wipe us out."
Kate shifted uneasily in her seat. The dilapidated hotel that her UNN news crew and the Dominion forces were holed up in was an ugly place, but according to Colonel Kim, it suited its purpose. The Reapers had detonated demolition charges on the structural support beams on nearby smaller buildings, causing them to collapse. The rubble had then been loaded onto Ore Loader trucks and driven to the most critical street intersections and dumped there, creating artificial barriers that the Zerg would be forced to navigate through. Although the individual Zerg creatures could traverse terrain better than Dominion marines could, everyone knew that there were limits to what even they could do.
Thus the hope had been that this would channel the Zerg ground creatures into killing zones, and the strategy had worked. The artificial rubble heaps meant that the Zerg were unable to use their Ultralisks as they were simply too big to navigate through the rubble successfully. Zerglings and Hydralisks were quickly mowed down by Goliaths, their autocannons blazing. The Lurkers fared no better, as they had to burrow in order to attack, which left them vulnerable on the surface, and most were quickly shredded by Dominion marines.
The Infestors and Roaches proved to be a bigger problem, however, due to their ability to move while burrowed. To counter the threat, a thick carpet of Spider Mines had been laid behind rubble heaps in the event they decided to pop out of the ground from there. This too had been a success, as the battlefield showed the limbs of dead Zerg everywhere, their bodies blown apart by the mines. There were even the rotting hulks of Nydus Worms, which the Zerg had used in the hopes to get around the rubble.
The public relations officer noticed Kate's unease and softened his tone. "You have nothing to worry about. The Dominion has the best troops in the galaxy. It'll take more than a few attack waves from the Zerg to knock us out."
The female reporter kept silent and nodded, though internally she was not amused by this show of grandiosity. Almost all of the Dominion Fringe Worlds were still bitter at the Dominion military for their inability to protect them from the Zerg, and the Dominion Core Worlds showed a similar attitude. Most of the people were angry at the fact that the Dominion Armada did nothing to take the fight to the Zerg. There were a select few who felt they had somewhat redeemed themselves with regards to the Dominion forces that participated in the Char invasion, but everyone else saw that victory belonged to James Raynor, given Prince Valerian's testimony.
Speaking of Raynor, Kate realized that her gamble had paid off, at least to a degree. Dominion troops had confirmed that the body of the marine they had killed belonged to General Warfield, who's forces had joined with the Raiders in the aftermath of the Char invasion. This meant that it was likely Raynor himself was present on Tarsonis, perhaps right here in Tarsonis City.
"What do you think the situation is with Raynor's force?" she asked Corbin. "We all know it was him who attacked us as we were entering the city."
"It was also thanks to him that we now have entire Zerg hordes coming in to try and turn us into chew toys," the Dominion officer said bitterly. "Still, the Zerg attacks aren't entirely bad. It's not like they can distinguish which terran faction is which, so they would be attacking Raynor's boys as well as our own. Given the fact that we had only be subjected to Zerg probing attacks, it's possible they're doing the same to him. But who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe the Zerg had chosen to concentrate on him while only launching minor attacks against us. If that's the case, all the better on our situation. We could then proceed forward with the digging and excavation with only minimal Zerg interference."
"I doubt the public would see it the same way," Kate said.
"I don't care just what the public sees him as. His goal is to spread chaos throughout entire Koprulu Sector. Even before the Zerg invasion, his Raiders had caused rebellion across several worlds already. Regardless of just what his intentions were, the fact remained that what he had done on Korhal caused total chaos within the Dominion. It had taken a lot of energy out of the Dominion military to put down those riots, and even now there's still plenty of tension that remain. No one here is just going to stand by at let him wreak even more havoc on the Dominion."
Kate could see the anger on the man's face, and decided not to push it any further. Still, this only proved that most of the Dominion armed forces did not even bother look at the picture regarding Raynor very carefully, they simply swallowed everything the emperor had said about the rebel leader without a second thought. While the public was now very uneasy about believe everything the Dominion says, this marked the best opportunity to hear the story from the other side.
And with James Raynor on Tarsonis, it just might be possible to conduct an interview with the man after all.