Author's Note: This chapter tends to break things up to see multiple viewpoints. As one of the things that Kate Lockwell didn't expect last chapter, it was the matter of having Raynor's POV and the Dominion's at the same time, and this chapter will address a little of that.

Another part is Kerrigan's situation from the Protoss perspective. I didn't want to have the Protoss so thickheaded that none of them were willing to look in another way. Yes Kerrigan betrayed them in the past, but an alliance could never work unless both sides show some measure of faith in each other, and this chapter will begin addressing those issues as well.

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

Chapter 72

Xel'Naga Caverns Entrance, Aiur

"These are very dangerous words you speak of, young Vartanil," Tabrenus said to the former Tal'darim. "Unlike the Nerazim, we had all embraced the light of the Khala. To question what Khas had done for the Protoss society is to question everything that the Firstborn stand for."

"The Firstborn consists of the Khalai and Nerazim Protoss," Vartanil said. "Both of the sects had been created by the Xel'Naga. When the Dark Templar were exiled from Aiur, the Conclave deemed them traitors and embarrassments, unworthy to be considered our Protoss brethren. Unlike us, they have a very different point of view regarding Khas and his actions."

The Furinax leader nodded. "Like ourselves, the Dark Templar were grateful that Khas and his Khala philosophy had ended the Aeon of Strife, but once the details of the Khala religion were known, they were far from pleased. The fear of losing their own identities had greatly concerned them, although after spending the years on Shakuras with their kind, I must admit that concern was certainly justified."

"Their unwillingness to submit to judicator rule shows the difference they are to us, great Tabrenus. The Conclave had continuously maintained its position on Aiur as the absolute force of power even as the Zerg spread destruction and chaos throughout the planet. The Dark Templar tribes seem to be comprised of far greater numbers in terms of free thinkers, rather than a society of people that all obey directives from a higher ruling body."

"The flaws of Conclave were great," Tabrenus admitted. "There are those within the Khalai Protoss today that still bear the guilt of living on Shakuras. The Nerazim could have exiled us from their homeworld as we had done to them on Aiur, yet nothing of the sort had happened."

"The tensions within the Daelaam Protoss remain. Once Aiur is fully cleared of the Zerg, we should allow any and all Dark Templar tribes to return and resettle here should they choose to," Vartanil suggested.

"I was thinking very similarly. It is something I intend to recommend to Hierarch Artanis very soon. The Nerazim tribes must be made to understand that the Khalai Protoss have changed since Aiur had been overrun by the Zerg all those years ago. It certainly will not be easy, however. The continued attempts by some of our brethren to persuade the Dark Templar to embrace the Khala have given the Nerazim tribes the impression that we have learned absolutely nothing since our departure from Aiur. In a similar fashion, only a select few of our Khalai brethren had considered looking more closely at the cold energies of the Void, yet for them to embrace it is another matter completely."

"To embrace both of them is extremely difficult," the former Tal'darim admitted. "And there have been dangers to such actions as demonstrated by mighty Tassadar, when the combined might of the Khala and Void energies caused him to burn out like a star."

"And I had seen with my own eyes of the effects if the link to the Khala is severed," Tabrenus added. "When you and the other Tal'darim had come through the Warp Gate to Shakuras, your minds were not in the Khala and had left you all angry and confused. Clearly the task of embracing the energies of the Void is not as simple as we believed once we have already embraced the light of the Khala. Under that logic, it is certainly possible that the individual Dark Templar may react the same way if we force a psionic link with their minds to the Khala. The link they already have with the Void may conflict with it."

"There may not be a need for our sects to embrace what we do not believe in," Vartanil stated. "As long as we stand together against the threat, the Firstborn would be able to prevail. All that we must do is consider all of the possibilities before we take action."

"That is what you wish to speak to me about," the Furinax leader said calmly. "You hope that you can make your appeal to the rest of the Hierarchy regarding the former Queen of Blades and for us to reconsider our views."

"It is something that must be done."

"This too is dangerous for you to speak of," Tabrenus warned. "There are those who feel your fondness for terrans is affecting your judgment. Kerrigan may not have shown any signs of deceit, manipulation or betrayal during our assault towards the husk of the Overmind, but you must not factor out the possibility that she may be simply bidding her time until the proper moment comes to strike."

"I remember the Hierarchy meeting with her clearly," Vartanil countered. "You were among the more sympathetic ones in the Hierarchy towards her, stating that it would be better to watch over her closely to determine where her loyalties now lie. Do not forget, I fought alongside Kerrigan during the assault, and I sensed nothing of betrayal within her."

"The former Queen of Blades's mind is more powerful than almost any of us can comprehend," Tabrenus reminded him. "Her actions in manipulating and enslaving the Dark Templar Matriarch Raszagal were a clear testament to that. You must not rule out the possibility that you could have been fooled."

"I will admit to that possibility," he conceded. "But I am also among the very few Protoss who is willing to see events in an entirely new perspective." Off the Furinax leader's confused look, Vartanil continued, "During my time spent on Shakuras, I had seen with my own eyes of the tensions between the Khalai and Nerazim tribes. In particular, I had heard the thoughts from the Dark Templar individuals in that the Khalai Protoss had falsely accused them of attempting to destroy the Khala, nor had we Khalai Protoss shown any interest in comprehending the ways of the Nerazim during the golden days of Aiur."

Tabrenus thought about this for a moment, before nodding as he understood what the young Protoss was aiming at. "You believe that the Daelaam Protoss is making a similar mistake here with Kerrigan."

"In the Hierarchy meeting, you had stated that only by comprehending the Zerg will it become possible for the Protoss to defeat them," Vartanil pointed out. "This was certainly not the case when the Zerg had invaded Aiur, and the Conclave made no attempt to understand the vile creatures. According to the Khalai and Nerazim Protoss on Shakuras, we had made no such efforts of this during the Brood War either."

"And you feel it is in our best interest to look at the matter from Kerrigan's perspective," the Furinax leader stated.

"The Xel'Naga prophecy is currently unclear to us. It only speaks of the Fallen One that shall break the cycle of the gods, and the actions from mighty Zeratul had only extracted enough knowledge from the Overmind's cortex that stated Kerrigan's role as savior. The details of the prophecy are not yet known, so we cannot say for certain regarding the specifics of the role she must play in the future."

Tabrenus did not show it, but he conceded that Vartanil had a point to all this. Clearly the young Protoss had proven himself to be extremely intellectual, something that is greatly admired within the Furinax Tribe.

"Well spoken, young Vartanil," he said. "You are correct that knowledge is vital to the Protoss, and that regarding the former Queen of Blades should be no exception. I shall make my appeal to Hierarch Artanis about what you have spoken to me now. There will be those who shall oppose the idea of looking at the events from Kerrigan's view, but as you have implied, it would be a small price to pay if it can result in the salvation of the Firstborn."

Vartanil bowed deeply to his tribal leader before turning back to join up with the rest of the Furinax Protoss workers and their tasks. Convincing Tabrenus was not as difficult as he had been expecting, and this was obviously a good thing. Zekrath may be in a similar state given his desire for knowledge. Urun and Mohandar, however, would be far more difficult.

For that reason, the young Protoss considered perhaps going with his tribal leader to speak with Artanis together. The Hierarch had seen Kerrigan's actions during the Brood War, and the greater amount of experience may make the task easier for the Hierarch to consider the feelings of guilt and remorse that the former Queen of Blades was currently experiencing. Perhaps by convincing Artanis, he could then pass his words towards many more of the Daelaam Protoss.

Korhal City, Korhal

Mengsk stood up high from the inhabitants of Korhal City who had gathered in the city square. The crowd gathered before him was larger than he expected, but smaller than he had hoped for. Clearly the reactions of the Korhal City citizens were of a mixed variety when he made his presence felt here. There were those that were relieved to see him, while others showed fear on their faces upon seeing the Dominion emperor.

Still more seemed to show indifference, and that angered Mengsk greatly. Who were they to ignore the presence of the most powerful man in the whole Koprulu Sector? With but a word, he could have their heads on a silver platter if he chose to. Hell, he could have the heads of every person in this entire city for that matter. That his subjects refused to even acknowledge him clearly meant that they had a death wish on their minds.

Of course, that's a bridge he could cross later. For the time being, he had speeches to address to the people of Korhal City.

"My fellow Dominion citizens," he spoke out. "It pains me greatly to see Korhal City, one of the greatest providences on Korhal, has been reduced to such a state. In the past, the Confederacy had done similarly to here when they reduced most of Korhal to radioactive waste with their nuclear weapons. Four years ago, the cursed UED had invaded Korhal and tried to overthrow the Dominion and establish total dominance in the Koprulu Sector. And last but certainly not least, the enemies of the Dominion had hijacked the mighty Odin walker and used it to wreak havoc on the city. The Odin walker was designed to be a machine of security to better protect the Dominion, and instead it had been used as an instrument of chaos. Not only had it been used in such a way, but our enemies had used it against civilians. It shows that they have no honor, slaughtering innocent bystanders rather than taking the Dominion military as a true soldier would."

Seeing the murmurs of agreement within the crowd, the emperor continued, "Such an attack was considered among the most disgraceful acts committed against the Dominion, one that I have no intention of letting it slide away. Do not forget, it was our Dominion forces that succeeded in pushing back the Odin. Had we not succeeded, every citizen here would either be dead or a refugee. Your safety has always been top priority in the eyes of the Dominion, and I vow that James Raynor and his terrorists shall be brought to justice for all the innocent civilians they have killed here. The Dominion armada will be here at your assistance to ensure that such an incident never befalls before the city again."

At this point, one of the people in the crowd suddenly spoke up. "You keep calling James Raynor a terrorist, emperor. But we have all watched the UNN broadcasts in the aftermath of the Char invasion. Prince Valerian had spoken highly of the man and his actions."

"Such praise was meaningless," Mengsk assured him. "I admit the man had been present on Char, but it was the Dominion forces had defeated the Zerg there, Raynor did little more than stand on the sidelines and observe."

"Then how would you explain the fact that the Dominion prince had stated repeatedly to every Dominion media branch that James Raynor's actions were the reason why the Char invasion succeeded in the first place? He made it clear that the whole Dominion fleet would have been destroyed had Raynor not stepped in to take command."

"A simple matter of pride," the emperor answered. "There are certainly those within the Dominion worlds who do not see James Raynor the same way as I do. As I had stated before prior to the Zerg invasion, he represents one of the greatest dangers to the integrity of the Dominion. His only goal is to spread chaos throughout the whole sector. Don't forget, it was his actions here that had caused massed rioting across the Dominion core worlds."

"His actions here were based on something you did in the past!" another voice spoke out among the crowd, this time in an angry tone. "Even today, the news channels are still talking about how you used the Zerg to kill the whole Tarsonis population! They all want answers and you refuse to comment!"

Mengsk narrowed his eyes. "That evidence that Raynor used against me is nothing but a concoction."

"Then why hasn't anyone but you been able to falsify it?"

"You're acting as if the media branches have the same level of technology as the Dominion military does," the emperor said calmly. "That's exactly the reason why I spoke out to UNN shortly after the broadcast that I was able to falsify it. Again, I would like to remind you that the Dominion's enemies would do just about anything to ruin my reputation. It is nothing more than acts of desperation."

"Maybe not this time, emperor," a woman spoke out from the crowd. "The broadcasts that Raynor made showed that you intended to rule over the whole Koprulu Sector. Even you said no such thing about the rebel during all the four years of peace until the Zerg suddenly returned."

"Weren't you listening at all?" Mengsk said, disgusted. "That was something James Raynor concocted, it's not authentic. My position as Dominion emperor is and always has been to have the best interests of humanity at heart. I devote my time, energy, and resources to the people of the Dominion, not for some personal power gain. My goal is to ensure that humanity survives from the threat of both the Zerg and the Protoss, a complete contrast to James Raynor who cares nothing more than spreading his havoc to just about any planet he lands on."

"Devotion to the Dominion? I think not," the woman who spoke out in an angry tone suddenly stood up from the crowd and placed her hands on her hips. "Korhal is the Dominion throne world. Other than the attack from the Odin, it had not suffered the slightest bit since the Zerg invasion began."

"And that vindicates my claim that I would keep this world safe, does it not?" Mengsk replied back.

"That's not the point!" she shouted. "It's been over three months since the Odin incident! Half the city is now nothing but rubble, and more than a third of the total population here are homeless refugees living in shanties! Even those had to be hastily built from the rubble itself! Due to the Odin attack, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering! Even without the shelter problem, we still face the matter of starvation!"

Seeing how the crowd was starting to see her point, the Dominion emperor was not pleased. "And I made it clear that the Dominion resources would be here to rebuild the city to its former glory, and to help all of those in times of need."

The woman, however, showed no signs of backing down. Mengsk's eyes narrowed slightly in anger. Very few have ever dared to challenge him like this before. Clearly she had a death wish on her mind.

"The people here don't want your directives, emperor," she said firmly. "They want action, and they want it quickly. You can make all the promises you want, but it's not going to mean a damn thing to the people here until we actually see them implemented."

"You doubt my words and devotion?" the emperor said, frowning.

"Considering the fact that over three months have passed, I'd say the answer is obvious," the woman shot back. "We haven't received a single credit of aid, nor the slightest bit of relief from the Dominion military. After the so-called Brood War ended four years ago, you devoted Dominion tax money and revenues to modernize and beautify Korhal. As the Dominion throne world, we're supposed to be living in much more luxurious conditions compared to the Fringe Worlds, and right now half of Korhal City is nothing but a giant ghetto."

"She's not wrong there," another man stood up from the crowd. "We know you look over the Korhal capital of Augustgrad very closely, and whatever you feel can be better there you make it happen right away. Here, regardless of what you have said about your intentions, the fact remains that you haven't delivered on any, and therefore your intentions don't exactly hold any weight."

That put Mengsk in an even fouler mood. He spent the next 30 minutes rattling on about his speeches, before the crowd finally dispersed from the city square. Shaking his head in disgust, he turned around and began walking back onto the city streets and towards his heavily armored APC.

His Dominion ghost operatives and elite bodyguards accompanied him. "Sir, I don't think that went as well as we would have hoped for," one of them spoke out quietly.

The emperor snorted. "Obviously, and that's something that surprised me a bit too. I had expected thunderous applause, and all I got was a bunch of ungrateful and selfish protests."

"We could have some of them assassinated to put the others in their place," one of the ghost operatives suggested.

Mengsk nodded. "Not yet, though. As much as I hate to admit it, they were speaking from personal experience in receiving no aid. In addition I had constantly told the people here that Korhal was untouchable, and now the people are starting to doubt me. For the time being, I need to retain some measure of authority."

"The bastards here don't have the guts to riot," one of his bodyguards said. "They fear you too much for that."

"Obviously," the emperor agreed. "Still, it'd be better to put a happy face on them, if only temporarily. It'll send a message to the rest of the Dominion core worlds that the people on Korhal are all unified together under me."

"I still don't see the point of us being here," the bodyguard grumbled. "It's not like leaving Korhal City in this state is going to get you kicked off the Dominion throne."

"No, but it's still better to manipulate the people here to our will," Mengsk replied. "Now, we'll have to stay in the city for a little bit longer. We're going to the downtown financial district. It's among the places that the Odin didn't destroy, so I'll need to speak with some of the businessmen there. A few credits will get transferred just so the people of Korhal City would stop their childish whining, and that'll be the end of the matter."

Train, Tarsonis City, Tarsonis

Kate finally decided it was time to break the deadlock. The silence in the train car was deafening enough to her. Time she did something about it. "I have to say this is completely unexpected," she said, looking at Raynor. "To see you here on Tarsonis is one thing, Mr. Raynor. To see that most of your soldiers are Dominion troops is quite another."

"And I take it this surprises you, Ms. Lockwell?" Jim folded his arms. "If so, you're even more narrow-minded than I thought, and it'll just confirm what I've suspected about the UNN for years, that all of you just blindly follow what you're told."

"Your troops are traitors to the Dominion," Kim accused angrily. "They're supposed to have the Dominion's best interests at heart, and instead they go siding with the most infamous terrorist the Dominion has ever known."

"How amusing," the rebel commander said calmly. "Colonel Kim, you should know things aren't always what they appear to be."

"And what do you expect us to believe?" Corbin seethed. "That they simply changed their minds? I think not, Raynor. It's pretty damn obvious that you manipulated them to do your bidding."

"You weren't there when the Char invasion took place," Jim shot back. "I was, along with my Raiders, and so were all of General Warfield's troops. Even the general himself praised me for what I did. Or are you going to turn a blind eye to that as well?"

"Mr. Raynor may have a point here," Lockwell said softly. "Prince Valerian said the same thing on UNN in the aftermath of the Char invasion."

"Which makes both him and Warfield nothing more than weak sympathizers," the public relations officer said, glaring at Raynor accusingly. "All you've ever done to the Dominion is spread chaos to everywhere we go. We try to establish some order to these worlds, and you go and mess everything up."

Jim shook his head. "It just makes you little more than mindless drones, lieutenant. All you understand is how to obey orders from above. You don't have a brain to actually think about them."

"That's what separates us from you, Raynor," Corbin shot back. "We're real soldiers, trained to obey orders. You're nothing but a mercenary who goes around killing people for your own pleasure."

The rebel commander looked furious. "I am no such thing, that's your emperor. Or did you also turn a deaf ear to the Korhal broadcasts?"

"You turned a Dominion security weapon into your own toy! You used it to turn half of Korhal City to ruins!"

"And the Dominion failed to stop me," Jim replied. "I'd say that says quite well of your emperor's boasts that Korhal was so heavily fortified that no enemy of the Dominion could even come close to it."

Corbin looked furious, but Kim stopped him. "Raynor does have a point in that one, as much as I hate to admit it," she told him. "Facts don't lie, and Raynor did succeed in landing on Korhal and breaching the UNN Studios' security to transmit that message. Even you can't just say that never really happened."

She looked at Raynor again. "Still, Corbin has a point of your actions. Your broadcast sent almost every Dominion core and fringe world into chaos, and many of the latter declared independence from the Dominion. It took us a lot of time and energy to stop the rioting and to regain control over the situation on the core worlds, and that's to say nothing at all about the fringe worlds."

"And you think them becoming independent of the Dominion is a bad thing," Nova said sarcastically. "You just can't stand the fact that you believed you were in perfect control over everything since the Brood War ended and now all of a sudden you're losing that control."

"You're guilty of treason too, Agent X41822N," Kim accused, but before she could say anything else, Nova unleashed psionic inertia and blasted the colonel off her seat.

"Don't call me that," Nova said dangerously. "I'm not your serial number Dominion ghost operative, not anymore. With Jim and his Raiders, I have the identity of Nova Terra again."

"So be it," Kim said, getting back up from the floor. "But the fact remains you're an even bigger traitor to the Dominion than General Warfield's troops. After the Korhal transmissions were sent, Dominion security forces did some checking up at the UNN Studios broadcasting towers. We knew for a fact that Raynor had held the security breach at the towers for as long as he did because of a ghost operative at his disposal, and it didn't take us very long before we concluded that it had to have been you."

"Which means you turned against the Dominion long before the Char invasion," Corbin accused. "You sided with Raynor and his terrorists, and you had a direct hand in all the havoc that resulted on the Dominion worlds."

Kate looked stunned by this. According to the interviews she had conducted the Dominion ghost operatives on the planet Nephor II, she got the impression that they were fiercely loyal to the Dominion, and that loyalty was incapable of swaying even the slightest bit.

Nova must have picked up on her thoughts, as she smirked a little bit and turned her head to the female UNN reporter. "I'm not like the other Dominion ghosts, Ms. Lockwell. I started off very differently than they did."

"Kate, if you tried doing some digging on Nova, you would know that she was once a member of the Old Families during the days of the Confederacy," Kelerchian said. "Her family was assassinated right in front of her, and that's not a very happy beginning."

"It doesn't matter what kind of a beginning it was," Corbin spoke up again, anger in his eyes. "You did this, Raynor. You turned her against us. She was our best Dominion operative, one that never fails at any mission assigned to her, no matter what the circumstances, and now you manipulated her into doing your bidding."

Suddenly, Nova unleashed a psionic shock on the Dominion officer, and Corbin fell to the ground, unconscious. "I told you Jim," she said calmly, as if nothing happened. "These Dominion people never understand when they've gone too far when it comes to a girl's anger. Maybe now with him silent for a few hours, I won't get pushed so much."

Seeing the fear on some of the UNN journalists' faces, Nova waved it off. "Don't worry about that. None of you have exactly given me any reason to do something similar to you. I just don't like being falsely accused and such."

"Well manipulation or not, the fact remains that your actions caused her to turn on us," Kim said accusingly.

Raynor rolled his eyes. "Your Dominion Ghost Program did that, colonel. Nova told me all about the memory wipes and neural inhibitors that the Dominion used to keep its ghost operatives loyal to the Dominion. They're not human beings to you. They're just weapons, used for your assassination purposes."

Kate looked confused. "Then what did you do differently, Mr. Raynor?"

"Very simple," Jim answered. "I gave Nova a chance to make her own choices by removing the neural implants that allowed the Dominion to control her. Most Dominion ghosts have nothing but a serial number as their name, and Nova was never called by anything but Agent X41822N during her time with the Dominion. I changed all that."

"Jim acknowledged me more than you Dominion officers ever did," Nova said, looking at Kim with fire in her eyes. "I remember it all clearly, of how you never saw anything in me except my killing potential."

"And how can you remember such a thing?" Kim folded her arms. "Your memory wipes should have prevented that."

"You're not allies with the Protoss like I am," Jim stated calmly. "You know as well as I do that their technology is more advanced than ours. Just because you think Dominion technology can't reverse the effects of memory wipe doesn't mean Protoss technology can't either."

"Why did you ally yourself with the Protoss?" Kate asked, curious. "We may not be in a state of war with them, but they aren't exactly friendly to us either."

"You obviously don't know the Protoss very well," the rebel commander answered. "The Dominion's list of enemies is so long I could go on for years trying to list every single one." He shook his head in disappointment. "I expected something like this out of you. You UNN reporters are nothing but the Dominion's personal puppets, and since the Dominion has arrogantly convinced itself that the Protoss are nothing but monsters, you simply swallow everything the Dominion propagandists say."

"I used to believe that of what the Dominion had said," Nova added. "But I fought alongside the Protoss with the Raiders, and they're nothing like what the Dominion have claimed them to be."

Kate did kind of expect this answer from Raynor. "You clearly do not know me very well, Mr. Raynor. Didn't you ever watch any of my UNN news reports?"

"Of course I have, and almost every single of one them are supportive of the Dominion," Jim was not swayed the slightest bit.

"Call it that if you wish, but if you really paid attention, you'd notice that I also never called you a criminal or terrorist or anything like that," Kate defended. "There were times where I did try to speak highly of you and your Raiders for your actions and such, but Donny Vermillion kept cutting me off."

Jim thought about this for a moment. He recalled back to when Kerrigan had attacked the Tyrador VIII in order to access the Möebius Foundation's data cores and locate the Xel'Naga artifact fragments. Thinking back, he remembered that Kate Lockwell did try to that Dr. Emil Narud had praised him and his Raiders for his actions, but was then cut off.

Similarly, after being forced to burn out the Zerg infestation on Meinhoff, the female reporter had said of the refugees pinning their hopes on him and his Raiders for rescue. The same was true after he and his Raiders saved Dr. Hanson's people on Haven, where Kate also announced that the refugees had praised him for his actions.

Even before the Zerg invasion began, when he kicked up his revolution against Mengsk again on Mar Sara, she had tried to report that the people of Mar Sara were pleased with his actions, and not that of the Dominion military.

Especially true was in the case in the immediate aftermath of the Korhal broadcasts, where she had reported that the citizens of Korhal were setting fire to Dominion government buildings after he had exposed Mengsk's true nature. After encountering with the hybrid at the Castanar installation, he recalled Lockwell said that she intended to determine the corruption in the Dominion government and how high up it goes, but was shut down by Dominion security.

Nova picked up on his thoughts, and turned her head to him. "Jim, remember the person you are. You should consider what she has to say. Don't forget, when I first joined up with the Raiders, you were the only one who was willing to give me a chance to prove myself. Everybody else on the ship weren't too uncomfortable with a Dominion ghost fighting alongside you."

Raynor looked slightly torn. "I know that, Nova. But the media is a weapon in its own right. Mengsk used it to portray me as a terrorist for years, and it certainly had that effect on people. And you saw the effect it had after what happened on Korhal. That broadcast was a major success against Mengsk, and the last thing I want is for that to get reversed."

Colonel Kim clenched her fist in anger. "Success against the emperor? Your broadcast wreaked havoc on the Dominion people, Raynor. Thank to all the rioting and such, the casualties were in the tens of thousands, and you didn't even blink."

"Yeah well let's get one thing straight here," Jim shot back. "Before I made the broadcasts on Korhal, your emperor had the whole media under his control, along with military industry, constabulary, and penal system. When you're dealing with a situation like that, the only way to go is through violent action, not just useless civil method of court and law. As the emperor, he is the law, which means nothing I say in there would have made a difference."

He lowered his voice before turning his head to Kate. "Tell me something then, Ms. Lockwell. Am I really supposed to believe if you hadn't been cut off in your news reports, you actually would have praised me and my actions?"

"Be realistic, Mr. Raynor," Lockwell replied. "The Dominion hadn't given any reports on their actions about saving people from the Zerg during their invasion, pushing the Zerg back, or even any signs of stopping the Zerg attacks. I'm not the type of reporter to just make news up. So who else would there be to report if not you?"

"I am being realistic," the commander insisted. "One of your news reports you had said that the Dominion military analysts were confused that the Zerg advance had slowed down, and your former boss Donny praised the Dominion right away for taking the fight to the Zerg."

"Not all of us blindly believe things like that," the UNN anchorwoman assured him. "Having had no news of Dominion military success against the Zerg invasion, let's just say I was skeptical about that one."

"Fine, but either way, if you hadn't been cut off and you were allowed to proceed with your news report in praising me, the Dominion would have immediately branded you a traitor."

"This just shows how little you know of the Dominion, Raynor. Not to mention your desire for self glory," Kim spoke up again. "You honestly think we're all demons from hell or something? Well I've got news for you: you and your Raiders aren't the only ones in the universe with friends, family, and kids."

"You're certainly right about the part with family and such," Jim agreed. "But for how little I know of the Dominion, it just shows you being too naïve. Of all the UNN reports I've seen, there has not been a single one that in the pro category that didn't have the Dominion in its name. Not to mention the fact that every single report has been told from the Dominion perspective, everyone else's viewpoints are either ignored or dismissed."

"That's going to change now that Donny is no longer in charge," Kate explained. "Mr. Raynor, please. I know you have no reason to trust me, or even to like me, especially after all the years of Dominion propaganda of portraying you the most despicable terrorist in the Koprulu Sector. But all of that was only due to UNN censorship due to the upper UNN people loyal to the Dominion. I admit in many of those cases, that loyalty turned out to be blind, which was certainly not a good thing. But I'm nothing like them. I know that there are multiple sides to the story, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Regardless of what the Dominion's side of the story is, it's only part of the picture."

"So what do you hope to accomplish here?"

"Call it a new beginning," Lockwell said. "In the aftermath of the Char invasion and Prince Valerian had praised you for your actions there, I made it clear that UNN will no longer fully support everything the Dominion has to say and investigate other people's perspectives. I made it clear in my news reports that there are now doubts if you truly are the terrorist that Mengsk claimed you are for so long. Other media branches have begun to question this as well. With you here on Tarsonis, it'd be the perfect way to see things from your perspective, instead of just hearing it from a bunch of people who barely even know you."

Obviously Kim was not supportive of this. "Ms. Lockwell, have you completely overlooked the fact that Raynor tried to kill you when we entered Tarsonis City? He and his troops were the ones giving off the sniper fire that killed some of my boys!"

"I wasn't aiming at the UNN reporters," Raynor scoffed. "Contrary to your propaganda, I'm not some coldblooded killer who targets innocent bystanders just for the hell of it."

"That's my point exactly," Kate told the Dominion colonel. "I'm interested in finding out the truth, and if that means I have to speak to non-Dominion factions to make it happen, then that's the way it has to be."

She turned her head back to Jim. "So what will it be, Mr. Raynor? Your ghost friend here just said that you gave her a chance when no one else was willing to trust her."

Jim looked at Nova, then at Mal. Both of them had remained silent, but from the look on their faces, their answer was self explanatory.

He let out a sigh. "All right, Ms. Lockwell. I'll give your style a chance. I admit during the UNN broadcasts, you certainly didn't seem to buy Mengsk's claims about me or anything of that propaganda crap, so I'm interested in hearing your side of all this as well."

Toxic Slums, Dead Man's Rock

Mira listened as the reports of the assault on the Dominion base came in. Some of which she did not have to hear it, she could see it with her own eyes from the bridge of the Heavy Transport ship close to the frontlines. Unlike her husband Matthew who had returned to the Hyperion, she knew that it was certainly wise to lead the troops from afar to put herself out of danger. If she got killed, the troops' morale could plummet.

Unfortunately, this was not an option with the forces under her command. Mercenaries or not, there was an obvious difference between her troops and that of the Raiders. The latter comprised of people who wanted to seek justice against the Dominion and to ensure freedom to the Koprulu Sector. On the other hand, all the mercenaries she commanded had no intention of fighting for such a cause. Ultimately, they were fighting for little more than themselves. Other than the signing of the paycheck in credits or minerals, everything else didn't matter to them. Given that, in rough times like these, only a loyalty to each other and their commander could hold them together.

This was exactly the reason she had to position herself right on the battlefield, in harm's way. Her troops needed to know that she wasn't just going to sit back while they took all the risks while she did absolutely nothing. She had to make her presence felt so that they would be convinced that she would fight alongside them if the situation got out of control.

So far, the reports have no indicated that, but it didn't make the going any easier either. As promised, the Raiders were providing the fire support to keep the Dominion BattleCruisers busy. Neither side had that many BattleCruisers, and that kept the battle relatively even. Fortunately, the Hyperion itself was once Mengsk's flagship during his days with the Sons of Korhal, and that meant that it had greater armor and firepower than the average BattleCruiser. That kept all of the Dominion BattleCruisers busy while the mammoth ships fought one another in the skies above.

The other air battles were still being fought to a standstill. Having underestimated the number of Grizzly fighter-bombers, many of the Kel-Morian Hellhounds had to be diverted away from assisting the ground troops to deal with them. Due to the Hellhounds' weak armor, it did not take many shots from the Grizzlies' 30mm Hellsworn flak cannons to shoot them down, and that led to frequent requests for Wraith support.

Even so, it did keep most of the Grizzlies busy and distracted from performing their standard role of bombing the troops on the ground, though the ones that were able to still caused terrible damage there. The marines, Marauders, and Firebats were no match for their bombs, and many were blown to pieces before they had a chance to fire a single shot.

The Raiders' Vikings had increased their activity greatly, and this had prevented the Dominion Banshees from unleashing their payload on the Thor walkers. The mechanical behemoths pressed forward on the ground, in many cases through areas that Dominion Vultures had planted Spider Mines on. Fortunately, with their thick and heavy armor, the Thors were able to take such an explosive blast, and that spared the lives of the foot soldiers. There were of course cases where even they were forced to retreat for repairs, and Mira gave orders that the Raiders' Thors must be protected so that they would be able to go up against the Dominion Thors in the base.

The Confederate Avengers had made numerous bombing runs at the base already, in many cases in an attempt to blast the Dominion Thor walkers due to their less effective anti-air defenses. Unfortunately, it had only resulted in dozens of Avengers having been shot out of the sky by the Missile Turrets and Goliaths. Very soon, such bombing runs had to be abandoned as it simply couldn't produce the necessary results, and both the Raiders and the mercenaries concluded that it should be left to the Siege Tanks instead.

That, however, proved to be no easy task. With so many artificial mounds still intact, the Siege Tanks had great difficulty in maneuvering through the terrain, and the number of Raider Dropships and mercenary Planet Hoppers and Heavy Landers were too few in number to get the tanks across the battlefield quickly. The Giant-class cargo ships had been considered, but they had no armor plating at all, which made them too vulnerable to attack.

Her mercenary troops on the ground were also suffering from the toxicity effects due to all the toxic and radioactive canisters the Dominion had positioned in the area. The Raiders troops were still pressing forward, but more and more of the mercenary troops were starting to lag behind as the harmful chemicals leaked through their CMC armor and the effects were becoming accumulative.

This had also made them vulnerable targets to Dominion Stinger jeeps, as their 35mm cannons cut down dozens of War Pigs, Hammer Securities, and Devil Dogs before the Goliaths were able to get within range and provide adequate fire support.

All in all, the situation was still manageable, but the casualties taken were becoming more and more appalling by the minute. Despite her orders to continue the assault, Mira could tell that many of her mercenary troops were starting to lose confidence of making it out of here alive.

"Commander, we're receiving a transmission," one of her officers suddenly reported.

"Open a channel," Mira said. The faces that appeared on the screen surprised her.

"So it looks like you were crazy enough to attack the Dominion base after all, Mira," one of the mercenary leaders spoke out.

"I made it clear to my troops that the attack would proceed as ordered, and that once it began, it's not going to stop until the whole base got leveled," she answered.

"And even after all the casualties you're taking, I'm surprised your troops haven't mutinied yet," another observed.

Mira gritted her teeth. They haven't yet, but unless the situation improved, that certainly might happen. However, she had no intention of showing that to the mercenary leaders here.

"Did you contact me just to taunt?" she said, not pleased. "Or did you consider what I said?"

"We have," another mercenary leader answered. "We're not going to have to take all the glory yourself in defeating the Dominion here. Our forces will be arriving in the area within minutes."

Mira smiled. Finally, some good news. "Very well, I will be waiting for them here. When they reach the Toxic Slums, I expect each and every one of your pilots and soldiers to unleash hell on the Dominion."