Author's Note: It's time for the next chapter. Here, I want to bring some elements of hope to Kerrigan's situation, and to show that the Protoss had learned something after everything that's happened. Many felt the Protoss could never see things in another view, but being stubborn and being stupid are two different things. If a person is stubborn, it doesn't mean he or she is stupid, and that's what I'm going to show in this chapter for the Protoss.
For those of you who had read "The Dark Templar Saga Part 3: Twilight", the first part of the chapter you should be able to connect the dots at my logic.
As always, please read and review and I'll see you next time.
Chapter 77
Eldritch Lake, Aiur
Protoss Phoenix interceptors opened up with their ion cannons as Urun channeled his psionic energies into his ship's graviton beams, lifting a Zerg Infestor off the ground and suspending the creature in mid-air. With no way to defend itself, the Infestor was quickly reduced to a pile of blood and guts by the golden Phoenixes.
"That was the last vile Infestor abomination," the Auriga leader announced. "Push forward, my brethren. The Daelaam Protoss elsewhere on the planet are making significant progress in cleaning the Zerg presence from Aiur. We must do the same here."
Below him, fighting remained as fierce as ever as the numbers of Protoss Zealots, Dark Templars, Immortals and Stalkers engaged in combat against the Zerg. Despite the casualties taken, the Protoss warriors had steadily advanced forward. By now, the remaining Zerg have been pushed back to the water's edge at Eldritch Lake. However despite their hopeless situation, they continued to resist with ferocity.
Fortunately, with the numbers no longer on their side, the Protoss could now handle the Zerg with swift effectiveness. The Corsairs unleashed their disruption webs, trapping the massive Ultralisks within and preventing them from engaging the Zealots. Once rendered immobile, Immortals hammered the creatures away with their phase disruptors until the massive beasts finally collapsed onto the ground. Dark Templar warriors moved stealthily on the ground, catching Zerglings by surprise. With a single swipe of their formidable warp blades, they were able to slice them apart.
The few Overlords still in the air desperately tried to evacuate some of the Zerg, but this was to no avail as Urun and his Phoenixes unleashed their attacks upon them, forcing many of them to retreat.
"Bring in the Colossi!" Urun ordered.
The massive golden walkers marched forward, their thermal lances blazing. Hydralisks stood little chance against the searing heat, and many were quickly roasted. Large numbers of Pygalisks charged forward to get within closer range, but Stalkers quickly blinked away from their positions to block their paths, before opening up with their particle disruptors. With the exception of a few, the smaller creatures stood no chance. Most were killed before they could get within striking distance of the Stalkers, while the rest were slaughtered by the Zealots flanking them.
Warp Prisms transformed into their phase modes as they moved into range, as Sentries were warped onto the battlefield to join in with the Protoss warriors. They were greeted by a mass of acid spits from the Roaches, while Zerg Queens flanked them to provide protection against the Zealots. Once again, the Immortals and Stalkers opened fire, but this had a less than optimal effect on the Roaches as the Queens used their transfusion ability to rapidly heal them at a cost of some amount of energy to themselves.
Nevertheless, this only provided easy targets for Urun and his Phoenixes. Extremely slow while off the creep, the Queens were easy prey for their graviton beams, and many of them were imprisoned and suspended in mid-air this way. As many of them were slaughtered in suspension, Urun was confident that the loss of these Queens would break the resilience of the remaining Zerg that continued to fight at Eldritch Lake.
Despite the nature of the Zerg, the Auriga leader could see from in Phoenix interceptor that even they realized that there was little more than they could accomplish here. This was confirmed by the ground tremors as a Nydus Worm popped up from under the earth, and its maw opened up as the Zerg creatures began to retreat towards it in order to escape.
"Stop that Nydus Worm!" Urun commanded. "The Zerg cannot be allowed to escape!"
Immediately, the Corsairs flanking him complied, unleashing their disruption webs and temporarily trapping the Zerglings, Hydralisks, and Roaches in their place, along with the Nydus Worm itself. The nearby Protoss Scouts opened up with their photon blasters, and together with the thermal lances of the Colossi, the biological transport system was quickly reduced to ashes. This cut off the only main escape route for the Zerg, as the Overlords were unable to move into position for transport due to the Protoss air superiority and the total lack of Mutalisks in the air for support.
Confident that the Zerg would be wiped out, Urun moved his Phoenix interceptor away from the frontlines and towards Eldritch Lake. Despite the devastation all over Aiur due to the Zerg invasion, there were places on the planet that did not suffer as much as the Auriga leader had expected, and Eldritch Lake was one such place. This was perhaps understandable, given the Zerg's inability to adapt to the water, which was why the 4 massive oceans on the planet did not suffer too greatly, and the same was true for many of Aiur's 2000 lakes.
As in the case with the River of Light, the scars of Zerg infestation that Eldritch Lake carried were less compared to elsewhere on the planet, and this was a great relief to Urun. Eldritch Lake was one of the holy places for the Protoss Templar Caste. During the Aeon of Strife, the place was virtually unknown to the Protoss, and even after the civil war its location remained a secret. However, for those who had come across it, none could deny its beauty.
In time, the location of Eldritch Lake became known to more Protoss even across the distant continents on Aiur. Pilgrimages to sacred places across Aiur were very common for the Templar Caste, and Eldritch Lake became a main focal point for such journeys. Rumors quickly circulated that the secret lake high in the mountains contained mystical properties, and this attracted the attention of even more Protoss Templar warriors. Some of them made the journey to seek serenity and tranquility and to mediate at Eldritch Lake, while others sought self-awareness and a greater understanding of the universe. Almost all were fully convinced of the wonders of the lake, and that the water it contained would bring harmony to the Khalai Protoss.
As the years passed, while Eldritch Lake remained a secret location, efforts had been made to determine if the rumors regarding the mystical properties of the water it contained could be validated. Taking samples of water from the sacred lake and exposing individual Protoss to it, it had been confirmed that the water did indeed contain psionic abilities. In the case with seasoned High Templar warriors, it allowed them even greater serenity in mediation and thus gave them a greater measure of control of their Khaydarin Crystal amulets in order for them to focus their psionic energies through the Khala.
Such experimentation was still far from complete by the time of the Zerg invasion on Aiur, and it was for this reason that Urun was relieved that the holy lake had not suffered too greatly from the infestation. Prior to the Queen of Blades, the Second Born had little psionic abilities of their own, and most Protoss knew that the Zerg would make every possible effort in order to further evolve themselves if psionic abilities could be assimilated into the swarm. Had they discovered a way in which to harness the water properties of Eldritch Lake, it might have even been possible for the Zerg to develop an immunity to the water, and that would have made them even more dangerous to confront. It was fortunate that they did not, which had explained why when the hordes of Zerg had fortified the Protoss capital of Antioch, their immediate priority was to prevent the city's water reservoirs from being used against them.
With Eldritch Lake secured and the remaining Zerg pockets to be eradicated, Urun moved his Phoenix interceptor away from the frontlines and opened a communications channel to Hierarch Artanis and the Furinax Protoss Vartanil.
"Such a possibility that you speak of would inevitably threaten the Firstborn," he warned. "I had made my points clear to the Hierarchy that it must be determined if the former Queen of Blades has truly lost control over the Zerg swarm or not. If she has not, then I must concur with Nahaan in that she would use them once more to eradicate us."
"We may not have a choice in the matter," Artanis replied. "The Protoss Hierarchy has seen the apocalyptic vision of the future from the Overmind. While the details of it still remain unclear to us, the one thing that must be certain is that however Kerrigan is meant to save all that is from the flames, it will inevitably involve the Zerg. Do not forget, according to Zeratul, Tassadar had made it clear that Kerrigan is also meant to free the Zerg from slavery and corruption. Because of this, it would seem that having her to associate herself with the Zerg swarm once more is unavoidable."
"And after everything she had done to our people and the Nerazim with the Zerg, you believe that she would use them any differently?"
"Great Urun, you must understand the guilt and remorse she now carries," Vartanil pointed out. "No one here is denying the atrocities she had committed during her time with the Zerg, nor is anyone saying that such acts must have been done against her will. However the fact remains that becoming the Queen of Blades was not of Kerrigan's free will."
"You only have James Raynor's testimony," the Auriga leader countered. "I am in agreement with Nahaan in that his feelings for Kerrigan could be blinding him to see her as what she really is."
"I have more than what he said as proof," the young Protoss explained. "When I was at the Alys'aril Nexus on Ehlna, I had briefly touched the mind of the Protoss Preserver Zamara. From there, I had sensed that Kerrigan had been taken by the Zerg and infested against her will on Char. She may have been content with the way she was after the infestation, but this could only have been possible if the Zerg had corrupted her mind into thinking that way."
"This means that Kerrigan did not willingly volunteer to become the Queen of Blades," Artanis added. "The Zerg did not give her a choice in the matter upon infestation. Everything we had seen her do in the past years could have been the result of Zerg corruption in her mind, and not her true intents. Because of this, it would be illogical to argue that her nature is nothing more than the complete and utter destruction of all creation."
"But even after what the Xel'Naga relic had done, we have confirmation that there is still Zerg blood within her," Urun protested. "Even if what you say is true, there is no evidence to assure us that the Zerg influence is really gone."
"She could not have come out of all these years of infestation and still remain the same person as she once was," the Hierarch agreed. "Even so, the remorse that she now feels proves that she is no longer like the Queen of Blades anymore."
"That does not mean that she would not revert back to that vile creature if she associates herself with the Zerg. No one truly understands what they had done to her in the past years, and her ruthlessness and savagery knew no bounds back then."
"Only James Raynor may be able to keep that in check," Artanis mused. "He is the only person who had been able to influence Kerrigan while she was the Queen of Blades. Vartanil and I agree that perhaps it was due to him that Kerrigan was able to restrain herself to a slight degree. Do not forget, from what Zeratul had uncovered in her mind, such feelings were mutual. Clearly Kerrigan had deep feelings for James Raynor, and despite the Zerg infestation, those feelings did not disappear. It may have been due to those feelings that as the Queen of Blades, she was never able to bring herself to kill him, despite having had the opportunities to do so."
Urun did not look convinced. "You honestly believe Kerrigan's feelings for him could have rendered her to feel remorse even when she was the Queen of Blades?"
"All I know is that no one has had greater influence on her than James Raynor. If he was able to cause her restraint while she was the Queen of Blades, then I am certain that he would a similar effect on her now. This is why I must ask of you to disregard Nahaan and his Ara Protoss. His sheer and utter hatred has completely blinded him to the greater picture at hand, and his disregard for the Xel'Naga prophecy is endangering the Firstborn."
The Auriga leader gave a nod of acknowledgement. "You are the only one in the Hierarchy who had fought alongside James Raynor during the Brood War, Hierarch. It is clear that you understand him better than we do. I will trust in your judgment to lead the Daelaam Protoss through these difficult times."
It was all Artanis needed. With Urun on his side, Nahaan was now completely alone in his arguments. He would be overruled in future meetings, and to the Protoss Hierarch, that was enough.
Bel'Shir
Dominion marines saluted as General Madison arrived with his troops to the crash site. He could already see the Dominion engineers pulling the Protoss Scout from the water. Other Dominion engineers were examining the burnt out wreckage of the Protoss Observer, attempting to determine its functionality and if any transmissions had been sent.
"It's good to see you here, sir," one of the marines greeted.
"At least the shooting had some legitimate reason behind it," Madison grumbled. "It's good to know that not all you soldiers get trigger-happy when you get bored. Now then, what have you to report here?"
"Well the Protoss pilot had died in the crash," one of the engineers explained. "Pulling the Scout out of the water wasn't too hard a task, though the ship itself won't be in any flying condition. Even if it was, it's not like any of our pilots would know how to fly it anyways."
"What about any transmissions?" the general asked.
The engineer shook his head. "From what we've managed to examine, the pilot didn't get a chance to warn his fellow Protoss about us. This means they have no idea we're still on Bel'Shir."
Madison sighed in relief. They had gotten lucky, at least for the time being. However, it would only be temporary. All of the Dominion aerospace military vehicles had a tracking system built into them. That way, in case they were stolen or hijacked, they could be located by Dominion scanners and their identifiers. The Dominion general had no doubt that the Tal'darim Protoss would have something similar on their ships.
To that end, he was in a no-win scenario. If the tracker was still intact, the Protoss would be confused as to why the Scout ship wasn't moving from its position because none of the Dominion pilots could fly it. If the tracker was destroyed, the Protoss would immediately send ships to investigate as to what happened to their Scout ship.
The same would be true for the Protoss Observer and its tracking beacon. To make matters worse, both of them were airborne units. This meant that in the area where there would be rough terrain, it would not be a problem for them and they would both be able to reach one area to another relatively quickly. To see them on the sensors as frozen in position would certainly be odd to the Protoss, and that's assuming the tracking beacons had even survived.
There was obviously no chance of covering up their tracks. To Madison, to even delay the Tal'darim from knowing that the Dominion troops were here seemed impossible. At best, he could only delay them from locating their base, but that too wouldn't last very long.
Similarly, to get the terrazine mining process to speed up wouldn't be possible simply due to the fact of the dangers the Tal'darim would now pose. Madison could only hope that the SCV pilots could collect as many canisters as possible and hopefully meet the bare minimum requirements that Mengsk had ordered of him. If they could not, then he would have to hope that whatever the emperor had planned, he would be able to make do with less than what was necessary.
It was for this reason that he had one of his terrazine mining engineers present at the crash site as well. "What's the status of the terrazine collecting now?" Madison asked.
"We've just collected the 332nd canister," the engineer answered. "It's still not to the point of the 400 mark as we've been ordered, but we're getting very close."
"Can the SCVs go any faster?"
"Not likely, sir. The ghost operatives have almost had it with all the constant need to open up the sealed altars again and again. Believe me sir, every single one of them is going to need a very long period of rest and recuperation when this is all over."
"I'll be sure to tell the emperor that myself," Madison assured. "But for the time being, we have to get the job done. And we don't have much time left."
He then turned to one of his officers. "Return back to the Command Center immediately. Have the people there prepare it for immediate takeoff. Once the last canister is loaded in, I want to get off Bel'Shir as soon as possible."
"What about our troops still out in the field to provide protection against any Protoss that might try to defend their holy altars?" Another officer asked.
"That's going to have to depend on when the Tal'darim respond," Madison said, in thought. "If we get lucky enough, the SCVs will have collected the last canister necessary and they won't even have to engage in battle. If that's the case, they can all safety return to the Dropships."
"And if we're not lucky?"
The general thought about this for a moment, before replying, "The moment any Protoss is spotted approaching the terrazine altars and spots the SCVs there, the bullets are going to start flying. I'm not going to let that happen. If any Protoss get within visual range, I don't care how close the SCVs are to finishing the collecting of another terrazine canister. They are to retreat from the area immediately, along with all of the Dominion troops assigned to protect them. Pass the word onto the troops there. They are to avoid confrontation with the Protoss at all costs."
"Sir, that would be directly defying the emperor's orders," the officer pointed out.
"I already defied him when I gave the order to evacuate Bel'Shir when the Protoss nearly decimated our forces," Madison said. "The emperor isn't blind, you know. Even he has to be smart enough to know we can't fight the Protoss without any logistics or anything like that. If he can't see that, then I seriously wonder if there's something wrong with him."
The officer was about the protest again when Madison raised his hand to silence him. "My order still stands, soldier. If the Tal'darim get within range to confront us, all Dominion troops are to get to the Dropships and off of Bel'Shir immediately. The emperor can say what he wants, but this time I have collected enough canisters of terrazine to tell him that I did not get off the jungle moon completely empty handed."
"And if he tells you to go down to the moon to try again, sir?"
"Then I'll tell him that I request major reinforcements to do that, unless he expects us to fight the Protoss with nothing but our fists and prevail," Madison said. "Personally, I don't think Mengsk would be so foolish as to believe that. We may not have as much experience in fighting the Protoss compared to fighting the Zerg, but he would be crazy to expect us to fight bare handed. You have your orders, soldier. Get moving."
Dominion Base, Toxic Slums, Dead Man's Rock
Sarah used her psionic powers to jam the weapons of Dominion marines, as she unleashed a psionic storm onto them. Most had little chance to get away, and were burned to death by it. Wasting no time, she opened fire with her C-20 Canister Rifle, killing the surviving marines nearby.
Beside her, some of the Raiders' Thors pounded the remaining Siege Tanks with their 250mm cannons. Despite the intense artillery barrages from the Dominion tanks, the massive walkers proved to be too heavily armored to be crushed so easily, and advanced forward until they were within range. Only a few of the Siege Tanks were able to survive such a devastating barrage from the Thors, and were forced to pull back even further.
Nearby, the new Dominion transforming Hellions, or Battle Hellions as they liked to be called, continued to offer heavy resistance against the advancing mercenaries, and Kerrigan could see hundreds of charred corpses on the ground, a testament to the power of the Hellions' flamethrowers.
However, with the middle defense line overwhelmed and inner defense ring pierced in several places, Raiders Diamondbacks were now pouring through the breaches. Sarah quickly discovered that although the arm shields of the Battle Hellion allowed them to withstand much more punishment compared to the standard Hellion, they could still do little against eviscerator rail guns of the Diamondback hover tanks. Indeed, she had seen these machines herself during the invasion of Char, when the Raiders had used them en masse and squished hundreds of her Zerg minions and reaching the crash site of the BattleCruiser Helios and rescuing General Warfield.
While she had seen the Dominion use Diamondbacks as well, they were of little use to hold the lines because they had no defenses against aerial opponents, and the Raiders' Banshees took care of that problem.
By now, most of the ground troops were safe from Dominion air attacks, though despite their diminishing numbers, the remaining Dominion Vikings, Grizzlies, Wraiths, Banshees, and BattleCruisers continued to resist. Kerrigan had to admit that some of the Dominion pilots fought exceptionally well, and had there been more of such pilots, would have fought the combined Raider and mercenary aerospace vehicles to a standstill.
Turning back to the battle at hand, the War Pigs flanking her opened up with their gauss rifles once more, and Dominion Reapers were quickly cut down on the spot. Others managed to get a few shots in with their P-38 pistols, but the War Pigs' armor prevented any significant damage. Sarah unleashed a psychic attack, and the remaining Reapers fell screaming to the ground, before falling silent as their minds were fried.
Seeing some Dominion marines trying to escape to a Vulture nearby, she telekinetically lifted the hover bike into the air, before slamming it onto the ground and crushing the marines underneath it.
One of the War Pigs flanking her was suddenly blown backwards, as Sarah turned her head to see a group of Marauders firing their punisher grenades at them. Putting on her cloak, she quickly sprinted away from her escorts and bolted towards the Marauders. As there were no Ravens nearby to spot her, none of the Marauders were able to fire off another shot. Using nothing but her combat knife, she pierced right through their armor and slit their throats.
In other areas of the Dominion base, Vikings unleashed a hail of lead with their gatling guns, and bullet casings clattered to the ground in their thousands. Dominion Firebats exploded in balls of flame, their volatile fuel tanks pierced by the bullets. Vultures fared better, but their light armor meant that they had to rely on speed for survival. With all the firing going in the base, there was little room to hide.
Dominion auto turrets deployed by the remaining Ravens continued to take their toll on both Raiders and mercenaries alike, as the requests for medics continued to pour in by wounded marines, Reapers, and Marauders. Sarah had initially tried to protect them too, but they insisted that her role was to enter the waste facility and deal with the nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, surviving Dominion Vikings and Goliaths had bottled themselves up in isolated pockets. With so few Siege Tanks left, they had to operate singly, and the Vikings and Goliaths flanked them as escorts. One such ground was heading straight for Sarah's position.
"Stay here," she told the War Pigs. "I'll handle this."
Sprinting forward, she channeling her psionic speed so that she would be able to dash forward faster. The Goliaths opened up with their autocannons, but Sarah moved in a zigzag pattern much more quickly than they had anticipated. Unleashed a psionic bolt, Sarah pushed one of the Goliaths back so hard that it toppled over.
Wasting no time, she used her telekinesis and ripped the toppled Goliath's hellfire missiles right out of its firing port. The other Goliath pilots watched in shock as she hurled them at the Vikings, and most of the mechanical hybrids were quickly engulfed in flames. Kerrigan unleashed another psionic storm, and the remaining Goliaths too quickly toppled over.
Now left with only the Siege Tank, Sarah focused her psionic energies and telekinetically lifted it up into the air over the screams of the Dominion crew inside. Seeing group of Battle Hellions still holding their own ground, she hurled the tank towards them and crushed the mechanical hybrids underneath.
"Kerrigan, come in," Franklin's voice came over her radio. "The last of the Dominion Siege Tanks around the waste facility are retreating. I think we've got the entrance secured."
"On my way," she said, before turning to the War Pigs. "We're almost done here. Once I've taken care of the warheads, the Dominion threat to Dead Man's Rock will be effectively neutralized."
By the time the red haired ghost reached Franklin, she could see the surviving Dominion marines holding their hands in the air, their weapons discarded. Some of them were on the ground and being kicked around by the mercenaries, and Kerrigan made no attempt to stop them. She could sense in their minds that they had brutally beaten women and children upon arriving at Dead Man's Rock just to determine Mira Han's location, so this was considered to be poetic justice.
"Everything's secured here," Franklin said, walking up to her. "We should be able to just stroll into the facility and get the nukes."
Sarah shook her head. "No, I have to do this myself, even if all the Dominion troops are gone."
"What for?"
"We don't know what else they've been doing ever since they moved the warheads into the facility," she told him. "Don't forget, the building is extremely old and decommissioned. Besides, the Dominion would want to trap me in there."
Franklin looked confused. "How would you know that?"
Sarah smiled. "Did you forget I'm a telepath? I can read minds, you know." She then pointed to one of the captured Dominion engineers. "I know the Dominion troops placed explosive charges in the building. That way, they think once I go in there, they'll detonate the charges, get the whole facility to cave in on itself, and crush me inside."
"That's not possible anymore," one of the mercenaries said, holding up a detonator. "We've captured the detonator intact and have already remote disarmed the explosives. They're not going to be doing anything."
"Maybe not, but since no one has done any maintenance in the processing facility for so long, I wouldn't be surprised if it's falling apart anyway," Sarah replied. "Besides, right now we don't know the exact location of the nukes, so if anyone fires a stray shot or anything it might get set off."
Franklin nodded, understanding her point. "All right then, we'll let you go in there alone. Just, come back safe, all right?"
She gave him a curt nod. "Clear the rest of the Dominion base. Most of the troops are now just isolated pockets, so it shouldn't be much of a problem anymore. As long as the waste facility entrance remains secure, I should have the job done in no time."
Without another word she turned around and headed into the waste processing facility.
Tarsonis City, Tarsonis
Jim followed the Dominion officer to a dilapidated building in the ruins of Tarsonis City. By now, night had fallen again, and reports from the Vikings and Banshees have confirmed that the Zerg have halted their attack for the time being. It would be another 10 hours before sunrise, and this meant both his and Kim's troops would have time to rest before the next Zerg attack wave arrived.
Engineers on both sides have been working around the clock in order to get the rail system leading to Giddings Station and Tarsonis Starport operational again. In the last few hours before sunset, the Zerg Mutalisk attacks had intensified greatly, and despite the efforts from the ground troops, sections of the rail lines were destroyed, which in turn meant that their escape route was cut off for the time being.
The severed sections of the railway could be reconnected relatively quickly, but the power restoration was another matter. All over the city, there have been reports from the flyboys that the Zerg have struck at critical power junctions in order to shut down the rail network. However, as in the case with the ground Zerg, the airborne Zerg also withdrew as night fell. This meant that every minute at night counted, and Kim had given specific orders that no engineer was to rest throughout the night in getting the rail system back into shape for them to leave Tarsonis City.
For the time being, Jim decided to look into the matter of the Dominion excavation for military secrets and technologies. Due to the constant Zerg attacks by day, there wasn't much else to focus. Similarly as he did not possess engineering expertise, it wasn't like he could help out with the excavation process or anything.
However, Jim knew that whatever secrets the Dominion had unearthed, he had to be prepared for it. While he and Kim's troops were not shooting each other for the time being, there was no telling how long that could last. Despite his success in weakening the Dominion with the Korhal broadcasts, the fact remained that their armada remained a force to be reckoned with. If what had been discovered here could benefit them even more, he had to know of it right away.
Upon entering the building, he saw that Mal, Nova, and Kim were already there, along with a few of her officers as well as a few of his own. Kate Lockwell and the UNN journalists were also present, most of them eager to see what had been uncovered.
"Glad you made it, Jim," Nova said, before eyeing Kim slightly. "The colonel there had been trying to keep you from knowing about the excavation and all that. Trying to convince her otherwise wasn't exactly easy."
"I don't consider putting a gun in my face as persuasion," Kim growled angrily. "The mission here was to excavate Confederate military secrets and technologies. No one said you are to have a share in all this."
"I suggest you remember that the soldiers on both sides had to work together since I arrived at the transit station," Raynor shot back. "You could have given the order to shoot me and my boys on sight right then and there, but you chose not to because you wanted to survive and was willing to work with my men for that. By now, even you have to realize that I'm not some incompetent drunk who has no clue of what he's really doing. If I was, the Dominion would have caught up with me years ago."
"He's got a point there," Mal said, turning to Kim. "Raynor isn't saying your troops are useless or anything, but the fact is had you two not worked together to deal with the Zerg, none of us would even be alive right now. It was due to the combined efforts of both sides that have allowed us to reach this point."
"Don't forget that you can't keep anything from me," Nova added. "I'm the only telepath in this room here. While I didn't go reading your mind to know just what you had uncovered, I know that even you're not quite sure of its purpose and wanted someone to shed more light on the picture."
"That doesn't mean I wanted it to be Raynor," the colonel seethed.
"Colonel Kim, I remind you that some of my engineers had helped you in the excavation process," Jim replied calmly. "Whatever you uncovered here, it's not for you only. If nothing else, you're going to allow me to take a look at what you excavated. Now, we can argue this all night, or you can bring it in and let me look. Nova made it clear that no one else here is sure just what the discovery is anyway."
Kim sighed, but relented. She picked up her radio and spoke in an authoritative voice, "Bring it in, gentlemen."
Jim and the others turned their heads to see a Dominion Ore Loader truck drive into the building, moving carefully to avoid the rubble. When it stopped, Dominion engineers disembarked. One of them carried an unmarked box, while the others helped one another out in pulling a wrecked satellite from the truck.
The engineer carrying the unmarked box set it down on the makeshift table that Kim and the others were using. "These were all the disks that we were able to recover, colonel," he reported. "The rest were crushed or could not be salvaged."
"What can you tell me about what's on the disks?" Kim asked.
"The Confederacy had them all encrypted, and they did a great job at that too," the engineer answered. "All we've managed to do so far is scratch the surface. It would appear to be something called the Psi Disruptor. Beyond that, the only thing we've managed to uncover so far is that it has something to do with the Zerg."
Jim's eyes widened at the revelation. "Do you have any idea what you just discovered here?"
"I take it you've heard of this thing before, Mr. Raynor?" Kate asked, finally speaking up.
"Of course I have," Raynor folded his arms. "Though you don't exactly sound surprised yourself. So I should be asking you what do you know of this, Ms. Lockwell."
The UNN anchorwoman shrugged. "Just bits and pieces, nothing more. As you know, the United Earth Directorate had invaded the Koprulu Sector four years ago. One of the planets they had struck into was the ice world called Braxis. It once belonged to the Confederacy. When it fell, the Dominion took control of it and it remained a Dominion colony until the UED arrived."
"That place was a horrible world to settle on," one of the officers said, shaking his head. "Over 60 percent of that planet is nothing but ice, in some cases well over two miles in thickness. Half the planet's surface is comprised of jagged mountain ranges and valleys. Along with the harsh wind conditions, nature is enough of an enemy to deal with as it is."
"But there's still people living there," Jim pointed out.
"I doubt it'd be more than exporting minerals and vespene for the 24,000 people there," the officer answered. "Braxis once had a reasonably well built capital city of Boralis, but during the Brood War it was destroyed by the UED."
Lockwell spoke up again. "Recently, the Dominion had returned to that frozen world and had its defenses rebuilt. It was all covered on UNN as a valiant undertaking."
Jim snorted. "With nothing but the element of nature to fight against? I don't call that valiant at all."
"Nature is a powerful weapon in its own right, Raynor," Kim scoffed. "You should know that."
The rebel commander waved his hand, before turning back to Kate. "Get back to what you were talking about Ms. Lockwell. How does this relate to what you know about the Psi Disruptor?"
"I was part of the UNN coverage news crew that went to Braxis when the Dominion rebuilt the defenses there," she answered. "Upon one of the places I had visited, Dominion engineers were trying to salvage some massive military structure, though the end result was unsuccessful. I had interviewed a few officers on what it was, they said it's called a Psi Disruptor, but wouldn't say anything more. I didn't even know it had something to do with the Zerg until just a few minutes ago. Anyways, the Dominion troops there confirmed that the Zerg had destroyed it, though I don't know for what reason."
"The Zerg destroyed it because it was a threat to them," Jim said. "Tell me Ms. Lockwell, what do you know about the Psi Emitters?"
"Only what you revealed in the broadcasts on Korhal," she said. "I don't know the details, but apparently it had something to do with using the Zerg."
"Before the days of the Dominion, the Confederacy had been doing a lot of research on the Zerg in their labs," the commander explained. "As I'm sure you know, the Confederacy had quite a long list of enemies, and after the way they turned Korhal to glass, they weren't exactly considered popular in the sector."
"I don't understand how this has to do with the Psi Emitter," Lockwell said, confused.
"From the research they had done, the Confederacy had discovered that the Zerg were attracted to the psychic emanations of ghosts. When this had been confirmed, the Confederates decided to use this to their advantage," Jim said, gritting his teeth. "They developed a small, portable device known as the Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter, which has the capability to broadcast the neural imprints of ghosts. Their range was also extremely long, a single one was able to reach out as far as 25 light years, while multiple ones in the same area would be able to amplify the effect significantly."
Kate was horrified. "Why the hell would the Confederates want to bring the Zerg in?"
"As I said, the Confederacy had quite a long list of enemies, and wanted a way to deal with them relatively quickly. Given the savage nature of the Zerg, few would ever suspect that they were lured in. That way, once the Confederates move in and destroy the creatures, the public would praise them as heroes."
"But the Confederates outdid themselves," Mal said, slowly catching on. "Clearly the Psi Emitter was capable of bringing in more Zerg than they thought."
"He's right," Jim said, giving the wrangler a nod of acknowledgement, before turning to Kate once more. "The Confederacy thought that a single Psi Emitter would bring in only hundreds of Zerg, which would be easily manageable. Instead, the result was in the millions, which was far beyond the ability of the Confederacy to handle it. Don't forget, at that point I was part of the Sons of Korhal that your emperor led, and Mengsk had discovered the blueprints to these Psi Emitters. When he found out about how much Zerg these things were capable of netting in, he saw that as the perfect opportunity to crush the Confederacy here on Tarsonis."
"Jim told me that thanks to Mengsk and the emitters he placed, billions of Zerg were lured here and overran the whole planet," Nova said. "You heard what he broadcasted on Korhal, but now you know the details of how it all went down."
Kate nodded silently. This was a lot for her to take in. That the Zerg were being used in the name of greed and personal glory did not sit well with her. Now she was beginning to think that the emperor was more of a monster than even the Zerg.
"How does this relate to the Psi Disruptor then?" she asked softly. "What does it have to do with all this?"
"The Zerg use telepathy to communicate with each other," Jim answered. "The Psi Disruptor was the result that proved not everyone in the Confederacy was arrogant and cocky. The disruptor broadcasted a signal like the Psi Emitter, but over even greater distances. The intent here was to interfere with the Zerg psionic link and render them less effective on the battlefield."
"So the Confederates did factor in the possibility that the Psi Emitters could be used against them," Mal mused.
"Correct, and from what I know, the Dominion knew about the rumors of it, but couldn't confirm or deny it. It was for this reason that after Tarsonis fell to the Zerg, Dominion troops returned here to search for it. The result was unsuccessful, and it was assumed that the disruptor had been destroyed along with virtually everything else on the planet."
"But that's not what happened," Kate pointed out. "The wreck of the disruptor on Braxis proved otherwise."
"Four years ago, the UED also came to Tarsonis," Jim explained. "They discovered that the Psi Disruptor had survived intact despite the devastation the Zerg caused on this world. The UED then decided to use this to their advantage and took it to Braxis. By using the disruptor, the signal hampered the Zerg communications on the volcanic world of Char, which allowed the UED fleet to penetrate to the planet's surface. It was the Psi Disruptor that had allowed the UED to take control of Char, and thus most of the Zerg as well."
"That would explain why the Zerg destroyed it," Lockwell said, more to herself than to Raynor. "From what you've told me so far, it seems like everyone had been trying to use the Zerg for their own ends, though each time it seemed to have backfired on them."
"You have no idea," Jim said, thinking about the Xel'Naga prophecy. However, he decided this was not something for the UNN anchorwoman to know just yet.
"It's for this reason that you're not going to have the disks all to yourself," Nova said to Kim. "From what everyone knew until just now, that Psi Disruptor was the only one of its kind. With it destroyed on Braxis and no one knew how to build another one, it was presumed to be lost forever. If those disks contain the blueprints on how to build another one, you can bet we're not going to let you walk away with it."
The colonel snorted. "And I'm supposed to believe you know how to better use it?" She turned to Raynor. "If you think we don't know a damn thing about you and your Raiders in terms of weapons technology, you're sadly mistaken. Thanks to Prince Valerian, we too had seen what you had done on Char. We know that you have access to Psi Disruptors of your own."
"Which is used in a completely different way compared to the Confederates!" Jim shot back.
"What way are you using it?" Mal asked.
"My top scientist Stetmann had collected Zerg tissue samples for his projects," the commander answered. "In one such case he dosed it with sigma radiation just as the UED had done four years in the past. It doesn't kill the Zerg, but it hinders their movement speed. From that, he developed his own version of the Psi Disruptor, and his actions helped us during the Char invasion in dealing with the Zerg attacks."
Kim, however, was not convinced. "And you think that's going to get me to agree for you to walk away with these disks? I think not, Raynor. The Dominion military may have its moments of arrogance, but there are still those of us who don't underestimate you. I don't exactly know how you plan to utilize it, but having those disks in your hands will threaten the Dominion even more, and I for one will not let that happen."
Jim shook his head. This was clearly getting nowhere. "You know, we can cross that bridge later. Right now your argument isn't going to mean a thing if none of us get out of the city alive."
"Plus I'm curious as to what could possibly on that wrecked satellite," Nova said, turning her head over to that.
"All my boys have discovered so far is that the Confederate satellite had intercepted some transmissions before it was knocked out of the sky," Kim said. "The satellite itself will never get into orbit again, but it's still reasonably intact and the Dominion engineers think the transmissions could still be recovered. Unfortunately they're all coded so we don't know what's on them."
"Is there a way to find out?" Kate asked.
Kim narrowed her eyes at the UNN anchorwoman. "These could be military secrets, Ms. Lockwell. Such would be classified and not for you to know. It's too far above your paygrade."
"Enough with your damn classified information clause," Jim said angrily. "You should know by now that this isn't exactly an ordinary situation here, Kim. We have a right to know what's on that satellite as much as you do. You can argue that your mission is a Dominion excavation mission, but we're all here now. This isn't a Dominion exclusive mission anymore."
Kim clenched her fist in anger and frustration. This bickering was getting on her nerves. Yet to fight over something like this was pointless, not while the Zerg remain a serious threat to them here. With a heavy sigh, she decided to appease Raynor for the time being.
"Utilize every minute right now," she ordered to her engineers. "Find out what's on that satellite. I doubt whatever transmissions it carries will be of much use to us immediately, but they could be in the long run. Get to it and report back to me the moment the transmissions have been decoded."