Author's Note: So with the school year approaching, I have decided to break down the writing of "Star-Crossed Love" into chapters unlike the other two. I already had the material for this one finished before I made the split.
They won't be as long as the chapters from "Variable X" because they're mainly so I don't keep the whole story from you guys while I work on it; this one's pretty long. Rest assured, this doesn't change the storyline at all.
Ugh...that music idea is backfiring now with Fanfiction's link blocker. But anyhow, to use the link, go to the Youtube homepage then paste the link segment that's in the story after the URL.
Well, that's it from me, read on!
Jim groaned as several marines hoisted debris from off of him and he regained conciousness. A medic helped him to his feet.
"Are you alright, commander?"
Jim affirmed that he was before opening his destroyed combat armor and running over to where Sarah lay on the ground. But he stopped short and the pain of his injuries suddenly seemed to double when he saw the same Zerg that had tried to kill him earlier.
"No, she is not the same as before." Surprisingly, it was Zeratul who spoke in his mind.
The Dark Templar blinked into existance next to him. Looking carefully at Sarah's unconcious form, he continued, "I touched her mind during the battle. I sensed a great conflict within. She stood against the will of the gods themselves to save us all..."
Without another word, the Nerazim blinked away. Jim sighed and hoped that the Protoss would keep true to their promise. While he sensed Zeratul had been trying to assure him, that wasn't the reason he had frozen upon seeing Sarah still in her primal form.
When he'd seen the Zerg carapace still on her, he was back in the ruins of Mengsk's palace giving her his permission to infest herself to stop Amon. And there was nothing he regretted more at that moment. Suddenly he was reliving the doubts he'd had as he watched the Swarm left Korhal. And his promise from the Brood War pushed its way to the forefront of his mind and refused to leave.
His hand shaking uncontrollably, Jim drew his revolver and thumbed off the safety. He brought the beam of the laser sight to Sarah's head. He knew Zerg didn't age; if they couldn't be together, better that she die first. "She's suffered enough in her life already. If we can't be together, at least I can spare her from the pain."
Jim's aim wavered slightly as he began to slowly squeeze the trigger. But his finger stopped short of firing the weapon. This wasn't the Queen of Blades: this was Sarah Kerrigan he was about to kill.
Even though she was mostly wrong about the changes Zerus had wrought on her, Sarah was right about one thing: the person in control was still the ghost he had fallen in love with six years ago. She had visited him after the process was complete to assure him of that. And though the artifact hadn't restored her, Jim was confident Amon could no longer hold sway over her, one way or another. But regardless of whether she was influenced or not, if he killed Sarah there would be no telling what Zagara would do as leader of the Swarm. Things would probably return to all-out warfare.
Suddenly the reason the Protoss had agreed to let her have a second chance made sense: they must have known something like this would happen. Jim felt no anger towards them for trying to manipulate him, but he was enraged at himself. For not thinking about the Protoss's possible motives. For being so accepting of their cooperation with their mortal enemy. And for believing their damn predictions about Amon.
Inexplicably, the xel'naga's words came back to him. "Your kind have always been blinded by your sentiment...I need not fight you; you are your own worst enemies!" He hated to admit it, but Amon was right. Sarah was the key to a lasting peace in the Korpulu Sector. Even if it meant they couldn't be together and would feel the pain of that for the rest of their lives, he had to let her live.
He'd always wanted to make something of himself ever since he enlisted in the Confederate Marine Corps during the Guild Wars. But now, for the first time, Jim truly understood why Sarah didn't want to be that special person. While it brought renown, it also brought danger, untold pain, and decisions. Decisions that made him weigh his own interests against those of others. If he were anyone else, Jim would have chosen to act in the interests of only him and Sarah and simply ended their relationship on as high a note as possible, even if by crude means. But by squeezing that trigger, he could make generations pay for mistakes they didn't deserve to inherit and emotions they never had. He had always dismissed notions that sentiment and politics couldn't mix, but in the last few weeks, that had made every decision so much harder and so much more heartbreaking...
Jim suddenly noticed most of the Raiders were watching the scene with ill-disguised relish. Doubtlessly the Protoss would be watching from afar with similar anticipation. Their hungry looks disgusted him, and he threw the revolver away.
He and Sarah couldn't be truly together. But as with every other roadblock to their relationship, he would do his best to make it happen regardless and knew he could count on her to do the same.
A few minutes later, he was back inside his damaged CMC-400 suit. He suddenly noticed the artifact hadn't failed completely in de-infesting her: the wings and chitin heels were gone, and the skin on her face had returned to its human tone. So too were her claws; her fingers were human but her hand was still covered in carapace. She looked like a human encased in a Zerg body suit. He shook the observations out of his head. Now wasn't the time.
He looked down at her peaceful expression and sighed, wondering if she would ever be able to be at peace again.
Sarah couldn't tell where she was. For that matter, she couldn't perceive anything. Had the artifact left her blind and deaf? Was she alive at all?
She was aware of one thing though: Amon was gone for good. She couldn't feel his presence or influence anywhere in her mind.
As she looked around she could see things materializing and coming into focus. She was in the room where Amon had taken control of her, but...not from her perspective. She was watching as someone lifted a gun and aimed it at her body, but she couldn't make out details beyond that.
She recognized the weapon. It was Jim's revolver, the same one she'd given to him when she rescued him from the Moros. Then that was...Jim?
She tried to look away, to ignore what she was seeing. This had to be some horrible nightmare. This couldn't be happening. But she couldn't look away as the figure slowly tightened his finger on the trigger.
Her vision focused completely and she saw ranks of human soldiers, along with Protoss warriors, watching with eager anticipation. But somehow, she still couldn't see her own body or what she presumed was Jim clearly.
The gunshot echoed loudly throughout the chamber, and after a few seconds of silence cheers had broken out at the wretched Queen of Blades' death.
Sarah could hear other voices in her mind, and suddenly her perspective changed. She was now watching over the plain that the three races had set their bases up on.
"The Terrans have murdered our Queen! We must avenge this vile act!"
"Maybe it is in the better interests of us all for her to die, Zagara. That will satisfy the Protoss enough to keep them away from us. Giving some and losing some is the essence of diplomacy."
"Queen's death unimportant given replacement leader. However, recommend retribution. Swarm must remind foes of power."
"No! Don't harm them!" Sarah shouted, but the voices obviously ignored her.
(music - Mega Man X: Sigma Rebirth)
"Re-establish our hive clusters! They will be expecting a counterattack. Focus on the Terran James Raynor and his group. The Queen's orders to leave them unmolested are invalid in the wake of her death."
(music - Mega Man X: Wolf Sigma)
"Zagara, listen!" Sarah pleaded, even though she knew her efforts were in vain. She watched with horror as the Protoss and Terrans once more took up the line against the Swarm and slowly begin to fold. Overlords, flying in the clouds to hide from Phoenixes and Vikings, were dropping Banelings into the Protoss lines, while Roaches popped up left and right and dissolved Dominion Marines with their acid saliva before promptly burrowing again.
She heard a frantic transmission from Warfield. "Raynor, get you and your men out of here! We'll hold the Zerg off!" Seconds later, she heard the general scream over the net, along with dozens of other men, as several of the Baneling-carrying Overlords discharged their deadly cargo on the Dominion lines. Sarah felt a pang of guilt. She'd spared Warfield only to have him meet an even more gruesome death...and at still at the hands of the same Swarm no less.
The sky lit up with a brilliant burst of cyan as the Shield of Aiur fried a hive cluster with its Planetary Cracker, but flocks of Mutalisks were moving in to ensure that the victory would be short-lived. Urun and Nahaan's Phoenix and Scout squadrons slashed through their lines, but the massed Glave Wurm attacks were wreaking havoc despite the fighters' advanced shielding, and Corrupters were moving in. Sarah watched in horror as the elegant Protoss craft were uncerimoniously shot down until only the Admiral and Praetor were left.
"Urun! Make haste in your escape! I shall stand against them!"
"Nahaan, is your lust for battle blinding you? There are hundreds of them!"
"Then see to it my sacrifice is not in vain, Urun! For Aiur!" The Scout's weapons blazed at the oncoming Mutalisks, but there were simply too many. A Corruptor dove on the Praetor's fighter and used its horrible mouth to crush the craft's engines. Without power, the Scout plummeted into the ground and exploded.
"A betrayal worthy of the Queen herself..." Sarah heard as Nahaan met his demise. She winced as the fighter exploded; Nahaan had been her most bitter opponent within the Hierarchy, and remained so to the end. Nonetheless, Sarah pitied him as his death was out of his hands.
"Urun, flee now! You cannot hope to survive against so many! I will deploy a Vortex to ensure your escape!" Artanis did not wait for a response before doing so, but a single Corrupter circumvented the distortion and its parasite spores tore into the fighter. Urun shot it down with his cannons, but the creature's last spore pierced the cockpit of the Phoenix.
"The fallen one was right..." Urun's Phoenix, graceful even in death, curved over to the left and dove into the ground. The sight sickened Sarah.
Even worse was the situation on the Terran front. The Hyperion's hull was smoking and breached in places where Overlords had dropped Banelings onto it, and a flock of Mutalisks were swooping around the grounded battlecruiser, easily dodging its laser battery fire. Thors and Vikings equipped with special Ripwave missiles were attempting to shoot down the flyers, but there were simply too many and Zagara was wise enough to split the flock up into small groups to minimize the effectiveness of the Terran counterfire. Warfield's remaining men were desperately trying to hold off the ground forces, but they couldn't last long.
A blue flash lit up the sky, and thousands of Zerg were fried as xel'naga artifact was unleashed from within the Hyperion. Given the desperate nature of their situation, Sarah couldn't blame them for forgetting about the Protoss. The pulse only stopped the Swarm for a few seconds, however that was enough time for the battlecruiser's engines to fire. Another series of blinding explosions erupted from the entrance to the remains of the Terran base as Dominion Ghosts set off nuclear bombs to stave off the advancing Swarm.
Dropships quickly fanned out from the Hyperion to evacuate the remaining Terran soldiers. Sarah wanted to shout for Jim to drop the heroic routine and just save himself, but she knew he couldn't hear her. The dropships surprisingly survived the gauntlet of Hydralisks and flyers for the most part, but Sarah realized it was only because Zagara wanted them all where she could kill them in one fell swoop as her Leviathan ascended to meet the remains of the Terran fleet.
As one, the battlecruisers unleashed their Yamato Cannons, but the devastating barrage was mostly absorbed by the hordes of Scourges now rushing towards them, and the Leviathan shrugged off the few hits lucky enough to strike their target. Opening its mouth, the monstrosity spat a huge ball of bio-plasmid discharge at the Hyperion.
Miraculously, one of the Dominion's Gorgon-class battlecruisers took the hit instead, but the ship that Sarah had once found completely invincible on Char shook violently and massive pieces of its outer hull dissolved as the destructive compound worked its vile magic. The cruiser turned and limped away, badly wounded, but was quickly consumed by a cloud of Scourges. The dreadnought's fusion core overloaded in a brillant burst of light, vaporizing most of the advancing flyers and buying enough time for the Terran fleet to escape.
Unfortunately, they had a massive orbital battle to break through, and though the Protoss fleet was winning, it was only by the smallest of margins. On cue, a black-and-gold Void Ray crashed to the ground near her, its hull sparking and its armor shredded.
"How...could we have been so foolish..." Mohandar's voice trailed off and Sarah knew with a depressing finality that the Prelate was dead.
"Stop it!" she cried. Mohander's list of reasons to hate her was matched in length only by Zeratul's, yet he had never once displayed it openly and always remained polite, if cold at times, towards her. Among Protoss, she hadn't found anyone who would even give her that, making his actions all the more meaningful.
Yet the terrible vision continued. Her perspective now shifted to the bridge of the Bucephalus as the Terrans attempted to break through the battle. Another bio-plasmid discharge from the Leviathan pursuing the group shot past the bridge window as the battlecruiser maneuvered clumsily to avoid it.
The Zerg fleet in orbit began to divert their attacks towards the Terrans as their primary objective drew closer. Sarah watched in horror as two battlecruisers were torn in half by bio-plasmid discharges and their shattered remains promptly began to fall back towards the surface.
As the fleet closed on the battle, the Protoss Motherships suddenly engaged their mass recalls, evacuting the remainder of their allies from the surface. Unfortunately even the arrival of reinforcements weren't enough to distract the Zerg, and as another blast from the pursuing Leviathan struck the Bucephalus from behind, a bio-plasmid discharge from one of Kilysa's Leviathans crashed into the Hyperion.
(music - Nezha Conquers the Dragon King: Death of NeZha (here's a link to spare you guys the trouble (from 40:57-42:55): wauenpjkvW8?t=40m57s)
"Dammit, I did it for her own sake..." Sarah sensed Jim's final thoughts as the mighty warship shattered under the terrible blow.
The debris field scattered in slow motion, giving her time to see its crew scattered into space and slaughtered by the Zerg. Time she didn't want. But by now, it was obvious that who or whatever was controlling her presence wouldn't listen to her whims in the slightest.
She knew what he meant, and that made seeing his death all the more painful. If she could scream, she would have screamed her vocal cords hoarse. If she could cry, she would have cried her tear ducts dry. But she couldn't do either, and that was the worst part. Now Amon's mockery of Jim made sense to her as she watched the Hyperion's wreckage burn up.
She could almost hear the xel'naga laughing from the beyond as Zagara did his work for him.
Whatever form she had simply drifted in space as Zerg drove their stunned opponents away or massacred them on the spot; she had no idea how long. With nowhere to escape from within her, the anguish and despair slowly gnawed away at her links with sanity. If she was stuck with these for all eternity, then she wanted to stop feeling at all. She didn't want to live, but by now she knew the universe was too cruel to grant her that request. That damn xel'naga was alway right...
Without any will to contain her mind, it began to take its own course. Random memories and visions flashed in front of her as she drifted through space. But they no longer meant anything to her. She didn't care about what had happened, or what was happening. She just wanted to die, and the fact that she could not was too much for her.
It wasn't as though she couldn't bear that burden; if she could survive witnessing four years of infested imprisonment then she could endure this. It was that she did not want to. Having thrown in everything to see Amon vanquished and bring a lasting peace to the war-torn sector, she had hoped that afterwards she could finally have a quiet life with Jim. But it was clear now that her hopes had been premature as she saw her sacrifices undone within seconds. Giving her all, only to see that it wasn't nearly enough, and the fact that she was destined to be separated from Jim for the remainder of their days one way or another, simply crushed her will to continue.
She drifted near a planet, recognizing it as Antiga Prime. The Swarm was busy ravaging the defenseless colony, but she paid them no mind. Neither did she pay any attention to the formerly happy memories that had taken place here, recalled from the depths of her shattered mind by familiar terms.
Whoever was controlling her path sent her then to Mar Sara. Sarah had so looked forward to the life Jim had promised they could have together here, but that dream had died with him. She once would have given anything for that life, but here she was, having given it all up, watching the Swarm destroy the mining world. The bitter irony wasn't lost on her, but Sarah couldn't care less.
Korhal followed soon. She watched as a black cloud enveloped the brightly-lit planet, then as its lights went out for good while the Swarm massacred the population below. Only weeks before the planet had been a similar position, but the civilians lived that time. Now they knew what a true Swarm invasion was like...
Shakuras was next. The Protoss used the same artifact that they had driven the Swarm back after the Overmind's death, but it only staved off the inevitable. The remnants of the once-mighty golden fleets valiantly defended their home, but the Swarm prevailed and the Protoss were no more.
With the sector devoid of competition, the Swarm moved on to seek new foes and new essence, leaving Sarah drifting, very much alone, in a ravaged and barren Korpulu Sector.
The faces of those who died during Zagara's onslaught seemed to be etched in the stars. She watched without caring as the oldest casualties faded and were replaced by new faces as the Swarm continued its path of destruction elsewhere.
She no longer cared that they died unnecessarily, nor that Zagara's actions undid every sacrifice she had made for universal peace. "Hell," Sarah thought, "I don't even care that Jim died any more. I just want to fekking die myself...is that too much to ask..."
"Then you know what you must do." Sarah looked around, startled after being alone for so long. She knew that voice. It had last spoken to her the first time she went to Zerus.
"Now you see it. If you fall, the galaxy, including Jim, will burn. You can't have your happy ending, or it will only bring you more pain."
Sarah didn't want to hear it, but something within the fragments of her psyche knew the voice was right. The prophecy was only another milestone in history. Things would eventually return to how they were originally if she wasn't there to stop that from happening; if not by Zagara's hand then by her successor's.
She'd never wanted to be special. She never wanted psionics. She never wanted to be infested. She never wanted to be a leader. She certainly didn't want to have to play peacekeeper for eternity. Above all, she wanted to be able to act for herself and only herself just once. But Sarah knew she didn't have a choice, and that she couldn't. She might be a human, but her place was with the Swarm. When Jim had acted selfishly (or at least, for only the two of them) the entire sector paid in blood.
She found herself back in the now-deserted cavern, looking clearly upon her body at last. For the first time, she noticed she wasn't human. At least...not completely. Her hands and face looked like their human selves, and some of her Zerg form had burned away. But the carapace still enclosed most her body. At any other time, Sarah would have called it unfair. But she was grateful for the incomplete reversal now. She wasn't meant to be among Terrans anymore, so she shouldn't be one physically. Her body was not so much a reminder of the price she'd paid so far as a reminder of what still needed to be done.
She pondered how much of this...dream was real, but eventually dismissed it as irrelevant. No matter what her form Jim would always love her just the same.
Jim...she felt guilty for subconsciously making him do what he did, even though she could guess it probably hadn't happened. But that wouldn't matter now. She wouldn't let everything she'd sacrificed so far be in vain, assuming she was still alive...
A/N: With regards to Kerrigan's nightmare, I'm sorry if it seems far-fetched or overly cruel, but I couldn't think of any other way to completely convince of her what needed to be done besides a display of the worst-case scenario.
I also changed the story name from "Compromise" to "Star-Crossed Love" because I felt that it didn't reflect where I wanted to head with this story.
A special thanks to izwan for bringing both matters to my attention, and to Simon 22 for inspiring the name change.