Kerrigan sat inside her Leviathan, which had landed near Zurvan, and had her eyes closed against the dull light that shone through the clouds and translucent membrane of the Leviathan's eye. The Swarm was thoroughly entrenched on the planet and the pack leaders had scattered shortly after Brakk had been killed- not a part of the plan, but there was pleasure to be taken from the hunt. They would die.
Aside from fighting arising over the remains of Brakk's pack, there was little standing in the way of expanding further into the volcanic jungles and towards the source of the planets power. Kerrigan had let her broodmothers and Izsha take full control of base expansion while allowing herself to take a break and observe Jim and his men from afar.
When she discovered they had arrived at the station to refuel, she had considered her options. Turning the station into a Zerg hub that Shlassa was left to command was a perfectly viable alternative, but she wanted to see what the men themselves did and was well rewarded for her patience. The image of Arcturus Mengsk appearing before Matt Horners eyes had been too good to resist- she took control of the man and made sure that little retch of an emperor knew exactly what was coming. Her lips were bowed into a smile just at the thought.
Izsha's voice brought Kerrigan out of her lull. "My Queen. The Terran woman yet lives. Why do they tolerate her presence?" She had lowered down from the fleshy ceiling nearby and tilted her head inquisitively. Izshas entire design was to store thoughts and provide input, it was no surprise that her curiosity- which she had in abundance- would be raised at such a thing.
Glowing eyes snapping open, Kerrigan glanced at the creature before looking out over the at-rest form of Zurvan. "She is a test, Izsha. I had not planned on there being any survivors on the Hyperion, of course, but when I saw them fighting to save her- an idea formed."
"Please explain, my Queen."
Resting her hands atop a knee, her leg having folded over the other in a profane demureness- Kerrigan smirked. "They are going to slowly be brought into the swarm so that their minds remain in tact, remember?" Without waiting for confirmation, of course Izsha remembered, she continued. "Their Terran thoughts and ideals continually rebel against the consuming nature of the swarm, to devour the weak. Jayce, the Terran girl, is temptation." Indeed, that Jayce gravitated towards Tychus- who was perhaps the weakest against such instincts, was like watching a moth fluttering in front of a bug zapper.
"She will tempt them?" Izsha was confused. Temptation was not something the zerg ever resisted, and therefor not a subject to be identified and labeled.
"Yes, Izsha, tempt. It is only a matter of time before the girl triggers an instinct that comes fighting to the surface from any one of those men and she will be consumed. When they look upon her corpse they will know just how completely they have fallen."
"I see. You truly know what is best, my Queen." The cold hard truth was the Queen of Blades had not and would not touch Jayce, or force them to kill her, they would do it themselves.
In his chambers on the Bucephalus, truly as opulent and expansive as they came, Prince Valerian was scouring through the information his drones had extracted from Station 837 and the short amount of time the Hyperion had docked there. The ship itself was not far behind Jim and his men now, thanks to a few calculated warp jumps, but Valerian had chosen to remain well beyond detection for the time being- letting the captain and his very experienced crew take care of the rest.
The video footage he was watching and the audio between the Hyperion and the station's controller painted a very clear picture of what had happened, and it gave Valerian a measure of relief. Jim and his men had not been changed into mindless killers and, if their visit to the station was any indication, there was no goal to infest every Terran settlement they touched. All in all, it gave Valerian strong hope for the return of Raynor's Raiders.
There were two pieces of information he was puzzling over, however. The woman they had with them was clearly not a zerg herself, she wouldn't have needed to be rescued and she certainly wouldn't have a cast either. Who is she? Is she a captive? It seemed she was helping them interact with other Terrans, or at least tried to. Valerian couldn't imagine it being a willing service, but her being mostly in tact was a good sign.
Secondly; when Matt Horner, the captain of the Hyperion, entered the control room all camera and voice footage had been very clearly removed. It seemed as though Arcturus had already been there, one step ahead as he had been through this entire venture. The thought of his father brought his blood to an angry simmer and he forced himself to breath, calming down.
Arcturus Mengsk had been following every step Valerian and the Raiders took even before they came together to fight against Kerrigan. From the artifacts to the assault on Char itself, Valerian's father had been there watching and waiting to take the credit for success and condemn the mission if it failed. When the Bucephalus retreated from the failed battle- the White Star, Arcturus' flag ship, and an entourage of battlecruisers had given chase and Valerian was told all by his father personally. Truly, with the extra support from Arcturus and his fleet the mission itself may not have failed- and Valerian would not forgive his father for that tremendous loss of life.
The Bucephalus had spent days just fleeing from the remaining fleet- the discussion between son and father had come to ultimatums and finally, blows. There was no time to warn the sector of what had happened on Char, and the Bucephalus was limping heavily by the time the engineers aboard managed to remove all the bugs they had found planted across the ship. From there, officially a terrorist traitor, Valerian had to seek less reputable channels to try and spread the news- but it did not work. Arcturus had already swept the entire Char invasion under the rug while his fleet was chasing his son around the sector. It was a wonder the Moebius Foundation would still associate with him at all.
The most he had been able to do with his grand ship was give aid to the less fortunate, helping the real victims of the zerg invasion, and become a lot better at dodging the authorities in the process.
Valerian was interrupted from his deep, depressive thoughts by the red blinking of a transmission. "Patch him through, adjutant."
"Sir." It was Everett Vaughn, captain of the ship. "Our technicians have calculated the trajectory of the Hyperion."
"Go on, captain." Valerian was all ears, where the Hyperion was going now was anyone's guess.
"The ice planet of Kaldir. The Hyperion is not aiming directly for it, but we believe it is just a tactic to throw off pursuers and that they can warp jump there."
"Well, you and your team are the best at what you do. A confusing turn of events, but I trust your judgment. Continue following the Hyperion and do not let them know of our presence just yet." Valerian was already pulling out information about Kaldir before the captain had even ended the call.
After Horner guided the Hyperion to a clean getaway and announced they were officially in the clear, everyone made their way to the cantina together. Jayce had excused herself to take a few painkillers before rejoining them, having jarred her elbow hard enough to coax some reluctant tears of agony when Warfield had hurled her to safety. By the time she got to the cantina she could almost forget the entire horrible situation they were all in and was smiling in her drug-induced haze.
Scattering through the room all six men found their seats and finally began decompressing. Jayce sat heavily at the bar and leaned against it, mumbling softly. "Wonder where Cooper went." Unaware of the pained looks directed at her from the men who knew the name of the bartender.
"Jayce. How many of those painkillers did you take exactly?" Stetmann was clearly concerned, ready to get up and take a closer look at her.
"Three." Furrowing her brows and frowning at the younger man, she held up three fingers before smiling and leaning back.
"Eh, she'll be fine." He settled back down, and his assurance was enough to allow other topics to arise.
"Right. Gentlemen, I want a recap. A lot went on back there and I want all the details." Raynor rested his hands on the table in front of himself and folded his fingers together.
"Well I was stuck in the Lab with that damn bug monster until you told the kid to operate the fuel truck. Don't know how you tolerate that thing, by the way." Swann, gruff as always, pointedly looked at Stetmann who shrugged slightly. "Something also happened in there and Shlassy or whatever its name is, said "You have no idea what is going on, do you Terran?" Warfield, Raynor, Tychus and Stetmann all looked wary at the reminder, though Horner seemed visually unphased.
"Oh yeah, and you blew a Ghost to chunks with your hands." Thinking about what had happened brought that little detail back with high definition clarity. When Stetmann relinquished control and let Swanns mind back in only to see the body of what was going to be Stetmann's killer falling to the ground in a cooked heap, he still didn't know what to think about it.
"What?" Raynor tilted his head, dark eyes scrutinizing the young man critically. Horner and Warfield were giving him similar looks while it was Tychus' turn to look not surprised.
"He did that to me when he first woke up." Snorting and shaking his head, Tychus gave a shrug at some of the alarmed looks he received- he was obviously in tact. "What? I'm sure as hell tougher than some pansy ass Ghost."
"Ah. I have some theories about how it works, I just haven't had time to test it. But yes, I seem to be able to generate a singularity of some magnitude- at least when under duress." It was Stetmann's turn to look pointedly at Tychus then, who had the good grace to look sheepish.
"Right. Well you be sure to let me know how that works when you do get some time." Giving his stubble a careful scratch, Jim came back to the more concerning topic. "Where was everyone when that creepy feeling happened? I felt it too, Swann. Tychus and I were just around the corner from Jayce at the time." The more he thought about it, the more it worried him.
"I remember it now." Warfield stared at the ceiling as he recalled, flexing his fingertips and extending his black talons. "I was getting the containers set up around the lift for cover. Didn't last long though, but it felt- it felt like her." His jaw muscles clenched in anger at the thought of Kerrigan.
"It did." Jim confirmed, receiving quiet nods from the others- except for Horner who was staring hard at the floor. "Matt. Where were you? You said you went to Lark soon as you thought we were being played- good call by the way."
Looking up from the floor Matt nodded in thanks, but his voice betrayed how troubled he was. "It doesn't make sense, Jim." Uncomfortable under the collective gaze of their group, Horner crossed his arms and couldn't find it in himself to look back. "I went into that room and I know I killed him- that bastard deserved it. But I don't know any details. It was a damn communication room, anything could have happened in there!" Unfurling his arms, Matt slammed his fist into the table with frustration.
"This doesn't bode well, but I'm more concerned about Kerrigan being able to be so subtle. At best, we were able to discern something happened. I'm starting to think that fighting her- even together- mentally is becoming less of an option, Commander." Stetmann was frowning, a look shared by everyone at that point.
"Whatever happened in there, Matt, it wasn't your fault." Jim pointed at Matt, wanting it made clear there was no ill feelings on this front. His look softened slightly when he looked away from the seething Matt and at Jayce, who was staring at the television blankly. "I should probably apologize. She isn't the damn puppet- we are."
"Might want to try when she isn't as high as a space station." Tychus looked at her as well and shook his head.
Raynor nodded, running a hand through his hair in a stressed gesture. His voice was tired and worn. "I am sorry, all of you. If I knew how to get us out of this mess, you know I'd make whatever sacrifice I had to in order to make it happen."
"We know, son. Right now all we can do is go to this Kaldir place and follow orders. When we first decided to fight Kerrigan we knew damn well that was going to be the long haul, lets not forget that." Warfield looked each of them over, clicking his talons against the cool steel of the tabletop idly.
"What about Shlassy?" Brows furrowed, Swann looked up from his chitinous hands with an especially severe expression.
"What about the broodmother?" Jim tilted his head, looking sharply at the chief engineer.
Catching on to Swann's line of thinking, Stetmann nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "A much lower goal."
"Critters also got some sorta connection with the Queen of Blades- went all rigid and at attention when that feeling came. I wager we weaken Queenies hold on us just by taking out that thing."
Shlassa's voice, deadly soft, echoed through their minds. You can try, Terrans.
A pin could be dropped audibly in the silence that came after the message, everyone still as stone and exchanging glances.
Jayce straightened up and scrunched her face in disgust suddenly, looking at Tychus. "You licked your blade after you impaled that guy." That immediately got Tychus some looks, to which he just blinked and glared at Jayce- who was apparently missing some very important filters under the influence.
Taking a steadying breath, Raynor snapped his fingers and pointed a claw at Tychus, pointedly glossing over that uncomfortable moment where he did indeed lick a blade covered in gore. "That reminds me. Arm blades. Any other surprises?" Looking over each man with a quirked brow, Jim thought the question was clear: what exactly can you all do?
"Oh, I never did give you that synopsis commander, sorry. So much has gone on these past few days, even without the need to sleep there just isn't enough hours in a day to do everything." Catching Raynor's pointed throat clear, Stetmann refocused. "Tychus: Arm blades, incredible strength- he lifted the armory door, greatly improved senses- that goes for all of us. Ah what else. Claws. Predatory instincts observed. A lot of these overlap- we all have some common changes between us." Tychus wasn't sure he liked having his attributes read off like some lab rat.
"General Warfield:" Stetmann shifted uncomfortably as everyone focused on him. No one really wanted to hear just how messed up they were, after all. "very similar to Tychus in skin density and strength. There are patches of porous skin that can expel an extremely hallucinogenic compound and his talons, retractable, excrete a paralytic venom. This venom can most likely kill a smaller sized Terran, shutting down the ability to breath, but it's hard to say." Warfield looked down at his hands quietly, morose.
"Ah. Captain Horner and I are similar in that we retain our normal head of hair, but we both have long rod-like sections down the sides of our spines. I suspect the hair and the rods give us a greater connection to the swarm- these tendrils and spines are notable features in both broodmothers and Kerrigan herself." The light of interest was dimming in everyone's eyes as Stetmann began to veer off course and Raynor butted in quickly.
"What you know we can do, doc, not theories."
"Yes. Sorry sir. Focusing." Pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment, Stetmann continued. "The captain has an extendable cluster of fleshy tentacle-like tendrils stored in his arms. I haven't gotten to know much more than that yet, need to sit down and run some tests with him. I have multiple layers of eyes that allow me to see in different spectrums, truly remarkable by the way, and the singularity generation as we already discussed." Stetmann paused pointedly then, looking at Jim.
"You, commander, have detachable spines that you can throw. It seems the muscles of your arms and shoulders have been modified to allow you some incredible aim and force- comparable to or greater than the force behind a standard Gauss rifle. You also lack the distinctive "zerg" hair, but have no rods along your spine, which punches a bit of a hole in my theory about having a deeper connection with the swarm. Your detachable spines could have replaced that, though. Just a guess." Stetmann shrugged.
"Oh! And Swann, he can-"
"Listen, what I can do doesn't matter so lets cut the crap." Swann butted in pointedly, catching some looks of disapproval but he'd be damned if he cared. "What you kids need to do is figure out how you're gonna not get turned into popsicles over on Kaldir." Swann was already standing up, ready to leave. "And no, I ain't goin' down there. We're running a ship that should be crewed with over a thousand with two people who know what they are doing, three meatheads, a pilot, a scientist and a bunch of zombies- someone has to stay up here."
"You think I know what I'm doing?" Jayce smiled widely.
Swann was about to brisk past her but thought better of it and carefully pulled Jayce along by her good arm. "I'll get her back to her room."
As soon as Swann and Jayce had left, Tychus frowned heavily and gave a quick gesture with his head in the direction they had gone. "What's his problem?"
"Other than being turned into a beetle?" Horner scowled, glaring at Tychus.
"It's more than that. Swann knew everyone on this ship, you know? I mean, we did too in our own way but they were all like his kids." Stetmann sat down slowly and sighed. He didn't know people like that, but seeing some familiar faces among the infested had cut deep- he couldn't imagine what it was like for people such as Swann and Horner.
As soon as the cantina door slid shut with a definitive snick, Swann began guiding the hazy Jayce back to her quarters. Below the thrumming and humming of his baby, the Hyperion, something disturbing was becoming very clear. Swanns face fell the moment he realized he was listening to the calm thumping of Jayces heart, the steady flow of blood rushing through her body, and felt a rising excitement that he very firmly labeled not his own. He was almost sweating bullets by the time the doors to her room slid open.
Having walked with her boss, and she honestly felt Swann was more her boss than the Commander or Captain, Jayce had been subdued and quiet- lost in foggy thoughts. Looking into her room and its rundown appearance- bloodstained and grease smeared rags were in piles around her unmade bed and part-covered table. Everything became so jarringly clear, she couldn't help the hot tears that immediately poured out of her eyes unbidden.
"Swann."
Swallowing hard, he registered all too keenly the salt of tears and heard the hitch in breathing. Swann let Jayce go carefully and quickly, as if she was made of snakes. The stout man filled up her door frame and lingered there until the pause between her statement became awkward. "Yeah?" Managing to mumble a response, he looked down at the floor and started running through mundane tasks in his head in an attempt to distract himself.
"They are all dead. Cooper, our co-workers. Everyone." Slowly, she turned to face him while clutching her broken arm to her chest, eyes already red from the tears dripping out of them steadily. It hit Swann right in his heart.
Looking at Jayce sharply, Swann stepped back to her and circled his arms around her firmly- but ever so carefully. Grateful, Jayce buried her face into the shoulder of his work suit and heaved a sob as he swallowed hard again and thought about the souls lost on the ship too.
"Hey, hey. I'm alive, you're alive, captain and some other meatheads are alive. It ain't over yet." Patting her back cautiously, Swann struggled to think of something comforting to say. He was the gruff engineer, not the social worker, but what could you really say about a situation like this? Swann supposed despair wasn't misplaced.
"Look at me." Reaching up he carefully tugged her hair back until she was looking at him, red eyed and bleary. She needed to see his sincerity. "They really are dead and gone, you are right, but when this is over I'm gonna make personally sure all those infested are put down. They will be at peace, you hear me girl?" He focused hard, keeping her gaze and ignoring that irregular heartbeat thumping temptingly in her ribcage.
"Yes." Sniffing hard, Jayce swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, believing for all it was worth that this could have a happy ending if her boss said it would.
Separating from her slowly, Swann patted her shoulder with his chitinous bear paw sized hand and forced the lump that had formed in his throat down. "But until then, I want you to be careful." Withdrawing his hands back to his sides and taking a slow step back, Swann felt worried- and why wouldn't he? Who else was looking at Jayce like a burger if he had been? "You aren't safe around us. There is something... Something going on in our heads that we don't understand yet, and until that broodmother in the Lab is dead and gone we're not going to have as much control over ourselves as we want. You get it?" The door thunked open behind him and he took a long step out, keeping his eyes locked with hers, wanting that answer before he was going to leave.
It was chilling to hear such a thing from the man who had in his own way become her father throughout the years, but Jayce nodded slowly and scrubbed the back of her blood-spattered shirt against her sore eyes. "Yes sir."
Letting out a small sigh of relief, Swann looked to lighter topics. "Good. I want you to get Stetmann to look at that arm later. Need to get you up and running soon or this ship is just going to fall to pieces. Can't take care of it all myself, even if I am awesome."
Smiling slightly, Jayce patted her cast gingerly. "I will."
"Good. Get some rest." Swann took a final step back and the door shut tight, leaving Jayce to stumble to and pass out on top of her bed in exhaustion- still garbed in the blood stained suit from the mission.
As the displayed image of Jayce slumped into bed, Tychus' thumbed the datapad off with a definitive thump.
"I feel like this was a breech of privacy." Stetmann's voice was high with discomfort, but he had watched the exchange between Swann and Jayce all the same. Tychus had pulled out the datapad almost immediately after the two had left, already having noted Jayce never took the pin off her sleeve.
If Jim had any doubts about Jayce left, they were burned away and left him feeling wretched. He stared at the empty space where the woman and his surly chief engineer had been hugging quietly before lowering his gaze to his hands.
"Something was going on with Swann there, before they had their conversation." Warfield had kept his expression neutral but he felt a deep pang for the men and women lost under his command when Jayce had broke down, there was nothing for it. He did his best to be an impartial viewer.
"He did look very uncomfortable." Matt decided to pitch in his two cents, he had plenty of interactions with the chief engineer and seeing him repeatedly focusing intensely on Jayce and snapping himself out of it just as many times did not sit well. The man was unflappable.
Tychus was perhaps the least affected emotionally. Everyone he had an attachment to was still alive- though he couldn't call what they were now okay by any stretch. He, too, identified Swanns apparent struggle- had been tempted to run off and intervene just in case, even. But he decided to extend some faith, Swann was as stubborn as any mule. "You can't tell me none of you haven't felt the same yet." It did seem odd that everyone else was so rattled to see what was happening. Just how much more deeply was he affected than them?
Raynor raised his eyes to Tychus, quirking a spiny brow. "Felt the same?" The image of his old friend licking gore off an arm blade came back to him, a grim reminder. Maybe Jim did know what Tychus was referring to, there had been an almost hypnotic allure to that thick red paste.
"There's a reason why I stopped watching her." Warfield mumbled grimly. Yes, he did not want any unfortunate accidents involving his new attributes, but the hunger and intense feelings that he was struck with in Jayces presence had been increasingly alarming. "Somethin' gnawing at our minds. Swann has the right of it." He nodded towards the datapad.
"If she just keeps the pin on we can keep tabs on her without having to be near. Probably the safest choice right now." Horner offered, scrutinizing his own feelings. He had not been around Jayce nearly as much as the others and though there was a steady pressure of sorts on his thoughts- as though millions more were trying to crowd into his head but were held back by the finest membrane, he had not felt such strong urges.
Jim was nodding in agreement with Horner, though Tychus looked displeased and Stetmann had stood up and began pacing around as his mind whirred.
"Maybe that would be best. I'll let her know myself when she wakes up." Jim offered. Wasn't much else to do until they got to Kaldir anyway; Other than to send a transmission to Ariel, which he had been avoiding.
Tychus felt unsure, and more than a little displeased at the idea of losing some of his only entertainment. Not like Jim had been much for talking these past days. The often quiet companionship with Jayce had been a balm on his mood, if he had to be truthful to himself. "I don't know about just leavin' her alone. Hell, she's the only good conversation on this heap right now."
Jim's gaze sharpened perceptibly. "I think you might be the least trustworthy around her, Tychus." Tychus returned the glare, challenging but silent. "And you know damn well why, too. No. We're gonna keep our distance from here on out until we can get a handle on what's happening."
"Sure thing, Jimmy." Tychus knew what Jim was on about, and though he couldn't blame him he had already decided it was an order he wasn't following.
Itching to get back to his lab and feeling terribly guilty about spying on Jayce and Swann, Stetmann stopped his pacing and spoke up. "I'm going to go back to the lab." He let himself out when he was waved off by the three remaining men. It was Stetmanns job to think and find solutions, so far he'd done pretty badly in his opinion. Maybe finding a way to keep the more savage zerg instincts at bay for those who struggled would be a less lofty goal.
Stetmann. Swann's voice pierced into the young mans mind and he immediately felt guilty.
Oh. Hello Swann. What can I do for you? Trying to avert his guilty thoughts, Stetmann paused in a long hallway and waited to see what the engineer needed.
Relax kid. Being that they were so connected, Swann felt Stetmann's nervous and guilty feelings practically seeping into his head and tried to alleviate it as fast as possible. I got something for you- come down to floor 5 sector G.
Forcing himself to take a breath, Stetmann's curiosity quickly overpowered his guilt. On my way.
Raynor, Warfield, Horner and Tychus were all getting up and ready to leave the cantina to their own personal haunts, nothing left to talk about until they got to that ice ball of a planet. When Horner's gloved hand clapped on to Tychus' massive bicep, he paused and slowly turned to look at the much smaller man with a quirked brow.
Smirking, Horner held up a stogie that he had pilfered from Lark- Tychus grinned wide and plucked it out of his hand. "Got a light?"
"Uh huh." They stood off to the side of the door as the other two men sauntered out. Fishing a lighter out of his suit pocket, he lit up the stogie for the bigger man.
Taking a slow pull of the cigar, its cherry glowing bright, Tychus let out a quick laugh that had Horner looking concerned. "Bucolic."
"What?"
"Nothin'. Don't worry about it." Despite his misgivings of the cigars brand, Tychus kept it. He knew a peace offering when he saw one. "You're not so bad, captain."
"Just tired of fighting, Tychus. We're on the same team." Exchanging nods between one another, they resumed their exit and went their separate ways.
On Korhal and inside the Imperial Palace, Arcturus Mengsk was seated in a leathery swivel chair and gazing up at the wall of monitoring screens he had arrayed in front of him. A glass of fine wine sat untouched on its perch before him. His attention was on one monitor in particular, where a call was waiting to be accepted. Even the staggering view of his kingdom through the massive windows on either side of him, smoke plumes reaching into the cold gray sky from continued riots and all, did not stir his attention.
The face of Dr. Emil Narud appeared after a few more moments of impatient waiting. Narud's snowy white hair and clothing were all perfectly manicured and cared for, as they always appeared to be. "Ah. Emperor Mengsk. I am pleased to see you. What can I do for you today?"
Tipping his head slightly at the scientist, Mengsk rested his hands on the arms of his chair and gripped it firmly- focused on keeping his cool demeanor. "Dr. Narud. I am sure you are aware of the situation on Korhal and the core worlds. In light of recent findings, I believe it is time to step up our security."
"Yes. I had heard that the hearts and minds of the people had not been swayed by your latest speech. Most unfortunate. Are you suggesting that you'd like the Project to be activated?"
A graying eyebrow twitched slightly at the man's nerve. It was no secret Dr. Narud was in love with his own brain and often looked down on just about everyone. He was lucky his brain was so useful, or Arcturus would have been all too happy to get rid of him. "Yes. I want the specimens on Korhal to be introduced into the squads that have been trained to receive them immediately and with all safety precautions at the ready."
Dr. Narud looked almost offended. "They will follow your every command. I assure you."
Leaning forwards slightly as though to glare down at the older man, Mengsk mustered all the warning he could put into his calm tone. "You will also follow my every command, Narud. I own you and every piece of science shit you covet. Do not fail me." Mengsk nearly slammed the comm off before leaning back in his chair and letting out an angry huff. Too much failure had happened already.
With their defeat, Raynor and his men becoming zerg creatures had been expected- but nothing more than simple infested or, and Arcturus had truly hoped, built into living walls to anguish for eternity. That they were out there in the Koprulu sector and possibly only second to Kerrigan herself in deadliness did not sit well with him. Not well at all.
Standing up and clasping his hands behind his back, Mengsk looked over his kingdom in ruin. "This needs to be brought under control. Now. Adjutant!"
"Yes, Emperor Mengsk?"
"Schedule a press conference at 0800 in three days time. Only press allowed and no weapons other than my own escort."
"Yes, Emperor Mengsk. The press will be informed." The people will kneel before their emperor and order would be restored, one way or another.
Bit of a transitional chapter with some developments, nothing too exciting but I had fun writing it. Kaldir next chapter, now there's where the fun's at! Hope December is treating you guys well, have a good one.