AN: Huge time skip later...

Steel floor, neon lights, the continuous humming of the fusion core and the mighty engines… quite the first experience on a Terran Battlecruiser. This was David's first contact with humanity native to the Korprulu sector. He was warped in without any combat suit, and was only accompanied with the Ultramarines sergeant Vinters and the protoss Templar Aldaris. Behind him, the graying orange globe of Mar Sara was limply rotating around it's axis, ignoring the zerg that made their home on it's surface so recently.

In front of him was the reason he had advised Aldaris to choose Mar Sara as their first destination. James Raynor, the arch criminal of the Terran Dominion, a man in his early thirties was sitting in the Hyperion's command chair, once "borrowed" from the Sons of Korhal. Dave took a quick glance around: Most of the bridge was surprisingly intact despite their earlier run-in with the zerg xenos, only a couple of lights were being replaced.

The protoss broke the terrans' surprised silence first. "Terran Commander Raynor. I am Executor Aldaris, current leader of the terran-protoss joint battlefleet solar. On the left of me is the leader of their elite forces, the Space Marine sergeant Vinters, and on my right is our diplomat and advisor, David."

"Not to interrupt but weren't you a Judicator last time?" Matt Horner was quick to reply, still standing straight and unfazed in his immaculate captain uniform despite the unusual guests.

"He was, but the circumstances we were in forced him to adapt and take the Executor's role. So far he is performing quite well." said the armored space marine from another reality, chainsword hanging loosely from his armor belt. He was different from the sight people from this sector associated with the word 'marine'. He was as far from the average foul-mouthed sometimes clumsy man in a ridiculously big powered armor who would slap on the female medic's rear when she's done patching him up as he could possibly be. He was well-spoken, and the leader of a ten-man updated assault-tactical hybrid squad that was tasked to accompany Aldaris's mission. Since it all went to warp, he along with a promising but as of yet undistinguished imperial guard captain were guiding and leading the imperial detachment from earth, and technically David was under his command, but he and the two former chaos marines have been quite of an oddity, as they were psykers, and David was also the advisor of the protoss leadership, due to his previous career as a game designer/programmer. So far he couldn't order them but the psyker squad was always eager to follow his instructions to the letter.

David was pretty much the only oddity from the leader trio that entered the hyperion. He was dressed in normal 21th century earth clothing: dust-grey trousers, a blue shirt, and a polyester jacket. His hair was cut short, but was far from having a crew-cut. He was not unarmed however, and carried a small sidearm: A hellpistol in a small belt-holster, and a small dagger on his left side, hanging from his belt, but not loosely.

"Whoa what circumstances? I've been with many protoss in the last two wars and I haven't seen such a thing before." Jim Raynor straightened his back from the slumped position he was in ever since they successfully retreated from Mar Sara.

"It was a... warp accident. Many of my brethren, over half of the fleet had been deposited on a strange green planet that was apparently enormous." The templar calmly replied

"But didn't you die?" Raynor pressed on. He remembered the events quite clearly, and Zeratul had been quite explicit in telling him the events that happened on Shakuras.

"I think I didn't but I'm not sure. We were supposedly helping a terran science station somewhat before in the Antiga system. They apparently found a genetic weapon capable of spreading quickly through zerg ranks and were asking for a couple of drones, and we were all too eager to deliver. I think the station was called 'Amerigo'."

"The Amerigo? Kerrigan took care of it..." Horner recalled the events.

The templar raised his eyebrows. "Ah. We would have expected so much."

"But what happened?" Raynor pushed on.

The protoss templar let out a deep sigh. It was not an experience he wished to remember. "The warp currents pushed us off-course, and even off the supposed time we are in. I'm not going to lie. We crash landed on Earth in the terran year of 2011."

"Earth? You're from Earth?" both Matt and Raynor both stared wide-eyed at the diplomat.

"Indeed we are." It was David to answer, with a ting of pride in his voice. "But it was not all sunshine and cookies. Aldaris' forces were scaled down to the 1/56th scale. I was the only normal sized human for a long time. As you might think It had helped a little in influencing them. For the greater good of course." he chuckled.

"2011? So you're not the UED then right?" Horner queried, as the air around them tensed for a second.

"By the Emperor we are not those traitors." the good sergeant answered a little quicker than the question was asked out.

"So how come you have returned?" The captain asked, putting the pieces together in his head.

The protoss templar slightly lowered his head. Then after a long pause he spoke. "We brought the zerg down on them."

The two rebel leaders gaped.

"It was not our intention of course, but during the crash land the drones we carried escaped. The infection then spread till Earth was crippled and in it's web. Fortunately humanity united against the zerg menace and helped us regain our current form, so we could assist them in their struggle for survival."

Matt Horner was the first one to collect himself. He put his hand under his chin and pondered. "That's an interesting story at least, and thanks for your assistance in helping the commander to hold out." at his mention the Commander of the Hyperion unburied his face from under his hands. "But there is a problem: We've got distress calls from all over the sector. Worlds like this" he pointed at Mar Sara "are being overrun by the zerg swarm. Millitary installations are being pressured simultaneously, the Dominion's forces are divided and unable to respond properly. I've checked the news reports already and things are... gross at best. Billions have died in the initial attack wave and there is more.

Even worse there are reports of Dominion forces pulling out from fringe worlds to the Core worlds. Evacuations have been... slow at best, catastrophic at worst, which is most of the time, and..."

"Hold on Matt, you've compiled them on the way here?" Raynor interrupted the captain.

"Yes sir."

"What are the closest planets we can go to help? I mean which is within our quick-response radius."

To both rebel leaders' surprise it was David to answer their question: "Agria." To their credit they handled this well with a raised eyebrow. From Raynor it was more towards Matt asking for confirmation.

With a nod the captain answered: "Sir, he's correct. The farming colony of Agria is still being overrun. Dominion forces have pulled out way before the attack, but the colony's leader, the scientist Dr. Hanson has been so far successful in keeping the colonists together. They are asking for help." And with a quick tapping on a screen he brought up the video signal the Hyperion intercepted 23 minutes before the successful extraction of the Raiders and their 'liberated' artifact.

A female face ridden with static-bound faculties appeared on the holoscreen. She was young and had a clean face. Uncertainty was written on her expressions, her long brown hair was hurriedly tied up in a ponytail, and through her glasses the effects of sleep deprivation were quite visible below her eyes. She took hurried breaths, and half turned to somewhere off screen for a second, stared, then turned back to the camera and began.

"This is Doctor Ariel Hanson from Agria colony DV-224 to any ships receiving this message. We are under attack. We are just a small farming colony. The dominion abandoned us, and we've got to evacuate before we are overrun." She tapped a button and the signal cut off.

"This is bad." The astartes sergeant observed. "they must be losing pretty badly from the feed. Lord Aldaris how fast can we reach Agria?"

The templar was quick to reply: "From our current position it will take a standard terran hour at most, and half an hour at best. We'd best return to our ships now commander."

"All right. We're going there. Matt, plot our course."

"Right away sir." Meanwhile Aldaris and Vinters vanished from sight in blue flashes.

"And the battlefleet? Are you going to help us?"

"Of course we are. We only warp back to prepare our warp drives, then jump with you." with that David vanished too, and the hurried work at the Hyperion bridge was the only distraction James Raynor had to envelop him.

A protoss strike force and those strange imperials on his side. Perhaps there was hope in the coming fight after all.