Sorry about the wait; I've had a lot of stuff eating up my time (a translation project, making progress in Pokémon Y, receiving information on an essay I have to finish by the 24th of November…). Without further adieu, let us properly continue the Teana's Travels story!

THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS VENTURE

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

Naruto (jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima (spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu

Kingdom Hearts (Keyblades, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, Aqua, other characters and concepts) – Square-Enix

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Mana Kirishima, other characters) – Studio Gainax

Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay

Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi

Digimon – Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise

Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media

Sonic the Hedgehog - SEGA

Gears of War – Epic Games

Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)

Mass Effect – Bioware

Metroid - Nintendo

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

The characters of Golden Tiara and the Alcorn Pantheon – DeviantArtist 'Alex Warlorn'

The character of Checker Monarch – Fanfic author 'Kendell'

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

-BOOK 22 START-

Sarah Kerrigan, former Queen of Blades and now not-entirely-human Ghost soldier, stood in the test chamber aboard this out-of-the-way research station on the Umojan Protectorate's "Planet XT39323", dwelling on the events that had led up to now.

First, there had been her partial de-infestation – the Xel'Naga artifact eliminating her boastingly evil 'Infested Kerrigan, Queen Bitch of the Universe' personality and restoring her mind to that of Sarah Kerrigan. She'd only been conscious for a short while before the Starshot and its crew had to leave, their ship leaving Char's orbit and heading to another realm. And then, Arcturus had struck, bringing in half the Dominion Navy and obliterating all but three of the Valerian-loyal ships, while the Hyperion and the Bucephalus barely escaped alive, forced to leave Warfield and his men at the base they'd set up on Char. A jaunt to Dead Man's Port had followed, and then a trip to Prometheus Station, the top research facility of the Moebius Foundation.

And then Dr. Emil Narud had proved Kerrigan's suspicions right by betraying them, selling them out to Mengsk, who showed up with a fleet and started attacking the two Raider flagships and the station. And to make matters worse, Dr. Narud had unleashed upon them abominations whose very existence made Kerrigan feel sick and angry for reasons she couldn't describe: Zerg/Protoss Hybrids. She, Jim, Tychus, and Valerian (well, and Stetmann) had fought through scores of Moebius/Dominion marines and a couple of Hybrids, pursuing the traitor doctor to try and stop him from escaping with the Xel'Naga artifact… and failing.

Then, when things had started looking particularly bleak, with the docking bay full of Dominion marines and another Hybrid, and the Dominion fleet bearing down on them, an unexpected but very much welcome occurrence had taken place: a fleet of UNSC and Sangheili ships led by Ars Arcanum and Shadow of Intent, emerging from trans-dimensional slipspace and opening fire on Mengsk's ships, destroying around two-thirds of them and forcing the significantly-damaged remainder – including Arcturus' flagship, the White Star – to retreat. A D77 Pelican dropship had come screaming into the docking bay, using its guns to shred the Moebius/Dominion forces and then disgorging a squad of Spartans to rip through what was left, with their leader S-117 personally slaying the Hybrid in a display of speed, strength, and skill that left even Kerrigan impressed. And then another Hybrid had dropped in… in two pieces, vertically bisected by the plasma sword of the massive Sangheili warrior known as Arbiter Thel Vadam who followed.

Everyone had been brought aboard the Ars Arcanum for explanations and introductions. Creatures called Huragok had (with permission) descended upon the Hyperion and Bucephalus, enacting repairs, undoing Moebius' sabotage, and installing new tech, including slipstream space drives. Tychus had been particularly upset to learn that the Hyperion's bartender Cooper, maker of "the best dayum mai-tais in the galaxy", had turned out to be a traitor and had jumped ship to the Dominion during the chaos of the battle. The UNSC's Fleet-Admiral Hood and Sangheili Alliance Supreme Commander Thel Vadam had hammered things out with Jim and Valerian, and Kerrigan had found herself trusting them despite a strong suspicion that she would regret it.

Fortunately, that particular suspicion turned out to be dead-wrong. These newcomers really were on the level, and had been a tremendous help for her and for the Raiders as a whole.

Then Jim had shown her the Ihann Crystal, and she'd learned of the prophecy; of Zeratul encountering a Hybrid that was much bigger, more powerful, and more durable than the in-comparison small fries seen on Prometheus Station; of Tassadar becoming, to use an old film's phrasing, "more powerful than you could possibly imagine"; of how the Dark Voice, a fallen Xel'Naga, had forced upon the Overmind and the Zerg their overriding need to kill and consume, using them to exterminate the other Xel'Naga and then steering them towards the Protoss; of how the Overmind had created the Queen of Blades in hopes of wrenching control of the Zerg from the Fallen One, only for her Infested self's mind to fall under the Dark Voice's sway just like the rest of the Zerg, leading the Zerg to kill and consume just as he wanted her to; of how she was now the only hope in stopping the Dark Voice from using the Zerg and his Hybrids to literally destroy everything, even the galaxies themselves…

Sarah Kerrigan hated the Queen of Blades more than anything short of Arcturus Mengsk. But she would apparently have to reassume control of the Zerg at some point so that the Dark Voice couldn't.

After a little while, they'd jumped realms again, and met the Phoenix League, learning the surprising story behind that power. Sarah had been rather perplexed by Grace Staunton-Howard; in the League's war, she'd said a lot of the things that Arcturus had said back as leader of the Sons of Korhal about peace and freedom and whatnot, but unlike him she completely meant it. Mengsk's expertly-crafted "I stand for the good of the people" fake public persona was more or less Grace's real one. It had been quite a surprise, but a pleasant one once she got used to it.

And then, that mysterious little girl in the black cloak had shown up, bearing "archived, scryed footage" that they "needed to see". It had shown them everything from the first adventures of little Nanoha all the way to Teana's actions on Shion's home Earth, including just how powerful the girl had become since leaving Char. On the very next day, the black-cloaked girl had shown up again, telling the higher-ups – including Jim – that Teana and the TSAB would soon be in trouble – "like, dozens-of-hostile-warships trouble". Everyone had quickly thrown a fleet together, with the UNSC Infinity's accelerated construction barely being completed in time for it to join, and they'd all jumped to Midchilda just in time to thwart an attempt by Scaglietti's droid warships to sack the capital. The Battle of Belka had followed, and then the mysterious enemy's 'demons' attacking Midchilda a few weeks after that.

Things had progressed in long stretches of little happenings broken by short bursts of activity and development after that. Kerrigan had made mental contact with her Leviathan flagship, with Izsha and Abathur onboard, and ordered them to stay hidden for the time being, jumping from system to system to stay out of reach of Mengsk and the non-allied Protoss forces (Artanis' faction was friendly to Kerrigan currently, having had the situation explained to them, but there were a few 'tribes' who had yet to recognize Artanis' authority and were still doing things on their own, and they were not friendly to Kerrigan or to the humans who helped her). She'd also made contact with Brood-Mother Naktul on Phaeton, who had quickly reaffirmed her loyalty to Kerrigan, 'Queen of Blades' or no.

Then, Radiant Garden had happened. Kerrigan had formally taken to the field for the first time in a while, and had been present when it was revealed that the Dark Voice was the 'mysterious enemy' causing trouble for the coalition, and 'Dr. Narud' was his millennia-old shapeshifting daemon lieutenant. Things had progressed further from there, up to planet Ulnar, where at great difficulty the ancient Fallen One – now identified as 'Amon' – was slain. But Narud was still out there, and he probably had plenty of Hybrids in the making. And then there was Xehanort; what if he somehow got control of the Hybrids and added them to his dark army?

Amon may have been dead, but Sarah knew she couldn't relax – not one bit. That was why she was here right now, undergoing a test to see just where her level of control over the Zerg was.

"Can you reach out with your mind, Kerrigan?" Valerian said over the speakers. "Can you sense it?"

"…A Drone?" Kerrigan asked incredulously, sensing the lone little Zerg in a neighboring chamber. "Are you really asking me to take control of a Zerg mind? Do you know what could happen?"

"All the test subjects are in a secure environment" Valerian replied.

Kerrigan sighed and then telepathically reached out, and the Drone submitted to her will immediately.

"Okay, the next step… See if you can order the Drone to mutate into a Hatchery."

Seconds later, the Drone took position in the center of its mineral-lined chamber and transformed into a cocoon of sorts, which began to rapidly grow until it burst open to reveal the familiar Zerg structure. Creep began to quickly spread out from it to cover the room.

"Okay, Kerrigan. I'm releasing more Drones into the test chamber. See if you can order them to gather those resources."

At Kerrigan's command, the six new Drones set to work harvesting the minerals laid out along the room's perimeter.

"You're doing well, Kerrigan. Can you morph more Drones?"

"I need an Overlord to morph anything else" Kerrigan replied.

"Do it, then. One Overlord shouldn't hurt."

One of the Hatchery's larvae entered a cocoon, and a minute later a small-sized Overlord emerged, hovering its way off to the side.

"Excellent. I planned to stop here, but let's take this a little further. Try mutating a Drone into a Spawning Pool."

Before long, the sickly green structure was established directly south of the Hatchery.

"You know this is going to end badly, right?" Kerrigan asked.

"We have a controlled environment."

"Maybe you should come down to the chamber and inspect the Spawning Pool you just had me make."

"I, uh, can see just fine from up here, thanks. I think that's all we need today, Kerrigan. Great work."

"If you think that was great work, wait 'til you see this. I'll make some Zerglings."

"…Kerrigan? What are you doing?"

"Putting your 'controlled environment' to the test."

Within a minute, two more Overlords emerged, followed by eight Zerglings.

"Stop! I didn't ask you to create Zerglings!"

"Funny thing about Zerg, Valerian: they never do what you expect."

"…Shut down the experiment! Get security bots in there to 'sanitize' those holding cells. Lock down the sublevel and power up the Eradicator! Nothing gets out!"

"Maybe if I destroy your fancy toys, you'll learn you can't control the Zerg…"

The test chamber doors were forced open, and the Zergling horde rushed down the corridor, and shredded the quintet of security bots that were blasting at holding pens.

"I sense more Zerglings in holding pens. Valerian, you were very careless."

The pens were ripped open, and a dozen more Zerglings joined the pack. The pack then rushed down the hall and into the labs proper.

"CONTAINMENT BREACH" the Adjutant reported. "ZERG SPECIMENS FREE."

"Evacuate the scientists! Get all personnel out of there!"

The Zergling pack rushed into the first area, completely ignoring the fleeing scientists in favor of attacking the trio of armed security bots blasting at them. Four Zerglings were slain, but the droids were torn asunder, and the pack then destroyed a generator powering the locks on a nearby holding cell, freeing even more Zerglings. They went north, tearing two more security bots apart and rushing across a bridge.

"Kerrigan, this is not a game!"

"It never is with the Zerg."

The pack ripped through three more security droids (which managed to kill five Zerglings) and then tore apart the mini-factory that had been producing them, and then moved on, crossing another bridge and destroying a pair of auto-turrets as the scientists fled.

"NO MORE PERSONNEL REMAIN ON SUBLEVEL."

"It's all out of control…"

In the next room, a trio of gas-spewing turrets popped up and began flooding the room. The Zergling pack simply moved as quickly as they could to destroy all three, forcing the doors to unlock. The next room had a half-dozen security bots, which managed to wipe out roughly a third of the Zerglings before being destroyed. However, there was also another holding pen, which – upon being broken open – disgorged more Zerglings to replace the losses.

The pack moved back the other way, down another hall into a red-lit area with multiple security bots guarding another holding pen. Around a fourth of the pack was killed, but the bots were destroyed and the large holding pen was unlocked, resulting in a net gain on Zergling numbers.

"You've made your point, Kerrigan."

"Not yet, I haven't. I'm still in your containment cell."

The sizable Zergling pack moved on, soon reaching a large chamber with three standard security bots and an extra-large one – the 'Eradicator'. Its cannons were powerful enough to kill a Zergling with one shot each, but the pack simply swarmed it from every direction, slashing it apart with their sickle-like claws; it only managed to kill eight of them before they brought it down.

"ERADICATOR DESTROYED. SITUATION CRITICAL."

"The Zerg have overrun the sublevel. You're lucky no-one was killed, Kerrigan."

"Luck had nothing to do with it. Maybe now, you'll understand just how dangerous the Zerg are. I'll send them back to their pens."

"I appreciate that. I'm opening your chamber right now, if you'd like to join me. And maybe next time, could you make your point without destroying half the facility?"

"Hmmm… Maybe."

-SCENE BREAK-

"You made a mess down there, Sarah" Jim Raynor said.

She smirked. "Starting to regret bringing me back?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Never."

Her mood darkened. "Maybe you should. I slaughtered dozens of millions as the Queen of Blades."

"That blood is on Amon's hands, not yours. That wasn't really you, Sarah. Leave the past behind, and let's focus on gettin' out of here. I'll suit up, and meet ya here in an hour."

"Okay. Sounds good."

-Break-

6:36 AM Local Time

Alarms rang out throughout the base. A Dominion Minotaur-class battlecruiser approached through the dark-clouded sky, its armor shrugging off the anti-air fire sent its way as it dispatched scores of drop-pods and dropships toward the facility.

Inside the facility, Raynor – in full combat gear – ran through the facility, as scientists went the other way.

"WARNING: DOMINION FORCES IN SECTORS THREE, FOUR, AND SIX."

Elsewhere on the level, one of the drop-pods crashed through the ceiling, deploying a fireteam of Dominion marines and a certain blond-haired Ghost.

"This is Nova" she said into the comm. "Begin your sweep. Find Kerrigan."

"Bravo Team, acknowledged" a male Ghost replied as he gunned down the pair of Umojan marines guarding the door to Kerrigan's chamber. He and his marine squad rushed in, the doors sealing behind them to block Raynor's shots as he ran up. A few seconds later, however, Raynor heard screams from the other side, none of them female in source, while lightning crackled along the door. A burst of psionic power buckled the door from inside, blowing it partially open. He carefully made his way in, past sparking wires and crumpled metal, towards the lone Ghost-suited, Zerg-haired woman standing in the middle.

"Sarah…"

"The killing will never stop…" she said, "until Arcturus Mengsk is dead. I'm going to make him pay."

"That's enough of that" he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. They stared into each other's eyes. "Get it together, darlin'."

"Bravo Team, come in" Nova's voice came over the gibbed Ghost's radio. "Are you there, Bravo? …All units to Sector Six! Go, go, go!"

Raynor grabbed the dead Ghost's sniper rifle and tossed it to Kerrigan.

"We gotta go" he said. "The DDF ain't gonna make it here in time."

He walked over and held the door open for her. They shared a brief kiss, and then got moving.

-Break-

"Jim, do you read me?" Valerian asked.

"We read you" Kerrigan replied.

"Kerrigan. I'm glad you're alive, but we're cut off from your location. You'll have to fight your way across the lab to the tram station. That will take you to Jim's ship."

"Roger that, Junior" Raynor replied. "We can handle it."

Raynor and Kerrigan got a move on, passing a few guards and a few stasis tanks containing Zerg specimens as they moved along a narrow bridge. A Dominion Marauder up ahead met his end when Kerrigan hit him with a Kinetic Blast, slamming him into the far wall hard enough to crunch his armor like a tin can. Three Dominion Marines busted in from the right, but Raynor gunned them down within seconds.

Soon they encountered an Umojan Marine fireteam preparing to meet a Dominion insertion team – two Ghosts and two marines. Kerrigan telekinetically flung the Ghosts over the railing edge to fall to their deaths, while Raynor and the Umojans gunned down the marines. A little ways further, they found a Dominion Marauder and a marine squad exchanging fire with more Umojan marines. The marines, however, were clustered close enough together that Kerrigan's 'Crushing Grip" attack took them all out at once and weakened the Marauders, enabling the Umojans to gun him down.

Across the next bridge, two Dominion drop-pods dropped in through the ceiling, disgorging a squad of marines right on top of a Umojan squad. Kerrigan put her sniper rifle to good use, picking off about half of them within a handful of seconds, letting Jim and the Umojans handle the rest. The Umojan marines then hurried on, going the way Jim & Sarah came from.

"Where are they going?" Sarah asked.

"Let 'em go their way" Raynor replied. "We'll go ours."

Across the next small bridge, a Dominion drop-pod came in through the roof and landed in the middle of a squad of Umojan marines, squishing one of the men as it landed.

"Almost to the tram station" Raynor said as he and Kerrigan gunned the Dominion mooks down. "It'll take us right to the shuttle bay."

"The corridor's blocked" one of the friendly marines told them. "You'll have to cut through the sublevel to reach the tram."

"Come in, Valerian" Jim radioed. "The main corridor is blocked. Can you open side-door A12?"

"I can" the young Prince replied. "Be ready, though; the Zerg specimens got loose in the attack."

"Yes, I can sense them down there" Kerrigan said. "But I don't think I should try to control them again. The chaos of the attack has driven them into a frenzy; there's no way they'll listen to me."

"I won't ask ya to do that…" Jim said. "We'll handle 'em."

"The door will open in 3… 2… 1…"

The door opened, and a horde of Zerglings came charging out. Fortunately, they came out in multiple staggered groups of six to 10 at a time rather than all at once, making it easier for Jim & the marines' rifles and Kerrigan's psionic shockwaves to take them out before they could get within melee range. Jim and Sarah stepped onto the elevator, riding it down to the sublevel.

"Kerrigan…" Nova contacted them. "My forces have taken control of the security hub. We're putting this facility on lockdown. Make this easy on everyone, and surrender now."

"I knew trustin' Tosh over her was a good idea…" Raynor muttered.

A countdown to a local-area lockdown appeared on the duo's HUDs. They hurried along the wrecked path, Kerrigan using a Kinetic Blast to slay a Dominion Firebat while Jim gunned down marines. Up ahead another Firebat and a squad of marines were engaging a pack of feral Zerglings; Kerrigan used Crush Grip to take out the marines while Jim handled the Firebat, and a few frag grenades from the both of them cleared out the Zerg. Ahead, a feral Hydralisk and a Marauder were engaged in a duel of sorts; Kerrigan put an end to that by sniping the Hydralisk and telekinetically crushing the Marauder. The duo hurried for the lockdown doors.

"This reminds me of the old days" Kerrigan said.

"My hair's got more grey in it" Raynor said.

"And mine's got more Zerg."

"Right."

The security doors sealed behind them as they passed through. A frag grenade took care of a quartet of feral Zerglings up ahead, and the two pushed forward. Another 2:40 countdown appeared on their HUDs. A wall of debris stood in their way, with a feral Ultralisk on the other side trying to break free. Kerrigan targeted the titan's head with a Kinetic Blast, shattering its skull and doing enough brain damage to kill it; Jim then used a det-pack to blow a hole in the debris wall. They passed shredded corpses and broken machinery.

"It's a mess down here" Jim said.

"We've been through worse together" Kerrigan replied.

They rounded a corner, and Kerrigan proved a quicker shot than the Dominion Ghost waiting for them, firing a shot that blew his brains out before he could even bring his rifle up to his shoulder. Raynor, meanwhile, quickly killed the two marines with him. Another debris wall was in their way, with feral Zerglings and a Hydralisk trying to bring it down.

"Lord, woman, how many Zerglings did ya make?" Raynor asked.

"Yeah, I may have gone a little overboard…" Kerrigan admitted.

A pair of grenades destroyed the debris and most of the Zerglings, and Kerrigan than Kinetic-Blasted the Hydralisk while Raynor handled the surviving little ones. The security door was blocked by another pile of debris that Kerrigan simply blasted out of the way, and the duo passed through, the door closing behind them.

Another Dominion squad was up ahead; Kerrigan's Crush Grip and Raynor's rifle made short work of them. They moved up to a console near the next door, tapping into the security camera to show up ahead a very large Dominion force, including two Goliaths and a Siege Tank.

"Looks like a rough fight" Raynor said.

"They have caged Zerg in there" Kerrigan replied. "We can use this console to set them loose."

"Or we can use it to activate the gas defenses."

She hit the gas-turret controls, and deadly gas flooded the next room, killing the foot-soldiers. Once the vents flushed the room, they moved in, Kerrigan hitting the Siege Tank with a Kinetic Blast that destroyed its gun and its treads, leaving it stuck. She and Jim then used grenades and psychic strikes to destroy the Goliaths, and moved on. Another fireteam of Dominion marines farther in was Crush-Gripped to death, and the duo finally reached the tram.

"Jim, we're in full retreat!" Valerian radioed. "I'm en route to the Hyperion!"

"Roger that, Valerian. Hail us when you're on the bridge."

"Just you and me now, Jim" Kerrigan said. "Let's move out."

They and a squad of Umojan marines boarded the tram, which took off down the tunnel. After several seconds, though, there was a muffled explosion.

"The Dominion have breached the tunnel!" a marine reported.

A Dominion Viking approached from the left, only for Kerrigan's Kinetic Blast to shoot it down. A moment later, two more approached from ahead; Kerrigan blasted one of them, and Raynor & the marines brought down the other before it could start shooting the tram's thrusters. The tram sped up, as a marine used his rocket launcher to shoot down a Dominion Wraith flying in from the east. A Dominion dropship came in from the same direction, but Kerrigan psionically brought it down as well. Two Vikings from the east met the business end of the rocket launcher, as did another from the south, while Kerrigan Kinetic-Blasted a Wraith from the west. The tram exited the main structure, flying over the rocky canyon below.

"We're out of the labs" Jim said. "We're exposed out here until we reach the shuttle bay."

The next few minutes were spent shooting down gradually-increasing numbers of Wraiths, Vikings, and dropships. One dropship managed to drop off a Siege Tank before being shot down, but Kerrigan's Kinetic Blast took it out quickly. Finally, they reached the shuttle bay. Jim and Sarah disembarked, and a trio of Umojan marines came up to meet them.

"The Dominion is deploying some kind of heavy mech in the shuttle bay" one reported.

"We'll deal with it" Kerrigan replied. "Let's go."

Two Dominion Ghosts and two marines attacked from up ahead; Kerrigan sniped the Ghosts while Raynor and the Umojans handled the marines. Ahead, a Kinetic Blast killed a Dominion Firebat, but the Dominion marines managed to kill a Umojan before being brought down. They reached a platform that connected to the shuttle pad, which was crawling with Dominion forces. And then, a super-sized Viking-type mech shifted form and landed in walker mode at the far end.

"Archangel in position" the Super-Viking's pilot reported. "I've got the shuttle bay secured. All Dominion forces, push forward!"

"Jim, that thing's between us and your shuttle!" Kerrigan said.

She ran across the bridge to the landing pad, meeting up with a squad of the Umojans' elite marines. However, when Raynor tried to follow, an artillery strike from the Archangel destroyed the bridge (as well as the Umojan Siege Tanks that had been harassing the Dominion).

"Keep going, Sarah!" he shouted. "I'll find another way to you!"

"Well, you better hurry, or I'll kill this thing without you!"

The Archangel fired a barrage of gatling-gun fire and a few missiles, wiping out all but a few of the Umojans. It then took off, flying overhead and dropping a line of bombs that Kerrigan managed to avoid. As soon as it landed, she started hitting it with Kinetic Blasts as often as she could, while also shooting at its cockpit and other vulnerable spots with her rifle. More Umojans came in to help, only to be blown to bits by a rocket barrage.

With her patience exhausted, Kerrigan rushed toward the massive mech, charging psionic power through her whole body, dodging its gatling-gun fire as she rapidly drew closer. She made a super-high leap up onto the mech, climbing her way up to the cockpit as it tried and failed to shake her off. Reaching out with her mind, she found the pilot and then telekinetically snapped his neck. Then, she climbed onto the back of the war-machine and shoved a pair of grenades into something that looked important. She hopped off, getting some distance once she landed, and a chain of explosions tore the Archangel apart.

"Hurry up, Jim" she said. "I think another wave is incoming!"

"Sarah, I'm cut off! I can't get to your location! Take my ship and go!"

"I am not leaving you behind!"

"Raynor, Kerrigan," Valerian radioed, "I'm on the Hyperion. We're setting course for the rendezvous. What is your status?"

"Kerrigan is taking my dropship" Raynor replied. "I need extraction."

"I understand, and am sending a team for you."

"Do not screw this up, Valerian…" Sarah warned.

"Kerrigan, I'll see you at the rendezvous. And… I'm sorry I didn't listen to you sooner."

"It's too late for apologies, Valerian. Jim, I'll take your ship. But if you get yourself killed, you're in huge trouble."

"Heh. Yes'm. Noted."

Reluctantly, Kerrigan boarded the Raider dropship, which soon lifted off. Meanwhile, in the labs, Raynor waited, rifle in hand.

"Jim, Dominion reinforcements are arriving!" Valerian said. "The Hyperion is taking heavy fire, and my team can't reach you!"

"Roger that" Jim replied. "Get the Hyperion to the rendezvous. I'll find another way offworld."

"See you there."

As the channel was closed, Raynor spun around as a door opened, and a familiar face stepped out.

"Nova?-!"

"Well, well…" the blonde Ghost smirked. "Jim Raynor. It's a shame you didn't help me with my 'Tosh' problem. I'm gonna enjoy this…"

[AN: The YouTube vid I found had the person help Nova instead of Tosh, so I had to do the above bit by faulty memory]

"Alright, blondie. Take your shot!"

-SCENE BREAK-

Rendezvous Site

06:58 – Shipboard Time

The dropship came out of hyperspace beside the Hyperion, flying into its hangar and setting down. Kerrigan stepped out, and quickly made her way up to the bridge.

"Jim?" she called out.

Several people turned to face her.

"Where's Jim?" she demanded.

"Junior's team couldn't get past the Dominion" Tychus (currently unarmored) replied with a slightly solemn tone. "Jimmy-boy… ordered us to leave him behind."

Before the look of horrified shock on Sarah's face could finish its transition to rage, she was brought out of her tunnel vision by a blaring alarm.

"IFFs negative" an ensign said. "Multiple hostiles inside the perimeter!"

The multiple Raider/Umojan battleships in high orbit over the planet got some unwelcome company as a squadron of Dominion battlecruisers jumped out, already firing their secondary guns at the Raider fleet.

"Scramble tac-response squads three through nine!" Matt ordered.

Hypersonic shells flew between the two fleets, with the Hyperion's enhanced shielding holding up for the moment. But they wouldn't hold forever, and the other ships lacked the flagship's souped-up shields.

"Defensive maneuver Delta-4!" Matt ordered. "Prep all ships for jump!"

"No-one is going anywhere until I see Jim!" Kerrigan said.

A blast from a Dominion battlecruiser's fusion cannon blew a hole through one of the other ships. Matt scowled at Kerrigan, and then turned to the comm.

"Dominion fleet, this is Hyperion!" he said. "Cease fire! Crown Prince Valerian is aboard!"

"Hyperion, this is Dominion battlecruiser Altarius. Emperor Mengsk has declared 'Prince' Valerian a traitor and ordered his capture and/or execution. Thanks for telling us which ship to target."

The comm. was cut off, and the enemy ships began to focus their fire more on the Hyperion.

"My father will sacrifice any piece on the board to take the queen…" Valerian said.

"We have to jump now" Matt said to Kerrigan. "We'll lead them away and then circle back for Jim."

"…No. I've got a better idea. The planet we're orbiting right now is Phaeton. I'm going down there, you're going to jump out without me and get to safety, and I'm going to recruit the services of an old 'friend' to give the Dominion something else to deal with…"

"…Wait. You can't be…"

Sarah nodded. "Let's see if Naktul has kept her Brood combat-ready…"

-SCENE BREAK-

"Kerrigan," Matt radioed, "before we jumped, Hyperion tracked multiple Dominion signatures headed down to the surface. You're gonna have a surprise party down there…"

The 'Seagull' dropship flew down through Phaeton's dusty clouds, making for the surface.

"SCANNING…" the dropship's computer stated. "DETECTING DOMINION FORCES AND A ZERG HIVE CLUSTER."

"Yeah, there must be an old Hive here" Kerrigan said. "I'm more worried about the Dominion."

"Ground team, this is Fleet" an intercepted Dominion comm. signal said. "What is your status?"

"Fleet, our base is set up, and the Drakken Pulse Cannon is almost online."

"Roger that. Eliminate all stragglers as they warp to these coordinates. We'll return for you. Fleet out."

"That cannon will obliterate Jim's ship the moment he enters orbit! He'll never see it coming! …Computer, set course for the Zerg Hive cluster. I need an army."

The dropship set down behind the Hatchery, which already had Drones gathering resources and a small pack of Zerglings as guards, as well as an Evolution Chamber to the southeast, a Spore Crawler at the north, and Spine Crawler guarding the northeastern and northwestern approaches. Kerrigan walked out, up to the structure.

"I can sense a mind controlling this brood… Do you hear me, Naktul?"

"My Queen! Have you returned to us Brood-Mothers?"

"I need to use your Brood to destroy the Terran surface-to-orbit cannon immediately."

"Most of my Brood is with me. I can send them to you, but it will take time."

"Then send them. When they arrive, we'll tear down that cannon before Raynor gets here. Meanwhile, I'm going to prepare this Hive for combat. The Dominion will have tracked my ship, and they'll be looking for me."

Kerrigan bade the four larvae around the Hatchery to morph into more Drones, while ordering one of the already-present Drones to cease its resource-collection and transform into a Spawning Pool.

"Command, we've found Kerrigan!" a Dominion marine radioed. "She's holed up in a Zerg base! We're going in! Send reinforcements!"

To the northeast of the base, a squad of Dominion marines opened fire on an Infested structure, destroying it just as Kerrigan and the Zerglings showed up. The Broodlings released by the structure, along with the Zerglings, tore the marines apart with no casualties. Kerrigan hunkered down and waited, while ordering a dozen more Zerglings morphed and a second Spine Crawler at the northeast.

"When the Dominion arrived," Naktul 'said', "they drove some of my Brood into caves. They will rejoin us if we can kill the Terran soldiers guarding the cave entrances."

Another squad of Dominion soldiers attacked from the northeast, but Kerrigan used her Crush Grip to weaken them and hold them in place for the Spine Crawlers to pick off. More Zerglings and a Queen emerged from the Hatchery, joining Kerrigan's base-defense force, while a second Spine Crawler was added to the northwest approach. Two Dominion Wraiths attacked from the north, exchanging fire with the Spore Crawler, and Kerrigan used her Kinetic Blast to shoot one of them down. A squadron of Dominion Hellions rolled in from the northwest, their flamethrowers killing around eight Zerglings before the rest of the pack, with Kerrigan and the Spine Crawlers, destroyed them.

Kerrigan led a two-dozen-strong pack of Zerglings north, using her Kinetic Blast to clear the way through bunkers and a pair of Goliaths before reaching a cave being assaulted by a Firebat, Marauder, and marines. She used Crush Grip to leave them easy pickings for her Zerglings, and then 15 more of the little beasts, along with a second Hatchery Queen, emerged from the cave and followed her back to the base. At the Hatchery, a few more Overlords were spawned.

Once more Zerglings were prepared, Kerrigan's attack force went northeast, shredding a bunker and two Marauders on their way to a cave guarded by a squad of Dominion marines that Kerrigan's psychic assault and sniper rifle made short work of, allowing the Zerglings trapped inside to join the cause. They then hurried back to base, arriving just in time to fight off a Dominion Goliath assault at the cost of around a dozen Zerglings, which were quickly replaced.

"My Brood will be there soon; the Nydus Worms are on their way!"

After adding another Hatchery Queen to the force, Kerrigan scouted ahead, determining that the approach to the third cave was too heavily defended for the moment. So she waited, building up her forces a little more, fending off another few attacks. Finally, several massive Nydus Worms emerged from beneath the earth, spitting out a massive horde of Zerglings and Hatchery Queens.

"My Brood has come! They are yours to command, My Queen!"

"Perfect. Now let's get up to their base and destroy that cannon before Jim arrives."

After only a little more preparation, Kerrigan led the entire force of Zerg north, tearing their way through an outlying Dominion base in an unstoppable wave of fangs, claws, and armored chitin. They waited for more Zerglings to catch up and reinforce the fallen, and then moved northeast, towards the main Dominion base. More Nydus Worms loosed more Zerglings as they went, keeping the attack force's numbers stable as they carved through Dominion resistance on the way.

They struck the main base like a sledgehammer, shredding every Siege Tank, Goliath, and marine in their way. A final wave of Nydus Worms, bearing the last of Naktul's brood and Naktul herself, arrived from beneath the base to participate in the attack. With all resistance quickly killed, the STO cannon was saved for last, being systematically picked apart by the Swarm, going up in a chain of fireballs and being torn completely asunder.

"The gun is destroyed! The Terrans are fleeing to their ships!"

"Kill them all. No Dominion forces get out alive."

"The Queen has returned! Kill the Terrans!"

"The Queen? …You're right. I was slipping back into something that… I have to get out of here."

"We will await your return."

-SCENE BREAK-

As night fell, Kerrigan returned to the parked dropship. She sat in the pilot's seat, calling up and looking over some readings, and let out a weary sigh as the day's events weighed on her. She flicked the radio on.

"Jim?" she asked. "Are you on this frequency? …Jim, are you out there? I'm at the rendezvous; it's all clear here. …I've been thinking about what you said. There's something dark in me, Jim. I need you. …I need you to hear me right now."

Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around in the chair, and saw that a lone Zergling had boarded the ship, with a scar on its face and a broken tusk. She immediately took aim with her rifle, but the creature made no aggressive moves. Instead, it stood there, watching her… and then kneeled.

"We interrupt your regularly-scheduled programming to bring you this news" the television came on, playing reporter Kate Lockwell's voice. "Notorious rebel Jim Raynor was captured in a daring raid yesterday. He was briefly interrogated, and summarily executed."

Sarah felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"Emperor Mengsk had this to say:"

"Proud Dominion citizens, at long last our nightmare is over. The lawless terrorist, James Raynor, is dead."

Arcturus kept talking, but Sarah didn't hear him. She screamed out in fury and grief, a psionic pulse rocking the ship.

"With his death comes a new era of peace."

He'd given everything to find her, to save her. He'd always been there for her.

"The Protoss have retreated from our Dominion…"

She'd left him behind. And now, she'd lost him forever.

"and the Zerg threat has been removed."

She slumped against the wall, sliding to the floor as despair overcame her.

"Their Swarm is shattered and leaderless. Soon, we will eradicate every last Zerg on Char."

The old Zergling slowly walked up to Kerrigan's side, and nuzzled her as gently as it could. Slowly, she brought her tear-streaked face up to meet its gaze.

"In short: We. Have. Won."

And as she stared into its eyes, her sorrow transformed into rage and hatred, as she stopped fighting her Dark Side and embraced it.

"Our peace and security is assured. Goodnight, my faithful subjects."

"Mengsk…" she snarled, her eyes glowing yellow. Then, she got up and got into the pilot's seat, the Zergling – her Zergling, the first of many – taking a seat on the floor at her side as she called up the computer.

"NAVIGATION ONLINE. DESTINATION: ZERG SPACE. CONFIRM?"

"…Confirmed."

The dropship, its two passengers aboard, lifted off, leaving Phaeton behind and jumping out to warp-space. Mengsk had slain the gallant knight.

Now he would face the wrath of the dragons and their Queen.

-CHAPTER END-

The Dimensional Defense Force – including Teana and company – will have minimal presence in the first few chapters. However, once the Raiders get involved, and the assault on Korhal begins, they'll play a bigger role.

Also: as mentioned at the top, I recently received a big essay assignment. It's going to be eating up a lot of my time in the coming three weeks, so expect serious delays in chapter-posting. I may even have to stop working on Travels chapters altogether until I can finish the assignment.