"Hello my child"

"Do you hear my voice, young one?"

"What? Where am I?"

"Ah, you are safe, with me."

"Who are you?"

"I am a friend, and I hope to become something more, if you will allow me. I have been very interested in you for a very long time."

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you."

"You did? This can't be right. No! I have to go! I have to do something. People need me. Arcturus! Jimmy! Please let me go."

"Calm down, Sarah."

"What? How did you know my name?"

"I know many things about you."

"Please let me go! They need me. They're calling for me. I can hear them. Jimmy!"

"Shhh… Everything is fine. Your friends have no need for you right now."

"Are you sure?"

"I am quite sure. Do you not remember how you came into my presence?"

"No, I don't."

"Come now. It is within you. All you have to do is find it. Here, let me help."

Kerrigan peeled off her helmet, allowing the cold mountain wind to lift her matted hair. Fresh oxygen was a relief after almost a day of platform combat and the heavily filtered, recycled air provided by her mask. A thin layer of snow crunched beneath her boots as she walked away from the dropship. They had landed on the foothills of a fairly large mountain range. Behind them towered desolate peaks, dyed crimson by the eastern sunset. In front of them loomed a great pine forest, dark in the extending shadows. The night air was clear like a crystal spyglass, offering but a glimpse at the contested heavens. It was twilight on Tarsonis.

"Ok, boys," She said, turning to face the marines as they stepped from the dropship, "The Zerg are going to be on us any moment now. I'm going a little way uphill to survey the terrain. When I get back, I want to see you all ready to march, understand? We need to put as much land between us and this landing site as possible before morning."

"Aye, sir." They answered.

Sarah nodded. One by one, in a brief succession of pops and hisses, the each marine raised his visor. Five men all told, though six others, the remainder of the squad, were going to be taken to another landing site. They were no longer her concern. The men here, however, where not epitomes of vigor. They had all just come out of a lengthy battle, and not one of them was uninjured, though, fortunately, there were no wounds so bad as to prevent their bearer from walking. But they were all tired, hungry, and downcast.

"Ready to disengage. Hope to see you soon," said the dropship pilot, her words relayed by radio to Kerrigan's ear. The engines of the craft began to roar, and superheated gas spewed from the thrusters. The transport hovered upwards until it cleared the treetops and then, the exhaust nozzles turning to their horizontal positions, blasted out of site, leaving two large scorch marks on the granite.

"Yea, I'll be seein ya," Sarah murmured, looking up at the contrail. Parting from her soldiers, she walked a short way up the mountain. The wind was harsh beyond of the cover of the trees. Sarah found a small bluff, capped with snow, about forty meters above the landing sight. Standing on its edge, she pushed her hair back, held it in a loose ponytail, and looked into the stars. The orbital platform was about 30 degrees above the horizon, and a little larger than her hand held at arm's length. Sarah's ocular implants produced a mechanical hum as they magnified the image and brought it into focus. Even at this distance, she could tell that the platform had been embalmed with Zerg creep. Keeping a weary distance in high orbit, a few Protoss warships hung suspended, identifiable by their golden glitter. And the Zerg swarm, a sprawling maroon cloud, spread around the planet, forming an arc which stretched from horizon to horizon. But the swarm was not their concern, at least for the time being.

Sarah pulled her mask back over her face and activated its optical gear, further enhancing her vision. It allowed her greater magnification while simultaneously extending her field of vision. It also highlighted movement and included a distance gauge. She then began to systematically scan the sky. Hopefully, the Zerg would not send down a search party. It was conceivable that they had bigger fish to fry than the crew of a lone Terran dropship. It was the one remaining protection Kerrigan and her men had: their relative insignificance. If the remaining Protoss, perhaps, or what was left of the confederate resistance acted up again, it might hold the Zerg attention long enough to disappear into the backwaters until a chance to jump the planet presented itself. Deep down, however, she knew they were not escaping.

Sarah spotted a distinct flurry of movement. Her implants brought the image into focus, and their last hope just became longer. It was a small detachment of Zerg fliers approaching through the atmosphere, about 130 kilometers away. A queen, six Mutalisks, she counted, and five, no, four overlords, probably each concealing a battalion of underlings. They seemed to be following the residual ion trail left by the dropship's engines, and approaching fast. There was no time to waste.

Kerrigan instantly whipped off her mask. "They're on to us!" she shouted down to her men. She sprung from the bluff, landing in a spray of snow, and dashed down the slope "Move your sorry asses, we're gonna have company here in under an hour! Quickly, into the woods! Run like I'm gonna fuck you for it!" That remark prompted a laugh, at least.

"You heard her, let's move," a marine said, laughing as Kerrigan skidded to a stop in the midst of her crew. "Hell, I'd take the whole swarm to get those legs apart."

"Glad to hear it." Sarah flashed a smile. The six of them then filed into the tall, dark forest, moving swiftly as night fell on this part of Tarsonis.

They held a loose formation as they walked. They didn't dare turn on a light, and as such, were forced to walk in the dark. Kerrigan's head gear was equipped with night vision, but the marines were not so lucky, stumbling half blind through the forest and the odd clearing. Occasionally, a gruff obscenity would sound through the forest as one of the marines walked into a branch or a root or an abnormally large insect. They were not moving as fast as Kerigan would have liked; she could have covered twice as much ground alone, but abandoning these marines was out of the question.

They had been walking for thirty-seven minutes when Sarah heard the sound of large wings beating in the distance. She called her company to a halt. The wing beats drew closer. There were multiple pares of wings. A harsh screech resonated over the highlands. Roosting birds lifted in a flurry from the treetops, disturbed by the unfamiliar noise. All eyes had turned upwards. Then, like wraiths in the night, four shadows flashed overhead, moving swiftly towards the mountains: the Mutalisks.

Silence for a moment. The marines held their breath. "Are they gone?" someone whispered.

"Shhh…" Kerrigan hissed, listening hard. She would know the sound when she heard it: the soft, pneumonic bellow made when air was released from an overlord's gas sack. Silence. A Mutalisk's cry drifted harshly over the treetops. No overlords were nearby, or at least within earshot. Though the tree cover was enough to conceal them from Mutalisks, an overlord would detect them in a matter of seconds. Their antenna could see through a cloaking field; foliage would. Fortunately, overlords did not move as quickly as Mutalisks or queens, and would be slow and ponderous in a search.

Yet Sarah could not be so certain. The Zerg behemoths had a long sensory range, likely farther than she could hear. Foreboding nagged at her insides. Feelings like this came rarely, but often meant something, a message from her psionic awareness. Sarah quieted her mind, and opened herself to the currents and eddies of thought. Immediately she became aware of her comrades, the marines. They were scared, tense, and nervous, as anyone in their position would be. She pushed the limits of her mind beyond them. And she encountered another conscious, far closer than she could have imagined. It was vast, enormous, almost too large for her mind for her mind to capture, and intelligent, fiercely intelligent. And every grain of its terrible intellect was focused on her, on seeking her, on finding her. Personally. Not the humans who escaped from the platform, but her.

Sarah gasped, withdrawing her mind to the relative safety of her skull. And then she herd it, the steady, wet swoosh of an overlord's gas sack. Through the treetops, she could see the dark outline of the behemoth against the stars, hovering ominously towards them, silently regarding from the air. Shit. "Our cover's blown, boys!" She yelled, swinging her gun skyward, "Bring that sucker down!"

Kerrigan fired a shot off into the overlord's hide. "What?" "Shit!" The marines turned their guns upward as well, unloading rounds into the floating husk. A deep, rumbling bellow issued from its cavernous throat as the Terran bullets brought its carcass into the treetops.

"Run!" Sarah shouted, "Scatter! Everyone in a different direction."

Immediately as she said this, two glave wurms came crashing through the trees. They did not hit anybody, but left deep hollows in the nearby tree trunks. Already, Kerrigan was processing the tactical information. The Mutalisks were not a real threat, as they could not aim their attacks or even track them without the help of an overlord. One of the overlords was accounted for, but the others were still at large, each presumably with a bellyful of underlings. Those were the real danger, as ground units could both track and outpace her little crew. But the overlords would have to find a clear place to land in order to unload those underlings. They still had a chance.

After a minute or two of hard running, Sara slowed to a jog. The forest was now eerily silent. Shafts of starlight hung suspended, filtering through the leaves. And then there was a scream. It was one of her men, now far away. She gripped her gun, senses at their most alert. A small dash of movement flickered at the edge of her field of view. She snapped around, but found nothing. A twig snapped behind her. Leaves rustled. Her breathing accelerated. She whirled around at each new noise, but never found a thing. Then another human scream rang, over a slimy, wet, clicking hiss. They must have landed closer than I thought.

Suddenly, Sarah found herself surrounded by a red cloud, which seemed to leap from the forest floor. A dark swarm. She crouched, listening, her eyes rendered useless. Sounds were coming from all around. The mind of the enemy hovered over her, overbearing, penetrating. Sarah dropped her gun and reached for the long, slender combat knife strapped to her thigh. Eyes closed, she searched with her other senses for her enemy. Something moved to her right. She snapped about to meet it. But then a long, sharp needle punctured her chest from behind, and the world went black.

"The Zerg… My god, no! It can't be."

"Obviously you are confused about what can and cannot be. I am the mind of the Zerg, the eternal will of the swarm."

"That means that I'm…"

"Under my judgment."

"Infested."

"If you wish to call it that."

"No! I'll never serve you. Never! Death first. You'll never turn me into one of them."

"Why do you detest me so? Perhaps you do not know me well enough."

"I know you. I have fought you in battle, and I've seen what you've done to planets and people. You are a monster. Torture me, kill me, I don't care. I'll never serve you."

"I know you in much the same way: an enemy in battle. But now we are no longer enemies, no longer in battle, and I wish to know you in a different way. You are a powerful creature, Sarah Kerrigan, capable of many things. And power begets power. At my side, we shall uncover your latent potential, and accomplish things you could never have dreamed of."

"No. I don't want that. There's nothing you can offer me."

"So ambition is no object for you. You are uncommon among your kin. Uncommon, but not rare. I am capable of satisfying other needs. The question is: what drives you, Sarah Kerrigan?"

"You could never understand."

"On the contrary, I can understand many things. It's all here, in your head…"

Sarah opened her eyes, a dull pain throbbing behind them. Disoriented, she probed her memory for the last few hours. They had taken her and sedated her, and now she was back in her cell. It was nothing out of the ordinary; the scientists were always coming and going, running experiments and tests on her. But this time something was different. Something was missing. She was naked and her hair had been shaved, but then she never wore clothes anyways (the atmosphere was controlled well enough to make garments unnecessary) and she didn't care in the slightest about her hair. But something was certainly missing, though she couldn't quite tell what.

Slowly, she heaved herself to a sitting position. The after effects of the anesthesia made her dizzy. She sat still, breathing deeply, trying to clear the fog in her mind. Gently, she ran her fingers across her scull until she found what she was looking for: one… two… three… four… five stitches that hadn't been there when she was last conscious. So it was surgery. Things then fell into place. They were going to implant something in her head… she had picked it out of their thoughts… she resisted because they were implanting a…

A telepathic inhibiter. Sarah gasped. That was what she was missing. Desperately, she extended her mind, searching for someone, anyone. There was always someone close by, a technician, or a marine. There had to be. They couldn't have taken that away from her. But she couldn't feel any thoughts outside of her own. That part of her mind felt dead. It simply wasn't there any more. With a small whimper, she sunk her face into her hands. They had taken away her telepathy. No…

She was alone.

Sobs wracked her bare ribs and tears seeped through her fingers. She squeezed herself into the a corner, drawing her blanket towards her. Her world now ended at the walls of her cell. No longer could she pass hours in the minds of others, staving of boredom and insanity. A scientist entered her cell with a plate of food, but to Sarah he was just a hologram, without thoughts or emotions or anything else recognizably human. She couldn't tell what plans the scientist had for her. For all she knew, the food could be poisoned! Nothing could be trusted anymore.

Through frightened tears, Sarah stared at the tray of mush placed on the floor. Why would they want to kill her? she assured herself. Not allowing herself time to hesitate, she shoved a portion of food into her mouth. It tasted normal, but she couldn't bring herself to swallow. She was at their mercy, she realized. Before, at the very least, could sense what was going on around her, and that knowledge gave her power. Now she had nothing. She needed a miracle. But what hope was there? Taking a deep breath, she swallowed the rations in her mouth, and reached hesitantly for another bite.

Then, suddenly, the lights went out. Sarah started knocking her tray to the floor. For a moment, she stood silent and still in the dark, listening. Subtle tremors ran through the ground. Then a gigantic explosion rocked the structure, knocking Sarah onto her bed. Chaotic noises began to leak through the walls of her cell. Gunshots, footsteps, and jumbled shouting.

A few minutes later, a siren was added to the noise, "Evacuation protocol delta initiated. All personnel to their designated areas. All experiments are to be terminated or salvaged. All personnel to their designated areas."

Someone must be attacking the base, Sarah realized. It was the only thing that made sense. The only reason they would terminate experiments is if there was some risk they would fall into enemy hands. She also knew all to well that she was one of the "experiments" mentioned in the broadcast. Now was her opportunity to escape this place, while the installation was under attack. She would never again be subject to their tests. She could go where she wanted, do what she wanted, and remove the inhibitors the scientists had placed on her mind. But the door was locked… It didn't matter. They would be coming for her soon in any case. Sarah knew the layout of her cell perfectly. In the darkness, she positioned herself to the side of the door, crouching with her fingers bared, and waited for the door to open, all the while listening to the sounds of the battle.

After a time there was a lull in the melee. Someone, it seemed, had established themselves victor, at least for the moment. But Sarah was patient. Her training had taught her to wait. Maybe the door would open, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe the lights would come back on, and life would continue as it always had, training, tests, experiments, drugs, and more training, as if they had never gone out. Maybe.

But then, finally, with a resistant hiss, the door slid open. Two flashlight beams fell through, quivering on the opposite wall. Sarah held her breath. "Where is she? Are you sure this is the right room?" said a gruff, male voice.

"She should be in here," said another man "I'll check."

Sarah made a silent shudder, every muscle flexing in anticipation. And then she pounced, ten years of training and conditioning kicking into high gear. In a wild blur, her fingers grasped the man's jaw as he entered the room, and with a sharp twist, snapped around his neck. He fell to the ground with an unfeeling thump, but Sarah's attention had already turned to the next man. She lunged towards him, his flashlight searing her retinas. Though she could not find a hold on the man's throat, the force of her assault sent them both tumbling to the floor, with her on top. He held up his hands, trying to protect his neck and face.

Sarah still couldn't see, so she punched blindly with all of the strength in her naked body. At least two of her blows landed; Sarah could feel bones shift and crunch beneath her knuckles. But before she could hurt him any more, or begin to run, she was lifted into the air by a pair of icy metal hands. She screamed, struggled, and kicked, but they held her tight. Not good. "Feisty little bitch, this one," said a voice from directly behind her.

Sarah realized there was no way to break his grip. The man was wearing a combat suit, which enhanced his natural strength. Four strong headlamps poured light into her face and stung her eyes like sand. Squinting, she could see the outline of two marines behind the searing radiance. "She killed Lester," said another marine, kneeling over the man whose neck had been snapped.

"Leave him," said the man who Sarah had been punching. She noticed with grim satisfaction the blood flowing freely from his nose. "We have run before the terrorists get here" He spat a gelatinous glob of red from his mouth, "Make sure the girl doesn't get captured. She's more valuable than all of you put together."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the dark hallway. Sarah heard gunshots and metal footsteps from the floor above. "They've broken the barricade!" one of the marines shouted, "Let's go! Let's go!"

The company, maybe fourteen marines and a few civilians, Sarah counted, began moving. The naked girl was slung, rather unceremoniously, under the arm of the marine carrying her. The man's hydraulic combat suit allowed him to move very quickly, and the jostling soon conjured a splitting pain in the girl's head, especially around her stitches. She couldn't tell how long they ran for. But they were going to escape. Sarah's hope began to fade away as the marine carried her back into captivity.

But then all of a sudden, there was a blaze of gunfire from ahead. Sarah wasn't sure how it started, for her marine was near the back of the formation, but the next thing she new, she had been dropped to the ground, her soldier charging forward to engage this new enemy. "We've been cut off!" she heard someone yell, above the explosive rattle of rifle fire.

It was perfect! Sarah scrambled to her feet and pelted back down the dark hallway, away from the skirmish. No one would notice her departure, not with a battle raging in the other direction. But just as she was about to turn a corner, she felt a flashlight fall on her back. She wouldn't gain anything by looking back. Two bullets ricocheted passed her head as she dove around the turn. "Shit," she muttered.

"Someone, stop the girl!" she heard. The voice was of the man whose nose she had broken. She pushed herself faster. The only light came from emergency strips, which lined the hallway. The bobbing beam of the man's flashlight grew more intense on the opposite wall, until he rounded the corner, and Sarah was again bathed in its revealing light. She dropped to the floor just as more gunshots zipped above her. Another bend was only a few paces away. If she could only make it…

She was hit just as she was rounding the turn. There was a sudden deadness, followed by a searing, wet heat in her upper thigh, as a piece of hypersonic lead imbedded itself in her muscle. In spite of herself, Sarah gasped. Desperately, she pulled herself upright, and began limping away, hopefully towards the terrorists, who were now her only hope. "It's over!" the man called shakily from corridor. He knew she had been hit, "Come back now and I won't have to kill you."

But Sarah knew there was no going back. Now, it was either freedom or death, and every step she took brought her closer to freedom. The man was weak, she could tell, she told herself. Blood loss must have been getting to him. Another bend in the hallway represented another few seconds. But every moment she grew weaker. Her leg was leaving a trail of blood along the floor. She couldn't go on. At long last, she collapsed, a pool of wetness expanding around her. In a matter of seconds, which felt like an eternity, the man overtook her. His flashlight flooded her eyes, blinding her to all else.

"You've lead me on quite a chase, little ghost," the man said. She didn't need telepathy to tell that he was gloating. "You could never have known your potential, and now, it must end." He laughed, and Sarah thought she heard him cough up a few droplets of blood. "You were the greatest of our experiments, Sarah. You would have made a good servant of the confederacy. Goodbye."

There was a gunshot.

And the man keeled over, a bullet hole gaping from his open forehead.

Sarah heard footsteps from behind her. Feebly, she looked backwards. "What do we have here?" said the soldier standing behind her, pistol in hand, "A damsel in distress? Simmons, Carson, get this girl to the med. unit."

"Yes sir," they said, lifting Sarah into the air, and tying a cord around her bleeding leg to cut off circulation to the rupture.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked hazily. She was going into shock.

"My name, He said, "is Arcturus Mengsk, of The Sons of Korhal."

Consciousness was slipping away like the sand in an hourglass, as the darkness of the corridor bled into an even deeper darkness. The last thing Sarah remembered before passing out was his name, "Arcturus Mengsk," repeated countless times on the broken record of her memory, as the last grains of thought fell through. My hero. My savior.

"See? Simple Loyalty. Gratitude. He saved you; you felt the need to repay him. I am not unfamiliar with human motives."

"You have no Idea how I felt about him. I loved him. I would have died for him."

"Apparently you did. It is tragic, that such strong devotion could go so thoroughly punished."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you still not remember? I witnessed you fearless charge into the path of the Protoss, on my behalf, as it were. My broods on Tarsonis owe your men a debt of gratitude. But do you not remember who it was that cast you so carelessly into my jaws?"

"No. He wouldn't have."

"You were betrayed, ironically enough, by your savior, Sarah Kerrigan. Do you doubt your own memory?"

"Sensors indicate that the remnants of the Protoss forward fleet are retreating to a position in higher orbit. They have abandoned their assault on the primary Zerg hive." The voice of the automated adjutant buzzed in Sarah's ear.

Sarah smiled. "We're almost done, boys. We've beaten them," she said into the comm. channel. A weary cheer arose from Kerrigan's squad, who were scouring the rubble of the Protoss base for salvage.

The battle had been costly for her strike force, but had gone far better than both the commander and Raynor had expected. She would allow the Protoss to retreat, for her mission was to prevent them from engaging the Zerg. Anything else would fall comfortably into the category of "unnecessary risk".

She had to admit that, though she disagreed with the intent of the mission, part of her was looking forward to showing up Raynor back on the command ship. For all of his blustering melodrama, and gallant concern, she had made it back safely. "I never thought of you as anyone's martyr," he had said. She chuckled to herself. Of course, Raynor would probably just be overjoyed to see her again and wouldn't even notice a coy "I told you so." He would just laugh it off, holding her in his arms. A sense of humor like Raynor's doesn't allow for too much pride. It was another one of the things she loved about him.

But the battle was not over yet. The rear guard of the Protoss fleet was still strong, and was deployed over the platform, forming a blockade. It was nothing that Kerrigan's strike force couldn't break through, however. The space platform was large, and the Protoss forces were thinly spread. A swift push at one of the formation's weak points should tear a hole wide enough for their transports to slip through. Once the dropships were safe, the fighters could look after themselves. Pie compared to the battle which had just been fought.

"Commander, this is Kerrigan. We've neutralized the Protoss," said Kerrigan, "Take us home."

"Yes ma'm. A dropsip will be there shortly to pick you guys up. You'll get a warm welcome back on board," The commander said, laughing.

"Well, we owe it all to you," Kerrigan bantered, "Wait, hold for a moment, I've got another message." She tapped the side of her helmet, switching the channel, "I hear you."

From the other end, there was heavy panting, and gunfire. "Report soldier," Kerrigan said sharply, "Where are you? What's going on?"

The man on the other end found it within him to talk, "Sir, the zerg are attacking us at base. There're too many of them. We can't hold out much longer-" There was a scream, and then static.

"Commander!" Kerrigan said, " Commander, Are you reading this? There's a wave of Zerg advancing on our backwards position. We need immediate evac."

"Yes, I see them. We'll be there in a moment. Helmsman, bring the fleet into position to engage the Protoss. Call our transports. Rendezvous will be at-" And then the commander too was cut off.

"Sir? Magistrate?" She asked. Maybe there was an equipment malfunction?

Silence. Then, suddenly, Jim Raynor's voice cut through the static. "What? You're not just going to leave them?"

"Jim, what are you talking about?" Sarah blurted. "Uh, Boys, how 'bout that evac?"

"Damn you, Arcturus, don't do this!" Raynor said, as if he hadn't heard her.

Sarah tapped her communicator desperately, "Arcturus? Commander? Jimmy? What the hell is going on up there?"

No response from above. They couldn't have… No…

Then the commander's voice sounded in her headphones. "Kerrigan, Sarah, are you there? I'm sorry, I… The dropship is still coming to pick you up. I've given it a heading. Your… your best chance is to head for the planet. I've found two good landing sites… You can find cover, try to disappear into the terrain… I'm sorry… Goodbye…"

And then he closed the channel.

Sarah suppressed the lump rising in her throat. She was a soldier, trained to face death. Slowly, she toggled her communicator. "This is Kerrigan, calling any Sons of Korhal personnel."

A voice responded instantly. "This is sub-lieutenant Fredric, sir." Sarah could hear the battle raging in the background.

"What is your status, lieutenant?"

The soldier laughed grimly, with the calm of someone who knew his fate. "We're screwed, sir. I know I shouldn't say that, but I doubt any of us are gonna live to get that court marshal. The Zerg just keep coming. Our base is lost, and our last line of defense is failing. Recommend all our forward troops get the hell out of here while they still can, sir. Our transports are rallying in another location. We'll hold 'em back as long as we can."

Kerrigan released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding "As you were soldier," she said, "Good luck."

And then she switched off her radio. She could see the transport approaching over the platform. There was no sense in staying here. The commander had said their best chance was on the planet. It was the one hope that she clung to, that maybe they could escape, and even return to help Mengsk and Raynor with whatever new battle, new enemy they were facing. It was but a fantasy. They would probably be tracked down by the Zerg within a matter of days, if not hours. But it was what fate had tossed them.

"Men," She called to her infantry squad, "It seems there's been a change of plan." And then, quietly, deafly, dispassionately, she explained that they would not be returning home.

They had the sense not to ask why.

"The treachery of Arcturus Mengsk doomed you, Sarah. Surely you cannot deny it now."

"I never thought he would... I thought he had an angle. He always had an angle. I trusted him..."

"And to think that you pledged your life to this man, only to have it wasted, lost, in the sea of his ambition. Why are you so silent? Have you nothing to say?"

"... No."

"You died the moment he betrayed you, Sarah Kerrigan. He was your life, and he cut you loose. He let you fall away like severed nail clippings. What I offer is a new life. You shall be born again, to a new existence, filled with purpose and meaning. I will never betray you. I will never sever myself from you, never cut you adrift. I will love you."

"I… I don't know. No, you're evil. You can't... I'm confused."

"What is there left for you in your old life? I can tell. There is something that you don't want to let go of. You can feel it in your heart, deep down. A tether, an anchor, tying you to your experience. You know what I am talking about."

"Jimmy…"

They were terrible dreams, dreams of the void, of sickening creatures, descending, searching for her. A high judge, malevolent and shrouded loomed above her. Slimy tentacles held her to a surgical table, like back at the confederate lab, but instead of a scalpel, it was a psi blade that cut into her.

Kerrigan woke up, breathing hard. She blinked, her eyes becoming accustomed to the darkness. She pressed a hand to her beating chest, feeling the rhythm of her heart, which always seemed to calm her. Slowly, the sense of dread and unease began to slip away, and her sweat welcomed the cool air. Dreams like that one came and went for Sarah. "Jimmy?" She said quietly, turning over and pushing herself up from under the sheets of the bed.

Jim Raynor grunted in his sleep, but didn't wake up. He was lying next to Sarah, half of his chest covered by the sheet. His face was tucked into a faint smile, and his breathing was slow and steady. His was dreaming about her. She giggled a little, staring at him sleep. Then, mimicking the actions of her dream self, she bent over, slowly pressing herself against his chest, and with the lightest touch, kissed him on the mouth.

Ah, he was awake now. She felt his lips bend into a grin, before kissing her back. "mmm. To what do I owe this early morning pleasure?" he said in-between kisses, wrapping his arms tightly around her back.

"I had a bad dream," Sarah said, allowing herself to pout a little. She snuggled closer, nestling her head in the crux of his neck with a soft, dreamy sigh.

There was something new about Sarah that she was only just discovering inside herself. She did not know if it had always been there, or if something about Raynor had only recently created it. But regardless, it went against everything she had ever known. All through her life she had prided herself on being strong and self reliant. She could scout out an enemy base, and deliver the information back to HQ. She could infiltrate a missile turret complex without being seen. She could kill a roomful of marines with her bare hands. She could endure days without food, and nights without sleep. She could command troops in battle and lead them to victory… But it all seemed to melt away when Raynor held her in his arms. It was like nothing else in the universe mattered except for the two of them. The feeling was new and intoxicating. Something deep inside of her craved the feminine experience, made her want to just let herself go and be vulnerable in the care another. All the while knowing, trusting, that she would be cared for. It was more than Kerrigan could ever have expected, better than she could ever have dreamed.

But there was something special about Raynor too. Sarah certainly had experience with men. She had spent the last sixteen years of her life primarily surrounded by deprived soldiers. But not once had she met anyone quite like Jimmy. He was strong, resourceful, certainly capable, and had a sort of frank, tragic humor about him. But there was also hidden a sweet, tender side: the thing that made his ears turn red when he found out she was a telepath. It was intangible, indescribable, this charm that Raynor seemed to have. But it made all of the difference in the world, as Kerrigan had only just discovered.

Raynor kissed the top of her head and stroked her long, crimson hair, just holding her close. "What do you think it means?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know. It was only a dream," She sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Sarah grinned impishly, bringing her lips back to Raynor's. "Well, there are things I'd rather be doing." She winked.

That was all of the encouragement Jimmy needed. With a surge and a heave, he flipped them over so that he was on the top, lips caressing the underside of her jaw. A thrill shot up through Kerrigan's body, evoking a giddy gasp.

And then, at that moment, the view screen on the near wall began to beep, signaling an incoming transmission. The lovers froze, and then, as the communicator became louder and more obnoxious, began to laugh. Kerrigan glanced over, "It's the commander. Suppose we'd better take this."

"Doesn't he know the meaning of privacy?" Raynor said in mock aggravation, rolling off of Kerrigan and grabbing the boxer shorts on the floor by the bed. Sarah, who lacked immediate access to undergarments, had to make do with pulling the bed sheet up in front of her. A few seconds later, they opened a channel.

The commander's eyes widened when they established visual contact, "I'm- I'm sorry- Lieutenant, Captain, am I interrupting something?"

"This had better be good, commander." Jim said.

"Ah," a smile flickered only briefly across the Commander's face, "I'm afraid it is, Jim. A small strike force, under General Duke, broke through the confederate defenses and planted a PSI emitter on Tarsonis."

Raynor's jaw fell open. Sarah's face remained firm, but her aura darkened ominously. It was as if a light from behind cast long shadows across her face.

"I swear," the commander went on, "I had no idea what was going on. This was not carried out by my forces. I just thought you two should know."

"Who authorized the use of PSI emitters?" demanded Kerrigan.

"I did, lieutenant," said Arcturus Mengsk, his visage flickering to life in the adjacent view screen, almost daring someone to take opposition. He had aged considerably since the day when he had save Kerrigan from the barrel of a Confederate gun. Wrinkles had caved in, his stubble had gone from brown to gray, and his skin had taken on additional weight. But his eyes still held captive a passionate flame, now more intense than ever.

"What?!" Kerrigan took his challenge. "The Confederates on Antiga were bad enough, but now you're going to use the Zerg against an entire planet? This is insane!" She stormed off to the bed, strangely out of breath, the sheet still wrapped around her.

Raynor, however, still stood there, "She's right, man. Think this through." He said.

"I have thought it through. Believe me," he said in a dangerous way that rested the matter instantly. "But I have new orders for you. Commander, you listen to this too. Sensors have picked up several dozen Protoss warships descending upon Tarsonis, heading directly for the primary Zerg Hive. If they engage the Zerg, the Confederates may escape. Commander, I want you to send Lieutenant Kerrigan with a strike force to engage the Protoss. Captain Raynor and General Duke will stay behind with the command ship."

Then Raynor snapped. "Hell! First you sell out every person on this world to the Zerg, then you ask us to go up against the Protoss? And now you're going to send Kerrigan down there with no backup?"

"I have absolute confidence in Kerrigan's ability to hold off the Protoss." Arcturus said, anger simmering beneath his exterior, "You all have your orders. I expect you to carry them out." He paused for a moment, waiting for anyone to protest. No one did. Arcturus nodded, and then signed out, his view screen going black.

"This is bullshit," Raynor muttered.

"Calm down Jimmy," the commander said, "Kerrigan? If you want to go down, I will command your strike force from here. I am against this, but I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."

Raynor also turned towards Sarah. She was sitting on the bed in silence. A thousand responses clamored inside her skull. A thousand possibilities flickered before her eyes. She came to a decision, slowly. "I'm going down there. Arcturus knows what he's doing. I can't back out on him now." Almost as she said it, a new resolve blossomed within her. She looked slowly up into Jim Raynor's eyes, knowing what she would see.

Silently, he sent her an intense, but cold telepathic message, though the look on his face said it for him. "Funny, I never thought of you as anyone's martyr."

"Well then, I shall brief the strike force," The commander said, ignorant of the Raynor's wordless message. "I expect you in the loading bay in thirty five minutes. Over and out."

Alone at last, Sarah stood up, allowing her sheet to drop. She walked towards her closet where she kept her combat suit. Raynor shook his head, "Why are you doing this, Kerrigan?"

She didn't answer, instead pulling on her skin-tight circulation suit.

But Raynor persisted, "Look, I know about your past. I mean, I've heard the rumors; the things you haven't told me. I know you were a part of those experiments with the Zerg, and that Mengsk came and saved you, but, damn Sarah, you don't owe him this! Hell, I've saved your butt plenty of times!" he added with a faint chuckle.

"Jimmy," She replied, forcing a small laugh, strapping on the outer layer of her combat suit, "drop the knight-in-shining-armor routine. It suits you sometimes. Just not ... not now. I know what I'm doing. The Protoss are coming to destroy the entire planet, not just the Zerg. I know that because ... well, I just know it. I am a Ghost, remember? Once we've dealt with the Protoss, we can do something about the Zerg." She then added at Raynor's skeptical look, "I think that was what my dream was about. Arcturus will come around. I know he will."

That was the last of her armor.

Raynor spoke quietly as Sarah walked out the door. "I hope you're right, darling. Good hunting…"

And then the door closed behind her. For all of her will power and resolution, uncertainty still squirmed inside of her. This was a risky maneuver, and what for? To prevent a few confederate officials from escaping. She would have do dive between the Protoss and Zerg, outmanned and outgunned on both fronts, and somehow prevent them from killing each other without getting killed in the process, caught between the hammer and an anvil, a rock and a hard place. She had experience fighting the Zerg, but the Protoss were another matter. Lord only knew what kind of technology, what kind of power, they could wield.

But Mengsk was confidant none the less. He had commanded her ever since she gained her freedom, and had never once gambled with her life. He was a brilliant tactician; the best humanity had to offer. He saved her from death and torture. He knew her better than she knew herself. How could she go so far with him, only to turn her back on him? And what for? Petty, physical love for another man. The fact was that it was her duty to serve the command of Arcturus Mengsk, and she would not allow anything to get in her way. He'll come around…

I know he will…

"I see, so you did have a life outside of Arcturus Mengsk, despite it all. You still care for this man, Jimmy Raynor? But is seems you have already rejected him."

"I did. I betrayed him. I should have listened, but I didn't. But I love him, lord, I love him."

"I see, but what came of it? Could he rescue you from Mengsk? Could he rescue you from me?"

"No, but…"

"He was weak, Sarah. You were in danger, and he could not save you. Try as he might, Jimmy could only stand and watch as your life was peeled from you. You needed him, and he wasn't there. He was feeble, pathetic, human. He can never give you what you deserve, what you need. He is only human."

"But… he loves me."

"And I love you, Sarah Kerrigan. Do you not feel it? Open yourself, see what is before you."

"I… It's… No!"

"Come now, Sarah, you know it's true. You can feel my love lapping outside of your shell like a warm ocean. Experience the warmth of our intimacy."

"Oh, It's… Wonderful!"

"Now you are beginning to see. I can know you better than anyone. I can see your mind. I will protect you when you are in danger. I am far stronger than you can comprehend. I will always be there for you. And I will always love you. Above all else, let that be true. What they offer is a life of servitude- "

"- Ending with a knife in the back."

"Your eyes are opening. Do you trust me?"

"It's becoming so clear now!"

"Release your inhibitions, your doubts, your worries. Cast of the shackles of your former life. Embrace the gifts I place before you- "

"You love me. I can feel it, you love me!"

"- Everlasting life, and the eternal glory of the swarm."

"My life is the swarm."

"They cast you away. I have brought you in again. What they have wrought shall be their undoing."

"They will suffer for what they did to me!"

"Their folly is our fortune. I know you better than they ever could. I love you more than he could hope to."

"Oh, father, I am ready! I am ready to be born anew."

"At long last, we are reunited. Arise my daughter. Arise… Kerrigan!"

"By your will father, I live to serve. Let all who oppose the overmind feel the wrath of the swarm!"

…

"Mother of god… Sarah, what have they done to you?"