Chapter Seven: Umoja

The inside of the Gun Cutter hummed as they descended down toward the skies of Umoja.

Serena checked through the plans, wondering if she'd made any mistakes. The vessel was packed to maximum capacity with equipment and elite marines. The best in the fleet, actually. Beyond, in the skies far above, the Dominion Military was preparing. Their plan for the greatest evacuation in human history and the biggest hustle.
Dropships were mustering by the border.

And Emperor Mengsk looked oddly conflicted.

Serena sighed. "Are you alright, Arcturus?"

"Yes, yes, I am fine," said Arcturus. "This meeting was going to have to happen eventually. I might as well get it over with."

"Whatever you say," said Serena.

The Gun Cutter went down across the green fields of Umoja. As they did, Serena saw several cities as well as military bases. She wondered if and when the prophesied attack would come. If it didn't, their precaution would have been a preemptive strike.

Serena reminded herself that Umoja more than had it coming. If they hadn't betrayed the Dominion, Schezar would have had no choice but to make terms. The terrans would have been fully united against the Overmind. A lot of people would still be alive.

So as long as they focused only on military targets. They minimized longterm damage; they were not like the Confederacy. Then again, that was a low bar to clear.

In either event, it was too late to go back now.

The doors opened, and they moved down the plant, accompanied by many, many marines. The neo-steel, portable defenses, were kept in reserve—no sense in breaking secrecy. Looking out, Serena saw a pleasant-looking, elaborate residence. It was made of brick instead of neo-steel, and there were gardens and fields of flowers.
How impractical. Even on Tarsonis, people never made things from brick.

And then Serena noticed a man at the gates, waiting for them. He had no guards but wore a sword at his side. He was built like a Greek God and stood with the discipline to nod respectfully as they came forward.

"Emperor Mengsk, we've awaited your arrival," he said. "My name is William Mark; it's an honor to make your acquaintance."

Serena felt for her gun as Mengsk did not show his surprise. "William Mark? I must say I'm surprised to find you on Umojan."

"We've been attempting to negotiate their entry into the UED for some time," said William. "Since there was a meeting, I thought it would be good to meet my enemy in person."

Mengsk smiled at Serena's surprise. "I hope you don't expect an easy surrender."

"Of course not," said Mark as the gates opened. "The human spirit is not one that can be tamed, only channeled.

"Still, perhaps we should go indoors. I only just arrived myself."

"With no guards?" asked Mengsk.

"Of course not," said Mark. "One does not traditionally bring an honor guard to social occasions."

Mengsk motioned to the soldiers, and they put up their guns.

Then they entered.

Within was a very beautiful entryway with gardens on either sides. All sorts of the strange and beautiful plants were around it. It was something like the Gardens of the Conclave had been, albeit far less complete. Serena remembered those, and dearly wished she'd had time to see more of them in better times.

At some point when all this blood and death had ended, she could retire. She would have liked to walk them without fear of alien gods. But it was all ashes, and the people of Aiur had fled to other worlds. It did not seem now that anyone would live in Aiur in Serena's lifetime, let alone rebuild those gardens. She wondered if anyone now knew what exactly had gone into them. Perhaps there were schematics?

It didn't matter.

Arcturus and Serena made their way into what seemed a party, much like Serena had gone too many times. Then she'd been one more disposable women to be used as breeding stock. Now she was an accomplished general, and yet nothing seemed to change. Different words were used for the same abuses of power in new form.

One man congratulated another on his tax-deductible contributions to charity. Another on achieving a pay raise. A third on doing such an excellent job with his business. Euphemisms in place of morality.

What hadn't changed was that everyone was still trying to put the knife in.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Serena no longer felt bad about what they were doing. If no one threw another party for aristocrats for the duration of the universe, it would be too soon. She and Arcturus would drown these spoiled aristocrats in their own wine.

And for the first time in her life, Serena understood true hatred.

It was a cold thing, not shouting or screaming, demanding no immediate action. No, it was a mindset, a determination to burn everything to the ground. To be willing to hurt herself to hurt these smug and high-handed people. People who had destroyed whole worlds rather than change how they did business.

"Julia," said Arcturus Mengsk.

Serena looked and saw a woman who might have once been very beautiful. But she was walking with a cane, despite being only middle-aged. Her skin showed signs of treatment. She looked at Arcturus with resentment. "Arcturus."

For a moment, Arcturus Mengsk stayed silent. "...I should have come back to meet you far earlier."

"It's a little late for that," said Julia Pasteur bitterly.

"I know," said Mengsk. "However, the opportunity has passed. For what it is worth, I intend to try to make up for what time has been lost."

Julia Pasteur shifted and looked to Serena. "Who is this?"

"I am Commander Serena Calabas of the Dominion Fleet," replied Serena, offering a hand.

"I'm pleased to meet you," said Julia, eyeing her with suspicion.

Did she believe Serena to be Arcturus' mistress? What an utter misreading. Serena had a far deeper relationship than something as superficial as marriage. They worked together in the same office, after all. Which with Arcturus was a far more intimate relationship. Sex was just a luxury to the man, while power was his true goal, albeit for the betterment of mankind.

"Serena, this is Julia Pasteur, my wife," said Arcturus quickly. He was making a point.

"Arcturus..." said Julia, shifting.

"For all intents and purposes," said Mengsk quickly. "Events conspired that things could never be made official. But, you are the mother of my legitimate heir, so it is only natural."

"Of course," said Julia.

Arcturus had probably realized he'd said something wrong. The man was a brilliant socializer, but he had no true talent for relating to people beyond use. "Julia, you look far better than when we last met."

"I have been using some new treatments. Where is Valerian?" asked Julia, looking around in suspicion.

"I've posted him on the flagship above," admitted Mengsk. "I don't want to have the entire royal family of my empire in one place."

"Ah, yes, of course," said Julia. "Well, Father will be disappointed, I'm sure. He was looking forward to seeing his grandson.

"Serena Calabas, I've heard a great deal about you.

"They say you led charges on Sunken Colonies on Mar Sara."

"Led is too strong a word. I merely gave the order and was in the line," said Serena. "I think all commanders should do it for their first mission. It makes them appreciate the effect their orders have.

"Though I haven't done anything of the sort since Antiga Prime."

"You taught my son, I'm told," said Julia.

"Taught may be the wrong word," said Serena flatly.

"Yes, he was quite descriptive," said Julia, shifting. "Tell me, are you married?"

"No, and I probably never will be," admitted Serena. "There are more than enough hostile forces in the universe in need of utter destruction. My only marriage is to the Dominion itself.

"And I assure you, that is far larger than every one of us.

"Even Arcturus is disposable."

"I see," said Julia. "Well, perhaps we should meet the other guests."

"This is a somewhat sparse reception, don't you think?" asked Arcturus suddenly.

Serena realized this was the case. Yes, there were plenty of businessmen, but not nearly enough to fill the room. She wondered if Julia knew what was happening. Probably not.

"Father wanted to keep this small scale, in light of the recent crisis." was what Julia said.

"Of course," said Arcturus.

Serena broke off from the two of them as they went and mingled. Julia seemed to enjoy it, oddly enough. Mengsk, at the very least, was able to pretend to enjoy it.
Personally, Serena looked out the window, waiting impatiently for the shooting to start.

"Serena Calabas," said William, coming to stand next to her.

"Captain William Mark of the UED," said Serena. She realized he was as close to tolerable company as she was likely to find. "I hope you don't expect our discussion to be without tension. You are invading my home."

"We prefer the term liberation," admitted Mark. "In truth, however, the Dominion was never our original target. Our operations were meant to take control of the Confederacy. Then we would have utilized its resources to destroy the Overmind."

"And having come all this way, you decided to invade the people who killed it, instead?" guessed Serena, finding it too absurd not to be true.

"More or less," admitted Mark. "The Ruling Council's orders were very clear. However, we are well aware that this situation is highly unfortunate. We'd prefer to negotiate a cessation of hostilities."

Serena smiled politely. "You may feel free to leave Dominion space anytime you want."

"I think we both know that is not an option," said Mark with a shrug. "We were sent here to secure this sector, and we cannot leave until we do so. Our duty binds us to this place."

"And how precisely do you intend to deal with both the protoss and the zerg if you defeat us?" asked Serena, curious as to his answer. "Do you think that you'll be able to defeat the entire sector singlehandedly."

"Actually, yes," said Mark.

Serena didn't see an easy was to respond to that. However, Mark was eyeing her curiously and she felt suddenly self-conscious. "Tell me, why was it you turned on your government?"

"The Confederacy?" asked Serena, trying to think of a reason NOT to turn on it. "They wanted to bring me up on criminal charges for doing my job despite their efforts to sabotage me.

"So, I killed them all."

"A simplified account, I am sure," said Mark.

"More or less," admitted Serena. "I've spent the last few years fighting nonstop against one enemy after another. The UED will go the way of the Overmind and the Confederacy, I assure you."

"You underestimate our fleets," said Mark.

Serena shrugged. "It isn't your fleets, that is the decisive factor.

"You cannot control an unwilling populace indefinitely. The Confederacy tried it, and they were not the first. Britannia, the EU before them, the Chinese Communists, all of them sought to crush down the will of the people. All of them broke and are but a bad memory now.

"The Dominion has popular support. And even if you destroy our fortresses and ships, the Dominion will live on. The UED has no history here and no rightful claim. What founding myth will the puppet state you set up have?

"That you came in here guns blazing and toppled our legitimate government? Solved some problems we were fixing anyway?

"No.

"Even if you win, Captain Mark, you will be fighting here until the day you die. And after you die, how long do you think the occupation will last? It's a long back to Earth. How many fresh shipments of new troops is the UED going to send in before they give up?"

Mark had no answer to that. Serena had more to say as well. "Also, you've made no secret that your plan is to conquer the Dominion then everyone else. The laws of the balance of power are a reliable measurement. Once you topple the Dominion, you will make enemies of everyone else.

"When the Dominion became dominant, the very people who supported our rise tried to put the knife in. And we had popular support.

"This campaign of yours is doomed.

"Your Iron Fist is being plunged into salt water. It will rush, and any water it picks up will slip through its fingers."

Mark shifted and then checked his watch. "...Excuse me."

Turning, Mark departed, looking somewhat shaken.

Serena saw him departing on a speeder. Turning, she made her way over to where Mengsk was speaking with Ailin. As she did, she made several calls. "Captain Mark just left on a speeder. I'd love to think that it was because of my own eloquence, but, realistically, he had better things to do.

"Sir?"

Mengsk nodded. "Right, have our men stand ready."

"Emperor Arcturus," said a voice over Arcturus' personal communicator.

"What is it?" asked Mengsk.

"We've picked up multiple gunships descending toward our location," said a man. "They're bearing the symbol of the Confederacy of Man."

"I see," said Mengsk, as gasps came from nearby people. "Serena, you are in command."

"How could you know of this?" asked Ailin.

"I had long-range sensors installed on the Guncutter, in case," said Mengsk. "It was a rush job, but it seemed it was necessary. Ailin, I recommend you and the other guests enter your safe house immediately."

Ailin looked to one of his security personnel, then nodded. "...Right, yes, of course."

Serena raised a communicator and spoke. "Alright, men, listen up! I want the portable neo-steel shields set up on all the windows! Activate the shield transmitter and prepare to defend this manor against all comers!"

"...You're very prepared for all of this," said Ailin.

"I believe I made it perfectly clear how much I trusted you," said Serena.

Then she started preparing for battle. A few minutes later, word of the first zerg attacks came through. History truly did rhyme, didn't it?