The Protoss and Ponies escorted Kerrigan to the Khalai settlement, New Antioch, to gather whatever important information that the infested human knew. Sweetie and Aldaris continued looking at Kerrigan with great suspicion. Sweetie knew about Kerrigan’s twisted personality, thanks to the Overmind, and figured that at some point in this venture, she was going to betray them.
Sweetie had a conversation with the Overmind on the way back to New Antioch. “Does she even know that she’s supposed to save the Zerg from Amon?”
~”She does not. For her to know of her destiny at this juncture would risk Amon finding out about my plans too soon. He may be dead, but he can still act through his servants. There is at least one that he acts through. I do not know of the servant’s identity, nor do I know if there is more than one, for they are crafty and change their name whenever it suits them. I also do not know how to identify them.~
“Is there some way to undo the alterations to her personality?”
~”Nothing short of removing the Zerg mutagen coursing through her, I’m afraid. Not even I am capable of doing that even with my full power. The mark of Amon exists in the mutagen itself.”~
“I see…” Sweetie figured that fixing Kerrigan’s mind would not be easy. “Do you know of any way to reverse the infestation?”
~”None that I know of. The mutagen adapts to any attempts to cure it through any means that the Terrans are capable of. The Protoss know too little of the Zerg to hope for a successful attempt to reverse the infestation, they would rather put them out of their misery. If there is anything that could undo the transformation, it would be something of Xel’naga origin.”~
“So basically, I would need to scour the universe for something that could save her...great…” For a moment, she had considered seeing if the temple could reverse the infestation, but the Overmind quickly shot it down since the temple would obliterate Zerg and she needed something that could drain the power from Kerrigan.
Soon after arriving at New Antioch, Raszagal turned her attention to Kerrigan and spoke: “Now then, you had best explain yourself. What is this news you’ve come to give?”
“There is a new Overmind growing on Char,” Kerrigan stated.
Everyone’s reactions were a mixture of disbelief and surprise. Sweetie asked the Overmind if it was possible to recreate it body.
~”It is possible to merge a number of Cerebrates to recreate my body and ability to control Zerg. However, they cannot replicate my knowledge and experience...not without me. And I am not going back to that prison. Through you, I have felt more freedom than I have ever felt. I may have no control over you, but you are far more preferable compared to my previous conditions.”~
Kerrigan started telling lies about how the Overmind controlled her and that she was back to her old self mentally. Sweetie knew better than to believe anything she said. Aldaris made an outburst to call Kerrigan on her lies, but was silenced by Raszagal.
Sweetie had a plan, and this plan involved Aldaris. She walked up to him and spoke: “Aldaris, could you come with me? We need to have a chat,” saying the last part in a way that caused everyone that knew of her ‘chats’ to look away. Kerrigan and Raszagal looked at everyone with confusion. A brief mind reading gave Kerrigan a small understanding of why they behaved that way.
Aldaris followed Sweetie to a secluded room in the citadel. Once the doors shut behind them, Sweetie cast a privacy spell on the room to prevent any information from getting out. Aldaris was the first to speak: “Can you not see that she is--” Aldaris was interrupted when Sweetie raised her hand to him.
“I know, and I’m in full agreement with you on this,” Sweetie said.
Aldaris blinked. He took a few moments to register what Sweetie just said. She continued, “We also can’t just openly call her out on her lies. No offense, but you’re not very popular around here because of your dedication to the Conclave. There’s also something wrong with Raszagal, but I can’t confirm anything yet. Kerrigan may already have a scheme in motion, but we may also need her assistance in retrieving the Uraj and Khalis. We will play along for now but maintain our vigil until she is ready to strike at us. Meanwhile, I want you to investigate Raszagal, see if you can find something out while we are away.”
Aldaris took a moment to consider Sweetie’s proposal. “Very well, I pray that your plan succeeds.”
Sweetie nodded then undid the privacy spell before leaving the room and rejoining the others. She asked for a summary of what was explained while she and Aldaris were away.
She learned that Daggoth, a Cerebrate who was leading the renegade Swarm after the Overmind’s demise, commanded many of the renegade Cerebrates to merge into a fledgling Overmind. However, it can’t control the Swarm yet.
The Overmind in Sweetie’s head assured her that even if the infant Overmind reaches maturity, the creature would need years to become an actual threat to the Protoss.
Zeratul stated their intent to find the Uraj and Khalis crystals took precedence over dealing with the new Overmind. Kerrigan offered her services in retrieving the crystals, just as Sweetie figured she would. Raszagal encouraged everyone to allow Kerrigan to assist them.
Sweetie considered Raszagal’s trust to be given a little too easily, especially from a Protoss that supposedly only met Kerrigan today. Putting her suspicions on hold for the time being, Sweetie began assisting everyone with tracking the twin crystals.
Soon, Tassadar and Artanis locate the Uraj crystal. It was located on the planet Braxis, an arctic type planet that, according to Zeratul, used to host a Protoss colony called Khyrador until powerful psionic storms rocked the planet and forced the colonists to evacuate. A few centuries later, the Confederacy claimed the planet and named it Braxis. The Dominion claimed the planet after the fall of the Confederacy. To this day, the Uraj crystal is under guard by a Dominion force.
Upon arrival at the planet Braxis, the sensors picked up a lone Battlecruiser. Sweetie decided to check the emblem that is painted on all Battlecruisers to declare what Terran faction owns it. What Sweetie found unusual was that the emblem did not belong to the Dominion, in fact, it didn’t belong to any known Terran faction.
The usual Dominion emblem was a crimson hexagon with a black chevron inside and a black star above the chevron. This emblem was a crimson triangle pointed downward surrounded by three smaller, stretched triangles. Inside the main triangle was a golden picture of some kind of bird perched on a planet with a gold star above the bird and the star between two golden lightning bolts.
Whatever faction the ship belonged to, Sweetie had a feeling that they needed to act fast.
Sweetie and Lyra boarded a Shuttle to the surface alongside Kerrigan. Sweetie kept a wary eye on Kerrigan while Lyra was more focused on the thought of killing Terrans. Sweetie had a feeling that Lyra was still apprehensive about killing Terrans and Protoss so she put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her that everything will be alright. Kerrigan saw the display and scoffed in amusement, which earned her a glare from Sweetie.
The Ponies and Infested Human disembarked into a Dominion Base that was being blasted by a group of Dragoons and Reavers. It wasn’t long before the land was cleared out and a group of Probes were able to build their base over the ruins.
During the rebuilding, Artanis mentioned an issue with the warp matrix and that they would be unable to warp in fighter ships for the operation. Sweetie saw no problem with this since their ground forces would be more than enough to handle the Dominion.
The Dominion took notice of their presence and started sending groups of Marines, Firebats, Goliaths, Wraiths and the occasional Siege Tank. The Terrans were not difficult to handle, especially since the Siege Tanks rarely considered activating their siege modes, the reason that the vehicles were dangerous in the first place.
Kerrigan, Lyra and Sweetie took a group of Dark Templar into a nearby Dominion base to deal with them. The lack of Missile Turrets made the attack simple. Things only got slightly complicated when another Dominion base that was closer to the crystal was equipped with a Comsat Station, which scanned the area that the Protoss were attacking. The Dominion forces retaliated thanks to the scan, but were still overwhelmed by the blades, claws and shots from their attackers.
Deciding not to push the initiative, Sweetie had everyone stay back until they got reinforcements. Kerrigan was itching to push further, but Sweetie gave her a look that said, ‘Obey my orders or you’re on your own.’
Everyone waited until reinforcements came in the form of a number of Zealots, Dragoons and a few Archons. With the new reinforcements, Sweetie ordered the army to push forward. Sweetie was right to hold back earlier since the area to the south of them had a significant number of Missile Turrets and Sweetie was not liking the odds of a stealth group running into a hailstorm of bullets.
Sweetie’s forces pushed their way into the heavily defended Dominion base, laying waste to the soldiers who give their lives for their Emperor. Every now and then, a Goliath or Siege Tank got locked down by Sweetie before they were blown up.
When the path to the Uraj Crystal was cleared, a Probe was sent to pick it up so they could get away from the planet fast.
Two things crossed Sweetie’s thoughts: ‘Why was the Dominion protecting a crystal that they couldn’t do anything with’, and that if they didn’t get away from Braxis soon, they were going to have a tough time getting away from the planet.