//------------------------------// // Interlude: Flashpoint // Story: Starcraft: Warriors of Purity // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// With the conflict against the Zerg resolved and Kerrigan had been restored to humanity, Raynor, Tychus, Sweetie and Lyra boarded Raynor’s dropship and started making their way to the Hyperion. Raynor received a transmission from Valerian aboard the Bucephalus, <”Jim, my father’s flagship is nearby. Bring Kerrigan aboard the Bucephalus. We need to get away from here and my ship stands a better chance than the Hyperion.”> “How do we know we can trust you?” Raynor asked. <”There’s no time for questioning loyalties, Jim. The White Star will soon be upon us.”> “He’s right,” Sweetie said. “We don’t have the luxury of questioning our associates right now. Head to the Bucephalus.” With that, Raynor did as Sweetie suggested and docked his ship in one of the Bucephalus’ hangars. Once the group disembarked, still carrying a sickly Kerrigan, they were met by Valerian who ordered one of his men to escort Tychus, who was carrying Kerrigan, to the sick bay. The rest of the group followed Valerian to the bridge. It wasn’t long before a large number of Dominion Battlecruisers arrived in the area. One particularly large Battlecruiser was leading them. The large ship sent a transmission to the Bucephalus, directly from Arcturus. <”Attention all ships of the Char Expedition, this is Emperor Arcturus Mengsk of the Terran Dominion. You are harboring rebels and threats to the safety of the Terran Dominion. You are to turn over Sarah Kerrigan immediately for execution.”> “I’m sorry, father, we cannot accept your demands. Kerrigan is far too important to the future of the Universe,” Valerian said. <“Very well. All ships, destroy the Bucephalus.”> At that moment, the Hyperion flew past the White Star, bringing a massive swarm of Mutalisks with them. Detecting easier prey, the Mutalisks broke off from chasing the Hyperion and began attacking Arcturus’ fleet. With the fleet distracted, Valerian ordered his half of the fleet to use their jump drives and get away from Char. During the brief verbal exchange, Arcturus’ fleet attacked Valerian’s fleet. Both sides sustained damage. During the jump, Valerian talked with the Raiders. “I received word from the doctors in the sick bay that Kerrigan will make a full recovery. But we need to be sure the artifact had the desired effect on her. We need to go see an expert on the Zerg. The only one I know that would be the best one for the job would be Dr. Narud.” Narud, the leader of the Moebius Foundation and Amon’s servant. Valerian was unknowingly taking them to a troublesome person. While Sweetie would prefer to stay clear of the wicked being until she was sure she could take him, another part of her wanted to meet the person face to face. Suddenly, the fleet was once again under attack by Arcturus’ fleet. “How did they find us so fast?” Valerian asked nobody. “Unless the Dominion put tracking devices on the ship.” Valerian had the crew run a scan of the ship’s interior and exterior and discovered nothing. “Damn, they must be using covert trackers. We don’t have time to look for them.” “Swann can find anything that don’t belong on a ship or vehicle. Have the fleet buy us some time to get them on board and find the trackers,” Raynor said. While the battered fleet engaged Arcturus’ ships, the Hyperion docked with the Bucephalus. Swann came aboard with a pair of engineers that he bosses around. One was named Earl. He never gave his last name. The other was named Annabelle Thatcher. Raynor was at the other end of the docking tube to greet them. “Hey hot shot, heard ya got some pesky trackers givin’ ya trouble,” Swann said. “Think you can find ‘em in a few hours?” Raynor asked. “Leave it to me.” With that, Swann, Earl and Annabelle began searching every part of the Bucephalus for the elusive tracking devices. After a thorough search from top to bottom, Swann was fairly confident that he had removed them all. During the time that Swann was searching for trackers, the fleet jumped multiple times. Each time Arcturus wasn’t far behind. In an effort to weaken the pursuit, one of the rebel Battlecruisers rammed into the White Star, heavily damaging the flagship. Once the trackers were removed, the Hyperion and Bucephalus performed another jump to lose the pursuit. “Any suggestions on where we can go to get away, Jim? They could easily corner us at any Moebius facility.” Valerian asked. Raynor thought for a moment before he had an idea. “We can hide for a while at Deadman’s Rock. Mira is good friends with Sweetie and Matt.” “Alright, I’ll ask Dr. Narud to meet us there.” “I’ll tell Matt that we’re headin’ there. He might complain but this ain’t the time to be worryin’ about his feelings.” Sweetie was in the sick bay of the Bucephalus watching Kerrigan, who had been unconscious for a while. Sweetie was relieved that a crucial part of her plan to eventually deal with Amon had been overcome. Kerrigan was absolutely necessary to keep the Swarm out of the clutches of the fallen Xel’naga. It was time to move on to the next phase of her plan. The Overmind had shown her the distant planet known as Zerus, the birthworld of the Zerg. However, it also didn’t want her heading there alone. It gave one condition before it would tell her the coordinates to the planet: convince Kerrigan to go with her. Kerrigan stirred from her fitful sleep. Her eyes opened to reveal an empty expression that was devoid of vigor. Her eyes soon focused on Sweetie. “Sweetie? Is that you?” Sweetie smiled. “Yes, it’s me.” Kerrigan groaned. “Why did you rescue me? Wouldn’t everyone else be better off with me dead? I’ve killed billions as the Queen of Blades.” “Maybe so, but I still have need of you. The Universe’s future depends on you living. You’re the biggest threat to Amon’s plans.” “That’s a bit grandiose, don’t you think? You would ask me to become the Queen of Blades again to save this Universe?” “I would, but that is your decision. Though I know that Jim would tell you to throw away your desire for revenge against Arcturus and just run away with him. That man is still head over heels for you even after all you’ve done.” “Ya got that right,” came the voice of Raynor from behind Sweetie. “I don’t wanna think about having her go through that hell again.” Sweetie knew not to get in between Raynor and Kerrigan and left the two to each other’s company. Before Sweetie walked out of the room, Raynor spoke to her, “You and I are gonna have a talk about a few things later.” Sweetie nodded and walked out. The battered Battlecruisers arrived at Deadman’s Rock. Raynor, Valerian, Tychus, Sweetie, Lyra, Matt and Kerrigan were greeted by Mira and Narud when they arrived on the surface. Narud’s aura was even more terrifying up close. Lyra was tempted to break the secrecy that she and Sweetie agreed upon but restrained herself. “Ah, greetings Commander Raynor, Lieutenant Sweetie Drops. I am pleased to finally meet the two of you in person,” Narud said. “Matthew! We finally see each other after all this time and still no hug or kiss? What kind of marriage do you think this is?” said Mira playfully. Matt rolled his eyes. “Anyway, since I am busy,” she continued, ”I’ll leave you in the hands of my associate, Gary Crane.” she pointed to Crane. Sweetie took a look at the person long enough to find out what the person was thinking, “Looks like the rebels are here with that monster. I need to inform the Emperor quickly. Need to inform my men to make sure the rebels don’t leave either.” Sweetie narrowed her eyes at Crane then walked up to Mira and whispered to her about what she found out. Mira gave a wide smile before looking at Crane. She spoke in a singsong tone, “Oh Gary…” Crane and Mira walked up to each other. “What is it ma’am?” he asked. “Are you, perhaps, planning to betray me?” Crane gulped and started to sweat. “M-Me? I-I would n-never…” That was all the proof Mira needed, it wasn’t definitive proof but from a mercenary’s viewpoint, that was enough for her. She pulled out a pistol and emptied an entire clip into Crane’s chest. She replaced the magazine and fired one into Crane’s head for good measure. She turned to face the others. “Sorry about that messy business. Since I can’t trust my subordinates anymore, I’ll have to give you the tour myself. Mira gave everyone a tour of the lawless town of Deadman’s Rock, noting each business and house. She invited them into a bar where they could have a meeting and discuss what they need to help Kerrigan in her return to humanity. Narud made the suggestion that they travel to one of his secret Moebius Foundation installations on Space Station Prometheus in order to properly examine her. Sweetie had a foreboding feeling that Narud was leading them into a trap. This was one trap she was not going to spring. When everyone agreed to head to Prometheus, Sweetie with the intention of confronting Narud before getting there, everyone except Mira boarded the Bucephalus and set course for the space station. In the hangar of the Bucephalus, the Xel’naga artifact was being held for storage. One elderly-looking man was looking at the artifact held inside a special container. He ran a hand along the texture of the stone the relic was composed of. While he was looking at the artifact, a pair of Ponies walked into the hangar to observe the doctor. When he saw the two he put on the best friendly smile he could. “Ah, Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time. I have been trying to convince Kerrigan to let me examine her but she outright refuses to let me take a look. Maybe you two could help me persuade her.” Sweetie and Lyra looked at each other for a moment then looked at Narud again. “We’re not letting you near Kerrigan again, Narud. I also convinced Valerian and Jim to alter course away from Space Station Prometheus,” Sweetie said. Narud was confused by the change in course and the Ponies’ behavior toward him. He could only ask why they were acting hostile toward him. Sweetie and Lyra looked at each other once again. Lyra received a nod from her marefriend. Lyra continued the conversation. “I believe that we met each other about four years ago on an uncharted dark moon.” “Uhh...I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t remember meeting either of you before the time you assisted my Foundation on Tyrador when the Queen of Blades attacked.” Sweetie spoke again, “You can drop the act, Emil Narud. Or do you want to be addressed as your previous alias, Samir Duran.” Narud stared at the Ponies for about ten seconds before he began to laugh which quickly turned into an evil laugh. When Narud spoke again, his voice became slightly distorted. “I have no idea how you figured out my identity. No matter, I will deal with you both here.” Narud began unleashing powerful psionic blasts at Sweetie and Lyra, who were dodging the attacks well considering they were fighting in a nearly empty hangar with a box that contained a powerful artifact inside. Sweetie attacked Narud with her Psionic Lash that did hurt the Xel’naga a little. Lyra used her quick speed and reflexes to catch Narud off guard, but he was ready for her attacks as he matched Lyra’s speed. Narud managed to land a blow on Lyra with a psionically charged punch to her chest which pushed her back to the far side of the hangar. Narud turned his attention to Sweetie who had her rifle out. She fired a couple of shots at Narud’s head but he stopped them in mid-air and let the bullets fall. Lyra charged at Narud again to unleash her own psionic attack at him, but Narud deployed a plasma shield to absorb the damage. Sweetie fired a few EM rounds at Narud’s shield and caused it to shatter. Lyra fired another psionic blast at Narud and this one connected, knocking him into a wall. While he figured he could still defeat the Ponies, he didn’t have time to do so as the racket they had been causing would likely bring unwanted company. Narud teleported to the box containing the artifact. “The Emperor would be most grateful to have this,” he said. Narud teleported away, the box with him. Sweetie cursed under her breath as they allowed Narud to get away with the artifact. With nothing left to do, Sweetie and Lyra returned to the bridge. “To think that Emil was an enemy this whole time. We founded the Moebius Foundation together. To think that the group we created together would be a front for his Hybrid project.” Valerian sat in his chair trying to process the treachery that had occurred under his nose. “You’re not the only one who had been betrayed today. Just received word that Cooper, a bartender that works at the Hyperion’s cantina, was relayin’ our location to your dad,” Raynor said. “Gonna miss the Mai Tais he made. Swann ended up chuckin’ him out the airlock.” After a few minutes of processing and coping, Valerian broke the silence, “I know of another place we can go to find solace and get Kerrigan checked out. The Umojan Protectorate are friends of mine and are independent of the Dominion. There’s a research station at XT39323. We can take her there and, hopefully, catch a break from my father.” “I hope so, junior. I hope so.”