Short Story/Theory

[Hawki]

A certain individual has asked me to post this short story on this site that he wrote as part of a larger story, said part dealing with a theory on the Dark Voice and (the) prophecy. Said story was written before the third Q&A, before it was clarified that the Overmind was only interested in saving the zerg through Kerrigan. Read, comment, it's at your discretion. I will ask that any such comments be postponed until I've finished posting it, which will take time as it isn't just a simple copy/paste job.

I also want to reinforce a key fact - I DID NOT WRITE THIS. Think it's great, don't praise me. Think it's crap, don't flame me. If you want to see stuff I've written, my homepage link will take you to it, but this isn't something I wrote. Just want to make that absolutely clear.

[Hawki]

Begin Story

Jim didn’t particularly like where all this was heading. It wasn’t that he disrespected Tassadar or anything like that, not by a long shot. After the death of the Overmind on Aiur, the rebel commander had personally told his Raiders of Tassadar’s heroic sacrifice to destroy the Zerg creature and end the threat of the swarm. Of course, even before Kerrigan had contacted both him and Fenix, he also knew of the possibility that there was still the matter of the Queen of Blades to deal with, but for the time being, he had been content to settle on the victory at hand.

After the Brood War, he had been reduced to a state of despair. Although Kerrigan’s betrayal had been the main cause of it, there were other factors as well: he had been unable to bring Mengsk to justice for genocide of virtually the whole Tarsonis population, and he had been unable to help his Protoss allies in their time of need. When Kerrigan took control of the swarm at the end of the conflict, it almost made Tassadar’s sacrifice seem like a minor setback, as all it had accomplished was replace one vicious Zerg leader with another.

Now, with Sarah deinfested and the knowledge of the whole Xel’Naga prophecy behind him, everything had just blurred itself even more. There were many things that weren’t clear to him, but neither he, Sarah, nor Zeratul had discovered anything more. It was now up to Tassadar, as only the Protoss hero may have the answers they were looking for.
But Jim was also concerned that after all these years, Tassadar may not be himself either. After four and a half years of Zerg infestation, he knew that Sarah obviously didn’t come out the same way. Tassadar might have gone through similar changes, especially when it came to dealing with the Zerg master itself.

He wasn’t really sure what the Protoss hero made of Sarah now. Sure, Tassadar had been the one to inform Zeratul what would happen if she was killed, but Jim couldn’t tell if the high templar was reluctant or not about informing the Nerazim warrior about this. Unlike Zeratul who had been forced to kill his Matriarch Raszagal in order to prevent her from falling under Kerrigan’s influence, Tassadar had not been hurt in such a way during the time Sarah spent with the Zerg.

Even so, it was difficult to read the Protoss hero. He had certainly not shown any hostility towards Kerrigan when he first appeared, but Jim knew he couldn’t factor out the possibility that it may just be the matter of the Xel’Naga prophecy at hand. Indeed, the majority of the Daelaam Protoss simply felt that they had their hands tied, unable to execute Kerrigan on the spot due to the prophecy that Zeratul uncovered on Ulaan. Did Tassadar feel the same way?

Sarah still held on to Jim’s arm for support, still trying to pull herself together. Her foolish actions as the Queen of Blades for the past four years had undid everything Tassadar did for his people that day when he killed the Overmind. The high templar was a hero and a savior to his people, something both she and Jim had wanted during their days with the Sons of Korhal. Jim certainly became the people’s hero and a popular figure for standing up to Mengsk and his corrupt Dominion, but she became everything she hated: a monster that was only good for spreading fear, chaos, and destruction throughout the whole sector.

Yet still, he was perhaps the only Protoss who even has the slightest chance of giving her anything close to endorsement. Unlike Zeratul and the other Khalai and Nerazim Firstborns, she and Tassadar had first met at New Gettysburg, where she defeated his strike force, only to have the Zerg overrun her position and transformed her against her will into the Queen of Blades. Spirit or not, Tassadar was the only Protoss alive today who had encountered her prior to her infestation, however brief that may have been. Jim still saw good in her, even though she could hardly see it herself. But if Raynor couldn’t convince the rest of the Protoss of that, then only Tassadar could.

Assuming, of course, he would even want to. As the Queen of Blades, she had killed many of his fellow comrades in arms on Char, and took perverse pleasure in their deaths. Shortly after the death of the Overmind on Aiur, she had actually been delighted that the Protoss hero had done such a foolish action, as that had set the stage for her to gain control of the whole swarm and, with it, the future of the Zerg. After all of the atrocities she had committed, Sarah doubted that Tassadar would be so understanding.
The high templar struck her as a very knowledgeable and intellectual type Protoss, but Kerrigan knew that even Tassadar had to have limits. Everyone was susceptible to having their emotions blind them from their judgment, the Overmind’s vision that showed Jim dying in her arms certainly had that effect on her. Sure, the Protoss hero was only hearing the news of all the sins she had done rather than actually experiencing it, but that didn’t automatically mean he would be so sympathetic on her, Xel’Naga prophecy or not.
But Sarah also knew that what Tassadar would have to say would more than likely determine her fate at the hands of the Firstborn. He is revered as one of their greatest heroes, and as far as she knew, very few of the Protoss would actually question their hero’s claims unless they were thoroughly convinced that Tassadar had been completely corrupted by the Overmind. Given what the Ara Tribe leader Nahaan had said to her when she, Jim, and Nova stood before the members of the Protoss Hierarchy when they first arrived on Aiur, it seemed likely that he would be among the few that would remain defiant regardless of the circumstances.

Zeratul finally broke the silence. "We had all been blinded to the threat in front of us," he said quietly. "We had let our emotions blind us to our rationality, and we should have looked at the greater picture rather than have focused all of our efforts in dealing with you, Kerrigan."
Sarah shook her head. "It’s not your fault, Zeratul. Anyone else would have done exactly the same thing given everything I did to your people." She raised her hand when Jim was about to protest again. "Jim, please don’t defend me on this. You saw the Overmind’s vision yourself, you can’t say that the Queen of Blades and I were two different people."
Raynor still didn’t look convinced. "I can’t accept that, Sarah. From the days I knew you when we were still part of the Sons of Korhal, I never once saw you act like the way you did while you were with the Zerg. That’s why I kept telling Matt and the others that you weren’t yourself all those years."
"That’s something you and I can talk about another time," she told him, before turning back to Tassadar. "Zeratul brought us here in the hopes of gathering more evidence on the Xel’Naga prophecy. According to him, the Zerg overran the area and he was forced to leave Aiur before getting all the information he needed."

The high templar nodded in understanding. "For the past four and a half years, I have remained at this very spot that the Overmind had been killed," he explained. "During this time, I had devoted my energies to exploring the creature’s memories, and to understand not only the purpose behind its intent to devour all that it came across, but also its unwavering directive in the destruction of the Firstborn."
"We’re listening," Jim said. "What have you found out after all this time?"
"To understand both the Overmind and the Xel’Naga prophecy that had been uncovered on Ulaan is to understand the purpose of the Xel’Naga, James Raynor. Your terran species may not have been created by the Xel’Naga as the Protoss and Zerg have, but in the greater scope of matters to come, your race may play a significant part in the grand scheme."
The Protoss hero turned to Kerrigan. "When I sensed your psionic call from the ash world of Char, I had gone to investigate. One of the Protoss Preservers called Zamara was part of my expeditionary force, although she did not follow me to the surface."
"I know of her," Sarah said softly, her voice filled with guilt. "Her body died, and her essence went into the head of a man named Jake Ramsey, an archeologist. I sent the Zerg swarm after him, hoping to retrieve the preserver, and to exploit her knowledge for myself."

"Zamara was traveling aboard a Protoss Carrier called the Xa’lor when it was attacked by Nerazim assassins sent by Ulrezaj," Zeratul explained. "She was able to escape the ship, but landed on the world of Nemaka, where she sealed herself within the ancient Xel’Naga temple. According to Jake Ramsey, he had discovered the Xel’Naga code and entered the temple, where she was able to transfer her essence into his mind."
Jim looked uneasy. "And here I thought I heard of everything weird by you Protoss. Now it makes it look like I barely understand a thing about your people."
"She’s safe, Jim," Kerrigan told him. "I saw it through the eyes of the Zerg minions, and the Protoss already told us of the Alysaar at the Alys’aril Nexus that transferred her essence into a Khaydarin Crystal shard. That shard was taken from the Xel’Naga Caverns here on Aiur, which I had also sent the Zerg into in order to get Zamara’s knowledge."
"I am glad to know that she is still alive," Tassadar said. "The Zerg invasion of Aiur had killed many of our preservers, and Zamara is among the few that remain. Through the sea of the Khala, all Protoss that embrace it have their knowledge bound to the preservers so that if they pass away, their memories and knowledge will remain within the mind of the preservers."
"The Alys’aril Nexus on the moon of Ehlna is the most sacred sanctuary of the Nerazim," Zeratul told Kerrigan. "As we Dark Templar had embraced the Void rather than the Khala, we had no preservers of our own and thus required a different method in storing our memories. The moon’s energies altered the Khaydarin Crystals there, and it was from the sacred artifacts of the Xel’Naga that we had stored our knowledge, and thus the Alys’aril Nexus is a vast library of Nerazim knowledge, taking from the minds and memories of our people to be recorded."

Sarah lowered her head in guilt once more. Zeratul’s words only reminded her of what she came close to doing when she ordered the Zerg there to retrieve Zamara. She had every intention to infest the whole moon anyways once she had gotten what she wanted, and it would have only been another nail in her coffin for destroying more of the Protoss culture and civilization.
"I’m sure it’s very important and all that," Jim said. "But it still doesn’t explain what all this has to do with the prophecy Zeratul uncovered."
"Zamara shared with me ancient knowledge that few Protoss are aware of today," Tassadar explained. "I am sure that she had shared this information with you as well, Zeratul."
The Dark Templar warrior nodded, as he turned to Raynor and Kerrigan. "Before encountering the Zerg for the first time, few of the Khalai Protoss had known that they too were created by the Xel’Naga. In contrast, various Dark Templar scholars had already known of this, although I was not able to validate this until I had briefly touched with the essence of the Overmind after slaying the Cerebrate Zasz on Char."

"This isn’t anything new," Jim said. "You and Tassadar already told me that almost five years ago right before our final battle against the Overmind."
"That is correct, James Raynor. However, at that point, we had believed that the Overmind had simply grown beyond the restraints of the Xel’Naga, and had come to Aiur to finish the experiments our creators began so long ago," the Protoss hero said.
"The Xel’Naga shaped and developed the Firstborn, encouraging certain aspects of our development," Zeratul explained. "The same had been done to the Zerg."
"They also abandoned you," Sarah pointed out. "That was the whole point of the Protoss civil war that Jim told me about. Plenty of your people were killed because you thought your gods deemed you a failed experiment, while the time I spent with the Zerg seemed to indicate that the Xel’Naga deemed their other creation a success. At least, until the swarm on their creators and killed them all."

"We had thought that we were part of their trial and error experiments, and because we failed our purpose, the Xel’Naga left us. The reality, however, was different. Our creators didn’t leave us because they believed we failed their standards. They were merely finished with us and moved on to the Zerg species. They had been preparing the Protoss."
"For what?" Jim asked.
"Themselves," Zeratul answered. "The Xel’Naga have a cyclical lifestyle. Most of them are able to live tens of millions of years, some of them even longer, but they are far from immortal and are unable to reproduce. This means that eventually they would die of natural causes. When that time nears, they seek out two other species: one that possesses the purity of form, the other that possesses the purity of essence. The species are then altered by the Xel’Naga so that they form two halves of a whole."
Raynor didn’t look happy. "You mean the Xel’Naga created you just to have you killed later on to suit themselves?"

"Not killed, my friend," the Protoss prelate answered. "The Xel’Naga only wanted to place their essences into the Protoss and the Zerg. Over the course of time as both species evolve, it had been their intention for our two races to come together and merge naturally and harmoniously, thus allowing the Xel’Naga to be reborn. They had wanted both the Protoss and the Zerg to be both powerful and glorious in our evolution so that when the time came for the two races to merge together, we would become the new generation of Xel’Naga, thus signaling the ending of the cycle of the previous generation, and the beginning of the next one."
Tassadar nodded in agreement. "That had been the natural cycle of the Xel’Naga for eons, James Raynor. It was upon this cycle that had shaped much of the cosmos, and it is every bit as natural as the spin of planets, the formation of stars, and the natural cycle of life and death. The rebirth of the Xel’Naga was never intended to be harmful to either the Protoss or the Zerg."
"I beg to differ," Raynor argued. "That Protoss-Zerg hybrid Viltra had tried to kill us when we were on our way to the Overmind’s corpse, and Zeratul encountered a hybrid named Maar when he went to Zhakul to find out what the prophecy meant. As far as I could tell, those things twisted the powers of both your races together into a monster, and there was nothing glorious about it. Are you telling me that’s the new Xel’Naga?"
"The hybrids are something else," Zeratul assured him. "I don’t fully understand what they are, but according to Zamara, they are not part of the natural cycle of the Xel’Naga."
"So what are they?" Kerrigan asked. "Are these hybrids supposed to be meant to mess with your creators or something?"
"Crude, but that seems to be the intention," the Dark Templar answered, noting Tassadar’s silence to this. "The hybrids are something that aren’t meant to be."

"They’re meant to disrupt the Xel’Naga cycle, aren’t they?" Jim said, realizing Zeratul’s discovery on Ulaan, where he had read off one of the Xel’Naga shrines that something would break the cycle of the gods.
He nodded to the rebel commander. "The Xel’Naga had been all but eradicated before their preparations for the Zerg species had been completed, and the Zerg themselves had been corrupted, their directives changed to seek out the total annihilation of the Protoss rather than naturally and harmoniously merge with us. These hybrids are nothing but perversions of the Xel’Naga intent on the total destruction of all life within the cosmos."

Continued in Next Post

[Hawki]

Continuing Story

"I just find it hard to see the Zerg as anything but monsters," Raynor said. "We’ve fought them for so long that it just seems wrong to even think that they could be peaceful."
"I made things worse," Sarah said quietly. "I did even worse experimentations with the Zerg on my own kind."
"What are you talking about?" Jim asked, confused.
"The infested refugees you had to burn out on Meinhoff weren’t part of the swarm’s plan to conquer the planet or anything like that," she explained, the guilt in her voice. "It had been part of my experiments with the Zerg virus in order to create more consorts. After infesting Ethan Stewart back in 2503, I saw that the virus could be altered to successfully make more generals to command in the field. The millions of refugees on Meinhoff provided the ideal pool of test subjects for just that. Countless lives were lost on that alone just because of my experiments."
"It’s not your fault, Sarah," he reminded her. "People would forgive you if they knew just what the Zerg had done to you in the first place."
Zeratul could see that by revealing the natural cycle of the Xel’Naga only produced further anguish from the former Queen of Blades. Clearly she believed that she should have been stronger, more able to resist the will of the Zerg, rather than simply consumed by her emotions and becoming the very thing she had despised.

"I believe that the rebirth of the Xel’Naga may be related to the unearthing of their ancient temples," the Dark Templar warrior said. Off Raynor and Kerrigan’s confused looks, he continued, "When I met with the terran Jake Ramsey, he had explained to me that he had been part of the archeological excavation team headed by Valerian Mengsk. According to Ramsey, Valerian Mengsk had discovered that more and more Xel’Naga Temples were unearthing themselves on different worlds, but there did not appear to be any reason to do so. Jake Ramsey explained to me that his team had been sent in order to study these different temples and gathering what information they could in order to benefit the Terran Dominion."
Jim shook his head. "That’s one of the reasons I’m still a bit uncomfortable with the kid. He may not be anything like Arcturus’s son, but I still see him being a bit too shortsighted. Something tells me those temples were not meant to messed around this way."
"Some of the Xel’Naga Temples were not temples at all, my friend," Zeratul explained. "Before I had departed the Alys’aril Nexus on Ehlna, Zamara had informed me of another temple on the world of Pegasus. When I traveled there, I had discovered that the Xel’Naga Temple there emitted a bright, emerald glow. Unlike the temple on our homeworld of Shakuras, the temple on Pegasus was not structured at all, but rather alive and wild."
"Alive and wild?"

"Shortly upon my arrival, I had seen a phoenix-like energy creature emerge from the temple," he explained, drawing further shock from Raynor and Kerrigan. "I had since then understood that some of the temples forged by the Xel’Naga were actually chrysalises, and upon arriving at the world of Pegasus, I had just witnessed birth of the creature. Its psionic signature was immense, unlike anything I had ever encountered before."
"What did it do to you?" Jim asked.
"It didn’t attack me, it merely flew away," Zeratul replied. "I had followed it with my Void Seeker as it moved through the Void, only to soon discover that it was joining up with hundreds more of these phoenix energy creatures, as they swirled and danced together. Eventually, when their ritual was complete, the creatures had disappeared, creating a wormhole in their place, where I traveled through."
"What did you see on the other side?" Sarah asked, nervous about the answer.
"I cannot be entirely certain," the Nerazim admitted. "It would appear to be a destination that the Protoss and Zerg were to travel to for the merging to be completed, and thus give birth to the new generation of Xel’Naga."
"You are right, mighty Zeratul," Tassadar said. "By now, the time of the natural cycle of the Xel’Naga is nearing its end, and that is why their temples are unearthing themselves from worlds that they had previously visited so that they creations would prepare themselves for natural and harmonious merging. It is unfortunate that due to the corruption of the Zerg species, our creators’ natural cycle has been disrupted."
Kerrigan shook her head. "It makes me wonder if the energy creatures aren’t supposed to be as hostile as I thought."
"What are you talking about, Sarah?" Raynor asked.

She looked at Zeratul. "You’re not the only one who’s seen one of these energy creatures. I saw one of them too through the Zerg at a Xel’Naga Temple on the planet of Bhekar Rho." Off Jim’s confused look, she sighed. "It was shortly after the Overmind had died on Aiur, but before the UED invasion, Jim. I was trying to control the swarm through the Cerebrates like the Overmind did, or at least get them to submit to me."
"What does this have to do with some alien temple?"
"That Xel’Naga Temple on that planet sent out some sort of light beam signal or something into space, which I picked up. The signal was also picked up by a Protoss fleet, and they went there to investigate. The people on Bhekar Rho thought the temple was dangerous, and asked Mengsk to send Dominion troops to the planet to help them. I don’t know what they thought of the temple, especially since the Dominion force was led by General Duke, but I certainly believed the temple had some sort of hidden power and wanted it for myself."
"So what happened?"
"I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say after fighting, Duke decided to destroy and temple and ordered one of his ghosts to nuke it," Sarah explained. "But all that ended up doing was cause the energy creature to come out, and it instantly absorbed everything in its vicinity, terran, Zerg, and Protoss alike. Strangely enough, however, the terrans it absorbed were later spit back out, almost like the energy creature didn’t want them or something."
"Then why even bother absorbing them in the first place?" Jim asked, confused.

Sarah thought about it for a moment. "Well, the creature didn’t come out of the temple until after the nuke hit, so maybe it had been asleep the whole time and the nuclear blast woke it up prematurely."
"You are correct, young Kerrigan," Tassadar said. "The energy creatures within these Xel’Naga temples are meant remain dormant and be awakened at their designated moments. The actions of the terran, Zerg, and Protoss forces on Bhekar Rho had disrupted its cycle, so that upon its premature birth, it did not have a full comprehension of its purpose and therefore simply assimilated everything nearby into itself."
"So it just changed its mind later on terrans?" Jim folded his arms.
"By the standards of the Xel’Naga, your terran species possess neither the purity of form nor the purity of essense," the Protoss hero explained. "The energy creature embryo required the genetics of Xel’Naga creations for its transformation, and your species did not fulfill that requirement, which would explain why it soon rejected them."
Raynor couldn’t tell if he should be relieved or disappointed. One on hand he was glad that these Xel’Naga creatures didn’t kill terrans, but on the other, it just seemed wrong to see his own species this way. There were certainly plenty of arrogant people out there, namely Mengsk, who believed that humans were the gods of the universe, and everything must revolve around them, but from what he’s heard from Sarah, Tassadar, and Zeratul, it almost seems as if the human race is little more than a bunch of mindless children playing with matches.

As if almost he could read his mind, Tassadar spoke up again, this time in a more assuring tone, "Do not think that your species is insignificant, James Raynor. Despite the short period of time we had spent together, I had learned that your race has much potential. Although young, I have understood that your species is every bit as remarkable."
"Not all of us had used our potential for noble purposes, Tassadar," Kerrigan said quietly. "Some of us are also capable of the worst things the universe can offer, and hurting others in ways never thought possible."
"And some of us are also willing to look at the greater scope of matters," the Protoss hero argued. "Though you were content after your transformation, the Zerg did not give you a choice in the matter upon your infestation to become part of the swarm. Much of my brethren do not seem to see why you became what you were in the first place, which only shows a lack of understanding for many of them."
"First impressions go a long way," the red haired ghost pointed out. "They’ve only known me as the Queen of Blades. Hell, everyone has known me as that for so long I doubt there’s anyone who can see me as anything else. You and I may have first met at New Gettysburg, but you had also seen the atrocities I committed after the Zerg infestation."
"Which is why I still don’t get this prophecy," Raynor said, turning back to Tassadar. "All of this is so confusing, and it just doesn’t make any sense to me."

"It is not meant to unless you understand the Xel’Naga, my friend," the high templar replied. "To understand their will is to understand why the prophecy had existed in the first place."
"I’ve heard you and Zeratul’s story of the Xel’Naga and what they had planned for you," the rebel commander said. "If that’s true, then it would seem that your creators weren’t hostile at all to you."
"You are right, James Raynor. The Xel’Naga are very peaceful, and they cherished all life. Never once do they kill, although the same could not be said for some of the artifacts and relics that they leave behind. Those could be extremely dangerous if one does not have a full comprehension of its designated purpose."
"Then what do you call the whole Protoss race, and for that matter, the Zerg that they created?" Jim asked. "Your race consists of warriors that are almost impossible for us terrans to understand, while every Zerg is a killing machine the moment they’re born."
Tassadar remained silent for a moment. "That was not the intention of the Xel’Naga, James Raynor. Our gods had never intended their creations to be at war with each other. There was, however, an exception to all this, as one Xel’Naga stood apart from the rest of his brethren."
"The Fallen One," Sarah realized.

"You are correct. Though you have probably realized it yourself, the Fallen One is also a Xel’Naga," Tassadar explained. "He is the one responsible for the death of his brethren by using the Overmind."
"According to you, the Overmind had been forced to kill off the Xel’Naga," Zeratul murmured. "That it was unable to resist its actions for such a matter."
"It was upon that action that had allowed the Overmind to grow immensely in strength," the Protoss hero explained. "However by assimilating the greater whole of the Xel’Naga, the Overmind had also gained access to their memories. Since its destruction on Aiur, I have remained here and explored the creature’s memories, and to gain a better insight on the Fallen One."
"So what’s the deal with this guy?" Jim asked.
"After the Xel’Naga had arrived on Aiur, they had given life to the Firstborn," Tassadar answered. "We had become sufficient to fulfill their requirement of purity of form. Unfortunately, our creators had not anticipated that we would place emphasis on individual achievement rather than communal advancement, and this had led to the circulation of tribalism among the Firstborn. Thus when the Xel’Naga decided to depart Aiur, hundreds of them were killed by the Protoss because we had believed that we had somehow proved ourselves unworthy to our gods. Upon their departure, the entire Firstborn were left angry and confused, and this signaled the beginning of the Aeon of Strife, resulting in a great deal of bloodshed on Aiur. It was only when the Protoss scholar Khas had taught our people the philosophy known as the Khala by demonstrating the Khaydarin Crystals left behind by the Xel’Naga that brought about the Protoss civil war."
"I had visited the Xel’Naga Caverns," Zeratul said. "The massive Khaydarin Crystal at the heart of the ancient underground city is still there, the very relic that Khas had used to gain understanding of the Khala."
"When the Xel’Naga left Aiur, they had concluded that while their experiment with the Firstborn was a success, they had pushed the experimentation process too rapidly, and this had led to unintentional consequences for them," the Protoss hero continued, turning back to Raynor and Kerrigan. "Thus in their efforts to create a species with the purity of essence, the Xel’Naga knew that a different approach was necessary."
"So how did they do it with the Zerg?" Raynor asked.

"Several millennia ago, the Xel’Naga had reached the world of Zerus, where they created parasitic creatures to be named Zerg," Tassadar explained. "However, to ensure that the Aeon of Strife would not be repeated as in the case with the Protoss, the Xel’Naga created the brain-like entity called the Overmind, and it would be upon that creature that would watch over the whole of the swarm as it grew, adapted, and evolved. This was the reason why unlike the Protoss, the Zerg had always been a unified whole, and cases of internal conflict had always minimal."
"He’s right, Jim," Sarah said. "Other than when Zeratul killed the Cerebrate Zasz on Char and during the Brood War when the UED took control of most of the swarm, you haven’t really seen Zerg fighting one another for positions of power or anything like that."
"That still does not explain why the Overmind was formed without free will," Zeratul argued.

"That had been due to the actions of the Firstborn," Tassadar replied, turning to the dark prelate. "By placing so much emphasis on individual achievement, the Protoss tribes had begun to question the Xel’Naga. Do not forget, after Khas had established the Khala, the majority of the Firstborn had accepted its philosophy and culture into our way of life, believing that we no longer needed the Xel’Naga at all. Your people, the Dark Templar, had felt differently, but prior to your banishment from Aiur, your numbers were relatively few."
"And what’s this have to do with the Overmind?" Kerrigan asked, confused.
"Although the Protoss had achieved the purity of form, the Xel’Naga were deeply concerned that we may resist the natural and harmonious merging with the Zerg species in order to give birth to a new generation of Xel’Naga. The continued emphasis on the individual only reinforced their concerns prior to their departure of Aiur. Thus as a precaution to ensure that the Zerg would not also resist to such a merging, the Overmind had been created without free will so that when the time was right, it would be able to seek out the Firstborn and merge with them."
"But not having free will also became a problem," Jim pointed out.

"This was where the Fallen One had its hand, James Raynor. Although we had been led to believe that the Protoss had been the first creation of the Xel’Naga, the reality of the matter was very different. Prior to our creation, the Xel’Naga had seeded thousands upon thousands of worlds in order to create lifeforms that would fulfill the requirement of purity of form and purity of essence. However, until arriving on Aiur, all of their experiments had resulted in failure. Even after the creation of the Protoss to fulfill the first requirement, it had still taken the Xel’Naga a great deal of time and effort before they had created the Zerg to fulfill the necessary requirements for purity of essence."
Tassadar looked at Raynor and Kerrigan in the eye. "Having been created only thousands of years ago, the Zerg are still a relatively young species, even younger than your terran race. The Fallen One knew that even if it was left on its own, it would have the ability to survive for countless more millennia, and it had concluded from the previous failures of experimentation that the cycle of the Xel’Naga would have to change."
"Why are the previous experiments relevant?" Zeratul asked.

"As in the case with the Protoss, all of the other Xel’Naga experiments had resulted in the species evolving into tribalism and turning on their fellow brethren," Tassadar explained. "The difference with the Firstborn was that unlike the others, we did not drive ourselves to extinction by internal conflicts. The Fallen One saw that these experiments were a fruitless endeavor and how further creation of these species would serve only to further corrupt the universe. He came to believe that even the species not created by the Xel’Naga were corrupted and needed to be purged from the Void in order for harmony to be achieved, and it was upon this belief that he felt it was necessary for all life the universe to be remade and reshaped in his own image."
"So he betrayed his people," Jim said bitterly.
Tassadar nodded. "Realizing that the Zerg would remain a unified whole under the Overmind’s guidance, the Fallen One changed its directive. Rather than peacefully and harmoniously merge with the Protoss, the Fallen One issued orders to the Overmind to seek out the destruction of our people. The same was true for his own, as the Fallen One was fully aware that his fellow Xel’Naga brethren would never tolerate such an action. Without any free will of its own, the Overmind had no choice but to obey his directive, and this had resulted in the immediate extinction of most of the Xel’Naga."
Raynor shook his head. "Seems to me that the Xel’Naga should have at least been a little bit more warlike. Didn’t they even consider one of their own might turn into a traitor?"

"This had actually been the purpose of an ancient relic the Xel’Naga had developed shortly before the swarm had assimilated them," Tassadar explained. "The Fallen One knew that for his plan to be successful, the Zerg would have to be assimilated into himself once their task was completed in assimilating the universe and all life within. For that reason, he had also worked on an artifact that would help facilitate in this, something you had recently come across."
Sarah’s eyes widened at the revelation. "You’re talking about the artifact used to deinfest me. That’s the Fallen One’s weapon?"
"Correct, young Kerrigan. Unfortunately, such a relic was beyond the ability of the Fallen One to forge alone, and it was the reason why he worked with his Xel’Naga brethren to engineer the artifact," Tassadar explained. "He had informed his brethren that the artifact would be used in the merging of the Zerg and Protoss species should the latter resist such a merging. Given how we had questioned the Xel’Naga, such a possibility had to be factored into the equation. Without the Protoss to merge with the Zerg species, there would be no rebirth to the cyclical lifestyle of the Xel’Naga."
"Did his people figure out that they were tricked?" Jim asked.

"Yes," the Protoss hero answered. "As the artifact neared its completion state, the rest of the Xel’Naga soon discovered that it had been designed to assimilate life, a complete rejection of all that they stood for. As such, they decided to take it from the Fallen One. This had prompted the Xel’Naga traitor to issue the order to the Overmind to attack his fellow brethren with the swarm in order to recover the key to his ultimate ascension."
"He could not have succeded," Zeratul said. "James Raynor had recovered the artifact only recently."
"The Xel’Naga Worldship that held the Fallen One’s Ascension Key came under attack by the swarm. When it had become clear to the Xel’Naga aboard the ship that they could no longer escape the Zerg, they decided to hide the relic from the Fallen One. The Xel’Naga had broken the artifact into five different pieces, four of them to be hidden upon worlds that they previously visited: Xil, Monlyth, and the worlds your terrans named Typhon XI and Mar Sara. The final piece remained aboard the worldship itself, where the Xel’Naga had activated the vessel’s anomalous gravity distortion generators in a bid to deny the Fallen One his weapon. Because the generators were capable of disintegrating biological creatures within moments of exposure, the Xel’Naga had hoped that this would prevent the Zerg from successfully boarding the ship and retrieving the artifact fragment. Without the last piece of his weapon, it would mean that the Fallen One’s plans could never come to pass."

"Seems like they did they job just fine," the rebel commander said. "When I accepted Valerian’s offer to find the last piece, it was still on that ship. It took a lot of effort to get it."
"Before most of the Xel’Naga had been eradicated by the swarm, they too believed that the Fallen One could not acquire that piece of the artifact, and therefore it would have made no difference if he was able to obtain the other four fragments," Tassadar said. "Unfortunately, they had not counted on the Fallen One’s ingenuity. When he realized that the last fragment of his Ascension Key could no longer be obtained with the use of the Zerg, he turned his attention to the development of an alternative, a way to assimilate the Zerg without the need for the relic. To this he had succeeded in a monstrous creation: a genetic combination of Zerg and Protoss known as the hybrid."
"The creature that called itself Maar seemed to be more capable than just assimilation," Zeratul pointed out. "When I encountered the being on Zhakul, it corrupted the local Protoss there, as well has having the ability to drain energy from the holy preservers in order to sustain itself in battle."
"Same here," Raynor said. "When my boys raided the Dominion secret lab at Castanar, the hybrid seemed to suck the life right out of all the Zerg specimens it came across."

"The Fallen One had genetically engineered additional abilities into his hybrid creations," Tassadar explained. "However, their primary function remained the same as his Ascension Key: to assimilate species created by the Xel’Naga. This was exactly what they had done in the Overmind’s apocalyptic vision of the future. When the last of the Protoss had been eradicated, the Zerg had served their purpose, so the hybrids simply assimilated the swarm into themselves, allowing the Fallen One to reshape the universe in his own image."
Looking at the shaken faces of Zeratul, Raynor, and Kerrigan, he continued, "It did not take long before the Fallen One realized that the power of a single hybrid was minute compared to his Ascension Key, and it was for that reason that significant numbers of them had to be formed, for only with their combined powers could they hope to match the powers of his artifact that his fellow Xel’Naga brethren had denied him."
"Those things are powerful enough," Jim said, frowning deeply. "I’m just glad a whole army of them hasn’t invaded by now, not sure we’d even stand a chance if that happened."

"That is because the hybrid is not the natural way for the Zerg and Protoss to come together," the high templar replied. "Although the concept had proved to be successful, it did not change the fact that this was not the way to be. As such, the Fallen One knew that it would take a considerable amount of time and energy before the gestation period of the hybrids could be completed, and it is for that reason that the hybrids have slumbered for so many millennia, their powers steadily growing as they waited to be awakened at the right time to obey the will of their master."
Zeratul nodded grimly at this, letting the news sink in.
"As such, all of the pieces were in place, and the Fallen One knew that it only had to wait while the Zerg assimilated the Protoss into its fold. Once that had happened, the hybrids would be able to awaken and absorb the Zerg and his plan would be fulfilled," Tassadar went on. "Unfortunately, upon the early encounters with the Firstborn, the Fallen One had been surprised to discover that the Protoss had evolved to become a much more capable adversary. The psionic powers that the Firstborn wielded proved to be extremely formidable, and the Xel’Naga traitor was forced to realize that the total eradication of the Protoss would not be as easy as he had anticipated."

"That didn’t seem to stop the Zerg from trying," Raynor folded his arms. "Hell, I’ve never actually seen the Zerg back down from any challenge before."
"True, but it did not make the task any easier," Tassadar explained. "The Fallen One had altered the Zerg so that it would be able to consume, devour, and assimilate other species into its fold, and this was the exactly directive issued to the Overmind in seeking out the Firstborn. In particular, the Overmind quickly saw that the psionic powers wielded by the Protoss was something that had to be assimilated in order to seek out the destruction of our people. Unfortunately, due to the fortitude of the Khala, the Zerg were unsuccessful in their efforts to infest individual Protoss and therefore were unable to exploit our psionic abilities to their own usage. In its desire to obtain such formidable psionic powers for the swarm, the Fallen One was forced to realize that this was not achievable through the Protoss, so the Zerg would have to look elsewhere in order to incorporate such abilities."
"That’s where we terrans came in, isn’t it?" Jim said, the pieces coming together in his head.

[Hawki]

Continuing Story

"When the Zerg had first encountered your species, the Overmind quickly saw that your race also developed an array of psionic abilities, although only within certain individuals. In its opinion, it was not yet as formidable as those wielded by the Firstborn, but they would nevertheless give the swarm the advantage necessary in order to seek out the destruction of our people. It was for this reason that the Zerg targeted humanity, to assimilate your kind into the swarm in order to allow it to evolve in power for its future conflicts against the Protoss."
Raynor shook his head, disgusted. "So we were just the Zerg’s stop gap solution," he muttered, before frowning at Tassadar. "I thought you said the Overmind had no free will. How could it have targeted us if its master didn’t give it the green light?"
"The Fallen One was not particularly interested in humanity," the Protoss hero explained. "Unlike the Zerg and the Firstborn, your species were not created by the Xel’Naga, and he firmly believed that your kind would possess neither the purity of form nor the purity of essence."
"So what are we, just specks of dust for him to flick away?" Jim looked extremely annoyed. Humanity may be far from perfect, but this crazy Xel’Naga being seemed to be extremely arrogant, thinking he’s so far above terrans.

"To an extent, that is all the Fallen One saw of your species, James Raynor. The Fallen One only saw that your race is consumed by internal conflicts that are both foolish and pitiful by his standards, that you are incapable of seeing your true enemy, and hopelessly lost in your endeavors."
Sarah felt another lump of guilt in her throat. "That was exactly how I saw my people after I became the Queen of Blades," she said softly.
"The point is that the Fallen One felt that humanity had nothing to offer the Zerg that could benefit the swarm in their goal in the destruction of the Protoss," Tassadar said. "Nevertheless, he had consented to limited operations against humanity should he be mistaken."
"So how did these small things suddenly turn into a full scale Zerg invasion?" Jim asked, frowning deeply.
"The Overmind had encountered those that had capable psionic potential. Unlike the Firstborn, your race is not protected by the Khala and therefore can be subjected to Zerg infestation. When this was discovered, the Fallen One had issued orders to the Overmind to consume the terran race in order to improve the swarm, and the Zerg master was forced to comply due to its lack of free will."
"I still do not understand how the creature was able to resist its directive if it could not hide its true intents from the Fallen One," Zeratul said, confused.
"That depends on how you want to look at the concept of free will, my friend," Tassadar told him. "Do not forget, the Fallen One had little interest in humanity other than to use it as a means to assist the Zerg in annihilating our people. As such, it did not issue any orders other than for the Overmind to assimilate humans into the swarm. However, the Fallen One never issued anything more specific than that. This meant that while the Overmind was unable to disregard its master’s command in the overall picture, the Fallen One showed no interest in the specifics on how the Overmind accomplished this task. Therefore, the Overmind did have free will in when and where to assimilate what certain portions of the terran race into its fold."

The Protoss hero turned to Raynor again. "The Fallen One began to show even less interest towards humanity when the results of the Zerg infestation became known. Although your people are not protected by the Khala, the Zerg hyper-evolutionary virus proved to be genetically incompatible with your kind. This was why almost all of the infested terrans the Protoss had encountered had simply been converted into mindless beings, their bodies twisted into abominations and seldom capable of performing even the most basic functions for the benefit of the Zerg. Due the genetic incompatibility of the virus, such infested terrans were examples of failed and unsuccessful attempts to incorporate them into the swarm. They were thus of no useful benefit to the Overmind except to be used as the most expendable assets, and even then it had deemed them relatively ineffective."
He then turned to Sarah. "However, your DNA was different than the others, Kerrigan. Your genetic structure stood apart from the other terrans and was genetically compatible with the Zerg virus. Your transformation into the Queen of Blades was the primary example of a successful Zerg infestation as you had retained your free will and sentience after the process had been completed."
Kerrigan was aghast. "Success? I became a monster!" she cried. "Tens of billions across the whole sector are dead because of me! What kind of success you call that?"
Jim squeezed her hand. "It’s all right, Sarah," he told her, before turning to Tassadar. "This is why I’m not convinced even after you showed us that vision from the Overmind. I just can’t see that the Queen of Blades and Sarah are one and the same. It had to have been the Zerg infestation the whole time."

The high templar shook his head. "The only thing the Zerg infestation did was open a doorway, James Raynor," he said calmly, before turning to Kerrigan. "It was you who chose to walk through it."
Now Raynor looked a bit angry. "Tassadar," he said in a controlled tone. "I think I know Sarah a bit better than you do."
"You did before," the Protoss hero said quietly. "But I have spent these past years exploring the Overmind’s memories, and with them, I believe I have gained a better insight to her."
"How so?" the commander challenged.
"When the Zerg had taken her in and infested her against her will, the Overmind had also explored Kerrigan’s memories, even some of the most painful ones from her past that she either kept deeply buried or could no longer fully remember," he told Raynor. "Those memories became part of the creature’s knowledge, to which I have explored myself."
Jim gritted his teeth. He was not liking this at all. "Fine," he finally said. "Then what did you discover?"

"Tell me, Kerrigan," Tassadar said, turning to Sarah once more. "What do you remember of your life before you became part of the Sons of Korhal faction?"
Sarah grimaced. Clearly this was a very painful memory to bring back. "The Confederacy never cared about anything except for my killing skills," she said softly. "All they did was assign me to one assassination mission after another, as well as put me through some of the worst experiments with the Zerg."
"You refer to the Fujita Facility on the Confederate world of Vyctor 5. As the Overmind was able to see through the eyes of all of its Zerg minions, it was there that the creature had first known of you. From its minions, the Overmind had seen that the terran Dr. Flanx, who was in charge of the Zerg experimentation, had deemed your psionic abilities exceptionally capable in manipulating Zerg organisms. It was from that moment onwards that the Overmind felt that you were different than the other terrans it had so far encountered."
Kerrigan’s eyes flashed angrily. "Like I haven’t been manipulated enough already."

"It was also during that time that you became part of the Sons of Korhal faction under the leadership of Arcturus Mengsk," the Protoss hero said. "And it was there that you had developed deep feelings for another terran, before you and James Raynor met. I believe you may still remember the terran Somo Hung."
Jim stared at her, confusion in his eyes. Sarah had never told him of this before.
Kerrigan squeezed her eyes shut, as it was yet another painful memory to recall. "I did develop feelings for the man, Jim," she said softly. "Under Arcturus, he and I were part of the team on one of the missions to capture ghost agents and to deal with Major Rumm. Rumm killed him, and Somo died in my arms, right before he told me that he loved me. At that moment, I felt I lost complete control of myself and wanted Rumm’s head no matter what, all I felt was my anger pushing me on."
"Did you catch him?" Jim asked.
Sarah nodded. "I remember using a psychic attack on him, ripping his mind apart. His eyes literally exploded from their sockets and I was still using that attack on him."
Raynor looked shaken. Never once during the days of the Sons of Korhal had he seen her kill anyone on a personal matter. He always thought Kerrigan was too professional for that.
"The dark aspect of her personality was born from associating with the terran Rumm, James Raynor," Tassadar explained. "He was the person who had trained Kerrigan into a cold and efficient assassin for the Confederacy faction."
Jim was shocked. "You never told me that before, Sarah."

She squeezed his hand. "Those were some of the most painful memories to bring up," she whispered. "I didn’t want those memories to come back to haunt me. And I certainly didn’t think they could ever be relevant."
He drew her into an embrace. "Tell me about it," he said quietly to her. "I won’t think you’re weak or anything."
She sighed, before nodded in his chest. "I was only 8 years old then," she began. "The Confederacy took me due to my psychic potential. I was handed over to the Confederate program to research and develop this potential. Rumm was the head of that program. The people running it saw that I had the ability to cause hemorrhaging in a person’s brain and wanted to test it out."
A tear slid down her cheek as she continued, "When I refused to obey them, Rumm threatened to inject a serum that could create a tumor into my father unless I cooperated. I still refused, threatening that if he didn’t back off I’d kill both myself and my father if he didn’t back off. Shortly after that, he implanted the neural inhibitor into my head, and from that point on I just became a pawn to the Confederacy. I held Rumm responsible for the suffering I went through since then."
Zeratul stood to the side, deeply shaken by all this. He had thought that the suffering he had undergone after being forced to kill Raszagal had been immense, but now it seemed minute compared to what Kerrigan had gone through. And this had only been her life before the Zerg infested her against her will.

"Such actions had deeply affected you, Kerrigan," Tassadar spoke up again. "After the death of Somo Hung, you had felt you would never be able to love again, so you pressed on within the Sons of Korhal in the hopes that others would not suffer as you had, that they would be given a brighter future."
Sarah closed her eyes in guilt. "And none of them did, not after what I did to them."
"That was due to your past experience," the high templar told her. "From the moment the Confederacy took you when you were young and up to the point where you had been abandoned to your fate to the Zerg, with the exception of a few brief moments, all you had experienced was brutality. You became bitter to have seen everything taken away from you, to lose the people you loved and cared about, and to be lied to, manipulated, and betrayed by the people you fought with. During all that time, a great deal of anger, rage, and hatred had been buried deep within you. Subconsciously, you held people responsible for all the unhappiness that you went through, and you hungered to be in control, to be freed from the shackles that chained you."
She nodded. There was no point resisting it anymore. Everything Tassadar told her was true, and no matter how much she wanted to believe she was better than all that, there was no denying the dark aspect of her nature.
The Protoss hero turned to Raynor. "The Overmind did not create the Queen of Blades within Kerrigan, James Raynor. That had always existed within her, and the only thing the Zerg infestation did was augment it. When that happened, her rage became virtually beyond all control, and that was why at times you had seen her act as a completely different person, while at other times she acted very much like the woman you cared for."
Jim opened his mouth to protest, but Sarah held up her hand. "He’s right, Jim," she said, her voice shaking. "You and I both saw the Overmind’s vision. You saw the angry way I acted when I thought you died. I know you’ve never seen me act that way from our days in the Sons of Korhal."

"This was also the reason why you developed a deep hatred for the Zerg Cerebrates," Tassadar said. "They were unaware of the true intentions the Overmind had for you, and thus only saw you as another servant to the swarm. After so many years of being controlled, you desired to be in control of your own destiny. Your actions during the Brood War in taking control of the whole of the swarm was a testament to that."
"And caused billions of deaths! I was a fool the whole time!" Kerrigan cried. "I permanently scarred the whole Protoss race!"
"You still do not seem to comprehend why the Overmind had done this, young Kerrigan. When it had first been made aware of you during the experimentation you had been subjected to at the Fujita Facility on Vyctor 5, it saw that your had the potential to control the Zerg. Thus the Overmind knew that after your transformation, your psionic abilities would steadily grow in power. Before long, you would become strong enough to control the entire swarm all by yourself."
"And this would disrupt the Fallen One’s plans," Zeratul said, catching on.
"As both the Protoss and the Zerg had been created by the Xel’Naga, it would be possible for the Fallen One and its hybrid creations to control each and every one of us," Tassadar explained. "We would have all been its slaves. However, its lack of interest in humanity meant that the Fallen One did not believe that it was possible for the Zerg to be controlled by a non-Xel’Naga being. As you had not been created by the Xel’Naga, the Overmind knew that you would have been immune to the effects of the Fallen One’s manipulation and control."

"We had believed that the Overmind had grown overconfident and arrogant when it had embedded itself into the crust of Aiur," Zeratul added. "We had believed that was what had led to its destruction. The reality of the matter was completely different. It had intentionally killed itself so that you would be rise up and take control of the swarm, thus denying the Fallen One the ability to use the Zerg for his own ends."
"It was necessary for it to have been this way," the high templar said. "The Overmind knew that the time of the hybrids’ birth was rapidly approaching, and it was thus vital to deny control of the swarm to them."
Sarah didn’t look the slightest bit convinced. "But I didn’t use the swarm for anything except destruction! All I did was crave more power and kill everyone who stood in my way!"

[Hawki]

Last Section

"Your craving for power was necessary, Kerrigan. The Overmind needed your rage and lust for power for its plans," Tassadar replied. "Before the Brood War even began, you had been fully aware that many of the Cerebrates had merged into a new Overmind, and you refused for to fall under its influence. Such a step was vital for the Zerg creatures, as it was to ensure their own survival."
"What are you talking about?" Jim asked, confused. "As I recall when we fought on Aiur, the moment you kill a Cerebrate they just come back to life a while later, only Dark Templars can kill them and they stay dead."
"That was due to the abilities of the Overmind, James Raynor. When it had been killed during the final great battle on Aiur, its Cerebrates lost that benefit. In addition, the Cerebrates themselves were symbiotically linked to the Overmind, and thus could not exist for very long without their master. They knew that without merging into another Overmind, they would eventually die. Thus with the death of the second Overmind on Char, it marked the beginning of the end for the Cerebrates, leaving Kerrigan as the sole figure of authority for the swarm."

This only produced further stabs of guilt to Sarah, as she didn’t want to be reminded of her treachery and manipulation back then, especially in the case with Zeratul in forcing him to kill Raszagal. "So the ends justify the means?" she demanded. "What about all the terrans and Protoss that died just to reach that point? Am I supposed to believe that was perfectly fine?"
"Casualties were inevitable, and they were indeed regrettable," the Protoss hero conceded, his tone unchanged as he spoke to Kerrigan. "The Dark Templar still mourn the death of Raszagal to this day, but from the Overmind’s perspective, her death was a necessary loss. The Cerebrates too could be controlled by the Fallen One, and it was necessary for them to also perish to ensure that you alone would retain control over the swarm. In the aftermath of the Brood War, you had killed all of the remaining Zerg Cerebrates to retain your control, did you not?"
"And even that I now regret," the red haired ghost said glumly. "I’m a monster, Tassadar. Even the Zerg suffered because I couldn’t control myself. The truth is I’m not a savior at all, regardless of what the Xel’Naga prophecy says. Just look at everything I’ve done."
"The Overmind was formed with thought and reason," he reminded her. "It was certainly no fool to all this, and it knew the potential risk should your rage spiral completely out of control. It may have been necessary in order for you to gain sole control over the swarm, but once that had been accomplished, the Overmind knew that it needed a means to keep you in check. This was why your transformation into the Queen of Blades was only one part of its overall plan. The second part involved James Raynor."
At this, Kerrigan’s head shot up, her face an expression of shock. "Back up a minute here!" she exclaimed. "What the hell does Jim have to do with all this?"
"For almost your entire life, you had been only manipulated, deceived, and betrayed by others. James Raynor, however, was different. You and him had fought alongside each other when you were both part of the Sons of Korhal, and you had quickly discovered that he did not use you for his own ends. This was why before your infestation had been completed, you had psionically reached out to him while you were still within the chrysalis on Char."
Now Raynor looked like he was on the verge of solving a mystery. "So what did the Overmind plan for me?"

"I assume you still recall a rescue mission both you and Kerrigan had undergone on the terran world of Antiga Prime," Tassadar explained. "The terran Edmund Duke was being assaulted by the Zerg, and the two of you had rescued him."
"Only reluctantly," Jim grumbled. "Sarah and I both protested to Mengsk’s lunacy in undertaking the mission in the first place." His lips then curled up into a slight smile. "Still, the two of us made a good team against the Zerg. They had the numbers, but we prevailed in the end," he said proudly, turning to Sarah, who smiled back in return, recalling the happier days with Jim.
"On the contrary, you and Kerrigan had accomplished no such thing," the high templar corrected him. "Your rescue operation of Edmund Duke was a success because the Overmind had willed it so. You had both believed that it was your skills and ingenuity that led to your victory. The reality of the matter was the Overmind had simply allowed you to prevail."
Jim frowned deeply. "Ok, let’s just say I believe you. Why the hell would the Zerg even let us win in the first place?"
"That battle was the first time where you and Kerrigan fought alongside each other against the swarm. As such, it was also the first time the Overmind had seen the bond between you and her, even if neither one of you realized it at the time. It had quickly seen how you had made her so genuinely happy and knew that you could potentially become the one aspect in her life that restrain her should its plans for Kerrigan not come together in the way it had planned."
"Doesn’t explain why it let me and Jim win," Sarah argued. "The two of us had only just met by then."

"That is correct, young Kerrigan," Tassadar said, nodding to her. "And for that reason, the Overmind also knew that the bond between you and James Raynor had not fully developed, and it was thus necessary to make sure the bond was authentic before it pushed ahead with its plans. That being the case, the Overmind had pulled the Zerg back in order to allow the relationship between you and him to continue to grow."
Jim didn’t look convinced. "Then what do you call Tarsonis?"
The Protoss hero nodded to him. "Six months later, Kerrigan and I first met at the terran province of New Gettysburg. By then, the relationship between you and her had greatly strengthened, and the Overmind was confident that the time had come to proceed with its plans. You had believed that it had been a matter of coincidence that she had been abducted at that moment by the Zerg, whereas the reality was that this had been carefully planned by the Overmind all along. Had it deemed that the bond between you and Kerrigan was still insufficient, it would have simply pulled its minions back and spared her at New Gettysburg."

Sarah was horrified. "You mean to tell me that all this time there had been a chance the Zerg wouldn’t have taken me back then?"
"Your bond between you and James Raynor had been strong enough, and that had been vindicated on Char," Tassadar told her. "When you had emerged from your chrysalis as the Queen of Blades, the Zerg broods under your command were more than sufficient enough to have killed all of his forces there, including James Raynor himself. However, you did not do that. Instead, you had given him the option to leave the volcanic ash world. The Overmind saw that as a sign that its plan had been a remarkable success, for the bond between you and James Raynor had kept your rage under control and thus prevented you from killing him."
She lowered her head in guilt once more. "Maybe not physcially, but mentally is another matter," she said to the high templar, as Jim gently squeezed her hand. "Jim took Fenix’s death hard. I shattered him that day."
"I still never gave up on you, Sarah," he said softly to her.
"That is what you do not understand, Kerrigan. You had claimed that you were content with the way you were after your transformation, but the reality was very different. The truth is, during all these years you had spent with the Zerg, you never once gave up on James Raynor either."
"How can you say that?" she asked him.

"The Queen of Blades personality within you was merely the manifestation of all of your anger and rage of having been betrayed and deceived by others for so many years," the Protoss hero explained. "However, according to you, during all these years you had spent with the Zerg, you still felt regret each time you were reminded of James Raynor."
"Yeah, but I only saw that as a sign of weakness back then," Sarah said sadly.
"The dark aspect of your nature was never blind to rational thought, Kerrigan. Even the Queen of Blades personality within you had been forced to concede that he had never once manipulated you to suit his own ends, and James Raynor had influenced that part of you. It was the reason why despite having had many opportunities to do so, you had never been able to bring yourself to take his life."
"That’s where you’re wrong," Kerrigan countered. "Jim had been reduced to a drunk spiraling completely out of control after the Brood War. By the time I launched the recent Zerg invasion, he was already a completely broken man. If the assault on Char and my deinfestation never happened, I’m pretty sure it would have ended up killing him."

"That is certainly a possibility," Tassadar agreed. "However, I believe you would have stopped him before then. Due to the need for your rage and power lust, the Overmind hoped that your transformation within the chrysalis would suppress your deep feelings for James Raynor. However, the infestation was never intended for you to suppress those feelings indefinitely. Your psionic abilities had been greatly strengthened, and you would have been able to sense his feelings from over great distances. As it had been shown in the Overmind’s vision, it seems highly unlikely that you would have been able to keep a level of inaction had something truly happened to James Raynor. Over its course of examining humanity, the Overmind had understood that such feelings had the ability to cause your kind to stray away from rational thought."
He looked at Sarah in the eye. "As for the part of you that had been imprisoned within your own mind due to the dark aspect of your nature, you had continued to resist it even after all these years. Despite the unwelcoming prospect of regaining control, you had been subconsciously telling James Raynor that your humanity had not perished despite the Zerg infestation. Deep down, you had wanted him not to give up on you, as you would not for him."
"The Overmind’s vision just showed I was weak. It showed that I couldn’t do it myself, that I needed Jim to regain control."
"You were never weak, Sarah," Jim told her. "You need to stop seeing yourself that way."

He then looked up at Tassadar. "If all this had been planned by the Overmind, I’d say it took too huge a risk. If what you’re saying about the thing is true, then it basically just put everyone’s lives on the line and gambled everything on me and Sarah’s relationship."
"You had taken a similar risk from what you had told me," the high templar replied. "You had undertaken the invasion of Char with the full knowledge that there would be no guarantee that the Xel’Naga relic could achieve the outcome you desired."
"But at least that one had theories to it!" Jim protested. "The Overmind didn’t even have that!"
"You underestimate the creature’s ingenuity, James Raynor. The Overmind had not risked everything on the bond between you and Kerrigan. It knew that after her transformation was completed, there was also the possibility that your feelings for each other may not be sufficient to prevail against the odds, and it was for this reason that the Overmind had exploited Kerrigan’s lust for power."
"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

"The swarm had been under your control since the end of the Brood War. I have seen Zerg minions feed on the body of the Overmind in the years past." Off Kerrigan’s nod, Tassadar continued, "You had done this because you had wanted the knowledge and power that the creature had assimilated into itself, and to find a way to use it for your own benefit. This too was something the Overmind had anticipated, and it was for this reason that it had done its utmost to hide the true purpose of the Xel’Naga relic from you, and only allow you to obtain bits and pieces of information about it."
"Why?"
"It needed you to believe that the artifact was only capable of enhancing your already powerful psionic abilities," Tassadar explained. "It was why until James Raynor had achieved his victory on Char, you did not know that the relic also had the potential to undo the Zerg infestation. Had you obtained the artifact before he did, the Overmind had hoped that with your knowledge, you would use it on yourself and discover too late at its true capabilities."

This was becoming clearly too much for Kerrigan, as she held on to Jim even tighter. All of this had been carefully planned, and it ways she never thought possible: her relationship with Jim, her years of experience of being manipulated, her anger that she kept buried deep within her, even her overall invasion plan to obtain the Xel’Naga artifact. The Overmind had a hand in it all, both directly and indirectly.
"Now you understand the Overmind’s great plan in its attempt to prevent the Fallen One from achieving Armageddon," the high templar said. He could see that Raynor, Kerrigan, and Zeratul were all deeply shaken by the revelation.
Jim sighed. "All right, I’m willing to go along with all this," he said, exhaling. "The question still remains: what are we supposed to do now?"
"As the hybrids are a genetic combination of the Zerg and Protoss, they are extremely powerful," Tassadar replied. "Neither your terran species nor the Firstborn possess the strength to defeat them alone. In order to defeat the Fallen One and its hybrids, it will require the combined might of all the races: terran, Zerg, and Protoss. It is for this reason that you set aside your differences and unite the individual races together."
Sarah didn’t like that idea one bit, and it didn’t make sense to her. "But I’m not that Zerg monster anymore! I don’t have any more control over the swarm!"
"That is only what you believe, Kerrigan. If that was indeed true, the Xel’Naga prophecy on Ulaan would already be fulfilled."

Jim frowned deeply. "Tassadar, Sarah and I have already fought on a few planets before coming to Aiur. There’s still some Zerg blood in her system, and she did demonstrate some new psionic abilities. But there’s been no indication that she can still control the Zerg or anything like that."
"When the Fallen One had created the hybrids, he had done so in a very similar way in which the Overmind had infested Kerrigan," the Protoss hero explained, turning to the red haired ghost. "You had become strong enough to control the whole of the swarm by the end of the Brood War, and the hybrids are similar in their psionic potential, where a single one has the power to control the entire swarm. It was another reason why so many of them were created, so that if one of them was killed, another one could simply take its place and the Zerg would remain under their enslavement."
"What does this have to do with controlling the Zerg now?" Kerrigan asked, confused.
"According to what you, James Raynor, and Zeratul have informed me, the hybrids are now beginning to awaken from their slumber. If you had truly lost control over the swarm in the aftermath of James Raynor’s victory on Char, then the abominations would already be in control of it and the Fallen One would be able to push ahead with his plans."

"That means when the Xel’Naga artifact had been used on you, it did not sever your link to the Zerg," Zeratul said, slowly catching on.
"Correct, great Zeratul," Tassadar nodded to him. "I believe that exposure to the relic had only altered the form of the link and rendered it unstable, and that would explain why the Zerg had attacked Kerrigan on sight instead of submitting to her. Until both she and the swarm are able to discover a way to stabilize this psychic link, the Zerg would remain feral to her."
Raynor couldn’t stand it anymore. The fact that the artifact didn’t even break the hold of the Zerg on Sarah was just too much for him to bear. "Then what the hell did the Fallen One’s weapon do to her?"
"Before the Fallen One had turned on his Xel’Naga brethren, they had worked together on the key to his ascension. As the relic’s true nature became known, his fellow Xel’Naga had developed an additional feature into the artifact, one that would emit a powerful nova of energy that would be lethal if exposed to any of its creations, as well as be harmless to any species that were not created by the Xel’Naga."
The commander nodded. "That would explain why we were able to fire off smaller blasts from it against the Zerg attack waves and we weren’t affected."
Tassadar turned to Kerrigan. "However, your case is completely different. Due to the Zerg infestation, it had turned you into a terran-Zerg hybrid, and the artifact was never designed in the event of a hybrid that consisted of only partial aspects of the Xel’Naga. It was for this reason exposure to the relic did not return to you to the way you were prior to the infestation."
"Which still doesn’t explain what it did to Sarah," Jim repeated.
"The Fallen One had designed his Ascension Key so that the powers contained within could not be so easily be destroyed, even if the vessel that contained it could."

Tassadar could see a lump forming in Kerrigan’s throat. Her body tensed as she braced herself as best she could for what he was about to say next. "Your demonstration of these new psionic abilities that you did not possess as the Queen of Blades is likely to be a sign of a transfer of power. It is possible that certain elements of the Xel’Naga relic and its power had left the vessel and found itself a new one."
Sarah was shocked. "So what, I basically am the artifact right now?"
"No, as the artifact is still extremely harmful to both the Protoss and Zerg," Tassadar told her. "Only small portions of the relic may have found themselves into you and evolved and enhanced you accordingly. If this is indeed what had happened, then exposure to the Xel’Naga artifact had greatly strengthened your psionic potential. You could now be far more powerful than the Queen of Blades ever was."
Kerrigan was horrified. "I don’t want this power!" she cried. "Don’t any of you get it yet? I never wanted any of this! I don’t want this savior role the prophecy said! I never wanted to be turned into a Zerg monster to killed countless people just for my own power! I never wanted to become a ghost operative assassin for the Confederacy! I never even wanted any psychic powers in the first place!"
"There are matters that are not within our own control, and the ordeal we all find ourselves in is one of them," the high templar said calmly, turning to Raynor. "Your actions on Char had its consequences. By retrieving the fragments of the Xel’Naga artifact, you had essentially allowed the Ascension Key to become available to the Fallen One once more. Should the relic fall into his hands, the Xel’Naga traitor would have the power necessary to cover the whole of the Void in eternal darkness."
He then turned to Sarah. "Kerrigan, it is essential that you reunite the swarm. Because the psionic link between you and the Zerg still exists, the Fallen One knows that none of his hybrids will have the means necessary control the Zerg themselves until you are killed. This means that once a sufficient amount of hybrids have awakened, you will be continuously targeted by the abominations. You had already mentioned the hybrid Viltra targeting you on Aiur, and many more will follow suit once the time comes. The hybrids themselves are powerful, but they still cannot hope to match the Zerg in numbers."

"You know, that’s another thing I don’t get," Raynor piped up. "As far as Sarah is concerned, except for that one incident with the hybrid earlier, she can’t even feel anything new within her. Now if what you’re saying is true and all that power is in her the whole time, why hasn’t she been able to demonstrate it?"
"As in the case of the psionic powers the Zerg had given you upon your transformation, they are in a different form compared to the psionic abilities you possessed as a normal human being," Tassadar explained, still keeping his eyes locked on Kerrigan. "The Overmind had seen that you were an extremely capable learner, and it was why upon your rebirth into the swarm, you had been able to effectively wield your new abilities. In the case of the powers you obtained from exposure to the Xel’Naga relic, it is also in a different form. However as the psionic abilities of the Xel’Naga are much greater compared to that of the Zerg and the Firstborn, it also means that mastering it is a much more difficult and complex process. That you have not been able to demonstrate such prowess is a clear indication that you have not yet learned how to effectively harness the power that now reside within you, Kerrigan."
"But I don’t want any of this!" she insisted. "I only ever wanted a normal human life!"

The Protoss hero thought about this for a moment. "There might still be a possibility of that in the future. Perhaps with the defeat of the Fallen One and its hybrids, peace can be obtained. The Overmind’s intentions were for you to free the Zerg from slavery, so if you succeed, such burdens would be lifted from your shoulders."
That did not go well with Sarah. "So I’m just supposed to suffer until then?"
"Had there been more terrans with such capable psionic potential as yourself, none of this may have happened to you," Tassadar told her. "As it stands, you are unique among the terrans and cannot be replaced, whereas each hybrid killed on the battlefield can. This is why the Fallen One’s plans shall come to pass if your link to the swarm is forcibly severed. The Overmind had been fully aware of this, as well as the fact that as long as it remained alive, the Zerg would remain enslaved to the Xel’Naga traitor, and thus prepared plans accordingly to the best of its ability to jeopardize the Fallen One’s intents. It knew, however, that upon its death, it would no longer be able to predict or influence events ahead, and the ordeal would not be over upon its destruction. As such, it had done its part in the great plan to defeat the Fallen One. It is now for you to finish what the Overmind had started."
Kerrigan felt her heart sink even lower. "And after everything I did as the Queen of Blades, you think anyone would even trust me with this new power?"

The high templar chuckled telepathically. "Powers are not responsible for the killing, Kerrigan. It is the being behind the powers that is responsible for the lives taken, or have you learned nothing from your time spent with the Zerg?"
Sarah didn’t have an answer to that, but she knew only too well there was no way she could do this. Tassadar and Zeratul had both proved themselves much more capable than she ever did in their actions.
As if almost reading her mind, Tassadar spoke up again, "I know you doubt yourself, Kerrigan. However, no one would be fully confident of the task that now lies before you. It is indeed a daunting one, but prior to your infestation, the Overmind had seen the potential within you."
She laughed bitterly and humorously, startling Jim. "Yeah, the potential of killing everyone I see."
"Not that," the high templar corrected her. "When you and James Raynor had fought alongside each other on the terran world of Antiga Prime, the Overmind had seen something that had always resided within you: the spirit of a warrior. It was the reason why the Overmind had believed in you upon your transformation into the Queen of Blades."
Sarah didn’t look convinced. "And what now, after everything I’ve done?"
"I ask you to become that warrior now, Kerrigan. Become the savior you were meant to be. Before you had been taken in by the Zerg, both you and James Raynor had such goals, to free humanity from the tyranny of the Confederacy."
"Yeah and look how well that turned out," she grumbled.

"The atrocities you had committed as the Queen of Blades had also been part of the Overmind’s plan," Tassadar reminded her. "It knew that casualties would be inevitable before the Firstborn would understand its true intentions for you, and despite being regrettable, the bloodshed was necessary in the grand scheme. Do not forget, I had explored the memories of the Overmind just as it had explored your memories upon infestation. I can say with an absolute certainty that even before you had been taken by the Zerg, your past had been exceptionally brutal, perhaps more than any of the Firstborn can understand, and the years as the Queen of Blades only deepened the suffering."
Then, to Sarah’s surprise, the Protoss hero suddenly bowed his head deeply to her as a sign of respect. "I cannot say for certain how the rest of my brethren will react to all this," he said deeply. "I do not know if they will share my perspective, or if they will be as understanding as I am. But given everything you had been subjected to in your past, compounded by the Overmind’s true intents for you both in the immediate future and in the overall grand scheme, there were many factors beyond your own control and thus you could not be held fully accountable for it all."
Tassadar looked at Sarah in the eye once more. "I understand why you did what you did during your time with the Zerg. For that reason, I forgive you for your actions against our people, Kerrigan. And I have faith in that you will be able to what is necessary when the time comes."

"We all must," Zeratul said. "I trust what Tassadar has said, including the need for you to reunite the swarm once more. I will do my utmost to ensure that the rest of the Protoss understand what must now be done."
For a moment Sarah was stunned beyond all recognition. The concept of forgiveness and redemption had plagued her mind for so long that she couldn’t believe she could ever achieve it, especially in the case with the Protoss, the sins committed had simply been too great.
Now, for the first time, there might actually be a chance, however small that may be. It might not be too late after all. Maybe even after that had happened, there was still hope to remedy all this.
She felt her legs go weak, and she held on to Jim tightly to keep herself from falling onto the ground, as tears spilled from her eyes. "Thank you, all of you," she whispered softly.
Raynor beamed, as he looked down at the crying woman in his arms. "I told you, Sarah," he said quietly. "People eventually understand and forgive. A few mistakes in the past have happened, no one’s denying that. As long as you make up for it, that’s enough."

"I have explained everything you needed to hear," Tassadar said. "Where you go from this point onwards is for you to decide."
Kerrigan nodded in understanding. Her actions as the Queen of Blades had caused more than enough suffering and misery to everyone around her. If she sat back without taking any further action, she really would doom everyone to their fates. Obviously she still didn’t welcome the prospect of having to associate herself with the Zerg once more, but it that was the only way to defeat the hybrids, then so be it. The revelations from Tassadar had made her role as savior more important than ever, and everyone was counting on her.

This time, she would not fail them.

End of Story

So yeah. Job done. Again, remember, not by me.

[TheEconomist]

Posting for a cheap, quick scare.

[Turalyon]

It would be nice if there's a TLDR version of this theory.

I've read the first part and it is very heavy on exposition making it a real slog to read through. The story seems more like a massive info dump rather than an engaging story. I'm sure that some of the EU stuff that is shown in there isn't anything new for those avid Sc lore lovers out there but to anyone else, well...

I also get the sense that the representation of the characters in this story to be somewhat metaphorical for the relationship between Blizz's writers and the audience at large. Raynor represents the unwitting audience (us) since he keeps posing similar questions about the inconsistencies of the lore that some of us have. We then have Tassadar essentially saying "aah, but you didn't have this hitertofore unknown information that I alone have" much like what the Blizz writers are attempting to do. I also find it somewhat odd that in some areas, "Tassadar" appears to be explaining and justifying Kerrigan's emotional rollercoaster for her rather than it seemingly coming naturally from her. Given the parallel about Tassadar being metaporically "Blizz writers", it comes across as a bit contrived and 'forced'.