Ten days later. Ulnar.
The largest fleet ever built in this sector was assembled here. Around 1500 purifier capital ships, including nearly a hundred motherships, and around 700 Warden battlecruisers were present. They held an army made up of most of the resources in the sector. Every carrier held thousands of sentinels and legionnaires. Every battlecruiser contained hundreds of Warden units. The amount of smaller fighters were beyond measure. An armada almost five times the size of the Golden Armada waited in the sector. All it needed was a single order from its commander to unleash death and destruction upon its enemy. Any enemy.
Ulnar was not a planet, or rather not just a planet. It was an ancient xel’naga temple that acted as both the resting place for the xel’naga and a void portal that connected the void and the material world. As far as technology went, terran or protoss, Ulnar didn’t exist in this world.
A distance beside the combined fleet, twenty leviathans exited warp space.
Kerrigan didn’t bring that big of a fleet. She knew she wasn’t needed for her ships. She was needed because Jean claimed she needed her to kill Amon. Kerrigan didn’t know how or why, but she knew better than to ask questions. Even if Jean just wanted her to be there to witness her final victory and brag to her she would still be here. She had no choice.
The leviathan fleet stopped a distance away from the much much larger fleet. A single overlord departed from the largest leviathan in the fleet and speeded toward the combined fleet. It entered the hanger of the Warden capital ship, a former Sovereign battlecruiser.
Sovereign battlecruisers were the newest type of battlecruisers. Even the Gorgon battlecruisers seemed small against these ultimate terran killing machines. Stronger laser battery, heavier armor, and larger size were just the basics. Thanks to overcharged reactor technology, yamato cannons had been turned from a last resort/killing blow to a regular weaponry. Even with the resources from the entire sector the Warden fleet had a tiny Sovereign battlecruiser count of 50. Just like purifier motherships, they were used as flagships.
Now Kerrigan was going onto Jean’s new flagship, a ship known only with the numbers S101. Jean never bothered with naming her ships.
Entering the hanger, Kerrigan left the overlord and sent the transport back before walking further into the ship. She was here alone. If Jean wanted her dead bringing the entire zerg fleet wouldn’t change anything. In that case why not be polite?
The hall was dead silent. A battlecruiser large enough to hold thousands of crew members was almost completely empty. However, empty meant neither defenseless nor vulnerable. Kerrigan eyed the goliath armors in the individual rooms usually reserved for crew members. These mechanical walkers could get into battle whenever they were needed.
The sound of her feet clicking on the metal floor made Kerrigan slightly nervous. In fact it had been a while since Kerrigan last felt the emotion of nervousness. Whether as a ghost or as the queen of blades, she was always in control. The feeling of not having any control over her own future stroke fear into her zerg heart.
As she moved, her thoughts wondered. If only she had known what Jean was capable of, she would have ended her the first time they met. She would rather face the threat of the Golden Armada and later Amon all by herself rather than having to face the Jean now. Both the Golden Armada and Amon could be defeated, but Jean…
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Having seen how Jean went from a lieutenant under a small rebel faction to the master of the entire sector in months, Kerrigan was truly frightened of her potential. Having seen the might of the purifiers and of the Warden fleet, Kerrigan was jealous of Jean’s power.
But no matter how frightened or jealous Kerrigan was, she had already missed the chance to terminate Jean. The battle of Char might have been the last chance Kerrigan had, but Jean used the queen’s fear of the Golden Armada and used it to protect herself. When Amon’s forces were gone and the threat was cleared, so was Jean. The girl gave Kerrigan no opportunity to hit.
Unfortunately for Kerrigan, time travel didn’t exist in the starcraft universe. Even the strongest xel’naga couldn’t go back in time, much less the queen of blades. Kerrigan’s only option was to face the consequence of her own decision.
The battlecruiser was giant. The distance from the hanger to the bridge would’ve taken a hellion at full speed a few minutes. Kerrigan completed the walk in two minutes.
The door to the bridge was guarded by four elite Warden marines. Their T shaped helmet covered their emptiness inside. Seeing the queen of blades, the marines stepped aside. Kerrigan took a deep breathe before entering.
Two figures were in the bridge. Jean was in her usual ghost modified suit. Even though that suit could no longer provide any help to her anymore, wearing a hostile environment suit to battle was still the most suitable choice. Her cheek was slightly red, but Kerrigan was too emotional to think much of it. Nova wore a very similar ghost suit. Two plasma blades were attached to her arms. A canister rifle on her back. Goggles covered her eyes. She seemed vigilant, but Kerrigan could see some sweat on her cheek.
Jean got right down to business.
“As you are aware of, I have defeated the dark god and brought peace back to this world. Unfortunately by destroying his body in the material world, Amon was merely banished into the void. Eventually he will return, and when he does, the sector will burn. I will not allow this burden to be passed on to the future generations.” Jean announced, using the sake of the sector to cover her own purpose.
Kerrigan smirked inside. The sector will burn? The sector is already burning. The purifiers have done more damage than Amon ever could. Still, the queen remained silent. Jean’s decision wasn’t surprising. As far as Kerrigan knew every single one of Jean’s enemies was dead. There was no reason for Amon to be different. Only fools would keep their enemies alive for no reason at all when they were able to finish them off. Jean was no fool.
“How can we do that?” The queen of blades just wanted to get the job done. Hopefully after the final victory Jean could give her and the swarm some living space to work with. Her ambition had been reduced from taking over the world to self preservation.
“Ulnar can bring us into the void.” Jean pointed at the temple outside the hardened window of the ship.
“And then?”
“I have two thousand ships.” Jean didn’t mention Ouros and the xel’naga essence that would, in the original history, turn Kerrigan into a xel’naga and grant her the power to destroy Amon. There was no way she could explain how she knew this information. Kerrigan wouldn’t ask questions, but Jean wasn’t taking the chances just because she was careless.
Kerrigan nodded. Amon was powerful, but even the strongest individual in the sector would fall at the hands of a fleet this large. Kerrigan estimated her own ability and knew it would take at most ten Sovereign battlecruisers to destroy her. The Warden fleet itself had 700 battlecruisers, and then there were the purifiers. Even if Amon was a hundred times more powerful than she was the ending would be the same.
“Then what are we waiting for?” She smiled. “The swarm is happy to serve you. My queen.” The survival of the swarm was the top priority. She had already dropped her pride for that.
Jean nodded.
Ulnar started to open, revealing a dark, circular portal. Purple void energy radiated out and stained the space around the temple. Across the gate, Jean could see the space on the other side. The void energy and the lifeless feature screamed its identity. Their destination. The void.
“Proceed.”