As arrogant as she seemed, Jean wasn’t blinded by her advantages. She first sent a vanguard through the portal. The vanguard included one single Sovereign and fifty Minotaurs. It was when a ship returned and reported that the other side was relatively safe that the main fleet finally went through the door.
A hidden part within the void, an old creature opened his eyes thoughtfully.
As soon as Jean entered the void, she received emergency reports from the vanguard.
“Commander, multiple void shades are assaulting our ships.” The cold voice of the Warden AI of the Sovereign, S102, showed no resemblance of the direness of the situation. “They have taken the form of units from all three races. We are outnumbered 1.28 to 1. Reinforcement is advised.” The AI paused for a second. “Scans to our ships show that the environment is slowly corroding our ships.”
Nova tapped her cheek. “I am sending reinforcements to the vanguard. What do we do to the corrosive environment? Our forces can’t fight a drawn out war under this environment.”
Jean pressed a few keys, and the Warden ships immediately conducted searches of the ground below. “Scans have located several sources of corruption. It appears like these locations are continuously turning the already destructive void energy into weapons against anything that does not contain void energy. Perfectly harmless to void shades but deadly to outsiders like us. The perfect defense.”
“Maybe not so perfect. If we can destroy the sources of corruption...” Nova was always full of ideas, not that breaking through with pure force required a lot of thinking. Using void energy as a weapon was clever, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide.
“Then we can turn the situation to our favor. Without the advantage of the battlefield the void shades will be crushed.” Jean continued the idea. “Scans show five sources. I am dispatching fleets to every one of them as we speak.” As she spoke, five smaller fleets, purifier and Warden vessels alike, left the main fleet and moved toward the sources. Each consisted of twenty capital ships and five hundred fighters. They were just large enough to defeat the defenders and take out the sources and just small enough so that even if they were defeated the main fleet wouldn’t be significantly weakened.
Kerrigan stood and watched the event unfold. She didn’t really care what happens. In fact, a small part of her was hoping that this expedition would fail, and Jean, with all her forces, would be wiped out. That hope was immediately shut down when Kerrigan realized she was on the same ship as Jean and Nova. If it sank, they would all be dead.
Jean didn’t really care what Kerrigan thought. “Meanwhile…” She was about to say something when she abruptly went silent.
Nova and Kerrigan looked at her. “What’s wrong?” The ghost asked with concern.
Jean held her index finger to her lips, demanding the two other women to stay quiet for a while. Inside her mind, she was hearing a voice.
“Jean…my child...”
Jean frowned. This voice was... familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
It was unfamiliar because she had never truly heard the voice before in her life,
It was familiar because she knew this voice belonged to her father.
Well, not exactly her father. Lieutanent Jean Turner’s father.
When Jean was inserted into the starcraft universe, she was given the identity of a lieutenant in Raynor Raiders with the same name as her. Despite just arriving, Jean had technically lived a full life in this sector. When this Jean arrived, everything about the local Jean’s past was inserted into the new Jean’s memory. She could remember her youth, her family, and how and why she joined the Raiders as if she had went through all the events herself. Everything seemed so real and logical. At one point Jean had even hacked into the Terran Dominion database and realized everything about her was in place. Whoever set up this insertion system, they were good. Anyone would think Jean was just a normal, Koprulu grown girl and not a traveller from another universe.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Appearantly the disguise was good enough to fool a xel’naga.
Jean knew very well who this voice belonged to. It was Ouros, the third xel’naga still alive, right next to Amon and Narud. Unlike Narud, he had tried everything he could to go against Amon. He was defeated and imprisoned, but he nevertheless continued his struggle by affecting the material world with prophecies. By doing things like leading Zeratul to the ancient xel’naga artifact, he paved the road to the final destruction of Amon. In the original history he would approach Artanis, who led the expedition force of all three races into the void. The old xel’naga disguised himself as Tassadar, Artanis’ former teacher. Eventually Ouros would sacrifice himself and pass on his essence to Kerrigan, granting the latter the power of the xel’naga and thus leading to the final and ultimate destruction of Amon.
This was also why Jean bought Kerrigan. Jean wanted Kerrigan to take the essence and become a xel’naga. She didn’t know what effect becoming a xel’naga could have on her, and she wasn’t taking the chances. As far as she knew becoming a xel’naga might mean she would be enslaved by the xel’naga’s ideal of an infinite cycle and be stuck in this world forever. So what if she would be a god? Her destiny laid in the infinite universes, not just this one.
Back to the situation. Jean suspected Ouros was, just like with Artanis, using some sort of psionic trick on her to make her hear the voice of someone she trusted. The xel’naga were the strongest species in this sector. They had what was described as unlimited psionic potential. Ouros might be old and weak, but even so he could still trick someone as powerful as Jean. This said something.
For a second Jean doubted whether or not she would give the chance of becoming a xel’naga to Kerrigan because of a single possibility. The power of the xel’naga was well worth the risk.
Of course, that was by no means saying in a real fight Ouros could best Jean. Battles were much more than just comparing numbers and statistics.
“Impossible.” As her mind turned a thousand miles an hour, Jean instantly became a good actress. “It can’t be…It is not possible. My father died years ago. I saw his body. Even if he’s still alive there is no way he’s able to survive here in the void. Who are you?” She seemed pissed off. Anyone that saw their dead parents’ image being used would be pissed off. It was only normal.
On the other end Ouros was pretty frustrated. He noticed the enormous fleet entering the void, and in the fleet he saw a chance to defeat Amon. After locating the commander, he used his decaying but still powerful psionic ability to try and influence Jean. But things went south really quickly. If the commander was a protoss or a zerg he might be able to convince her he was who he claimed to be, but a human being...There was no way a human being could survive in the void. Anyone with some logic would realize that almost instantly and therefore understand it was someone else. Now Ouros found himself not only failing to win Jean’s trust but also being suspected and even disdained.
Another thing worth mentioning was that technically Ouros should be sensing someone close to Jean, to the real Jean, but he couldn’t find anything besides from the memories inserted into Jean after she arrived.
Knowing his disguise would only make things worse, Ouros returned to his original form. “I apologize for my actions, but I have to have your trust. I am Ouros, the last shepherd of the infinite cycle.” The xel’naga said in a deep old voice. “If you are here, you must have seen my prophecy. You must be here to kill Amon.”
“I haven’t seen or heard of this prophecy you speak of.” Jean replied coldly, still holding a grudge for Ouros’ use of her father’s form. “But you got the last part right. I am here to kill Amon.”
“Then I can help you.” Ouros suggested. “But you have to free me first.”
“I have a fleet large enough to cover the stars. I don’t need your help.”
“Amon is stronger than you think.” The old xel’naga insisted urgently. Amon was much stronger in the void than he was in the material world. Ouros didn’t want the perhaps only hope against Amon to fall because of Jean’s arrogance.
Jean thought about it. Of course that was just an act. A few seconds later she finally seemed convinced. “How can I free you?”
“I am imprisoned by Narud. Kill him, and I will be freed.”
Jean nodded in hesitation.