Receiving a silent order, the Beetle departed from the port and jumped away. It would go to somewhere private and be taken into Jean’s watch.
Meanwhile, Liam was shaking on his bed. A spec ops ghost before him. Behind the ghost was a trail of dead marines and marauders. Two naked girls laid on the ground. Their beauty was shut down by a bullet into their skulls.
“I bring a message from emperor Mengsk.” The ghost said in a cold, mechanical voice. “You have a choice. You can either arrest and turn over Jean Turner and continue your life as the king of Deadman’s port, or you can die right now.”
Liam gulped. The ghost just charged into his chamber and killed his girls. If this was anyone else treating him like that he would make a move the gauss pistol on his table and fight. But this was a ghost. This was someone that could read his mind and break his neck before he could lift his fingers.
Plus, even if he could somehow kill the ghost, then what? He would be at war with the Terran Dominion, one of the strongest terran fractions in the sector. The only reason the Deadman’s Port was still standing was because those strong enough to destroy it didn’t find a reason to do that. Liam had no doubt his fleet would fall apart under the might of the Dominion.
The ghost saw Liam’s hesitation. “200 Dominion battlecruisers can reach the port in minutes. Make a decision.” He pushed. “If you hand over the girl, the emperor will be very happy. If you don’t...”Somethings didn’t need to be spoken to get the point across.
Liam debated within himself. Jean helped him and avenged his family, and he was grateful, but he was a mercenary, and mercenaries weren’t exactly the most thankful group of people. Even if he tried to protect Jean he would make any difference. The only thing different would be the amount of dead mercenaries and the change in his status from alive to dead.
Unlike Nyon, Liam didn’t know the real danger of Jean. Nyon had been defeated by Jean multiple times, and he knew better than betraying her. The strength of Jean was carved into Nyon’s bones. Even if Jean was stabbed in the heart Nyon would believe that was part of Jean’s plan. He might not be wrong.
Liam, however, knew Jean as a hacker. That was it. Liam knew about the mission on Tyrador VIII, but all the mercenaries that participated in the mission died in combat, which left Liam clueless about Jean. Naturally, Liam thought Jean as a weak, defenseless girl that crossed the wrong person. He chose to betray her, and he would live to regret that decision, not that things would go any better for him if he protected Jean.
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Jean was taken back as mercenary marines broke through her door. Liam was leading them.
“Liam!” Jean shouted with a mixture of anger, disbelief, and despair. Her ability to control her facial muscle was enhanced greatly by the zerg mutation. In other words she had became a great actress. This, combined with her overpowering psi energy, fooled everyone, including the cloaked ghost. “I made you who you are today.” She screamed as the marines cuffed her.
“Wait a second.” Liam held his hand up. The mercenaries paused. The ghost discreetly aimed his rifle at the man’s head. Jean looked at Liam with hope in her eyes.
Liam walked to Jean and, without any warning, punched her in the face. Jean fell onto the floor with a small trail of blood in her mouth. Liam turned and walked out of the room without a word as the mercenaries detained Jean.
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“What is this? Your twisted victory dance?” Jean complained viciously. Her arms were tied to the ceiling of her cell by two metal chains. Her suit had been changed to an orange prisoner uniform. Four other ghosts were in the room. Detection covered the entire area to prevent any cloaked unit from doing anything. 50 special ops marines, marauders, and medivacs were outside the cell, ready to charge in if anything went wrong. The ship they were on was protected by around a hundred Dominion battlecruisers. These precautions were put in place under the order of Nova Terra. She was aboard the ship on behalf of the emperor, which gave her lots of authority.
It had been half an hour since Jean’s capture. Liam turned her over to the Dominion Pride of Augustgrad fleet, where she met the elite female ghost. The last time they met was on the Hyperion where the two conspired against Raynor and his men. Oh how things have changed, not that either of the two felt restricted by their past cooperation.
“I have read all of your files, Jean.” Nova dodged the question. Jean noticed her rifle was really close to her reach. “The undertaking of The Beetle. The cleansing of the Raiders. The assault on the Moebius Foundation.” She leaned closer to the restricted Jean. “You are not just a hacker. I have seen you in action. You are a fighter. You are a killer. You have so many tricks up your sleeve that there is no way a betrayal surprises you. The safest thing to do is to shoot you in the head.” She touched her canister rifle, thinking. Nova was present when Jean turned and executed James Raynor and Tychus Findley. She saw how capable Jean was at fighting.
“Then why don’t you do it? What’s keeping you from executing me?” Jean asked as she looked up at the chains restricting the movement of her arms.
Nova’s fingers left her rifle. “The emperor doesn’t believe in my words. He thinks you can be convinced to help the Dominion. But mark my words. Try to do one of your tricks on this ship, and you will fail. I will be watching your every move. You will never be in the same room as an electronic device.” She stated.
Jean smirked bitterly. “For a ghost operative you are very talkative today. Don’t worry. I am not planning to do anything.” At least not here...