Kerrigan left with a battlecruiser full of Warden units. The entire ship was powered by Warden AIs. With one hundred F-1 fighters and a small army of Warden ground units, this one battlecruiser was enough to take on a small brood. It was hardly a match for the full might of the Swarm, but the Wardens weren’t there to fight a war.
Their job was to escort Kerrigan to all the scattered broods and aid her, if necessary, back to the seat of the leader of the entire Swarm. There might be some combat, but unless things went terribly wrong, there shouldn’t be something that battlecruiser couldn’t handle.
After departing with Kerrigan, Jean returned to Umoja. The Umojan fleet she brought with her was returned to a military port, where the ships would be examined and made ready for future combat. After inspecting the Warden factories and other aspects of the Protectorate to make sure everything was going at full efficiency, Jean met briefly with Stukov.
The infested terran promised the Umojan high command was still under infestor control. As Jean was busy dealing with the Dominion and Raynor, Stukov’s infested army has already taken over the majority of the Kel-Morian Combine. The Combine, made up of mostly pirates and thugs, lacked a central command needed to contain the infestation. Loose warlords, with their smaller ships and more unorganized armies, were easily wiped out. Their ruthlessness might be deadly against human allies, but comparing the will to fight with mindless infested terran...not the best idea.
When the killed mercenaries rose again as infested, the Combine’s defenses fell one by one. Planet after planet was lost. The civilian population, as well as the corpses of the combatants, rose again as zerg fighters.
Eventually, the rest of the warlords combined their ships into the Kel-Morian fleet, which, as soon as it was created, was busy flying all over the Combine’s territory to put down the fire as much as they could.
At first, the infested didn't have the guns to shoot down the battlecruisers, but things changed when Stukov set up a trap.
The former UED general went through a lot of trouble and secretly infested hundreds of mercenaries that were on a infested cleansing mission. When these unsuspecting mercenaries returned to their ship, the lack of rules and regulations in the Kel-Morian fleet meant they didn't need to go through a medical checkup. As they returned to their quarters, the zerg virus on them was spread onto the healthy soldiers around them.
In just days, the entire ship has fallen. The exchange of personnel between the different ships in the fleet quickly brought the contamination to whatever capital ships the Kel-Morians had.
Finally, when the trap was sprung, half the Kel-Morian fleet fell immediately. The rest collapsed soon. Eventually the Kel-Morian fleet, or what was left of it, managed to regain control because the infested weren’t able to move from ship to ship after being exposed and abuse the initial advantage, but during the process the Kel-Morians were forced to blast fully infested battlecruisers from their own side out of the sky simply because they didn't have the manpower to take back those infested filled vessels.
As a result, the Kel-Morian fleet was maimed. If it couldn’t hold back the infestation with its full power, there was nothing it could do now.
Stukov’s army grew every second.
Thankfully, Jean didn't see any sign of disobedience from Stukov. If anything, the infested general seemed taken back by the power he sensed radiating from Jean.
At the end of the day, Jean stood inside the Umojan fortress and looked out the window at the city below. Her brain turned.
All the pieces were coming together. Stukov. Kerrigan. According to Umojan spies Jean deployed throughout the sector after she took power, Valerian Mengsk has brought his ship to a planet where the governor sympathized more with him over his father. There, he was raising an army, apparently to take down his father. Jean has established some basic contact with him and made a deal with him to help him take the throne of the Dominion in exchange for his promise to stand by her in the future.
Eventually, the Dominion would be turned to his side. So would the Swarm. The Moebius Foundation was much weaker than it was in the original history...then again, she needed to try to make them even weaker. Jean tapped her comm and called Delta, who quickly sent out multiple fleets to go across the sector. Their job was to locate and terminate any Moebius entity they come across.
There was just one final piece. Wait. Make that two.
She stood up, said something into her comm to Delta, and walked out of the room. Four Warden ghosts surrounded her. They didn't look like much, but she had an army of Warden units in her watch. After Zerus, she wasn’t exactly a vulnerable human being either. Plus, if things went right, she shouldn’t be in any danger.
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A Purifier mothership jumped in outside Slayn.
“Commander, our observers have confirmed the Tal’darim’s words.”
Ten or so hours ago, after finishing her work on Umoja, Jean got on a Purifier mothership and moved into Tal’darim airspace. Of course, she wasn’t careless enough to just jump onto Slayn. Instead, she established communication with Nyon first.
Nyon’s first line was something Jean didn't expect.
“Jean. I have some good news...well, at least good news for me.”
“What is it?”
Nyon smirked.
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“You are in the presence of the Highlord of the Tal’darim.”
If Jean wasn’t s “Jean”, she would’ve been taken back by surprise, but being herself, she merely nodded.
“Impressive.”
Nyon seemed slightly disappointed to see the calmness on Jean’s face. “We should meet face to face to discuss our plans for the future. There is no need to be covert anymore. Come to Slayn.“
Jean’s eyes twitched as Nyon turned off his comm.
Of course, Jean wasn’t stupid enough to believe in anything she was told. She first sent in a web of observers. These observers scouted all across the planet of Slayn. The strange lack of security on the planet made the job of these observers so much easier.
The observers relayed what they saw back to Jean. Slayn was much emptier than before. Pieces of wreckage of ships and armors could be seen in not just the Pit of Ascension but also all throughout the planet. Wounded Tal’darim warriors were inspected. Those maimed were put into vanguards or slayers while the others inhaled terrazine to heal their wounds. Everything screamed “military takeover”.
That thought was confirmed when one of the observers saw Nyon sitting in the throne of the Highlord. Groups of Ascendants stood around him in obedience. Neither Ma’lash nor the other high ranking ascendants Jean knew by knowledge was present.
After making sure it was safe, Jean jumped in. She was immediately noticed and welcomed.
“Commander, a Tal’darim vessel is approaching the ship. It’s a shuttle.”
Jean glanced at the Purifier pilot that warned her. The mothership, as well as every Purifier on it, belonged to Delta, who lent them to Jean after she asked for it. They served her because Delta ordered so.
“Let it though.”
The Tal’darim shuttle navigated across the mothership’s batteries, moved past the opening in the mothership’s plasma shield, and entered the hangar. Jean was already there to meet it.
The door opened, and four Tal'darim supplicant zealots walked out. Seeing the foreign Purifiers, they didn't show any aggression. They simply stood to the two sides of the door. The vigilant glances they had when they looked around the hangar told everyone if this situation turned out to be some sort of trap, they wouldn’t hesitate to strike.
Behind Jean, a line of legionnaires did a similar thing. Their AIs received orders from Delta to protect Jean at all cost.
Jean waited patiently when, finally, a tall figure in bright crimson armor stepped out.
“Jean.”
“Highlord Nyon.” Jean smiled. It was a signal of peace and friendliness. “I have to admit, I am impressed. I didn't think you would be able to take down Ma’lash, Guraj, and Zenish.”
Nyon returned with an amused sound. It was the best he could do that looked like a smile. Though it still made him sound snarky, just the fact that he, a high ranking Tal’darim, was willing to do this showed his respect for Jean.
“I learned from the best.” Nyon returned compliment with compliment. “Now, I would like to tell you more about how I did it, but I assume you are here for more important affairs.”
“Actually,” Jean tilted her head. “Tell me what happened. I will enjoy hearing it.”
Jean wouldn't enjoy listening to a story, but she keenly recognized that the more she could learn about Nyon, especially about how he rose to power, the more she could use to manipulate and control him.
The now Highlord had no objections. He was more than happy to brag about his accomplishments. And so, as Nyon and Jean made their way into the giant bridge of the mothership, Nyon started talking.
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After returning from Swarm airspace, the Tal’darim society, having taken heavy losses, gradually grew in discontent against Ma’lash. While most of them were willing to die for their god, the battle was no doubt a defeat. The Forged was forced to flee. As the commander of the battle, Ma’lash was facing quite the criticism.
After executing an ascendant for a random reason to show both the common Tal’darim and the ascendants who was boss, Ma’lash was barely able to retain control. His giant supplicant army and his place as the Highlord made him invulnerable to resent on the most basic level.
But things changed when a certain ascendant challenged Ma’lash in a Rak’Shir duel.
“Highlord Ma’lash. As the First Ascendant, I challenge you to a dual. May only the strongest lead the Tal’darim! You, Ma’lash, have proven to be not strong enough.”
“It’s time for you to die.”
“What?” Ma’lash was honestly surprised. He expected to be challenged, but he didn't expect to be challenged by this exact ascendant. “Guraj? Why?”
Guraj started as the Second Ascendant, but when First Ascendant Nuroka was abandoned by Ma’lash on Sigma Quadrant and killed by the Swarm, she automatically rose to the rank of the First Ascendant.
Only the First Ascendant could challenge the Highlord, and now she was the only one with that right.
But Guraj has been an ally of Ma’lash since the dawn of time. She and Ma’lash teamed up against the alliance between Nuroka and Zenish. In the ideal case, they would take out Nuroka, and Guraj would rise one step and Ma’lash would keep his throne. This was exactly what happened, and Ma’lash expected Guraj to remain loyal to him.
Of course, in the Tal’darim world, loyalty was only relatively. It was more like Ma’lash expected Guraj to remain loyal to him until she could muster up an army large enough to challenge him.
As far as Ma’lash was concerned, Guraj didn't have that army, at least not now.
“Fool!” His confusion led to fear, which led to anger. He closed his grip, and rogue psionic flares erupted around him, showing his strength. “I will rip you apart limb by limb! You will die screaming! And so will those who follow you!” He scanned the supplicants behind Guraj threateningly. The warriors were unfazed.
Guraj smirked and stepped back.
In the shadows, Nyon smiled.
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On the next day, in the Pit of Ascension, Ma’lash confronted Guraj. Both had thousands of supplicants behind them. Both were armed and ready.
“You fool! Your fate is sealed the moment you said those words to me…” Before Ma’lash could finish, Guraj leaped forward with her double blades and started slashing down on him. He was forced to retaliate.
Seeing the zealousness of their leaders, supplicants from both sides clashed as well. Blades clashed with opposing blades and plasma shields. Every second, several of the supplicants would scream and die.
After the first contact, Ma’lash obviously had an upper hand. After the initial frenzy, Guraj was starting to lose ground. Across the field, Ma’lash’s supplicants, with the advantage in numbers, was starting to circle around and overwhelm those loyal to Guraj.
But Ma’lash wasn’t impressed. Unless Guraj was high on terrazine when she declared war on Ma’lash, she must have some sort of trick up her armored sleeves.
His worst fear became reality when all of a sudden, another wave of elite Tal’darim charged into the field. Their leader was Second Ascendant Zenish.
“I swear to fight for First Ascendant Guraj! Ma’lash isn’t worthy to lead the Tal’darim!”