Korhal.

Most of the planet has gone quiet. Occasionally, a series of gunshots would pop up at a small corner of the city, but those gunshots would quickly by covered by a much more intense wave of gunfire and then go silent. The first wave of gunshots came from some resistors that remained loyal to their emperor, but their resistance was futile.

Thousands of Warden units converged on the Royal Palace, where Emperor Mengsk himself resided in. This was the last Dominion position that was still resisting, but that would change soon.

Inside the palace, Emperor Mengsk stood in front of the window. Compared to a few days ago, he was alone. In just several days, he has lost everything. His army crumbled. His fleet disappeared. His empire fell. Even his generals returned to their forces to “make a last stand”. In reality, ghost operatives reported these generals have ordered their forces to cease fire and allow the Warden units to pass. A number of them have sworn their allegiance to Valerian Mengsk. The Crown Prince gladly accepted it. He wouldn’t be a good emperor if he didn't have any followers.

In other words, they have turned against their leader in exchange for a place in the new government.

Mengsk was angry. He considered sending his ghosts to assassinate those traitors, but he wasn’t exactly rich on forces. He needed every men inside the palace. The only thing he could do was swear to execute all those generals if he survives this.

A radio broadcasted a horrified voice.

“Your grace! The rebels have breached the third line of defense! Kerrigan is leading the charge. We can’t stop her!”

The speaker was a colonel inside the Sons of Korhal. Even during the moment where everything went wrong, the men from Mengsk’s personal guards remained loyal. Unfortunately, their loyalty wasn’t enough to make up for their disadvantage. They were trapped inside a close location with little to no artillery, heavy armor, or air support. They had no reinforcement or even hope. This was the very definition of a last stand.

Mengsk sighed. He had a total of five lines of defenses. With 60% of the defenses gone, his death was closing in.

But he still had a chance. The emperor looked down on a device in his grip.

“Colonel, order all units to focus fire on the Umojan units.”

The Sons of Korhal colonel nodded slowly. He knew what the order meant. Kerrigan was barely forced back if the Sons of Korhal focused fire on her. If the Dominion used whatever weapon they had on the terran units, it meant Kerrigan would have free reign over the battlefield. It would be a massacre.

But orders were orders.

“Yes sir...take care, sir.”

Mengsk was dead silent as the radio went silent.

Two minutes later, the third line was gone. All Dominion units on site perished alongside their position.

One minute later, the fourth line reported engaging the enemy.

Five minutes later, the fourth line was gone.

Two minutes later, the fifth, and last, line was under attack.

Six minutes later, the last layer of Dominion forces fell.

Forty seconds later, Mengsk heard the two marines at the door scream before going silent.

Something went through the metal blast door and started ripping it apart. Mengsk took a deep breath before speaking into the seemingly empty room.

“You know your mission.”

There was no response.

The door kept on being ripped apart. Finally, with one swift turn, the several meter thick blast door was completely wrecked.

Outside, a handful of Warden units stood behind Kerrigan, who just dealt with the blast door that could’ve delayed the Warden units for quite a while. The Warden units included a single C-1, as well as a handful of S-2s and two dozen S-1s. The thousands of Sons of Korhal all across the palace took down most of the Warden advance party with them to their graves. Reinforcements were coming up, but it would take them at least a couple minutes to arrive.

“Reinforcement inbound. Patience is advised. Risk unnecessary.” The C-1 warned.

Kerrigan groaned. The AI had a point, but it failed to take her emotions into consideration. She hated Mengsk. She hated Mengsk to the bottom of her heart. Sweet, sweet vengeance was just a few meters away. She couldn’t wait. She just couldn’t. Letting Mengsk remain in this second one more second than what’s necessary was a sin.

“Prepare to attack.” She merely commanded.

The C-1 gave appropriate orders. Its order was to assist Kerrigan. That was it. It could give advice, but Kerrigan had the ultimate authority.

Taking a deep breathe to calm herself, Kerrigan screamed and charged into the room. The Warden units followed right behind her.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

As soon as Kerrigan entered, dozens of EMP came out from the shadows and smashed into the intruders. Kerrigan shrugged off the effect, but she quickly realized her followers didn't share the same luck.

All the Warden units collapsed. Electric sparks exploded all around their mechanical bodies. The C-1 had better resistance to EMPs compared to normal striders, but that didn't protect them from this many EMPs either. The C-1 was completely fried.

The Queen of Blades was all of a sudden alone, but she wasn’t afraid. After the initial surprise, she retaliated. Immediately, all the dozen or so ghosts inside the throne room were ripped out of cloaking mode. Their bodies disintegrated as Kerrigan slammed down with her power. Within just two seconds, the ghosts were reduced to a mixture of flesh and armor.

With the last of the defenders gone, Kerrigan turned to the man in the middle of the room.

Arcturus Mengsk.

“Do you really think those ghosts could have stopped me?”

Mengsk smirked. Strangely, he showed no sign of fear. “No.”

“Yet you let those ghosts try anyways. Do their lives really mean nothing to you?”

“Why the sentiment, Kerrigan? You have killed billions of my kind. Why mourn about some random ghost?”

Kerrigan tilted her head. She admitted she was being a little sentiment. Those ghosts were sent to die by Mengsk, just like she was years ago. In a moment like this, it made her want to say something. Still, she recollected herself.

“Ready to die?” She asked while mentally coming up with a way to kill Mengsk. The fact that Mengsk didn't look afraid made her frown a little, but she didn't know what Mengsk still had up his sleeve, and she didn't bother to care.

“Die?”

The Dominion emperor repeated before suddenly pulling out a device from his belt and pushing down on a button. Kerrigan’s eyes widened as she tried to stop Mengsk, but two gauss machine gun barrels appeared out of the two walls on the side and started blasting at Kerrigan.

Kerrigan ripped the trap apart. Unfortunately, by the time she was done, a familiar device glowing in blue light was between her and Mengsk.

The Xel’naga Keystone.

The Keystone was on. Kerrigan screamed as she felt her zerg side burning. Her knees buckled and she collapsed on the floor. Usually, she could snap her fingers and kill Mengsk, but with the Keystone in the room, she was barely stronger than a marine.

On the other side of the room, Mengsk couldn’t help but let out a proud grin.

He was never a sitting duck. If he saw a chance, he would seize it.

What happened with the Char Fleet and the Korhal Defense Fleet and all the generals was painful, but while he was angered by the losses, he gathered whatever information he had and tried to seek another way to victory. Say what you want about Mengsk. He does not give up.

Mengsk knew that, for some reason, probably to make it easier to unite the Dominion people after the war, Valerian and his allies didn't use the Swarm on Korhal. This meant the Swarm Fleet would be in the air, probably close to the Umojan and Valerian’s fleet.

Another thing. Kerrigan was spotted in the field leading the charge against the Dominion. Knowing Kerrigan and her past with him, Mengsk knew Kerrigan would no doubt lead the assault on his royal palace.

This opened up the opportunity for him to use the Keystone on the Queen of Blades herself.

Ideally, the Keystone would either kill Kerrigan or turn her back to human. Either way, the entire Swarm would lost their leader. No longer being controlled, the Swarm would go feral and turn on everyone and everything around them. In other words, ideally, the Swarm Fleet would turn on the Umojans and Valerian’s fleet.

With Kerrigan gone and the invading fleet either turned rogue or being destroyed in the sudden betrayal of the Swarm, Mengsk could mount up an offensive and wipe out the invaders once and for all. He was sure he could deal with the turncoats either by convincing them to return to his side or by simply eliminating them. If the tide was turned, Davis would no doubt return with whatever ships she could find. At the end of the day, despite all the losses, he would still be the emperor of the Terran Dominion, and his enemies would be hunted down and slaughtered.

It sounded like an easy plan, but Mengsk put a lot of work into it. For one thing, Kerrigan was surrounded by Warden units. If these Warden units were around when the trap was sprung, they could simply gun down either him or the Keystone or maybe both. Even a single S-1 could ruin his grand plan.

To solve that problem, Mengsk ordered his forces to focus on the Wardens. It worked, the Warden count was cut to such a point that his last group of ghosts completely wiped them out. If Kerrigan was a little more cautious and decided to wait a few more minutes for reinforcement, Mengsk would be truly hopeless.

Nonetheless, at the end of the day, Kerrigan wasn’t that cautious. That was why she found herself on the ground with her nemesis in front of her but not being able to do anything.

The emperor took a few seconds to calm himself. The sudden transition from about to die to about to go back to the height of his power was enough to make someone as cold blooded as him satisfied. He looked down at Kerrigan for a few more seconds before pressing down on the button, increasing the power output of the Keystone. He needed Kerrigan dead ASAP.

Suddenly, the sound of metal footsteps approached.

Mengsk’s heart sank as he turned and found a single S-1 strider at the door.

“Nooooo!” The emperor’s eyes widened as he screamed and drew his sidearm. He was this close to winning. This close! Give him a few more seconds and the Queen of Blades would be dead! He couldn’t lose now…

The autocannons from the S-1 fired.

Mengsk hit the floor. A large hole appeared in his chest. His Keystone controller hit the ground, bounced, and landed in front of Kerrigan. With all the strength she had left, Kerrigan grabbed onto the controller and tapped the other key on it. She didn't know for sure it was the off switch, but it was the only other choice aside from the on switch and she didn't exactly have time to hesitate. Her gamble worked. The container of the Keystone surrounded the artifact again and sealed it off from the outside world.

Kerrigan stood back up.

Mengsk coughed. He was dying. The autocannon blasted through his unprotected chest and went all the way through. The only thing keeping him alive was the will to live, but that was disappearing as well.

But he wasn’t willing to admit defeat. His plan worked! The Queen of Blades was on her knees! She should be dead! The Swarm should be ravaging through his enemies! He should be the victor!

More importantly, this was not how he expected to die. Getting killed by Kerrigan? It’s not ideal, but it’s fine. But getting killed by a random Umojan cannon fodder? What the hell?

Mengsk tried to scream, to rage, but all his strength disappeared. His conscious gradually disappeared as he faded into darkness.

Kerrigan gripped her fist tight in front of Mengsk’s corpse. This veagence didn't feel as sweet as she expected. Nonetheless, it was over.

She waved her hand, obliterated Mengsk’s corpse, before leaving the throne room.