Hello there, I hope you are all doing well. Especially in these days it isn't something that we can take for granted, right? Some have barely anything to do, others are busy all the time, and there doesn't seem to be much middle ground. Well, I belong to the people who are busy like hell, so there isn't much time to write. I got a rather touching note from someone who basically read my other story in one go since he's stuck in quarantine right now. I really wish I could up the tempo on releasing new chapters, just like I used to. But that is no longer possible. So you have to live with these slow updates for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, here we go again. And if you feel confused after reading this chapter, then I achieved my goal.


Chapter 26

I don't even know what's going on anymore


?...and once more the detestable and deplorable shame of Aiur proved to be an unstoppable force! That brings the number of undefeated matches up to a staggering 42! Only two more and he will catch up with the legendary Snake-Lady from Char over three hundred years ago!" the announcer spoke while Dan looked at the screen from the corner of his eyes. It showed some of the more extreme moments of the show. Like how Tesson had grabbed an unfortunate opponent and thrown him through the ring like a ragdoll. How seven human wrestler had tried their best to pin the huge Protoss down, and how they had almost succeeded. At least until the referee had counted to "TWO!".

There were some of the more extreme parts of the show on the screen too.

Like the two nuns who had tried to whip Tesson into submission. Dan was pretty certain that they weren't PG13...

Speaking of Tesson...

"THAT'S RIGHT! WHO'S YOUR DADDY? HUH? WHO IS YOUR DADDY?!" the huge Protoss yelled at the crowd while standing on top of dozens of slain foes. These "slain foes" being wrestlers who had tapped out or been pinned for three seconds straight. The longest three seconds Dan had ever experienced.

As he looked at the recording of the show that had taken place just a couple of hours ago, Dan Bowski remembered something about a "Snake-Lady from Char", some weird-ass female wrestler wearing an impossibly large and cumbersome bodysuit that made her look like half woman, half snake, all Zerg. He had seen someone like that in old vintage vids of wrestling matches from the ancient past. He also remembered another female wrestler, someone calling herself the "Queen of Grapes". That's when old memories began to emerge inside Dan's mind.

That "Queen of Grapes"...she did remind him of a certain pain-in-the-butt he had met a while ago...

When realization finally hit Dan, he shook his head in disbelief.

"You gotta be kidding me..." he whispered to himself. His thoughts were rudely interrupted when suddenly a door next to him was kicked open and a certain Protoss stomped in, still partially wet and with a towel wrapped around his private parts. Which seemed pretty pointless because, as far as Dan knew, Protoss had no private parts they could show off.

"Ah, nothing beats a hot shower after a hard match!" Tesson sighed and stomped past the smaller man.

"Do Protoss even sweat?" Dan mumbled.

"Not like humans do. But since I was throwing around sweaty humans all the time, I was still covered with that stuff. One of the less endearing features of your kind. Good thing that I don't have a nose." And with that Tesson threw himself on a huge couch, but since he was such a massive creature, there was no room for another person.

"Want a drink?" Tesson asked. "You two look like you could use some. There's beer in the fridge."

"How do you even drink beer? You don't have a mouth." the Marshal wanted to know.

"That you know off." the Protoss replied. "But I'm pretty sure you're not here to discuss the finer details of Protoss' physiology. At the very least..." Tesson then pointed his finger at the other man in the room. "...I'm pretty sure that he doesn't care about that."

"You're damn right I don't care." Jerome Allagan hissed. "Kerrigan, where is she?" When Tesson heard that name, he pulled his massive brows up and looked at Dan, then at Jerome, then at Dan again.

"That's what this is all about?" he wondered.

"I would have made some conversation and small-talk first, but yeah, that's why we are here." Dan confirmed.

"Kerrigan, where is she?" Jerome repeated his initial question. "And no bullshit, I want to know where she is!" Dan was impressed, the good Professor almost sounded threatening. Almost. Tesson waited for a moment before he asked another question.

"Which one?" And honestly, that was a fair question.

"Paula/Sarah." Dan and Jerome replied at the same time before they looked at each other in surprise.

"Wait, what?" the Marshal muttered.

"I thought you were after Sarah Kerrigan too!" Jerome protested.

"She's not the one I want a chat with, Prof." Dan replied. "The way I see it, the mother is the sane one in their relationship." Jerome Allagan looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious?!" the Professor barked. "Have you listened to anything that insufferable man Brent has told us? About the Great War? About the true events? About the Xel'Naga?"

"No." Dan simply answered. "I was too busy getting eaten by my own innards. From which Sarah Kerrigan saved me. So I got no beef with her. Her daughter, however...the one who's responsible for my innards trying to eat me, well, that's a different story."

"You're still mad because of that?" Tesson interrupted the two men.

"Wouldn't you be?"

"You'd be surprised how many times that happens to people whenever Paula is around."

"I take your word for it." the Marshal growled. "Anyway, back to the topic. Kerrigan? Where is she? And I don't care if it's Paula or her mother. If we find one, we will find the other anyway, right?" That caused Tesson to laugh out loud. "What's so funny?"

"Ha! You have no idea how that family works." the Protoss explained. "One does not simply ask for a Kerrigan to appear."

"But you work for them, aren't you?" Allagan said. "You must know-"

"Actually." Tesson interrupted him. "...I consider myself to be part of the family. I don't work for them. That being said..." He then stood up and walked over to a nearby stool, with a pretty nice stool lying on it. "...I can't help you with your problem. Nor do I really care about it that much. So you might as well let yourself out." The Protoss then walked into the bathroom again and closed the door behind him, carrying the suit with him. Both Jerome and Dan exchanged confused looks.

"Is he taking a dump?" Dan wondered.

"Can Protoss even do that?" Jerome asked back. Neither Dan nor Jerome were willing to find out. So instead they waited. And waited. And waited. Until...

"...tell him to proceed without me if he wishes to. But make sure that he understands that he's taking the blame if things go south." When the door opened, a man stepped out. A human man, no Protoss. He was wearing a suit, one that looked insanely expensive. He wore even a tie. No one wore a tie anymore. And those shoes, damn, they were so shiny!

Perhaps the weirdest thing, however, was that his voice sounded exactly like that of Tesson.

He had a personal communicator in his hand and spoke to someone, obviously. But instead of taking notice of Dan or Jerome, he simply walked past them to a nearby chair with a rucksack on it.

"Yes, I know that he thinks he's ready. I had a long talk with him about that the other day. I don't think he understands the complexity of the issue he's about to create. Wouldn't be the first time, right?" Who was this man talking to? And just who the hell was he anyway? Dan squinted his eyes. He seemed familiar...as if he had seen that face before. Next to him, Jerome did the same thing, he too seemed to recognize him. And unlike Dan he seemed to finally realize where he knew this man from. At least Dan thought so because suddenly Jerome's eyes widened in shock and he went completely pale, muttering a "...it can't be!"

"Listen..." the man sighed when he started to look through the insides of his rucksack. "...just tell him that I can't stop him from making a fool out of him. This is an empire in all but a name. We are a constitutional monarchy. So whatever he says, I will have to clean up his mess. Besides, the stance of the government on this subject is clear. If he does his thing, then he will end up with a bloody nose." Another sigh escaped him. He looked dashingly good. The hair on the side of his head had turned gray, while the hair on top was still black. Combined with his neatly trimmed beard that was completely white, he looked like a model for best-agers. He was tall, taller than even Dan, and beneath that suit seemed to be a fit body.

"Just go and see Ramirez. Tell her to keep an eye on him. If she can't stop him from doing something so stupid, no one can." There was another moment of silence and you could see the irritation on the man's face. "Yes, I know who she is, she's the Mistress of the Imperial Seal. Why do you think I told you to go to her?"

The Mistress of the Imperial Seal?!

"I don't really mind." the man continued. The next meeting will take place the day after tomorrow. By then we know wherever we have to clean up this mess. Just make sure that things don't escalate too much. Gods forbid he's trying to fix it by dragging our neighbors into this mess. And that includes Zerg and Protoss." A moment of silence. "Are you willing to risk your job on that?"

And an even longer moment of silence.

"Thought so..." the man mumbled. "Listen, I will head to my office now. I'm going to contact you again and then we can talk some more. Till then." And then the man terminated the communication. He took a deep breath and sighed. "And I thought Paula was a handful. Guess I was wrong."

"Tesson?" Dan asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." the man confirmed.

"Chancellor Harding?!" Jerome yelled right after that.

"Yeah." Tesson repeated his initial statement. And only then Dan finally recognized the man.

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Dan screamed in disbelief.

Chancellor Tobias Harding. Current head-of-government of the Empire. Won the last election with 62%, one of the highest numbers within the last 70 years. A man that was regarded as honorable by even his fiercest political opponents. Someone who spoke openly about how to deepen the diplomatic relationship with the Zerg, and who was known for taking a hard stance on almost anything the Protoss said or did these days. In fact, his staunch refusal of working with the Protoss on most things had earned him the ire of those who still considered the ancient race someone to look up to. No one could deny the fact that the Chancellor wasn't much into Protoss.

Wait, the Protoss-hating Chancellor was in fact a Protoss?!

"Is this a joke?" Jerome gasped. "You...you were...but...I don't..."

Tesson, or Chancellor Harding, or whatever, smirked when he noticed the reaction of both men.

"Never gets old. Just do me a favor-" Tesson/Harding began.

"Tell no one that the Chancellor of the Empire is, in fact, a Protoss?" Dan mumbled.

"Bwahahaha!" the Protoss-in-disguised laughed. "Yeah, right, good one. Oh, go ahead. Tell people. "The Chancellor is actually a former Nerazim who knows how to change his shape!" That will totally work. Go ahead. Do it. I want to see that news tomorrow." That's when Dan realized that Tesson was right.

"No, I just want you to just make sure to kill the lights on your way out." Tesson told them as he was walking towards the door. When Dan realized that he was about to leave, the Marshal jumped forward and placed himself between Tesson and the door. The Protoss/Chancellor looked at him in surprise.

"Whoa. Bowski, did you come all the way out here so I could beat you up again? You should have told me earlier, I just changed into a fresh suit!"

"I didn't come here to fight you, Tesson! I-"

"Chancellor Harding." Tesson corrected him. "I don't know who that "Tesson" is, but it sounds Protoss, and it does sound awesome. But since I don't like Protoss, I wouldn't know. Now, if you would please excuse me? I have things to do." He was about to push himself past Dan, who noticed that, even though Tesson looked human, he still had all of his strength.

"No! Not before you tell me where she is!"

"You have to be more specific, Bowski." Tesson told him. "I know a lot of-"

"Kerrigan!" the Marshal hissed. "Where's Paula Kerrigan?"


"Where's Paula?" The moment Evalonis stepped out of the cafeteria, he sighed and dropped his shoulders. But his moment of respite only lasted for a mere second, for he was suddenly facing not only one, but several snake-like zerg-hybrids.

"What?"

"Paula. Where is she?" the one in front asked.

"I...don't know. I left her in the quarters. Why, what do you-" The tall warrior didn't get far though.

"We checked. She isn't there. We need Paula on the bridge. And she's nowhere to be found. Is she in there? If so-" The strange she-Zerg tried to slither past Evalonis, yet he placed his hand on her shoulder. Her "sisters" seemed to think that he was about to do something funny and he could see how their tails began to twitch. No doubt they could be used as fearsome weapons. But he hadn't come here to fight. And they weren't his enemy. So instead...

"Please don't go in there. Lord Artanis has finally fallen asleep. And it would be best for it to stay this way. Paula isn't in there." he explained. The she-Zerg in charge squinted her eyes and seemed to challenge that statement for a moment.

"And you're not making this up?" she wanted to know.

"I give you my word as a Templar. I left Paula behind, she was sleeping when I left. I can help you look for her. Just please, leave Lord Artanis be." The sisters exchanged annoyed looks, but then they nodded.

"Fine. We're going to leave that old guy alone. For now. Come on sisters, let's head out. We still need to find that nuisance!" And with that, the three sisters dispersed, each one slithering into a different direction. To call the sight weird would have been the understatement of the century. Evalonis still had his doubts about all of this. The only thing he was certain of was that neither one of them had been the oldest one, Sarah. He could tell because Sarah was taller than all the others. Evalonis waited a moment until they were gone before he shook his head and sighed.

"You can come out now." the warrior mumbled after a moment.

"They're gone." he added after hearing nothing for a moment. And thus...

"Who are you talking to?" he could hear a certain someone whisper nearby.

"You. I know that you're there, Paula."

"There is no such person currently in the area. Please refrain from using names like that as long as Sarah or one of her sisters is nearby."

"They told me that they're not angry at you anymore." the warrior tried to ease Paula's mind.

"Who told you that?" Her voice carried a hint of disbelief, amusement...and genuine fear.

"The one in charge...I think. Sarah. By the way, is that not your mother's name?"

"Yes. It is also a very common name." Paula explained, only to wait for a moment to add: "Among humans."

"I take your word for it." Evalonis mumbled. "So, do you want to come out? Or do you want to drag this out?"

"I take option b, thank you very much." Of course she would. But when she spoke up next, he could hear the worried tone in her voice. "How...is he doing?" Paula didn't have to use a name, Evalonis knew exactly who she was talking about.

"He's resting now. Once he sleeps, he rarely wakes up by chance. So we should just leave him alone."

"That's not what I meant." Paula insisted. "How is he doing?" Her unlikely boyfriend sighed when he heard the worried tone in her voice. He could tell her something nice, something that wouldn't hurt. But for a templar, lying was out of the question. Even if it was to make someone close to him feel better. And so...

"He is dying, Paula." Evalonis explained. "He has been deteriorating for a while, and now every day is a challenge. I am actually amazed that he is still alive. It's almost as if...something keeps him from just perishing. As if he's clinging on to life." There was a short moment of silence, and then he heard a loud metallic clank. He looked to the side and watched how a certain young woman crawled out of a vent. "Is this not a bit extreme? Hiding from Sarah and her sisters like this?" he wanted to know.

"I just don't want to escalate things any further." Paula groaned and stretched her limbs. "Things haven't exactly played out like planned, you know. And I had to improvise on the go. Also, I guess I had some help. And Sarah and her sisters aren't really happy about that. They had hoped that I would pull this off with less, well..."

"Chaos?" Evalonis offered, only to receive an annoyed look from Paula.

"Complications." she corrected him before sighing again. "I suppose you want to know how I got hold of this thing." Paula then pointed at the bulkheads behind her.

"Among other things." Evalonis confirmed.

"Well, I found it on a remote world called Flemmington. Everything worked out somewhat according to plan until a certain someone decided to intervene."

"Someone?" the warrior asked, and Paula answered with only one word and an annoyed gaze.

"Mum."


A few weeks earlier, back on Flemmington


As Paula watched from the distance how the scene unfolded, she had mixed feelings about all of this. Things hadn't gone exactly according to plan. Then again, when compared to how most of her plans usually played out, this was a breathtaking success so far! Except for people getting infested, traumatized, or abducted.

Honestly? She had come up with worse plans. Her track-record when it came to successful plans was not that great if she was brutally honest. Therefore she had decided to master the ancient art of improvisation. Yet at the same time she knew that this time she had been just lucky. And that she owed the current success to someone else.

"Egh...oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick." Paula muttered as she watched the explosion of blood and gore in the distance. The creature that had once been called Alexei Stukov came apart the moment Sarah Kerrigan's psionic powers ripped it apart. What emerged from the red mist was a human figure. A man. It was like watching a twisted mockery of a birth, a version cocked up inside the mind of a guy who had seen too many horror movies. The man stumbled forward until he fell on all fours, right in front of a certain redhead.

Paula was too far away to hear what her mother was saying.

"I hope he will be alright." she whispered.

"Stukov was always a survivor." Sarah Kerrigan suddenly spoke up. Paula squeaked in surprise and looked over her shoulder. The fact that her mother was currently talking to Alexei, and that at the same time she was standing right behind her daughter, didn't seem to faze the older Kerrigan at all.

"You have to teach me that trick one day." Paula muttered as her mother was at two places at once.

"That'll require a bit more time than we have to spare right now." Sarah replied. "Besides, I don't think any of us can handle more than one Paula right now. Your father certainly isn't."

"I...I'm sorry for dragging him into this. Will Dad be mad?"

"Pfffff, I wouldn't worry about him." Sarah told her daughter. "The exercise was good for him. I almost saw a bit of the old Jim "Don't worry I got this" Raynor in him. Made the trip totally worth it. Now come on, we're on a tight schedule here." And with that Sarah turned around and walked away from the scene in front of them. At first Paula hesitated, until she heard the voice of her mother inside her mind.

You better hurry up before I change my mind about this insane plan of yours, Little One!

"Yes, Ma'am!" Paula gasped and ran after her mother. Or at least one version of her mother. It took her a moment to catch up with the older Kerrigan. Geez, for a woman her age, Paula's mother was still in good shape!

"I heard that!" Sarah barked, reminding her daughter to keep her thoughts to herself or live with the consequences.

"I so not missed that..." Paula whispered.

"I heard that too!"

"Darn it!"

Still, she knew better than to question her mother on what was about to happen next. For better or worse, she had driven herself into a corner where she couldn't get out from on her own, so the help of her mother wasn't only much appreciated, it was also mandatory if she wanted to save her plans. Paula noticed how they made their way back to the Hyperion, still buried under hundreds of tons of dust and rubble.

"I want to make one thing clear, Little One..." Sarah started to speak as they reached the entrance point. Without even finishing her sentence, she grabbed her daughter and gave her a soft push, which resulted in Paula squealing in surprise and fall down the rabbit hole. Instead of landing on her face (and crushing her neck in the process), something soft and warm caught her just in time, twirled her around and made sure that she would land safely on her feet.

Mum's psionics. Always there when you needed them. Once she was safely back inside the vessel, she turned around and-

"...I do not like that plan of yours. Not one bit." Sarah Kerrigan continued, standing right next to her daughter.

"Waaaah!" Paula screamed in surprise, earning a sigh from her mother. From above, the voice of Sarah Kerrigan reached them.

"You take it from here!" the Sarah Kerrigan that had shoved Paula down the hole shouted. The version of Sarah that was standing right next to Paula gave herself a thumbs-up.

"Will do. You take care of the others!"

"Ain't I always?" the Sarah above them sighed before turning away and vanishing from their sight. Paula knew better than to question any of this. Rule number one when dealing with Sarah Kerrigan: Just do what Sarah Kerrigan tells you to do.

And just to clarify things: There aren't any other rules.

"Come on, this way." the version of her mother standing right beside Paula suddenly said and turned away. The young Kerrigan followed her mother, knowing that she should just be quiet and do as she was told. As they were walking through the empty insides of the Hyperion, Paula suddenly felt very small and insecure, which seemed to be utterly ridiculous given the fact that she had stumbled from one horror-show into the other without really giving it a second thought. There was, however, something different about this situation right now. And the reason for that was simple.

It was Sarah Kerrigan.

Paula loved her mother, and she knew that her mother felt the same way. But as she walked next to the older Kerrigan, she was again reminded just how much more powerful Sarah was.

"I'm not more powerful than you, Little One, only a lot more experienced." Sarah said and looked over to her daughter. "I must say, you used to be better at hiding your thoughts from me. Guess we should train some more once you're done with this mad quest of yours."

"Like counting pebbles you keep behind your back?" Paula mumbled, which brought a smile to Sarah's face.

"Hey, if it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid." the older Kerrigan explained. Those words of wisdom were practically the family-motto.

Now that the Hyperion was empty, now that Stukov was gone, it should have lost all of the dread lingering inside its corridors. But as she walked next to her mother, Paula felt more insecure than ever. They walked for a long time until they were about to turn around a corner until-

"Whops, hold it!" Sarah suddenly told her daughter and held her back before looking around a corner.

"What is it?" Paula asked and tried to get a glimpse of what was going on further ahead. She too looked around the corner and spotted her father and Izsha. And her mother, holding the Ihan-crystal. And...Paula Kerrigan.

"Eeeeehhh...why am I standing over there?" Paula whispered. "And why am I in two places at the same time? This doesn't make any sense! My head is starting to hurt!"

"Be quiet." Sarah scolded her child. "I don't want Izsha to hear us. Now come on, let's get this show on the road." And with that she hushed forward without making any sound. Sarah stopped when she noticed that Paula wasn't following her. Instead the younger Kerrigan was staring at herself in disbelief as she was starting to doubt her own sanity. Sarah shook her head ran back towards her daughter, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her away. And while Sarah wasn't making a single sound, Paula did produce some footsteps. Just as she vanished around the corner, Izsha looked in their direction, frowning when she couldn't see anyone.

Paula simply decided to follow her mother and not ask anything anymore. The older Kerrigan seemed to know exactly where to go, and after a while they stepped into a place that Paula recognized.

It was the hangar.

With a certain dropship inside.

"To think that I would ever see this thing again." Sarah muttered. "You wouldn't believe how many times your father annoyed me by telling me that I owed him a dropship." A sigh escaped her lips. "Like putting a scratch on your boyfriend's first and new car. Well, now I can finally make him shut up. I'll be taking this one if you don't mind." When Paula heard that, she only shrugged her shoulders.

"Sure, knock yourself out." It wasn't as if she had anything to say in this matter. "There's a dead Zergling inside too."

"A Zergling?" Sarah asked with a surprised look on her face. "Geez, haven't seen one of those in ages. Makes me feel nostalgic."

"Those things look scary even when they're dead." Paula mused. "Even if that thing had only one tusk." When Sarah heard that, she suddenly froze.

"Only one tusk you say?" she whispered. "Well...whadda'ya know. And here I wondered what happened to that one..." But her words weren't meant for Paula to hear. Or understand. Instead of giving her daughter any context to work with, she suddenly turned around and walked out of the hanger.

"I'll be taking this one!" she simply said, as if she was on a shopping spree.

"Uhm...sure." Paula managed to mutter. And with that she simply followed her mother, who was navigating the vessel as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The self-confidence with which Sarah walked the corridors did raise some questions inside Paula's mind.

"Spit it out, or your head might explode." Sarah sighed. "And I'm so not looking forward to telling Jim why our daughter's head suddenly exploded."

"You told me that reading peoples' thoughts without their knowledge isn't nice." Paula muttered.

"I don't have to read your mind to know what's going on inside that head of yours, Paula." Sarah simply stated. "Also, it is hardly my fault if you keep broadcasting your inner workings to everyone within the next couple of lightyears. So, spit it out. You want to know how I know my way around this thing since I spent way less time on board of the Hyperion than your father did."

"Yeah..."

"Standardized layout. I've been on so many warships, big and small, old and new, I could navigate these halls even with my eyes closed."

"Dad had a lot more trouble navigating these halls."

"That's because he was constantly drunk when he did so." Sarah replied, with a hint of amusement in her voice. "To him, walking through the ship sober must be a completely new experience."

"That's not nice..." Paula whispered.

"Your dad is a grown-up man, he can take it. This way." And with that Paula just followed her mother. It didn't take long for them to encounter the next weird thing. Which shouldn't come as a surprise to Paula anymore. But still...

"Where are you heading?" Sarah asked as suddenly another person came around a corner. It was, much to no one's surprise, Sarah Kerrigan.

"Checking on the reactor." the new version of her mother replied. "Don't want to risk our illustrious daughter taking off inside a ship with a broken reactor."

"Good thinking." Sarah replied as they simply walked past each other as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"By the way..." the Sarah that was about to check out the reactor suddenly said and the first version turned around.

"Yes?"

"You should check the science-lab. There's still some stuff left that doesn't belong there. Better get rid of it now before it will cause more trouble than it's worth."

"Science-lab, got it. Come on, Paula, let's take care of it." the first version of Sarah sighed. And so they were off to the science-lab. Once they got there, Sarah walked inside, looked around and shook her head in disbelief.

"You gotta be kidding me." she mumbled and walked over to what looked like the skeletal remains of...something. The remains of what once had been a science-experiment where exactly where they had died. Sarah completely ignored the other alien structure in the room, the large dark crystal that was still pulsing with energy. Paula's mother looked at her daughter and pointed with her finger at the dead remains.

"Do you have any idea what that thing is?" she asked.

"Zerg?"

"Well, yes. But aside from that?"

"Dead?" Paula offered. There was a long moment of silence and then Sarah just sighed.

"You know, nevermind. Actually, it's better if you don't know what this thing is. Or how it ended up here. Gotta talk to your father once this is done, he never told me about any of, well, THIS!" she spat out and gestured at the dead biomass. "Well, whatever. I'll be taking this one with me as well and-"

"DRIIIIIIIIII!" That's when suddenly a bright small light appeared from one of the vents in the ceiling and shot straight towards Sarah. For a moment Paula was afraid that it would attack her mother, but then it simply stopped right in front of the older Kerrigan and started to chirp and screech like a banshee. All Sarah did was to sigh.

"Yes, yes, I know." she replied. "I'm not happy to be here either, trust me."

"DrrriiiIOUUUUEEEIIIIINNN!" the glowing light screeched.

"Yeah, well, I don't keep my daughter on a leash."

"OOUIIInnnniiiuuuuuuIIIII!"

"She did that, huh? Well, I'm sorry for all the inconvenience she caused you. If you want, then I can take you with me too, then we find you a place where you can grow into a nice and fat pylon. How does that sound?"

"Pylon?" Paula mumbled.

"Driiiioouuuppoooopppiiiion!"

"Well, can't help you there, I'm afraid." Sarah answered. "But I do happen to know a phasesmith."

"Blip."

"A fair warning: I don't like it if people curse. That includes you." Sarah growled. "Also, what would a proto-pylon know of bullshit anyway?"

Proto-pylon?

"Drrrionn."

"Ah, yes, the humans who used to be on this vessel had a colorful language, I agree." Sarah continued. "As for your other question: I don't know, and I don't care. But I'd say your best chance to return to your folks is to stick with her." she said and pointed with her finger at Paula.

"Bioooopiii."

"Yes, I know, she can be quite the ditz-"

"Hey!" Paula protested.

"But she's my daughter. So for better or worse, I'd say that she will somehow manage to get you where you want to go. And even if that's only by accident."

"And they wonder why I used to ask for a therapist..." Paula whispered to herself.

"What was that?" Sarah asked and looked at her daughter.

"Nothin'!"

"Aaaaanyway..." Sarah sighed and looked back at the glowing light in front of her. "...did I mention that I know a phasesmith?

"Drrriiooo?"

"I'd say that he has more experience than most other phasesmiths I've ever met." Sarah explained. Paula was about to say that, technically, Sarah had only ever met one phasesmith, even though she had lived a very long life so far. However, before she could say that, she caught a withering glare from her mother, signaling her to just shut up.

And so Paula did.

"Well, all you have to make sure is that this thing won't explode until it reaches its destination. Do you think you can do that?" Sarah asked the glowing light. There was a short moment of silence and then...

"Oki doki!" the light suddenly spoke out.

"Oh, what?! YOU CAN TALK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON?!" Paula suddenly yelled, but that's when Sarah grabbed her daughter and simply pushed her out of the abandoned laboratory.

"Oh, and you can scratch whatever biomass you find off those walls and put it on that dropship in the hangar, if that's not too much of a hassle." the older Kerrigan yelled as she left the room.

"DrioooouIIIIII!" the light screeched, which earned it another bark from Paula.

"DON'T YOU DRRRRIIIOOUIII ME NOW, I HEARD YOU TALKING, YOU STUPID LIGHTBULB!"

"Eh...so much like your father..." a frustrated Sarah Louise Kerrigan groaned as she pushed her daughter forward.

Their next destination was probably the most important one. Once Sarah entered the bridge and looked around, she grimaced and shook her head, showing her disapproval of what she was smelling.

"Gosh, you'd think that the smell of military would have vanished over all that time, but this place still reeks like bootcamp. Ugh..." Sarah groaned. That's when Sarah, another Sarah, looked up from one of the many stations and frowned.

"What are you complaining about?" this version of Paula's mother shot back. "You didn't have to rewire half the systems while breathing this stuff!"

"And I know why!" Sarah, the one that had been at Paula's side the entire time, replied.

"You're lucky that we have a no-cursing-policy in place. You wouldn't like to hear what I want to tell you."

"You don't have to, we are the same. I know exactly what you think."

"I think I'm having a migraine." Paula whined. "Can we stop with cloned mom? It makes me doubt my own sanity. Also, I lost track of...well, everything." The two Sarahs looked at their daughter, and then they exchanged judging looks before they relented.

"Fine..." the Sarah right next to her sighed and snipped with her fingers. Their bodies turned into bright flames of light, so bright that Paula had to close her eyes, and when the lights faded away, she looked ahead only to realize that there was only one Sarah left.

"Better?" Sarah asked, a cocky smile on her face.

"Better." Paula confirmed before looking around. "So, what is it that you want to show me here?" Sarah pointed with her chin at a nearby console.

"Well, can't have you drive without at least a crash-course...and I just realized how bad that sounds." Sarah then shook her head before continuing. "Anyway, if I remember correctly, then Karax once worked his magic on this thing. Like, a long time ago."

"During the Christmas party!" Paula suddenly yelped. "Oh, I remember! Back when you had just returned from the Void!" That's when she saw how the expression on her mother's face turned sad, and then soft.

"Heh, you're right. Gosh, I had totally forgotten about that." she mumbled.

"You were so pretty in that dress." Paula said.

"Yeah, I was." Sarah replied in her very own non-humble way.

"And Dad, he was really awesome that day."

"I suppose."

"And Auntie Izsha made you drink water from a toilet!" Paula snickered, which earned her yet another withering glare from her mother.

"Only four people know about it, and one of them is dead. If you want that numbers to stay that way, you better keep that little information to yourself, young lady!" Sarah added.

"Yes Ma'am." Paula whispered and could feel some cold sweat running down her spine. She was pretty certain that her mother was joking. Then again, she was not willing to test that theory to its limit.

"Soooo..." the younger Kerrigan mumbled as she looked around. "...is there a manual for this thing?"


Several hours (that feel like days) later...


"...and this reverses the starboard secondary thrusters. I think. Maybe. Who knows, you probably won't need those anyway. If I remember correctly they are just needed for pinpoint movement within a dry dock. You're not going to put this thing in a dry dock, are you?" Sarah asked and yawned. When she heard no answer from her daughter, she looked to the side, only to see Paula's head resting on a nearby station, her face obscured by her long brown face.

"Paula!" Sarah barked.

"I'M AWAKE!" Paula screamed and shot up, her eyes wide open and drool dripping from her chin. She blinked a few times and looked at her mother.

"Uh...what was the question again?"

"Nevermind." Sarah sighed before she rubbed her eyes. "You know what, just use the auto-pilot, let it do its job. Might be the more safe option anyway. Just remember-"

"Never reverse the main-thrust while in atmosphere at an angle of attack higher than 15 degrees, 20 degrees in space. Always make sure to read the gravity sensors correctly. Negative value means natural gravitational fields, positive means artificial fields. Before opening hangar doors, always make sure that the force field is working. Before performing a jump, I have to manually enter the data from the nav-computer into the navigation console, this thing is so old it can't do it on itself. And if something breaks, I should just abandon ship and wait for you to pick me up." Paula said, and a surprised look appeared on Sarah's face.

"My, I didn't know you can listen to what people say while being asleep. That's a rather unique skill. You're full of surprises, Little One."

"I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes and-" Paula started as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before she realized that her mother was making fun of her. She looked at her mother and sighed. "Ech...I get it. I'm in over my head."

"Very much so. But that's a topic for another day. Besides, we have wasted enough time here. And I don't want to keep the others in limbo for much longer. Being in so many places at once gives me a migraine." Sarah explained. She placed her hands on a console, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Wait, was she actually having a migraine? If so, then Paula had achieved something that she had never achieved before.

"Is everything...okay?" Paula mumbled after a while.

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine."

"Are you mad?"

"No." her mother replied. Only to add: "Only frustrated." That was probably worse than hearing that she was mad.

"I'm...sorry. For all the trouble I caused."

"And yet you jumped straight into it." Sarah told her and shook her head. "You got that from your father." The older Kerrigan then hesitated a moment before she shook her head. "Eh', forget what I just said. You got that from me. But don't tell your father, I'll never hear the end of it. Anyway..." She then turned around and faced her daughter. "...I just wish you had talked to me about what you were up to." Paula looked down at her own feet. Right now she felt like a small child again.

"I...I was afraid of what you would say. And that you would put an end to it." she mumbled.

"Now when did I ever do that?" Sarah Kerrigan wanted to know.

"...never." Paula admitted. Another sigh escaped her mother's lips, but this time it sounded tired and annoyed. She placed her hand on her belly and looked down.

"Oh, be quiet down there. Why am I not surprised that your siblings root for you?" the redhead growled as she spoke to the life growing inside of her. She then shook her head and looked at her daughter once more. "Paula, what happened happened. I probably would have done something very similar like you when I was younger. Only with more dead bodies in my wake. A lot more dead bodies." And that wasn't even exaggerated. She sighed again. "Just please, do me favor. Next time you come up with a brilliant plan of yours, tell me. Please. Not because I want to talk you out of it, but because I don't want to risk losing my daughter." Paula wanted to answer something to that. Yet when she opened her mouth, only a pitiful sound left her throat. She could feel how golden tears were forming in her eyes and in the end she only managed to squeeze out "Mum, I..."

Sarah didn't need much more. She walked up to her child and slung her arms around Paula, who tried her best to fight back her tears and failed miserably.

"It's okay, Little One. I know why you did it. I might not be happy about it, but that's just who you are." And then she let go of her daughter and cupped Paula's cheeks in her hands. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She wiped some of Paula's tears away and smiled. "Now, chin up! You are a Kerrigan! Doing stupid things is part of your heritage. Don't tell your father, but I was expecting things like this to happen eventually. You are too much your parents' child after all." Sarah took a deep breath and looked around. "That being said...I think we should better get going. I might be powerful, but I'd rather not want to mess around with space-time. Again." That comment actually put a smile on Paula's face.

"So, what did you have in mind?"

"Simple." her mother replied. "When I tell you to run, you run."

"Huh?" Paula muttered. And then-


"...huh?" Paula muttered and looked around. She was...back in the corridor, in her hands the Ihan-crystal, the object of her desire. And she wasn't the only one holding it. Her mother was there as well. And so was her father. And Izsha.

"Paula. Are you okay?" her mother's oldest friend wanted to know as she stared down at them.

"I...uhm...what exactly happened just now?" the confused Paula wanted to know. That's when Sarah opened her eyes as well. She looked at the crystal and suddenly ripped it out of Paula's hand.

"WATCH IT!" the older Kerrigan suddenly screamed. "IT'S GONNA BLOW!" The moment Sarah pulled the crystal against her chest, Jim's hands lost contact with it too, and Paula could see how her father returned to the land of the living.

"I HATE HYDRALISKS!" Jim managed to shout before looking around, dumbfounded and certainly as confused as Paula was, maybe even more. "Huh?" Well, at least now everyone knew where Paula got that trait from.

"Paula?" Jim asked.

"Dad?" the young Kerrigan asked back. That's when he looked up at Izsha.

"Izsha?"

"James."

"Mum?" Paula turned her head towards her mother, just in time to see Sarah flash a grin at her. It was only a fraction of a second, but enough for Paula to realize that her mother had a plan. Or the Kerrigan-equivalent of a plan at least.

Close your eyes. Paula could hear the voice of her mother inside her head, and this time she did as she was told without hesitating.

"OH NO!" she could hear Sarah's voice, shouting in a desperate (and hilariously over-the-top) voice. "WATCH IT, THE CRYSTAL IS GONNA BLOW!" Paula wanted to open her eyes again and stop her mother. This crystal was the very reason why she had come here! If her mother would destroy it then...

Trust me, Little one.

And so Paula decided to do just that. Besides, it was too late to do anything about it now anyway. She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as she heard how something started to crack. Even without looking, she knew that her mother was about to destroy that crystal by forcing unhealthy amounts of psionic energies into it. Far too much for any crystal matrix to hold it. The result was spectacular.

"GHAAA, MY EYES!" Jim screamed as he was blinded, and even Izsha had to look away. But it was too late. Both of them stumbled away as the bright green light of the overloading crystal took their eyesight, at least temporary. But that's all Sarah needed.

The crystal in her hands shattered into a thousand pieces, which turned into even smaller pieces until nothing was left. Paula opened her eyes, shocked and a bit hurt that her mother had done it. However, before she could say anything, her mother grabbed one of her daughter's hands and placed something small and hot in it. Paula looked down and realized...

...that it was a single shard.

She looked at her mother with wide-open eyes while Jim and Izsha were stumbling around like a bunch of blind drunks. Sarah gestured down the corridor and whispered only one word.

"Go."

And so Paula did just that and started to run.