Obviously, Amon wasn’t really in front of Jean. Just like with Narud, he was able to project a conscious over. This conscious could communicate, but that was all it could do.
Jean faced the dark god without fear.
“I am willing to make a compromise.” The dark god started.
Jean tilted her head. “Go on.”
“Leave the void, and I will never set step into the material world as long as you are alive.”
It was a generous offer of peace. Amon was giving over the entire Korpulu Sector to Jean. Of course, it would’ve been a better offer if Jean hasn’t taken over the sector by force already.
“Why would I do that?” The girl replied fiercely. “A single order from me, and I can have your head on a pike. Why settle for the material world when I can take both the material world and the void?”
“There is nothing in the void that you desire.” It was true. The void was filled with meaningless asteroids and endless void energy, neither of which mattered.
“I desire your life. I can and I will finish your threat off once and for all.”
“You can’t kill me. My fleet outnumbers Narud’s by ten to one. Your machines will be wiped out in a battle.”
“We will see about that.”
Amon paused.
“It’s Ouros that you are relying on, isn’t it?”
Jean’s expression didn't change. Amon continued.
“I knew that old fool was doing something. He is too weak to fight me, but if he can pass his Xel’naga power to someone else, someone already quite powerful, then that new Xel’naga will be a problem.” The dark god suddenly smirked. “Ouros was one of the strongest Xel’nagas. I killed most of my kind, but even I couldn’t kill Ouros. I had to chain him in the void and try to exhaust his strength. That brings us to the question. Who will be the new Xel’naga?”
Jean started to see where Amon was going.
“My guess is Kerrigan. I know Ouros. He considers himself a guardian of the infinite cycle of life. He would never choose a successor who has materialistic desires. I have seen what you did in the sector. You desire power and influence, just like me. Ouros would never make you a Xel’naga, not after he saw what happened to me.”
“So who will it be? Not the Tal’darim Highlord. Same problem. The terran leaders are too weak. Then who?”
Both Amon and Jean knew the answer.
“Ahhh...it’s Kerrigan, isn’t it? She has lost everything she cared about in the sector. Give her the power of Xel’naga, and she will leave the sector after killing me. But where does that leave you?”
“As I said, I have seen what you did in the sector and why you did it. You want strength, and you will get nothing if Ouros makes Kerrigan a Xel’naga. On the other hand, if you make a deal with me, I can transfer Narud’s and Ouros’s essence into you. I can make you a god as strong as I am, if not stronger.”
Amon’s intention was obvious at this point. He wanted to divide up the Allied forces. From the information he was able to gather, Jean was the leader of the Allied forces and had control of at least the Warden fleet. Even if she didn't have any control over the Purifiers, with her help, Amon could wipe the plate and take out most of the Allied forces. It was the best way to get out of this messy situation.
Unfortunately, Jean had no assurance that Amon would do what he promised. This expedition was the best chance she had at taking out Amon. If she took the deal now and backed off, Amon would no doubt continue to build up his forces. Jean’s own forces would crumble. She would have next to no chance of completing her real mission in this world.
She took a deep breathe.
“Death comes to all, Amon, and now is your time to die.”
Amon’s hallucination shrieked and screamed menacingly as its offer was brutally denied, but Jean didn't falter. Finally, the projection faded away into oblivion, leaving Jean alone in the room.
A few hours later, Jean and Kerrigan followed Zeratul in search of the being that brought them here.
Eventually, they, and their entire fleet, reached Ouros’ location.
Ouros wasn’t exactly doing well. His orange eyes radiated power, but neither one of the three individuals from all three races was weak psionically. All of them could sense Ouros’s weakness.
Ouros was one of the strongest Xel’naga of his time. This could be seen from how Amon slaughtered almost all of the Xel’naga, but even so he couldn’t kill Ouros. Instead, he had to trap Ouros in the void and try to take him down with time. This worked, and Ouros power dwindled in the countless years of waiting. At this point in time, Ouros had strong essence but next to no real combat power.
Unlike in the original history, this time Ouros didn't take the form of Tassadar. Instead, he contacted Zeratul with his true identity. This spared Jean a large part of the moment of reveal.
“You, the one called Kerrigan, can merge with my essence. Now, fulfill your destiny. Ascend as Xel’naga. Continue the infinite cycle.”
Destiny. If Jean wasn’t void of emotions, she would be laughing her ass off. Ouros was trapped in the void, but he could still see and hear everything going on in the material world. Her own acts must’ve scared him. Amon was right. There was no way the elder Xel’naga would risk giving power to another Amon. The so called destiny was just Ouros’s will.
Doesn’t matter. As long as Amon dies in the end, all will be worth it. Jean didn't give a damn about the so called infinite cycle Ouros has been trying to protect so badly.
Again, in the original world, Raynor would try to stop Kerrigan from ascension. His attempt would fail miserably. He would later organize the defense of Kerrigan from Amon’s attacking forces. In this case, Raynor was no more than pieces of ash in the endless space. Neither Jean nor Zeratul would try to stop Kerrigan.
Without Raynor, the Queen of Blades said yes with very little hesitation.
“When will the transformation be?” Jean spoke up.
“I need a while to prepare. The transformation itself can take days. There is no doubt Amon will sense it. He will do everything he can to stop the birth of another Xel’naga.” Ouros turned to Jean. “You and your forces must protect Kerrigan.”
Jean nodded.
A few hours passed. Ouros still hasn’t told Jean he was ready. During this time, Jean received a wave of reports of Amon’s void shades gathering around the perimeter. Thanks to the lack of void shards, the Swarm and the Tal’darim could participate in the battle as well. Narud’s void shades were also increasing in numbers. Unfortunately, despite all the advantages, Amon’s air forces still outnumbered the Allied fleet greatly. They had more than enough to attack from all fronts at the same time and keep the attack up with constant reinforcement.
It would be a difficult fight for the Allied forces. There will be a lot of casualties.
Jean was in her flagship when Viper walked in. The ghost sat down beside Jean. Jean put down an electronic pad from her hand and sat in silence as well.
The two were dead silent for moments. It was a scarce opportunity in a situation like this.
“Will we win this war?”
Jean glanced at Viper.
“When I was a ghost with the Dominion, all I had to deal with were hostile operatives and alien combatants. Now, I’m in somewhere that shouldn’t even exist, fighting against a god and his army of shadows.”
“I can arrange a transport to bring you back to the sector if you want…”
“That’s not what I meant.” Viper cut Jean off. “I don’t know why you are fighting this war. Honestly, it’s not our fight. After the fall of the Golden Armada, Amon won’t have the forces to invade the sector for another hundreds, if not thousands, of years. We, even our children, would be long gone by then. Then again, I don’t care why.”
“As long as this is what you want, I will fight in this war.”
In a battle that involved thousands of capital ships from both sides, the power of a single individual was negligible, unless if that individual was a powerful Xel'naga. Even weaker Xel’nagas like Narud were nothing. In this case, Viper was as vulnerable as a terran marine. A random missile might kill her. She was taking a tremendous amount of risk just by being here.
Plus, they were in the void, the home of void energy. Viper was still a spectre. The terrazine she consumed opened up a channel between her and Amon. Every second here was gruesome to her as the void constantly seduced her, trying to get her to fall to its control. It took a certain amount of will to stay here.
Jean bit her lips.
“Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done for me.”
“Well, what else can I do? I would rather die here, fighting alongside my love, than die on a bed thirty years later from sickness or age.”
Jean smiled sweetly as she rested her head on Viper’s shoulder. The ghost wrapped her arm around Jean. The two cuddled there for a while, enjoying the moment of peace.
On the other side, Kerrigan was sitting by herself.
Within a few hours, she would be ascended to a Xel’naga. The Queen of Blades didn't know what would happen then. Perhaps she would be killed during the transformation. Perhaps she would become a Xel’naga, fight Amon, and then be killed in the process. Perhaps she would become a Xel’naga, fight Amon, win, and then become, what, a god? A celestial? She didn't know and didn't care.
At this moment, her thoughts flew back to Raynor again. Even now, she couldn’t believe that Raynor died so...easily. She and Raynor dated back to the age of the Confederacy. They survived their times as rebels against the Confederacy, together. They survived their times during the Brood War when Kerrigan was infested. Raynor never gave up. It was him that dragged Kerrigan out of the influence of the zerg and turned her back to a human being.
But just at this moment, just when the two were about to live happily ever after, the Dominion attacked, and Raynor, having survived for nearly a decade of chaos and war, just perished from a missile of a random Dominion fighter. His death was so random. So anticlimactic. Sometimes Kerrigan felt like something was wrong with Raynor’s death, but she wasn’t able to discover anything. She simply decided it was her pain that caused her to think this way.
It was a pity that even the Xel’naga couldn’t revive someone whose body was beyond recovery.
Kerrigan sighed and stood up. She knew she was not a good person. She has lied, betrayed, tortured, and killed. Billions have perished by her hand. She owed the sector, and becoming a Xel’naga and saving the sector from the grasp of Amon was her way of giving back to the sector.
Plus, it was her way of honoring Raynor.
She just hoped it wouldn’t all be for nothing.
In one of the Tal’darim motherships, Highlord Nyon and First Ascendant Alarak were involved in a heated discussion.
“This is too much, Highlord.” Alarak was obviously aggravated. “Have you seen the size of the fleet around our position? Even the Death Fleet can’t stand its ground against this many hostile. If they attack, our people will be wiped out.”
“Since when did the Tal’darim care about casualties?” Nyon replied coldly.
“It is your duty as the Highlord to ensure the survival of our race!”
“And I have done that. Even if every single member of the Death Fleet perishes here, the younglings back in the sector will rebuild the Death Fleet in a couple hundred years.”
“This is not our fight!” Alarak wasn’t quite convinced. He was ok with helping Jean against the Golden Armada, but that was because the Golden Armada threatened the Tal’darim as well. Taking on Amon in the void was different. Amon was a long term problem, and Alarak, unlike Jean, didn't feel the need to try to kill Amon. Plus, it was a much greater risk. Just Amon’s fleet was enough to overrun the Death Fleet ten times. “If that human wants to take on Amon, let her do it by herself!”
He was never able to finish because Nyon suddenly growled and ignited his blades. Alarak was about to resist when a void prison landed on him. It was from one of Nyon’s blood hunters. Alarak cracked the effect of the void prison almost immediately, but by the time he did that, Nyon’s blade has already punched through his shield and was placed right next to his throat. He could feel the heat from the weapon.
“Another word, and I will have your head.”
Alarak looked into Nyon’s eyes and realized the Highlord was serious. The First Ascendant raised his hands, showing his lack of resistance. Nyon put down his weapon, and Alarak quietly backed out of the room in submission.
When Alarak was gone, Nyon finally sighed.
Jean, you haven’t failed me even once in the past. I have invested everything in you this time. Don’t fail me now...
