Bridge. The Hyperion.

Jim Raynor sat in his seat. He seemed slightly down. The young captain stood beside him.

“Do you think I made a mistake?” The rebel commander tapped his cheek and whispered those words.

The decision he made on Meinhoff to save the colonists, no matter the cost, made the man a hero in the eyes of the colonists. Unfortunately, the Raiders didn’t share the same belief.

A few of them were willing to give their lives for the innocent, but the mercenaries didn’t share the idea. In fact, even a part of the original Raiders had a few words to say about their leader.

Things got even worse when rumors started to spread. Some people thought Raynor saved the colonists because he was in love with Dr. Hanson. He was basically trading the lives of his men for a girl.

Now that was some serious accusation.

If it was a complete and utter lie, Raynor could just put this rumor down with force. A few weeks of detention for the spreaders of the rumors would be enough. Unfortunately, deep down, Raynor knew this rumor wasn’t exactly wrong.

Perhaps he didn’t save the colonists entirely because of Dr. Hanson, but there was no denying that he liked that woman.

“I think you did the right thing. If you left the refugees to die, you would be no different from the Dominion and the Kel-Morian. You would’ve disappointed us all.”

Horner was aware of the rumor as well, but he was also aware that whatever the reason was behind Raynor’s action, it didn’t change the fact that he did the right thing, and that was enough for him.

Raynor nodded, feeling slightly better.

Suddenly, the door of the bridge opened, and a certain female doctor walked in.

“Jim…”

Raynor almost fell off his seat.

Jean walked into the bridge. Her new guard captain waited outside.

Raynor, Horner, and Hanson were in the bridge in addition to the usual crew members and guards.

“Sir.” She saluted at Raynor despite her private thoughts and looked at Hanson, waiting for her to speak.

“My people have established a new colony on Haven. I have received transmission from them a few days ago, but I have lost contact since then. We need to get down there and see what the situation is.” Hanson explained quickly.

Jean’s mind started turning as she went through the memory she received, searching for relevant information.

This time it was the Daelaam protoss that cut off the communication between the settlement and Dr. Hanson. Turned out some of the refugees the Raiders rescued were secretly infested or carried the zerg virus. Terran technology failed to detect them, but protoss observers managed to catch on to the zerg scent.

The protoss saw the zerg as their greatest enemy. After receiving the report, Executor Selendis of the Golden Armada brought her fleet to purify the colonies.

Even with the technology of the Daelaam protoss, they couldn’t pick out every single fragment of zerg infestation, so the safest thing to do was burn everyone that might be infested, and that was what Selendis did. Her fleet moved without mercy and destroyed every terran on the planet, infested or not.

In the original world, Raynor, the saint he was, intervened. He had two choices. In the first choice, he sided with the protoss and destroyed the infested colonies. As a result, after seeing her people massacred, Dr. Hanson infested herself. Raynor had to put a bullet in her head.

If this was the case here, Jean would be fine. Neither Hanson nor her people could contribute to her cause.

But if Raynor made the other decision, then there would be a problem. In the other possibility, Raynor, for some reason, believed Dr. Hanson could develop a cure for the infestation. For no real reason, he put his forces between the Daelaam and the colonists.

Strangely, the Raiders, with a couple of vikings, were able to defeat an entire fleet of Daelaam protoss. In the end, the protoss backed off and Dr. Hanson miraculously saved her people. Happy ending.

That was the story, but in reality, there was no way a single Behemoth battlecruiser and five vikings could take down an entire fleet of Golden Armada, which included a mothership and a couple carriers.

Just the mothership could wipe the Raiders out. In fact, if she wanted to, Selendis could put the mothership in front of the Raiders and order it to hold its position and allow the Raiders to attack, and Jean suspected the Raiders couldn’t even break through the shield of the protoss capital ship.

If Raynor made this decision again, then the Raiders might fall this day.

Dr. Hanson was continuing.

“I’m worried that something has gone extremely wrong.”

Raynor turned to the crew members.

“Plot a course to Haven.”

Jean silently grabbed onto the hologram projector in the middle of the bridge to keep herself from falling as the ship entered warp space. Within a few minutes, the Hyperion appeared in the space above the planet of Haven.

“Sir, there’s a protoss fleet holding in orbit. They’re disrupting all communication from the surface and it looks like they’re powering up their main weapons.” Horner observed as he stared at a few computer panels.

“Jim, you have to stop this.” Dr. Hanson looked to the man that helped she and her people twice already. Her eyes shined hope.

“Matt, open a channel to the protoss. Let’s see how diplomatic they’re feeling.” Raynor ordered.

A few seconds later the computer screen in front of Raynor blinked. The image of Haven was replaced by the image of a protoss templar.

“En Taro Tassadar, James Raynor. I am Executor Selendis. Your bravery and service to Aiur are known to us.” It was a female templar speaking.

Raynor has had quite a history with the protoss. Back in the Brood War, he fought with Zeratul and Fenix against the swarm to bring the Khala survivors still trapped on Aiur to safety. He earned their respect in the process.

“En Taro Tassadar, Selendis. Listen, with all due respect, your fleet needs to pull back. The people on Haven are no threat to you.”

“Our observers detected zerg hive spores infesting the colonists. They must be purified. If you wish to undertake this mission in this stand, we will permit it.”

“Jim, some of my people are infested, but you can’t let the protoss just destroy them all. If you can keep the protoss at bay, I know I can find a cure to the infestation.”

“The only cure to zerg infestation is purification by fire. You know this to be true, James Raynor.” Selendis interrupted. As much as she respected Raynor’s bravery, she didn’t think the terran could accomplish something even the protoss couldn’t do. Of course, part of it was because the protoss weren’t looking into a cure for zerg infestation because protoss couldn’t be infested.

“I can cure them, Jim. Believe me.”

Jean saw the look in Raynor’s eyes and knew this was going toward a direction she didn’t like.

“If you choose to resist us, we will meet in glorious combat. The choice is yours, James Raynor. We await your answer.”

“I’ll need a moment to think about this.” Raynor closed off the transmission to Selendis and turned to Horner, Jean, and Hanson.

“We can’t let the protoss kill everyone.” He announced.

“With all due respect sir, we are no match for the protoss.” She pointed at a scanner. “Scanners indicate one mothership and five carriers. We can’t win this fight with the Hyperion and a handful vikings.”

Hanson glared at Jean with what could be described as hatred, but the girl ignored her.

“Jean’s right.” Horner added more straw to the fire. “The Hyperion is tough, but so are protoss ships. I think we can deal with the carriers, but tactical analysis suggests that our weapons are ineffective against the mothership.”

“What about the Yamato Cannon?” Dr. Hanson had no choice but to speak up. She wasn’t a military officer, but she had no choice.

Horner looked at the doctor, apologizing. “The shield of the mothership is powered by four nexi on the surface of Haven. As long as they stand, we will never be able to exhaust the shields. We would need an entire fleet to have any chance to punch through the shield by force.”

“Then we can send a strike team to the planet…”

Jean pulled up another image of a nexus the Hyperion scanned. In the picture, a bright light beam extended off the crystal at the tip of the nexus and touched the plasma shield of the mothership. Around the mothership were hundreds of zealots, dragoons, stalkers, and sentries. A high templar floated in the middle of the defenses. For every nexus, half a dozen warp prisms entered warp mode and provided force fields for photon cannons. Phoenixes patrolled the area in groups of five, ready to gun down any transport or fighter.

Dr. Hanson went silent. She didn’t need experience with combat to know this was too much for the Raiders. The Raiders could throw everything they have against one of the nexi and still be defeated. Perhaps the Hyperion could help them break through, but if that happened the Daelaam fleet would descend as well.

The Raiders didn’t stand a chance.

“Jim…” Out of words, the doctor turned to her hero, waiting for him to pull a rabbit out of his hat. “I don’t need you to defeat the protoss. All you have to do is delay them for a while, and I will find a cure. I promise...”

“With all due respect, doctor, the best scientists of both the Terran Dominion and the Umojan Protectorate have been looking into a cure for the zerg infestation, but none of them were successful. What makes you think you can find a solution in a few days?” Jean added salt to the wound.

“You!” Hanson finally snapped. She turned to Jean with dagger glares. “What are you thinking? Those are innocent people down there! My people! They have done nothing wrong! They don’t deserve to die!”

The woman has had enough. She only wanted to find somewhere safe for her people in this chaotic world. Is this too much to ask for? She didn’t know why almost everyone she met wanted she and her people dead. The Zerg. The infestors. The Daelaam protoss. Now even an officer in the Raiders was opposing her.

Jean didn’t know the pain of the woman, but even if she did she wouldn't care. Hanson couldn’t help her with her mission, which meant she didn't need to care what she was thinking.

Seeing the cold look on Jean, Hanson turned back to Raynor. She didn’t say anything. She has said everything that could be said.

The choice was Raynor’s.

“We will not let those people die, not when we have a chance of saving them.”

The man finally made the decision. He knew this wasn’t the wisest decision. Most likely, this would threaten his authority among the Raiders, assuming there would be any Raiders left after this battle.

But just like Horner said, he was standing for his cause, and he would be no different from Mengsk if he could stand and watch while thousands of innocent civilians perish. Not when he had a chance of saving them.

“I will lead a squad of Raiders and take out the nexi.”

For a moment, the man looked exhausted. It was as it took him all his strength to say those words.

“That’s crazy!” Jean put up the perfect act. The mask of a young lieutenant who cared about the lives of the common Raiders covered her foul presence. “You’re giving away Raider lives! For what? A girl?”

There was a reason why Jean was being such a bitch.

She wanted to open up an opportunity for her to potentially take over the Raiders, but in order to do that she needed influence. Right now she was nothing more than an officer. She had command over the Raider soldiers but only because these men were following Raynor and she had a higher rank than they did. If they had to choose be her and Raynor, it would be an easy choice.

She needed to increase her influence and decrease that of Raynor’s, and what was a better way to do it than arguing for the good of the common soldiers while the real commander went over his head?

There was no doubt what she said in here would be spread to all over the ship. Even if the guards and the crew members didn’t do it, she herself would.

Just like how she spread the rumor.

This amount of influence might not be enough to make these men loyal to her, but it would stack up over time.

Of course, Raynor wouldn’t be too satisfied by Jean’s response, but the man wouldn’t develop a grudge on her just because she stood for what she believed in.

Just like she expected, Raynor was taken back but not angered.

“That’s an order.” He decided.

“Thanks Jim.” Hanson smiled, peaking at Jean but was slightly saddened to see she wasn’t showing any emotion.

Horner cautiously glanced from Raynor to Jean and then back to Raynor again. He knew how bad dissent was in the midst of battle. Conflict between the commander and one of his most trusted advisors could be disastrous.

But Jean wasn’t frustrated or angered or anything. Conflict with the protoss was already a fact. Now all she could do was minimize the losses.

“In that case, might I suggest an alternate method?"