Turned out the tal’darim were really fond of true warriors, because when Ma’lash went on a suicide mission, most of the survivors followed him.

Two motherships and nine carriers entered warp space and appeared half a second later just next to the terran flagship and the four escorting battlecruisers. Instead of sending out warp prisms, the motherships simply projected an energy field on the battlecruisers. Via the energy field over 3000 tal’darim warriors, the last of Ma’lash’s supporters, were warped onto the five battlecruisers. The Highlord himself was at the flagship.

Mindblasting a brave marine attempting to gun him down, Ma’lash frowned as the only thing that cracked was the armor. There wasn’t any flesh from the wreckage, but he quickly tossed that out of his mind.

“Forward!” He led his warriors and charged into the halls. There were few oppositions, and those few oppositions were ripped apart before they could do real damage. The skill of tal’darim zealots was demonstrated in a place where Warden forces couldn’t utilize their firepower.

On the other end of the ship, Jean glanced at the advancement of the tal’darim. Just like she couldn’t put something inside the body of others, she couldn’t pull back her ships when enemies were on them.

The Warden forces were stuck in an awkward situation. The protoss forces were overwhelming the few security forces with their superior numbers. Those that still remained with Ma’lash were the best of the best. They had the best weapons, armors, experienced, and they were willing to follow their Highlord until the end.

Still, Jean wasn’t worried. Ma’lash wanted to fight her. Why would she do that?

Tapping her watch, Jean summoned all the Warden forces on the ship into her storage watch. She also took away every single piece of gadget on the ship from an older version of her suit to a piece of bread. From the experiments in the lab to the bed she slept on.

“Beetle.” Jean turned to the AI of the battlecruiser. “Initiate self destruction sequence as soon as I am out of range.”

The AI replied to the suicide mission with obedience. “Orders received.”

Jean turned and left the now empty bridge.

...

“Where are all the terran forces?” Ma’lash asked in confusion. All of a sudden the terran forces that had been fearlessly resisting the tal’darim forces vanished. The tal’darim forces boarding the other four battlecruisers reported a similar status. It was as if the terran forces suddenly gave up.

“Advance toward the bridge. If I am to die, I will bring the terran leader down with me.” The Highlord and a sea of tal’darim moved toward the bridge. What they didn’t know was that they wouldn’t find their target there.

...

Four tal’darim zealots were patrolling through the hallway. One of them casually stepped on a piece of severed Warden marine when the marine suddenly disappeared. The zealot stumbled. When he stood up, he saw a strange creature approaching.

With superior psi power Jean had sensed the zealots way before they saw her. Jean didn’t prefer joining the battle herself because it was pointlessly risky, but she wasn’t afraid of a fight. Her body was transforming as she ran toward the zealots.

When Jean reached the zealots she was already covered with zerg carapace and weapons. A swift cut sent the stumbling zealot on the ground. A second severed the zealot into two.

The other three tal’darim were shocked but recovered quickly. One of them charged up, but Jean merely raised her hand, and the zealot was crushed into a puff of red smoke. The two others were not intimidated as they charged forward bravely. Jean penetrated one of them before being slashed by the psi blades of the other zealot.

The smile of the zealot was frozen before it fully shined. His psi blade literally bounced off Jean’s carapace. The only damage it did was turning the carapace slightly black. The zealot fell in desperation as Jean swiftly executed him.

Walking past the four broken armors, Jean continued on and reached the hanger. There, dozens of zealots and slayers were standing guard. They stood frozen for a while before attacking.

Jean raised her spine blades coldly.

Ma’lash and his warriors reached the bridge, only to find it completely empty. Not a single terran was there. No commander. No soldier. Not even a crew member.

“What? Where did they go? How is it possible? We have taken over the entire ship!” The Highlord slashed around in utter anger. He was willing to give his life to bring down his enemy, but even that couldn’t be done.

Suddenly the comm ranged. Ma’lash picked it up in anger.

“Highlord! We are under attack by an unknown terran zerg hybrid! She’s too strong!” An urgent ascendant reported.

“What? Zerg?” Zerg were the furthest race from this. Ma’lash didn’t see how the zerg could take part in a protoss-protoss-terran conflict. Plus, this was a terran ship. Why would a zerg be on it? Ma’lash felt like it could be important.

“Ascendant! Stall the creature. I am on my…”

“Uh!” The Highlord was cut off by a bone chilling scream from the reporting ascendant. And then everything went silent.

Ma’lash stood in silence for a while. The other tal’darim looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly a voice clicked in the bridge.

“Scanners show commander is away from impact of explosion. Initializing self destruction sequence now.” The content of the mechanical voice made Ma’lash’s eyes twitch. For a moment the urge to live overwhelmed him and he wanted to warp away, but unlike most self destruction sequences, Jean actually designed her ship to self destruct as soon as the order was given.

Ma’lash’s eyes widened with fear as explosions ripped through the ship. Warriors were melted. Ascendants stood a bit longer with their psi energy, but there was few they could do against the wall of flames.

The Highlord activated his warping system and tried to form a psi shield long enough to escape. The first few seconds went smoothly, but when the ground below him collapsed and sent him dropping into the core of the explosion Ma’lash realized how optimistic he was.

As Ma’lash perished, his last thought was a queston. Who was the enemy commander?

As soon as the Beetle went up in flames, so did the other four escorting battlecruisers taken over by the tal’darim. And with it, the last of the Ma’lash fleet was gone.

“Launch boarding parties on the remaining tal’darim ships. Kill all the tal’darim and take over the ships.” Jean ordered in the wraith she took out from her watch. She turned back and looked again at the exploding Beetle.

The Beetle had been with her for quiet a while. It had followed her since she took over it from the Dominion fleet on the mission of taking over the adjutant. For a period it and the Hyperion were the two Warden battlecruisers Jean had. The Hyperion was sacrificed when Jean pretended to be captured by Kerrigan in exchange for her physical mutation. Now the Beetle was given up to take down Ma’lash.

Jean didn’t feel a thing. It was a worthy trade. One Gorgon and four Minatours for an entire tal’darim fleet. She would make that trade any time.

Ma’lash was a great fighter and a dangerous opponent. His psi power was the strongest in the tal’darim society, and the Death Fleet was one of the strongest fleets in the sector.

But even the Highlord seemed so vulnerable under the explosion. So what if you commanded an entire fleet? So what if you were a powerful psi warrior? So what if you were supported by Amon? A few tricks and you were a pile of ashes just like any other tal’darim.

And now with the Highlord dead, Nyon would have the chance to rise in the chain of ascension. The day he becomes the Highlord was the day Jean would hold the Death Fleet at her grip.