When Kerrigan arrived at the site of the reaver, she was met with twenty zealots and five adepts, along with one hybrid reaver. More units were being warped in behind them.

Zerglings, banelings, hydralisks, and two ultralisks were waiting for Kerrigan’s arrival. By themselves they couldn’t break through, but with the presence of their leader things were completely different.

“Consume them!” The queen of blades ordered as she jumped in the air and toward the enemies. The zerg units growled and charged.

The hybrid knew the strength of the queen of blades, but that didn’t intimidate him. After all, death was a blessing.

“All shall submit!” The Daelaam units joined the hybrid as the two forces clashed with each other.

The reaver clashed with Kerrigan. The Daelaam clashed with the swarm.

Kerrigan’s psionic blast smashed into the reaver. Reavers didn’t have plasma shields, but this weakness was fine as the heavy armor of the reaver made it difficult to take damage. The psionic blast pushed the reaver back a few steps, but it didn’t do any real damage.

Shaking his head, the beast jumped forward. He landed right before Kerrigan and then slashed down from above with his claws.

Kerrigan agilely dodged to the left, making the claws miss. Before the hybrid could pull back his arms, she grabbed onto the two limbs. Enhanced muscle granted her inhuman strength. Psionic energy made her power even stronger. With a war cry, she tore the hybrid reaver apart.

Blue blood was spilled on the purple creep. Kerrigan growled into the sky. She wouldn’t admit it, but her confidence had been brought down by the recent events. Jean outsmarted her. The Golden Armada defeated her. Even when she fled back to Char she was being chased after. It felt good to know her power was still strong.

“I don’t know what you’re doing but I must remind you more and more of Amon’s forces are arriving.” Jean broke Kerrigan’s moment. Kerrigan groaned, but she knew Jean was right. SIgning, she turned to the rest of the Daelaam forces guarding the prism.

Both the swarm and the Daelaam were the best of the best. All of them had the best essence/weapons and experience. Unfortunately Char was still the swarm’s homeworld, and constant reinforcements were pouring into the battle. Daelaam units were warping in, but they were too slow and were being picked off one by one.

Kerrigan faced the warp prism and formed a kinetic blast. The transport fell apart into a thousand pieces. The Daelaam, knowing their mission had failed, performed a suicidal charge upon the swarm. They were quickly taken down.

Aboard the Golden Armada.

“The first group of landing forces is being destroyed.” Artanis said calmly. “I have lost over a thousand warriors.”

The mastermind was confused. “Death is a blessing.” He said matter of factly.

“And yet if I lose all my warriors I can no longer carry out our master’s mission.” Artanis explained. “The queen of blades must be acquired. The swarm has less numbers than we imagined, but they are oddly resistant. Kerrigan’s reinforcements can arrive anytime and we are of a limited number. We need to break through quickly.”

The mastermind thought about it. His astonishing psi energy made him sense something unusual. “I sense...a center of psi connection...a leader. Not Kerrigan.” He whispered. “She is giving orders to the swarm. She is direction the defenses.”

“Wait a second, she’s not Kerrigan?” Artanis questioned. Why would the queen of blades allow someone else to command the swarm? “Is it a queen?”

“I don’t know, but she is controlling the swarm.” The mastermind explained. “If we can take her out, we can cripple the zerg defenses.” His eyes blinked in thought. “I will take her out myself. The mission of our master must not be lost.”

Artanis was surprised, but he nonetheless nodded. “I will dispatch a group of warriors to aid you. Meanwhile I will launch an attack to cover your trace. For Amon.”

“For Amon.” The mastermind agreed as he left the bridge.

The hybrid mastermind stood at a window as he waited for his chance to join the battle.

Outside, half a hundred warp prisms, covered by two hundred phoenixes, departed for Char.

The mastermind was deep in thought.

He knew as a commander he shouldn’t be charging head on into the fray, but the situation was not going well for his side.

For some reason Kerrigan was at a weak state. Her swarm was much smaller than the mastermind imagined. A single hybrid reaver and a few dozen hybrids forced the queen of blades herself to start fighting. From the information the mastermind gathered the queen of blades usually sent her underlings against the enemy before she gets involved herself. The answer was clear. She was still recovering from the battle with the Golden Armada.

But this might change very soon. Kerrigan’s swarm was scattered across the sector. The Golden Armada had taken the swarm by surprise, but it was certain that reinforcements were on their way. The mastermind knew he needed to end this quickly.

The Golden Armada couldn’t break through the zerg fleet. Despite superior firepower, the Daelaam had trouble against the combination of the zerg ships and the orbital defenses on Char itself. The zerg fleet was at a disadvantage, but it wasn’t going down any time soon. The mastermind needed another way if he wanted to achieve victory.

The enemy commander on the surface of Char showed him an opportunity. The zerg was strangely resistant and was trading effectively with the Golden Armada, which was likely due to the new commander. If he could take this commanding structure down…

If Kerrigan was still the commander of the swarm the mastermind wouldn’t think of killing the commander, but this new target seemed vulnerable enough.

Sure, this would be risky. As far as the mastermind knew he might not even make it to the planet surface. Even if he did he would be outnumbered and surrounded. The queen of blades would not hesitate in taking him down.

But so what?

Death was a blessing, a gift, an escape from this cycle of eternal suffering. Dying for Amon, dying for the purpose of ending this infinite cycle, was even better.

A light beam consumed the hybrid mastermind.