Outskirts of Augustgrad, Korhal, Koprulu Sector, Early Friday Morning

[on_her_korhal]

A few Zerglings. A well-placed battery. That's all Kerrigan needed: the base before her was completely overwhelmed by unexpected and sudden betrayal. The bodies littered the ground as she strode across the battlefield. One step at a time, her heels digging against the solid mud--

Clink.

She leaned down, picked up the communications device, and crushed it firmly within her palm. Six minutes.

The scrap hit the ground with the quiet snap of her wrist. River, she sent, Continue to attack. Their defenses won't last long.

In fact, the Raider defenses were already starting to give, and that's why she was here, on the ground, searching for her first major target. This wasn't her favorite - he still sat like the fat bastard that he was in some tank over in Arcturus's territory. No, this one was a liability: one that only she had the power to take care of. River was an excellent resource to say the least, out here, in battle, but she didn't have the stability or stamina to have this fight...

With the loud screech of an army of Hydralisks, they broke through the line, leaving dead Terrans and dead Protoss in their wake, limbs and armor scattered across the ground. She didn't pay them any attention. Her prey would come to her, in the end.

She knew this one. He didn't even need to speak - and not just because of the weight of the large exoskeleton that held him up.

"This is betrayal most foul, Kerrigan!"

Fenix.

She turned.

"We were fools to have gone along with this charade!"

She smiled. It had teeth. The long claws on her wings extended. "You're right," she said, conversational to the last. "I used you to get the job done, and you played along just like I knew you would. You Protoss are all so headstrong and predictable..."

Oh, she wondered... "...you are your own worst enemies." On Char, when River and she had been fighting the Protoss, facing their best and worst, before the boredom had set in--

"That's ironic. I can remember Tassadar teaching you a very similar lesson on Char."

Ah. So he did remember. Her smile gained another inch.

"I took that lesson to heart, Praetor. Now, are you ready to die a second time?"

The exoskeleton shifted, partly with psionic power, partly with Protoss ingenuity. Yes. "The Khala awaits me, Kerrigan." The Protoss religion. It was so... adorable, really. As if their gods, their afterlife was really waiting for them. Like that philosophy worked. "And although I am prepared to face my destiny, you'll not find me easy prey!"

Of course not. High-handed Protoss bastard.

She struck out a wing. Ready to fight. The smile hadn't left her face for a moment. "Then that shall be your epitaph," she spoke.

Their battle was invisible to the naked eye, two forms full of ancient power that struck and dueled even as their physical forms were so laughably incompatible. She struck and sliced through metal, taking his exoskeleton down piece by piece, clatter and hit the floor. And then just as it had began, so suddenly, it ended. Her blades found ruined Protoss skin and ripped it apart, tore at Fenix's already ruined form until nothing of it remained.

The exoskeleton sagged. What had been left of it teethered. And then exploded, as if from the inside out, scattering blood and guts all over the ground.

Kerrigan hit the rock. Her breathing was slightly elevated. But the Protoss was dead, and with him, both his high-handed commentary and his incredibly annoying skill as a warrior in battle. Praetor Fenix is dead. Which meant she should be receiving a call any moment now...

"FENIX! NO!"

Jimmy was always so consistent. It was part of his appeal. You could really rely on him...

She looked down to face his image on the communicator, flicking what little blood had struck her off her arm. Still, that smile hadn't wavered. "What are you worried about?" she called, laughing, found herself still giddy with the adrenaline of the fight, the-- vengeance, for what the Protoss hadn't done, hadn't done. "He died the way all Protoss hope to: In combat!"

"He died because you betrayed him," Jimmy snarled. Mad with grief? Mad with vengeance? She could get either one. It was charming, really. "How many noble souls do you need to consume before you're satisfied? How many more people need to die before you realize what you've become?"

Please. They'd had this conversation. She knew exactly what she'd become, and she was pleased about it. So very pleased... with this strength, this adrenaline, and vengeance... The next one could only be sweeter. "You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Don't I? I'll see you dead for this!" Ah, yes. Mad with vengeance. Maybe he was getting a clue about this, somewhere. That might be fun, if it wasn't so laughable. "For Fenix and all the others who got caught between you and your mad quest for power!" She snorted. She had to.

"Tough talk, Jimmy," she said, kicking at a piece of Fenix's exoskeleton. It skittered a satisfying few feet towards one of her Zerglings, who pounced on it. "But I don't think you've got what it takes to be a killer."

She looked towards the sky. The heavy shapes of overlords drifted on by, merrily and good.

"It may not be tomorrow, darlin'. It may not even happen with an army at my back. But rest assured: I'm the man who's going to kill you some day."

He'd like to think so. Above, the scourges cried. The mutalisks roared. An explosion told her that Jimmy's command centre had just been breached.

It was a good day.

"I'll be seein' you," he said. His voice sounded... cold.

The smile fell away. It made space for something rueful she hadn't a word for. "Be seein' you, Jimmy."

His image was already gone.

[[ post one of two; dialogue taken from StarCraft: Brood War Zerg mission 5, 'True Colors'. NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! ]]