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Kerrigan has finally unleashed her new weapons. The lost infinity gene served the swarm well. However, the same thing could not be said to the Golden Guild. Its Vanguards, along with the Clerics, are hard-pressed into ending the zerg threat once and for all. In an effort to prevent the war from escalating to the extremes, Operation Warsong was launched. The entire Guild is up in arms.

Still, things get worse and the war gets more desperate. The Vanguards may have no other choice but to set aside old hatred and forge an alliance with unlikely allies--if any should even arrive.

At the end of it all, not even new friendship can assure them safety from the inevitable end.

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Prologue

Gentle rays from the sun shone at Miranda who chuckled generously from the remark made by her father. She was guilty of her father's comment. She was a strong bitch alright, and no man may ever love her for that. Miranda herself knew that to be true. Her electric blue eyes sparkled as she gazed across the lovely table laden with cake and tea. Her father pompously ate his food while her mother elegantly sipped tea.

It has been years, almost decades since she last saw her parents. Ever since she entered military school, her time with her family dropped from full-time to zero. But today, everything was brilliant. Not even the regular wars fought in the sector, not the zerg nor the protoss, prevented the three from meeting each other.

"So how's life in the military?" her mother Clarisse asked.

"It's cool. I'm getting a promotion sometime this week," Miranda said proudly, her beaming smile flashing at her parents.

"Well you came from great roots after all!" her father exclaimed.

"Alex, your manners, please," Clarisse gently reminded.

"Oh to hell with that. Right, my darling Miranda?" Alex teased.

Miranda only laughed back. She took out her communications gear and looked at the time. It read 15:27.

"Do you have to go, dear?" Clarisse asked.

Miranda looked at her mother and frowned. "Unfortunately, I do, mom."

"Oh very well. Don't be so glum. We'll still see each other in the future," Clarisse answered comfortingly, though there was a trace of sadness in her voice.

Miranda stood up and kissed both of her parents. "Goodbye pops. Goodbye mom," She said silently, hugging them both hard.

"You be careful now, dear," Clarisse said.

"And don't you meet us again without any children!" Alex jokingly said.

"Don't worry pops, I won't," Miranda replied, wiping a tear from her eye.

"You're crying," her father said. It was not a question.

"Tears of joy, pops," Miranda lied. "See you!"

"Tears of joy," Alex repeated. "Of course."

Miranda finally pulled out of the embrace and walked away. She looked back at her parents one last time and waved goodbye. The elderly pair waved in return and started to move about their own business.

Miranda passed by a somewhat idle street, with few people dozing off the lazy afternoon. Enjoying life like their ancestors did on earth was something that presented itself to be a trivial and rare event to the terrans, but this time, it seemed as if a number of people managed to relax for a bit, despite the war that ignited every so often around them, not to mention the growing uprisings in distant dominion territories.

She looked at her commgear again. A light shock came to her as she realized half an hour already passed since she last saw her parents. "Amazing how time flies so quickly," she thought. Her parents were still sketched in her mind when a distant blast took away her attention.

Miranda spun around and saw a great pillar of smoke rising in front of her. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she thought of her parents, for the smoke seemed to be coming from the general area where they just dined in. Running frantically, she failed to see a missile zooming up ahead, aiming for a gigantic statue of the dominion's emperor silently gazing down at the people of the city.

Rubble rained down on civilians. People ran and shouted in panic as the statue crumbled to the ground. Above them, dozens of ships were descending, raining fire into the multitudinous infrastructures, painting the sky bleak.

Miranda clutched her left forearm. Blood was trickling down her fingers. At her feet lay a pointed debris that must have came from the fallen statue. Despite her wound, she struggled to find her parents. Around her, people began to fled the scene.

Miranda retraced her steps back into the cafeteria--or at least where it once stood, for the dining place was now a smoldering ruin. Miranda's eyes filled with tears as she ran for the opposite direction, hoping to find her parents.

"Mom! Pops!" she shouted.

"Miranda!" Clarisse's scared voice answered. Miranda looked around and saw her mother opposite the cafeteria. She was on her knees, clutching an unconscious Alex.

"Mom!" Miranda cried. She ran for her mother and father with all her might. "Mom, just wait for me, I'll be there!" Miranda shouted. But even as she ran as fast as her feet would carry her, a nearby hovering battlecruiser already released a well-aimed yamato cannon.

Miranda screamed in agony as her parents were engulfed in a flash of crimson light. Miranda screamed until her throat hurt. Miranda screamed until she finally woke up. The Augustgrad Incident has repeated itself once more in Miranda's troubled sleep. The panting woman looked around her, troubled, yet relieved to see she was safe in a Dreadnought in the middle of the Golden Armada aiming for the hidden stronghold of Kerrigan, Braxis.

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great start. Miranda has a sad past.

Thanks for reading, Tuaren! The flashback/dream about the incident was necessary for this book's plot. I had to include it.

Btw, I may have already written all four chapters of the Warsong, but I won't post them yet because I'm still editing them. I have to make sure the plot is coherent, and that no important detail (no matter how small) is left behind. So please forgive me if I will take my time with this. :b

I will add new info on the glossary, tho. :)

wow, a very well written account of a very tragic event. I feel sorry for Miranda

I enjoyed reading this. It was wonderfully composed.

Do you plan to write any novels after college, or during college for that matter?

Well done Silent. A nice to have a little back story on Miranda.

Yay, the next book has come. Keep up these great stories.

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"Where are you going, Miranda?" Charles asked.

Miranda gave no reply. She instead walked straight from out of her cabin into the long corridor heading to the other parts of the huge ship.

"Miranda!!" Charles shouted while giving chase. With his better arm, he took Miranda by the hand and spun her around.

"Let go of me!" Miranda said, forcing her hand out of Charles's grip. "I'm off to kill some traitor."

"What?" Charles asked incredulously.

"The Defense Secretary is a rebel. He's one of the remaining rebels calling themselves, Raynor's Raiders, as you should very well know," Miranda said angrily.

"The Defense Secretary? What do you think you're playing at, Miranda?" Charles asked with equal temper.

Miranda held out her hand and thrust a holorecord into Charles's stomach. "Watch it."

Charles stared at Miranda, who was simply glaring at him. He turned the holorecord on and began to observe. A holographic emulation of the secretary's room was projected between the confused Vanguard, and his seething companion. The secretary was sitting in his desk with his palm on his forehead, apparently talking to someone.

"You were caught," the secretary said silently, yet indescribable anger was emanating from the quiet man.

"I'm sorry?" a woman's voice came. There was a terrible accent in her voice.

"Someone found out about you. Oh and not just you. Almost all of us!" the secretary said a little bit louder now. His palm was still concealing what would have been an angry face.

"That could not be possible," the woman said. "I've done my job cautiously and care--"

"You have done your job with recklessness and carelessness," the secretary said firmly. "When you placed the recorder on the woman Vanguard--"

"We have confirmed that they were indeed developing the infinity gene!" the woman answered back defiantly. "We also knew their actions as they were taking place!"

"Only because she allowed us to," the secretary said flatly. "She discovered your poorly placed device and left it on, only to let you search for the gene. Since then she's been asking the Clerics' help to monitor your advances and use us to their advantage. She even managed to uncover the identity of most of us and make a list! The zerg you slipped into Char proved only to be a minimal comfort in keeping the Vanguards occupied while we retrace Kerrigan's steps."

The secretary was screaming now. No reply came from the other end of the line. It was clear that the woman was dumbfounded of her mistake.

"Be thankful she hasn't found out about me yet. Otherwise, no one would have controlled the Vanguard's operations and try to steer them away from us as much as possible!" the secretary barked.

"Do you know how precarious our situation is?" the secretary asked. "Should we fall, there will be no more chances of the people knowing true freedom! And if that wasn't enough, the people will be crushed by the zerg, which we very well know are still out there, hurt but still hungry."

Charles continued to stare at the space between him and Miranda even as the holorecord died. He could not comprehend that one of the rebels actually managed to infiltrate the guild and even planted one of them in a very powerful position.

"With some difficulty, I managed to record that when I was about to report additional information about the rebels' mobilizations. Good thing I was smart enough to stop myself from knocking too soon," Miranda said bitterly.

"Miranda, I know killing rebels on the spot is legalized in Guild law but to do that now? In the middle of a full-scale assault on a more solid and concrete target? That will cause confusion, one that may be enough for this entire operation to fail. Let us keep ourselves focused. One enemy at a time, okay?" Charles said in a rushed manner, fearing Miranda will cut him off.

"I knew you were going to say that," Miranda said coldly, "Good thing I already prepared myself for it."

Miranda turned and began to walk away once more. Charles shook his head and followed her yet again.

"Miranda, I promise you that as soon as this operation is over, I will personally help you take out the secretary. But you have to promise me in return that you will stay put and remain committed to the mission that is laid out before us," Charles said, looking into Miranda's eyes.

"You never knew the pain of losing your parents in a massive raid by the rebels," Miranda challenged.

"You're right. I didn't. I don't. That's why you must help me understand. But not like this. I need to understand it more. Give it more time, please," Charles begged.

Two full minutes passed before Miranda finally broke the silence and slowly nodded her head. "Fine."

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thanks for reading!! :D

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the cyborg zerg were from the rebels? and the secretary is a rebel?

all these new info on the rebels seem to indicate a shift in the plot. i mean you said Miranda's dreams is important to the story, and then you reveal the secretary to be a rebel himself. looks like will be seeing more of them here.

im also excited in the upcoming invasion of braxis. are we going to see kerrigan now?

Yes and yes.

The first book dealt pretty much with the basics, as well as facing Kerrigan's threat. The rebels were introduced, but not fully explained. If anything, they just flitted in and out of the story. But now, yes, you are quite correct. They will be taking on a more central role in this book, while the Vanguards and Clerics continue to fight the swarm.

The prologue may have focused only on Miranda's dream, but in reality, many clues regarding the continuity were given. The entire Guild is now en route to Braxis, where they believe Kerrigan is hiding. So, it is quite obvious that the next chapters will feature a fight immediately. I won't tell though if i'm going to let Kerrigan in on the upcoming battles just yet. I still have more surprises. :)

So we are going to see more of these rebels in this new book. Looking good so far.

Also Congratulation on your 3,000 post :D although it would appear I did beat you to that number :P.

Congrats on your 3000th post. I am glad to see that Raynors Raiders still live.

Great second book so far. I didn't expect Raynor's Raiders to be the rebels. Is Raynor still alive? It seems the rebels are more of terrorists at this point in time with the Augustgrad incident and such.

raynors raiders = rebels?
?????????????????????
WTF????
Not saying it was bad writing just... ...suprising.
Otherwise/in addition Great Job! Keep it up.

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The wind was howling on the desolate icy planet. A blizzard has been going on for some days now, battering every creature and hindering sight of all but a few. One of those exceptions was up and about. Her eyes pierced through the screen of icy gusts. Unhindered by the weather, she continued her business, treading a purplish field of snow. She walked until she came across what looked like a hill of thorns jutting from the ground up. As she came nearer, a side of the hill opened. Spines intertwined like terran fingers slowly moved away from each other, revealing a dark and damp passage. She walked inside and up to an aisle flanked by more spines. The aisle led to the only noticeable object inside, an organic throne supported by massive claw-like structures.

"The terrans are approaching, my queen," she said, kneeling before the throne. The throne's occupant said nothing. Instead, it continued to survey the creature kneeling before her.

"What do you think I should do?" the throne's occupant mused.

"My lady, while you may have created new weapons, myself included, to serve the swarm, our numbers are still too few to take on the whole force of the terrans. I strongly suggest you buy more time."

"The Queen of Blades, run away?" Kerrigan asked, clawing her throne. Her voice was casual, but it was exactly what caused the servant to shudder.

"My mistress, you have to understand that I have to guard you with all my life, and given the power you provided me, I believe that my suggestion is what needs to be done."

The servant tensed. "I will never let you down," she added.

"Don't be so nervous. I know you won't," Kerrigan answered. She smiled at the thought of playing with her general. Kerrigan stood up and stepped down the throne. "You are to be given only one, and I mean only one, brood to hold off those terrans. I shall be bringing the rest to safety. You are however, free to do whatever you will with those."

Kerrigan pointed at the ground, where a lot of holes were present. "They shall serve you well, as you should to me.

"Come Ethan, we're leaving." She glared at her consort, who, despite his very huge bulk bowed in submission.

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On the rebels being Raynor's Raiders;

Surely you don't suppose this is hard fact as it is? I haven't given the side of the rebels yet. My dear friends, hasn't being with me for four books now whispered to you that nothing is final until the end comes? :)

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