The Queen of Blades soon faced another threat, and she was not pleased to discover that Duran had inconveniently disappeared. Apparently Arcturus Mengsk had called in a few favors and scraped together a new fleet. Artanis had also warped into the area with a fleet of protoss ships from Shakuras. Last but not least, Admiral DuGalle was stubbornly determined to defeat the woman who had masterminded Stukov's death.
Kerrigan taught the three fleets better than to underestimate the Swarm. Facing imminent defeat, Mengsk and Artanis were forced to withdraw from the battle. At last it became clear that the UED fleet could not hope to succeed where the other two fleets had failed. DuGalle offered to surrender if Kerrigan would spare the lives of his soldiers. The Queen of Blades, however, had no interest in taking prisoners. Instead, she told DuGalle to turn his ships in the direction of Earth and flee. She would give him a reasonable head start before she sent the Swarm after him.
DuGalle and his battered ships obeyed, for they had no other choice. Onboard the flagship Aleksander, DuGalle composed a last letter to his wife. His mission was a failure. The zerg remained untamed; the colony worlds, unconquered. His pride had killed Stukov and brought the Directorate fleet to this desperate pass.
The admiral killed himself not long before Kerrigan's forces overtook the UED fleet and devastated it. Not one Directorate ship reached Earth to report the events that had taken place in the Koprulu sector.
. How do you all feel?
