"I know it's brutal. I hate this call more than anyone. But I'm the commander of this outfit, and I'm responsible for everyone's survival, including the clean majority who haven't been touched yet.
In three days, we have to give an answer—either prove to the Protoss that the infection is controlled and wiped out, or we do the purifying ourselves. There is no third road. Developing a cure? That takes months, maybe years. We just don't have that kind of time."
Dr. Hanson shook her head, unable to wrap her head around that logic. To her, every single life was worth fighting for, especially through science. Throwing away the chance for a cure to jump straight into "clearing them out" went against everything she believed as a doctor.
"Then buy us more time! Talk to the Protoss again! Or... or we focus on locking down the infected zones first, quarantine the patients, and speed up research on the side! Jumping straight to the most ruthless fix—that's just giving up!"
"Selendis isn't giving us more time," Raynor shook his head. "The Protoss fear the Swarm down to their very bones. Three days is already the absolute limit, given our past history. As for quarantine and research—" He pointed at the scattered red blips on the scan map.
"The infection signals are all over the place, not tucked away in some hospital. Some might be in animals, some underground, and some... might be sitting right inside one of us who still looks totally fine on the outside.
Running full screens, quarantining, and locking it down takes way more hands and time than we've got. Three days is only enough to do the most urgent, thorough thing we can: find the source and wipe the threat clean."
around the room, the air felt frozen solid. On one side stood a commander making tactical calls based on cold reality; on the other, a scientist holding onto humanity and hope. It was a fundamental clash of ideals, pushed to an absolute breaking point under a ticking doomsday clock.
Valerie had been sitting off to the side the whole time, acting like a complete onlooker. Her eyes calmly swept across the arguing pair while her mind raced, weighing every tiny shift in the room—Raynor's practical, firm stance, Hanson's idealistic drive, and the hidden risks... and opportunities.
Right as Raynor and Hanson hit a dead end, with the mood getting tighter by the second, Valerie chimed in at just the right moment. Her voice was smooth, clear, and carried a professional neutrality that instantly pulled everyone's eyes toward her.
"Commander Raynor, Dr. Hanson, mind if I jump in for a second?"
Both of them looked over. Raynor's brow furrowed slightly, while Dr. Hanson showed a mix of lingering frustration and a spark of hope—after all, Valerie's "Far Star Alliance" had already shown off some pretty serious tech.
"You're both coming from a place of trying to save lives; you're just taking different paths," Valerie started, softening the room before cutting right to the point. "Commander Raynor's call, based on the ticking clock and real threats, is responsible. Dr. Hanson's push for a cure is vital. But since current setups can't bridge this gap, maybe we throw a new variable into the mix."
"What variable?" Raynor asked.
"The Far Star Alliance," Valerie said directly. "Outside of cross-sector business, our company has built up solid tech and resources in biomedical field work and strange lifeform research. While I can't guarantee a silver bullet for this Zerg bug, our research angle and tools are pretty different from what's standard here in the Koprulu Sector."
Dr. Hanson's eyes lit up instantly. "You guys have experience fighting Zerg infection? Or related bio-suppression tech?"
"I wouldn't call it direct experience with Zerg bugs, since the Swarm is a new threat to us too," Valerie phrased her words carefully. "But we've handled other cases... stuff with aggressive growth, crazy mutation rates, or abnormal biomass spikes. Our tech approach could give us a fresh angle and new tools."
She turned to Raynor. "Commander, if the Far Star Alliance drops in some emergency tech support, we might be able to run a deep analysis on the infected samples within three days—figure out the exact nature of the bug, its spread stage, and see if there's a quick biological window to step in. That's way more precise than a blind wipe, and it could give Dr. Hanson's team key data... maybe even open the door to a fast suppression method."
She paused, watching how they took it.
Raynor fell into deep thought. He was still cautious around this mysterious "Far Star Alliance," especially given their tech clearly went beyond an average corporation. But right now, this looked like a real opening.
If their tech helped spot threats faster and cleaner—or even helped control it—that would be way better than throwing firepower around, and it'd smooth over the mess with Hanson's crew.
"What's the catch?" Raynor asked straight up. "The Far Star Alliance isn't dropping high-level tech support for free."
"A deeper partnership, plus data sharing," Valerie had her answer locked and loaded. "We want firsthand research on Zerg infection—that's high-value risk intel for us. If that leads to useful tools later, whether for field use or strategic value, it's huge for our side. On top of that, if this works, we want a seat at the table or observer rights in certain future Raider ops."
She didn't name-drop the Xel'Naga artifacts directly, but both Raynor and Tychus caught the hint. Tychus raised an eyebrow slightly, keeping his mouth shut.
Dr. Hanson looked at Raynor eagerly. "Jim, this is worth a shot! If they actually have better analysis tech, even just speeding up our understanding of the bug makes us faster and cuts down on bad calls! Maybe... maybe we won't even have to go down that path!"
Matt's hologram spoke up too. "Jim, strategically speaking, bringing in outside tech is high-risk, high-reward. But given our total lack of time and fixes, this might be the only route that hits both the real threat and the Doctor's concerns. As long as we keep a tight grip and stay sharp on their involvement."
Raynor's eyes drifted between Valerie's calm face, Dr. Hanson's hopeful eyes, and Matt's worried look. Seconds ticked away as Selendis's silent countdown kept running in the background.
Finally, he made the call.