Solitude
She looked up at the night sky, the dark patch where the system hid.
With a shriek, a nearby hydralisk was torn in two and collapsed in a pool of ichor. Others swarmed to the area, simply to be picked off by the invisible assailant. The trail of carnage made its way towards the vulnerable cerebrate, who broadcast its terror.
Should have spawned more overlords, she thought. She found the assassin in her mind and jumped, landing a series of blows – only to have them deflected by shields. He was now within striking distance of his target. She felt the shields weaken as she pressed her attack, and one blade finally connected. The templar went up in smoke.
"Perhaps next time my lady would like to be the bait?"
"Perhaps next time I'll wait until after he's struck". A psychic wave washed over her. "Can you feel it, cerebrate?"
"It seems the Overmind has arrived on Aiur, my lady."
"Yes, of course, but can you feel it? The sheer elation…"
"Your ladyship is most insightful."
"I might as well be talking to a zergling". She sighed. "Perhaps we will finally be called back from this blasted exile, to join it in its hour of victory."
"This is no banishment, my lady. The mission is of vital importance."
"The mission is a wild goose chase, is what it is. For every templar we kill, another tingles at the edges of perception." She paused. "I always thought it blamed me for the death of Zasz."
"My lady, his death did give us the key to Aiur."
"Perhaps. I'll feel better when we leave this waste."
#
The zerglings' cries increased as they drew closer, all teeth and claw.
"Stop this!" she screamed, weaker.
"You can stop this yourself."
"Give me my freakin' C-10 and I will, monster." And you'll be next.
"I would like to see to you try."
Damnit, she thought, then kicked herself again for thinking out loud.
The nearest one slashed at her leg and she fell to the ground. They were enjoying this.
"I do not require another terran with a gun, I require more."
"I have nothing else!"
The zerglings pounced for the kill. She screamed and blacked out.
When she came to, the beasts lay spasming around her, their tiny minds destroyed. She was overwhelmed by the feeling of thousands, millions more scurrying in the hive around her - and beyond them, the presence.
"Welcome, child."
"I could have died", she said.
"Many before you did."
"What?"
"The remaining potentials can now be terminated. Free agency tends to get out of control."
"You're a monster". She hoped it could sense her hatred.
"I am not alone: I notice your limb has healed. Come, you are needed."
She could only stare at her leg.
#
"It's dead."
"Yes, my lady."
"I never thought it could be killed. I feel so… empty."
"Yes, my lady."
"You felt the energy signature. Tassadar was there. I should have captured him when I had the chance. I should have been there to stop him. I should have…"
"Yes, my lady."
"We must continue the fight, of course."
"You mean Aiur?"
"No, that was its personal project. I wouldn't know 'purity of form' if it hit me in the face. I mean vengeance."
"I see." Several hydralisks unburrowed around her.
"What treachery is this?"
"We cannot squander our forces. The cerebrates are merging on Char. The old Overmind is dead; long live the new Overmind."
"Then it is civil war."
"If you must."
She leapt forward as the psionic storm cackled over the hydralisks. It seemed a long time since she had used it against fellow zerg.
As she raced towards the cerebrate the ground began to tremble. Shit. An ultralisk emerged in a shower of dirt and blocked her path, snapping its oversized kaiser blades. She dodged the blades and avoided trampling, but not without a nasty tear along her arm. That's gonna sting in the morning. She clambered up its side and crawled towards the head. You're just a big bug, aren't you? You'd probably die if someone managed to tip you on your back. There was a flash of light, and the beast collapsed beneath her. Magnificent exoskeleton. Not much help against a psi blast.
"Mercy, my lady!"
She considered this. "You will be spared, for now. Be grateful I don't have better options."
Resting against the pulsing cerebrate, she looked up at the stars. "Do you know what I'll miss the most?"
"My lady?"
"Having someone I can talk to."