Before I knew it darkness engulfed me, I had let my guards down, too busy trying to figure out what the zergs were up to. I reached out to feel my surroundings and felt all but walls, all around me, it was roundish in shape. The casing moved slightly, but that was enough to make stumble backward. The space wasn't very big and it felt like it was shrinking in size. I reached back up in a vain attempt to stop it shrinking but to no avail. Something dripped from above and I realized it was from my fingers, feeling around I could hear the slushing of some liquid around me, slowing rising. Unable to stop the casing from shrinking and no way to stop the rising of the liquid inside this prison I'm in, I was forced into a fetal position. I was starting to feel sleepy, but I fought it as hard as I could. I felt the liquid around my chin now. I was going to drown in this, I thought to myself, a sense of peace filling me.
"Sleep now, my child, for when you awaken, you will be born anew" A voice in my head echoed. I wanted to ask who it was, but sleep engulfed me, I couldn't fight it. Last thing I remembered was being pierced by what felt like dozens of spikes, but I felt nothing.
There was nothing but darkness around me. I tried to reach out but my arms felt heavy, my body felt like it weighed a ton. Pain coursed through my body, I screamed, but it came out a screeched, my voice had changed. I lifted my arms fighting the heavy feeling. What is happening to me, I thought in a panic. My prison seemed bigger now, my head felt like it was being pounded by a hundred needle. I fought it, trying to rip out the tentacles that seemed like it was in my skin, it was translucent and looked like some sort of liquid was coursing through it.
Then I realized, I realized that it was dark, as dark as a black hole, how can I know all this, how can I see in the dark. My body was changing, changing into something new, something strange. I screeched out again as I tried to break free from the tentacles, but they stayed firm. No, I thought, I don't want to change, I don't want to! I thought to myself.
"Do not fear, my child, for you are safe, and you will be Great when you are born anew, now sleep again, my child, You will be free soon enough."
A voice echoed in my head again as I felt sleep coming to me again. I ddin't understand any of it, didn't know what was going on, I called out, unconsciously, called out to Jim Raynor, and Arcturus Mengsk. Sleep came at me again, but this time, it was welcomed with open arms.
In and out of sleep I lost track of time, each time I awoke, my body felt strange, different, and each time, I liked it more and more. The voices in my head became clearer each time. "Welcome" They all said. It was welcoming, I felt a psychic link being formed with these... figure outside my prison, my cocoon. It felt good, like I was starting to belong here, that this is where I'm suppose to be. My anger at the betrayal was being shared with these figured, they felt my pain, my fear, my anger, they were going to be with me until they die. I realized now what was happening to me, I was becoming a zerg, I was becoming a leader of the zerg.
"Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me. Arise, my daughter. Arise... Kerrigan."
I started to uncurl from my fetal position and stood up, spreading my arms and blades that were on my back. They were like wings, but deadly. I let out a sigh, relieved to be free from my long slumber. I looked around at my surrounding, taking everything in, the smell, the taste, the feel of the air whistling around me.
"Mother of God... Kerrigan, what have they done to you! Sarah, is that really you?" A familiar voice. Kerrigan looked around and located the source of the voice and a smirk formed on her face.
"Jimmy... To an extent. I'm far more than I once was, Jim." She answered, her voice was full of confident, but it was different from what it once was, but she loved it, it was powerful.
"But, the dreams. I dreamed you were still alive, that somehow, you were... calling to me..." He was still in shock with what he was seeing before him. Kerrigan had been infested... She looked... magnificent but scary at the same time. Her once beautiful skin was now a yellowish green in color, her jade green eyes, now yellow, and her flame red hair was replaced with tendrils. His eyes wandered further down her body, everything he loved about her had changed, her body had change, it was skeletal and alien at the same time. But she was magnificent. He was brought out of his thoughts by Kerrigan's voice.
"I was. While I was in the chrysalis, I instinctively reached out to you and Arcturus telephaticly. Apparantly, Arcturus sent Duke here to reclaim me. But that was then, Jim. I am one of the Zerg now, and I like what I am. You can't imagine how this feels." She said this with pride as she hugged herself and wrapped her wings around herself. She was smiling as she looked at Jim. She called out to the hydralisks that were protecting her while in her incubation and laid a hand softly on its head like one would to a loyal pet. She was in control of them now.
"So? What? Are you goin' to kill me now, darlin'?" Jim asked with disgust, with a hint of fear, fear of what her answer would be. He was going to make the zerg pay for this, for making Kerrigan into... whatever she was now.
"It is certainly within my power," She crooned, stroking the hydralisk alongside its face. "But you're not a threat to me, Jim. Be smart; leave here now and never seek to confront the Zerg again." She smiled and heard a voice echo in her head Queen of Blades, it echoed. She knew now what that voice was, WHO it was, The Overmind.
"The Queen of Blades..." She said softly and pulled one of her wings to her and stroked the top of it. She looked up at Jim. "Are you still here, Jim? I thought I told you to leave." She growled out softly. "Doesn't look like I have much choice." He said as he holstered his weapon and ran the other way.
I had nightmares about that day, how Mengsk abandoned Kerrigan on that planet. The dreams, they seemed so real, Sarah was calling out to me, she was scared and in pain. My blood boiled thinking of how I ran away along with Mengsk. "Jimmy," a voice echoed in my head. I looked down at the half empty glass in my hand, alcohol didn't do anything to lessen the pain in my heart.
"Sarah, I'm so sorry." I said aloud, to no one in particular, I shouldn't have let her gone down there alone. Her voice echoes in my head since that day.
"Char...Jimmy...help me..." the voice echoed again. The planet Char, sister planet to Mar Sara was as barren and dead as the other planets who met the wrath of the Protoss. I sighed and stood up looking out the small circular window in front of me. Char... it looked so dead. I thought, looking at the planet below. Images flood my head, I saw Sarah in all her glory, her flaming red hair flowing behind her, Her jade green eyes sparkling and her wide lips smiled at me. She opened her arms as if to welcome me. I shook me head, no, She was dead... wasn't she? The image of her started to change and distort, I banged my head on the wall of the ship. Not this again, I didn't want to see this, not again. Fear crept into slowly as her hair started to change into tendrils, wings like blade spread out behind her, her eyes turn from jade green to an ugly yellowish green and her skin changed into what looked like skeletons on the outside with a thin layer of magenta membrance covering over it.
I downed the rest of my drink and threw it on the ground. I made my way to the bridge to ready the decent to Char.
"So, How are we doing?" Raynor asked Michael.
"We're ready to go, whenever you're ready, sir" Replied Michael.
"Let's do this then." Raynor bent over Michael and pressed a button that was labeled "intercom."
"Boys, it's time to suit up, we're heading out!" He said enthusiatically over the com.
"Sir, Are you sure she's down ther? I mean she could be..."
"Don't finish that sentence, I know she could be...but I have to make sure she's not down there...it was my fault afterall...I left her there..."
Michael nodded and said no more. I sighed and headed towards the armory.
"Long time no see, old friend." I said to the hunk of metal in front me. I chuckled and started suiting up. About an hour later, the ramp lowered down to the barren siol on Char. It smelt of death and ashes. "Sarah...please be alive." I said up the sky, darkened by clouds of smoke blowing in all direction. I raised my hand up and signaled it was safe to come out.
A squad of marines came out of the ship and nodded at me, probably excited to do something for once rather than just sit on your ass.
"We'll set up perimeters around the ship and set up camp there." I point to a large rock not too far from the ship. I sighed and looked up at the sky again. "Sarah..." I whispered into the night.
I remembered the conversation I had with Mengsk that day. Replayed it over and over again in my head. Calling him on leaving Sarah to the Zergs, meanwhile I did the same thing with my tail between my legs.
I looked around the camp being set up around what is now the base.
"Well, it looks like we're on our own. It's funny... It seems like yesterday, Arcturus was the idealist rebel crusader. Now he's the law, and we're the criminals. It kill me to know that we helped him achieve his goals of conquest. Michael.. I shouldn't have let her go alone... I should've gone with her."
"You would've died there if you had gone with her and we wouldn't be here."
I nodded slightly and took a few steps forward facing the crew.
"All right, All crews, stay frost and keep your eyes peeled for our target. Remember, not only are we up against the Zerg here, but our old pal General Duke may be creepin' around too. Let's hope this trip wasn't a big mistake."
He muttered that last sentence under his breath, hoping his team didn't hear him.
"Lisa," He called out. A female came running up to him and stopped a few feet awaying, gave a quick salute.
"Sir, awaiting orders." She stated.
"I want a sweep of the area to the Northwest, quite and careful. We don't know where the Zergs are."
She gave another quick salute and began organizing pairs within the group, assigning each one to a section. Calm and efficient. Raynor was glad he had picked her as his second, and glad that she had joined him in his revolt, disgusted by what had happened on Tarsonis. On the Hyperion, she was friendly, easy going, almost playful, but when the time calls for it, she gets right down to business. Minutes after giving her the orders, she had people canvassing the area for their foes... or the woman they came to rescue.
"Sir."
Raynor turned at the voice. "Report." He said simply.
The marine snapped off a salute. "The planet is probably riddle with small volcanoes. The crevices could've been made by zergs, but the holes are only 3 feet wide and tall."
"Hmm.." Raynor, rubbed his index and thumb below his chin. "Too small for us or any Zergs... maybe Zerglings? Ayers, drop a sensor, we'll keep an ear out. Good catch."
Each soldier had at least 1 sensor, and each sensor were keyed into everyone's comm unit. Should a zerg be moving around the tunnels, they will hear it.
Throughout the scouting, there were reports of more holes, each too small for us to fit and each one, a sensor was dropped. This lasted for maybe 20 minutes.
"I've got Zerg!" Raynor looked down at his grid and pinpointed the soldier that called it. Messner, Raynor located him and started to head towards the direction. It took about 10 minutes to get to him, Raynor had his rifle ready.
"Where?" Raynor called out, praying he wasn't too late as he came up to where Messner was standing. Messner pointed downwards, A crevice was between them. Raynor pointed his rifle down into the crevice, it was dark but he could see something moving down there. "Are you sure it was Zerg?"
Messner nodded. "Yes sir, no doubt, that chittering, hissing noise they made. No doubt about it sir."
"Alright." Raynor said straightening up. "We got zergs." He stated. "Lisa, I want each team to double up, defensive formation. They may not come up here, but we're going to assume they know we're here now. We need a way in. Continue scouting."
Lisa started to reorganize the group and Raynor let out a sigh. Rubbing his fingers between the bridge of his nose as a headache started setting in.
He shut his eyes, and found himself alone. The sky started to darken as the two sun started to set over the horizon. His armor and rifle was gone. The sky darkened further, not from the suns setting, but from the covering of the creatures now heading towards him. They surrounded him in seconds, he whirled around, looking for a way out. They tightened the circle, their claws and sharp edges scraping at his skin, but it didn't hurt, he didn't feel anything as they started to tower over him, their shadows covering him. A shudder went down his spine, not from fear, but relief? excitement? maybe pleasure even. He felt.. happy, he was glad they found him, glad they were circling him, they limbs seeming to meld together. He was glad he was one with them. One of them.
"Sir?"
His rifle was pointed at Lisa before he knew what was happening, muscle memory can be scary sometime. Blinking a few time, he saw the shocked looks on the soldier behind her.
"Let's go." He said, Lisa nodded and followed behind, not a pause in her action with what had happend.
He was wondering himself what happened, was he dreaming? How long had he been standing there? A minute? Two? longer maybe? He shook the thoughts away. No time for that now. He looked around, the squadron staying in site but far enough to scout the area. This will take longer, but it is safer with the Zerg below them. More time to reach, should any of the group get attacked.
"We have a problem." Horner stated over the comm. Raynor pressed a button on his armor so the conversation was now just between him and Horner.
"What do we have, Horner?"
"Incoming fleet." Horner stated.
"Duke's?" Raynor asked simply.
"Protoss."
A few second passed before Raynor decided to go back to broadcast.
"Alright, everyone, listen up, we have incoming protoss. Assume they here for the zergs, we're collateral, do not engage, I repeat, do not engage. If it looks like they're going to nuke the place, retreat to Hyperion."
He motioned for Lisa to move closer.
"I want to know where they land, they might find a way in before us."
"And if they don't?"
"We continue to look for a way in."
It was another hour before another soldier found another hole.
"Well done, Deke, it looks big enou-" Her sentence was cut off as a scythe came downwards towards her. She stumbled backwards barely missing the attack and fell ontop of Raynor.
Raynor had his rifle pointed towards the creature and fired a burst of shots at it's head. It let out a screech before it toppled over. Lisa rolled off and straightened herself.
"All teams, converge, we found a hole. Be warned, zergs are present. Zergs are present."
Hold on darlin'. He thought to himself. We're almost there.
Deke and Messner jumped in first. Lisa jumped in next. Shouldering his rifle, he jumped feet first into the darkness.
It felt like he had been sliding down for a while, bumping here and there on some jagged edges. Though it was probably only a minute. When he spotted a glow beneath him, he curled up as much as the space would allow him to and fell on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Lisa was crouched next to him and brought her fist down on his chest, his breathing returning to normal.
"Alright, sir?"
He gave a nod and looked around his surrounding, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. They were in the center of the beginnings of a few tunnels.
"Which way sir?" Messner asked.
Raynor held his hand up to signal them to give him a moment. He took a few steps foward in front of them and closed his eyes.
He was brought back to the nightmare version of the world. He was already surround by the Zerg. He reached out to them and saw that his skin had changed from the healthy peach toned to the grayish green tone, clearly unhealthy, but he felt strong, capable, powerfule.
He forced his eyes opened, cutting off the vision. He shook his head slightly to steady himself. The vision was stronger down here, Kerrigan was here, calling out to him. He took a couple more steps forward and shut his eyes again.
The zergs were touching him, their scythes grazing lighting against his skin. They were attacking him, it was more like they were... caressing him?
The chittering and hissing sounded but a voice sounded inside him.
"The Swarm embraces you." It said, the voice cold and deep.
Raynor's eyes snapped open a sharp intake of breath following. He turned around and pointed towards a tunnel.
"That way." He stated.
Messner took point, follow by Deke, than Raynor, ending with Lisa.
"There's another passage." Messner stated on the comm. "It loo-" His sentence cut off by a gasp and a wheeze. Raynor pushed past Deke, pulling out a grenade from his belt.
"Grenade!" He called out to the comm and threw it forward, in time to see everyone crouched on the ground.
The shockwave pulsed through the cavern, pieces of rocks breaking off.
"All clear!" Deke called out, stealth forgotten as the team converge.
"Well, they definitely know we're here now." Messner stated.
"Lisa, relay back to base, send reinforcements, we're gonna need them." Raynor stated. Lisa nodded and started relaying the message.
"Do we continue?"
Raynor nodded, and shut his eyes again. The zerg were still touching him, the voice ringing in his head again.
"The Swarm embraces you. Welcome."
He forced his eyes open again and started heading down a path.
"This way." He stated simply, his squadron following behind. They had encountered a few more zergs along the way, but it had become easy to take them out once reinforcement had caught up with them. The closer they got to the Hive, the more zergs there were.
They continued heading down the passage, finally coming across an organic floor, pulsating, almost alive.
"Sir, what is that?" Deke asked pointing towards an organic structure, larvae swarming around an opening.
"The breeding ground, where the zergs are born."
"Right. I know that, I was asking about the things behind them."
Raynor looked past the Hives and spotted a couple maggot shapped cocoon, only it was larger, bigger, almost as big as the Hives, if not bigger.
"Cerebrates." He stated simply. "The commanders of the zergs." He said with disgust. Between the cerebrates, he spotted a Chrysalis, pulsating at a rapid pace.
"Jimmy!" A voice rang in his head, Raynor clutched his head as the voice rang and pointed towards the Chrysalis. "Break that... She's... in there.." He said.
"Sir, we have another problem." Messner stated "We're surrounded."
"What?!" He asked surprised, looking around. Sure enough, there were zergling and hydraulisks surrounding them, but why aren't they attacking?
"Because you are here to witness the birth of our greatest creation thus far." A voice echoed in their heads. "Look upon the greatness that is our creation."
They all faced the Chrysalis as tendrils poked through the top and tour through the skin, claws pushing the membrane to it limit and slicing through like it was paper.
Raynor stared at the figure in front of him. Awe and disgust at the same time. Her flaming red mass replaced wil sectioned tendril, her once jade green eyes now glowed yellowed, and her once smooth skin, replaced with blotchy grayish green. Her body was covered in Chitin Armor.
"Arise, my daughter. Arise Kerrigan." The voice broadcasted again.
"By your will father, I live to serve. Let all who oppose the Overmind feel the wrath of the Swarm."
"Mother of God... Kerrigan, what have they done to you?" Raynor exclaimed at the sound of her voice, it sounded deeper with a slight hissing sound behind it. She was not the woman that he had met all those months ago. She was magnificent and scary. She stood tall, towering over the zergs.
"Sarah, is that really you?" He exclaimed again.
"Jimmy..." She said, as if she was just now noticing him. "To an extent. I'm far more than I once was, Jim." She continued.
"But... The dreams. I dreamed you were still alive, that somehow, you were... calling to me..." He retaliated, almost pleading that this wasn't true. She was changed. She was infested. Was she Zerg? Or is she something more?
"I was." She stated matter of factly. "While I was in the Chrysalis, I instinctively reached out to you and Arcturus telephatically. Apparently, Arturus sent Duke here to reclaim me." She spat out.
"Yea, he's a little busy ruling an empire." Raynor butted in.
"But that was then, Jim. I am one of the Zerg now, and I like what I am. You can't imaging how this feels." She said this with pride as Raynor watched her wings wrapped around herself. She was smiling as she looked at him.
"So what? You gon' kill me now, darlin?" He asked with disgust, a hint of fear in his voice, fear of what her answer could be. His hatred for the zerg grew as he stared at Kerrigan.
"It is certainly within my power." She crooned, stroking the hydralisk now standing by her. "But you're not a threat to me, Jim. Be smart; leave here now and never seek to confront the Zerg again." She smiled.
"They called you queen..." His sentence dropped off, afraid to finish the sentence.
"Yes, The Queen of Blades!" Her wings spread out, her eyes glowed brightly as she said this, as if to make a point. The other zergs backed down at the wave of her power.
"Are you will here, Jim? I thought I told you to leave?"
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice." He said as he holstered his weapon and ran the other way, his troops following behind.
"Sir, are you alright?" Lisa asked, keeping pace behind him.
"I'll live." He stated, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Come on, we have to retrace our steps out of the tunnels." Lisa nodded and signalled for everyone to follow behind.
It was hours before they finally made it out. Raynor can only assume, Kerrigan had ordered to zergs to back off after their encounter.
He had never been happier seeing the sky of Char Sara.
"Alright everyone, stay in formation and lets head back to base." He stated.
"Sir!" They called out in unison. It took another hour to reach base. Raynor stepped onto the Hyperion and made his way to the bridge.
"Any new Horner?"
"Protoss are still here, if that's what you mean. They haven't decimated the planet yet, it's almost as if they're... observing maybe? What did you find on your scouting?"
Raynor sighed. "That, my dear friend... That is a story for another time. Good work today." Raynor patted him on the back and headed out of the bridge and to his quarters, ready to take his armor off.