A storm of psionic spines fell down upon the hive cluster. The whipping tendrils of sunken colonies grabbed at advancing Zealisk warriors before being disintegrated by supporting fire from the Ravager, a savage union of Ultralisk DNA and unified archonic energies. A flock of mutalisks made a desperate charge against the Hybrid command ship, but their glave wurms bounced harmlessly off the warship's energy shields before they were vaporised by a unit of Sphinx, launching airborne scarabs into the flock.
Psionilisks sat behind the frontlines, their deadly payload of charged hammer spines, an evolved form of the hydralisks own weapon, launched over the tops of the zerg infantry to decimate the hive's static defences.
Zarn, the hive cerebrate watched desperately as his minions fell to the massive splash damage of the hybrid armies.
Mistress, where are you? he wondered as his hatcheries struggled to replace minions as they were destroyed. A force of Zealisks broke through the perimeter and dove down onto the mineral fields, hacking at drones with their psi blades. As one hapless creature tried to flee to the relative safety of the nearby Extractor one Zealisk unleashed a barrage of needle spines from its crest, shredding the miner.
Zarn turned his attention to the DNA matrix of the chrysalis. There was little hope left as his Brood Lords fell from the skies and hydralisks found themselves ripped in half. Queens struggled to keep the numbers up as the Nydus Colony was destroyed by Ravager energies and the last of the lurkers were obliterated. The Zealisk squad charged the nearest hatchery before being finally brought down by a group of banelings hidden in the dirt. Zarn worked harder, he had seen it done before as his old master, the Overmind, infected the terran girl with zerg mutagens and super evolved her into the Queen of Blades, he had watched over the chrysalis in its infancy, but his skills were far beneath those of his creator, and the creature within the chrysalis was no mere terran. Despite his efforts Zarn was unable to find the necessary genetic codes to complete the infestation. He needed his Queen for that.
There was a flash of blue light, and a psionic storm ripped through the hybrid armies. A force of Roaches held back the tide of psionic warriors as the Queen of Blades fled through the blockade on the back of the mighty Torrasque. The terrible creature shattered Ravagers as it passed, crushed Zealisks trying to evade it, and shrugged off all manner of psionic and biological attack flung at it by the hybrid artillery. By the time Kerrigan reached the hive cluster only a dozen Hunter Killers held the line, their lesser brethren vaporised as soon as they approached the enemy.
Aboard the hybrid flagship, Atonement, Servant Algideon'Duran watched, anger welling deep within as Kerrigan broke through his lines with ease, the Torrasque joining the fight and pushing back his hybrid forces, crushing all in its path.
"Take command," he ordered the Council-Minds, slipping into an escape pod and launching himself towards the battlefield.
Zarn, I had hoped you would last longer against the interlopers Hissed Kerrigan to her general, Even He might not be able to push these monsters back
Forgive me, my Queen, Zarn replied, I have no excuse, I was weak
Kerrigan growled as she strode up to the mature Chrysalis. She placed a hand on the hard, pulsating flesh and bonded her mind with the creature within. As always, it resisted, but this creature had always been strong of body, not mind, and it would be relatively easy to control it. Even if it wasn't, even Torrasque wouldn't last forever, and unleashing this creature against the hybrids would be her final act of defiance against Duran's treachery, and the wrath of the Xel'Naga. From a wedge of carapace on her leg she removed a large hypodermic needle filled with a clear, slightly orange liquid. She had gone through hell to possess this liquid, and she would have loved to focus her not inconsiderable willpower towards finding the base for this genetic mix. With a growl, she plunged the needle into a soft spot on the Chrysalis, and bound her mind with that of Zarn, their twin wills interlocking, merging within the Chrysalis, forcing the evolution of the creature within, it's final assimilation into the Swarm.
Duran took aim, and blew a hole through the right eye socket of the mighty Torrasque. The psychically charged parasites launched from his modified C-10 Canister rifle quickly overcame the defences of the Queen of Blades and passed through the creature, and the monster disintegrated from the inside out. With one final, defiant roar the Torrasque sunk its tusks into a Ravager, before vanishing in the resulting explosion. Raising his gun again, Duran put another hole through the chest of a Hunter Killer, another in a Devouring One and a third through another elite hydralisk. Rushing to support their leader, the hybrids redoubled their effort, quickly reclaiming the ground gained by the mutant ultralisk.
With the zerg contained, the psionilisks ceased fire and Duran strode confidently through the hive cluster, raising his gun every so often to put down a nearby foe. Small pockets of resistance remained, but the hybrids made quick work of them. Queens and overlords fell, drones were blown apart and larva incinerated. Hydralisk dens, ultralisk caverns and spawning pools all died, hatcheries burned in blue and white fire as the creep receded quickly, bleeding.
"It ends here, my Queen," Duran called sardonically when Kerrigan, and the pulsating chrysalis, were in earshot, "The greatest mistake of my masters will soon be no more than a bad memory, a scar in the history of the galaxy," he raised his rifle, "Goodbye, Kerrigan." He fired. Kerrigan turned, and for one brief moment, fear and uncertainty crossed her vision, before the parasitic shell rebounded off a blue and white shield that rippled where it connected.
A blue and white stream of energy parted the chrysalis at its apex and drew a line of blood to the foot, and a huge, three fingered hand grasped at the chrysalis from the inside and tore the whole thing apart in a bloody mess, spraying blood over both Kerrigan and her former servant. Teeth parted, two blue eyes glowed with immeasurable psionic energy as the being, towering over Kerrigan, strode forwards on bent back legs, powered armour replaced by spiked carapace, gently nudging her aside as it confronted the Xel'Naga Servant.
"It can't be," gasped Duran as the being raised it's psi blades. He raised his gun, and the creature vanished in a wall of microscopic airborne parasites. A burning, bloodlike substance splashed all over Duran and he felt himself weaken drastically. Throwing his gun to the ground he pulled out a short rod, he hit a button and focused his psionic energies to activate the BioWarp Blade just in time to deflect the first swing of the Infested's psi blade, but the power behind the blow was so tremendous his arm was shattered by the impact to fall dead at his side. The second blade sliced him in half right down the middle in a single blow, his weakened muscles no match for the psionic might of the new being.
The Council-Minds sensed the death of their leader and commanded the hybrid armies to converge on the new threat. Zealisks and Ravagers turned inwards and charged, a wall of power armour and hardened carapace bristling with spines and energy weapons.
I fear no enemy growled the being as it charged forwards under a thick cloud. It grabbed a lone zergling which disintegrated at its touch, particles consumed. A second spray of red goo hit the charging ranks of enemies, slowing and weakening them, followed by a slimy green mist from Kerrigan. The being moved faster than any creature Kerrigan had yet seen, impaling, hacking and destroying all that stood in its path. Claws, microneedles and psionic weapons all rebounded off its shields or were absorbed by the airborne parasites, Zealisks, which had stood against even her strongest Brood Lord attacks, fell in single swipes of her creation's advanced psi blades.
Move, Zarn, Kerrigan hissed, He needs help as she charged in as well.
In moments the advance forces were gone, the Infested holding a single Zealisk by the throat for a moment before squeezing, snapping its neck. One Ravager, thought dead, rose up behind him, psionic blades raised, when the Infested tensed a thousand tiny muscles and launched a swarm of microneedles at the attacker, tearing through its shields and carapace alike and destabilizing its psionic core. The creature exploded in a hail of white energy and animal parts.
For the Swarm is my strength
The Council-Minds aboard the Atonement felt the death of their leader, and subsequent destruction of their ground forces. With a thought, they commanded the Psionilisk artillery to recommence bombardment.
Nach Nagalas Hissed the Infested as psionic needles fell upon the hive cluster. The creature leapt across the battlefield and collided with the Psionilisk escort. With two psi blades and two claws extending from the backs of his elbows the Infested ripped into the Zealisks, shredding them completely.
The psionilisks fell silent. There was a humming sound in the air, and psionic and solar energy was absorbed from the very atmosphere. The Infested glanced up at the enemy command ship as energy coalesced in the panel beneath it.
I fear not death
"Fire the Galaxy Hammer," hissed one of the Council Minds.
Kerrigan watched in despair as her greatest creation vanished in a glowing vortex of red and white light. A shockwave hit the remnants of the hive cluster, newly spawned zerglings tumbled end over end, the few remaining queens ducked low and overlords fell from the sky. Zarn retained his self control and continued spawning new soldiers, sending out drones to recommence the hives mining process.
The few remnants of the hybrid ground forces, those that had survived the collateral damage of the Galaxy Hammer, advanced into the grey mist left behind by the Xel'Naga's most powerful field weapon, a weapon more than three times as powerful as the terrans' tactical nuclear strike.
For our strength is eternal
Before they made it far into the mist, they started dying. The Infested charged up the slopes, energy shields spent, carapace rent and scorched, one arm lying useless at its side and one eye dark. But the second shone brightly. Raising its psi blade it drove it into the brain of one of the psionilisks, implanting a tiny parasite inside. It continued on to the next one, and the next, dodging Zealisk escorts. Once it had attacked all of the Psionilisks, the Infested turned, closed its remaining eye, and took immediate control of all the psionilisk bio-artillery. He was immediately bonded with the Council-Minds which controlled the weapons, but they thought too slow, they didn't realise the artillery was his now. In the one moment before he unleashed all the psionilisks against them, he felt one particular Council-Mind, an unusually quick one, realise what had happened, and in that moment the entire hybrid army felt fear.
Kerrigan let loose an uncharacteristic giggle as the psionilisks blew apart the hybrid command ship, the charged needles, designed specifically to cut though protoss energy shields, sliced apart the hull like a zergling's claws through a terran civilian. With the DNA key stolen from Duran, she had done what her father had worked so hard for but never accomplished. She had bonded the Protoss and Zerg DNA, she had created the ultimate life form. At long last, with this DNA incorporated into the Swarm, she would be…Perfect.
(Infested Fenix)
Hp – 800
Sp – 800
Weapon (G) – Psi Blades = 40x2
(A) - Needle Spines = 40
Abilities – Plague, Dark Swarm, Burrow, Consume