The UED task force had been brutally smashed by Kerrigan and her
brood but the human's damage they had done was already being exploited.
The Overmind had been enslaved by the devices the earthlings had brought,
now under control of the humans, the zerg swarm was being turn against it's
self. The humans were confidant they could control the Overmind, but
already, in a corner of its mind, it had regained control. Not enough to
smash the bounds that had it enslaved but enough for a change of genes
here, a mutation of DNA there. The humans had no idea what was coming.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
Word had reached Commander Darius that the UED fleet had been hunted down and destroyed. His Admiral was dead and now, he and his small force here were all that was left of the once mighty UED task force. This was dark news indeed.
A knock came at Darius's door and a Scout entered the room, exchanging a quick salute the scout spoke, "Commander, word from the Protoss says that Kerrigan has begun her advance to our position. She wants the Overmind dead so she will have soul control of the Zerg forces. She is controlling the force herself."
"Then that's what she can't get. Tell the Protoss to attempt to slower her. We'll have a nice Zerg welcoming party by then."
"Yes Sir"
The Scout left Dariu's office. Darius walked to his window and looked out across the base, former site of the Overmind's defense, the massive creature sat in the middle of the base. The Overmind had powerful Psi Towers built on its massive body, they controlled this once power beast and twisted it to the will of its new Terran masters. To the west of the Overmind Control Center sat a massive Zerg swarm, crawling with the insidious creatures, the base had more then enough Hives to build a large Zerg army in short time. The Mineral requirements of this Zerg base were staggering; because of this the full capabilities of this base were hardly used. The Terrans had amassed a large Mineral and Vespene stockpile to use, should the Hives ever be needed. Now they were.
---- Protoss Fleet under command of Praetor Talra ----
The Praetor was standing on the command deck of his Modified Carrier the Gantrithor II when he got the news.
"WHAT? They expect us, a fleet of the Protoss, to act as a diversion to Kerrigan? We are above that sort of thing."
The low-rank Protoss, who had delivered the message, shifted nervously, "That is what they said sir. They explained they will have a trap waiting for her when she gets to their position."
"I knew we should have taken the enslaved Overmind for the Protoss Empire but the council wouldn't listen, bah, instead of listen they banished me. We had the resources to use the Zerg to their full potential, but the council wouldn't listen. Now all I have is my loyal officers and friends and their ship. Still we are a mighty force and the UED did come to me and not the Empire. I am their ally now and I value honor, so we will delay Kerrigan," Talra dismissed the underling and stood from his chair. He strode to the helm, "Prepare to enter hyperspace. Put us in Kerrigan's next jump point. She will fear my wrath when this is done."
Talra's fleet entered hyperspace and headed for Kerrigan. This fleet was not what she would expect. The modifications the praetor had ordered were of a powerful nature.
---- Kerrigan's Brood ----
Kerrigan meditated inside the warm juices of the Overlord she was in. They would be coming out of hyperspace soon over the jungle world of Krashek. Not much was on this world but it was rich with natural life, with enough evolutionary mutation, many of these species could become formidable weapons of the Zerg.
Kerrigan's meditation was disturbed by a shudder in the conscious of her brood. She recognized a faint feeling but it was weak and distant, yet so vivid. She focused her mind on it and was startled by what she found. The Overmind was fighting its restraints, but it only had a small victory. What was it doing, was the foremost question on Kerrigan's mind. She probed the Overmind's thoughts, but it was too weak to be readable.
Kerrigan's mind was startled by this turn of events, she knew she had to kill the beast before it could rear it ugly head once more. She had little time left to do her job and all the power she had amassed, rested on whether or not she could kill the Overmind.
The Overlord groaned out a warning, the swarm was about to exit hyperspace. Kerrigan readied herself, she must lead her brood to victory and then she could set her sites to the distant threat of Earth.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
The Overmind fought the Psi towers controlling it; he needed to briefly break the bonds. He knew what he must do and he would not fail. These over confident Terrans thought their hold was perfect but they could never stop the swarm. He battered his entire mind against the powerful Psi energies that were controlling him. He felt the control slip a bit. It was enough.
Swirling in the evolutionary juices of the egg, a Hydralisk was slowly mutating into a dreaded Lurker. The primitive mind of the beast felt something odd, his master was different now. Something had changed but he didn't care, he lived only to serve. He felt something change in his Biochemistry. His DNA was altered and he was sent hurtling up the Evolutionary chain, far faster then it should. He felt his mind being distanced from his master and a new mind opening to him.
The Overmind was not expecting the Terrans to notice his brief defiance, but a lone Ghost had. Armed with a Psionic Emitter the Ghost fought the Overmind. The Overmind had been weakened by its fight with the Psi towers and was too weakened to put up much of a fight, but fight he must, he couldn't stop at this sensitive moment. He threw all of his Psi energies at the Ghost and nearly knocked him out, but this ghost was strong and the Psi emitter strengthened him to a level able to change the weakened Overmind. They fought for what seemed like ages. The Ghost felt something at the edge of his awareness; something was watching him, something close.
The Ghost redirected his energies towards this new presence. He was startled by the simple mind of a Zerg. He had only probed a Zerg once before and never had he felt this. This Zerg was developing a mind of its own and shedding the command of its master. Now its mind was focused on him. The mind of this creature attacked the Ghost with startling swiftness. The Ghost instantly lost control, his mind was melding with this new mind and the two became one. The ingenuity of a human and the mind of a zerg were merged as one, the Human sense of right and wrong was disposed of and replace by a new set of values, spread and destroy all who oppose. The Ghost was no more, he was merely an extension of this new, superior Zerg, a last ditch effort by the Overmind gone terribly wrong.
---- Protoss Fleet ----
Praetor Talra stood up and marched closer to the view screen, before him was his target. Kerrigan's forces. By now Kerrigan had set up a temporary hive on the planet to try and figure out what the Overmind was up to.
"Scramble all fighters and move into weapons range." Said Talra, with a confident tone in his voice.
"Aye sir."
The Fleet of Exile's fleet surge forward, with a swarm of interceptor's ahead of them. The smaller vessel's rocketed ahead of the larger ships and engaged the zerg. Scouts fired their Anti-matter missiles at Devours, causing large gashes to be torn into their flesh. Corsair's chased groups of enemy units and bathed them with their deadly weapons. The zerg fought back with single minded determination. A swarm of Scourge's flew out of the Zerg swarm and sped towards the Carriers and Warships. The gunners opened up and filled space with deadly energy. The Captains turned their Interceptors on the Scourge's, in an effort to stop them. Although many were stopped many still made it through. The small creatures latched onto the hulls of the Protoss ships. The small creatures ended their lives in explosions that ripped massive holes into the mighty Protoss vessels.
Three scourges headed to a Carrier to the left of the Gantrithor II, the fowl creatures flew into the Interceptor bays and tore the Carrier apart.
The communication officer on the Gantrithor II turned to Talra, "Sir we have a communication from Kerrigan."
Talra's eyes darkened, "Put the -Zerg- on screen." Talra made sure he pronounced the word Zerg with all the malice he could.
Part of the screen changed to the face of Kerrigan, her once human face, twisted into some foul Zerg creation, "You made a wrong move Praetor and you will regret it. No one opposes the Zerg Swarm and survives."
"Laughable Kerrigan, I will stop you here." Talra said smugly.
"Your pitiful fleet in out matched Praetor and don't try to threaten me with reinforcements. I know you've been exiled."
"How?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is I'm giving you a chance to live. Withdraw your forces and I won't crush you." As if to underscore her demand, another warship exploded.
Talra thought for a moment. He used his hands to convey a message to his weapons officer and then said, "Alright -Zerg-, I'll withdraw my forces. Comm., tell all ships to return to the fleet. You win Kerrigan."
"I'm glad you saw the light Praetor."
"One more thing before I leave Kerrigan..."
"Yes?" There was a pause, and then he spoke
"Fire."
The Weapons officer nodded and his hand flew over the control panel. In moments the modifications to the Gantrithor II were brought to bear. Three large, crystal arrays, made from individual diamond shaped pieces placed together, swung out from the carrier and locked into position. Refined from the same material Pylons are made from, these arrays would focus all the Psionic energies of the nearby Protoss into a powerful beam. The focus crystal took up what used to be the Interceptor bays of the Gantrithor II. The massive pillar of crystals moved out of the ship's cavity and locked in position, in front of the ship. The three arrays began to crackle and glow blue. The point of the arrays shown a bright blue and then all three of the arrays connected to the focus point with three blue beams. The center pillar glowed blue, and crackled with the Psionic energy, little blue lighting bolt jumping up and down it. Seconds latter it expelled its fury. A massive Blue-white beam lance out from the Gantrithor II and towards the Zerg swarm. Zerg units were vaporized and warped when the beam hit. The Gantrithor II arced its line of fire gently across the Zerg swarm, killing large amounts of Zerg in an instant. The beam began to wain as it grew dim and then it fizzled out.
The Protoss fleet turned around and disappeared into hyperspace. On the planet Krashek, Kerrigan let out a scream of rage that echoed across the jungle world. She filled with a blank rage and briefly lost control of her brood, after calming she got control back.
"I will hunt you down -Protoss- and I will destroy you and all close to you." She looked up at the sky and screamed once more.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
"Odd." mumbled one of the technicians manning the Overmind Control Center.
"What?" snapped the supervisor.
"I just noticed a spike in the Overmind's neural activity."
"Interesting."
Normally the Overmind's neural activity would have been affected only by the commands of its master, so this spike was unusual. The Overmind was supposed to be under complete control of its Human overlords. The Terrans had mapped out a complex system to know exactly how high the Overmind's neural activity had to rise before it could regain control. In the case that it would reach that level, the Terrans would first transfer all base power into the Psi towers, in an attempt to regain their hold. If that failed they would send out their specially trained Ghost to fight the beast into submission. When that failed the Terrans would detonate their tactical nukes, they had placed around the beast and inside the Zerg base's scattered around Char, to stop the Zerg from over running them. Of course, they would rather not do that, because then they would lack any effective weapon to fight Kerrigan with.
"It's still above normal but it's not high enough to be a threat. There's no way it can break free."
"Good, keep monitoring. I'm gonna go check the records and see if this has happened before."
"Wait," the technician motioned to the supervisor, "It just returned to normal, but not after another spike."
"I'm going to finish off my checks and then write a report. I'll be back soon." said the supervisor with a perplexed look on his face.
"Yes sir."
---- Zerg Base west of Overmind ----
Two Goliaths marched their way through the living Zerg base, on patrol.
"Man I hate this job, I know these bugs are enslaved but I've just got too many bad vibes about them." Complained the first pilot.
"Oh quit your gripping Jareck." snapped the second Goliath pilot.
"Don't tell me what to do. I just want to survive this round. Now if mister Tolin wants to make a point of it, he's more then welcome to file a complaint." Retorted Jareck
"I got your complaint right here..."
"What the hell is that?"
The two Goliath's change course from their standard round, and veer towards a large, living, dome of Zerg material. It reminded the two pilots of a large Lurker egg, but this was far too big to be a Lurker.
"Man, we've got to tell Command." Said Jareck
The egg began to shudder and from amidst the Zerg Hives, walked a single Ghost. He was carrying his gun loosely at his side. He walked up and put him self between the Goliaths and the egg. His head was hanging and his limbs seemed limp, he appeared to be half asleep.
"Who the hell are you!?" Questioned Tolin. Both Goliaths had their weapons aimed at this man; no one was supposed to be in the Zerg base.
The Ghost had his mind altered by the beast maturing in the egg. He now had Psi powers greater then any high templar, yet this came at the price of being the creature's puppet. He reached one limp hand up and opened his hand so his palm was facing the two Goliaths. His head came up in a snap and the air around the two pilots began to shift and wave. Both men were startled and fired their weapons, but the shots were merely thrown off course by distortions. Soon the two steel Goliaths began to crumple. Jareck was first to fall, his Goliath's legs being snapped and his vehicle tumbling to the ground. Tolin managed to squeeze off another shot and this one went toward its target, it ripped through the arm, that was still limp, of the Ghost, then Tolin's Goliath merely compacted and killed him with the force. Jareck heard the screams of his friend and then made his own as his cockpit closed in around him.
The new Zerg creature looked through the eyes of his puppet at the two crushed heaps of metal and gears lying before him. Using his puppet's amplified mind, he just killed both of the Humans without a shred of feeling. This puppet would be a useful tool indeed, but he would be forced to make its body more, durable. When he had finally matured enough to hatch, he would infuse his puppet with Zerg DNA and make it more useful. The creature paused in its thoughts and wondered briefly about the fate of his former master. The creature realized it didn't really care; he was his own master now with only one thought, spread.
---- The Exile's fleet ----
"Praetor, we will be exiting hyperspace soon. Above Char, and the Terrans base, as ordered." Reported Talra's first officer. The officer was a competent officer he went by the name, Rasslen.
"Thank you Rasslen. I'm sure the Terrans will be pleased with our work." Talra stood up in his charge and walked towards the view screen, his fleet had taken a hard hit but it was still a force to be feared, especially with their Psi Array. The Terrans had not seen the Array at work, nor did they even know it existed and that would not change anytime soon. The Psi Array was one of the Protoss' highly guarded secrets, the product of years of research and meditation, it was the most powerful weapon the Protoss had ever made and only three Psi Arrays existed and Praetor Talra was lucky enough to have been in command of one ship with it when he had been exiled.
The Praetor's spirits flew with the after glow of the blow he struck to Kerrigan. Oh she would seek revenge and Talra would be ready for her. His fleet was still mighty and if she decided to attack him, he would fight her to the death...
The ships blasted out of hyperspace and the dark shape of Char loomed ahead. The dark planet now under the command of the humans, it had three or four Battle cruisers in orbit, over the terran base.
"Incoming message from the planet."
"Put it on."
The screen was replaced by the face of Commander Darius. He looked oddly agitated.
"I hope you brought me good news Praetor." said Darius impatiently.
"Watch your tone Terran," Talra shot him a venomous look, "Kerrigan will be, shall we say, delayed getting here. We took out most of her forces and she will have to regain her strength."
Darius's face seemed to lighten at this news, "That is good work. I thank you Talra for your help in this matter. We should be more then ready by the time she gets here. Our Hives are in full production," Talra shivered at the thought, "and we should have a formidable Zerg air force when she comes. Which brings me to a question, would you like to take part in the battle?"
Although repulsed be the Idea of fighting alone side Zerg forces, Talra yearned for a battle. "Yes, my forces will be here to fight along side our Terran allies."
Darius nodded and cut the transmission.
"Tell the fleet to ready of battle." Said Talra.
---- Zerg Base west of Overmind. ----
The creature had begun to explore his surroundings using his puppet and noticed a lot of activity around him. The Humans were busy with their Zerg toys and making plenty of them. As he explored the Creature noticed he was far superior to any of the Zerg units, he was far greater. He chose a name for himself "Superior One", a odd name in any language, yet fitting in every sense.
He was almost ready to hatch now, so he moved his puppet back to where he matured. He noticed his puppet was getting weaker and would probably die if that wound didn't heal, he must make his changes to the human's body soon.
The Superior one stirred inside its bloated egg. It had become cramped in here and he was ready for the outside world. Already smarter then any of his brethren, thanks to the stolen knowledge of his human puppet, he would rise to greatness. The egg stretched and weakened. A large gash formed in the egg, causing the juices to flow out onto the ground. With this breath of the ash rich air of Char, the Superior One exploded from his prison, leaving a puddle of flesh and slime. Ahh, he was free and ready to go.
The Beast was as large as a Terran command center and a lot meaner. Standing on eight, wicked, lurker style legs with the front two separated and positioned perfectly for digging, the beast had some aspects of its lurker origins. From around the side four tendrils failed in the air, the tendrils could stretch to amazing lengths and grasp on, iron hard, to objects the beast wanted. The tendrils could also be whipped across targets and act like an amazingly sharp blade. The head of the creature was like a Lurker only it had more edges on it and was jagged all around the normally smooth edges. Hidden inside the head armor, was Hydralisk, like, acid glands, far more powerful then its counter part. Hideous jaws waited to chomp and crush anything that got close enough to them. The creature was covered in horns and spikes along it armored body, armor thick enough to stop almost anything that tried to stop it.
The creature stretched to its full height, which was nearly the height of the nearby Hive, and let out a screech that was heard clearly in the Terran base. Superior One then went down to the ground and began to tear away at the ground with its powerful front leg's. Stopping for a moment the Superior one turned to his puppet and used his mind to move him next to a lowered tendril. The puppet obeyed and soon the tendril had engulfed him and had him in the Superior One's body, where he was being altered by the beast's systems. Soon his puppet would be more useful. The Superior One returned to it's digging, with his puppet safe inside of him.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
Word had reached Commander Darius that the UED fleet had been hunted down and destroyed. His Admiral was dead and now, he and his small force here were all that was left of the once mighty UED task force. This was dark news indeed.
A knock came at Darius's door and a Scout entered the room, exchanging a quick salute the scout spoke, "Commander, word from the Protoss says that Kerrigan has begun her advance to our position. She wants the Overmind dead so she will have soul control of the Zerg forces. She is controlling the force herself."
"Then that's what she can't get. Tell the Protoss to attempt to slower her. We'll have a nice Zerg welcoming party by then."
"Yes Sir"
The Scout left Dariu's office. Darius walked to his window and looked out across the base, former site of the Overmind's defense, the massive creature sat in the middle of the base. The Overmind had powerful Psi Towers built on its massive body, they controlled this once power beast and twisted it to the will of its new Terran masters. To the west of the Overmind Control Center sat a massive Zerg swarm, crawling with the insidious creatures, the base had more then enough Hives to build a large Zerg army in short time. The Mineral requirements of this Zerg base were staggering; because of this the full capabilities of this base were hardly used. The Terrans had amassed a large Mineral and Vespene stockpile to use, should the Hives ever be needed. Now they were.
---- Protoss Fleet under command of Praetor Talra ----
The Praetor was standing on the command deck of his Modified Carrier the Gantrithor II when he got the news.
"WHAT? They expect us, a fleet of the Protoss, to act as a diversion to Kerrigan? We are above that sort of thing."
The low-rank Protoss, who had delivered the message, shifted nervously, "That is what they said sir. They explained they will have a trap waiting for her when she gets to their position."
"I knew we should have taken the enslaved Overmind for the Protoss Empire but the council wouldn't listen, bah, instead of listen they banished me. We had the resources to use the Zerg to their full potential, but the council wouldn't listen. Now all I have is my loyal officers and friends and their ship. Still we are a mighty force and the UED did come to me and not the Empire. I am their ally now and I value honor, so we will delay Kerrigan," Talra dismissed the underling and stood from his chair. He strode to the helm, "Prepare to enter hyperspace. Put us in Kerrigan's next jump point. She will fear my wrath when this is done."
Talra's fleet entered hyperspace and headed for Kerrigan. This fleet was not what she would expect. The modifications the praetor had ordered were of a powerful nature.
---- Kerrigan's Brood ----
Kerrigan meditated inside the warm juices of the Overlord she was in. They would be coming out of hyperspace soon over the jungle world of Krashek. Not much was on this world but it was rich with natural life, with enough evolutionary mutation, many of these species could become formidable weapons of the Zerg.
Kerrigan's meditation was disturbed by a shudder in the conscious of her brood. She recognized a faint feeling but it was weak and distant, yet so vivid. She focused her mind on it and was startled by what she found. The Overmind was fighting its restraints, but it only had a small victory. What was it doing, was the foremost question on Kerrigan's mind. She probed the Overmind's thoughts, but it was too weak to be readable.
Kerrigan's mind was startled by this turn of events, she knew she had to kill the beast before it could rear it ugly head once more. She had little time left to do her job and all the power she had amassed, rested on whether or not she could kill the Overmind.
The Overlord groaned out a warning, the swarm was about to exit hyperspace. Kerrigan readied herself, she must lead her brood to victory and then she could set her sites to the distant threat of Earth.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
The Overmind fought the Psi towers controlling it; he needed to briefly break the bonds. He knew what he must do and he would not fail. These over confident Terrans thought their hold was perfect but they could never stop the swarm. He battered his entire mind against the powerful Psi energies that were controlling him. He felt the control slip a bit. It was enough.
Swirling in the evolutionary juices of the egg, a Hydralisk was slowly mutating into a dreaded Lurker. The primitive mind of the beast felt something odd, his master was different now. Something had changed but he didn't care, he lived only to serve. He felt something change in his Biochemistry. His DNA was altered and he was sent hurtling up the Evolutionary chain, far faster then it should. He felt his mind being distanced from his master and a new mind opening to him.
The Overmind was not expecting the Terrans to notice his brief defiance, but a lone Ghost had. Armed with a Psionic Emitter the Ghost fought the Overmind. The Overmind had been weakened by its fight with the Psi towers and was too weakened to put up much of a fight, but fight he must, he couldn't stop at this sensitive moment. He threw all of his Psi energies at the Ghost and nearly knocked him out, but this ghost was strong and the Psi emitter strengthened him to a level able to change the weakened Overmind. They fought for what seemed like ages. The Ghost felt something at the edge of his awareness; something was watching him, something close.
The Ghost redirected his energies towards this new presence. He was startled by the simple mind of a Zerg. He had only probed a Zerg once before and never had he felt this. This Zerg was developing a mind of its own and shedding the command of its master. Now its mind was focused on him. The mind of this creature attacked the Ghost with startling swiftness. The Ghost instantly lost control, his mind was melding with this new mind and the two became one. The ingenuity of a human and the mind of a zerg were merged as one, the Human sense of right and wrong was disposed of and replace by a new set of values, spread and destroy all who oppose. The Ghost was no more, he was merely an extension of this new, superior Zerg, a last ditch effort by the Overmind gone terribly wrong.
---- Protoss Fleet ----
Praetor Talra stood up and marched closer to the view screen, before him was his target. Kerrigan's forces. By now Kerrigan had set up a temporary hive on the planet to try and figure out what the Overmind was up to.
"Scramble all fighters and move into weapons range." Said Talra, with a confident tone in his voice.
"Aye sir."
The Fleet of Exile's fleet surge forward, with a swarm of interceptor's ahead of them. The smaller vessel's rocketed ahead of the larger ships and engaged the zerg. Scouts fired their Anti-matter missiles at Devours, causing large gashes to be torn into their flesh. Corsair's chased groups of enemy units and bathed them with their deadly weapons. The zerg fought back with single minded determination. A swarm of Scourge's flew out of the Zerg swarm and sped towards the Carriers and Warships. The gunners opened up and filled space with deadly energy. The Captains turned their Interceptors on the Scourge's, in an effort to stop them. Although many were stopped many still made it through. The small creatures latched onto the hulls of the Protoss ships. The small creatures ended their lives in explosions that ripped massive holes into the mighty Protoss vessels.
Three scourges headed to a Carrier to the left of the Gantrithor II, the fowl creatures flew into the Interceptor bays and tore the Carrier apart.
The communication officer on the Gantrithor II turned to Talra, "Sir we have a communication from Kerrigan."
Talra's eyes darkened, "Put the -Zerg- on screen." Talra made sure he pronounced the word Zerg with all the malice he could.
Part of the screen changed to the face of Kerrigan, her once human face, twisted into some foul Zerg creation, "You made a wrong move Praetor and you will regret it. No one opposes the Zerg Swarm and survives."
"Laughable Kerrigan, I will stop you here." Talra said smugly.
"Your pitiful fleet in out matched Praetor and don't try to threaten me with reinforcements. I know you've been exiled."
"How?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is I'm giving you a chance to live. Withdraw your forces and I won't crush you." As if to underscore her demand, another warship exploded.
Talra thought for a moment. He used his hands to convey a message to his weapons officer and then said, "Alright -Zerg-, I'll withdraw my forces. Comm., tell all ships to return to the fleet. You win Kerrigan."
"I'm glad you saw the light Praetor."
"One more thing before I leave Kerrigan..."
"Yes?" There was a pause, and then he spoke
"Fire."
The Weapons officer nodded and his hand flew over the control panel. In moments the modifications to the Gantrithor II were brought to bear. Three large, crystal arrays, made from individual diamond shaped pieces placed together, swung out from the carrier and locked into position. Refined from the same material Pylons are made from, these arrays would focus all the Psionic energies of the nearby Protoss into a powerful beam. The focus crystal took up what used to be the Interceptor bays of the Gantrithor II. The massive pillar of crystals moved out of the ship's cavity and locked in position, in front of the ship. The three arrays began to crackle and glow blue. The point of the arrays shown a bright blue and then all three of the arrays connected to the focus point with three blue beams. The center pillar glowed blue, and crackled with the Psionic energy, little blue lighting bolt jumping up and down it. Seconds latter it expelled its fury. A massive Blue-white beam lance out from the Gantrithor II and towards the Zerg swarm. Zerg units were vaporized and warped when the beam hit. The Gantrithor II arced its line of fire gently across the Zerg swarm, killing large amounts of Zerg in an instant. The beam began to wain as it grew dim and then it fizzled out.
The Protoss fleet turned around and disappeared into hyperspace. On the planet Krashek, Kerrigan let out a scream of rage that echoed across the jungle world. She filled with a blank rage and briefly lost control of her brood, after calming she got control back.
"I will hunt you down -Protoss- and I will destroy you and all close to you." She looked up at the sky and screamed once more.
---- Overmind Control Center ----
"Odd." mumbled one of the technicians manning the Overmind Control Center.
"What?" snapped the supervisor.
"I just noticed a spike in the Overmind's neural activity."
"Interesting."
Normally the Overmind's neural activity would have been affected only by the commands of its master, so this spike was unusual. The Overmind was supposed to be under complete control of its Human overlords. The Terrans had mapped out a complex system to know exactly how high the Overmind's neural activity had to rise before it could regain control. In the case that it would reach that level, the Terrans would first transfer all base power into the Psi towers, in an attempt to regain their hold. If that failed they would send out their specially trained Ghost to fight the beast into submission. When that failed the Terrans would detonate their tactical nukes, they had placed around the beast and inside the Zerg base's scattered around Char, to stop the Zerg from over running them. Of course, they would rather not do that, because then they would lack any effective weapon to fight Kerrigan with.
"It's still above normal but it's not high enough to be a threat. There's no way it can break free."
"Good, keep monitoring. I'm gonna go check the records and see if this has happened before."
"Wait," the technician motioned to the supervisor, "It just returned to normal, but not after another spike."
"I'm going to finish off my checks and then write a report. I'll be back soon." said the supervisor with a perplexed look on his face.
"Yes sir."
---- Zerg Base west of Overmind ----
Two Goliaths marched their way through the living Zerg base, on patrol.
"Man I hate this job, I know these bugs are enslaved but I've just got too many bad vibes about them." Complained the first pilot.
"Oh quit your gripping Jareck." snapped the second Goliath pilot.
"Don't tell me what to do. I just want to survive this round. Now if mister Tolin wants to make a point of it, he's more then welcome to file a complaint." Retorted Jareck
"I got your complaint right here..."
"What the hell is that?"
The two Goliath's change course from their standard round, and veer towards a large, living, dome of Zerg material. It reminded the two pilots of a large Lurker egg, but this was far too big to be a Lurker.
"Man, we've got to tell Command." Said Jareck
The egg began to shudder and from amidst the Zerg Hives, walked a single Ghost. He was carrying his gun loosely at his side. He walked up and put him self between the Goliaths and the egg. His head was hanging and his limbs seemed limp, he appeared to be half asleep.
"Who the hell are you!?" Questioned Tolin. Both Goliaths had their weapons aimed at this man; no one was supposed to be in the Zerg base.
The Ghost had his mind altered by the beast maturing in the egg. He now had Psi powers greater then any high templar, yet this came at the price of being the creature's puppet. He reached one limp hand up and opened his hand so his palm was facing the two Goliaths. His head came up in a snap and the air around the two pilots began to shift and wave. Both men were startled and fired their weapons, but the shots were merely thrown off course by distortions. Soon the two steel Goliaths began to crumple. Jareck was first to fall, his Goliath's legs being snapped and his vehicle tumbling to the ground. Tolin managed to squeeze off another shot and this one went toward its target, it ripped through the arm, that was still limp, of the Ghost, then Tolin's Goliath merely compacted and killed him with the force. Jareck heard the screams of his friend and then made his own as his cockpit closed in around him.
The new Zerg creature looked through the eyes of his puppet at the two crushed heaps of metal and gears lying before him. Using his puppet's amplified mind, he just killed both of the Humans without a shred of feeling. This puppet would be a useful tool indeed, but he would be forced to make its body more, durable. When he had finally matured enough to hatch, he would infuse his puppet with Zerg DNA and make it more useful. The creature paused in its thoughts and wondered briefly about the fate of his former master. The creature realized it didn't really care; he was his own master now with only one thought, spread.
---- The Exile's fleet ----
"Praetor, we will be exiting hyperspace soon. Above Char, and the Terrans base, as ordered." Reported Talra's first officer. The officer was a competent officer he went by the name, Rasslen.
"Thank you Rasslen. I'm sure the Terrans will be pleased with our work." Talra stood up in his charge and walked towards the view screen, his fleet had taken a hard hit but it was still a force to be feared, especially with their Psi Array. The Terrans had not seen the Array at work, nor did they even know it existed and that would not change anytime soon. The Psi Array was one of the Protoss' highly guarded secrets, the product of years of research and meditation, it was the most powerful weapon the Protoss had ever made and only three Psi Arrays existed and Praetor Talra was lucky enough to have been in command of one ship with it when he had been exiled.
The Praetor's spirits flew with the after glow of the blow he struck to Kerrigan. Oh she would seek revenge and Talra would be ready for her. His fleet was still mighty and if she decided to attack him, he would fight her to the death...
The ships blasted out of hyperspace and the dark shape of Char loomed ahead. The dark planet now under the command of the humans, it had three or four Battle cruisers in orbit, over the terran base.
"Incoming message from the planet."
"Put it on."
The screen was replaced by the face of Commander Darius. He looked oddly agitated.
"I hope you brought me good news Praetor." said Darius impatiently.
"Watch your tone Terran," Talra shot him a venomous look, "Kerrigan will be, shall we say, delayed getting here. We took out most of her forces and she will have to regain her strength."
Darius's face seemed to lighten at this news, "That is good work. I thank you Talra for your help in this matter. We should be more then ready by the time she gets here. Our Hives are in full production," Talra shivered at the thought, "and we should have a formidable Zerg air force when she comes. Which brings me to a question, would you like to take part in the battle?"
Although repulsed be the Idea of fighting alone side Zerg forces, Talra yearned for a battle. "Yes, my forces will be here to fight along side our Terran allies."
Darius nodded and cut the transmission.
"Tell the fleet to ready of battle." Said Talra.
---- Zerg Base west of Overmind. ----
The creature had begun to explore his surroundings using his puppet and noticed a lot of activity around him. The Humans were busy with their Zerg toys and making plenty of them. As he explored the Creature noticed he was far superior to any of the Zerg units, he was far greater. He chose a name for himself "Superior One", a odd name in any language, yet fitting in every sense.
He was almost ready to hatch now, so he moved his puppet back to where he matured. He noticed his puppet was getting weaker and would probably die if that wound didn't heal, he must make his changes to the human's body soon.
The Superior one stirred inside its bloated egg. It had become cramped in here and he was ready for the outside world. Already smarter then any of his brethren, thanks to the stolen knowledge of his human puppet, he would rise to greatness. The egg stretched and weakened. A large gash formed in the egg, causing the juices to flow out onto the ground. With this breath of the ash rich air of Char, the Superior One exploded from his prison, leaving a puddle of flesh and slime. Ahh, he was free and ready to go.
The Beast was as large as a Terran command center and a lot meaner. Standing on eight, wicked, lurker style legs with the front two separated and positioned perfectly for digging, the beast had some aspects of its lurker origins. From around the side four tendrils failed in the air, the tendrils could stretch to amazing lengths and grasp on, iron hard, to objects the beast wanted. The tendrils could also be whipped across targets and act like an amazingly sharp blade. The head of the creature was like a Lurker only it had more edges on it and was jagged all around the normally smooth edges. Hidden inside the head armor, was Hydralisk, like, acid glands, far more powerful then its counter part. Hideous jaws waited to chomp and crush anything that got close enough to them. The creature was covered in horns and spikes along it armored body, armor thick enough to stop almost anything that tried to stop it.
The creature stretched to its full height, which was nearly the height of the nearby Hive, and let out a screech that was heard clearly in the Terran base. Superior One then went down to the ground and began to tear away at the ground with its powerful front leg's. Stopping for a moment the Superior one turned to his puppet and used his mind to move him next to a lowered tendril. The puppet obeyed and soon the tendril had engulfed him and had him in the Superior One's body, where he was being altered by the beast's systems. Soon his puppet would be more useful. The Superior One returned to it's digging, with his puppet safe inside of him.