Chapter Two: On the Outskirts

It didn't start out obvious. At first we just saw a zerg commander who was a bit different from the others. It didn't just try to swamp its enemies in the corpses of its minions, it experimented. Tried new things. Our first contact with it was when it wiped out an entire division of former Omega Squadron troops with minimal casualties.

It was supposed to be the other way around. Yet at first it didn't seem like much of a problem.

At first.

-Liberty's report, volume II

Over the next month the Cerebrate worked constantly to make his broods stronger. Ownership of particular strains was limited largely to a few special elite forces, such as the infested command center's which the greater being, whose name was Daggoth, collected. It was not unknown for one cerebrate to offer a hive or three to another when their skills were more suited. They were all of them separate, yet united in the Overmind.

With this thought driving him… yes he was probably a he, the Cerebrate created hive cluster after hive cluster wherever he could find suitable locations. Yet as he worked he found the terrans were always there. Blue armored humans would launch assaults on his outlying hive clusters almost as soon as they had been completed. One of these offensives was repelled with great casualties, yet soon the terrans came back with siege tanks and blasted his sunken colonies, overrun his hydralisks and burned the hive down.

Joke was on them, though, by the time they had finished he'd started several other hives and assistance from Daggoth prevented them from advancing any further. Because he had not yet learned to create the greater strains of zerg, he was forced to constantly expand to create more hives. As his forces swelled larger and larger, his overlords filled the skies over his core hive clusters. On these he placed so formidable a defense that the enemy dafred not attack them first without eliminating his core hive clusters. And since he was always expanding they never did.

Soon he began to enjoy his skirmishes with the terrans. He overran another terran outpost and slaughtered hundreds before setting about any civilians he could find. Oh how they screamed and sobbed and begged for mercy as his broods closed in. Other times his his hive clusters would be overrun and he'd be forced to improvise a defense.

It was… fun. He had the feeling he would yearn for these days later. Whatever the case he soon became strong enough to wield a new strain of creature, mutalisks and he used them for several raids. Zasz taught him how. He enjoyed the way the terrans panicked when he took them by surprise in some area they did not expect with a great swarm of mutalisks.

Yet soon the terrans sent in a troop surge and many more of those they called professional soldiers arrived to begin reinforcing their outlying bases. They went clad in red armor, rather than blue and the one called Serena Calabas, the Cerebrate remembered her vaguely as one remembers a dream, defeated an advance which he'd hoped great things would come of. With his momentum crushed she drove her forces forward in an onslaught which destroyed two hive clusters of great size. The Cerebrate inflicted casualties, of course, but was unable to halt her.

Yet instead of advancing she drew back her hand and waited. The Cerebrate was disappointed by this.

Zasz, in the meantime, was working on something else entirely. The cerebrate of the Garm Brood had been establishing a hive cluster on the orbital space platform of New Gettysburg. The old one had been destroyed by the terrans during the battle of Tarsonis. Now it was replaced in still greater glory.

A question occured and the Cerebrate attempted to voice it. It was difficult, but after a moment he managed to make it known. 'I… do… not… understand… Zasz.' he said 'Why… the… terrans… left station… undefended?'

'The swarm slew many of the creautres in our assault.' said Zasz 'Those that remain are focused entirely on our hives on the surface. If we seize this ground, we will be able to send overlords carrying drones across the planet with ease. Even as the terrans destroy one of my hives, I will simply build two more.'

The Cerebrate did not understand this policy. 'Would it not… be better… to never lose… a… a… hive?'

'Daggoth prefers that strategy.' said Zasz 'Yet it served us poorly in the terran world of Chau Sara. We poured many broods into seizing that world and many hives were destroyed by the terrans of Alpha Squadron. In the end, as we gained victory, the protoss appeared and incinerated the planet.

Thus we adapted a new policy of spreading to as many worlds and possible and trying to build our forces in secret there. Some of our hives would be destroyed by the terrans. Some worlds we conquered would be annihilated by the protoss. Yet others would escape unscathed and the swarm would continue growing larger.'

It made sense and the strategy seemed to have worked. Yet something about it was odd to the Cerebrate. 'What of… this world? Why have… protoss not destroyed it?'

'We do not know.' admitted Zasz 'The protoss and terrans do not act as one unified whole. Their actions do not reflect any inner harmony, for they have no Overmind.'

No Overmind? There was nothing that united the terrans and protoss as a whole? Where the zerg were all one, represented in many forms, those they fought were not. Only were an abomination!

He doubled his efforts in the skirmishes and isolated a company of soldiers and ambushed them. Surrounded on all sides they formed a ring to defend against his broods, but in vain and despite his casualties he little by little slaughtered them. The Cerebrate was ready to do battle again. Yet they stopped attacking after this. It seemed the terrans had given up. He launched an assault against their defenses, but his hydralisks could not pierce their ranks and they left no weak spots for his mutalisks to exploit.

After several grueling days of battle, many of his hydralisks were dead for little result. He drew back what remained of his broods and began to prepare for another offensive. Then the Overmind spoke to him, though he had always been there.

'I am well pleased, young Cerebrate, and so long as my prize remains intact I shall remain pleased. Thus its life and yours shall be made as one. For you are part of the swarm.'

What prize? Oh right the chrysalis! He'd completely forgotten about that!

'If ever your flesh should fail, that flesh shall be made anew. That is my covenant with all cerebrates. Now you have grown strong enough to bear the rigors of warp travel with the swarm. Thus we shall make our exit from this blasted world and secure the crystalis within the hive cluster on the planet of Char.'

'Part of the protoss fleet still lingers in this planets orbit.' said Zasz 'They will attempt to block our exodus at every turn.'

'My brood shall aid you, Cerebrate, if you require assistance.' said Daggoth.

The Cerebrate sensed above Tarsonis a change. Beyond the New Gettysburg space platform the fabric of reality was warping to create a portal through warp space. Even now the broods were mustering to depart Tarsonis in a great egression the Cerebrate had not seen in his lifetime. Only in the faint images of his preexistence had he ever been aware of so many zerg moving at once. There were mutalisks, and queens and guardians and every kind of strain.

In the past month the swarms had worked tirelessly to repopulate their decimated numbers. Now with their forces bolstered they were departing from Tarsonis en masse. The Cerebrate gathered many of his swarms and loaded them onto his overlords before departing. Yet they left behind substantial forces and in time would rebuild those hives which had been shattered.

Then, as the Cerebrate departed with the chrystalis safely tucked away in an overlord, there came an attack. Alpha Squadron advanced on his hive clusters. Just as they had destroyed so many hives before, so to did they now do the same to him. They had thousands of marines, hundreds of goliaths and brought with them dozens of siege tanks. The hydralisks left behind were blasted to pieces, the mutalisks shot from the sky. At the same time in a dozen places the terrans unleashed a massive offensive across the weakend lines of battle, breaking through the swarms best defenses.

The terran Jim Raynor was on the field. He could sense it from the disgusting sense of hope which flowed over the terrans. They were rallying against the swarm to save their world, to send it back into the oblivion before the Overmind came and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

More than anything he wanted to send back his forces to help them, to stem the tide. Yet he could not. The Overmind would not allow it. All his hopes that his work would make a difference for the swarm were utterly shattered as the hive clusters he had worked to create so lovingly were destroyed one by one.

Feeling like crying he turned away from Tarsonis and saw a fleet of protoss vessels approaching him. Their golden ships gleamed with energy and he was suddenly filled hatred born of centuries of war. These creatures had killed many billions of zerg throughout the sector without taking a single casualty. They had stayed in orbit and annihilated whole worlds with their strange weaponry.

Mustering his mutalisks the Cerebrate sent them forth for revenge. The protoss vessels weaved in and out with the mutalisks, trading fire. Several protoss ships were sent spiraling down towards the planet to crash and burn. Others exploded in a brilliant blue light. Yet many mutalisks also fell in the dogfight as it raged without relent.

'Do with my minions as you will, Cerebrate.' said Daggoth 'They will serve you unquestioningly. Go now, and bring swift wrath to all who would oppose the swarm.'

With control established over a large part of Daggoth's broods, the Cerebrate brought them forth to launch an all out assault against the protoss. Many more of their ships were destroyed and the remaining ones broke off. Filled with wrath, the Cerebrate pursued them, meaning to massacre them to the last.

'The chrysalis is in danger! Recover it before all is lost!' cried Daggoth.

Panic overtook the Cerebrate as he realized that the protoss had slipped around his lines and even now were attacking his overlords. Several had been killed already, along with all his zerg within them. Filled with wrath he dragged his mutalisks back and set to task on the protoss vessels, which broke off to try and escape. Several were destroyed, but the Cerebrate dared not pursue them far.

He withdrew and protected the overlords.

Below on Tarsonis he knew that Alpha Squadron and the terran known as Raynor were laying waste to what remained of the hives. At the thought of Raynor there was a reaction from the chrysalis. The Cerebrate now felt the memories which had before been only dim and cold coursing through him, filled with passions and emotions which hurt him worse than he had ever been hurt by all the weapons of his enemies.

He recoiled from the chrysalis. What horror was contained within?

The Cerebrate choose to focus on keeping the chrysalis safe. The Overmind what was best, and he would obey him. The protoss fleet pulled back as the swarm went beyond New Gettysburg and before their eyes the veil of reality peeled back by the will of the Overmind. Before them the Cerebrate could see the infinite expanse of reality, both an infinite distance away and yet very close. It was beautiful and horrible, terrible and lovely at once.

'Prepare yourself Cerebrate.' said Zsaz 'Your first jump through warp space could prove… unsettling.'

The Cerebrate appreciated Zasz's concern but he sincerely doubted there was anything which could-PAIN!

It was sheer agony unlike anything he had experienced! It closed around him, getting worse and worse, until he could bear it no longer! His whole body and spirit was filled with it! Then, just as he thought he would be torn asunder he was out of it and all was suddenly well!

Thus he beheld for the first time Char, and upon it billions and billions of zerg. From the merest glance he could detect hundreds of hives upon the surface alone. The closer they got to the ashworld the more magnificent it became. The Cerebrate gazed in wonder, for it seemed to him that this place was greater than any other could be in the whole of the universe. And yet despite that there were yet places on it where the swarm had no dominion.

'How can the swarm be so many?' he asked, and he realized their enemies had asked a similar question.

'It has been my greatest task.' said Zasz, a note of pride in his voice. 'Long ago the Overmind dispatched me to the mineral rich fields of Char to create a hive cluster unlike any other. Thus I labored beneath the gaze of both protoss and terrans, digging many tunnels under the surface. There are many hives beneath the ground as well, many secret ways by which the swarm may move to defend one location or another.

With every passing moment more broods of zerg are born and sent forth to other worlds to spread the swarm. Thus have we been made unassailable.'

The Cerebrate descended to Char. And as he established his broods in a new hive cluster, at the center of many great hive clusters, he wondered what could be so mighty within the chrystalis that could compare to the majesty of this place, and the power it wielded?

Authors Note:

Well here we have chapter two. I'm having a lot of trouble making these chapters all that long. So I'm going to use this time to try and flesh out some of the Cerebrate characters a bit more. Given that they are both thousands of years old, it seems likely Daggoth and Zasz would have more to their personality than mindless subservience.