Jeena's POV
I do not obey her because I have to. I do so because I want to. Why should I not wish to serve her when we have the same goal in mind? I am the Princess of Blades; I have my own will and am free to defy the Queen. I simply do not wish to.
"The hatchery has morphed," an advisory queen reported to me. "The drones have discovered large amounts of minerals at the bottom of these caves, and the rotting biomaterial is rich in Vespene."
"Good, this will allow me to conduct my experiments with great ease. I want a spawning pool and two Extractors up before the Queen of Blades comes to check up on us," I explained to the queen.
"As you wish, Princess," the queen replied in its odd hiss.
I then returned to my makeshift thrown constructed of the dead fungus found in the deeper bowels of the planet's cave system. I was continually distracted by plans for the zerg. Images of strange creatures popped into my head every so often and inspired another new weapon concept.
"What is distracting you so?" a melodic voice asked from behind me. "Do I sense hesitance? You know this is not a good quality in a leader. You must be quick-thinking, brave, even bull-headed when it is necessary. You must never hesitate to act."
"I am simply pondering this strange planet," I lied. I did not yet want her to know of my plans. "It is so unlike the memories I have of Char. What is Char like now?"
"Char grows and decays, just as all planets do, yet it thrives as well," she explained. "Rather than dwelling on what we cannot see, perhaps we should focus on the task at hand. What have your queens been doing?"
"See for yourself," I said, perhaps too confidently, as I connected our psionic vision to that of the overlord network in the caves below us. "I have morphed several Extractors and even a Spawning Pool. I plan to have the Hydralisk Den ready in a matter of hours. Then the Spires shall rise to fill these caverns."
"Princess," a queen said as it turned towards the overlord, "should we begin the hatchery's transformation now?"
"No, morph more drones until our overlords are straining to keep track of them, then morph two more overlords and await orders," I quickly replied. This action received a not of approval from the Queen.
"Well said, my Princess," she said in a tone of voce that sent a warm chill down my spine. "You may yet become a great leader for the Swarm." She then left my chamber and returned to our fleet above the planet.
Hours later, I awoke from a deep slumber and checked on my hive cluster.
"Princess, are we now ready to morph a Lair?" a queen asked impatiently.
"Yes, and morph another hatchery closer to the mineral fields; our income is far too low," I replied. "Also, a Hydralisk Den would be a smart decision... make it two."
"Two Hydralisk Dens?" another queen asked in an amused tone. "What use have we with the second?"
"Do not question me, just do as I instruct!" I shouted at the two of them. "I will be coming down to check on your progress shortly." I thought for a while before demanding more overlords and a few zerglings by the time I arrive.
I then cut the psionic connection between them and me. I had no reason to listen to their babble. I must now contemplate my actions before I perform them.
"I will need to use the Vespene and minerals we have collected thus far to conduct a series of tests on this Den," I explained to the queen who was inside the Hydralisk Den. "I believe I can improve on the hydralisks' original design." These words were met with a simple gesture of understanding before the queen exited.
A hydralisk that had recently been hatched at the Lair entered the Den. I felt my muscles grow tense at the sight of this creature. For some unexplainable reason, hydralisks make me incredibly uneasy. My Queen tells me this is because of a weakness in my will.
The hydralisk lowered its head to the level at which I could easily reach it. I used my claws carefully cut away the beast's large cranial plate as to get to the important organs.
"Most of the Vespene we spend on these creatures is used in the poison in their projectiles and in their elastic membranes," I said to myself as I examined the internal organs of a hydralisk's head. "If I were to eliminate the need for elastic membranes, I could cut the Vespene we use in half. Also, if I redirect the vespene holding up the head into the weapon and remove the solid projectiles, I can lower the mineral cost as well."
I tried collapsing the hydralisk's body so that it had to slither, completely flat against the ground. I then removed the organ that produces the solid spines that the hydralisk fires.
I left the Den and morphed a few of the larva into these new creatures that I called fizzralisks. This name came from the sound that the creature's acid projectile vomit made when it hit a target. When they hatched, I realized that I had done something wrong. The creatures that emerged from the morph eggs were unable to slither and had difficulty firing their weapons through the small hole in their forehead.
Looking back at the edited Den, I realized that the structure itself had changed to accommodate the new structure of the creatures. The opening at the front of the structure was wider than it was before, and the claws that usually hung over it had shrunken into its back. I decided I should kill the failures and retry.
"Perhaps I should go back to the creatures that I keep seeing in my head..." I suggested to myself. I thought back to the images of the odd creatures I had been daydreaming about. I saw a large, hard-shelled creature with a face covered in claws. It fired a red projectile from its elongated face.
Since I'd already abandoned the projectiles, I decided to create a creature similar to this large red creature with acidic projectile vomit rather than glowing red projectiles.
Several failed attempts later, I came to the successful idea. It's wing cases had been converted into vertical claws above its back that could be used if the enemy got too close. The creatures had stronger shells than the hydralisks and could survive against stronger opponents. Unfortunately, they couldn't fire at air units due to their low stance.
I stepped back, once again, to observe the altered Hydralisk Den. The frontal structure had been morphed into a large web that was shaped spherically. Behind this web was a set of four claws. The entire structure seemed to pulsate like a heart.
"You have done well," I heard my favorite voice behind me. "I would never expect you to be able to create such a beauteous creature is only a day. What do you call these?"
I was compelled to say 'Vilanox' for some odd reason, but instead I came up with a simpler name. "I call them Roaches, and this structure is a Roach Warren."
"Intriguing," she said to me absent-mindedly. "I hope you come up with similar ideas for our Spires. The Guardians seem to be more trouble than they're worth."
And so I brought this life upon myself. For the past few days I have been doing nothing but creating new zerg. It will all pay off when we crush the weak terrans in this system.
This is a corny chapter! There, I said it.
Please don't flame! Helions rule, but only if you're the driver.
I hope you people liked this chapter. It felt a little awkward as I wrote this because of how the time lapses contradicted each other. I just wanted to tell what it was the Zerg (and Jeena) are doing while Rallen recovers.
Imagine that this story is taking place between Brood War and Wings of Liberty, and it takes place after Spectrobes: Origins. I know the Zerg were dormant during this time, but bear with me.
I don't own Spectrobes or Starcraft. I only own the concept for the Princess of Blades.
