"My partner and I created a portable force field of sorts, similar to what Protoss have with plasma shields, but they used it for unwilling human experimentation and yes- that is when I left the Dominion." Egon frowned, remembering the whole ordeal as though it was yesterday. "I guess the shield part could be used for cloaking, concealment or manipulation." He looked sick.

"Relax kid, no tellin' what the Queen of Blades wants with us. No use workin' ourselves up over nothing until she comes out and tells us." Warfield made a dismissive gesture, but they all knew damn well it was more to make Egon feel better than anything. Jim and Tychus were damn near famous for the heists they used to pull, getting into places they were not meant to be fit too good.

Tychus placed a standard transmission device on the corner of the central table with a thunk.

"Found a few stored in here, we can leave messages for everyone once they wake up. Reckon it'd be best if egghead does it, most normal lookin' out of the three of us." Stetmann grabbed the device and stuck it in one of his lab coat pockets distractedly.

"Alright, I'll do that. Seems like Kerrigan put us all in our own living quarters, should be pretty easy to find everyone."

"Right, good. Only one thing left." Warfield looked at Tychus, somber.

On point, Tychus patted his Gauss rifle and nodded. "We go pay that thing a visit."

"Oh! Oh, sir."

"What, son?"

"If you have to blow something to pieces, please save me some samples!"

"Kid, you are a sample." Shaking his head, Tychus walked out.

"Will do." Warfield eyed Tychus' back as he followed him.

When the bridge door slid shut, Stetmann looked at his hands thoughtfully. "I guess I am."

"Why are you so hard on that kid, Tychus?" Warfield asked, genuinely curious.

"Kids fighting a damn revolution and he can't even hold a pistol, nothin' but a liability far as I'm concerned." They were working their way into the bowels of the ship towards Stetmanns lab, securing rooms along the way- wouldn't due to get ambushed. It was cathartic to just go through a routine that both of them knew by heart, as simple as breathing.

"He's got quite a record, done some amazing things for his age. I wouldn't write him off, even if he could stand to use some combat training. Just a thought."

"Maybe I will teach him. Run 'em through the ol' Tychus training program."

"So long as I get to watch and laugh." Both men chuckled.

It seemed that the amount of infested crew members had become much denser the closer they got to the lab. Both men had taken to treating them like furniture, seeing as they couldn't do anything to them.

"Awful lot of them infested down here."

"Wish I could help 'em."

"Wish I could help my damn self."

"Amen to that."

Their banter fell off as they rounded a corner, stepping around infested that were mulling around, and faced the entrance of the lab. Their eyes were drawn to the base of the door, invoking a frown from both men.

"See it?"

"Yeah. That living wall stuff, creep or whatever the kids are callin' it these days." Guns raised and on alert, they approached slowly- listening for anything strange between their footsteps. They heard nothing beyond their strides across the grated steel and their own breathing mixed with the gasps and gurgles of the infested.

"Ladies first." Tychus mumbled, catching a look from Warfield. Being the professional he was however, Warfield stepped forwards and hit the pad to open the door quickly, both men raising their rifles and aiming into the dim room.

Whatever they had been expecting, the looming figure of a broodmother standing in the back of the lab was decidedly not it.

"Ah hell." Tychus intoned before taking a quick step past Warfield and slamming the door button to close it promptly in the broodmothers face. Lowering their weapons the two men glared at each other.

"Now what?"

"Do I look like some kind of Zerg expert, Findlay? How the hell should I know?"

What do you want, Terrans? In their minds the broodmother spoke. A feminine voice but, echoing and hissing, it was not a pleasant one. This particular one sounded rather mad.

"Yeah, no. Egghead can do his science experiments somewhere else, I don't give a damn anymore." Tychus had raised one of his hands to the side of his head, as if he could just grab the broodmother out of it.

Warfield gave him a long-suffering sigh. "There's a reason it's here, Findlay. We're gonna find out." Pressing the door button again, Warfield stepped inside and Tychus reluctantly followed.

Speak. The creatures tail spikes were clicking together in annoyance.

Giving a shrug to himself, Warfield piped up. "Why are you here, bug?"

I am not a bug. I am broodmother Shlassa, you are my charges. There was an unmistakable bitterness in the psychic words.

"Charges? So you're Kerrigans watchdog?"

I do not know what a watchdog is. I am here to watch over you and relay messages from our Queen.

"Whoa now. She ain't my damn Queen, and I sure as hell don't take orders from bugs!"

Shlassa's eyes glowed an angry green, and Tychus stumbled back as though physically shoved. Begone Terran. I don't have to explain myself to you.

Tychus gripped his Gauss rifle and tried to force himself to point it at Shlassa, but felt that frustrating immovable force blocking him. Warfield was keeping his voice even and attempting to be the voice of reason, as he often was. "Alright. Broodmother Shlassa, you said?"

Yes.

"This is Stetmanns lab, and he's gonna be using it. We will also be in here often. You may want to move somewhere else if you got a problem with us."

Hissing, Shlassa shifted on her feet and to their revulsion they saw that the creature was the source of the creep in the room, the stuff literally dripped off of its body. Tychus made a retching noise before he caught himself. I know the scientist. I will be staying here. You will be tolerated if you do not bother me.

"That's that then. We will be back later." The broodmother inclined her head in response, glaring at them right up until the door closed.

"Being babysat by some alien mother bug don't sit right with me, not one bit." Tychus was growling, bumping past the infested and all but running them over if they were in the way.

"As if I like it. Listen, the Zerg aren't gonna attack us, we are the Zerg now. You know damn well the best thing we can do is learn about our enemy until an opportunity presents itself." All Warfield received was a grunt in response. Frustrated, he snapped. "Look Tychus, I'll see you in the mess hall. You see that nerd you tell him to get there too."

"Right."

General Warfield?

Warfield jumped, nearly dropping the package of rations he had picked out. Looking around sharply, he deduced that Stetmanns voice was indeed in his head. Resting his hands on the counter top, Warfield closed his eyes and mumbled. "Give me strength." Jerking his shoulder in a shrug, he thought about the kid and gave it a shot. Stetmann. What's so damned important you gotta barge into my head with alien nonsense?

No reply.

"Eh." Warfield wasn't too disconcerted about it not working, maybe even a bit thankful. It was clear Stetmann wanted his attention though, so he tossed the ration packet on to the table and went to find him.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Tychus had heard Stetmann too. Slamming a fist into the cantina table, he struggled to cool his temper.

A few things became quickly apparent to Warfield when he entered the bridge, where Stetmann had remained. Both his lab coat and glasses were off and he was scrutinizing one hand intensely while writing notes with the other. But what really caught the old Generals attention was Stetmanns eyes. "Son, what the hell is so important you gotta go barging into my head and not finding me like a normal person?" As he spoke, Warfield approached to get a better look- trying to figure out what his own eyes were seeing.

Stetmann looked up from his hand quickly and blinked. It looked as though, for lack of better words, his eyes had peeled away to reveal, well, other eyes. His normal human eye had folded over a rainbow-colored kaleidoscope looking eye, while his right was a solid dark red with multiple facets. "I am sorry, General. That was just a test. I tried it thinking that maybe I was capable, but you didn't respond so I thought I was not."

"Alright. So what the hell is going on with your eyes and what do you want?"

"Ah, yes it must look a bit strange. I found out that I have multiple layers of vision, its incredible! But what I called you for was this: it's time we find out what has really changed about us, and run some tests down in the lab and maybe the athletic field."

Looking into the kids eyes was disturbing, and Warfield fixed his gaze on a point past Egons head. "Right. You are right, it is need to know information. I'll go get Tychus and we'll meet you down in the lab. Oh. There's a broodmother down there, by the way."

"Yeah, I heard it talking to you and Tychus. Maybe there isn't a "filter" or we're connected to the broodmother somehow, I'll have to ask it!" Warfield frowned slightly, scrutinizing Stetmann. Maybe Tychus wasn't so far off from accusing the kid of suiting the bug life.

"Just.. Be careful, alright son?" Warfield had turned and walked out before Stetmann, confused by the statement, could ask just what he needed to be careful about.

It was an easy guess on where to find Tychus, Warfield was a little surprised to see the big man holding his face in his hands though. Unsure if he was interrupting a personal moment or a mental breakdown, he stepped in and spoke cautiously to his back. "Tychus? Stetmann needs us in the lab to run some tests. Might be some stuff to do in the athletic room too."

"Can't you feel it old man?" Tychus grumbled, his voice strained. "The bugs don't talk, but they feel. I almost killed the kid the other day, don't want to tell you what else I've almost done either." He had slowly turned on his stool, eyeing Warfield and hoping that he understood.

"Tychus, my head has been buzzing since I kicked my way out of that damned cocoon. I've felt weird compulsions too, but I'll be damned if Kerrigan is gonna break my mind. So hold it together and get your ass to the lab. Maybe Stetmann can help, I don't know."

"Hm." Standing up, it seemed Tychus was satisfied with the answer for now. The two men went to the lab without further preamble and found the way was completely clear of the infested. The broodmother however, was still in the lab and glared at them when the door opened. Stetmann was already there and ignoring it resolutely, to his credit.

"Right. We're here, lets get this thing done with kid." Tychus rumbled, shouldering off his rifle and resting it beside the door.

"Yeah. What do you have for us, Stetmann?" Warfield followed suit, leaving his rifle on the opposite side.

"Thanks for coming! I've prepared some basic tests- the Adjutant not interacting with Zerg means that I can't do anything with tools that are connected to the ships database. Not until Swann can fix that, anyway." Stetmann launched into full-on scientist mode, it was rather interesting to see how hard he focused on his tasks. "I'll check you head to toe and we'll figure out what's different." Both men allowed themselves to be herded around the room as Stetmann spoke.

"I have some some scrapers for tissue and clippers for keratin. The design of our skin is very interesting, most Zerg just have tough chitinous exoskeletons. Sit there please, thanks." Tychus and Warfield sat down as instructed. Frowning, Tychus suspected the clippers the egghead was about to use were actually for cutting through bones.

The continued, albeit silent, scrutiny of the broodmother across from them was disconcerting, but if Stetmann could pretend like it was normal so could Warfield and Tychus. When Stetmann gestured for Tychus to hold a hand on the table palm-down, he followed suit and watched as the kid tried to clip a piece off the thick claw of his index finger, quirking a brow. He was not succeeding, the tendons in his wrists visibly straining as he tried to put on enough pressure to clip.

"You're gonna break my damn nail, let me." Waving Stetmann off, Tychus liberated the clippers and promptly cut out a small V shape, which the red faced Stetmann gathered. Warfield grabbed the clippers next and mimicked the action, sparing him the time.

"Thanks. It is kind of surprising that I did not inherit some considerable physical strength too." He sounded almost disappointed, leaving Tychus and Warfield smirking slightly.

"Gotta work for these kinda muscles, kid."

Gathering the clippings into test tubes and holding them aloft, Stetmann nodded thoughtfully after taking a hard look at each.

"Sweet mother mercy. The hell is goin' on with your eyes kid?" Tychus had not yet seen Stetmanns newly found attribute and was suitably distressed when the kids eyes folded away into different layers of other freaky eyes.

"Yes, well, I did develop some new attributes. There's something coating your nail by the way, General."

"Just great."

Unbeknownst to the group, the gathered swarm had begun to turn away from Char, speeding out into the stars towards their new destination: Zerus. Following discreetly, nearly touching with the Hyperion, was also Zeratuls small ship.

"I'm not going to just let you cut on my damn skin!" Stetmann had tried to convince the two men to let him take some tissue samples, but they were both surly and stubborn.

"That can wait until you have access to your better equipment, Stetmann." Warfield had shut the argument down quickly.

"Yes General. Can I see your arm?" Stetmann had caught sight of something and almost didn't wait for Warfield's go ahead before holding up his armored arm under closer scrutiny.

"That's just creepy as all hell." Tychus was still disturbed by the kids eyes.

"You know you have multiple pupils in your eyes and a tapetum lucidum, a layer in the eye humans don't even have, right?"

"And?"

"Nothing." Stetmann mumbled, ignoring him and tilting Warfield's arm this way and that after rolling back his sleeve. "Veeeery interesting! General, you have these really small holes in your skin and there is some kind of debris around them- I'll need my equipment for it but I think you excrete something from both your nails and these little holes."

"I'm not sure I want to know." Exasperated, Warfield was watching what Stetmann was doing and frowning.

"It's for the best, General."

Yes. She wants you to know exactly what you can do. All eyes turned to look at the broodmother, Shlassa, when she spoke.

"Stay out of my head, bug." Tychus grated, fists clenched.

Or else? Your body is not your own, Terran. You'll do well to remember that.

"Let it be, Tychus." Warfield warned.

"When my body is my own again, you're first on the list."

I care not about your lists. Your body never will be your own, foolish Terran.

"I think that's enough of the lab for a bit." Stetmann interjected quickly, more fearful of his lab being smashed than their altercation, seeing as they couldn't physically hurt each other. "Lets go to the athletic field." He placed his collected samples next to the writhing Zerg specimen container quickly and picked up his clipboard and pen.

Both men stood up and retrieved their guns in unison, flanking Stetmann as they exited the lab quickly. "Good thinking, son." Warfield muttered.

"Where'd the infested go, by the way?" Tychus looked sharply at Stetmann, questioning.

"I asked Shlassa to err, put them somewhere else. They freak me out."

"How you can just have a conversation with that bug, I've no idea."

Easier than having a conversation with you. Stetmann thought to himself, annoyed.

"What?" Tychus looked confused, a backbone was the last thing he expected coming out of Stetmann.

"What?" Stetmann parroted, having not thought about what he did.

"The hell are you two on about? Bust a move!" Warfield realized what had happened though, he couldn't blame the kid for the thought, not by a long shot. Wasn't his fault that the privacy of his mind wasn't quite so private anymore either.

Tychus let it slide, thinking he may have been hearing things if Warfield hadn't reacted to what the kid said.

"Um, gentlemen?"

"What, kid?"

"Where's the athletic field?"

"This is why your waist is as thick as my wrist, just so you know."

"Gonna have to agree with Tychus on this one."

The so-called athletic field had been repurposed from an extravagant opera house that Mengsk had installed on the Hyperion when it had been his flagship. As such it had a high vaulted ceiling, a few one to two person balconies on either side of the walls and decidedly poor lighting as relics of that time. Fake turf had been installed on the floor, a small obstacle course and a more impressive gym set had their own quarters of the field. As the primary source of entertainment and exercise for everyone on the ship, it was all well loved.

Standing at the edge of the turf, each man had his own little reaction and ritual. Egon stood on the grass stiffly, looking generally uncomfortable and out of his element. Warfield strode onto it like he owned it, quietly reminiscing to himself of old days and games played on real grass. Tychus, still in bare feet seeing as no boots would stand against the thick claws on his toes, seemed physically relieved when he let his feet sink into the green mass.

"You know I haven't set my feet on dirt, never mind grass, in well over seven years." And it was the truth, he had been stuck in that damn death trap suit when he got off ice. He decided this was a small thing that he didn't even know he missed.

"I'd comment about your conduct before imprisonment, but hell with it." Warfield and Tychus walked out into the field, Tychus stretching and enjoying himself, it was a good distraction.

"Last time I was on a field, I was knocked out by a football." Stetmann mumbled inaudibly before piping up. "I can't bring up your files, but we're just going to do some simple tests and I'll write the information down for later." Tychus and Warfield spread out, giving one another space while Stetmann stood in front and scribbled on his clipboard quickly. "Firstly: Jumping with pure leg power." Gesturing for the men to start, Stetmann watched as they each bent at the knee and launched themselves upwards. Scribbling while they repeatedly jumped and nodding to himself, he spoke out loud for their benefit. "You're jumping like olympians! I don't know what you could do before this mind you, but men of your build do not normally jump like that." He gestured for them to stop.

"You stereotypin' me, egghead?" Tychus sniped as they followed the younger man to the gym equipment.

"If anyone is a stereotype, it's you Tychus." Warfield smirked, making Tychus smile easily.

"Alright." Stetmann planted a hand on a rack of very large weights, some of which probably individually weighed more than he did. "Load up, stress test!"

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" With a practiced ease, the two big men found bars for themselves and began putting on weights.

"Start with your old best weight, if you remember it." Stetmann observed and noted their starts, noticing an opportunity and taking it. With complete nonchalance, he commented. "I'm surprised, Tychus. The Generals best is higher than yours."

"There's a reason why I'm the General." Warfield went along with it, if only because he knew Tychus could use the distraction. He secretly admitted to himself that he loved the competition too.

"Oh yeah?" Tychus snipped, falling for the bait- and gladly. "Won't be when we're done here."

The bars gave out before they did.

Leaving the bent bars behind, Stetmann guided them out to the field once again. "Well that was informative. Go to the very back of the field and run to me when I wave." As fast as you can need not be said, the two men were damn near bonding and only paying half attention to poor Egon. When they were in position, half crouched and ready to propel themselves forwards, Stetmann checked his watch and waved for the first man to run at the start of the minute. Warfield launched into a run at a frightening pace. Stetmann had to fight the urge to recoil away when the General got close, checking the time on his watch and scribbling it down quickly.

Warfield stood aside as Egon counted the seconds, waiting for the top of the minute once more before waving at Tychus. Chunks of the fake turf flew as his thick toe claws dug in and ripped it up while he sprinted at Stetmann full tilt. Clenching his teeth and half closing his eyes, Stetmann forced himself to hold still, eyeing the time and quickly writing it down when Tychus ran by so close as to have nearly bowled him over. "Well that was terrifying, thank you. No men your size have a right to run that fast, if you ask me." For a second he wasn't sure what he read on his watch, doing a quick double-take. "Hm."

"So, how are you feeling? Fatigue? Anything?" Circling the two men, Stetmann observed their states. Neither had broken a sweat and were breathing evenly. He took Tichus' wrist and attempted to measure his heart rate, but that was futile with the fleshy armor.

"Honestly? I haven't been tired since I broke outta that egg thing. Don't feel strained any from all that lifting either."

"Same, seems we'll have to work a lot harder if we're gonna find the limit." Warfield remarked thoughtfully.

"Alright, now for the news."

"News? You've been with us the whole time, what have you seen that we haven't?" Tychus scrutinized him, frowning.

"The time!" Tapping his wristwatch for good measure, he tucked his clipboard under his arm. "You said it was almost an exact twenty-four hours that I was awakened after you, Tychus. It has been about twenty since Warfield woke and I suspect something happened that made Kerrigan put him in sooner than she wanted. The next person may be coming very soon!" All three of them looked grim, it was a reminder of their current reality.

"You got all those transmitters set up in everyone's rooms? I don't recall you having left the bridge." Warfield questioned, crossing his arms.

"Oh! No! I'll do it right now, the testing can wait- especially if its Swann!" Egon all but ran away, leaving the two men alone. Warfield hadn't watched him leave, but was looking at the gym setup offhandedly. Grinding teeth drew his attention and he was surprised to see Tychus with fists clenched and veins bulging at his temples as if completely furious.

"Tychus?" Narrowing his eyes, he faced the man cautiously, attempting to discern what had happened in those few seconds that could have done this to him. His words seemed to have an effect, though. Tychus jerked and blinked rapidly, looking at Warfield completely spooked.

"Gonna have to make sure people don't run around... Took everything I had to not chase that kid down, don't know what it is."

"Huh. You should really tell him. If anyone can figure out the issue, it's the kid. Nothing happened when we were sprinting and I was ahead of you though?" Tychus shook his head definitively. "No." Frustrated, he went to run his hand through his hair and made a disgruntled noise when his thick fingers touched the spines where his hair used to be. Fully committed to the motion, he gave a mental fuck it and finished swiping his hand through anyway.

"Don't think I'll be getting used to those any time soon either." Warfield sympathized.