Starcraft is the property of Blizzard
Halo is the property of Microsoft
RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth
Ok we're getting back to Ellen and her swarm and then the story will move to Remnant and there will be some time skips here and there like showing how the Spartan program changes because of the Zerg and how Humanity reaches the Koprulu sector.
Also the near end of this chapter has spoiler's for the RWBY series if you haven't seen Volume 6 episode 3 yet.
Chapter 7
Planning makes everything
Epsilon Eridani system.
High orbit, Reach
The darkness of space twinkled with star light as he chaotic fleet battle over Reach reached its end.
Ellen flew up through sky higher and higher into the void added by her Praetorian symbiote armor and its evolved wings and tail fins, soon enough she saw hundreds of laser beams flashing through space as Archer missiles detonated against the cloud of Wyverns and scourges. UNSC fleet ships detonated here and there as Ellen felt her zerg dying by the dozens as the humans fight for their lives and those on the surface of Reach.
Ellen sensed a power full psionic source but unlike the many Zerg dying in the battle this source lacked a soul but was still powerful. Ellen turned her attention to the lone Marmota class ship in the fleet, the Valkyrur,s spear and smiled at the ship which she had plans for or rather the class of ship.
"Everything's going as planned," Ellen thought to herself as she turned back to her current objective of getting back to the Leviathan and accelerated away with a flap of her wings.
The organic armored hanger door closed behind Ellen creating a air tight seal and with a quickened pace Ellen made her way through the maze of living hallways to the bio-ships nerve center where Navash and Niadra turned to greet their empress.
"I'm are overjoyed at your safe return Empress," Niadra greeted with a respectful bow.
"We were worried the humans ships would spot you my empress," said Navash who had bowed along with younger her sister.
"Were done here. Warp to Swarm fleet Prime," Ellen commanded as she commanded the creep to form into a chair and took a seat.
Navash sent the command to the leviathan and it started the process of opening a warp gate through a pocket dimension wormhole leading back to the current location of Ellen's swarm fleet.
Ellen felt a little drained from the trip from Reach, it was a chore to keep a little bubble of air filled aura around her as she flew through space while also supercharging the psionic propulsion abilities of her Praetorian armor which was evolved by Abastein after the experiments aimed at creating a space superiority breed (the Wyvern) were completed.
"Flying through space like that is taxing," Ellen mumbled to herself as she crossed her armored legs and rested her head upon the chitin knuckles of her left hand as the warpgate to the wormhole opened.
The Leviathan entered the warpgate and after a short trip through the spiraling vortex of energy they exited the other end to a new star system far away from Reach.
Galactic south west
Unknown star system
12,000, kilometers from rocky planet
The Leviathan arrived in a nameless star-system and moved towards the nearby planet now a shade of purple from the creep that completely covered the world leeching its minerals along with a army of millions of Drones and Heavy Drones all slowly dismantling the planet's crust.
Over head in high orbit Swarm fleet Prime flew orbiting the planet while receiving a constant stream of Overlords and Harbingers going back and forth from the fleet and the planet.
The process of harvesting a whole worlds resource's was a labor intensive process that took a long time. Normaly Ellen would never think of striping a planet of all its resources but this planet was and would always be a dead lifeless rock at least not without moving it to new orbit in the stars green zone followed by serious terraforming, both of which were currently beyond the abilities of Ellen's swarm at the moment. But Ellen always had the evolution masters evolving the swarm and developing new biological powers and psionic abilities most of which never left the evolution pits as most were either too weak or were not useful. The rejects being recycled and their biomass reused.
One of the projects Ellen has Abastein working on was a new Zerg breed specialized in large scale mining based on the Nydus worm and Behemoth which can process a massive amounts of soil or asteroids and converting them into biomass, however the scale of the project has caused it too stall as the larger a orgasim gets the more its biology needs to be adapted to fit its own mass and the addition of internal processing organs based on the Digester only made it more complicated.
The star system it-self was nothing too interesting considering the hundreds of others the swarm had been to before. It only had four planets two gas giants and two rocky planets both uninhabitable dirt balls which were too close or too far from the local star to have liquid water on their surface. But both planets still had valuable mineral's along with the asteroid belt which was three times the size of the one in the Sole system and were probably from failed planets that didn't form properly or collided when this star system was still young. Either way this star system had little of interest other than being a place to mine for resources.
All to fuel and grow the three massive swarm fleets that orbited around the two planets, the two smaller fleets Beta and Gamma commanded by the first two brood queens Zavara and Nakool each numbering in the hundreds of thousands and the Prime swarm fleet directly commanded by Empress Ellen was even bigger.
For the past two hundred years Ellen's swarm fleets have wandered the galaxy evolving through experimentation by evolution masters and regulated combat between the broods much like the roman empire did in their colosseums only the Zerg's version serves a useful and constructive purpose. The Zerg arenas were also where the Brood queens and even the empress battled to display their power, abilities and leadership skills through small or large scale battles.
The fights had rules however as, to the death battles between Brood queens were not permitted as this would weaken the swarms leadership and be self destructive. However many of the lesser non-self-aware Zerg died in droves in these battles between Broods which can range from single combat to a small war between thousands or a single or team of brood queens fighting against a small army of lesser zerg to test and display their skills of leadership over their army's and their individual combat prowess in battle to their sister brood queens.
However to the victor go the spoils as, the highest ranked and consistently winning Brood queens in both single combat and army battles become the highest ranked leaders of the swarm.
Out of the now one thousand Brood queens in the swarm Nakool and Zavara remaine's the strongest earning the titles of right and left hands of the empress with, Navash and Kilysa being under Zavaras command and Niadra and Inkarra under Nakools leadership, with each of them having many other brood queens under their command. Normal zerg queens still serve as the bottom of the swarms command chain but are also the basis for it as all brood queens were originally a basic queen to begin with.
Seeing the need for specialized combat forces Ellen also had her swarms smaller broods split into three types, space fleets,(Behemoths, Leviathan's,) and ground army,s (all ground breeds) and air forces (All flying Zerg excluding the above) who's numbers can range from a few dozen to hundreds to thousands and tens of thousands, with the largest broods numbering million's, the higher the Brood queens rank the larger the forces under her command.
Ellen also had those Brood queens that have a greater skill for single combat over leadership placed into the Zerg equivalent of special forces squads where only the best of the best gather. These groups of elite zerg almost always consist entirely of Brood queens, Hunter-Killers, Zergling Hunters, Hydralisk Predators and Phantoms with other zerg breeds as support as needed. These groups of elite fighters while tiny compared to the rest of the swarm are the single strongest groups of fighters, able to fight on equal ground against a force ten times their size and win.
In doing this Ellen made her Swarm into a strongly organized force with experienced leaders and fighters while also creating something of a culture for the Swarm although for Ellen it would be a cold day in hell when Zerg develop into a society like what Humans have, although Protoss are not as bad, at least from what Ellen could gather from talking with them.
Ellen's Leviathan passed through hive fleet Prime as millions of Zerg of many shapes and sizes parted and flowed around them some of the first generation and others of the second generation all instinctively recognising the presence of their Empress. After a short while they neared the central mass of swarm fleet prime a massive space platform.
Ellen knew that her swarm would eventually meet the Overmind's swarm and not wanting her swarms best essence to be taken she split her swarm into two classes. The first generation from the war on Earth two hundred years ago and the second evolved generation.
The first gen being the zerg used in the attack on Reach with the exception of the Leviathan, Wyvern and the experimental Maw of the Swarm structure which was Ellen's attempt to replicate the Protoss gateway using the Zerg form of FTL. All three of which were sent to Reach to be field tested in a real war and to get date for the evolution masters to improve them with.
The massive space platform, fifteen miles across, five miles thick, at the center of Swarm fleet Prime served as Ellen's de facto capital. The massive biostation was built using the original Zerg space platform as a base with new layers being built over it over time.
The shape of the station consisted of three black colored saucers stacked on top of each other with a purple layer on the top and bottom. The top and bottom of the station had a large dome surrounded by six inward curving spike like structures. The whole of the structure was covered in hundreds of spine guns and Glaive launchers and the edges of top and bottom layers were dotted with coiled up or extended tentacles that served as docking arms for Behemoths and Leviathans. The areas in and between the saucers shaped partes of the station had hundreds of small hangers and a few dozen larger ones all packed with Wyverns, Scourges, Harbingers and all manner of flying Zerg.
As the Leviathan neared the station a long tentacle unrolled itself and extended five long grasping claws from its tip which clasped onto the top and sides of the Leviathan's head as the bioship extended its own Nydus worms and docked with the station.
Ellen with Navash, Niadra and the Evolution masters exited the Leviathan all going their separate ways. The Evolution masters returned to one of the many Evolution pits to continue their experiments from the data they got from the battles against the humans.
Niadra and Navash returned to their own Behemoths also docked along the Station. Ellen her selfe walked the massive halls of the station which were seemingly empty but for a few Queens and Brood queens all of whom bowed to their Empress as she passed by.
Ellen gave nod to her servent's as she continued on her way through the station.
The truth was that most of the Zerg on the station were in hibernation pods. The station had hundreds of large rooms spread throughout it each filled many thousands of these pods all linking the Zerg into a massive psionic-network of organic computers that generated a virtual world (like the Matrix from that movie). Its purpose at first was to simulate combat environment's of different types for all Zerg breeds to train in, allowing them to gain combat experience.
But as time went on and more intelligent Brood queens joined the swarm Ellen added a layer to the virtual world modeled after a fantasy world which wouldn't be out of place compared to World of Warcraft or any other MMORPG.
It was in this world the Zerg would collectively rest while also being awake and exploring this artificial world which Ellen and Izsha and Abastein worked to build together. Ellen had planned for this organic virtual world to be a place of rest and education for Brood queens in the long stretch's of time between attacking other species since lesser Zerg breeds are biologically unable to feel bored. But Queens and Brood queens because of their intelligence can feel a sense of boredom which could lead to problems without a proper outlet. Which was another reason Ellen started the Arena combat and Swarm ranking system but that has its limitations and Ellen didn't what her Swarm to be lead by warmongers but to strike a balance between creative and destructive thoughts.
So Ellen had a world building system put into her Swarms virtual reality rather like Minecraft only with the option to be in realistic hi-res 3d or block form plus with far more options that allowed the creation of whole worlds and enviroment's the limits of which were only in the minds of the Brood queens.
Within this virtual worlds a galaxy of thousands of worlds were created by the Brood queens and even surprisingly by Abastein and the other evolution master's who used the system for running simulations of their creations and experiments increasing the efficiency of their work as the psionic hive mind combined with the virtual world system allowed them to create and test new breeds of Zerg without ever wasting the time creating a real flesh and blood creature that may or may not be viable.
As she walked deeper into the station Ellen approached a large transport hub room containing six Nydus hub's that linked with the others placed at the six corners and upper and lower levels of the station. But as she entered Ellen stopped thinking for a moment. "I should give Abastein a visit first."
Diverting from her original destination Ellen took another Nydus hub to another level and a different sector of the station. After a short trip through the slimy organic tunnel's she arrived at another Nydus hub on a lower level and deeper in the station. After walking through more chitin and creep covered tunnels Ellen arrived at Abasteins evolution pit for his personal use.
As she entered the chamber Ellen swepped her head side to side looking for the Prime evolution master nonchalantly walking past and ignoring the hundreds of Humans which had been taken from Reach through the Maw of the Swarm and placed in chitin prison cells or stuck into the walls or floating unconsciously in liquid filled semi-transparent cocoons.
All of them mutated into grotesque forms with tentacles for arms and insect like exoskeletons covering their bodies and others looked human but had multiple sets of arms and eyes or other mutations that made them look more Zerg then human. Those that were dead were being hulled off by Drones taking them to digesting pits to be recycled. All of the living mutantes were moaning in discomfort or pain, but as they saw Ellen they all seemed to change pitch and tone making angry growling noises. One lashing out through the bars of her cell with her long triple tentacle arm only to have them sliced off by a slashing sweep of Ellen's wings.
Ellen continued through the giant chamber at least as big as a football field passing hundreds of cells and cocoons.
For the past two hundred years Ellen has had Abastein and the other evolutions masters enhance the basic biology of their swarm breeds from the base up as part of project Chimera, although doing this for every Zerg breed would take a long time however Ellen and her swarm had such after leaving Earth. Still It took a few years to go through the complete process of developing testing and refining every improvement to every individual breed and structure.
The 2nd gen version of the Drones and Heavy Drones were a lot faster digging as their claws and mandibles were reinforced by psi-armor and also had better control over their movement which made moving in cramped condition's (which were common in the mines)a lot easier.
2nd gen Zerglings could now spawn in groups of three from each Larve and takes only 7% longer to grow and hatch. The Larva could also be ordered to morph directly into a single alpha Zergling, it's armor and regeneration much improved thanks to Roach essence and without any loss to their speed and mobility.
The new generation of Hydralisk like most other 2nd gen Zerg (except for the Zergling) could now use the psi-armor ability to make themselves far more durable for a short period of time. This also affected their melee scythes and could also be infused it into their ranged spine attacks (like a Wyvern) making them much more devastating to shields and armor. 2nd gen Hydralisks could also now climb up vertical surfaces thanks to essence from Gekkos.
First generation Hydralisk also received this evolution.
Second gen of Roach's were upgraded into a heavy attacker with the adding of two pods on to their back which fired bio-grenades. The grenades had a layered design of a new organic high explosive crystal that was far more powerful than C4 (which Glaives, Scourges and explosive spines also had) at its core and around that was a improved super acid gel that had two non-reacting membrane sub layers containing it. The third layer was a dense chitin shrapnel array that was just below the smoothe black outer shell which had four spiral groves along it that made the Roach grenade spin in the air giving them more aerodynamic control and far greater range than the acid spray.
The second gen Banelings had a evolution that Ellen mused over during the first Zerg war on Earth but decided against developing at the time because she thought it was to OP for the time. It consisted of giving Banlings essence from Porcupines and improving the quills to the level of Hydralisk spines and making two types, one a layer of smaller three inch long spines that covered the Baneling, and a second layer of ten inch spines. All of them would be launched out in all directions when the Baneling detonated. The spines were frother improved by adding essence from 2nd gen Roach's that made the spines explosive doubling the Banelings damage.
2nd gen Impalers were given four twin linked explosive spine guns on the new wide hammerhead shaped head with the tail glaive launchers replaced by two oval shaped glaive pod launchers on its back.
2nd gen Overlords and Overseers, also got stealth camo skin from phantoms to make them less of targets and better at recon.
2nd gen Harbingers had a improved shape and design that was more aerodynamic but mostly looked the same but the tower like Glaive launchers were replaced by Glaive launcher pods that full filed the same function. Dozens of quad-linked spine launchers for point defense were also added.
2nd gen Mutalisks were also improved with the addition of a second pair wings that increased their speed and maneuverability and a pair of micro-glaive launcher pods were added to their back like a Wyvern but such weapon was actually tested on the Mutalisk first then given to the Wyvern in its completed form. The 2nd gen Mutalisk was mainly replaced as a air to air fighter by the Wyvern but was repurposed as a air to ground or space light support bomber.
The BroodLord and its two lesser versions were mostly the same except for the psi-armor, larger glaive and micro glaive launchers.
The 2nd gen Behemoth had better shaped overlapping armor plating with impact resistant gel layers that provided improved covedge between and under the armor. They also had longer bodies now a standard six hundred meters long giving them more room for everything including weapon's now consisting of four heavy double linked anti-ship class guided spine guns extending out and pointing forwards from the sides of the nydus worm shaped head, with sixteen other turreted double linked medium spine guns eight on the back and belly along with 22 light quad linked anti-fighter spine guns all of them firing the new guided psi-armor piercing spines. And placed at the upper and lower corners of the new Behemoths head and above the four Nydus worms along the sides and at either side of the base of the tail were the Glaive launch tubes which were the Zerg standardized counter parts to the UNSC Archer missiles.
Other improvement's to elite zerg breeds like the Hunter elite (Zergling), Predator elite (Hydralisk), Hunter-Killer, Phantom and Queens included the use of level one psi-armor which has also been improved to have three levels each double to triple the strength of the previous level. However such ability requires a great amount of psionic power restricting it to only those breeds or individuals with a sufficient amount of psionic energy. Queens and Brood Queens have also gained the ability to infuse psionic energy into other breeds close to them allowing them to use psi-armor level one or two for a short time. Queens and Brood queens can also use a new organ based from the Roach to spray a green liquid onto other wounded Zerg accelerating their healing and getting them back into the fight quicker.
Sensing his presence Ellen followed the evolutions masters psionic trail through the forest of cocoons until finding Abastein working on a large cocoon bigger than the others surrounded by six Hunter-Killers guarding him.
"Abastein. A moment of your time."
"My empress," Abastein replied as he turned to face Ellen his empress.
"Abastein how'd the test of the Maw of the Swarm work out on your end?" Ellen asked.
Ellen had sent three out of the four prototypes of the Maw of the Swarm to Reach. One remained on the Leviathan while the other two were sent down to the surface with the invasion force. One would link to the Maw of the Swarm in the Leviathan and the other would connect to the forth prototype aboard the Zerg space station capital which is how the humans being experimented on got there.
"Sufficient. But can be improved."
"Hmm, What of the Wyvern?"
"Wyverns performed well. No defects found."
"And the Leviathan?"
"Leviathan functionality within acceptable parameters. Still requires improvement however. Still slow. Also. Suggest placing Maw of Swarm in all Leviathans."
"Your right it would make the best use out of them both," Ellen mused as she crossed her armored arms before taking a greater interest in the giant cocoon.
"So whats this then," Ellen asked gesturing at the Cocoon.
"New Breed. Can infest enemy's of Swam."
"Interesting I suppose that's why all the humans in your lab are are mutated. Is it ready to hatch."
"Correct,"Abastein answered sending a mental signal to the cocoon.
After a few moments the giant cocoon split apart reveling a dark colored tank sized ten legged fat grub with dark overlapping chitin plating that had six glaive crawler like growths on its back with a exposed fleshy rear that looked like it contained something, but the weirdest thing about it was its head which looked like it had a eight tentacled squid for a face.
"Ok..." Ellen said examining the creature as it blinked its eyes for the first time getting used to the outside world.
"Infester. Special bio-weapon. Can fire virophage Glaives capable of delivering Zerg virus and catalyst that convert host organizem into disposable minion. Can also deliver parasites to take over and control host organizem," Abastein answered as the possibilities ran through Ellen's mind.
"That could be useful. Can it take over technology."
"...Possible!?. Will conduct test in future."
After having her talk with Abastein and seeing the new prototype Zerg breed Ellen traveled to her real destination, her personal quarters near the upper core of the station.
As Ellen entered the massive open chamber the light of a artificial blue sky shown on her, dotted with clouds and one bright sun like spot positioned at the apex of the four mile wide dome.
Although the artificial sky was much inferior to the Xel'naga,Forerunner version under Menachite mountain.
Ellen walked across the green grass surrounded by forested trees as she made her way to the center of the room where her dome shaped house lied, surrounded by two gardens, one of flowers the other of vegetables with its own self irrigation system. And taking up most of the dome was the crescent shaped forest consisting of many plants and trees complete with some turkeys, squirrels, a dozen species of insects and some other small animals, and behind the house was a small lake with a half dozen kinds of fish, some species made by Ellen herself in the evolution pit for both fun and food, all of this created as a slice of home to remind Ellen of where she comes from, a anchor if you will that holds the Swarm Empresses mind in balance over the long term.
Ellen had created this house to serve as a private place of rest for herself and It was off limits to everyone except the highest ranked Zerg such as Nakool, Zavara, Abastein and Izsha.
Ellen entered the two story dome house covered in flowering vines that showed only a little of the dark purple of the chitin structure beneath. Sensing their master arrive bio luminescent lights slowly warmed on brightening the room as she took the Praetorian armor off.
It moved to a thick layered creep bed by a wall in the main room where a hydrogen fire burned in a heat resistant chitin stove. Ellen then made her way to the bathroom where she took a long soothing bath in hot water warmed by a bio-electric generator set in the wall. After soaking for a hour Ellen got out drying herself off with a fur towle, she then went to the kitchen and fixed herself up a sandwich made with the vegetables from her own garden and meat from the animals in her small forest. Then making her way to the main room to relax a bit.
"Welcome home."
Ellen flinched spinning around at the unexpected words in her private chamber. "Izsha!. I thought I told you to never try and jump scare me with that psi-stealth unit"
Izsha turned a page of her book ignoring Ellens complant's.
"I see your back from your trip," the tentacled haired woman said as she flipped the page of a book as she sat in a long reclining couch of chitin and creep, the soft light of the bio-orbs just starting to illuminate her.
"Sitting in the dark again I see," Ellen quipped as she sat down on another bio chair feeling its surface warm on her exposed skin.
"And you still can't see in the pitch dark. Still a little worried that changing your essence to much will cause you to loose your psionic powers," Izsha replied in a questioning tone.
Ellen gave a sigh as she crossed her legs taking a bit out of her sandwich, chewing and swallowing before replying. "Yeah its risky. I don't want to make to many changes my body when it's not necessary."
Izsha turned the page of her book again. "That's understandable but you haven't gone through any evolutions in almost two hundred years. Not since devouring Azrumaths psionic essence and then gaining a new organ to process water into hydrogen from the Extractor's essence."
Ellen tapped her finger on the soft leather like skin of the chair. "True... it's just I don't feel the need to evolve anymore at the moment."
"And I feel as though you will be like this until we run into the Overminds swarm," Izsha stated as she slammed the book closed with a thwomp.
"I know, I know. The Overmind and his swarm is a major threat because they can steal our psionic evolutions and become our equal. That's why I kept the older generation of my swarm so we can fight without risking our more advanced abilities falling into enemy hands. However if the time line goes as I had predicted I'll be able to kill the Overmind and devour his essence before we even begin a open war with his swarm," Ellen said as she munched on her sandwich some more.
Izsha made a telling humming before standing, up and facing her original self and Empress. "Still banking on the timeline being like it was in the games," Izsha said sounding somewhat annoyed as she had always been the more pragmatic of the two.
"I don't expect everything to be the same but... it is a possibility," Ellen replied turning her head to her other self the two of them sharing a look before being interrupted.
"My Empress I have returned," Solus projected as he had just warped back from his mission.
"Did you find it?" Ellen inquired as she shifted the psionic communication to a private link.
"Yes. The world was just as you had described, populated by the creature's you called Grimm along with humans and their sub species Faunus. Even the moon was shattered like you said it would be," Solus reported.
Ellen smiled quickly running through her planned timeline of events and list of plans. Ellen had learned about the existence of Remnant from Azrumath after devouring his psionic essence and parts of his memories, but it took a few years for Ellen to run through all the fragmented memories and recognize the shattered moon and Grimm as being from the RWBY series.
However Ellen and everyone else who liked the animated series only ever got to see the first three volumes because of a tragic event. Monty oum the creator of the RWBY series died during a medical procedure. (Rest in peace Monty) This combined with the fact that Grimm... at least somewhat resemble Zerg, which caused some moron politician's and others in the media industry to call for the series to be dropped because of bad memories from the war.
Had Monty lived the series may have continued.
"Solus when you return to observe Remnant take Yutorra, Racorra, Numorra, with you and-"
Izsha watched as Ellen continued her private mental conversation with Solus wondering what it was he found. Ellen has her plans and strategy's but some she keeps hidden even from Izsha which irkes her to no end. "Ellen has Solus found something?" Izsha asked.
Ellen ended the conversation and finally responded to Izsha.
"Yes... something important, I'll tell you about it some day," Ellen replied as Izsha gave a dissatisfied sigh.
Unknown star system
World, Remnant
The warp gate closed behind him as Solus turned towards the nearby world his empress had plans for.
The Solus had evolved to have all the same enhancements of the second generation of Behemoths and accelerated faster then his old self ever could, quickly entering orbit over the planet, the shattered moon rising above the planets horizon stretched out before him.
Solus orbited around the planet until reaching the side where the Dragon shaped continent lay, entering into the atmosphere like a blazing asteroid his level three psi-armor easelly taking the high velocity friction heat created against the atmosphere.
The psi-armor of Ellen's zerg is the first wide spread psionic power granted to them from Ellen and her essence and it has been further evolved by Abastein and the other Evolution masters to reach three levels each twice as powerful then the last, however only the newest and elite Zerg breeds have been evolved to be able to use the ability at its second and third levels, which also requires much more energy and stamina which would hinder the function of the lesser Zerg breeds. And even then only the Brood queens, Behemoths and Leviathans can reach level three unassisted do to its energy requirements.
Solus leveled out reorienting his nose parallel to the ground and flying back and forth across the continent mapping the tarren. The Dragon continent regions to the south and east were a mix of mountains and forests and rivers with most of the Dragons body, neck and head in the north center and north-west being desert, while the northern-most islands that make up the wings were mostly of a winter environment while the eastern most peninsula that made the dragon's tail had a subtropical climate that changed into a arriad desert as it connected with the dragons body.
There were some walled towns of humans and Faunas that constantly fought against the tied of Grimm that never relented in harassing them. Dotting the continent here and there most in the south and east were settlements of varying sizes.
Solus mapped the continents terran in detail making a note to remember the locations of the settlements before finding a place to land in the mostly uninhabited desert region in the center of the dragons body a few dozen miles inland from the dragons chest which was not even populated by many Grimm. Solus landed amongst the sand, dunes and wind weathered stone monoliths and used his burrow ability to bury himself mostly underground and after word sent the three brood queens put under his command to work scouting the surrounding region in more detail along with Mutalisk and Overseers while a army of Drones and Heavy Drones dug a underground tunnel network.
Within a few days a small network of tunnels were excavated along with a small Hive cluster consisting of a Swarm crawler two Hatchery's four Spawning pools and Hydralisk den and a Digester processing the minerals from the deserts deep under-soil. In three weeks some underground aquifers were found with five small caverns hollowed out around them, each with a pair of Extractors, while the first Hatchery morphed into a Lair and doubled in size with some Roach warrens and a Queens nest.
Four months after Solus arrived Zerg and Grimm conflicts began as the mindless beasts and their older and slightly less dumb and older alphes started noticing the presence of a new intruder in their domain. The fights were mostly one sided as the Grimm are not only weaker but lack any real coordination or sense of tactics.
The tunnel network had also been expanded to cover ten kilometers with three levels, upper, middle and lower, each with a dozen hive clusters with the first's Lair morphing into a Hive. The underground network was also finally connected to the ocean providing the hive with a unlimited amount of Hydrogen.
While Solus built up the Zerg presence on the Continent he had Racorra, Numorra and Yutorra capture some Grimm, Humans and Faunus living on the continent for experimentation. Those captured were cloned and the originals returned to their homes with all of their memories of the event erased.
Ellen had ordered Solus to take samples but not to interfere with the lives of those on the planet at least not until a certain point. Although Ellen did give Solus some leeway to make his own decisions as events requiere.
South Eastern Dragon continent
Forested region
Duke ran on at top speed his golden beard and hair flowing in the wind like a lions mane as he leaped up and over a large rock, then darting through the trees, taking a split second to glance back at the five Grimm Beowolfs keeping stride with him. Luckley Duke knew this forest like the back of his hand, it was where his father had taught him how to hunt and how to avoid and if need be fight the Grimm that also called it home, like his father, grandfather and great grandfather before him.
That's how he knew the perfect location to bait the Grimm into a trap.
Reaching a small but deep gully Duke jumped in knowing this time of year it was dry. He ran down the dry stream bed until coming to a split in the path, but instead of taking one of the two paths he took a split second to crouch and with his semblance boosting his strength he leaped up and over the gully's edge just as the Beowolf Grimm clawed the air where he had been but a split second ago cutting but a few hairs off Dukes tail.
"Come on come get me," Duke yelled down at the Beowolfs.
One of the Grimm leaped up onto the gully wall attempting to climb only to be nailed in the spin by a arrow from a wolf girl on the other side of the Gully and dropping dead. Another of the black furred Grimm rored as it leaped onto the corpse of it's for more ally and spring boarded up onto the gully edge but Duke was not having any of that and as soon as the grimm reached him Duke roundhouse kicked the Grimm in the chest knocking it unceremoniously back into the gully where it and the other two Beowolfs were showered with more arrows from the dozen other Faunus rangers firing their bows. In mere moments the Grimm lay blooded and dead their bodies slowly dissolving into a black goo as Duke leaped across the gully rejoining his fellow rangers.
"Good job as always being bait Duke, your the best at it," joked Lav as he smacked Duke on the back.
"Thanks Lav..." Duke replied with a little eye roll.
The lavender haired cat man who was quit full of him selfe and completely convinced all the girls wanted him but he was a good planner and leader and something of a childhood friend of Dukes along with Tealle the wolf girl who silently walked upon them without a noise
The rangers hunted food for the village and protected it from Grimm which was why it was necessary to hunt down any Grimm that get too close to the Village or when their numbers get to high.
"Tealle. Excellent shooting as always," Duke complemented as the shy wolf girl simply nodded her lower face covered by her cloak's neck cover.
"It looks close to sun down so lets get back to the village before any more of them show up," said Lav as every one sauntered off through the forest.
The sun had dropped below the Dradson mountain range by the time the Ranger squad returned and as they approached, the guards in the towers recognised them and waved the gates open.
The inside of the village was quit large for being in the middle of nowhere far away from most other settlements.
The town began small, no bigger than a football field when the first settlers arrived but after a few decades it expanded to four times that size all thanks to the nearby fresh water river named the Alcon which the village was built beside and the food it and the forest provided. The Grimm population was lesser then surrounding areas because of how isolated the valley was.
The town it's selfe was shaped like a cluster of four circles of stone and wood logs close together, each circle was split into four sections by four intersecting roads and if it wasn't for the stone and tree log walls that surrounded it, the village wouldn't look out of place from the wild west of the 1890's on Earth with the exception of the swords and bows with steel tipped arrows and other melee weapons.
Duke and the other rangers following procedure returned to their ranger guild hall to report their mission a success.
The front door opened and the ranger squad entered most splitting up and going to the bar off to the side getting some drinks and food while the senior members reported to the rangers boss in his second floor office.
"Lav, Duke Tealle, good work on another Grimm hunt. Keep this up and we may cut the black furred devils population in half," roared the big muscular bull Faunus Bron in a jovial tone, his horns swaying as he chuckled.
"I don't think that will be possible unless we find out how and where they breed," Duke replied half heartedly, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a strange marke like a scar but Duke doesn't remember being hurt before.
Lav turned to him. "No need to be so negative Duke. We have culled their numbers quit a bit in the last year. And without loosing a single ranger thanks to me."
Duke rolled his eyes ignoring the man's high self-assurance of himself, it wasn't worth the argument.
"Well pushing the Grimm out of the valley my be a reality soon thanks to this," Bron said standing up and lifting a single edged axe up from behind his desk and holding it out.
"My axe, what did the smith do to it?" Duke exclaimed as he took the weapon looking over the formally double bladed axe and started regretted giving it to the smith after it got a crack in one of its blades after being used to behead a Boarbatusk a day ago. Or at least Duke remembers it being a Boarbatusk, the memory seems a little hazy for it to be from just a day a ago yet it seems as fresh as any other memory.
The now one bladed axe was modified to have a oversized revolver cylinder integrated into the three foot long handle just below a reinforcing structure and gunbarrel integrated behind the blade.
"Now don't have a fit Duke. I know that your axe is a family heirloom but it was better than replacing it altogether. That blade was cracked pretty bad."
"What are those colored crystals," Lav asked as he and Tealle eyed the modified weapon.
"Those are Dust crystals. Some thing new developed by the nations across the ocean on the Sanus continent."
"Where did you get it and how much did it cost?" asked Tealle in a soft voice yet still enough to be heard.
At the obvious and important questions everyone's eyes turned back to Bron.
"Well as it just so happens a traveling merchant arrived a little after you all left this morning."
"A merchant how. If the Grimm didn't get him then the trek across the Dradson range would have. It's nothing but shear cliffs and the only safe way through is the caves our ancestors came through." Lav questioned with great interest.
"Hmm. Yes normally you would be right Lav. But as it turns out dust can also be used as a propulsion source to fly."
"Fly?!" Duke said with a expression of disbelief.
"I couldn't believe it myself when I first saw it but the merchant arrived in a craft shaped like a... a flying skyboat. Its over at the docks if you want to have a look and maybe buy some of his goods. Although he's got a lot of business since arriving so he may be low on wares by now."
"We may as well see what this merchant has Duke. And find out more about this dust?" Lav suggested.
Duke gave a sigh as he placed his modified axe into its slot on his leather strap across his back and glanced over to Tealle who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah lets go I guess."
It was a short walk across town and to the marina where the mysterious merchant was docked. Upon arriving the three friends found the docks packed with people coming and going from the long house sized boat which had a giant cylinder shaped hot air balloon floating above it, triple the boats the size which was all ready the size of a long building.
"So that's what that was," Duke said as the three of them had wondered what the white object floating over the Marina had been as they had approached the so called flying boat.
Upon entering the structure taking up most of the boats deck the three rangers saw a layout much like a general store but of a foreign style and with many things they had never seen before as a dozen other people looked over the goods on the mostly empty shelves.
"Is this all for you ma'am," said a faint voice coming from the other end of the room.
The three rangers walked closer seeing a man checking out a customer who had purchased some exotic fruit and then left.
"Thank you for the purchase," the man thanked and then saw the three rangers looking at him. "Um can I help you."
"Uh yes." said Duke as he and the others walked up to the man who on closer inspection didn't have any animal ears or claws or evan a tail. "Are you a... Human," Duke asked the man as he brushed some of his two toned hair of light and dark green to the side of his glasses.
"Umm...yes. Is that a problem sir."
Duke now feeling like he was being unwelcoming to the man who had helped fix his family axe decided to start over. "Um Im Duke and this is Tealle and Lav. I heard that you sold dust and that it was used to fix my axe."
"Axe...?. Ah yes that bull horned gentlemen from before. Is it unsatisfactory?."
"No no. It's just that... I would like to thank you it's been my family for... well I have no clue how long."
Tealle than gave Duke a nug.
"Oh and could you tell us more about dust and how it works. I really don't know much about the modifications done to 'Grimm end'."
"Grim end?" the store owner asked.
"The name of my axe."
"Oh I see. (pushing up eye glasses) I've heard about you warrier types naming your weapons. Anyway I understand. Well I'll be happy to give you a explanation."
"Thank you mister?"
"Mell. Call me Mell. Vio!." Mell called and a few moments later a young violet haired girl came up from a lower deck and as soon as the pretty young teenager came into view Lav took notice of her and started eyeing her which prompted Tealle to elbow him in the side.
"Yeah what?" Vio asked her older brother.
"Could you take over the register for me. I need to help these customer's out a bit."
"(Sigh) Ok but don't take too long."
Mell lead the three rangers onto the roof of the boat as a small insect watched them from the hand rail nearby.
Mell started a long and informative explanation of the four basic types of Dust and that they can be combined into different combinations to generate secondary effects as well as explaining about all the innovations that are possible now thanks to Dust, including his airship which is a basic modal and not at all special where he comes from. But Dust is quite costly to mine and refine so it not cheap.
"Ugh that's all very interesting but can you explain how im supposed to use it," Duke asked.
"Oh, uh sorry I tend to get distracted when explaining my wears." Mell apologized. "Now you know what a gun is right, well your axe uses the newest technology to combine both a melee weapon and a ranged weapons together."
"Gun huh... so I just aim this at a target and pull the trigger," Duke said aiming his axe out at the open river and pulling the trigger. (Bang!)
The red shell launched out as the revolver rotated the next round into place. The red shell slowly arched downwards as it flew over the river and detonated as it hit the water creating a steam explosion.
"Well that was interesting. I'm guessing that that was a red fire Dust," Lav stated.
~Yes it was...~ Mell said as he and the Faunus continued their conversation overheard by the Zerg Locust scout.
"Mmm how did humans get on to this planet I wonder?. Earth should be their native planet," wondered Yutorra as she sat on the branch of a tall tree overlooking the valley below. "And these Faunus... a strange mutation, just Humans with animal parts. Not that different really hmm..." Yutorra continued to muse as she observed with great interest as the Humans and Faunus talked more.
It had been seer luck that the evolution masters were nearly done with the Faunus samples when that merchant and his airship was spotted by Overseers patrolling around the Valley the Faunus live in luckley the airship was slow and took two days to reach the village giving enough time to put all the Faunus back into their places in the village by the morning the airship arrived.
But still it was a close call as Solus didn't want anyone noticing that something was wrong nor did he want to go through the trouble of implanting false memories as its simpler to just erase memories then to change them. Things tend to get more complicated and if any one is smart enough then they may pop the illusion that everything is fine.
Remnant
Location unknown
In a dark and depressing land of a barren wasteland, covered in a rocky terrain with purple crystals of varying shapes and sizes sprouting from the ground and a sky stained a dark red while Grimm in their hundreds milled about the region occasionally spawning from large pools of a viscous, tar-like substance.
In this cursed land Salem sat over looking over her realm from a high cliff side simply enjoying the desolation that she will one day spread over the world of humanity. Even though she was once a human herself who once lived a lonely life of isolation in a castle put there by her father, until a brave man named Ozma came to be her knight in shining armor and took her away. But their life together was cut short when Ozma was struck down by a illness which took his life. Grieving the death of her beloved Salem traveled to the land of light where the god of light and life resided. Salem asked that he bring her beloved back but refused saying it was against the balance of life and death.
Angered that the god of light had rejected her request Salem decided to try asking the younger god of darkness, but even though he granted her beloved life anew he struck Ozma down again after the god of light arrived and convinced his younger brother that Salem was manipulating him to get what she selfishly wanted. Grieving and angered at the gods ruthlessness. Salem, enraged, prepared to attack the God of Light before being taken to his Domain. There the Gods cursed her with immortality, hoping she would come to understand the purpose of life and death.
Angered and feeling betrayed by both the gods Salem devoted herself to getting revenge and destroying the gods and to do such she traveled the world seeking allies manipulating them to turn against the gods and leading a great army against the domain of light. There, humanity met its end at the hands of the God of Darkness, who killed everyone but Salem as a final punishment. The God of Light spoke sadly of his disappointment in Salem and humanity, declaring the planet a Remnant of what it once was. The Gods then abandoned the planet.
Salem now alone, wandered the Remnant before finding herself back in the God of Darkness' home, the Land of Darkness. Where she found the dark pools responsible for spawning the creatures of Grimm. Hoping that the pools would take away her immortality and finally reunite her with her beloved Ozma, she threw herself in. Salem was not killed but her mind and body were transforming and forever changed into something different and evil.
Many years unknown years after humanity returned from extinction and Salem once again was reunited with her beloved Ozma who had somehow been reincarnated in another mans body. The two lived happily together and stated a family. But thing changed when they, the only humans able to use magic now, and seeing the way humanity fights itself used their power to unit the scattered human groups together. Years passed and the two created not only a great kingdom but had four daughters who also could use magic. However things never last and one day Ozma had doubts to Salem's methods to unite humanity and he confessed to her about what he had been told by the god of light.
Some time after that both Salem and Ozma battled and in the fight destroyed their home and killed their children, beginning the centuries-long conflict between the two former lovers.
Some time after that the dark one Amon arrived on Remnant, and found Salem who felt such power radiating from him that it shook her to her core. Amon seeing potential in her purposed a deal saying that his master who was the enemy of the two gods who betrayed her would grant Salem her four daughters new life and take the immortality and dark corruption from her. Salem after much thought agreed and Amon and his servent Samir granted Salem even greater powers which she used to control Grimm and lead them to one day lay waste to all of humanity who lay scattered across the whole world.
Despite many long years of hunting humans and Faunus there always seems to be survivors who warn other settlements, and the humans have also developed new weapons using dust that have become a real threat to even the strongest Grimm but this even is but a small obstacle to be overcome along with the reincarnating Ozma who has become a thorn in Salem's side over the long years.
But as the old saying goes. "The worst enemy of humanity is it's selfe," Salem mused as she formulated her planes to find vulnerable and easily manipulated Humans to be used as pawns to bring down their own species from the inside once and for all. But such plans would take quite a long time for all the pieces to fall into place and she obtains the four artifacts Ozma spoke of and which Amon wants, but Salem was immortal, and patient.
As the Shattered moon became more visible through the parting clouds a massive figure of darkness decorated with spikes and glowing blood red markings across his form that all seemed to be glimmering in the faint moonlight as if the beings body were made from a organic metal of some kind.
The ground shook as Amon approached the lone Grimm queen sitting on the cliff. The many lesser creatures of Grimm ran out from the dark gods path or were trampled under foot by the giant.
"Salem," Amon's mental voice called out with a great pressure of both the mind and spirit that made even the queen of Grimm tremble in dread at his power.
"Yes my master," Salem spoke with great respect and zeal to serve her master.
"I am leaving this world to continue my planes elsewhere before my enemies eye returns upon this world and detect that I am here. I want the humans on this rock destroyed before my God return,s to this realm of reality."
"Understood my master."
Amon then deactivated his psi-stealth unit and levitated off the ground a few moments before disappearing in a flash of black light leaving the Grimm queen fulfill her masters orders.
In a split second Amon teleported aboard his ship hidden among the drifting fragments of the moon, a Tal'darim vessel which the dark being had been traveling in for the past few hundred years scouting the galaxy for possible allies and pawns to use to destroy the sealing structures called Halos by their creators which separated the dimension of Paradiso known as the Immaterium by the Xel'naga/Forerunners.
Amon and his second in command who will one day be known as Samir Duran and later as Emil Narud both had been summoned through great effort and sacrifice by the Tal'darim whos very flesh and blood were used to form the two Immaterium beings new bodies in the Material realm (Which were different in color and lesser in power than their real bodies left in the Immaterium) but without a connection with the Immaterium their power will be limited, relegating the two to hiding and planing the destruction of the Halo array from the shadows.
It would be foolish for Amon and Samir to assault such constructs by themselves for even in their true forms fueled by the Immaterium it would still be a difficult undertaking given that every Halo is a fortress guarded by a army of millions of Sentinels of varying types and sizes to say nothing of the anti psychic technology created by the Xel'naga/Forerunners. The ring worlds also have the production ability to quickly replace any losses with with ease so should Amon or Samir ever openaly attack a Halo the Monitor and its nearly unlimited Sentinels would simply overwhelm them with their numbers. Although the two could no doubt do considerable damage it would not be worth the effort in the long run and alerting the Monitors to their presence in the galaxy is also something Amon and Samir don't need which is why they are looking for pawns to use.
With heavy foot falls Amon walked through the resized halls of the ship mentally chuckling to him selfe at the foolish little worm who calls herself queen of the Grimm. Amon had no intention of up holding his deal with Salem but found it... amusing to use her as a pawn. Upon reaching the bridge Amon took his set upon the giant chair from which he controlled the ship.
"Samir" Amon called out.
In a bright flash of light the lesser being of the warp appeared before his master teleporting from another part of the ship.
"Yes master," qurriered the creature with black metallic skin and red markings standing on two legs with two large horns like spikes coming off his shoulders ending in red points, the creature also had a long face ending in black tentacle's for a mouth and four glowing red eyes and a tail that split into five smaller tails coming off its sides.
"We are Returning to Slayn for now. Surely the Tal'darim have have recovered from forming these bodies for us, then we shall find a key ship to reach the Ark."
"I believe I know of a world with such a craft," said Samir.
"And where would that be," Amon inquired.
"A world named Janjur Qom, "
"I remember that world," Amon mused. "It is the homeworld of the San'Shyuum who allied themselves with the Humans.
"Yes before we and our great God where made into being by the folly of the Forerunners they had fought a war against the parasite if I recall."
"Hmph the Flood," muttered Amon at the mention of the third faction that had fought for domination of the galaxy all those thousands of years ago after the awakening off the Warp god of domination and glory. "The Flood could be a useful tool." Amon mused remembering the memories he had ripped from the minds of Xel'naga/Forerunners.
"Need I remind you lord Amon of how dangerous they are," Samir cautioned remembering that they found samples of the Flood parasite on one of the Halos rings they had found.
"I know Samir." Rebuked Amon. "But we have no choice if we are to destroy the Halo array."
"Hmm. You want to make a alliance with the Gravemind."
"Yes. Temporarily of course. But we must be ever cautious, if the Monitors find out we are on this side of the vale of reality they will put everything they have into banishing us back to the Immaterium. That's why I purpose we use the humans to brake one of their precious Halos."
Samir chuckled darkly as he put the pieces of Amons plan together. "Use the Flood to instigate the humans to destroy one of the Halos."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, Yes correct. It would be so... as the humans say. Ironic."
After completing their plans both Amon and Samir left the Reamant star system returning to the Tal'darim world of Slayn.
Chapter End
Note
I hope I got Amon and Samir,s character ok. If not well then tell me.
I'm going to make more chapters like this one to slowly build up the timeline of events that culminate in the events of Halo, Starcraft, and RWBY. It may be a slow going for a bit until some major action.
Also im doing this because the RWBY story has not been completed yet, like the Starcraft and Halo story's so i'm going to drag things out for as long as I can. I may end up just rewriting the RWBY story from the end of volume 3 onwards or at least making major changes because of the unfinished story.
