Stukov rarely left his command centre. Freezing Alterac weather was a complete annoyance, and his hivemind-linked troops needed thorough management.

However, there were times when he couldn't just relay an order to Dehaka by a queen.

In this case, one queen in the base at the other end of Alterac had committed glorified suicide by picking a fight with Dehaka, causing her brood to run wild without a leader, and temporarily corner the elder queen's forces... It would be an unmitigated disaster if uncontrolled zerg were released into the wild. Stukov only hoped that Dehaka had taken initiative to hunt them down- but Dehaka didn't have many units with him at all. That idiot younger queen could have forced him to deploy his troops and sweep the area, just to avoid making enemies of both the Horde and Alliance.

So imagine his surprise when he got close to the secret base, and found Dehaka waiting at the entrance to the whole area.

"Dehaka. Have you contained the incident with the feral brood?" Stukov marched up, followed by his elite troops. "I need a detailed report, yes?"

Dehaka stepped aside, glancing into the base. "Pack, would have been outnumbered on ground. I, have few, air units. But, made, a lucky decision. Brightwing's idea, allowed us, to hunt them all down."

Stukov stood there impassively. "Good. What strategy did you use?"

"Created, new, kind of zerg. Fliers, intelligent, strong claws, some magical ability, and somehow, charisma." He explained, although his words seemed to hesitantly omit some details.

And Stukov was having none of that, considering he knew Dehaka couldn't just piece together a new strand of DNA or use a hive for production. "How exactly did you create them? And where are they now?"

"...Mated, with Brightwing. Offspring, currently resting. Need, more time to fully grow. At least, one hour." Dehaka said sternly. "You, cannot approach."

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "Well. I think they're clearly capable of fending for themselves if they can hunt down mutalisks within an hour of birth. I want to see one of the new strain at first opportunity, and I want to perform a full analysis of their capabilities."

"No."

"No?" Stukov asked.

"...I, know your tests. Understand, reasons. But, you will not test them, like you, test other new zerg. No, dissection. No, test of durability. Or, I will fight."

"I never expected you would place any sentimental value on them. You must be getting soft, Dehaka!" The barest hint of a smile crossed Stukov's face. "But you know what? I am a father. I can relate. You may oversee my testing... and I will attempt to give them some extra survival experience, before they face the world. A gift."

Dehaka seemed to change his tone at that. "Good, gift. Appreciated."

"So, while I wait for them to be ready for viewing- have you decided on a name for the new breed you have created? Or individual names for them?"

"Primal zerg, pick own names. Once, their mind, has become strong enough. Sign, of intelligence."

"But the name of their race? Their subspecies of Primal Zerg? The name I will use when directing them in missions?" Stukov pressed.

"...Your, choice."

"Hm. Seems I am a godfather now." Stukov commented. "...I will wait until I have seen them. Ah, and this is just an old human thing that lingers, but... congratulations on your marriage and children, as little similarity it bears to anything I'd have known as a human."

Brightwing stirred, waking up. While it was true that zerg barely needed sleep, she had expended a lot of energy on magic yesterday... and then gone on to have thirty-three kids.

Who were already as large as her. Because Zerg.

A visual blend of their parents, flying reptiles plated in armor, closer in overall shape to Brightwing, but with Dehaka's musculatre. His set of large fighting/digging arms had been melded with her wings, resulting in articulate wingsets with extra sets of claws at the end. Land and sky were both available to them...

She wasn't sure how they would fight. They didn't quite have the form and body Dehaka had, while they were strong they weren't as sturdy and good at balancing on the back legs. But they didn't quite have her magic. It was there, but not to her degree.

But Brightwing thought that a little of both could easily be just as good as excelling in one way. And she would happily show them how to harness their magical powers... After some playtime.

"I am ready, friends."

'Mep?' 'Mep?' 'Mep?'

There was a sudden chorus of curious squeaking lizard sounds, as the entire burrow lit up with excited glowing eyes. Brightwing laughed in endearment- while the Zerg could grow flesh quickly, developing a mind took time and careful cultivation. They would learn faster than most newborns, but were still blank slates, guided only by instinct.

And Dehaka was sure to warn her he'd pass on the strongest survival instinct he could. They'd act to preserve their own lives first, naturally cautious and scaredy, until they learned how to overcome the fear that kept them safe. They would hunt only when at great advantages, with either numbers or the element of surprise.

Brightwing's first task was to build trust- not only between herself and them, but between all of her brood. The zerg were a brutal race, and could turn on each other for a multitude of reasons- fear, hunger, anger, or the desire to evolve. Trust and bonds would make sure she never had to see them fight each other.

But how to do that..? The foundations were already in place. She'd helped them hunt down the feral broods, leading by her own strength, mending any wound they sustained and splitting the kills amongst the hatchlings. They followed her, and had been given a good first impression.

She cast a pulse of healing magic. They all went silent, watching her.

A few of them blinked, the rest awed at the little bit of magic.

She made a small, gentle ball of arcane light, and made it float across the room. Technical control of her magic wasn't something she normally ever did, just letting it flow wildly. But she could manage simple bits. One of the hatchlings jumped up and tried to bite the ball out of the air, but it was just light, and they passed through.

She made it float back to herself, and let it burst into a few glimmering bits of dust. "I am Brightwing. I will help keep you safe, friends. Let us play together, until you can go to a little sleep."

It was simple, systematic playing. Just using a tiny bit of magic to make some light for them to try and bite at until they were a bit tired, eventually dozing on the floor despite the fact the rest of the room was full of their still-awake family. Brightwing never got bored, though. Aside from the fact that they were just too cute, and that it was always fun to watch them slowly start to understand that they couldn't physically bite the light, she had something on her mind.

Names. Faerie Dragon names were chosen by picking distinctive features of the dragon, or things they liked, or personality traits. The problem was that among her thirty-three children... all of them were identical. So identical that even she couldn't tell them apart. The only distinction she could make about any of them was that the first clutch were entirely male, and the second were entirely female, resulting in an almost perfectly even gender split. But otherwise... how could she name them?

Eventually, they started waking up again. They'd only had a power nap and a few minutes to lie down, but now they were full of energy again, and... bigger than her. Not at the same size as Dehaka, or particularly massive, but by her standards they all looked like exceptionally large, strong lizards.

Dehaka poked his head down into the burrow, and all eyes turned to look at him. "Brightwing." He intoned.

"Mate?"

"Stukov, is here. Wants to, see, offspring. Intends to, look at, capabilities..." Dehaka trailed off, looking sternly at all of the watching zerg. "I, will defend them, if needed. But, they must also, learn quickly. Will not survive, if, they are not, exposed to life. We, go." He climbed back out, and Brightwing started to push them out of the cavern. It took some effort, and more than one of them didn't appreciate her attempting to move them. Although any attempts at warding her off or even the odd try to bite at her were completely futile, as she pressed on through and occasionally used a touch of magic to show them why she was able to live among the zerg.

It was crisp and cold in the outside air. Dehaka had already taken care of herding them towards Stukov. Most of them looked at him uncertainly. A few had run off somewhat, before scaring back to the safety of the group. A few were lying on top of each other to conserve warmth. Dehaka was holding three, two of them obviously scared of the whole situation and clinging to the closest protection they had, the third one wriggling and trying to run towards Stukov.

"Hello friend. Look, we made these!" Brightwing announced herself cheerily, flying up behind the rest of the group.

"...Evidently." Stukov looked around at all the crossbred lizards. "...You've not thought of a name, yes?"

"Um... no. I cannot tell who is who, actually. They are very identical!" She saw two of them start squabbling, as one poked the other in the eye with a wing, and was swiftly bitten on the arm. She swooped down, and got to prying them apart. "Stoppit. Stoppit. Stop." She chastised gently, before Dehaka reached over and used one arm to force the mouth open.

It motioned to bite again, and he grabbed it by the back of the neck. It flailed a bit until Dehaka pinned it to the floor, and eventually just looked incredibly furious at it's sibling.

"Ill-behaved thing." Stukov muttered. "You'd better teach them some discipline. Harsh and swift, if you're going to keep them alive."

"...Do not want to be harsh." Brightwing said, looking at Stukov again.

"Better to be harsh than soft, when the difference is life and death." Stukov said easily. "I am sure Dehaka will agree. Besides, harshness is not necessarily unkind or mean. I doubt you would allow him to do anything too severe."

"..." Brightwing looked at Dehaka. "No hurt them."

"I, will, make sure, they survive. May... have to, cause some pain, to teach lessons, that will, save their lives." His words were neutral, and carried an undeniable weight. Sheltering them was a terrible idea, when the rest of the zerg would have no problem teaching the same lessons with much more severe consequences.

"I... I know, friend." She said. "But we should be friends with them, too. I will make sure that happens, yes I will."

"If you are done realising that you are both going to have to do some parenting..." Stukov started. "I will name their strain, unlesss either of you have a suggestion."

"Um..." Brightwing looked at all of them, and the great range of different things they were doing. "Brighthakas? Hm. That does not sound right."

"...No, suggestion."

"Then I name them the Chimeras. The name is from an anceint earth legend, with a beast that had parts of many other beasts." Stukov said. "Is that agreeable?"

"Yes." Dehaka let the one he was pinning get up, and it scooted away a bit, looking furious at everything. The rest of them looked around, gathered in a small crescent in front of Stukov. "Chimeras."

"Excellent. All I will need now is one to examine the capabilities of." He crouched a little, looking most of them in the eyes. Brightwing made a kind of horrified sound, and was about to protest when Stukov spoke again. "I am not so foolish as to hurt them."

One seemed bolder than the rest, coming forwards a bit. Stukov looked at it and it took a hasty step back, but there was nowhere to hide on an open plain. "There. I will examine this one. You are free to ensure I do not damage them. Does it have a personal name?"

"No... I do not know how to name them. And they all look very same."

Stukov nodded, and stood up, before taking a ruined old handkerchief from his pocket, long since discoloured. "I'll use this as a tag." With surprising calmness, he walked up to the shying creature, and then managed to snatch its' wrist. It immediately became panicked and tried to pull away as Stukov was as moved as a mountain, spending one second tying the handkerchief around it's forearm. It stopped struggling and made to bite him, and he caught it's mouth in his large arm, holding it shut. "Do not try and attack me."

"Be gentle, friend." Warned Brightwing.

"The hard part is over." Stukov let go. "In fact, I think you'll outright enjoy the rest. Take them and have them fly at top speed- I will measure the distancing from afar. As simple as one of your games. I will return later with some items to test them properly. And as a show of goodwill... I'll keep Abathur away from them while they're alive."

"Hmm. Okay, that sounds fun. Come on, we will fly... I wil show you how to fly." Brightwing looped around them easily. "I will help you start to use magic, because that will let you fly."

Dehaka had the more practical suggestion. "Should, name, him. Will cause, confusion, otherwise."

"Oh. What will you call him? Could call them... Whitecloth. Stukovface. Um... those names are not super good."

Dehaka just looked to Stukov. "Name him."

"Romanov." Stukov looked up and down the zerg. "I think that is a fine name for a boy. Also, Brightwing... I notice your discomfort. I understand the concept of morale and the need to hold the respect of those you side with. Know that I will act in the best interest of your chimeras. I shall not hurt them. I promise it."

"Really promise? Promise-promise?"

Dehaka reached out and put a calming hand on her, his expression unreadable. "He will not, break his, words. I, would turn, against him."

Stukov nodded, stern as ever. "I promise you. They will be safe from threats that might fall upon them because of who they are, and what they could be used for within the swarm. By giving up a little of their freedom, I will protect the rest of it, so that you may continue to live as you wish."

"Wow... I do not understand all of that... but... that sounds good."

Dehaka growled in affirmation. Things would change, with new blood to protect- but he would ensure that the change was embraced, and made the most of. They wouldn't end up trapped for their choices. "Yes... we do not, bind ourselves, to the swarm. Not, with hivemind. So, I know, that Stukov can, be trusted."

It was more of a struggle than Brightwing ever expected. The path was so uncertain... how much she should involve herself in their fates, and what machinations of higher powers would impact the chimeras. Even something as simple as trusting an established friend was suddenly harder. But she didn't regret things. Not one bit. And as much as things changed... she would hold on to her friends as hard as she could. As long as her friends- and now, children- were happy, she knew she would be too.