Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates.
Heal, Walk, Fight
Day 34, Year 1
This was most certainly a less than ideal situation for Scott to work with. However, the ideal situation almost always never goes through, so he had a backup plan in case the front line was broken or routed. It was a guaranteed failsafe in the event of invasion.
Unfortunately, that backup plan involved his older sister, who may or may not be disabled for a very long time. He gently laid her down onto the creep floor in the main cavern and gave a once over to determine the severity of the wounds. It was lucky that creep could act as emergency bandages; else blood loss would be a serious concern of the Overminds.
It was like how Alexis was wounded by Roach acid but a hundred times worst. Almost all of Kiara's armor was melted away by the Baneling acid and her hair was badly burnt, some of the purples strands gone altogether. Her membrane skin was melted away in giant holes, along with some burnt fleshy skin. Scott doubted that even using the psionic crystals found within the caves could actually heal his older sister in time for her to still contribute to the fighting already in the cavern system. But it was worth a shot.
That is, until somebody new entered the fight. Bro! Zestra's here! Alexis cried over her psionic link, the sound of spines being heard in the background as the young girl was barely able to dodge them. I need help!
I wish I could, but I can't just leave Kiara unattended! The brown hair man replied, frantically thinking as he re-examined the current combat positioning. Zestra's forces were still pouring into the main entrance, showing no sign of stopping their swarm as a mixture of Zerglings and Queens invaded the cave system. They then would wander off to one of the multiple tunnels that branch out, trying to find the main cave so as to shut down the main defensive Hatchery. That was practically game over for the Overminds if that happened.
So as to not give away any clues regarding their position, Scott had directed there to be defenses at all tunnels, spreading their pack's troops thin but keeping most of the Hatcheries safe. Already, too many had fallen for his liking. It was those damn Banelings! The Zerglings would run in, quickly morph, then bust down the Roach defenses with a mass suicide unit attack. The Queens would then bust down whatever remained, routing the Roaches and pushing them back to a better position. A lot of ground was being given away, and it wasn't looking good.
Zestra must've sensed this weakness and decided to join the battle to push the advantage. That was a brilliant move, for her synaptic presence could break the already tired troops of the loyalists, sending them fleeing just at the sight of the Broodmother while rallying up her own units. It could even possibly tempt defection in the middle of the battle! Thankfully, it seemed that Alexis intercepted Zestra and managed to slow her down just a bit.
"Go." The male Overmind turned to see Arthogious slithering towards Kiara's body, its hands filled with the psionic crystals. "Lord of Blades needed in combat. Will develop new gene for Queen of Blades, healing ability. Will take time, need Zestra delayed."
"Are you sure? We need Kiara back on her feet as soon as possible," Scott asked cautiously, heeding his sister's warnings about the geneticist master. "Can you ensure her safety as well?"
The creature's mouth seemed to smirk. "Guaranteed. Will make her better, faster, stronger if need be."
"Don't, just give her the healing!" The Overmind insisted, turning and running to his younger sister's psionic signature. "Remember, Kiara will kick your ass if you meddle around without her consent!"
O O O
Alexis managed to catch a naughty word before her lips uttered it as a spine imbedded itself in the rock face just a few inches away from her nose. She rerouted that swear to a shout of surprise, jerking her exposed skin away and dodging yet another spine as the young girl slide under Zestra's projectiles. With a deft twist, Alexis moved in a way so that she faced her attacker so as to unleash two blasts of lightning from her hands.
The psionic energy output hit dead on target, but Zestra showed barely any indication of slowing as the Broodmother fired off more spines. One of them was barely able to graze Alexis' forearm, but the resulting wound felt a thousand times more painful due to the extreme force put behind the shot. This must've been what Kiara felt whenever she got hit by her brother's attack in sparring.
Gritting her teeth to hold back a cry of pain, the blonde and green hair girl leapt forwards at her attacker and slammed a kinetic blast into the ground between them. The powerful augmented blast going into the ground resulted in a rapture of the cavern's floor, sending dirt sods flying into the air and obstructing Zestra's vision. The Overmind took advantage of this factor and fired another kinetic blast, this time aiming for the cave's ceiling. The psionic energy made contact with the stalagmites and shattered the fragile connection at the base, sending large sharp columns of rock crashing down upon the Broodmother.
Zestra simply burrowed into the ground, entering the Roach tunnels and hiding just as the pillar of stone struck the ground. "Oh c'mon, that's just cheating!" Alexis howled, her eyes glowing neon as she sought out her foe in the tunnels below. The large synaptic presence gave Zestra's positioning away and the young Overmind immediately assaulted the creature's mind, not realizing the trap until it was too late.
With a roar, the Broodmother erupted out of the ground at her enemy's feet, grabbing the girl's legs and hoisting them upwards. Alexis let out a cry of surprise as her world turned upside down, startled by the sudden attack and recovering her senses just in time to see the triumphant face of Zestra. Instantly, the girl's hands sparked and she shot lightning into her foe's face, slightly fazing the Zerg creature as Alexis frantically tried to wriggle her way out. Realizing that there was only one way out, the Overmind braced her body and gathered the energy into her palms, this time slamming the electricity into her stomach and feeling the sparks course around her body. When Zestra saw that it was now holding something akin to an electric eel, it immediately swung and let go, sending Alexis flying to the cavern wall.
The girl couldn't redirect her power in time and slammed into the rocks, the impact knocking the wind out of her body and giving a mild concussion. Alexis saw stars as she lay down on the ground, oblivious to the Broodmother readying its spine attack. There was no way she could possibly roll to dodge.
Then Scott arrived. His spinal glands were faster thanks to the upgrade procured from Hydralisks and he shot first, his projectiles hitting Zestra's side and canceling its attack. While the Broodmother reeled from the surprise attack, the male Overmind dashed over to his sister, helping her back onto her feet. "Alexis, are you alright?"
"I'm alright…" The girl gingerly touched the back of her head and hissed as a flare of pain erupted from the base of her skull. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't intolerable. "I can fight at the very least."
"Good, now-" Scott's speech was cut short as he grunted in pain, stumbling slightly forwards past his sister. Alexis gasped as she saw the cause of her brother's suffering: multiple spines embedded in his back. They appear to have been mostly stopped by the advanced carapace that Scott wore, but some internal damage must've still resulted. Nonetheless, the male Overmind whirled around and fired off his volley of spines in return, driving Zestra back as some of them slammed into its chest. "We can't let up, keep going!" Scott urge, his voice slightly breaking as his body protested the effort.
Without any hesitation, Alexis raised her hands and blasted psionic lightning at Zestra. The creature was too busy yanking the spines of its chest in time to dodge the attack and instead received the full attack. The electricity coursed over its body and shocked its joints, but besides a few burns, nothing much was achieved and Zestra knew it. The creature immediately burrowed and disappeared out of visible sight.
However, the young girl could see the psionic trail, the marks clear as day in her vision. "It's getting away from us!" The girl shouted, firing off a kinetic blast into the predicted path of escape, which so happened to be behind her brother. The impact collapsed the underground tunnel and Zestra popped out of the ground, right next to Scott. He swore colorfully as he realized that Zestra just fooled them into thinking it was escaping and instead had just blocked off Scott's escape through Alexis' attack.
A swipe wiped all the thoughts from his mind as his body ragdolled through the air and slammed into the cave's walls, the contact driving the spines deeper into his body. Scott coughed blood as one of the bony knives managed to puncture one of his lungs, reducing his already shaky breathing to a wheezing mess. He looked up, eyes watering, just in time to see Zestra nail his sister to the ground with two spines to the feet. The girl screamed and cried, but she was unable to move without pain engulfing her legs.
"You see?! I am the dominant one!" Zestra cackled, raising its arms in triumph as it looked on at the two downed Overminds. "There is no doubt: Among the 16 lost packs, I am the true leader of the Swarm!"
"Then allow me to retort that by killing you!" A furious shout rang out and Zestra whirled around just in time to see Overmind Kiara slam into the creature's side. Scott's spines may have been removed earlier, but there were still open wounds that protested highly when something sharp was jabbed into the raw flesh. Zestra hissed in pain and swiped with a claw, but was surprised to have it met by another claw as her attacker countered.
With a grunt, the purple hair woman grabbed onto the offending wrist with her other hand and spun, kicking Zestra in the face with her heels before slamming them into her chest. Again, the open wounds that Scott left screamed in pain in Zestra's mind and it reacted by firing a spine directly into Kiara. To its great surprise, the Overmind didn't even bother to dodge it and instead took the projectile in the shoulder as she kicked off, landing on her feet right next to Scott. Zestra roared in pain and dove underground, burrowing to set up yet another trap.
"Sis, are you alright?" Scott gasped and hacked, noting the giant spine in his sister's shoulder. "You're- ack- hurt!"
"I'm fine, this is almost nothing. But you are in bigger trouble." The purple hair woman turned and placed a hand on her brother's chest. "Let me help you. Mend!"
Psionic power coursed through both their bodies as Kiara's new ability triggered the Roach gene within their DNA, allowing for rapid healing in a short amount of time, yet recovering a giant amount of health. The cells in their body rapidly multiplied and spread, replacing the damaged cells with fresh flesh and patching up the open wounds. Anything foreign such as the spines were pushed out by force as the body's tissue regenerated and moved the intruding material out of the skin, the bony projectiles clattering to the ground. Scott's punctured organ repaired itself, the cells reproducing and patching up the hole in the lung, ensuring that their host could once again breathe normally as Mend slowly worked itself out.
"Wow…is this the new gene Arthogious gave you?" The male Overmind asked, his voice slightly shuddering as it became re-accustomed to speaking without blood in its mouth. "This is amazing!"
"Heads up, fight isn't over yet." The female Overmind cautioned, motioning to the ground beneath them. "My vision isn't great, where's Zestra? Alexis!"
"I can't see, it's too painful!" The young girl cried, tears blinding her sight as her legs trembled. She was risking going into shock, Kiara realized, and stepped forwards without looking down.
Zestra made her move then. A bony arm shot out of the ground and wrapped its thin digits around the purple hair woman's ankle, tripping her down to the ground in surprise. The snarling face of the Broodmother was suddenly shoved into Kiara's face and the creature opened its mouth, preparing to shoot a spine while its prey was trapped. Seeing no way to break the grip in time, Kiara immediately placed her hand in front of her face and felt pain sear through it as a spine lodged itself into her palm.
Her other foot twisted and the leg swung around from underneath Kiara, snapping against the bony arm and breaking Zestra's grasp on her body. Immediately, the Overmind rolled back and away as the Broodmother emerged from the ground, nursing its broken arm. Scott took this chance and peppered the foe with spines, aiming for her joints. Zestra howled as she took the brunt of the volley, backing off and burrowing back into the ground. But this time, she was in full retreat.
Kiara's roll positioned the purple hair woman next to her trapped sister and the older sibling yanked out the spines from Alexis' feet. The girl cried and stumbled as the blood began flowing, but she straightened up as Mend from Kiara fixed up the holes in her feet. "Thanks sis!" The young Overmind chirped before her eyes glowed neon and she blasted a kinetic blast at the ground.
With her sister nearby to provide encouragement, Alexis hit the target straight on and Zestra flew into the air, thrown violently from the tunnels below. As the body spiraled midair, Scott's eyes narrowed and he let loose a storm of spines, all of them hitting their mark and inflicting major damage to the Broodmother. Kiara finished the job by leaping into the air and slamming into Zestra's chest with a claw, pinning the Broodmother to the cavern walls. As Zestra laid squirming on the walls, Kiara leaned in and hissed, "Never. Touch. My. Family. AGAIN!"
To the Overmind's great surprise, Zestra was able to break Kiara's hold. By placing both hands, broken included, on the offending claw, the Broodmother was able to shove hard upwards and pushed Kiara off its chest. The minute it landed on the ground, Zestra immediately burrowed and made a break for it. Alexis was about to fire Kinetic blast again to draw the creature back out, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her as Scott reexamined the battlefield.
Zestra's pack was retreating. As their leader fled, so did their morale and they all turned tail to go back to the home Hatcheries. Some even went feral and stopped and wandered aimlessly, waiting for something to give it a sense of control. Others lashed out and were promptly executed by the Swarm's cohesiveness. As Zestra's psionic presence faded away in the distance, the Overminds all tiredly looked at each other and grinned.
"Victory!" They all chorused.
A/N: In case you guys haven't seen, the Terran 2014 Holiday Fan book is up! Go and read it for a special short story, information on Commander Madeline and Vance, and a sneak preview for the Protoss Rebirth!