I own nothing that is not original...

It appears that this chapter has low word count because of the dialogues... but it is 9 pages on A4, on standard MS Word document.

Chapter 21

~So, would you like some new friends?~

Alena paused for a moment and took time to think about it. She stroked the soft worm fur of Toby's psionic image within the 'Matrix'. She looked really cute now. Like any girl, she enjoyed things of fashion, and of course, I didn't really know. I could dredge up every piece of memory from James, and I could since I literally could sift through every single moment of his life, and could replicate any clothes or makeup.

Inside the Matrix, Alena had grown up quite a lot despite the few months she lived inside the 'Matrix'. At least in the psionic mental field, she looked nearly 16, despite the fact that she was less than 10 years old. She was now wearing a nice peach-colored one-piece with tiny blue flowers along the waist. The sleeveless one-piece was really cute on her, and I thought she looked very nice and pretty. I even felt a little emotion when I saw her. Actually, I felt emotion everytime I see her. It was the last vestige of my tumultuous emotional reformation. It was fortunate for Alena because I still cared for her unlike any other children I have seen since. I only now have realized that her connection to me was more than emotional. She was a psyker, and a powerful one at that.

Even under the enormous pressure of the Warp Storm, her immense psychic potential had slipped out and hooked Toby. No wonder Toby was so loyal and enthralled to Alena. It must have been some sort of natural defense mechanism put up by her highly developed brain, and despite the intense psychic pressure of the Warp Storm keeping her brain power at minimum, she was able to influence Toby after she was saved by him. Her connection to Toby affected me as well, since there were not so many Zerg with me at the time, and I had devoted much of my consciousness in that rescue.

I did not know why, but I still liked Alena greatly, and unlike other children, she had a special place in my 'heart'', so that was lucky for her. In that mindset, I offered Alena 'friends'. She didn't know but I was going to put some of the younger brains into the 'vats' where Alena, Elric, Hargen and Volran were floating in. I thought that Alena might want some friends. However, she shook her head.

"No... I guess I have been alone so long that I don't think I will be comfortable with new friends. I am just glad to have Toby and you, and daddy, and Hargen and Volran..."

~I see. Well, I do have some kids coming in, but I will keep them separate.~

"Oh, so they are coming no matter what?"

~Yeah... They have recently suffered trauma...~

She looked at me with a knowing stare that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Did you... Did you kill their families?"

Now, that was harder question to answer. I decided to be honest... though I was quite uncertain as to her reaction.

~Yes. I will not deny that the Zerg had wipe out their communities, and your father and Hargen had carried out the slaughter.~

I was nervous, but I didn't really think about what she had learned and understood within that compressed timeline inside the vat.

"Well, if I was still a little girl, I would have felt differently, but now that I am a Zerg as well... I am sure that you have done what needed to be done. At least you saved the children."

That was shocking. She spoke these so calmly that I was almost worried, and then I realized that much of her humanity had been removed since her near-death. It was a gradual thing, and although she wasn't a complete psychopath, she was willing to do what was necessary to survive. As a Zerg, her survival required all those who would kill a Zerg to die out. I almost regretted having her humanity removed. I could have tried something else to save her life, but the deed was done. She lived, and that was the important bit.

~Yeah... at least I have saved the children.~

"What will happen to them?"

I paused.

~Do you remember about what I explained about the 'psykers' in this galaxy?~

"Yes."

~Before, I didn't really know much about actual biology of psykers, but upon capturing these children, I have come to a greater understanding.~

"Uh huh... go on."

~It appears that about one in every ten people on this planet are psykers, but the Warp Storm, and the fact we are right in the eye of the storm, made them invisible.~

She did have much of the knowledge that James had, since she had gone through much of James' own education from Earth, plus I had many sets of memories and knowledge from various people absorbed by the Zerg, including Kerrigan and her Ghost training. Alena excelled in her education, and she knew all that made Kerrigan into an efficient killer and knew all the great strategic and tactical minds of infested Terrans. Also, she knew about the Warp and its dangers.

"Is that why there are no daemons?"

~Yes. The eye of the storm exerts so much psychic pressure that it forms a sphere of void that not even Greater Daemons of Chaos can penetrate.~

She narrowed her eyes.

"You are exaggerating. You don't know if they can enter."

I chuckled.

~Well, let's just say that I made an educated guess. If daemons could sense how my psykers are on this world, then they would spare nothing to breach that barrier.~

"I guess so... but what is that got to do with the children?"

~I intend to use the brains of the psyker children to form protection against psychic powers for the Zerg.~

"Why?"

~The problem is that when we, the Zerg, first entered this planet, we made a tiny hole in the eye of the storm. Our Khaydarin crystal began to absorb the ambient energy and grew larger and stronger. Now that every Zerg carries shards, the collective power of the crystals is enough begin draining the Warp Storm, or at least its eye.~

Alena nodded.

"I see. If the eye of the storm weakens, daemons can enter. To fight against daemons, since they are not actually physical beings, we would need anti-psyker powers to defend ourselves."

~I believe that psionic weaponry such as Psi Blades and Warp Blades taken from the Protoss would do well, but I will not take the chance.~

"You think that Chaos can corrupt the Zerg?"

~The Warp is chaotic at best, and at worst... it can literally bring forth nightmares. It could easily corrupt isolated Zerg units, and if a Chaos Daemon somehow gets into Hive Clusters...~

Alena understood.

"The damage could be catastrophic."

~Yes. The problem is that I have no idea how our interaction with the Warp would work. I have no idea whether the Zerg are immune. I have no idea how long or how well Khaydarin crystals can stand againt raw powers of the Warp.~

"You are concerned. How long will it be before the eye fails?"

~I am estimating forty years of this planet's rotation.~

"Do you think you can adapt the Zerg against the Chaos and the Warp in that time?"

~Possibly. However, I will need more psyker children and their brains to aid me in this.~

"So, I will take care of the psyker children?"

~Only a few. Those who are too young to remember how the Zerg tore apart their families, and among them, those who have the potential for tactics and strategies would be spared. Others will be experimented upon.~

"What about normal, non-psyker children?"

I shrugged.

~I have uses for them. I am trying to drive the Zerg into a new stage of evolution. It is high time that we as a species evolve beyond pure biology.~

Alena frowned.

"I do not understand."

~We need to begin using technology as well as our biology, Alena. Even Protoss Plasma Shield can be amplified by relatively simple technology, but without that piece of technology, the shield we can generate through our organs are much weaker.~

"Well, if that is what you think is the best course of action for us all."

~It is... Alright... I got work to do.~

Alena nodded, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day!"

I was a little stunned. She only liked Toby, and had never shown any affection for me. I was an infrequent visitor at best, and now...

~What was that?~

"What?"

~That!~

"It's just a kiss on the cheek, you prude. Go! You got work to do."

~Okay...~

That was... strange...

Boom!

The large cannon fired with a loud boom, and a ball of iron as big as a man's head flew over the heads of men and smashed into the ranks of enemies. Its velocity and temperature was enough to tear through a dozen men with ease, then hit the ground with an explosive impact, only to bounce from that and killed another dozen. Yet, the enemies were still quite numerous, and still quite willing to fight.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Another three cannons fired their deadly packages, and they also caused incredible damage to the densely pakced enemy charging like madmen. They were madmen though, and that had meant, in their frenzy, they did not recognize the level of danger they were in. Even as thirty blackpowder cannons fired in threes, achieving perfect syncronised firing every five seconds, the Army of the North did not relent.

They fired back with their own blackpowder cannons, though their ammunition, or the cannons themselves, were not like the ones used by the King's Army. They had the body of the same blackpowder cannon, but the very metal itself had twisted itself into a grotesque monstrosity with teeth, eyes, nostrils, tentacles and wings. Most of them were red in color, oozing drops of blood they seemed to generate to no end. The mouths of the cannons were lined with sharp fangs that regularly flinched as if it was breathing. A tiny mound of a head was growing out from the top of the cannon's body where five eyes stared at the King's Army with senseless hate that originated from the very being of that cannon-creature.

The ammunition was not normal either. The Army of the North did not fire their cannons with fire, but the cannons fired themselves as if they were living beasts, and they fired various things. Balls of fire shrouded around metallic skulls that opened their jaws as they impacted and exploded among the King's soldiers, and they were just the primary ammunition fired by the daemonic cannons. Some of the bigger cannons, obviously based on the same cannon as any other, but gorged so much on the blood that it had grown, and the cannon had lengthened and widened with tentacles and claws popping out around it. Such creatures were so few that they could be counted with a pair of hands, but they fired hardened balls of dried blood.

The blood balls landed in the ranks of soldiers and exploded, showering the army with red ooze. The problem was that the soldiers covered in that liquid went crazy. Their eyes were filled with blood and their tongues lengthened and forked, and their teeth changed into fangs. Their clothes tore themselves apart as the crazed soldiers suddenly bulked up with muscles that grew so fast and hideously that their skins would tear themselves into pieces and all that were left were two dozen crazed murderers who bled from every fibre of their muscles. They would go into frenzy, and they turned on their fellow soldiers.

Slaughters of unimaginable terror followed quickly as the crazed soldiers tore their comrades apart with their bear hands, where claws and sharp protruding bones quickly appeared. These insane creatures died more quickly as they had appeared, either by the soldiers nearby who chose to kill their crazed former-collegues than die themselves or by their own bloodlust that eventually consumed them and they tore their own skull out.

Similar battles raged all around them, and each time the daemonic armies of the North fired such horrible weapons, the King's Army gained ground but lost men and moral. The armies of the North retreated with each victory, and though the commanders of the King's Army were wary of such retreats by the victors, they pushed on. However, by being at the rear of their armies, these commanders failed to hear one thing that was frequently heard in the frontlines. Two phrases that now brought fear... no... brought TERROR into the hearts of men...

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

The King was not pleased.

The war against the North was not going well. His half million strong army had lost nearly one hundred thousand men within a month and his forces had made only small dent in the enemy's willingness to fight. The original plan was to overwhelm the North and the Duke's supposed army of three hundred thousand men. The spies had informed the King of the Duke's growing strength but the best estimate of the northern army was three hundred thousand at most. Of course, most of that army would be professional soldiers who had fought the feral Orks of the north, but the King was certain of overwhelming victory. After all, outnumbering an enemy by two hundred thousand would be enough to force the Duke to come to the negotiating table after a few victories by the numerically superior army of the King.

Then, something else happened. Every one of King's spies in the North had disappeared, and by the time King's Army had assembled and marched, the North was ruled by a self-imposed Lord of the World called Judanus. The name was unfamiliar and the King and his council of war were unable to get any more information on this Judanus. This failure to take into account of such unexpected factor was critical in subsequent defeats. The rumors and talks of heavily armored murderous giants massacring through the ranks of the King's Army had spread falling moral across entire army. This was completely unacceptable.

Something had to be done, except that unexpected problems arose all around them.

The King had called back this entire loyalist Dukes to discuss the problems that seemed to have suddenly sprung out all around the Kingdom.

The nobles at the giant table were silent, as were those who were not quite important enough to have a seat at the table. The King, looking like a man in 40s with little more grey hairs, particularly aging faster since he was now forced to ration his Rejuvent when all connection to the Tower of Enginseers had been severed. Dukes were of similar situation, and they were desperate to break the North and reestablish the relationship with the Tower.

The King slammed his fist on the table.

"None of you have any ideas? Even as we speak, entire armies of madmen are tearing apart our armies. The casualties have finally reached one hundred thousand men. We have lost countless knights and their equipments, cannons and even the heavy armors of the elite footmen. Crossbows don't come so cheaply either."

One of the Dukes, the Duke of Devis, one of the few nobles from the West, though his affiliation was always with the King rather than the Duke of Verin, the most powerful noble in the West.

"My King, the factories are now working day and night to produce the materials for the war, and we have been preparing this war for almost five years. Even as we speak, the entire realm is devoted into recruitment and training of soldiers and endless streams of carts carrying weapons are arriving."

The words were reassuring but the truth was not. The King was not amused.

"I care not for your flattering words, Devis. You know as well as I that the 'entire' realm is not actually mobilizing for war, let alone actually recruiting or training more soldiers."

Duke of Lakala, another Duke from the West, though he was more often considered a man from the Central, since half of his realm did reside in the Central, including his capital.

"My liege, I believe that we must face the facts."

The King turned his head.

"The fact, my good Lakala? Very well, let's face the facts and speak the truth. In a war, truthful and honest assessments of enemies and us are a must."

Lakala noticed a little distaste in the King's voice, but he was a soldier, and a good soldier had to see the war without clouded judgement.

"My King, the situation is direr than we have previously assumed."

Other nobles quickly raised their voices denouncing the Duke's comment, hoping to gain favor from the King through flattery of his leadership and the might of his realm. They were assuming the situation wrongly.

"SILENCE!"

The room fell quiet.

The King narrowed his eyes, and then nodded to the Duke of Lakala.

"Speak, Lakala. I will hear your words and I shall make the decision whether your words are truthful."

The tension was palpable.