Author's Note: I do not own Starcraft or any of the units portrayed within it. Starcraft is the property of Blizzard Entertainment, I only own my original creations. This is a work of fan fiction, existing entirely outside any canon material. This tale was inspired by reading "The Zerg Swarm" tale by East Bridge.

Chapter 26 – Moment of Peace

"Just relax in the water and let it melt away all the fatigue. Believe me, it does wonders." Vera smiled in a warm fashion, trying to encourage the former captives to step into one of the spawning pit's water-pools. Gem was back to wearing her mask again when in this company of strangers, but had joined Vera in her efforts.

"The waters really do help, and they're perfectly safe." Gem smiled behind her mask, removing her robe slowly to step into the waters herself. A little hesitantly the other women watched as Gem let the waters cover her to her neck, resting against the edge of the water pool and sighing at ease. Seeing nothing bad happened, the women slowly began to relax and join Gem in the pool, curiosity triumphing over caution after the example had been given.

Vera was smiling even as her heart ached. Their mother was back, but she was just resting silently in one of the tents now. She had tried feeding her mother some creep and help her sip some water, but that was all she really could do right now. She felt pain when she touched her mother, and felt worried whatever had happened indeed caused a great deal of harm to the sweet old woman, but she was determined to smile and keep these newcomers feeling welcome. She could have so easily been one of them, she told herself silently.

"Lady Vera, I would like to ask you a few questions if that was alright?" One of the women spoke, causing Vera to blush faintly. She wasn't a lady, just a girl from a now lost village, but to these newcomers she might seem more she guessed, she did command respect from her brother, the man they had seen commanding the swarm after all. She nod her head in a polite fashion, smiling. "Then ask freely, the worst I can do is say I cannot tell you or that I don't know."

The blonde woman seemed to hesitate a short moment about what she had to say, but then cleared her throat. "Very well. Lord Dain saved us from the slavers, although he came there to retrieve his mother, correct?" After Vera nod her head she continued a little hesitantly. "I asked him about where he came from because I do not know where we would go, and Ravenrock is not a comfortable idea, but I think all the small villages and start-up towns have been destroyed by the bandits and slaver raids, perhaps some were lost to beasts but I don't know any other safe community near here."

This made Vera frown slightly but she nod her head again. "I didn't know that the destruction has been that widespread. I have to wonder if Ravenrock had a part in things as well, less possible competition later and they might have even been planning to buy any talented slaves from the slavers later." The blonde woman nod to Vera slightly in agreement with her words, then continuing again.

"Now I did notice he didn't seem exactly happy to take us all in but yet you knew we were coming, and had everything ready. I have to ask a few things. How is Lord Dain able to control this many beasts? No 'tamer' should be able to, I haven't heard of such a thing before. Second, how did you know we were coming, did he manage to send a messenger without our notice or something? Lastly, what do you plan to do with all of us?"

Vera could feel a bit of worry about the last question in particular. This blonde woman seemed to have assumed the burden of leadership among the captives, so Vera felt a bit awkward trying to give answers to these questions. It would have been better they had asked Dain directly, but she had a feeling that telling her that wouldn't help at all. There was also the question of how much she could say, though.

"Dain gained this ability after he was nearly killed, I am not sure how it happened but I think the ancestors looked with disgust at the way things are in this world and gave him a power to change things. He's spoken of going against Ravenrock as well, after all. I am not sure how he controls them all but they seem to regard him more or less as a father, a Patriarch of the Swarm." Vera's words made the blonde woman's eyes widen slightly, but Vera held a hand up to quiet her words on her lips, having more to say still.

"As for us knowing, what one member of the Swarm knows, the others know. The Queen here told us that Dain was returning with mother, and many other captives. Then she told that mother was asleep and wouldn't awake, still alive but hurt in some way that Dain couldn't heal." Her voice broke slightly, and the blonde woman nod her head while gently resting a hand on Vera's shoulder, gently pulling Vera into a brief hug at that. Sniffing, Vera let herself rest against the woman a moment before pulling back, and clearing her throat to answer the last question.

"I don't know what Dain plans to do, but the tents are a temporary thing, from what I have heard he is planning on expanding a cavern system under the Hive, that's what this place is called, and make warm, secure shelter for all those who have come under his protection." Vera tried to explain but the woman's expression seemed a bit confused, her blue eyes closing for a moment as she thought rubbing her lower lip with a single finger thoughtfully before nodding.

"While I don't want to seem ungrateful, I think the tents that we have now are quite pleasant actually already, and I believe that after what we've been through it would be best for us to stay above ground, and not feel caged, being able to step out and see the sunlight as we want. Of course, if something happens I think taking shelter in those caverns for the duration of the attack might be wise, but in the meanwhile I believe I speak for all of us escapees when I say we'd prefer to stay in the tents for now." She smiled a little, a smile which Vera met with her own.

"I think I can tell Dain that and get him to agree. Just please do me one favor. Just call me Vera, not Lady Vera, I'm just Dain's sister not some nobility." She chuckled a little, earning a bit of a confused look from the other woman.

"Alright, Vera, but this is something I have trouble understanding. He has the powers that would easily make him a King in a lot of the smaller towns simply for the creatures he can command already, and if he can actually relay messages that fast it would make for an amazing defense to have even a few creatures out in the distance reporting in anything suspicious. I think it would be very easy to get people to rally under his banner."

Vera blinked at this but then nod her head slightly. "I will mention that to him. You still haven't told me your name though." She smirked a bit teasingly, looking at the other woman quietly for a short moment.

"Meiri. I am Meiri. We are in your care, then." The blonde woman bowed her head a bit, and then finally moved to the pools to undress and join the others in the bath. Some of the women seemed to be teasing Gem about being willing to undress from everything else but her mask, but Gem was joking back at them offering comical excuses breaking the women into more relaxed laughter.

Things were looking good, but Vera had a lot to think about. They now had a lot more people at the Hive site, but that also meant they had more to lose if things went badly. Dain would know this too, they had become his responsibility when he brought them here. He would try his best to keep them fed and safe, but the talk about rallying under his banner did make Vera wonder just how things would turn out. Especially if Dain did succeed in destroying Ravenrock's tyranny.

OxOxO Dain OxOxO

Dain sighed heavily as he leaned against the extractor's side brushing his fingers against its surface. Gently caressing the carapace, feeling the life beating within the structure, the living creature the size of a house carefully enriching the ground while also pulling materials from it, it was like a forester to his woodcutters, tending to the land while partaking from its bounty. His swarm was not parasitic as much as symbiotic, but their fierce look was a necessity for their survival. Cute and cuddly wasn't a survival mechanism.

"The orders to form a standing army for the Swarm, and seek to always restore any fallen back to life as swiftly as possible, that's not a bad idea really." He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking about it. That would mean that his swarm would keep an army at ready and expand to be able to handle the upkeep, and it would mean more overlords to control that army. It would take a few days, he already had what remained of the army that had marched against the slavers, and the outpost he had left behind would be on its own for the moment, with the token guards to keep the place relatively safe until they could spawn their own warriors. Of course, he was happy to note that as long as his primary hive complex had the core complexes like the spawning pool and evolution chamber things would still work in the outposts, but he did consider creating a new spawning pool there as well. If nothing else, it would speed up the production at that location as well.

"The sheer numbers though." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Three hundred zerglings, fifty roaches and hydralisks each, and another fifty banelings just in case. Seven overlords just to have some excess to take over in case he lost some in battle. All in all, that would take a while to create. He had half the hydralisks he needed, about a third of the zerglings he needed, and not nearly enough roaches for what he needed. There was also far less overlords than what he would need to carry out that plan.

With a sigh, he resigned himself to spending a few days simply commanding new forces to grow. Lily had been a costly creation as well, but now that he knew the base formula he could create a few sisters for her, and send them forth to lay the ground-work for his attack against Ravenrock. Yet he hesitated. Lily would gladly face death if it proved her loyalty to him, because death was a mere setback for his forces. Still, he wasn't keen on sending her to harm's way, knowing that the failure could be painful even if it wasn't true death for her.

"Brother, do you have a moment?" Vera's voice brought him out of his depressing thoughts, and he waved to her before nodding his head. "Sure. Pull up a seat." He pat the ground next to the extractor, leaning his back against the tough surface feeling it yielding just enough to make him comfortable. He waited for Vera to sit down and then gently wrapped an arm around her, hanging over her shoulder.

"So what's on your mind princess?" He teasingly commented, earning a brief scowl from Vera, which only sent him into a short chuckle. "Sorry, sorry. Can I do something for you?" He smiled, trying a bit more politely and watching her fidget a bit in turn. Tilting his head curiously Dain watched her.

"I spoke a bit with the women that were in the cages with mom. One of them made a good point, they've been kept in cages and locked away in a basement of some dungeon for a while, they would prefer to keep closer to the sunlight now. So ah, they were wondering if they could stay on the surface in the tents unless its an emergency?" The question she spoke a bit hesitantly for others earned a gentle pat on her shoulder from Dain.

"Of course, I am not going to try and force them in the Warrens, but they would be safer. Still, as long as we are not under attack they can stay on the surface. I may need to expand some of the hive to the grounds their tents are set up at right now, but that wont be right away. In the meanwhile, they are free to stay there if they so choose." He was still a little surprised they had all come with him. Perhaps they really didn't have anywhere else to go, and Ravenrock seemed that bad as an alternative.

"The woman I spoke with about this also wondered how you got these beasts of yours and how we knew to expect you to arrive with a group. I tried to answer honestly, as far as I know. She then wanted to know what you plan on doing with them." Vera's nervousness showed. She had told them about Dain, and she wasn't sure if Dain was too glad about that. The small frown on his face did make her feel a little worried, but he gently pet her hair rather than getting angry.

"I would have preferred they thought I had just sent a message ahead, they don't need to know just how powerful the swarm is, after all. At least they are choosing to stay, if they walked out with that information they might get smart and start hunting with scouts ahead of them to take out my own scouts so they could move in their forces while mine are blinded." He frowned at the thought, but considered it something to worry about a lot later.

"I have a few thoughts in my head though. I think I'll have to set up some artillery later." His words earned a confused look from Vera. Then again, they had nothing like that in this world. "Siege weapons, of sort." He tried to explain. It was a little easier concept, though Vera still looked a little confused. "The only walls around here are your own, and building that siege stuff here this far from Ravenrock would make it slow and probably a bit difficult to get them all the way to Ravenrock later." Her comment was quite accurate again, but Dain pet along her hair gently as he chuckled.

"Believe me, the kind of things I have in mind would not be used against a city like Ravenrock. Too easy to hit someone innocent with weapons like that. However, I could try and set some up within the hive, to help take care of advancing enemy forces from a distance." That would probably only serve to weaken the enemy, but if he could imitate some form of spore-launchers to bombard an area with something about as explosive as banelings he could certainly demoralize any foes that would survive such onslaught and hammer them down before unleashing the zerglings upon them.

He wouldn't use that kind of a tactic where civilians might be hurt, but against an army of talents or an army of protoss he would not hold back. On that thought, he should probably prepare some spore crawlers just in case as well, to help protect his hive in case the protoss would manage to acquire flying forces sometime soon. Another thought sparked from that, the flying zerg would certainly come in handy. He had a feeling he needed the hive beforehand however, and that limited him down somewhat.

"So it would be used to defend this place rather than invade another? I think the queen would gladly help you with that, and Gem too. Oh, and while you were gone, Gem and I spoke with the Queen and she had the forces here capture a few beasts in the forest alive into nets made from some sticky resin." Vera's excitement showed as she suddenly recalled the big surprise. Dain smiled, petting her head gently and nodding his head approvingly. "I am very pleased with that, the Queen and I can see if we can make the swarm stronger by that. Where are they though?" He looked around a bit confused, before Vera chuckled.

"The queen didn't want living foes wandering loose in the hive cluster, so they're trapped within a pit with a small earthen wall around it, outside the complex. Even if they broke loose they'd still have to cross the main gates to get here to attack anyone. Though the queen did bury two banelings she mutated while you were on your way back, and left them waiting under the entrance to the pit. If something tried to sneak out, they'd blow the whole place." She nod in a proud fashion.

"My sister the head-huntress." He ruffled her hair while laughing, earning a short punch on his arm and a smirk from Vera. "I want to do my part. The Swarm went to get mother back. They helped you and me survive as Ravenrock's cronies came looking for Gem and anyone else they might run into. They defend us against those gold-armored foes that dissolve in death. I think we owe a lot to the Swarm." She spoke in a gentle tone towards the end, and Dain gave her a brief, tight bear-hug at that, smirking proudly.

Vera wanted to help, and be part of things. She had her own motivations, but she shared empathic link with the swarm to a sense, and he had a feeling if she wasn't part of the hive-mind yet in some partial manner at least, she soon would. Yet she seemed strong willed enough to handle it, and the talent she had within her was maturing swiftly, the empath powers she possessed were unlike the aspected, tightly bound 'magic' of this place, but true psychics. Perhaps that was another part of the gift the Swarm had given him, and perhaps her.

She didn't fight it, instead clinging to him tightly. Relief of seeing him back safe, and seeing her mother again, she wanted to have her brother stay with them a while at least before he would head off. Dain in turn needed to be reminded of what he was doing it all for. Why he was fighting in the first place. He needed this kind of reaffirmation of who and what he was, beyond just the Patriarch of the Swarm, he needed to remember the people he cared about.

The thoughts of those slavers and their gruesome ends disgusted him when he thought about the fact that he had slaughtered them so mercilessly, but at the same time he reminded himself of the cruelties they had inflicted on others, and the fact they had become puppets to someone else already. He still felt bad about it, and in a way, that reminded him to consider his actions carefully. He would destroy those that stood in his way, but he would not raise a fist against a civilian, he would defend himself but he should not walk the dark path and revel in the slaughter despite the strength he had gained. He needed to remember what it was for.

"Thank you." He gently whispered, kissing her forehead and brushing her cheek with his hand once more, then nodding. "Lets go see mom." He squeezed her hand in his, and began to get up. Silently nodding and joining him Vera walked with him towards the tents.

OxOxO Lily and Queen (Sarah) OxOxO

"Are you sure that its the right choice?" Lily asked a bit concerned, but Sarah nod her head seriously. Standing a fair bit taller than Lily, her hand brushed the pulsing wall of the evolution chamber's newest occupant. "He will be pleased when this is over. It will take a little more time but I am confident he will approve."

Lily frowned somewhat while gazing at the chrysalis that was slowly throbbing, attached to the wall. The life within was evolving and soon it would be time of its birth. Lily herself had only been in this world for a little while, her mind awakening in the arms of her Patriarch, clothed and welcomed by the one most important to the swarm. She felt a little jealousy in her, both at the Queen and the newcomer still resting within the Chrysalis.

She was aware of it and it was definitely under control. She wouldn't act on the jealousy but it baffled her, she was supposed to be completely dedicated to protecting the Patriarch, the Swarm, and the Hive, in that order, but at the same time she felt worried that she had more than a mere human form. Perhaps it would clear up in time. It was just as important for Dain to spend time among other humans as it was for the Swarm to gather and let themselves bask in the calming music of the hive-site. The hatchery's song, echoed by the overlords, was a melody that set them at ease, and let them allow their minds to wander and enjoy the warmth of shared light within the hive-mind.

There were still many that would threaten them, and one such threat had dared to try and rip the Patriarch's mind from the Swarm. They wouldn't permit it. The Swarm would find this Shaper and once he or she was found, the Shaper would find the Swarm was more than capable of dealing with threats, and underestimating them as mere 'pets' would be a quick path to oblivion.

All in the service of the Patriarch of course. They would keep an eye on the women he had brought with him, protecting them and making sure they would feel welcome. They would deal with any threat that dared come closer to their borders. They would spread forth and grow in numbers, and with their Patriarch's lead, they would unite this world eventually under one 'banner'. They would all be part of the Swarm and its followers. Those who would resist would not matter for long, the Queen thought to herself silently. As long as someone was willing to aim a weapon at their Patriarch, the Swarm would fight.

OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO

Quick update with chapter 26, since this was mostly discussions going on and a bit of general downtime. Some planning of the future going on, and a bit of thinking of what to expect in the future.

ChaosKitsune, that was an amusing reply to read, a lot of thought in that review. I enjoyed reading all the reviews and they do keep me going, but seeing a reply that carries on to chat like that can make me wonder as well, from time to time. So its a delight to see such.

I'm not going to spoil much on how Dain develops along the way, but he is going to have to take up more Zerg into his being as time goes forth, the concept of some removable armor doesn't really fit that well though, although if it was something that 'deploys' upon him from his own form, it might pass as a living extension of him. I am afraid I am not familiar with Guyver though.

The Queen and Lily are both interesting characters to write, and I try and keep in mind they're both touch alien, touch human in their outlook and mind. As you said, Lily takes on more human traits than the Queen does, but both of them ultimately carry some.