The usual disclaimer: Starcraft & Warhammer 40K are not mine. I make no money off this...

Reply to Aklyte's review: Thanks for the heads up. I flipped through the Tyranids Codex again and had a little thought about it. Zerg will evolve into larger, more ferocious creatures who can also use some technology.

Chapter 26

The Orks felt first real resistance when a hundred Zerglings struck from the side. The Ork Waaagh! had punched through most of the static defenses between the first destroyed colony and the Alpha Hive of the South. Unlike before, where a single Queen organized the defense of a single colony, the Matriarchs played a larger game. Their goal wasn't even the protection of the Alpha Hive. The Alpha Hive could be rebuilt, but the destruction of the Waaagh! would stop any more carnage. In order to delay the Waaagh! enough to mount a real defense, the five hundred Zerglings that went ahead were divided into five groups of a hundred Zerglings.

Guided by Overseer beyond the clouds, the Zergling taskforces made series of quick hit-and-run strikes, carefully eroding away at the exterior of the Waaagh!. At each strike, scores of Gretchens and Ork Slugga Boyz fell to the fast-moving Zerglings and their sharp claws. The Shoota Boyz fought back and fired their crude bullets at the Zerglings, but they could kill or wound only a handful of Zerglings at a time, and if an wounded Zergling is still alive and functioning to a degree, they would burrow underground, leaving no traces. While burrowed, the wounded Zergling would heal and burrow-move to rejoin its brothers.

As the Ork Waaagh! moved further north, the repetition and ferocity of these strikes began to increase, then different Zerg creatures began to join in on the strikes. Roving bands of Roaches burst forth from the ground and fired their deadly acids while Smokers hide their comrades. When the Orks moved to attack the Roaches, the Roaches would burrow-move to another location just as a Zergling strike force would hit the Waaagh! on the other side.

Warbands of Orks began to falter as the repeated strikes began to take toll on them. By the time Hydralisks and Mutalisks began to join the strikes, individual Ork Warbands were in disarray. Unable to withstand the increased attrition damage, the Warbands began to gather once more. Instead of moving in dozens of smaller yet faster Warbands, the Orks were now banded into three large groups, moving much slower than they would do in smaller groups.

The largest of the three groups was the Warboss Bugklaw's War Horde, numbering nearly two thousand Orks and several hundred Nobz. Bugklaws's horde had grown larger since the first battle, as more Orks came to join him in this new Waaagh!. The other two large mobs, led by minor Warbosses Skarskull and Badchoppa, also numbered nearly a thousand Orks each, and they stayed within a reasonable distance from Bugklaw, so that the Zerg' lighting strikes did not break the cohesion of their Waaagh!.

The Zerg's counterstrikes became more deadly and savage with each passing day. Ultralisks were seen, carving their way through scores of Boyz before burrowing underground and disappearing, which left the Orks in panic and frenzy, only to be showered with the spines of Hydralisks. When the Orks turned to attack the Hydralisks, Zerglings would pop out from the ground to hack and slash at the Orks. Then suddenly, the Zerg would burrow again, and disappear. Then about an hour later, Mutalisks would shower down their Glaive Wurms, and as Shoota Boyz turn their guns upward, Roaches would appear around them.

Whittled down by the ruthless and efficient strategy by the Matriarchs, who personally managed each set of strikes, the Orks began to falter in their steps. When the Waaagh! came to a crawling stop, the infighting began to show. Skarskull and Badchoppa, the two large Warbosses with enough Boyz under them to threaten Bugklaw, soon made a bid at the big seat. Boyz began to hack at each other with Choppas and loud sounds of Shootas were heard all over the Waaagh!. It was only the leadership and power of the Warboss Bugklaw that returned the Orks back under control.

"I da only WARBOSS!"

Roaring with rage, the huge monster of an Ork stomped his Power Klaw with a Nob's head held tightly in the grip. The Power Klaw was fused with Hydralisk claws, making it more deadly than the average Warboss' Power Klaw. The Power Klaw was on his left hand, and on his right hand, the Warboss carried a large bladed-mace made from the claws of Roaches. Eight Roach claws were positioned in a circle, and anything that got hit by this weapon would surely die.

With Shootas mounted on his shoulders, the Warboss Bugklaw charged toward the Warboss Badchoppa, the Ork who dared to challenge him. Ork Boyz were fighting Ork Boyz all around them, and the Warboss Bugklaw slammed his bladed-mace at the Warboss Badchoppa. Badchoppa blocked the attack by grabbing a Boy nearby and throwing it at the attack. Then Badchoppa lifted his giant scimitar and slashed at Bugclaw only to have his weapon caught by Bugklaw's Power Klaw. The rebellion was quickly put to an end with the blade-mace turning Badchoppa's head into a mush.

Yet, the devastation of the civil war made an impact on the advance of the Ork forces. They had come to a complete stop. Though Badchoppa was quickly put to death by Bugklaw, Skarskull was still alive and kicking. The two sides waited for the other side to make the move. As this was happening, Matriarchs positioned their forces to surround the Orks. The ability to burrow-move gave the Zerg incredible stealth capability to position the troops into perfect ambush sites even amid the enemy forces.

By the time Bugklaw tore through Skarskull's waist and cleaved him in two, the Zerg were ready to make a really substantial strike against the invading Ork forces. The steady stream of Ork reinforcements from the jungles in the far south had been severed. Small convoys of Orks made up of mere scores of Boyz and Gretchens were nothing to the Hydralisks and Roaches in perfect positions. Without further reinforcements, the infighting had weakened the Ork forces enough for Zerg to attempt this gamble.

Zerg popped up from the ground all around the Ork horde. The air was thick with acid and spines, and the Orks rallied to face the attackers, only to have the attackers disappear back into the ground. The Orks fired their Sluggas and Shootas at the ground in a futile gesture, but the only answer was another group of Zerg popping up on the other side of the Ork forces. Nobz screamed at the lesser Orks to turn and attack the new attackers. So, the Orks turned around and rushed to the other side.

This time, another group of Zerg appeared on a totally different direction. The Orks changed their heading and moved to intercept, only to have them disappeared and another group of Zergs appearing somewhere else. This game of wac-a-mole was a devastating strategy concocted by the Matriarchs in facing an enemy whose number and ferocity was equal or greater than the Swarm. After a while, even the relentless Orks began to tire and they grumbled and complained at not being able to kill the 'bugs'. Instead, the Orks had suffered rather incredible casualties. Hundreds of Orks and many of the Gretchens had fallen.

Then the Patriarchs moved in. Three large groups of Zerg, including Ultralisks, and consisting mostly of Roaches and Hydralisks, exploded from the ground and launched a synchronized attack on the Ork horde. Led by Patriarchs and their incredible combat ability and their superior tactical assessment, the assault groups of the Zerg made a devastating strike against the Ork horde. Ultralisks tore through the green wave like an oil tanker parting the waves. Blood rained upon the Orks as the mighty Kaiser Blades encased in Psi Blade simply sliced their way through the tough muscles and thick skins and bits of armor.

Roaches followed closely behind the Ultralisks, their axe-like claws making large dents in the Ork ranks. There were simply too many Orks for the range attacks to be useful, so the Roaches simply hacked their way into the horde. Behind them were Raptors led by Velociraptors cleaning up behind the Roaches, slaying wounded but surviving Orks. Hydralisks remained behind, slowly moving in a line formation, firing their deadly spines at any Orks they encounter. With the Hydralisks were the Patriarchs.

The Patriarchs were truly terrifying creatures in combat. Their four deadly claws, made clear kills with each strike, the powerful psionic energy encasing their claws being more powerful than that encased the Kaiser Blades of the Ultralisks. The simultaneous firing of spines also made short work of Shoota Boyz who dared to turn their crude guns at the Patriarchs. The most devastating attack by the Patriarchs was the Psionic Storm. They let those loose among the highest concentration of Orks.

Explosion of psionic energy that culminated in terrifying lightning storms tore through the Orks. Their brains exploded as their primitive brains could not handle the overloading of synaptic impulses between neurons. Their spines became bloated as the nerve cells in the spine began to cook and boiled the spinal fluid within seconds. Within seconds of Psionic Storm passing over them, Orks died in scores if not hundreds. Then, as if this was only a diversion, the Patriarchs retreated, their forces going underground and removing themselves from the battlefield.

~Wow... that was really good. Nice hit-and-run attacks, then surrounding them and playing a wac-a-mole that the slow Orks could not handle.~

I was quite impressed with the strategies and tactics employed by my Patriarchs and Matriarchs. In a series of brilliant moves, they had turned this war around. Though the Ork horde still numbered thousands, and there were possibly a lot more in the jungles of far south, it was still a significant achievement. Not only did the Ork horde stop in its track, the infighting and this counterattack bought me enough time to birth Alena in her new body.

Though I had been focusing greatly on the war in the far north and the invasions of southern human realms, I did spare some thoughts on Alena. I was greatly disturbed by Alena kissing me. I no longer hand such human feelings as lust or love, at least not as humans feel them. The problem was that Alena should not be feeling such emotions either. While her original body was still mostly human, the slow infestation had taken roots in both her body and mind.

Her psyche should be more Zerg by now, but that kiss made me suspicious, particularly since I found the incredible psychic potential locked within her. Fortunately, by the time I commissioned her new body, I understood why she kissed me. I had to check and recheck the data, but eventually, I realized what had happened. It was her puberty.

Although her body was in a form of stasis, I had allowed her original body to grow a bit so that the infestation would grow along with it. The problem was that the infestation had accelerated her growth as well as her mutation. By the time the infestation had taken root and no longer needed accelerated growth, her body had gone through puberty. Her last remaining human organs pumped out hormones that her small body could not effectively process, influencing her a lot more than I had expected.

The kissing encounter had been at that time, so her emotions were greatly disturbed. I wondered if she would regain humanity if her original body gets pregnant. However, I was not willing to sacrifice Alena to my scientific curiosity. Even if it was a very tentative one, she was still my last link to my humanity, now fading away except for all the memories, ingenuity and originality. I even felt that my ingenuity and originality was slightly weakened by my slow loss of humanity. I decided that I needed a little humanity to keep those positive aspects alive so that I and the Swarm may grow and evolve and adapt to this hostile universe.

The evolution of the Swarm was continuing unabated. We were relentless in our pursuit of survival through constant evolution. One of the more recent developments in our evolution was about the size our biggest units. Though Ultralisks have grown a little larger, I expected that they are neither strong enough nor large enough to counter some of the more scary creatures and vehicles that we may expect once we begin to spread throughout the galaxy. Even the creatures like Hydralisk, which was once thought as an epitome of Zerg evolution, was now found wanting. I needed to renew the Swarm in such manner that we can stand our ground against any enemy and eventually defeat them.

The Hydralisks were already in the process of becoming stronger. New strains of Hydralisks with tougher carapace, faster movement speed and stronger attacks as well as having abilities were being researched by my sentient units. Modified Defiler DNA and Queen DNA had been mixed to create Evolution Masters, a tentative title given to a character 'Abathur' in 'Heart of the Swarm'. Of course, it wasn't the same creature, but I managed to give them enough intelligence to make them work as scientists for the Swarm. Scores of them made a colony near the volcanic regions at the end of the peninsula so that the supply of catalysts from volcanic gas. Dozens of Evolution Chambers and several Spires and Greater Spires as well as couple of every genetics buildings were constructed so that my Evolution Masters would be free to experiment.

One of the more promising evolutions under research was the new and improved Hydralisks. Though the cost and build time would remain the same, the new strain would have tougher carapace with soft gelatin like layer right beneath it, allowing the Hydralisk to ignore kinetic concussions. This would allow a Hydralisk to charge through bombardments without being knocked over. The tiny legs along the lower part of the Hydralisk also gained little hooks with a bit of Psi Blade, allowing the Hydralisk to climb over cliffs normally thought impassable. These were but some of the evolutions to be applied to Hydralisks, and with their spines and claws still being researched for greater lethality, I was hoping to replace the old Hydralisks with the new strain within a couple of months.

What really worried me in encountering real versions of the factions in this galaxy were some of the larger enemies, and I mean literally 'large' creatures. Space Marines' Dreadnoughts were one thing but Land Raiders were another. I simply thought that taking out a Land Raider, particular when encountering a large group of well-armed Space Marines, would be futile with lesser creatures, and we would still suffer grave casualties even with Ultralisks. The Imperial Guards had the Baneblade and the other super heavy tanks, while other Imperial factions had their own super heavy units, including Titans of Mechanicus, Living Saints of the Sisters of Battle, Dreadnights of the Grey Knights. The Chaos had their large creatures including Chaos Dreadnought, various lesser daemons, and the most dangerous of their rank, the Greater Daemons of Chaos. The Necrons had their own things, such as their infamous Monoliths. Orks were well known for some of the larger vehicles and creatures. Nobz were huge, and they had Gargants. Tyranids were worst of all.

Except for the smaller creatures like various types of gaunts and Genestealers and such, the rest of the Tyranids were massive. Lictors towered over the Space Marines, and the Space Marines were already big. Even though Zerglings, Roaches, Hydralisks and every other Zerg creature had grown large since the last Great Evolution during which the new Overmind went into deep meditation. The Raveners were also as large as, or slightly larger than Space Marines, and the Tyranid Warriors were also as big. It was even possible that a normal Ultralisk may be fought on equal terms against three Tyranid Warriors rather than a Carnifex. Perhaps Omegalisks could fight a Carnifex on equal terms, but that was only a suspect. This understanding came after the encounter with the Chaos Marines, which finally got me an idea of the scale. If a Space Marine was so big and tough, then their enemies must be equally as powerful.

With that in mind, my Evolution Masters continued to research ways to make my Swarm greater and more powerful than ever before. I, on the other hand, returned my focus to the three wars on this world. I stopped the reinforcements to the south, letting the Patriarchs and Matriarchs to deal with the surviving Orks with troops they already have and supplied from nearby colonies. The troops from the peninsula's colonies were redirected back to the three commanders assaulting human realms. My personal focus returned to the far north, where the three-way war continued unabated.

"ATTACK!"

"For the King!"

Three hundred well-armed pikemen, each protected by steel plate-mail on their chest and thick leather armor around their shoulders and arms, charged forward. They were the Steel Spears, a battalion of men who rose to fame through their most impressive records in this war. They had managed to survive the initial horrors before the strategy was changed. Then they managed to fend off the crazed cultists and held a hill-fort for three days and nights until reinforcements arrived. They continued to fight and won, driving back many enemies along the western flank.

The pikemen were the core of the Steel Spears, commanded by now-famous Sir Cravan a man who managed to kill one of the Chaos Marines, though none knew how he did it. He continued to lead his men to victory, though the casualty was high. Officially a regiment, the Steel Spears was usually maintained at battalion strength due to constant casualties. Their spears were sharp and under the command of the young, ambitious and talented knight-colonel, the Steel Spears Regiment continued to drive back the cultists, whose Chaos Marine commanders were mysteriously assassinated hours before the fighting. Without their terrifying masters, the warbands of cultists fell swiftly to the determined pikemen.

The three hundred pikemen grimly marched forward, stabbing at the cultists with their long and deadly pikes so coated with blood that the whole of the blade was red. Though they outnumbered the three hundred pikemen by four to one, the cultists continued to fall back as their morale was broken. Then another three hundred pikemen appeared behind the cultists, blocking the escape. Then with thunderous gallop, a hundred heavily armored knights on massive mounts charged headlong into the flank of the cultists with their sharpened lances skewering several enemies at once.

These knights had gathered from all over the Kingdom to join the brave Sir Cravan to fight against the 'evil and daemon-loving rebels'. The fame of Sir Cravan was the work of the King's council who needed a figurehead to rally the soldiers. Upon the advices from several lesser nobles and a couple of counts, Sir Cravan was given the position of Colonel in the army as well as being made an Earl. This was combined with various propaganda campaigns to boost the morale of the King's Army. With Sir Cravan continued to drive back the 'rebels', the King's forces rallied once more. While the actual war was still a stalemate, the morale of the King's army continued to rise.

The rising morale of the King's Army was not the only problem faced by the forces of Chaos under Judanus. The loyalist Space Marines had mounted a brazen assault against the Chaos forces. Though they were vastly outnumbered in terms of Space Marine numbers, the loyalists worked together in a concerted effort to bring down the servants of Judanus. On the other hand, the warbands in the employ of Judanus were fragmented and infighting was as common as battles against exterior forces. Controlling them with enticement of bloodbath and the threat of powerful sorcery under his command, Judanus had managed to bring forth nearly fifty different warbands, though all of them were very minor warbands and renegades who were cast out by greater forces of Chaos.

Using the few remaining vehicles, the loyalists mounted a typical Space Marine warfare when fighting a war with limited number of allies. Using the support troops and heavily armed knights of Verin to clean up after them, the Space Marines of the 'Hands of Sorrow' made lighting fast strikes against key enemy positions, opening up a direct path toward the Tower of Enginseers, where Judanus resided. Although the only heavy vehicle they could muster was the Razorback, the presence of three Space Marine Bikes and a single Land Speeder had allowed the loyalists to mount speedy attacks.

Within the first month since the loyalists struck at the traitors, six Chaos warbands fell, their leaders torn apart by the loyalists. With the majority of the Chaos forces focused on the numerically superior King's Army, the Chaos warbands were hurriedly dispatched to block any path toward the Tower. Four new warbands, freshly summoned from the Warp Vault of Judanus, constructed fortifications along the road toward the Tower, and the loyalists tested the fortifications, only to be driven back by the ferocious attacks of Chaos Havocs of the Black Legion's splinter warband. Judanus had indeed risked much by bringing eight Chaos Marines within one warband, and adding other three, there were total of eighteen new Chaos Marines in the field.

Judanus was not worried as his plans were maturing well. He never really planned to allow the petty warbands to roam so freely upon 'his' planet. Yet, he recognized that he did not have enough Marines under his command to fully control this world or pound other warbands into submission. All he had, at the moment, were the eight pseudo-Rubric Marines he made from his former brothers and the Apothecary Lilgath. He commanded nearly five thousand crazed cultists of Tzeentch, but he knew that against Chaos Marines, the cultist warbands were meaningless.

He did have a plan to 'fix' the problem, however. The sixteen gene-seeds he had Lilgath harvest from the dead brothers had been cultivated within the clones. The clone vats to make more Servitors were now given a new purpose, and the muscular human clone inside the vats now carried nearly matured Space Marine organs. As for the potential recruits, Judanus selected the best among the young men among the cultists. They were pathetic, but he didn't really need their talent. All he needed was their souls. It would still be some time for the experiment to be completed, so for now, he needed to keep the warbands under control.

"Lord Judanus."

Judanus looked up from his throne. The throne was made from the skulls and spines of 999 potential psykers killed over nine minutes by nine different knives set upon nine different stones soaked in nine virgins' blood. Judanus had been blessed by Tzeentch for his deeds, and over the last few weeks, he had grown stronger.

His corrupted armor, the Mantle of Ever-Change, had grown into a strange form that resembled a Terminator Armor to a degree. The armor now burned even more brightly with blue flames of the Warp, and the chest piece of the armor now featured a daemonic face, whose eyes burned with bright Warp pyre. On his waist were two swords, Ga'huld, the daemon blade, and the Hell Blade, where Judanus had bound the original daemon owner of the blade into it. He now had a new weapon and a new helmet. On his left hand was a large Power Fist, now so twisted and corrupted that spiked tentacles were sprouting from the back of the fist. His new helmet had three long horns reaching high up into the sky, with a single ball of black lightning crackling between the horns.

"Speak, Lilgath."

Lilgath had changed as well. Though initially looking like an Apothecary that he once was, he now looked more like a blood-soaked mad-doctor. His left hand was fitted with modified Power Fist where the ends of fingertips were very long and sharp surgical knives. His helmet no longer looked metallic, but more bone-like and with wriggly muscle fibers dancing like salted worms. Though his shoulder pauldrons remained, his arms were bare, covered with metallic scale that slowly oozed blood.

"Blood Master has returned... but..."

"But?"

"But he has returned without his Disciple, or his warband... or his left arm."

The pitch black holes in Judanus's helmet suddenly flashed with deep purple fire.