-Chapter 26-
-Awakening Part 1-
Warm darkness surrounded a new mind. Its body surrounded by a liquid environment that was also held in a container. The new mind felt at ease as it floated in its liquid environment. As it rested the developing mind was filled with knowledge. It knew it was Zerg. Specifically a Cerebrate, a of the leaders of the Swarm. And the master of the swarm and its creator was the Overmind. Then the young mind stird in its gestation sac as it sensed a irresistible call. In moments the sac was pierced by sharp scythes from within and ripped open. Tearing it's way out of the cocoon the newly born Cerebrate blinked its eight orange glowing eyes as its environment came into view through blurry eyes still adjusting to the light. Before it was a great expanse like a hell scap of broken land mass and dark crusted magma fields. What normal land there not burning with heat was covered in creep and dotted by many hundreds of living structures. Milling about the expanseful hive clusters were countless Zerg of every type and in the sky were hundreds of zerg flyers ranging from the fast and agile Mutalisk to the Massive Behemoth.
The newly born Cerebrate raised its elongated multi-legged body bellowing forth a screeching roar that echoed for miles. Then an overwhelming yet not unfamiliar presence connected to the Cerebrates mind.
"Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind, the eternal will of the swarm, and that you have been created to serve me. Behold I shall set you among the greatest of my Cerebrates. That you may benefit from their wisdom and experience. Yet your purpose is unique. While they carry forth my will to the innumerable broods, you have but two charge's entrusted to your care. For I believe they may yet become the greatest of my agents and perhaps the key's to opening the path to a even higher and greater level of evolution for the Swarm. Even now they reside in their protective Chrysalis tended to by Abathur the evolution master of the swarm. He tends to the delicate process of ensuring that their ascendency into the swarm is complete and perfect. You must watch over the twin chrysalis and ensure that Abathur's work is not interrupted. Go now and keep my prize's safe. You may build your own hive cluster and seek the counsel of your Cerebrate brothers to learn and grow."
The newly born Cerebrate felt a sense of elation and purpose and quickly set about its work. Sensing that the Chrysalis was a few miles away the cerebrate rested on its many strong legs and started the journey to its charges. Raising over the crest of a craters rim the cerebrate spotted three figures in the center of the crater. One was a slug like zerg with several long spindly arms and the other two were the chrysalis in which the overminds prizes were. Making its way to Abathur and the two chrysalis's the cerebrate stopped observing the evolution master carefully injecting the two chrysalis with some green liquid.
"New born cerebrate. Do not disturb my work. Fulfill your purpose. Protect my life and the two chrysalis until transformation is complete." Abathur stated.
The young cerebrate just tilted its head not sensing much respect for this Abathur but it will fulfill its duty as commanded by the Overmind. Just as the young cerebrate raised its head up to consider how to create it's own brood a powerful presence connected to its mind. Now while this new presence was powerful it still paled in comparison to the Overmind.
"Greetings brother. I am Daggoth. The first cerebrate and the Overminds right claw. Forgive Abathur of his wording. It's best to leave him and his kind to their work as we have our own. Allow me to advise you on the process of building your own brood and hive cluster. Focus on your inner self and search for the genetic template of Creep."
The young Cerebrate did as instructed and soon found what it needed as the information flooded into its mind. Knowing how to create creep the young cerebrate lowered its body to the ground and exuded a gray purpale liquid from the many pours along its bodies many segments.
"Good. Now generate a few larva," said Daggoth.
Repeating the process the young cerebrate expelled several Larva. The semi armored and fanged worms squirmed about on the expanding creep carpet.
"Now order them to morph into drones." Instructed Daggoth.
Giving the order the larva slowly grew cocoons around themselves. The young cerebrate watched as the new cocoons grew and grew until bursting in a fountain of green fluids revealing Drones.
"Order them to gather minerals from the nearby hill."
Again following its elder brothers instruction the young cerebrate ordered its Drones to begin mining minerals from the hill. After a hour a large pile of mineral rich earth and rock was gathered in the crater. Following Daggoth's instructions further the young cerebrate morphed one of its Drones into a Hatchery.
"The Hatchery is the heart of any swarm colony. It spontaneously generates Larva, which in turn are used to spawn your various warriors and minions. It is also the only structure that can be morphed on open ground off of creep. Continue to grow and expand your colony."
After a few hours the creep produced from newly morphed creep colonies expanded to grow across the creator reaching up to its rim and beyond and five more Hatcheries were morphed as was several hundred Zerglings and Drones. Then the young cerebrate felt a slight pain in its mind and the connection to its brood weaken. It sensed Daggoth watching and through the hive mind felt that its elder brother wanted it to fix this problem on its own. Searching its library of genetic information the young Cerebrate found the Overlords essence ordering several of them to morph. Upon the Overlords hatching the strain on the young cerebrates mind went away and it felt its control over its brood was strengthened.
"Overlords provide additional control over your minions. As your brood grow's in number you must hatch more if them. Your own level of control and its limits will also grow as you do. But such limits can always be surpassed by Overlords. Queens also offer a more limited degree of control and have limited independence allowing them to manage your farthest hive clusters near or beyond you range of control for you. The swarm is more than just the few breeds arrayed before you. Create more structures to expand your broods diversity." Daggoth instructed and explained.
While Abathur continued to directly control and monitor the ascendancy of the two chrysalis's occupants the young Cerebrate expanded its hive cluster and brood. Creating many more, Creep colonies, Sunken colonies, Spawning pools, Extractors and Hydralisk dens. Many hours passed as the young cerebrates hive cluster grew and expanded as did its army. Then after a day another cerebrate introduced itself.
"Greetings, I am Zasz, I too am a cerebrate of the Overmind. It is pleasing to see a new brother join the swarm. The Terrans I gathered for the Overmind are progressing well I see."
"Terrans?" asked the young Cerebrate speaking its first words.
"The Terrans are a weak species compared to the Zerg," Daggoth explained. "But a rare few of them are gifted with psionic powers much like the Protoss."
"Our swarm has been at war with the Protoss empire for many solar cycles now," explained Zasz. "They have been useful in our swarms evolution through conflicted and war. But they are also the one race that we Zerg cannot gain essence from. Something about them or perhaps their psionics themselves prevents us from supping upon their essence and gaining the very psionic powers that they use against us."
"Psionics?" asked the young cerebrate.
"Psionics," started Daggoth. "are the ability to warp reality and destroy thy enemies. It is the one ability that we Zerg lack beyond our hivemind and the ability to open warp gates across worlds."
The young Cerebrate contemplated the words and meanings of its elder brothers.
"Zasz," Daggoth spoke. " What is your purpose here. Surely you have better things to occupy your time with?"
"I sensed a new Cerebrates life join in the swarm and wanted to see the new blood. Also I wanted to test it. Its material form must have surly stabilized by now. What say you cerebrate. Do you want to journey to a new world and test your brood."
"Zasz the young cerebrates purpose is to protect the two chrysalis. Not leave Char to fight pointless battles!" Daggoth roared chastising Zasz.
"I do not wish to interfere in the purpose the Overminds gave you young Cerebrate." Zasz stated ignoring Daggoth. "But a opportunity has presented itself as a group of terrans have started mining a world close to our territory. But not to close as to draw the Protoss fleets that prevent us from interfering. Daggoth I think it could be a good opportunity to test the young Cerebrates abilities and gain experience."
Daggoth grumbled disapprovingly. "It would endanger the two chrysalis for their ward to leave. But it would be valuable experience to learn what a real battle is like, even if there Terran opponents. If you choose to do this young brother then I shall open and maintain a warpgate so you may remain here while commanding your forces on the battlefield regardless of distance."
"I must protect the two chrysalis. But I can not do so unless I am strong enough. I wish to learn to fight. Better"
"Very well young Cerebrate. But before we begin you must evolve your Overlords with ventral sacs to move your army through the portal and establish a near hive cluster. "
Hours later the young cerebrate had morphed its first hatchery into a lair along with a evolution chamber, and using both evolved it's Overlords with Ventral Sacs, Pneumatized Carapace, Sensory Antennae and Flyer Carapace. Gathering his army the young cerebrate looked sky ward at the spiraling storm clouds above. A moment later the eye of the storm opened revealing a large landmass surrounded by volcanic pools of red and orange glowing magma flows, even more hellish then Char.
"Go forth."
At the young cerebrates order the fleet of Overlords flew up into the portal. The sky became the ground and the ground became the sky as the Overlords ridded themselves flipping over after passing through the portal.
The ground below the invasion force was a plateau surrounded by molten magma rising and falling in clockwork fashion around many other similar plateaus. The first thing the young cerebrate did was empty eight Overlords of their passengers before sending them to scout the area scattering in all directions. Most of what they saw was more volcanic landscape. Rivers of magma flows snaking around many plateaus like a burning network of filaments. But as they continued flying ever farther outwards the Overlords soon discovered a series of metallic towers off in the distance surrounding yet more artificial constructs and many small bipedal lifeforms going to and fro around them.
"That is the Terran base." stated Zasz. "Now prove that you are deserving of serving the Overmind young cerebrate."
The young cerebrate quickly recalled its Overlords as a hive cluster was already in its early stages of growth. In mere hours two hatcheries were completed along with spawning pools. Hydralisk dens and Spore colonies. Spreading creep colonies and creep beyond the plateau was pointless as the magma would recede and return covering the lowlands. The young cerebrate scrutinised the Terran base and its defenses advised by both Zasz and Daggoth as to the purpose of various buildings. After considering the environment and its enemies numbers and forces the young cerebrate gathered its Overlords and forces. Laden with many combat strains and Drones, two fleets of dozens of Overlords left the single plateau flying many miles to the east and west of the Terran base where more elevated plateaus were. There they landed and began creating two new hive clusters and once they were completed the young Cerebrate marshaled its forces in full.
While its two new hive clusters had been growing the young cerebrate observed the eb and flow of the tides of magma sending Zergling scouts through the lowlands whenever the magma subsided. Zerglings dashed over the still red hot rocky ground reaching the nearby high lands before the magma flooded the lowlands again. The Zerglings got as close to the Terran base as the young cerebrate felt comfortable and set the Zerglings in observational positions on all the highlands surrounding the Terran base. From these vantage points the young cerebrate saw what Daggoth called bunkers. These bunkers had Terran warriors inside providing them with both cover and extra defense. The young cerebrate also noticed a device on top of these bunkers but neither Zasz nor Daggoth had seen such before.
Considering a need to scout the enemy base and test its defenses the young Cerebrate decided it was time to attack with a probing force as Zasz called it. Waves of Zerglings rushed from one highland plateau to another during low tide. The young Cerebrate know not why the magma would raise and lower but it didn't matter as all focus was on the first wave as it engauged the Terrans. Dozens of Zerglings charged up a natural ramp arriving right in front of the base. The objects atop the bunkers swiveled at them unleashing a continues barrage of gunfire that was soon joined by rifle fire from the marines in the bunker. Ripping through the Zerglings in mere moments the rotating barrels of the gun turret smoked as they slowly stopped their rotation with a mechanical whining sound.
Seeing all this through the Zergling scouts eyes the young Cerebrate altered its plans. As it considered its next move and how to break through the Terran defenses the observing Zerglings on the surrounding plateaus took note of several craft raising up from the base with the words Kestrel written on their wings before they flew away at high speed. The crafts seemed to be a modified version of the Wraith from what Zasz advised but with the lower laser cannon removed and the wings longer and more aerodynamic in shape with two missile pods undereach. Seeing them as a threat to its hive clusters the young cerebrate doubled the number of Spore colonies it had and just in time to as one of the Kestrels turned in a tight curve flying directly towards one of the secondary hive clusters.
Many spore colonies opened fire but the Kestrel weaved in between the spores trajectories blitzing right over the hive cluster before turning back to the Terran base, this time going around the hive cluster. But as it did a barrage of even more spores tracked it catching up with every second that passed. Weaving side to side and launching various countermeasures the Kestrel attempted to lose the pursuing spores as it had done before. Yet their biological nature and the young cerebrates understanding of such things countered these defensive measures and the craft was destroyed just as it reached the Terran base. Anticipating the need for more forces the young Cerebrate sent two more waves of Overlords filled with Drones and Hydralisk through the warpgate Daggoth was keeping open. Over the course of half a day five more hive clusters were built while all of the young cerebrates hive clusters including its first on the planet Char continually pumped out more and more Overlords, Hydralisk and Zerglings. The Terrans had also been gathering their forces. But it seemed that they had yet to understand the full scale of their enemy.
Ten more of the Kestrels took off from their base flying straight to the secondary hive cluster the first had found. Yet they were not alone. Ten more Kestrels flew in from the north passing within visual range of the Overlords floating over one of the secondary hive clusters. Instantly realising that there were even more Terran bases across the planet the young Cerebrate decided to attack now before the Terrans could gather their full forces against him. All at once wave after wave of Zerglings and Hydralisk dashed over the burning lowlands in between the tidal surges of magma. Several of the Kestrels spotted the new Zerg formations diving down after them and launching volley of missiles. Hundreds of Zerglings and dozens of Hydralisk died in mere moments. But the young cerebrate adapted by having his forces spread out more lessening the casualties.
Instantly the lose rate dropped by 80% and the Hydralisk counter attacked downing seven Kestrels in a hail of spines. The surviving Terran craft retreated returning to their bases leaving the Zerg to move from one plateau to another until reaching the first Terran base. It was now much more heavily guarded with ten of the armored Terrans blocking of all entrance ways along with two of what Daggoth advised were Siege tanks. Knowing what they could do the young Cerebrate decided to halt his forces for the moment and called in his fleet of Overlords. Nearly two hundred in number now all of them surged forwards to the Terran base bypassing the magma flows below.
As if crossing a invisible line the buildings now known as Anti-air towers spun into life launching barrages of missiles. A dozen Overlords exploded pierced by the metal rods and creating a rain of meat and blood that was cooked on the magma below. More and more Overlords rushed to their deaths. Yet it was not a lose as the first two waves of Overlords were empty. They had been a distraction and a sacrificial shield for the other waves. Not all of the the Overlords in the third wave were all filled with ground forces which further lessened loses but also gave the possibility that some forces would be able to land. By the time all the overlords in the first and second waves were dead the third wave had reached the plateau and off loaded their cargo.
Zerglings and Hydralisk burrowed into the plateau carving their way through the hard rocky ground before erupting right behind the Siege tanks. Instantly they started carving through the armor of the tanks ripping through treads and armor plating. But the Terran marines quickly realised what was happening and came to the tanks rescue blasting the Zerg off the armored vehicles with single shot high power weapons that fired a spread of fragmentation ammo that ripped arms and chunks of torsos off Zerg at close range. Still several of the Siege tanks had been disabled by the attacks and more Overlords landed off loading more reinforcements that divided their attacks between the tanks and the anti-air towers.
Several Siege tanks were destroyed and the Terran defenders infantry forces were spread between protecting the gate and the anti-air towers as more Zerg landed every minute. The young Cerebrate knew this was the time and once the magma subsided again it launched all of its gathered forces surrounding the Terran base all at once attacking from the three paths leading into the base. The remaining Siege tanks opened fire as a literal flood of Zerglings and Hydralisk dashed across the lowlands and up the earthen ramps up the plateaus, the explosive shells killing many. The Terran defenses were still strong and as soon as the first Zergling got in range the Marines and Bunker gun turrets opened up with a torrent of bullets that ripped through the first wave that had gotten passed the Siege tanks artillery. Yet there were ever more Zerg behind those that had died in the first wave. Seeing its lose rate the cerebrate knew it needed to sow more chaos in the defenders ranks, so once the last wave wave of his forces were off loaded from the final wave of Overlords he ordered them to focus on the Bunkers and Marines.
All at once hundreds of Zerg burst from the ground and started ripping the Marines, Bunkers and their gun turrets apart. Several dozen Terran marines and several Bunkers fell to the second wave as the Zerg surged forward in their limited window and found the defenders even weaker than before. On the southern approach to the Terran base all the Marines fell to a volley of Hydralisk spines, and Zerglings ripped crewmen out of their tanks while the destroyed husks of bunkers smoked. Now with no defenders protecting it from the south the young cerebrate sent in another wave of Overlords to drop off reinforcements on the newly won beach head.
However jet engines roaring over head signaled the arrival of more Kestrels from the second Terran base to the north. They launched a volley of missiles downing half the Overlords. Hydralisk shot their spines at the high speed craft but missed them as they were far too fast and high for the Hydralisk spines to catch this time. Seeing that the Terrans could use this method to attack his ground and air forces with little fear of lose the young Cerebrate started sending out dozens of Drones and hundreds of Hydralisk to all the surrounding plateaus morphing them into Hatcheries, Creep colonies and Spore colonies. This created a wide buffer zone that would deter the Terran air forces if not destroy them out right. The Terrans launched yet more air to ground attacks with their Kestrels over the next few hours but not unscathed, as they took losses from Spore colonies. But by then the first Terran base lay in ruins having been long over run by overwhelming numbers of the swarm.
The only thing left to do was to eliminate the second Terran base and the mission would be completed. Consolidating his forces the young Cerebrate built a new hive cluster on the ruins of the Terran base after having a army of Drones scrap the buildings for minerals or to just get them out of the way for the new Hive cluster. Yet more Kestrels attacked the incomplete Hive cluster but few left Zerg controlled airspace. Now with a renewed army and a restored Overlord air force the young Cerebrate sent Overlords to scout the northern expanses followed by a slowly expanding network of Hive clusters defended by a army of combat breeds.
Only hours after starting the expansion northward more Terran Kestrels this time numbering two dozen entered detection rang at high altitude. At this position the Terran craft dropped hundreds of bombs. Two hive clusters were completely destroyed slowing the expansion to the north. But many others had been completed. More groups of Kestrels dive-bombed scouting Overlords ripping them to shreds with powerful ventral mounted gatling cannons.
Over the next few hours the young cerebrate and the Terran defenders continued this game of expand and attack as Terran aircraft ripped through more and more Overlord scouts and bombed hive clusters. The Terrans were forced to attack Hive clusters en masse or wouldn't have the firepower needed to take out a whole hive cluster all at once. But the defensive battle wasn't one sided as once in awhile as Kestrels were shot down by Hydralisk or spore colonies. The cerebrate was mainly focusing on expanding farther north which both expanded Zerg territory and increased his production capacity at the same time without endangering his core hive clusters. It was quit the boon to have Daggoth holding the warpgate open so the young cerebrate could expand his relatively small and young brood to a whole other planet other wise such a expansion would be impossible as the young cerebrate yet lacks the psionic might needed to communicate with his brood across star systems.
After half a day of continues fighting and expansion a small group of Overlords flew over a small mountain to the sight of a new Terran base twice the size of the first. It had many buildings numbering over a hundred and several formations of infantry and tanks at each of the four entrance ways along with a almost wall of anti-air towers ringing around the base. And in the sky were dozens of Kestrel fighters. But shortly after cresting the mountain the Overlords were fired upon by a unseen foe and in a few short moments were blasted apart.
"Terran Wraiths." Spoke Daggoth.
"They can turn invisible and fly through the void. Do not take them lightly young cerebrate." spoke Zasz.
Reconsidering his strategy in lieu of this new enemy unit the Cerebrate increased Overlord and Hyderalisk production. And with dozens of new hive clusters scattered across the region many hundreds could be morphed rapidly. A newly spawned army of thousands of, Zerglings, Hydralisk and hundreds of Overlords flew northwards making sure to stay in the range of Spore colonies of the hive clusters along the way. Half way into the march northwards dozens of Spore colony's sensed the approach of many invisible Terran craft. The Wraiths under their cloak had sought to blunt the approaching Zerg offensive. Sensing a opportunity the young cerebrate ordered the spore colonies to not fire on the approaching Wraiths and ordered the fleet of Overlords to split into three groups. One going east, one west, the last continuing north but swinging northeast in a curving path to the Terran base.
Shortly after words the Cloaked Wraiths did exactly what the young cerebrate expected and split up chasing after the three air fleets. It was moments later that the spore colonies held back from firing on the Terran craft violating Zerg air space opened fire all at once. Hundreds of spores filled the air and started tracking each and every one of the Wraiths. Pleased at his strategy the young cerebrate was rewarded by the sight of exploding Wraiths in the sky and their burning dabri falling onto the molten magma and Zerg creep below.
A few Overlords and their cargo had been lost to the Wraiths but the lose hardly put a dent in the air fleets numbers. Now the three airfleets converged on the Terrans main base all at once simultaneously with a thousands strong ground army that had been making its way north to join the attack. Rows of Terran Siege tanks deployed into their long range artillery modes at the edges of the plateau and began bombarding any Zerg that got in range. The young cerebrate countered by having the Hydralisk scatter in groups of three and Zerglings charge in line formation waves keeping a set amount of distance between each group as they crossed the lowlands. The young cerebrate experimented by having some of his forces burrow underground in the lowlands to see if they could stay safe from the rising and falling tides of magma but this only cooked the Zerg alive as the underground was nearly as hot as the magma and even when a few survived they were cooked through the ground when the magma surged back over the lowlands. The environment was bearly survivable even by Zerg standards already let alone land covered by magma.
Abandoning this line of strategy the young cerebrate instead focused on what it knew and could do. As with the first base empty Overlords charged at the second Terran base en masse. Swarms of missiles streaked through the air each piercing and detonating inside a Overlord. They died in droves as multiple waves each consisting of a hundred each charged into their deaths. The Terrans in their base could do nothing but watch as the long ranged tank artillery and anti-air systems did the fighting for them at least for now. But after a hour of near continues missile launches the number of Overlords dropped to half while the number of missiles being fired did as well. Seeing a crack in the anti-air defense the young cerebrate ordered a full charge of all his forces. In the air new waves of Overlords rose up from behind distant plateaus joining the ground forces in a consolidated charge.
Now having a job to do armored marines and bunker gun turrets came to life barking fierce roars and belching metal and fire as Siege tanks fired at the distant enemies rushing across the lowlands. Anti-air towers fired missile after missile at the fleet of air transports attempting to land more of their hostile cargo on the Terrans plateau. Minutes passed and dozens of Terran marines died while hundreds of Zerg lie dead perforated by gun fire, blasted by artillery, and burned by magma as they fell into the pools around the plateau as Overlords transporting them were shot out of the sky.
But as they pushed more and more the Zerg got closer and closer with each passing minute. Killed more Terrans every minute and gaining more ground. After a hour thousands of Zerg lay dead with hundreds of Terrans and many of their machines. Then a group of twenty Overlords landed on the plateaus edge off loading all of their cargo. Hundreds of Hydralisks craned their heads up at the anti-air towers unleashing a hail of spines that pierced their armor and caused missiles to prematurely explode. Ten anti-air towers were taken out all at once opening a huge gape in the Terrans anti-air defenses. The Hydralisk continued attacking more of the towers destroying another twelve of them before the bases internal reserve forces engaged them. The opening in the anti-air defense allowed another thirty Overlords to land dropping a army of Zerglings and more Hydralisk.
The new Zerg forces split into two groups, one aiding the first group of Hydralisk fighting the Terran reserve forces. And the second attacked the exposed rear of the marines and tanks guarding the western entrance. It was a massacre as Zerglings stabbed Terrans in the back, tearing open their armor and that of the tanks. In just two minutes every defender at the western entrance was dead, and the next wave of Zerg arriving from that direction poured into the base with nothing to stop them. The Teran reserve forces had been able to fight off the majority of the Hydralisk and their reinforcements but with this new wave they were broken. Men started running in panic and terror as a unstoppable onslaught began as Zerg blanketed everything in sight only for their short lived attempt to flee to be ended by a spine to the back or a bone blade to the chest.
Several large transport craft took off at the back of the base flying up and out of the atmosphere so fast that none of the Zerg could shoot them down. The young cerebrate ignored them as it had focused on ensuring its victory was complete and as it looked through the eyes of it's Zerglings searching through a Terran building it came across a display screen showing the planet with the name Redstone 3. A noise drew the attention of the Zergling to a closet along the wall. Focusing on its hearing the Zergling and the young cerebrate through it could faintly here the labored breathing of a Terran. Bearing its fangs the Zergling ripped into the closet quickly drawing blood and screams. Backing off the metal containers occupant fell out as the lock broke and a Terran Female with a large gash in her leg and shoulder lay on the floor bleeding. Her eyes were losing their light as her blood flowed on the metal floor. With the last of her strength she raised a pistol at the Zergling and fired only for the low caliber rounds to bounce off leaving only a small crack. The Zergling raised its bladed front legs and pierced the womens neck severing her head. Redstone 3 was a Zerg world now. Shortly after every Terran left on the plateau was dead and the business of dismantling the Terrans buildings was underway as armies of Drones landed on the next wave of Overlords and started ripping the base apart like the first.
"Well done young cerebrate." Daggoth congratulated. "This planet will make a excellent addition to the swarms pool of resources. You need only produce Queens to manage this planet in your stead until you become strong enough to maintain a connection to this world."
Feeling elated and proud at its accomplishment the young cerebrate now with some real experience ordered five of its hatcheries on Redstone 3 to morph into Lairs and quickly morphed Queen's nests on ten of its hive clusters. Fifty queens were rapidly hatched and their more advanced minds connected with the young cerebrate.
"Command us master," they spoke submissively.
"Mine this world for minerals and spread my brood across its surface. Destroy any and all invaders until I return."
"Yes cerebrate." the queens replied starting their work.
Before having the warp gate closed the young cerebrate had twenty Spires morphed and a small fleet of Mutalisks created. Then the warpgate closed as Daggoth and Zasz ended their aide.
"You did well young cerebrate." stated Zasz. "The world the Terrans called Redstone 3 will provide the swarm with new minerals and territory. And with the Protoss fleet returning to their own territory it will go discovered by them for the time being."
"But the Protoss have an unending supply of their Observers to scout astar systems surrounding our territory or theirs." said Daggoth. "Whenever we have attempted to aggressively expand beyond our current borders they have always countered with their fleets purifying any world we settle on outside this cage they have built, but foolishly believe truly containe's us."
"True Daggoth." the Overminds psionic voice boomed. "I am well pleased at your victory young cerebrate. And so long as my prize remains intact I shall remain pleased. Thus their lives and yours will be made as one. As they prosper, so shall you. For you apart of the swarm, If ever your flesh should fail, that flesh shall be made anew. That is my covenant with all cerebrates."
As the Overmind spoke a pulse of great psionic power burst from the two chrysalis quickly expanding across the whole of Char and beyond.
"Behold the power of that which is yet unborn! For the swirling images that flow forth from the two chrysalis are only a shadow of the sleepers true power."
"The psionic emanations of one have reached out into the depths of space and lured our enemies to us!" spoke Zasz. "Even now they come. But we prepared for their arrival and know of their plans as I have intercepted Terran transmissions while the young cerebrate fought the Terrans."
Memories of Zasz flowed into the minds of the Overmind, Daggoth and the young Cerebrate along with the image of a old Terran with a dark skin color in white armor.
"All right all squadrons close formation and scan for hostiles. General Raynor and the Emperor Valerian thinks that there may be Zerg out here, so it's our job to flush them out before reinforcements arrive. Double check your gear and ships I don't want us caught with our pants down."
The Overmind felt a mild sense of pity for the Terrans who had so unfortunately and ignorantly entered their territory. "Young Cerebrate engage the Terran forces with care. Your priority is to protect the two chrysalis at all cost."
"Yes Overmind." said the young cerebrate.
Though the young cerebrate had mostly expanded it's hives across Reddstone 3 it had not neglected its primary hive cluster on Char as it had three Lairs, twenty spawning pools, sixteen Hydralisk dens, two Evolution chambers, two Queens nests, dozens of sunken and Spore colonies, at least fifty creep colonies and six Spires, Its standing forces consisted of one thousand Zerglings, nine hundred Drones. five hundred Hydralisk, twenty seven Queens, two hundred Mutalisk and five hundred Overlords. A small army compared to the forces it had on Redstone 3 and other Cerebrates but sufficient for the moment.
The young cerebrate knew it needed more forces and information on the Terrans. To rectify this it split its forces between four groups. A force of Mutalisks and Overlords to scout the area to the north where the Terrans landed along with a seperate land force of Zerglings. The other two groups of Zerglings, Hydralisk and Drones with a escort force of Mutalisk will expand the hive cluster father north. And the last group consisting of Zerglings and Hydralisk in Overlords and Mutalisks will wait as a rapid response force just in case anything unexpected happens and to intercept any enemies that dare to get endanger the two chrysalis.
Both air and ground scout forces traversed the landscape in their own ways but unlike Redstone 3 the land mass of Char although volcanic was more uniform and lacking the plateaus and magma flows that dotted Redstone 3s surface. This allowed the Zerglings on the ground to nearly keep pace with the Mutalisk and Overlords. Both groups however arrived in visual range of the Terran base nearly at the same time. The Mutalisk from the east and the Zerglings from the south. With the date gleaned from both groups observations at long range the young cerebrate discovered that it was a larger Terran force than previously thought.
Making appropriate calculations it split and deployed its forth reaction force into two groups deploying half to the large open plain of volcanic rock between both its hive cluster and the Terrans. Soon after more Kestrels and Wraiths flew out from the Terran base on patrolling routes. Recalling its forces the young cerebrate didn't want to lose any of its forces in a pointless random encounter. But even with forewarning the Terran craft spotted the airborne Mutalisk and Overlords while the Zergling force burrowed. The Terran aircraft emitted a transmission to their superiors.
"Sky dagger to Home base we got Zerg air forces at twenty klicks at four o-clock from the base. Requesting permission to engage?"
"Permission granted sky dagger squadron."
Knowing what came next the young cerebrate recalled all of its Overlords from the scout force while sending all of the Mutalisk to attack the Terran air-force to keep them distracted and hopefully to do some damage if not destroy them. But things rarely go as planned even for Zerg. As the Overlords retreated and Mutalisk turned to engage the Terran aircraft five more Wraiths decloaked before unleashing a torrent of guided missiles. Seven Mutalisk exploded before they could even fire back and the rest scattered to avoid colliding with the Terran craft. The Kestrels and Wraiths opened fire together killing half the remaining Mutalisk. In seconds the remaining Mutalisk counter attacked.
The Terran air forces weaved around in circles dropping and ascending as they evaded the high speed living bombs that tracked them. The Overmind truly made the right decision to replace Glaive worms with a smaller variant of Scourges as they are far more maneuverable and destructive than their predecessors. Extending and bending their wings the mini-Scourges turned and maneuvered quickly catching up to the Kestrels and Wraiths enveloping four of them in a blossom of plasmatic light and fire. The rest of them turned around to retreat and the Mutalisk gave chase attacking continually. Through the eyes of the Mutalisk the young cerebrate watched as they were chased over black ash covered hills and into a valley.
Losing track of the Terrans as they dived into the valley the young Cerebrate had its depleted Mutalisks force split up. It was a good call as as soon as the second Mutalisk flew directly into the valley they were shot down by a barrage of missiles from behind. The second group of Mutalisk entering the valley from the western edge spotting the Kestrels hovering just below the valley cliffs and opened fire. The Kestrels all gunned their engines raising higher to avoid the incoming bio-missiles but it was to late. All of them transformed into burning wrecks of twisted burning metal. As the Kestrels fell into the Valley below, the Wraiths decloaked and attacked blasting the remaining Mutalisk into scourced corpses that joined the Kestrels at the bottom of the valley.
Over the course of the next few hours the young Cerebrate was frustrated more and more by the Terrans movements. It deployed a force of Zerglings to intercept a group of marines only to be blasted by artillery fire from Siege tanks miles away. In response the young Cerebrate sent a force of Mutalisk sweeping in from the west to take the tanks out only for them to be intercepted by a passing force of cloaked Wraiths. To counter this the young cerebrate started keeping Overlords that have been evolved with Antenna with its Mutalisk and Scourges. This seemed to work as in two more engagements in the air between its forces and the Terrans, the Terrans suffered more losses both times. But then things went downhill again as a large force of tanks and infantry marched slowly, carefully and directly to the young cerebrates main hive cluster.
Luckily the young cerebrate had completed groups of smaller hive clusters just north of its main hive cluster. Each with many spore and sunken colonies and a army of Zerglings and Hydralisk burrowed under the creep waiting in ambush. As the army of Marines and Siege tanks neared the defenses they stopped and waited a few miles away. Then a massive blast of crimson energy fell from orbit obliterating over a mile of the Zerg defenses in all directions. Greatly surprised at this sudden and unforeseen event the young Cerebrate was dumbstruck for a few key moments while the Terrans armored tanks moved up now encircling the Infantry as they advanced easily rebuffing attacks from the remaining Zerg defenders. The Terrans now had a open path to the main hive cluster and the Chrysalis.
Sensing the displeasure of the Overmind and the disappointment of its elder Cerebrates watching and who were ready to jump in should the need arrive the young Cerebrate thought quickly on how to rectify the situation. Then in a moment of desperation and near panic it had a moment of inspiration. Calling for all its Mutalisk and Overlords in the sky's around its main hive cluster the young Cerebrate split them into two trailing lines at the approaching Terrans. They spotted the Overlords and opened fire. Infantry C-14 rifles ripped into the Overlords hides but thanks to the Flyer Carapace evolution they survived a little more damage then they would have otherwise fallen to. The Terrans seeing that this was a full scale attack formed into firing lines that could put their full firepower into the approaching Overlords.
The sky became filled with tracer fire and falling Overlord corpses as their perforated bodies fell across the plain below partly clogging the Terrans path to the main hive cluster. After half a hour and over a hundred dead Overlords covered the black flat plain leading to the hive cluster the Cerebrates real counter attack started. Terran tanks slowly pushed through the Overlord corpses aside creating a more open trail for the infantry and moved slowly but with a awere sense of danger. They didn't realise that they had already fallen for the trap. As the Terrans reached the center of the field of corpses the young cerebrate gave the order and all at once hundreds of Zerglings and Hydralisk erupted from all around them and with a ferocity rarely seen before ripped through the Terrans, tearing marines in half and disabling Siege tanks in short order.
It was a simple trap but one that was quite effective. The Overlords were empty as they fell dead from the Terrans gunfire but as the ground became littered with their bodies the young cerebrate sent in waves of Zerglings and Hydralisk into the field using the bodies as cover and burrowing under the bodies of the dead Overlords. The Overlords would also make sure the air space was clear of cloaked Wraiths and became cover for the ambush obscuring the line of sight of the Terrans. However even with the successful ambush the Terrans looked like they would survive if only barely. To make sure they all died a reserve Mutalisk force were sent in from two different directions. What remained of the attack force was annihilated to the last man and tank.
With the main immediate threat taken care of the next objective was to find out what had blasted apart the defenses. It obviously came from orbit. The best way to find out was to use the Mutalisk and Scourges and now knowing that a threat was in orbit the young cerebrate started spawning even more of of them then before. As it spawned vast swarms of them the young cerebrate also rebuilt its defenses and remembering the force of Zerglings it had left burrowed close to the enemy base it now saw that now was the time to use them. The few hundred Zergling burst from the earth making a mad dash to the Terran base. Simultaneously a massive wave of over two hundred Mutalisk and Scourges flew to join them but this was but one third of their full number. The main force of four hundred Scourges and Mutalisk and accompanied by seventy Overlords rose up out of the atmosphere to meat the threat in orbit.
It was there that the Cerebrate through the Overlords senses detected a Terran fleet currently fighting the broods of both Daggoth, Zasz and a few other Cerebrates. The closest ship and the only one pointing down at the planet had a name painted on its side reading Hyperion. Realizing that this ship was the source of the defeat on the ground the young cerebrate knew that it had to be destroyed or forced to retreat before a successful attack on the Terran ground base could succeed.
Though its experience in space warfare was severely lacking the young cerebrate knew enough to arrange all of its Mutalisk into wall formation allowing them to all attack at once. While the Mutalisk continually fired at the Hyperion. The Mutalisk split into two waves flying in a five layered thick wing formations as the Hyperions laser turrets opened up blasting the attacking Zerg with fire and fury. Even as they died in the void more of them were spawned on the planet below and a near continues wave of Mutalisk and Scourges bombarded the Hyperion. While on the ground the last of the Zerglings, Mutalisk and Scourges sent to attack the main Terran base were finally wiped out but not before doing extensive damage to the anti-air and infantry defenses of the Terrans.
It would be awhile until they recovered and posed a threat again while the young cerebrate would be able to pour all of its remaining resources into the attack on the Hyperion.
"Cerebrate, Be warned, The Chrysalis nears its time of hatching." Zasz warned. "Move it and Abathur to a more secure location. I and Daggoth will deal with the remaining Terrans here."
Feeling somewhat annoyed at not being able to finish off the Terran ship the young cerebrate exclaimed a mental sigh. But knowing its purpose complied. From its vantage point at the crater rim the young Cerebrate called two Drones and a small fleet of Mutalisks and Overlords filling the latter up with a army before skittering down the creator on it's many legs to Abathur and the two chrysalis he tended.
"Were moving to a safer location." the young cerebrate projected to Abathur.
The evolution master only nodded backing off from the Chrysalis as two Drones carefully picked them up and carried them into a waiting Overlord followed by Abathur. The young cerebrate followed from the ground as his fleet of Mutalisk and Overlords traveled much faster them him. But he knew where he was going. Less than a hundred miles north from the crater was a plateau surrounded by a static black crusted magma lake. Although it lacked the raising and falling tied behaviour like the flows on Redstone 3 it was a secure location that was easily defendable from any land attack and it already had a small hive cluster on it with a pool of minerals.
The trip for the Mutalisk and Overlords only took ten minutes while the young cerebrate took a hour at full speed. By the time he reached the plateau his forces had already reinforced the hive cluster with concentric rings of sunken and spore colonies. The plateau was quite large but its outer ridge line and the area around the hive itself both had spore and sunken colonies around them creating a overlapping defense screen for both air and land forces that would have to be airlifted onto the island.
The young cerebrate itself could not reach the plateau but knew it didn't have to with the hive mind. Buts its still a good idea to be prepared. Looking up the young cerebrate saw the second wave of forces sent to reinforce the defenses with the creation of a second base.
"Cerebrate" called Zasz. "Terran landing craft are dropping to the surface around your new position. You must defend your position and the chrysalis."
"These to will be eradicated by your hand cerebrate." the Overmind commanded. "For you grow more cunning with each passing battle. In deed you are a testament to my will and the fury of the swarm.
The young cerebrate crayned its head to the southern sky as Terran drop pods and buildings fell in a controlled trajectory slowing their descent with pillars of flame to the plains south of the his hive cluster on the plateau.
The Overmind continued. "Yet you must stay your wraith, and watch over the Chrysalis a while longer. For the very hour of the sleepers rebirth is at hand, and soon my greatest creation shall be loosed on our enemies. Use your evolution chamber to evolve your Zerglings and Hydralisk. Seek the essence within yourself and you shall know how."
Acknowledging the Overminds wish the young cerebrate burrowed, itself keeping out of any direct fighting. Curious about the Overminds last message the young cerebrate connected to its evolution chamber back at its main hive cluster bringing up the essence of all available breeds and their evolution upgrades. It sifted through large amounts of date before arriving at a evolution regarding the spore colony and what was called a Spore Cannon Symbiote. The cerebrate became distracted by a local transmission the Terrans sent out.
"All right all crews stay frosty and keep your eyes peeled for our target. Remember were on the cloak and the fleet won't be able to hold the Zerg off indefinitely. Let's hope this trip wasn't a big mistake." a Terran male said. (Raynor)
Detecting through its Overlords that the Terrans were quickly completing their base the young cerebrate decided to use these symbiotes. Taking the essence from his evolution chamber and imbuing it into the hive cluster on the plateau through the hive mind a new larve morph became available.
With a blinding flash a dozen red beams shot out of the sky burning half the spore colonies to ash, (no doubt fired by Wraiths undercloak and at extreme range) Then the young cerebrates brood detected a swarm of missiles flying towards the hive cluster on the plateau. Spores and Hydralisks spines filled the sky line intercepting the majority of the missiles, but those that got through killed off the remaining spore colonies. Now greatly worried at intercepting the Terran aircraft the young cerebrate. Redoubled its efforts to replace the loses. But it also knew the new symbiote would be perfect for this moment. Giving the morph command to thirty larve the young cerebrate watched with anticipation as to what the symbiote would look like. Then after a mere five minutes the cocoons hatched revealing three long cylinder like creatures with bulbous sacs on their lower half along with a cluster of large tendrils.
From where the young cerebrate could see they looked somewhat like spore colonies only smaller. Remembering what the Overmind said concerning Zerglings and Hydralisk groups of them were called up to the symbiotes just as a wave of incoming Terran dropships entered detection range. Quickly hurrying his brood along all the symbiotes were mounted on the backs of the Zerglings and Hyderaliks,. One for each Zergling and two for each Hydralisk. The dropships entered range and started raining metal fury down on the Zerg below. But the Zerg returned in kind firing bullet like spore projectiles from their symbiotes. The spores zipped through the air impacting and penetrating the hulls of the dropships, exploding in a acidic blast that hollowed out the insides and killed any passengers.
Taken by surprise by the long range anti-air fire the Terran transports exploded one after the other or fell into the magma below shattering the hard black surface and exposing the red and orange hot lava underneath. The screams of the dying Terrans that survived the impact echoed from below the plateau as they burned alive inside their dropships. But with a uncaring cruelty the young cerebrate ignored them not even letting his forces end their suffering. Seeing the effectiveness of the new spore cannon symbiote the young cerebrate quickly started mass producing them. Normal spore colonies do have more single damage but their fire rate is much slower and they cost much resources and time to replace. But these new spore cannon symbiotes are a attachment onto pre existing Zerg units that can also attack ground targets, the cost and effectiveness of the symbiotes make them the better choice in this situation.
After a hour the Terrans attacked again this time with Kestrel escorts. But the Overlords also detected cloaked Wraiths closing in from the left and right flanks. Reacting instantly the young cerebrate acted swiftly ordering two hundred Zerglings and Hydralisks to split up each aiming to the east and west and all at once they fired. A black green storm of spores flew at the cloaked Wraiths surprising their pilots. The Wraiths banked as hard as they could but the wall of Spores tracked them. These smaller spores had some Scourge essance in them making them faster and better at tracking their targets and because they remained a upgraded spore they were cheap and easy to make and fire in rapid succession. In moments the first few Wraiths exploded and in only thirty more seconds all the rest followed. There were hundreds of spores left in the air without any targets to strike they simply flew about randomly before falling to the magma below.
Even before the debri of the Wraiths hit the magma the Zerglings and Hydralisk spun around aiming south and firing at the approaching transports and their escorts. Remembering what had happened to their predecessors the Terran dropships banked hard while firing their turrets while the Kestrels attempted to shoot the spores out of the sky with their turrets. As gun fire ripped through the sky the spores bobbed and weaved some being shot out of the air others striking their targets. Half of the dropships slowed losing an engine suffered catastrophic damage before crashing into the black crusted magma below. The few survivors fled out of range of the Zerg defense's while the Kestrels were nearly all wiped out. In the next attack the Terrans tried assaulting the plateau from every angle yet every time they suffered casualties to one degree or another.
Then they used Wraith laser weapons from extreme range again killing many Overlords hoping to blind the swarm to their wraiths. But this two failed as the speed at which the Overlords could be killed verses their production rate was far off set. The pile of Overlords corpses were simply recycled and used over and over until after two hours they gave up on this strategy. Then the two chrysalis began to ster and pulsate releasing even more psionic power. The young cerebrate could feel the power of the two as their cocoons began decomposing from their very power and before long the two chrysalis exploded in a wave of power and gore. The two figures rose up from the Chrysalis remains, one covered in brown and purple zerg carapace with dark hair like tendrils much like Protoss nerve cords replacing her hair while the second smaller figure had a brown armor like plating like the first but with hair tendrils of a lighter color. Both had lethal skeleton like wings and razor claws on their hands and feet. Both took in deep breaths of the hot Char air something that would have normally burned the lungs of a Terran from all the hot ash in the atmosphere.
"Arise my children. Arise Kerrigan and Nova." commanded the Overmind.
-Chapter End-