Disclaimer: So I've recently been informed this is not legally required. I mean, I probably should have figured that, given that I use this bit more to make jokes and various complaints, as well as repeatedly and emphatically state that none of the following is scientific. Still, I kind of assumed that since everyone else did it, there must be a reason. That's how we end up confusing fanon and canon, I suppose. Probably some interesting psychology in there, which is...kind of scientific? Does psychology count as a science, or is it more along the lines of medicine or therapy? Probably a bit of both depending on what branch of the field you're talking about. Well, either way, Catalyst conforms to none of it. Also, don't own it.
Oh boy. He's getting introspective again. At least he's not being a loud-and-proud psychopath anymore. ~f
(This section, on the other hand, is legally required. It will never stop. Ever. This is the eternal transition. That is life. Which I use to write transition jokes.)
Aaaaaaand...he's back. ~f
Catalyst
Dumbledore strode cautiously through the Forbidden Forest. Behind him followed several members of the Order; Kingsley, Tonks, Alastor, and Hestia, all the trained Aurors he could spare from guarding the Department of Mysteries, on a mission to find out more of the threat they all faced. Each of them was trained and prepared to enter combat at a moment's notice. He only hoped they would be enough.
"So, what do these things even look like?" Kingsley asked, eyes scanning the surrounding trees with an experienced eye. He was tense. They all were after Albus had told them what they were hunting. Dumbledore expected nothing less. If they hadn't been apprehensive after learning of their current 'prey,' The old man would have been quite worried.
"They possess a variety of forms, I'm afraid. Most of them are vaguely insectoid, but you will know them when you see them," Dumbledore said as he lead the way into the Forbidden Forest's depths.
"And where exactly are these buggers?" Alastor said, eye spinning. "Haven't side head or tail of 'em since we got here. Are you sure you know where they are, Albus?"
"I'm afraid I don't. Fortunately, the centaurs have been keeping tabs on them, so we'll consult them before we head their ourselves."
Alastor grunted. "I hope they can offer us reinforcements. If they have even one of those giant things, we're all going to die."
"Alastor, the creatures failed to kill several of my students."
"Right after they killed a giant, if I heard you right."
"Merlin," Tonks said under her breath.
Albus grimaced, but looked around. The others in the group were clearly shaken. Dumbledore saw Kingsley reflexively tighten and loosen his grip around his wand, while Tonks' hair was shifting through a number of increasingly vibrant shades. Hestia's breaths were becoming increasingly shallow. "We are not here to mount an assault, but merely to judge the threat. We shouldn't get into any situation we cannot escape from by withdrawing. Should the centaurs offer their aid, however, I see no reason to refuse their offer. Ideally, we won't be fighting at all. We are merely here to gather... information." The trees parted, giving sight to the location of the centaur's colony.
The only thing that met their eyes was total destruction. The ruins of houses were strewn haphazardly across the clearing, mixed in with deep scores in the earth and broken arrows scattered seemingly randomly among the debris. "Merlin's saggy scrotum," Hestia gasped. "What happened here?"
"An attack." There was no doubt or hesitation in Alastor's tone.
"There's plants growing on the debris," Kingsley added, kneeling down to inspect the ruins of what used to be homes. "Whatever happened here, it happened a while ago. Albus, did you know about this?"
"I'm ashamed to admit I did not."
"Then whatever did this did it before the centaurs had time to get help," Tonks mused.
"Maybe so, or maybe they were too stubborn to go for help in the first place. Either way, not important. The real question is, the hell are the corpses?" Alastor asked, gesturing widely at the distinctly gore free clearing.
Kingsley furrowed his brow. "That's not good. How many Dark things can you do with corpses?"
"An innumerable amount. However, as these creatures are not dark wizards it may be more likely that they were simply hungry." Dumbledore said. A collective shudder based through the group. "Regardless, we must press on. There are almost certainly survivors, and if we find them, we can discover just what did this."
A chorus of nods arose from the small party. Dumbledore raised his wand and cast a divining spell, looking for centaurs. A trail of magic formed, leading into the trees. It was with a sense of tension in the air that the group of wizards passed through the woods in silence, trying their best to ignore the fading signs of the panicked exodus that had preceded them.
They arrived at a field of burnt corpses.
It was a scene of utter devastation, eclipsing even the site they had just came from. Dumbledore politely ignored the few members of his party who lost control of their stomachs, instead taking in the nightmarish landscape. The skeletons were scattered randomly, there was no rhyme or reason to it. Some of them still had their arms stretched out, reaching for the treeline or to another corpse. The grass had been burned; some patches had grown back, but the remainder was scarred and ashen. But by far the most striking feature of the clearing was the single moving centaur, digging a hole next to a row of upturned earth and stone markers. Upon hearing the humans, it raised its head, revealing sunken eyes all but devoid of life. Dumbledore raised his wand, fearing an Inferi, but then it spoke.
"Albus Dumbledore and...compatriots. Have you come to end me? If so, please make it quick," Firenze said in an empty tone.
(Transition)
A yellow streak of light pulverized the top of a sizeable rock and sent fragments flying, most of which landed in the creep and were absorbed. "And that's defodio. Its ok, but we already have better ways to do this, so I'm not sure it will be very useful," Luna said. She stood several feet from the destroyed rock with her wand in hand and her tentacles on full display.
"Method, greater importance. Can be changed, modified. Greater or different effect. Possibilities substantial," Abathur corrected. He used two of his scythes to peel the creep off one of the fragments, and picked it up with his lower left hand. He had almost entirely restoried his true form, and was glad to have full use of all of his arms once more. "Shatter pattern shows unique force distribution. Does not match projectile. Unseen complexities. Must examine."
"Does it really matter how it exploded if the force is so weak?" Thenabar asked from his perch on a nearby web. In order to keep his balance, the shapeshifter had grown several elongated and unnatural limbs to anchor himself in place.
"Force can be increased. Pattern, more difficult to change," Abathur said, attention still focused on the rock in his hand. "Defodio." A yellow light shot from another hand directly into the rock, further shattering it. "Hmm. Simple spell. Will experiment."
"Do you really think you'll get anything from a human creation?" Thenabar said, lips twisted in displeasure. "As someone forced to read their minds on a regular basis, I can assure you there's not much there."
"They try, at least," Luna added in a soft tone. "They just aren't very good at it."
"Yes, because that makes it so much better," Thenebar said with no small amount of exasperation. "Not only do they fail miserably, that's the result of them at their best!"
"Terrans, surprisingly adaptive. Rapid technological changes. Underestimation, not recommended. Must be-" One of the wards surrounding the Hive cluster triggered, alerting the three zerg. Their heads turned towards the disturbance simultaneously. Abathur immediately placed himself behind the eyes of the closest soldier to the disturbance, an overlord floating far above the trees, beyond the sight of anything on the ground. When he saw what it was, Abathur immediately began readying his forces. "Humans approaching Hive cluster. Must remove."
(Transition)
Earlier...
"Firenze...? What happened here?" Dumbledore asked in a soft tone.
The haggard centaur just shrugged. "The acromantulas attacked, we attacked back, they came back with dragons and did this. Does it really matter now?"
"Of course it does, my friend. Why ever would it not?"
Again, Firenze shrugged. "They're dead either way. All that we can do now is lay them to rest." He picked up his shovel and resumed his work.
"Didn't anyone else make it?" Dumbledore heard himself ask desperately, almost pleadingly.
"Oh, they did," Firenze started, without looking up from the grave. "But they wished to be with their families, and I could not deny them that."
"Did you...?" Tonks asked nervously.
"No. But you have not answered my question. Are you here to strike the final blow, humans?" Firenze said in an almost hopeful tone, once more looking up from his work, the first hint of vigor only then passing through the centaur's eyes. A heavy silence fell over the clearing. In the corner of his eye, Dumbledore could see Tonks hair going through an entire rainbow of colors.
"Albus, perhaps it's time to go," Kingsley whispered uneasily. "We have the information we came for."
"Go ahead, Kingsley. I will join you shortly."
Kingsley turned to face Dumbledore in shock. "Albus, you can't be serious!"
"Go, Kingsley," Dumbledore said to Kingsley, his expression gravely. "You do not need to witness this."
"But Albus," Kingsley was silenced by a look.
"Go." This time, no one argued. Wordlessly, they took out their wands to track the acromantula colony and headed into the Forest, out of sight from Dumbledore. "Do you require more time to finish your work, Firenze?"
"They won't care either way."
"Very well. May you find peace in the next adventure."
"Thank you."
(Transition)
Now
"On my way," Thenabar flowed out of his stance on the web and began flying over to the humans, taking on the form of a dark fluid. Luna dug her tentacles into the creep and launched herself forward, followed by a mass of zerglings, hydralisks, and weavers. Abathur moved his focus away from his body, towards the disturbance. The horde stopped just inside the ward that concealed the hive cluster. Abathur sent the weavers alone, the only strain that would still seem native to the area. Thenabar adopted their form, his legs stretching out in midair to cling onto the branches around him while his body condensed into a ball before the weaver's distinctive features emerged. It was remarkably quick. Could Abathur adapt them into a combat strain? Their sheer flexibility alone would be absolutely devastating.
Before the humans got too close, Thenabar and his escorts emerged from the trees, blocking their path. Abathur kept the Hive colonies within the weavers' abdomens contained, for now. No sense in playing a card before necessary. The humans, seeing the titanic arthropods, paused to draw their wands, but didn't attack just yet. Cautious. Irritating. If they had just attacked immediately, that would have made things so much simpler. If they weren't attacking, then Abathur would have to avoid it as well, if only to keep up appearances and prevent them from fleeing with the Swarm's location. And that meant discussions.
"Humans," Thenabar hissed out, stretching the word out, mincing it and playing with it. "You are not welcome here. Leave."
"What's the matter, eight-eyes? Not hungry?" said one of the humans, the one that possessed an excessive amount of scar tissue. Such sloppy regeneration.
"Such concern for our welfare. Much more than we would expect from a hairless monkey. Could it be that you want to fill our bellies yourselves?"
"If you try, I'll blast your head off," the human replied.
"We weren't going to eat you. We prefer our meat a bit more...tender," Thenabar chittered, ordering the weavers around him to do the same. It took Abathur a moment to realize it was intended to approximate laughter. From the shivering of the humans, it was effective.
"There is no need to resort to violence. We are simply here to ask some questions," Dumbledore said. His presence was unfortunate. Not only was he the most familiar with both his and Thenabar's habits, he was among the most powerful psionics Abathur had encountered. Certainly nowhere near the Queen of Blades, but above where he could bring the average psionic with his own techniques. Driving him away without revealing the full assembled might of his brood was simply out of the question, and even then, there was no guarantee of his death. He would have to humor him. "Have you seen any new creatures in the forest?"
Abathur commanded Thenabar to stay vague. "Prey comes and leaves frequently. Do not waste our time with vagaries," Thenabar hissed impatiently.
"My apologies. We pursue a number of insect-like creatures that recently felled a giant. They may have a being among them known as Abathur."
"What? How do they know about us?!" Luna all but screamed over the hivemind.
"Sent brood to hunt essence. Were spotted by humans. Did not eliminate, unwanted attention," Abathur stated "Clearly ineffective. Unsure how terrans connected to Swarm."
"That...may have been my fault, Evolution Master. Dumbledore peered into my mind and got a glimpse of the greater hivemind. Nothing coherent, little more than flashes of Char and a few other planets, but...enough, apparently. I will take whatever punishment you deem necessary."
"Hmm. None required. Independent series of events, impossible to predict result. Already occurred, must compensate now. Distract terran, will prepare evacuation." Abathur removed one of the drones from its post harvesting biomass and ordered it to morph into a Nydus network. He rededicated several of the hydralisks and sent them on a patrol to remove the creep tumors. No traces could be left.
"We know nothing of your little pest problem," Thenabar responded.
"Odd," the gristled one said, one of his eyes spinning wildly in a way that defied Abathur's understanding of human anatomy. "If you don't know anything, then what's with all the spiky insects hiding behind your wards?"
For a moment, the zerg were stunned. Then, Abathur decided a change of tactics was in order "Eliminate terrans."
Thenabar forced the acromantulas' hair to bristle. "With pleasure." With a screeching cry, the zerg forces rushed out of the cover of the wards, a palpable wave of claws and fangs. The weavers spat out webbing and used their mandibles to form them into intricate weavings, which sent out pale grey blasts of energy, which were blocked by a series of shields from the humans. When the webs' energy were expended, the weavers tossed them at the humans and began to weave new ones. While the weavers distracted the humans, Abathur planted a series of mines around the intruders, trapping them, leaving them sitting ducks for the oncoming rush. Whether they tried to run or tried to fight, they would die here.
"The castle wards don't extend this far! Apparate back to headquarters," Dumbledore said. Oh, yes, they could do that. He really did have to develop more anti-wizard weaponry. The wizards cast out spells, reducing the oncoming zerg wave to corpses. Dumbledore himself cast a more powerful explosive spell, aiming for the weavers above. The spell wiped out the entire contingent, including Thenabar. Before he had time to react, the shape-shifter was scattered across the clearing, leaving enough time for the wizards to warp away with a unified pop. Off to warn their allies no doubt. This was Abathur's worst case scenario, a nightmare of epic proportions. Still, he couldn't think of a better time to test his new strains.
The second the wizard vanished, Luna and Abathur dug themselves out of the creep. Luna immediately rushed into the burnt forest, while Abathur stayed behind to examine the remains of the zerg destroyed by the psionic blast. The pattern had been decidedly distinct from either the other spell he had been examining, as well as the terran spells of the future.
"Abathur, I can't find Thenabar!"
"Unsurprising. Was vaporized vaporized in fight," Abathur responded. He scraped a few extra samples off the ground.
"Wha..? But...why are you so calm about this?"
"Because my eldest one knows that none of my children shall truly die while I survive." An overwhelming presence cast itself over the tiny hive cluster. "When their flesh should fail, I shall always forge it anew. Such is the power of the Overmind."
"Statement correct. Will grow new body in hours. Event, Minor delay. Was not aware it merited attention of Overmind."
"Your situation is the most precarious out of all my agents', Evolution Master. I am always aware."
"So..so Thenabar's going to be fine?" Luna said, wiping tears from her eyes. Odd, Abathur could have sworn he removed her tear ducts. Perhaps he forgot to prevent their regeneration? That was entirely possible, given how abruptly her infestation had ended.
"Indeed, my dear daughter. But a more important matter has arisen. Abathur, your position has been compromised, your veil torn asunder. The terrans are aware of you once more. Steps must be taken to fortify your position."
"Statement, accurate. Nydus network growth begun, will grow additional hive clusters. Eliminate all human populations."
"A magnificent idea. It would be most efficient to begin with the bastion closest to you. Even from here, I can sense the power of its defenses. Should it fall, the terrans of this world shall have nowhere to run to."
"Wait!" Luna called out, drawing the attention of the two conversing zerg."There are a ton of wizards in the castle! It would be a waste to just kill them," she protested.
"More reason to eliminate. Powerful weapons against Swarm. Do not possess means to infest all. If attempted, would leave hive cluster vulnerable," Abathur reasoned. "Better to exterminate."
"What if, you didn't have to do that?" Luna said.
"Explain, my daughter," the Overmind urged.
"Dumbledore, generally," she hesitated. "He generally doesn't like to involve any other wizards with stuff he knows. He usually keeps it secret as long as he can. If he hasn't told anyone, we don't have to attack," Luna explained, in a slightly higher pitch than typical.
"Hmm. Possible. No confirmation. Caution, superior approach. Will continue current plan."
"I could get confirmation," Luna implored.
"Should you be capable of that task, we shall reconsider. But for now, Abathur's plan shall continue," the Overmind ruled.
"But..." Luna began, but was silenced by a glance from Abathur. "Fiiiine."
(Chapter End)
Because our glorious Author won't put one in
Humans: We're violent, we're tiny, and we're irritating. Kind of like insects. But the thing about insects is that they're damn near impossible to get rid of.
Humans: Of the three races occupying the Koprulu, terrans (or humans as they were previously known) are at first glance the most underwhelming. They do not possess the impressive technology or powerful psionic prowess of the protoss, nor do they possess the biological adeptness, the single minded determination, or the absurd numbers of the zerg. Indeed, they lie in an odd middle ground, without the extreme specialization that defines their two adversaries. That does not mean they are to be underestimated. The terrans have taken this middle ground and turned it into a weapon all its own. Rather than adhering to to a single strategy, terran tactics can turn on a dime, whether that means churning out dozens of expendable infantry units or suddenly manufacturing massive mechs and titanic armed spacecraft. The terrans make up for their lack of specialization with their flexibility, a design philosophy reflected by units that possess multiple forms for different situations, or bases that can simply fly away and set up elsewhere. Additionally, terrans possess the only weapons of mass destruction deployable on the battlefield, their nuclear missiles. A single missile can wipe out an army or mineral line in an instant, rendering it the single most powerful weapon between the three races aside from the protoss purifier beam. What humans lack in other departments, they make up for in sheer determination and imagination. As the only race not assisted in their progress by the xel'naga, they are used to fighting for every step they take. Despite initial appearances, they are well prepared to match any other race in the sector, and they have had ample opportunity to demonstrate their determination and merit.