Hello again, as I promised I will upload a total of five new chapters to this revamped story. I only thought it would be fair to do so in order to get the plot settled and established.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or the StarCraft franchise, both are owned by their own respective owners, Rooster Teeth and Blizzard.

"Normal talk"

'Thoughts'

"Telepathic communication/shouting"

Chapter 1: Alone

Location: Unknown

Ceres didn't know how long he had been gazing at the broken moon for. Minutes, hours, Ceres did not care.

He is alone. Stranded on a planet that he does not recognize and possibly untold light-years away from his Swarm, possibly the Koprulu Sector.

Ceres's current situation and the sheer impossibility of it was unheard of, but the proof was there. He cannot contact the Swarm, an empire that spans over a hundred planets.

Ceres, after what felt like a small eternity, broke his gaze from the moon and gazed at the grass below him. His expression emotionless and set in stone. 'I am alone.' Ceres silently repeated to himself.

Ceres's breaths were steady, but they were anything but. His expression was emotionless, but his inner thoughts were in turmoil. Ceres stood seemingly still, but in reality, his body refused to move as the gravity of his situation slowly dawned on him.

Ceres was truly alone. A fate that Ceres feared far more than the cold embrace of death.

For the first time since Skygierr. Ceres felt truly lost.

"What do I do?" Ceres asked himself. The cold snow below his feet as well as the freezing winds did little to elevate his emotions. Ceres thought back to the time when he was alone, trapped in Narud's damnable prison, how he felt so helpless and so weak against his torturer as he mocked him, cut him, experimented on him for over a decade.

But did Ceres give up hope? No, he didn't. He found a way to escape, brought an end to Narud's torturous experiments and was reunited with his Queen and the Swarm.

His Queen… His Queen would not stand around and wallow in self-pity, she would take action if she were in Ceres's current situation. She would find a way back to the Swarm like she did the first time and Ceres will do just the same as he did before.

Ceres steeled his resolve and reigned his turmoil of emotions to focus on one goal that supersedes all else.

Return to the Swarm. No matter the cost.

With this new objective Ceres then immediately searched his surroundings, using both his enhanced eyesight as well as his psionics to scan the lands around him.

Ceres immediately sensed multiple forms fast approaching his current position, all radiating bloodlust. There were coming from the-

"GROOOARRRR!"

Ceres's instincts flared and immediately jumped back as a large black object crashed onto the ground where he was just standing on, throwing up and scattering snow throughout the air.

After landing, Ceres immediately dodged to the left as something came from behind and was forced to dodge again as another black object crashed from above.

Ceres then jumped back a fair distance away from the small confrontation, but once again his instincts flared as he sensed a hostile charging him from the left.

This time, however, Ceres extended his right blade as it glowed with psionic power and stabbed it into the black furry chest of his assailant.

Ceres's unknown assailant let out a pained roar before going limp on his blade. Ceres then proceeded to yank his blade out of its chest, to finally see the identity of his assailants. However, the now dead body immediately disintegrated and quickly faded away into the frigid wind, leaving no trace of its existence whatsoever.

Ceres took only a moment to process what just occurred before jumping back from another incoming attack.

When Ceres landed back on the snow, It was at this point he is given a chance to clearly see who his attackers are. What he is currently seeing made him pause.

There were a dozen creatures. All animalistic in nature and form.

The first is what appears to be large bi-pedal canines, reminiscent to wolves that the Terrans are familiar with. These bi-pedal wolves either stood on two digitigrade legs or on all fours with their two large arms sporting sharp white claws. However, their most defining features are the midnight black fur covering their entire bodies and the bone mask and spikes sprouting from their spines, arms, and legs.

The second was by far the larger than the bi-pedal wolves, taking the forms of large predatory felines, lions by Terran standards. And like the bi-pedal wolves, the most defining features of this large winged lion is the black fur and bone-white mask. However, that's where the similarities end as these creatures sported large avian wings, a tail that ended in a large stinger, large horns protruding from its mask and a parody of a lion's mane made of entirely of jagged bone.

There are currently ten of the creatures standing before Ceres, seven of the bi-pedal wolves and three winged lions. It was clear to Ceres that these creatures before him are of the same species, their night-black fur covered with white patches, bone-like growths, their bone-like masks patterned with red markings, and the simple fact they are only focused on him and not each other tells as such.

Their very presence, however, came off immediately as strange to Ceres.

Every living being Ceres came across, no matter how different they may be, has a similar warm presence that is only differentiated by certain aspects of their thoughts, personality and if applicable, psionic power. These creatures before him, on the other hand, are different, their presence felt cold and hollow with a dark aura surrounding them, they are more of a construct than an actual living, breathing being.

All Ceres could sense from these creatures were an instinctual level of bloodlust, all directed towards him. However, the center-most lion of the trio is different, Ceres could sense a form of intelligence from its very mind and can make out its thoughts.

'Human. Kill. Destroy. Human.' These were the very thoughts and feeling the winged lion currently has from what Ceres could discern.

"GROOOAAAAAR!"Roared the very same lion. Soon enough the bi-pedal wolves bellowed out their own roars and charged straight towards Ceres while the winged lions took to the air.

Ceres observed their behavior and saw what seems to be some sort of strategy, the bi-pedal wolves charge in as living fodder while the winged lions' attacks from the air.

Simple in context but a strategy nonetheless.

Soon the first two of the wolves leaped the last few meters towards Ceres, claws and fanged filled maws ready to tear into Ceres.

Ceres simply focused his psionics and telekinetically held the two wolves mid-air, just a few feet away from meeting the ends of their claws. Ceres then focused his powers against the rest of the pack of wolves, suddenly halting their charge and floating them up helplessly into the air.

Boof! Boof! Boof!

Ceres waved his hand as the floating bi-pedal wolves moved in tandem, right in the trajectory of the fireballs.

As expected, the wolves were soon engulfed in fire as the lions continued to barrage Ceres in a poor attempt to hit him through his living shield. Soon the last wolf disintegrated in flames and black smoke as the lions continued their barrage.

Ceres simply stood leisurely on his spot as he moved his right hand to block each fiery projectile with his telekinesis, creating an invisible barrier in front of him.

Soon enough the barrage of fire stopped as the lead lion let out another bellowing roar and dove straight for Ceres, it was soon followed closely by the other two lions. Ceres simply quirked a single eyebrow at the charging lions and their change of strategy, no doubt seeing the futility of trying to attack Ceres from a distance.

The leading lion let a bloodcurdling roar as it rapidly closed the distance.

Ceres eyes glowed in reply.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ceres observed the now three downed lions, each being held flat on the snow-covered ground by his telekinetic grasp.

Ceres then approached the leading lion, despite its current situation it's baleful eyes glaring into Ceres's own.

'KILL. HUMAN. KILL.'Ceres read its thoughts as he can feel the lion straining against his hold.

The lion then opened it's mouth as fire gathered in its throat, but with a single thought, it's mouth suddenly clamped shut along with the other two lions, smothering their final attempt to attack Ceres.

Ceres then took this opportunity to closely observe and inspect the leading lion's physical features, walking around the lead lion and eyes roaming the body of the restrained creature.

Ceres soon noticed some key differences of the leading lion compared to the other two, such as a larger more jagged mane of bone, larger horns, an overall larger physique and more bone carapace plating located on its back, hindquarters and the limb of it's wings.

Ceres frowned in thought as he completed his round of the creature.

Before he had deduced that these creatures, both the lions and the wolves, form a single species with an unknown number of different sub-strains. Now Ceres can confirm that the creatures, such as this winged lion before him, are capable of some level of evolution, whether this evolution is something gained through time or directly taking the trait from other creatures is currently unknown to Ceres.

But what is known to Ceres right now is the lion's very thoughts and instinctual drive. Not only it showed some form of intelligence and understanding of mundane strategy, but it also identified Ceres as a human and its immediate reaction was to kill him. This means that there are humans on this world and these creatures were created with the prime directive to kill any humans they come across.

Ceres used the word created because during the fight the single bi-pedal wolves he personally killed did not bleed. They instead disintegrated in death, leaving absolutely no traces behind for Ceres to collect.

The disintegration upon death was not natural in conjunction with their strange sense of presence. These… dark creatures were clearly created with the sole purpose of being living constructs of some sort, no doubt weapons against their enemy.

Ceres's frown creased ever so slightly as he brought his thoughts back to the topic of humans. He deduced that there are still humans alive on this world as the lion's thoughts and emotions imply that humans are still around for it to still recognize Ceres as one. Also, humanity, or in the case of the Terran's, has proven to be far more tenacious in the face of overwhelming odds.

So that brings him back to his earlier thought. Did the natural order of this planet create these dark creatures to eliminate the humans of this world? If not, who or what created these dark creatures? What has happened to humanity on this planet? Do they have civilizations or are currently in hiding? Is humanity of this world from a lost UED or the Terran Dominion colony that landed on this planet?

Ceres immediately discarded the last possibility. If humanity of this world is the same Terrans from the Koprulu Sector or even the UED, then this planet should be colonized by now regardless of any threat from these creatures.

However, these creatures and their ability to evolve made Ceres frown. If these dark creatures are anything like the Zerg, then they are most likely the dominant species on this very world, with numbers possibly in the millions or even billions. Humanity must either be in hiding or barely fending off these creatures in a never-ending war for survival.

Ceres also kept in mind that if creatures such as the bi-pedal wolves and the winged lions in front of him are at war with humanity for an unknown amount of time. Then it is most likely that humanity will be highly cautious and hostile towards any other creatures that they may perceive as dangerous.

Such as him. A being not of this world.

Fortunately for Ceres, he had the hindsight to keep his body's human appearance when he first received it, perfect as a disguise if he were to run into any humans of this world. However, his main goal is to grow a Brood, something that will catch the eyes of the wrong kind of attention towards him and possibly delay his plans or at worst ruin it. Ceres doesn't know how advanced humanity on this world is, for all he knows they might still be primitives with superstitious beliefs.

Regardless, if humanity of this world decided that Ceres and his Brood is their new enemy, then Ceres may be forced to go to war, something he cannot afford to let happen due to the simple fact of numerous unknowns.

Ceres shall avoid humanity for the time being. His plan to return to the Koprulu Sector cannot afford outside interference.

Ceres is then brought out of his thoughts as the lion, still held down before him, started to growl. It's visible eye glaring hatefully at Ceres, its thoughts continued its mantra of death and bloodlust.

Ceres gave this insignificant creature a blank stare. "I have to thank you. If it were not for you, it would've taken me some time to understand the nature of this world." Ceres then lifted his hand as all three lions slowly floated into the air.

"However… your usefulness has come to an end." Ceres said as he tightened his hand into a fist.

Immediately, all the lion's started to contort and bend in ways that were not possible for their physique, the sounds of bones snapping, popping and fleshing tearing filled the cold air. Soon all three were violently crushed into three black balls of dark contorted flesh and bone, each immediately disintegrated into fine black mist.

Soon there was nothing left. The only signs that the creatures were ever here were the footprints and trail marks printed into the snow as well as the small blackened craters from the earlier barrage of fire.

Ceres then turned away from the ruined field, already being covered by the drifting snow. He then went back to his previous task of scanning his surroundings. He needed to find a suitable area for the first part of his plan, establishing a Hive Cluster.

With new information about this world, Ceres needs to find a suitable area containing the resources he needs. Then he can spawn a Brood and from there build his forces to full strength to face any threat this planet may have from either the creatures or the humans.

It may take some time as Ceres is not even sure if this planet has any mineral veins or vespene geysers. In the Koprulu sector, it is not unheard of planets that don't contain either resource, the Zerg adapts to meet the resources demands through other means such as collecting biomass from the surrounding fauna.

Unfortunately, Ceres will have little success in collecting a steady source of biomass. The lands as far as he could see were barren and the creatures that he fought disintegrate upon death, leaving nothing behind.

Regardless, it will be ideal to find a mineral vein or something along the lines of a vespene gas at the very least. Minerals are just used to harden the carapace armor of the Zerg to a faster degree, even without minerals his units can still morph carapace armor but not as quickly as with minerals.

The problem lay with vespene gas. The high metabolism of the Zerg, especially units of the higher tier, requires the high-calorie yield of vespene gas to fuel and feed their creation.

So far Ceres sensed nothing of significance, the snowy lands surrounding him are barren of wildlife or any of the creatures he fought earlier. However, his eyes soon came across what appears to be mountainous formations in the far distance, just over the snowy a few kilometers away.

If the mountains of this world contain the resources he needs, then that's where he shall head next. Not that he has much of a choice.

With a new destination set, Ceres then dashed through the snow towards the mountains in the far distance. The potential source for resources for his new Brood was too good to ignore.


4 hours later…

Ceres currently stood on top of a small hill, all around him are mountainous ranges far and wide as the eye could see. It took him some time to arrive at his destination, but thanks to his enhanced Zerg biology, he managed the long distance in just a few hours at most. Along the way, he was attacked by more of those dark creatures of the wolf variety, but Ceres simply dealt with them easily enough.

Snow started falling from the sky as the clouds above settled in just an hour ago. The clouds and falling snow blocked the moon and with it all available light.

Fortunately, Ceres had no problem with seeing in the dark, every Zerg has heightened night vision and he was no different. However, the flurry of snow still made it difficult nonetheless, reducing his range of vision by nearly half.

Regardless Ceres found something that immediately garnered both interest and due caution.

Just a few dozen meters below him is what appears to be a small mining complex, complete with large cargo holds, crates, railway tracks and carts, buildings dedicated to the extraction and assorting resources, two landing pads, and what appears to be automated machinery and vehicles. The entire complex was built in front and around a large cavernous entryway into the mountain itself, no doubt into the very mines itself.

However, the complex is completely desolate, abandoned in a state of disrepair and degradation.

This abandoned complex below confirmed three things for Ceres. The first is that the humans of this world had advanced to the point where they can establish industrial mining complexes such as this one. The second is that the complex was abandoned some time ago, concerning how much of the complex and mining equipment is in disrepair and covered in ice and snow.

The third and most concerning was the strange energy Ceres could sense somewhere deep in the mines itself. It was faint, but Ceres's psionics can sense the unknown energy, it was both powerful and raw in nature, unlike anything he has ever felt before.

As the snow blew around him, Ceres contemplated the use of this mining complex for his own use. The complex itself was clearly abandoned by the humans of this world, however, what are the chances of the same humans returning to reclaim this mine in the foreseeable future?

However, judging from its current dilapidated state, the humans who built this place must have forsaken this location some time ago. Other then the complex below him, Ceres has yet to encounter any other human settlement or their influence on his venture here. Meaning wherever the humans are, it was nowhere near here. This entire area is in a remote location and the environment is inhospitable, cold enough to kill an average human in a matter of hours.

Whatever they were mining in the mountain must be considered valuable enough for the humans of this world to risk venturing this far to mine from here.

And from the powerful energy that Ceres could sense, whatever unknown resource they were mining is something of definite worth.

However, this facility was abandoned for a reason. If the creatures that Ceres fought before were of any indication, then they must've been the reason why this complex was abandoned in the first place. Judging from the lack of notable defense emplacements and fortifications surrounding the complex, the creatures could've attacked this place, invaded and overran the complex with relative ease. Or the dark creatures moved in when the humans abandoned the mines.

If this was true, then the mine itself is possibly filled with those creatures.

Ceres frowned as he tried to sense any of the dark creatures within and outside the mines. He couldn't sense any creatures on the outside, and at the same time his senses couldn't penetrate deep enough into the mountain, all he could sense is the powerful energy emanating from within the mine.

In short, Ceres must go into the mines himself to get a clearer layout of the mines.

Making his decision, Ceres then made his way down the hill and trudged through the snow towards the abandoned complex.

As he entered the complex, Ceres continuously scanned and observed his surroundings, sensing for any hostile creatures that may be lurking about or any other unknown anomalies.

As Ceres walked through between the buildings, he started noticing the language printed on many of the ruined crates and buildings. His eyes looked up and gazed such printings.

"B14, B11." Ceres read out loud. His foot then suddenly hit something solid beneath the snow as he crouched down and wiped away the snow to reveal three bolded white letters.

"SDC." These three letters, as well as the labels on the buildings he read, were clearly written in Terran English. Humans of this world, or more specifically the ones who built this complex, can read, write and most likely spoke the language as their most basic dialect.

Any concerns for language barrier were then immediately discarded. Ceres can now communicate with the human natives of this planet.

But that brought back his previous theory of a lost UED colony. The Terrans were originally from the UED, from the planet called Earth. The words Ceres is reading now is the same English as the Terran Dominion and the UED.

This was a lot to ponder on, something Ceres have will have to find out later.

Ceres then stood back up and stepped over the letters, filing away the SDC as a potential human organization or government. Soon he made it to the middle of the complex, which coincidentally leads straight into the large cavernous entrance of the mine.

Ceres stood in front of the entrance, probing the inner sanctums with his psionic senses. However, all he could sense was the same energy somewhere deep in the mines. But this time, however, he also senses multiple dark signatures through the veil of energy.

Ceres schooled his features before entering the mines. It was dark, but Ceres could see as clearly as day due to his enhanced eyes and his psionic senses, what he immediately noticed was the state of destruction the entryway into the mines is in.

Minecarts were flipped onto their side, crates, both broken and intact, were thrown everywhere, various mining equipment and cargo holds were buried underneath rock and debris.

Ceres soon stopped as he came face to face with a venerable wall of piled rocks and other buried debris.

'A cave-in. Must be the reason for all this destruction the abandonment of the mines. But what has caused this? An explosion, loss of structural integrity perhaps?' Ceres thought. He then scanned the wall of rocks for any openings, immediately finding one just large enough for him to squeeze through.

After exiting out the other side, Ceres took a moment to observe his surroundings. Seeing only one way forward, he ventured deeper into the mines, now funneling into a single tunnel.

As Ceres resumed walking through the tunnel, he soon saw lights coming from ahead and quickened his pace. As he neared, he came across a sight that causes his eyes to widen.

The tunnel from ceiling to floor was covered in what appears to be veins of different colored minerals. Most of the veins were either red, yellow or an orange mix of the two as the veins were emanating a soft glow, bright enough to illuminate the dark tunnels.

Ceres also noticed the overarching support beams that held up the tunnel's interior as running along the very walls on either side down the tunnel were rudimentary industrial lights. None of which are on.

Ceres then sensed the very raw energies emanating from the veins. Just as he was about to scan the tunnels further ahead, Ceres immediately went on high alert as he sensed multiple signatures fast approaching from all around him.

Suddenly the ground in front of Ceres exploded as a massive centipede-like creature burst forth and shot straight towards Ceres's face, large mandibles ready to decapitate him.

"SHRRIIIIIIIII!"

Ceres reactively halted the creature with his telekinesis before smashing the offending creature against the tunnel wall at sub-sonic speeds. Before Ceres could gather his thoughts, five more of the same creatures burst forth from all sides and shooting straight towards him, coming out from the floor, walls and even the ceiling above.

Ceres's eyes glowed with power before extending his right blade and proceeded to stab the first creature directly in the mouth before extending his left blade to slash the second's head directly in half, stab the third's segmented body before decapitating it in quick succession, and pinned the last two creatures onto the ground by a blade through each of their skulls.

After the last two creatures faded away into black mist, the entire tunnel before Ceres came alive as dozens of centipede creatures burst into the tunnel from all angles. Ceres closely observed each of their features as he watched as each of their segmented bodies covered in bone carapace and bladed insect-like legs spun in different directions, showing Ceres just how these creatures manage to burrow through the hard mountain rocks with such speed.

Soon the closest centipede pointed his eyeless head towards Ceres and cried out an inhuman shriek from its mandibles, spitting out a green viscous fluid all over the ground.

"Venom. Of course." Ceres calmly said as he stared directly at the swarm of centipedes before him. Soon the swarm surged forth, some crawling on the floor while others skittered on the walls and ceiling.

Ceres simply detracted his blades and concentrated on all the centipedes before him. Soon enough the centipedes were yanked off the floor, walls, and ceiling in an indigent shriek. Ceres then focused on the ones burrowing through the walls and ground and forcefully ripped those creatures out from their hiding.

With all the creatures in his grasp, Ceres brought all the creatures towards the middle of the air in front of him.

Ceres then froze their movements with a single thought as all the centipedes cried out and strained against his telekinetic hold. Ceres wanted to experiment with something as he turned his attention to the nearest centipede and let loose on its very mind.

"SHHRRRIIIII-" POP!

The creature's head exploded before fading away almost immediately into black mist. Ceres hummed in acceptance as he concentrated on the rest of the centipedes in his grasp.

POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

The popping sound of exploding heads soon came to a halt as the last of the centipedes faded away in the same manner as the first. Ceres simply dusted his coat, satisfied that his mind rending abilities do have an effect on these creatures, before resuming his trek deeper into the tunnel.

Ceres took his time, both out of caution of what he may appear next as well as observing the mineral veins covering the tunnel around him. Ever curious, Ceres went up to one of the veins, a red one, and placed his right hand on it.

Ceres felt a strange warmth from the vein, he could sense energy contained within the vein. After some thought, Ceres then pushed a small portion of his psionic energy into the vein.

BOOM!

Ceres was launched back and crashed into the wall on the other side, a cloud of dust filled the tunnel as Ceres coughed and shook the concussion out of his head before standing.

After the dust settled, Ceres saw the damage. A significant portion of the wall where the vein was is now a smoldering crater as loose pieces of red minerals fell and exploded harmlessly on the ground.

Ceres then looked towards the other veins with a scrutinizing gaze. The minerals surrounding him were highly reactive and thus dangerous if handled improperly as he had done, even a simple drop to the floor seems to set off these minerals. Ceres was fortunate that the entire tunnel didn't collapse or worse explode with his experimental mistake.

Ceres then looked to the overarching supports and a mining cart laid out on its side. He now sees why the humans of this world were mining these minerals, but what were they using these highly reactive minerals for? Weapons? Fuel? Their power is something to note, but did the humans use these minerals for other means if the first two didn't apply?

Ceres then saw a rusted sign hanging from the wall just beside the crater, the bolded words were still legible.

DANGER

EXPOSED DUST

EXERCISE CAUTION

Ceres frowned in thought. 'So the humans call these reactive minerals Dust. Why else would the warning sign be there?' Ceres pondered before filing away his questions for later discovery, at least now he has a name for these strange minerals.

As Ceres resumed his venture, he is nearing the source of energy he felt from outside the mines, he can sense it.

After a few minutes of walking, Ceres soon exited the tunnel and into a massive cavernous sanctum. The sanctum is covered from the ceiling high above to floor just a few meters down below with a countless number of glowing minerals, or the now named Dust veins of various color.

Ceres can FEEL the energy in the air, it was noticeably warmer as the air is saturated energy emanating from the Dust minerals all around him. Now that Ceres noticed, there were hundreds of crystallized Dust sprouting all around the floor, walls and the ceiling in various colors.

Ceres also noticed all the various mining equipment and railway scaffolds that were built in this cavernous sanctum. Many seemed to be in working condition while others looked to be mangled or crushed asunder.

As Ceres walked deeper into the sanctum and jumping down onto the floor below, he immediately noticed a sprouting patch of red Dust minerals just a few feet to his right.

Thinking back to before with the exploding vein, Ceres approached the Dust minerals with a cautious mind. He then inspected the red mineral, feeling the energy emanating from it without even needing to touch or sense for it.

"This Dust. It's some form of crystallized energy. I wonder if I can use this?" Ceres questioned out loud. He then carefully grabbed a small outcrop of the mineral before breaking it off.

Ceres held the piece for a few seconds to see if there would be any explosive reaction. When there was none, he then inspected the small piece in his hand.

The small piece of red Dust is the size of the palm of his hand. Ceres held the piece in his fingers, feeling warm energy still emanating from its crystallized form despite being separated from the larger body of crystals.

Ceres then carefully inspected the piece psionically, probing its outer form for any plausible way of obtaining its energy without igniting it. After a few seconds, Ceres concluded that there was no visible or psionic way to obtain the energy held within the small piece of Dust.

With every other option off the table, Ceres did the tried and tested method that the Zerg employs daily when it comes to new potential essences.

Ceres took the piece and swallowed it whole.

"HRK!" Ceres eyes widened, nearly collapsing and immediately righting himself as he felt his body wracked in pain. His nerve endings felt like it was on fire, a burning heat emanated within his stomach as his veins visibly glowed bright red underneath the skin of his hands.

Ceres clenched his teeth through the pain, suddenly the pain vanished and replaced with a boost of energy. All his senses were greatly enhanced, his hands started to uncontrollably shake with newfound energy, his thoughts are going into overdrive with this new discovery.

'These crystals. This Dust. They are filled with so much energy!' From a single piece, Ceres feels as if he could fight for days on end and not tire. What little hunger he felt before is now completely non-existent as he felt refreshed and completely energized. Compared to vespene gas, these Dust minerals are far more potent, with a little piece he felt completely energized.

Ceres couldn't help but smile. He has found it. He has found the perfect replacement for vespene gas! With these Dust minerals, Ceres can spawn a Brood in sufficient time.

Suddenly Ceres sensed a dark presence directly above him, a presence that he hadn't noticed until now. Ceres, in his energized state, snapped his head up towards the ceiling.

What he saw was a large figure attached to the ceiling high above. Its main body, as well as it's arms and legs, are made up of rocks, ice, metal debris and large pieces of Dust minerals, explaining how it hid from Ceres's senses up until now.

Then the main body started to turn in the sound of grinding stone until it fully revealed a bone-white mask shaped in an oval containing the same markings as the creatures Ceres fought since his arrival to this world.

However, unlike the other creatures, it had no visible mouth but instead a single amber glowing eye that was staring balefully at Ceres's own.

'Human… Trespasser… Invader… Kill…' Ceres read its thoughts. It appears this creature, a construct of stone and metal, has significantly evolved intelligence, gaining what seems to be an early form of sentience.

The large Construct-like creature detached itself from the ceiling and rapidly descended towards Ceres's position, no doubt intending to crush him with its massive form.

Ceres, energy still coursing through his veins, gave a rare excited grin as he threw out a single hand towards the falling Construct.

Suddenly the Construct came to a sudden stop, it's entire form now floating just a few meters in the air just above Ceres.

The Construct swung its right arm, a large metal pipe embedded in rock and glowing minerals, down towards Ceres. With but a glance, Ceres telekinetically halted the offending arm before violently tearing it off the Construct.

The creature let out a ghastly wail of pain as it's actual arm hidden within the pipe and rocks were torn off in tandem, leaving a smoking stump that showed Ceres the creature's true form is within the body of stone and metal.

Through the falling debris of the Construct's dismembered arm, Ceres then noticed a large piece of a glowing purple Dust mineral, a sizable one, falling straight towards the ground from the shattered remains of the construct's arm.

Reacting quickly, Ceres caught the mineral in his telekinesis before it could crash onto the ground and possibly igniting the entire sanctum filled with highly reactive minerals.

The Construct hissed as it raised its other arm and swung down towards Ceres. Once again, Ceres halted the arm and telekinetically tore it off like the last. Again, as the pieces of its arm fell, Ceres telekinetically caught another large piece of Dust mineral.

Now with the massive golem armless, Ceres then lifted his left hand towards the creature's mask and slowly pulled his hand back. The creature's mask started to shake, straining against his hold, however, the mask along with its true form was slowly and forcefully torn away from the rocks, debris, and minerals it used as it's body.

Ceres, still levitating the 'body' of the Construct, looked directly into the eye of the ghostly creature in his telekinetic grasp. The armless creature was visibly struggling against Ceres's hold, it's mist-like lower half swaying and flailing as it's head is held in place by an invisible force.

Ceres then slowly closed his fingers as the creature's mask started to crack and contort in tandem. The creature's pain-filled hisses and frantic flailing soon came to a quiet stop as it's head is slowly being crushed in Ceres's grasp.

Just before he could fully clasp his hand, Ceres stopped and took his time staring into the still visible eye of the creature in his grasp. Ceres could sense new and familiar emotions coming from the creature. Worry, despair, and fear. Fear of death. Fear of him.

Ceres couldn't help but chuckle. This… creature. This one with a malcom of intelligence can still feel fear.

What an interesting discovery.

CRACK! SQEULCH!

Ceres threw the smoking body aside, not caring to see if the body faded away or not. He then looked to the still floating rocks, debris and Dust minerals and slowly placed down the rocks and debris onto the ground. What was still left floating in the air is the six pieces of glowing purple Dust minerals.

With a small gesture of his hand, Ceres then levitated the pieces towards him, inspecting the floating pieces closely, slowly swirling each in a rotation to inspect each one.

"So much energy held within each of these pieces. These shall do." Ceres then slowly placed the pieces of Dust onto the ground beside him before clasping his hands together and focusing on his next task.

After a few seconds, Ceres unclasped his hands as a green translucent bubble filled with catalytic fluid expanded in his hands. After the bubble grew to a suitable size, Ceres then focused on the bubble, his mind focusing on the spinning DNA strands and constantly feeding his own bio=mass into the bubble.

Soon enough, a form started to rapidly take shape as more bio-mass was added. Seconds went by as the form grew to near completion.

Finally, Ceres was finished, staring at his creation as it floated idly within the catalytic fluids.

A single Zerg Larva.

Ceres then popped the bubble as the Larva fell into his hands and the fluids spilled all over the ground. The Larva cried out but remained docile as it pushed feelings of warmth and obedience through their psionic link.

Ceres allowed himself a small smile at the Larva in his hands. He is now no longer alone.

Ceres, still holding the Larva, walked towards the middle of the sanctum. Once in the middle he then started creating creep within his stomach, dissolving his intestines, kidneys, and liver in order to create the creep.

With the creep finished Ceres then vomited the newly created creep all over the ground. The creep rapidly spread for a couple of meters but soon came to a stop as Ceres finished expelling the last of the creep from his body.

As Ceres's internal organs started to regrow, Ceres then quickly created a small Creep Tumor from what bio-mass he can spare and placed the tumor onto the large carpet of creep.

With the small patch of creep maintained by the tumor, Ceres then placed the Larva onto the creep as the small Zerg started feeding off the creep.

Ceres, through their psionic link, ordered the Larva to morph into Drones.

Immediately the Larva curled into itself before morphing into a large, pulsating egg.

Ceres breathed in a deep sigh. He used a significant portion of his own bio-mass to create and give the Larva enough bio-mass to morph into the Drones he needed, also the creep and the creep tumor took another significant portion of bio-mass to create.

In short, Ceres felt quite drained and needed sustenance.

At first, Ceres crouched down towards the creep to eat but thought back to the Dust mineral he ate. He then made his way over to the nearest patch of crystallized Dust, yellow minerals this time before breaking off a few small pieces from the patch. Ceres then swallowed the pieces and immediately feel his body convulse with energy, his veins glowed bright yellow as the drain and hunger soon disappeared.

This time Ceres felt little pain, it appears his biology is adapting well to these Dust minerals.

Feeling satisfied, Ceres turned his attention back to the egg. It grew slightly larger as Ceres can sense it was halfway to completion, already feeling the minds within.

So Ceres waited. Guarding this precious egg as well as sensing for any threats. His psionic senses, enhanced by the Dust minerals he just consumed, encompassed the few tunnels that lead into this sanctum, giving him a mental mapping of the entirety of the mine itself.

The mine is made up of a small collection of tunnels, many of which have either collapsed or connected into other tunnels. There are a few notable entrances into to the mines itself, some easily accessible while others are high up into the mountain overlooking cliffsides. The main concern for Ceres was how all these tunnels lead directly into the very sanctum he is currently in, providing numerous passageways of direct entry.

Ceres frowned at this newfound information; the sanctum itself is a poor location to build his Hive Cluster. There was barely enough room for even a Hatchery much less the other necessary Zerg Structures, plus the dangers of the Dust being set off and destroying this mine is a ever present hazard that Ceres has to be careful of.

If an accident or a battle breaks out within the sanctum that ignites all the minerals, then his Brood, as well as the entirety of the mine, will perish in the ensuing explosion.

Ceres will need to find another, safer location. Somewhere nearby, close enough to utilize the resources of this mine as well as far and well-defended enough to avoid any direct contact with any potential invaders.

Ceres pondered on his options. He could make more chambers with his Drones but excavating the necessary space will take too much time as well as resources and may also jeopardize the mine's overall integrity. Some of his Broodmothers in the past have created and utilized underground labyrinths for their Broods to various degrees of success, however, the use of tunnels usually limits the movement of their forces as well as their advantage of overwhelming numbers if an enemy invades.

Underground Hives also limits escape options if a Brood is ever in danger of being completely wiped out, especially if the enemy decides to simply collapse the entirety of the labyrinth onto the Brood, trapping the Zerg in an underground tomb.

However, the trade-off for offense with defense cannot be ignored. Those same underground Hives has proven to be near impossible to detect, much less destroyed by orbital bombardment. Any invading forces would be hard-pressed to invade an underground Zerg fortress as it eliminates the use of enemy air support, heavy ordinance, and large vehicles of war.

Ceres would need to find a good mix between a good defense and a good offense for his Brood's main Hive cluster. Fortunately, Ceres already has a plan in mind as he continued to map out the mining tunnels around him.

POP! "Greeaaa!"

Ceres was soon brought out of his thoughts as four fully grown Drones hatched from the egg. Each Drone was large, easily taller and wider than Ceres by a good few feet. The Drones hovered over the creep covered ground, waiting obediently for Ceres's next command.

Ceres simply stared at the four Drones before mentally ordering each of them to harvest and carry as many Dust minerals as they can, explicitly warning the Drones of the mineral's highly reactive nature.

Each of the Drones gruttled their affirmations before going about their given task. One Drone went towards a nearby patch of blue minerals, the second started cutting into a large patch of purple minerals, the third started placing clumps of red minerals on it's back before harvesting more, and finally, the last Drone started collecting the purple mineral pieces that Ceres previously placed on the ground.

Soon enough the four Drones returned to Ceres, each carrying on their backs a sizable assortment of harvested Dust minerals each.

Ceres nodded, satisfied with the amount before turning and started making his way towards the nearest tunnel at the back of the sanctum, his four Drones following him in a line.

The tunnel Ceres chose is the only direct passage that exited somewhere behind the mountain the mine is in. When he previously mapped the entire tunnel system of the mines Ceres discovered this particular tunnel.

Ceres doesn't know exactly what he may find at the other side of the mountain, however, if there is enough open space then he can establish his Brood and Hive cluster behind the cover of the large mountain.

Ceres entered the tunnel, followed closely by his Drones carrying their precious cargo. Fortunately, the tunnel is large enough to accommodate the Drones with room to spare, each as tall as a Terran Marine in CMC Armor and just as wide.

As Ceres lead the Drones through the tunnel, he suddenly sensed multiple hostiles converging on his position from behind the tunnel walls.

Soon enough a Centipede burst out of the wall to the left of Ceres, one that he immediately caught in his psionic grasp and crushed its head without a second thought. Soon the tunnel walls exploded all around as dozens of burrowing Centipedes shot out and charged straight towards Ceres.

Ceres caught the first few in this telekinetic grasp before extending his right blade and decapitated each in quick succession. He then shot out his left hand towards the still charging Centipedes, freezing their movements in his invisible grasp before clenching his fingers.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Squelch! Pop! Pop! Squelch! Pop!

As the deceased bodies of the creatures evaporated into black mist, two centipedes exploded from the earth behind Ceres aiming their mandibles towards his exposed back.

Ceres's eyes glowed.

SNAP! SNAP! "Grreeeeeaaa!"The Drone behind Ceres roared out, quickly catching the two Centipedes in it's large pincers as the creatures flailed about shrieking into the air in the Drone's grasp.

Both Centipedes then spun the upper half of their body around in the Drones grasp before diving straight towards the Drone. The Drone in retaliation bisected the Centipede in it's left claw while simultaneously spitting a spray of acid at the other centipede in its right claw.

Ceres watched as the acid hit the centipede's eyeless face. Immediately the creature cried out in pain as the acid ate away at its mask and melted into it's head. Eventually, the Centipede went limp in the Drone's grasp as the now-dead Centipede faded away into black mist.

Soon both Centipedes started to evaporate, but Ceres noticed that the bisected upper half of the first Centipede remained alive, skittering towards Ceres with it's remaining legs.

The Drone groaned before catching the still living Centipede by the head before crushing it with ease, the body immediately fading away.

Ceres stared at the Drone with two kills to it's name. Drones are the very backbone of the Zerg Swarm, carrying out important and mundane tasks such as collecting key resources and spawning into key structures for the Zerg Swarm, all at the expense of their lives.

A Drone is single-minded in their tasks, they will continue to carry out it's given task until the Drone has completed said task, died, or given a new task. However, unlike other Zerg species, Drones are naturally docile, rarely a Drone would ever be used to fight against the Swarm's enemies, only in the direst of situations are Drones used to attack the enemy, though will most likely die in the attempt.

However, a Drone is still a creature of the Zerg Swarm. Their killing power should never be underestimated.

A single Drone is larger than a Terran Marine in full CMC Power Armor, it's large pincers can crush the hardest of minerals, it's acid spit is corrosive enough to burn through rock and hardened minerals alike.

Compared to these creatures, these centipedes, even a single Drone is sufficient enough to kill them with ease.

After making sure there are no more threats, Ceres resumed his trek through the tunnel as the Drones followed.

Once again Ceres silently pondered on the behavior of the dark creatures. The Centipedes seemed to be only interested in targeting him, during the ambush all the Centipedes attacked him and seemingly ignored his Drones until he ordered the first Drone to attack and kill the remaining centipedes.

Perhaps this is common across all these dark creatures. Their main directives from what Ceres gathered is to kill humans and all those who looked human. Does that mean any other lifeform that is not human is ignored by these Creatures unless provoked? Are there only humans and these creatures on this world and no other life form for the creatures to recognize?

Too many questions and variables and not enough answers. Ceres decided to focus on the task on hand for the time being.

For the rest of the trek, Ceres ran into three more ambushes, all were easily dealt with. With each ambush his previous theory on the creatures ignoring his Drones became more plausible, he even let the Drones lead at one point to test his theory and was still the sole target for the creatures.

Eventually, Ceres and his Drones exited the tunnel and into the cold frigid landscape of the lands outside the mines.

What Ceres saw brought a small smile to his face.

Ceres and his Drones are currently standing in a large clear valley, easily over a few miles of snow and ice. All around them is a barrier of tall mountain ranges, obscuring more of the outside world as Ceres turned his head fully around him. There were a few passages through the mountains but many of which are too narrow for any large force to make way through or hidden to be discovered.

Ceres still held his smile. 'Perfect.'

Ceres then leads his Drones deeper into the snowy valley. It took a few minutes but eventually, Ceres is now standing at the general center point of the entire valley, his feet dug deep into the snow below him as his Drones waited patiently behind him.

Ceres, without turning, ordered his Drones to drop their Dust minerals in a single pile some meters away before returning to him. The Drones carried out the task to the letter, a sizable pile is now formed some meters away before the four Drones returned.

Ceres then ordered the first Drone, the same one who killed the Centipedes, to spawn into a Hatchery.

The Drone gruttled in reply before making its way past Ceres and towards the spot Ceres is staring at. Once in position, the Drone's body then started breaking down before suddenly morphing into a large bulbous bubble-like membrane. The membrane grew until it was just a few feet taller than Ceres and many meters wide. It pulsated with catalytic fluids used to fully grow into a Hatchery, the start of any Zerg Hive Cluster.

'It would take approximately an hour for it to fully finish.' Ceres thought as he turned to his remaining Drones. 'In the meantime. I'll have the Drones collect more Dust minerals from the mine.'

Ceres gave the order and soon the three Drones made their way back into the mine, a portion of Ceres's attention overseeing them. Ceres is not worried about the Drones, the creatures within the mines have proven to ignore his Drone unless provoked directly. If the creatures do attack, then Ceres can simply retreat his Drones and deal with the creatures himself.

Ceres reflected on his short but eventful time on this unknown world. So far, during the past six hours, Ceres has been attacked by these dark creatures without provocation or reason, a species with a collection of different sub-strains. He has little information concerning the creation of these creatures, but from his confrontations, he has garnered important information about these creatures as well as the discovery of humanity on this planet.

Ceres still believes that there are still humans somewhere on this world, this much is confirmed by the creatures he fought. Though they may or may not be the same humans as the Terrans or the UED, humanity shares one simple aspect.

Their fear and animosity against those that are not their own.

If the dark creatures on this world are of any indication to humanity's current situation, then humanity on this world will definitely become hostile towards Ceres and his Zerg, worse case humanity may seek to eradicate Ceres and his Zerg.

Ceres already decided to avoid humanity wherever they are until his Brood grows to a significant size. By then nothing on this world, neither humanity nor these dark creatures, will be able to destroy him or his Brood.

By then, he will find safe passage back to the Koprulu sector.

But until that day, Cere must come up with contingencies in case he encounters humanity by chance. But for now, he must wait.

Ceres slowly sat on the snow-covered ground. Legs crossed, arms on his lap and eyes staring intently at the still-growing Hatchery and what it will entail for him and for this world.

Ceres allowed himself a small, but satisfied smile. He is already one step closer to returning home.


Location: Atlas, Atlas Academy

The Atlas Academy is considered one of if not, the most prestigious academy in the training of Huntsmen and Huntresses in all of Remnant. Hundreds of students are accepted every year but only a few ever pass the academy's high standards of entry and initiation. Once officially enrolled, a prospect Huntsman or Huntress will have access to some of the best technologies and teachers that the kingdom can provide, nothing is spared when it comes to training the next generation of humanity's protectors against the ever-present Grimm threat.

However, unlike the other academies in the other kingdoms, Atlas Academy prides itself on being an integral part of the Atlas government, more specifically the Atlas Military.

Students are trained vigorously to uphold their duties as Huntsmen, and when their time in the academy comes to an end, they are given the option of joining the military as a high ranking Special Operatives, the elite of the elite.

This has been the norm for the academy since both the school as well as the military might of Atlas is led by one man, James Ironwood, General of the Atlas Military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy.

Said man is currently in his office at the very top of the academy's central tower, sitting behind his desk while overlooking a seemingly endless pile of field reports and documented files.

The General's attire and the office is of one expected of a man of his position. His personal uniform still clean and crisp to a fault, his office desk spartan and clean, and his demeanor shows of that as a busy man going about his work.

However, his expression, as well as his looks, tells a different story. His once clean-shaven face now has a five o'clock shadow as his hair is slightly unkempt but still presentable. His eyes stared steely at his holo-screen on his desk, filing through numerous reports and files. However, there were more wrinkles on his face and small noticeable bags underneath his eyes, showing signs of sleep deprivation.

James Ironwood, as many within Atlas would describe him, is a man of action. He is often soft-spoken, but his very words carry weight and authority benefitting of a general of the world's most powerful military. He is often heavy-handed with his approaches, using the overwhelming force of arms and show of might to tackle most problems.

Subtlety is not in his nature; many would say as he comes off as authoritative and intimidatingly strict. However, those who know the General personally, know that he will do anything to keep those around him safe and always have the best interest of the people in mind.

However, the past six months have been hard on the General. Six months since the Fall of Beacon.

James closed his eyes as he shut off his desk terminal before rubbing his tired eyes. Though six months have passed since the fall, every time he closes his eyes he remembers that horrible night as if it were yesterday. The screaming of innocent people. The Grimm pouring into Vale. The White Fang attacking Beacon.

And the worst, seeing his own ships destroyed, his own Atlesian Knights turning on his men, civilians and soldiers alike mercilessly gunning down. He could still hear their cries.

"General Ironwood. Is this a bad time sir?"

James's eyes immediately shot open as he soon met with the teal green eyes of one of his most trusted operatives.

Clover Ebi, squad leader of his Ace-Ops.

James sighed before shaking his head. "No Clover. Report." James ordered. Clover looked at him with hidden concern but instead stood at attention. "Sir. The relief efforts in Mistral is nearing completion. It will be another month or so before Specialist Schnee and her forces have completed their mission." Clover reported.

James nodded, since the Fall of Beacon the other three kingdoms were attacked by Grimm because of the negativity caused by the leaked broadcast of Vale during the attack. Since the attack of Vale and after the world saw his own Drones killing innocent civilians, the only kingdom that called for direct aid was Mistral, but even then, there was still animosity against Atlas.

Now the Atlas is enemy number one in the eyes of the other kingdoms, something James cannot stand happening. "What of Mantle?" James asked, thinking about the current situation of the city below. "The current situation is stable for now. A few Grimm broke into the city during the week, but my team and I handled the situation alongside Operative Penny." Clover reported.

James sighed. "That makes twenty this month. Grimm attacks are still increasing." James said. He wasn't deaf to the plight of the citizens of Mantle, the city itself is old and poverty-stricken, it's walls and defenses are barely holding as it is, and it's citizens are currently hating his very guts.

James did send an entire regiment of Atlas soldiers and Atlesian Knights to act as security, to keep the people of Mantle safe. But of course, ever since the Fall of Beacon people has lost faith in the Atlas Military as well as him as its acting general.

The rest of the kingdoms saw what has happened in Vale that night, how his Knights killed civilians, murdered innocents, and brought ruin to Beacon.

But they don't know what really happened, they just saw his Knights killing people they were supposed to protect, all because of her.

James gritted his teeth at the thought. Now the peace James and Ozpin fought to protect is now hanging by a thread. The other kingdoms grew distrustful of Atlas after what happened in Vale and war is on the horizon, and Salem is sitting back and planning the fall of another kingdom all the while.

Unless James can do something about it.

James took a deep breath. "I believe its time we set our plan in motion." James said, earning a surprised look from Clover before it was quickly schooled into a serious expression. "Yes Sir! I will prepare my team." Clover said standing noticeably straighter.

James nodded. "Good. I will call a meeting with the other Councilmen as well as recall the entire fleet. If everything goes well then Atlas will be secured and ready for what I am planning to do." James said as he stood from his seat and made his way over to his office window behind him.

James's office overlooked nearly the entirety of the floating city as well as the snowy tundra beyond Mantle's walls. He knew the risks of his plans, but what choice does he have. Ozpin's passive defense failed horribly, leading to the invasion of Vale as well as the Fall of Beacon. Their enemies infiltrated right underneath their noses and caused so much destruction.

James silently vowed that what happened to Vale will never happen to Atlas for as long as he can draw breath. He will protect Altas and its people, and in order to do so, sacrifices must be made.

James turned to Clover. "What is the situation with Amity Colosseum?" James questioned. "The Colosseum is prepped and ready. The supplies for Dust are still needed, but because of the nature of the mission, we cannot afford to use the military surplus nor can we go directly to the Schnee Dust Company, for… obvious reason." Clover answered.

James nodded. "Yes. Jacque can't be trusted. That's why I have been searching for a potential source for Dust and found this." James said as he placed his personal scroll on his desk as steel shutters slide down to cover the windows, darkening the room. Soon a large holo-map appeared in the middle of the room as the floor opened and slowly extended upwards. The holo-map showed the continent of Solitas or at least the territory that Atlas currently owns, and marked with a red target is an SDC mine in the far north of the continent.

"Sir… is this mine-"

"Yes." James answered. "This is the very same mine that was abandoned years ago due to an accident that caused the mine to collapse. But if my sources are right then there is still all that untouched Dust, enough to figuratively lift our plans off the ground." James explained in a serious tone.

James looked towards his Operative, he can see the worry in Clover's eyes. "Speak Clover. What's on your mind?"

"Sir. Wouldn't this draw the attention of Jacque Schnee? It was his mine after all." Clover questioned; his tone laced with concern.

"Was his. Not anymore since he officially abandoned it all those years ago and made no effort to reclaim it since. However, we can't move in to take it just yet, I still need to secure our Kingdom's borders first and recall all available ships back to Atlas." James then went over to his desk and retrieved his scroll, shutting down the map as well as returning the light back into the room. "And for that to happen. I need to convince the Council to go through with the embargo."

Yes, James knew what the embargo will do to the kingdom and how the other kingdoms of Remnant will perceive Atlas. But if he wanted to protect his kingdom, then he must make sure none of Salem's agents can infiltrate the kingdom in the first place.

James is not naïve, the embargo will not stop Salem's agents, they have proven resourceful in ways that even Ozpin didn't expect. The embargo will make it difficult but also will help notify him of any potential intruders.

But in the spotlight, it will seem as if Atlas is closing its borders to the rest of the world in order to protect itself. Something that is understandable but no less suspicious after what has occurred six months ago.

"Clover. You and your team are to continue to protect Mantle of the Grimm threat. When the time comes, I will call upon the Ace Ops. Dismissed."

Clover gave a crisp salute before exiting his office, only when the doors slid shut did James allow himself to let out a silent sigh. He has a lot of work ahead of him.

James sat down behind his desk once more and activated his desk terminal. But before he could send a message for a council meeting, a new report just entered his notice, one with level four priority. Meaning his eyes only.

James immediately opened the report and found out it was coming from the northern Huntsmen outpost, one of the two official Huntsmen outpost located further north of Atlas.

James read the report, his steel-blue eyes roaming through the words. The report was sent through an emergency line, explaining how the outpost guards saw a bright flash of light approximately a hundred kilometers away from the base. The light only lasted mere seconds, but the officer in command wasn't taking any chances and reported it to the Specialist in charge of the base. Specialist Havel Frost.

Now Specialist Frost is seeking James's permission to send a team of Specialists to scout and discover what caused the bright light.

James' expression was set in stone. 'A flash of light all the way up north? This is not a northern aurora? Plus the outpost is more then a couple of hundred clicks from the abandoned mines.' Without a second thought, James quickly typed a reply, granting permission to scout out the area and to report directly to him with any findings.

With the message sent, James took a moment to ponder on the report before shaking his head.

'If fortune favors me then it may probably be nothing. Besides, I have far more important things to worry about.' James thought as he started to message the other Councilmen of Atlas.

AN:

And that was chapter 1. Now to answer some questions you reader may have.

Where is Ceres?

He's in Atlas, or more specifically the continent of Solitas.

Why did you put Ceres near Atlas?

I'm sure you can already guess. But I found it far more interesting putting the Ceres and by extension the Zerg nearby one of the most powerful kingdoms. I have a lot of things planned.

Grimm can think?

It makes sort of sense in a way. The Grimm in the show has proven themselves to have some form of thought or patterns of behavior, especially the more evolved forms of Grimm. Plus what Ceres translated was their thoughts and emotions.

What was the mine Ceres ended up in?

The mines is the exact same mine from the show in season 7.

Why did you put Ceres in that mine?

You readers know why. Plus it is a suitable spot and point of interest for Ceres, concerning that he needed a place to grow his brood, as well as the abandoned mines itself, is far too valuable for Ceres to simply waste.

Where does the story takes place in RWBY canon?

The story takes place 6 months after the Fall of Beacon, so a month before the start of Season 4. The reason why I picked this time and not at the beginning was more for what I have in mind for the plot of this story and to build Ceres's brood.

Will your story follow RWBY canon to the letter like your last story?

In some scenarios (i.e. Team RWBY reuniting, Team RWBY and JNR coming to Atlas, Ironwood doing the embargo, etc.) will stay the same. The main portion of this story will focus on Ceres and it will diverge from the canon as Ceres grows his Brood to the point where he can face any opposition. Plus the Zerg will definitely have an impact on the world of Remnant, it is inevitable concerning the power players of the world.

When Ceres ate the dust, why didn't he shoot lightning or fire? Why wasn't he in constant pain or exploding?

The reason why Ceres didn't shoot dust is simply that Ceres has little knowledge of what the dust he used is capable of. He thinks its minerals with potent energy and plans to use it to fuel his Brood.

Remember, he has absolutely no idea where he is and what Remnant contains, right now as of this point he's collecting as much knowledge as he can from his own findings and from what he discovers himself.

As for why the dust did not just outright kill him, he's a Zerg, they are extremely robust and can adapt to any harmful conditions in what seems to be in a blink of an eye. Ceres especially.

Dust as Zerg sole resource? Don't they need minerals or vespene gas?

In the world of Remnant, there are no minerals or vespene. But in the Starcraft 2 lore, it explains how the Zerg use minerals to help harden carapace and claws while vespene is used as a sort of energy source to fuel and nourish the calories needed to feed his Zerg.

In RWBY Lore, Dust is the main source of energy, containing powerful elemental energies that are used to either as weapons or standard fuel source. Why can't this same energy be used to fuel Ceres's Zerg? I believe the Zerg can make any Zerg unit without the usual resources, Minerals and vespene gas are just catalysts to make them quicker.

With Dust, this solves the problem for calories that the Zerg desperately needs, because some of the Zerg units no doubt NEED a large source of calories to just fuel and create their bodies.

As for minerals, I believe the Zerg can still produce the same weapons and armor without it, just at a slightly slower rate.

Will Ceres join team good guys or team bad guys? Or will he lone wolf it?

I think this is obvious, but my biggest sin last story was making Ceres readily join Ozpin's good guy crew. Right now Ceres is his own neutral faction. A VERY dangerous neutral faction with the potential to wipe out all of Remnant and throw a wrench in the power hierarchy in the world of Remnant.

But for now, no one knows that Ceres or his Zerg are on Remnant. For now, that is.

Will Ceres and his Zerg wipe out all of Remnant?

I think I explained this to death in my last story, but no. He explains how he doesn't want that to happen as his main priority and drive at the moment is to return to the Swarm. But that doesn't mean he will back down if threatened or provoked.

Will Violet be back?

Yes, and like Ceres, she will be more realistic in character and things will obviously change concerning how Ceres will meet her. But I will not spoil how Ceres will eventually meet her. Stay tuned to find out.

Thank you for reading, the next chapter will come out soon. Leave a comment, review, suggestion down below. The next chapter will come out soon.