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Hope you my first chapter. No much left to say, so let's get to it.

StarCraft: Left Behind

April 20th – 2507

Confederate Space – Koprulu Sector

Char System – Char Planet

14:32 Local Time

Kayra ran for his life as fast as he could. Once the trenches had been breached, he saw friends of his being ripped apart left and right, the CMC-300 Suits were cut as easily as you would cut a piece of paper with a sharp knife. His own suit was in its last moments, the self-sealing system hardly keeping the internal pressure after he got his right arm completely ripped off. The medical injection system has filled him with all kinds of drugs and narcotics, trying to keep him stable until a medical officer could arrive. He knew that wouldn't happen, not a chance that a medic would dive down to a trench of molten rocks and bones filled with Zergs, it was a death sentence, one that Kayra so desperately tried to run away from. The internal hydraulic system screamed with each step as the green lubricant fluids leaked from his cut leg. His world was slowly getting darker and darker, each breath burning the insides of his lungs as the stifling air got inside the cracks of his visor.

On his sides and behind him a few other marines ran alongside, the lucky ones that stood just far enough from the trench wall to not be impaled in the split second it took to be breached by the Zergs, and even luckier for not being on the kill zone of the wave of spikes and acid that flew in their direction. Despite all of that, at that moment, Kayra thought the best option was fighting back, the biggest mistake he will ever regret. It only took 5 or 10 shots once he raised his rifle for a splash of acid to hit his upper arm, he still felt the burning sensation of his flesh peeling off and sliding across his arm, his bones being consumed slowly as he screamed in pain. The next moment he felt what remained of his arm getting ripped off by a lunging Zergling. He could still see those yellow blood lust eyes, the bones cracking under its bite with ease. Its next target was his legs, it reached for them in another lunge, using the sharp blades that stood above its head to cut clean pieces of his armor. If a marine running by him hadn't shot the thing right between its eyes, he would probably be a bloody piece of steak for those monsters by now.

Everything seemed to flash into his mind as he tried to understand the situation. It didn't made sense, what remained of the Zergs should be simply a scattered remain of what once was the fearsome Swarm. The artifact took care of most part of them, burning the weaker psi linked Zergs and letting their higher mind incapacitated for a fierce and brutal assault of the Dominion. Once Sara Kerrigan was dead, it should have been the end of everything. The Bone Trenches were a reminder of what the Zergs were, merely piles of flesh awaiting to become ashes under the Dominions foot.

That now seemed nothing more than a childish dream, one parents would tell their children at the beginning of the wars, one that Kayra heard himself a few times when he couldn't sleep at night. Looking at the sky, he noticed how everything seemed to get darker, the sky took strange shapes as it moved in a spiral of darkness. He wanted to believe that it was the arrival of the Dominion fleet, readying themselves to lay fire on those abominations. But he couldn't fool himself at this point, the screaming sky now covered in flying Zergs, sweeping across the trenches, the high pitch screams as the delivered their glaive worms on the retreating marines made Kayra's blood run even colder.

The chaos grew bigger as everyone did what they could to survive. A few turned back and tried to fight, shooting at everything that moved on their sight, even some friendly units. Others tried to hide, squeezing themselves between piles of ash and bones in hopes of living another day. It meant nothing, Kayra heard every single one of them getting mowed down by the Zergs, screaming for mercy and for the embrace of their loved ones as their flesh was ripped out of their bones.

Soon he could only see himself still running, a deadly silence around him, only the distant artillery fire echoing in the distance. He wanted to be home, he wished he had never fallen under the assumption he would be a war hero that would kill what remained of the Zerg, he wished he hadn't volunteered to serve on Char, he wished he could be someone else right now.

Then, for a brief moment, he felt peace, as if the world itself remained silent for him to feel safe. The world span around him, the molten rocks seemed to wave at him, as if they said goodbye. He wanted to close his eyes for a moment, to appreciate that feeling, but he couldn't, he could only watch as he rotated on the air, soon falling on the ground, now only seeing his collapsed body on the other side of the trench.

March 20st – 2505

Confederate Space – Koprulu Sector

Char System – Char Planet

00:32 Local Time

Everything seemed to return at once; the intense heat that burned their skin and charred their tissues; the various minds connected with their own, confused and wandering through the hell that buried them, one by one consumed into the void; the very void in their mind, as if losing a part of themselves. They tried to make sense of it all, feeling their inner self pulsing fervently.

-"The Swarm, I must get back to the Swarm!"

Their mind screamed, but nothing happened. They searched every fiber of their body for the connection. Only the silence between the desperate voices answered them. Slowly they remembered who they were again.

The artifact had been assembled and activated in its full capacity, all Zergs close enough had been turned to ashes in an instant, after that the energy wave traveled across the entire planted, causing havoc amongst the Swarm. They were Martogh, an cerebrate created for the sole purpose of being a host for The Queen of Blades in case she ever came to fall. He knew he must act quickly and reestablish connection with The Swarm, The Queen would be in extreme danger if all the other cerebrates were in the same condition as him.

He tried reaching for his brood, seeking to put control on the Zergs that ran havoc.

-"Children of the Swarm, listen to your leader and reunite for the sake of the Zerg."

He used most of the psionic force he had, yet the Zerg connected to his mind seemed to not take his words, still causing chaos wherever they passed by. At the same time, he felt his surroundings growing hotter, the burning sensation plaguing his flesh still.

-"Something must have happened to the worms that took care of the tunnels. I must seek someone to fill the gaps, or the sea of lava will engulf me. "

Once again, he stressed his neural tissue, sending a powerful psionic wave across the area. And yet again, no one seemed to respond to his commands. He knew something was wrong, his position is of extreme importance, a last chance for the Swarm to survive. No one would dare or even be capable of defying his psionic power. So why couldn't he reach for any of his brood?

For the first time, he began to feel worried. Was he to fail in his duties, or worse, to be the last cerebrate to die, the Swarm would vanish from the galaxy. He knew there where other in various planets across the space, but how long could they survive on their own? The strength on the Swarm took place in their numbers more than anything else.

The room where he rested must have started to fill with more lava, as he felt the extend of his flesh trim down, slowly, only the center of brain mass would be left, and then nothing. In a last effort, Martogh pushed his gifted brain to launch the strongest signal he could, pushing the limits of his own flesh as he reached for any Zerg that could help him. The current in his brain felt overwhelming, his body shivering in pain as he felt the internal connection burning to a crisp, sacrificing a good part of it.

His last attempt was futile as any other, no one could, or at least wouldn't, listen to him. He was now alone in that burning hell of a cave, destined to become a husk of a brilliant mind he once was. His body shook more, but not from pain or from his burned neurons, but from the frustration of his existence. He shook and shook, the cave walls covered in his flesh ripping apart and falling. He would be just another cerebrate that failed in his duty, as many that came before him.

There, in those last moments of grief and frustration, Martogh felt a weak mind approaching him. It seemed to no crawl or run to him, the movement too fluid for that to be the case, but a slow and steady hovering. He froze, ceasing to destroy his surroundings as he tried to understand what it was that was approaching him. That small mind came closer and closer, until it finally reached the cerebrate, or what was left of him.

-"Who are you, the one that approaches Martogh cerebrate, leader of the Shell Brood?"

The cerebrate questioned in a frightful tone, marking his presence clear. The mind responded by connecting to his, revealing who he was.

-"A drone? What are you doing here? The Queen will need every Zerg by her side of the Terrans decide to launch a final strike against her."

The drone didn't seem to be worried, its sharp pincers resting softly against the cerebrates flesh, its mind singed a low tune song, one that Martogh seemed to have forgotten about. It was a song that the Swarm was familiar with, one that the hatcheries would sing to their eggs while they morphed into loyal tools for the Swarm. Martogh didn't understand at first, his frustration almost rising again, but his mind stayed at peace, nonetheless.

Once the cerebrate seemed to be calm, the drone once again reached for his mind, its worry evident and its wishes even more.

-"What are you suggesting? You couldn't possibly be…"

The drone was sure about what he wanted, and Martogh didn't have a better option. It was an extravagant suggestion, but it might be enough to ensure the survival of the swarm. Without time to think, Martogh accepted the drone's request and so his will would be done. The drone let its happiness be shown one final time, before it made its way inside the cerebrate, cutting the flesh that covered the brain mass. Martogh felt the pain of its pincers cutting him, but he didn't complain. Reaching the brain, the drone gently rested against it, placing its head resting on it.

-"You will live inside me as the faithful servant you are drone, your duty shall not be forgotten. Long live the Swarm my little servant."

With that the brain of the cerebrate fused with the head of the drone, their mind connected in a deeper level this time. Then the metamorphosis began, the cerebrate began taking over the drone's body, a purple fluid secreting from both of them as a carapace started to surround them. Their new body would suffice, and the Martogh cerebrate would once again serve the swarm, in his new and better form.

-"Long live the Queen of Blades"

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