I'm not entirely sure how much is left (I tend to let things flow and grow on their own, within certain limits), but I know we JRoddin Normal JRoddin 2 40 2001-11-07T13:35:00Z 2001-11-07T13:35:00Z 1 766 4368 36 10 5124 10.2625 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}

I'm not entirely sure how much is left (I tend to let things flow and grow on their own, within certain limits), but I know we're closing in on the end...which will only be a beginning to something far more devious.  (For those who read Dark Vengeance-if you thought I screwed with things then, you ain't seen nothing.  For those who haven't-shame on you. =-P )

                If Alex thought that following Slavik through the rift would lead to a better situation, he was only marginally right.  Zerg forces surrounded the group, locked in combat with this new group of humans, and their unusual weapons.  While the Zerg numbers were not quite as extreme as on Umoja, the odds were still well stacked against the humans.  Despite this, Slavik seemed confident that they could defeat the menace.  The group fought their way through the structure, which Alex realized was mostly subterranean, and a mere part of a much larger base.  Much of the base had been infested, so Alex realized that a queen must have gotten through to Earth. 

                Alex and Arathes followed the Nod troops to a fortified area, well outside of the main base.  Once there, Slavik seemed to calm a bit, so Alex took the moment to speak with him.

                "What has become of Earth since the colonists' absence?"

                Slavik turned, as if realizing for the first time that Alex had followed them.  "Colonists?  Oh, right.  There are too many details to explain now, but we're not from the same universes.  We found a machine that allowed for temporal and spatial travel, and managed to put the two to their extremes, opening a rift to your universe.  Something seems to be holding the rift open, allowing those things to keep coming."

                "The beasts are of a race called Zerg," Arathes spoke up.  "They infest and consume everything in their path, adapting a species' strength as they destroy it."

                "So anything that could benefit them, make them more dangerous, they adopt as part of themselves?" Slavik's voice took on a concerned edge.

                "Yes," the Protoss replied.

                "Damn!"  The Nod leader ran to the nearest communications station.  "Establish a link to the missile silos!"  The officer promptly complied.  "Abort launch of chemical missiles!  Abort tiberium missile launch now!!"

                A hesitant voice came back.  "Too late, sir…"

                Eyes widening in a combination of horror and rage, Slavik ordered the comm officer to bring up a tactical view of the battlefield.  He watched helplessly as the first of the missiles-a powerful multi-missile-reached it's target.  The main projectile broke into smaller pieces which rained death upon all in the vicinity.  An ion cannon strike decimated the construction yard, leaving it a smoldering shell.  Then the chemical missiles came.  As the onslaught ensued, massive clouds of tiberium gas flooded the battlefield.  The remaining Nod soldiers were painfully ripped down and melted into tiberium-based visceroids.  The creatures went about the systematic destruction of everything in their path. 

                As the gas cleared, Slavik hoped to see only the visceroids-though he could not believe such a thought would occur to him.  However, the nightmare he feared had come true.  Between the tiberium deposits leftover from the destruction of the base's refineries, and the effects of the gas, something horrible had happened.  What Zerg forces remained after the decisive blow had been changed.  Several, from zerglings to mutalisks, to even the powerful ultralisks, had tiberium crystals growing from their exoskeletons.  In addition, those present watched the creation of an entirely new species.  It was similar in form to what could be imagined as a cross between a visceroids and a tiberium floater-only several times larger than either.  Several chitinous limbs extended from the main body, each ending in obviously deadly claws or spear-tips.  On the underside, surrounded by a mass of tentacles was a horrid mouth, filled with more teeth than could be counted in even a close examination. 

                The new tiberium-Zerg hybrids let out a shrill cry that chilled even the most seasoned veterans watching.  Some moved to return to the tech center, probably to return the genetic information to their leader, some to the recently-added, biological structures to prepare for more immediate reproduction of such units.

                "We're screwed," breathed the comm officer.

                Nobody disagreed. 

                The new hoard came on.

(On that fairly bizarre note, I'd like to comment that I'll soon be taking a break from FFN writing to favor another, bigger project.  I will finish Fateful Discoveries, though it may be a bit slow in coming, and the rest of the series and any other fics I had planned are on hold for now.  When this new Project is done, expect to see the sequel to Dark Vengeance, currently called Dark Renewal, as well as at least 3 more installments in the Fateful Discoveries series, a fic of a possible ending for the New Jedi Order, and my usual craziness over in "Rantings…"  and hopefully this new project will help me grow as a writer, allowing me to present, bigger, better, and even more insane fics than I already have!  Beware!  =-)

-SykoBeevr, 10/30/01