Heroes Never Die
Chapter 6: Prison of the Past
By: Dark-Elk
"What is Rancor Brood's estimated time of landing, Jendrel?" asked Kerrigan idly. She could have learned the answer in less time than it took to ask the question, but she was feeling sluggish right now. Besides, she was a queen, the Queen of Blades, and she shouldn't have to work for everything she wanted. Who would dare argue?
"My Queen, Rancor Brood will be arriving in about three minutes. Do you wish for me to lead the attack, or. . ." Jendrel trailed off uncertainly into silence.
"Or do I wish to lead it? I think I will lead it, Jendrel. After your embarrassing failure at Novax VII, you should be glad you are still alive. The Overmind certainly wouldn't have tolerated such a failure, but the Overmind was also a senile fool. You will establish a preliminary garrison during my transit to the surface."
"As you wish, my Queen." Jendrel's presence disappeared from Kerrigan's mind, leaving her alone again, alone to bask in her ecstasy. She was still on top of the galactic conflict, something the Overmind surely wouldn't have been able to manage. She mentally saluted the poor creature for awakening her powers; without it, who could tell where she would be today?
The reminiscences opened up a path of thought Kerrigan hadn't traveled down in years. James. . .Jim. She sighed; he was a remnant of her old life, before she had become powerful. Now he was little more than a nuisance, but she wasn't sure what to do about him anymore. Surely he could be infested, made to serve the Swarm like she had been. Then she would have him to herself again. . .but no. She could never put Jim through the infestation. Knowing how much it had changed her, who knew how James would turn out? He could end up as mindless as a Drone, a mere servant of the Swarm, not a leader.
Mengsk. . .there was another name from her past that resurrected memories, memories she had thought she had dealt with during her campaign to reunite the Swarm under her banner. She had allied with Mengsk, served his ends as he had hers, and he had ended up emperor of a new Dominion, more powerful than before, but still little more than a thorn in her side, something to be dealt with at her leisure. She knew exactly how she would deal with Mengsk on the day the Dominion fell. . .the man would be tortured, forced to undergo the mental shattering that Kerrigan had succumbed to, recreated as a servant of the Swarm, a mere plaything in Kerrigan's hands, much as she had been to him. She would leave him just enough free will, enough intelligence, to know what he had become. She would let him linger for years, slowly being killed off a piece at a time, and then being allowed to regenerate, and then the process would be repeated. Kerrigan was sure she could make his suffering last years, possibly decades even. And it would still not be a fitting punishment for the backstabbing snake, but it was all she looked forward to now. The day would come soon. She could feel it.
The shuddering of the craft she was ensconced in signaled that the move to the surface was taking place. Her mind instinctively drew clusters of aerial Zerg towards her command pod to deter any possible threats as the pod entered the atmosphere. The fact that the interior of the craft did not heat up even slightly was a testament to the bioengineering of the Zerg; were it not for the slight shifting the pod was undergoing caused by the air currents, Kerrigan might not have even noticed she had entered the atmosphere.
Her mind spread out, diffusing itself through the Brood below. Looking through the eyes of her minions, she could see the once-tranquil surface, already being blanketed by thick layers of creep. The base seemed to be securing itself nicely; the Hive in metamorphosis would complete shortly and begin wresting control of Nlloth from its inhabitants, a small, independent Protoss colony.
Suddenly an alarm flared in Kerrigan's brain; she cycled through the senses of the Brood until she found the source of the distress. A patrolling Overlord had spotted a small band of Protoss, apparently Dark Templar. She pondered only for a few seconds about a course of action before grinning and urged her pod to hasten the landing process. The dull thud that signaled landing was Kerrigan's cue; she sprang out of her seat and out of her pod without breaking stride.
Kerrigan breathed deeply of the air of Nlloth, savoring the flavor. Each world had its own unique scent, Kerrigan had noticed, and no two were even remotely the same. Nlloth had a sterile, bland taste, almost like chalk. She wondered briefly if the air had any toxic chemicals in it, but dismissed the though almost immediately. Members of the Swarm had nothing to fear from poisons, especially those found naturally.
Kerrigan stalked off in the direction of the Templar, noting the feel of the ground. Soft, sand-like, but still firm enough to walk easily on. The Swarm would have an easy time burrowing through such a surface, not that it needed such help. This world would be easy to pacify; the thought of Kerrigan personally leading the assault would be enough to make even the most battle-hardened of commanders' waver. For now though, Kerrigan wanted to enjoy her own personal sparring match with this group of Dark Templar.
The Overlord continued heading north towards the base, leaving the Templar alone and cloaked again. Kerrigan focused for a moment, and watched with pleasure as her body cloaked completely, leaving her on equal ground with the Templar, or at least what would have been equal ground years ago. Kerrigan had at least one thing to thank the Protoss for, most notably Zeratul. Her time among them as their erstwhile ally had proven enlightening, and she had since mastered the ability to faintly detect the Dark Templar merely by their dark psionic emanations. Since then, she hadn't had much occasion to put her talents to full use, but now would be a good refresher course.
A flicker in her mind gave her enough warning that the dark ones were nearby, and she reached out to the group, tagging all four with their own unique psionic marker in her mind so she could differentiate between them. She had fought dozens of Templar at once before, but never this many Dark Templar. Her resolve wavered only slightly, and then she darted into action.
The dark ones must have heard her movement, because they all exploded into movement as well. The lunge that would have impaled one of them on her wing-talons she was now forced to turn into a somersault, bringing her back into a standing defensive position. Scanning again, she could feel the dark ones conversing, and turned to the nearest one. Her mind created a psionic storm above the Dark Templar almost without a second thought; the mental pain forced upon the single Templar was enough to make the normally stoic Protoss cry out in anguish. Grinning, Kerrigan walked towards him, talons prepared to strike. He drew his Warp Blade as the psionic storm waned in power, and turned towards her and stabbed in one smooth movement. Kerrigan dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. She cursed in the Terran language, and ordered her Overlords to her position; somehow an Observer must have snuck overhead and revealed her location. She smiled and decloaked, paying close attention to the retreat of the Templar.
"Is this how far the First Born have fallen? Four Dark Templar retreating before a single warrior?" taunted Kerrigan.
A roar of fury caused Kerrigan to turn and deliver a quick snap kick to the abdomen of one of the four, sending his body skidding across the ground until it collided with a rock formation. The Templar lay unmoving for a few moments, and then slowly stood, favoring his left leg. Kerrigan favored the group with a smug grin.
"Is that the best you can offer? You don't deserve to live anymore, Protoss meddlers."
The three uninjured Templar drew their swords in succession, readying themselves for battle. The trio cloaked, and Kerrigan could sense as they fanned out, encircling her loosely. Her Overlord sluggishly floated overhead, finally revealing the Observor. Roaring in fury, she let her powers explode in a massive gout, shattering the fragile probe and leaving a spray of debris to rain down onto the surface. She laughed loudly, and called to the Protoss.
"Your Observer is dead, dark ones. This is an uneven contest now. Surrender or die."
One of the Templar retorted angrily from far left. "Never, foul Queen. Who knows what sort of gruesome experiments one such as you would undertake with us? You have no honor."
Kerrigan smiled broadly as she launched another psionic storm at the voice. She could hear a hiss of pain as the Templar dodged through the storm, narrowly saving his own life. Something slashed across her left arm, nearly severing it from her shoulder. It was her turn to cry out in pain as she turned and lashed out with her long wing-claws. She could feel them punch through the body of the Templar who had attacked her. He decloaked as he died, and Kerrigan watched with enjoyment as his glowing eyes flickered and then fell dark. She turned around again, eyes scanning the battlefield. She could feel her Zerg genetics healing her body; bones knitting, flesh regrowing, lost blood being steadily replaced. Her arm fully healed, she rotated it a few times to stretch it out, and then called out to the Templar.
"Nice try. He's dead now, but there's still one left who I haven't had a chance to acquaint myself with. Where are you, coward?"
The Dark Templar decloaked in front of her, Warp Blade held loosely in one hand. "You are a fool, Kerrigan, and you shall pay dearly now for your arrogance."
Kerrigan tried to lunge at the Templar, but smashed into something a few feet in front of her. She rebounded back into another invisible wall, and steadied herself. She pounded a tightly clenched fist at the walls, screaming in fury when she found she was trapped. She looked around for the source of the walls, but only the Dark Templar was visible.
"Curious, foul Queen, as to the nature of your prison?" The Protoss raised a hand, and Kerrigan gaped in disbelief as she looked in the direction he had pointed. A craft was hovering in the air; it looked similar to an Arbiter, but smaller.
"The craft you see is called an Imprisoner, Kerrigan. It emits beams that solidify space, similar to a stasis field generated by an Arbiter. The cage you are in is unbreakable."
Kerrigan calmed herself and then smiled as a thought came to her. "Nothing is unbreakable, especially not that ship. My Swarm will crush this base and free me, and I'll give you all a slow, lingering death for your transgressions. No one can dare imprison me, for I am Kerrigan, Queen of Blades, leader of the Swarm!"
The Protoss only laughed. "Should you destroy the ship, you would be imprisoned for all eternity. The field can't be disrupted by the ship through destruction. It isn't powered by the ship, but rather from a base that controls all of them. Even destroying that base won't free you. You are trapped until you are freed by my hand, which I assure you will not be any time soon."
Kerrigan sank to the ground, the rage in her heart only mildly dampened by the thought of eternal imprisonment at the hands of the Protoss. "You. . . you wouldn't dare. . .I'll issue orders for the Swarm to pummel Shakuras and everyone on into star dust, I'll have the Broods drag Aiur into a star." Kerrigan became emboldened by these visions and stood again. "I'll infest every one of you, keep you alive merely to torture you to the edge of death."
"You won't be doing any of that, foul Queen. Should you attempt to, you will be killed, leaving the Broods without leadership, mere pack animals to be slaughtered at leisure."
Kerrigan gave into the rage and focused her mind at a point in the invisible wall. She slammed every ounce of psionic power she possessed into cracking the wall, but the wall seemed slippery to her abilities, and the power diffused harmlessly along the wall. She sank to her knees again and pounded the ground with her fist, tears in her eyes. Her strength couldn't possibly defeat this. She was stunned at how thoroughly she had been captured.
"This was a trap, wasn't it dark one? The sole purpose of this base was to capture me." Kerrigan said hesitantly.
"Indeed, foul Queen. We weren't sure if you would lead the attack personally, but we anticipated your arrogance correctly it seems."
Kerrigan nodded. They had predicted her perfectly, these Protoss. She could do nothing to end her imprisonment. Reaching out with her mind, she touched the mind of Jendrel."
"Jendrel, I've been taken by these wretched First Born. Order the Broods to remain in position while I seek a way to escape, and activate the Narasthil Brood and its' experimental Cerebrate. Take your Brood and meet up with Loran and Grendel Brood."
"As you wish my Queen."
Kerrigan looked up into the darkening sky, her tears beginning to cloud her vision. Caged, humiliated. . .defeated.
Chapter 6: Prison of the Past
By: Dark-Elk
"What is Rancor Brood's estimated time of landing, Jendrel?" asked Kerrigan idly. She could have learned the answer in less time than it took to ask the question, but she was feeling sluggish right now. Besides, she was a queen, the Queen of Blades, and she shouldn't have to work for everything she wanted. Who would dare argue?
"My Queen, Rancor Brood will be arriving in about three minutes. Do you wish for me to lead the attack, or. . ." Jendrel trailed off uncertainly into silence.
"Or do I wish to lead it? I think I will lead it, Jendrel. After your embarrassing failure at Novax VII, you should be glad you are still alive. The Overmind certainly wouldn't have tolerated such a failure, but the Overmind was also a senile fool. You will establish a preliminary garrison during my transit to the surface."
"As you wish, my Queen." Jendrel's presence disappeared from Kerrigan's mind, leaving her alone again, alone to bask in her ecstasy. She was still on top of the galactic conflict, something the Overmind surely wouldn't have been able to manage. She mentally saluted the poor creature for awakening her powers; without it, who could tell where she would be today?
The reminiscences opened up a path of thought Kerrigan hadn't traveled down in years. James. . .Jim. She sighed; he was a remnant of her old life, before she had become powerful. Now he was little more than a nuisance, but she wasn't sure what to do about him anymore. Surely he could be infested, made to serve the Swarm like she had been. Then she would have him to herself again. . .but no. She could never put Jim through the infestation. Knowing how much it had changed her, who knew how James would turn out? He could end up as mindless as a Drone, a mere servant of the Swarm, not a leader.
Mengsk. . .there was another name from her past that resurrected memories, memories she had thought she had dealt with during her campaign to reunite the Swarm under her banner. She had allied with Mengsk, served his ends as he had hers, and he had ended up emperor of a new Dominion, more powerful than before, but still little more than a thorn in her side, something to be dealt with at her leisure. She knew exactly how she would deal with Mengsk on the day the Dominion fell. . .the man would be tortured, forced to undergo the mental shattering that Kerrigan had succumbed to, recreated as a servant of the Swarm, a mere plaything in Kerrigan's hands, much as she had been to him. She would leave him just enough free will, enough intelligence, to know what he had become. She would let him linger for years, slowly being killed off a piece at a time, and then being allowed to regenerate, and then the process would be repeated. Kerrigan was sure she could make his suffering last years, possibly decades even. And it would still not be a fitting punishment for the backstabbing snake, but it was all she looked forward to now. The day would come soon. She could feel it.
The shuddering of the craft she was ensconced in signaled that the move to the surface was taking place. Her mind instinctively drew clusters of aerial Zerg towards her command pod to deter any possible threats as the pod entered the atmosphere. The fact that the interior of the craft did not heat up even slightly was a testament to the bioengineering of the Zerg; were it not for the slight shifting the pod was undergoing caused by the air currents, Kerrigan might not have even noticed she had entered the atmosphere.
Her mind spread out, diffusing itself through the Brood below. Looking through the eyes of her minions, she could see the once-tranquil surface, already being blanketed by thick layers of creep. The base seemed to be securing itself nicely; the Hive in metamorphosis would complete shortly and begin wresting control of Nlloth from its inhabitants, a small, independent Protoss colony.
Suddenly an alarm flared in Kerrigan's brain; she cycled through the senses of the Brood until she found the source of the distress. A patrolling Overlord had spotted a small band of Protoss, apparently Dark Templar. She pondered only for a few seconds about a course of action before grinning and urged her pod to hasten the landing process. The dull thud that signaled landing was Kerrigan's cue; she sprang out of her seat and out of her pod without breaking stride.
Kerrigan breathed deeply of the air of Nlloth, savoring the flavor. Each world had its own unique scent, Kerrigan had noticed, and no two were even remotely the same. Nlloth had a sterile, bland taste, almost like chalk. She wondered briefly if the air had any toxic chemicals in it, but dismissed the though almost immediately. Members of the Swarm had nothing to fear from poisons, especially those found naturally.
Kerrigan stalked off in the direction of the Templar, noting the feel of the ground. Soft, sand-like, but still firm enough to walk easily on. The Swarm would have an easy time burrowing through such a surface, not that it needed such help. This world would be easy to pacify; the thought of Kerrigan personally leading the assault would be enough to make even the most battle-hardened of commanders' waver. For now though, Kerrigan wanted to enjoy her own personal sparring match with this group of Dark Templar.
The Overlord continued heading north towards the base, leaving the Templar alone and cloaked again. Kerrigan focused for a moment, and watched with pleasure as her body cloaked completely, leaving her on equal ground with the Templar, or at least what would have been equal ground years ago. Kerrigan had at least one thing to thank the Protoss for, most notably Zeratul. Her time among them as their erstwhile ally had proven enlightening, and she had since mastered the ability to faintly detect the Dark Templar merely by their dark psionic emanations. Since then, she hadn't had much occasion to put her talents to full use, but now would be a good refresher course.
A flicker in her mind gave her enough warning that the dark ones were nearby, and she reached out to the group, tagging all four with their own unique psionic marker in her mind so she could differentiate between them. She had fought dozens of Templar at once before, but never this many Dark Templar. Her resolve wavered only slightly, and then she darted into action.
The dark ones must have heard her movement, because they all exploded into movement as well. The lunge that would have impaled one of them on her wing-talons she was now forced to turn into a somersault, bringing her back into a standing defensive position. Scanning again, she could feel the dark ones conversing, and turned to the nearest one. Her mind created a psionic storm above the Dark Templar almost without a second thought; the mental pain forced upon the single Templar was enough to make the normally stoic Protoss cry out in anguish. Grinning, Kerrigan walked towards him, talons prepared to strike. He drew his Warp Blade as the psionic storm waned in power, and turned towards her and stabbed in one smooth movement. Kerrigan dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. She cursed in the Terran language, and ordered her Overlords to her position; somehow an Observer must have snuck overhead and revealed her location. She smiled and decloaked, paying close attention to the retreat of the Templar.
"Is this how far the First Born have fallen? Four Dark Templar retreating before a single warrior?" taunted Kerrigan.
A roar of fury caused Kerrigan to turn and deliver a quick snap kick to the abdomen of one of the four, sending his body skidding across the ground until it collided with a rock formation. The Templar lay unmoving for a few moments, and then slowly stood, favoring his left leg. Kerrigan favored the group with a smug grin.
"Is that the best you can offer? You don't deserve to live anymore, Protoss meddlers."
The three uninjured Templar drew their swords in succession, readying themselves for battle. The trio cloaked, and Kerrigan could sense as they fanned out, encircling her loosely. Her Overlord sluggishly floated overhead, finally revealing the Observor. Roaring in fury, she let her powers explode in a massive gout, shattering the fragile probe and leaving a spray of debris to rain down onto the surface. She laughed loudly, and called to the Protoss.
"Your Observer is dead, dark ones. This is an uneven contest now. Surrender or die."
One of the Templar retorted angrily from far left. "Never, foul Queen. Who knows what sort of gruesome experiments one such as you would undertake with us? You have no honor."
Kerrigan smiled broadly as she launched another psionic storm at the voice. She could hear a hiss of pain as the Templar dodged through the storm, narrowly saving his own life. Something slashed across her left arm, nearly severing it from her shoulder. It was her turn to cry out in pain as she turned and lashed out with her long wing-claws. She could feel them punch through the body of the Templar who had attacked her. He decloaked as he died, and Kerrigan watched with enjoyment as his glowing eyes flickered and then fell dark. She turned around again, eyes scanning the battlefield. She could feel her Zerg genetics healing her body; bones knitting, flesh regrowing, lost blood being steadily replaced. Her arm fully healed, she rotated it a few times to stretch it out, and then called out to the Templar.
"Nice try. He's dead now, but there's still one left who I haven't had a chance to acquaint myself with. Where are you, coward?"
The Dark Templar decloaked in front of her, Warp Blade held loosely in one hand. "You are a fool, Kerrigan, and you shall pay dearly now for your arrogance."
Kerrigan tried to lunge at the Templar, but smashed into something a few feet in front of her. She rebounded back into another invisible wall, and steadied herself. She pounded a tightly clenched fist at the walls, screaming in fury when she found she was trapped. She looked around for the source of the walls, but only the Dark Templar was visible.
"Curious, foul Queen, as to the nature of your prison?" The Protoss raised a hand, and Kerrigan gaped in disbelief as she looked in the direction he had pointed. A craft was hovering in the air; it looked similar to an Arbiter, but smaller.
"The craft you see is called an Imprisoner, Kerrigan. It emits beams that solidify space, similar to a stasis field generated by an Arbiter. The cage you are in is unbreakable."
Kerrigan calmed herself and then smiled as a thought came to her. "Nothing is unbreakable, especially not that ship. My Swarm will crush this base and free me, and I'll give you all a slow, lingering death for your transgressions. No one can dare imprison me, for I am Kerrigan, Queen of Blades, leader of the Swarm!"
The Protoss only laughed. "Should you destroy the ship, you would be imprisoned for all eternity. The field can't be disrupted by the ship through destruction. It isn't powered by the ship, but rather from a base that controls all of them. Even destroying that base won't free you. You are trapped until you are freed by my hand, which I assure you will not be any time soon."
Kerrigan sank to the ground, the rage in her heart only mildly dampened by the thought of eternal imprisonment at the hands of the Protoss. "You. . . you wouldn't dare. . .I'll issue orders for the Swarm to pummel Shakuras and everyone on into star dust, I'll have the Broods drag Aiur into a star." Kerrigan became emboldened by these visions and stood again. "I'll infest every one of you, keep you alive merely to torture you to the edge of death."
"You won't be doing any of that, foul Queen. Should you attempt to, you will be killed, leaving the Broods without leadership, mere pack animals to be slaughtered at leisure."
Kerrigan gave into the rage and focused her mind at a point in the invisible wall. She slammed every ounce of psionic power she possessed into cracking the wall, but the wall seemed slippery to her abilities, and the power diffused harmlessly along the wall. She sank to her knees again and pounded the ground with her fist, tears in her eyes. Her strength couldn't possibly defeat this. She was stunned at how thoroughly she had been captured.
"This was a trap, wasn't it dark one? The sole purpose of this base was to capture me." Kerrigan said hesitantly.
"Indeed, foul Queen. We weren't sure if you would lead the attack personally, but we anticipated your arrogance correctly it seems."
Kerrigan nodded. They had predicted her perfectly, these Protoss. She could do nothing to end her imprisonment. Reaching out with her mind, she touched the mind of Jendrel."
"Jendrel, I've been taken by these wretched First Born. Order the Broods to remain in position while I seek a way to escape, and activate the Narasthil Brood and its' experimental Cerebrate. Take your Brood and meet up with Loran and Grendel Brood."
"As you wish my Queen."
Kerrigan looked up into the darkening sky, her tears beginning to cloud her vision. Caged, humiliated. . .defeated.