Well, here we are again at the crossroads of another hopeful story. And we've got Series 5 lined up for ya now. I will be nice enough to answer reviews for the previous chapters this time, though I prefer to email them. Those will be posted after a chapter rather than the classic beforehand. I figure yall didn't click the next chapter button just to read a bunch of answered questions. That's another thing, if you ask a question and don't get a response to it, the answer is probably coming up. I'll do my best to keep up with any and all questions you may have, as long as we can keep them spoiler proof…unless you really want to know that badly.
We will be starting off with Verto's first days with the Zerg. And as one might imagine it won't be easy for him to deal with. Meanwhile Vegeta and the others head out with Tassadar to try to find him. And don't forget Judicator Aldaris, who is very thirsty for power and will likely do anything to achieve it. Expect quite a few plot twists.
This series will be transitional between the different groups of the story, mostly Verto, with all of them coming together towards the end for the climax. For most of the first half of the series hits on Verto with the Zerg and the others (allies and enemies) looking for him. This is a very dark saga compared to the previous ones.
Rated PG 13-R/T-M for violence, gore, language, etc. If there was a PG16 I'd probably put it there.
"Blah blah blah" = regular communication
"Blah blah blah" = telepathic communication or from an outside source (TV/radio)
Blah blah blah = solo thoughts
There will not be many power levels posted, as most Zerg or Protoss do not have them, at the end they become a little more relevant.
And as always, I don't own anything nor claim the rights.
Part 1: Infestation
Theme Song: "Figure.09" by Linkin Park.
Chapter 1: Truth from the Eye
"How much longer do I have to stay in this crap?" I asked. The Zerg temptress Sarah Kerrigan gave off a look that seemed to be a cross of a grin and a scowl at the same time.
"Don't like it in there?" she asked. I glared at her slightly. I had been in the green pod of fluid for five weeks now by her count, including the three I wasn't awake for. The only thing that was nice about it was the soothing fluid in there healed my wounds, slowly. It probably would have gone faster, but I was certain they were weaving new DNA strands and Zerg tissue through me, much to my chagrin. Something strange about it was that I could breathe the fluid and it wouldn't make me choke. Kerrigan explained that the fluid would oxygenate my lungs in place of air while I was under its surface. She had taken off the ki restriction collar once I assured her I wouldn't go off like a cannon. I really didn't have a choice, we were in space and my senses quickly assured me that she wasn't lying about that. However I could rarely sleep once I first awoke and the constant close quarters were starting to make me a bit claustrophobic. That and my stomach was finally starting to growl a little.
"Well I suppose you can come out for a little while. You should be strong enough for today anyway," she moped a bit saying that, but clearly not serious.
"I feel fine, let me out or I'll let myself out!" I warned.
"Alright already, sheesh! I've never had a patient as pushy as you before!" she said, as she fussed with something along the side of the pod. The fluid then drained and the front of the thing opened up, allowing me to climb out. I stood up and stretched a bit, glad to be out of the hole as I had called it. I turned back to look at my confinements, seeing that it resembled a large egg. Very similar to a Zerg minion egg, except it was filled with the green fluid and open at the top.
"That better?" she asked.
"Much, now for some food," I said giving her a grin. She looked a bit alarmed, but handed me something that resembled a small crocodile, only it was about ten inches long and very raw.
"Eat this, it should fill you up," she said, practically shoving it into my hand.
I glanced up at her, "Do you realize how much a Saiyan eats?"
"Yes, but this meat is pretty filling to any creature, now eat up!"
I stared at it for a moment, "It ain't gonna poison me or something is it?"
She exhaled harshly in exasperation, "No, its just food!" I grinned at her frown as she put her hands on her hips.
"Hope you don't mind if I give it a good zap first. I can't stand cold, uncooked food!" I said, drawing up a bit of ki.
"Do that and that meat will be worthless and you'll still be hungry. There's a special nutrient in the animal that provides most of the body's needs, even for you Saiyans. Zap it and it dissipates!" she said, scowling more.
"Ugh," I wrinkled my nose, giving it another look over. Then I raised it to my mouth and dug into it. It tasted awful, and I quickly chewed and swallowed just to get the taste out of my mouth. Kerrigan looked mildly amused at this.
"How can you eat that shit?" I asked, spitting a few leftovers that made themselves present.
"I make due. Come, we are to meet the Overmind and the Cerebrates today. They are all in council now waiting on us!" She started towards what resembled a wall, and amazingly it opened for her. However I didn't move, there was still something missing.
"I don't suppose I can have some clothes can I?" I asked. She looked puzzled for a second before laughing loudly.
"What's wrong, you think they are going to care whether you're naked or clothed? Believe me they don't, none of us wear any such thing," she said grinning. She appeared to have on some sort of black battle uniform.
"Then what are you wearing, looks like a uniform to me," I said, pointing.
"This? No, this is an organic form of armor that has grown on top of my skin and fused permanently with it. It doesn't hide as much as it seems at first glance," she explained. I wrinkled my nose slightly when I realized that.
"Whatever, its better than nothing!" I said, losing my patience quickly.
"Well, if you really want it you can have what you were wearing when I busted you out of the stasis chamber. I'm afraid the top of it is pretty much shredded!" Kerrigan compromised.
"That's okay, I only wanted the bottom part anyway," I said, blushing slightly. She tossed them to me from what seemed to be some sort of storage compartment, only it was embedded into the wall and reformed into it when she pulled my pants out. Slipping on the Saiyan spandex, I felt at least a little relieved. Then I took note of the fact that my tail was now a green color.
"And this?" I asked, giving her a sharp eyebrow as I held it in my hands.
"Oh that, well its in case you run off and we can't find you. It'll act like a homing beacon to you and the Zerg, and it's the start of your infestation process," she said with a grin.
"Like I would want to return once I break out of here," I muttered. I didn't mean for her to hear me but she did.
"Good luck doing that, it also acts as a form of control. Try and get away and it can release a toxic poison into your bloodstream that will kill you within five minutes if the anti-toxin isn't released as well. It does other things as well, only the Overmind and the Cerebrate can cause those things to happen, so watch it!" she said, turning towards the door. Ah, Damn!
"Oh one more thing, you probably won't like walking around barefoot for awhile," she said, opening a different organic panel on the wall. Inside were my Saiyan style boots that were custom made for my feet. Only they had suffered through a few bouts of slimy brown crap dripping on and inside them. I was amazed that they didn't smell really bad, but then again I probably wasn't going to be able to detect a stench when it was all around me for a long duration.
"Come on, time to go," Kerrigan said, motioning her way with her hand as I slipped on the boots.
-
We walked through all kinds of twisted halls of whatever we were in. She said it was a primary hive cluster but was deemed a Super Hive so the Overmind could fit in it as well, claiming that they had formed one on earth before departure. It allowed for more face-to-face meetings with his Cerebrates, or so she said. It also allowed all of them to travel as one whole rather than separate, which I could see as being handy, like a big spaceship. I took note of a few little Zerg warriors running about, but very few. We must have walked a few miles of twisted corridors before arriving to a slightly lighter chamber. I detected a lot of energy in the room, but not much in the way of physical presence. It was just a lot of power, both ki and Psi. I had begun to grow accustomed to sensing both energies from just about every living being, except the Zerg in general. The Protoss had more of a direct Psi signature that was almost cold to my senses, like a brisk wind almost. Most humans felt like they had a twin next to them when I sensed their energies, depending on the amount of power they possessed. When it came to Saiyans however, the ki signal was so much higher in comparison to the almost non-existent Psi signal, for obvious reasons regarding training and such. It wasn't that Saiyans didn't possess pure spirit energy; it was the inability to access it and channel it. Inside the chamber were some sort of giant pink eye that was strapped to a wall by what seemed to be many strong muscles, tendons and ligaments. Kind of like an actual human eye with the strings attached, only a hell of a lot larger. Instead of white there was pink, and darker red for the pupil color. There were also many large, colored egg pods that had single eyes sticking out of them as well as well. There was a blue one, an orange one, and a purple one in front of the big eye, the rest were back behind.
"Ah Kerrigan, thank you for bringing the boy," a loud voice spoke, about making my ears shake off. The way the eye bobbled about, I would guess that it was the Overmind that spoke, and it had the most energy that I could sense. It's signal didn't have two separate energies however, just one big mixed energy signal. To anyone else it would probably feel like a really high ki signal, I was one of few that would be able to tell. The huge eye seemed to stretch over towards me and look me over. The damn thing had to be as big as a table, the other lesser eyes were probably the size of dinner plates.
"So this is the young Saiyan, Verto," it said, with a loud, burly but surprisingly gentle voice, at least for the time being.
"What of it?" I asked, glared at it and crossing my arms. It backed off a little bit, far enough for the orange eye to stretch over and get a bit closer than I would have liked.
"Yes, this is quite a strong being. Allow me to infest this one, he will be a great subordinate to me!" orange said in a hissing voice. I scowled, ready to rip this thing in half. It's power signal was much weaker than the Overmind's.
"Yeah that would be the day Zasz, the boy would rather tear your insides apart!" Kerrigan said from where she stood, by the purple eye.
The orange one, Zasz, blinked a few times, then glared at her, "Silence wench, I will not hesitate to destroy you myself!" Well these two sure get along.
"Calm children, calm!" the Overmind said, prompting the orange one to return to his original position.
"Well so I'm here, what the hell do you want with me?" I shouted at the pink one. It didn't answer, nor did anyone else in the room.
"What is it? You want to infest me, absorb my energy, what?" I shouted again.
"All I want from you for right now is loyalty, you may do as you please in accordance," the Overmind said.
I stared hard at it, "Yeah right. Loyalty, I'm surprised that Zerg can tell jokes!" I laughed slightly.
"Oh you don't understand, you see I cannot easily control something alive against their will. It's complicated and requires a lot of energy as well as concentration. They have to be dead and revived first for total control, and I've always wanted a few agents that could think for themselves in accordance to my will. However, that does not mean I'll just let you come and go as you please," he explained. I stared at the large eye, trying to figure out which half I wanted to blast apart first.
"As you no doubt have noticed by now, your tail has been enveloped in a special coating that we came up with long ago, and it has marvelous properties!" I swished my tail up and took a good look at it as the Overmind continued, "It will always secrete a hormone that drives one's battle lust for blood, something you Saiyans are particularly fond of. The amount it gives off is up to me, but it does allow for other things!" I growled slightly, gathering ki in my palm, ready to blow this eye thing up. Then suddenly my tail went rigid and stiff before it seemed to clamp down with unseen pain. It was so painful that I fell to my knees, unable to do much more than breathe.
"As you can see, it will also release a control agent that will prevent you from doing anything other than breathing if I so desire!"
"You, I'll get you for this!" I snarled, trying to break free, but my body wouldn't respond.
"Oh dear Verto, you don't understand. Whether you like it or not, you're mine now! You will do as I please! It may take a little time, but you will learn your place!" He must have released the hold, because I was able to stand once again, breathing hard.
I growled some more, "And if I refuse?"
"Then you will die!" he said, his voice booming.
"I'd rather be dead then to be one of your agents!" I yelled at the huge eye, dropping into stance and charging ki into a red Galic Gun attack.
"Don't be too hasty. First of all your little ki attacks are nothing to me, and secondly, if you die, then I can infest you fully and will have full control once I do!" I stopped charging with a gasp of shock. "Oh yes little Saiyan, you belong to me, and there is nothing you can do!" he said. I slumped my shoulders in slight defeat.
"Why did you want me anyway?" I asked.
"To build the ultimate army and consume the universe!"
"You didn't want my powers?" I asked, stuttering a bit.
"Young one, I have more than enough energy to supply me the lifetime of a star. I never wanted your powers for my personal survival. It was for the sole purpose of first defeating and infesting the Protoss, and then the universe!" the eye bobbed up and down. I stared at the eye hard, blinking a few times in disbelief.
"Who told you such things, the Protoss? The wizard Babidi or the demon King Dabura? They must really open their minds if they think they had the Zerg figured out. As for the Protoss, once we discover their home planet's location, we will proceed there!" he answered before I could ask any sort of question.
"You do realize you won't be able to stop my friends from finding me. They whooped your little army's ass on Earth, they can do it again!" I grinned.
"Oh yes, the other Saiyans. That is another reason you are here now, you are the bait that will bring them into the fold. I planned on enslaving you all back on Earth, but the Protoss are never patient and intervened, nonetheless we will be waiting for them. You are the one who will kill them all and enable me to infest each and every last one of them. Don't you think I know that the Protoss have slightly superior firepower over my swarms? You Saiyans make them look like a gust of wind with your incredible power, but neither race is a true threat to me, not even you in your current state can stop me!" he said, hinting at something he probably shouldn't have. It just said way too much, all I have to do is get out of here and train.
"My current state is no threat huh, you mean you're not even scared of my Psi ability?" I asked, ready to start using it. When I tried to summon it, it was somehow blocked, or at least mostly blocked. It took some serious concentration to trace it and I discovered quickly that it would take a lot of ki to use it again; it just wasn't there like before.
"As you can see little warrior, your Psionic power is not going to be a problem right now. Any race that is infested cannot use it unless I choose otherwise. Your power is very unique, and therefore will be contained until you see things our way. You probably can't feel much of it right now due to some minor interference that is not my doing. That aside, your ability to use Psi at will shall be minimal and controlled!" the pink eye twinkled now like it was showing off a grin that I couldn't see. I can't believe this is happening!
"Fine, you think you can control me huh? Well with my tail like you say I don't doubt it, but what if I did this?" I asked, grasping my tail tightly with my hand.
"Do what child?" it asked.
I sucked up my breath and cried out in pain as I clamped down hard and pulled my tail clear out. "OW! Son of a …ugh!" I shouted in pain, but steadied myself and tossed my former appendage to the ground.
"Nonetheless, a very foolish child you are!" the Overmind said. It didn't hurt near as bad as I expected, and the pain was gone within moments.
"I wouldn't bet on that," I grinned, "Now that you've given me all that information, that tail is worthless and can't harm me at all! Which means you guys are toast!" I declared, powering up fully with my ki. The eyes all simply blinked at me. Well I expected a better reaction than that. Then my rear end started to itch, a lot. I glanced over my shoulder only to watch as a new tail instantly sprouted where the old one once stood, it too was green. My eyes shot open, Man, no way!
"Did your fight with Borgos teach you nothing? All Zerg can regenerate, and that includes you as well!" the blue eye now bobbled up and down.
"It seems you have no choice but to follow our lead. Otherwise we can make you, and with most beings I've met, most like to keep their free will!" Zasz's orange eye blinked.
"Enough of this, we should be landing soon. Once upon the planet surface, you will receive your first mission. Kerrigan, take him back to his chambers and inform him of what his mission is!" the Overmind spoke, retracting slightly.
I snarled at the giant eye, as well as the others while holding up a middle finger, "Screw you all, my friends will come for me! And then I'm gonna kill every last fucking one of you!"
"Let them come, I could use a few more recruits!" it said as Kerrigan pulled on my shoulder and led me out the door.