I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 19: Battle for Char

Zerg-Verto sat in the chamber he had been using as a bedroom, meditating it seemed. Kerrigan watched him closely, trying to connect with his mind like she had with the Cerebrate and Verto separately. Unfortunately there were complications involved now that were not present before. First, Verto had also shut off a great deal of his thinking mind along with his Psi energy, so only his primal instincts and raw ki were really available to the Cerebrate. Secondly, the fusion with only part of Verto made him very hard to read, mostly because he now ran on instinct. The Cerebrate was in some sort of control, she had no doubt of that, but it had been changed drastically as well. She doubted the Overmind had complete control over him anymore, if any. He seemed to be acting on his own accord now, or perhaps was waiting for something before he did anything at all. She felt he might be still trying to access the other part of his mind and spirit, something he had been very unsuccessful in doing. She frowned slightly; it was taking too long to get Verto's attention again. Had he stuck around and not acted so desperately, he would understand everything about the trap she and the Cerebrate had set for the Overmind. She could still feel what was left of Verto through his Psi energy, but he had effectively locked himself up, all of the knowledge of his deeper power stayed with him. The Cerebrate had Psi energy as well, but it seemed that without the other half of Verto fused with it, he could not wield it effectively.

Though she had been reborn, her will to help the Cerebrate and Verto remained, mostly to keep her sharp. The Overmind had apparently found out about her some of her misdeeds lately, but didn't punish her, just reminding her sharply not to do it again. Now she was primarily in charge of watching over Zerg-Verto and making sure nothing went wrong with the so far incomplete fusion. He had found out about the stray Terran, Jim Raynor, but didn't seem to care much. The fact that the human was still alive on Char made him a little curious, but he wasn't a threat whatsoever. Since Cerebrate was now with half of Verto, she suspected the Overmind could not do much to hold him down should he get angry, though he would have been better off he had not split himself off like that. She could barely connect with him as it was. The Overmind had given him general orders and he had followed them promptly and efficiently. As he did she sensed a secret yearning to be free of control. There didn't seem to be any sort of outer influence from the Overmind at the time, so he had done it willingly. While it was still his freewill since he had not died, that factor that the Overmind could kill him at any given time still remained. Every so often while he was meditating, she sensed an argument going on between the Cerebrate and the very Saiyan half of Verto. It was like one would rise up against the other in a temporary struggle. While nothing really happened during this, at times he would mutter to himself about being free again. It was at these times that the Cerebrate part of him would slowly start to recede, but came back quickly whenever she sensed the Overmind's eye watching them.

It seems young Verto was far more resourceful about separating himself than we thought. A great asset yes, but very bad timing, she sighed with this thought. Lastly, well most of it all tied in anyway, but Zerg-Verto was simply not letting her in. She didn't know if it was her actions that dictated that, or if the Overmind was watching. It might have been her new theory about the Cerebrate slowly withdrawing itself from his system, or at least to the deep reaches of his mind. Verto, or at least most of him may have in fact returned to an extent, and perhaps the Cerebrate was only keeping a distance, she wasn't really sure now that she couldn't connect. It was almost as if the Saiyan and Cerebrate were switching off on who was running the show, like a split personality.

She had something else to concern herself with though. Since the Cerebrate merged with Verto, control of their brood became erratic at best, and control was handed over to Kerrigan instead. And ever since they detected that large Terran fleet heading for Char, well they had other things to worry about for the time being. Being in charge of their brood, Kerrigan elected to remain in the deep hive cluster for better protection. If their brood went out of control during the battle, well she wasn't sure if she would be revived again. The Terrans had not attacked yet, but had slowly started surrounding the planet with their capitol ships and began landing a lot of troops, tens of thousands. She sighed again slightly, it seemed Duke was intent on wiping them out this time, how foolish he was.

While both sides were going to incur very heavy losses in this battle, the Zerg would win because there was no known way to kill the Overmind. It had been tried before, several times, she knew. It first occurred many years before she even knew of the Zerg, before she was even born. The memory was shared by the Overmind recently, more like a warning to herself and Verto primarily, after he was fused with the Cerebrate. It first showed countless Protoss troops that had wiped out his broods and had him pinned down on the planet they were in. They hit the Overmind with everything they had, from zealots to suicide bombers, nothing worked, it would still regenerate. They were overrun when he started using his powers to revive all of the slain Zerg over the planet they were on. The next time she remembered a little more recent, for she was involved in a battle on the other side. The Terran troops had gotten lucky and broken through to the Overmind. They also hit it with everything they had, including an ion cannon. That had been before she was infested. The result had been the same, but most of the Terran troops were able to escape before things got really hairy. The most recent try was by Broly. He was so powerful that she thought he was finished for sure. Obviously that didn't work out either. Whatever the Overmind's essence was, it could stand up to anything it seemed. No, there has to be a way, but unfortunately I won't be the one to know it.

Verto's eyes suddenly snapped open just as her Overlords detected a Terran ship, two actually.

"You felt it too?" she asked.

"Correct, it seems the leaders of this little bunch have come to survey the situation. You could send some Zerg out to kill them all, but I'd much rather do it myself. I've been aching for a fight ever since taking this form," he said.

"It's because of a Saiyan's will to fight, they love battle. Since you seemed to have fused with mostly the body and not the mind, his instincts must have passed down," she explained.

"Yes, of course! Let's go!" As they walked out of the tiny chamber in their hive cluster, Kerrigan scanned for any current outside telepathic contact with herself or Verto from the Overmind. Finding none, she determined that she could let down her guard momentarily.

"Can't you find him yet?" she whispered.

"Sorry, but his aggressive side helped in blocking him off, and he's been disrupting me every time I get close. It's making me concentrate way too much in trying to contact him. These fighting urges are not helping matters," Zerg-Verto said.

"Okay, I'll assist you after this fleet is taken care of. Hopefully they get a good shot off on you-know-who so he has to hibernate for a day or two. But we must hurry, that mind in there is not going to stand up to this kind of separation for long and who knows what may happen if it begins to break down!" Kerrigan explained hastily as they emerged from the hive cluster.

"I sense the Saiyan side about to switch over again. I cannot hold him off without rest," Zerg-Verto said. Kerrigan nodded as the facial expression and eyes seemed to flinch before turning darker. He didn't say anything, just followed her onto the Overlord for transport.

-

"We shouldn't be down here without protection Arcturus! These Zerg could be anywhere!" Duke said as a marine next to him glanced around.

"You may go back if you wish, that is why I ordered two transport ships down here. I on the other hand await her arrival. I am very sure she is here and will come out to meet with me without conflict! You watch!" he said, sounding almost cocky to the general.

"Well, I do have a battle for a planet to attend to. It's best we don't have some ignorant officer up there in charge like now. Commander, take me back up to the Norad Three. Leave an appropriate garrison for the emperor!"

"Yes sir!" As the general departed, Mengsk spotted an Overlord coming their way.

"Should we shoot it down, sir?" the marine captain asked.

"Not yet son, there is plenty of time for that. I think she's onboard anyway!" Mengsk was right, for Kerrigan and Verto hopped out when the Overlord landed.

"Well well, fancy meeting you here Sarah, ready to come home now?" Mengsk asked with semi-opened arms.

"Finally managed to gain your iron hand over the humans of this sector eh Mengsk? Enjoy it while it lasts!" Kerrigan snapped in reply.

"Oh come now Sarah, still sore about New Gettysburg?" Kerrigan flinched slightly, but only because she knew what he was bringing up.

"I should kill you where you stand for that, you practically fed me to the Zerg, Arcturus! All because you were afraid the Confederates would escape. What threat did they even pose at that point? If anything the Protoss would have finished them off, you didn't have any plans for Tarsonis anyway!" she shouted at him.

"True, but I do regret leaving you down there that day. You must realize I didn't have any choice, nor did I have any time to rescue your team anyway. I will gladly invite you back to the empire now that I know you're alive. We can cure you of your infestation. We've done it before with others!" Mengsk boasted.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself. There's only one problem with that, you can't! I can thank the Amerigo scientists for that, before I slaughtered them of course," Kerrigan grinned at the memory.

"Our science improved a great deal since that fateful day, we can return you to your normal human state!" he said with a bright smile.

"What if I don't want to go back Mengsk, did you even consider that?" she asked smugly.

Mengsk looked shocked, "Why would you want that Sarah?"

"Go back to living that joke of a life under your order? Go back to that sick grin you got on your face whenever you had a plan to involve yourself in someone's life? Go back to nothing but your control? No thanks, believe it or not the Zerg have given me a better destiny then that!"

Verto then stepped up, "I don't know what you two have issues with, frankly I don't really care. I came out here for a fight, so either bring on your fleet or fight me yourself!"

Kerrigan stared hard at Verto now, Since he switched over again, his memory of this seems incomplete. There is definitely a struggle going on internally, I recall telling him of this even before we met up with Raynor. The Cerebrate's will to control him is wavering worse than I thought. Damnit, this is not what I need now. The only thing driving the body is his instinct to battle!

"Oh please boy, your wish to battle will come sooner or later, but you could not hope to defeat my entire fleet!" Mengsk boasted. Verto grinned, a sick and very Saiyan grin that Kerrigan hadn't seen on anyone before. Just as he did she sensed the Overmind's influence on his hormones again, and his adrenaline level skyrocketed. Then Verto powered up and took flight. Just as he went air-born, golden hues and lightning surrounded him before his hair changed to blond and his eyes turned green.

Kerrigan frowned, Oh great, this is just what I didn't need! He's like a miniature Broly now! They soon lost sight of him, until the shockwaves began.

"Report!" Mengsk shouted to his marine captain.

"The fleet has engaged the boy in the upper atmosphere, above the clouds so we can't see it. They're saying he's moving so fast that our laser cannons can't hit him, just like on Tarsonis!" Kerrigan reached out with her senses and picked up Verto, noting he was not using any of his Psi. His ki power had been upgraded much when he was imbued and fully infested, but she expected the Terran ships to at least make an impact. She sensed his burning rage and guessed that he must have been at the level his friends referred to as Super Saiyan two. Then they spotted small amounts of debris falling from the sky, most of it burning up.

"Give me the holographic layout of Char!" Mengsk ordered. Kerrigan was compelled to act now, but instead watched from afar while most of the marines' guns were locked on her at the moment. The holo display rang up what she had been sensing. While there were many strung out battles now occurring across the planet, wherever Verto was, the Terrans were losing at an incredible rate. This was represented by a large purple dot on the display, mowing right over the green dots being their fleets.

Kerrigan sensed Verto move around half of the planet over the next few hours, doing the same to any that challenged him. Many Zerg got caught in the cross fire, and she sensed he didn't even regard them as allies and was now blasting them as well. He is erratic and confused; his upper mind should break through soon once the Overmind can't order him. He just needs the right moment! It soon came when she felt the Overmind calling to her.

"Kerrigan, the boy is weaving in and out of control. Do what you can to control him like you can the Cerebrate!"

She was somewhat surprised that he knew about that, but it was too late now, "I am sorry Father, I can't. Ever since you fused them together I haven't been able to maintain any sort of telepathic contact, he has effectively blocked me off!"

"Curses, I'll have to think of something else then! I cannot maintain control because the Cerebrate was supposed be fused with Verto as a whole. With only half fused, I cannot access the boy's mind or block off the Saiyan instincts. I was hoping that the mind would wear out quickly but it hasn't. Do your best to contact Verto within himself and lure him out. If you can do so soon then the I should be able to get into his mind again and free him."

Kerrigan gasped as the Overmind looked away again, he had made a critical error three times in the same action. First he underestimated Verto's mind, and that allowed him to split himself in desperation. He had told her himself that he had been erecting some sort control from the outside and was partially responsible for Verto's mind separation even though the boy did most of it himself. And he also underestimated her and the Cerebrate, thinking he was in total control now and they would obey him. To Kerrigan, the reason the Cerebrate couldn't contact Verto inside of himself was because of the Overmind. He had set a trap that was taking too long, and if Verto saw the fake window and took it, all might be lost. On top of all that, the Overmind said something about freeing him, but Kerrigan doubted that meant anything like it sounded. Damn, he must have some sort of mind control agent in Verto's blood, or some other way to subdue him. Shit, this may not work like we hoped! She was going to try to contact him now, but for the opposite reason.

"Verto, can you hear me, VERTO!" she called out with her mind.

"Kerrigan, how'd you get up here?"

"Shut up wench, I'm busy right now! Try again later!"

"Kerrigan, he's not cooperating!"

She blinked in confusion; she heard three responses with the same voice, and three different opinions. The first one was the one she was looking for, the next was the Saiyan part of him, and the final was the Cerebrate. She knew then that the Cerebrate probably wasn't coming back into a physical form, but it knew the risks in this fusion and it would be all right that way. She felt that maybe she could buy a little time so the Overmind couldn't gain full control.

"You three, don't take the chance! It's a trap!" Since the Overmind might be watching, she gambled with that message.

"Fire the ion cannon on the Overmind now!" Mengsk shouted into some sort of com link.

Kerrigan sighed, This is it!