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 34: Plan for Retrieval
Gohan panted very hard as he fell to one knee, dropping out of Super Mystic the instant his beam was out. He scanned all around for any trace of Broly, catching what might have been a finger or toe that had been missed. But no energy even came from it, and no sign of regeneration followed. This told him what he needed to know, that Broly was mostly Saiyan and not Zerg, unlike what Borgos had been. He mentally slapped himself when he remembered that he had used the mixed energy beam, it probably would not have mattered. Not to mention that, the low power moves before didn't do anything. He shook his head slightly, concerned that one or two of Broly's clubbing blows may have done more than hurt him. Goku and Vegeta struggled to get up, but managed to stagger over to Gohan.
"He's gone. We did it," Goku said.
"Perhaps, but if the Overmind can clone people just with a sample of blood, I imagine that he may do it again. We nearly lost that one," Vegeta pointed out, getting grim expressions in return. Zeratul then strode over to the trio along with some of the other Protoss warriors, Tassadar and Artanis included.
"Fantastic attack, we may win this war yet!" Artanis celebrated slightly.
"Don't get too excited young Templar, that evil being may still be revived by the Overmind. I doubt we have seen the last of him!" Zeratul warned.
Gohan looked confused, "I thought that if I used a concentrated mixed power beam, that they couldn't come back!"
"Technically that one won't come back. If he was indeed cloned from an original blood source, then I doubt the Overmind will have much trouble making a new clone. Probably a stronger one to correct the mistakes of the first one," Zeratul explained.
"I thought you guys killed one of his Cerebrates and it couldn't come back?" Goku asked.
"That is correct, but it depends on the being. If the being was originally Zerg, then no he cannot bring it back once destroyed by that kind of power. Any other being could feasibly be cloned as long as he has the materials and resources. A killing machine like that one would no doubt still have blue prints lying around somewhere, am I not mistaken?" Zeratul asked, though most everyone understood it.
"What shall we do then?" Artanis asked.
"First we need to rest and recover, we can't fight another battle like that any time soon. The boy is too depleted," Vegeta suggested.
"Our mountain base is being repaired and reinforced as we speak, we have plenty of nutrients and recovery chambers should you need them," Artanis offered.
"Nutrients?" Goku asked.
"He means food dad," Gohan said. A gust of wind followed as Goku has made a mad dash to the cave entrance, startling many Protoss in the process.
"Idiot," Vegeta grumbled.
"Prelate Zeratul, may I ask a favor from you," Tassadar asked as Gohan and Vegeta started towards the mountain with Artanis.
"What is that Executor?" the elder Protoss asked.
"Teach me your Dark Templar ways," he said with a bow, "I have heard what learning their ways has done to Judicator Aldaris, though he was already corrupt. I wish to do it the right way."
Zeratul smiled, or so it seemed, "Yes. I may have the need for an apprentice," he said, putting his arm around Tassadar's shoulder as they walked off to the cave.
Interlude 34.1: Kerrigan
Kerrigan and Zerg-Verto were at the bottom of her Hive cluster, in discussion with the Overmind and Daggoth. Other Cerebrates were in the telepathic conversation as well, but those four were the only ones speaking. Zerg-Verto couldn't help but chuckle a little bit when the news of Broly hit. Kerrigan promptly slapped his side a bit to shut him up while the Overmind was going on and on about it.
"We must make these enemies realize that we will not be stopped, we must strike at their weakest possible moment with all of our strength! Kerrigan and Daggoth will begin to spawn as many troops as possible from their broods. The other broods will assist by supplying resources. I myself must retreat to hibernation, as I will revive Broly. Despite his failure, he is a great asset and nearly defeated the Saiyans without any assistance. We will wear them down by attrition and then strike with unrivaled fury! Your broods have three days to create your forces, that is my estimated time to finish reviving Broly to his full power once again. The Saiyans may recover by then, but it doesn't matter as they were at nearly full strength at the time of battle. Go now, and bring swift death to the enemies of the Swarm!" Once the connection was cut, Kerrigan seemed bogged down with deep thinking. She gave general orders to her minions to start gathering more resources, but left it at that.
Verto seemed confused, "I'm surprised he didn't come running to me for more help," he snorted slightly.
"That is because your powers haven't recovered yet, and you will not be effective in your battles. The emotional ties with the girl would disrupt you. You should go back to your recovery chamber and sleep some more, that is the only way your energy will build back up quickly. Go, now!" she barked. Verto gave her a small grunt and walked off, thinking out loud about how he was going to kill her someday. Kerrigan watched as he left and kept a telepathic scan going through out her entire Hive cluster, especially on him. His link to the Overmind kept pinging off loudly and kept its intensity. She always knew whenever the Overmind kept an eye on her and kept her personality straight with her dealings with the young Saiyan. But now she was certain that the Overmind had a direct connection going with Verto, and was not closing it. The evil half didn't seem to notice this at all. She redirected her scans towards the Overmind itself, who could not detect this. She felt him going back to sleep like he said he would. He was definitely going to revive Broly. But it also seemed that he was going to stay connected to Verto, as if to make sure nothing went wrong. She tensed up slightly, that meant he might be able to control his body. She doubted he could do it directly without spending a hell of a lot of energy, but he could plant suggestions in Zerg-Verto's mind, or make him see things that are interpreted differently. This isn't going as well as I'd hoped, but this is as good a chance as any for them to come. She sighed as she then turned to her right in a sitting position, calling out with her mind to those she did not trust.
-
Tassadar, Zeratul and the Saiyanswere in a conference room at the back of the underground base, talking about general things. Zeratul and the other Protoss were as unfamiliar to the Saiyans as they were to him. Most of their discussion covered habits of either race, but slowly churned into their plans to handle the situation. This led to Artanis and Zeratul discovering the wonders of the Saiyan appetite. Afterwards they were shown to a recovery room where the beds were lined with small blue colored devices that could be connected like an IV. Zeratul explained that the Protoss used these to recover after a harsh battle, stating that the fluid in them would accelerate the recovery time of the person it was attached to, no matter what race. Depending on the extent of the injuries, this fluid would keep them asleep for a little longer than usual, but without a healer or Senzu beans around, it was as good as anything. This also led to Zeratul finding out about Goku's fear of needles. Then they went back to the conference room to discuss their plans.
"After we've recovered, we should go search for Verto, preferably before Broly is revived. How long does that take anyway?" Gohan asked.
"I would imagine a great deal of time for a Saiyan like Broly, at least to get full power out of him again. Any idea, Tassadar?" Vegeta asked.
"Permanent use of other beings is still relatively new to the Overmind, Kerrigan was one of the first ones. Others were just used for spies and such. Your friend Borgos appeared about two days after his death correct?" Tassadar asked, getting scowls in return for bringing it up.
"Correct," Bardock said quickly.
"But he was infested differently than Broly and Verto. Wouldn't that make a difference?" Gohan asked.
"Good point, either way we should be prepared for the possibility of facing him again. I doubt the Overmind will let that kind of power go to waste!" Vegeta suggested. As if all of them were on a similar brainwave, everyone heard a telepathic voice in their minds.
"Tassadar, are you there?" He looked around right away, but so was everyone else.
"Who was that?" Gohan asked.
"It's Kerrigan, Gohan. I'm contacting your group from my primary Hive cluster! Tassadar or Artanis should be able to pinpoint where that is!" At once Krator and Artanis pulled up a holomap of the planet, finding the largest concentration of purple colored Zerg brood and highlighting it.
"Good, that is where you will find Verto. I suggest you come in force!" she suggested.
"Hold on vile creature, you don't dictate orders here! Your master would just love for us to fall into your trap wouldn't he?" Tassadar growled, getting a slight warning glance from Zeratul in the process.
Kerrigan had expected it though, "Your little troop has already figured it out though, and this is the time window that you have to work with. The Overmind has entered hibernation to revive Broly to his full power. He is now inactive!"
"Not likely, the heart of the swarm doesn't just sit back and take a restful break to restore one being to life!" Zeratul argued.
"Ah Zeratul, I thought you Dark Templar were a little wiser than normal Protoss, seems I was right. I think he may also be trying to warp Verto's mind even more than it already is. When he went to sleep, I sensed his link to Verto became more active. I don't think he can control him, but he will be able to plant suggestions in his mind or increase the amount of bloodlust he experiences. His link to Verto is through the dark spirit controlling him. The Verto you all know has to break out sometime soon otherwise he will be stuck inside of his mind forever. However if his friends are introduced into the puzzle, I think that he may be able to do it, but his dark side isn't going to go away willingly as you all know. You have three days before Broly is revived, I suggest you take it. I will move the bulk of my forces out of your direct path, so expect little resistance. If you don't hurry, Verto may be gone forever, and you can expect a much harder battle with Broly next time. He will have a large Zerg force comparable to the army we used on Earth. You had better hurry!" With all of that stated, the connection was cut, leaving the Protoss and Saiyans alone again, wondering how she managed to contact all of them in the first place.
"So she can talk to a big group like King Kai can. Cool," Goku said.
"You don't actually plan on going do you, surely you can see it is a trap!" Artanis warned.
"We have to go," Gohan said, rising from his chair.
"They are just luring you there to pick you all off while your powers are exhausted!" Artanis continued.
"If we wait, then what she said about Broly and another large Zerg force will be true anyway! I say we go as soon as possible," Bardock said, tightening his glove. Goku and Vegeta agreed with this, leaving the Protoss in doubt.
"I'm still unsure about this, it could still be a masterful trap set by the Overmind that forces us to walk into it," Tassadar said in thought.
"True young Templar, however this may be the best decision to make. Our forces cannot stand up to a large enough Zerg force if that overpowered creature comes along. You and Krator shall accompany the Saiyans in two days time, that should be sufficient time to recover from this battle. We take a risk either way, but this way seems the most logical choice right now," Zeratul suggested, getting a sharp acknowledgement from Tassadar.
"You guys got any more food? I think we ate through your supply?" Goku asked, stretching a little.
"One should not consume too much food, it slows the body down and can disrupt it greatly," Zeratul wisely stated.
"One should not deny Kakarot food when he's hungry, we will all go mad listening to him whine," Vegeta chuckled, getting a similar reaction out of everyone.
Interlude 34.2: Raynor
"Trooper, let me know when you can get that transmitter fixed. I need to get in touch with Praetor Artanis of the Protoss as soon as possible. With all those seismic explosions we detected yesterday, we need to know if they are still alive!" Raynor ordered the soldier.
"Roger that Cap'n, but without replacement parts it may take up to a week to weld this sucker back to operating status. I reckon I'll be spendin' another day fixin' all of the circuits and wiring them all back together," the soldier said while working on the base of the antenna.
"That's fine, just inform me when you can!" Raynor ordered before climbing down the ladder and entering the ship. He checked with the engineers to see how long it would take for the engines to be ready to go, being told that it would only be about four days before they were ready to try it. The anti-gravity pads to lift the ship were already functional again, so it was at least sitting up right on its landing stilts again, that made everyone's job easier. He found out that his weapon systems were ready to go as well, and he knew they would need them. Most of the soldiers were now in the mess hall, where the replicators had just been fixed and everyone was enjoying a semi-decent meal from it. Raynor took a seat across from Sergeant Kline, who didn't look well.
"Something wrong Kline? You look ready to lose your lunch!" Raynor joked slightly. Kline glanced up with a murderous look but kept silent. Raynor glared back as the mess hall quieted down during the stare-off. Kline suddenly jumped up and ran to the nearest toilet, indeed sick. This resulted in a heavy round of laughter, most saying that he couldn't hold his liquor down too well. In that very bathroom, Kline stared at himself in the mirror after cleaning himself off.
"What the hell is wrong with me? This is a bad time to get Antigan flu, but it can't be that! I've had my shots," he told himself. He watched the mirror some more when he saw a small sore on the back of his neck. He recalled swatting at a small bug there the previous day because it had bitten him much like a mosquito would. Great, must have given me some weird virus from this world, just fucking great! He thought to himself. He suddenly went rigid as his skin suddenly turned green on his face, and he felt his stomach wanting to empty itself. He collapsed to the ground in deep pain, screaming and groaning for all he was worth as his insides felt like they were going to explode. This attracted some attention from the soldiers in the nearby bunkrooms.
"Sergeant Kline, you okay in there Sarge?" one of them asked with a very country like tone of voice. The screaming suddenly stopped, and Kline then opened the door with a slight grin on his face, not showing any pain at all.
"Yeah, you know I can't handle my drinks that well!" he claimed with an evil twinkle in his eye.
-
Gohan woke sleepily from his bed, carefully removing the IV like device from his arm. As he got up and stretched a little, he realized he felt fantastic.
"Wow, that thing really did the trick, my power is back up to full," he said to himself. He checked the time with the translation that Tassadar had shown him, seeing that it was about thirty-four hours since he went to bed. He wasn't surprised, Zeratul had told them that the fluid may cause them to sleep for a long time, but that the longer they slept, the better it would work. Getting Goku to settle down for it took some time though, as one would imagine. Speaking of his father, he noticed that his bed was empty. A dripping hose from the healing devices lay nearby, his father hadn't exactly been careful while removing it. Gohan made his way to the dining area they had been using, finding only Fasha there.
"Oh hi, your father and the others are up in the command room," she said in between bites of food.
"That's okay, I was hungry anyway. Sleep well?" he asked.
"Well I wasn't really tired like you guys were, physically anyway," she dragged on with a full mouth.
"Thinking about Verto eh? Don't worry, we'll get him back one way or another!" Gohan said with a cheerful look.
"I hope you're right, sorry I went off on you the other day," she mumbled.
"I expected it, don't worry I won't hold it against you. I'm more concerned with how Verto is doing right now, we don't even know what his condition is. Hopefully Kerrigan cleared out most of those Zerg so we don't attract too much attention," Gohan said.
"Yeah, well...I wish you guys all the luck!" Fasha said, getting up.
"You're not going with?" Gohan asked as she made her way to the door.
"Prince Vegeta ordered me not to, he said I would just get in the way!" she said softly.
"Hold on, you should be coming along with us. The evil part of Verto reacted to you a lot, I think you should be there to help. If anything it seemed to subdue him a bit last time. Maybe his better half will break free if you come. Tell you what, I'll vouch for ya, Vegeta can't say no to me!" Gohan said with a grin.
She looked greatly relieved to say the least, "You mean it, and he'll listen to you?"
"Oh yeah, there's absolutely no way he can say no to me!" Gohan boasted.
-
"Absolutely no way in hell she is going with us!" Vegeta barked at both of them when Fasha stepped into the conference room. Gohan was doing his best to persuade Vegeta with the reasoning behind it, but the prince didn't want any part of it.
"She can only get in the way and will probably be injured in the process! Then the boy will probably go psychotic!" he snapped at them both.
"Ah, come on Vegeta, she seems to be the only one who can affect Verto emotionally. I really think this will work!" Gohan pleaded his case. The door slid open as Goku walked through with Tora.
"Hey everyone, Tassadar and Krator said that the Zerg swarms have broken in our flight path. We should try and go now. Hey Fasha you need to go to!" Goku waved as he left the room. Fasha and Vegeta's jaws both dropped open. So much for the soldiers following royalty, but the brat might actually be right about this. Still, I don't think it's a good idea, the boy may be too unstable, Vegeta grumbled in his own thoughts as he and the others left.
Interlude 34.3: Zerg-Verto
Zerg-Verto remained in the recovery chamber as Kerrigan directed. The green fluid was very soothing to all of his wounds, as his Zerg cells still hadn't come back yet. He wondered why a bit as he sat in there, but he guessed it was because of his disobedience to the Overmind. He chuckled slightly at the thought of the Overmind hiding behind his cheap connections to his body and such, a coward's way. His tail twitched a bit while he sat silently, dozing off. He wasn't sure how long he slept until he suddenly woke up. It wasn't for any reason as he pulled himself out of the chamber, no one had entered. He felt his power had for the most part returned, maybe a little low due to no food, but good enough. He felt great, in fact he felt very energized. He thought that perhaps he should go outside and train a little bit. The door to his chamber opened for him as he stood up to it to leave. He walked slowly through the hallways of the Hive cluster. He spotted a Zergling running by him. He barely registered it was a Zergling before something strange happened. He turned back and looked at it, something about it was different. The Zergling stared at him and hissed slightly. He glared at it and charged a ki blast to get his point across not to mess with him. Suddenly the Zergling stood up on its hind legs like a bear would, hissing and snarling. Verto watched it carefully before seeing its shape start to change before his very eyes. It's skin turned into a pale green and slightly light tan color and its mass increased greatly. A tail sprouted as its face became more humanoid. It stood up more, showing the shape of an overly large Saiyan with golden hair.
Verto dropped back and growled, "Broly! What do you want?" Broly didn't answer, only started to power up. Verto stood ready to power up, but something then clicked on in his mind. He suddenly felt bloodthirsty, he wanted to kill something. This wasn't a new feeling, but it felt like it was multiplied in intensity by ten times. A massive headache came to his head, and it only increased the urge to kill whatever was in front of him. Verto released the ki blast he was holding with a shout of rage. The ki blast hit and Broly dropped to the ground. Verto stared at the body, closing his eyes and shaking the sudden cobwebs from his head. When he looked again, he saw the Zergling's regular shape, only with its head blown off. What the hell, am I seeing things now? The sudden urge to kill something returned when he passed another Zergling. He saw the Overmind's eye this time, hovering and laughing in his face. Another Zergling was turned into ash as he walked by, trying to keep control of himself.
Next time on DBV: Zerg-Verto begins to tear the hive cluster apart in a wild fit, seeing enemies in the form of other Zerg. Good Verto and the Cerebrate look on from within, and they sense Gohan and the others approaching. The Cerebrate's words inspire Verto to do what is right to save his friends from a potential dangerous situation, and he absorbs the Cerebrate's spirit and energy. Next time on DBV!