Chapter Two
Aiur
Dominion Biological Development Log O8
Subjects of the AH03 genetic configuration have a greater concentration of zerg genetic material in comparison to protoss and hence their capabilities are more.. direct. Unlike AI05, they rely on physical rather than psionic combat. They possess a hardened hyper regenerative carapace, making them extremely resilient to ballistic weaponry and short term exposure to superheated plasma. Along with this, A03 have kaiser styled blades that preform similarly to those wielded by ultralisks. However there is a cost to this. A03 subjects, due to their more zerg nature, suffer from decay when devoid of new genetic material for long periods of time. Their intelligence is.. lacking when compared to those of Al05, making active coordination essential.
The others paid little notice to it.
Not that it cared.
Or wanted to care.
There was much to be done. Strange creatures called 'Zerg' to be ordered around with but a mental nudge. Trees to hide in, for an unexplained reason. And.. waiting. Much waiting.
Were the others as impatient as it was? Did they wait beneath trees, stretching their minds out to get a glimpse of the beyond? Or were they doing something different?
The Hybrid knew not. In fact, it knew very little aside from an 'overwhelming danger' from above. Every time it made a step even remotely close to leaving its position. A voice, different from the old one, would reprimand it harshly and force it back.
At the end of the day, or rather most days, it could only see through the zerg scampering around not too far away. It learned that 'zerglings', tiny but viciously energetic creatures, had narrow but sharp eyesights.
It had many zerglings.
So many that it wondered why it had them; twelve zerglings who ran and scurried around over a dark sticky substance called 'creep'. They were faster on creep, but slower off it.
There were more zerg, but it had little control over them. It could glimpse how the new and alien moved around. Some slithered while others burrowed. But they belonged to the others. Whenever it tried to get a closer look, its zerglings were driven away with harsh snaps and hisses.
It had nothing to do but run the zerglings around a small zone of creep.
Before, it could see animals other than zerg, but now they were gone. The chirping was silent. The howling reduced to nothing more than echoes of memory. All that was left, were the trees. The rustling of the leaves and the creaking of branches.
When it could think clearly with a free mind, it realized just how.. alone it was. There were the others, but they were disconnected, far away like everything else. The emotion, the avidity, it all faded away. And it all returned.
On, off. On, and off. Day to day.
The zerglings changed little. They would make bizarre motions and pounce on each other, rolling around. But they were quick to stop before any of them were injured.
It didn't like that, so it made them stop.
But after only a day of watching the zerglings move around in a old and stiff routine, it took back its changes. It decided, a little excitement was better than nothing.
[########################]
Some time had passed when something like that of an impenetrable fog had fallen over the others. Their zerg were agitated, lapping around and sometimes even crossing over unmarked boundaries. They seemed to know something that it didn't know. It was.. it felt like.. what was the word? The feeling could not identified by the Hybrid.
It knew little what to do, what to react with. But what could it do with just a dozen zerglings anyway?
After sharpening its claws, wandering under the canopy of branches, and psionically poking at the zerglings, it resolved to do something it had never considered before.
The closest it could reach, and the most quickest to reply, simply replied with one word: "Danger, soon."
Others further away took longer periods to respond or never did.
"Hazard"
"Threat above"
"Protoss"
One final response brought its thoughts to a standstill. Protoss? It tried to ask for more, "..Protoss?".
It waited, and waited some more. The other one, whatever it was doing, seemed to be preoccupied. When a response came, it came in flashes of vivid imagery, like that of what the old voice had shown it before.
Suddenly, a screech of panic filled its mind as a close gathering of zerg disappeared in a searing burst of light and heat. Trees close to the affected area simultaneously ignited and scattered into ash. The light faded and all that remained was a glassed crater with spots of still cooling glass. Flashes of light dotted the ground as the sky itself seemed to part for a behemoth of metal and crystal.
"Ah.. the protoss have finally arrived," the other voice suddenly said, sounding.. amused?
The Hybrid could only watch in mute silence as the destruction that had unfolded, began to increase exponentially. Zerg under the control of the others, immediately responded. They popped out of burrows, what few that had escaped a fiery death, and flocked towards the invaders. Squeals and shrieks of agony were swept underneath an unrecognizable storm of controlled fury and discipline. "My master requires more.. time to implement his plans. Retreat and wait." A soothing blanket of safety and refuge smothered the Hybrid's mind, and it began to unconsciously move away, deeper into the forest. Its zerglings followed suit, swarming into the trees with all the vigor of survival.
The invasion had begun.
[########################]
The fact that his master, Amon, needed more time when there was little, was troubling. They had discussed, orchestrated, and predicted the protoss return to Aiur with relative precision. It had been a greater opportunity than either of the two could have ever conceived. An entire armada of warships? All in one convenient place to seize? He should have known better.
It was that meddling little fool, Zeratul, that placed the plan into jeopardy. Except the 'fool' had managed to inform the young Hierarch Artanis of their plan, or at least a part of it. Luckily the Hierarch, whether by pressure or ignorance, had chosen to ignore the prelate and commence with the invasion. But it was still a 'loose end', as a terran would say.
Samir Duran, Emil Narud, faithful servant of Amon, had spent far too much time amongst terrans. First it was that mess of an artifact he chased after for nearly a whole millennia, only for the damned thing to fall into the hands of a secure and reformed Terran Dominion. And then his physical body was destroyed. He was so sure that he could have killed Sarah Kerrigan there, that he had neglected to put a contingency plan into place.
Far too late now to get that shell back, he thought.
The invasion would require his full attention until his master was finished. Until then, he would delay and lead the gullible 'templar' around in circles.
Temporarily hijacking the mind of a hybrid nearby, a normal run of the mill specimen from Revanscar's facilities, he observed the rapidly advancing protoss ranks.
Zealots and stalkers made up the majority of the force, with a few immortals supporting from the rear. The first two would be of little concern. It was the immortals that would pose a threat with their heavier weapons and robust armor plating. With nothing but zerglings and roaches, the local brood was ill prepared to defend the city they had been entrenched in.
A few straggling mutalisks that soared in to support the crumpling zerg ranks were turned into fine pastes by fusillades of disrupter shots from the stalkers.
But that was acceptable. A few reject zerg lost to a superior and numerically overwhelming protoss assault? It was fine.
The protoss would not back down from this with a force as large as they had.
But neither would he.
He would keep the hybrid in reserve, keep the protoss oblivious. There was no telling how long he would be able to do so with the prelate lurking around somewhere out of his sight. But until then, the hybrid would hide.. somewhere.. Duran was certain that the protoss would be.. hesitant to turning what remained of Aiur's fauna and plant life to ash.
Mostly.
"Your time will come soon enough." Duran cajoled the hybrid. Many were restless and understandably despondent at being denied the chance to rip into protoss. Unfortunately for them, they needed to wait just a little longer.
Speaking of restless hybrid, it was becoming more difficult to instruct the more psionically gifted ones. They were ruled by intelligence and judgement whilst the more physically oriented were steered by raw instinct. Curse my scientific genius..
He would need to pay a visit to Revanscar after this and tone down the breeding program. A disaster was in the making if the hybrid grew out from underneath him.
But first.. the protoss.
A/N: Spending as much time as he did amongst low puny terrans, it was only inevitable that Duran would act similarly to a terran. He had two different personas, and both ended up dying in a fit of bad luck. Or plot armor.
Also.. zerglings!
Thanks for reading.
So uh.. I realized the title formatting had broke. Sorry, hehe.