AN: Anyone reading this who is familiar with the TV series 'Andromeda' will notice a few references to technology and travel I lifted from that series. I adored some of the ship designs and concepts which will become more apparent as time wears on.
**Xerxes! Sorry to interrupt your rest but we need you!** Samateus' thoughts rang clear and loud in Xerxes' Nerthiels thoughts, the Primal hybrid uncurling from where he had settled with Arska and Taluth. Only a handful of hours had passed, that much he could immediately tell, and for Samateus to wake him with such urgency in her thoughts, Xerxes could only suspect someone had attempted to reach out to him.
When he reached the surface, Arska and Taluth sleepily padding behind, Samateus streaked down from above, fully clad in her armour, landing heavily near him. He could sense her unease and concern, surprised when she moved closer and gently touched her nose to his forehead, both suddenly teleported to Xerxes Surriel's ship. Xerxes shook himself lightly, nudging her lightly in greeting and briefly expressing his distaste for lack of warning, looking around a moment to realise they must not be on the bridge of the ship, but in a cargo area.
"Apologies, however we encountered this and aren't certain how to approach it." Spoke a long bodied biped, looking like a cross between a serpent and a bird, covered in feathers kept elaborately and finely groomed varying in shades from crimson and violet to emerald and sapphire. Moving on armoured digitigrade limbs akin to a Protoss, two wing-like hands held against his back with wicked talons and two smaller more proportional limbs crossed before it, each hand sporting five digits, two thumbs bracketing three long dextrous fingers. A very reptilian face, with large turquoise, slit-pupiled eyes and six long flowing feathers, three along either side of a small horn-like crest above and behind each eye, decorated with gold and silver jewelry that matched the armour along his chest, back and legs, showing age only in the slight wrinkling of the soft scales around each of his eyes.
Xerxes Nerthiel blinked a bit, looking over who he assumed to be his alternate, Xerxes Surriel, of the Ahr'aht. Samateus nodded, rumbling a brief purr as Xerxes Surriel bowed lightly, chest nearly touching the ground.
**I am, intrigued, I did not expect such a drastic difference, though I suppose Leon being born human could explain that in its entirety.**
**Indeed. Regardless, we are on a bit of a time constraint.** Xerxes Surriel then motioned to the wall nearby, which appeared to turn transparent, to reveal a Zerg Leviathan, minimal escort flyers around it, with a massive, slowly healing wound in its lower left side. **It dropped out of warp a few minutes ago. I am uncertain how to address this, the Queen on board is very young, maybe a few months from what we can tell by our scans, and she is fighting to keep control of her swarm, the Leviathan isn't listening to her.**
Xerxes Nerthiel moved closer to the wall, scrutinizing the image carefully, spotting some more elaborate fins and spines on the exterior of the Leviathan, denoting it as belonging to the Overqueen. Samateus and Surriel picked up on this, both frowning as they exchanged a glance.
**You're certain it's hers? That would explain why its shut the youngling Queen out so she's not feeling the pain of the creature.** Surriel hazarded, moving to stand closer to Nerthiel.
**Yes, it has her decorative tells. Can you tell what happened to it? Any Void readings?**
**No, however we traced Warp jumps in the areas nearby, it was likely attacked in a system with a blue star.** Nerthiel straightened up at this.
**A blue star? How many orbiting worlds?** He sounded concerned and slightly frightened now, Samateus roused from her silent observation to step closer but still refrained from speaking.
**Four? Three small ones, no atmosphere and a fourth that appears to have some damage dealt to it, losing atmosphere.** Surriel offered, frown furrowing his scaled brow. **You know of it?** What he did not mention, was how much of the long-range scans had been obscured by a massive energy signature they could not clear, some had speculated it to be a singularity that held the system in some form of spatial anomaly.
**I visited it once, briefly, and was promptly ambushed by the Zerg under the Overmind.** Xerxes Nerthiel frowned, taking in a deep breath as he mulled over the situation. **Let me attempt to reach out to her.**
**Aliszha, are you alright?** Overqueen Zagara asked over their swarm connection, having focused on her Leviathan's recovery for a few minutes once it was away from the system she had sent Aliszha to.
**I am unharmed, your leviathan however... I am sorry my Queen.** Aliszha shuddered, her few mutalisks relaying images of the gaping wound in the side of the Leviathan, left behind by the unexpected attack.
**I am glad you are alright. Wait, did that ship move closer?** Overqueen Zagara also watched through the eyes of Aliszha and her brood, having spotted the almost imperceptible ship belonging to the Ahr'Aht cautiously moving closer, blue and green coloured streaks of light pulsing along its sides as it approached. Aliszha blinked, she did not even see it at first, too distraught at the possibility of being punished for causing her Overqueen any detriment. Zagara wordlessly expressed she should have gone herself to investigate, after learning of the pockets of Amon's influence still remaining in the sector, having not expected one such very cleverly hidden stronghold inside her own territory. The damage to the Leviathan could be regenerated in time, that Aliszha survived unscathed remained the most important fact to the Overqueen.
Before either could respond, another presence, belonging to Xerxes Nerthiel, gently wafted over the leviathan and allowing both connected queens to calm as he touched their minds from afar.
**I apologise for the sudden intrusion, are you alright youngling? Overqueen.** His voice came through clearly and, while both were well versed with keeping their minds closed when needed and to remain on edge with newcomers, Xerxes encouraged calm and his concern almost tangibly swept over them. That he could sense and acknowledge Zagara, even at such a distance, impressed the Overqueen, however young Aliszha was left completely confused and became disoriented. No, not disoriented, she was suffering from lack of oxygen. Something unheard of with most Swarm Zerg, as many had been adapted to surviving the harshest of climates and atmospheres, or lack thereof.
**Aliszha, you need to get into an Overlord immediately.** Zagara warned, not wishing to lose her youngest. Xerxes' presence withdrew a moment, the two queens could sense two others conversing with him, one definitely belonged to Samateus as Zagara could discern. **Xerxes? I am sorry to burden you, however could you and Samateus give her refuge for a while? The Leviathan is not going to be able to recover properly while sustaining her and her brood, and I would take too long to reach her.**
**Exactly what I had asked. Can we teleport them to where I am staying with my brood?** Xerxes seemed contented, expressing his happiness to their being open to aid from the foreign species.
**Yes, please. The Mutalisks can remain with it, however any Zerglings or other ground strains will need to be moved with her.** Zagara felt relief, which transmitted in her thoughts, as Xerxes coordinated with his alternate, to have the young Brood Queen brought to his temporary home. She had known something to be amiss, when Aliszha noted movement on the planet surface, the appearance of the armoured Hybrids and then the blast of pain to her Leviathan at such a distance completely rocked her reality. Zagara did not appreciate the reminder, however only once before had she felt fear, when Sarah had bested her on Char.
Aliszha gasped in air almost greedily as she realised she could do so again, the sudden flash of light that deposited her on soft sand and earth unexpected yet welcome. Her brood, several pairs of Zerglings, half dozen Hydralisks and a Swarm Host, appearing with her in a few moments, flashes of light announcing their arrival. Two strange Zerglings, one with blue gemfire eyes and one with violet gemfire eyes, huddled at one of the larger tunnel entrances to the underground cavern she found herself in. Another flash, and a massive Hybrid, easily larger than she remembered her Overqueen to be, appeared before her, standing instead as a feline would, large, viciously bladed wings rising up to settle with the wing-hands closed and wing-thumb hooked to the bladed carapace along either shoulder. His violet gemfire eyes regarded her calmly, long throat with its interlocking carapace panels barely visible beneath the sweeping Ultralisk-like headcrest and many elaborate and segmented nervecords. Two smaller, almost emaciated appearing limbs uncurled from beneath his wings, along his sides and expertly hidden along his carapace there, moved to be held before him, palms up and open.
**Apologies, Your Overqueen asked us to provide you refuge.** His voice denoted him as the one who had reached out to her and the Overqueen from the strange nearly imperceptible ship, his appearance very different from what she had come to expect of Hybrids. **I am Primal Hybrid, willingly, and I'm certain your Overqueen would love to see me in person now that I am more... Recovered from my prior imprisonment. You may call me Xerxes.** He moved to lie near her, to show he meant no harm, the two Hybrid Zerglings she had seen before moving to stand with him, the smaller, sharing eyes the same colour as his, chittered at him softly.
**Greetings, I thank you and your allies for your swift action...** Aliszha managed a partial bow, still lying in the soft sand and recovering slowly from the lack of air. Overqueen Zagara could be felt then checking on the two, Xerxes rumbling lightly, a purr, to acknowledge her.
**Xerxes, I can only hope to one day repay your kindness to my youngest.** Zagara sounded relieved, though Xerxes could tell she had more intent behind her words. **I will send another Leviathan to assist the injured one, may I ask for a moment of your time once we arrive?**
**I am indebted to the Ahr'aht and Samateus in bringing Aliszha here.** Zagara's surprise at how easily Xerxes picked up on the name of the young Queen made him smirk beneath his mandibles. **I would like to meet you, and Dehaka, perhaps... Bring Abathur with you as well?** That admission made her physically rise to her talons, Xerxes could almost see her do so, her alarm at his being able to so easily read through both of their thoughts, even at such a distance, earning a chuckle. **You aren't as well versed with shuttering your mind as we Protoss are able to from a young age. Though admittedly, I've used your connection to your Daughter to connect to your Swarm at a distance. Not much unlike the Khala that Amon corrupted, easily enough infiltrated I'm afraid.** Zagara flexed her talons and paced a moment before relaxing.
Xerxes then shared with her what the Overmind had been forced to do with him, that he had severed his nerve cords before being placed in a chrysalis following months of infestation attempts, Abathur himself having briefly attempted to make their infestation work on the strange pale-skinned Protoss. One, not Narud but with a similar dark-skinned human form to Duran -another of Narud's aliases that none had seen since the Brood War- had come soon after Abathurs attempts and absconded with the chrysalis and several of the Overmind's personal Hydralisk. Abathur, near Zagara within her Hive, blinked all his eyes in sequence, shrinking down on his slug like lower half as he had expected Zagara to strike him as she neared him. He did recall working on something within a chrysalis, under the Overmind's direction, however he had no recollection of why or what he had done, if anything.
**I am not surprised, Amon had a very strong hold on the Overmind at the time, as it was the only force under his direct control known in this sector. The Tal'Darim were very reclusive up until recently.** Xerxes shared, chuckling a bit at Abathurs relief. He then reached out to and added another to their conversation, who Zagara instantly recognized as Samateus. **Sam, Zagara and Dehaka of the Primal Zerg would like to parley with me, and intend to bring Abathur. Could Leon perhaps get us those genetic samples?**
**Of course! He prepped a large assortment of them already, as he was not feeling quite himself after coming through the rift and wanted to be certain it would be ready even if he wasn't available.** She soon appeared near Aliszha and Xerxes, gently bumping her forehead crest against the Primal Hybrids' in greeting. **Would it be alright for us to have you and your companions teleported to my world ship?**
Zagara was surprised then, as Samateus' armour had peeled away, revealing her form more for her to scrutinize through Aliszha, who blinked almost comically at the two, not expecting surprise from the Overqueen. Samateus briefly turned her head, tliting it lightly to one side as another spoke to her at a distance, informing her that Zagara, was too far from them, and Dehaka was simply too large for their teleport systems at a distance, Zagara disliking that they could detect such from so far.
**We've been nomadic and spacefaring for longer than most of the races here have been alive. Sorry to say, we have the ability to scan the entire sector, as denoted by a starmap Xerxes had sent to us care of Kuldaris. Not as clearly as we would like, nor as direct as to, say, be able to pinpoint one specific person from Korhal and bring them to us or confirm their whereabouts. It's more intended to scan for Void energy or fluctuations matching it.** Samateus explained, unable to elaborate more herself. Xerxes then suggested wordlessly Kuldaris take the Obsidian Flare to retrieve Zagara, Abathur and then Dehaka. Samateus shook her head solemnly. **A good idea, though I don't think Dehaka would be even remotely comfortable on a Protoss ship. Nor Abathur for that matter.** She smiled when Zagara confirmed Abathur's reaction to be vehemently against the suggestion.
**Sam, if I may?** Came another voice, masculine, feeling similar to Xerxes but still different enough to warrant a furrowed brow and concern from Zagara, that the Overqueen had heard beforehand. Xerxes and Samateus acknowledged him, expressing that this voice belonged to Xerxes Surriel, Xerxes' alternate, and Zagara expressed willingness to listen to his suggestion. **I could bring my smaller ship, meet you in your Leviathan near Zerus, and aid you in moving Dehaka to your Leviathan, and return here using our slipstream tech. It's non-invasive to organic ships, and would allow us to move swiftly without hampering you.**
**Slipstream? Sounds interesting, I assume it is why it appeared like a massive beast whisked your ships away.** Zagara inquired, nodding to herself when Xerxes Surriel affirmed her reasoning. **I would welcome it, your presence may lead my Queens to understand my respect of you more. Dehaka, I am uncertain his size will be accommodated to your teleport systems.**
**Closer, say from parallel atmosphere, we should be able to manage it. We've moved entire populations before with relative ease. Not to mention we moved Larethon, one of Xerxes Nerthiel's children.** Surriel responded, appearing to chuckle through their psionic connection.
**Very well, I assume you know where Char is?** Zagara remained surprisingly relaxed talking with these few, sending an image of her home system through the psionic link she shared with Aliszha, so Xerxes and his companions could see.
**Yes, we estimated your location before thanks to Xerxes, however knowing exactly the system we need to hop to will help greatly, thank you.** Surriel almost purred in their minds, Samateus opting to remain planetside to help Aliszha recover and get her bearings.
**We await your arrival.** Zagara then withdrew, Aliszha appearing to almost collapse as she could relax finally. Xerxes Surriel coordinated distantly from them, his angular ship moving away from the fleet and disappearing into a light-emitting slipstream conduit. Samateus trilled curiously at her, concerned as Xerxes rose, watching her quietly. She relaxed, her brood clustering around her, thankfully her Overseer had managed to warp away as well, remaining with the Mutalisks around the prone Leviathan beyond the world ship she had been teleported to.
**Would you like to see more of this world before your Overqueen arrives? My kin are curious about how different you are from Lia'Ashra, one of Xerxes' children.** Samateus asked at length, head held up and tilted slightly in concern. Aliszha blinked, looking between her and Xerxes, who stood a tiny bit taller at the shoulder than her, when on all fours, his overall size too obscured by his carapace, sweeping Ultralisk-like head crest and wings for her to discern much else. She then noticed his tail, long, thickly muscled and lined with massive crystals that glowed faintly even in the low light of the cavern, which she realised was lit from above by more crystals, varying in colour, imbedded in the ceiling and walls in elaborate patterns that were unfamiliar to her.
Aliszha rose, cautiously, glad that her lack of oxygen had no lasting effect on her body, nor her brood, noting the two small Hybrid Zerglings curiously looked at hers, which unnerved some of them as they were uncertain to think them kin or enemy with their limited brain power. The violet eyed one, the female, looked to her curiously then, turning to chitter up at her father, causing the larger Hybrid to turn and regard the Swarm Zerglings before turning back to her.
**My daughter is curious about your Zerglings, if they are allowed to 'play'.** He chuckled, one of his delicate hands stroking his daughter's headcrest. Aliszha cocked her head to one side, unfamiliar with the concept, Xerxes wordlessly showing a memory of his twins playing together, roughhousing and chasing, from when he had been allowed to spend time with them before he was imprisoned.
**Perhaps, on the surface? I would not wish to potentially cause harm, my Zerglings are also quite young, and inexperienced.** As she spoke, one trotted over to her, almost purring at her as it gently rubbed the side of its head against her closest limb. Xerxes spotted it lacked part of its right facial mandible, the forward curved tusks of sorts. **This one, however, was one of our Queens, before she became Xel'Naga. Or so my mother has told me.** Aliszha jolted slightly, appearing to blush. **Sorry, my Overqueen told me such.** Xerxes chuckled again, moving a bit closer to regard the Zergling more closely. Its yellow-orange eyes belied more intelligence and emotion than most Swarm Zerg, yet had been through many incarnations, given a new body, matching its personality, every time. Xerxes gently pressed into its memories, seeing briefly Sarah Kerrigan in a Terran dropship, overhearing a Terran news broadcast in which Jim Raynor had been pronounced Dead. The voice sounded eerily familiar to him, yet made the edges of his carapace rise and every nerve tense.
**Arcturus Mengsk, Valerian's predecessor.** Samateus informed, eyes narrowed. Xerxes nodded, stepping back and bowing to the Zergling in thanks for its patience. He could tell it disliked being singled out, having once been underdeveloped and had to fight its own twin to live when it had hatched on Char. It lightly hissed, acknowledging his respect, the Elder Zergling more independent than its fellows and less reliant on her Queen, moving forward cautiously to lightly raise a forelimb, swiped through the air twice, and then raced to the tunnel the two Hybrid Zerglings had been hiding in before. It paused, wiggled its tail and mandibles at them, made a bark-like noise, then disappeared outside. Arska immediately took off after, Taluth taking a moment to realise what was going on, and following suit.
**I... I have never seen a Zergling understand or exhibit that behavior.** Aliszha balked, blinking with confusion at Xerxes who chuckled.
**She's a bit more than she appears. Like you.** Xerxes winked, motioning for her to follow as he rose up to twist aside and follow the other three, Samateus following him happily.