So, I guess after 15 chapters it is finally time to address some plot-holes people have been wondering about. Just don't expect anything mindblowing. It's just a dropship. But I found it weird that we never saw anything of that thing again after Sarah took it with her in Heart of the Swarm. Then again, the Leviathan she took over after that probably digested that thing or pooped it out. Or both.
So yeah, it's time for another flashback.
Chapter 15
That's what you get for not paying the rent
''We can't just leave him behind!"
''We can't take him with us either."
"Yeah, but that Stukov-thing will kill him if it gets here and-"
"It... I mean he...I mean whatever it is now, I'm pretty sure it won't hurt him."
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?"
"Experience."
"Well, my intuition tells me that your experience regarding dealing with infested is a couple of hundred years old."
"That may be so, but your intuition led us into this mess."
"Oh yeah? And how do you come to this conclusion, huh?" Paula Kerrigan wanted to know and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she stared at her father, a defiant look on her face.
"Call it "intuition"." Jim Raynor replied while grinning like the king of all douchebags. Quite the feat, actually. Especially when considering their current predicament.
Sirella watched the whole scene but decided against interfering. It was both surreal and idiotic at the same time. Yet it was rather satisfying to see the frustration on Paula's face, and how her eyelid twitched like crazy as she spoke to her father. Right now, she looked so much like her mother. She too experienced massive surges of frustration when dealing with Jim Raynor from time to time. According to people called "Kerrigan", people going by the name of "Raynor" had that impact on others.
"Intuition my ass." Paula growled.
"Language." her father lectured her.
"You curse all the time!" his daughter protested.
"Yeah, but when I do that it's usually for a darn good reason." Jim declared. Sirella watched how Paula gritted her teeth, and for a second it seemed as if she wanted to scream. But her frustration evaporated the moment the mangled corpse right next to them started to twitch and moan. Suddenly all three of them turned their head around, even though each one of them had a different reaction.
Perhaps Sirella's was the most "human" one. Even though she lacked a mouth, you could still see the disgust on her face and the utter revulsion. She made a step backward. Then another one. And another one. As far as she was concerned, the young Protoss just wanted to be as far away from this thing as possible. Right now, she didn't even have mixed feelings. She had liked Bowski. He, unlike Paula, was a reasonable person. Someone you could talk to and who would listen to arguments.
So yeah, pretty much the exact opposite of Paula.
"Ahhhhhhhgrrrrrr..." A guttural, almost inhuman sound left Bowski's throat.
Paula's reaction was probably the most unusual one. She simply sighed and looked at the creature twitching in front of her feet as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Hey, we are having a conversation here!" she mumbled. It was like trying to talk to a Zergling. Then again, given the fact who her mother was, this was probably not the weirdest thing for her to do. "I'm trying to save your butt, so keep it down, will'ya?!"
Jim Raynor's reaction to all of this was also rather unusual. He looked at his daughter, then at the mangled body of the infested Marshal, before letting off an exhausted sigh.
"I hate Mondays..." he mumbled and rubbed his eyes.
"This day feels more like Tuesday." Paula replied.
"Maybe to you it does. For me it's Monday. I hate Mondays." With that, Jim turned around and studied his surroundings. His eyes fell on a machine in the corner of the room and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Well, too bad we have no use for one of those right now." Even then the sight of a vulture bike seemed to stir up a lot of old memories. And judging from the look on his face most of them were rather pleasant.
"Okay, enough fun and games." Paula's father explained as he looked around. "The original plan still stands. Since we can't escape from this place, we have to find a place where we can barrel down and wait for the cavalry to arrive." He didn't even have to mention her name for everyone to know who he was talking about. "We should head down to the next deck and-"
"Wait, WHAT?!" Sirella screeched when she heard that. "Heading down? But...but...BUT THAT THING IS DOWN THERE! Shouldn't we try to get up and-"
"I don't think we can outrun this thing." Jim interrupted her before throwing a glance at his daughter. "By the way...Stukov, I think I remember now. Worked for the UED. Don't remember much about him anymore, but I do remember that he ran with a bad crowd."
"Yeah, well..." Paula muttered. "...now he is a bad crowd."
"S-still, shouldn't we try to get out of here and-" the young Protoss whined.
"Sometimes running isn't the best option." Paula's father explained. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Shouldn't be too long until my better half figures out that something's wrong. Besides, I don't want to risk Stukov to get out of here. As long as we stay down here, he will probably do the same."
"That's probably better..." Paula mused and looked at her friend. "Just imagine what will happen if he finds the Professor and the others."
"I don't want to imagine that. I just want to go home." Sirella whimpered.
"Don't worry. I survived situations way worse than this." Jim explained as he tried to cheer her up. "We will head down and hide in one of the ammunition bunkers. They are surrounded by armor plates and reinforced to withstand even the worst punishment. If this thing would blow up, then the bunkers would probably be the only thing left in one piece."
"I don't want to blow up!" Sirella protested. "Please don't do that! No blowing up! Can we please not blow up?"
"Rrrrrrrright." Jim whispered when he noticed that the young Protoss was on the verge of a mental breakdown. But there was no time to deal with that right now. Instead...
"Ghaaaaaa..." The gurgling sound of the tortured creature right next to them caught their attention.
"One thing at a time." Jim growled and tightened his grip around the gun in his hand. "First we have to deal with this mess." As he looked down on the groaning and twitching form of Dan Bowski, the look on Jim's face was one of sorrow and anger. For a moment it seemed as if he wanted to put the Marshal out of his misery. Paula stared at her father, ready to stop him if he would decide to go that way. Though right now it was not quite certain wherever she would actually be able to do anything meaningful right now. Jim knelt down right in front of the infested man and pointed the gun at Dan's head. However, he didn't pull the trigger to put Dan out of his misery. It was only a precaution.
"Boy, can you hear me?" Jim asked. Perhaps it was a bit presumptuous to call the man a boy. Then again, pretty much everyone was just a boy or girl to Jim. As he rolled Dan on his back, the Marshal looked at him with blood-shot eyes. Paula's father suddenly felt an unpleasant sense of familiarity. Infection. What a shitty way to go. He saw how something moved beneath the skin of Dan's face. It almost looked like some kind of worm...
"Please..." Dan gasped as his body was ravaged by the most intense pain no human being could imagine. Jim knelt down right next to him, the gun still roughly pointed at Dan's head, just to be certain.
"I know you probably just want it to end..." Jim explained. "...and I can do that." He ignored Paula's protests behind him. "I can make it quick. Painless even." As he looked into Dan's eyes, he noticed the desperation in the other man's gaze. The idea of leaving this world behind, as well as the pain, seemed to be rather tempting. Until...
"But there's still hope." Jim continued. "Even though you probably won't believe me. There's someone who can fix this, and once she gets here, she can make this right again. All you have to do is one thing." One thing? Couldn't be too hard, right?
"Don't give up."
No one dared to say anything. The only thing you could hear was the rasped and pained gasps of the Marshal who stared at Jim while his body was consumed by this ancient virus. He opened his mouth, yet instead of screams of agony...
"...want...live..." Dan managed to gasp.
Jim lowered the gun and he nodded.
"Then prove it." he declared before he got back up and turned away. "Stay alive. That's all it takes." The dying man watched in horror how Paula's father walked away. "Come on, girls. We have to hurry."
"But...but..." Paula protested. It seemed as if she didn't want to just leave Dan behind. However, right now she had nothing to say in that matter.
"I'm sorry." Sirella whispered as she followed Jim. And then Paula was left alone with Dan. She seemed to be hesitant. Dan reached out to her, but when he looked at his own hand, he groaned in anguish. His fingers looked like claws and some sort of tentacle was sprouting from his wrist. It looked as horrible as it felt, maybe even worse than that.
"Paula! Move it!" Jim barked and the young woman clenched her hands into fists.
"Please, stay alive." she mumbled. "I swear I'm gonna make it up to you. I swear..." And as she turned away, Dan noticed how tears of gold streamed down her cheeks. He tried to stop her, tried to ask for help. Or someone to put him out of his misery. But the last thing before the pain claimed him once more was the sight of the group of three leaving him behind in the darkness...
Dan didn't know how much time had passed. His consciousness continued to fade away until he could almost taste the sweet touch of oblivion, of nothingness. But then some agonizing pain would shoot through some part of his body, drawing him back to reality and reminding him that his fate was not to rest in peace.
"Ha..." he groaned. His body felt so stiff, so strange, so unreal. It was as if it wasn't even his own body anymore, at least not entirely. He could feel how things moved beneath his skin. There was no way to describe it. All he knew that it felt wrong. So very wrong. The Marshal opened his eyes, only to realize that he was alone in the dark. He tried to roll on the side but was greeted by even more pain.
"Gha! Ack!" Pain. So much pain. Every fiber of his body was consumed by it. A dry cough escaped his throat that soon turned wet. A metallic taste filled his mouth. The taste of blood. His own blood. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he managed to wipe some of the red liquid from his chin, only to wail in distress when he noticed that his hand had turned into a malformed amalgamation between hand and claw.
Dan wanted to die. He didn't care if someone would call this an act of cowardice. People weren't supposed to experience this kind of pain. It was unnatural. There was a limit to how much a single man could take. And Dan was no hero. It was just-
"Kerrrrrrigaaaaaaaan..."
"Ghnnnnn!" Dan groaned when suddenly a voice straight from the pits of hell echoed through his mind. The sensation was both alien and horrific at the same time. For someone who didn't know a thing about psionics, it simply unnatural. Strange.
Wrong...
For a moment Dan even thought that he was hearing this voice with his ears. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't, but only after he pressed his malformed hands against his ears and still heard this voice.
"She cannot hide, Raynor. It is pointless...she might own the stars but this place, and everything inside it, is mine!"
"I... I'm not...not Raynor..." Dan managed to gargle. That's when he felt something in the back of his throat. Tiny tendrils, growing from his own flesh, moving on their own volition...
"Lies...lies!" the voice snarled. "She was here. She came for YOU! You mean everything to her, she will not allow you to perish here..."
Even though Dan was in excruciating pain, he still managed to chuckle when he heard that.
"Doesn't...doesn't look like that...from where I'm...standing..." he gasped.
"As long as I have you, she will not dare to harm me. As long as...Mengsk is alive...she will...she will..." Mengsk? That was another name that didn't make any sense to Dan but when he heard it, he felt a sense of...confusion? It was a nauseating experience. He felt someone else's emotions inside his mind, something he wasn't used to. As mentioned before: Someone who has no experience with psionics whatsoever can't really describe the sensations. It's a little bit like being born blind. And then, suddenly, as an adult, you regain a sense you have never experienced before. Being "confused" was an understatement. And even in this day and age, most people weren't born psionically gifted, even though their numbers were steadily shrinking.
How would the people of the past look upon this possible future? Where everyone could read everyone's mind? The thought of all your innermost desires laid open would probably scare them. Concepts like "secrets" and "trust" were normal to them. Yet what about the people of the future? Those who would be born into a world where reading the thoughts of the person next to you was as normal as reading a letter that was meant for you anyway.
None of that mattered to Dan right now, though.
He was truly between a rock and a hard place right now. On the one hand, he wished that that voice inside his mind would leave him alone. On the other hand, it distracted him from the agonizing sensation of his own innards trying to consume him.
"You shouldn't have come here...you shouldn't have disturbed my slumber! This, all of this, is your own doing!" the voice boomed inside his head. "Then again...Kerrigan always claimed that you didn't know when to quit."
"You know...she was wrong..." Dan gasped. "I'd like to quit right now please!"
"That can be arranged!" the voice declared. However, this time there was something different. Even in his current state, Dan noticed it immediately. Those words hadn't come from inside his mind...
...but from right above him.
He opened his eyes and looked up, almost immediately regretting it.
"Raynoooooooor!" the horribly mutilated creature howled as squeezed itself through the narrow air duct that had been Dan's escape path. Torrents of blood spilled out of the small hole in the ceiling. It was truly a sickening sight as something made out of flesh and bones fell out of the air duct and landed on the dropship right beneath it. Dan realized that this thing called Stukov had torn itself apart so it would fit through the too narrow passage.
Wherever there's a will, there's a way.
Or something like that.
Dan tried to get away. But all he managed to do was to roll on his stomach and crawl away with the speed of a legless Zergling. Dan tried to get back on his feet. Yet for some odd reason his legs didn't seem to work the way they were supposed to. It almost felt as if his legs were...gone. Replaced by something else. Something that felt like tentacles...
And so, he did the smartest thing anyone could have done in this situation: Dan didn't look over his shoulder to figure out what had happened to his legs.
"Raaaayyyynoooooor!" the creature called Stukov growled as it slid off the dropship and landed on the hard floor of the hangar. The sound it produced was utterly repulsive, like a bag full of flesh hitting the ground and busting wide open. Dan just crawled forward, away from this being. Unfortunately, it was utterly pointless. Stukov, or what was left of him anyway, used a plethora of mutilated arms, legs, and even things that looked like giant tongues to move forward. And with more limbs than a goddamn centipede this thing, even in its mangled state, managed to catch up with Dan in almost an instant.
"Ghaaaaaaaaaa!" he screamed when suddenly his belly exploded in hot pain. A quick glance over his shoulder told him two things. First: His legs were still there and hadn't been replaced by tentacles, which was somewhat of a relief. And secondly: This Stukov-thing had rammed one of its many claws into his back. Not deep enough to truly cause any lethal harm, but more than enough to make him groan in agony. A sudden sense of vertigo made him groan, and Dan realized that he was lifted off the ground. The pain of being impaled was almost too strong to bear, and he was amazed that he didn't lose consciousness, something that he wish would happen.
His entire world consisted of pain.
And as Dan looked into the ruined face of this creature, he had managed to muster his last remaining ounce of strength. He opened his mouth and his next words surprised himself.
"Do your...worst..." he snarled and spat into the creature's face. Only that it wasn't saliva but his own blood.
And Stukov?
This thing only grinned, showing several rows of needle-like teeth before using its long tongue to lick the blood off its own face.
Too bad no one was around to record this. You could have made the ultimate horror-movie out of this stuff.
"If you die..." Stukov snarled. "...her vengeance will be limitless." It was as if this thing was thinking about its options. That's when a truly horrifying grin appeared on Stukov's face. "But if I consume you, if I make you part of me, then she will not dare to harm me." Dan couldn't see even the slightest piece of logic in this statement.
"I think...you got it all...wrong, pal." Dan choked. He didn't even know where he got the guts to talk back right now. Especially since his guts were currently trying to quit their current job and move out.
"Your liesssssss will not save you." Stukov hissed. "You will be my shield, protecting me from her wrath."
"Can't help you there...sorry." the Marshal replied. "As far...as I can tell...Kerrigan's not really...interested in my well-being."
"Empty words! She will come for you! She never stopped believing in you, even in her darkest hours. You mean everything to her!" When Dan heard that, even while ravaged by excruciating pain, he still only had one reaction in store that was fitting.
"Hahahahaha!" the dying man laughed. "Hahah*ACK*!" His laugh was cut short by a violent cough. Yet even then he managed to speak out what was on his mind. "She won't come back for me, I promise. So far...Kerrigan has been nothing...but my own personal nightmare."
"She...cares...for you?" Stukov snarled, yet his own words sounded confused. And unsure.
"If she does...she has a weird way...of showing it..." Dan panted. A frown appeared on the creature's face and as the horribly mutated once-man looked up and down to muster Dan's body, he too seemed to come to the conclusion that something was wrong.
"Infested..." Stukov gargled. "...she would have never allowed for you to be infested. She didn't want you to walk her own path..." Whatever that was supposed to mean...
"Just...get it over with..." Dan groaned. "Come on. Just make it...stop!" He watched how another tentacle emerged from Stukov's disgusting body. Was this thing finally ready to put him out of his misery? A sense of relief washed through Dan's entire being. He didn't want to die. As strange as it sounded, he still had plans. But experiencing this pain any longer was simply not an option. And therefore-
"Something'ssssss not right." Stukov growled. "You reek of Kerrigan, yet you...you..." Dan could feel someone else's confusion inside his mind. The sensation was so strong that he wanted to puke. That's when it was suddenly replaced by cold determination. "Your secrets...I need to know them!" Stukov suddenly explained and Dan watched in horror how the newly grown tentacle moved closer until it positioned itself right next to his left temple.
"Wha...what are you...?" Dan gasped. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how the tentacle peeled itself open, revealing a thin and long needle. Only then the Marshal realized what this thing was planing.
"No! NO! KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM MEAAAGGGH!" Dan's screams of panic were replaced by squeals of agony as the tentacle shot forward and the needle broke through his temple. The moment it dug itself into his brain...
...everything came to an end.
...so this was what the end felt like?
To be honest: He had expected something less...tranquil.
Everything was quiet, which was quite unnerving. The insides of this place, usually brimming with life, were almost empty, and he hadn't seen a living soul in quiet some time. Not that he minded, though. After everything that had happened recently some peace and quiet was highly welcome. It gave him time to think. To reminiscent. To remember...
"Well, Gerard, my old friend..." Alexei Stukov mumbled as he looked out of the organic window of the Leviathan. "...could you have imagined how these things would play out?" That was, of course, a rhetorical question. A faint smile appeared on Stukov's mangled face when he remembered the time shortly before the UED-taskforce had left Earth. Back then he and Admiral DuGalle, a man he had considered his closest friend, had wondered about what would await them in the Koprulu Sector. While Alexei had asked himself what kind of society they would encounter, what stories the people had to tell, Gerard's mind had been focused on more technical aspects. What kind of troops the people there might have, their level of technology, how to subvert the existing political system to ensure the success of the mission.
Alexei had been the dreamer.
Gerard had been the pragmatic one.
Some of their ideas and projections had been centered around war and conflict. To arrive in a system that was already ravaged by destruction. And you know what? They had been right about that one. The only problem was...
...that they hadn't thought about not one, but two alien species being part of this whole mess.
"Heh...you never truly considered the Zerg or the Protoss to be worthy of your time. Right, Gerard?" Stukov continued. "Yet perhaps we should have taken them seriously from the start." That was probably the understatement of the century. Though, if he was brutally honest with himself, Alexei knew that this could never have worked. Even though he still considered the now-deceased Admiral his friend, he knew that Gerard had possessed a lot of perks and flaws. Sometimes these things can be the same thing, and only the situation decides wherever they are an advantage or a straight path to your doom.
Gerard...had always been an unforgiving man, to his enemies, his own men, and himself. He had been the logical choice to lead this ill-fated expedition to the ass-end of the galaxy. His unforgivingness had allowed him to keep the troops in line. It had led them from victory to victory in the first couple of months since arriving in the Koprulu Sector. But a blessing can turn into a curse in an instant, and Gerard's personality ultimately had led him and his men to their doom.
"Perhaps it makes you happy to hear that I got him, Gerard." Alexei continued. "He played us both for a fool. But I finally got him." He was, of course, referring to his own personal devil. Duran. Narud. It didn't matter. Now this bastard was dead. "Perhaps now your soul, and that of your men can finally rest in peace." Yes, Narud was gone. For good. Ending this creature's life had been probably the single most satisfying moment in Alexei's entire life.
"But you wouldn't have believed me what this guy truly had been after. Or what he was. Hehehehe..." A sad chuckle escaped his throat. "We were so wrong, Gerard. So very wrong. We were thinking of insurrections, rebellions, political agendas. We were children. Children playing with forces that we didn't understand." Yes, children. Children playing with fire. Stukov raised his hand and brushed with his fingers over the scarred side of his face. If you play with fire, you tend to get burned eventually.
"I wish I had a drink, my old friend. A toast, to us. The lost and the damned. It would be-"
"Who are you talking to?" a voice suddenly interrupted Alexei's monologue. He smiled and looked over his shoulder. From the ceiling, a large creature emerged. For a second it seemed like a huge black snake-like Zerg. Stukov wasn't startled. This one was probably the only member of the Swarm you didn't have to be afraid of. Not because she was harmless. No, she probably could cause some serious damage if she wanted to. But using violence wasn't in her nature. A smile appeared on Stukov's face when this creature faced him with a neutral look on her nose-less, yet feminine face.
"Izsha." he said. "Anything I can do for you?"
"Who are you talking to?" Izsha repeated her initial question.
"An old friend." Alexei replied truthfully. Izsha frowned and looked around.
"Where is that friend? Are you communicating with the enemy?"
"Hahahahahaha!" Stukov barked in laughter. "Only if I have learned to talk to the dead." When Izsha heard that, she tilted her head to the side, obviously confused by that statement.
"I do not understand." the Queen's personal assistant explained.
"It's a... ah, nevermind." the former soldier in service of the already forgotten UED sighed. While he enjoyed Izsha's company, especially when compared to the other creatures' in the Queen of Blades' service, she wasn't exactly what you could call a "sparkling conversationalist". Then again, the skill of conversation wasn't exactly one that a Zerg needed to be good at its job.
"DEVOUR ALL!" usually was more than enough. Stukov chuckled once more when he suddenly had to think about Dehaka's "More essence!"-talk, which only proved his point.
"Does my question amuse you?" Izsha asked, not realizing that he wasn't even talking to her. Stukov sighed and looked at that strange creature. Truth to be told: he didn't even know what Izsha was. Her appearance hinted that she too once had been human. Then again, the same could be said about Zagara's upper body. He once had asked Izsha about her past, but she had only answered that "it was of no importance to the Swarm". Case closed. Perhaps Kerrigan could have answered that question.
Too bad she was no longer around...
"You have been looking out of this window for a while now. Is there something you have noticed?" Izsha wanted to know. It was only prudent. While he was in service of the Queen of Blades, Stukov wasn't technically part of the Swarm. It made him an outside. Just like Dehaka. Speaking of which...
"Say, Izsha..." Alexei asked. "I haven't seen Dehaka for a while. I heard him scream and then nothing. Did something happen?" Screaming was nothing unusual for someone like Dehaka. Or Zerg in general.
"The new Overqueen disposed of him." Izsha simply stated. That caused Alexei to blink in surprise.
"Dis... what? How? When? Why?"
"According to the new Overqueen he "had looked at her in a funny way". I did not bother to ask her for details." Izsha said. Yet something seemed wrong. Perhaps Alexei was just imagining things but for some odd reason, Izsha almost sounded...sad? It was hard to tell since it was almost impossible to read her emotions, especially since she possessed no body-language whatsoever.
"I guess the new boss isn't wasting any time redecorating." Stukov mused. It was a strange situation. Only a few days ago they had fought the battle of their lives. And it was probably safe to assume that no one had expected to come out of it alive. Yet thanks to the sacrifice of a certain someone, they were still all here.
Well, most of them...
"Never thought I'd say that but I think I'm going to miss all that "I want essence!"-talk." Stukov whispered.
"It is the privilege of the new Overqueen to form the Swarm into a shape she desires." Izsha explained and looked out of the organic window. Out there, amidst the emptiness of space, was Ulnar. And beyond that the Void, now finally sealed off thanks to the actions of the Queen of Blades.
"Guess Dehaka didn't match the drapes." Alexei sighed and looked at his own hands. "I suppose I should expect something like that for myself soon too." He wasn't holding on to any illusions. Zerg weren't known for their sparkling sense of nostalgia. Or friendship. Right now his fate was in the hands of a Zerg with some serious anger-management-issues.
"If you knew..." Izsha asked in a sudden display of curiosity. "...then why did you not leave?" Stukov looked at her and smiled.
"You know when I had my chance?"
"Yes."
There was something refreshing about talking to Izsha. Her questions were simple, straight to the point and usually always served a purpose. Stukov looked out of the organic window once more and sighed.
"Would you believe me if I'd tell you that I simply do not know where to go?"
"I..." Izsha started, but then something unusual happened.
She fell silent.
Even though Stukov shared no connection to the Swarm, he still knew what was on her mind. Everyone who knew just a little bit about her knew who she truly felt loyal to.
Unfortunately, Izsha had to look for a new boss.
"You miss her, don't you?" Stukov asked. Even though Izsha wasn't known for her exaggerated emotions he did notice how her eyelids started to twitch. It was her version of a surprised gasp.
"The Overqueen is close by. If I want to see her then-"
"I'm not talking about Zagara. And you know it." Alexei interrupted her. Instead of answering his question Izsha simply looked Stukov straight into the eyes before she turned her attention away from him and stared out of the organic window.
"The Protoss have already left. Terran forces still remain. What could be their reason for doing so?" she wanted to know.
"Why ask me?" Stukov wanted to know.
"You used to be human. That gives you more insight into how their minds work."
"Maybe they're still celebrating. Who knows, perhaps they are too drunk to find the button to activate their hyperdrives." He knew that Jim Raynor and his infamous Raiders had been part of the alliance that had stopped Amon. If this man and his troops were only half as crazy as Kerrigan had told them, then they were probably already too stoned to walk in a straight line. Suddenly Alexei wished that he could still get drunk. Unfortunately, his Zerg-physiology prevented that.
"I... don't think that this seems plausible." Izsha mused when she heard that explanation.
"Tehehe...obviously you don't know much about humans after all." Stukov chuckled. That answer didn't really satisfy Izsha.
"If the Overqueen asks me for tactical advice I can hardly say that the humans are probably too intoxicated to fight." she declared.
"Too bad. Because that's probably closer to the truth than any other explanation I could come up with..." Stukov muttered and decided to stare out of the window once more. Four years. A bit more than four years ago he and the rest of the UED had tried to reclaim Earth's lost children. They had failed spectacularly. And now? Now it felt as if he was the last remnant of a long-forgotten age.
Gerard and how he fell for Narud's ploy, their sorry attempt to enslave the second Overmind, how they had underestimated both Arcturus Mengsk's thirst for power and Kerrigan's need for vengeance...
"Just where did it all go wrong, Gerard?" Alexei whispered to himself. Nostalgia. Such a drag. And even if-
"There you are." a new voice suddenly reached their ears. Both Izsha and Stukov turned around, and when they spotted the former broodmother and new supreme leader of the Swarm, they both reacted as expected. Meaning that Izsha bowed her head in respect while Stukov did nothing.
"Overqueen." Izsha said. "Is there something that you-"
"What is this?" Zagara interrupted Izsha and stalked into the living room. "A gathering? If you have nothing to do, Izsha, then I have a task for you."
"I was not aware that you required my services. I shall-" But then she was interrupted by Zagara once more.
"Contact the remaining broodmothers. Tell them to prepare for departure. I want the Swarm to head out and return to Char as soon as possible." the Overqueen ordered. It was odd, since it was an order that she could have given herself easily. She didn't need Izsha for that. Unless...
"It shall be done, Overqueen." Izsha simply replied and moved away. Stukov watched how she vanished inside a hole in the living ceiling. For some odd reason, he thought that he wouldn't see her ever again. And then he was alone with Zagara.
"So..." he mumbled. "...I take it you don't want some advice regarding how to deal with humans?"
"You infest them." Zagara simply replied. "And no, I haven't come here to ask you for your opinion."
"Then why did you come here?" Stukov chuckled. Something had changed. Something about Zagara's whole being had changed. She seemed...calmer. Instead of facing either Stukov, she simply walked past them and stopped in front of the organic window, staring out into the blackness of space. For a moment neither said one said anything.
Stukov was not a coward. And he wasn't an idiot either. At least that's what he liked to think. Then again, he was probably the only person in existence who had been killed, infested, deinfested, reinfested and used as a test subject. So yeah...
"I take it you haven't come here for a social call." he sighed.
"You haven't called me at all. I came because I wanted to."
"That's not what it means. I... agh, forget it." Stukov mumbled. "Kerrigan should have worked on your people-skills. Guess there's still a lot to improve."
"I doubt that you are talking about the skill of taking people apart."
"Sharp as always, Zagara."
"I aim to please."
Wait...was that a joke?
Stukov was about to congratulate her when he noticed how the huge broodmonter...no, the new Overqueen straightened herself.
"I have made a decision." she simply stated.
"That's your privilege as the new ruler of the Swarm." Stukov mumbled. "Let me guess: I won't like it."
"Probably not." Zagara confirmed his suspicions. "I've been...thinking. Ever since the end of this war." Which had been two days ago. The fact that Zagara, Zagara of all people, had been busy thinking for two straight days was actually pretty terrifying.
"So? What's on your mind?" Alexei wanted to know.
"Everything? Nothing?" the Overqueen mused. "I am not certain yet. Random ideas and wishes. Floating dreams and images..." Her voice trailed off and Stukov wondered if something was wrong. That certainly didn't sound like the aggressive broodmother he had come to known.
"That's a bit...vague." he concluded.
"It is."
"Hmmm...maybe you need someone to help you? To clear the path? Be your advisor perhaps?" Perhaps this was a bit opportunistic, but a guy had to look out for himself.
"An advisor you say?" Zagara cooed. "Perhaps this idea has its merit."
"Maybe I could be of assistance. It is only logi-"
"No." Zagara cut him short and turned her massive head around until she was looking down on him. "I do not require you to be my advisor. In fact, your service to the Swarm is no longer required." Alexei wasn't surprised when he heard that. A tired grin appeared on his mangled face.
"The Queen is dead, long live the Queen, hmm?" he mused. "Guess there's no point in prolonging the inevitable. So, what it's gonna be, big girl?" Alexei tried to sound tough. Like a cat that makes itself bigger to intimidate a dog. But there were two problems with that. Firstly: Stukov was all out of juice. Right now, he was running on empty, just like pretty much everyone else. And secondly: Zagara was not a dog, she was a broodmother. If you appear more dangerous, she will only punch you even harder. Still, Stukov knew that he wouldn't go down without a fight. It was not a decision of the heart, though. His heart was tired. It was spitefulness born from his mind. And so...
"Leave."
A single word was all Zagara needed to leave Stukov completely stupefied.
"I beg your pardon?" Alexei mumbled. Was this a trick? Zagara was many things. Being subtle was not one of them. If this was an attempt to make him feel safe and turn around so she could impale him from behind...
"For too long the Swarm has been the tool of others' ambitions. Even the mighty Overmind was nothing but a tool to control us. And while we owe everything we are to the Queen of Blades, she too wasn't Zerg. Not really." the Overqueen mused.
"What are you trying to say? Zerg for the Zerg?" Stukov joked.
"In a way...yes." Zagara replied, which was finally enough to make Alexei shut up. "I do not know what we should become. Her Majesty talked with me about vision, but what is that? She didn't give me a definite answer. At first, I thought that she didn't know herself. But now I think we should find our own vision, even though it might not be what she had in mind." That sounded surprisingly reasonable.
"If we want to grow as a species, we have to adapt. It has been the way of the Zerg ever since." Zagara continued. "But so far we have only adapted our bodies. In order to survive, we will have to change more than that. We need to completely reinvent ourselves if we want to be anything but the tool we have been so far." Was that...truly the same Zagara that had slaughtered endless hordes of enemies?
"So... what does that mean?" Stukov mumbled.
"I..." Zagara started. "...don't know." A moment of silence reigned supreme. And then... "But that won't mean that it isn't the right course of action. The Swarm in its current form is just a weapon. We deserve more. We deserve to be a species." Stukov didn't know wherever he should be impressed or scared when he heard that.
"I take it..." he mumbled. "...that I don't have any place in this brave new world of yours."
"Yes." Zagara confirmed his suspicions and looked back out of the window. "I have given the order to round up all infested Terrans and dispose of them. Their usefulness has come to an end."
"I am an infested Terran." Alexei mused. "So I guess that means my luck's run out." A part of him expected something to happen. Zagara was a broodmother, a formidable foe. If she would go all out, she would probably able to tear him apart. And that didn't even include her brood that would gladly die for her. And yet she didn't show any sign of hostility. Instead...
"You are infested, yes. But you were never a true member of the Swarm. There are a lot of things on my mind right now. So I will make this brief." And then she said what Stukov hadn't expected at all. "You may leave."
…
…
…
"Where?" he simply asked after a while but Zagara just waved with her hand.
"It matters not to me. Just leave. The Swarm no longer requires your service. The Queen of Blades cherished your presence. Though I doubt that she saw anything other in you than a pet." Now that was just hurtful. "But I have no reason to keep you around."
"Huh..." Stukov grunted when he heard that. "...I want to be honest: I wasn't expecting this. I'm not sure what to make of it. It's not like I have many places I can go and-"
"Perhaps I made myself not clear enough." Zagara snarled and skittered around until she was towering right in front of him. She leaned down until their faces were only inches apart. "I did not ask you to leave. I'm ordering you to leave. If you do not want to do that, then you can join your infested brethren who are being turned into biomass as we speak. Or do you want to follow Dehaka's example?" There she was. Good old savage Zagara. A faint smile appeared on Stukov's face when he realized that he shouldn't push his luck any further.
"As tempting as that sounds, I think I'll pass."
"Too bad. A part of me had looked forward to find out who's the more capable warrior." Zagara sighed before turning her attention towards the organic window once more. "Then leave."
"As in: Now?"
"As in: Why are you still here?"
"Uhm..." Stukov looked around and frowned. "...you can't lend me an Overlord by any chance, can you?"
"I gave you your life. I think that's more than most can expect when dealing with the Zerg."
"Breathing in space is not one of my abilities, oh mighty Overqueen. For you gave me a choice between a quick death and a slow and agonizing death. All I ask for is a vessel to leave this leviathan. And you will never see me again."
"I won't give you one of my children, Stukov." Zagara sighed. "How you get off the leviathan is your problem." Well, wasn't that peachy?
"So, what am I supposed to do? Hold my breath?" Alexei sighed.
"Whatever you do, do it somewhere else. Now begone. Before I change my mind." the Overqueen declared. That's when she suddenly seemed to remember something. "...oh, before I forget. Her Majesty has left some Terran technology behind. I think it's what the humans call a "dropship". You know, these things that tend to explode all the time." Zagara looked Stukov one last time straight into the eyes. "Take it. I want it to be gone. You were once human, you should make it fly again. If not, well, then I will at least enjoy watching it explode. With you inside." When Stukov heard that, the faint smile on his face turned into a wide grin.
"Well, can't say no to a lady's gift." he chuckled.
"Not lady." Zagara corrected him. "Overqueen. Keep that in mind."
"I will." Alexei replied before he bowed down, like in one of those cheesy holo-vids. "Farewell, oh my Queen. So that we shall never see again." He then turned around and walked out of the organic room, straight towards an unknown future.
As Stukov sat inside the dropship, he couldn't help but to marvel.
"Seems like someone took good care of you." he whispered to himself. He wondered how Kerrigan had managed to get her hands on such a beauty.
Well, he couldn't ask her anymore. A quick glance out of the cockpit made him spot the enormous leviathan, growing smaller and smaller with each passing second until it was completely gone.
So, this was it, huh?
His time with the Zerg had finally come to an end.
Where to go now?
Back to the Koprulu Sector?
Obviously. This dropship wasn't really built for long-range missions. And there weren't many places where a mutated and infested human could go. The sewers of Dead Man's Port were an option but he wasn't nearly desperate enough for something like that. At least not yet.
Now that he was free again, he had to find a place where he wouldn't attract any attention. Easier said than done. Unless...
Alexei entered something into the nav-computer. News about current events flashed before his eyes as he was looking for something, something he had heard a while ago. Something about an outbreak that had been contained...
It took him a while but when he finally found the piece of information he was looking for, he knew that he had found the perfect hiding spot. And so Alexei programmed a new course into the computer and leaned back. It would take a while. He probably had to go into hibernation. The journey could take months, maybe even a year. But that didn't matter. The newsletters still warned that this planet a dangerous place, that infested roamed the wastelands. It was the perfect place for him to hide.
"Meinhoff, here I come." he whispered before Stukov's body succumbed to the effects of hibernation. Whatever the future would bring? He didn't know. But just like Zagara he too was looking forward to it. His mind was almost gone. Once there, he would-
Clank!
Alexei's eyes shot open the moment he heard that sound. So, that's how it was about to go down, huh? A smile appeared on his face. Zagara hat mentioned explosions. Behind him he could hear something move. Probably a baneling. He had to hand it to Zagara: It was an easy and swift way to get rid of him. That way he didn't get the chance to fight her.
"Clever girl. Guess Kerrigan would be proud of you." he muttered. The creature behind him moved closer. And closer. He could already feel the hot and rancid breath filling the small cockpit. Stukov sighed and looked over his shoulder. A part of him hoped that Zagara had come up with something special to send him off. Not a cheap baneling. Maybe something unique. A hydralisk wearing the golden armor of a Protoss. That would be nice. But as Stukov lay gaze upon the creature right behind him, he frowned.
"Wait, I've seen you before." he mumbled.
Behind him was a Zergling. It was a Zergling like thousands of others, with one small exception. One of his long tusks was broken off. The creature stared at Alexei with angry eyes, yet didn't seem to be out for blood. It was more as if this critter was waiting...for something.
"Guess you and I have the same problem. The lady looking out for us isn't around anymore." Alexei mused. "I guess your new boss doesn't even know that you are here. Guess she would like to have you back. Then again..." A grin appeared on his mangled face. "...I'm sure the Swarm won't miss one measly Zergling. Right?" Stukov had actually no idea wherever this critter could understand him. All it did was to skitter and drool on the floor.
"I take that as a yes then. See? This day isn't so bad. Sure, I got kicked out by the boss, but I got a ship and an ugly dog in the divorce. Ha! That makes me a king among beggars!"
With the universe ahead of him, what could possibly go wrong?
"...no..."
Dan didn't know wherever it was his own voice of that of this Stukov-creature. Nothing made any sense anymore. It was like in this ancient story of a girl falling into a rabbit hole. And down there everything was the other way around. Big was small, fast was slow, and hope was despair. Or something like that.
"NO!" the voice boomed through his head. Dan felt how he was let go and how his body smashed on the cold floor. Some of his mangled bones broke, but it hardly mattered anymore. The pain was so all-consuming that it caused every fiber of his body to slowly tear.
And yet even then there was still a tiny spark of life inside him. One that was about to finally vanish.
"Too much! I don't want to remember!" Stukov howled and stumbled away on his many legs. "Forgotten! All forgotten! Back to sleep! I want to forget everything!"
"You...and me both, pal..." Dan managed to groan before his consciousness finally succumbed to all the pain. He managed to catch a glimpse of the creature called Stukov waddling away while howling in pain and distress. It was quite a spectacle, too. Stukov grabbed parts of his own body and simply ripped them off. Arms, legs, tentacles, horns, claws, and tusks, it didn't matter. Some of all that blood landed on Dan, yet he didn't care anymore.
When Stukov was finally gone, all that could be heard was Dan's ragged breath.
So, this was it.
Dan felt how the pain started to fade away. A weak smile appeared on his face when he realized what was happening.
He was finally dying.
His mind started to slip away, and with it all that pain. Finally. Soon the pain was replaced by something else. Something warm...something gentle. For some odd reason he had to think about Paula. Which was kinda odd since she was the last person in this universe, he wanted to think of right now.
It was as if a golden light suddenly engulfed him. Was this the light people claimed to see when they were dying? If so...
...then this wasn't so bad.
Geez, look at this mess!
"Kerr...igan?" Dan whispered when he suddenly heard her voice again, only this time it was everywhere.
There are not enough headache pills in the universe to fix this...
There was no doubt about it: The voice sounded almost exactly like that of Paula.
Almost...
"It would seem that your daughter has found yet another way to cause chaos and mischief." That voice belonged to someone else. To a woman. And for some odd reason Dan recognized that voice, yet he couldn't really say from where...
Cut it, Izsha. I am so not in the mood for this right now." It was as if the voice became normal all of a sudden. "Let's get them back and fix whatever Paula broke." And then Dan noticed how someone stood right above him. "Starting with this guy."
Well, I guess this time I should add an afterword. Now you know how Stukov got hold of the dropship. If you want to know how he ended up on the Hyperion with it, check out chapter 31 of act II of my other story "Putting the Pieces back together". It's called "That's what you get for leaving the engine running." Phew, now I'm actually glad that I added an index to that thing.
And I'm pretty sure some people well be surprised that I finished off Dehaka in this story (actually in the prequel too). Well, what can I say? We all have our favorite characters, and Dehaka was none of mine. Instead I decided to built a monument of Izsha.
As for the Zergling with the broken tusk and Jim's dropship: Those two things were always loose ends that somehow bothered me. Tiny details, but still somewhat annoying. So yeah, I thought it would be nice to see them again. Just like the question what happened to the crystal and the Zerg that Stetmann was researching on the Hyperion. You people have to decide if I actually came up with a somewhat decent idea.