The world spanned before them and Zeratul had met them before they landed, he turning to Kerrigan as she approached him on the ground. "The power of Zerus called you here."

"My need to see Mengsk dead called me here. These Zerg will help me destroy Korhal."

"You must let Zerus remake you, Kerrigan! The final war nears, and there is little time."

"I don't have to do a damn thing. I will not be a pawn in your prophecies."

"But you will do anything to have your revenge?"

"Anything."

"Then that is enough." How Zeratul can say such a thing was curious as Kerrigan returned to the Leviathan and peered through the eyes of her Overlords, seeing the change and growth of these Primal Zerg and conversed with Izsha about it.

"I'm looking through the eyes of my overlords. These primal Zerg are fascinating. They show no signs of age."

"All organisms age. Even Zerg." Kerrigan suspected as much, but the Primals were different as she spoke.

"But the Primals feed off the essence of individuals. They're in the state of constant evolution. They don't die."

"Until they are killed by another primal."

"True. The most successful hunters among them must be incredibly ancient. And incredibly dangerous." That was the only answer about them that she could find and that made her consider Zeratul's position which is... different, why would he, as one of the Protoss, invite her to the birth world of the Zerg and not tell the Protoss about it, they would be glad to remove the Zerg from the factions.

It was this same question as it returned Kerrigan to speak with Zeratul on the ground, nothing so far interfering with the visit. "Why are you helping me, Zeratul? You have more cause to hate me than most."

"The Xel'naga wish you restored as the leader of the Swarm. But as one other half of the prophecies."

"You know I don't believe in your mad prophecies."

"Your belief is not required." The Dark Prelate spoke in resting a hand to his chest in continuing. "I act for the greater good, though it earns me the hatred of my own people." He looked back at her as he spoke, maybe in thank, maybe in suspect, but he still gave her a gaze. "But your actions on Kaldir, saving my people. I cannot forget that."

"Spare me your self pity, Zeratul. Everyone has to make peace with their own choices. I choose mine because... it's what Jim would do."

"I made my peace long ago. When we are done here, I will return to my own people, and accept their judgement." Kerrigan hummed in thought before she spoke again.

"We all have to pay for our actions someday. I guess your day is almost here."

"I will face it. As for Friend Raynor, I am sorry. Everyone of my kind knows now." Kerrigan didn't nod or agree as she knew that the Protoss had connections with Jim just as old as her own, maybe more as theirs was one of fighting and bouting when she was the Queen of Blades. With Jim and the Protoss, they had developed a kinship for one another and they viewed him with respect, but why the Protoss don't move to take Korhal was something as she gazed back before walking away.

That was the thing, it was her choice and they would not interfere, they had their own issues to manage as Zagara spoke with taking in the world as Kerrigan returned. "We came from this place?"

"The Zerg first evolved here, yes."

"I do not like it. A soft world. Char is far superior." Soft...? Considering the Primals, this world was not soft, but maybe it was because it was lush, green, a place of the hunt and of the kill, Char was the world where the Swarm were seen and feared as the sector's worst nightmare, a tide of claws and spines waiting to strike as Kerrigan countered the idea.

"Don't be so sure. Zerus may prove more dangerous than any world we've known." The same was shared as Abathur viewed the Primals as inefficient creatures, only evolving when the time is right, not as a method to better fight and kill, but something was calling out to her, something very old, ancient, something that Zeratul maybe could give direction to as she headed out again...

She was starting to feel like this trip was just her walking to Zeratul and back for the heck of it...

AS she approached him, she sensed that something else was on the world, it was something else as she spoke to Zeratul about it. "I sense something. An ancient consciousness... sleeping."

"The Ancient One. A primal Zerg who witnessed the creation of the Overmind."

"You want me to awaken it, don't you?" She deadpanned as Zeratul continued his words.

"If you truly seek the power of Zerus, you will need to awaken the Ancient One." Why was it never a straight answer with these Protoss, honor-bound, sure, but did everything have to be so cryptic, they could have saved everyone a heck of a time if they were just clear with their actions before Izsha hailed her in warning.

"My queen, enemy Primals are massing nearby. They are going to attack us."

"They wish to stop you from speaking with the Ancient One. What will you do?"

"What my enemies fear most. Always." If it was right or wrong, Zeratul didn't answer to it as he instead made his leave.

"You are on the path, and no longer need my guidance. You will not see me again, Kerrigan." The chances were high that she WOULD see him again, but he seemed... convinced that they wouldn't meet again as Kerrigan headed to where the presence was, a hive cluster being set up before she raised a brow to the open maw of something else embedded in the stone as she spoke.

"So this is the Ancient One."

"To awaken this creature, we must feed it." Feeding it was easy as her overlords spotted several large boar-like creatures in the area, their titles going down to being 'Quillgors', usable sources of biomass as Kerrigan spoke, killing one with a blast.

"There's a lot of biomass here. We'll kill these quillgors and have drones harvest meat from their corpses. Once the drone is done harvesting, it will drag the biomass to the Ancient." A drone did so in compounding the meat before dragging it ot a stone outcropping to then shove it over and into the maw, but their activity was not without issue as something else had found them and, while it was not the Swarm-type of force, it was still worth notice that smaller Primal Zerg which were both different and familiar gathered to follow this pack leader.

"Brakk speaks now! You intrude on my territory, corrupt Zerg! We will devour your flesh!" This also invited trouble as aerial creatures came soaring for them, Kerrigan noticing that they were more similar to the old Guardians of the Swarm than anything as Izsha warned.

"Warning! A force of primal Zerg fliers is preparing to assault the hive cluster." Kerrigan readied herself as the only ranged fighter against such an assault on her feet, it would take a while before Hydralisks and Queens could do so, but Abathur came through with something as well as the screech from above sounded the return of a familiar flyer of their own.

"Mutalisks reconstituted. Ready for your armies. Will destroy primal guardians." Even he acknowledges it as the flock was destroyed when the Mutalisks descended from the LEviathan and tore through with their Glavie Wurms and Izsha warned them with Alice leading a smaller force behind Kerrigan's cluster.

"Primal Zerg forces are massing nearby. They are likely to attack again."

"Let them try." And so, they quickly moved to take a few sites for more minerals and vespene and to amass a larger army as more quillgor were located and marked in their minds to kill and convert into the suitable biomass packets. Kerrigan even finding a few sites where primal essence could be found, small pools, and took that for herself, feeling different, but stronger, far more stronger than ever before as she remarked. "I feel stronger. This must be the power Zeratul spoke of."

They continued to knock back Brakk's forces and collect the biomass or protect it to bait more of Brakk's forces out and destroy them, collecting the pools for more strength before they delivered the seventh piece of quillgor meat to the Ancient One before Brakk had enough, especially with the loss of the Primal Hives and a good chuck of the forces on hand.

"This ends now, corrupt Zerg! I will kill you myself!"

"Defend the hive cluster!" The forces moved to kill the leader as it exclaiemd with tearing through Kerrigan's forces like the larger creatures, more relatable to the Ultralisks.

"Your empty minions are no match for the might of the primal Zerg! I will feast upon your flesh!" But Brakk died to Banelings and groaned out in death before al ow laugh echoed across the plains before Kerrigan rushed back ot the cluster, the rock shattering as the Ancient One dragged itself out of the ground, arms aiding as it was larger than anything that Kerrigan had seen so far as it spoke in the same low rasp of the laugh.

"I return." Kerrigan called out as she demanded with a pair of Queen by her side.

"Ancient One! I am here for the power of Zerus. I will sacrifice anything to achieve my goal. You will help me." But the Ancient One spoke instead about the Swarm's origins.

"Your Swarm bears the mark of Amon, the fallen Xel'naga, who came to Zerus long ago." Kerrigan's hand unclenched as she heard the name, Amon, once more it was the name of Amon and... a fallen Xel'naga!? Her mind raced, an ACTUAL Xel'naga came to the birthworld of the Zerg to do what!?

The Ancient One filled in the gaps as it or rather he spoke. "He forged the Zerg into a weapon, and took them away. Yet some of us were hidden, overlooked." He slowly turned to give his full attention to her, the ground shaking with his slight movement. "We multiplied. We remain pure. If you seek our power, you must become primal Zerg. You must become pure."

She nodded with returning back to the Leviathan for some time to think, but she kept peering back, something else was here, the same as Brakk, but instead of coming to fight, it was observing, watching, and listening...

Izsha had some doubts about the creature that they stirred from slumber as the ship that Zeratul came with was now gone during the battle, likely heading to find his people and accept their judgement. "My queen, why did we wake the Ancient One? Its power outstrips even yours."

"The Ancient One is key to unlocking the power of Zerus, and I need that knowledge."

"Will it not destroy us?" Kerrigan related the idea to something more familiar in Terran terms, but before she could say, Alice idly spoke.

"It's called a gamble... something Terrans do, when their instincts... tell them the time is right." Kerrigan hummed as she felt the influence that corrupted her linger over Alice and wanted to get her purified, but to do that, she needed to be sure to sever the connection to whatever power, this 'Amon', still had on her as Izsha accepted the thought.

"I see. Just as when the Terran Jim Raynor came to Char to return you to your original form?"

"Yes, just like that." Kerrigan sighed quietly as she continued, wishing things were different now. "The thing about gambles, Izsha, is that sometimes you lose." She accepted it and Kerrigan went to another part of the base, wishing her members to leave her for a moment and called out to the Ancient One, its true name that of Zurvan as the titan came to her, roaring, but it only did so to get properly adjusted as he spoke.

"You have questions." The most pressing for her now was this Amon's actions as she asked him.

"The primal Zerg say the Swarm is corrupted. What did the fallen Xel'naga, Amon, do to us?"

"He desired our strength, the ability to steal essence. But we were independent... we would not follow. And so he bound the Zerg to a single overriding will. They lost their identity, and became his slaves." The connection came to her as she spoke.

"The hive mind. That's Amon's corruption?"

"It is, and a terrible fate for a strong primal Zerg." She nodded as, if this 'Amon' could bound the Zerg to one will, one purpose, then it was clear that something else was going on and she was stepping into the middle of it, even recalling brief words between Raynor and his Spectre ally on something that they had seen and motivated them to keep her out of Mengsk's sight. Upon returning and entering the Evolution Pit, Abathur... more or less had an utter meltdown of anger on how fast the Primal Zerg had replicated the Swarm's own form into their own forces before he calmed down enough to talk about the mutations for the Mutalisks, the Vicious Glave that causes more targets to get hit with more damage and reach, the Rapid Regeneration that heals the Mutalisk quickly while out of combat, and the Sundering Glave that turns the Glave into an anti-armor attack, but it no longer attacks multiple targets at a time.

Kerrigan had the Vicious Glave readied as Zurvan spoke of where to go, to the very heart of where all of the Primal Zerg first came from, high atop a large plateau and nestled there for her to see and to experience...