Yay for Zeratul's kickass entrances :D

Legend:

(xx time, xx place … ) : setting

"hello" : vocal speech

'hello': telepathic speech

'hello': very strong psychic presence

I know referring to a cerebrate as "it" can be confusing, so I'll refer to genderless, neotenous beings ( like cerebrates ) as "she" :)

The following should be the last flashback ( I think … )

Chapter 4:

( FLASHBACK … several standard months after the Zerg attack on the Xel'Naga worldships orbiting Zerus … long, long before the events in Starcraft 1 … )

'Ah, what a feast !'

I looked up from the Khaydarin crystal I was studying and reared up in surprise as Daggoth lumbered into my chamber.

'Daggoth, what have you done to yourself ?'

I felt a terrifyingly dense haze of psionic energy diffusing from Daggoth's psychic presence, but what was most shocking was her appearance.

Distended several times beyond the volume of the physical form that I last saw her in, her flesh had become translucent, and as she crawled on her now stubby legs, her body wobbled as if it was made of gel.

'Fear not, I have merely … grown faster than we normally do.' If even as she stopped crawling, there were disturbingly visible and rhythmic convulsions passing along the length of her body. 'The Xel'Naga kept specimens of some rare creatures with incredibly strong life essences. After feeding on them, my own essence has been … expanded.'

'You may have consumed too much.' I crawled over and poked Daggoth's midsection with my feelers. When the latters' tips touched her skin at a certain spot, they created dimples on the surface of the translucent flesh. Ripples spread out from those spots over the rest of her body and she shivered. The haze of psionic energy momentarily thinned out, then returned. I waved my feelers above me in disbelief. 'Your body is barely able to contain your essence. See...' I poked her skin again, inducing another bout of shivers. 'You were not molting properly. This is dangerous !'

'How … does it matter ? Very soon… we won't even need bodies !' Came Daggoth's reply. Her psychic signals were irregular in their strength, a sign of temporary instability resulting from the sudden dramatic change that she had gone through.

'I prefer to keep mine.' I turned my attention back to the Khaydarin crystals.

Daggoth noticed them as well. 'You appear fascinated by those things.'

'They contain disembodied memories … preserved records of the studies that the Xel'Naga had carried out on us.' I explained. 'My underlings uncovered many more crystals like this one, but they were mostly too severely damaged for me to extract any meaningful information from them. I am beginning to think that our attack on the Ancient Ones were too wreckless, too destructive.'

'What is done is done.' Daggoth waved her drooping feelers dismissively. 'Let bygones be bygone.'

'You will not be so casual if you saw what I have discovered…' I picked up the Khaydarin crystal, which was of similar dimensions to my own head, in my forlimbs and handed it to her.

She wrapped her feelers ( now more like tentacles ) around the translucent pale blue, crystal and concentrated her psychic senses into it. The crystal glowed dimly as it interacted with her mind. After a few seconds, she whispered the thought form that arose within her mind.

'Proto-Zerg …'

When the Xel'Naga began their experiments on Zerus, there were actually many sub-species of Proto-Zerg, all exhibiting the Purity of Essence to varying degrees, and instead of one bodiless entity forming the dominant consciousness of the entire species, there were many group minds of limited influences.

I am probably the only Zerg old enough to retain an impression of our natural life cycle ( or as natural as the Xel'Naga allowed ). We began life as larvae, anatomically identical to the larvae of the later Swarm. From young we were predators, hunting down, killing and eating the other animals that lived on Zerus. The brood of larvae that I was born into used our psychic Link with each other, as well as our control over a symbiotic fungus that lived in our lairs to set traps and overpower prey several times our size. As we grew we molted, and with each molt a new segment was added to the length of our bodies. After reaching a certain size, instead of gaining extra segments, we began depositing eggs in the cast off cuticle, which we placed on the symbiotic fungus ( precursor to the more familiar "creep" ). The eggs then hatched into clones of ourselves.

According to the crystals, there were some sub-species that live as parasites or parasitoids. Some became totally integrated with their fungal symbiotes. And then there were still other stranger life ecologies.

Whatever the method of acquiring food, we all seemed to have the ability to absorb the genetic material of the organisms we fed on. Over time, some of the larvae began showing the traits of their favourite prey, usually both the advantageous and deleterious ones. Eventually some would metamorphose into creatures so unlike their original form they appeared to be a different species. Most became so mutated that they could no longer reproduce, but they all stayed with the brood and kept in touch with the Link.

A larvae that manages to keep delaying both its metamorphosis and ovulation eventually grows far larger and longer than its brood mates. With each extra segment it gains a new set of neural ganglia. That was how I reached my present size and level of sentience.

The younger cerebrates believed that this was mostly due to the influence of the Overmind. Yes, in a sense the Overmind created them all, but the Khaydarin crystals have revealed another reason for our exaggerated neoteny ( at least for earlier breeds like me ). It seems the Xel'Naga, through selective breeding, had managed to suppress an increasingly rare form of metamorphosis which transformed the affected larva into a more complex form with full control over its genetic expression, believed to be the true adult stage of the Proto-Zerg.

What did this higher stage of our ancestors' life cycles look like ? Why did the Ancient Ones feel the need to suppress it ? Have the genetic material required for the change faded away, or do they still lay dormant yet intact within our cells ?

I was interrupted in my thoughts by a psychic signal from Daggoth.

'My children, the time has come to set forth on a new journey.'

I straightened my feelers at attention. This was not Daggoth herself. This was the Overmind speaking through her.

'After the last battle we have assimilated many things of great value. In particular, we have gained knowledge regarding a previous experiment by the Xel'Naga. These … Firstborn are a truly magnificent species … We now know … we were created to be their complement, and only when the Protoss have been incorporated into the Swarm, shall we be truly complete !'

A series of images and thought forms poured into my mind through the Link, and I felt the motivation behind the Overmind's latest long-term goal.

These Protoss were indeed magnificent. And mighty. They had driven the Ancient Ones from their homeworld, just as we had done. Could we defeat such a rival ?

'Indeed, our ambition is not easy to achieve. We must be patient … and prepare adequately. There are still problems that need to be resolved … obstacles that must be overcome. This moment we face an immediate challenge … traversing the vast Void between the stars. Come, my children, let us depart …'

And then the Overmind's psychic presence took over my body as well.

END FLASHBACK …

( Presently, in the large lab storeroom temporarily emptied out to accommodate me,

one standard day after leaving the surface of Char … )

I must take over this … "ship" soon ! I still could not establish any kind of Link with its mind. That left me with the second best option: try to mind control every Terran in it, but as I had learned in my first attempts back on Char, the results would be far from immediate, and a whole crowd of humans turning spastic all at once would be of little help to me.

I must therefore proceed silently, one by one, beginning with Stetman.

Presently, the scientist appeared at the door again, pushing a "cart" containing a heavily filled black sac before him. A trashbag. Kerrigan had convinced the others that I could consume almost any organic matter, and they had decided to try feeding me some of their rubbish: papers, leftover food, the occasional rodent.

Not that it mattered to me. After I had carried out my plan, I could just take whatever I wanted.

The moment that Stetman stepped through the door, I extended my mind towards him,

and felt an icy invisible wall just before our minds touched.

Immediately a wave of intense coldness shot through my own psychic presence, and I withdrew immediately. A little later and my essence might have been flash-freezed, paralyzing my body in the process.

The numbness faded, but the shock did not. 'What just happened ?'

I stared curiously at Stetman. He was standing still, holding on to the bar-handle of his cart with both hands, his face fixed in a curious expression, in the middle of a very long and slow inhale. Totally unmoving. Perfectly still.

Slowly I reached out towards him with my psychic tendrils. And again I recoiled as they were overcome by a cuticle-piercing chill before they reached their target.

'It is futile. As long as I am here, you will not use your powers on anyone !'

At once, my limbs went limp with terror.

'Dark Templar !'

The very air inside the room shimmered, as if I were seeing it through the rippling surface of water. In a second this shimmering gathered itself in the space to Stetman's right, and then condensed into a column of swirling, amorphous, pitch black haze, several heads taller and an arm wider than Stetman himself.

As soon as it appeared the column broke up into rapidly fading wisps, and in its place stood a frighteningly familiar figure.

The Dark Templar, clad in purple and black cloak and face-scarf, now strode towards me. The unblinking glare from his lime-green glowing eyes pierced my spirit and threw it into the unfathomable Void. All was dark and quiet except for the both of us.

This was no ordinary Dark Templar ! and no ordinary Protoss either ! This one had walked on grounds that none of his brethren would dare tread, and fought and prevailed against horrors that would have driven other sentient creatures insane.

'You were the one who slew Zasz !' I stammered. Actually, I whispered, or muttered. There is no adequate word to describe precisely the state of mind that I was in at that moment.

'And several others …' Zeratul, the much-feared Dark One, raised his right arm and clenched his clawed right hand into a fist. From the back of a bronze, crystal-encrusted gauntlet wrapped around this arm, a straight thin blade of lime-green light shot out to a fraction of the length of his arm. He pointed the tip of this ethereal ( but deadly ) punch-dagger at my forehead. 'And you will end up just like them, if you attempt to take over the body of any of the Hyperion's crew members again.'

I instinctively shrank away from his weapon. I had claws of my own, but I doubted I was agile enough make effective use of them now. Indeed, I possessed no physical advantage over him now, quite ironic considering that I was far more than twice his body length.

And his glare was truly intimidating ! I must direct his attention away from me !

'What have you done with the human scientist ?'

'A temporary form of paralysis that stops his neural activity as well. Do you wish to feel it ?'

Even as he replied, he did not take his eyes off me, but that was fine. My questions would just be to stall for time. And in the mean time, I was preparing my trap.

'That is unnecessary. I assure you I do not mean to harm these humans. I only wish to return to my Homeworld.'

The Dark One's lime-green orbs narrowed. 'You speak of the original Zerg homeworld ?'

'Correct !' Just a little more time …

'I sense the longing in your spirit. I have known that longing before. ... You are truthful.' He mentally sighed and lowered his weapon. The veil of darkness that had surrounded us receded.

Now !

From behind the seemingly unsuspecting Dark Templar, it leapt at him, tentacles spread out like a brown-black cephalopod pouncing over a large prey.

In a flurry of purple and black, Zeratul spun round, swinging his blade of pure energy horizontally in a wide arc, while side-stepping and dropping to a high-kneel at the same time. My accomplice flew over and past him … in two cleanly separated halves.

At once, I crawled backwards to widen the distance between us, psionic energy already gathering at the tips of my feelers. Sparks flew between them as they straightened out to point towards the Dark One's back.

The next moment, a cloud of pitch black mist exploded into existence right in front of me, blacking out my entire field of vision. I shuddered violently and screeched both vocally and telepathically as sharp pain stabbed right through my head and face from the base of my feelers.

When the cloud faded, Zeratul stood just an arm's length before me. In his non-weapon hand he held the pair of appendages that he had sliced off from me. 'I will be keeping these … fear not, you will live. I have endured something similar.'

With that, he turned and walked out through the door of the chamber. 'Next time … your entire head comes off.' He pushed past the still immobile Stetman and then vanished.

I stared silently at the door for a few more seconds. Then I looked at the two halves of the creature I had summoned to help me, now lying on the floor before me in pools of a red-black fluid, the same fluid now drifting from the stumps of my severed feelers. The bulbous clump of sacs that made up their main body were still pulsating, and the tendrils sprouting from the latter were still twitching, and slowly jerking and heaving the two halves in random directions.

I crawled over them, gathered them together,

Then brought them to my mouth and chewed.

By the time that Stetman awoke from Zeratul's spell, completely unaware of what had happened within this room for the past few minutes, I had finished eating and laid down to rest, curled up in a ball at the inner side of the room.

Seeing that for now he could not observe any interesting behaviour from me, he sighed, turned, and left.

A moment passed, then I felt the sudden sense of shock and horror emanating from the smaller adjacent room, his "lab".

Quickly, I uncurled myself and briskly crawled out through the door, turning in the opposite direction to the entrance of his "lab".

(at Jim Raynor's quarters … )

Three consecutive sounds of tapping on hard plastic.

That woke Jim Raynor from his reverie. He took a deep breath, then stood and walked over to the door. He slided it open, then almost jumped back in surprise.

"Zeratul ! … For God's sake why do you keep appearing out of nowhere !"

"The path that I have chosen requires that I always stay hidden for as long as possible." The former Dark Templar prelate answered in the deep, reverberating voice he used when he was not communicating telepathically. "Force of habit."

"Right." Raynor raised his brows and waved a hand to indicate sarcasm. "You might as well appear right in the middle of my room."

Instead of laughing, Zeratul, for some reason, seemed to actually consider that possibility. "Would that be convenient ?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head, and what could count as the Protoss version of a straight face. Of course, with the way half his face was wrapped up in cloth, it was impossible to tell.

"Ha, funny." Raynor allowed himself a chuckle, and then a tired smile on his face. "Ok, what is it this time ? You wanna tell me that we need Mengsk alive to save the universe too ?"

"As yet we have no reason to believe that is the case, but we must always keep an open mind." Zeratul peered past Raynor into the dark interior of his room. The latter was highly utilitarian and minimalist. A layer of squishy blue-grey padding covered every exposed square foot of the walls and floor, as if the whole room was built of shallow water-beds. Half sunken into this padding was: a sleeping bag, closet and drawer on one side., and desk, shelves, and a computer terminal on the other, leaving just enough floor space for one other human to lie down on it. There was a door leading to the bathroom on the far side.

On top of the sleeping bag there lay the figure of a familiar human ( well not entirely ) female, covered in a sheet of simple white blanket up to her waist. Presently, she turned around and her eyes met with Zeratul's.

"I see you already have the Queen of Blades well-accomodated. We can now move on to other matters." Zeratul pointed a hand past Raynor at the inside of the room. "May I enter ?"

"Yes, of course." Raynor stepped aside and motioned for Zeratul to step through the door. "Though given all those crazy powers you have, I doubt anyone can stop you from going anywhere."

"My powers do not arise from insanity, … though delving too deep into the Void does pose some risk to one's mental stability." Zeratul walked along the narrow floor space, and stopped in the middle, all the while holding Kerrigan's gaze. He then leaned back and sat on the desk behind him. Other than the lime green glow in his eyes, the only other source of illumination was the strip of light which shone in through the door from the corridor outside and seemed to bisect the room.

Raynor walked over as well and sat on the bed, facing Zeratul, while Kerrigan sat up as well, and turned to lean her back against the wall. She stared at Zeratul for a few seconds, then at Raynor, then back at Zeratul …

The Dark Templar broke the silence. "What did you do with the Artifact ?"

"We split it." Raynor sighed. "We had already sold the thing to Valerian. It was legally theirs."

Now Zeratul raised a brow. "I know, friend Raynor, you are not one to follow the Dominion's laws."

"No I'm not." Raynor shook his head slightly. "but sometimes we've got to compromise. We let them keep part of it, they let us go. It's a good deal."

"Indeed." Zeratul nodded slowly and stroked the tip of his facescarf. Briefly a frown settled onto his brows, then vanished.

"You know … we could have used your help on Char."

"I was present throughout the entire battle. How did you think your ship managed to survive the continuous waves of spore missiles ?"

"You mean … "

"I could not go to the planet's surface." Zeratul pointed one clawed finger downwards. "The Artifact would drain my life as well, unless I was in stasis. thus …" He then turned said finger upwards. "… I decided that I would be of greater help inside my Void Seeker."

It took a second for Raynor to piece together the exact meaning of Zeratul's gesture. Abruptly, he stood up and crossed over to the computer terminal on the desk. Said terminal comprised two display screens and a series of input devices, plus some other dubious electronic devices. Raynor was about to access the ship's InterCom and ask Matt to scan the Hyperion's vicinity for any cloaked Protoss vessels, when he heard Stetman's voice over the InterCom.

"Uh … Sir, we've got a problem."

Raynor found the InterCom control panel. "What sort of problem ?"

"Well, remember the Zerg bio-sample I was accumulating ? It was alive, and it's … escaped, sir."

Raynor visibly tensed. "You know where it is ?"

"No, sir. And that's not all, that Zerg specimen we just brought on board has … also run away."

Zeratul leaned in beside Raynor and spoke. "Be calm, young man. The Zerg bio-sample you speak of has been disposed of. The other … Zerg creature you mentioned will not cause you any harm. I have made sure of that."

"Huh ? … Who is that ?" Stetman's voice stuttered.

"Friend of mine. He came over for a visit." Raynor replied, then turned to Zeratul and whispered, "You know what's going on ?"

Before Zeratul could compose an answer, another voice sounded over the Intercom.

"Sir … Swann here." the voice of Hyperion's chief engineer trailed off for a bit, as if he was looking away for a moment. Raynor could hear faint curses and exclamations in the background. And after a second there was a short beeping noise in the Intercom. Adding channels.

And then finally Swann continued. "Stetman, this is Swann. Commander, you still there ?"

"I am. What's happening ?"

Swann replied excitedly. "Sir, the BIG WORM just got into the Engineering Bay, and IT'S NOT LEAVING ! "