The following chapter is filled with dialogue, and due to my limited vocabulary some parts may appear repetitive, but this chapter is quite important so please bear with me XP

Chapter 5

( One of the Hyperion's corridors, on their way to the Armoury … )

"There's … hundreds more of those Motherships out there ?"

"At least hundreds. For the past few cycles, Artanis has been recalling most of them back to this sector. Already a few of them have been incorporated into the Protectorate's main fleet."

"Wow." Raynor exhaled in wonder as he tried to imagine several hundreds of the largest spaceships he had ever seen gathering together in one space. "That'll be one heck of a party."

"Indeed, it will. In three standard weeks the Hierarchy is holding a Summit to discuss the major issues facing our people now, including the reclamation of Aiur, and the threat posed by the Hybrids. Representatives from every Protoss settlement and group in the galaxy will be attending. I will make my appearance as well, to present my own findings. It is my wish … " Zeratul placed one hand on Raynor's shoulder, and tapped Kerrigan's back with another. "that you accompany me to Shaquras, along with any allies you can summon."

For a moment both Raynor and Kerrigan slowed their walking pace. When they resumed their previous walking speed, Kerrigan, who had not spoken since exiting Raynor's quarters minutes ago, finally asked, "Does that includes me ?"

"Yes, for you are the key ... " Zeratul could not see Kerrigan's face from behind, but he felt a sense of uncertainty from the former leader of the New Swarm. "Understandably, my people will not welcome you, given all the atrocities that the Queen of Blades had committed against them ..."

Zeratul's voice trailed off to a low dark tone. He stared at Kerrigan through narrowed eyes and slowly slid his hand up and curled a clawed finger and thumb around Kerrigan's neck. The latter tensed her shoulders slightly under his touch and let out a barely audible gasp. Zeratul quickly withdrew his claws and continued speaking as if nothing happened. " … but right now a larger threat looms over us all. We must learn to put aside our old hatreds and work together."

"Jim … " Kerrigan shifted closer towards Raynor until their arms touched, and Raynor felt her delicate trembling fingers close around the edge of his own hand. He looked at her with a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, I promise you. If anyone wants to touch you, he must get through me …" then he frowned. "… no wait that sounded wrong." Kerrigan felt the images flashing through Raynor's mind, and she chuckled. "I get it. Thanks."

Feeling the mood lighten, Zeratul asked, "So you agree to come to the Summit then ?"

Raynor nodded. "Yeah, but before that I'm planning on visiting a friend of mine. Last I saw her she was trying to find a cure for Zerg infestation. I want to see how she's doing."

"Ah, I too am curious." Zeratul paused. He lowered his gaze and stroked the lower tip of his face scarf as he recalled something. "Infestation … Cure … Cosmic Tumour … the nightmare that was not meant to be …" He slowly muttered.

"What did you say ?" Raynor stopped walking and looked back at Zeratul.

Still Zeratul muttered to himself, deep in thought. "My people, and the Zerg. The same creators. Unfinished experiments. The Old One …"

Now both Raynor and Kerrigan had stopped walking and were facing Zeratul. "Zeratul, if there's something else we should know …"

Zeratul seemed like he was about to reply, but he hesitated. "What if I was wrong … no, that is the closest explanation." Zeratul's eyes narrowed and the lime green glow in them intensified.

Then finally he looked up. "Friend Raynor, the Zerg that we had been fighting, were not the true Zerg !"

A 'huh?' expression emerged on Raynor's face, while Kerrigan just stared and blinked at the Dark Templar in silence.

Seeing the confused look on their faces, Zeratul simply took a deep breath, straighted his back, and gently patted their shoulders. "All will be revealed in time … Now let us proceed to our current destination shall we ?"

( Hyperion Armoury … )

I felt terrible. The pieces of Zerg flesh that I had eaten had been a living sample cultured from a multitude of rare strains - brutalisks, infestors, and even a few "fossil" strains that I had not seen for a very long time ( where in the Void did these Terrans obtain those samples ? ). Already, from within my gut it was spreading its mutagens all over my body like a fungus growing through a felled log. That, combined with the lingering pain of losing my external psionic appendages, left me very disoriented. I crawled through the ship's claustrophobic corridors guided by nothing but instinct.

Eventually, I emerged into a chamber more spacious than any I had passed since coming aboard this ship.

The sudden change of environment dispelled some of my pain, and eventually all awareness returned to me when I heard the response of the humans within this chamber towards my appearance.

"Whoa … are my screws getting loose … or is that ..."

There was a chorus of gasps and shouts. I could not tell who was making those noises. For the first time in my life I had to rely totally on my eyes to get my bearings.

This chamber was cuboid, a recurring shape among all Terran structures, and it was huge. I reckoned that an entire overlord could have fitted in there, perhaps even more.

I had entered through a trapezoidal entrance, much taller than the doors to the other rooms. At the bottom of the wall on the far side was a similar entrance.

The wall to my right was totally transparent, allowing a view of the outside, which I gradually recognized as starry blackness of Outer Space. For a while I admired the breathtaking sight.

Again, I heard some shouts from the humans. I glanced around. The wall to my left was completely opaque, with ribbed structures crisscrossing its dull metallic surface. Stairs. One long balcony spanned the middle level of this wall from one side to the other. On this balcony, the humans had gathered, and seemed to be starring apprehensive at me as I crawled into the middle their chamber.

Well, if they were that afraid of me, then I need not be concerned with them. I lowered my gaze and swept it around me. Apparently, this was the chamber where the humans maintained their metal exoskeletons and beasts of war. I had wanted to observe this process for myself, but these … "engineers" had halted their work the moment they saw me. What a disappointment.

Just then I heard a few clicks and whirls from above, and looked up at the balcony again. Apparently, some of the humans had managed to bring out their projectile weapons and were now aiming them at me. If I still had my feelers, I would have no trouble ripping their minds apart before they could even fire, but now my psychic senses were severely blurred. The most I could do now was to crawl behind one of their metal flying beasts and curl up defensively.

Even that did not provide any sense of safety for long, for after a while I heard a new set of footsteps approaching. Turning towards its source I saw three figures enter the chamber from the entrance opposite to the one I just used.

The one on the left was the Elite leading this Terran fleet. The other Terrans here referred to him "Commander" while Kerrigan called him "Jim". He had taken off his armour and now wore the soft outer covering, the "cloths", that most humans wore when they were not in battle. Beside him was Kerrigan, also casually dressed ( Now she looked even more human ) And behind them both was Zeratul.

The three of them stood at the entrance and stared at me for a while. Then Kerrigan let out a gasp and ran towards me. This startled the Elite, who immediately tried to catch up to her. Zeratul, on the other hand, casually walked after them, whie keeping his eyes on me all the time.

Kerrigan was standing before me now, looking at me with … what was that expression ? Worry ? Sadness ? She raised a finger and gently prodded one of the stumps of my severed feelers. At once a sharp pain shot through my head, and I abruptly withdrew the anterior segments of my body by several feet.

"It's not healing." She whispered. That tone in her voice. It was something I had never heard before, and it evoked a strangely pleasant feeling within me. She then looked over at Zeratul, "Did you do this ?".

The Dark Templar simply nodded.

Kerrigan turned towards me again, and this time she placed a hand over my head, while lowering her own face and closing her eyes.

The mild pleasant sensation from before now grew. A wave of warmth washed over my body, dispelling my fear of the Dark Templar's presence, replacing it with another feeling, one which was more calming, more reassuring.

I felt like I was with my brood again … but how was that possible ? My entire brood had been wiped out on Char. The next moment the emotions within me shifted. I knew Kerrigan was searching through the chaos of my mind for something. What could it be ?

A barely noticeable frown settled on Kerrigan's brows, then vanished. Then, I saw a subtle smile on her face.

A familiar landscape appeared around me in my mind's eye.

Zerus.

The effect was overwhelming.

I knew a great change was occurring within me, but the ordeal was made easily bearable by the refreshing experience of sharing memories for the first time with another being who was not a cerebrate,

And the sight of tears streaming down Kerrigan's cheeks.

Raynor let his shoulders droop and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the Big Worm finally stop trembling and uncurl itself into a more relaxed posture.

He shook his head and whispered. "Just what is that thing ?"

Beside him, Zeratul replied while still keeping his gaze on "that thing". "It is Klhulhu, one of the original Cerebrates of the Zerg Swarm."

"Oh." Raynor nodded slowly, then his eyes widened. "It's a WHAT !" Immediately, he looked back at the afore-named Old One, and took several steps back. Horrific scenes from the battle against the Cerebrates during the Great War replayed themselves in his head. "I knew it had some connection to the Swarm … but damn !" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Calm down. It is … as you always say … on the level." Zeratul assured his human friend, ending with one of Raynor's catchphrases.

"A minute." Raynor raked his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. "OK, everything's fine."

Zeratul momentarily glanced at Raynor to make sure the latter was really fine, then he gestured towards both Kerrigan and the Old One. "Behold, the oldest and youngest fully-scientient members of the Zerg Swarm, together in one place."

Raynor placed his hands on his hips and raised a brow. "I get the feeling that this is again part of some twisted Xel'Naga prophecy."

"Indeed." Zeratul nodded.

Raynor threw both hands halfway in the air. "No kidding."

"For us, prophecy is one word to describe it, but not always appropriate …" Zeratul lowered his gaze as he tried to make sense of what he had learned from his travels. "From the Ancient Ones' perspectives, this is but a way to ensure the success of their experiments, even after they have left. They had everything planned out, even manipulating our histories and mythology to achieve the result that they desired. We younger species do not possess the powers of prediction that the Ancient Ones had, thus some of the knowledge they have left us appears to us be obtained through miraculous means. Prophecies."

"Hm. Makes sense,"Raynor rubbed his chin, and sighed"… but if they knew so much, then why couldn't they just take care of everything right from the start ? Would make our lives easier … "

"Clearly they could not. After studying the various Xel'Naga relics that I've come across in my journeys, I believe I have come close to unraveling some of their mysteries. And …" Zeratul gestured towards the cerebrate. "According to what I have learned, I believe this … Old One … plays an important part in the Great Guardians' plans. That is why I have not killed it."

"And I have absolute faith in your judgement."Raynor quipped sarcastically. "What did you say its name was again ?"

"Klhulhu, the Old One."

"Did you say Lulu ?"

"It is Klhulhu." Zeratul corrected him.

"Kuku ?"

"Klhulhu."

"Tutu ?"

"Klhulhu."

"Lulu ..." Raynor tried again to pronounce the name vocally. "Lulu. Who'd have thought. Nice name for a Zerg." Raynor laughed then walked up to stand beside Kerrigan.

From where he stood, Zeratul could see Raynor raise a hand and place it over where Kerrigan was touching the Cerebrate's head, and leaned in towards her.

Before Zeratul could hear what they were whispering to each other, a familiar voice from behind him caused him to turn around.

"Um … hi, uh … your're that old friend that Boss mentioned over the Intercom right ?" It was the Hyperion's young science expert.

Stetman flinched when he saw Zeratul glaring down at him. However, one does not make a living out of scientific experimentation by being timid, so he quickly overcame his nervousness.

"Um, you see, I've been studying some of the Protoss gadgets we picked up on our missions, but recently I've been having some problems with the power source."

"You have a bountiful supply of power, but you do not know how to channel it precisely where you want it." Zeratul finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah, that's about it." Stetman forced the friendliest grin he could. Behind him, Swann and the other engineers in the Armoury had gathered around him, and were peering past him at the Dark Templar with a mixture of wariness and anticipation. They were eager to see Zeratul's reaction, but remained at a safe distance away, half-expecting the Protoss's deadliest assassin to give them a "if I show you how, then I'll have to kill you …" answer.

To their surprise, Zeratul gave a shallow nod. "Very well, we can start by bringing out the Khaydarin crystal you've been hiding in your laboratory."

"OK." Stetman now wore a genuine excited grin, then yelped as he saw what he thought was a furry animal jump onto his shoulder.

It was Swann's beard. From behind, the chunky Chief Engineer pressed his face close to Stetman's and raised his brows in suspicion, causing his bushy brows to jump like Squirrels' tails. "What did he say you're 'hiding' ?" He asked while snapping those mechanical claws that he always wore over his right arm.

"Well, uh, you'll see …"

What exactly is this relationship that Kerrigan shares with "Jim" ?

How do humans of the same Brood maintain their bonds with each other while retaining their individual personalities ?

After three millennia of existence as little but a semi-conscious extension of the Swarm, only now, having left the Swarm, do the above questions become especially meaningful to me.

I cannot describe it. The Zerg had had no need for words.

All I can say … is that it is beautiful. I wish Daggoth and the others were here.

One by one, the past events of my life flashed through my mind's eye, from the moment I first achieved sentience, to when I dug myself out of the ground on Char. I tried to hold on to some of these visions, but as soon they appeared they they were gone, replaced by newer ones. Very soon I was having glimpses of memories that I never thought I had.

I lost almost all awareness of the external world. This was not helped by the nauseating physical upheavals now occurring within my body. My organs were shifting, convulsing, breaking up in ways that I never thought possible, even though from the outside everything looked fine due to the cover of my cuticle. I could not feel the ground beneath me. Something was interfering with my sense of touch. Nevertheless, I was probably writhing about in a frighteningly unnatural manner, for I could still feel the sense of shock and panic from the humans around me.

I heard "Jim"'s voice faintly. "What the hell …"

It was followed by Kerrigan's reply. "Jim … it's …"

And then I felt Kerrigan's psychic presence in my mind. She was trying to find the cause of my condition and to stabilize it. Eventually, I did feel a sense of calmness, but not in the way we expected.

I realized that just as my old internal body structure was dissolving away and reforming itself, so was my Essence.

Before my mind was overcome by the transformation, I let out one last Scream.

Ignoring the chilling groan that now rippled out from the cerebrate and shook the entire Armoury, and a momentary blurring in his vision accompanied by a sharp pain within his skull, Raynor knelt forward and caught Kerrigan's body as she staggered backwards, holding her head in her hands.

"Sarah ! What happened ? Sarah !"

"It's … changing …" Kerrigan whispered. Her eyes were tightly shut and she shook her head slowly. To others, it appeared as if she was having a depressing dream. In truth it was the aftereffect of a sudden excruciating headache. Raynor had been around psychics long enough to recognise its usual cause.

Then he looked up at the Cerebrate called Lulu, now lying motionless at the bottom of the giant window. Its entire body was now completely wrapped up in a thick layer of a smooth white fibrous substance. Silk.

When the echoes died down, a loud beep sounded throughout the Armoury, followed by Matt Horner's voice over the Intercom.

"Bridge to Commander, please respond."

Lifting Kerrigan in his arms, he turned and walked towards one of the Armoury's entrances .

"Bridge to Commander, please respond !"

One of the few crewmen still left in the Armoury rushed towards Raynor, and held up a Communicator to the side of his face.

"Thanks." Raynor then spoke into the Communicator. "Raynor here. What is it ?"

"Commander, we'll be reaching Haven in two hours. Do we proceed towards the New Agria colony as planned ?"

"Yes, locate a safe landing zone once we get there." Raynor answered. "And prepare the Hercules. There's something that we need to get off this ship ASAP."

"Understood, Commander."

( Hyperion laboratory … )

"The Psionic Matrix can be accessed through the means I have described, but the best control is achieved via a direct psychic Link from the user's mind."

Zeratul focused his attention on the miniature pylon that lay on the table. The trapezohedral crystal with a chain of cables and circuitry components wrapped around its midsection, began to levitate until it was suspended one feet above the surface of the table. It righted itself in the air like a compass spinning to point back at North, until the axis running through one tip of the crystal to the other was now completely vertical.

Beside him, Stetman brought an instrument which resembled a portable voltmeter close to the floating crystal. The measurement device beeped profusely. "Whoo ! Off the charts !"

After a few seconds, the crystal began to wobble and emit a strong glow from within like a lamp being switched own. The device in Stetman's hands let out one long continuous beep. Immediately, Zeratul poked one of the circuitry components attached to the crystal with a clawed finger, and the scaled-down Pylon model returned to normal.

Zeratul then looked over towards the larger clump of multi-hued crystals held within one of the large water-filled transparent cylinders along the walls. "Raw Khaydarin crystals grow by drawing in matter and energy from their surroundings. They can be Refined to bring out certain desired properties, and make them safer for use, but in the process they stop growing."

"Well, that thing's been adding power to the ship for quite some time." Throughout the conversation, Stetman had been fiddling with his small goatee in a relaxed version of the 'Thinker' pose as he tried to mentally absorb and digest everything that the Dark Templar had said. "There was some weird stuff going on but I don't remember anything unsafe happening … "

"Intriguing …" Zeratul settled into his own contemplative stance, placing both hands on the table and the letting the claw tips on one hand touch those on the other. "Has it been that way all along ? Then those incidents during the Aeon of Strife … and the subsequent wars …" The Dark Templar sighed. "If only we could ask the Ancient Ones directly. It was they who engineered the crystals. They may contain secrets which we have yet to uncover."

Then suddenly Zeratul jerked back in his seat and turned his head upwards. His hands trembled spasmodically. His eyes flared bright white for a moment before returning to its usual dim green. "It has BEGUN !"

Stetman had instinctively leaned away from the taller Protoss and fallen from his own seat in reaction to the latter's sudden movement. "Ow !" He struggled to sit up and massaged the ping-pong sized bump forming behind his head. Then as he looked up and saw Zeratul staring up at the ceiling. Eventually he realised that the Dark Templar had been himself shocked by something else. "What ... what was that about ?"

Still reeling from the sudden psychic shockwave that he had felt through the Void, Zeratul slowly turned to face the young human scientist. "Thousands of years ago a decision was made. At first it seemed logical, but eventually it allowed the Dark Voice to corrupt an entire species and turn it into a monstrous agent of destruction. The Ancient Ones realized their error too late.

Now ... with the Old One's final metamorphosis, that mistake is finally ... rectified."

"OK …" Stetman could only understand half of what Zeratul was saying, but he understood enough to ask one important question, "That sounds like a good thing … right ?"

Now Zeratul's gaze became distant. He did not reply.

A/N

That wraps up the beginning portion of this saga. I do have a rough idea of how to continue the story, but as I've said in the first chapter, I won't promise any updates :P

Do put in a review and tell me what you think.

Also, I've been watching a series of Japanese thrillers called Tomie. Read the manga which they were based on as well. Really interesting concept. I highly recommend them ;) ( unless you hate horror stories )

Have a good day/night :)

-Star