The Horror Of The Zerg Infection.
After the purging of Stratholme, Nova and Lena had left Azeroth because they couldn't be part of everything that happened. The incident had almost ruined their relationship, so they needed some time off to work through it. They were planing on relaxing on Alderaan for a while, but their vacation time was cut painfully short when Nova's superior, Jace Malcom, had contacted her directly, telling her that there was a situation that required her unique skills and she could bring Lena along, since her piloting skills could be useful as well. As much as they didn't want to, both knew Nova couldn't ignore a command from her superiors, and Lena refused to let her go alone, so she came along. They arrived at Malcom's ship, which was a sight to behold in of itself, worthy of some of Malcom's rank. Once they had confirmed their identity and purpose, they were granted permission to land.
Once inside, they saw a small army of republic soldiers walking around, seemingly preparing something. Nova and Lena shared concerned looks before heading through the large ship to meet up with Malcom at the bridge. The further inside the ship they got, the more obvious it became that something was wrong. Lena could sense the tension, even hardened soldiers were nervous. Whatever was going on, it must be really bad. Finally they arrived at the bridge, Malcom was there... and he wasn't alone.
"Theron?" Nova said in surprise.
"Long time no see Nova. Back from your mission to Azeroth I see" Theron said.
"Yeah... It, changed in a way I could no longer be a part of" Nova said, the atrocities still fresh in her mind.
"The jedi can handle the Azeroth situation, we have more pressing matters now" Malcom said, cutting the reunion short.
"What is the situation sir?" Nova asked.
Malcom's face turned grim "Our force wielding agent, Genji, sent some troubling reports. He was sent to the planet Zerus to investigate, but when he arrived, the sith lord Darth Malgus was already there".
"Malgus? The Sith you faced during the war?" Nova asked, remembering being told that Malcom fought a sith named Malgus back during the war and even helped defeat him, which earned Malcom the scars on his face.
"Indeed, he was there to collect some kind of artifact" Malcom answered.
Lena looked worried "Sir, are you saying the sith is preparing for another war?".
"A reasonable concern, but all evidence we have suggests Malgus was acting on his own, which is not uncommon among the sith" Malcom said before getting back on track "Genji engaged him, and Malgus proved to be as dangerous as ever, so Genji was forced to destroy the artifact to keep it out of Malgus' hands".
"And that's where things went from bad to catastrophic" Theron said.
"What do you mean?" Nova asked.
Theron turned on a hologram, revealing some horrific looking creatures "By destroying the artifact, he unintentionally awakened an ancient alien race called the Zerg".
"The Zerg?" Lena asked.
"Like Theron said, they are an ancient race that threatened the entire galaxy millennia ago. They were such a huge threat, it took over a decade to finally stop them. I thought they were wiped out" Nova said.
"Wishful thinking. They are indeed still around, and we've been working no stop to keep them contained. But somehow some idiot smugglers managed to steal samples we collected from our transport ships and are preparing to sell them" Malcom explained.
"Samples?" Lena asked.
Theron resisted the urge to scoff "Yeah, for some reason the smart people around here thought it was a good idea to collect some samples from the zerg for study".
Malcom sighed "We hoped to find a way to fight them. I don't know how they managed to steal the samples, but that is why I brought you all here. My forces are to busy containing the growing zerg threat on Zerus, if they break through our blockade we could look at a galaxy wide disaster".
"So you need us to track down the stolen samples" Nova finished for him.
"Exactly, we've already tracked the thieves to a neutral system, and I need you to retrieve the samples, or destroy them if need be" Malcom said.
"Understood sir" Nova said with a sharp nod.
"I wonder what choice we will make" Theron said sarcastically.
Malcom gave him a look but said nothing. The secret is, Theron is Malcom's son. Few knew about this, and even fewer dared speak about it. His mother is the jedi Grand Master Satele Shan, which is where his name, Theron Shan, comes from. To say he didn't have a close relationship with his parents would be an understatement, given his jedi mother refusing to form any attachments due to the jedi code, and his father focusing more on being a soldier than a parent.
"You have your mission. Prepare quickly, time is not on our side" Malcom said before turning to look out the window.
Theron said nothing and just walked out to make the prepares. Nova and Lena shared a look before saluting Malcom and walked out. They didn't know the full history between Theron and his father, but knew better than to pry. They had a mission to focus on, and if the zergs are trying to make a full return, billions of lives could be lost. So Nova and Lena headed back to their ship. Nova checked her gear while Lena made sure the ship was in top shape.
Lena could sense something was really wrong with this mission. But she would deal with it once they head out. She would be having the help of both Nova and Theron, so she wasn't to worried about any danger... But if these zergs are even half as dangerous as she's been told, then they can not afford to fail this mission. No matter the cost.
Once preparations where completed, the small but agile team arrived at the location where the stolen sample had been brought. It was a hidden base on a large asteroid, good place to hide if you don't want to risk being caught by planet authorities. The base looked well made, meaning whoever runs this place where not your average punks, makes sense, or otherwise they wouldn't be able to steal from the republic army. As they were getting closer, Theron was already working on hacking the base security. Lena's ship had cloaking tech, but never hurts to be safe... Still something wasn't right.
Lena could still sense things through the force... And there was something wrong with the force, it felt dark... hollow... like a hunger, and yet nothing like the sith. Theron looked up from his work and narrowed his eyes at the base.
"I'm not a jedi, but even I can sense that there is something very wrong here" He said.
"No kidding, the whole place look dead. Think it's a trap?" Nova asked.
"I'm not picking up any communications, I doubt our thieves are smart enough for such an well made trap. Something happened here, and we have no idea what it is" Theron said.
"Meaning that once again I have to risk my beloved ship by flying blind in to a dangerous situation. This ship is like my home you know" Lena said.
"Sorry honey, we promise to try and not bring any enemies back to the ship" Nova assured.
"I'm holding you to that. Ok, we're going in" Lena said as she finds a ship hanger and lands in it.
"Ok, same plan as always: You Lena stay behind and guard the ship, while me and Theron complete our objectives" Nova said.
Lena nods "Got it".
"I will try to locate the security room, hopefully we can use the system to locate the samples" Theron said.
"And I will make sure no one knows we're here" Nova finished.
With the plan set, Nova and Theron headed inside the base while Lena stayed behind.
Theron was sneaking through the base, searching for the security room. His hacking had given him a general idea of the layout of the base, so he knew where the room was. But he wasn't able to hack the security cameras remotely, so he would need direct access to the security system in order to use the cameras to guide Nova through the base and get her past the defenses... But the bad feeling in his gut grew worse when he realized something... Where is everyone?
He was deep inside the base and so far he hadn't seen a single guard or worker... This was strange, since he should've encountered someone by now. But the place was dead silent, and for some reason Theron felt like he was being watched, which unnerved him, since he knew no one could've spotted him without him noticing them. Once he finally arrived at the security room, he hacked the door... but it only opened halfway and sparks could be seen form the inside.
Theron readied his blaster as he goes inside. He saw the room was destroyed... broken tech and sparks everywhere. He tried to access the cameras, but the controls were to damaged to be useful.
"What the hell happened here?" He wondered quietly... until he heard clicking sounds. He quickly turned around and aimed his blaster, seeing someone enter the room through another door that had been pried open "Don't take another step, and put your hands up!".
The person didn't answer and the dark made it hard for Theron to see anything... But he saw something sticking out of the person's body... spikes? Suddenly a spark briefly lit up the room, finally revealing the person... Growths and tentacles extrude from the body, with ruptured, sunken-in features and festering skin, covered with carapace. It was a horrific sight and the monster screeched as it launched at Theron who quickly rolled out of the away and aimed his blaster.
The monster tried to attack him again, but he managed to shoot it in the shoulder, making in screech in pain before it began running around the walls. Theron readied himself and just as it leaps at him again, he shot it in the head, finally killing it. He carefully inspected the body and recognized the alien parts as zerg. Was this a human and zerg hybrid? If so what happened? Then he remembered... The stolen samples!
He quickly contacts the others "Nova, Lena! There has been a bad development".
"You mean the human looking zergs? Yeah, I noticed" Nova said, clearly sounding like she had been in a fight.
"What happened?" Lena asked.
"I'm not sure, but my best guess is that our thieves weren't to careful with the zerg samples... and the whole base has been infested" Theron answered.
"The zergs can do that?" Lena asked in a worried tone.
"Looks that way, we need to hurry and complete our mission, and get the hell out of here" Nova said.
"Agreed. We will search for survivors, but if we don't find any in 30 minutes, I will set the base to self destruction and we leave" Theron said.
After getting the agreements from his teammates, Theron began searching for the main control center, where he hoped he could trigger the self destruct system.
Nova had finished of some infested people while searching for any signs of survivors. So far she's had no luck and was beginning to give up hope. However, she found a door that seemed to be functioning like normal. Luckily Nova was a hacker too, so she managed to get the door open... Only to dodge a blaster shot and she quickly aimed her rifle.
"Hold your fire!" She ordered and the person who shot at her quickly held up her hands in surrender. A woman, no older than Nova, and she showed no sign of having been infested "Who are you?".
The woman was shaken up but answered the best she could "I-I'm Rosa Morales. I'm one of the base medics".
"Ok, Rosa. What is this place? And what happened here?" Nova demanded.
"T-This is an Dominion base. As for what happened, I don't know much. I only heard they were bringing in zerg samples for study" Rosa answered.
The Dominion. Nova has heard of them, they are an independent faction that aren't aligned with either the republic or the empire. They were a bit of a wild card, but so far they hadn't caused any serious problems... as far anyone knows, as they mainly held up in neutral territories. But there was something Nova was wondering about.
"You said they were studying zerg. Why? The Dominion hates aliens" Nova said, what she did know was that the Dominion were extremely xenophobic and would never let an alien race within their borders.
"I don't know all the details, but I think I overheard someone talking about using the zerg DNA to enhance human abilities. Many alien races are superior to humans in multiple ways, so they were looking for ways to even out the odds. I believe they called it: Project Evolution" Rosa explained.
"Experimenting on humans with Zerg DNA, of course, what could possibly go wrong?" Nova asked sarcastically.
"Not just humans, they brought in several different races to study the effects of the zerg DNA... But as you've already pointed out, something went very wrong. The test subjects escaped and the infection spread rapidly. I only survived by locking myself in here" Rosa explained.
"Well, then this is your extra lucky day. Cause you're coming with me and you will tell my superiors everything you know, every single detail" Nova said in a sharp tone.
"I'll gladly cooperate with anything you want, just please, get me out of this place" Rosa begged.
"Stay close to me, we need to be quick. Soon this whole base will be destroyed along with everything in it" Nova ordered.
Rosa nods and follows the agent as they began making their way back to the ship.
Back with Lena, she was waiting for her teammates to return or report their status. But she heard something crawling on her ship. She looked through her windshield and noticed something crawling out of sight. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed her weapons before heading out of her ship. She looked around until she heard something behind her. She turned around and saw an Infested human leaping towards her.
She was tackled down, but before it could bite her, Lena put her blaster in it's mouth and blew it's head off, killing it. She got up but heard a familiar yet different sound. She turned and saw... and Infested Wookie. Large parts of it's normally furry body had been replaced by Zerg carapaces, and it's right arm had mutated to a scaly arm with a clawed hand. Lena was horrified, she knew some wookies, and seeing one turned in to such a horrific mockery of nature was really painful.
The Infested Wookie roars and charged at her with it's claw arm. Lena dodged before she could be impaled and fired at it, but her blaster bolts had little effected against it's scaly hide. Wookies were already known for being strong and fast, but the Zerg DNA had enhanced this one far beyond the normal limits of it's species. Lena dodged around, trying to think of what to do. She didn't want to risk the Infested Wookie tearing apart her ship, but she didn't have any other weapons that could harm it... At least, that's what she thought before she reached to what she believed was her second blaster, but it turned out to be... her Lightsaber.
She had taken it out earlier to look at it. But in her haste to defend her ship, she had somehow grabbed her lightsaber instead of her second blaster. She looked at the infested Wookie who was ready to attack her again... Despite swearing to never wield her Lightsaber again, Lena knew she had no other choice... So for the first time in so long: Her lightsaber was activated.
The wookie roars as it charged at her. But in two swift motions, Lena cut of it's claw arm and then it's head, putting an end to it's horrifying existance. Lena was breathing hard as she looked at her saber before turning it off. So much for never using it again.
She contacts the others "The zerg knows where I am, I suggest you all get back quickly".
Back with Nova and Rosa, both had regrouped with Theron who was initiating the self destruct system.
"Understood, we're on our way now" Nova said before looking at Theron "You done?".
"Almost... There, now we need to run like hell, cause we only have 10 minutes before it explode" Theron said as he activated the self destruct system.
Nova grabbed Rosa as all three began running back to the ship. Along the way they had to fight off a large number of zergs, both infested and even some pure forms, which was worrying as it showed how quickly zergs can adapt and evolve. A load roar was heard nearby... And a massive Infested Rancor was tearing it's way through the base, trying to catch them. Like the rest, the zerg infestation had caused the Rancor to mutated in to a horrific abomination of it's former self. What madness could've overtaken the scientists minds in order to make them experiment on a Rancor?!
Regardless, they needed to get out fast anyway, and the infested rancor was a good extra motivation. They ran as the large monster wa chasing them, barely slowed down by the walls in it's path. But it would catch them soon if they didn't hurry, and trying to fight it would take much more time than they had left. After running at top speed, with the infested rancor breathing down their necks, they were finally close to the hanger.
"LENA! GET THE SHIP IN THE AIR! NOW!" Nova shouted.
Lena rushed inside and fired up the engines. The ship rose up, and Lena used the canons to shoot the infested rancor before it could reach them, didn't kill it, but it bought the precious extra seconds the others needed to board the ship.
"Hang on!" Lena shouts as she quickly flies away from the base, right before it explodes, destroying the asteroid and hopefully killing all the zerg onboard.
"Just in the nick of time... good job on the piloting" Theron said as he caught his breath.
"She's always been the best pilot I know" Nova said.
Lena smiled before putting in some coordinates "Well, it will be fun reporting this to Malcom".
"Yeah... real fun..." Theron said clearly not looking forward to it.
They escaped and saved a decent source of information... But they had a feeling this was only the beginning.
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