Chapter 10: Standing Atop the World
The death of the Overmind was a traumatic event. Kaloth could still remember the time back on Aiur when Tassadar had made his attack against the Overmind. The swarm had suffered a setback before when Zasz had died and the Overmind fell silent. Yet, nothing could have prepared them for the loss of the one thing which bound them all together. Some cerebrates had outright lost their sanity, while others like him had sunk into a deep stupor for several days.
This time, the bond between the infant creature and the cerebrates was nowhere near as strong. Even excluding himself who had voluntarily separated himself from the Overmind before this, even those who remained bound had managed to endure better than their first experience. Some still fared worse than others, the younger ones especially. Even the new Overmind forged by Daggoth had been something the other cerebrates were dependent on, and the backlash of its death gave them all pause.
Char had been a vibrant hub of the zerg, but now it fell silent as a deep lethargy and melancholy overtook most of the zerg. Kaloth watched as his zerg entered into the hive cluster of one of the other cerebrates. Moving through the hive, they arrived at the nesting area of the cerebrate. Once his minions had surrounded the cerebrate, he sent it a mental prod and shook it out of its stupor.
"Kaloth? What are you doing? Why are you here?"
"I have you surrounded," Kaloth said. "The Overmind is dead. Submit and join your forces with mine, and you shall be allowed to live."
"Very well," it said. "I shall follow your commands. Now, could you take away your minions now?"
"I'm afraid not," Kaloth said. "They will remain here to ensure your continued cooperation. Rest assured, I have no intention of killing you as long as you hold to your word."
The threatened cerebrate seethed, but ultimately it acquiesced.
The next cerebrate proved to be less reasonable. Upon returning to his senses, he lashed out as his brood stirred up into a frenzy.
"Cerebrate, cease your struggles at once, or I shall be forced to terminate you," Kaloth said. "Submit, and you may continue to serve."
"I shall not surrender," it said. "What purpose is there left? You have destroyed the last hope of the swarm."
"On the contrary," Kaloth said. "The zerg shall continue to thrive. If you join us, you can find a new purpose. Pointless resistance will only weaken the swarm. You are in a state of distress. Calm down and think rationally."
"Distress? Of course I am distressed. And who was responsible for it? You and your vile mistress. I will not serve her. She is no true zerg."
As the cerebrate's brood intensified their resistance, it became clear to Kaloth that there was no saving him. With a heavy heart, he ordered his minions to kill the cerebrate.
Meanwhile, the rest of Kaloth's force were rushing across the surface of Char. Most cerebrates proved to be less intractable and were willing to surrender. However, the window of opportunity was short and while many of the cerebrates came under his grasp, there were still many that had already begun to stir.
One brood mobilized to oppose him. But it was but a single cerebrate. Upon discovering that his advance group had been fought off, Kaloth dispatched the bulk of his armies there. They surrounded the brood of the other cerebrate and Kaloth made it clear what their options were. With the disparity between their armies insurmountable, the opposing cerebrate capitulated.
However, the rest would not be so easy. Daggoth had begun rallying the remainder of the cerebrates on the other side of the planet. Rather than allowing themselves to be picked off piecemeal, they organized into a combined army to defend against Kaloth's attack.
"Daggoth, you have lost," Kaloth said. "There is no more reason to continue this battle."
Daggoth scoffed. "No reason? There was no reason for you to betray the swarm, to destroy everything we sought to build. You still dare to speak of reason?"
"A battle here will weaken all of us," Kaloth said. "You will lose and accomplish nothing."
"We shall see about that," Daggoth said as he moved his armies to block Kaloth's advance.
The first of Kaloth's zerglings were torn apart by lurkers. Seeing this, Kaloth withdrew his army slightly and moved to attack a different area.
Daggoth repositioned his forces to counter this push, and Kaloth could also spot the lurkers unburrowing from the ground and heading to the new location. Keeping track of their locations, he sent in a swarm of zerglings to launch a lightning assault first before the lurkers burrowed. Some of the lurkers were taken out, but the main goal of causing disruption succeeded, allowing the rest of his army to advance behind the zerglings.
With the ultralisks now brought in front, they were able to begin targeting the lurkers, tearing up the dirt and digging the creatures out of the ground. Meanwhile, the hydralisks began shooting at Daggoth's army, suppressing them to give the ultralisks a chance to do their work. With the ultralisks soon ripping through the frontlines, Daggoth ordered his armies to withdraw from the battlefield and take up a more defensible position.
The skies were filled with mutalisks, both sides fighting viciously for control over the skies. Although their numbers were about equal, Daggoth's flocks had ended up spread thin after responding to a series of hit and run attacks made by Kaloth. As Kaloth's mutalisks regrouped, they quickly came together and surrounded one of Daggoth's flocks, wiping it out quickly.
Daggoth reached out once more and spoke. The other cerebrates, on both sides, listened as the two continued their verbal sparring.
"Your skill is impressive. It is a pity that you use them against the swarm," Daggoth said.
"What is the swarm Daggoth?" Kaloth asked. "Is it the zerg as a species, or is it simply the old image you cling onto which you cannot accept any change to?"
"The swarm is the collective of all zerg, united in one purpose. By your treason, you have shattered that unity," Daggoth said.
"There is more than one way for there to be unity. I could say that you are now the one standing in the way of unity with your continued resistance," Kaloth said.
"You dare? Is that terran of yours worth serving? You turned against the Overmind for this?" Daggoth retorted.
"What you made was no Overmind Daggoth, but a shallow imitation," Kaloth said. "What are the zerg? We adapt, grow, change and evolve. We become stronger. Perhaps it is time for a change. After all, your manufactured Overmind lost. It is clear which is stronger."
"Strength? Do you even know the meaning of the word?" Daggoth asked with derision. "Kerrigan won not through her own strength, but rather by employing the protoss to do the work for her. To consort with enemies is the ultimate sin."
"That is where you are wrong Daggoth," Kaloth said. "To be able to influence others is a strength in and of itself. Do you look down on a zerg that burrows, because he borrows the strength of the dirt? Effectively making use of our environment and its resources has value, and the other races are but yet another tool."
Daggoth remained silent, and doubt stirred in some of the cerebrates under his command as the tide of the battle continued to turn against them.
Kaloth brought his guardians forward and began bombarding Daggoth's forces. Daggoth attempted to send his aerial zerg to drive away the guardians, but Kaloth's mutalisks, along with the hydralisks brought to support the guardians, were able to ward off the aerial attack. As the guardians continued to pummel their enemies, Daggoth was forced to go on the attack.
Now reinforced by his reserve forces, Daggoth's attack succeeded in quickly overrunning the hydralisks on the front lines, but their advance had taken them past many burrowed lurkers. The lurkers, which had bided their time, struck. The vanguard was thrown into chaos while Kaloth brought the bulk of his forces forward to finish them off.
"Tell me Daggoth, what is your goal?" Kaloth asked.
"I will restore the swarm to its rightful state," he said. 'The Overmind will return to lead us. And the sector shall burn before the might of the zerg. None shall be able to stand in our way."
"If you believe that doing the same thing again will succeed, then you have not learned Daggoth. What do you think will happen once you begin to forge a new Overmind once again? Do you not realize that the protoss would come for you once more? They will not allow you to complete your plan. Even the terrans may array themselves against you as well. You will stand alone against the sector. Do you really think you can win even if you defeat us here?"
Daggoth seethed with anger. "That is a situation you put us in. If you and Kerrigan had stayed true to the swarm, none would have been able to challenge us. We are weak only because of our division. Should you recant and join us one more, we can still succeed."
"You know that I will not do that," Kaloth said. "I have been instructed to unite the swarm. Any cerebrate that refuses to submit shall die. Do you understand your position? Even if you 'win' this battle, you will have nothing. Your destruction will be an inevitability. The only path forward for you is to submit."
"Curse you Kaloth," Daggoth said. "You and that abomination."
"Is that all you have left to say? You know it as well. If you truly care only for the swarm, and not your own pride, there is only one rational choice left for you. What will it be, Daggoth?"
Kaloth could sense the hesitation that arose in many of the cerebrates that served Daggoth. They could see the situation clearly as well. In a way, Daggoth's submission was not truly necessarily for victory here. There was a reason that the offer to surrender was given to every cerebrate. Still, Kaloth hoped that even Daggoth could see reason.
Finally, Daggoth answered. "It seems that there is only one way left to serve the swarm. I will submit."
"Thank you Daggoth. Now, have your armies stand down," Kaloth said.
Following Daggoth's capitulation, the other cerebrates quickly followed suit. Across Char, the nonstop battles finally fell silent.
"It is finished," Kaloth said. "The swarm is yours, my queen."
"I knew I could count on you Kaloth," Kerrigan said. "It felt like long ago when I was first born into the swarm. Yet, it really hasn't been so long has it?"
"I was but a newly born cerebrate when I watched over you Kerrigan," Kaloth said. "To me, it has been my entire lifetime. We all have come a long way."
"If I had been told a year ago that I would rule the zerg, I would not have believed it," she said. "Yet the chance came and I took it. Tell me Kaloth, did you have any misgivings about this whole affair?"
"Many," Kaloth said. "Even now I wonder whether this was all a mistake."
"Yet you still helped me despite that,'' Kerrigan said. "Though all of the other cerebrates will be less than happy about this situation. Unlike you, the other cerebrates will resent my rule. Tell me, why is Daggoth still alive?"
"He agreed to submit," Kaloth said. "Thus he was allowed to live."
"I know that is what I ordered, but you can see as well as I do that Daggoth will seek to subvert my rule at every turn," Kerrigan said. "It is only a matter of time before he acts against us."
"That may be true Kerrigan," Kaloth said. "But in time, if you prove yourself as a capable leader then their resentment shall naturally lessen. Then your rule shall be secure."
"It still doesn't seem safe keeping Daggoth around. He has too much power and influence," Kerrigan said.
"Indeed, but if we killed arbitrarily, then none would agree to serve us," Kaloth said. "They would have fought to the death. Even if we could have defeated them, it would have been at great cost. And you need their forces for your future plans."
"I haven't even told you what my future plans will be," Kerrigan said.
"You don't have to," Kaloth said. "I already know."
Kerrigan chuckled. "I suppose you know me well."
"Don't worry yourself about such things for now Kerrigan. The dangers may come, but that is in the future," Kaloth said. "For now, look at what you have and know that you have won. There will be more to do later but you can take it one step at a time. And I will be here to help you do it."
Looking out over Char, Kerrigan knew that her cerebrate was right. Though her fight was not yet over, in the present, here and now, she stood victorious. The zerg bowed to her, the Queen of the Swarm.