Chapter 4: Encounters, Introductions, and Autopsy.
'Quiet Thoughts'
"Verbal Communication/Telepathic Speech"
"DEMONIC/TELEPATHIC SHOUTING"
"DEMONIC SPEECH"
AN: Sorry for the delay. Life got in the way.
As we made our way down, the heat of reentry was causing every console and device to start to short circuit. Consoles started to blow out and melt, certain sections of the wall started to glow, and even the eggs were having a tough time. Some of the eggs visibly boiled and popped while others were rocking about in their nests. Very few of them will survive this. I try to manifest my light tendrils, not sure what I'm going to do with them yet and to be honest I have forgotten that I can do that, after my first failure to manifest them and my subsequent evolution. Must be my left over human instincts. Can't think of that now. Got to survive this first. As our section makes its way down, we start to pick up speed. I am finally able to manifest 2 energy tendrils. I imagine them stretching out and forming a shield around me and the others, what ended up happening was my tendrils wrapping around a bunch of people in the room.. it takes a lot of energy to keep these manifested. After what felt like days with out rest, we finally landed, and we landed hard. I was sent flying and was rendered unconscious.
When I awoke, sunlight was in my eyes. I raised my hand to block the light and observe my surroundings. I am still in the nursery and it, of course, is extremely damaged. Several parts of the walls now no longer exist. I see that I am in the center of the ruined nursery. I find that the spawning pool is still intact. Green embryonic fluid covers the floor and several eggs have been destroyed. What was inside them is lying dead, some in the egg others have been flown to another location. 1 such creature was an underdeveloped zergling. I Look around again and saw Briar not too far away with her companion sister being a small ball of light hovering over her, her sword not to far away from the spawning pit. Layton is on the other side of the room leaning on the wall near a hole in the wall. Other personal, both protoss and zerg, are scattered about the room either dead or unconscious i do not know. There were a great many eggs in the cylindrical structure, most were destroyed but there is still a great number still intact. He counts at least 50 on the ground floor alone.
I placed my hand on his head and offer a prayer to anything that would listen to take care of his soul. I then pick him up and place him in the spawning pit, letting it be dissolved. This might sound cruel animalistic, but I must think of the living. If the deceased can be used to save the living then I must do it. There might be resources outside that can help the survivors but there is no guarantee that there is anything out there. I must do what guarantees the survival of the nest first before doing anything. With the dead being dissolved, the nutrients should go to the surviving eggs to help them survive.
A green corpse falls from further up. It is one of the bigger ones too. I look up and see some other green skin corpses hanging off the edge of the other floors and in some of the holes. They must have been trying to reach safety inside the nursery. Ones eyes begin glowing again. He looks at me and curls his lips in a snarl, my non existent mouth splits open revealing a mouth full of fangs and my mandibles splayed in what I think is a threatening gesture. It clearly works because he growls and jumps out of the hole to the outside. I turn my attention to Layton only to see a shadow with multiple eyes and many legs outside the hole. I roar in alarm and then charge, intent on either it chasing it away from Layton or getting Layton away from it. It immediately retreats out of view upwards. I grab Layton and carry him to Briar. As I lay him down next to her, I check her status. She is badly hurt with several twisted limbs but she was alive. I grab her sword from the nearby spawning pit and check the other personal to see who is alive and who is dead.
As it turned out, more than half of the personal on the level that I am on survived but most are unconscious but I don't know if I can rouse them yet. One who does awake on her own is Vess'ara. "Vess'ara you made it here, that's good." I said telepathically. Vess'ara widens her eyes. "You speak, and without prompt too. And you bigger? How?" she asks. "I consumed a different type of intruder, and it's essences helped me evolve into this. My ability to use telepathy improved tremendously but my other abilities are still lackluster. And I won't hunt down those strange intruders as I don't know what they are. I think that I was just lucky this time." I say as I help her up. "but now I need your help. My strength may have grown but my knowledge is still subpar. I need you to check these instruments and resuscitate anyone you think can help. And do it quickly. We are not alone." I say and begin walking away to check on others while making sure that nothing gets in that I don't want in.
I lightly shake what looks like a zealot near where I left Vess'ara. He took a moment to wake but he did. "My lord?" He asked when he was coherent enough to speak. "or something close to that. I was never sworn into the position." He immediately got up as quickly as he could and took the knee. Don't know how to feel about that. "It doesn't matter." He lowers his head as he speaks. "You were born to take a place on the council, thus you are my lord." He seems like a talker. I like talkers but now is not the time. I keep him from talking by raising his head and saying "Thank you, but we're in a tight spot right now. We're on an unknown planet with unknown lifeforms surrounding us. Help me secure the nursery, please." I said/pleaded him. "Of course. What ever you need. Who and what are they. And why do you look different." He said as he pointed. Layton, Briar, and the little Lute. "Lets work as we talk. We must wake other warriors." I said. "They are allies that boarded our vessel to chase an enemy of theirs, an enemy that I consumed. I used its essence to evolve. They have been my allies ever since. The man appears to be an average human male, the woman is human but she can mutate to increase her fighting prowess, the small sphere of light is a being of disembodied essence that is bonded to Briar. It claims to be her sister and that it's….uh, her name is Lute." As I finished my explanation we woke three other warriors. A dozen zerglings and two hydralisk started to wake on their own. I also noticed that the purple creep is starting spread again. It even begins to start patch up some of the holes on my floor.
"Screeee" I suddenly hear a zerg shrieking on one of the upper floors. "Some one take some zerglings and find out what is going on!" I shout and point at one of the zealots. I apply my telepathic will to the zerglings and tell them to follow the zealot's commands. I look up and find several ork corpses are missing as well as some type of shiny thread like substance connecting catwalks and swaying in the wind. That had better be what I think it is. I also worry about the zerg we heard screaming. They breed quickly so they are easy to replace but that doesn't mean that I want to replace them. Every life has value in my eyes when it comes to my people. Both protoss and zerg. That screech sounded like one of pain.
Layton suddenly sits up and immediately starts shouting. "What was that sound!? Where am I? What is this stuff?" he pulls his hands up and the creep hangs off of it like slime. I tap my mandibles together and start walking towards him. His gaze shoots towards me and I raise my hands in a placating gesture, one of which still holds Briar's sword. I look at it, having forgotten that I still held it. As I am about to drop it, Lute makes an appearance. Her small orb of light explodes into various light particles that are than suckered into where the orb once stood. But instead of another orb, it was Lute with her big eyes and adorableness. She said "It's OK Layton. He is the one who protected us during the crash." Before she can finish Layton gets up and says "Ah. Yes I remember. You are Voltaire. The one who consumed the wraith then changed." He explained. I lowered my hands and Briar's sword and walk over to them. As I walk over my fused lips tear open to reveal my mouth and my teeth, I roll my head and stick a finger in to aid in the tearing. It is painful but by the end I can vocalize like before. "Yes, I did my best to keep you as safe as I could but we are not safe now. We had to make an emergency landing on a world that has unknown flora and fauna. Fauna that I fear may have gotten inside and is making a meal out of my kin. The substance on your hand is called creep, a substance that we can make that has a variety of functions. All of which are vital to us."
Layton takes this all in stride. He rubbed the creep from his hand on his robes and put his hands in the sleeves of his robes. "I see. How can I help." He said. I like his enthusiasm and his willingness to help. I point at Briar. "You can help by looking after her. I failed to protect her from injury and I don't know how to treat her." I say with shame. He looks at her and says "Well, it is a good thing that I do. I will take care of her." I hold her sword up and place my other hand on it and say "Then, until she wakes up, I will put this to good use."
I decided to check for myself what was up there. The situation inside the nursery was not stable but it was on its way. I informed my men that I would join them in the investigation. What I found….was a giant spider, the size of a 2 horse drawn carriage, plus the horses. It very visage making my skin crawl but what made me angry was the dead and dying zerglings trapped in it's web. The broken open eggs a dead give away where they came from. It may have been here while I was unconscious. Ripping them out of their eggs and feasting on them. It is cruel, it is natural, but the human in me finds anger in this. The zerg in it's jaws makes me angrier. I am angry and I order 'DESTROY THAT ABOMINATION! We will save the rest.' And thus we charged.
My brothers psy-blades made short work of its webs. The heat burning the webs and setting them aflame. It is ironic that the chemicals that give it such strength, make it so flammable. The entire webbing was destroyed in seconds. As it turned out some of the zerglings were capable of regeneration, and began to join us in assault of there captor. The spider however, didn't even last a second. It reared up, showing it's fangs in a type of threat display. But I didn't care. My fear of the spider was overwhelmed by my anger of my fallen kin. My brothers shredded the spiders legs when it brought it self down into strike. Briar's sword went down it's throat and out the back of its head.
With the creature dead, I noticed a connection between myself and the survivors. Both Zerg and Protoss. 'Get these back to the creep below. It will stimulate their regeneration further.' I notice a hole in the wall and my curiosity got the better of me. I walked over to the whole and looked out. What I saw was a beautiful forest, a castle in the distance, what might be villages scattered beyond the forest, and 4 beautiful women in the most impractical armor imaginable. Bikini armor. 'We will have company soon.' I walked back and noticed spider eggs. Burned and ruined but salvageable to those who can use their essence. As loath as I am to admit it, spider silk can be useful.
After getting some help in gathering the spider eggs, I went about awaiting my guests. I took the liberty to entertain myself with a dissection of the green skin when I realized something. I still had no clothes. They were still a ways out. 'Excuse me?' I asked one of the zealots. 'Do you know someone who can get me something presentable to our incoming guests?
After getting some simple armor consisting of a shoulder pauldron, a utility belt, a chest strap connecting shoulder pauldron to belt, and a long loin cloth, and a holster for my axe. I find some Dark Templar, Protoss stealth expert, each with a single long arm psy-blade. So I sent them out to check on our guest's progress. What they reported was that someone else was tracking them. They send images to my mind, something I wasn't even aware that they could do, but they could. What I was seeing was... Not Greenskin. Humanoid. Full armor. Ornate. Rifles. Pistols. Swords. Red hair. Flashing eye lenses. And fast, very fast.
I don't know what it was that I was being shown but I don't like it. So far no hostilities have occurred between us and them, but I don't like how fast they are. A memory from my human self surfaced. I see figures for a game board in different positions. Same with the Greenskin's. Names drift at the edge of my mind. I try to grasp them and fail. I learn from the Dark Templar that the unidentified terrestrial organisms, UTO's, were slowing our guest's down. Distracting them with sounds and sprinting in and out of site like creatures from a horror movie.
I ordered them to keep track of the guest and the UTO's as much as possible and gather as much information as possible from all guest's. I kept myself busy by learning the technology and helping in the repairs where I can.
Since taking a look outside the nursery and seeing the lush forest, I have since sent out some zerglings to hunt green skins and destroy them if possible. This also helps scout out the area around us. I would feel bad if I left these natives to fend against the green skins by themselves. They certainly gave us a hard time. We however must be careful of the new ones. With the Dark Templar aiding them, they were able to ambush and destroy several groups of Greenskin's. Small groups, no more than 4 or 5 in each. Some were destroyed before we got to them. The new aliens perhaps? I ordered some if the bodies retrieved so that I can examine the battle damage.
We also tracked the progress of our guests. They appeared to be more observant than expected. They noticed the Zerg and chased them away. By chased them away, I mean the zerglings ran when they felt they were spotted. The only thing that they saw was a vaguely reptilian, bug like creature rushing through the bushes. Needless to say, they know that they are being watched now. The fourth girl is wearing some type of battle dress. And is immeasurably curious.
After they "spotted" us, we started to see more of the fast ones. Only glimpses but they were getting closer to the nursery. "My lord?" I turned around to see Vess'ara. "Yes?" I asked. "We have repaired some key systems and will soon be able to warp to main city once we locate it. It should only be a matter of time before we see home." She said. Wait warp to them. "We will abandon the nursery?" I asked. "Why no, of course not. We will teleport the entire nursery to the city. We will have to repair some more of the structure or else it will fall apart mid transit." She said. Didn't realize that was a thing. "We will teleport the nursery? How is that a thing?" I asked. "It was a "thing" when it became clear that the city ship could be taken apart. If any facility is separated from the main structure, it can be teleported back to the main structure and reintegrated into the city ship. No matter the situation or reason for separation." She said. Cool. "I assume that that didn't involve crash landings did it?" I asked. "Yes, but we should have been contacted by now." She said. Concerned. "Yes, and shouldn't the planet be, I don't know, be having problems? That ship was the size of a large moon. That should have done something?" I asked, partially to myself. "Yes. About that. The city ship impacted this worlds moon." She said. "How do you know that?" I asked. She didn't respond, just pointed up. I looked up and saw their moon With cracks in it and high charity behind it. Coming over it like a sun crests the horizon at sunrise.
Why haven't they contacted us? A good question. And I don't have an answer. "How close are out our "native" guests?" I asked. "3 hours." Vess'ara answered. "How long will repairs take?" I asked "3 days." She answered. Damn. That's not good. We have hostile green skins on the planet with us, attractive natives that might consider us intruders (they have a point) and unknown forces watching us and getting closer to the nursery. This is not an ideal situation. We might be able to talk with the natives, the green skins are in the same position as us but the other ones are completely unknown to us. We don't know what they are, their strengths, their weaknesses, their weapons, their technology, or their intentions. We know nothing about them, except they have long red hair and pointy hats.
It took them 3 and a half hours to reach us but they finally did. The girl in the dress opened a portal and more pointy eared natives came through. She also wanted to look at every piece of debris that we left when we fell. I can't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. I begin to look for anything to distract myself. While our guests are still a few hours out, I began chatting it up with Vess'ara. I began learning about things that I don't know about. For example 2 specific and unique elements. Each of which can stimulate mutation, even Protoss. It is how I was born, without Amon in my head. They are called Tiberium and Phazon. I also learned that they did not name them, rather they got the names the moment they came into contact with these materials. The names were literally whispered into their minds.
Some knowledge from my human life informed me that these were 2 of the most dangerous elements that you could encounter. And that's separately. Together? They could be capable of anything. Even more so now that they are in the hands of a civilization made up of both Zerg and Protoss. The power that they could achieve by utilizing these 2 elements is almost limitless. They both can also destroy our civilization. For despite the power that both Protoss and Zerg, these 2 elements have destroyed entire planets. Together they would be almost unstoppable.
Tiberium is a crystalline plant type thing. It is a crystal with extreme absorption qualities. Basically, this crystal is capable of breaking down and absorbing any material that it comes across, giving the properties of those materials. This means that each crystal can literally be made of a dozen different rare metals or other materials that the came into contact with. Combined with it's own unique element. It can be described as a plant because it has roots, and can spread by breaking off small pieces of itself and spreading them via the wind and other ways. The roots also break through the ground to form new crystals around the origin point. But it can also grow inside of living beings. Like humans. But that isn't the only thing it does. The unique element that Tiberium is composed of gives off a dangerous amounts of radiation. Radiation that induces mutation. It does not matter the creature, it always mutates the poor creature. Whether that creature survived the mutation is another matter entirely. For a species made to mutate and evolve like the Zerg, this is one of the greatest resources.
Phazon is a semi-organic energy rich organism. It's abilities and capabilities are almost unimaginable. Subverting planets, splitting them into 2 different dimensions, and altering life at its most fundamental level are only a few of its capabilities. The mutations that it generates, while not as extreme as Tiberium, can be harnessed to horrific effect. It also drives them to madness. One could also use it as an energy source or an augmentation if one so chooses. It manifests as a tumor that slowly grows and spreads the unique energy throughout it's host into a type of Phazon organism. This energy can also be channeled into weaponry or attacks. This energy in the hands of the Protoss, can be either a blessing or a curse. This substance and its energy, if properly harnessed, can be used to increase the power of the Protoss and make their weapons more deadly. It could also turn them into psychopathic killers even more dangerous than the Zerg at their most aggressive. They could literally destroy the Galaxy with this stuff.
These 2 things could really upend a galaxy or even a universe. Part of me wants to send them both to a planet and watch them spread. See what they become when left to spread unimpeded. Should be interesting. If we learn to harness these 2 incredibly powerful resources, we could become almost unstoppable. At least that is what I would say if we didn't get our asses handed to us by the Greenskins. Granted they took us by surprise but still. It definitely was a wake up call. Both the Zerg and Protoss are powerful races, it not just anybody that can attack these 2 races. Especially when they united to form a single society.
Vess'ara also told me about Taarna. A humanoid female with great power. It was in fact her that helped free us from Amon's control. After she saved us, she left. They looked for her but found nothing. She rode a giant scaled bird, even into space. You would think they would be easy to spot, but no. Not a hair, atom, or pheromone could be detected. We, they, had to give up when Amon's war started heating up. When he turned his direct attention to our little planet, we knew that even Taarna could save us, so we evacuated after a great battle to hold off his forces. When they left and I was being "conceived", the decision was made to make a part of our new pantheon, but no statues or objects of worship would be made until a new homeworld was found. While all this was very interesting, I still had more important things to think about. Like our aggressors.
To not only attack us but to also do the amount of damage that they did is quite frightening. I firmly believe that we can defeat them the next time we meet, especially with what I have learned of their biological systems. However, I did discover a large amount of spores that were in the body of the green skins. After examining the spores themselves, I came to a shocking and terrifying discovery. The spores contain the DNA of a type of fungus, the same type permeating the creatures body, as well as the DNA of every type of green skin that we observed as well as some we didn't. This is bad. If they can reproduce asexually like this, than they could be as numberless as the Zerg. And their penchant for technology, no matter how primitive, gives them an edge, no matter how small, over us.
My designs for our guns will need to be refined and produced. I will need to use gender roles to aid us. Despite how much I would like to have males use these guns, they are too big and too well suited for close combat to just take them away from that front. If there are any that haven't been trained yet for close combat then use they can become a gunner, but they are needed on the front line. Fighting the enemy, blade to blade, face to face, and toe to toe. While we have zerglings that can do that, zerglings and zealots fighting side by side is the only reason why we still stand now, and I will not give up that advantage. Only 25% of the women were fighting during the attack, and most of them were using long range weapons. So this shouldn't be too terribly difficult. We also can't afford to retrain any of our current standing army.
As I was contemplating this issue, my guests awoke and my expected guests arrived. "look at this stuff. If we were to find the creators of these materials and learned their ways, the things that we could accomplish would be worthy of God's." one of the 4 said. "Be Weary, my Zelda. We don't know what kind of beings they are. All we know, they could be disciples of the burning legion." Another said. I looked at Briar, Lute, and their observer and placed my finger over where my mouth would be. I crossed my mandibles for emphasis. ""My Zelda"? Really? What are you? Teen lovers?" the third said. "All of you, shut up. We're scouting out the falling star. And it is clearly some type of construct." The 4th one said. They are really bad at this. And they sound young too. They were hard to hear, but they were with in ear shot of our stealth units, who re-laid what they said to me.
So, to show that I'm not aggressive, I let them know that I'm here. But not before hiding my troops just in case. Not entirely sure where they all went, but I still feel their presence with my psionic power. It gave me a sense of security knowing that they are there for me should things go south. They have strict orders to reveal themselves if our guests threaten me, and to attack if attacked or I give the order. I can hear their thoughts, how the beauty of our guests remind them of Taarna.
"You know, if you intend to sneak up on the owners of these structures, you have failed miserably!" I shouted. I hope I was loud enough for them to hear. Oh wait. I was speaking telepathically. "If you can hear me, head to the main structure. If you don't know where that is keep following your current path. You should reach us in due time. I would like to meet you face to face." I said. My men told me that they immediately took cover. "What? That voice came from inside my head. Am I going crazy?" one of them said. The only one not in bikini armor. "No, you are not. Is this your first experience with telepathic speech?" I asked. One of the bikini girls answered. "Umm. No? But we usually drink a potion for it to work." "and who are you, pretty thing?" I asked.
"Umm. Sylvanas. Sylvanas Windrunner. These are my sisters, Alleria and Vereesa. Who are you?" Sylvanas Windrunner asked. "I….I am called Voltaire. One of the swarm princes of the VA'Rude." I said. VA'RUDE. A name for us that I just came up with. I hope the others like it. Than again, I just came up with my title too. Might as well keep the ball Rollin. "Together with the other Swarm Princes, we make up the Protoss Overmind of the VA'RUDE people." I finished. The girls think for a minute and then started to move towards the nursery. "Voltaire? VA'RUDE? These are strange names. What kind of people are you?" the girl in tight pants asked "Oh, my name is Zelda Sun'Stone by the way, but my friends call me faith." Zelda "Faith" Sun'Stone said. "Ah. Yes. Thank you for that. As for the answer your question, we are what ever kind of people we need to be to survive. We want peace, but we are ready for war." I said. "If that is the case, then why are you here? Did you come to invade?" one of the women, as there is nothing else that they can be called, said. They finally found their way to me as I took a seat on a piece of debris..
To say that they were shocked to see me and what I looked liked. My appearance immediately put them on alert. They definitely didn't expect me to look the way that I do. I raised a hand in a friendly gesture. "What the hell are you? Are you a demon?" 1 of the few males shouted upon seeing me. My entire body twitched at that statement. "Ok. That was rude." I said as I tightened my grip on Briar's sword. "And who are you?" I asked. "His name is Jason. He's new. Can I assume that you are Voltaire?" Sylvanas said. I nodded my head. "You assume nothing. I am Voltaire." I said. I continued with. "I am a Protoss Zerg hybrid, and 1 of the swarm princes of the VA'RUDE. Like I said before. We, the Zerg and Protoss, technically have the same origin but have since separated and have even evolved differently. Now? You wouldn't even be able to tell that we were even related. Now, there is more I could say, but we are far from safe. Not only are the ones who attacked us and caused us to be here are not only as alive as we are" I gesture to myself "but we are not the only ones down here. My scouts have encountered others that are not them, you, or us." I said. I don't know why I told them so much. Might be the bikini armor, hard to say no to a beautiful woman.
As I was "contemplating" things, my scouts informed me that a new group emerged. Similar to the tall hats (yes that's their name until Voltaire learns the species name) but darker. Not just in color scheme but also in methodology. The slinked in the shadows like snakes, right towards us. Not a friendly way to approach. "We best take this inside. It appears that new ones have emerged and are headed towards us. I don't think that they are friendly." I said and gestured towards the nursery. The ranger, Jason I believe, wanted to protest. Not that I can blame him. To them I might be a demon. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Jason's protest was interrupted by him getting shot. His screams were agonizing. My ears would be ringing for hours after words. Or was that the concussion. Either way, the fight was on.
Sylvanas and her sisters were tackled the ground and Sylvanas was stabbed repeatedly, while the others were forced to watch. These dark tall hats were fast, alarmingly fast. "To me, my warriors. Defend me and our guests! Destroy the enemy!" With the order given my warriors engaged. We took them completely by surprise. They probably were aware of my Protoss warriors, but not my cloaked or buried ones. Several more talk hats jumped out of the forest at full sprint, and like I observed before, they were fast. However, they faltered when a blue blade seemed to materialize out of thin air and cut 1 of them in half. The ground exploded with Zerg, who began tearing into our opponents. They reacted quickly, but we caught them on the back foot. No one expects the enemy to come from the ground as quickly as the Zerg.
I'd never seen a race that moved as quickly or as gracefully as them. 1 of them tried to run but my zealot caught him/her/it. Honestly, the only reason the zealot caught them is because he had a bigger gate then they do. The chaos continued all around us. I was clumsy with Briar's sword but I found that I could turn it into some type of hammer, I was unwieldy with that one too. But with a bit of luck, and unconventional tactics, I'm able to use it somewhat professionally by switching between the 2 modes. A trio of them runs at me with extreme speed. I try to strike them with my sword but they jump over me. One of them slices my left breast open with their blades. I type of chain blade or whip sword to be exact. I could feel something flowing through my veins, and it wasn't just my blood. Before I could find out more, the trio were on again. 1 jumped on my back and stabbed me. A quick "flourish" of my sword and 1 dead pointy head.
It's blade was still in my back and it felt like it was barbed. The other 2 became cautious. I became shocked when one tore off it's helmet to reveal a feminine, elven face. She was conventionally attractive but not as much as Sylvanas. I did notice some things however. 1st is that her ears are not nearly as long as the other elves that I've met, only stretching outward for about 5 or 5 inches while Sylvanas ears had a good foot outward. 2nd is that they were ghastly pale, like they rarely saw sunlight or were albino. 3rd is that they are extremely gaunt despite their attractive features. 4th is that their eyes are pitch black, likely to see better in the dark. When she smiled at me I could tell her teeth were filed into points. She then rushed me with some savage glee. I swiped at her horizontally and, like I expected, she jumped over it and me. But I was ready this time. I launched out my free hand and caught her in the stomach. She was satisfyingly disemboweled as a result. She was a tough creature because could here her screaming behind me. The other pointy hat pulled out some sort of fire arm and began shooting. I tried to use the sword as a shield but it was only somewhat effective. Some of the projectiles, revealed to be some type of needle, punctured my left arm. It also shot his screaming comrade to death and hit Sylvanas once or twice. When she started screaming something in me awakened and I let out a psionic shockwave. All pointy hats in the area suddenly had their heads explode. It was a gory display that drained me greatly. Unfortunately, because I was drained, my immune system also became less efficient. It got worse when my blood started to boil in my veins.
To say that it was a painful experience would be an understatement. When I looked down I could see some of my veins bulging from beneath my hide where the spike hit and my sword wound. I could faintly hear a sound in the air. What was that? I tried to focus. It was so hard to just not let my brain go white with white hot pain. I managed to focus my senses but only just barely. The sound was screaming. Why was it so loud? It made the pain worse. I dropped to my hands and knees, my head dropping down. It was all I could do to not face plant from the pain. When liked between my legs, I could see Sylvanas. The screaming was coming from her. Her perfect Caucasian skin marred by bulging veins and what looked like bulging muscles. On right bicep was a spike and the muscles were bulging from underneath it until it wasn't anymore and rippled like something just snapped. Her screaming intensified tenfold and my mind was lost in a sea of white hot pain. When I came to only seconds later, I could see her eyes and for some reason, I focused solely on her glowing blue eyes. Eyes were leaking an endless stream of tears. Eyes that begged for an end, it was then that I put two and two together. It hurt to think but it came to me regardless. Focusing on something other than pain helped to dull it but my realization was horrible. They poisoned us and used the energy from the spike to activate it. It was cramping our muscles so painfully that they were tearing themselves apart. And Sylvanas's right bicep had just snapped from the strain. If my mind was almost overwhelmed, than I can't even imagine what she is going through.
Then, as if by Providence, my mind connected with the others. They helped to dull my pain a little further but it was still overwhelming. "Save the guests that are wounded" I commanded. "They use some kind of poison." I informed my subordinates. "Then we must get you to the spawning pit in the nursery. Its nutrients can help drain the poison while also healing you." One of my subordinates informed me. "Help me get them there." I asked. I grabbed and carried her the best I could. She was still conscious despite the pain. Upon closer inspection, I could see the muscles in her jaw cramping up. She looked at me pleadingly all the while I made my journey to the spawning pit. I felt my body tearing itself apart through pain and cramps. My connection to the others helping to spur me onwards. The last thing I remember is falling into the spawning pit back first with Sylvanas close to my chest. And then I was out.
While I was out cold I felt the others who had been poisoned. I dreamt of them. None more so than Sylvanas. While I dreamed I, almost subconsciously, delved into her mind, and she into mine. It was like we unconsciously sought comfort in each other. How we formed such a link I will not know until a long time after wards. All that I know is that this connection would last hundreds of years. I delved into her memories of the past. How she had been born into a noble family. Like the drift from Pacific Rim we drifted into each other's mind. Memories from both unbidden. She learned how young I actually was, the assault from the green skins, and my impromptu arrival. I learned that she was actually 15 at this current moment in time, she was training to be a ranger and was aiming to be ranger general of Silvermoon. I learned locations and places, she learned of my people's connection to each other and our intention for this world. And our intention for this world is to make it a safe haven for us to rest and recover before moving on. But not before exterminating the green skins so her people don't have to deal with them like we had to. She learned of my discovery, which was rather small I admit, and I learned of her affection for Zelda.
On certain occasions, we would actually communicate with each other. We would trade our passions and hobbies. I learned that she, surprisingly, likes to sing and she learned that I have a passion for science and invention. She was disgusted by dissection of the green skins but was surprised how much I learned. Things such as the fact that these creatures are half fungus. She also, kind of, found it useful to learn how their fungus seemed to operate as back up organs should the main ones be damaged and rendered useless or non functional. They also seem to generate some sort of psionic resonance that is absorbed by their technology, which flew right over her head. After some discussion and explanation if psionic power and psionic resonance, our shared dream scape started to physically crack, which means that we are healed and we are waking up. But as we were, we both senses a strange familiarity about both of us. Like we had met somewhere before.
When we awoke, the tall hats had been driven off. It would seem that they were very fast, but very fragile. They weren't prepared to face our levels of resistance. They fled when we started inflicting mass casualties upon them. The seemed to out number us initially, but we were far more competent than they expected. They didn't have the courage to fight an enemy that could fight back. This time. Next we may not be so lucky. And the intelligence that the survivors gained, as meager as it might be, may bite us in the ass later. For now, we are safe. This world is beautiful, the inhabitants aren't to bad either but it's been fraught with danger so far. If either of the two races had been in their prime, we might have thrived here. We still probably could, but we still have a destination to reach. I can see the world ship in orbit so there is at least a small chance to reach it. For now, I must address the mind sharing I just did with Sylvanas. As I turn my eyes to her, I see her looking at me with adorable admiration. The kind that you only get when you meet that once in a lifetime person.
But to be honest, I'm not sure why she's looking at me with those eyes. I'm important sure, but I haven't been around that long. But now's not the time nore the place. My warriors inform me that a scouting group from the world ship found our destination. The teleportation matrix is spinning up, our destination has been changed to this new place, and we will be at our new home momentarily. However, these elf's are not allowed to come with us. Not yet. I turn to tell her the news only to watch be tackled by the 3 other elfs, elves, elfys? Whatever's their called when it's plural, 2 of the 3 start crying. Even Sylvanas was starting to shed tears.
I didn't want to interrupt their moment, but we were on a time table. I reached out and placed my hand on them. With fingers spread, I was able to touch the backs of all 3 girls that were hugging Sylvanas. They were so small. They immediately froze when I touched them and Sylvanas got them into order. She's obviously the ringleader of the group. "I am sorry to interrupt your moment but I have received word that this place is ready to return our home. We've located our destination and, despite the initial damage that we received from the green skins, we are ready to get underway. I'm sorry, but without negotiation with your government, you would be treated as intruders. I'm sorry, but you will have to leave."
This seemed to devastate them for a moment, especially Sylvanas. She seemed especially disheartened. "Do you truly have to go?" she asked. The blue glow of her eyes is being distorted by tears. "Yes. I'm sorry, but I am the swarm prince. My place is with theswarm." I said. She looked down. She looks so sad. I take my hand and lift her head via her chin to look me in the eye. "This is only good bye for now. We will meet again. Someday. When I've stabilized our condition, we will return to this world. And when we do, you will see me again. I likely won't look the same as I do now, so you won't recognize me. But we will see each other again." This seemed to lift her spirits a bit, but I felt like I could do better. While still holding her chin, my eyes glowed brightly for a moment as I placed some of my energy into her. This confused her for a moment. "What did you just do?" she asked. Not aggressively but curious more than anything. "A blessing. Should you need me, should your life be in danger and you need a savior as you did tonight. Then I will be there. Your knight in fleshy armor." I said as I playfully poke her in the head. Seeing her smile like that brought warm feelings to my heart. Or at least what passes for a heart for Protoss.
A few hours later and the girls are waiting patiently outside to see us off. Our hunting parties had completely decimated the green skins and the pointy heads. The those guys in particular had a camp nearby and looked like they were going to stay. They were in it for the long hall. We exterminated their camp and found that they were from off world, like I suspected. They will likely be back to check on their camp. We will deal with them in time. The green skins were hunted and their spores destroyed. It most likely wasn't enough but we will take care of that when we get back. The time to leave came even sooner than expected. And so with a word of warning that our efforts may not be enough to stop the invaders. And with that final warning our nursery pod as well as much of the wreckage that could be recalled via giant pillars of light back to the world ship. From there we would make our way to our final destination. Our home.
A holographic image of a space station that was going to be our home for the foreseeable future was in front of me. Looking at it, I can only think of one thing. Home?