//------------------------------// // Swarm: Vengeance Part 1 // Story: Starcraft: Warriors of Purity // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// Ever since Raynor was returned to the Hyperion, Kerrigan had been distant from everyone. She knew that Raynor would react like he did when he saw what she had become once again. Sweetie knew that there was nothing she could do to cheer her up. Seeing Kerrigan behaving like she was made her feel very lucky to have a marefriend as understanding as Lyra who was quick to accept changes in those around her...or at least with her. It became apparent to Sweetie that spending so much time in the Koprulu Sector was causing great changes to herself and Lyra; outside and inside. While Discord said that they would be participating in a series of wars over the course of eight years, he didn’t mention having to go against a race of the same beings that ascended him as well as Princesses Celestia and Luna. Knowing that she would eventually face such a being was what drove her to gain the power that she now wielded. With the way she was now, she could easily take her revenge on Blueblood, but she also had at least three more years left before the terms of her initial agreement with Discord was up. Lyra was also affected by the events in the Koprulu Sector. Once, she was simply a scatterbrained dropout of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, playing her lyre in the park to earn her own money. Her time with the Protoss had pushed her into becoming a powerful psionic warrior. The skills she developed had made her into a one mare army. Her time among the Tal’darim had further enhanced her abilities to where Sweetie felt confident that Lyra could take on nearly anyone on Equus, short of Discord, Celestia and Luna, of course. When Kerrigan finally recovered from her shock, she contacted Valerian on the Hyperion and informed him of her intentions of heading to Korhal and bring and end to Mengsk. She wanted to know where Valerian stood on the matter. When Valerian heard this, he was visibly sad and resigned to the fact that his father was beyond redemption. Sweetie could tell that he was torn between his father and the people of the Dominion. Like any good political leader, Valerian chose his people over his father and had to accept that his father had to be removed from power for the good of the Dominion. Nothing short of a bloody coup would get Arcturus off the throne. “I suggest heading back to Korhal and begin evacuating the citizens before the Swarm arrives. The sooner you do that, the fewer casualties there will be,” Sweetie said. <“Very well, we will return to Korhal right away,”> Valerian said. A few minutes later, the Hyperion performed a jump and headed back to Korhal. Zagara turned to Sweetie, “Why should we care about the lives of these Terrans? What do we gain from sparing a few civilians?” Sweetie replied, “I may be part Zerg, but I’m still a Pony. Taking lives unnecessarily is not the way I do things and it’s not going to be how my Brood does things. My Brood will be strong without the need to go around slaughtering innocents.” While Zagara wanted to debate that statement, she saw what her Strains were capable of. To wield power without needing to flaunt it with a kill count was one way of displaying strength. “The essence of your world is indeed strong. Stronger than anything I encountered in my lifetime,” Dehaka said. “The species of your world that you have mentioned so far exist on Earth in fantasy novels and games. I never imagined such creatures could exist on another world,” Stukov said. Once everyone was done talking about Sweetie’s world and the essence it contained, Kerrigan ordered the Leviathan to set course for Korhal. On the way, Abathur called Kerrigan and Sweetie to his evolution pit to begin the next demonstration to improve the Swarm Host. Once ready, the duo began the usual procedure to project their minds to the next world of Abathur’s choosing. Sweetie and Kerrigan were called to a Dominion world called Cruxas III in the city of New Babylon. A few Swarm Hosts were sent into the city near a small patrol. The Dominion troops were too distracted by the Locusts that they ignored the real threat before it was too late. The Swarm Hosts moved toward the Carrion Wasp nest and eliminated the nest and Wasps before the Swarm Hosts moved in and devoured the essence in the nest. Abathur performed alterations to the Swarm Hosts to allow their Locusts to fly. He called them the Carrion Strain. Once complete, the Swarm Hosts demonstrated the locust aerial superiority and ability to reach isolated targets while destroying a couple of Nuclear Silos. A volcanic world called Ignus was next. The Broodmother on that world was recently killed and her Brood was in danger. One of the indigenous life forms, called an Ash Worm, was attacking the feral brood. Kerrigan took control of the Swarm Hosts there and began hunting the beast. Eventually, the Swarm Hosts’ relentless pursuit wore down the creature and brought it down. Abathur used the Ash Worm essence to create the Creeper Strain that have the ability to appear anywhere where there was Creep. The Dominion attempted to wipe out the hive clusters on that world but were repelled by the Swarm Hosts. Kerrigan had a tough decision to make between the two Swarm Host Strains. In the end, she favored a mobile defense and chose the Creeper Strain. Sweetie’s demonstration involved wiping out a Dominion base. When the Swarm Hosts she used were within range, the Locusts there were released began to transform into a variety of Terran, Zerg and Protoss infantry. The first wave included Marines, Zerglings and Zealots. The Dominion were confused about why some of their own troops were attacking them since the Locusts disguised as Marines were bearing the Dominion emblem. The Swarm Hosts released another wave of Locusts that disguised themselves as Firebats, Marauders, Roaches and Stalkers. Each disguised minion was able to use the full abilities of what they imitated. Another wave became Reapers, Hydralisks, Medics, Dark Templar and High Templar. The High Templar minions were able to imitate the original’s Psionic Storm ability. Ghosts and Spectres were also among the possible transformations. Unfortunately, since the Zerg don’t have access to Nuclear Silos, the imitation Ghosts and Spectres were unable to call down Nuclear Strikes. Once the base was destroyed, the Locusts expired. “Wide variety of transformations with extended life spans. Utilize specialist unit abilities. Energy requirements high. Impossible for organism Abathur to copy.” “Like the Swarm Queens, I made them develop mana wellsprings. The transformations are a result of the spawned Locusts using a small portion of the Swarm Hosts’ mana to maintain the transformation. The transformation ability comes from Changeling essence. The species itself required magical energy gained from draining the energy of others in the form of emotions. I worked around that weakness in the essence and these Swarm Hosts are the end result. I call them the Shifter Strain.” “Impressive, you can make a temporary army with this strain. As long as they are allowed to continue producing more,” Kerrigan said. The rest of the trip to Korhal was uneventful. Once the Swarm arrived around the planet, Kerrigan and Sweetie heard a broadcast transmission from Arcturus stating that Korhal was under attack by the Zerg and ordering all ships to return to the capital world of the Dominion. To prevent any outside interference, Kerrigan ordered Broodmother Kilysa to use her Brood to target any ships entering the system. A transmission came in from Valerian, <”Kerrigan, this is Valerian. I’d like to ask you to bring your Swarm down outside the city. Most of my people have been evacuated, but we can’t be sure there aren't any stragglers. This will give us some time to locate any who have not heeded the evacuation order.> “Korhal is going to be the most difficult battle of my life, and you’re asking me to make it harder?” Valerian stood firm, <”I am.”> Kerrigan was actually impressed with Valerian’s behavior. Valerian actually sounded like he cared about the well being of the people. “You seek to be a man of the people?” Sweetie asked, “You certainly are a significant improvement over Arcturus. I hope you are a man of your word as well. The people will need someone they can trust after they were disillusioned by that scandal.” <”I can’t guarantee that I will keep every promise I make, but I will do what I can to be the man that the people need right now.”> “That’s all anyone can reasonably ask.” The transmission ended. Kerrigan turned her attention to Sweetie, “I hope you have a plan because we are about to have a difficult time getting through those planetary defenses.” “We’re about to find out.” The space around the Leviathan was filled with a massive swarm of Sweetie’s Bomber Strain Banelings. Sweetie ordered one to charge at one of the defense satellites protecting the planet. At the same time, one of her Swarm Queens put up a shield around the Baneling. The satellites began firing at the Baneling. When the shots were not doing enough to the creature, more satellites joined in and focused fire on the Baneling. The shield finally broke and the Baneling was quickly destroyed. A smile graced Sweetie’s face. “Yeah, I have a plan.” An army of Sweetie’s Swarm Queens gathered on top of the Leviathan and prepared for the attack on the defense system. Once the Swarm Queens placed their shields on the majority of the Banelings, the flying suicide bombers charged against the defense satellites. The satellites were unable to effectively deal with the attackers due to lack of individual firepower. Each Baneling that got within a satellite’s minimum attack range had their shields dropped and successfully detonated its acidic payload. A couple of Banelings was all it took to disable each satellite targeted. Eventually, a huge hole opened up in the defense system and allowed a vast number of Zerg sacs to safely enter the atmosphere. The planetary defense cannons around Augustgrad were still an issue, but thanks to the Swarm Queens, the prioritized sacs landed on the surface. Sweetie and Kerrigan managed to land safely on Korhal after Kerrigan unleashed a wave of power that annihilated the Dominion base that the duo landed in. “To think that I was here only a few months ago to give a news bulletin,” Sweetie quipped. “We need to make sure the defense network won’t cause us any problems during the invasion. We need to secure the area and support the Bile Launchers so they can take down those cannons.” A pair of accompanying Drones, one for each of them, set up a hive cluster to prepare for an attack on the Dominion. Sweetie and Kerrigan each spawned their own minions and prepared to defend the first Bile Launcher that would be landing nearby. “Sweetie, I’ll defend the Bile Launchers. Deal with the Dominion,” Kerrigan said. Zagara requested a few gates into the city be busted open to allow her Brood to enter the city. “I’m on it,” Sweetie replied. Sweetie spawned a number of Mutalisks and Ultralisks and mutated the Mutalisks into Blight Dragons. She went after the gate northeast of the hive cluster first. With the Ultralisks slashing down the defensive structures and armored vehicles while the Blight Dragons were converting infantry into infested, the first gate was easily torn asunder. The Dominion struggled to deal with Sweetie’s Equus Brood as its numbers continued to grow either from reinforcements from Ultralisks and Blight Dragons or from the growing number of infested accompanying them. Sweetie had little trouble tearing down the remaining two gates, allowing Zagara to lead the charge into the city. By the time the last Bile Launcher they needed to tear down the remainder of the planetary defenses was set up, Sweetie was already engaging the last of the Dominion defenses in the area. The last base outside the gates fell within seconds. Sweetie and Kerrigan returned to the Leviathan that was holding low orbit over their hive cluster.