Chapter 015: The Choice is Yours
Starcraft: Queen and Country
By Wanderer D
Chapter 015: The Choice is Yours
2504, Koprulu Sector, Planet Agria █
"Sweetie Belle, how goes your experiments on Agria?"
"Things are going well so far, my queen," Sweetie responded, looking down from where she was perched at the top of one of the buildings at the mass of humans slowly walking into the plaza where she would speak to them. "I believe most of the human leaders are willing to cooperate."
"Abathur has expressed his doubts about the viability of your… experiment, but he has been ordered to provide infestation samples that are less… virulent." She paused for a moment. "Depending on how that works, it might be used as a weapon against the dominion."
Sweetie didn't like that idea very much, but simply accepted that it was what it was. "Understood, my queen. I will keep you informed of my progress."
"Once you have things in order with your colony, I want you to come to me. There are plans in motion where I can use your song to its potential."
"Yes, my queen."
"We can't just… join the zerg!"
Ariel rubbed her temples and gave the head of agriculture a helpless shrug. "These are the two options we have been offered. I admit they are the ones given to us by the enemy, but it's either work together or die."
"We could wait for the Dominion to come back for us," someone else muttered.
"In any case, our options are limited, and so is our remaining time." Ariel stood up, resting her hands on the table and looking at each of the others in turn. "Are we going to represent our people in this, or not? Already everyone is being gathered at the plaza, and those that can't make it are being set up where they can watch on screens what's happening."
The silence in the room was almost palpable.
"At this stage it's less a matter of compliance, and more about controlling the chaos," Ariel said after the silence had prolonged enough. "Sweetie can simply kill us or convert us, but her experiment hinges on our cooperation."
"Is it something we can use to buy more time?" the mayor asked.
Ariel shook her head. "I don't think so. We're one colony, and while I think she'd rather this work out, I don't believe we could dissuade her from forcing the experiment. It's like she said, the choice is really whether we can believe that we'll be able to remain individuals, or simply be infested like other terrans in the past."
"Can we even trust this creature?"
Ariel shook her head. "I don't think it's a matter of trust. She seems… better than any zerg I've ever seen, which gives me some measure of hope, but trust…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She doesn't seem to be cruel, at least. If we cannot trust her, I at least believe she's being honest about wanting this to work out. Whether it is because of her truly believing what she says, or simply out of wanting to complete her mission, that I can't guess."
"Doing this is betraying the human race," the head of agriculture said. "We can't decide this for everyone."
Ariel pressed her lips and glanced at the door. "It's time."
The crowd was nervous, but quiet. While they didn't know what this was all about, they knew it was going to decide their fate in some way or another. Some whispered conversation reached Sweetie's ears, from where she watched in the shadows.
"Will they let us go?"
"Are they going to kill us?"
Those were the most common questions, coming up and around. Among other, less pleasant ones. She sighed, glancing over the whole group. This was a chance for all of them to evolve. To be better, get a purpose… earn their cutie mark, in a way.
She turned to face the terran leaders as they were escorted to her by two zerlings. She let them pass for the most part, indicating that she would speak with their representative. "Did you decide?"
Ariel gave the others a glance, then shook her head. "No. We felt that we cannot speak for everyone in these circumstances."
"I expected that," Sweetie said. "That's why I asked… have you decided?"
Ariel blinked. "Me?"
"Yes." Sweetie nodded. "You. I know you're a brilliant scientist and a leader. You have much to offer, and I certainly have a preference for what to do with you… but I can't in good conscience force you to choose what I want. I'll respect whichever result you choose."
"You understand it's very much a false choice," Ariel said. "At the end of the day you're still getting what you want."
Sweetie snorted. "If all I wanted was drones, I'd make more." She regarded the crowd. "But I'd rather have friends."
Ariel joined her as they walked towards the podium. "This is an unusual method of making them."
"It's not a friend-making method at all," Sweetie countered. "But I have to work with what I have. It's not like I've had good experiences with your people when I wasn't a threat. Looking like I do now, if I had approached you all peacefully, I'd have been shot on sight."
To that, Ariel had nothing to say.
The crowds quieted down as Sweetie took the stage and Ariel joined the other terrans. Around the whole assembled colonists loomed the Ultralisks, blocking the sunlight, while other zerg scampered around the area. They were all there still alive at her pleasure, and they all knew it.
"Hello, everyone," Sweetie said to the crowds. "I know you are afraid, and I know you want to know what's going to happen moving forward. I've been thinking a lot about what to tell you… I'm fairly young, you see. Barely a teenager by my species' standards."
She paused, her pincers clicking slightly as she gathered herself. She'd performed a couple of shows in Ponyville, and certainly commanded her troops, but public speaking wasn't a skill she dominated.
"When I came here, I discovered much to my horror, just how little trust exists in this part of the universe. How quick creatures are to hurt each other, and how easily someone as unprepared as I was could lose everything… and everyone in an instant."
She paced back and forth on the stage, the attention of all citizens on her. "As I told your leaders, I wasn't captured by the zerg. It was terrans that did that to me… and it was the zerg that rescued me from suffering further horrific experiments.
"I am part of something bigger than I ever thought I'd be part of," Sweetie Belle said. "Joining the swarm wasn't just a new chance at life, it was purpose and even identity. It changed everything for me… and I didn't have a choice when I was mutated, but I had a choice to be more, or to simply be zerg… and I offer a similar choice to you."
This started a frenzy of whispers, some louder than others. When she felt a cadence was builting up, she slammed her hoof on the stage, quieting everyone down. "I'm not going to lie to you, there is a purpose to this. As time passes by, if you choose to ally yourselves with me willingly, you will change. But I guarantee that you'll remain you. That is the point of what I want to achieve here. If it was just a matter of turning you into servants, I could have done so much quicker."
"The rest of the Terrans have been trying to get rid of you all this time," Sweetie pointed out into the silence that followed. "If it wasn't the Confederacy, it was the Dominion. They left you behind to die, and the only ones that attempted to get you out are the very people you vilified for years." She glanced around the crowd. "Maybe it's time you gave someone, or somecreature else a chance."
She took a deep breath. "Make your decision. If you don't want to join willingly, you can step to the right," she pointed to the side of the plaza, where several zerg had stepped in line (a very dangerous line) to indicate where they should go. "If you do…" she motioned at the city. "You can return home. When the time has come, whatever leaders remain will organize with you for further instructions."
Sweetie stepped away from the crowd, shaking her head. "I hate public speaking."
"I don't think you did that bad, all things considered."
Sweetie glanced at Ariel, who had walked up to her. Her zerg hadn't stopped the terran, seemingly having gotten used to the idea that she might be around Sweetie a lot.
"That's kind of you," Sweetie said, looking away. "But it's going to be a really hard time for your people. No matter what I said, I'm essentially telling them that it's my way or the highway."
"What an oddly Terran way of expressing things." Ariel sighed. "You don't want to do this, do you?"
Sweetie Belle was silent.
"Why don't you let us go?" Ariel prodded. "If you don't wan—"
"It's not about what I want, but what my Queen wishes," Sweetie said, looking at Ariel. "I think that she's better served by people with individual capabilities, and knowledge, and willingness to help." She shrugged, her scythes jiggling a little in the air. "If that just happens to save a bunch of lives, well that's just the cherry on top."
Aiel sat down on the floor, next to the young queen, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around her legs. "Will I really still be myself? How is that different from becoming a 'normal' infested?"
"You wouldn't have any control over your actions," Sweetie responded, still looking at the arguing crowd. Already some terrans were splitting to go off into the city or towards the zerg lines. "You become deadly, but ravenous. You don't follow anything but your instinct and orders from your queen. Who you are… what differentiates you from any other terran, is lost forever. Your knowledge, your dreams, everything is forgotten except for the hunger and the need to evolve. You might retain the ability to speak for a while, but it wouldn't be you speaking."
"I see."
"I'm sorry."
Ariel looked up at Sweetie and smiled just a little, then leaned her forehead on her knees. "I believe you… my queen."
Three shouts echoed in the street, one young, the other older and panicked.
"Sweetie Belle!" the little girl ran towards the queen in the middle of the street, drawing the attention and horror of many adults, who looked panicked at what might happen.
"Suzie!" the girl's mother, and presumably her father, were running after her, but not quick enough to stop the young terran from hugging Sweetie. They stumbled to a stop just a few feet away, which was not really a safe distance at all, but the young queen wasn't about to tell them that.
Instead, she gently returned the hug and stepped back to hoof distance so she could look at the little girl in front of her. "Hello, Suzie. It seems you're scaring your parents again."
Suzie didn't look happy, however. She sniffled. "My dad doesn't want us to stay, so he says we should go away with the others that are going with your zerg. I don't wanna go! I like it here!"
"Suzie!" her mother gasped, looking up at Sweetie. "I'm so sorry your highness…"
"Eeh," Sweetie cringed. "This brings back memories from when Princess Celestia visited Ponyville." She looked at the two terrans, knowing full well others were listening in. "For now forget the titles. I figured cases like these would come up, so I want to hear your thoughts." She looked at Suzie's father, who gulped, but held his ground. "Why do you want this for yourself and your family?"
The man gritted his teeth, but managed to stammer out a response. "I-I think staying and working w-with y-you is a-a betrayal o-of humanity." When Sweetie didn't kill him on the spot, he continued a bit more confidently. "Working with Zerg or Protoss doesn't really help us. If we join you with our full capacity… we're committing treason."
"To who?" Sweetie asked, tilting her head.
"Uh…" the man looked around. "Um, to t-the Dominion! To humanity."
"So… despite the fact that the terran governments have actively betrayed you and acted in their own self-interests, lying to you about who you can trust, feeding you bit by bit who to hate, you still think they represent your entire species?" Sweetie asked. "They have left you all for dead multiple times, only coming back to claim ownership when the danger is gone."
When Suzie's dad didn't respond to that, she sighed. "I have… had time to think on this, you see." She ruffled Suzie's hair with her hoof, smiling at the little girl. "The reason I'm here is fear. That is why I was turned into a zerg, and the reason I'm fighting a dear friend, and lost someone I was starting to like and respect." She looked the man in the eye. "Terrans did this to me, yes, but it was somepony of my own species that couldn't see beyond their fear and xenophobia that caused the accident that brought me all the way here to happen."
"But it's no—"
"It is the same," Sweetie said. "I know I sound… sanctimonious. But the bottom line is that there are those that only work for their self interest, and those that try to help others along the way. Doesn't mean they don't have an agenda, but they don't tell you to hate or fear others. I don't want… I won't tell you to hate terrans for abandoning you to your fate at the scythes of the zerg. But I think that if your decision in all of this is based on a sense of loyalty to those that constantly work against you… maybe you need to think about things a bit more objectively."
The man grimaced. "I don't want my Suzie to become a monster."
"I understand," Sweetie said, smiling at the girl who was now looking at her with wide eyes. "And she won't, if your family stays here. I know that it doesn't seem like much of a choice if change is still happening. It isn't. It's not the way I wish things could be. But there's no way out of this where you all remain fully terran, but there is a way forward with your very sense of self still intact, and then there's the way you're choosing."
He balled his fists, unable to look at her or anyone else.
"The choice is between you three…" Sweetie moved forward, placing the back of her scythe gently on his shoulder. (He still almost jumped, but she kept herself from smiling at that.) "And I will respect it. But I'll miss Suzie if you go that way."
She glanced at the little girl. "She's my very first terran friend, after all. That, and I want to ask you to at least not act out of pride. I really believe one choice is better than the other. Which one do you pick…" She walked away, pausing to give Suzie a last hug, looking over her shoulder at the man, who was now holding his wife. "That… Well. You know."
She had walked a few blocks when she heard the voice of her queen.
"You are still too kind to these terrans, Sweetie Belle."
"I know. All that stuff has been coming back to me lately so I couldn't help but lecture him." Sweetie almost let her shoulders droop, but she didn't want anycreature to see any weakness from her. "But I also want them to see that you're not a monster."
"Oh, but I am. Mengsk and his people will soon remember that."
End Chapter
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Excellent chapter!
thank you for the chapter
kerrigan might talk big but she is ever preparing for the eventually Xel'nag invasion and any advantage must be persuade which is what both makes this fic fun but also makes me wonder how she will act in heart of the swarm because she kicks that drive into 11
now i wonder how many missions have passed for jim also will the secret mission be used?
To quote Shara when she had her revenge: Mengsk/ 'You made us all into monsters...'
Kerrigan was still the most humanity holding monster.
Great chapter, looking forward to more.
Replayed the full saga from Sc1 with add ons to Sc2 to the Endfight with Amon... Great times
The Nova missions would be interessting with someone like Sweetybell since General Davis would not lie through her teeth without getting catched of guard.
11154446
The secret mission would make no difference to the Zerg side. Jim Raynor would only have a few more goodys on his side.
The difference i see on 'Heart of the Swarm' is we have two Queens at the end and when Kerrigan becomes Zel Naga, Sweety become the leader instead of Zagara. Zagara was the best next thing to a leader and Stukov take the mindless Infested for himself in the Co-Op missions.
With Sweetybell something new and different becomes a option.
It's so vastly different as to play 'Mass Effect 2' having played 1 with or without. A game that literally changes massivly because all the decisions that carry over from ME1 to ME2.
I kind of hope the next chapter comes out this Friday because this is the Perfect Blend between MLP and Starcraft and I love it
I'm curious to see what kind of zerg everyone becomes. Will they be hybrids of existing strains/breeds, or something different altogether?
Thank you very much for the update!
I'm loving how you're working this story, im quite excited to see what you do with the other 2 installments of the game
Ariel calling Sweetie Belle her queen strikes me as really cute for some reason. "Human! Your queen demands ear scritches and belly rubs!"
Something I kind of want to see is Sweetie Belle first Terran friend her second-in-command
I’m guessing that when Kerrigan goes down at the end of wings of liberty Sweetie’s brood will including the infested terrans. Give them the freedom they want and protect them out of a sense of obligation to make it up to them for doing this.
This is very dangerous for Kerrigan to be accepting so many new sentient minds into the Zerg hivemind. Even if Kerrigna is a stronger telepath than any of the individual infested, if enough of them work in tandem towards the same goal, they could overpower her orders.
11154999 Good catch! But she has a secret weapon.
11155003
Amon might turn tail and willingly surrender so they can't reach him in their natural lifetime 
Sweetyling uses cute puppy eyes on rebel infested-
The rebels got charmed into submission! Super effective dawww levels
11154832
Unless they all end like Kerrigan, hybrid mostly humans with zerg features like the Zerghair and infestation immunity.
11154683
Are you mad? The combined cuteness overload might generate enough energy to cause the resurrection of Amon
11154652
*Died, cause: To cute*
11154639
O no... They get Applebloom and Scootaloo and than they CMC the shit out of Amon
I'm guessing the infested of Agria are going to be loyal to Sweetie down the line when they understand how much risk Sweetie put herself in to try to help them. Though I definitely don't like that second line.
It took over 2 years but we finally have Dr. Hanson's answer. Now to wait for her meeting with Abathur.
And in the mean time I'm going to be going nuts trying to think of where Sweetie's singing could be useful.
11155229
Welcome back
11155668
I don't see a Changeling Tag, it's only the closest describtion on the body style. No emotivore or Shapeshifting at will included. Unless you count Abathur gen Modification/ Splicing.
11154999
"sentient"
11156624
Thanks for your comment but I barely ever go and check the like ratio on my comments. This one especially I care very little about what others think about my opinion as the matter is clearly a matter of opnion.
Depending on how things go, as a friend to Sweetie, Zerg Suzie could end up fairly important in the long run. Zerg Ariel seems almost certain to.
11158902 Nice to see you here again, buddy, it's been a while!
Great to see an update to the story, it will be very interesting to see Sweetie and Gallus's next encounter with each other. Though, I'm also wondering what the Protoss are doing during all this.
11159372
One question, why did you remove Twilight's tag?
11162376 Because people kept asking when she was coming back and she's not until it's time for her to do so. When that happens, I'll re-add it, but after some consideration I thought it was unfair to create a false expectation of something that was, from the beginning, something that would take time to happen.
Hey I was wondering when the next chapter will come out I would love to see it and what the choice would be https://youtu.be/M3RPwpyp6Pg
I love this chapter so much. Seeing Sweetie assertive like that is always a treat in my book. Also I love the theme here (and in the previous chapter) of the choice between freedom and submission that is at the same time the question between death and living respectively. No matter which choice one makes for themself one likely sees those who choose differently of having less character. Less character strength? (Something like that, I'm not a wordsmith.)
Are you a coward for choosing death, effectively committing suicide for an ideology?
Are you a coward for choosing submission to an enemy, for committing treason to save your life?
Do you have the moral high ground because you chose freedom of death over uncertain shackles?
Do you have the moral high ground because you chose to change to (hopefully positively) influence the fate of others in the future over staying true to what you have been all your life but possibly condemning others?
The dilemma is well presented especially since Sweetie had to go through it as well, also having been forced into it with a tight deadline, tighter than the humans' even. Presented by someone who is forced to do so herself yet it doesn't feel forced into the story narratively speaking.
If this weren't a Wanderer D story, and therefore more great things are yet to come, this could have been the climax for a story in itself. No matter where we go from here, I don't see a reason not to fave this fic already, if I hadn't already that is. A great work (so far).
11155278
If Sweetie singing can lull a Zerg, can she lull a hybrid? Or maybe something with the leftovers of the overmind? I know we are early in the SC2 campaign and hybrids weren't a thing yet but that only holds true for Raynors point of view. And if subjugation of a hybrid is in the cards that could be a real game changer.
Yeah, shunning the filthy xenos is a lot less appealing when they’re respecting your life and autonomy more than your own government. Scythe-point diplomacy is still a hard sell, but this may actually work out. In terms of getting the locals to say “Yes,” anyway. There could still be some teething problems afterwards.
Zerglings - small G is missing
"Demons run when a good man goes to war"
- Doctor Who
Funny that a alien is needed to hlgive humanity a chance for changing for the better. Even in unexpected and partially unwanted ways.
11386643
A very fitting quote.
Despite the fact that the terran governments have actively betrayed its people and acted in their own self-interests, lying to their people about who one can trust, feeding them bit by bit who to hate, they still think they represent their entire species?
They have left all for dead multiple times, only coming back to claim ownership when the danger is gone.
Yet these aliens give for once a true choice to change it all. That why the government would fear them.
Because their establishment of corruption holding its current groups in power would lose their standing.
Imagen Politicans are legally required to say the truth and only having the option not to lie by something like
"I cannot tell you honestly because of security conserns" etc etc.
After all:
- Lying, is when you know the truth and you don't tell it
- Being wrong, is not knowing it any better.