Swarm: Going Dark
Sweetie and Kerrigan returned to the colonists to report that the Tal’darim were preparing to flee Kaldir. Lasarra was the only one that they saw outside of the caves.
“How come the others haven’t left the cave yet?” Sweetie asked.
“They seek to remain until you have finished your business on Kaldir. Our leader has appointed me as a liaison for them. When do you plan to leave?”
“Once the rest of the Tal’darim expeditionary force is wiped out on the Ark Ship, we will leave you be.” Sweetie then looked at Kerrigan, “Right, Kerrigan?”
Kerrigan narrowed her eyes at Lasarra, “How do I know that you won’t try to call your Golden Armada once we leave you alone?”
Sweetie hummed because Kerrigan did raise a good point. “She does have a point. We need to be sure that you don’t tell Shakuras about our activities. While our targets will be primarily Dominion from here onward, we don’t want to add you Protoss on our list of enemies to deal with. Bring your leader out here. I want him to take responsibility for his colonists.”
“Very well,” Lasarra said. She walked into the cave and came back a few minutes later with a High Templar that didn’t have any distinguishing features that set him apart from other High Templar.
“What would you have me do in exchange for sparing our lives?” he asked.
Sweetie named the terms, “When you return to Shakuras, you will tell them that the Tal’darim arrived. You and your people went into hiding in a shelter where they couldn’t sense you. They pillaged your weapons and equipment and left in your Ark Ship. I want no news of our presence on Kaldir to make it to Shakuras. I know there are still a number among your race that don’t understand the importance of Kerrigan surviving to save your future. You will swear on your honor that you will tell them the story I gave you.”
The expedition leader blinked. Such a simple request for the lives of his people came as a surprise to him. Since Kerrigan was showing no signs of objecting, he was almost relieved. While a Protoss’ honor is everything to them, he felt comfortable making such an agreement. “Very well, on my honor and the honor of my colony, your story shall be the only story here that shall reach the people of Shakuras.”
“Good, return to your people. Once our infiltrator has eliminated the rest of the Tal’darim, we will be leaving.”
Lasarra and the expedition leader returned to the cave while Sweetie and Kerrigan returned to the Leviathan.
Izsha noticed the inner pain that Kerrigan felt. When she asked about it, Kerrigan merely mentioned that she had a friend that she missed deeply. She wished she knew where he was.
Feeling wistful, Kerrigan retreated to her chamber to get her feelings under control and check out the new abilities that she had unlocked, according to Izsha.
Meanwhile, Sweetie paid a visit to Abathur’s evolution pit. Abathur crawled out of his hole to announce some new findings, “New discovery. Large scale improvement to Zergling sequences.”
“What kind of improvement?” Sweetie asked.
“Answer complex. Can branch evolution of fully evolved Zergling, form two new strains.”
~”The two Zergling strains are altered on too large of a scale for both to co-exist within the Swarm. One must be chosen.”~
“Overmind correct. One must be chosen. Other must be discarded.”
“I see. Well, it’s still Kerrigan’s decision. It’s her Swarm, not mine,” Sweetie said.
Kerrigan walked into the evolution pit. She had heard the conversation through the hive mind. “Make some of each; I want to see them in action.”
“Will set up tests for both. Speak to begin.”
“Before we begin, I want to look into your memories and find out why I feel so angry when I see you.”
Abathur tried to claim that his memories were not important but Kerrigan saw them anyway; how he was the one who designed her into the Queen of Blades. When he tried to explain himself, Kerrigan struck him with her psionic power but stopped at that because he was still needed for her plans.
Once ready, the duo gave Abathur the go-ahead to begin. Their visions were projected to a different planet that Abathur called Calus. The Dominion set up an outpost in the cliffs above the valley and were unreachable. The indigenous Karak, who could scale cliffs with their strong legs were targeted by some of Abathur’s Zerglings. Once dead, the Zerglings feasted on the Karak. With the new essence, the Zerglings were slightly bigger and had large insect wings that were as long as they were. Abathur called them the Raptor Strain. Abathur sent more of the new Zerglings and the swarm overwhelmed the Dominion with their numbers.
The next demonstration was on the planet Astrid III. The Hatcheries on that world evolved to be able to morph Zerglings very fast. Kerrigan took control of the hive cluster while Abathur integrated the Zerg into the Swarm to allow the creation of Swarmling Strain Zerglings. This variant had a large dorsal fin while being able to morph triplets from a single Larva.
A Dominion Force approached the hive cluster but were quickly overwhelmed by a sudden surge of Zerglings. The new Zerglings quickly gathered by the hundreds and quickly overpowered the Dominion base.
The duo’s mental projections returned to their bodies.
Before them, a pair of Zerglings approached them. One was a Raptor Strain the other was a Swarmling Strain.
Kerrigan considered her choice carefully. After a few minutes of deliberation, Kerrigan finally chose the Raptor Strain.
The time had come to finish their business on Kaldir. Kerrigan and Sweetie projected their vision on the Lyote that snuck aboard the Ark Ship. Until now, the creature had been hiding in the shadows.
Once Kerrigan alerted the parasite within it that the time had come to emerge, the creature feasted on the Lyote’s internal organs and burst from the host’s chest.
Kerrigan continued communicating with the Larva, “Listen carefully. This ship contains many dangers. Follow my commands and hide in the shadows. You must consume and grow. Infest this ship and kill every Protoss in black armor.”
The Larva ventured deeper into the ship and found a Lyote with a Tal’darim Zealot around the corner. The Larva invaded the beast’s body. The Lyote howled in pain.
The Zealot moved to investigate a noise but found nothing unusual. He moved ahead in the direction the Larva had come from. The Larva consumed the Lyote and moved into some nearby steam vents to hide from a Havoc, the Tal’darim version of a Sentry.
Once the Havoc passed, the Larva continued using the steam vents to hide as it moved forward.
A group of Zealots barred the way ahead and were next to an Ursadon. The Larva jumped into the beast and made it smash the Zealots, Havocs and whomever the Larva had snuck past.
Once safe, the Larva consumed the Ursadon from within. It used the nearby ventilation tunnel to find a safe place to grow into a Broodmother. Kerrigan named her Niadra.
Niadra spawned a few Zerglings and broke through the nearby door.
On the other side was a menagerie for her and her Zerglings to devour. Zealots, Stalkers and Havocs who were guarding the room were quickly torn apart before Niadra had her fill of beast flesh.
While such an act continued to make Sweetie uncomfortable, she continued to watch in hopes that she might be desensitized to the action.
A Probe tried building more Photon Cannons to defend from the Zerg before the Zerglings smashed everything.
A ventilation tunnel was broken into and traversed by the Zerglings since Niadra was too big to fit. Once the Zerglings emerged on the other side and smashed a force field generator, Niadra was free to move forward.
Niadra continued devouring beasts and slaying Protoss. She sensed a powerful energy nearby and Kerrigan informed her that it was their warp drive, their only means of propulsion. The Zerglings broke through the defenses to allow Niadra inside so she could personally destroy the warp drive.
Once destroyed, the engines were destabilized and set to explode. In her attempt to escape, A Stalker and an Ascendant, the Tal’darim equivalent of a High Templar, tried to bar their way. The Zerglings tried to kill the Ascendant first but he launched a Psionic Orb that devastated the Zerglings. Niadra quickly spawned more Zerglings and finished off the Ascendant. The Stalker was destroyed soon after.
A group of Zealots and Havocs tried to stop Niadra but fared worse than the Ascendant.
Niadra escaped into a safe room to avoid the imminent explosion.
The compromised warp drive activated an emergency function within the ship which began awakening Daelaam warriors from stasis. Unfortunately, since Sweetie wasn’t there to explain the situation to them, there was no chance of sparing their lives.
After killing the unfortunate Protoss and consuming more beasts, Niadra grew even more and expanded control over her brood, giving her the ability to spawn Roaches.
Niadra’s trail of destruction continued as she killed beast and Protoss indiscriminately. She evolved even further to spawn Hydralisks.
Soon, Niadra reached the bridge and noticed the Tal’darim making a last stand against Niadra. The Tal’darim were not the kind to flee from their enemies so they didn’t even bother to use the escape pods. This made the task easier for the young Broodmother as her ability to endlessly produce Zerg would inevitably overwhelm and wipe out the Tal’darim.
Unfortunately for her, Niadra was no longer within range of Kerrigan’s and Sweetie’s telepathic communications. Without commands from her Queens, Niadra stuck to her mission of eliminating the Tal’darim.
Sweetie and Kerrigan lost all contact with Niadra once the warp drive was destroyed. With no way of knowing whether the young Broodmother completed her mission, they could only hope she did as the Swarm made plans to withdraw from Kaldir.
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Ones more Ponys save the way
What about that Zergling lemon alergic reaction
Its the only good chose. BASICLY 1-2 more hatcherys and you have the zergling mutation of the other side done
Shouldnt the animals he all in stasis...
Game logic
Plot point for a future story
Damn nice re-writen story adventure
Alerak will have fun with this one ♤
Might this Brood-Queen be Aleraks nemesis, once they split from the other Protoss?
I think it being a nice surprise for Alerak and his bloodthirsty tribe.
Protoss can't lie to one another in the Kalah, but deception by omitting details is possible.
I think that was one of the reasons Amon and Duran/Narud got run off from Ajur.
11885756
The Khala isn't some psychic communication network, it's an empathic network where Protoss link their emotions to one another. When Amon's deep hatred flooded the network every Protoss connected to it were forcefully sympathetic to the Fallen One and became his pawns.