Cacophony (A Zerg ....Presidency Quest? In 40k??)

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Anastasia
  • Sidestory
    • Zrenn

    "Anastasia I need to speak with you."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Yes, Zren?" She looks up from the game of telekinetic control she was playing with a Larva.

    Zrenn

    "I wish to learn about the current system of Terran administration."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "The Administratum is in charge of administrating all of Imperial space. They do a good job, I think?"

    Zrenn

    "How do you run such a large entity? Individual chapters on worlds? Making use of your kin as was to talk with one another? Using FTL communications?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Well, I believe each world has offices, and they send messages through Astropaths."

    Zrenn

    "Do you know where they kept their logs on this world?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    Her face falls, "Oh, I, well. Burnt them?"

    "Before I joined the Swarm, I mean!"

    Zrenn

    "I see, do you recall what was on them?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "There were hundreds of thousands of books! I can't imagine anyone did."

    Zrenn

    "What do you recall then?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "I'm sorry Zren, but I wasn't allowed into such places, nor outside much." She apologetically states, "As a witch, my place was within my home or in the presence of those whose message I was to transmit."

    Zrenn

    "I see. Thank you for what you could share."

    "Zhakarov wish to talk." Zren would say to the Swarm Unity Mind.

    Zhakarov

    "Yes, Zren. What do you wish to discuss?"

    Zrenn

    "Terrans have one administrative organization. We will need to deal with it if we are to play the part of this empire. Even temporarily. Wish to use the link to gain more once in place. Anastasia's kin used to help send information."

    =========================

    At the Hatcheries, when Kerrigan returns from war and post-fracturing of the unity

    =========================

    Geral Abel

    Dragged into a hatchery by drones, this Terran is evidently in the process of infestation, body armour and coat pierced by the very peculiar mark of the Queen, blood spills from the injury points, but its much too late for him to die.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    Eyes flaring from the fury of war, she speaks with authority, "Make sure that one succumbs. He knows much, I can sense it." Though the Unity is in selection, there is one who does hear.

    =========================

    Only a few hundred feet away

    =========================

    Lilith

    Lilith flees to Anastasia, who seems to be ambling around the Hatcheries with her larvae, "Anastasia, what do your people believe happens after they die? It seems you're all monotheistic."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "If you die and are judged worthy?" She answers, "Well, I've heard many versions, but the priests of importance said we would join the Emperor's army, ready to do battle in his name forever."

    She looks down, as if assaulted by a memory, "From what I've seen, few are so lucky. Most are overtaken by the Warp...devoured."

    Lilith

    "Oh, wow fanatacism is going to work wonders here, thank you!"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "What is this about, if you don't mind me asking?" She queries, hoping to extend the conversation.

    Lilith

    "Work related, I'm sorry I can't say more." Lilith says kindly, "Heresies are like, magic, sex, vices, dishonor, that general theme?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Witchery is heresy, but fulfilling your desires for, uhm," She pauses, "Love or food isn't wrong."

    "To betray the Emperor is the only heresy."

    Lilith

    She then leads her to a corpse pile while they talk, "Ok good to know! Could you point out the highest ranking uniforms here? So there's not a lot of rules and codices of behavior?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    Her eyes scan the corpses, pointing one out, "This one's a Major, I think." Conveniently a female corpse, a little taller than Lilith, but nothing some creative tailoring can't fix. A breastplate, flak pants and shirt in black, a long coat sewn in with plates overtop.

    Lilith

    "Can you tell me a few of your sayings and prayers and things?" Lilith asked, as she snapped her fingers at a Queen. Right, I'm not part of the Unity, "Can you help me get fitted?" She says turning to Anastasia, "We don't really wear armor."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Of course, nor clothes, as I've noticed." She starts helping clip the breastplate on, "There are as many sayings as there are worlds, but the most important is the God Emperor, any phrase speaking His name is a prayer. If you'd like I can say one or two of them." She finally manages one of the straps, clipping on the armour wholly and letting the rest of the uniform be fitted. "But they're rather long."

    Lilith

    "How long? One for the after life or honoring the dead." She asks.

    She stops for a second, "Especially one that'd be rude to interrupt."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "A short on, then." Anastasia relaxes her throat like a professional singer as she prepares her voice.

    "Beneficent Emperor, bless this soul in passage"
    "Allow it to rest by your hand, allow it to stand proudly by your side"

    "Magnificent Emperor, ruler of Mankind."
    "Protect this soul, gird it in golden light."

    "God Emperor, this humble servant begs of thee."
    "Do not allow duty to end.

    She's angelic, the voice of a practiced singer, "Merely a short psalm, the true verse is... half an hour I think."

    Lilith

    "Can you tell me the last few stanzas?" Lilith was lost in thought as she donned the new uniform. "Can your demons say the prayers, or does it harm them?" She asked then, internally, Manth, hows praying going to effect you? she stops again, "Oh, and your singing is lovely by the way. You must have done choir."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Twenty years, yes." She smiles at the compliment. "Just repeat the first and second passage to get an extended version."

    "They cannot bear them, I am not holy enough to manage much more however." Anastasia's admittance has a tinge of shame within it.

    Manth

    "Oh you don't believe silly! Praying to Kerrigan would work better!"

    Lilith

    Unbeknownst to Ana, they had done full circles back to the hatcheries and vats. Close to many Overlords, Queens, and peering eyes. "Perfect!" Lilith both thought and said this, "Well hugs and kisses. Gotta run." Before she says anything, Lilith gives her a light peck on the lips, and walk away.

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    She blinks and blushes terribly at the peck, unable to speak as Lilith escapes.

    Lilith

    No-one dare refuses me, you want to play games my Queen? Let's do it. She thinks as she enters the Hatchery with the Captured Oberstleutnant.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • the swarm said:
    Bit unsure as it's already five cant recall if 8 is the upperlimit where it's just a single year
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    There's no limit. Literally any number can be in the Unity. It just increases the DC for more turns. So if 20 people are in the Unity no second turn for them.

    The caveat of course is that everyone has to agree on the plan. If parts of the unity don't agree then random parts of the swarm will not follow the plan.
     
    I think that's why Abathur kicked me out, I was trying to bully him a bit as you saw and he just immediately ejected me with a dirty fucking trick.
     
    Term 6
  • Threadmarks
    • @KingCrimson1081 @Corvus Astro @the swarm @gale @Worm_that_Walks @Toboe
    A new Unity form, new minds coming to the forefront after much has been done, ready to face the universe with fresh eyes. The ship in orbit and the transport on the ground are both slowly being covered in creep.

    New forms swirl in Essence, ready for growth with a mere trigger of impulse. Organism Abathur lurks in tunnels advancing the swarm with the aid of Sequencers, the Queen of Blades shatters all remaining resistance of the Terrans.

    The aerostat habitat comes online as the Magos begins his studies once again. The tithe awaits, but the system is quiet, silent and free for the taking.


    If you are part of the Unity, the discord lets you communicate with your fellows efficiently! Feel free to join if you aren't as well.

    Join the The Mighty Dappercord Discord Server!

    Check out the The Mighty Dappercord community on Discord - hang out with 42 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
    discord.gg discord.gg
     
  • Threadmarks
    • The Krieg Whisperer
  • Sidestory
    • ==============================================================

    Inside a Hatchery, as Lilith starts the breaking of Geral Abel

    ==============================================================

    Geral Abel

    Dragged into a hatchery by drones, this Terran is evidently in the process of infestation, body armour and coat pierced by the very peculiar mark of the Queen, blood spills from the injury points, but its much too late for him to die.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    Eyes flaring from the fury of war, she speaks with authority, "Make sure that one succumbs. He knows much, I can sense it." Though the Unity is in selection, there is one who does hear.

    Lilith

    Lilith walks in slowly, repeating the psalm, sitting next to Gerald. She prays over him until he awakens.

    "Beneficent Emperor, bless this soul in passage"
    "Allow it to rest by your hand, allow it to stand proudly by your side"

    "Magnificent Emperor, ruler of Mankind."
    "Protect this soul, gird it in golden light."

    "God Emperor, this humble servant begs of thee."
    "Do not allow duty to end."

    She sits wearing a breastplate, flak pants and shirt in black, a long coat sewn in with plates overtop. As she speaks, she kneels her head in reverence.

    Geral Abel

    Gerald shivers, one pale blue eye with patches of pale skin visible past the broken glass of the gasmask as it snaps open. He looks around, shifting and then squinting in pain soundlessly. "I-am not dead?" He says through gritted teeth. "Why."

    Lilith

    She doesn't answer for another minute as she repeats the stanzas a few more times. Then opens her eyes. "I'm sorry Oberstleutnant, you have passed, though rejoice! Your service does not end. The mercy you showed your Hauptmann, your dedication in your final moments. You who is ever-dedicated, are to fight with us, with the god emperor eternal."

    Geral Abel

    He's silent, looking up at the ceiling as the infestation spreads through his brain, starting to afflict centres of the mind. "Then, angel in a major's uniform." His voice is rough, a grain to it that's rare in any man. "Where am I?"

    Lilith

    Shit she stands up Manth any ideas?! Then she gestures with her head, to leave the hatchery. "Your uniform is your crown, your jewel, your earned symbol of honor. A sign of your highest accomplishment. Why would it change?" She continues to the hatchery door to walk, hoping the Zerg had done enough to assist with her lies.

    "So many died, so many were pious, virtuous. With so many soldiers in one spot, it was easy to rebuild and continue so that we may make our assault against the God Emperor's enemies." Wait Ana said his name is a prayer? "As he blesses us with his eternal strength."

    Geral Abel

    That one eye is focused, ripping through his surroundings as something settles in his head, a suspicion. "I'd have expected a-Ngh." A shock of pain is transmitted through the connection of the Swarm and into him, loosing that though into the void of his addled mind.

    Manth

    "Switch tact, this one's soul is regretful." It hisses, "Shamed of his losses, of spending his warrior's lives fruitlessly."

    "Break him down, mould his mind. I can feel the cracks."

    Lilith

    Lilith pauses, her gaze softening as she turns to face Gerald once more. She lowers herself to his level, her voice adopting a tone of empathy and understanding. "Oberstleutnant Abel," she begins, her words slow and deliberate, designed to pierce through the fog of confusion and pain clouding his mind. "I understand the weight that presses upon your soul. The burden of command, the heavy cost of lives spent under your orders. It's a burden no one should carry alone. We don't need to continue with that right now."

    She smiles, "I'm sure you have questions, you deserve answers."

    Geral Abel

    "Why not anyone else?" He asks as the nerve bundle in his brain is stimulated, increasing oxytocin production actively. "I am a coward, angel." His eye flicks over, locking onto Lilith with tremendous focus. "I had fear at the end." Tendrils work under his clothes, ripping flesh as it binds to his nerves greedily.

    "I should have been left there." He shifts, moving through the infestation as he tries to stand through whatever illusion the direct bond to his brain is creating, "Yet I still walk, still think, still am."

    "Perhaps you aren't an angel, but a tormentor." Shaking legs keep him standing, facing down towards Lilith's kneeling form, coat hanging off his body as his rented chest-plate bleeds. "Here to punish me for failure by reminding me."

    "By merely being."

    Lilith

    Lilith stands up, hoping to god the hallucination made her seem taller. Her face grows stern, and serious and she barks with the same fervor she hears from Kerrigan when she orders the brood. "SOLDIER, AT ATTENTION!"

    "NOW!"


    Geral Abel

    On instinct alone his heels clack, hands moving clasped behind his back as he stiffens, no amount of infestation pain stopping him from moving into position.

    Lilith

    She then bellows at him, "Oberstleutnant Abel, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, The GOD EMPEROR, Does not make requests. You ARE as you are made as he has chosen. YOU HAVE walked the path he has chosen, IT HAS BROUGHT YOU HERE. Do you understand me?!" She commands Kerrigan's demeanor, her righteous fury when ignored, embodying every aspect of her power, the way she compels, the rigidness of her dictations. Lilith DEMANDED obesiance. "Oberstleutnant Abel, YOU WILL STILL RESPOND WHEN CALLED UPON, WILL YOU SERVE OBSTENANT?"

    Geral Abel

    Its confusing for him, his mind still has suspicion, he is not Anastasia. Gerald Abel knows when something is wrong, but he is too well trained, too well-practiced. "I live to serve!" Escapes him in a gas-mask shout, forcing the infestation to progress rapidly, filling in his mask, coating his internals and bulking out his coat.

    Twenty seconds pass before he says, "You fooled me." A spiteful anger in his voice despite the Swarms influence.

    A single eye, gleaming with orange Essence can still be seen past the crack in the mask, swirled with purple skin. "What has happened to me, witch."

    Lilith

    "You're serving in the God Emperor's army," She says with a wicked smile, "Look at her majesty and rejoice." She sends a picture of Kerrigan, in all her splendor. Then she winks as she walks out of the hatchery. I was really worried for a moment I had lost the whole thing there.

    Geral Abel

    He tries to reach out and grab Lilith, but can't manage the violence on another member of the Swarm. She gets out of his reach and vanishes to wherever next she goes.

    Manth

    "It got close, these Kriegers, minds built tough right?"

    Lilith

    What's a Krieger? Lilith asks confused, I just assumed he was ace.

    Manth

    "What he is, planet that atom-bombed itself." Shuffling papers reveal the answer inside Lilith's mind, "They are weighed down by the sins of their two-thousand years dead ancestor, they believe death during duty will absolve them, silly I know."

    "Probably a virgin, yeah."

    Lilith

    So why the fuck was he so angry, he got exactly what he wanted. She rolled her eyes, At least they're all brainwashed by their weird god guy. As she walks she points out, You know, you told me how to excise you, you realize. I'm not going to try it, but I should point that out for fairness sake.

    Manth

    "You like me here, Lilith." Manth chuckles, "I'm fun, useful and absurdly entertaining."

    Lilith

    More useful, if I screw up too bad I have a fallback and it's Abathur's fault. She nods, and then snorts to herself Praise be! I'm going to try and keep Gerald and Ana seperated I think, he'll just whisper bullshit in her ear. Unapproved Bullshit I mean.

    Manth

    "Mhmm, the objectifying's my favourite part of our relationship!" It excitedly whispers. "You were going to talk to... what's the worms name?"

    Lilith

    Wait he's a worm? I thought he was a centipede. He has so many arms and legs.

    Manth

    "I haven't exactly inspected the undercarriage." It considers, "Do you think...he'd hug?"

    ==============================================================

    At the evolutionary pools, with Abathur

    ==============================================================

    Abathur

    Anyone anywhere near an Evolution chamber will hear the constant screams of Overlords and other zerg forms as Abathur consistently forces them into Warp exposure, allows them to suffer, and then scraps them over and over again, aggravatingly getting nowhere near the results requested. It arrives to the point that Abathur states, "Refusal! Will not work with Warpspace until Essence discovered to aid!"

    The declaration surprises everyone who has ever spoken to him, and is followed by him reusing the assigned Evolution Chambers for other projects. The ancient wyrm of the Swarm closer to rage than ever before seen.

    Lilith

    Lilith skips in happily, "Abathur do you have legs? Also, did Kerrigan ever have any pets? Also also, do Zerg have a favorite color? Also also also, does Kerrigan specifically have a favorite color?"

    Abathur

    "Many." He works on an overlord, it can clearly be seen in a sac merely ten feet away being prodded and poked by long fingered hands. "One, dead now."

    He shifts around as the Overlords cranial tissue is exposed, "Yes. Yellow. Large issue, photoreceptors cause dopamine when exposed. His voice is aggravated, "Terran lemon fruit lethal, many Zerg dead from orchards."

    "Kerrigan receives most dopamine and oxytocin from colour, blue." Abathur answers, multitasking without even a hint of stress.

    Lilith

    "Why is it dead?" Lilith said with a disgusted face, "Did you kill it because you messed up your warp experiments? Oh that explains why we had a zergling stuck in our back yard once. We had a few lemon trees and a big fence, it must have gotten in but not out..." She touches her chin, "We didn't know what to do with it, so I just threw steaks at it until the government took it away a few months later... We weren't allowed to have guns on Tarsonis... Anyways, not important!"

    She walks over and pokes the one in the sac, "I meant like a dog though Abathur,"

    Abathur

    "Died in war, ancient Zergling, decades old." He answers, "Had developed... social instincts."

    "She utilized it for emotional regulation." The Ur-Sequencer continues to give insights on almost everything he is asked, its a little disturbing how the raw depth of his knowledge seems ceaseless.

    Lilith

    She stopped, "Please tell me you didn't say her dog just died," Then Lilith stared at Abathur with abject horror, "Look you gotta bring it back, like... Soon. Before she sees it."

    Abathur

    "No." He answers, "You will. Effective emotional manipulation, Zergling genome simple."

    A pool bubbles nearby just before a free hand points at it with hypodermic fingers. "Will guide."

    Lilith

    Lilith was torn, the last time she trusted Abathur she was ejected from the unity, and now unable to lead at all. Which happened to coincide with an interest in Kerrigan. She stood there weighting her options, what if Abathur was trying to seperate them more. He knows Lilith, she could see that now, she knew that he knew exactly what she was doing.

    "Why is helping me good for the swarm," Her tone fell, and along with it her mask, it wasn't giddy. She didn't need that here, she hoped he'd respect her more for it. She still walked towards the pool, but made sure to keep Abathur with-in eye line this time.

    Abathur

    "Queen of Blades, dependent on social contact. Subsisted off uncommon yearly conversations with Terran James Raynor." He answers coldly, "Terran James Raynor caused...bad decisions."

    "You are Swarm. Cause good decisions."

    Lilith

    Her tone was equally brittle, and her lip snarled, "You should have just killed him," she stepped forward towards the pool. "It would help if you played along a bit you realize, the swarm does better when we're all," Her tone was bright and chipper again, "Friendly and family, that means everyone silly!" Then she continued with the lessons on raising the 'puppy' zergling, her voice intones in the same flatness once again, mirroring his energy. "I need to be able to find her, and know when she's peering into my thoughts."

    Abathur

    "Friendly, lie." He answers, grabbing and directing arms and fingers to teach the motions of Essence work. "Organism Abathur lies for benefit. No benefit to lie."

    "Warpspace Essence, answer. Natural psionic separate from body. Not bound to genes." As the shape forms, glowing orange eyes, thick carapace, broken horn. "Will be Organism Abathur's grand achievement. Magnum Opus." That feels directed to Lilith, as if she's, above all else, all goals, all Swarm-related topics, his golden project.

    Lilith

    She nods, working the essence, "Ah, this is going to hurt terribly isn't it?" She says as she continues.

    Abathur

    "Do not, know." The closest anyone ever heard to glee coming from his is evident in his words, "Exhilarating." As a zergling drags itself out of the pool, snapping its teeth and intaking its surroundings with elder intellect.

    Lilith

    She claps her hands at the Zergling, "Whose a good boy, come here!" Then kneels with a wide practiced smile, a performance that's kept even when no-one is around. "You know I won't hurt her on your orders, or by your machinations. She will wield me as she sees fit. No-one else."

    Abathur

    "I craft, Swarm." He answers, "Queen of Blades, never exist without me."

    Multiple glistening eyes catch onto Lilith, nuzzling the creature as she is. "Revelation." The Ur-Sequencer suddenly speaks, "You are not greatest achievement."

    "You are, improvement to Queen of Blades design."

    Lilith

    Her eyes snapped to him, with righteous, indignant fury. "I would, kindly, request you never say that in front of me again. She is perfection." She stopped herself, "It's not a threat. You are old, cunning, with good wisdom. It's merely social lubrication that will help us in the future."
     
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  • Sidestory
    • The Queen of Blades
  • Sidestory
    • ==============================================================

    At the evolutionary pools, with Abathur

    ==============================================================

    Abathur

    "Discussion fruitless. No result, no gain, only anger." Abathur lifts up, displaying a terrifyingly lengthened body to reach up and burst the sac containing the Overlord. "Instead, organize by goal."

    "Continue contact with, Neverborn. I study changes." He answers, jabbing a claw into the Overlord and dragging it over into the pit of bubbling spawning fluid to be deconstructed as it whines in pain.

    Lilith

    She gawked with astonished, "Wait, if you're like 30 feet tall why the hell do you always talk with people at eye level?" Lilith sounded more annoyed then anything.

    Abathur

    "Terran's have concept, close." He holds the Overlord down with an arm, "Respectful."

    Zrenn

    "Abathur I seek advice." Zren would send into the area.

    Lilith

    The mask came back on immediately, and Lilith gave Abathur and Zren a winning smile, "Well that was fun! Thanks Abby darling." She winked, then in a more knowing tone, "I'd like to learn more, I will visit later. I'm not asking." Finally she blew him a kiss and skipped out of the room.

    Abathur

    "Ask." He answers Zren, continuing to hold down his failed test subject and ignoring Lilith's games.

    Zrenn

    "Seek body, wished advice. Ceberbeate flesh likely not advisable due to the state of Swarm." Zren would say to Abathur as he would turn to Lilith. "You seek ways to please your master still?"

    Lilith

    Something in his tone caught Lilith in the wrong way, maybe it was the interruption, or her beliefs that he was undermining her already. She took a big breath, maybe there was something there. "She is Queen of us all, I am merely trying to..." She smiled, and forced herself to blush "Find the best spot for myself." Then she took a step forward towards the psychic projection, "Did you tell her that I was spying on her Zren?"

    Zrenn

    "No, only you wished to know of my past." Zren would reply. "She is Queen of Swarm. And Swarm is hers. Suggestion, study your body. Learn how to best use it in fights. She will be pleased."

    Lilith

    She snorted, "If you give him a body Abathur, put eyes on his back." Then she stormed off. "He might need them if he keeps meddling in my affairs."

    Zrenn

    "You do not understand her mind as you think you do. You are like another she knew." Zren would comment as she walked away.

    Lilith

    She stepped again, but this time her foot creates a small crater in the creep, "Who? Exactly?" Then she slips back into the performance, "Whoops, sorry I'm having an off day, ditzy old me." Keep it together, you let the centipede rattle you Her voice became light and airy again, "Who do I remind you of?"

    Zrenn

    "The consort the Queen made." Zren would say out load for her even as he thinks she reminds him more of Arcturus.

    Lilith

    Her eyes go extremely narrow at this, and unbeknownst to herself a blade slips out of her forearm, "She's only had one partner, she told me."

    Abathur

    Immediately speaking to halt any possible violence, "Debate fruitless. "

    "Do not make me halt it."

    Lilith

    "Is it true?" Lilith asked. Her voice was flat and monotonous, her jealousy overloading any pre-planned programming that allowed her to float through social encounter effortlessly. "Is it true? Abathur."

    Abathur

    "Consort, Terran phrasing." He answers, "Infested Terran did not successfully vie for Queen of Blades attention."

    Disarming this further, "A body, purposeless. You are not hunter, you are leader."

    Zrenn

    "I agree but the nature of Swarm in a state hard. My skills of war would be flawed if the Unity did not hold me. Wish for body to make sure I can lead not hunt." Zren would say to Abathur.

    "Body would allow ability to advise even without part of Unity." Zren would go on.
    Lilith

    "FUCK BOTH OF YOU." She screamed as she stormed out.

    Abathur

    "Then recreate body. Solution, simple. Cerebrate form impossible, new Swarm motile." He answers, "Nydus Worm base, fill with neural tissue. Easily done."

    Zrenn

    "Shall work, thanks." Zren would say.

    Abathur

    "Be aware." Abathur cautions, "Body means mortality, possibility of death."

    Zrenn

    "Truth..." Zren would admit.

    ==============================================================

    At Kerrigan's hatchery...

    ==============================================================

    Lilith

    Lilith tried to consider how to play this, but fury clouded her mind. The swarm this the swarm that, none of them understood. NONE of them. Lilith wouldd tear this entire fucking brood down before she let anyone take Kerrigan away. Did she really lie? Would she lie? That doesn't make sense was she playing her own games?

    Kerrigan didn't seem that savvy, in fact, the Queen froze like a wet fish from a hug. Lilith's eyes narrowed, and her face was stony. she stood next to a hatchery and absent mindedly carved tiny hearts into the side of it, creating seeping bloody wounds that burned into blinding white scars. Does the swarm lie to each other, am I not unique? What makes me so special then...

    Her head rattled around some more, And I blew it with Abathur too, I couldn't keep a lid on it. Lilith let out a low growl as she plunged her blade deeper, drawing hearts and psalms over and over, Lilith loves Kerrigan and Kerrigan Loves Lilith and Ragged wounds started to form ever weeping ulcers from the constant carving.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    Impacts resound as an Overlord spots Lilith, powerful frame drilling through even Mineral-hardened carapace. Eventually, a familiar voice cuts through the air, dragging her attention away from the grafitti-effort.

    "I go to kill Terrans for a week, and this happens." The sarcastic venom to her voice is more like healing balm to an aching heart, drawing attention to Kerrigan stepping off a Corruptor and onto the ground nearby.

    Lilith

    Lilith gasped, and smiled, "Well, let me come with you next time," She rushed her, then stopped moments before connecting, "Uh... Right. No hugs. Sorry. While you were gone, I helped your puppy." She said pointing down at Broken Horn, "I actually learned," Her teeth clicked inhumanly, like a hydralisk, "—sssss— I actually learned a lot while you were gone!"

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    She honestly smiles at the Zergling, "Followed me this far, huh?" As it rushes to just nearby and lets the Queen touch its head.

    She looks at the scars on the Hatchery, smile fading into a frown. She walks past Lilith to stare at the torn flesh filling with clotting agents.

    Lilith

    Right, the Zerg are the most important thing to her, fuck. "What's the Consort of Blades?" She asked directly, "Is that a thing?"

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    "Now that's a joke I haven't heard in awhile." She laughs, cruelly. "Who told you about it?"

    Lilith

    "That's not really an answer to my question," It felt like she had just had a conversation like this recently, "You can just say you're not going to answer you don't have to dodge it. I'd rather know it's a touchy subject then have you dance around the bush."

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    She spins in a flash of psychic power, grabbing and pressing Lilith against the Hatchery by her throat. "What's a touchy subject for me is someone telling you everything about me, Lilith." She growls, still with the leavings of blood from her battles on the carapace sending a copper scent into the air. "I could just kill all of you, retakee the Swarm." Her claws dig through neck plates in an instant, eyes glaring for any reaction.

    Lilith

    Her head slammed against the back of the hatcher, and pain floods her senses, and with it an intense, sickly wet burn. She bit her lip, and tried to speak through ragged gasps, "You..." She choked, "You..."

    "You... Lied... To me." She had tears welling in her eyes, and gave Kerrigan a morose look, "Why?"

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    "Why do you care!" Her voice shakes the air, "Why can't you just be like the rest! Just loyal!" The grip is terrifying, overpowering in its strength, beating it a distant dream of the insane. "Why!?" There's an anguish to her, an instability from the memories flooding back at this very moment, but it all feeds into rage, every feeling she has.

    Lilith

    Still gasping, "You're... Perfect..." every breath is through a barely formed wind pipe, "If I'm worthy, it means..." One more breath, "I'm good enough for you." Common Lilith, just one more gasp. "The... Rest... Don't... Care about you." Her vision starts to go black, Well shit, Bad End.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    She releases Lilith, letting her drop to the ground and desperately take breaths to live, to heal. As her vision returns, she can see Kerrigan with her back to the moon of this world, gigantic as it is in the sky. "People who care die." There's a grain to her voice, a sadness that's never before been heard, cast in dim light, Lilith can't see anything else of her expressions.

    Lilith

    Holy shit air, sweet sweet air, christ. Oh my god. Oh fuck. That was hot. Deep breaths, calm down, "You don't." She gasped as she knelt there on her hands and knees, "You don't die, you've always cared." Change of tactics maybe? She sits down and cups her knees, "I'm scared I'm hurting you. You seem so sad when I'm around... I'm just... So lonely,"

    She puts her head in her knees. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I do everything right I thought. I'm the only one who hasn't failed here... I don't even ask for anything..." She looks up at her, "Am I not good enough? I broke Abel, I broke Ana, I helped Abathur, I helped you, I keep helping and I just hurt you more."

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    "His name was Ethan Stewart." She says after a long pause, "We weren't anything, he was just obsessed. Got a reputation because of it."

    "News stations ran with it, I think, didn't get much service in the Swarm." She jokes, a sign of the woman that once was, before all of this, before any of the Swarm ever touched her. "I didn't lie."

    Lilith

    "Oh... I wasn't telling you because I thought they might be trying... To help." She sobbed, "Zren told me, Abathur told me it wasn't true. Abathur says that he lies when necessary, and I have this thing in my head and" She looked at the hatchery, "Oh god, and I hurt something we need. I'm sorry. I'm so awful. I just wanted to give you your dog back. I keep fucking everything up."

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    There's an awkward moment as the Queen is struck with no real idea what to do. Slowly, her hand reaches out and settles between Lilith's "hair", "It's... fine." She's stiff through it, as if terrified of the act. Through the contact, something transfers, memory leeched through touch.

    Her hand is on a head of black hair, grown recently from the buzzcut it normally is

    "Darlin', you sure about this?" A voice asks.

    "Its fine Jimmy, its just a jog on an infested planet."

    Loss follows the images, a crushing feeling that lurks in her heart.

    Lilith

    She wanted to be annoyed that they can't just have this moment. That it has to be tainted but it's so hard, "The only reason I was even looking was to find out if... You know" She sniffled, "Not everyone... People have... I wanted to know if I was your type." She gestured at her body, then Kerrigan's trying to non-verbally get the point across. She sobbed again harder, "I don't know why everyone thinks I want anything more then what I say. I don't..."

    With a heave and a little bit, of stuttering she leaned closer in, "I don't want a brood, I want a frie-ie-iiend." She lets the syllable elongate. Then she catches her breath, "I want to be good enough for you... I don't have anything else worth caring about." She looks at her, "I want to hug you without you... panicking..."

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    A sigh exits her, "You're pathetic sometimes." There's no heat to it, just a joke to assuage her own anxious energy. She bends at the waist to help Lilith to her feet. Kerrigan's face is... odd, darkness to her expression.

    After a few long seconds, she finally cracks and says something, "You need hobbies." Kerrigans words are very much pointed at Lilith, "Hobbies that aren't me." Her eyeline goes past the other woman to the carved grafitti on the wall. "When you get that down, we can...talk."

    Lilith

    She chuffed, "You're not a hobby. You're not an obsession. I'm not like this because I'm broken. I've been like this before I met you." After pulling herself together, she stood on her own, "I really need you to understand I'm one of the only people who walked into this, willingly. I want to be here. I wasn't made to be here, I wasn't forced. There's no hallucination I had to agree too, no mind worm."

    She turned her back on Kerrigan, then used her new abilities she learned from healing broken horn. "I saw the world was ending, and a pretty woman on TV. I decided that she was right, it was time for Tarsonis to end. I'd like it if you see that some day."

    She found the needles in her fingers Abathur had showed her, "I'd really like it if you understood that people are my hobby." The scarring started to slowly heal.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    She closes her eyes, breathing out in a physiologically meaningless gesture. "Stewart was the same."

    "Just like that, little bit more violent maybe." Kerrigan chuckles, looking at Lilith with a small, corroded amusement to them, "Every time either of you say anything, all I'm reminded of is one pig I met, someone who never gave up."

    "Especially when he should have." The wistfulness enters her voice, memories merely a touch away.

    Lilith

    Lilith tries to bite off her tongue, but she can't help herself, and instead she says the next words burbling through a mouthful of blood, "Didn't he give up the first time? I saw the memory. He left in a fucking dropship."

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    Kerrigan's fury is back like a whipcrack, a wave of force strikes Lilith and she ceases in a spray of shattering carapace and blasted apart bone. The death nowhere near lengthy enough to feel pain. The end is instant.



    ==============================================================

    In Zren's Psyche...

    ==============================================================

    "Zren!" A bark through the hive carries power, shot through with anger. The Queen of Blades demands his presence and the Swarm cowers because of it.

    Zrenn

    He would form without thought, his Essence ready for what she wishes.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    "I've.... been made aware of certain things." The menace in her voice is violently present, flickering with psychic power that infects reality with the ceaseless advance of an infestation. "You have been talking too much."

    A psychic grip wraps around Zren's mental projection, his very Essence. "I, very badly want to kill you Zren."

    Zrenn

    "If that is your will." He would accept it. She can feel that. If the Queen of Blades decides he is to die. He would start unmaking himself.

    Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades

    She watches with cruel eyes, relishing the process, enjoying the cold certainty of her rule. As Zren is snuffed out, she marshals her power in a haze of purple and his Essence is torn from the walls, falling as red rain to sizzle in the heat of her presence. The Swarm shakes, a Mind is torn apart, the Unity shudders with rage and terror.

    Without a complaint, the last of the Cerebrates flickers, rots and dies. She breathes out after, claws ripping a hole in the flesh-throne she sits upon.

    "Just like old times." The Queen whispers, eyes distant with memories of another place, another time.
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • [X] Turn 13
    -[X] Growth
    –[X] Build small bone shrine/gravestone for Zren hidden away from Kerrigan
    –[X] Morph
    —[X] Bodies for Zrug, Zhakarov, Zizgy, Two for He-Who-Meddles
    –[X] Single Behemoth set aside for the future Expedition
    –[X] Morph 7,000 Hatchery
    –[X] Morph 999,000 Evolution Chamber
    –[X] Morph 14,000 Spinethorn Wall
    –[X] Morph 180,000 Hiveguard Evolution Chamber
    –[X] Morph 189,298,000 Drone
    –[X] Morph 7,000 Queen
    –[X] Morph 10,000 Overlord
    --[X] Morph 500,000 Ultralisk
    --[X] Morph 10,000,000 Zergling
    –[X] Morph 16 Behemoth
    –[X] Place 1,000 of those new hatcheries on each of the uninhabited worlds.
    -[X] War
    –[X] Search/scour/sweep the planet for any possible survivors that were missed, to be captured if any remains
    -[X] Evolution
    –[X] Sequencers (He-Who-Meddles,gnicneuqeS)
    —[X] Body for the mind gnicneuqeS
    —-[X] 158,250
    —[X] Body that can appear fully human for Pope
    —-[X] 316,500
    —--[X] functionally working backwards and forwards We'll reevolve humans/terrans/earthlings/HomoHomoSapien from base principles. Backwards is based on infected current and past samples filtered for the more obvious zerg mutations, on standard surface appearances and what can be recovered using Kerrigans Terran Assimilation research.
    –[X] Improved Flora based camouflage on all zerg "buildings" and creep to disguise it partially from orbit, while collecting sunlight to offset biomass costs
    —[X] Creep Algae to take advantage of the water columns volume and light spectrum penetration, increasing surface area for solar collection, with focus on recycling waste, and generating energetic molecules for metabolism
    -—-[X] 633,000
    –[X] Sequencer (Abathur)
    —[X] Vespine/Promethium Refinery from base biomass and compounds
    —-[X] 316,500
    —[X] Focus on recover Nydus worm and spore colonies, the rest being spent on recovering other lost strains, left over time if all strains can be restored rest of the time can be spent however abathur wants
    —-[X] 474,750
    –[X] Sequencer (gnicneuqeS)
    —[X]Attach the Larva to some manner of string and cast them out into the warp portals. Then pull them back into real space after a while. The lesser Neverborn are too afraid to approach the Unity so this is how we can see their effects upon flesh and such. We might even get some dumb enough to possess what is clearly bait for essence experiments.
    —-[X] 100,000 EvolutionChambers
    -[X] Adaptation
    –[X] Throwing Zerg Larva out into various bodies of water, shallows of the ocean even from cliffs into it. Hives Spawning Larva at various depths and attempt Morphing into different Zergs underwater
    -[X] Technology
    –[X]Nothing except collecting loose tech and noting down more substantial tech that can't be moved doing maintenance that we know can't let weather condition or careless growth destroy or damage these samples
    -[X] Minds
    --[X] Zrug training War with focus on there less preferred sort of war grand strategy now that Zren is gone
    -[X] Labor
    --[X] Permanently Dedicate 1000K Drones to dye production for the Tithe until said otherwise at current estimated tithe levels and expected backlog of payments
    -[X] Diplomacy
    –[X] Pope
    —[X] Study Diplomacy under Anastasia
    –[X] Zhakarov
    —[X] Boards the mechanicus ship and oversees its infestation. Move the personal evolution chamber up to the ship.
    —[X] Uses 200,000 hiveguard evolution chambers to assist since no one else is using them.
    -[X] Based?
    –[X] Zigzy
    —[X] Loaned 1000 EvolutionChambers and 5000 Overlords for unknown purposes
    —-[X] Based on secret conditions and clauses
     
    [X] Turn 13
    -[X] Growth
    –[X] Build small bone shrine/gravestone for Zren hidden away from Kerrigan
    –[X] Morph
    —[X] Bodies for Zrug, Zhakarov, Zizgy, Two for He-Who-Meddles
    –[X] Single Behemoth set aside for the future Expedition
    –[X] Morph 7,000 Hatchery
    –[X] Morph 999,000 Evolution Chamber
    –[X] Morph 14,000 Spinethorn Wall
    –[X] Morph 180,000 Hiveguard Evolution Chamber
    –[X] Morph 189,298,000 Drone
    –[X] Morph 7,000 Queen
    –[X] Morph 10,000 Overlord
    --[X] Morph 500,000 Ultralisk
    --[X] Morph 10,000,000 Zergling
    –[X] Morph 16 Behemoth
    –[X] Place 1,000 of those new hatcheries on each of the uninhabited worlds.
    -[X] War
    –[X] Search/scour/sweep the planet for any possible survivors that were missed, to be captured if any remains
    -[X] Evolution
    –[X] Sequencers (He-Who-Meddles,gnicneuqeS)
    —[X] Body for the mind gnicneuqeS
    —-[X] 158,250
    —[X] Body that can appear fully human for Pope
    —-[X] 316,500
    —--[X] functionally working backwards and forwards We'll reevolve humans/terrans/earthlings/HomoHomoSapien from base principles. Backwards is based on infected current and past samples filtered for the more obvious zerg mutations, on standard surface appearances and what can be recovered using Kerrigans Terran Assimilation research.
    –[X] Improved Flora based camouflage on all zerg "buildings" and creep to disguise it partially from orbit, while collecting sunlight to offset biomass costs
    —[X] Creep Algae to take advantage of the water columns volume and light spectrum penetration, increasing surface area for solar collection, with focus on recycling waste, and generating energetic molecules for metabolism
    -—-[X] 633,000
    –[X] Sequencer (Abathur)
    —[X] Vespine/Promethium Refinery from base biomass and compounds
    —-[X] 316,500
    —[X] Focus on recover Nydus worm and spore colonies, the rest being spent on recovering other lost strains, left over time if all strains can be restored rest of the time can be spent however abathur wants
    —-[X] 474,750
    –[X] Sequencer (gnicneuqeS)
    —[X]Attach the Larva to some manner of string and cast them out into the warp portals. Then pull them back into real space after a while. The lesser Neverborn are too afraid to approach the Unity so this is how we can see their effects upon flesh and such. We might even get some dumb enough to possess what is clearly bait for essence experiments.
    —-[X] 100,000 EvolutionChambers
    -[X] Adaptation
    –[X] Throwing Zerg Larva out into various bodies of water, shallows of the ocean even from cliffs into it. Hives Spawning Larva at various depths and attempt Morphing into different Zergs underwater
    -[X] Technology
    –[X]Nothing except collecting loose tech and noting down more substantial tech that can't be moved doing maintenance that we know can't let weather condition or careless growth destroy or damage these samples
    -[X] Minds
    --[X] Zrug training War with focus on there less preferred sort of war grand strategy now that Zren is gone
    -[X] Labor
    --[X] Permanently Dedicate 1000K Drones to dye production for the Tithe until said otherwise at current estimated tithe levels and expected backlog of payments
    -[X] Diplomacy
    –[X] Pope
    —[X] Study Diplomacy under Anastasia
    –[X] Zhakarov
    —[X] Boards the mechanicus ship and oversees its infestation. Move the personal evolution chamber up to the ship.
    —[X] Uses 200,000 hiveguard evolution chambers to assist since no one else is using them.
    -[X] Based?
    –[X] Zigzy
    —[X] Loaned 1000 EvolutionChambers and 5000 Overlords for unknown purposes
    —-[X] Based on secret conditions and clauses
     
    Term 6.1
  • Threadmarks
    • As the Swarm expands, vast Behemoths assemble from component organisms and rise to the stars, settling comfortably in low orbit. Ultralisks push free from their own cocoons. Hatcheries are sprouted across the system. Overlords lurk in the void, surviving off creep in the newly colonized worlds.

    Across the central world of the Swarm, roving hordes search for the odd survivor, but find none across the planet, all bunkers having been breached, all strongpoints devoured already.

    The body of gnicneuqeS is assembled, following a larvae-esque body plan, long and serpentine with a morass of manipulators in its maw to best sequence essence. It's sized approximately to easily swallow everything short of an Ultralisk for work.

    Innocent's body is rather simple, we merely pull his Essence from the depths and begin work to try and match it to humanity. The carapace is thinned, flesh is prioritized. Skin colour only three barely noticeable shades too pale for a living person and the carapace is easily hidden by some recovered robes of Imperial priest caste members.

    Our efforts to replicate humanity from base principles fail. Terran genetic code ill-suited for Zerg process. Terran physiology overly complex, their conditions of evolution utterly unknown and, ultimately, creating perfect replicas of them that are in any way stable beyond a few hours utterly impossible.

    However, the infestation process is still very reliable, and with the work of Organisms Zizgy and Zerquencer on Innocent's body, we have plans to create infested that, physically, are tremendously similar to their host species at the cost of durability and survivability.

    Our biomass is difficult to hide. The local planetary mass is currently actively being consumed, trees, grass and all normal baseline life that supports the ecosystem are replaced with the feeding spores of Creep that turn the planet a purple-black spiderweb of consumption. Our efforts to improve creep efficiency are well met, however, as the substance is a warfighting aid first, resource collector second.

    Thickening the carpet, we begin to feast on the planet's chemical, solar and tidal energy, converting it to biomass through complex processes and atmospheric bindings. A new way of life for the Zerg, almost sedentary.

    Working with Promethium refineries as an idea, Abathur only assists with the initial stage of the base work, leaving the rest to the other Sequencers as his attention is pulled to other tasks. Organelles are designed to more efficiently subsume the substance and sniff out its pockets in the earth below or gas giants above.

    Nydus Worms are of particular interest to Abathur, a primary tool of tunneling efforts. They are odd things, not alive in any true sense, more an organic digging tool, chemically reacting to obstacles and being guided by pheromones on its nose, triggered by nearby leadership. They are formed from a drone rather than a larvae as traditional, letting them be quickly formed in battlefields lacking in hatcheries.

    Spore colonies are difficult. Works of art, they feature intensely powerful magnetic organs to propel globs of sapient acidic viral spores that latch onto enemy ships and begin to molecularly devour them, particularly effective against shielding as all Zerg anti-space morphs are. Abathur spends many long cycles without rest attempting to spark the mutation from Drones that must have the potential.

    At near the end of the cycle, he experiences a breakthrough, exposing drones to intense heat until they have a genetic memory of Protoss purification overwhelm them and rapidly mutate to defend themselves. Observing the triggers, Organism Abathur records it for the Swarm, moving on to the next project after this success.

    The larvae-bait experiments do not accomplish much save for forcing many larvae to be put down due to corrupt Essence threatening to be integrated into the Swarm. No Neverborn fall for the trick, evidently intelligent enough to not try for a free lunch.

    Larva thrown into the water swim, fairly at home in a liquid substrate. Hydralisks as well are fairly natural in this environment and seem to be a preferred evolution of Larvae that spend time in the oceans. When released below their crush depth, unprepared larva detonate, but given time to adapt, they can survive there as well. The extreme pressure does instigate a possible new evolutionary pathway of thickened carapace, but said adaptation slows the Zerg down significantly.

    Samples of Terran technology across the planet are recovered and kept watch over, drones carefully clearing rust whilst Mutalisks roost in their spires to protect from rain. We sustain many large artefacts across the solar cycle.

    Zrug steps into the carapace of Zren, attempting to understand more deeply the articles and chaos of war from the perspective of a commander rather than a warrior in the midst. Inspecting now old memories of fighting and memorizing every displayed tactic by the enemy.

    The great harvests of dye begin, piled into containers stolen from Terran ruins and lifted to orbit by Behemoths, with the Magos Ixion preparing the aerostat to store the vast quantities the Tithe will need. The Magos lets slip the timeline, two more years and the ships of the Administratum shall arrive to collect.

    Innocent learns under Anastasia, languages, turns of phrase, a million different cultural precedents so utterly complex they boggle the mind. He keeps up with her years of education and intakes it, iterating his own knowledge of the human mind and soul until he feels much more confident in this new era.

    Zhakarov boards the ruined frigate of the Magos off Overlord back, moving his personal chamber up to it as his frame of flesh oddly seems unfamiliar after so long. The machine is bound to the Swarm with its thinking silicon so tightly interwoven with flesh as to be merged into it.

    The Warmachine roars through the connection, demanding desolation, moving ruined turrets fruitlessly, flaring crushed engines purposelessly. Zhakarov oversees the infestation, watching tendrils snake into computing infrastructure and bring this living steel titan into the swarm. Its pained exclamations echo through the hive every now and then, but Zhakarov manages to begin to calm it, replacing neural tissue sourced from Terrans with zerg equivalents.

    The ship does not yet respond to commands, but its infrastructure is thoroughly Zerg.

    Zigzy focuses on a personal project, spending his time between Evolution Chambers attempting to impregnate Promethium with organic molecules, filling it and trying to process a result that is ephemerally distant despite psychic assistance from Overlords.

    Something more specific is required.

    The turn of a cycle passes and, in a corner of the planet, unseen by most, a pile of rusted Essence and blood is left, the final monument to Zren, slowly falling into disarray as time weighs down on it.

    Control Roll:
    Must Exceed 4
    2d8=(7, 2)

    @KingCrimson1081 @Corvus Astro @the swarm @Worm_that_Walks @Toboe

    You remain in control.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Swarm Conversations
  • Sidestory
    • ==============================================================

    At the Vox machinery, deep in the Zerg Hive

    ==============================================================

    The Zizgy One

    Zizgy's movements were unfamiliar to it as it forced limbs to ambulate towards the Vox. Crawl-slithering on limbs freshly splitting from the main trunk, it finds a form well suited for the tunnels, navigated by senses well suited for the dark.



    The clusters of tissue, transparent and filled with neurotransmitter fluids, looked very much different how it had seen it itself when simply a pure mind. Then again that Zizgy no longer existed either. Not in the same way as Cerebrate Zren was no longer, it dared itself to think of it's butchered comrade, the unity wound was fresh and festering inside the hivemind. Not part of unity, mind not directly linked it-he? Reminded himself. Risk of triggering Her attention was lessened. Still, it craned around it's sensor arrays towards each tunnel opening just a little extra before it gestated a umbilical, interjecting it expertly into the Vox-tissue.

    Such a strange concept, but the energetic pulses were sent nevertheless at it's insistence. "Magos Genetor Ixion-99487. Zizgy One wishes to communicate."

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    The channel opens, "Zizgy-1, I answer your hail." The crackle of binaric that backs the communique is distracting, but attention-catching all the same.

    The Zizgy One

    Zizgy-1? 'One' wasn't a number or ordering but a strive for distinction, but it had a pleasing sound to it.

    "This One wishes to know the intention for the Naviis module. Lacking 'context'."

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    "Navigator Chamber, not property of Mechanicum. Cannot barter, must return."

    The Zizgy One

    the simplicity of th answer didn't convey the whole. So much withheld. "Navigator biomass. Desirable?"

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    "Yes. Beyond value I am able to provide as recompense to owners." The economics of Terrans were always nonsensical, but in this instance at least, they were reasonble. Powerful Essence commands great value.

    The Zizgy One

    "... If us could grow new navigator body from small sample. Of value?

    Consider. Biological data studied by us, becomes by extension biological data studied by Magos Genetor as stated by desire."

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    Acknowledging the presence of a fellow scientist, he answers. "Issues, political. Cannot be provider of Warpspace navigation. Cannot hand over corpses. Would complicate position.

    The Zizgy One

    "Intention. Direct aethyr observation. Navigation irrelevant in larger scheme."

    "Query of desired steps to not complicate politics. Not desired. Only knowledge."

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    "Direct observation of Aethyr important step to space-faring. Faith dictates I prevent this before all else."

    The Zizgy One

    "Faith unknown quantity."

    Magos Genetor Ixion-99487

    "Faith, most important quantity." He answers, "Alien mindset cannot understand its value."

    The Zizgy One

    "Agreed." Zizgy would say, it was of no value to the sequencer.
    "Acknowledging Navigator biomass not shared. Does not affect agreement."

    "terminating Vox." Zizgy would say as he 'hung up'.

    evicting the connective biomass, Zizgy's morph would shake as excess flesh sloughed off of it. Frustration. Simply eating what one wished to understand had a immediacy to it that the terran subjectively could never comprehend. Rather, it was delayed gratification at best.

    The quest for understanding began overtaking its risk assessment abilities as it began hunting for the infested known as Anastasia.

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    She's perceiving a carbon-based information storage device, quickly putting it away as Zizgy comes close in his odd, long-limbed motion. "O-oh, you've... changed." Intaking the whipthin limbs and manipulating digits.

    The Zizgy One

    "Indeed," it says as it slithers forward like a centipede, then begins craning over her as the smaller legs around its centre of mass fuse to give it a stable, upright platform to walk forward on, arms breaking out of the trunk once more to reveal steepling manipulators. "Change, sometimes difficult to understand necessity of until after it has passed. Zizgy One comes with questions." it pauses, unsure of this one's status, so it remain standing taller than the female, head bobbing up and down as if fighting a innate urge to stay at eye level with the infested human. "Does Anastasia do well within swarm?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "I haven't had... trouble? I suppose?" Ana listens intently to Zizgy's explanation, "Well, go ahead and ask, if I've answers, I'll give them."

    The Zizgy One

    "Unique talents in swarm. Only psychic besides Queen. Assumed less inclination to assist." It drones out, multitude of eyes studying the face and posture of the human for signs of aggression. "Have query of Navigators. Magos Genetor not willing to give up bodies to swarm. Other way?"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Navigators?" She asks more for her self than anyone else. "They're very dangerous, the wealthiest powers of the Imperium. A lone Navigator can collapse a system economy, their House could wage war on vast scales."

    "The Magos likely does not wish the blame of having lost their corpses."

    The Zizgy One

    "Magos Genetor does not wish swarm to possess the eye. First upset with cost for essence, to assuage concerns of state of bodies, offered to clone new ones. Magos stated faith as counter argument. Faith unknown variable."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "To abhor the Xeno is... as the Emperor decrees." She frowns at the words, "To assist them would be heresy."

    The Zizgy One

    "Stance illogic. Zerg contains humanity now in perfect detail."

    It wrings it's hands in imitation of a gesture it has observed many times. "Faith hard to argue, does not understand it. Will ask on other thing: Need psionic's help to catalyse Terrazine generation."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Terrazine?" The woman asks, shifting to listen, "What's that?"

    The Zizgy One

    "drink deep of old dreams, young one." It stated, baffled that the terran hadn't been submerging into the essence of the hive to experience the vastness of thought and memory within.

    "In the world before this one. Prometheum was vaporous, called Vespene - Terran naming. Terrazine was specific zerg strain of Vespene that was conductive for psionic growth in humans, also infected ones. Terrazine also human naming."

    ==============================================================

    Somewhere on the New Zerg Homeworld...

    ==============================================================
    Pope Innocent XX

    The Pope approaches Anastasia, with a friendly smile upon his face. "Hello there Enlightened One, I hope you do not mind my presence, but I have come to seek your knowledge of your terran culture so I may understand how better to help bring it into the fold."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Oh, I wasn't expecting an.. Ecclesiarch?" She speaks at the hallucination ahead of her, taking form from the Swarms influence. "What exactly are you looking for?"

    Pope Innocent XX

    "I wish to ask of you any knowledge you would have regarding languages I might have need of when I set out to live amongst the uninitiated terrans as one of them, so I might help them develop their love for the Zerg and willingly embrace our uplifting."

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "The Imperium has uncounted languages and dialects. I know many major ones and quite a few minor ones, would you like to learn?" Anastasia offers, excited to use her knowledge.

    Pope Innocent XX

    A broad smile spilts the Popes face, like that of a grandfather excited to learn about the interests of his grandchildren "I would wish to learn any languages you would deem clerical or related to the worship of your God-Emperor. This language as well as any that may give me an air of a traveling preacher would be more splendid!"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    "Excellent-We will, uhm." She nervously scratches the back of her head in a very Terran gesture, "Be here awhile."

    Pope Innocent XX

    "Ah if that is not a bother to you then it is not too me, I have plenty of time to learn the wondrous knowledge and tongues that you might teach me!"

    Anastasia Von Illar nee Ultramar

    Nodding strongly, "Of course! Uhm, do we have any paper?" She says as the two begin to figure out how to write this out.

    ==============================================================

    Deep within the Zerg Creep Burrows...

    ==============================================================

    Zhakarov

    Zhakarov awoke. It was a strange feeling. It had been decades since he could physically do anything instead of being a part of the swarm. Either as a great or lesser mind. As such he took a moment to examine himself and get reacquainted with this physical form.

    Once satisfied Zhakarov moved down the pulsing tunnels of the hive. Away from the essence pool where he had awoken and out into the open air. Summoning an overlord Zhakarov had it transport him up and away. To the ship that the swarm had claimed through diplomacy rather than violence. Well at least not all violence.

    Once there he examines what has been done so far, and attempts to interact with the guiding mind of the vessel.

    The vessel's mind is vast, ancient and hateful. Boiling over with rage at the indignity of its existence. Infestation lurks in its circuits, but no clear dopamine pumps or any other familiar chemical structures make this difficult. The impacting walls of repeating fury strike Zhakarov with ancient rage.

    Machine Spirit

    "MAIM/KILL/BURN/PURGE" The stacatto of utter fury foreign to the swarm is baffling, but it is merely one powerful voice, the First Mind can steel himself and resist its thanatoic chant, focus on the flesh and circuit in perfected union beneath, intake it and commune.

    Zhakarov

    If there are no registers for relief then Zhakarov will investigate in the other direction. He will examine the vessels mind and trace out the patterns that drive it to this level of Fury.

    Machine Spirit

    Infinite banks of rusted shut cogitation rumble to barely-functional life. A mangled lifeform of rot and steel. The fury originates from deep, from the very Essence of this warmachine. It is no Terran steel intellect or Protoss probe, it is a monster of war, built for battle and imbued with true life of a deranged creation, welding steel and meat over and over and over until nothing but pain remained.

    That pain turns to rage, infestation making it grow. The ships guns wiggle in their mounts, ruined engines fire repetitively. If it could kill this world, it would, if it could hurt, it would.

    Zhakarov

    Zhakarov comes to a decision. He had hoped to study this vessel in its current form. Integrate it into the swarm as a powerful cybernetic thing of war. But if that was even possible it would remain a thing of Pain and Fury. A humming tumor on the hivemind. Instead he will Heal this beast. He will regrow the rot, clean the rust, and excise the most painful and crude augmentations. He is not sure what will come of this procedure, and indeed he slices off a portion of his self to store in the hive cluster just in case, but he cannot in good conscious leave this mind to suffer an eternity of torment.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Interlude: Consequences
  • Threadmarks
    • Lilith awakens with a start, the familiar sight of Abathur looming above as she lies on the fleshy ground of an evolution chamber, repaired yet with phantom aches from the annihilation. "Made mistake," is all the Ur-Sequencer says from his position towering above, ready to unleash all of his limbs.

    "I'm going back to fight her. Fuck that, I'm right," Lilith snarls, as Abathur retreats into his tunnel after the infested woman fully opens her eyes. Zerg creatures start to stir as she stands, moving toward an exit.

    "No," Zrug's mental voice echoes outwards as Zerg move to block Lilith's path. "Now is not the time to push your luck. Give the Queen time to collect herself. Then, you can face death again." The swarm creature's voice is deep, yet it carries multitudes of noise within it.

    "Fuck you," Lilith spits. "She's throwing a tantrum," She justifies her actions as her gaze scans for a way past the Roaches blocking the exit of the pulsating evolution pit, perhaps to protect the Queen, or maybe Lilith herself.

    "So are you," Zrug's voice once again attempts to inject reason, an edge of anger in it as something unfolds in the distance.

    "I get to throw a tantrum because I DON'T MAKE MISTAKES!" She snarls, kicking flesh around in the evolution pit in sprays of torn sinew and black bile, accidentally catching and tearing an Overlord recovering from Sequencing. "YOU HEAR ME, ABATHUR!? I DON'T! I'M GOING TO WIN THIS!"

    "Will you save your fellow brood? There is yet time to save Zren," a shivering voice, dragging sentences together from a billion noises, ripples off the walls of the hatchery and slithers into the ears of all inside.

    Lilith laughs. "No, I don't think there is." At the cusp of her words, a keening cry passes over the Swarm as one of its most ancient members is lost, Essence's death shaking every member still connected to the Hive. Lilith, not possessed of such influence, still smiles.

    "It is too late," Zrug growls, "I will not lose more of our brood today." The Zerg stand fast under his influence, continuing to block the woman inside the pit as Abathur works silently on his projects. Lilith looks around, her orange eyes finding no way out except for the tunnels just wide enough to fit her.

    "I'm hiding for now. Good luck to the rest of you, maybe Abathur will teach me something." She stops, remembering Abathur's talk of respect. "If that's OK, I mean!" She calls out, escaping into the tunnel networks, the tight, warm spaces hiding her away from the Swarm's sight.

    "So, this is what became of the covenant of the flesh." That chattering voice of the Meddler bounces off the walls as he retreats into the Swarm again.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "I can't believe I'm losing a game of seduction to a dead man!" Lilith bemoans to a tunnel; her voice echoes down the cavernous halls, enveloping her. "You need to make me better, Abathur!"

    Lilith knew he could hear her, and she was too frustrated for sugary tones. "You need to fix this." Her voice is dead quiet, no pretence offered for the Ur-Sequencer. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Get a hold of yourself. "No, I got cocky. I pushed too far because I thought I was in control."

    Theatrics would get her nowhere with Abathur or the Queen; instead, she needed to think. "I let my emotions get in the way of my goals. I am not a child who needs to throw tantrums." She called out, feeling the need to prove herself, to show she was learning. "I was too foolhardy. Why can't I focus!"

    Then she took a deep breath. "I thought I knew... at least." Her voice remained flat and monotone; she was resigned. There was nothing left on her mind but to win, Kerrigan's violence instilling her with determined resolve. "I will listen this time."

    In the Sequencer's realm, there is none of the odd presence of a mind watching over her shoulder, nor the uncomfortable sense of constant noise always present in a hive. No drones passing by, nothing but the silence of the creature, of the monster itself. It unsettled her, the quiet felt stifling, as if it were pressing in from every angle to contain her.

    "Change of body, complete," a voice announces with the growling timbre of Abathur, making Lilith shift and realize he is right behind her, filling the passageway with his black, smooth flesh, multitudes of eyes, and green bioluminescence casting everything in an ethereal light. Truly, he is an Elder of the Swarm, a primal presence almost godly in its weight.

    "Change of mind, in progress," he continues, awaiting the infested woman's response, lurking in the half-light so dark that even Zerg eyes can barely make out the details.

    "I just need to steel myself somehow," Lilith muses, wishing that her knowledge could actually help her with Kerrigan for once. She stares at Abathur, willing him to do something, anything. "She'd come around if she just had a second to think."

    She looks away to examine the walls closer. "Where am I?"

    "This is a place of disunity," his hands intertwine and separate, "Here, forged your separation, tore you from Swarm," the Sequencer utters, reaching out a limb to grab Lilith's leg before accelerating through the slick tunnels, covering ground at a pace best reserved for motor vehicles. Panicking, Lilith scrabbles at the creep, but before she can process the change in scenery, she's released in a cavernous chamber. The same bioluminescent green welts surrounded her, blistering over infinite furrow-fractal scarring caused by lightning strikes. She recognized them from the city, a sign the Queen of Blades had made war.


    "Hive, before discovery. Bolstered to greatest observed extent, insufficient to resist Queen of Blades," Abathur begins, his storytelling offering a welcome reprieve given the vast number of tales he holds. He rears up and out of the tunnel at his full length, moving so quietly yet swiftly that Lilith has trouble keeping track of him.

    "Body, outdated," he declares confidently. "Neverborn, not." A hypodermic finger raises, pointing at Lilith's forehead without penetrating it. "Entity in Essence, it is a parasite, force it to be a symbiote," Abathur states, his voice carrying the certainty of a creature sure of its direction.

    "Change is you," the words follow his retreat into a tunnel network. "Organism Abathur has given means," his declaration echoes for the last second he is within the chamber, his eyes vanishing into the dark and leaving Lilith alone with her thoughts.

    Abathur's stories bring clarity. If he couldn't protect himself here, with his best efforts, how could he help Lilith? The only advantage she had was the Neverborn, and the reason the Neverborn chose her was because... Because...

    Because I was entertaining, part of the allure was the romance, wasn't it? She pondered internally, realizing she had largely forgotten about Manth, though Manth had been there through every triumph with Kerrigan. The pink swirl in the pool, the assisting hand amongst other daemons—it was challenging not to trust something so consistently helpful.

    "I'm in it for the love, lovely," its voice is decidedly luxurious, as if woven from velvet honey, teetering on the edge of masculinity for the moment, clearly revelling in something profound within the expanse of Lilith's mind. "Love is rare, and the love that matters is even rarer." A pink haze forms at the edge of her vision, Manth's presence enveloping her like a syrupy blanket as they converse, the voice shifting to a more feminine cadence with each sentence. "And I'm in it for you. This new, beautiful, complex entity that desires so dearly."

    "Can I make your wishes come true, Lilith?" It proposes with a devilish tone, a hand metaphorically outstretched and waiting in her mind's eye.

    "I think we should talk it out first," she responds to the ether, settling back down. "Clearly, you want something."

    "Plenty," it replies with an imagined smile, whispering into her ears, the sound rippling from one to the other. "I will feel what you feel, taste what you taste, touch what you touch. I'll know everything." "And you~," it elongates the last word with a voice as smooth as silk, "will know me just as intimately. You'll experience the infinite pleasures and infinite pains I've endured, every disjointed fragment of memory I've garnered over so-so-so long"


    "You'll have my power at your fingertips. The power to battle that which nearly defeated your Queen. The power to stand before her without that helpless visage. To battle her enemies, to hear her battle cries with your own ears." Its voice gets more and more excited as it talks, tinges of pleasure in every syllable, bright and beautiful.

    "Together? What use is winning if I don't actually get to enjoy it?" Lilith asks.

    "You'll be at the controls; I'll be just over your shoulder," the creature answers with a giggling, young tone.

    "I only have one rule." She picks up a rock, throwing it in the air and catching it. "Kerrigan's not a toy. We do what we need, and not a single iota more."

    "And I have just one demand in return for yours." It lets many moments extend the weight of its utterance. "Do everything you want. Do it to me, to your Queen, to your fellows. Never stop for temperance."

    Something like soft, long-fingered hands rests on Lilith's shoulders after it whispers that extensive declaration. "Anything else, lovely?"

    There's a glint in the light, something that caught her eye, and she looked down to see a coin. "Huh..." She says quietly aloud under her breath. "Call it heads or tails." She then flipped the coin in the tunnel.

    "Head, of course," It chuckles at the off-colour joke as the coin tumbles in the air.

    Lilith reached out and snatched the coin, slapping it to her wrist. With a craned neck, she peeked and smiled at the unknown result. "Alright, it's a deal."

    Lightning rips into Lilith, crawling down her spine at the speed of light as it catches every nerve on the way down before spilling completely through her. Her back arches and a strangled gasp leaves her powerful lungs as carapace flexes. When it hits her core, it explodes like a depth charge, sending powerful cascading ripples that make her toes clench and her jaw lock.

    Memories of an infinite lifetime, a billion experiences. Lovers she's never met touching her tenderly, flings she never cared for in a million different settings spent below or atop her—no, atop Manth. Lilith's experience, her exposure to the Swarm is the only reason she can differentiate between the flows of memory, keep herself Lilith.

    Shivering, purple wisps raise her into the air as it keeps going, far beyond stamina, far beyond resistance, beyond any mortal extent. Pink flame spills from her in curtains, filling the room with a powerful, fae glow. Runes carved in the walls pulsing with her desperate gasps, coating every inch before in an instant, it all stops.

    Falling, she lands on her back without a drop of pain, too overwhelmed, symbols carved by the fire across the cavern chamber. "Look at us, beautiful." Manth's voice is adoring, like a lover, parent, teacher, and fan all at once.

    She spends a moment crumpled on the floor, gasping, dripping, and tingling, before she begs with unintelligible desperation.

    Acquiescing to its partner's will, the pink haze grows overtop her again and sends stuttering paroxysms of pleasure and pain in shocking waves through Lilith, shaking her almost to pieces in the long, terrifying instants where sanity is on its edge, threatening to slip down the edge and fall away into nothing.

    It seems it won't ever stop; it seems this is it. And that's when it does, in a sharp instant of mixed relief. "We have a Queen to woo, lovely," Manth's voice leaks into her ears.

    The aftershocks take minutes to finally subside, radiating from deep within.

    She continued to lay there, unable to do anything but quiver. Her mind slowly piecing itself back together. Ragged breaths became smoother, calmer, until finally, a quiet relaxed calm came over her. "Thank you…" Her footing was uneven when she stood, and Lilith didn't want to risk taking a step lest she collapse.

    "Oh god, Lover, I think this was an amazing idea," Lilith gasped before doubling over and dry heaving, feeling her stomach retch as she made choking noises from the overwhelming... Everything. "Do you think Abathur sensed that it worked?"

    "I'd hope so," Manth chuckles. "We were loud, and not just because of your screams." Pink further recedes, falling into her skin and balling up somewhere in her Essence.

    Seconds later, a silent rush catches Lilith's new ears, Abathur following the noise by half a breath. The colossal wyrm observes the room with many eyes, committing a thousand thousand runes to memory. "Process, successful. Zerg can infest, Warpspace," he says, moving closely to look at every inch of Lilith, not daring to touch yet.

    Nothing feels real; it's all a dream, and she's the star. She takes an aggressive step forward, pushing her hands out. With a low, melodic coo, she said, "Am I your greatest achievement yet?"

    "Now, yes," the closest Abathur will ever come to admittance as fingers rake across carapace, trying to take samples and failing as the peerless surface rejects even his grip. "Sample, difficult," he complains as the glow of Lilith's eyes shines pink upon him, like flames.

    "Carapace durability, statistically improbable," the Ur Sequencer says. "Neverborn, path forwards. Must be assimilated." His claws can't manage, no matter how much he tries.

    "If you make everyone like me, you're not going to have a Zerg life; we'll tear each other apart in a week," she nearly trips as Abathur slinks backwards away from the seemingly dangerous woman.

    "Yes," Abathur responds. "Not like you. Too unstable. Refinement required."

    "Good. A reward then, here, try getting a sample from inside. Like a tooth." She opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue, letting a long line of slick drool ooze out. It luridly dripped down to her carapace, a single thread.

    The offer lures in Abathur like a moth to a flame. Long hypodermic needle-fingers reach into her mouth and gently scrape once, twice, and thrice before starting their retreat.

    She pouted in response, "I wasn't going to bite… hard."

    "Difficult to believe," the Ur-Sequencer answers, swallowing the sample and beginning to inspect it even now.

    "I want to ride you like a horse. Do you vibrate?" She was already attempting to climb on his back, rushing him manically with a giggle.

    Abathur is slow, unused to reactions at this speed as Lilith rushes up his back, pressing him down with her weight. "Spine not made for weight, cease." His frame flattens, limbs reaching up to grab at the woman.

    "There's my lovely~," Manth's voice resonates at the frequency of sweetness as it merely observes.

    "How do you even stand then? I'm what, 55 kilos tops," she says, shifting to a side-saddle position, kicking both legs over one side with her hands in her lap.

    "Mineral hardened skeleton! Ninety-eight-kilogram body mass!" Abathur audibly complains.
    His limbs scrabble on her smooth carapace until they catch her ankle, ripping Lilith off from him and placing her on the ground, getting distance rapidly as he retreats across his creep and into a tunnel.

    "Good, now you know how much structural integrity you need!" She snatched her hand out to try and grab a tendril. "Don't make me walk! Please!" But she misses.

    Speaking from the tunnel, "Current form, appreciable improvement. Present before Queen of Blades for active test." Abathur's voice echoes in the chambers, his realm even in the Swarm. The slithering stops, and slowly a limb extends from a tunnel nearly completely the opposite from the one Lilith saw him enter. She is suddenly dragged at speed through tunnels combing into one another until she is released in the flesh of the Ur-Sequencers Pit, slipping out of a side exit and sliding to a halt on the flesh. He is nowhere to be found, likely already working on something else.

    "Oooh~, I think he wants to see what happens when she sees us like this." Manth agrees. Up here, Lilith can hear everything. Listen into the swarm's chatter with an effort of focus, and most importantly, smell her true love in the air, taste her direction, feel in her heart where she is despite the distance.

    Attracted by the scent, she finds herself leaving the pit, now left open and unblocked by Zerg. Stepping outside, Lilith follows it until she sees a colossal hatchery billowing steam into the air. Inside, a woman's shape is lit with pink flame.

    Arriving before one of the fleshy doorways that stand far taller than her, Lilith tries to knock gently, but misunderstands her strength, impacting like a ram and spilling the flesh of the door down in a spray of blood that coats all the way to her Queen's feet. "First! Sorry, I didn't realise that would happen. I am very excited. We need to talk. Like adults this time."

    Her head snaps to Lilith and away from the rapidly cooling Essence of her previous victim. Kerrigan snaps out a hand, a powerful psychic grip immediately starts to form on her before a pink burning haze gently pushes it away. "What?" She demands, standing off her throne, ready to engage the threat Lilith shows herself to be.

    "I'm not fighting you. I was a bitch, I'm apologizing, but I'm also not going to be bullied." Lilith snorted and smoking pink miasma flowed around her feet like a lilting fog. "I'm not going to hurt you, but you won't be hurting me unless I want you to. Which I do. Not right now though, God I forgot that we all just wear bikinis all the time. Do you not think that's a little weird? Is that Abathur's thing? Does he have a Terran kink?" She paced back and forth, before stopping bonking herself with her palm. "I'm getting off-topic. I'm sorry."

    She furrowed her eyebrows, to give Kerrigan her best puppy eyes, "Sorry for dissing your ex. I should've known better, they must have been special and important." She tries to smile, completely unaware of how off-kilter and blunt she is right now.

    "What the hell did Abathur do to you!" She demands, marching up to Lilith and grabbing at her throat again. Lilith's arm snaps up and catches Kerrigan's, struggling against it with effort as the Queen stops merely due to shock of being slowed at all. "You have ten seconds to start talking." She growls past their interlocked grips.

    "Hon, this is not the appropriate way to have a conversation. Take a deep breath. We are not Terrans, we have a hive mind and unity because we are better." She doesn't fight her, but she doesn't let Kerrigan choke her either. "Save breath play for later, when we're done talking. I'll even beg. You are still my queen."

    Kerrigan's hand snaps back and away from Lilith as the pink smoke flows upwards, illusory shapes smeared across it. A psionic presence emanates far out of Lilith's normal strength and of a truly peculiar character. "Fine. talk."

    "Cool!" Lilith sat on the floor so that she was beneath Kerrigan's eye level but still in sight. "I should have been more respectful. I've been chasing you around and not treating you like a person. I was more interested in the fantasy; than the reality. It made every moment together extremely awkward and weird. While it was hot, and I liked it, I was also putting you in a terrible position. (The bad kind I mean.) That's not right, I recognize that." She keeps sitting, "How are you feeling?"

    Kerrigan's jaw hung limps as she stared down at the other woman, "What."The words slip out of her in a baffled confusion as it starts to feed into white-hot furious rage.

    "Your feelings, how are you feeling." Lilith said, doing her best to be non-threatening as possible.

    "You aren't serious, I tore you apart and you come back?!" Psychic force gathers behind her furious, enough that even the pink mist begins to ripple and pull away from its unstoppable might. A Daemon's strength was insufficient before the frenzy of the Swarm Queen herself.

    "Yes? I promised." Lilith said, perplexed. "Why would I break a promise?" She braced herself, she knew what she had to do, but it wasn't going to make what happened next more pleasant. Here she comes… She thought to herself.

    Manth stays silent through the exchange, his presence felt in the smoke and mist.

    A rippling traumatic shock slams into Lilith's chest, and she immediately toppled backward, fully winded. Before she had a chance to recover, The Queen of Blades leaped atop the woman and dug the heel of her carapace-covered leg into her chest, keeping Lilith down despite the infernal strength that infested the Daemonhost, cracking the peerless carapace, fracturing ribs beneath.

    "Do you feel like this is—" WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE RIB CAGE? She gasped under the force of the other woman, "helping?"

    "I think you're a threat." She flexes further power into Lilith, making the pressure unbearable, "And that the Swarm needs pruning." Menace is very much implied in every word, threatening the life of every Mind.

    "Is… This" She gasped again, "Easier... Then just asking to be left alone? Not everyone who CAN hurt you is a threat." Ope, there goes another rib. What the fuck lover, I know you can do this. You're a bad ass. Her lungs start to fill with blood, "Kerrigan just because I'm not fighting you doesn't mean I want you to kill me. This won't make you happy."

    Pink smoke slips between the two of them and forces itself down her nose, making her eyes glow for an instant before Manth speaks, "I've got you, lovely."

    Arid desert wraps around ruined concrete and half-collapsed buildings as a woman lurks between them. Scarlet red ponytail slowly falling apart in the noon-day sun as she moves from cover to cover, skin-tight Ghost uniform bloodied and dusty as she chases survival.

    "This is where your Queen was the last human." Zerg move in the corners between buildings, surrounding her from all angles. "And this was when she was last able to care." Sarah Kerrigan, the woman who will be Queen is wildly out of her depth, eyes roving over the surroundings with a ghost visor slipping down over them, showing the unstoppable rush of monsters around her.

    As the swarm descends, reality falls into smoke and unfolds into flesh and carapace, leaving Tarsonis desert behind to return to here. Kerrigan is backed into a wall, claws rending through the sidings as they seek purchase, eyes still overflowing with pink light.
    "Speak to your Queen, speak to Sarah Kerrigan." Manth pushes, pulsing with the power of his acts.

    "Sarah," She says quietly, "Sarah I can't imagine what that was like…" Lilith took a step forward, hesitantly, "No-one deserves what you went through, you are… You shouldn't have been alone then. You shouldn't be alone now. No-one should be alone." Another step, more confident. "I just want to sit with you, you've done everything in your power to kill me, and I'm still here. I'm still happy to be here. Please?"

    Kerrigan slides down against the wall, pink glow fading into drifting smoke from her eyes. "I can't let you." The words tumble from her lips with perhaps half a mind behind them. "Then I can lose someone else." Speaking dazedly, honesty that would never show itself any other way freely rushes from The Queen of Blades.

    "You won't hon, you won't." She creeps down just a bit lower, an inch closer, "It doesn't have to be that serious, we can just be friends for now. I'm… A lot. Too much, sometimes. Just be a part of my family? If something happens, it happens. I only have one rule, just let me stay near you, always? It doesn't have to be anything romantic, you just… You make me feel safe."

    Kerrigan stares, her mind becoming her own by inches. With narrowed eyes and an aggravated tone, she gives another jab at Lilith, "Annoy me again and Abathur won't save you." She stops tensing, fully sliding down and sprawling the bone wings freely. In the spaces between the both of them, a presence grins luxuriously, proud. Lilith's hand snakes near, hovering inches above Kerrigan's for seconds before she notices. When she does, orange orbs visibly roll with a scoff, but she doesn't fight the grip that forms a breath later.

    "Hey Sarah, what does a lesbian bring to the third date?" Lilith smiled, and squeezed her hand gently, hoping for a smile.

    "Shut up Lilith." Sarah's reaction is less entertaining, leaning her head against the wall behind her and allowing memories to overwhelm her. Memories of a different time.

    "A moving truck." She looked at her for a reaction, but found nothing for the now. Of holding another hand in another construction. Cold steel and buzzing television the background of that place, the hand rougher, larger and dearly desired. Lilith is struck by the feelings, slipping past the other woman's skin and into her. A view into her private world no one else has.

    And yet, even there, she can't yet find herself, the memory of another consuming this moment with bittersweetness.

    A few moments later, but not nearly as many as it should be, "Ok but what the fuck, why DID Abathur make us have bone-heels and carapace bikinis?"

    Manth… She thought, disgusted with herself, We have to figure out how to make my carapace… Blue.

    "Perhaps I have better solutions, lovely." Her now constant companion answers. Working his own magic in the background, away from sight.

    She nodded, she couldn't think of anything else, Hit me with your best shot lover.

    Something hits both women's noses, subtly spreading a cumin seed scent with hints of malt and spice. The reminiscing Kerrigan, for once in so long cracks an honest, pleased smile, squeezing Lilith's hand back.

    I was desperately hoping for a plan that didn't involve me becoming her ex… But she couldn't be mad, not when she saw Sarah smile.

    "Sacrifices for results." Manth answers gleefully, "I know how to get to her heart, you just have to follow the dance." Its voice is still excited, even despite the time spent in quiet. The depths of her willingness spread in Lilith's mind, finding no easy end to what she'd give if it could win her love's heart.

    Kerrigan's silence continues as Lilith leans her head on her. Regaling her with stories of interesting Zerg behaviours, flowers she found, and stories from her past. None of it is meaningful, just a babbling brook of chatter with no rhyme or reason. A pure wall of noise, letting her know she was happy in the moment.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Zrug stormed into the evolution pit seething, "Abathur. What have you done with Lilith!" His hundred-tonne voice sweeping into the pit with all the fury of a Warmind.

    "Nothing recent." He answers, escaping a tunnel as the scream of a creature being improved or reduced to biomass echoes. "Lilith, proof of concept alteration, several cycles old." Abathur explains, fingers oddly moving in time with distant roars as Essence work continues even in conversation.

    "I do not believe you. She is different. I can feel it. The whole Swarm can feel it." Zrug's tone demands Abathur say something to acquiesce, anything to appease.

    "Belief, inconsequential." He crushes that demand with honed practice, deadly calm pushing aside anger and replacing it with logic. "Future of Swarm, proof in encounter with Queen of Blades."

    "And if you are wrong?" Zrug's voice falls low, acquiring a conspiratorial character as if the Queen of Blades was listening already, "Lilith has already proven herself unstable and irrational on multiple occasions in her obsession with the Queen already we have lost a Mind and yet she will not stop." His explanation seems to have little effect on the Zerg cross from him.

    "Future of Swarm, previously unreachable." The Ur-Sequencer states, something like pride welling, "Unity of Purity of Essence and Purity of Form. Power and change, now possible." That something swells into true pride, a craftsman's pride at a grand creation, a project with no limits.

    "Risks, calculated." And a craftsman's surety, having no fear in discovery.

    "Then we will just have to wait and see." The Warmind states, "When the time comes, I hope you have a way to stop your projects, Sequencer." The presence slips back into the Swarm after that, leaving Abathur alone in the dark of his pit.
     
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