Swarm Queen Strains: Warden or Matriarch


  • Total voters
    53
Scourge B- Tomahawk
Next Scourge strain.

I don't own RWBY or Starcraft.


-----

The Leviathan went to the next destination. This world was composed of three or four large continents. As another note, Kerrigan could also sense another psionic-like power emitting strongly from the planet.

"Remnant," Abathur zoomed into the planet along with Kerrigan. Together, they found forest where black creatures with white masks roamed around, resembling wolves and bears. They fighting among each other and pounding the ground as if something irritated them.

"Terran civilization infested by Grimm, strong appetite for destruction."

A loud screech could be heard from less than a mile away. A huge black Grimm resembling a raven descended from the sky, shadowing the Grimm on the ground. The Beowolves and Ursas converged onto the huge bird as it flapped its wings gently above a tall rock. With its talons clinging onto two tall points, it rested its wings while facing the sky.

"Nevermore," Abathur identified the Grimm creature. "Large flying assault unit. Highly durable, swoops in to attack ground targets."

Two more Nevermores in equivalent size came in and landed on other rocks nearby. The leading turned right and screeched again, directing the ground Grimm. As the Nevermores rested, the Beowolves and Ursas slowly picked up movement towards the given direction. Kerrigan and Abathur focused on the same direction; a significant distance away were soldiers with white and metallic-grey armor. A troops outside appeared completely mechanical due to the black visors, but the ones inside with shown faces were clearly human.

Returning to where the Grimm were, the ground forces vanished into the forest. The Nevermores continued to rest, watching over the area.
"Automated Terran forces near, will distract lesser Grimm. Nevermores vulnerable."

A small leviathan descended into Remnant's atmosphere, spitting out many Scourges from its pods and orifices. The small flying Zerg got into formation, waiting for Kerrigan's orders.

"Kill the Nevermores quickly. Collect their essence."

The Scourge automatically went cruised through the skies with killing intent. The Nevermores nearby were clearly sensed by their emotions and behavior. Screeching at the quite distant intruders, the Nevermores took wing.

It was obvious that the Nevermores were little matched against the more functional Scourges. Even so, they picked up speed and went straight on against the explosive Zerg. One Nevermore struck the first Scourge with its beak in attempt to eat it. However, the Scourge merely exploded upon contact its beak, blinding the Nevermore and disfiguring its face. The Nevermore stopped as the the more Scourges blasted it apart before the Zerg went on against the other two. Two Scourges clipped both wings of one Nevermore, sending crashing onto the ground. The other evaded a direct assault, but the more nimble Scourges pursued it like heatseekers. One Scourge collided with the whipping tail and shattered its back legs. Another smashed into its body, sending the remaining wings and head drifting into the air.

While the remains of the Nevermores were still airborne, the Scourges attempted to collect its essence. However, it was quite difficult as they corpses started dissolving away. Some scourge barely had enough time to reach the larger pieces while the rest completely missed the smaller ones. Though aware due to work with the Protoss, Abathur was equally frustrated with the difficulty.

"Require additional Grimm essence. Acquired essence temporary, dissolves quickly."

Just then, a large creature was sensed. Incoming was an even bigger Nevermore coming to the area. It was unknown if it was a parent or not, but it was clearly not happy to see its brethren missing. Griffin-like creatures escorting the huge Grimm didn't look very friendly either.

"Great Nevermore located. Accompanied by Griffons. Eliminate."

The swarm of Scourges flew in towards the Nevermore and its escorts. Upon sight of their brethren's killers, they angrily charged against the Zerg forces.

The first clashes were with the Griffons, which were predictably explosive as they exploded upon contacting with the Scourges. Most of the Griffons behind the first line became aware of the danger and lifted up to avoid getting easily killed by the explosive flyers. Three of them tried catching them with their talons. The Scourges exploded anyway and blew off their feet, taking their wings and the Griffons themselves with them. Only one Griffon successfully got away by barely clipping a Scourge, causing it to explode long after it was far from distant. That one was only met with another Scourge that collided head-on.

The Nevermore and the remaining Griffons that circled it were in a bind, being surrounded by the explosive Zerg forces. The Griffons tried to act like shields to protect it from the living missiles as the huge Grimm tried strike one with its beak. Two Scourges it contacted with exploded, which only cracked beak and forced its head upward. With the remaining Griffons gone, the Scourges poured in onto the Nevermore. The massive Grimm responded by flapping with its wings, causing most of the Scourges to collide with one another in a huge chain reaction.

Surrounded by the huge display of Zerg exploding Zerg and the surrounding dust clouds, it made an Immelman to escape. However, a number of Scourges were still alive from the friendly fire and powered straight through the smoke. Before the Great Nevermore could react, the Scourges were already cruising towards it. Two of them exploded on its tail, pushing it down from its altitude. Three more Scourges then plunged into its belly, blasting it into many huge pieces, the majority of the remains being the wings and head.

A fresh swarm of following Scourges and the remaining ones up front quickly swooped in and started consuming the dissolving remains of the dead Grimm. This time, it was more successful and Abathur had time to analyze the essence before they faded from existence.

"Essence harvest successful. Returning to staging point for assimilation."

The Scourges followed orders after the Grimm remains disappeared. They all made a long trip back to the Leviathan, entering through the pores they came out.

As the Scourges were beginning metamorphosis, Abathur and Kerrigan sensed new forces on the ground below. Two groups.

"Special Terran forces incoming," Abathur started with the first, which looked like four young kids wandering aimlessly through the forest. "Hunters and Huntresses, highly proficient in killing Grimm." The other ground forces was a set of metallic gray robots with energy rifles, lead by ordinary soldiers, huge walkers, and VTOL aircraft. "Atlas Security, main military forces of Atlas. Large in number, standard killing efficiency against Grimm."

"Well then," Kerrigan eyed more on the Atlas forces and Grimm. "Let's how they fare against the Zerg."

Just then, the new Scourges bursted out the staging Leviathan.

"New strain ready for deployment. Seeker Scourges ready to strike."

-----

Walking through the forest were the four young Hunters and Huntresses. A short, blonde in knight's armor was staring at the map with two of his comrades. Will a read head girl was distracted elsewhere on the map while a taller man with short black hair went back to reality.

"Uhh, Jaune, I don't think we're going in the right direction."

"I swear, Ren. I know what I'm doing. I can tell you for sure that somewhere- not on this map- through the woods, over the mountains up ahead, and across a bridge that was never used twenty years ago, there's a shortcut where we can cut out some time...to Haven."

"Well," the red and black lolita girl tried to comment. "We're here. In the woods. So...where's the path to the mountains?"

"Why, I'm sure it's gotta be here around somewhere, Ruby. I've been on this road several times by now."

"More like we walked this place several times by now," Nora joked.

"You mean those mountains?" Lie Ren pointed to the mountains Jaune was mentioning.

"I-I guess," Jaune said in embarrassment. "Must've gotten carried away and went ahead too early."

And exploding then appeared right in front of them, shaking all four of them, though they easily regained balance. With everyone jerking to find where it was coming from, they could only look up to see flyers up above in a swarm. They could also see some gunfire in air as some more continued down blasted the land far away from them. What shocked them more, besides the exploding forces heading toward them, was how much they were NOT Grimm.

Jaune had the time to give a simple order.

"Take cover everyone?"

-----

A swarm of the evolved Scourges were making their way down a hail of gunfire coming from the Atlas forces below. These were purple in color and had additional talons on the bottom and top. As one of the new Scourges aimed its new talons down, they suddenly sprouted wings to begin descending. It additionally spit out a black exhaust that further increased its speed toward the planet's surface. Like a guided missile, it struck an Atlas Paladin walker, the nearby soldiers both human and robot sent flying.

The charging ground Grimm, now trying to run away, were also getting bombarded by the new weapons.

"Tomahawk strain. Dive bombs into enemy, capable of hitting ground targets. Area of effect given."

The Atlas soldiers continued to fight back against the hailstorms live fusion missiles coming at them. Another Paladin nearby got destroyed with the Atlesian Knight-200s in close proximity being ripped apart by the blast. An Atlesian solder fired upon another descending Tomahawk; it was enough for it destroy it before hitting its target, but the resulting was still able to blind him and shatter his helmet. Another set of troops got annihilated by another missile as did another Paladin. Three of the nearby gunships got shellacked by the Tomahawks that used their normal way of attacking.

The Grimm ended up getting sandwiched between not only the Zerg, but the four young Huntsmen team nearby. The four young warriors were somewhat running as well, trying to avoid being targeted by the sudden Zerg forces. But that didn't mean they could take their eyes off the Grimm in pursuit. Only Jaune had his eyes away, searching for trees or rocks useful enough to protect them from the alien dive bombers.

"Ren," he pointed towards a huge tree. "Take Nora up there and keep the Grimm off! I'll go with Ruby!"

"What are these flying...exploding buggy thingys!?" Ruby tilted to the Zerg overhead.

"I don't know, but they sure aren't Grimm! Now get to cover!"

The two duos went off to two respective trees; Ren and Ruby used their weapons to grapple onto one thick branch before pulling up their allies. They then ducked as they focused on the Grimm trying to climb up.

The bombardment from the exploding Zerg already crept up to thin out the Grimm's numbers from behind. It wasn't long before the Huntsman team managed to sweep up the remains. Just as Ruby took out the last Beowolf Grimm with her converted rifle, she turned to the evolved Scourges above them.

Firing a couple rounds, the red-hooded girl destroyed a number of Zerg before they figured out where they were hiding. Several Tomahawks that were in line-of-sight coordinated an attack on the tree and overwhelmed them. Having only three destroyed before impact, Jaune took the defensive use with his shield. Pulling Ruby behind his shield, they hid from the inevitable impact of three more Tomahawks that bombarded the area.

"Jaune! Ruby!" Nora called out upon the sight. The other two were being distracted by three Tomahawk cruising after them. Using her grenade launcher, she got a lucky hit and destroy all three of them in a chain reaction.

Just to be sure, Ren fired another hail of bullets through the smoke to ensure no ambushes. His assumptions were correct as two more chain reactions of explosions occurred. Nora stepped in for a strike where Ren's attacks missed, switching her weapon into a hammer. As expected, a final Tomahawk burst through the smoke and Nora swung her hammer...only to miss...as it was not aimed after them. Quickly reacting, the two shielded themselves as the Tomahawk collided with the tree trunk, blowing them off onto the ground.

Kerrigan could still sense their vital signs. But with her regulations, which Abathur was aware of by her instruction, their test over with them. The Tomahawks left over pulled away just as the remaining Atlas forces were finished off; the last couple gunships and concentration of Atlesian soldiers eliminated by the Tomahawks. With no more enemies left worth facing, all the Zerg regrouped to the Leviathan as it took off for orbit.

"Special Terran forces defeated. Scourge experiments ended. Preparing sequences for Swarm integration. Returning to evolution pit."

-----

Reviewing Strains:

Volley Strain- Deriving from mitoscarab essence, originally for banelings. Decentralized nervous system now integrated into Scourge.
Volley now composed of three lesser spawn attached to core, separate prematurely upon detonation. Increases chances of successful assault. Maximum attack power doubled. Effective countermeasure against area-of-effect spells, reactive armor, reactive weaponry.

Tomahawk Strain- Study from avis-class specimens. Provides Scourge diving ability, hits ground targets with blast radius.
Tomahawk origin, Grimm Nevermore, strong appetite for destruction. Attracted to negative emotions, anger, violence. Killing intent and aggressiveness inherited by Grimm assimilation. Tomahawk more fierce, damage increased, instability increased. Must keep distance to avoid unnecessary casualty.

Sequences ready for integration. Await decision.
 
Roach A- Ravager
Apologies for delays. Next pairing. Neither Cross Ange or Starcraft are owned.

Abathur: Roach strain ready for morph-based augmentation. Strain constitution already completed, located in test zones. Testing areas at locations of interest, staged by Zerg participants. Demonstrate new strains when ready.


The Leviathan arrived at another planet. It shared some resemblance to Earth with two continents and large, blue bodies of water, but there were significant changes to the landscape.

"Planet Mana."

Their focus came to the largest body of water. As they zoomed in, they found a small island with military installations based around it.

"Arzenal, remote military base. Distant from mainland. Primary defense against Dragons."

On one side of the facility, several flying units launched from the base. They resembled flying motorcycles with an exposed cockpit and an arsenal of weapons. Some of the units transformed right away into a flying human mech form. Other than flying in this type of walking mode, these machines weren't anything new compared to what the Terrans in her world developed.

The new units joined up with its allies, which formed defensive lines against the swarms of Dragons headed their way.

"Norma, persecuted terran strain. Forced to fight against Dragon units."

Zerg forces were also in the area. Composed of only flyers, they were attacked by the Norma and Dragon forces alike. The flying machines gunned down some of the Mutalisks and Scourges despite them being ordered never to attack the Norma. Instead, the Zerg were only directed to fight the large Dragon units. Abathur shifted the focus to the main island.

"Three important targets detected."

The first target was the location where the aircraft were launching out. On top, Kerrigan could see a few shuttles, likely for transporting personnel and equipment.

"Shuttle bay. Launches transports. Collects remains of defeated Dragons."

The second target looked like a mansion for the facility. It was the only non-military structure located on the island.

"Prime Estate. Establishes authority on grounds. Destroy to cripple political foothold."

The last target was one of the larger exposed structures. The antennas and communications hub was proof that is was the center of military operations.

"Command Center. Core of Arzenal defense operations. Once destroyed, Swarm test successful."

"Very well," Kerrigan understood the main operations. "Where are your Roaches?"

The Leviathan's view shifted to one of the nearby islands. Eight roaches were deployed, ready for command in the experiment.

"Roach specimens arrived successfully. Evolution ready, taken from primal zerg essence. However, Ravager strain unable to burrow. Targets out of range."

Kerrigan changed her focus back to Arzenal. Most of the facilities were high above the ground as if the whole place had nothing but cliffs. Almost. On one side, she could see a shoal made of rocks along the facility. It was a rough area, but enough for them to get in range.

"Have the roaches burrow underground. Traverse the ocean and up to that beach, then begin the evolution process."


Far away from the island base, a specific blue machine was firing multiple shots from a sniper rifle. Although it was a slow firing rate, the power was enough to take out the small, pink dragons that came by the masses.

Salia Tereshkova was leading the 1st Para-mail squadron in response to the sudden wave of Dragons. That excluding the endless stream of flying creatures she never saw in her life. Although they weren't attacking the Para-mails, she still assumed they were dangerous and her commanding officer had them marked as enemies as well.

Just what is the Commander thinking? What are these things?

By no means was Salia the type to question her commander's order, especially when she idolized the woman since she was a child. But as she fired more shots, killing a Mutalisk close by, she had to wonder if it was worth making enemies of something they didn't know.

Worse yet, rumor said that two of their best mail riders have deserted the island to someplace. They have yet to figure out where, but the Inspector General was freaking out since the First Princess Misty was gone as well. Which meant they had far less firepower than they normally had, which was a problem considering her the lack of casualties on their side for the past few months.

"Roasile, continue to back up the 2nd Squadron attacking the unknown creatures!" she commanded a yellow Para-mail with two cannons. "Vivian, cover Chris and Ersha as they keep hitting the larger Dragons!"

"Yes, ma'am!" a young voice came from a speedy pink vehicle.

As they continued to fight off against the enemy on both fronts, Salia continued to snip more of the smaller dragons as they approached their allies. In the process, one of the larger green Dragons broke through the defensive line. Even with the bombardment from the orange and green Paramails form Salia's squadron, it continued to approach Salia.

Then suddenly, the green Dragon's head was blasted apart. The attack obviously came from above, but the explosion was creamy neon yellow and too big for any known weapon they had. Thus it had to be another faction besides them to have killed the Dragon.

Then another explosion occurred. This time, it came from their side was a Para-mail was struck. While the vehicle didn't entirely explode, it was plunging into the ocean, which made the pilot's fate uncertain.

"Salia-sama!" Vivian called out. "Something just fell from the sky!"

"That was Irma's vehicle!" a young voice came from the green Para-mail.

Great, now another problem at hand.

"Mei will handle the salvaging operations," Salia ordered. "Everyone, continue fighting off the invaders. I'll search the skies for any more-"

More bolts then descended from above, hitting Para-mails and Dragons alike. It wasn't long before the Zerg turned its attention to the island as well.


The new Roaches were already on the rocky shores. Well, they could no longer be called Roaches anymore, now that they've evolved into their new form. Instead of their thick shells, they had a glowing orifice on their back that adjusted its angle.

"Ravager, taken from primal essence. Morphed from Roach, artillery unit."

The eight Ravagers continued to fire their new weapons deployed from their backs. Each round was a large bolt of neon yellow-green bile at a high velocity into the air. They then descended onto their target locations hitting whatever it came across. Both Dragons and Paramails were hit by these acidic weapons.

"Ravager fires corrosive bile. Impacts target location. Able to hit air units."

After demonstrating the Ravagers' power, the Zerg creatures walked along the shoreline. Despite firing multiple rounds, Kerrigan did not hear any communication regarding the Arzenal residents locating their position. It was also fortunate that there were no weapons guarding the shores, which allowed them to sneak their way close to one of their first targets.

The location of the mansion made it easy for the Ravagers. Each fired their corrosive bile at different times, but all of them headed towards the fancy installation. Within the next minute, they all impacted on multiple sections of the estate. Seconds went by as the mansion burned down and some of the taller sections collapsed from the resulting fires and lack of structural integrity.

"Prime Estate destroyed. Arzenal forces aware of Ravagers."

It was then that the Arzenal residents noticed the Zerg's presence on the island.

"Attention!" a commanding voice came from the bridge as alarms went off. "The unknown force has breached our defenses! Deploy all defenders! Search the bottom of the facility for the intruders! I repeat-"

As the officer from the command bridge called out to the entire island, Kerrigan gave her own orders.

"The enemy knows we're here. Damage their vehicles if necessary, but proceed to the hanger bay. Destroy all those shuttles on the runway."

The Ravagers obeyed as they continued along the shoreline. It would be a while before they could reach the next closest target.

Along one curve for the rocky shore, a gun port opened up, bringing out a manually driven cannon controlled by one of the Normas. Discovering the Ravager's presence, it fired a few shots at the Zerg. The resulting gunfire attracted a pair of Para-mails to their location. Landing by one of the cliffs, they discovered the alien creatures and opened fire.

While the machine guns didn't do much against the Ravagers' hides, the cannon and later the Para-mails' grenades did significant damage. One of the Ravagers was killed in the attack before it could fire off another shot. Two of them fire their bile in response. One of them went after the cannon turret, forcing the users to bail before the stationary gun exploded. The other shot aimed for the two Para-mails by the cliff. The two machines expected the attack and wisely separated to avoid the blast. Despite that, the corrosive bile blasted the ground, scattering its acid and exploding debris against the two units. While pilots weren't harmed, the vehicles weren't in any condition to fight as they fell apart.

"Corrosive Bile impacts ground targets, heavy damage in small area."

The Ravagers continued their path of destruction as they went around a large arc on the shoreline. Three more Para-mails descended and hovered by the water as they fired their rifles against the Zerg. Another Ravager was killed right after they responded with more shots of bile. The first four shots damaged two of the Para-mails by the wings, splashing them into the ocean. The third was lucky enough to avoid them and responded with more shots against the Ravagers. Unfortunately, the next three shots focused on the remaining flying vehicle, with one lucky shot smashing it by the head.

As the Ravagers approached where the Para-mails launched, two more ports opened up to reveal more gun turrets. They fired upon the approaching Zerg without hesitation despite the long distance. As the inaccurate shots impacted around the Ravagers, they responded with their weapons that easily destroyed the turrets; only one made it out while the other went down with the gun.

With launch bay within range, the evolved Roaches were more than ready to begin their bombardment. Like they did with the estate, they fire their bile into the air, aiming for the runway on top of the multi-level platforms. Multiple energy-driven transport ships were docked within several of the nearby hangers, which became their primary targets.

The first few shots hit one of the hangers, causing it to burst into flames and corrosive acid that splashed the area. Some shots missed while a couple impacted upon two transports distant from the others. It wasn't long before the next wave came in. Two more hangers were destroyed and another caused a chain reaction where a line of five parked transports exploded consecutively. The entire runway was a wreck when the bombardment ended.

"Shuttle bay destroyed. Dragon forces retreating. Command Center remains."

Abathur reported as nearby, the army of Dragons was reduced to a remaining few that decided to retreat. The Zerg played a large part as they already wiped out most of the Dragons despite being also attacked by the Para-mails.

Kerrigan listened in to the communications and personnel within the last target.

"Commander Jill, all transports on the runway have destroyed!"

"Damage has been confirmed. The Rosenblum Estate has suffered critical damage."

"The estate…"

"Ah, hell. Screw this crap...Attention all mail squadrons! Return to Arzenal immediately! Abandon combat against the Dragons and defend the island by all means necessary!"

When the commanding officer named Jill recalled all the Para-mails, the Ravagers were already closing in on the bridge. Five more turrets appeared from the cliffs and fired upon the Ravagers. Several shots managed to kill another one of the creatures and the others suffered heavy cannon fire. Two got off some shots to destroy the turrets, but Para-mails were already closing in.

Mutalisks were already trailing behind the returning squadrons. The machines fired upon retreating as the blue unit attacked the closest Zerg to cover their escape. The Mutalisks additionally covered the incoming Overlords that were en route to the Ravagers.

The Roach variants drew closer to the Command Center, already firing shots to destroy the remaining gun emplacements. A few more Para-mails descended closer to the water to fire, killing another Ravager with their weapons. Mutalisks then struck them from behind as a remaining Ravager fired another shot against the machines.

The evolved Roaches reached the end of the shoreline, yet the Command center was distant. Regardless, the Zerg artillery units fired their bile, with just enough range to reach the facility. Like the other two targets, only a few shots were needed to smash apart the installation. While they did not hit the bridge, they still destroy the communications relay and several sections of the facility. Even if the commanding officers survived, the facility was no longer suitable for operation.

"Final target destroyed. Ravager test successful."

The Zerg flyers started to pull back as the experiment finished. The remaining Para-mails returned to the heavily damaged installations, allowing the Overlords to retrieve the new Roaches. As the Zerg left the battlefield, Abathur continued.

"All preliminary conditions for second Roach morph complete. Shifting focus to mainland for next experiment."



Coming Strain #2: Survivor Strain
 
Back
Top