I own nothing that is not original...
Thanks for all the reviews!
Sorry for the slow posting. I've been writing a lot of my Korean stories and that took most of my little remaining free time. However, I hope to get back into writing more of the Swarm of War, and return to writing the next chapter of the Stargate: Galactic Imperium.
Chapter 9
The battle was tied. The Orks and the Zerg units fought each other, literally with teeth and nails and claws. Then came the Ork reinforcement. The mighty Squiggoth roared from the top of the hill. Then with the urgings of its handler, the Squiggoth charged.
'Here comes the MONSTER!'
The Squiggoth charged down the hill, its massive body mass quickly gaining enormous momentum. Its feet shook the earth like an earthquake and the Zerglings and Orks scrambled out of the giant's way as it waded into the sea of battle and death. Nothing could stop this monstrosity as it stomped forward, unhindered by anything in front of it. Yet, I was not so easy to defeat. I knew from the beginning of its existence and I had prepared for it. Immediately, two Corruptors appeared from the clouds and descended toward the Squiggoth.
The Squiggoth had its eyes on the uber-Ultralisk. The Squiggoth was an Ork after all, and it wanted a fight, and all the tiny things down near his feet were not worth its time. It didn't think but it instinctively felt the joys and pleasures of battle, and it knew its target. It never got to the Ultralisk as the Gorgelings and Banelings suddenly popped up all around its feet and crashed themselves at the feet. The Squiggoth felt pain. It never really felt this kind of pain. From the Baneling attack, the Squiggoth suddenly felt pain with each step it took.
The excruciating pain continued up its legs as the acid ate its way up the veins of the creature and ate at its bones. The feet of the Squiggoth was too much for the few Banelings and Gorgelings to completely sever, but they caused enough damage to make it stumble. It did not fall, but it stumbled and lost its momentum, and then it stopped. It no longer wanted to move its feet. The driver did all it could but the creature would not move. As the powerful Ork physiology began to heal the wound, the acid still ate its way up the legs.
'Corruptors! Corruption on the Squiggoth!'
At my mental command, Corruptors came. One came on each side, and sprayed strange acid, different from the Baneling acids. The Corruption acid found its way between the molecular bonds and loosened them. It did not last too long, but it was enough. At that moment, I brought up the two other Ultralisks. They burst out from the ground and charged. The Squiggoth was large, and it was large enough for the Corruptors to attack. They strange physiology of the parasite that grows in the Corruptors made them heavily influenced by gravity, therefore capable only of attacking air, and the Squiggoth was big enough and tall enough for the Corruptors to even attempt attacking it.
The Ultralisks charged, and they pointed their Kaiser Blades upward, and skewered the creature in its stomach, and the three Corruptors, including the uber-Corruptor, fired their parasite ammunition at the Squiggoth. Its feet tied up, its stomach punctured and held by two strong large creatures and being attacked by the flying creatures, the Squiggoth screamed and roared in frustration. Although only a fifth of the Corruptor's attacks were capable of actually attacking the Squiggoth, it was enough make holes and craters on the Squiggoth's back.
'Take that, mindless beast!'
The Squiggoth had enough. It roared and screamed and began to flail its head in order to shake off the Ultralisks. The Ultralisks had continued to attack using the lesser blades to cut deeper into the Squiggoth's belly. With the Ultralisks continuing to charge into the belly of the bigger beast, the Squiggoth also continued its struggle to free itself. Yet, each struggle made the wound deeper and wider, with the Corruption acid still making the attacks more deadly.
The Orks and the lesser Zerg creatures still fought each other, with the Zerg beginning to show signs of victory. The Ork boys had finally realized the demise of their Warboss and their morals began to break, and a broken army is easier to kill. My Zerg showed no such weakness. Moral is never the problem. The only reason why my Zerg may run away would be to minimize pointless casualties. This was not a pointless casualty. With the battle slowly turning to my side, I had the remaining Banelings and Gorgelings to attack the Orks.
More splashes of acid further weakened the Orks, and with their Squiggoth so disabled, the Orks began to flee, only to be shot down by remaining Hydralisks or chased down by the Zerglings. The Gretchins were wiped out, though they did took out quite a few Zerglings. However, gun-less Gretchins were nothing to my Zerglings in the long run. The Zerglings quickly swarmed at the Ork boys, focusing on the more heavily armed Slugga Boys, intending to disable their gun shooting. Each Ork boy soon found itself swarmed over by one or two Zerglings, and larger Orks were surrounded by even more.
'This should be the end... but I think I missed something... What is it?'
Then the Overseer saw something. It was a dust cloud from the north. There was nothing north. It was just empty grassland between the battle and the village.
'Wait... dust cloud... Unless... AH! The Boarboys!'
I had completely forgotten about the Boarboys. I was so excited about the death of the Warboss and completely synchronized neutralization of the Squiggoth that I had forgotten about the Boarboys. I guess I was distracted by the strange ringing I kept hearing from the Khaydarin crystals, and my human part continued to randomly flood me with emotions and mistakes. I focused my mind and immediately dispatched a counterattack. I just hoped that it would arrive in time.
The uber-Ultralisk and my other uber-ground units burrowed into the ground as the Boarboys came, but I could not have that with the rest of the forces, and thankfully, the stupid Boarboys charged into the random masses of fighting creatures. Their devastating charge crushed both Zerg and Ork, and the red blood from both side carpeted the ground.
'Come on! Faster! Here they are!'
My counterattack arrived. The Mutalisks came. They were sent to south to cut off any escaped Orks, but it appeared that I was not destined to annihilate every Ork in this battle. The Mutalisks came swooping down and fired their Glaive Wurms at Orks.
The fast-spinning, acid-covered parasites were shot out from the rear end of the Mutalisks and dove into the flesh of Ork boys. Their extreme spin as well as the exterior acid tore its way into the Ork body, and then the Glaive Wurm would spew out more acid, and using that explosive excretion of acid, would spin out from the body, going toward the next target as sensed by their primitive and limited nervous systems. Yet, they were so effective against the lightly armored Orks.
When striking the head, the Glaive Wurm could actually kill an Ork with a single shot, and without being bogged down by the masses of muscles in other parts of the body, the Glaive Wurms did more damage to the next target. Soon, my Mutalisks began to feast on the death of the Ork army as their Glaive Wurms dealt the final death-blow to the Waaagh! and its members.
The Squiggoth finally succumbed though its struggle had left the two Ultralisk exhausted, which is almost impossible to do since Zergs rarely get tired. The energy expended in holding down the mighty Squiggoth was too much and the Ultralisks became 'rather' sluggish, but still energetic enough to tear apart a dozen Boarboys and Ork boys.
Without the Warboss or the Squiggoth, and with the flying attacker that Orks could not fight back, Orks finally broke. They ran, and my Zerglings chased them. The speed of my Zerglings was good enough to chase down most of them but few slipped through. While my Mutalisks were finishing off the Boarboys, I suddenly heard a scream.
'What the hell?'
It was not quite a scream, but an individual within my mental link. I recognized it immediately. It was Toby. Tobias the Zergling, somehow gaining a moment of individuality, screamed at me for something. It wanted, no... it needed something.
My mind immediately swallowed up Toby, and I entered his body, and I saw... deaths.
Alena was screaming, and Toby was growling at a man. This man was not one of the villagers, and he had a lasgun. I recognized the lasgun at first sight. Though it was far more ornate as if it had been passed down from one generation to the next as a sacred relic, it was undoubtedly the 'flashlight' of the Imperial Guards that was renowned for the lack of firepower.
'Except that the dead villagers were killed by lasguns.'
Through Toby's eyes I could see the villagers all dead with holes in their bodies. There must have been other men here, killing the villagers and dragging their bodies outside. Then I was snapped to attention as the soldier raised his lasgun.
I immediately took action. Toby sprang forward, evading the shot of lasgun and driving the front claws into the man's chest, and Toby's +3 attack upgrade had allowed his claws to easily pierce the man'a simple steel armor. Then the attack claws unfurled from their Alena-friendly mode and tore into the both side of the man's neck, severing the neck and the spine. The man fell with Toby still on it.
From the height of the slowly toppling gunman, Toby saw the village set ablaze. Most of the villagers would be head and there were dozens of men in the village setting fire and shooting their lasguns. Then two soldiers walked around the corner. They saw Toby on top of their fallen comrade and immediately raised their guns. It was too far for Toby to leap, but the soldiers never got the chance.
Elric, Alena's father, came out from nowhere wearing steel chest armor and helmet, with a rapier in the left hand and a longsword in the right. He was quick. With deft strokes of blades, Elric's rapier cut through the exposed necks of a soldier and the longsword struck at the other soldier's chest. The soldiers were well trained as well, and they immediately fired into Elric's body just as they were dying. Pulling trigger wasn't too difficult even for the dying.
With two big twitches, Elric fell. His armor could not stand the two lasgun shots. Alena ran to Elric and Toby followed to guard Alena. Elric spoke to Toby first.
"Toby... take Alena... Keep her safe... Take her north..."
He labored to breathe then spoke to Alena.
"Alena... you know that papa loves you..."
"Yes, papa."
"I wish... I wish... I could have told you more... about... your mother..."
"Papa! Papa!"
Hearing the voices of Alena, more soldiers appeared, and just as fast, they were dead, this time from two other warriors of the village. Volran, the chief, was already bloody and he has lost half of his left arm from a lasgun shot, and he was holding a large axe with remaining arm. The other man was a well-armored Hargen, who dressed like a knight with all the pomp including a coat of arms. Apparently, he was a knight before he became a plain villager.
Then the soldiers appeared in larger group, and with a leader. The enemy was led by a knight in gleaming steel, a knight with white robes and a man in black. I thought the man-in-black was an Inquisitor except for all the lack of advanced weapons. The knight in steel armor seemed to recognize Hargen.
"Why, if it isn't Sir Hargen Strikson! How fortunate am I to see you again. I believe that your head would still fetch a grand price in the north."
Okay... WTF! Hargen was a knight with a price on his head? This was more interesting, but not as interesting the survival of Alena and Toby. Toby growled at the enemy. The man in black pointed his laspistol at Toby.
"Sir Strikson, is it? Did you know that you are protecting a Witch and her daemonhound? I will allow you to leave, if you would just give us the girl."
Hargen shook his head.
"Not in your life, Inquisitor."
Okay, he IS an Inquisitor but he looks pretty weak.
Volran turned his head to look at Alena.
"Alena, take Toby and run."
"What?"
"RUN!"
The 'Inquisitor' screamed.
"Do not let her escape!"
I've had enough of all this, and made Toby run with Alena. I drove him to drive under Alena's feet and carry her on his back. Then he ran with all his might and fully upgraded Zergling speed.
Toby ran for hours. He did not tire. He did not need to drink. He did not need to pause for breath. Finally, he arrived at the foot of the mountain range that led toward the Primary Hive Cluster. Here, he paused and checked Alena's status. Alena was fast asleep with dried tears turned into thin streams of salt. She must have been tired after playing with Toby all day and then finding the village destroyed, and then riding Toby for hours.
The sun was setting and the long shadow of the Zergling with the girl on his back was cast over the looming forest before them. After making sure that she was alright, Toby turned back toward the forest. Suddenly he stopped. His acute hearing, combined with the psionic influence of the new Overmind, he could hear things afar, and he heard the galloping of horses. There were many horses, at least twenty, and Toby was in no position fight them. However, he was quickly dissuaded from any such foolish actions. Though he had just gained his individuality, the link with the Overmind was still unbreakable.
The Overmind had sent what Zerglings he could spare and sent them toward the village as soon as he was in the body of Toby, and they had ran through the dense forest and just arrived at Toby's location. Much to the surprise of the Overmind, there was a sort of unspoken echelon amid the Zerglings, and the stronger and smarter ones always led the pack. This usually created no real distinctions but with Toby gaining individuality had made him an uber-Zergling capable of being a node for the Overmind's control. Though he could only provide only about 3 population units in terms of Starcraft 2, this had meant that the Zerglings were easier to control when they were near Toby.
The Overmind found it most interesting and was determined to experiment on Toby and other uber-Zergs for their strange mutation. However, both the Overmind and Toby shared a goal. They wanted to keep Alena safe. They felt comforted by her innocence and her presence. They were not ready to let some humans hurt the girl. As Toby headed into the forest, nineteen riders and six spare horses arrive at the foot of the hills that met the forest.
They got off the horse. They had lost six men in the village, three Imperial Cult Knights and three Guardsmen. The most insulting thing was that only one was killed by the daemon hound and the others were killed by the villagers. To have retribution to this insult to their honor, they were now very determined to find the hideout of the daemons and the 'magician' who summoned them.
The Imperial Guardsmen and the Imperial Cultists spread out, with four remaining back to hold the horses. The Inquisitor Pardia, Captain Barridon and Sir Ardigan all got off their horses, and checked their weapons. From their long experiences in wars and battles, they felt the uneasy ground they tread on. Barridon frowned.
"This is too quiet. May be we are farther from their nest than we suspected."
Pardia shook his head.
"No, all that I know suggested that the lair of the summoner would be deep within the forest where he or she can hide easily."
In that exact moment, the six Zerglings that had burrowed underground shot out. With fearsome screeches of a beast, the Zerglings lunged at the human intruders. The soldiers of the Imperial Cult and the Imperial Guards were well-trained but they had never faced an enemy who popped out from the ground. Those soldiers nearest to the Zerglings were the ones who died. Of the six Zerglings, four of them found their target nearby and lunged at them.
Two soldiers went down immediately with their chests torn out by the sharp claws of the Zerglings. One of the Imperial Guard soldiers had blocked the oncoming Zergling with his lasgun and immediately kicked the creature when it fell to the ground. The other survivor of the immediate attack was an Imperial Cultist and he had his sword out and the Zergling was conveniently skewered by the sword through its own momentum.
One Zergling went for Captain Barridon, but it met a quick death as Barridon immediately fired at the Zergling with such precision that the first shot took out the right eye, then the left eye, and the forehead. Although the shot to the forehead only made a dent, the quick jab of Sir Ardigan's sword at that wound finished the Zergling. The last Zergling went for the Inquisitor only to be instantly cut in half by the power sword.
The
Swarm
of
War
Possible Future Evolutions - Evaluated Game Stat - Units with * are my creation
So, give me your thoughts on them!
Drone - MegaDrone (equivalent to MULE of Terran)
Overlord - Overseer - Hiveseer*
*Hiveseer:
Role:Field Commander - Air, Biological, Massive /
Production: 100 Min, 100 Gas /
300 HP, Regen 0.54 / 200 Energy, Regen 0.56 /
Movement: 1.88 / Armor: Armored 3 / Sight Range: 15 /
Damage: 2 x 9 dmg - Glaive Wurms / Attk Range: 5 /
Ability: Synapse (+0.27 Regen for all Zerg units and structures in Range 6 for 30 secs), Spawn Changeling (same as Overseer), Excrete Creep (same as Overlord)
Changeling - Viraling* - Spyling*
*Viraling:
Role: Spy, Terrorist - Ground, Biological /
Production: +10 Min, +25 Gas /
25 HP, Regen 0.27 / 0 Energy, Regen 0.00 /
Movement: 2.25 (burrowed 2.25) / Armor: 0 / Sight Range: 10 /
Damage: 2.5 dmg / Attk Range: 6 or melee /
Ability: Burrow/Burrow Move, Shapeshifting, Viral Bomb (sacrifice itself to create a virulent virus bomb similar to Defiler's Plague or pneumonic plague)
*Spyling:
Role: Spy, Assassin - Ground, Biological /
Production: +50 Min, +50 Gas /
50 HP, Regen 0.27 / 0 Energy, Regen 0.00 /
Movement: 2.75 (burrowed 2.25) / Armor: 0 / Sight Range: 9 /
Damage: 5 dmg / Attk Range: 6 or melee /
Ability: Burrow/Burrow Move, Shapeshifting, BrainSwap (Sacrifice itself to absorb target's brain and enters the skull to control the body, absorbs all memories of the brain and can mimic the target with maximum precision, unable to use on psykers)
Zergling - Baneling/Splitterling/Gorgeling
Swarmling - NONE [4 Zerglings spawn from a Larva instead of 3 but lose ability to turn into Baneling series]
Raptor - 2 x Baneling/Splitterling/Gorgeling, Velociraptor*
*Velociraptor:
Role: Advanced Melee - Ground, Biological /
Production: +75 Min, +25 Gas /
75 HP, Regen 0.27 / 100 Energy, Regen 0.56 /
Movement: 4.69 / Armor: Armored 1 / Sight Range: 9 /
Damage: 10 dmg - 4 x Claws / Attk Range: Melee /
Ability: Burrow, Leap (same as Raptor), Evolve (2 x Baneling/Splitterling/Gorgeling), Psionic Claw (+10 vs Armor, cost 5 Energy/sec)
Baneling - Renewling*
Splittering - Renewling/Splitter*
Gorgeling - Renewling/Gorge*
*Renewling:
Role: Suicidal Attack - Ground, Biological /
Production: +25 Min, +25 Gas /
30 HP, Regen 0.27 / 0 Energy, Regen 0.00 /
Movement: 2.75 (burrowed 2.25) / Armor: 1 / Sight Range: 8 /
Damage: 20 dmg (+20 vs Light) / Attk Range: 0.25 /
Ability: Burrow/Burrow Move, Posthumus Regeneration (Plan a seed underground upon death, 45 secs to mature into a Baneling/Splitterling/Gorgeling)
From Roach, the abilities (except for Leech) are my imagination and not of Blizzard's work
Roach - Beetle, Smoker
Prowler - Smoker*
*Smoker:
Role: Defensive Support - Ground, Biological /
Production: +25 Min, +75 Gas /
195 HP, Regen 0.27 / 0 Energy, Regen 0.00 /
Movement: 2.25 (burrowed 2.25) / Armor: Armored 2 / Sight Range: 9 /
Damage: 18 dmg / Attk Range: 6 /
Ability: Burrow/Burrow Move, Acidic Mist (15sec, Similar to D