Week of 2023/2/6 - SSFF - Chapter 4 - 7

Chapter 4: The Hunt

The Spawning Pool took shape within seconds inside the game. It was indeed a pool, but considering the spikes on the side and the green liquid in the pool, it was not one any sane person would want to swim in.

The Spawning Pool allowed Athena to produce two new Zerg units. The zergling and the queen.

Zerglings were the deadly hounds of the Swarm. Standing around one meter tall, zerglings were often deadly to enemy infantry and light armor due to their remarkable speed. Their razor-sharp teeth could easily tear through the CMC power armor of Terran marines and, with enough numbers, the platings of armored vehicles and light tanks. Their leathery skin made them less durable than most other zerg units, but they often made up for their lack of endurance by flooding enemy positions with overwhelming numbers.

Zerglings were spawned in pairs, with each costing 25 resources and 0.5 supplies.

Zerg queens, over three meters in height, were low-level commanders whose main duties included overseeing hive clusters and directing zerg units to battle. Of course, like all zerg units, they could fight when needed. Their claws could tear terran marines in half in melee and their acid spines could go through the armored platings of terran vehicles.

Queens had three active abilities. They could create creep tumors which allow zerg bases to expand their creep and turn the battlefield to their advantage. They could spawn larvae, which increases the larvae and thus unit production of zerg hive clusters. Finally, transfusion could rapidly heal the sickness and wounds of biological beings.

Each queen cost 300 resources and 2 supplies. Athena quickly noticed this was twice the cost of a queen in a Starcraft game, but she had expected some changes to the unit price. It would be absurd if she could produce a battlecruiser for the price of less than a dozen marines.

With the 50 resources she had left, Athena morphed one of the larvae into a pair of zerglings.

Resource: 4

Terran Supply: 0 / 20

Zerg Supply: 2 / 50

Protoss Supply: 0 / 20

This entire production sequence cost her almost her entire bank, but as two zerglings took form in front of Athena and next to the drone, Athena was quite certain it was worth it.

The pair of zerglings stared at Athena with their glowing yellow eyes. They were much smaller than the drones, which was to be expected. Sizes were hardly everything in war. The larger a unit was, the larger of a target it presented to the enemies. In fact, the small size of the zerglings made them particularly deadly in melee situations and during ambushes.

Athena glanced at the claws and teeth of the zerglings. She knew they could easily tear her Guardian power armor open if they tried, but she was hardly concerned. Just like with the drone, she could feel a link to both zerglings. This link allowed her to sense the zerglings. To communicate with them. To control them. The sharper their claws, the more helpful they were to her.

There were moments when Athena wondered what would happen if she suddenly lost control of these units, but given her current situation, it would be stupid for her to avoid using these powerful assets and get herself killed for sure just because these units could turn out to be problems in the future. So far, she had no reason to doubt the system and these units. Plus, what would be the point for someone to give her such powerful weapons, only to deceive her?

There were always risks that came with uncertainty, but these were risks Athena had no choice but to accept if she wanted to make it out of this jungle.

With two more bodyguards by her side, Athena returned to her journey.

Three minutes later, Athena’s two zerglings turned into twenty thanks to all the kills on the way. With enough zerglings to keep her safe by themselves, Athena stopped wasting her already limited ammo on the local predators, opting to let the Zerg do the job instead.

And the zerglings quickly proved themselves to be well worth the money Athena spent on them. They hunted and killed with a level of coordination and efficiency rarely seen in common predators. They would act as one as they hunted, pouncing on a target from all sides and ferociously tearing them apart. No amount of fighting back from their targets could dissuade them from their goal. Everything about them was optimized for killing.

After the beast was slain, the zerglings would quickly abandon the corpse and move on. They didn't seem to need to devour biomass to continue moving and fighting.

As predator after predator was mauled to death by the zerglings, Athena put a halt on the unit production for the moment and started saving her resources.

Another minute went by before a dozen different alerts suddenly reached Athena through the link she shared with the Zerg units around here. All of them had the same message.

There was movement underground…

Athena froze for a brief second. Movement? Underground? That was when another message hit her. The movement was coming from behind her! Sensing the threat, Athena quickly snapped around and raised her rifle in that direction. At the same time, the pack of zerglings and the single drone, still under the orders to defend Athena, lept in that direction as well, ready to strike.

As Athena turned around, her eyes caught a glance of the ambusher, and her brain almost immediately connected the image of the ambusher to a single number, and with that number came information on the threat that just emerged before her. 112. Morgo - 112, a type of underground ambusher with impressive digging capabilities. They were known to hide in the earth until their prey move past their position. Once their prey had their backs facing them, the instances of Morgo - 112 would quickly dig their way out to the surface and…

Athena’s eyes widened as she remembered more and more details about the beast that the Imperials have collected and stored in their database. Almost at the same time as she recalled the method of attack this type of beast adopted, her eyes caught a glance of something green.

Acid. Once their prey had their backs facing them, the instances of Morgo - 112 would quickly dig their way out to the surface and spit strong acid onto their prey. The Imperials learned the hard way that this acid could melt through armor and human flesh with ease. Forget about the Guardian class armor she was wearing now. Even the superior CMC armor of Terran marines likely won’t be enough to protect her!

In a split second, before panic could fully set in, a familiar figure suddenly lept in front of Athena. Athena’s eyes widened. She recognized the figure from the link between them. The drone! In the brief second before Athena would be melted alive, the drone placed itself between Athena and the acid-spitting predator and served as a human…Zerg shield.

As a beast over two meters tall, the Zerg drone was more than large enough to shield Athena. As the acid hit the drone, Athena, through the speaker built into the armor, could hear the sizzling sound of the corrosive acid melting through the drone’s Zerg carapace. She could feel the drone being hurt, but even so, the drone simply stood there. Neither pain nor fear seemed to be a concern for the Zerg,

As the danger was deflected for the moment and Athena remained very much alive, the young woman stumbled a few steps back. Even for the old Athena, this would be one of the worst ways to die and enough to shake her for a while. Athena was willing to admit she really didn't want to be melted alive or have her armor damaged and suffer a slow death due to the local atmosphere.

Thanks to the drone, that wouldn’t be her fate, for now.

But even as she stumbled back and took a breath of relief after the near brush with death, a part of Athena’s focus was on a rather interesting question. The Zerg drone saved her. But…why?

She wasn’t confused that it was willing to die for her. As moved as she was by the drone, she knew this was to be expected based on the few things she knew about this system. But…drones weren’t the smartest Zerg unit out there. Athena gave the Zerg units the order to defend her, and they tended to do so by killing all the threats to her. This was what they have been doing the entire time, and there was no reason for changes in their behavior.

Even now, Athena watched as the twenty zerglings charge at the instance of Morgo - 112. None of them tried to shield her. Not because they weren't willing to die for her, but because their limited intelligence didn't think that far. If they were given the specific command to shield her, they would, but no such order was given.

So what was so special about the drone? Sure, it was the first unit she built, but so what?

Then again, this issue could wait. Athena glanced at the drone. It was still alive, but that was likely to change very soon. She could feel the drone getting weaker and weaker. Zerg units could recover from any damage, but right now the acid was likely still damaging the drone, killing it quicker than its regenerative tissue could heal.

The first thing Athena did was recall the drone into the game, hoping it would keep the drone alive, but as she opened the game again, she realized the drone’s hitpoint was still dropping slowly. It was already down to 10 hp, meaning it would likely be dead in a few seconds.

Athena frowned. She really didn't want the drone to die. Even sentimental purposes aside, she wanted to experiment with the drone and understand why it was behaving smarter than the zerglings.

With that in mind, she quickly selected the Hatchery in the game and spawned a single Zerg queen. She didn't see the need for the queen until now, knowing she could always produce one when she needed its skillset.

300 units of resources quickly disappeared from Athena’s bank account. Almost immediately, a queen dug its way out of the ground in front of the Hatchery. Athena wasted no time in ordering the queen to use the transfuse ability on the drone.

Since this ability was used within the game, Athena wasn’t able to see the effect of the transfuse with her own eyes. All she saw was a game animation of the ability before the drone’s hp returned to 40, the maximum hp value for drones.

Taking a quiet breath of relief, Athena deployed both the drone and the queen into her world once again.

“Greetings, my Queen.”

“What…” Athena had to admit she was a little startled by the sudden voice in her head. It was a feminine voice that sounded incredibly familiar to her. After a brief second of blanking out, she turned to the source of the voice, the Zerg queen standing not far from her. For a brief second, she wasn't sure what the proper answer would be. “Ahhh…greetings?”

Even though she was well aware that the queen was under her command and would almost certainly do everything she ordered, Athena was still a little taken aback by the form of the queen. For one thing, the queen was so much taller than her, and even if she knew nothing about what the queen was capable of in the lore, it wasn’t difficult to deduce the Zerg unit could tear her open without breaking a sweat if they were enemies. One could come to that conclusion with just a single look at the queen’s multiple talons and thick armored plating.

More importantly, queens were much more intelligent and sapient than drones and zerglings. While there were still limitations to their sapience and intelligence, they were able to communicate psionically with non-Zerg beings and analyze data when needed. They often served as mid-level commanders in Zerg armies.

Athena had to admit she wasn't really paying attention to this side of the queens. If she knew queens could truly talk to her and potentially give her more information on both the Zerg and the system, or even just serve as an advisor she could chat to, she would have produced one as soon as she could.

“My queen.” The queen turned in the direction of the ongoing battle a short distance away, its talons tapping. “May I assume command of the zerglings?”

Athena turned her focus to the battle as well. The zerglings were as ferocious as ever, but the battle was far from over. The instance of Morgo - 112 was perhaps the toughest foe she and the zerglings have encountered so far. Its claws were sharp and its armor was thick. More importantly, its acid could easily kill a zergling upon contact. Four zerglings were already dead.

The instance was injured as well, but it could likely still bring down a few zerglings before it fell. It was something Athena would like to prevent.

“Yes. Go ahead.” Athena gave the queen the command before turning back to the fight with anticipation, wondering what difference the queen would make.

The queen’s talons clicked on her armor once again before issuing a series of commands to the zerglings. She didn't have the information about the beast that was stored in the Imperial database and memorized by the old Athena, but she knew all she needed to know about her prey through the zerglings.

Almost immediately, the tactic of the zerglings changed. Instead of charging the instance head-on and trying to tear it apart through its thick armor, the zerglings quickly scattered and started running around the injured instance of Morgo - 112. Confused, the animal continued to spit acid at the zerglings in desperation, but all of these spits missed the mark due to how quickly the zerglings were moving. All they did was create sizzling holes in the grass field.

After a few acidic projectiles, the instance was clearly starting to get wary. It was still injured and bleeding from the zergling claws, and the acidic projectiles it shot out weren’t free. They had to be produced, a process that took time and nutrients, neither of which it had plenty of.

As the coordinator of the hunt, the queen observed her prey closely. Whenever the instance tried to retreat, the zerglings would rush forward and leave a few bloody marks on its body. This would cause the instance to fight back with all the strength and acid it had left, only for the zerglings to quickly retreat.

It didn't take long before the Morgo - 112 collapsed on the ground, brought low by exhaustion and injuries. The zerglings quickly rushed forward one last time, and this time, the Morgo - 112 no longer had the strength to keep the zerglings from ending its life. The zerglings quickly tore the beast's body into pieces.

As the Morgo - 112 was slain, the queen turned back to Athena and gently lowered her head.

“I hope I have pleased you, my queen.”

“Indeed you have…” Before Athena could finish, she was suddenly hit by another much-welcomed notification.

“Biological essence detected in contact with the host's unit…”

“Analyzing essence…”

“Analysis complete. Essence overlaps with Zerg genetic sequences…”

“Zerg structure Roach Warren has been unlocked…”

Chapter 5: The Queen

A party of over a dozen made its way down the jungle path. Athena walked in the middle while a ring of zerglings fanned out around her as scouts. The drone that saved her life moved on her left while the three-meter-tall queen marched on her right.

As they moved, Athena took the opportunity to chat with the queen.

“So…” Athena paused as she tried to organize her thoughts. “What do you know about this…” She paused again, not knowing how to refer to the game. “What do you know about where you came from?”

Much to Athena’s disappointment, the queen hardly knew anything more about the game than Athena did. The queen was aware of what happened in the game when Athena controlled it to transfuse a drone. She was also aware that Athena created her. At the same time, the Zerg knew nothing about the source of this system or why it was under Athena’s authority. Despite the queen’s tactical intelligence, it seemed like she was as much of a puppet as the drone and the zerglings. After a few minutes of questioning that yielded next to no results, Athena gestured at the drone and changed the topic.

This time, she told the queen about the unexpected actions of the drone, and this time the queen was able to give her a satisfactory answer.

“The longer we Zerg are in this realm, the more experienced and intelligent we get.” The Zerg explained slowly. “When we are first created, we are the products of the same template. We are given certain skills and memories by default, but there are things that can only be gained in this realm. The longer we remain and the more things we experience in this realm, the more we learn and grow. The more we become…different. Unique. Dangerous.”

“And is that the same for the Protoss and the Terran?”

"My apologies, my Queen, but I don't have any information on the Protoss or the Terran."

“Fair enough. What would that look like?” Athena asked. “How would a zergling who, say, has been in this world for a year be different from a zergling who was just produced?”

“A zergling who has resided in this world for a year will likely be much more intelligent than a newly produced zergling by virtual of being in this world for so long. It will have a much greater capacity for devising tactical and combat decisions. This allows the zergling to learn from its past experiences. As an example, if this zergling has had a history of fighting Protoss warriors, it will be able to analyze the battle on its own and perform better when facing Protoss warriors in the future.”

Athena nodded to herself as she glanced at the drone beside her. The drone hasn’t been in this world for too long, but then again what it did wasn’t really rocket science. It noticed she was under threat, and it shielded her. A little smarter than the zerglings, but nothing more. This matched what the queen told her.

By all accounts, her units should remain loyal to her regardless of their intelligence or sapience. From the information she gathered, the loyalty of these units didn't seem to depend on their intelligence or the lack of it. Even after being deployed into this world, they were still units that she produced, and in the same way that a Terran marine or Protoss zealot wouldn’t just suddenly betray her in a ladder game, they could likely never turn against her. The queen was sapient and self-aware, but she still fought for her.

It was a somewhat comforting thought, and Athena truly hoped she was right. She couldn’t even imagine what would happen if the Zerg or the Protoss suddenly turned rogue and were set loose in this galaxy.

“And the link we are using right now to communicate. Is that exclusive to the Zerg?” She continued.

"I don't believe so, my Queen, but I cannot confirm it."

“I see. Are there limitations to this link? Distance? Or maybe the number of connections there can be?”

“I am not aware of such limitations, my Queen.”

Once again Athena nodded. She didn't learn anything about where this game came from or what it wanted, but at least she got more information about the Starcraft units. If the Terran were sapient and intelligent, which they likely were, then perhaps they could be more than just brutes and enforcers. If she decided to use them as governors, commanders, and officials, then she would have potentially hundreds or thousands of human beings in high positions of power who were unquestionably loyal to her. People who would never take bribes or commit treacheries. People who she could communicate with wherever and whenever she wished.

Truly, the potential there would be endless.

Of course, all that potential would only be realized if she could survive and escape from this world.

As they continued heading down that path and a few zerglings mauled two more animals to death not far away, Athena consulted the queen once again. This time, she wanted the queen’s advice on what she should do in her current situation.

“It would be risky if I stay here, even if I want to,” Athena explained. “If I stay in this outpost, I will no doubt be sent on further missions out here. If I run into danger with my squad present, do I use the Zerg to defend myself? If I do, I risk my secret getting out. Even if I am willing and able to eliminate all witnesses, someone will notice my secret sooner or later.”

It might make sense if she was the lone survivor in her entire expedition for once. Perhaps she was just lucky. But twice? Three times? That would be questioning the intelligence of the Imperials, and Athena never considered anyone in the outpost stupid.

Athena was aware that Zerg queens weren’t really the best advisers for a situation like this. The Zerg were known to be effective, but their effectiveness mainly resided in producing enough units to overwhelm the enemies in the quickest manner possible. Her situation required a level of subtly the Zerg rarely inhibited. Plus, queens were not commanders or strategists. They were more akin to low-level commanders, but Athena didn't have access to broodmothers that would typically be the brain of the Swarm and she had to make do with what she had.

In a sense, she just wanted to bounce ideas off of someone else while walking, and the queen served this task much better than the drone or the zerglings.

“I do not have any information regarding the human civilizations of this galaxy yet. I may need your input on some topics, my Queen.” The queen replied.

“Go ahead.”

“This Outpost Delta…it is the only Imperial base on this planet?”

“Yes.”

“Is there any Imperial presence in close proximity to this planet? What is their response time?”

“I don’t know.” Athena shook her head. There was no way for a simple private like her to get this type of highly classified information. “Morgo IV is a remote planet, but it is in a star system entirely controlled by the Venya Imperium. There should be a handful of other planets in the system garrisoned by the Imperials, but I don’t know what their force sizes or response times are.”

“I see.” The queen’s armored skull moved in a nod. “Are there vessels capable of interplanetary travel in Outpost Delta?”

“There are. The outpost’s hangar holds 10 Gazelle-class shuttles.” Athena explained patiently as she went through her memories. “The Gazelles usually have Callisto Engines, this galaxy’s FTL engine, and enough fuel for a decent jump. There’s just one problem…even if I can fight my way to one of them, I don’t know how to pilot a shuttle.”

The old Athena never had the chance to go to a good school when she was young. Her only experience with aircraft was sitting in combat dropships or shuttles as her squad was deployed to war zones. The same could be said for most of the infantry troops on the planet. There was a contingent of 30 pilots on the planet who knew how to pilot the shuttles, but it would be almost impossible for her to enlist their help.

After all, pilots were much better compensated than infantry troopers like her. Even if she could force a few of them to help her, did she really want to hop on a shuttle piloted by two people who meant her ill? With the lack of aircraft knowledge on her part, they could be piloting the shuttle into an Imperial space fortress and she would be none the wiser until it was too late.

“Then we must force the local garrison to evacuate from this outpost.” The queen said. “My Queen. If we can use the Swarm to launch an overwhelming assault on the post, how likely will it be for the Imperials to abandon the base and evacuate to another planet? Perhaps it will be safer for you on another planet.”

“It’s possible. Captain Hanson, the commander of the unit, is a veteran who started off from the bottom. He will likely order a retreat in the event of overwhelming force and certain defeat. Once the important people are gone, of course.” Athena frowned as she did her best to tap her chin while in the armor. “The problem is we don’t have overwhelming force. Even if I make roaches…roaches are tough, but each roach costs 100 resources and I have a little over 300 after building the roach warren. Three roaches can’t beat an entire infantry company. Nor can 30 zerglings.”

There was a moment of silence before the queen clicked her talons again. It was a sound that brought Athena a strange amount of comfort.

“My Queen, you said you are unable to request a transfer off this world. It is odd. Human beings tend to require breaks to function at an acceptable level. The Terrans often allow their soldiers to rotate from postings after a period of time. What is preventing this…Imperium from doing so?”

“The FTL travel in this galaxy functions differently from that in the Korpulu Sector.” Athena slowly explained, once again drawing from the memories she inherited not too long ago. “In this galaxy, the Callisto FTL Engines are modified versions of the FTL engines from Legacy Xeno Race Omega, one of the highly advanced alien races that had long died out when humanity first reached the stars. Callisto Engines run on a type of fuel now named Compound Omega. Compound Omega is extremely expensive and dangerous to both refine and store.”

“In other words, traveling between different planets or systems is expensive, and the cost grows disproportionately with the distance. The longer you have to travel, the more fuel you need, and the bigger your ship needs to be. The bigger your ship is, the heavier it will weigh, and the more fuel you will need.”

“Making things worse, this galaxy is also constantly at war, so almost every faction in the galaxy is saving Compound Omega wherever they can.” Athena shrugged. “For the higher-ups, rotating infantry units like mine to civilized worlds for breaks is a waste of fuel. Simple as that. Only when our unit is too depleted to carry out its objectives will we be swapped with a fresh unit, but I can’t risk waiting until then. It's too much of a gamble.”

“This presents a significant advantage for us in the future, my Queen.” The queen immediately noted. She wasn’t a good strategist, but she still noticed a huge opportunity. “The Swarm doesn’t rely on this Compound Omega for FTL travels. Nor do the Terran and the Protoss. Our FTL travels are much cheaper and much more effective than that of the locals in this galaxy.”

“Maybe. There’s more.” Athena explained as they continued moving. A few screeches came from the back as zerglings continued to hunt. “The communication technology in this galaxy is even more limited. Most inter-system communication has to be done by sending ships to carry the messages to the destinations. It is often very expensive to send a message over such a distance, and there will always be delays or even accidents. I heard sometimes messages can be weeks, even months, late. That is if they arrive at all.”

Even as Athena was saying this, she had trouble containing the excitement in her voice. In the Korpulu Sector, anyone can reach anyone with the press of a button. In the Wings of Liberty campaign, Valerian Mengsk casually called his father in Korhal with a single click while he was in orbit above Char. Considering Korhal was the capital of the Terran Dominion and Char was the capital of the Zerg Swarm, this call likely went across half the Korpulu Sector. Yet that significant distance didn't stop the two from seeing each other and talking in real time.

When Athena first saw the cinematic, she didn't think much of it, but only now did she realize how impressive that was. Was real-time communication over such a distance even physically possible? How fast did the signal have to be traveling to make that happen? And how was the signal not distorted in the slightest?

“Hmmm…this would indeed open up opportunities.” The queen hissed quietly, reaching the same realization Athena did. Whether Athena wanted to go to war against the Imperium or simply hide from it, this would make things a lot easier.

The two continued for another minute before Athena finally reached her destination.

There, sitting on an open field, were the three Blackbuck MSVs Athena had been dreaming about.

Chapter 6: Athena and Her Squad

The zerglings quickly scoured the area and informed Athena the rest of her squad wasn’t back yet. They must still be trying to complete the mission to retrieve the piece of specimen the Imperial Research Academy scientist demanded. Using this opportunity, Athena made her way to one of the MSVs, hoping coming into contact with the human vehicle would unlock a structure or two for the Terrans.

When no notification came, she had to admit she was quite disappointed.

With the surroundings secure, Athena returned all the Zerg units back into the game. It would be quite unfortunate if her teammates saw her with the Zerg units. That would no doubt complicate things.

As Athena’s mind wandered, her HUD suddenly reminded her that there was action coming from her 6 o’clock direction. This alert was followed by a familiar voice from her comms.

“Private Dane. Is that you?”

Athena grinned to herself and turned around. There, along the trees, were nine men in black and red power armor. The voice that she heard belonged to Corporal Huo, the leader of Athena’s squad and the head of this operation.

Due to the lack of communications satellites and cell towers, squads sent on missions had to use radios to communicate with each other. She couldn’t contact the others previously due to distance. Now, that was no longer a problem. After all, they were still on the same radio frequency.

Her squad was finally back, and it seemed like she could finally head back to the Imperial outpost. It was hardly a warm, welcoming home, but anywhere was better than out here.

“Corporal!” Athena greeted the others as she emerged from behind the vehicle. Despite not being the same person as the zealot soldier, Athena received all the memories of her predecessor. She knew exactly how the old Athena would act in a situation like this. “Corporal Huo!”

“Athena? You…you’re alive! You made it back!”

Corporal Huo, the squad leader, was a veteran NCO Athena had served with for two years. He was a middle-aged man who had neither a wife nor any kids. He mostly kept his personal affairs a secret, but rumors among the squad said that he came from a wealthy family who hoped he could become a general or an admiral and bring pride to his family. After he failed to get into a military or naval academy, his family gave up on him and instead focused on his younger brother. The man later joined the Imperial Army as a volunteer for reasons Athena never found out about.

Athena didn't know if these rumors were authentic, but she did know unlike her former self, Corporal Huo had zero intention of sacrificing his life for the Imperial cause. Honestly, that was only fair enough. As of a few hours ago, neither did she.

The old Athena wasn’t a fan of the corporal though. She still obeyed his every command because it was her duty, but she had no respect for him.

“Yes sir. I was able to follow the protocols and find my way back here. My apologies for not being able to help with the mission.” She explained before glancing at the soldiers that returned. Some of them had the cover for their helmets down and Athena couldn’t see their faces, but she could still see the serial numbers engraved on their armors. “Michael? Ren?”

Each squad had 12 soldiers, including the corporal serving as the battlefield commander of the squad. Athena’s own squad had taken some casualties since arriving on Morgo IV, but they were returned to full strength as they embarked on the mission. Now two of the men were missing. Given the dangerousness of the mission, what happened to the two was obvious.

Corporal Huo shook his head behind the transparent helmet. “They didn't make it.”

Athena sighed. Michael and Ren were two soldiers in the squad who were the closest to Athena. Michael was the squad machine gunner and Ren was the sharpshooter. The three of them were perhaps the best soldiers in the entire squad. They have survived countless firefights through the years.

Although…in that case, what were the odds both of them died in a single battle? And if things got so dangerous, then how did everyone else in the squad emerge unscathed? Even some of the fresh recruits who were much more likely to make a mistake in the heat of the firefight returned alive when two veterans died. It wasn’t like the local animals were specifically picking on certain troops, right?

Those thoughts went through Athena’s head, but she didn't think much of it until her eyes landed on the armored plating of one of the troopers. There, lodged into the suit of power armor, were two bullet holes.

Wait…what?

Athena frowned as her head continued to spin at a speed that impressed even herself. The two bullet holes didn't seem like the product of Defender rifles. They were too small for that. Most likely they were caused by a pistol.

She was certain the holes weren’t there when they went on the mission. As a professional soldier, Athena always gave her full attention to the security checks she and her squad performed before leaving the outpost. She would never have missed two bullet holes on the forward plating that could’ve caused a fatal structure failure of the armor and killed the man inside.

So the man was shot by a pistol twice while on this mission. Since Athena doubted the local animals were loaded with handguns, and given the fact that two of the veteran soldiers in the squad were somehow missing while everyone else made it, Athena suddenly arrived at a terrifying possibility.

Her eyes landed on the other members of the squad once again. This time, she was paying attention, and she quickly realized something was very wrong. Even after confirming her identity, these men have yet to return their rifles to the holsters on the side of their armors and head for the transports.

Instead, their rifles were distinctly aimed in her general direction and their armored fingers never strayed far from the triggers. None of them had their backs facing her.

There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone in the squad simply stood there. Athena was a little taken aback by her realization, and the rest of the squad seemed equally nervous about and surprised by her presence. For a while, they didn't seem to know what to do, but that soon changed. An order that Athena couldn’t hear was given through a communication channel that didn't include her, and three of the troops in her squad advanced into a position such that they formed an L shape with both the other troops and the line of Blackbucks. Athena knew this setup all too well. These men were cutting off her retreat. They wanted to make sure she had nowhere to take cover when the shooting began.

These soldiers, her own squad leader and comrades, wanted to kill her! The same people who she spent so much time getting back to wanted her dead! They have likely killed Michael and Ren as well. Why? Did they know she was controlling the Zerg and decided to strike first? No, that wouldn't make any sense! But then…why? None of this should be happening!

Athena snapped back to Corporal Huo, who had activated the second layer of the face shield in his helmet. Now, instead of seeing his face, Athena could only see the reflection of her own.

“What the hell is going on here?” She snapped, her fear quickly overcome by anger. What did she ever do to them? From the memories she received from the old Athena, she didn't get along too well with everyone, but it was nothing that could make them want to shoot her! If her teammates wanted her dead, the least they could do was tell her why!

Corporal Huo paused there for a second before letting out a sigh and dropping his facade.

“Sorry, kid. It’s nothing personal. You never should have waited for us. You should’ve returned to the base by yourself. That might have made things better for you.”

He didn't draw his weapon. Athena was standing in front of one of the Blackbuck-class MSVs. If he tried to shoot her, his bullet could hit the vehicle. The two handgun bullet holes in the armor of one of his men would already be difficult enough to cover up. Another rifle bullet hole on an MSV would make things worse.

To save himself and his team some further trouble, the Corporal preferred to let the three troops beside Athena do the job.

He gestured at one of the riflemen, Private Dubois. The private, with a cold scoff on his cheeks, raised his Defender automatic rifle and took aim at Athena’s side. Unlike the Corporal, Private Dubois didn't feel bad about what he was about to do. If anything, he snickered at the corporal’s hesitance and her apology to Athena.

Their squad had killed so many people in the past. What was so different about this young woman here? Sure, in the past they were shooting enemies and now they were about to gun down a comrade, but so what? Also, they were about to shoot her. What would hesitance and an apology do for someone who would be dead in seconds?

Unfortunately for him, the private’s thoughts were rather short-lived. The next second, a single acidic spine pierced his face shield and his skull, putting an end to both the scoff on his lips and his life.

Athena didn't expect the sudden betrayal by her own squad. She had her concerns about these men. Perhaps after spending some time together, they might sense that she was different than she was before. Perhaps they could make it difficult for her to desert from the Imperial Army when an opportunity presented itself. Yet she never thought there would be any trouble so soon. And such a violent reaction, no less.

After all, they had no reason to suddenly turn on her. Yes. She was a different woman, but there was no way for them to know this. The only reason all of this could be happening was if they had their own reason to take her, or rather the old Athena, out.

But the situation didn't allow her too much time to think things over. Under circumstances like this, there was no time for doubts or hesitation. There wasn’t even much time for fear. As Athena saw one of the Imperial soldiers raise his rifle in the corner of her eyes, she knew she had to act immediately.

If these men wanted to kill her, then they could hardly blame her if she fought back and killed them in return. She would hardly take pleasure in this, but just like with the local animals, sometimes violence was the only solution.

Moving as quickly as she could, Athena did something she had practiced so many times before in the last half an hour or so. She opened up the game and, within a split second, deployed her only queen between herself and the three Imperial troopers to her side.

“Shield me!” She barked an order through the link between her and the queen, doing her best to keep the emotions out of her voice.

As soon as it was deployed, the queen immediately jumped into action. Almost all of the Imperial soldiers had their weapons in Athena’s distinct direction, but only one of them, Private Dubois, had raised his weapon and was about to fire. This meant he was recognized as the greatest threat by the Zerg queen, and that earned the man a single acidic spine to the face.

“What the…” The sudden appearance of the three-meter-tall queen caught Corporal Huo and the other seven troopers in the squad completely off guard. They had so many questions. What was this thing and where the hell did it come from? How did a monster this big just show up in front of them unnoticed? Was it teleporting?

Some of these men were veterans, but even the most experienced and trained trooper would inevitably freeze for a second when they witnessed impossibility with their own eyes.

This second of hesitation cost them greatly.

Unlike the others, Athena didn't waste a single moment. The deployed queen and the shock she caused brought her enough time to select the sixteen remaining zerglings and one drone in the game and deploy them into combat. This time, instead of shielding herself, she deployed the Zerg units right next to the remaining Imperials.

“Kill them all!” She gave a single command to all the Zerg units before remembering something and pointing out Corporal Huo. “Actually…leave him alive. Kill the rest!”

As cruel as the order was, in that split second, Athena knew there was no way for her to take these troopers alive. First, she didn't have the numbers. The Zerg units she had were good at killing, not taking prisoners. These were still trained soldiers with firearms and grenades that, given the opportunity, could kill Zerg units or take her down.

Even if she could take them alive at potentially a great cost, where could she hold them? She couldn’t take them back to Outpost Delta for obvious reasons. Leave them out in the wild to die to the elements, starvation, or the beasts? Now that was just cruelty.

A part of Athena Hall thought she should feel concerned about giving the kill order, but the reality was that she felt very little. After all, she could clearly remember herself taking countless lives on the battlefield. Men. Women. Soldiers. Civilians. These were memories of the old Athena, but they still felt so real to the new Athena. For better or for worse, these memories allowed her to act as needed while experiencing relatively few moral burdens at the moment.

Chapter 7: Bloodshed

As Private Dubois collapsed on the ground, dead, some of the Imperials finally came to terms with what was happening. The sensors on their armors informed them that they were hardly hallucinating. This beast was real, and it just killed one of them. If the rest of them wanted to live, they had to bring it down as soon as possible.

“Mother of god…” Corporal Huo whispered before desperately raising his rifle at the monstrosity. Even as he pulled the trigger, he was screaming into the radio mounted inside his armor. “Take it down! Concentrate fire on that thing!”

As the recoil of the Defender rifle pushed against the armored plating of the Guardian, the Corporal’s mind was spinning faster than he himself might have realized. They were a squad of 12. Now they were down to 8. Due to the nature of this mission, they didn't bring along any of the cumbersome heavy weapons from the outpost’s armory. All they had were rifles and shrapnel grenades. They were enough for the local wildlife, but against this…thing, he hoped it looked tougher than it was, but judging by the thick shell he saw on the beast they likely wouldn’t be able to kill it.

In that case, their only chance was to distract it, make it to the Blackbucks, and then…wait, what?

The Corporal’s plan of escaping failed before it could even start as more and more beasts suddenly lept out of thin air. They were smaller than the first beast. Much smaller. But there were so many of them! They were hounds with sharp teeth and dagger-like claws. Their eyes radiated yellow light as they pounced on the confused Imperial troopers.

To his left, over a dozen zerglings pounced on three soldiers in the squad with such speed that none of the soldiers had the time to raise their rifles. The teeth and claws of the zerglings tore right through the Guardian power armors the soldiers were wearing. As soon as the structure of the power armor was breached, the soldiers were doomed. Even if the zerglings chewing on them wouldn’t kill them, the toxic gas all around them would.

To his right, a beast, larger than the hounds but smaller than the three-meter-tall monster that killed Private Dubois, appeared right beside a pair of troopers who were aiming their rifles in the other direction. Corporal Huo opened his mouth and tried to shout a warning, but it was too late. The beast had locked onto one of the troopers and attacked. Coincidentally the victim the beast had chosen was the unfortunate trooper who was shot by Private Ren before the private could be finished off. The suit of Imperial standard-issued Guardian-class power armor that protected that trooper from two handgun rounds couldn't keep its wearer safe this time. That quickly became obvious as the armor was torn through like it was made of paper. As the armor was sliced through, the man inside soon suffered the same fate. If military-grade alloy wasn't resilient enough, then what chance did flesh and bone stand?

Under the corporal's horrified gaze, the beast cut the trooper in half with a single slice of its claws.

The other trooper in the pair snapped around to face the beast that materialized out of nowhere and slew his friend. To his credit, he was calm enough to aim his rifle at the beast and pull the trigger. Bullet after bullet hit the beast as it tried to close the distance with the trooper, but the man was wisely backing off while never lifting his finger off the trigger of the rifle.

For a second, the rifleman was winning. The beast was hurt. Green blood poured out of the wounds caused by the Defender rifle bullets. Just as the beast was about to be finished off by the vengeful trooper, it suddenly vanished into thin air. Just like when it first showed up, it was gone without a trace.

Almost at the same time, a few steps away, the two troopers standing next to Private Dubois screamed and collapsed. One of them was too close to the Zerg queen. As soon as the queen appeared, the man tried to put some distance between himself and the monster, but his legs were shaking so badly that he couldn’t move for a second. He regained his senses just in time for the queen’s talons to brutally disembowel him. The man next to him broke and ran in horror, only to be shot in the back by another acidic spine.

The entire slaughter went down within seconds. Seconds. Seconds were all it took for most of the corporal’s squad to end up dead, killed in different yet equally horrific ways.

As man after man fell around him in the blink of an eye, the corporal screamed at himself to move. To raise his rifle and fire as many rounds as he could before suffering a similar fate as his men. Or maybe to reach into his ammo box, pull out a grenade, and hope it could give him a quick death while taking down as many of these monsters as possible.

Yet as he heard the screams of his men on the radio as they were torn apart, the corporal couldn’t move. He was paralyzed. By fear. It was a feeling that he recognized but had grown strange to. When was the last time he froze like this? Like he was a fresh recruit who stepped onto the battlefield for the first time?

Three of the hounds slowly surrounded him, cutting off any chance of escape. They seemed strangely organized compared to most predators local to certain worlds. The bloodshed and slaughter happening all around didn't distract them one bit. They had a job to do, and it was to keep an eye on him. Nothing else concerned them.

Corporal Huo felt shivers down his spine as he examined the beasts who were way too close for his comfort. If he was 500 meters away from these hounds and he had an Eradicator-class machine gun or a sniper rifle, he might be willing to fight. But here? With a single rifle in his hand and three hounds just steps away from him? That wasn’t fighting. That was using his armor as the sharpening stone for their claws. That was committing suicide.

Plus, even if he could somehow kill all three of these hounds, it would be too late.

Not far from him, the Imperial trooper who almost killed one of the beasts quickly realized he was the only one who put up any effective resistance. When a quick scan of the environment told him he was the only one left alive and somewhat free, the rifleman let out a loud curse and made a run for it. He wasn’t even going for the MSVs. Nope. He was running back toward the trees. Even being stranded in the deadly forest was better than being cut in half or torn to shreds by these beasts.

One of the zerglings close to the corporal let out a screech and attracted Corporal Huo’s attention back to his own situation. The zergling tapped the ground with its left claw. When the corporal simply stood there, the zergling let out another threatening screech.

“Is that…” Corporal Huo paused briefly before suddenly having an absurd idea. Was this beast trying to disarm him? Just the thought of an animal telling him to lay down his weapon sounded amusing if it wasn’t for the circumstances. Then again, what else could the hound mean?

When the zergling screeched again and took a step forward, the corporal decided to try his luck. After all, there was no way he could fight a way out of this. He dropped his rifle on the ground and raised his hands in the air. To his surprise, the zerglings actually backed off. One of them even pulled the rifle aside with its claws.

So…now what? As the corporal looked around, that was the only question he had in mind. His men were dead, but why did these things keep him alive? Maybe they wanted to save the best kill for last? Or maybe they just wanted to enjoy his fear? Was that it? Sadism?

That was when a familiar figure emerged from behind one of the MSVs. A figure in Guardian-class power armor. At first, Corporal Huo thought this was one of his men who somehow hid and survived the onslaught, but as he saw the figure’s face through the transparent layer of her face shield, his heart sank.

“You…Athena! How did you survive…”

The corporal didn't pay much attention to Athena ever since the beasts popped up, nor did he notice her during the seconds of chaotic slaughter. He thought she was dead, just like all his men. Apparently, he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Why are you doing this?” Athena’s voice came from the comms. She had no intention of dragging this out. Seeing the terrified man brought no joy to her. The only reason she kept him alive was for an answer. Nothing more. “Why? Why does the squad want me dead?”

Even as she spoke, she turned and glanced at the last Imperial trooper fleeing toward the trees. A pair of zerglings were after it. More would have gone after the man based on their interpretation of Athena’s command, but Athena decided two were enough and kept the rest with her.

Her brows darkened as she heard the panicked screams from the fleeing man through the public radio channel, and for a second she simply stood there. She stood there and remained silent until the fleeing rifleman let out a final scream before being hunted down and slain by the pair of zerglings.

The zerglings Athena had didn't have the speed upgrade yet, but even so, it would take more than a man on foot to outrun them.

As the pair of zerglings returned to her, Athena raised her voice again and repeated the question.

“Why? Give me a reason, corporal. You and the others almost certainly killed Ren and Michael. You tried to kill me. Why?”

“I…” Corporal Huo’s mouth hung open in disbelief. What was happening here? All the things he saw pointed to one thing, but…could it be? How could that be possible? “You…you control these things! You did this!”

Athena didn't answer the man’s almost crazed yells. She didn't really need to. She gave the corporal a few seconds to collect himself and was about to repeat her question a third time when the queen moved up from behind her.

“My Queen, they are members of your squad?” The queen asked, somewhat confused by the turn of events.

“Yes, but they tried to kill me. I am trying to find out why.” Athena answered the queen silently.

As she did, she noticed the terrified look on the corporal’s face as his eyes landed on the queen. The queen did as well, and she clicked her talons on the ground with a sense of excitement and satisfaction.

“I can make him talk, my Queen.”

Athena frowned, a little uncomfortable by the sadism in the queen’s voice. “Appreciate the offer, but remember, we humans can’t survive in this atmosphere if our armors are damaged. The dead can offer no information.”

“I can guarantee you, my Queen, that he won’t die until you wish him to.” The queen’s armored skull tilted as she explained. “I can still transfuse at least a dozen times. My analysis of the atmosphere suggests that will be enough to keep him alive for at least one standard hour. With how fragile the human body is, I can get all the information I need from him in a fraction of that time.”

“Let’s make that a backup plan.” Athena sighed and rejected the idea. For now. She stared at her NCO before speaking to him through the radio channel. “I did what I had to to survive. You and the others forced my hand, corporal. You were about to gun me down. What was I supposed to do? Stand there and accept my fate?”

Corporal Huo looked around. Athena was keeping him alive for information. Of course, whether he gave her the information or not wouldn’t change his ultimate fate. He would be delusional if he thought Athena would let him go after he saw what he saw.

The toxic atmosphere meant he didn't have to worry about an extended interrogation session, or so he thought, but Athena could still make his end very painful. That was why, in the end, the corporal surrendered. If he was one of his comrades who was doing this for more selfless reasons, then he would endure a painful end and keep his secret. Unfortunately, his reason for participating in this plan was much more selfish.

“I will tell you everything you want to know, Athena.” The corporal sighed in defeat before pulling his gaze away from the queen and back onto Athena. “I just have one question.”

“What is it?”

“These…things.” Corporal Huo gestured at the Zerg units. “You are not as simple as you look, are you? You have your own secrets. Despite what you pretend to be every day, you’re not really an Imperial loyalist. Am I correct?”

Athena stared at the corporal for a second before giving him a gentle nod.

“Ha!” The corporal suddenly let out a loud scoff, but not at Athena. There was a sad smile on his face as he sat down on the ground. “What a damn mess all this is. Fine. I will tell you all you want to know.”