Diablo 3 Armory - Unofficial Diablo 3 Fansite

Great job man, my story isnt NEARLY as hood as yours. mine is on yhe CoDZ forum. abitu zombies ahahaha. but um KEEP IT UP!!!!

Why starcraft.org no longer work~?

so sad, this was such a great story too

I know right

wait what hes not doin it anymore!!!!!? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh wellat least we still got Uberlisk.........

Chapter 19: Tide

Night watched the caravan disappeared into the horizon. A trade caravan of a minor city, and yet he knew the import of this day. This was the swarm’s first foray into the wider world of Luminous. In time, all of this world would know of the Zerg.

The next few days were uneventful. Night divided his time between his family, Emily, and keeping watch over the caravan through his Overlords.

The swarm was growing steadily. Night spent half the energy the creep carpet gathered in the morphing of new Zerg while saving half for the evolution to the next stage. He did not give specific instruction as to what kind of Zerg should be morphed. It seemed that even the larvae had minds of their own. They wanted to be Roaches and Hydralisks like human children dreamed of being doctors and astronauts. A handful wanted to be Overlords; a couple even wanted to be Drones. In the days after the caravan left, however, no new Zergling was born. Not a single larva wanted to become a Zergling.

“What’s wrong with the Zerglings?” Emily asked Night on the third day after the caravan left.

Night was at the beach, sitting in a folding lawn chair made of wood, watching the children played in the water. Two days ago, he had one of the crafter in the city created a folding lawn chair out of wood. The man had thought Night a genius for ‘inventing’ such a contraption. It was a popular opinion in the city the last few days, especially after he describe a sail and its effect to a group of fishermen.

“They’re depressed,” Night said, glancing behind Emily to see his third Zerg Queen, Selene, who was hanging back to give them some privacy. This third Queen was surprisingly thoughtful.

With the swarm’s current size, he could fully power up to seven Queens, but he only made three, planning for stage three when the Queens’ psionic network would increase in size. For the moment, he only needed three Queens. Eve was his mother personal bodyguard, Lilith watched over his sister, and Selene was assign to protect Emily.

“They get depressed?” Emily said.

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”

“Why are they depressed?”

Night sighed. “Apparently because I didn’t include them in the trading caravan, they think that I think that they’re useless.”

“Do you?” Emily said

Night fell silent. He didn’t want to say it out loud but a part of him did think that. In the game, Zerglings were viable because of limited physical resource and times. They were incorporated into various builds because they were cheap and quick to make. Building Zerglings freed up other resources, especially Vespene Gas for other units like Mutalisks or Infestors.

In real life, such consideration was unnecessary. In virtually any respect, Hydralisks and Roaches seemed superior to Zerglings. Their extra cost was minimal, making them a better investment

“Here.” He stood up and offered her the chair just as she was about to sit down on the sand.

She smiled at him. “I’m fine.”

“Sweetie, the codes of chivalry dictate that I can’t sit in the only chair in the area. So either you take the chair or neither of us sit.”

“There’s a set of codes of chivalry?” Emily said.

“Yes, although it had all but disappeared into history.” Night left out that it was Earth’s history.

“How do you know all of this?” Emily said. “Your mother said you grew up in the wild and yet you knew of things I never have never even heard of.”

Night smirked at her. “Well, aren’t we high and mighty?”

Emily stared at him.

Night smiled wider and held his hand toward the chair.

Sighing, Emily got up off the sand and took the offered seat.

“I’ll show you one day,” Night said, staring out at the sea.

“When?” Emily demanded.

Night turned toward her and did his best to stop smiling at her half-pout. He could understand her irritation. It wasn’t just her; his mother was the same. They were both very curious about where he’d learned all his knowledge, and his answered had always been ‘I’ll show you one day’. His mother was willing to take that on faith; it seemed Emily wasn’t as easy.

“When my swarm can swim across the stars,” he said. He didn’t want to be mysterious, but he honestly doubted that they would believe him. Whenever he spoke of other worlds, he could see the doubts in their eyes. It was similar to the look they had whenever they overhear one of the fairytales he told his sister. The stories amused them but a part of them, whether large or small, doubted the legitimacy of his words. They would believe when they could see for themselves.

A space of silent passed before Gemma, coming to stand beside Night. Behind her, the Zerg Queen Eve stood with her sister, Selene.

Night glanced at her. “Hello, mother. How was your day?”

She smiled at him. “Fine, dear.”

As Night’s mother, Gemma had been very well received by the so called ‘high society’ of the city. The leaders of the major clans in the city had urged their wives to befriend Gemma, hoping that, through her, they could gleaned some information about the swarm, perhaps even gaining a measure of influence over Night.

As long as they didn’t try anything stupid, Night didn’t really mind.

Gemma gazed out at the ocean, a touch of worry in her eyes. “Your sister is out there?”

“Yeah,” Night nodded, “along with a dozen other children.” He glanced at his mother. “Don’t worry, mother, there’s not a Hellite within five miles of her. The fishermen have to travel far out to sea in order to fish.”

Dawn had become very popular among the children of the city. She rarely ever went anywhere anymore without a gaggle of younglings following her, and it was no wonder. She had access to a limitless amount of fruits and the Zerg swarm. Once you got passed their demonic appearance and assuming you know where to sit, most of the Zerg units made wonderful mounds, an irresistible attraction for children.

Night found it a little amusing how little it was to buy the affection of children. A few treats, a fun game, and you’ll be their best friends. It also worried him and was one of the primary reasons there was always thousands of Zerg near his sister. And last but not least, the Zerg Queen Lilith was constantly by her side.

Emily stood up. “I should get back to my students.”

Night glanced at her. “I’m beginning to regret telling you to teach those people.”

Emily resisted a smile. Lately, she had spent all her time teaching the people who was now known of as the Haven Field Clan of Whitestone, and Night had more than once expressed his displeasure at her spending so little time with him. It was a little childish and a bit selfish, but it showed much he cared for her. It was always nice to be wanted. That, and had never inhibited her in any way, despite his feelings.

She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek as a consolation price. She would kiss him on the lips but his mother was there, and she was too embarrassed. It was one of her quirks; if she was alone with him then she was like any other young woman, but if there was a third person present, she would become shyer than a rabbit.

With a faint blush on her cheeks, she turned but before she could walk away, Night grabbed her arm. Her heart broke into a sprint and her cheeks flared. She wondered what he was thinking; his mother was here. When she turned to him, however, she saw him staring into the distance in the opposite direction of the ocean, a frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There is an extremely large group of Hellites heading toward the city,” Night said.

Emily froze and Gemma paled.

“A tide?” Gemma whispered.

“Looks that way,” Night said.

Hellite tides were the single greatest threat to the various towns and cities on Luminous. The deep forests of the planet were in a constant state of warfare between different pacts of Hellites. Every year, the territories of hundreds of Hellites pacts were taken over by more powerful pacts. The pacts that lost their territories would take over the territories of weaker Hellite pacts. This chain reaction would trickle down until thousands of Hellites were driven from the forest. These Hellites would band together and attack various human settlements, creating tides of Hellites.

Some people theorized that this phenomenon occurred due to a base instinct of the Hellites. Without the forest to sustain them, human settlements were the only places that could provide the Hellite pacts with enough food. Even if they could not take down a city, their number would decrease enough that they could survive outside the forest.

“How many?” Emily asked.

“At least sixty thousands,” Night said.

This time, Emily paled. This was the first time Gemma had ever experienced a Hellite tide so the number held no significant to her. It was different for Emily; she had seen Hellite tides before.

The largest Hellite tide White Stone had ever experience was ten years before she was born. From the record, that tide number twenty-five thousands. Back then, White Stone had a force of fifteen thousand. By the end of that battle, barely one thousand White Stone defenders remained. Lady Magdelena had been there for that battle and she had told Emily that it was a miracle their city had survived.

Now, they were facing a force of at least sixty thousands. Many higher cities would be hard pressed to defend against such a force without severe damage, and they only had a force of nine thousands. This was not going to be a battle; it was going to be a catastrophe.

Emily stared at Night. He was their only chance for survival.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

“I’ll go warn the clans,” Emily said before running off.

Night watched as Emily disappeared before turning to Gemma. “Mom, I want you to get Dawn and leave this city, just in case.”

“Can you save the city?” Gemma asked.

“Maybe.”

At the moment, he only had six thousand Zerg in the city, and two thousands of them were Zerglings. He had left his main swarm in the forest to protect his hatcheries. Only the thirty thousand Zerglings and his Overlords would be able to reach the city in time. His Overlords could carry about another ten thousand Roaches and Hydralisks to the city. They would still be outnumbered. The primary fighting force would be Zerglings and they have to hold out for nearly two hours before the rest of the swarm could get here.

Gemma hesitated for a moment before rushing toward the ocean.

Night eyed the two Zerg Queens who had remained behind. “Eve. Selene.”

“You are heading into battle,” Eve said.

“Yes, and?”

“The primary duty of the Queens is to protect the Overmind.”

“You can protect me by keeping my family safe.”

“You are outnumbered, Overmind,” Selene said. “If you wish to protect the city, we would be a big asset in battle.”

“No,” Night said. “If this city dies, then it dies. I will not compromise my family’s safety to save it.”

While he wanted to save the people in the city, his family’s safety was paramount, and this world was far too dangerous for him to leave either his mom or his sister without the protection of a queen. If it came down to a choice, he would leave the entire city to die without a moment hesitation.

“Go,” he told the Queens.

He knew they didn’t want to, but they were a part of his swarm, and his orders were absolute. They turned and went in opposite directions: Eve heading toward the sea while Selene went into the city.

Night stayed on the beach until an Overlord came and picked up Gemma and Dawn. Once he’d confirmed that his mother and sister were on their way out of the city, he headed into the city.

He made his way to the city wall and climbed the steps. The battlements were filled with Force and Magic Users on high alert. By his order, all of the Hydralisks in the city were also on the wall, taking position to fire between the parapets.

He could feel one of his Queens nearby and scanned the wall. It wasn’t difficult for him to spot a figure with skeletal wings. Standing next to the Zerg Queen was Emily and Arthur. He ascended the steps to the top of the battlement and made his way over to Selene. When he neared, they turned to him.

Emily’s face lit up when she saw him and the worry in her eyes faded somewhat. “You’re here.”

He smiled at her. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

He walked to her side and they all stared into the horizons. The tide was not there yet, but there was an oppressive hush weighing down everyone.

“How long do we have?” Arthur asked.

“About an hour,” Night said.

They fell silent again and Night eyed the city’s defenders. The forces of White Stone were weaker than he anticipated. Of nine thousands defenders, eight thousands of them were level four and lower. There were only about a thousand level fives and two or three of dozens of level six. As for level sevens, Night could only count five. To make matter worse, Force Users outnumbered Magic Users almost ten to one

“What’s going on?” he asked Emily. “I thought every family had to have at least a level five Force User.”

“A family needs a level five Force User or a level three Magic Users to join a city,” Emily said. “Once a level five joins a city, his descendant isn’t required to be a level five, at least, not in White Stone. I have heard that some cities do absolve a family citizenship if a family’s descendants aren’t strong enough, but they are usually high-class cities.”

Night mulled the information over. He could see the legitimacy to such line of thinking. Giving citizenship to a family with a level five was an investment. Growing up with the teaching of a high level parent, it was likely that the children would have a measure of power themselves. There was also a chance, down the line, that a descendant could match or even exceeded their ancestors. He supposed that, on this planet, middle and low-class city couldn’t afford to be choosy.

“Maybe you should leave,” Night said, gazing at Emily, “just in case.”

She scowled at him. “I’m not going to run. You need as much help as you can get.”

Night sighed. “You are a level three Magic User. No offense, but your power won’t make a difference. If we can’t do it without you, we can’t do it at all.”

Emily turned away from him and looked beyond the wall. “I am not leaving.”

Night sighed again and turned his attention to the field beyond the wall. At the foot of the battlement, his Zerglings and Roaches were milling about, a chaotic horde of flashing scythe-limbs, chomping teeth, and fluttering wings. He could feel their excitement at the coming battle. Thousands of them and not one of them was worry that they were severely outnumbered.

He frowned slightly, looking at the chaotic mess on the grass below. He sent out a command, and the Zerg below fell into rank, forming a square formation.

Watching them, a thought occurred to him. He was reminded of an episode he saw on the Discovery Channel back on Earth dealing with ancient warfare, specifically the battle tactic of Roman soldiers.

The Roman Empire owed their supremacy in no small part to their army. Compared to other countries of its time, the Roman army had the best equipments and trainings. In battle, the soldiers of Rome moved as a collective unit, moving and striking in harmony. Their shields not only protected themselves but also their comrades. They formed ranks and moved in formations; all the individual units joined to become a stronger whole.

If the Zerglings could do the same. If they form ranks and formations. In term of equipments, the Zerglings bladed limbs could tear through neo-steel. As for discipline, they would obey his orders to the letter, even if he ordered them to kill themselves.

Feeling a touch of excitement, he began to issue orders to the Zerglings in his swarms. He ordered them to pair up. He told them to work in tandem, one defending while the other attacked.

He ordered his Zergs to abandon their square formation and formed three triangle formations instead with Zerglings on the outside and Roaches in the middle. This was a makeshift wedge formation he had come up on the spot.

As the formations took shape, Night felt a little better. Of course, he knew they weren’t out of the wood yet. Up until now, the Zerglings had always been fighting on pure instinct; Night couldn’t be sure if they would be able to change their battle style on the spot like this. Even if they could, there was no telling how effective his strategy would be.

For the last part of his strategy, Night ordered five hundred Zerglings to morph into Banelings. Within seconds, numerous Zerglings swelled up and transformed into fleshy, pulsing cocoons.

He was tempted to morph all of his Zerglings into Banelings. Unfortunately, the Roaches’ range was too limited to be of any use on top of the wall. They would be far more effective on the ground. The problem was that there weren’t enough of them. If he morphed all the Zerglings into Banelings, the Roaches would be completely overwhelmed once the battle started.

The thought annoyed him so much that his teeth almost itched. One of the Zerg’s claims to fame was their overwhelming number. The idea that they would be outnumbered was really offensive to Night. This battle was a smack in his face, a giant billboard depicting how much he had fail as an Overmind.

Once the Banelings finished morphing, he loaded them into twenty Overlords, and that was it. He had done all he could. All that was left was to wait.

Chapter 20: Storm Queen

The Hellite tide soon came into view of the city. Even though Night had seen the tide through the eyes of his Overlord, he still couldn’t keep himself from sucking in a breath. A horde of teeth, fangs, and fur blanketed the horizon, streaming toward the city wall.

The ground shook with their approach. Their screeches and roars chilled the souls of the city’s defenders.

Night could feel his Zerglings’ desire to charge and ordered them to hold their position. At the same time, he commanded the Banelings-filled Overlords forward. He had to slow the tide’s charge. If the Hellite hit them at full speed, they would roll over their primary defense and directly attack the wall.

Twenty Overlords formed a line and floated over the Hellites. Once they reached the Hellites, the Zerg carriers began to carpet-bomb the tide. Acid-bloated Banelings fell down from above. Virtually every Hellites within twenty yards were melted within seconds by the corrosive acid; within fifty yards, at least half were mortally wounded, the rest were severely injured. Beyond that, some Hellites as far as a hundred yards suffered minor injuries from spattered acid.

Night had suspected that Banelings had grown stronger when the swarm evolved into stage two but it was still a pleasant surprise to be proven right.

The Hellites charge slowed, but they proved that they possessed a measure of intelligence. In little time, they seemed to have figured out that that the floating creatures above was the source of their deaths.

Elemental energy lit the air. A storm of lightning, fire, wind, erupted. Bolts of light and shadow energy along with needles of ice and spikes of stones shot upward. Their range caught Night off guard and two of his Overlords perished in the onslaught. They did not go quietly, however. As the Overlords burst apart, the Banelings within simultaneously detonated. The force of the explosions scattered acid over an extensive area. The death of the two Overlords created a rain of acid over an area nearly two thousands yards in diameter. Because the area was so large, there was not that many fatalities, but the number of injuries were incalculable.

Night ordered his Overlords to ascend, putting them out of the range of the Hellites on the ground. Unfortunately, this did not put them out of reach of the flying Hellites in the tide.

Thankfully, Overlords weren’t as helpless as they were in the game. When a bird-like Hellite with bat wings got near one of the Overlords, the Zerg backhanded the creature, breaking its neck and sending it spiraling to the ground. At almost the same time, another Overlord grabbed a flying Hellite and tore it in two, its blood and organs raining down onto the tide below.

One on one, an Overlord could more than hold its own against a flying Hellite, but they were heavily outnumbered. Even so, the Overlords showed no pause or fear. They pushed forward, defending themselves with their arms while continuing their bombing mission.

The Overlords quickly finished their mission. Of the twenty, however, only twelve returned. The flying Hellites attempted to pursue the Overlords but were shot down by the Hydralisks.

The bombardment had greatly slowed the Hellites’ charge as Night intended, but the tide was still advancing. As soon as they came within firing range of the Hydralisk, Night ordered the attack.

Wave of spines tore through the air. Hellites fell by the dozens.

The tide did not pause.

Watching the Hellites stepping on the bodies of their deads, the corpses disappearing as though consume by the relentless tide of beasts, Night felt a touch of admiration; these Hellites could easily passed for Zerg.

Several thousand Hellites perished before the tide neared the wall. Night ordered his Zerglings and Roaches forward. He had wanted to establish a line of defenses but it wasn’t a good idea to provide the Hellites with stationary targets, especially with their elemental powers. Night had considered trenches but against such overwhelming number, trenches were just pre-dug graves.

The Zerglings and Roaches formation slammed into the Hellites. The wedge formations halted for a moment before breaking through the Hellites’ front line. The three groups of Zerg worked together, disrupting the Hellites’ charge as much as possible, limiting the number and size of the Hellite groups that broke through. Only a handful managed to reach the wall and greeted them was a wave of magic energy from the city’s defenders.

He was surprised to see that the Force Users weren’t doing anything except taking defensive positions around the Magic Users, waiting to protect them. Weren’t there bows and arrows on this stupid planet? Were the humans here so dependent upon Magic Users that the only job of Force Users was protection detail?

Somewhat exasperated Night turned his attention back to the battle bellow. His idea seemed to be working. At point blank melee, the Zerglings, working together, could kill any Hellite.

And then, magic fell.

Elemental energies sliced into the formation. Night could feel his Zerg dying, each consciousness blinking out. He knew that they would be reborn, that no Zerg truly die. Still, it wasn’t pleasant seeing them vanishing beneath the flashes of magic.

“My swarm fights and dies for a race not even their own,” Night whispered, feeling an urge to jump from the wall and joined the battle, to battle alongside his Zerg.

He suppressed the desire. He was of more use to his swarm as a commander, not as a soldier. He closed his eyes and simultaneously connected with all of his Overlords. The battlefield appeared in his mind, multiple angles, all at once. It took a moment for him to combine all the side into a singular map. He could see all, all but the look of concern in Emily’s eyes, a look of concerned that had appeared after his whispered statement.

He focused upon the Hellites, ordering the Overlord to send him information. Biologists on Earth said that a human brain was a computer, more advance than any supercomputer that existed in the twentieth century. He wanted to use his brain as such a computer.

He spent a few minutes just absorbing data: which Hellites used what attack, their range, what behavior they exhibited before they attack, where they attacked. He hoped that he could predict their attacks and their targets.

It was much easier said than done. For the first few minutes, the information that flowed into his head became a jumbled mess. He couldn’t make head or tail of the chaos in his brain. Every moment passed, the number of his Zerg decreased.

Inhaling deeply, he tried to group the information base on their similarity, relating the behaviors to the Hellites and then trying to identify the Hellites of the same kind.

It helped a little bit but not by much. At best, he could predict about ten percents of the magical attacks. Fifteen minutes in, the number of Zerglings had been half, and twenty percents of the Roaches were gone.

His swarm was getting overwhelmed.

By the grace of heaven, twenty minutes in, backup arrive. Hundreds of Overlords along with thirty thousand Zerglings appeared on the horizon. He grouped the Zerglings into wedge formations and ordered them forward. Thirty thousand Zerglings combined into sixty triangles and slammed into the Hellite from behind. They sliced into the tide like blade, opening path of his swarm to get to the city wall.

He ordered his Overlords to unload their charges on top of the wall. The Hydralisks reinforced with wall defenses while the Roaches jumped down and joined the battle. Once the Overlords were emptied, Night ordered them to liftoff and go pick up more Zerg.

While flanking an enemy army would greatly increase the chance of victory, if he hit the back of the tide, it would drive the Hellites toward the wall. With the city’s defense as it was, the Hellites would break through and flood the city. The hammer and anvil tactic only work if the anvil was made of steel, not tofu.

With the reinforcement, the swarm managed to hold back the tide. Unfortunately, with the increase in the number of Zerg, the number of skirmishes increased across the battlefield, and Night had to increase the number of his calculations.

For half an hour, it was working. He was able to calculate about one out of every ten magic attacks from the Hellites and warned the targeted Zerg. After that period of time however, the strain on his mind proved to be too much.

At first, it was just a buzzing in his head, but it quickly built into a dull ache that worsened with every passing minute. After an hour, the pain was so bad he could barely think straight. He tried to ignore it, but the agony rapidly reached a critical point. The Overlords sense the strain to his mind and, as one, they forcefully severed their connections to him.

Night fell to his knees, clutching his head. It was the first time his swarm had defied his will, but he knew that they did it to protect him.

Through the haze of agony in his head, he heard someone yelling his name. He turned his head and, through blurry sight, realized that Emily was calling him.

“You’re bleeding!” she said.

It took a moment for him to notice the wetness on his lips. He reached up and wiped his mouth. His fingers came away covered in blood.

“Leave the city,” he said.

“What?” she said.

“Leave the city. We can’t hold this.”

“I can’t leave you.”

“Damn it, Emily!” he snapped. “You’re not strong enough to be of any help! All you are is a liability!”

Emily flinched and she bit her lips. She looked down, her hands clenched at her side. He could feel her turmoil. She didn’t want to leave but she knew he was right.

Suddenly, her head snapped up.

“Then make me stronger,” she said.

“What?” he said, floundering somewhat.

“Make me stronger,” Emily repeated. “You can temporary give a human Zerg ability, can’t you? Grant me the ability of a Queen. I can use the Psionic Focus to fuel my power.”

“You’re insane! We don’t know if that would work.”

“What would it hurt?”

Night bristled. He didn’t like to go down this road with her. The only other person he had given Zerg ability to was his mother, and the event had affected her far more than she had left on. While she hadn’t said anything or act out of the ordinary, sometimes he could see a glint in her eyes, a spark of craze devotion that one would expect to see in the gaze of a religious zealot.

He so didn’t want to go down the same road with Emily.

But what choice did he have? She was far too stubborn to leave and if she stayed, there was no telling what danger she faced. If he gave her the power of a Queen, at the very least she would have to power to defend herself.

As he was struggling with a decision, a group of Hellite broke through the barrage of magic energy and Hydralisk spines, and one of them managed to climb onto the wall. A psionic shockwave from Selene shattered the creature’s skeletal structure and blew him off the wall. A second shockwave crushed the Hellites at the food of the wall into the wall, killing them instantly.

Night eyed the broken bodies of the Hellites and the chaotic battle below. “Fine,” he said, turning back to Emily, “but if this does not help, do you agree to leave the city?”

“Fine,” Emily said.

Night inhaled deeply and looked over Emily’s shoulder. “Selene.”

The Zerg Queen nodded and placed a hand on Emily’s back. Emily stiffened and let out a gasp as a stream of energy surged into her body. She began to tremble for a few seconds before a set of skeletal wings exploded from her back. The formation of the wings shredded her clothes. There was a split second before a wave of scales appeared, rippling across her skin, forming a suit of armor that hugged her every curve.

Since Night was standing in front of her and Selene was standing behind her, the surroundings defenders and Arthur couldn’t see Emily’s full revelation. Of course, Night couldn’t think about that. Though the suit of scales formed quickly, Night still managed to see everything.

He felt as though his blood had been lit on fire. He almost forgot about the battle below. The survival or death the city almost seemed inconsequential. Dominating almost every corner of his mind was her.

The transformation finished quickly. Emily flexed her wings, inhaling deeply, tasting the air with her new Zerg senses. After a moment, her eyes met his. Her lips curved into an adoring and seductive smile.

“Overmind,” she whispered, drawing closer. She swayed as she moved. She only took two steps but each seemed to enhance her curves, enticing him.

“My Queen,” he muttered, reaching forward. As his hand brushed her shoulder, the scales receded, baring the smooth skin below to his touch.

He wanted to give in to his desire. He knew he have her. As she was, she wouldn’t deny him. But he couldn’t, not while the consciousnesses of the Zerg below were blinking out one after the other.

“Our swarm,” he said to her.

Emily let out a sighed. “Of course, Overmind.”

She turned to the battle below. He could feel her fury at the Hellites below. In her mind, the Hellites were lesser beasts. It angered her that they would dare to challenge her Overmind. Worse, they had impeded her time with him.

Emily’s right hand flashed out and a bolt of lightning exploded from her slender finger to slam into the tide below. A group of Hellites exploded, burned pieces of flesh flying into the air. She fired one bolt after another, and below her, Hellites died by block at a time.

A Zerg Queen’s telekinesis would strong enough to crush buildings or delicate enough to pick up a block of tofu without breaking it. Though Emily’s lightning power lack that kind of versatility, it more than make up for it in destructive power. She stood upon the battlement, a vengeful goddess; where her light touched, only death remained; where her wrath struck, the ground was charred black.

After two dozen bolts, Night could feel Emily’s getting angrier. She climbed onto the parapet and held up her arms.

A massive burst of psionic power erupted and shot into the sky. Through his connection with his Overlords and Emily, Night could feel the electromagnetic field overhead beginning to warp. The heaven seemed to trembled before darkening. Black clouds materialized, blanketing the heaven and blocking out the sun.

There was no moisture in the air to signal rain. The air, instead, hum with power. Night could feel electricity building above his head. Lightning began to appear, a stream of electricity swirling among the cloud, like a gigantic serpent of light that was awakening.

The pressure pushed down on all of them like a mountain. The Hellites below began to tremble and retreat. They had shown no pause against the combine might of the Zerg swarm and White Stone, but the tide feared her.

As the pressure build, Emily began to rise into the air, as though being pulled upward by the clouds above.

“Uh oh,” Night muttered.

“What is it?” Arthur said.

“Get off the wall,” he said, tearing her eyes from the figure levitating above their head. “Everyone, get off the wall!”

Concern rippled through the ranks of the defenders on the battlement but no one move.

“Selene, clear the wall!” Night commanded. “Throw them off if you have to but get them away from the wall!”

Selene obeyed immediately. A massive wave of psionic force picked blew nearly two hundred people from the battlements. Dozens cried out in pain as they hit the ground from twisted ankles and broken legs.

Night frowned for a second. When he was Nathan, he’d only took one class in martial art for self defense and even he knew that you were suppose to roll with the impact. The Force User on this world may be much stronger than the people on Earth, but that very toughness and strength may have inhibited them from figuring out the minor tricks that had existed in the various martial arts of Earth for thousands of years.

Night turned his gaze back to Emily’s floating figure. She was, for the moment, a Zerg Queen, and there was a connection between them. Through that connection, he could tell that she had completely lost control.

Emily might have the full power of a Queen, but the acquisition of such power was too recent. She hadn’t the time to acclimated herself to the Zerg Queen’s Psionic Focus ability. In her inexperience, she had set off a chain reaction that she could no longer control. Worse, her sensitivity to electricity had created a connection between her and the clouds above. The buildup of power, through this connection, had all but overwhelmed her mind. She still had enough sense to direct most of the lightning storm above in a general direction once the lightning storm reached critical mass, but that was about it.

Night sent an order to all the remaining Zerg to flee the area. Once the lightning storm hit, Hellites and Zerg alive would be incinerated. The Zerg on the battlefield closest to the wall burrowed and moved into the city. Unfortunately, there were still thousands of Zerg too far out to enter the city. He ordered them all to burrow and began to move as far away as possible.

They didn’t get very far before the clouds exploded. All the energy that had built up in the heaven streamed down to earth. The field burst into flames. Half a mile worth of wall were consumed by lightning. The tide shattered. Hellites vanished by the hundreds, shrieking as the tempest swallowed them.

Even the burrowed Zerg were not unscathed. The layer of soil gave them some protection but it wasn’t enough. A direct strike would pierce the ground and speared the unfortunate Zerg, burning carapaces and internal organs alike.

The Zerg in the area was dying nearly half as fast as the Hellites. Of course, the Hellites number was double that of the Zerg. At this rate, once the Hellites were gone, so would his swarm, and even though he still had a sizable number of Zerg that wasn’t in the area, he couldn’t afford the lost. If all the Zerg her died, he was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough to protect both his hatcheries and the city. He could morph more but that would delay the evolution to stage three and his plans.

With no other recourse, he had to ignore the strain to his mind and began to connect with his Overlords and Emily. As the one who set off the storm, Emily could predict the spot where each lightning bolt would hit. Through her senses, Night could tell which Zerg to move where in order to avoid a direct lightning strike.

Unfortunately, the storm was devastating. There dozens of lightning strikes every square yard. To avoid all of them was an impossibility. Night could only limit the damage.

The storm lasted ten minutes, but in that ten minutes, five thousands Zerg perished and the strain on Night’s mind was beyond enormous. After a while, Night could feel his eyes bleeding and his mind felt as though it had been lit on fire.

When the storm finally dissipated, Night exhaled. He relaxed for a split second and all the strain hit him at once. The ground was suddenly rushing up at him. He did not feel the impact; he simply fell into darkness.

Author's Note: Sorry that it had been so long since my last update, but I have been going crazy the last couple of months trying to get my first novel published. Since then, I have also started my second novel. I promise to push on with this story but with a novel, my job, and school, I can’t promise that updates will be quick, or even regular. Hopefully, my novel, once it comes out, would be successful enough that I could quit school along with my job and write full time.

OMG ITS BACK!!!!!!!!

THE ARMORY HAS A FAN-FIC GOING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow seems like forever since i've seen post of fan-fiction thank you zerg swarm for starting this story again

YES

IM SO HAPPY! This was an epic fan fic as well now this is the only one we have but at least we have one again JOY

Excellent; I was hoping you wouldn't abandon this. Gotta keep a closer watch for simple mistakes but the content, as usual, was great. I look forward to the next piece.