Catalyst

Chapter 39: Family Reunion

Zerus was a harsh world, capable of killing most life forms that were unfortunate enough to walk its surface. Heavy volcanic activity kept the planet hot, causing massive storms that covered as much as half of the planet at once. Lava flows ran rampant across the terrain, filling the atmosphere with toxic fumes and boiling what little ocean there might have been. Despite all of this, the surface of Zerus swarmed with life. The parts of the planet's surface that weren't covered with streams of lava were covered in nearly omnipresent flora, creating a mostly green surface, a surface which was only broken by the many small lava flows. Most organisms would die on this planet. But the native Zerg were definitely not 'most organisms.'

Throughout the jungles and wastelands of Zerus the primal zerg hunted each other, hoping to devour one another and use their prey's essence to perfect their own. Every individual was different, making use of its own unique weapons, defenses, and hunting methods. A casual observer could easily mistake each primal zerg as a separate species, varied as they are. In this respect, the harsh and varied environment was perfectly suited for them. Each adaptation leads to another weapon, another defense, another way to gather essence and evolve. There were zerg that spew a fire-like acid, zerg that burrow under the ground to strike unsuspecting targets, zerg that fire bullet-like spines, and many, many more.

Even with all these different mutations, flying zerg were rare. The winds on Zerus were powerful enough to rip the wings off of most flying species, and the open air left nowhere to hide from any predators on the ground looking to the air for a tasty snack. The few that manage to survive were highly specialized, having survived only by being too difficult to kill.

One such zerg had more than most. It possessed a slender body with four short wings that beat rapidly to provide lift. It also had an extremely long digestive system which it could use as a sort of harpoon to grab and envelop smaller prey from the ground. It could launch a pod that exploded into a large gas cloud around would-be predators, blinding anything unfortunate enough to get caught within. It was not intelligent enough to have a name for itself, but the terrans would eventually come to call it a Viper. It was usually alone in the sky, capable of capturing unsuspecting prey at its own discretion. As such it was off guard, unaware of the looming threat approaching from above.

It didn't even see the leviathan before it swallowed the viper whole.

The leviathan descended through the atmosphere, easily weathering the winds that had grounded the primals. Its massive oval body bore numerous worm-like tentacles, some ready to impale anything that came too close, others ready to open their mouths and spew out the tens of thousands of zerg forces residing within or swallow anything on the surface below. From its sides poured countless newborn corruptors, spreading out in massive swarms that searched for more vipers to kill and consume. On massive, gravity-manipulating tentacles they flew, spewing ink and death before them. In a few minutes, the corruptors had eliminated most everything near the leviathan, and they flew back with the spoils of their conquest.

The other primal zerg had not been passive. Masses of them were already converging on the leviathan, scrambling over each other in a massive pile, clawing desperately. The Swarm did not care. Rather than risk letting any primals reach it, the leviathan opened its vast maw and fired its explosive bio-plasmid payload, impacting the mass below with a powerful discharge. Many primals escaped the blast, and they were all more than ready to attack. The leviathan turned to face them, its massive bulk whipping the air around it into a frenzy. Its tentacles lashed out at the ground below, carving scores in the dirt and killing the slower predators. Clusters of bile swarms flew with pinpoint accuracy to strike down the few that escaped.

At this point, even the least intelligent of the primal zerg had realized they couldn't fight this behemoth head on. Some of the primals burrowed into the ground and detached the specialized eggs they carried on their backs. Within seconds, the eggs hatched, releasing small flying locusts that flew up at the leviathan in a thick cloud.