#final craft

What am I? Who am I?

"Your name is GUARDIAN. You are a synthetic life form that was created to serve as the final line of defence for the Grand Vault of Lumina Prime.”

Understood. Clarify system parameters.

“You are effectively a solar system that has been condensed into a humanoid form. Your ‘body’ is a higher-dimensional transition zone that separates the bounded subspace containing your power source, armoury, and other equipment from the physical universe.”

Understood. Continue clarification.

“Basically, you’ve got a blue-white supergiant surrounded by a Dyson sphere inside your subspace. That’s where all of your power comes from. And the rest of the solar system? Well, it’s not so much planets and asteroids as it is a series of gigantic rings that contain your processors and weapons. You don’t fire your weapon in physical space so much as you fire them in subspace and then make your ‘body’ permeable, allowing the attacks to transition into physical space.”

Understood. Current orders?

“Well, would you like some ice cream?”

…

“Everybody likes ice cream, and it’s not like we’re going to just lock you inside the vault. You get to hang out with all the cool people - namely, us - whenever you’re not on duty, and since Lumina Prime is maybe the second most fortified location in several universes, you probably won’t ever have to do anything.”

…

“You’re probably wondering why we created you, huh? To tell you the truth, you’re the first of your kind, the next generation of combat synthetic. But you can’t fight all the time. It’s really not good for your mental health, and an insane killer robot with a solar system’s worth of firepower is not good for our physical health. And that’s why you get to hang out with the cool people.”

… you are my creators, correct?

“Yep.”

You are insane.

“Probably. But do you really want to miss out on ice cream?”

Did you give me taste sensors merely so that you could bribe me with ice cream?

“We can neither confirm nor deny anything. There will also be chocolate… and hamsters.”

I accept.

X     X     X

GUARDIAN gazed out across the oceans of Lumina Prime. It had been more than a century since her initial activation, and she still couldn’t quite get over how… odd her creators had been. Admittedly, she’d had access to files regarding the many, many, many eccentricities of the Dia-Farron, but she hadn’t quite been able to believe them.

After all, what sort of people built a killer robot with a star for a power source and enough firepower to lay waste to entire solar systems?

The answer, when it had occurred to her shortly after her activation, had been surprisingly simple:

The sort of people who knew that the aforementioned killer robot could totally be won over by ice cream, chocolate, and hamsters.

She bit back a chuckle. There was method to their madness. Once she’d gotten over how strange they were, she’d realised quite quickly that the Dia-Farron actually did care. She wasn’t simply a machine to them. She was, in everything but blood, one of their children. Indeed, she’d spent the early years of her life being treated just like one of their children, complete with candy-based bribery, childish scheming and plotting, and even multiple visits to various theme parks. She hadn’t really understood any of it at the time, but now she treasured those memories.

She even made a point of visiting the closest Gary World at least once a decade.

“Are you up here brooding again?”

GUARDIAN turned and managed to keep her expression neutral as one of the Dia-Farron approached on the back of a war hamster. Setting aside the bizarreness of tank-sized hamsters, it was even harder to ignore the fact that the war hamster was using flight armour. It was equal parts utterly adorable and completely mystifying.

Why would such intelligent people ride around using war hamsters with flight armour when they could use something more aerodynamic? As always, the answer was simple:

Because they thought it was cool.

It really was that simple, and GUARDIAN had come to appreciate such simplicity. It was, if not elegant, then very honest, and honesty was such a valuable thing.

“I am not brooding,” GUARDIAN said. “I am merely observing the ocean.”

“Yes,” the Dia-Farron replied, her lips quirking up at the edges. “By brooding.” She sighed melodramatically. “I’ve read the notes on your personality matrix, you know. You’re really quite melancholy when you’re not indulging in ice cream and chocolate.” She reached into the subspace pocket her armour had. “Which is why I came bearing gifts.”

“Of course, you do.” GUARDIAN’s eyes narrowed. “Is there a reason you’re bribing me?”

“Ah, you’ve seen right through me.” The Dia-Farron scratched the back of her head, and her hamster rolled his eyes. “Well, you know, the empress is going to be visiting today, and we might have, maybe, done a few things we shouldn't have. You’re there to make sure she doesn’t murder us all.”

“Oh, she wouldn’t murder you all. You’re family. At best, you’d be banished.”

“She does like to threaten us with banishment, doesn’t she?”

GUARDIAN eyed the bag of chocolate warily before accepting it. “So… what did you guys do this time?”

“You know we have singularity bombs, right?”

“Yes. They’ve been used extensively against certain species of Grimm and other foes that are more resilient to conventional weaponry.”

“Well, we kind of made a bigger one, as in bigger than any we’ve ever built.”

GUARDIAN froze. “How much bigger?”

“Technically,” the Dia-Farron said. “It would be classified as at least an anti-galaxy weapon.”

“At least. At least?” GUARDIAN handed the chocolate back. “No deal. You’re on your own.”

“What?” The Dia-Farron leapt off her hamster and latched onto GUARDIAN. “But we created you? You have to save us from the empress? Have you seen her glare? It’s… it’s legendarily terrifying!” The Dia-Farron shivered. “They say that she is Lightning Farron come to life, that her glare can terrify even bearers of Saviour and Ragnarok. Would you truly leave us to face her alone?”

GUARDIAN made a face. “You do realise that I am technically supposed to be watching over the Grand Vault. As long as the empress doesn’t attack it, I have no real reason to save any of you.”

“That’s cold,” the Dia-Farron said. “Really cold. But how about we make a deal. You don’t have to say or do anything. Just take the weapon we built and put it in your subspace. That way, she won’t know we have it.”

“…” GUARDIAN shook her head. “Not a chance.”

“Fine.” The Dia-Farron continued to cling on. “What if I told you that I am in possession of an authentic Gary-brand souvenir hat from the very first original Gary theme park on Remnant.”

“Impossible,” GUARDIAN said. 

“Very possible, and it could be yours if you help us out.”

“You’re asking me to commit treason.”

“It’s only like… mid-level treason. We’ll tell her all about it once we’ve had time to get on her good side a bit more, you know, to balance out the bad stuff with good stuff.”

The little girl yawned and opened the front door. Fred was already up and about, and he nudged her with his head. “You want to go for a run, huh? Well, let me get changed first.”

One of the benefits of living on a world with a large Dia-Farron population was the excellent education that was available to anyone with the ability to keep up. The Dia-Farron might be fanatically loyal to their family, but they were always on the lookout for the best and brightest. After all, it wouldn’t do to miss a good minion or to miss a potential genius.

Amy was only nine years old, but she’d already shown an incredible aptitude for genetic engineering and biological alteration. Her parents had been taken aback when one of the Dia-Farrons had arrived to personally deliver an invitation to attend the planet’s leading scholastic academy, but they’d been happy to agree.

Fred was this year’s project. The Grand Empire Alliance had encountered the Zerg some time ago, and the potential of the species had quickly been recognised. Naturally, there had been a few kinks to work out, but the newly developed Imperial Zerg now played an important role in defending the Empire’s outer colonies and more remote holdings.

As a student at the academy, Amy had been given an Imperial Zerg larva and asked to come up with a range of special modifications for a zergling. Fred was the result, and apart from being her beloved pet, he was also her project for the year. Depending on how he did on a range of different tests, her grade was likely to range from fairly good to excellent.

Amy climbed onto Fred’s back and settled herself into the special harness she’d designed. Her alterations were primarily designed to improve Fred’s speed and perception. Zerglings weren’t particularly durable compared to some of their brethren, but they were exceedingly fast. She had envisioned Fred as a sentry and patrol type, someone who could cover vast swathes of ground while keeping a close eye on his surroundings. It wouldn’t be up to him to fight. Instead, he would be the one telling other bigger and scarier Imperial Zerg where they were needed.

As they raced through the outskirts of the settlement and toward the fortifications that protected it from any potential trouble, she urged Fred to slow down. Augustus, one of several titanolisks assigned to the area, loomed ahead of them. The towering Imperial Zerg was far larger than even the war badger that was currently in conversation with him.

Despite his size, Augustus was newly hatched. The war badger was one that had protected the settlements in this area for longer than even Amy’s parents had been alive. Fred drew to a stop, and Amy climbed off. Augustus gave a low rumbling greeting, and Fred chirped back.

“Is something wrong?” Amy asked the war badger.

The war badger turned his gaze to her. She’d met plenty of war hamsters, and they were all quite friendly. It wasn’t that war badgers were mean, but they didn’t really talk unless they had to.

“I’m teaching the young one how to properly protect this area,” the war badger replied at last, nodding at Brutus. “There is no danger present at the moment, but be careful, and stay away from the restricted areas.”

“I will,” Amy said, climbing back onto Fred. “Thank you.”

The reason there were so many Dia-Farron on the planet was due to the discovery of a substance with powerful mutagenic properties. Amy didn’t know all of the specifics, but it was said to have extremely volatile reactions with Dust and other Aura-sensitive materials, which was why the Dia-Farron wanted to study it so much. Of course, mining the substance and handling it were extremely dangerous, so large sections of the planet were restricted to authorised personnel only. Amy might have been curious, but if even the Dia-Farron were reluctant to just charge in, there was probably a good reason for their caution.

As they reached the desert-like area away from town, Amy urged Fred to pour on the speed. Zerglings were all fast, but her alterations had turned Fred into a speedster even amongst them. She’d had his speed measured, and he was at least twice as fast as a standard speed-boosted zergling, and she’d yet to really push him since some of the adaptations were still maturing.

They raced along until they reached one of the many spires of rock that jutted out of the sand. Fred made his way up to the top without breaking his stride, and Amy climbed off to let him rest, taking out a small can of the nutrient-rich slime that the Zerg seemed to love so much. It was based on creep, but with some extra stuff thrown in.

“Not a bad view, huh?” Amy murmured as Fred settled down beside her.

This is a followup to this snippet.

X     X     X

"This is good,” Jim murmured as he munched on the burger. “Really damn good.”

“Heh.” The fox-eared woman smirked. “You’re human. On the planet where my people started, the two dominant species were humans and Faunus.” At Jim’s questioning looking she continued, “Faunus are people like me. Basically, we’re highly similar to humans but with a few animal-like traits, such as these ears of mine.” She wiggled her fox ears for effect. “As for my friend here, he’s technically an uplifted hamster.”

The massive hamster was lounging around next to the fox-eared woman. 

“Uplifted?” Sarah asked. As a psionic she was good at detecting deception, but she couldn’t get a read on the Faunus or her hamster. It was like… staring at a smooth piece of glass. She’d been a bit reluctant to eat, but Jim had put it best. If these people wanted to kill them, they could have done it a dozen times over by now. Plus, the burgers smelled delicious.

“Back in the day, hamsters were pretty normal, similar to the ones you have. Centuries of genetic engineering and other procedures have given rise to the uplifted hamster, which we call the war hamster. There are also uplifted cats, dogs, and other species.” The Faunus nodded at the hamster. “Why don’t you show them, Professor Snuggleset.”

Jim raised one eyebrow at the odd name, but then both eyebrows went up as the hamster shrank down the size of a normal hamster and scurried up to one of the Faunus’s pockets. “That’s something you don’t see every day.”

“It’s a hyper advanced metabolic-Aura transformation that allows them to vary their size. For obvious reasons, it’s usually easier for them to get around in this form outside of battle.”

“That’s why you’ve got those extra pockets,” Sarah said. 

“Well spotted. I come from a family that specialises in war hamsters. We all have pockets like this.” The Faunus smiled. “So, while you’re eating, I’ll explain a few things. By the way, you can call me Cinnamon.”

X     X     X

By the end of lunch, Jim’s mind was spinning. He’d learned so much, and he wanted to say it was all crazy, but the evidence was right there in front of him. They’d had holo files and even data files they’d seized or hacked from the Confederacy and other Terran forces. And it all made sense. Damn if it didn’t.

“So… you’ve got your own Zerg,” JIm said. “What are you planning on doing? I mean, I’m grateful for the help, me and Sarah would be dead without you, dead or worse, but I need to know.”

Cinnamon smiled. “We’re not here to subjugate you all and make you our slaves, if that’s what you’re worried about. No. Think of this as a… business transaction. We’d like to establish a foothold in this universe, which means we need territory of our own. We’d also prefer to get it without stepping over the corpses of the locals.”

“So you want to deal?” Jim asked. He laughed. “Figures. All right. What do you want?”

A map of the galaxy appeared. “We want these bits. Now, from what we’ve seen, nobody lives there yet. Our technology can handle that just fine. In exchange, we help you deal with the Zerg.”

“And by deal with them…?” Sarah asked.

“Not full-scale genocide,” Cinnamon replied. “There are greater powers at work here than the Zerg, and they’ve been using the Zerg as their pawns. The Zerg can be reasoned with once those powers are dealt with, something we’re doing right now. As for the Protoss, I have colleagues making contact with them. Besides, we’d like to study the Zerg. They’re quite an interesting species.”

“You can say that again,” Jim muttered. “Look, that sounds great, but we don’t exactly have a government right now. The Confederacy is falling apart, that bastard Mengsk is trying to take over, and all Sarah and I have got right now is each other.”

“That’s plenty, Jim,” Sarah whispered.

“Yeah, it is, but we’re going to need help.” Jim sighed. “Heck, if you wanted to take over, now would be a good time to do it.”

“We have holdings in a number of different universes,” Cinnamon replied. “We’ve found it’s usually better to wait for people to ask to join than simply conquer them if they’ve been independent for a long time. As for your forces… there are still plenty of people loyal to you, Jim. We’ve kept track of them. Most of them made it out alive, and most of them aren’t happy with what Mengsk did. If you can get back to them, well, we’d be happy to lend you a hand as well.”

“Picking the winner, huh?” Jim said, grinning.

“Exactly. It would be better for us if someone reasonable and favourably disposed to us were to be in charge. Plus, we can help Sarah here with her problems.”

“Problems?” Sarah asked.

“You’re a Ghost. All Ghosts undergo extensive surgery not only to enhance their power but also, when necessary, to suppress it. You are far, far stronger than you realise. We can unlock that potential, and you can turn it on your enemies.”

“Can you give us some time?” Jim asked. “This… it’s a lot to take in.”

“Sure. But you need to think fast. We’re at a critical juncture.” Cinnamon stood up. “Anyway, how about a quick tour while you’re here? I’m sure you’d like to see our Zerg. We call them Imperial Zerg.”

“Imperial?”

“I belong to the Grand Empire Alliance, the mightiest power of its home universe and the foremost power in several other universes as well.”

X     X     X

“What is that?” Jim shrieked.

“That’s Brutus,” Cinnamon said. “He’s a titanolisk.”

“A… titanolisk?” Sarah shivered. “He looks kind of like an ultralisk.”

“Yeah, we based the titanolisks on the genetic matrix of the ultralisk, but we’ve made a few… improvements.”

“I’ll say,” Sarah replied.

The titanolisk was massive, towering above even the size of an ultralisk. It oozed power and durability, yet it moved with a savage sort of grace, like a wolf on the prowl, despite it immense size.

“One of these can take on a group of ultralisks and win,” Cinnamon said. “Their armour can stand up to the projected strength of Protoss orbital bombardment, and their blades can cut through the armour of an ultralisk with ease. They’ve also got a variety of ranged weapons and customisable organ-based add ons for whatever you need to kill. And they heal. Unless you grind them down to almost nothing, they’ll regenerate if you give them enough time and resources.”

“Damn,” Jim said. “I’m glad you’re not picking a fight with us. Is he… friendly?”

“It’s odd,” Sarah said. “He doesn’t feel like the other Zerg do to my psionic senses.”

“They don’t require a psionic link to a hive mind in order to function. They’re basically closer to pack-based animals. You have to raise them and care for them, and in exchange, they’ll be loyal to you.” Cinnamon grinned and walked forward. Brutus strode toward her and lowered his massive head, nuzzling against her hand. “I raised this guy from a hatchling. I remember when he was only this high.” She gestured at her knee. “Of course, that didn’t last long. Even as an egg, he got pretty huge quickly. But, yeah, he’s friendly. You can pat him if you want.”

“I’ll pass on that,” Jim murmured.

Brutus gave a low rumble.

“Or not.” He walked forward slowly and extended one hand. The titanolisk nudged it with the blunt side of a blade.

“Incredible.” Sarah came forward and repeated the gesture.

“Well, I’ll show you some other parts of the ship. Brutus will have to stay here,” Cinnamon said. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t fit through most of the corridors.” The titanolisk grumbled. “Hey, don’t worry, big guy. I’ll leave Professor Snuggleset with you.” The hamster hopped onto the titanolisk’s blade and ran up to rest on his shoulder. The titanolisk gave another rumble. “No, don’t worry about me, I’ll have an escort.”

A hedgehog ambled over.

“You know,” Jim said. “If someone had told me you’d be escort by a hedgehog, I’d have called them crazy. I’m betting this guy transforms like your hamster, right?”

Jim Raynor had lived a very interesting life. Unfortunately, that interesting life was about to come to an end. He should have known better than to come back for Sarah, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to leave her there, not after everything they’d been through together. If they somehow managed to get off this damn planet, he was going to murder Mengsk. That son of a bitch had sold them out, and for what? Power? They were supposed to be brothers in arms, united in fighting the oppression of the Confederacy.

As the Zerg closed in, Jim braced himself.

“How many more rounds you got?” he murmured to Sarah.

Sarah gave him a small smile. “Three.”

“Well, you’re doing better than me. I’ve got two. Let’s make them count -”

CRACK.

There was a cracking sound, and the space beside them simply ripped apart. A hulking creature rumbled forward, encased in armour of some kind and absolutely bristling with weaponry. It gave a roar and opened fire on the incoming Zerg.

Half a dozen lasers flared to life, their radiant beams slicing through the horde of Zerg as they swung back and forth.

“Get down!” Jim roared as he grabbed Sarah and dropped to the ground. 

The creature, which was the size of a siege tank, gave a low rumble of thanks, and more lasers erupted from emplacements on its armour. The beams swept across the battlefield, slaughtering dozens of Zerg at a time. More weapons came online, a stream of thousands of explosive rounds turning the sky above them into a sea of molten metal, flame, and devastating force. Mutalisks and other Zerg fliers simply dissolved under the assault, and the creature still wasn’t done.

Huge plumes of searing plasma that were hundreds of feet long rushed out from several turrets on the creature’s armour, incinerating swathes of Zerg with each pass. Hundreds, no, thousands of Zerg had already fallen before the onslaught. Glancing up, Jim noticed a humanoid figure in power armour standing on top of the creature. Whoever it was, they had a strange gun of some kind that -

WHOOSH.

A beam of multi-coloured energy spewed out of the weapon, and whenever it touched the Zerg, the Zerg disintegrated as if they were being taken apart molecule by molecule. The humanoid figure gestured, and several spheres shot out of the armour around their arm. The spheres took to the air and spun swiftly, transforming into tendrils of nano-molecular wire that darted back and forth across the battlefield, slicing Zerg to pieces.

A towering ultralisk rumbled forward. The strange gun fired, and it disintegrated mid-stride. A hydralisk fired spines. They struck a glowing barrier and disintegrated too. 

“You two,” the humanoid figure in armour said. “Get up. If you want to live, you’ll come with us.”

Jim didn’t even have to think about it. He got up and so did Sarah. “Now what?”

“Here.” The figure tossed two more spheres at them. “Hold those.”

Once both he and Sarah had a sphere in their hands, there was another flash of light, and the world fell away.

X     X     X

Sarah stumbled around and tried not to throw up. What was that? She looked around frantically. Where was Jim? She saw him nearby, kneeling on the tiled floor. He was still in his armour, at least, but this definitely wasn’t anywhere they were familiar with.

Nearby, the massive armoured creature and the armoured humanoid stood watching them. Sarah put herself between them and Jim as she waited for the marine to recover. Psionics like her tended to handle things a little better than more normal humans.

“Jim,” she murmured. “Jim, get up. Do you know where we are?”

“You are aboard the GEASS Forerunner.”

“GEASS? I don’t know that designation,” Sarah replied, keeping her weapon aimed at the armoured figure.

“We’re not from around here. And by that, I really mean we’re not from around here. Heck, we’re not even from your universe, never mind your galaxy. However, we did run into a few of your… friends.”

The voice was different now. It sounded like it belonged to a woman.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the Zerg. You see, we ran into a few larva some time ago. We’re since engineered them to work for us. They’re incredibly loyal once you know how to work with them, and they’re very versatile.”

“What? Do you work for Mengsk?” Sarah hissed. Mengsk had used those damn psi emitters.

“Oh, please. He’s an idiot, and his scientists are amateurs. I’m talking about the ability to completely control and rewrite the Zerg from a genetic level. Psi emitters are horribly crude and not at all conducive to long-term control. You have dogs, right? To us, the Zerg are every bit as loyal and hard-working as a faithful dog, and I mean that in a good way. They’re like pets… with claws and teeth and acid. Those are our Zerg. Naturally, we wanted to know more about the originals, which brings us to here, and to you. The Zerg were after you, Sarah, most likely because of your psionic potential.”

“Who are you?”

The armour around the face receded or turned translucent. Sarah found herself staring at a redhead with fox ears. The armoured creature’s armour did the same… revealing a gigantic hamster. That was enough to get Jim back up onto his feet.

“Am I seeing things, or is that a giant hamster?”

The instructor, a Dia-Farron, prowled through the classroom with his net gun. Given the hijinks his students got up to, it was only sensible to have it around. “You should all have familiarised yourselves with the basic Zerg genetic matrices. For this term’s project, we will be asking you to come up with possible variations to the standard zergling.”

A hand went up. “Can we -”

“No, you cannot grab zerg larvae and actually implement the changes. Despite how some people may view them, the Zerg are living things. Although we have heavily modified their genetics since we first encountered them, we are not about to start letting students actually implement their ideas without screening them properly.”

The instructor gestured and an intricate hologram of the Zerg genetic matrix appeared in the air. “When you are using the simulator to model the effects of your changes, pay close attention to the key parameters given under this menu.” He pointed. “If any of them start entering the red zone, it is likely that your modifications will either fail or produce a nightmarish abomination that will have to be put out of its misery for its own good. As you can imagine, if that happens, you will not be receiving a passing grade.”

Another hand went up “Are we allowed to make modifications to existing modifications?”

“That will be assessed on a case by case basis. However, we require a minimum level of change from any currently widely employed design. If you’re not sure, send it to me, and I will evaluate it.” His eyes narrowed. He knew how this particular student thought. “Thinking of incorporating more Dust into your zergling design?”

There was sheepish laughter. “Uh… yeah.”

As creatures that originated from non-awakened worlds, Zerg creatures did not originally have access to Aura. However, enough tinkering and fiddling, had allowed them to develop organs that could act as Aura batteries of a sort. They could not produce their own Aura, but they could store Aura and use it to activate Dust. 

One of the first modifications after that success had been to include some gravity Dust in their diet. Triggering it temporarily reduced the effects of gravity on the zergling, allowing them to leap incredible distances or scale vertical surfaces without difficulty using their claws. Naturally, they had to replenish their store of gravity Dust regularly, but that was easy enough to arrange. Over time, they’d even learned how to use gravity Dust in the opposite way, making themselves heavier to add force to their blows or to make their leaping attacks more devastating.

Over the years, more additions had been made. Zerglings could now do things like ingest wind Dust to make themselves faster and more agile or earth Dust to make themselves more durable. Given how many variants of Dust there were, there were countless possible genetic modifications to make to allow zerglings to perform new feats with Dust.

“Are we allowed to use cybernetics?” someone asked.

“No. This is about genetic manipulation. Although cybernetics have proven to be quite handy - just look at the hydralisk variant called the cyberlisk - they are not the point of this exercise.”

“Aw…”

The cyberlisk was a hydralisk variant that used cybernetic enhancement to basically make it a living rail gun that could see through walls and could aim over distances that made it worthy of being called a sniper. They were less mobile than normal hydralisks, and their cybernetic parts required maintenance, but they filled a niche that the zerg had previously had issues with.

“And before anyone asks,” the instructor continued. “No splicing genetic matrices from other zerg.”

There were disappointed groans from the class.

One of the most popular spliced zerg strains was the Ultrahydra, a hybrid ultralisk-hydralisk creature. Although it was not as adept in melee combat as an ultralisk, it retained the tremendously armoured carapace and added the ability to shoot spines that made even the cyberlisk’s attacks look puny. It was, in most respects, walking, armoured artillery and anti-air support that was capable of launching deadly impaler spines with rail-gun-like force, a shotgun-like blast of spines that broke apart mid-flight, or explosive spines that formed a deadly cloud of shrapnel after piercing their target or striking the ground.

Her Imperial Majesty Elsa VII knew that her day was about to take a turn for the worse when her Dia-Farron science advisor skipped into the room with a smile on his face. A smiling Dia-Farron almost always meant trouble, usually of the kind that involved system-crushing explosions and galaxy-wide devastation.

“What happened?” she asked warily.

“I’m glad you asked, Your Majesty.” Lumos Dia-Farron sketched a quick bow in her direction before he gestured, calling up an elaborate holographic display in the air beside him. “A few hours ago, one of our inter-galactic probes pinged something interesting.”

Elsa frowned. Those probes were part of an early monitoring system designed to detect incoming extra-galactic Grimm before they smashed into the Grand Empire Alliance or its allies. It had been several centuries since the Grand Empire Alliance had established footholds in the Milky Way Galaxy, and their territory had expanded considerable. The Grand Empire Alliance now had control of most of the Milky Way Galaxy, and they had substantial holdings in other galaxies, as well as holdings in other universes.

There had been advocates of faster expansion, but the bearers of Saviour and other strategists had argued against overly rapid expansion. The Grimm’s attacks had continued with alarmingly regularity, only now their swarms were even larger. Spreading too quickly could prove to be a fatal mistake. Investigation of the future using the Seers and Seeresses of the Empire in conjunction with the most advanced modelling available to the Dia-Farron had settled the matter decisively. Overly rapid expansion was almost guaranteed to lead to a future filled with blood, fire, and a lot of Grimm.

The probes Lumos had mentioned were situated in the vastness between galaxies since the Grimm had demonstrated their ability to use immensely powerful warping technology, as well as non-anchored hyperspace travel of substantial range. There wasn’t supposed to be much of anything there, so any activity was bound to draw attention.

“What did it find?” Elsa asked.

Lumos grinned. The image shifted, revealing a strange, warped area of space that was only visible when he shifted the view away from the visual spectrum. “This appears to be a hole in space. The particles it emits are mostly similar to those that exist in our dimension. However, there are some that we have only encountered naturally in other dimensions.”

Elsa frowned. “Is this another attack?” Over the centuries, beings from other dimensions had attacked the Empire and its allies on several occasions. They had been beaten back each time, sometimes at great cost. It was why the Dia-Farron had developed an arsenal of weapons designed to obliterate beings from other dimensions or even those other dimensions themselves. “Has anything come through?”

“That’s the fascinating thing,” Lumos said. “We don’t think this was on purpose. We believe that the portal was created accidentally by something on the other side that isn’t even aware it exists.”

“I see.”

“But there’s more!” Lumos continued excitedly. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the multiverse-gateway theories, right?”

Elsa nodded slowly. She was passingly familiar with the ideas they proposed, if not the physics. There were probably fewer than a hundred people in the entire Empire who fully understood the possibilities. Lumos happened to be one of them. “A little bit, yes.”

“We’ve never delved too deeply into practical experiments since there was a chance we could obliterate our entire universe,” Lumos said. “But over the years, we’ve managed to narrow it down to about a dozen possible approaches to create a stable gateway to another universe or dimension that doesn’t require too much power, isn’t likely to bring about the apocalypse, and which can be generalised across a wide breadth of possible universes. What we haven’t had is the data to test our theory since, as I said, testing it could have destroyed our universe.”

“And how large was the probability of that?” Elsa, morbidly curious.

“Roughly 45%, which is why we never did it. We’re lucky, but we’re not going to bet the whole universe on odds like that. Anyway, the data the probe sent back is astounding. It’s enough for us to eliminate all but three of the possible approaches.”

“Incredible,” Elsa murmured. If they could eliminate two more, then they’d have the ability, at least in theory, to create portals to other dimensions and universes at will without any of the drawbacks they’d observed in portals that had intruded on their universe previously or in the portals they’d made so far, which were far from efficient and extremely difficult to create.

“Yes, but it gets better. We believe that further study might lead to enough data to identify the correct approach.”

“I see.” Elsa drummed her fingers on the table. “I know what you’re going to ask. You have my authorisation. Do what you need to in order to gather as much data as you can. However, do not create another portal without my permission first. Is that understood? I also want enough weaponry to destroy that other dimension pointed at that portal in case something goes wrong.”

“Understood.”

X     X     X

Six months.

It took them six months to collect the data they needed and build a portal device of their own, not unlike the gigantic hyperspace gateways that formed the backbone the of the Hyperspace Gateway Network. They’d wisely followed Elsa’s orders and asked for permission first.

They’d also sent probes through the original portal. It was, they said, a fairly bleak place full of fairly unpleasant things. However, it appeared to be closely connected to another universe that had far more in common with theirs. With some extra calculations, it should be possible to close the original portal and open a new one, one that skipped the unpleasant dimension and went straight to the more normal universe. For safety, they would maintain a smaller portal to the unpleasant dimension, so they could continue to study it and, if necessary, destroy it.

“Well,” Lumos said. “Here comes the fun part. We’re going to send robotic probes through until we’re sure it’s safe. We’ll also pick up anything we find nearby, to see how the materials and so on compare to our own. Based on our initial findings, the rules of physics should be virtually identical.”

“Good.” Elsa leaned forward, staring at the holographic display over her desk. Lumos himself was at the portal in a gigantic Dia-Farron science vessel to supervise. “Proceed. If there is any danger, abort.”

X     X     X

The robotic probe had a relatively advanced AI. It was necessary to ensure that any encounters with indigenous life in another universe did not end in disaster. As it emerged from the portal, the probe took stock of its surroundings. The portal had nopened near a dense asteroid field. It wasn’t ideal, but this was already a useful piece of data. Learning how to aim the portal device would require more attempts to establish precision and control.

It forwarded the data back through the portal - there would be time to test its inter-dimensional communications systems later - and proceeded toward the asteroid field.

Curious.

There were signs of battle. Some of the asteroids had clearly been damaged by energy-based weapons whilst others bore the marks of claws or even acid. Its sensors scanned the area, and the probe continued, making sure its cloaking systems were fully active. It could not detect the combatants, but it was better to be cautious.

As it drifted through the asteroid field, its sensors detected life signs. Unusual. It changed its course, angling toward a large asteroid. The surface of the asteroid was marked by heavy thermal damage. The remains of large organic structure were also present. 

The probe scanned the remains. Fascinating. The organic structure had been grown, and it appeared to contain the remnants of additional genetic matrices. Had it transformed from something else into a building? It was certainly possible. Its attention changed when its sensors locked onto the life signs.

Nearby, it found a larva-like creature. The creature appeared to be on the verge of death, and the robot activated its more powerful scanners to do a full genetic analysis. If it had possessed the ability, the probe would have smirked. This creature…

It had countless genetic matrices bound up within its own. It was almost certainly capable of transforming into many different forms. But what to do? The probe scanned the area again. There was nothing living other than the larva for as far as its sensors could detect. It was risky, but this creature could prove to be quite valuable. And it was dying…

Although the Dia-Farron have made extensive modifications to many Zerg strains, the titanolisk is widely considered their magnum opus, a marvel of genetic engineering that somehow manages to elevate an already dangerous creature to unbelievable heights of deadliness. It is also widely considered to be proof that the Dia-Farron actually are a bunch of mad scientists.

Titanolisk are based on the legendary Zerg ultralisk. However, they dwarf their predecessors in size, durability, strength, speed, agility, and overall combat effectiveness. There is footage of individual titanolisks engaging groups of ultralisks and other support units (e.g., zerglings and hydralisks) and simply annihilating all of them. Titanolisks have even been known to withstand orbital bombardment from Protoss forces during joint exercises while retaining their combat effectiveness.

One of the key differences between titanolisks and ultralisks can be found in their main weaponry. Rather than relying on mere monomolecular blades as ultralisks do, titanolisks use monomolecular warp blades. In other words, their massive blades have a monomolecular edge that is wrapped in massively distorted space (i.e., each blade is a warp blade with a nanomolecular blade at its core).

As a result, their blades are not only capable of cutting through virtually any substance in the multiverse with ease but they are also capable of easily penetrating most energy-based defences and forcefields. Furthermore, the warped space around each blade protects them from harm, so the titanolisk rarely has to worry about breaking its blades. When faced with an ultralisk, the blades of a titanolisk will cut right through those of an ultralisk without suffering any damage.

Extensive genetic engineering has led to massive changes in the physiology of the titanolisk, which are further bolstered through access to various exotic materials that the creatures can incorporate into their physiology. Despite being far larger than ultralisks, titanolisks have more powerful and more efficient muscles. They have greater endurance, and they are faster, stronger, and more agile.

Even their armour is massive step up from the already formidable defences possessed by ultralisks. The Dia-Farron genetically engineered titanolisk armour to be even tougher than that possessed by ultralisks. In fact, they went even further. Careful exposure to a variety of different substances led to the development of armour that apart from being immensely durable was also capable of absorbing energy and then funnelling it into a genetically-engineered energy circulatory system that runs throughout the titanolisks body.

Each titanolisk also possesses a biological energy reactor comparable in output to the most powerful of mechs. This reactor provides the titanolisk with the energy to generate its warp blades, in addition to a host of other abilities. Excess energy that is absorbed via the creature’s armour can be used to supplement the reactor’s output. 

Due to their relative rarity compared to other Imperial Zerg, titanolisks are often heavily customised. However, all titanolisks possess certain abilities, which are fuelled by the energy it produces or absorbs.

Warp shockwave By temporarily overloading its warp blades, a titanolisk can unleash a shockwave of warped space, creating a wave of pure devastation that can annihilate enemy ground forces en masse or obliterate enemy fortifications. 

Warp blade augmentation. By increasing the power used to create the warped space around its blades, a titanolisk can increase the length, width, and volume of its warp blades, making it even deadlier. This ability is perfect for use against swarms of lesser opponents.

Plasma shroud. Excess energy can be vented from the titanolisk’s body in the form of super-heated plasma. By temporarily overloading its reactor (or by absorbing enough energy), a titanolisk can shroud its body in plasma for a period of time, making it all but impossible to approach and turning its mere presence into a deadly weapon. 

Plasma bolts. Instead of creating a shroud, titanolisks can fire bolts of plasma. These bolts are similar in strength to plasma cannons, and they provide the titanolisk with a suitable weapon against ranged opponents or airborne enemies.

Plasma blade augmentation. If necessary, titanolisks can sheathe their monomolecular blades in plasma instead of a field of warped space. Depending on the opponent, they can even use their blades to create vast trails of super-heated plasma, devastating broad swathes of the battlefield within moments.

Supercharged regeneration. The titanolisk has a host of additional organs throughout its body that are designed to convert energy into additional biological material, allowing it to regenerate. Feeding extra energy into these organs allows the titanolisk to temporarily supercharge its regeneration. Unless their body is completely destroyed, titanolisks can recover from practically any injury given sufficient time.

Warp shield. In addition to its formidable armour, the titanolisk can also cut the power to its warp blades in favour of creating a warp shield. Although this shield cannot be maintained for long, it is perfect for weathering short bursts of heavy damage (e.g., targeted artillery or heavy bombing). Use of this ability while charging toward the enemy is also excellent since it all but ensures the titanolisk will survive long enough to reach its enemies.

Metabolic boost. The titanolisk can temporarily supercharge its metabolism by flooding additional energy into certain organs, vastly increasing its speed, strength, and agility.

When fighting alongside the Imperial Armed Forces, the titanolisk typically adopts a spearhead role, leading the charge and drawing enemy fire while the Empire’s other forces either close the gap to the enemy or engage at a distance. Titanolisks are particularly popular amongst the Imperial Berserkers, and there is footage of groups of Imperial Berserkers riding atop titanolisks in battle before dismounting to engage the enemy once the titanolisk has reached the enemy’s front lines.