The Swarm Will Rise Again

"And that's what your friend said? The Swarm will rise again?"

"Don't know if 'friend' is the word I'd use, but, yes."

"Hmm."

Hmm. There was sound again, Elms reflected. "Hmm." The sound that meant "I'm thinking," or "I'm pretending to think," or, "I really have no idea what's going on, but I'm going to try and give the sense that I do." Since her powers weren't strong enough for teeping, she could only guess what Reigel was thinking, or not thinking.

"So what do you think then?"

But she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"What I think…is that Niadra is planning to make the Swarm, ahem, rise again." Seeing the look on the merc's face, the doctor continued. "I'm assuming your grasp of history is strong enough to imagine what that entails."

Elms shrugged, and let science return to the armoury.

She'd been on the Griffin a few hours – the deal with Nova had been finalized, in that she'd get the jorium, they'd get some credit, and as a bonus, they'd get a free ride to any world within ten light years. Specifically, the plan was to drop them off at Telcon Station, a miserable little space platform that would be perfect for her, Yong, and Contreras to scatter to the astral winds with their share of the payment. The perfect way to not have to deal with each other, and escape the notice of the Dominion.

Provided you don't turn us in, Elms thought, looking at Reigel. He was taking great interest in some kind of pulse pistol, one whose model she couldn't identify. You're former Dominion aren't you?

She'd asked the question before. The answer she'd got was that yes, the crew of the Griffin was, but now they were a bunch of mercenaries. No different from Elms and her crew, so they should appreciate the ride they'd got off from the Last Junction, sit down, and shut up. Yong and Contreras were probably sitting somewhere in the mess hall, but Elms had remained here, in the company of the man Nova had called "the good doctor."

"Didn't think infested terrans talked much," Elms muttered.

She didn't know how "good" he was. He'd offered her and her team an out, and a buyer for the jorium, but that conveyed more of a sense of opportunity that altruism.

"They don't," Reigel said, not looking at her. "Certainly not the ones who have failed to retain their higher cognitive functions."

"But do exceptions exist?"

He looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Why do you ask?"

Elms shrugged.

"In point of fact, some infested subjects have been observed to speak, however poorly. Rarely beyond anything such as 'for the Swarm' or pleading for their fellow humans to end their lives. But…"

"But?"

"But given how much your friend-"

"Gary. Not 'friend.'"

"…Gary, uttered towards you, that leaves us with two options."

Elms scowled – Reigel was enjoying this. He was trying to hide it, but damn it, he was enjoying it. Specifically the mystery that Gary's infestation and rampage had provided. She'd insisted that Reigel called him by name rather than 'friend,' because he'd never been such a thing to her, but even an ass like Gary didn't deserve what had happened to him.

"Alright then," Elms said. "What are the options?"

But at the least, she could try and find out what happened. Or at least get the good doctor's opinions on the matter.

"I can think of two possibilities," Reigel said. "The first is that your…I mean, Gary, was mutated in such a manner that preserved more of his cognitive functions than normal."

"And do you think that's likely?"

"Could be." Reigel began to pace around, not meeting Elms's gaze. "When infested terrans were first encountered over a decade ago, they were little more than mindless suicide bombers. In the time since, even discounting individuals such as the Queen of Blades, we've observed infested humans wielding firearms, and even utilizing vehicles in rare cases." He looked back at Elms. "Whatever the nature of the hyper-evolutionary virus, one could reasonably assume that it has mutated in such a way that more of the subject's mind is preserved. To the detriment of the Swarm's enemies of course."

"Alright then," Elms murmured. "But do you think that's likely?"

"No." He walked over to Elms, a look of genuine discomfort on his face. "I can understand the worth of preserving a subject's intellect. But there is little worth in leaving them so independent as to express emotions – the type of emotions that involve declarations of faith and allegiance as one burns to death."

Elms didn't say anything. She couldn't pretend to be an expert on the subject of infested terrans – she could barely claim to be an expert on the zerg bar her ability to point a gun at them, shoot, and let the laws of physics do the rest. But she did know a few things – that the Queen of Blades was gone, that a broodmother was now ruling the zerg proper, and that so far, they'd done a good job of sticking to the sidelines. But that broodmother wasn't Niadra, and in that context…

"Which brings us to the second, and frankly, more likely option," the good doctor said. "That Niadra was speaking through your friend, directly at you."

Elms didn't bother correcting Reigel. She just let the idea sink in – the same idea that had been in her head ever since she'd killed Gary. One that she'd hoped that Reigel would provide a compelling alternative for.

"Based on what you've told us about Adena, I can understand her motives," Reigel said. He went back to examining the pulse pistol. "Psionics have always been their Achilles heel. And if Niadra's brood is separate from the rest of the Swarm, then they are bereft of whatever advances Overqueen Zagara may have made.
Fekking hell, the bitch has a name?

"You should feel relieved though," Reigel said.

"Relieved?"

"Relieved." He put the pistol back in its case. "Your friend said that they would find another way, no? It appears then that Niadra has given up on you." He began to head out of the bay. "Please take care not to touch anything."

Elms snorted. "You think I'm going to steal it?"

Reigel said nothing. He just gave her wave, headed for the access door, and-

"So what do we do?" Elms asked.

He looked back at her. "Excuse me?"

"What do we do?" Elms repeated. "We've got Niadra declaring that, quote, the Swarm will rise again. And history has shown us that zerg on zerg action isn't pretty for any of us."

Reigel, after a pause, asked, "do you think it might be in our interests to let Niadra and Zagara fight it out? Whomever wins, the Swarm will be weaker for it."

"Yeah, okay, sure," Elms said. "But what happens if Niadra wins?"

"Considering the estimated sizes of the Swarm proper, compared to what we have on Adena, that's very unlikely."

"But possible. Especially since zerg breed like rabbits."

"They don't breed like rabbits, rabbits don't breed asex…" Reigel sighed. "Fine. But you're assuming that there is indeed a 'we,' and that Nova intends to do something about it."

"Doesn't she?" Elms walked over to Reigel. "Wasn't she the one that executed General Davis those years back?"

"Do you object?"

"Based on what I heard? No. Bitch had it coming. But it strikes me that if one gets all self-righteous, they tend to preserve some of that. Commander Raynor did."

"And Arcturus Mengsk didn't." Reigel smirked. "I thought you were a mercenary, Elms."

"Your point?"

"Point being that I thought experience would have diluted such faith in humanity."

"Oh, I've got faith in humanity – least as far as mankind's ability to stay alive, killing aliens while killing each other."

"Then I'm sure that if the zerg do have a second Brood War, and it does consume the sector, there'll be plenty of more work for you." Reigel smiled. "Good day, Miss Elms."

Day? Thought it was evening.

Reigel headed out of the armoury.

Or maybe that was the Last Junction? Don't know what ship standard time is.

The door hissed close with a loud 'clunk' following it.

Asshole.

Elms looked back at the weapons. Tempting as it was to give one of the bad boys a try, she resisted – there was a Ghost on this ship after all, and there was no way that the armaments would be left without some kind of security lock – biometric, code-based, voice-activated…Besides, it barely mattered. Few hours' time, she'd be at Telcon, and all would be right and just in the world. Least…She raised her cybernetic limb, looking at it. Thinking of Turan. Of Sykes. Even Gary.

Least as good as it can possibly be.

Which, she reflected as she too headed out of the armoury, was a pretty fekking low bar.

A/N

So, when Gary yells "the Swarm will rise again" in Shadow Wars #9, am I the only one who immediately thought "the South will rise again?" Anyone?

Okay, second question - when he says it, do you think it's actually him speaking, or Niadra speaking through him? I'm actually inclined to believe the latter, though folks on the wiki have suggested the former. Either way, drabbled this up. Course it'll be rendered null when Shadow Wars #10 is released, but that's a long way off.