A/N: I have been toying with the idea of doing a Starcraft story since before Starcraft 2 even came out. With so much of a universe surrounding the game, I had trouble imagining just what I wanted to write for it. But then, after quite a while, I have come up with something. We know Kerrigan is triumphant at the end of Brood War, and we know the Queens of Starcraft 2 are discovered as early as 2502, we don't learn how the Queens of the original Starcraft were replaced/became the newer Queens.

We also know that Kerrigan spent her years after Brood War changing the Swarm as she saw fit, doing various experiments and changing many existing parts of the Swarm such as getting rid of the Cerebrates of old. But how would one go about this? I could focus on Kerrigan and her process of warping the Swarm, but it would become quickly void when Heart of the Swarm comes out. But, other canon characters exist that can be used...having read various Starcraft novels, I know of some interesting people who could be used to observe this change through their eyes...as test subjects to be exact. Now, know that while the main character of this story IS canon, I will be requiring OC's to fill in the spots of regular rank and file marines. I detest OC's, but they will be a necessary evil of sorts as to be shown.

Now, without further ado, I present to you Starcraft: Metamorphosis. I hope you enjoy, and as this is going to be a continuous effort I would really appreciate any feedback, ideas, thoughts, comments, or questions you have! Enjoy!

Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

My eyes open slowly to the metronomic dropping of water. My eyes are weary though, and don't focus before a searing pain in my head causes me to shut them in response. My brain, where the pain seemingly is emanating from, is unable to focus at all, and my effort to raise an arm to my head is completely useless. The arm simply does not come, everything above my neck still in excruciating pain.

"My...head..." I pant and groan both, but my voice feels off. It...didn't sound familiar, as if it had changed but not to the point of entirely being replaced. Another flash of pain made me gasp in agony, my head in a state of unbearable torment. Fear creeps into me, my eyes still closed and tremendous pain focused right inside my head.

'I...I need a stim...pack to calm down...' I think to myself in pieces, flashes of extreme pain interrupting my thoughts. I needed to get a stim...I try reaching for one, but again, nothing happens. I don't even feel my arm. My entire body feels as if it is not there at all, my agonizing migraine aside.

In a strong effort, I force my eyes open, expecting to see light. Another flash of pain causes me to wince, but not shut them, me being intent on making sense of what was going on. Again my eyes take their time to focus, feeling very tired and droopy as I fight to keep them open.

When I finally manage to look, I find that my gaze is cast diagonally to the floor in front of me. The second thing I notice is that this room is dark, far darker than what any Terran would call normal except while they were sleeping. In fact, I could somewhat get a glimpse of light sources out of the corner of my eye, and they seemed to be adding as little light as they could to the area. The next thing I notice, my head too weak and in pain to turn, is that the floor...it wasn't metal. It wasn't concrete. It didn't even look like just plain earth...

The floor, from what my weak gaze could tell, was an odd...dusty purple. Furthermore, it appeared uneven with many minute variations in its height. My eyes were too out of whack to gather anything more, and I close them as a another surge of pain meets me. As this flare up continue I cough out a weak, "W-what?"

After the pain recedes partially I open my eyes again, and stare at the same spot on the floor before me. I wince in pain as my head throbs once more, the constant pain annoying me greatly, annoyance made worse by how I was currently unable to do anything about it. In my odd sounding voice I let out pathetically, "Where am I?"

Something I did not expect was someone to actually respond, "Oh, good, you're awake. I was afraid your metamorphosis was ineffective."

The voice feels...familiar, as if I had recently heard it, but it felt unfamiliar at the same time. It was coming from a part of the room out of my sight, and I am so out of it that I could not even tell by sound alone. Luckily, my curiosity was met partially as in the very reaches of my downward sight I catch a pair of legs entering my vision. I try to tilt my head up, but I find this simple act to be impossible.

I look at the legs of the person, a person I presume to be female given their voice, and find that their legs are not what I expected. Like the floor before her, this person defied expectation in that her legs looked...they looked like a mix of a human and an insect, revoltingly so. Unsettled by their appearance, I speak my mind in a meek tone, "You...who are you?"

The woman responds first with a chuckle, an extremely disturbing and bone chilling one at that. She then steps in my field of vision, my head still on a downward tilt, and my eyes are able to see the rest of her. This...dare I say woman had an entire body that was just like her legs. Wearing no discernible clothing, her entire body was covered in insect like skin. I would gasp loudly if I was not so weak right now, but she speaks before I can muster any kind of reaction, "My name is, or rather was, Sarah Kerrigan. You and I met once before, but I daresay it was under much different circumstances," a smug grin appears on her face, her disturbing and glowing eyes looking right into my own, "Your torn body was recovered by the swarm on Mar Sara right after you and I first met."

Mar Sara? What was she...wait...that's where General Duke was...the Norad...the Norad II was stationed. I was there, under the General and with my fellow soldiers...I was assigned the special role as bodyguard to the civilian Michael Liberty...

As things began to clear in my mind, my headache not even stopping the onslaught of puzzle pieces emerging, I recall what this woman, Kerrigan, said, "Torn body..."

I was with Liberty on Mar Sara. He was a news person...or something like that...I find the specifics hard to remember, but he was supposed to do...something there. Something was going on Mar Sara though, and we got a tip from someone to go...to go...to an outpost, yes, but why? I can't think of why, but my mind races to find the missing pieces as this creepy woman looks at me smugly, as if waiting for me to finish my mental picture.

It's while I look into her shining eyes that something else strikes me. Torn body. Outpost. Liberty and I were attacked when we got there by some...things. Some monstrosities that I had never dreamed of in my worst nightmares...I was able to gun them down, but...the monstrosity came. That ten foot tall...thing with those scythe like claws. I remember losing my cool and panicking, an event that I remember being followed by falling through some floor. A floor with more monsters waiting for me...my wild swings of a combat knife were all I had to protect me, and then-

My mouth hangs open for a moment as I piece together what had happened to me. I remember the tearing, the gnawing...with as much strength as I can muster I cry out, "My legs!"

I try to look down more, but find that even when I do so I am unable to see anything below my chest. My body must be on some slant...unless they are gone still, a thought that made my eyes go wide in panic. Chuckling at my expense, Kerrigan scoffs, "Your legs were not the only piece missing. A swarm of zerglings tore your entire lower half off back then. It's been quite some time since then, but the Overmind had intended to run some tests on certain specimens taken and preserved from the Mar Sara incident. You were one such one."

I let out a quiet sob, caught between the painful memories and my confusion as to what is going on right now, "I still don't...why can't I feel anything except the pain in my head?"

Kerrigan lets out a faux sympathetic reassurance, "Oh don't worry, you're body is just readjusting itself to its new form. You see, I am the Queen of the Zerg, the species that took your life away, and it is in our power to give it back. When I learned that someone from my past was amongst my possible test subjects, someone I disliked in fact, I knew I had to find a way of taking advantage of that. You, Emily, belong to the Swarm now."

Emily...that was my name...I remember that now.

"I don't..."

She cuts me off with a quiet hush, "Of course, there is a lot you must learn and you only just woke up from months of being dead. I have other test subjects to handle, so why don't you go back to sleeping?"

"I..."

"Sleep," she states strongly, more as a command than a suggestion, and I instantly find the pain in my head receding as my mind blurs.

My eyes droop and shut, the terrible pain vanishing from my head...

(Unknown point of the past)

Knock, knock, knock.

I remove my cigarette from my mouth and call out to the door, "Who is it?"

From outside the door comes a familiar voice, one of the soldiers assigned under me in most missions, "Lance Corporal Rabe, ma'am."

He wasn't re-socialized like me. Not like most of the other troops. A genuine person fighting for the betterment of the Confederacy, not having to be forced into service and reconditioned. I find that admirable in a young soldier. I get up from my bunk, cigarette still in hand, and get to the door and open it, "Oh, Gerolf, what's up?"

He doesn't respond to my greeting though, instead closing his nose as he takes a whiff of the smoke hanging in my room like a smog, "You know those things will kill you Lieutenant, right?"

I chuckle, my face beaming, "Marines don't almost ever live past their physical prime, so I am not worried about old age. I'll be in the service until I die."

The raven haired marine blinks for a moment, his face betraying his confusion, "That's...an odd way of looking at things. Smoking really is unhealthy though."

Glancing down at my still smoking cigarette, I form an O with my mouth as I realize how rude of me it was to still be smoking while he was here, "Oh, I forgot that it hurts other people's lungs as well. Here, I'll put it out, Lancie."

I drop and step on the cigarette, earning an earnest smile from the private. As I finish stomping it with my boot, he speaks, "Our squad is putting together a poker game tonight. Want to join us?"

Now I am the one who blinks for a moment. One look at the outside half of my open door made me nervous about actually spending time with my squad. At the same time though, it wouldn't be nice of me to just ignore my squad entirely, especially when I was being invited to join them, "I...sure. Just so long as we don't break any regulations I would love to join the group."

The lance corporal nods and gives me a smile, beginning to turn on his way out, "I'll drop by when it's about to start, okay Lieutenant?"

I nod as he leaves, catching a frown on his face as he takes a glance at my door, "Sure."

I close the door behind him, the graffiti of "mankiller", "psycho slut" (possibly two different insults in close proximity) and even "ten bodies and counting" being removed from my sight.

Sighing, I retrieve another cigarette from my pocket and light it. I take it to my lips and sigh deeply, the disparaging comments making it hard to retain my normally chipper attitude.

Such was the cost of having your past known on the Norad II.

A/N: This was a new series for me in regards to writing, so I admit I am going to need to flatten out some things over time. For those of you who are wondering, the principal character of this story is Lieutenant Emily Swallow from Starcraft: Liberty's Crusade. The book is a retelling of the first ten parts of the first Starcraft game from the perspective of Michael Liberty, a news reporter assigned to the Norad II to cover Alpha Squadron (Edmund Duke's squadron that he was so proud of). Swallow is a part of the military police specifically, but also serves as a general marine. She was in charge of "minding" Liberty, making sure he didn't go where he was not supposed to (dangerous places and restricted parts of the military both).

Now, the reason I thought it would be interesting to use her was this...Kerrigan met Swallow right before Swallow died, and in fact was the person who indirectly caused her to die. She had a verbal disagreement with Swallow (being on opposite sides of the Confederacy vs Sons of Korhal conflict, this is understandable), but tipped her off that what they (Liberty and Emily) were looking for was in a nearby outpost. What was there? Zerg. And more Zerg. And more. Liberty was able to escape, but the panicking Swallow was unable to and they devoured her lower half. So, not only does Swallow have a connection to Kerrigan, but she also is missing the lower half of her body...the not-humanoid part of a Queen unit.

I'll leave more details to the next chapter, but I thought that I might as well give the people not familiar with the books something to go on! You can see more information on her on the Starcraft wikia, but everything you can learn there will be covered at some point.

Please leave your thoughts, comments, ideas, questions and other such things in the review box below! They really do help me improve and they are very much appreciated