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Chapter 319: Kerrigan and the Hive Mind
🕑 Added 2025-09-24 15:20:12 +0000 UTCChapter 319: Kerrigan and the Hive Mind
When Tiberius saw that Norris's team was so small, he was no longer afraid. He began to back away, and the remaining Genestealers shielded him. From both ends of the tunnel, more roars could be heard. To kill Augus, Tiberius had brought most of his Purestrain Genestealers with him. The common cultists from all over the bunker were also converging on this location at his command.
Tiberius still intended to use a human wave to completely destroy his opponents.
Norris tried several more times but found that he could not pose a threat to Tiberius, who was hiding in the middle of the Genestealer swarm. The Dark Templar, their psionics disrupted and their cloaks failing, were also blocked by a large number of Purestrains. Zeratul tried to cut through the sea of bodies, but no matter how many he killed, more Genestealers would come to block his path.
"Lady Kerrigan! I need help! The number of enemies is increasing!"
Just as Tiberius was mentally mocking his enemies for overestimating their own strength, and was preparing to enjoy the sensation of killing Augus after they were drowned by the cult, he suddenly felt a fear that came from his very instincts.
Tiberius searched for the source of this sensation, and his gaze fell upon Kerrigan, who was still standing next to Augus. At this moment, she was still wearing her Ghost combat suit. She had not yet made a move.
The human-form Kerrigan, without even a weapon in her hand, seemed to be the least threatening of the group. Tiberius could sense psionic power from her, but it was not strong. Yet, it was this harmless-looking figure that made his body begin to tremble uncontrollably.
Ever since he had become a Genestealer Patriarch, he had not felt the emotion of fear.
But the feeling Kerrigan gave him was a suppression from a superior being. It was the same feeling he got when he used the psychic beacon to link with the Hive Mind and directly face the Great Devourer. He could not imagine how a human could give him this feeling.
Tiberius now had the idea of running for his life.
Seeing that Norris's and Zeratul's attempts had been fruitless and that their target was about to flee, Kerrigan no longer hid her true self.
The psionic network of the Zerg Swarm converged on her body. A torrential amount of psionic energy erupted from her, so powerful that the Ghost suit she was wearing could not withstand the overflow and began to disintegrAte. Sharp, articulated wings slowly unfolded from her back, and the dark purple carapace of the Zerg began to cover her entire body.
The powerful psionic energy made even the Genestealers begin to retreat in fear.
"No... this woman in front of me is definitely not one of those weak humans!" Tiberius was in a state of shock. He did not believe a human could possess such power, and a normal human would never modify themselves to look like this. Kerrigan's appearance, combined with the presence of the other non-human, the Protoss, made Tiberius realize that the enemy the Tyranids were facing in the Cryptus System was not just humanity, but that other races had also intervened.
He was afraid. He began to back away, without even a thought of fighting. He knew very well that he could not possibly contend with Kerrigan. The only thing he could do now was run. What was killing Augus compared to his own life?
And because of this desire to live, the instinct that had been carved into his genes—the instinct to ensure the Tyranid tendril could successfully devour the planet, which had been suppressed by his desire for revenge—began to reassert itself. He needed to survive and transmit the intelligence of this new threat back to the Hive Mind.
But how could Kerrigan possibly let him escape?
The vast psionic energy coalesced in her hand with ease. With a raise of her hand, she unleashed a bolt of psychic lightning that instantly vaporized the large number of Purestrain Genestealers blocking her path.
Kerrigan's combat technique might not have been strong, but the sheer quantity of psionic energy in her body was overwhelming. Brute force conquers all. No matter how strong one's combat skills were, they were useless in the face of this all-encompassing psionic torrent, unless your own psionic strength or mastery had reached the level of Artanis, who had absorbed an entire Craftworld.
The psychic energy did not kill Tiberius instantly, but instead slammed the fleeing Patriarch to the ground, pinning him. His strong body and his own psychic power could not break this restraint.
At this moment, Kerrigan, like a true queen, slowly walked up to the struggling Tiberius. She looked down on him, her eyes filled with disgust for his kind.
"Kerrigan! Take his power!" Zeratul reminded her to hurry.
Kerrigan bent down and placed her hand on Tiberius's head. He had no idea what he was about to face.
The next second, a sea of psionic energy instantly poured into him, completely stripping him of his ability to resist. He saw it... he saw another Great Devourer. He saw not only Kerrigan, the collective consciousness of countless Zerg, but also the endpoint of the Zerg network: Lucan's Xel'naga projection.
Just as Lucan had once eroded the Tyranid network, Kerrigan was now using the devouring ability of his projection to consume the GSC's psionic network on Asphodel. The Tyranid's psychic beacon began to dim. All of its power and control were being devoured by Lucan, transformed, and merged into the Zerg Hive Mind.
Kerrigan began to seize control of all the Purestrain Genestealers and cultists linked to this network. At first, everything went smoothly. No matter how many cultists there were in the Cryptus System, could they possibly outnumber the Zerg? The sheer disparity in numbers meant Kerrigan's consumption met with no resistance.
But the lighting of the psychic beacon had also created a link between the local network and the Leviathan's central node. Like a spider's web, Kerrigan's act of consumption began to spread up the chain into the Leviathan Hive Fleet.
The moment the two touched, the Leviathan Hive Mind noticed this unprecedented existence. Kerrigan could sense the form of the Tyranid Hive Mind, and the Tyranid Hive Mind could, in turn, sense the Zerg. It was a two-way street.
At this moment, the central will of Leviathan was curious, sensing this individual who could face it directly without losing its sanity. It saw Kerrigan. And it saw the Xel'naga projection. The two "devouring" powers were, as if by nature, mutually repulsed and hostile.
The Hive Mind's initial curiosity immediately transformed into an overwhelming desire to devour and merge with this new entity. At this moment, the Great Devourer's desire for the Cryptus System reached an unimaginable level. If it could devour Kerrigan and Lucan, the entire Leviathan tendril might evolve to an unimaginable height.
And in the bunker, Lucan also sensed the gaze of the Great Devourer. The Leviathan tendril, which had already been approaching the Cryptus System, began to accelerate.
The fate of most Imperial psykers who tried to glimpse the Hive Mind was almost always death or madness. Only a few, with the "protagonist" aura, could slightly utilize it, such as the Ultramarines' Librarian Tigurius, who had snuck into the Hive Mind to glimpse the Tyranids' next move. And Tigurius was already one of the most powerful psykers in the Imperium. Only someone of that level could barely resist the Hive Mind.
But Kerrigan, from this connection, sensed the manifestation of the entire Leviathan tendril's Hive Mind. She saw the vast, perpetually starving bio-fleet, and she also saw the Norn-Queen hidden within the mothership. In a bio-chamber similar to that of a Zerg Leviathan, a giant Tyranid creature was constantly devouring the biomass brought to it by smaller Tyranids, shredding and reassembling genes with its great maw. This being, which had previously existed only in background lore and on paper, was now hidden in the most secret location of the Leviathan fleet.
Just as Kerrigan was trying to sense its exact location, the Norn-Queen also sensed her intent. Out of a self-preservation instinct, the Norn-Queen severed its connection to the Genestealer Cult network on Asphodel. This brought Kerrigan's consumption to an abrupt halt.
The Norn-Queen had not expected that there was another individual in the material universe who could look directly at the Hive Mind, remain sane, and even actively seek out its location. Such a powerful individual was exactly what the Swarm needed.
But Lucan's perception had gone even deeper. The Xel'naga's divine power, which had already infiltrated the Hive Mind, began to extend to its deepest recesses. Across a vast distance, ignoring the barrier of space, Lucan saw a giant, unbelievably massive Tyranid bio-ship. Its size was almost comparable to the Spear of Adun. But the Spear of Adun was a technological construct. The bio-ship before him was pure flesh.
It lay dormant in the void, motionless. And in the next second, the Hive Mind of this bio-ship began to surge toward the power of the Xel'naga.
Back in the command post, Lucan felt a sharp pain in his head. The Hive Mind of the Leviathan fleet was like a child before this one. In an instant, the lingering power of the Xel'naga in the Tyranid network was completely purged.
"The Ancient Ship?! That must be the Tyranid Ancient Ship!"
Lucan had confirmed its identity. The Hive Fleet Leviathan tendril, as its name suggested, was just one extension of the Tyranid Hive Mind in the galaxy. There was more than one tendril fleet; there were several others. These tendril fleets were not directly linked to the central Hive Mind; they still had a superior node. And the true central node of the Hive Mind in the galaxy was this giant Tyranid bio-ship, the "Ancient Ship." The consciousness of all the tendril fleets in the galaxy converged here. If he could kill it, he could reduce the Tyranid threat in the entire galaxy to its lowest point.
If the Leviathan tendril's Hive Mind was a Greater Daemon created by the will of the Great Devourer, then this "Ancient One" was an avatar of the Great Devourer itself.
Unfortunately, it was hidden too well. For the time being, Lucan could only sense that it was somewhere within the Hazeroth Abyss, but he could not sense its specific location.
He pushed the thought of the Ancient Ship aside. The most important thing now was to solve the problem of the Leviathan fleet in front of him.
With Kerrigan's intrusion, the Norn-Queen also began to issue new orders to the entire Leviathan Swarm. This was not the first time the Hive Mind had been so invaded. But previous instances had always been stealthy. An invasion as blatant as Kerrigan's, one that had left the branch-fleet's Hive Mind completely helpless, was a first. This power made the Hive Mind feel an intense sense of crisis. And the only way to resolve this crisis was to kill its source.
Now, in addition to devouring all life in the Cryptus System, Leviathan had to find Kerrigan and devour her. If it succeeded, the Hive Mind might achieve a new evolution.
Kerrigan, finding the connection severed, began to focus on completely devouring the GSC's local network. As the network's will was cut off and completely consumed, Tiberius became an empty shell. His giant body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Kerrigan frowned. Peeking at the Leviathan Hive Mind had not been as easy as she had thought. The clash of the two vast wills had left her with a faint, stabbing pain in her head.
"Kerrigan, are you alright?" Zeratul asked, looking at her as she clutched her head.
At this point, the surrounding Genestealers had all fallen into a stupor. They no longer attacked. Even the Purestrains had stopped moving. It was as if their self-awareness had been completely stripped away, and they had been reduced to useless husks. They all turned to look at Kerrigan, awaiting the command of their new master.
"I... I'm fine," she said. "I saw the center of the Tyranid swarm. Unfortunately, it cut off the connection. Otherwise, I might have had a chance to find their central node. Perhaps... when the Tyranids fully land, I can use their more powerful synapse creatures to continue the search. But for now, Father's mission is complete. We can sense every Genestealer Cultist on this planet."
Kerrigan spoke with a hint of regret. But when the enemy landed and found they could not easily win the war, she was confident they would deploy a sufficiently powerful synapse creature. At that time, she would absolutely not let that Norn-Queen get away.
With a cold snort, Kerrigan issued a command to the cultists. They immediately dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.
Norris, dragging the catatonic Augus, walked over to them. "This guy is scared out of his mind. He's completely useless. Should I kill him?"
"Keep him alive for now," Kerrigan ordered. "Father said his life might still be of some use. Those Astartes from the Blood Angels are looking for his family's bloodline."
"Then what about the Patriarch's body?" Norris asked, pointing to Tiberius's corpse. The body's biological functions were still operating, but its soul was completely gone.
"Norris, take this body out of the bunker for me. Arrange for a ship to send it to Iphix. I think Abathur will be able to extract some useful essence from its genes for the Swarm."
"I'll see to it at once."
When Kerrigan had consumed the GSC Patriarch on Agathos, Abathur had not yet appeared. This Patriarch's genes might be able to bring a new evolutionary direction to the Swarm, perhaps giving them the same infiltration capabilities as the Tyranids. She wondered if they could create some "Zerg-Stealers."
Kerrigan then began to order the cultists to work as laborers. Augus had hidden a massive amount of weapons, ammunition, and various other supplies in this bunker. The now-insane Augus was certainly in no position to refuse to "contribute" these supplies.
When all the supplies were moved out, everyone was shocked. Just how afraid of death was this guy? The entire bunker only had 200,000 people, but the supplies he had stockpiled were enough for millions to live for more than a decade. The ammunition and supplies were piled up like mountains. To build this bunker, Augus had poured almost his entire family fortune and all his wealth as governor into it.
