Chapter 343: Containing the Norn-Queen

Chapter 343: Containing the Norn-Queen

Artanis and Ferrus were also exceptionally wary of their fellow traveler, Trazyn. They had personally witnessed in the void battle that this Necron was far more dangerous than they had imagined. Although Lucan had told them not to attack him, calling him an ally, the Protoss and the Iron Hands kept a constant watch on him even as they fought. Two High Templar even shadowed Trazyn, ready to merge into an Archon if needed. And of the various weapons retrofitted onto the Iron Hands' bodies, one or two were always locked onto Trazyn.

Lucan had told Artanis about Trazyn's bad habits. The Norn-Queen was a precious collectible, but was Artanis not one as well?

The Protoss's vigilance was not without reason. Trazyn did indeed feel the impulse to collect Artanis, but he forcibly suppressed it.

The Zerg blocking their path were continuously cleared away. The external assault had crippled almost all of the Hive Ship's internal defenses, and the massive vessel had lost its ability to move. The number of Tyranids that the mothership itself could produce was simply not enough to stop the combined force of the Protoss and the humans.

Artanis and Kerrigan's psionic powers both originated from Lucan. This common source of power allowed Artanis to charge directly toward the Norn-Queen's location. The psychic energy Kerrigan had forced into the Norn-Queen's mind through the Hive Mind was now guiding their way.

When the group stormed into the fleshy chamber where the Norn-Queen was located, they saw it with its back to the wall, attempting to make a final stand. Without the support of its psionic powers, perhaps Ferrus's firepower alone would have been enough to kill it. Countless streams of long-range fire began to annihilate the few remaining guards around the Norn-Queen. One by one, the Tyrant Guard fell on their charge.

Ferrus's psychic maul smashed the head of one of the Tyranids. The firepower of the Protoss and the Iron Hands then drowned the rest. In an instant, it was difficult to find a complete Tyranid corpse.

Seeing this, Trazyn shouted anxiously, "You boorish humans! Put down your weapons! Don't break my things!"

If they broke the Norn-Queen, his collection would be imperfect. And if his zoo only had a dead Norn-Queen, could it even be called a zoo? He wanted a live specimen, not a taxidermy piece.

Just as the Norn-Queen was about to launch its final charge, Trazyn began his capture. The space around the Norn-Queen instantly fell into stasis. A perfect cube enveloped it, and the expression on the face of the once-ferocious Norn-Queen was frozen in that second.

With its psychic powers suppressed by Kerrigan, the Norn-Queen had lost its ability to break free from this restraint.

Looking at the few remaining Tyrant Guard, Trazyn resisted the impulse to collect them as well. He had once tried to collect Tyranids on a massive scale, to the point where the number he held was almost the size of a tendril fleet. But once their numbers increased, they were able to directly break free from his tesseract's containment. Those bio-ships had even used a method he did not understand to directly break through the dimensional walls. The breakout incidents caused by those Tyranids had given him a great deal of trouble, forcing him to kill most of them, retaining only a few of the more unique and key species.

For safety's sake, Trazyn chose only to contain the Norn-Queen and to give up on its guards. As long as their numbers did not exceed a certain level, they couldn't cause any trouble.

Looking at the cube in his hand, Trazyn waved dismissively. "I don't need the rest. You can clean them up."

Although the humans and the Protoss were displeased with Trazyn's attitude, they still opened fire.

Having obtained his prize, Trazyn no longer had any intention of staying. However, he turned to look at Ferrus.

"Ferrus Manus. This is not the first time I have seen you. Your return has surprised me as well. But it seems you are quite satisfied with this new body of yours. A gift from Lucan, I presume?"

Trazyn's words left Ferrus a bit confused. He was certain this was the first time he had ever seen Trazyn. Even when he had died, humanity had had very little knowledge of the Necron race.

"You've seen me before?!"

"Perhaps."

Trazyn said this because he had indeed seen Ferrus when he was still alive in a body of flesh, it was just that Ferrus had not noticed him. Trazyn's collection even contained several Raven Guard and Salamanders from the time of the Dropsite Massacre during the Great Betrayal. Trazyn had even secretly witnessed Fulgrim kill Ferrus.

Trazyn had been active, at least on the surface of the galaxy, for 500,000 years, and that was a conservative estimate. And the powerful psionic energy radiating from Ferrus's body had allowed him to perceive the difference beneath his seemingly flesh-and-blood exterior.

"What a special body," Trazyn mused. "Similar to the Wraithbone of the Eldar, but not entirely the same. In my collection, I also have a clone of the human Primarch, Fulgrim. It would be very interesting to have the two of them meet! But... I'd better not. I have already expended quite a few collectibles this time. I can't bear to take this one out..."

Looking at Ferrus had also made Trazyn believe a little more in what Lucan had said. Before Ferrus could ask any more questions, Trazyn, under the watchful eyes of all present, vanished, taking the Norn-Queen with him.

As Ferrus and Artanis destroyed all the living Tyranid synapse-creatures before them and everything else in the fleshy chamber, the control center of Leviathan completely collapsed.

Without the guidance of the Norn-Queen, the entire Leviathan tendril had even lost the ability to hatch new Tyranid creatures.

On Iphix, the Swarmlord, which had been struggling, finally went limp. Without the support of the entire Leviathan Hive Mind, Kerrigan finally and completely annihilated its soul. The mind and memories of a Swarmlord that had lived for who knows how many years and had experienced countless battles could never return to the Hive Mind.

However, Kerrigan did not destroy its special body. The same went for the four Hierophants that had fallen in battle.

When the overall situation was decided, Abathur also writhed his body and came to the surface. "Powerful essence... the Swarm will acquire new, powerful units!"

"Abathur," Kerrigan said, "the bodies of these creatures are all yours."

"I will make good use of their bodies, my Queen! The Swarm will obtain even more powerful combat units!"

Zagara also came to Kerrigan's side. She lowered her proud head and looked at Kerrigan with humility, as if waiting for her praise.

"Zagara, you have done very well!"

"Thank you for your praise, my Queen! It was my duty."

"But your mission is not yet over! Zagara, take your forces and wipe out all the remaining Tyranid forces on this planet! Turn them into nourishment for the continued growth of the Swarm!"

"It would be my pleasure!"

Without the control of the Norn-Queen, the Tyranids had completely reverted to beasts following their instincts. Killing all the Tyranids in the Cryptus System was now only a matter of time.