Summary (Us Modern Humans enter and adapt to 40k) Most of us didn't think we'd become something like the Emergent Choir, especially not in 40k, and in so little time no less. But when we were forced to leave Earth and we could only escape using that mysterious portal... well... things started to get interesting.)
"Maybe it's only a fool who will perilously journey out to what might not be there. And maybe it's only a fool who will ask about Supertasks, about infinity. But if you want to solve problems, you don't just solve the ones that are there, you FIND more and you MAKE more and you go after the impossible ones; fostering a love and obsession with problems is how you solve problems."
"Antoine de Saint-Exupery wasn't a mathematician, but his advice fits nicely here. 'If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them too long for the endless immensity of the sea."
"And as always, thanks for watching."
Supertasks - Vsauce.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Special Days.
Earth: Millennium:3 Year: 020
"...Citizens around the world wait with bated breath for the first report from beyond the newly dubbed 'Tartarus Gate'..."
*Static*
"...Worldwide panic decreases as the possibility of establishing a new life beyond the Tartarus Gate gives billions of around the world hope for themselves and their descendants..."
*Static*
"...Plans have just been revealed to construct the infrastructure necessary to quickly transport people, supplies, and machinery needed to establish a thriving colony in the new world before the Earth is destroyed..."
*Static*
"...Despite the possibility that this new world's biospheres might not be compatible with human biology, numerous industries have stated that they are prepared to switch their production lines to manufacture airtight greenhouses and housing should such measures become necessary..."
*Static*
"...And now for the moment that everyone has been holding their breath over, the lead scientist of the Tartarus expedition delivers the findings of his team."
The camera shows a middle-aged man addressing an anxious crowd.
"To all peoples of the world, it is with the utmost joy that I can truthfully say that my team's findings have shown the world beyond the Tartarus Gate has a biosphere that is compatible with human physiology, to elaborate the indigenous microbes in the air, water, soil, and both on and in the plants and animals meld seamlessly with the microbes that come with us, creating no negative effects. According to all theories we have on what two worlds with different evolutionary history this is just about as much of a miracle as the Tartarus Gate itself... and yet here it is."
Relieved cheering erupts among the crowd at the end, along with every soul watching from home, work or wherever they happen to be.
*Static*
"...Breaking news: The Aerial Drones exploring the rest of the world have found settlements of humans living in the middle ages..."
*Static*
"...Discussions are going around talking about what should be done about these indigenous people, seeing as how we won't have enough space for billions of people without disrupting the locals..."
*Static*
"...U.N officials have stated that they are working on an appropriate course of action and are asking the public at large not to worry." The reporter takes a notable pause, then resumes to finish the report. "We will keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On this special day, the hungering swarm, the eternal metal, and the twisted soul all moved against the eye’s beachhead from different directions at once, not united but undisruptive to each other…
(Burning light out of the darkness.)
...and they were losing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genesis: Millennium: 42 Year: *Unavailable*
In a small cozy room lit by the light of two moons, an 8-year-old girl Alena awoke with a start.
The dreams are happening again. She thought as she silently got out of her bed and tiptoed over to a loose floorboard, gently pulling it out and revealing a small wooden chest. Alena picked up the chest and opened it to reveal a small stack of parchment with her drawings on them, being illuminated by the two moons. The drawings, unlike those of the other children, however, were of things that would cause fear and panic to anyone who knew a child drew them, and Alena wouldn't blame them.
The drawings were depictions of war across the stars, battlefields full of death, things more terrifying the most men should never have to face in battle. Of dreams that Alena had since she was 5, dreams that were becoming more frequent these past few weeks.
Alena didn't know why she was having these dreams, and when she first drew one of them she scared one of the other children and before the child told anyone Alena ripped apart the parchment and never revealed that she was having these dreams again, but she felt like they were important and needed to be written down even if they were scary. 'Maybe because they were scary?' she thought to herself.
Some of the drawings were recognizable even to the isolated people of her homeworld, but even if they weren't Alena understood on some level almost all of what she drew.
The savage Orks were one of the most prevalent, their crude war machines complementing their brutish nature. Their banner was of one of their robust skulls with horns on its side.
The Tyranids were in the next bundle of pictures with their chittering swarms devouring all in their path. The symbol on top of their pictures were two ravenous creatures standing back to back almost eating their tales.
Images of the Necrons in their relentless march made up the following pictures, these mechanical horrors brought death and destruction to everything in their path. Their banner looked like a casket with a weird symbol on it.
Next were depictions of the forces of Chaos, fallen space marines and imperial soldiers with their twisted body's fighting alongside the Daemons from the nightmarish realm of the Warp. Their banner was not drawn.
She continued to look through the pictures, Tau, Eldar, other Zenos, and the innumerable symbols and forces of the Imperium of Man followed suit.
After Alena finished looking at the mass of papers she came to the last stack of drawings, which were of the most recent things she had been dreaming about.
On top of the stack was a symbol of an eye, but in place of its pupil was an almost-complete circle with a straight line going into its missing top. It made her think of a mortar and pestle.
Alean was about to look through the drawings underneath it, but then she panicked before she knew what startled her.
*Thunk*
On reflex, she put the drawings back into the wooden chest. put the chest back in its hiding place and put the loose floorboard back where it was and turned around… and found no one was there, just her candle on her bedpost which had fallen off… for some reason.
Alena quickly and quietly got back into bed, once she was there she made a hand gesture that she was taught was meant to ward off unwelcome specters and ghosts. Once she calmed down enough to gather her thoughts, which were now returning to her drawings and the panic that came over her when she thought her father had entered.
The pictures were going to get her in trouble, she knew it. But she still knew in her heart they should be kept safe rather than destroyed, no matter if no one less would accept them. She spent the rest of her time awake thinking about what she should do before she finally fell asleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When she woke up the next morning she had an idea, the pictures couldn't stay here so they had to be moved somewhere safe. The woods seemed like a good place for her. Her father and the other men from the village would occasionally go to get lumber from the forest. But no one would look for a chest that could be buried anywhere within it.
'Indeed.' Alena reflected. 'Every time father goes into the woods he comes home truly exhausted.'
He would still try to tell her stories like he did every night, about the God-Emperor, the Imperium of man, the Covenant, the King, the Age of Darkness and much more. But as much as she loved them, he would fall asleep too quickly after the days of the Timber Harvest, and she would tuck him in just as he did for her every other night. She smiled at the memories for a while, then returned to the plan to bury the pictures.
Today was the day when the party was going to get the lumber from the forest, giving her the chance to get the pictures out of the house without worrying about her father. So when her father said goodbye to her and went with the other men, she took the picnic basket she and her father sometimes used, and placed the wooden chest containing the pictures at the bottom of the basket and covered them with a blanket. On top of the blanket she placed two loaves of bread, a small loaf she sliced for herself and a bigger loaf for her father. Then she took a small jar of jam and put it in the basket.
She did this just in case she ran into the party while looking for a place to keep the pictures. If that happened she could claim to have come to bring her father lunch, with the wooden chest with the pictures in under the blanket no one would know what she was doing.
It would also help her if she was caught sneaking back into the village after hiding the pictures as she could claim the same thing and there wouldn't be anything but the bread and jam in the basket to suggest otherwise.
She then walked over to her wardrobe for her gardening cloak because the little shovel in its pocket would be needed for digging and it would also serve as a traveling cloak, which was good because Alena didn't know how far she would have to travel to bury the chest. She closed the wardrobe and began to leave, just before she left her room she noticed her reflection in the mirror.
In the mirror, she saw a girl with green eyes and sandy blonde hair with her favorite ribbon in it. She was wearing a yellowish-white blouse tied up with a leather belt around her waist. Her skirt was a nice purple color, but it hasn't been washed since yesterday. Like the skirt, the cloak was notably dirty but that was because it was mostly used for gardening so it was only beaten to get the dirt out after it was used, and properly washed once a week.
Satisfied she put the hood on her cloak over her head and she moved to leave her home, but just before she opened the door a new thought came to her mind. 'Do I need to do this? Or should I burn the pictures in the fireplace? Or even simply keep the pictures where they were?' After a few minutes of thinking, she made up her mind. "No." She decided. She knew the pictures were important even if she couldn't understand why, so they couldn't be burned. And she remembered how scared she was when the candle fell last night and didn't feel comfortable leaving the pictures where they were.
With that final decision, she opened the door and stealthily moved about the village. It was early in the morning and most went back to bed after the men had left. She wandered out, sneaked past the guards at the village and made her way into the forest. She passed the farm of young trees behind the village which was planted by the fathers of her grandfathers. It was well on its way to becoming a good source of wood for the village but not for many years to come. So, until this particular forest was ready to be cut down, the villagers would gather once or twice a month to go into the forest and gather lumber.
She continued on her way into the forest, noticing the easily recognizable trail you would expect a village's worth of men, horses, oxen, and wagons to leave. Alena wondered if her story about wanting to bring her father a picnic basket would hold up to scrutiny, seeing how easy it would be to simply follow the trail heading west. She decided she would claim she took a detour and got lost, with that she headed southwest into the forest.
After a long journey and finally getting to the point where she found a good place to bury the chest, she unloaded the picnic basket, took the chest out and reached for the gardening shovel in her cloak. She looked around and paid extreme attention to the land around her and proceeded to bury the chest. After she was done she got up and started to head back to the village. But then she heard a strange noise like a whisper in a silent wind.
She looked to her right and she saw some trees that didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, but she could have sworn the noises came from them. Looking at the trees she called out in both fear and curiosity. "Hello? Is someone there?" When nothing answered her, She decided that she wasn't feeling that curious and continued on her way home. But after three steps she heard something right behind her.
"Wots dis? A humie Gretchin! Yum yum!"
"Da Boss wud luv to eat it up!"
"I wanna get its leg!"
"Yu's gonna eat Squigs, not humie Gretchin! Da humie Gretchin is for da Boss."
"Which Boss? Da Big Boss or da us Boss?"
"Da Big Boss, yu idiot! Da Warboss luv eating humies!"
Slowly she turned around. To her left, she saw four green creatures. They were wicked-looking with big heads. Their skins were green and though they were only slightly bigger than her they looked menacing. Made worse since each of them held a tiny metal knife with a crude handle.
Alena trembled as she recognized the Gretchins that the village elders spoke of in their stories, the smaller but just as vicious cousins of the Orks. 'Father said the Kingdom fought the Orks off 10 years ago and they wouldn't return for at least 5 more years, why have they returned so soon?!’
While the four Gretchins argued among themselves as to who should deliver this tasty morsel to the Warboss, Alena used their moment of distraction and slowly walked away, carefully trying to avoid stepping on anything that would make a noise.
She almost successfully walked away in silence, and then she heard behind her…
"Oi, did we orda dis dinna ta go?"
"Yes yu idiot, it's gonna go to the Big Boss, why yus asking stupid questions?"
"Kus dere it goes! Not to da Big Boss!"
Alena abandoned all attempts at stealth and ran. The Gretchins let out a howl of Orkish frustration and ran after her. It was only a few seconds later when she slipped on a tree root and fell. She cried out in pain as her ankle was sprained, and then her scream became that of terror as the four Gretchins were almost upon her.
"Somebody help!" She cried out in desperation. while a part of her accepted that no help was coming. Normally she would be right.
But this was a special day.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Graagh!" "Graagh!" "Graagh!"
The sounds of thunder howled despite the clear and calm sky while the Gretchins shouted in pain, with one of them having fallen. The one that fell did so with a bloody red spot right where its heart would be, the last thing the monster would ever do was clench it as it dropped and died.
But the other three turned around and Alena was treated to a gruesome sight; the Gretchin's backs were covered in puncture wounds created by some form of metal shards which she could still see sticking out of the pulsating injuries like warts, she forced herself to look away from the hideous display and take the opportunity to limp behind the tree as the Gretchins tried to find the source of the attacks.
"Look ova dere!" Snarled the one farthest from Alena while showing no sign of feeling pain from its injuries, pointing towards where she heard the whispers. "Dere's four humies with shootas tryin ta hide behind da trees!"
"Whot? Dese humies don't use shootas!" Shouted the one in the middle of the group, which was now looking at the direction the farthest one was pointing. "Da ones with da shootas are-"
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Graagh!"
The thundering sounds came back and with it, more wounds were being inflicted on the Gretchins, most of which were now appearing on their heads. The one in the back of the group had apparently decided that it had overstayed its welcome and ran for the nearest thicket, never to be seen again, the other two Gretchin fell over and Alena could see that one of them had its left eye gouged in, it looked like one of those metal shards had been buried into the eye socket and destroyed the monsters brain.
The last one either didn't notice or care that the other two had either ran away or died because it let out another Orkish howl and began to charge only to be struck by the thundering weapons before it could take two steps toward the trees where the attack was coming from.
After a minute of silence, four figures emerged from the place where the gunfire came from. The figures were revealed to be men dressed in what looked like cloth which was colored various shades of green, white, brown and black in a pattern that served as camouflage against the surrounding forest. They each held a gun in their hands which they held firmly, betraying years of experience with such weapons despite the looks of shock and fear on their faces while looking at the fallen Gretchins.
Alena slowly rising from her hiding place wondering who these people were and where they had come from... until she saw that the last Gretchin was still breathing!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's note:
Well, here it is, my newest version of this story. Hope all readers old and new enjoy it.
So you might have noticed a few things looking extremely familiar if you saw a certain Swarm of War by VexMaster. To which I say… Ya, you're right.
I can't remember exactly how I came across the story, but I sure do remember the disappointment it gave me.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a worthwhile read with the Zerg Swarm adapting to the 40k universe and I do recommend to anyone reading this story, it's probably going to take me a long time to get anything done being the lazy perfectionist I am.
But I was disappointed in what I saw as wasted potential.
What do I mean by that? Well, when Alean was saved by the original Tobias (and yes, Tobias is going to reappear here although he's going to be a little different) on the orders of James because he felt all the emotions he felt when his little sister Helen was hit by a car and he always felt bad whenever Helen limped.
That car accident was engraved so deeply in his mind and soul that it affected him even after all the changes he underwent, he still felt for this little girl, he wanted to save her, he felt something beyond the basic needs of the Swarm.
This gave me an idea that I was going to read one of those 'what does it mean to be human' stories I just can't get enough of, and what ethics should someone in James's position should act on? Stuff like that.
I know that's not exactly a thing that's supposed to happen in 40K... But neither is the Zerg appearing out of a trans-dimensional doohickey.
And somebody from our world in control of an ever-evolving swarm deciding to undo the Grim Darkness of the far future… *sighing heavily* But when the first village the Zerg came to in force was… well, I didn't get what I was hoping for.
But you know what they say: if you want something done right, do it yourself.
So what you can expect from the story is a lot of the names and events from Swarm of War to reappear here, although there will be several notable cases of personality change to the characters, a more fleshed-out backstory on the planet and much more.
Also, we will be the ones appearing on Genesis instead of the Zerg.
Sincerely Betapike.
"Maybe it's only a fool who will perilously journey out to what might not be there. And maybe it's only a fool who will ask about Supertasks, about infinity. But if you want to solve problems, you don't just solve the ones that are there, you FIND more and you MAKE more and you go after the impossible ones; fostering a love and obsession with problems is how you solve problems."
"Antoine de Saint-Exupery wasn't a mathematician, but his advice fits nicely here. 'If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them too long for the endless immensity of the sea."
"And as always, thanks for watching."
Supertasks - Vsauce.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Special Days.
Earth: Millennium:3 Year: 020
"...Citizens around the world wait with bated breath for the first report from beyond the newly dubbed 'Tartarus Gate'..."
*Static*
"...Worldwide panic decreases as the possibility of establishing a new life beyond the Tartarus Gate gives billions of around the world hope for themselves and their descendants..."
*Static*
"...Plans have just been revealed to construct the infrastructure necessary to quickly transport people, supplies, and machinery needed to establish a thriving colony in the new world before the Earth is destroyed..."
*Static*
"...Despite the possibility that this new world's biospheres might not be compatible with human biology, numerous industries have stated that they are prepared to switch their production lines to manufacture airtight greenhouses and housing should such measures become necessary..."
*Static*
"...And now for the moment that everyone has been holding their breath over, the lead scientist of the Tartarus expedition delivers the findings of his team."
The camera shows a middle-aged man addressing an anxious crowd.
"To all peoples of the world, it is with the utmost joy that I can truthfully say that my team's findings have shown the world beyond the Tartarus Gate has a biosphere that is compatible with human physiology, to elaborate the indigenous microbes in the air, water, soil, and both on and in the plants and animals meld seamlessly with the microbes that come with us, creating no negative effects. According to all theories we have on what two worlds with different evolutionary history this is just about as much of a miracle as the Tartarus Gate itself... and yet here it is."
Relieved cheering erupts among the crowd at the end, along with every soul watching from home, work or wherever they happen to be.
*Static*
"...Breaking news: The Aerial Drones exploring the rest of the world have found settlements of humans living in the middle ages..."
*Static*
"...Discussions are going around talking about what should be done about these indigenous people, seeing as how we won't have enough space for billions of people without disrupting the locals..."
*Static*
"...U.N officials have stated that they are working on an appropriate course of action and are asking the public at large not to worry." The reporter takes a notable pause, then resumes to finish the report. "We will keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On this special day, the hungering swarm, the eternal metal, and the twisted soul all moved against the eye’s beachhead from different directions at once, not united but undisruptive to each other…
(Burning light out of the darkness.)
...and they were losing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genesis: Millennium: 42 Year: *Unavailable*
In a small cozy room lit by the light of two moons, an 8-year-old girl Alena awoke with a start.
The dreams are happening again. She thought as she silently got out of her bed and tiptoed over to a loose floorboard, gently pulling it out and revealing a small wooden chest. Alena picked up the chest and opened it to reveal a small stack of parchment with her drawings on them, being illuminated by the two moons. The drawings, unlike those of the other children, however, were of things that would cause fear and panic to anyone who knew a child drew them, and Alena wouldn't blame them.
The drawings were depictions of war across the stars, battlefields full of death, things more terrifying the most men should never have to face in battle. Of dreams that Alena had since she was 5, dreams that were becoming more frequent these past few weeks.
Alena didn't know why she was having these dreams, and when she first drew one of them she scared one of the other children and before the child told anyone Alena ripped apart the parchment and never revealed that she was having these dreams again, but she felt like they were important and needed to be written down even if they were scary. 'Maybe because they were scary?' she thought to herself.
Some of the drawings were recognizable even to the isolated people of her homeworld, but even if they weren't Alena understood on some level almost all of what she drew.
The savage Orks were one of the most prevalent, their crude war machines complementing their brutish nature. Their banner was of one of their robust skulls with horns on its side.
The Tyranids were in the next bundle of pictures with their chittering swarms devouring all in their path. The symbol on top of their pictures were two ravenous creatures standing back to back almost eating their tales.
Images of the Necrons in their relentless march made up the following pictures, these mechanical horrors brought death and destruction to everything in their path. Their banner looked like a casket with a weird symbol on it.
Next were depictions of the forces of Chaos, fallen space marines and imperial soldiers with their twisted body's fighting alongside the Daemons from the nightmarish realm of the Warp. Their banner was not drawn.
She continued to look through the pictures, Tau, Eldar, other Zenos, and the innumerable symbols and forces of the Imperium of Man followed suit.
After Alena finished looking at the mass of papers she came to the last stack of drawings, which were of the most recent things she had been dreaming about.
On top of the stack was a symbol of an eye, but in place of its pupil was an almost-complete circle with a straight line going into its missing top. It made her think of a mortar and pestle.
Alean was about to look through the drawings underneath it, but then she panicked before she knew what startled her.
*Thunk*
On reflex, she put the drawings back into the wooden chest. put the chest back in its hiding place and put the loose floorboard back where it was and turned around… and found no one was there, just her candle on her bedpost which had fallen off… for some reason.
Alena quickly and quietly got back into bed, once she was there she made a hand gesture that she was taught was meant to ward off unwelcome specters and ghosts. Once she calmed down enough to gather her thoughts, which were now returning to her drawings and the panic that came over her when she thought her father had entered.
The pictures were going to get her in trouble, she knew it. But she still knew in her heart they should be kept safe rather than destroyed, no matter if no one less would accept them. She spent the rest of her time awake thinking about what she should do before she finally fell asleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When she woke up the next morning she had an idea, the pictures couldn't stay here so they had to be moved somewhere safe. The woods seemed like a good place for her. Her father and the other men from the village would occasionally go to get lumber from the forest. But no one would look for a chest that could be buried anywhere within it.
'Indeed.' Alena reflected. 'Every time father goes into the woods he comes home truly exhausted.'
He would still try to tell her stories like he did every night, about the God-Emperor, the Imperium of man, the Covenant, the King, the Age of Darkness and much more. But as much as she loved them, he would fall asleep too quickly after the days of the Timber Harvest, and she would tuck him in just as he did for her every other night. She smiled at the memories for a while, then returned to the plan to bury the pictures.
Today was the day when the party was going to get the lumber from the forest, giving her the chance to get the pictures out of the house without worrying about her father. So when her father said goodbye to her and went with the other men, she took the picnic basket she and her father sometimes used, and placed the wooden chest containing the pictures at the bottom of the basket and covered them with a blanket. On top of the blanket she placed two loaves of bread, a small loaf she sliced for herself and a bigger loaf for her father. Then she took a small jar of jam and put it in the basket.
She did this just in case she ran into the party while looking for a place to keep the pictures. If that happened she could claim to have come to bring her father lunch, with the wooden chest with the pictures in under the blanket no one would know what she was doing.
It would also help her if she was caught sneaking back into the village after hiding the pictures as she could claim the same thing and there wouldn't be anything but the bread and jam in the basket to suggest otherwise.
She then walked over to her wardrobe for her gardening cloak because the little shovel in its pocket would be needed for digging and it would also serve as a traveling cloak, which was good because Alena didn't know how far she would have to travel to bury the chest. She closed the wardrobe and began to leave, just before she left her room she noticed her reflection in the mirror.
In the mirror, she saw a girl with green eyes and sandy blonde hair with her favorite ribbon in it. She was wearing a yellowish-white blouse tied up with a leather belt around her waist. Her skirt was a nice purple color, but it hasn't been washed since yesterday. Like the skirt, the cloak was notably dirty but that was because it was mostly used for gardening so it was only beaten to get the dirt out after it was used, and properly washed once a week.
Satisfied she put the hood on her cloak over her head and she moved to leave her home, but just before she opened the door a new thought came to her mind. 'Do I need to do this? Or should I burn the pictures in the fireplace? Or even simply keep the pictures where they were?' After a few minutes of thinking, she made up her mind. "No." She decided. She knew the pictures were important even if she couldn't understand why, so they couldn't be burned. And she remembered how scared she was when the candle fell last night and didn't feel comfortable leaving the pictures where they were.
With that final decision, she opened the door and stealthily moved about the village. It was early in the morning and most went back to bed after the men had left. She wandered out, sneaked past the guards at the village and made her way into the forest. She passed the farm of young trees behind the village which was planted by the fathers of her grandfathers. It was well on its way to becoming a good source of wood for the village but not for many years to come. So, until this particular forest was ready to be cut down, the villagers would gather once or twice a month to go into the forest and gather lumber.
She continued on her way into the forest, noticing the easily recognizable trail you would expect a village's worth of men, horses, oxen, and wagons to leave. Alena wondered if her story about wanting to bring her father a picnic basket would hold up to scrutiny, seeing how easy it would be to simply follow the trail heading west. She decided she would claim she took a detour and got lost, with that she headed southwest into the forest.
After a long journey and finally getting to the point where she found a good place to bury the chest, she unloaded the picnic basket, took the chest out and reached for the gardening shovel in her cloak. She looked around and paid extreme attention to the land around her and proceeded to bury the chest. After she was done she got up and started to head back to the village. But then she heard a strange noise like a whisper in a silent wind.
She looked to her right and she saw some trees that didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, but she could have sworn the noises came from them. Looking at the trees she called out in both fear and curiosity. "Hello? Is someone there?" When nothing answered her, She decided that she wasn't feeling that curious and continued on her way home. But after three steps she heard something right behind her.
"Wots dis? A humie Gretchin! Yum yum!"
"Da Boss wud luv to eat it up!"
"I wanna get its leg!"
"Yu's gonna eat Squigs, not humie Gretchin! Da humie Gretchin is for da Boss."
"Which Boss? Da Big Boss or da us Boss?"
"Da Big Boss, yu idiot! Da Warboss luv eating humies!"
Slowly she turned around. To her left, she saw four green creatures. They were wicked-looking with big heads. Their skins were green and though they were only slightly bigger than her they looked menacing. Made worse since each of them held a tiny metal knife with a crude handle.
Alena trembled as she recognized the Gretchins that the village elders spoke of in their stories, the smaller but just as vicious cousins of the Orks. 'Father said the Kingdom fought the Orks off 10 years ago and they wouldn't return for at least 5 more years, why have they returned so soon?!’
While the four Gretchins argued among themselves as to who should deliver this tasty morsel to the Warboss, Alena used their moment of distraction and slowly walked away, carefully trying to avoid stepping on anything that would make a noise.
She almost successfully walked away in silence, and then she heard behind her…
"Oi, did we orda dis dinna ta go?"
"Yes yu idiot, it's gonna go to the Big Boss, why yus asking stupid questions?"
"Kus dere it goes! Not to da Big Boss!"
Alena abandoned all attempts at stealth and ran. The Gretchins let out a howl of Orkish frustration and ran after her. It was only a few seconds later when she slipped on a tree root and fell. She cried out in pain as her ankle was sprained, and then her scream became that of terror as the four Gretchins were almost upon her.
"Somebody help!" She cried out in desperation. while a part of her accepted that no help was coming. Normally she would be right.
But this was a special day.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Graagh!" "Graagh!" "Graagh!"
The sounds of thunder howled despite the clear and calm sky while the Gretchins shouted in pain, with one of them having fallen. The one that fell did so with a bloody red spot right where its heart would be, the last thing the monster would ever do was clench it as it dropped and died.
But the other three turned around and Alena was treated to a gruesome sight; the Gretchin's backs were covered in puncture wounds created by some form of metal shards which she could still see sticking out of the pulsating injuries like warts, she forced herself to look away from the hideous display and take the opportunity to limp behind the tree as the Gretchins tried to find the source of the attacks.
"Look ova dere!" Snarled the one farthest from Alena while showing no sign of feeling pain from its injuries, pointing towards where she heard the whispers. "Dere's four humies with shootas tryin ta hide behind da trees!"
"Whot? Dese humies don't use shootas!" Shouted the one in the middle of the group, which was now looking at the direction the farthest one was pointing. "Da ones with da shootas are-"
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Graagh!"
The thundering sounds came back and with it, more wounds were being inflicted on the Gretchins, most of which were now appearing on their heads. The one in the back of the group had apparently decided that it had overstayed its welcome and ran for the nearest thicket, never to be seen again, the other two Gretchin fell over and Alena could see that one of them had its left eye gouged in, it looked like one of those metal shards had been buried into the eye socket and destroyed the monsters brain.
The last one either didn't notice or care that the other two had either ran away or died because it let out another Orkish howl and began to charge only to be struck by the thundering weapons before it could take two steps toward the trees where the attack was coming from.
After a minute of silence, four figures emerged from the place where the gunfire came from. The figures were revealed to be men dressed in what looked like cloth which was colored various shades of green, white, brown and black in a pattern that served as camouflage against the surrounding forest. They each held a gun in their hands which they held firmly, betraying years of experience with such weapons despite the looks of shock and fear on their faces while looking at the fallen Gretchins.
Alena slowly rising from her hiding place wondering who these people were and where they had come from... until she saw that the last Gretchin was still breathing!
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Author's note:
Well, here it is, my newest version of this story. Hope all readers old and new enjoy it.
So you might have noticed a few things looking extremely familiar if you saw a certain Swarm of War by VexMaster. To which I say… Ya, you're right.
I can't remember exactly how I came across the story, but I sure do remember the disappointment it gave me.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a worthwhile read with the Zerg Swarm adapting to the 40k universe and I do recommend to anyone reading this story, it's probably going to take me a long time to get anything done being the lazy perfectionist I am.
But I was disappointed in what I saw as wasted potential.
What do I mean by that? Well, when Alean was saved by the original Tobias (and yes, Tobias is going to reappear here although he's going to be a little different) on the orders of James because he felt all the emotions he felt when his little sister Helen was hit by a car and he always felt bad whenever Helen limped.
That car accident was engraved so deeply in his mind and soul that it affected him even after all the changes he underwent, he still felt for this little girl, he wanted to save her, he felt something beyond the basic needs of the Swarm.
This gave me an idea that I was going to read one of those 'what does it mean to be human' stories I just can't get enough of, and what ethics should someone in James's position should act on? Stuff like that.
I know that's not exactly a thing that's supposed to happen in 40K... But neither is the Zerg appearing out of a trans-dimensional doohickey.
And somebody from our world in control of an ever-evolving swarm deciding to undo the Grim Darkness of the far future… *sighing heavily* But when the first village the Zerg came to in force was… well, I didn't get what I was hoping for.
But you know what they say: if you want something done right, do it yourself.
So what you can expect from the story is a lot of the names and events from Swarm of War to reappear here, although there will be several notable cases of personality change to the characters, a more fleshed-out backstory on the planet and much more.
Also, we will be the ones appearing on Genesis instead of the Zerg.
Sincerely Betapike.