The Cerberus Swarm

Umojan Main Star, A056 Polar Research Station.

Belongs to Cerberus Project.

The howling monster was bound in a cage and suspended in an artificial zero-gravity field.

The cage's frame was made of high-strength titanium alloy, and its outer layer was covered by a pale blue plasma field. Augustus could see every detail inside the cage through this thin blue light barrier, down to the scales covering the imprisoned person's enamel-like keratin layer.

"The new scientific name is Hydralisk, a more advanced form of Zerg life than Zergling, possessing a larger brain and a correspondingly greater ferocity," said an alien researcher at the A056 Polar Research Station. "Sample Victor V, number 012, came from an unhatched egg in the underground of Loxton, an adult individual."

"For God's sake, this is a complete monster, a mutated serpent." Jim Raynor shook his head incessantly behind Augustus.

"That's terrifying," Faraday said.

"It's dangerous..." Kerrigan stared at the Hydralisk.

"That's exactly what I said when I first met the Hydralisk. Major General Raynor, perhaps we have something in common," Arcturus Mengsk said.

"If we can truly turn these monsters into our weapons, then the enormous cost we've paid for this plan will have been well worth it."

The monster Raynor spoke of— the Hydralisk— evoked a fear in humans that surpassed even the meaning of its name. It was a monster that embodied all the terrifying and horrifying things in human imagination since the dawn of time, an evil creature that should have existed only in the imagination.

As Raynor and Augustus observed, the Hydralisk had a serpentine body and a spiny, pointed tail. Behind its long, round head was a massive, cobra-like bony crest, the size of which nearly occupied half of its arched upper body. Perhaps due to incomplete evolution, the dark brown crest still retained the bright colors of its insect form, the larvae of the Lepidoptera, which served as a warning to predators.

The Hydralisk's broad, long jawbone and gaping maw comprise two-thirds of its skull. Rows of fangs and enormous canines grow from its upper and lower jaws, each fang resembling a military dagger, sharp as a boning knife. Clear saliva and a dark green acid from its venom sac flow from its terrifying maw, large enough to swallow a four- or five-year-old child whole.

Anyone who has seen a pair of arms with long, bony sickle-like blades at the ends would have no doubt that this Hydralisk could easily cleave a jeep with those bone sickles. Its arms, multi-segmented serrated spines encased in chitinous carapace, and tail over ten feet long are covered with serrated spikes, and its back is covered with venomous thorns.

This monster, named after the Hydra, the nine-headed serpent from Greek mythology, has incredibly smooth skin, resembling a prehistoric giant serpent covered in scaly armor, its entire body adorned with enormous keratinous scales, much like a giant lizard. These smooth scales are the reason the Hydralisk hisses as it swims across the sandy ground.

The Hydralisk was much larger than any canine Zerg that Augustus ever seen, about the size of two Marines wearing CMC-300 Power Armor. Even at a distance of more than twenty meters from Augustus, it still looked like a behemoth.

The Hydralisk's chest is extremely ugly, resembling a chest whose skin has been ripped open, with bloody muscles and tendons protruding outwards, and the ribs supporting the ventricles exposed. Blood vessels are clearly visible, and the surface is covered with an extremely thick layer of keratinous shell.

This is a terrifying monster that goes to extremes in its pursuit of slaughter. Its disproportionate body and the fact that it is composed entirely of thousands of muscles without a trace of fat are so horrifying that it seems as if every tissue and organ in its body was created solely for killing. It's as if the Hydralisk is not a naturally evolved creature, but a nightmare Hybrid that forcibly mixes together the most terrifying weapons of other creatures.

The Hydralisk, trapped in its cage, roared and howled furiously in the weightless environment, desperately wielding its terrifying bone scythe in an attempt to break free of its restraints.

When Augustus looked at the Hydralisk, its lantern-like dark red eyes also looked at him, and a kind of cunning intelligence seemed to flicker in those eyes, but it was already a beast out of control.

"Boss." Just as Augustus and the others were observing the living Hydralisk, a short, stout man wearing a white coat and gloves walked over. He had a thick double chin, shrewd small eyes, and a shrewd smile on his face.

Augustus had met him about two years earlier, when Augustus was a Confederacy officer at the front lines of the Turaxis II. They had a deal and a brief conversation in Orlan Town, near Fort Howe.

At that time, Augustus was about to sell a batch of spoils he had seized from the Freedom Revolutionary Army, while the man who was buying weapons for the Cerberus Company was eager to acquire a batch of cheap, restricted weapons.

Augustus later learned that this company was the creator of the future Cerberus Zerg.

"Mr. Bulova Langdon is the administrator and one of the main persons in charge of this research station," a junior project manager accompanying Augustus introduced. "He works for Cerberus Company."

Cerberus was originally a small biotechnology company that was on the verge of bankruptcy several times during the Guild Wars. If they hadn't tricked the Terran Confederacy into giving them a sum of money by taking advantage of the Confederacy's eagerness to use biological modification to strengthen its soldiers, they might not have lived to see Augustus.

It was all thanks to Augustus's discerning eye that he bought the company a year ago and paid off all its debts; otherwise, at least twenty researchers at this research station would be imprisoned in New Folsom today.

These people are now all working in Umojan for Augustus's alien laboratory, where their subjects include Zerg, Protoss, and all non-human creatures. Currently, a research project named Cerberus Project by Augustus has replaced their lives for the next few years and beyond.

The program was funded and operated by the Mengsk Family, represented by Augustus. Hundreds of biological and alien researchers from Cerberus Company and Korhal IV were working towards the same goal: to realize Augustus's vision of weaponizing the Zerg.

"Thank you for your hard work. No need for introductions. Mr. Bulova and I have known each other for a long time." Augustus smiled and shook hands with Bulova, who was immediately flattered.

"I remember the Orlan Town incident; it was a truly pleasant collaboration." Augustus was known for his ability to remember the names and faces of people he had met. Those who were recognized often had the illusion that they held a certain place in Augustus's heart. Only Sarah Kerrigan would say that Augustus's manipulation of people was as sophisticated as his skill in manipulating women.

If someone unaware of the background were to hear Augustus's words and consider his identity, they would surely associate that "pleasant cooperation" with something like blowing up a Confederacy building or wiping out an entire Confederacy army.

For example, the young but enthusiastic and energetic researchers next to him immediately developed a sense of admiration for Bulova Langdon.

"I never would have guessed that you were Augustus Mengsk, the leader of the greatest uprising and the most prestigious and influential champion of justice in the Koprulu Sector in the 25th century." Having spent many years in the corporate world, Bulova couldn't help but say a few words of praise for Augustus, and of course, these were mostly heartfelt.

From the perspective of the Terran Confederacy, these words make them appear as those of a ruthless rebel leader and a cannibalistic demon.

"After all, I was just an unknown at that time." Augustus didn't waste time on pleasantries and went straight to the point. "How's the progress? I'm not a biologist, and no matter how detailed your reports are, I can't get a sense of the entire Cerberus Project's current stage from just a few words."

"My men report that Cerberus Project has cost enough to arm a heavy armored division but has made no substantial progress. I want to know who is telling the truth."

"This is all malicious slander." Bulova's fat jiggled, but he was clearly prepared.

Look here.

As soon as he finished speaking, Augustus and those around him could see an experimental platform holding another Hydralisk rising from the ground. Compared to the previous Hydralisk, this Hydralisk had undergone limb modifications with alloy machinery implanted throughout its body.

"You'll be very surprised," Bulova said confidently, hoping to see a look of surprise on Augustus's face, but the man only blinked the entire time.

The Hydralisk's scales and chitinous carapace on its back were brutally sliced open and replaced with steel armor and sharp steel spikes. Its pair of bone scythes were replaced with a pair of titanium alloy triple-bladed blades that could be propelled like bullets using a booster system.

The roots of these titanium alloy blades are deeply embedded between bones and muscles. The brutality of the modification process is almost equivalent to rolling steel plates inside a person's body, enough to make any true human warrior's scalp tingle.

The Hydralisk's jawbone was reinforced with a titanium alloy support frame, adding more and sharper blades. The dark red eyes that had impressed Augustus were replaced with orange mechanical prosthetics equipped with triangulation devices and more sensitive sensors.

If the one undergoing the modification wasn't a Zerg with a powerful ability to rapidly heal itself through cell regeneration, any human undergoing such modification would have little chance of survival.

"The Zerg's Alpha amino acids have unique R-group properties, which allow the substances from dead cells to combine with ordinary proteins to produce new cells. Under normal conditions, the Zerg can regenerate indefinitely. Given enough time, even a severely injured Zerg can fully recover," Bulova told Augustus.

"Testing has shown that the Zerg's pain tolerance far exceeds our expectations. They can completely withstand our modifications, whereas any previously modified organism couldn't even withstand the steel plates welded to their tissues."

Before joining Augustus, Cerberus Company's business also included performing prosthetic limb transplants on "volunteers" and people who voluntarily underwent modifications due to physical disabilities, including but not limited to implanting new assistive organs.

In the Terran Confederacy, those professions that involve constant warfare and bloodshed, especially the assassins who do the dirty work, are very willing to accept this kind of modification. Once they replace their flesh and blood legs, arms, and even some organs with mechanical prosthetics, some of their original fatal wounds will no longer be a problem, and their weaknesses will become fewer and fewer.

Recently, the Terran Confederacy and military have been the biggest supporters of mechanical, pharmaceutical, and even genetically modified humans, because they have a large number of Resocialized Soldier who can accept these unethical and immoral modifications without any complaints.

The Confederacy army is accelerating the process of fully Resocialized Soldier. Marines in Power Armor are no longer a glorious profession, but humanoid weapons that can be mass-produced quickly and even labeled with commodity barcodes.

If Resocialized Soldier could be refurbished and reinstated like machines with only parts replaced, that would be ideal, saving the Confederate Congress a significant amount of money.

"So, after undergoing mechanical modification, they are much stronger than before, right?" Augustus didn't offer any evaluation of the Hydralisk that had undergone semi-mechanical modification.

"Of course, their titanium alloy blades can easily cut through the front armor plating of an Arclite Siege Tank," Bulova said proudly.

"Then who will replace the dull blades of these modified Hydralisk?" Augustus asked.

"This problem must be solved. At the same time, try equipping them with low-yield nuclear weapons, because some Zerg species can burrow underground and penetrate deep behind enemy lines through tunnels," he said. "In any case, your task is not to turn them into tools to please me, but to create a Zerg swarm that I can control forever."

"What I care more about is how you control these Zerg, making them obey your every command without reservation."

"We've replaced the connection between their temporal lobes and bodies with mechanical nerves. By simulating neuronal electrical signals, our operators can remotely control these Zerg via a control terminal through a panel—just like operating a drone," Bulova told Augustus.

"Show me," Augustus said briefly but clearly.

Bulova immediately went to the control panel next to him and operated it himself. The modified Hydralisk emerged from the opened plasma isolation field and, with his operation, swam quickly and nimbly across the smooth ground of the research station.

Then, driven by the research station director's perverse sense of humor, the enormous monster began to perform an alien-style belly dance.

Augustus nodded repeatedly, looking very satisfied.

"A beautiful toy," Arcturus said, having been listening intently.

"My brothers and I are more concerned about whether this Zerg can be mass-produced."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Hydralisk roared and charged at Augustus and the others, its massive, armored belly scraping against the ground with a rustling sound like a snake crawling through dry leaves.

Bulova was immediately alarmed. It seemed that the neural modification technology of Project Cybrus was not perfect, and this Hydralisk was undoubtedly out of control.

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