At the same time, the Zerg forces had fought their way to the very thing the Overmind desired most.
That Behemoth-class Battlecruiser now sat in the center of the plaza like some abandoned monument. One shouldn't be surprised; compared to Hive Cities that are often measured in thousands of kilometers, this StarCraft II Battlecruiser—less than a kilometer in length—was practically a rowboat.
The Overmind deliberately controlled a Changeling, having it take human form to enter the vessel. Portions of the ship's interior had been repurposed into cramped living quarters for Hive City residents: cluttered, chaotic, and disorganized. While some structures had been gutted, the main frame remained intact.
"I hope the main system isn't trashed."
Guided by the Overmind's search, he located the Bridge.
The main doors had been completely replaced and could not be opened by conventional means. However, the Changeling raised its right hand, which transformed into a sharp bone blade within seconds, carving through the heavy doors in a few swift strokes.
Unsurprisingly, the area behind the doors had been converted into a private suite. Judging by the opulent carvings and exquisite decorations, the owner of the room held a position of considerable status.
"Still haven't left, I see."
The Overmind sensed living creatures inside. The Zerglings initially lunged forward to tear the human apart, but the Overmind raised a hand to stop them.
He walked straight toward the biological signal. In the suite's bathroom, he found a man as bloated as a mountain of flesh, fast asleep in a tub, as if the screeching sound of twisting metal from the door hadn't happened at all.
Just as the Overmind was about to feed this fat man to the Zerglings, he suddenly spotted a StarCraft II Terran Adjutant mounted on the bathroom wall.
In StarCraft II, the Adjutant is an AI-like entity used for wartime mobilization support, capable of resource accounting, communications management, enemy detection, and early warning.
In StarCraft I, Adjutants were semi-organic, semi-mechanical female constructs, bearing a striking resemblance to the "wetware" of Warhammer 40,000. In StarCraft II, they were redesigned as fully mechanical units, which looked more logical. There were even newer models featuring holographic projections.
Only...
The Overmind glanced at the sleeping "flesh mountain" nearby and felt a surge of disgust.
"Fine. This is very Warhammer."
The Overmind ignored the "blob of meat"—the fellow could be fed to the bugs later—and focused on seeing if the Adjutant could be powered up.
The internal circuitry and conduits hadn't been stripped yet. The Overmind attempted a startup sequence, and surprisingly, it actually worked.
With a slight twitch of its mechanical head, the Adjutant's eyes flickered with a faint green light. A standard mechanical female voice filled the room.
"Adjutant online. Awaiting instructions."
Holy crap, am I actually going to be able to use Terran tech this time?
Imagination is beautiful, but reality is harsh. The Battlecruiser's internal engine systems had long since failed and could not be restarted. In the entire ship, only this Adjutant was likely still operational, running on backup power.
"You... who are you!"
The fat man in the tub finally reacted.
Only then did the Overmind remember him—but he didn't forget him. Zerglings suddenly came sprinting down the hallway, tearing the man to shreds in an instant.
Screams echoed behind him as blood splattered across the slick floor, a few drops even landing on the Adjutant's face. The Overmind didn't care. He spoke: "Access the database. I want to know the history of this ship."
"Access denied. User lacks authorization."
"Tsk. Authorization?"
The Changeling raised its hand, and its flesh merged into the Adjutant's interior, beginning to infect it.
It might result in some data loss, but it would grant him internal clearance.
"Now, answer my question."
"Bzzzt—Bzzzt— Assimilation complete. Retrieving data."
The Adjutant's voice turned low and raspy. The green light in its eyes flashed repeatedly before turning into the yellow of the Swarm.
The Overmind finally obtained the internal records. There was a massive amount of data, but the Overmind had plenty of time to review the videos and audio logs. He was also able to confirm his suspicions.
The ship was constructed approximately 2,200 years ago. When he realized the timeframe, the Overmind was stunned.
"The Terran guy was active over 2,200 years ago?"
In fact, it was likely even earlier. This Behemoth-class Battlecruiser was built back then and had responded to an Emperor's colonial mandate, carrying a ship full of people out to explore. However, they encountered Orks during transit. Under attack, they performed an emergency warp jump and eventually crash-landed on this planet.
It had been over 2,000 years since that crash.
"Wait, the Emperor? Which Emperor?"
"The Supreme Commander, the Soveriegn Emperor of the Terran Dominion, the Iron Leader of Korhal, the Eternal Emperor of Humanity, the Immortal Emperor of the Dominion."
Oh, good. It wasn't the guy on the Golden Toilet.
If the Terran fellow had joined that Emperor, things would be difficult. For one, the Psionic Destroyer from the Heart of the Swarm campaign is a major counter to the Zerg. While Primal Zerg can ignore its effects, it's hard to say if they could win if they ran into units of the Custodes' caliber.
"Can you establish contact with other colonies?"
"Bzzzt—Bzzzt—"
The Adjutant emitted a burst of static before finally replying.
"Communication systems are damaged. Unable to go online."
"Fine. What about the star charts?"
"Updating star chart data. Connection to main database lost. Unable to sync. Using existing version of the star chart."
The Adjutant projected a map. It was slightly different from the Eldar star charts. The Overmind used his immense mental power to record the map and compared it to the Eldar version. While there were discrepancies in certain areas—missing or additional sectors—they generally aligned.
The Terran Confederacy—the location of that other Terran transmigrator—was in the Segmentum Pacificus in the western galaxy, and they already held a significant amount of territory there.
Comparing the size of his own territory to that of the Terran transmigrator, the Overmind discovered the Terran's territory was nearly one-third the size of his own.
And those were 2,000-year-old statistics.
"Not bad, brother. I thought he'd have been wiped out by the local Warhammer races by now."
Just like the Overmind, the Terran transmigrator had come dangerously close to a "Game Over" at the start.
The Overmind started by running into a Tyranid Hive Fleet, while the Terran transmigrator started by running into an Ork WAAAGH!