Their concentrated assault seemed to have thoroughly enraged the Zerg. Every alien insect across the entire base swarmed forward as one, transforming into a living tide intent on drowning Marcus and his allies through sheer overwhelming numbers.
However, Marcus's Frost abilities proved so devastatingly effective that any Zerg approaching within a certain radius of him would instantly transform into solid ice sculptures—flash-frozen where they stood.
Therefore, except for suicidal creatures that couldn't alter course quickly enough, most of the swarm scattered and redirected their assault toward other targets that seemed more vulnerable.
The aerial battle had devolved into absolute chaos. Mutalisks and Corruptors flew through the air in swirling patterns, constantly harassing and attacking the Viking fighters maintaining air superiority.
Brood Lords—massive floating creatures serving as aerial artillery—continuously launched parasitic broodlings toward ground positions. In mere moments, a substantial army of these smaller creatures had formed on the battlefield below.
Compared to the Zerg's frenzied actions, the power demonstrated by Marcus and the Kryptonians remained the most shocking aspect of this entire engagement.
Beyond the frost that continued spreading with Marcus's every movement, General Zod and his people had fully committed to the battle. Red thermal beams swept through the airborne Zerg forces with surgical precision.
The more agile Mutalisks managed relatively well—most successfully dodged those searing beams through acrobatic maneuvers. But the larger, less maneuverable Corruptors couldn't react quickly enough. Many were swept by thermal vision strikes, their massive bodies literally cut in half by concentrated heat.
"Is this their true combat capability?" someone among the human forces wondered aloud.
The human defenders naturally paid close attention to the aerial situation even while maintaining their own defensive fire. They were all thoroughly familiar with Marcus's overwhelming strength—they could accept virtually any display of power from him without surprise.
But regarding Zod and the Kryptonians' actual capabilities, this represented the first time they'd genuinely witnessed the aliens fighting at full strength against a serious threat.
Those Corruptors—which posed tremendous danger to spacecraft and represented significant aerial threats—couldn't hold out for even moments against Kryptonian heat vision.
The marines observed with perfect clarity that Corruptors swept by thermal beams weren't merely cut in half. Their bisected bodies immediately began burning violently, transforming into enormous fireballs that plummeted from the sky trailing smoke.
"Although General Zod and his people aren't quite as overwhelmingly powerful as Mr. Marcus, they've far exceeded our expectations in terms of Zerg elimination efficiency," someone noted with satisfaction.
"And with this kind of assistance, the Zerg will definitely be completely eradicated!"
The human forces felt absolutely determined. They firmly believed that with support from Marcus and General Zod, the alien insect threat would eventually be eliminated entirely.
Artillery fire across the defensive positions intensified dramatically. They would never surrender this golden opportunity to systematically destroy the Zerg presence.
Concentrated streams of superheated fire shot from melta rifles transformed the entire position into a roaring sea of flames. Some Zerg that charged forward too aggressively had their bodies burned completely through by melta weapons, reduced to ash within those scorching flames.
Through their combined concentrated efforts, the Zerg assault was successfully halted and contained.
Such a development wasn't remotely acceptable to the swarm. This location represented their primary base—their home. If this position was destroyed, they'd be completely eradicated from this planet with no possibility of recovery.
Therefore, every available Zerg was throwing themselves into the battle without restraint or hesitation. They didn't care about their own survival whatsoever. Their singular focus was driving the human invaders away from this location.
The fight between both forces intensified dramatically. But Marcus, protected by his expanding field of frost, had already set foot directly within the Zerg hive base itself.
Actually, Marcus didn't feel particularly strong emotions about the Zerg one way or another. These frenzied alien insects were merely pawns of the fallen Xel'Naga known as Amon—pieces in a cosmic game.
The swarm happened to represent the opposite of the Protoss philosophically. They possessed the purest and most adaptable physical forms, making them the "second children of the gods" in Xel'Naga terminology.
It was simply because the Overmind controlling them had been corrupted and enslaved by Amon's overwhelming power. Unable to directly resist that control, the Overmind could only choose external expansion—desperately searching for individuals capable of breaking Amon's hold.
Yes, the fundamental reason the Overmind launched wars across countless worlds was finding hosts strong enough to free the Zerg from Amon's domination.
As for the Overmind itself, it fully understood such plans would very likely result in its own death. But if there existed even a chance of escaping Amon's control, it remained willing to take that risk.
"The Zerg Overmind... I wonder if they can still maintain contact at such extreme distances," Marcus mused.
This location had departed the Koprulu Sector entirely—stranded in some unknown region of space. Maintaining connection with the Overmind's psionic network across such distances would be extraordinarily difficult.
After all, even using psionic energy to control swarm forces, attempting to receive power and direction from the Zerg Overmind at such impossible ranges would demand tremendous sacrifice.
The frost beneath Marcus's feet continued spreading inexorably. After flash-freezing enormous numbers of larvae, Marcus finally arrived at the largest Zerg spawning nest.
Before the nest entrance, a massive Zerg rushed toward him aggressively. This was a Zerg Queen—guardian of the nest and supreme leader of this particular swarm army.
"Hissss~"
The Zerg Queen roared while lashing her enormous tail, but unfortunately Marcus couldn't understand her meaning or intent.
He retrieved a mental augmentation mod and integrated it into his Warframe. A psychic wave immediately connected with the Zerg Queen's consciousness.
"Is your Overmind still active and present?" Marcus asked directly through the mental link.
As if she suddenly comprehended Marcus's question, the Zerg Queen transmitted violent, chaotic mental waves in response.
"Overmind... disappeared... we... abandoned..."
Although the Queen's meaning came through intermittently and fragmented, Marcus still understood what she was communicating.
However, he felt genuinely surprised by what the Zerg Queen had revealed. According to his meta-knowledge of this universe, there had been two generations of Zerg Overminds.
The first-generation Overmind was the one that had led the Zerg in breaking free from Amon's direct control initially. The second-generation Overmind had formed through the fusion of cerebrates that had differentiated from that first consciousness.
But now, the Zerg Queen was stating the Overmind had vanished—which meant the first-generation consciousness had been killed.
During this current time period, the Queen of Blades Kerrigan should have recently been captured by human forces and transformed back into human form by her determined lover, Jim Raynor.
"Is it this specific timeline?" Marcus realized. "It seems we need to locate the Koprulu Sector as quickly as possible. The Xel'Naga artifacts and the Protoss's Khala crystals remain extremely valuable resources."
Thinking along these lines, Marcus looked up at the Zerg Queen looming before him. This massive creature felt abandoned and isolated, capable only of reproducing endlessly on this forgotten planet.
Unfortunately, her control capabilities weren't remotely comparable to cerebrates or the Overmind itself. Even with assistance from Overseers and Overlords, she still couldn't completely dominate and coordinate this swarm effectively.
"No wonder these Zerg attacks have been so chaotic and disorganized," Marcus observed. "It's because there's only a single inadequate controller remaining."
As he was speaking these words, the Zerg Queen's bone scythes suddenly stabbed downward. Facing the Queen's aggressive attack, Marcus simply raised one hand casually and caught the enormous bone weapons firmly.
"Actually, you haven't been abandoned at all," Marcus said calmly. "You're simply going to die here."
The instant those words concluded, terrifying freezing energy erupted from Marcus. The Queen's bone scythes froze into solid ice immediately, and even her massive body became covered with spreading frost. Within moments, she'd transformed into an enormous ice sculpture.
The Queen's frozen form was merely the beginning. Even stronger freezing energy continued spreading outward from Marcus's position in expanding waves. Wherever that glacial power passed, everything froze into ice without exception.
Avalanche
The frost didn't only freeze the organic creep carpet—it also encased the massive flesh-and-blood structures serving as spawning buildings.
BOOM!!!
With a thunderous detonation, all the frost surrounding Marcus exploded simultaneously. The Zerg Queen standing before him shattered into countless crystalline fragments. The spawning structures were completely obliterated in the fierce explosion that followed.
Everything fundamental to this Zerg base's operation simply ceased to exist. Aside from the swarm army fighting behind him, no other Zerg remained alive at this location.
Because the Queen had been destroyed, nothing remained to coordinate or control the Zerg forces. All the alien insects began fighting among themselves chaotically. They attacked each other while simultaneously retreating from human gunfire in complete disarray.
The red thermal beams in the sky systematically destroyed large numbers of Overseers and Overlords—the swarm's command-and-control organisms. The Zerg began declining rapidly amid their self-destructive melee.
"This is the first time I've faced the Zerg this easily," one marine commented while maintaining fire. "No wonder Ghost operatives have such elevated status within the Dominion. These decapitation operations really produce completely different results."
His observation reflected everyone's thoughts perfectly.
Marcus had simply entered the base and destroyed the Zerg's command structure—but immediately afterward, the entire swarm descended into chaos and began attacking itself.
The marines had observed clearly. Just moments ago, there'd been a particularly powerful Roach that was obviously more dangerous than standard variants. That creature had been swarmed by massive numbers of Zerglings and eventually torn apart.
They'd never witnessed such a spectacle previously. But seeing it now, they finally understood exactly how powerful the Overmind's psionic control over Zerg forces actually was—and how catastrophic losing that control became.
In the end, because of the swarm's internal fighting, the rate of Zerg elimination increased dramatically. Before long, the vast majority of alien insects had been wiped out, leaving only heavily armored variants still persisting.
The remaining Zerg were significantly more durable than previous forces, requiring concentrated effort to eliminate.
Looking at the numerous surviving insects now surrounded and contained, the human forces didn't dare approach too closely.
They'd been able to eliminate the Zerg effectively because of Marcus and General Zod's overwhelming support. While they could handle ordinary swarm forces, they could only choose distant bombardment to eliminate heavy units like Ultralisks.
After enduring substantial artillery punishment, the Ultralisks and other armored Zerg finally began their counterattack.
The heavily plated Ultralisks could easily withstand standard artillery fire. Meanwhile, other heavy Zerg species launched coordinated assaults. Both sides continued attacking and maneuvering against each other.
"Go help them finish this," Marcus commanded. "We should also prepare for departure."
As Marcus issued his order, General Zod and his Kryptonians rushed toward the remaining Zerg concentration.
Although heat vision could penetrate these creatures' bodies, eliminating armored Zerg through thermal beams required significant time. Rather than using heat vision for execution, they might as well choose faster methods to completely eliminate these final threats.
BOOM!
General Zod swung a devastating punch directly at an Ultralisk's head. The blow struck with tremendous force, creating a visible white shockwave that spread outward from the impact point.
The Ultralisk was driven directly into the ground. The solid bone armor protecting its body burst open completely, revealing pulverized flesh and organs beneath.
The next moment, more impacts rang out across the battlefield. Ultralisks were being systematically destroyed by Kryptonian physical assaults.
Some Ultralisks remained relatively intact—most of their carapaces still attached to recognizable bodies. But others were in absolutely terrible condition, their forms shattered bit by bit until they were barely recognizable. If you hadn't witnessed the destruction personally, it would be genuinely difficult to believe those heaps of biological debris had once been mighty Ultralisks.
"We... we actually won!" the exploration team erupted in celebration.
Everyone felt tremendously excited. With just a relatively small force, they'd actually eliminated the Zerg presence across an entire planet!
"Even if we never find the Koprulu Sector again, we can survive here for generations!" someone shouted joyfully.
Everyone was cheering and celebrating. Even if some scattered Zerg remained on this planet, there wouldn't be many. The humans could completely eliminate stragglers themselves. This world now belonged to them.
"Command, this is the exploration team. The Zerg base has been completely destroyed. Exploration forces are preparing to conduct systematic sweeps to ensure total Zerg elimination."
Captain Locke felt genuinely stunned receiving this transmission. He honestly hadn't expected the Zerg to be eliminated this decisively and rapidly.
After hearing the full combat report, Captain Locke understood the reality clearly.
Although they'd deployed substantial forces for this battle, the genuine main combat power had been Marcus and General Zod.
Without those decisive, overwhelmingly powerful allies, surviving the Zerg assault would have been questionable—let alone actually destroying the swarm.
"We're truly indebted to Mr. Marcus and his people," Locke reflected. "However, with the Zerg threat eliminated, we can finally initiate full-scale production. While we don't possess manufacturing specifications for battlecruisers, we do have complete design schematics for Hercules-class transport vessels.
Combined with the weapon blueprints we obtained from General Zod, we finally have sufficient force to properly protect ourselves."
As Locke was speaking, Marcus led General Zod's group and a contingent of marines back toward the base perimeter.
Even if exploration teams continued searching for remaining Zerg stragglers, they didn't particularly need these marines anymore. What they genuinely required now was high mobility—Viking fighters and mechanized ground forces would serve better.
The enormous Valkyrie walker remained among the search teams as well. It served as their trump card—insurance against encountering powerful variants like Ultralisks during sweep operations.
Captain Locke and his senior staff learned about the main force's return immediately. They hurried out with the base's medical teams to provide assistance.
Although there'd been minimal concern about casualties with Marcus and General Zod's protection, many personnel had sustained serious injuries before the reinforcements arrived.
Those wounded desperately needed immediate treatment—at minimum, to ensure their survival.
"Mr. Marcus, General Zod—thank you both tremendously for your assistance," Captain Locke said with genuine gratitude.
"It was nothing—just minor help," Marcus replied dismissively, waving his hand.
But instead of heading toward the base proper, Marcus walked away with Zod and the other Kryptonians. The direction they traveled wasn't toward their quarters—instead, they headed toward the Railjack that had been concealed outside the base perimeter.
"Mr. Marcus, what are you...?" Captain Locke suddenly experienced an ominous premonition.
"Oh, we're planning to depart," Marcus explained casually. "Now that the Zerg threat has been eliminated, you can develop here peacefully. We're going to continue our voyage through the universe."
As he spoke, Marcus boarded his ship. General Zod and his Kryptonians also boarded the vessel they'd urgently constructed, and both craft lifted off smoothly before accelerating away from the planet.
Everyone at the base watched Marcus and his companions depart in stunned silence. They understood instinctively that after this separation, they might genuinely never meet again.
"Then I wish you all safe travels and fortune on your voyage..." Captain Locke said quietly, watching the spacecraft disappear into the distance.
They were parting ways now. From this moment forward, this planet represented their territory—they could develop freely here without external threats.
Although this world was extremely barren in terms of habitability, the mineral resources were genuinely massive. At minimum, they wouldn't need to search for new planets for quite some time.
Perhaps when they finally returned to the Koprulu Sector, they really could arrive commanding an impressive fleet.