The Beginning of the Swarm

The name I gave to the Zerg version of the Digestion Pool of the Tyranids was the Nutrient Pit, and it has grown bigger as I had poured more things in. Tentacles, evolved from the roots of the Creep Tumors, dipped themselves into the green acid pool and would regularly flick non-corrodible materials out of the pool to keep it clean. The tentacles and roots were all covered in the same mucus that protected the Creep. They would suck in the nutrient saturated acid at the bottom of the pool and use these nutrients to strengthen the Creep. With Zerglings and Hydralisks sometimes bringing animal corpses, it had quickly become a good source of nutrients for the Creep, and in turn the Zerg.

With the immediate surroundings cleared of trees, the Ultralisk now worked alongside the Drones and began to delve into the mountain side. The Ultralisk would use its mighty Kaiser blades against the rocks and the Drones would carry them to the Nutrient Pit where the acid would corrode the metal within. The Creep Turmors would draw out the usable metals, refine them, and excrete them as a solid near the Hatchery. This was the only way of getting good minerals.

Although Drones gathered plenty of rocks and ores, their mineral content was quite poor. The Hatchery, containing a powerful digestive system, could ingest and process them, but it would still be like having only 1 or 2 minerals gained from each delivery. My mind sifted through the Zerg genetic knowledge and James' knowledge, and eventually came up with a good idea. I hurried since I needed to implement this before the Hatchery was fully mature or I might have to wait until the next cocoon.

The pulsing of the cocoon paused as I spent an hour rewriting parts of the Hatchery's DNA. My first Hatchery on this world. I made a few genetic modifications, particularly to increase its protection against acid through mucus secretion and add the capacity to draw minerals directly from the Nutrient Pit or through veins of Creep. This would allow me to construct several Nutrient Pits at key junctures without having to build a Hatchery where it would be of little strategic value. The old Swarm, living comfortably on worlds with mineral formations, would not need such evolution, but I did. I lacked almost everything. I had to make do with what I had.

Aside from the critical issue of minerals, the other key resource issue was the Vespene Gas, or the lack thereof. The Zerglings have searched for days and yet could not find a single geyser in the surrounding areas. Although it was not the most abundant of resources, the Vespene Gas was not uncommon on most worlds in the galaxy. Earth just happened to be lacking it by pure chance. I had to think fast and find a way to replace the gas until we found a geyser. Its lack was a problem. Actually, the real problem was that it was so effective. The Zerg have evolved without it at first, but since encountering it and discovering the efficiency of the gas, they have evolved to have great affinity to it.

Now that I had none, I had to find a way to somehow evolve without it. It was a very complex gas with a lot of different properties including the ability to awake and enhance psionic talents and the ability to enhance cellular mitosis. Without it, mass producing units such as Mutalisks, Corruptors and Brood Lords would be impossible, since they used the gas to create the organs that gave birth to the symbiotic ammunitions like the Glaive Wurms or the Broodlings. Banelings' organs produce massive amount of acid, and that's thanks to the gas affecting them. Hydralisks and Roaches need gas to be born since they need the organs that produce both the hormones responsible for regrowing the spines and the acid they shoot.

The only reason that Overlords and Queens could fly or use their abilities is because their original DNA was taken from species which already had natural mutations. However, this gave me just enough hints. I did not actually need the Vespene Gas. I only needed something that could work in a similar way. I sent the Zerglings and Hydralisks further away to find me anything that could work, and bring back samples of local plants and animals. It was hard work but it had to be done. Also, I ordered my units to flee and return at any sign of danger that they cannot handle. I had precious few minions and was reluctant to lose them.

Being grown in less than ideal circumstances, the Hatchery took almost four days to complete, and I focused my concentration on its growth while residing within the body of the Queen. I quickly ordered the Overlord with the Pylon inside its belly to place the Protoss artifact on top of the Hatchery. I modified the latter to grow three new primary respiratory vents so that the Pylon would not suffocate it. Tiny claws grabbed onto the Pylon and held it firm. Then I had the Queen carefully climb the Hatchery and use its claws to hack away bits from the large crystal. Without the Protoss band around it, any Khaydarin crystal would continue to suck the ambient energy from the surrounding environment and grow.

I had the Queen carefully plant the shards around the Nutrient Pit and connected the roots of the Creep Tumors to them. This would allow for two-way exchange of power. They crystals would feed the psionic energy into the Hatchery through the roots. With enough psionic energy, I could simulate the Vespene Gas to an extent. So long as this will be going on, the nutrients and ambient life energy would feed the crystals and make them grow. The bigger they are, the more energy they will give. Once the Hatchery was done, the Drones busied themselves carrying the refined metal formed through the excretion of the Tumors and feeding them to the Hatchery. With the Hatchery standing, I could finally feel the collective pool of resources once again.

Soon, the first Larva came out, and by that time, the Hatchery was sprayed with the growth hormone from the Queen and had six egg sacs growing on it. The genetic modification allowed up to twelve egg sacs, but the growth hormone would only generate six at a time, and the Hatchery needed some time to be capable to carrying six more. The first Larva was immediately turned into a cocoon, to become a Drone. By the time the new Drone was born, I had eight Larva; six from the Queen's help and two natural ones. They were all turned into Drones.

The first new Drone, as I feared, did not have the extra layers of carapace my current Drones had. This was a fear I had all along. We have gone for too long without contact with the previous Hive Cluster, and the upgrades have receded from the gene pool. I would need a new Evolution Chamber to upgrade them again. This always happened with new colonies set on different planets. Without being in some level of contact with the Hive Cluster, the DNA of the Zerg was once again locked up. This was not a coincidental factor. It was deliberately done by the Overmind or its unseen Master. I did not know the reason. Fortunately, this did not mean that the current minions would lose their upgrades.

It took a few more days until my Drone number was healthy. 47 Drones and 6 Overlords were newly born to serve my Brood. The Drones were rapidly gathering the desiccated flora around the colony and carrying the vast amount of rubble that the Ultralisk carved out of the mountain side. The Drones worked so hard and so well that they created a long and deep tunnel with the Ultralisk at the end. The great beast has become the Zerg version of a mining drill and the Drones carried the ores back to the surface. The ores from deeper under ground had a higher percentage of metal in them.

Soon there were enough resources to build a Spawning Pool. Since we were literally in the middle of nowhere, I did not feel the need to hurry the production of Zerglings. It was still needed but I took my time and created another 12 Drones before getting a Spawning Pool. As the Spawning Pool began to form at the edge of the clearing, I had the Ultralisk come out from the mineshafts to clear more trees. The trees were cut down and the Drones carried their trunks into the Nutrient Pit. While this was going on, the Queen and the Infestor entered the mines. The Queen planted Creep Tumors all the way in, while the Infestor sprayed the Fungal Growth all over the place. The Zerg fungus would flourish in that shaft and create an environment more suitable for the Zerg while the Creep would allow the Drones to stay down the mineshafts longer.

Several more days passed, and I was the proud owner of a brand-spanking-new Spawning Pool with an Evolution Chamber on its way. I had four Spine Crawlers built around the Hatchery, since that was the most important of the buildings. The primary production was still the Drones and Overlords, but I did have six Larvae set to become Zerglings and the Hatchery has just begun its production of a new Queen. The new Queen would be dedicated to spraying the growth hormones. As the new Zerglings were on its way, I sent the fully-upgraded old onrs out into the wild to scout the area further. I already surveyed the immediate surroundings quite thoroughly, as well as killed and digested several nests of some sort of canine creatures. Their DNA was crappy but they did have good nutrients.

As for the Mutalisks, I sent them further ahead to scout for any volcanic activities nearby. Volcanoes did sometimes form gas geysers, including Vespene, and even without this particular substance the volcanic gases were quite a good substitute. With the ground and air covered, I dedicated myself to the art of forced evolution through artificial mutations. This was necessary. The original Swarm had no imagination. Kerrigan was too focused on her own fate and her desires. James was too human and too stupid to use what he knew. I, on the other hand, had the advantages of them all. I had the imagination and the capability to bring that imagination into reality, and I had the inspiration from all that James knew. I was about to shift the paradigm of the Zerg evolution.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Daddy?"

Little Alena was scared. She missed her father and came out to look for him in the woods. Her father and the other men from the village went to get timber from the forest. They moved in large groups to fend off the various dangers of the forest. However, Alena was a little too young to fully understand the danger. She wandered out, sneaking past the guard at the village gate.

She hummed little songs as she carried her basket, which contained lunch for her and her father. Alena made the content of the basket herself. She sliced a small loaf, for herself, and a bigger loaf for her daddy. Then she got a small berry jam jar and put it in the basket. That was the extent of the five year old girl's imagination. She hopped and skipped her way toward the wooded area behind the village. It was a little forest planted by the fathers of her grandfathers. It was well on the way to becoming a good source of wood for the village but not for many years yet.

So until this particular forest was ready to be cut down, the villagers would gather once or twice a month in the autumn to go to the southern forest and harvest lumber. They took half of all the ox-carts and horse-carts from the village and would return at the end of the day carrying dozens of thick trunks. The lumber mill inside the village would process these timbers for various uses, including reinforcing the wooden palisade around the village against the things that would attack the village.

These things were far too complicated for a five year old. Alena did not know about such things. All she knew was that her father would give her breakfast, then go to work, then come home at night, give her dinner and tell her stories about the God Emperor, the King, her mother, her older brother who went to become a soldier at the Baron's castle. She loved these story times, and she knew, from experience, that the nights her father returned from the timber harvest lacked the story time. Her father would try, but he would fall asleep too quickly. Alena decided to give her father some bread and jam so he won't be too tired to tell her stories.

Now, the problem was that she was lost. She got through the village forest, walked for an hour, and reached the edge of the southern forest. She always thought that a 'forest' was the thing near the village. This forest was old, and it was dark. It was scary. She could hear strange sounds. The bird songs seemed different here than what she heard at the village. It was so threatening. The mighty forest warned her not to come in. She was scared.

"Daddy?"

She called out to her father in tiny quivering voice. No one answered. Then she heard something.

"Wots dis? A humie Gretchin! Yum yum!"

"Da Boss wud luv to eat 'er up!"

"I wanna get 'er leg!"

"Yu's gonna eat Squigs not humie Gretchin! Da humie Gretchin is for the Boss."

"Which Boss? Da Big Boss or the us Boss?"

"Da Big Boss, yu idiot! The 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. This was particularly true since each of them held a tiny metal knife with a crude handle. Alena trembled as the four Gretchins argued among themselves as to who should deliver this tasty morsel to the Warboss.

"Daddy!"

Alena turned and ran. The Gretchins let out a howl of Orkish laughter and ran after her. It was only a few seconds later when her tiny feet got tangled up and she fell. She cried out in pain as the ankle was sprained, and then her scream became that of terror as the four Gretchins were almost upon her.

Graagh!

A sound of an animalistic howl like that of a wild cat was heard. Then with fast galloping of feet, a large creature, easily as big as a young calf, jumped at the Gretchins. It ran on four legs. It grabbed one of the Gretchins with its front claws and the pair of large claws on its back came down savagely upon the hapless creature. Red blood spilled as the Gretchin was easily torn into pieces.

The creature looked at her briefly then resumed its attack on the Gretchins

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A part of my mind is always within each of my minions, though in most cases, it was nothing more than mere acknowledgement of their existence. However, when that particular Zergling, one of the Zerglings I had with me since the beginning, finally reached the end of the vast forest I decided to pay a little more attention. From the gaps in the trees, the Zergling saw the vast green plain stretching all the way to the shadowy presence of the mountains on the other side. It was a good sight. As a pure Zerg, the old Overmind would not have felt or understood the beauty of what I was seeing. It was the remnant of James that allowed me to appreciate the beauty of it.

Then I heard, through the Zergling, humming. The Zergling hid behind a tree and saw a little girl in a yellowish white blouse tied up with leather belt around her waist. Her skirt was a nice purple color, but was obviously not washed often. She was a peasant girl of a medieval age, and she was human. I was surprised. It was obvious that I was not in the Koprulu Sector, but if this was a human colony, something was very wrong. This was not Earth, and yet I was seeing a human in medieval dress.

This did not make any sense. How did humans colonize a planet in medieval times, or humans with the technological level of space colonies wear medieval dress? Could she be from some open-air museum? She was too young for that. Suddenly, I noticed how scared she was. This little girl, with her bright green eyes and light brown hair, looked pretty for a human, and she was scared. I could see her eyes shivering in fear. Why did she come here? Then I heard her.

"Daddy?"

She was out here looking for her daddy. I quickly sent other Zerglings into the area to locate the other humans. I was in no mood to attack them but it was always good to know where things were. Knowing the territory is one of the key factors in winning a war. Then the Zergling's heightened senses detected something else. Four tiny creatures came out of the trees. They were green.

'What the hell are these?'

The girl noticed the green things too, and the green creatures noticed the girl. The four green creatures, carrying their tiny knives, spoke to each other as they kept their eyes on the girl.

"Wots dis? A humie Gretchin! Yum yum!"

"Da Boss wud luv to eat 'er up!"

"I wanna get 'er leg!"

"Yu's gonna eat Squigs not humie Gretchin! Da humie Gretchin is for the Boss."

"Which Boss? Da Big Boss or the us Boss?"

"Da Big Boss, yu idiot! The Warboss luv eating humies!"

There were three big letter floating in my head at that moment.

'W'

'T'

'F'

What The Fuck! They were talking like the Orks and called the little girl a 'humie Gretchin'. Could this be? There was no explanation as to why these green creatures actually reminded me of James' memory about the Ork Gretchins, the tiny goblin-like creatures at the lower echelons of the Ork society. It was impossible.

Then the Gretchins moved and the girl ran. Something inside me broke. I felt emotional. I felt all the emotions of James Malcolm Raynor when his little sister Helen was hit by a car. She lived but James always felt bad whenever Helen limped. That car accident was engraved so deeply in his mind and soul that it affected me. I felt for this little girl. I wanted to save her. I felt something beyond the basic needs of the Swarm. The Zergling was charged with my emotional explosion, and it bolted out.

Its front claws grabbed the first Gretchin and the primary attack claws on the back went to work. At maximum upgrade, the claws were long, sharp and hard. They bit into the shoulders of the Gretchin and made cuts all the way down to its belly. The Gretchin was almost dead, but not quite. It still screamed hard despite the deep wounds on its body. The Zergling used the attack claws again, this time aiming for the head. The claws went deep into the Gretchin's brain and out the other side. The Orkoid creature died.

The remaining Gretchins reacted differently. One of them, the largest one, jumped at the Zergling with its knife, while another one turned back to the girl. The third one fled the scene as fast as it could. The Zergling roared at the attacking Gretchin and rammed into it, then turned around for the Gretchin attacking the girl. The claws dug deep into the back of the green creature and four strikes punctured holes in that body. With a tiny flash, the knife of the attacking Gretchin slashed at the thick, hard exoskeleton carapace. However, this Zergling was fully upgraded.

The Zergling grabbed the last Gretchin with front claws and bit into the Gretchin's neck. The dozens of teeth dug into the Gretchin's leathery skin and tore it away. The skin came off and muscles tore apart. The two hooked claws next to the mouth clamped down at the throat and the Zergling mouth chomped down into the Gretchin. It took a few more seconds for the Orkoid to die, but it did. The Zergling let the creature fall, and then turned around to look at the girl.

The girl still looked afraid but not as much. As the Zergling came closer and put its head in front of her face, she shut her eyes expecting a nasty painful bite. Death was still inconceivable to the girl. The bite never came. Instead, hot steamy breathe ruffled her hair as the Zergling smelt her. The sensation of her smell flooded me. The girl slowly opened her eyes. She saw the teeth-full face and cringed again. Then she opened her eyes again. She did that a couple of times again. Once she calmed down, she saw the Zergling lying down on the belly with its attack claws folded neatly.

She paused and then hesitantly let forth her hand to touch the Zergling on the head. Responding to my emotional status, the Zergling purred as her hand stroked its forehead. The girl seemed delighted by the response of the Zergling and continued to stroke it. She noticed the Gretchin blood on her fingertips where she touched the Zergling. She took out a large handkerchief with the other hand and cleared off the stains. Then, pausing for a moment, she began to clean the blood from the Zergling's face. She treated the deadly creature as if taking care of a large dog. My attention was focused on her and the Zergling.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Alena was scared, but not anymore. A big dog-like thing came out and saved her. It didn't look like any dog she had ever seen but it saved her from the 'goblins'. She thought it would eat her but it lay down in front of her like a dog. She stroked it, and it purred like her neighbor's cat. Alena always wanted a dog, but her father would not hear of it. After all, dog was another mouth to feed, and they could not afford it. Alena envied her friends who had a dog or a cat. Now, she had this big thing that looked friendly. She hoped that her father would allow her to keep it if it followed her home.

She remembered that she was looking for her father, and she attempted to stand up. Her sprained ankle hurt, and as a child, her balance was not that great. She tumbled and fell, but the dog-thing leaped to her and broke her fall. Then it turned around and patted the ground with its tail. Like any child, she was good in such body language. She accepted the offer and climbed atop the dog-thing. Her legs hung loose right in front of the wings and her hands held tight on the arms of the attack claws.

Alena rode the dog-thingy back toward the village, since she no longer wanted to go find her father but to wait for him at home instead. Possibly with a dog chain around her new pet so that father would allow her to keep it. She paused on the way to pick up some flowers, then chased some squirrels for a bit, and then went home as the sun began to set. By the time she was near the village, the torches were alight and they could see dozens of people carrying torches. She could hear her father in the distance talking to them.

"She cannot have gone far."

"Don't worry Elric, we will find her."

"Hey, what's that?"

The men turned around to see Alena riding on a strange creature. People immediately pointed their pitchforks at the creature at the sight of its teeth and claws, but Elric stopped them after seeing Alena stroke its head. Alena got off and ran to her father. They hugged tightly. Elric whispered in hoarse voice.

"Where have you been, Alena? When they said you were missing, I was so scared!"

Alena kissed her father on the cheek and smiled wide.

"I was bringing you picnic basket, daddy, and then I saw the goblins and the goblins tried to eat me, and then the doggy saved me."

Like a child of her age, all the unnecessary details of her day simply poured out. The adults, at first relieved about her safety, began to worry when they heard about the 'goblins'. One of them, a large man with a sword in leather sheath on his belt, knelt down next to Elric and Alena.

"Alena."

"Uncle Hargen!"

"Alena, tell me, what did these 'goblins' look like?"

Alena paused for a moment.

"Umm... they were green and small and with big head and big nose. They carried this tiny knife and spoke funny."

The crowd flinched at the description, and Alena got afraid at Hargen's grim expression. She was a child and she was afraid to get scolded. Hargen detected her fear and smiled again.

"It's okay, Alena. Now, you said that... dog saved you? It didn't attack you?"

"No, uncle. It came out of the trees and used its paws to make the goblins bleed and then one of the goblins came at me and the doggy stopped it and then turned around and bit the other goblin in the face. Then it sat down in front of me. It purrs like kitty when I stroke its head."

The crowd murmured and took glimpse at the Zergling. The Zergling yawned with its mouth wide open.