Ch 3

Sunlight is streaming into my eyes. Blinking blearily, I noticed that the four entrances into the Hatchery are sitting wide open. Startled, I sat up, and quickly looked around via the mindscape. No mobs are nearby. At least that explains the open doors then, since the Hatchery wouldn't have them open if there was any danger around. There's an opening in the ceiling that allows light directly into the Hatchery like a skylight, which accounts for the light in my eyes. I briefly wonder what it's for.

Sometime during the night, the Hatchery had changed the depression below me so that I'm lying in a dip in the floor where it raises to form the lip around the pool in the center of the room. The depression had also conformed to my body, and I honestly can't say I've ever slept better in my entire life. Getting up and stretching, I stepped outside into the morning light. A thin layer of purple/grey Creep covers the ground in all directions, hiding the grass from view. It's too bad, considering I liked the way the meadow looked before, but I guess the Creep does have a certain aesthetic appeal. It's certainly uniform, and perfectly flat, and…

I frowned. Is the clearing bigger than it was yesterday? Moving my mental self to a position to get an aerial view of the area, I confirmed exactly what I'd feared. The Creep hadn't stopped with absorbing the monsters, it'd eaten all the trees within range of the Hatchery as well. I'd learned a while ago from the original Starcraft history manual that Creep is actually extremely malignant to the environment, sucking up and absorbing resources from the ground, as well as absorbing anything living into itself if it holds still long enough. The trees didn't stand a chance. The grass is probably gone too.

This isn't good. All of the nearby apple trees are gone. My stomach growled at that point. I could try and find more apple trees beyond the edge of the Creep, but I can see from here the monsters hiding in the shade of the trees from the sun, and I don't want to risk getting close and getting an arrow to the gut for my troubles.

I wonder… the information on the Creep also said that it served as a food source for the Zerg. Bending down, I gripped a piece and pulled. It came away so easily I almost fell backwards, and the hole it left filled back up in seconds. I wondered if this is really a good idea, but my stomach growling again made me take the plunge. I quickly shoved the piece in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed, before I could second guess myself. It reminds me of Taffy. It melted quickly in my mouth as I chewed and just that little piece makes me feel as though I just had a full breakfast. The taste left much to be desired, but at least it was slightly sweet and not crunchy. I don't want to think about what could make Creep crunchy.

With the food situation handled for now at least, I walk over to the river that's thankfully still running nearby, though it's definitely not on the edge of the clearing anymore. It seems the Creep grew along the bottom of the river bed rather than over it, as I thought it would since it did the same to the craters the Creepers had left last night before the Hatchery finished. Perhaps the Hatchery had done that on purpose? A feeling of affirmation from the Hatchery answered my unasked question. Hatchery's a lot smarter than I gave it credit for. I wish it had spared the trees, but a negative feeling from the Hatchery at that thought makes me realize it probably couldn't.

In that case, I'm not sure I want the Creep to spread out any further until the issue of its destruction of the environment is resolved. I realize the Zerg don't actually need to breathe, but that's not going to go over well to any other race I might meet out there. I don't want to be responsible for the death of a planet via lowered T-Score either.

Well, if there's one thing the Zerg is good at, its change and adaptability. If I could somehow change the way the Creep works so that it's no longer malignant but beneficial to the environment that would be perfect. But how to do that? I bet I'll need an Evolution Chamber at the very least before I can start changing the Swarm in any significant way though, and the only way to get an Evolution Chamber is to expand this Hive Cluster. I sighed at that and reassured myself that one Hive Cluster isn't going to cover an entire planet, so it should be ok for now.

While I'm thinking, I went a bit further downstream and stripped out of my clothes for a bath. My clothes probably need a wash from lying in the dirt last night too. Before I can solve my largest problem with the Creep though, I need to get some Bio-Energy so I can make a Drone. How do I do that? In game, Drones, would collect crystals and packages of Vespene and deliver them into the Hatchery. Considering my resource needed isn't labeled Vespene, or crystals, and I seriously doubt I'd find either in Minecraft anyway, it must be something else. Considering its labeled bio-energy, perhaps it needs to be something biological?

That does make the most sense. The only thing biological around here are the monsters and the plant life though, and I just got through deciding I didn't want to go around destroying all the plants in the first place, and it's not like I can get monsters to line up and donate themselves to... what, the pool? Drones did bring their resources back to the Hatchery after all. Maybe the stuff needed to be dropped into that Bio-Energy pool? Considering that thought, on a whim I went to the nearest tree and broke off a leafy branch, being careful not to come near any monsters. On a whim I also picked up a rock and brought that back to the Hatchery as well.

Walking inside, I stopped at the edge of the pit and regarded the pool. Now what? Do I just toss it in? Kneeling down at the edge of the pool, I dipped half of the stick into the pool then pulled it out, or would have if there was anything to pull out. My eyes widened as I realized this pool acts as an instantaneous acid for biological matter. I am so glad I didn't try and touch it last night. It might be safe for Zerg, but I'm not going to take any chances.

I was distracted from my thoughts when the floor where I'd dropped the stick suddenly rippled and moved the stick towards the pool, before the stick fell in and disappeared. That's both convenient and highly disturbing. That also explains away why the Hatchery was able to form a depression below me in the first place. This'll make it a lot easier to gather resources since I can just toss it into the Hatchery, rather than the pool itself.

More importantly though, as soon as the rest of the branch fell in, the Bio-Energy counter increased. It wasn't enough to increase by 1, but it did increase a little. Well, that answers that question. Idly regarding the rock in my hand, I shrug and toss it in as well, not expecting much since it's not biological. To my surprise, it also increases my bio-energy count. I'm not sure how a rock counts as biological, but I'm not about to look a gift Zerg in the mouth. Strip mining isn't much better than logging, but at least mining rock isn't very likely to destroy the environment like destroying all plant life would, plus there's a lot more rock than trees around.

Unfortunately, gathering either of the two means going off the edge of the Creep where the forest and the monsters in the shade of the trees are. Unless I feel like trying to constantly rip up Creep to get at the dirt and rock underneath. That would get old real fast.

Being careful to avoid getting near monsters, I find some rocks and even scoop some dirt and grab sticks to bring back to the Hatchery. It's almost ridiculously slow going, but little by little, the Bio-Energy counter is starting to climb. Unfortunately I can only carry so much, and it seems to take two trips just to get one point of Bio-Energy. I'm guessing Drones could carry a lot more than I can.

It took me all morning and partway into the afternoon to get to 50 Bio. Breaking thick branches off of trees is exhausting work, and some just plain refused to break even if I dangled my full weight against them, and finding large rocks and carrying handfuls of dirt isn't very effective either. I'm covered in dirt and soaked in sweat by the time I finish. I wish I had a saw, or at least an axe, but I don't know how to make one, and I already tried assembling two sticks and three rocks on a three by three grid to get an axe. Something tells me normal crafting rules for Minecraft aren't going to work. I tried anyway, but I couldn't even get a chunk of wood I found to convert into wood planks, let alone into a crafting bench. Whacking the trunk of a tree with a stick really fast was another exercise in futility as well. Ah well. I don't really see how a wooden axe could cut down a tree anyway.

With 50 Bio collected, I sat down heavily against the side of the Hatchery for a rest. I seriously need a bath, but first things first. I idly commanded a Larvae to morph into a Drone. Immediately, one of the Larvae closest to me suddenly turned on its side, curled into a little round donut shape, and bit its tale. Then it ballooned up into an opaque green egg sac so fast I might've missed it if I blinked. Focusing on the Egg, a new window of stats along with a timer and progress bar appeared on my globe of light. Evidently it's going to take 10 minutes for the Drone to finish morphing. Not bad considering how long it took the Hatchery. I checked with the other Larvae to see if their command list would display how long and how much it would take to make an Overlord. I winced at the 100 Bio necessary for that. 10 minutes to morph isn't so bad, but the idea of spending an entire day gathering junk to toss into the Bio-Energy pool sends a shiver down my spine. Thank heavens I won't have to do that by myself. That's what my new yet to be born Drone is for after all.

While I waited, I cooled off with a drink from the river and had another piece of Creep. I wasn't really hungry, but I figured I might as well. Kinda wish I hadn't. I now felt as though I'd eaten enough to burst, making my stomach ache something fierce. Evidently one piece of Creep is enough to keep me going all day. I don't think I'll forget that anytime soon. I sat back down, holding my stomach gently to wait for the Drone to finish.

A few minutes later, the egg splattered open as the Drone ripped out. I eyed it's new command list. Curious, I ordered it to move closer so I could get a good look at it. Going by physical appearance alone, eldritch horror doesn't really cover it. It looks like someone took a Scorpion, lopped off most of its tail and legs, and stuck two sails on its sides. Its eyes glow the same yellowish white as the ball of light surrounding me and the light inside of itself.

All in all, if I went by physical appearance alone, It's more than a little creepy. Thankfully I don't have to go by the physical aspect alone. It's hard to be freaked out by something when it's emotional state is the equivalent of an over eager puppy, waiting for a command from its master.

Now, with a Drone at hand, let's see what it can do. Pointing for effect, I ordered it to start gathering resources. The Drone promptly twisted around, and started making its way to the nearest tree. I'd rather it didn't gather those, but I realize until I can fix the problem with the Creep, gathering a few trees isn't going to kill the planet. Curious, I leaned down to look underneath it to see how the Drone is moving. It seems to be literally gliding over the ground on its belly like a snake. Interesting, I always figured those fins on it back might act as legs or little wings or something.

I followed the Drone to the nearest tree to see what it would do. I was then shocked as the Drone gripped the tree with its claws and bit through the base of the tree, then heft it on its back like it weighed practically nothing. Balancing the tree with it's fins, the Drone dragged it to Hatchery, the branches scraping across the ground, but not even slowed at all by its burden. Slowly, I turned back towards the shattered stump that the Drone left behind, wide eyed. It's one thing to see a Drone make noises in front of a crystal in game, then suddenly it'd have a little chunk of crystal to take back to the Hatchery. Seeing the brutal efficiency of the Drone first hand though… it took that tree down in mere seconds!

The Drone came back out and made a beeline for another tree, and I ordered it to stop. At the rate it's going, huge swaths of forest are going to be gone in a matter of days, especially if I get multiple Drones. What choice do I have though? Drones aren't really made for digging dirt, so until it reaches a hill, mining with them isn't really viable. Sighing, I ordered the Drone to go back to gathering trees. If I gather only enough to be able to bring in an Evolution Chamber, I can finally get started on evolving the Swarm from its 'Scourge of the Universe' status to something far more beneficial. Thankfully, that one tree alone counted for 15 bio energy. A quick check of the Drone's Build Command List reveals the Evolution Chamber costs only 75 Bio and takes 40 minutes to build. If each tree is worth 15 Bio, then I only need to gather four more trees before I have enough.

A 'crack-thwoom' signals the falling of another tree, causing the ground to shudder as it collapsed with a thud. It doesn't even take five minutes before the Drone has gathered up four trees and dumped them in the Hatchery. Unfortunately a fifth is needed since it seems not all of the trees were worth exactly 15 Bio. One was worth 16, but the other three were only 14 Bio, leaving me 2 Bio-Energy short.

Finally with the fifth tree harvested, I ordered my Drone to morph into an Evolution Chamber at the corner of the Hatchery. Just before it starts though, a quick realization has me shouting, "STOP!" The Drone freezes, then turns to me, confused. I sighed in relief. I'd only just realized if I have the Drone morph into an Evolution Chamber, I'll no longer have a Drone. That means if I need any more Bio-Energy, I would've had to gather it all by myself again, which took half a day just to get enough for a Drone! In that case, I'm going to need a second Drone. That means I need my current Drone to harvest… I quickly did the math in my head, 3 more trees.

Roughly ten minutes later, I ordered a larvae to morph into a Drone, and my current Drone I ordered to morph into an Evolution Chamber. 10 minutes later, I had myself another Drone, and no idea what to do with it. I could send it out to collect more trees, but I really don't want to go there. There's got to be something else I can have it gather, but what?

I swept my gaze over the tree line, hoping for inspiration. My eyes passed over a few mountains in the distance, but they're much too far to gather for now. There must be something else. Perhaps I should have my Drone start scooping up dirt anyway? The Creep flattens the ground anyway, so maybe having the Drones landscape the area might work. It'd be even better if I could find some exposed rock or the nearest hill though. Too bad I can't give the Drones an extra pair of limbs or shape their claws into hollowed out shovels.

Taking a closer look at the ground among the trees from the perspective of my mental map in my mindscape, I finally found the perfect spot. A steep incline with lots of exposed rock. It's not too far, but there are plenty of trees with a few monsters in the shade beneath them between here and there. Well, the Drone is a heck of a lot tougher than I. Maybe it'll be alright, so long as Creepers don't show up.

With the incline as the goal, I ordered my Drone to start pulling down trees in that direction. Watching carefully as the first monsters came after the Drone, I ordered it to stop gathering and attack. Against Zombies, Skeletons, and the few Spiders around, the Drone utterly dominated against them. That's not to say it didn't get hurt, but it was nothing a little regeneration couldn't easily fix. I noted with interest that the few monster corpses that fell into the sunlight burned up into the nothing, while those in the shade didn't. I ordered the Drone to gather one, but as soon as the body entered the sunlight, it too burned away. I filed that observation away for later, and ordered the Drone back to gathering more trees.

It wasn't long after that when the Evolution Chamber hatched. I'd ended up placing it a little ways south of my Hatchery. I turned towards it and I found myself wrinkling my nose in distaste. The Evolution Chamber looks just as ugly as it does in game. While I was expecting it, seeing what amounts to a sideways log of crap with a tumor growing out of the middle of it is pretty gross. Not even the black chitinous armor makes up for it much. Shaking my head, I made my way over towards the entrance, a hole much like the ones leading into the Hatchery, only this one is partially raised off the ground, and a number of tubes stretch out of it to pierce into the Creep, forming a ramp of sorts.

Walking up the tubes, I stepped inside and looked around. It's not too dissimilar from the inside of the Hatchery actually. The inside of the Evolution Chamber is one central chamber with two more chambers connected to it to the left and right. The central chamber's floor is taken up mostly by a large glowing green pool that every instinct in me is warning me not to touch. I didn't get that same feeling from the pool in the Hatchery. I wonder if that means it is safe to touch?

Curious, I plucked a hair from my head with a small wince, and let it drift into the pool. It disappeared with a small hiss. Right, ok. What the bio pool does to resources, this pool will do to me. Got it. Turning my attention to the left chamber, I wandered towards it to take a closer look. The walls are tiered, with different colored brown and green glowing eggs sitting on their own little alcoves, with many fleshy strands connecting them to the floor and walls. Unlike the central chamber, this room is definitely slimy, so I stayed back. Turning around, I made my way around the large pool and went into the right chamber.

Inside is a large mushy thing that bears a passing resemblance to brain matter. There's strands of wrinkled grey stuff jutting out everywhere from it attaching the, brain for lack of a better term, to the walls. To say it looks gross would be an understatement. While not slimy, everything looks wet and the ceiling is dripping. Most everything in the Evolution Chamber looks gross, apart from the central chamber. I decided to avoid entering that room as well.

Turning around, I regarded the pool, and then thought to myself, 'now what?' I turned my attention to the Evolution Chamber's command list. All that's available are the general evolutions of the Swarm, namely upgrading melee attacks, missile attacks, and carapace, or armor. That's it.

Sighing, I patted the wall of the Evolution Chamber. How am I going to evolve the Creep now? The Evolution Chamber perked back up after reacting to my frustration at finding nothing. Well, not nothing persay. I recognize that egg chamber as being very similar to that chamber Abathur used to upgrade the Swarm in the new Starcraft game, Heart of the Swarm. I've no idea what that brain thing in the other chamber is though. I know somehow that it has something to do with evolving the Swarm, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how. The thought of Abathur gives me an idea though. If I can just figure out how to make a Cerebrate, then maybe one of them will be able to use the Evolution Chamber like Abathur did.

But how in the world do I do that? Cerebrates aren't on the normal build list in the game. Are they on mine? A check of the advanced command list for the Larvae reveals that Cerebrates are indeed available, along with something called a Behemoth, though both require a complete Hive Cluster before being able to grow them, as well as multiple larvae.

Heartened, I made my way out of the Evolution Chamber. While I'd been looking around, I'd kept an eye on my Bio-Energy counter and when I had enough, I ordered up a new Overlord. I stepped outside just in time to watch it hatch and float up into the sky, high above the Hatchery. Considering it's twice the size of the egg it hatched from without including its tentacles, it must've been really cramped. The Overlord twisted its tendrils about in an almost stretching movement. Then a number of things happened at once. All of the golden strands from my Drone and buildings except for the Overlord itself, snapped from me to connect to the Overlord. The strand connected between myself and the Overlord grew thicker at this point, and I still could feel my other Zerg through the Overlord so I quickly relaxed.

The second thing I noticed is that my mental map had become weird. Where before my mental map corresponded with how the world normally looks, now it's like I can see extra colors in my mindscape, namely different shades of red and purple I hadn't even known existed. I think it might be Infrared and Ultraviolet. If I focus on either the reds or the violets, it does look like what I'd come to expect seeing through IR/UV Goggles. That's pretty cool.

More than that though, I can see… something else. I can see waves of energy in the air as well as in the ground, then plants, and everything else, where before I could only see the balls of energy that represent my Zerg. In a way it kind of makes sense. I could understand seeing in IR or UV being enough to reveal a Ghost to an Overlord, but not a Dark Templar. Dark Templar bend light around themselves rather than mask it like Ghosts, but if Overlords can detect Psionic emanations, that would explain how they can detect them.

Smiling happily at my newest addition to my growing family, I turned my attention to the Drone. To my surprise, it's gathering up rocks and dirt on the ground as well as trees, flattening the ground exactly like I wanted it to be. It's spitting on the ground and scooping up the mass as it hardens. Is that how it collects Vespene? I didn't know it could do that. I didn't order it to do that, so how…

A thrum of acknowledgement from the Overlord answers that question. They are the micromanagers of the Zerg Swarm after all. It would know best how to accomplish what I want the Drones to do. I also remember that Zerg seem to grow smarter the more Overlords are around. Perhaps it's more like when you give a computer better RAM and programming. What does that make me then? The CPU?

Shrugging off the terminology, I watched the Drone for a while, making sure the Overlord knew what it was doing.

Under the guidance of the Overlord, I soon had 300 bio-energy available and counting. If I'd been paying attention, I probably would've spent it on more Drones, but I'm glad I hadn't. It's the middle of the afternoon and getting later. In the interest of not ending up with a crowded Hatchery later to protect my Drones from attack, I set the Hatchery to upgrading the Swarm with the Burrow ability.

To my interest, with the ability to see psionic emanations thanks to the Overlord, I could watch as the various colors and energy of the Hatchery changed and started going into overdrive. It'll take an hour and twenty minutes for the evolution to complete according to the Hatchery. Thankfully there's enough time before sunset for that.

With nothing else to work on at the moment, I focused on churning out some more Drones for the Overlord to manage. With each new Drone increasing the income pouring into my Hatchery, I was able to put each new Drone out faster and faster. By the time sunset came around, I had 14 Drones. I'm even more glad now that I made that Overlord when I did. I'm going to need to make more eventually.

Watching the Hatchery finish evolving the Swarm with the Burrow ability was interesting. The last thirty seconds before the Evolution finished, whatever the Hatchery had been doing inside itself was suddenly pumped into the Creep. As soon as it finished and the timer hit zero, a pulse of energy went out of the Hatchery that only the Overlord could see directly. Immediately afterwards, as soon as each of my Drones touched the Creep, without missing a beat, they would scoop a tiny bit of Creep into their mouths and eat it. Checking each Drone after that proved that they could all now burrow.

With night about to fall, I ordered the Overlord up higher, and after a moment's thought, ordered up another two Overlords, dropping my Bio count to 12. 14 Drones certainly gather up resources fast. Ordering all my Drones to burrow, I watched in curiosity, as they all seemed to emit a high pitched buzz followed by shooting into the ground as if it weren't even there. I wouldn't have even heard it if not for the mental map. Whatever that was, I'm fairly certain it was too high pitched for humans to hear.

Judging from that, I'm guessing that in order to burrow, the Drones vibrate fast enough to create that high pitched buzz. Vibrating that fast would cause most anything to be shaken apart. Add the fast digging motions on top of that, and no wonder most Zerg can burrow that fast into just about anything! Of course, that wouldn't explain how someone wouldn't notice churned up metal. If you're in the desert, that would make sense, but seeing a small patch of dirt in the middle of a grass field would be kind of a dead giveaway, let alone a spot of churned up metal flecks in the middle of a metal floor. Then again, the Zerg are a psionic race. Maybe they send out the mental equivalent of a notice-me-not spell when burrowed? Eh, I guess that makes about as much sense as a burrowed Ultralisk.

The sun had just finished setting when my two new Overlords had finished growing. Making sure to keep them out of range of any arrows just in case, I sent the Overlords to the edges of the Creep to keep an eye out. I'm hoping that normal Minecraft Spawning rules will apply, since mobs can't spawn within a certain distance of the player. If that applies to my Overlords, that might just limit the amount of mobs that show up. In a flash of insight I had my Drones unburrow and space themselves evenly near the edges of the Creep before burrowing again in the hopes that same rule would apply to them as well.

A few minutes passed before a Creeper showed up on the edges of my mental map. I grinned, thinking it worked, only to have that theory dashed as a zombie appeared out of nowhere from the shadows of a tree almost directly beneath an Overlord. Soon enough, mobs were spawning all over the place, just nowhere near me. I sighed in annoyance. Well there goes that idea.

Suddenly, a slow scream started up, sending chills down my spine. Instantly, an Enderman shows up shaking in rage underneath one of my Overlords, and I'm suddenly doubly glad I placed them away from the Hatchery. More screams suddenly started, and with a shiver, I shut down the hearing portion of the mental map so I wouldn't hear them anymore.

A Creeper started making a beeline for one of my larvae. I sighed, wishing I could do something to protect it, but knowing it wouldn't matter. An explosion caused the ground to shudder underneath me and caused me to blink. That was a lot stronger than the explosions from last night! Wide eyed, I queried the Hatchery on its health, and noticed that the Creeper's explosion had blown a hole in the Creep that was swiftly growing back. The ground was unaffected though.

More Creepers showed up, targeting whatever was closest, whether that be the larvae, the Hatchery, or the Evolution Chamber. My larvae were mostly unaffected, but the damage caused by the Creepers now is actually hurting my buildings! Worse still, the Evolution Chamber being positioned out like that is attracting more Creepers to it than it is to the Hatchery! At this rate, the Evolution Chamber is being damaged faster than it can heal, and more Creepers keep coming! Skeletons and Zombies are still around, but they're still not doing much and as I watch, I can actually see the Creep slowly growing over them, absorbing them into itself.

What should I do? At the rate, the Evolution Chamber is going to die! Worse still once it dies, all of the Creepers will focus on my Hatchery, destroying it next! My Drones wouldn't be able to do anything, and my Overlords are the only reason Endermen aren't swarming my Hive! Not to mention I don't want to know what an Enderman might do if it's actively trying to kill you, and an Overlord close enough to the ground to attack Creepers is close enough for an Enderman to teleport up and grab.

Come on! Think Matthew, think! If only there was some way to form up walls to stop the Creepers from reaching their targets, but the Creep would probably just absorb the wall into itself. If only the Creep could form walls instead…

Wait a second… why can't they? The Hatchery controls the production of the Creep right? If I order it to pile up the Creep near its exterior, that would be like a makeshift wall, if not something akin to armor, plus the Creep is growing back fast, fast enough to render the Creeper's explosions moot.

Hoping the idea would work, I gave the order for my Hatchery to do just that. At first it sent me feelings of confusion before my three Overlords suddenly stepped in, sending minute instructions in such a fast and convoluted manner I couldn't hope to follow it at all. Little by little though, the Creep started bunching up near the Hatchery, forming up walls. On the downside, the edges of the Creep started to recede at an alarming rate. As the wall piled up higher, Creepers started to have to go around to find a spot low enough to hop up on to reach the Hatchery, and the edges of the Creep receded more and more.

Eventually the wall reached high enough to block the Creepers from the Hatchery and Larvae, but this left the Creep concentrated mostly in the walls, with barely a thread left connected to the Evolution Chamber, nowhere near enough to form walls around it too. I could only watch, helpless with frustration as the Evolution Chamber cried out in pain with every new explosion, echoing across the psionic link.

Finally, the Chamber succumbed to its wounds with one last explosion, and collapsed into itself, dissolving into the Creep before that too receded and joined the wall. With a start, I realized I had balled my hands into fists and my fingernails were digging grooves in my skin, and I had tear tracks down my cheeks. I wiped my face with my sleeve, and regarded the near twenty Creepers now circling the wall, searching for a way in.

I was beyond angry. I was absolutely furious. Only a soft sound over my link distracted me, and I turned my attention to it. There, like a bright spot on my own energy sphere, connected directly with no thread, is the psionic presence of the Evolution Chamber, giving me the mental equivalent of a hug. Now that I noticed all my Zerg are sending warm feelings at me, mostly directed by my Overlords, almost as if to say, 'Look, it's still alive! No need for grief.'

Relieved, but still plenty angry, I glared impotently in the direction of the Creepers, more of which are showing up, though the amount of Creepers arriving are starting to lessen. I want nothing more than to shred them with the full might of the Swarm, but I'm not stupid enough to forget the 'full might of the Swarm' only consists of a Hatchery, a disembodied Evolution Chamber, a bakers dozen of Drones, and three Overlords. I'm really going to need to step up my game if I want to survive this place.

- END CHAPTER –

Overmind Matthew

PSI Energy – 50/50

Status – Normal

Abilities

- Spawn Hatchery – 50psi – 12 hour build

- Regeneration – Passive – Heals anything not instantly fatal; time needed depends on extent of injury

- Anaerobic – Passive – No longer requires breathable atmosphere to survive

- Temperature Resistance – Passive – Currently able to survive temperatures between -450 and 118 F

- PSI Regeneration – Passive – Regenerate energy at .5 points per second.

Zerg Swarm

Bio-Energy – 12

Support – 14/26

Entities

1x Hatchery

1x Evolution Chamber (deceased)

3x Overlords

14x Drones

Swarm Abilities

- Burrow (Drone, Zergling, Hydralisk, Defiler)