A drone digs down, engorged with biomass and barely able to feel any part of its body past the additional weight. It settles hundreds of metres down, far away from any subjects, nestled between stone and the lavaflows beneath, subsisting off heat and not much else.
Spinethorns consume the area, securing all major avenues of approach with several layers of defense. Writhing masses of tendrils seeking movement, seeking life. Hoverwings spawn in flocks, raising up and flying high to observe. Drones slither into the environment, hovering on antigravity organs whilst they work and Crotalids, newly integrated morphs that they are, swirl into rivers and ponds, infesting the waterways as they rest, awaiting orders.
No more interesting lifeforms seem present on the immediate area of our hive, we see some in the long flights of the Hoverwings to the edge of our travel range, but the Terran hunters are far more vulnerable. Drones leap upon them and with only minor structural damage to the Terrans, drag them back to the hive and shove them into Evolution Chambers for dismantlement and infestation.
Battlesites are deep within urban areas, out of our reach. The hunters are the extent of our capability to grab humans, their ballistic weapons sounding out gunpowder shots and hurting drones in the capture process. Those selfsame urban centres are investigated by hoverwings.
Revolts are spreading all throughout the centres we can reach, eight of them specifically, obsessed with armoured convoys containing sustenance. Crowds are gunned down and the convoys continue whenever the crowd attempts to rush the trucks for caloric needs.
The Terrans are infested reasonably well by the honed efforts of Zigzy, creating stumbling monsters that we keep inside the chambers for now, not wanting their aggression and half-baked memories to led them to stumbling off. We get vague memories of home, policing, the "revolt", but the minds of the infested do not stay very intact in the process.
"Bone-crunch, skin-split, flesh-tear. The dance of creation/recreation. Terran substrate slow, weak, fragile. Its only saving grace, neurology, mindset produced from neurology, difficult to reproduce. The Terran Essence is crude and inefficient.
Why does it hide secrets.
Second Mind Zigzy, "Terran Essence"
We acquire some of these livestock animals, noting them being tended to by hunters that we captured and attempt infestation, the difficulty of the matter is keeping the mutations under wraps. Infestation is viral, vicious, tumorous, unpredictably changing the Essence of the subject.
The results are too changed to be usable, they would not be able to be slipped into current populations.
Hoverwings do locate vast herds of the creature, the Grox from infested memory, confirming their use as livestock by the Terrans.
Local flora is brought into our evolutionary network, trees feeding us further as we densify them to hide our hives more efficiently. Its primarily against Terran flying machines moreso than anything else, but with their flight being common between cities, there is right to fear such a thing.
Spinethorn walls are approached by Zigzy, once again breaking them apart into their components and attempting to improve their aggression. Primitive tasters are iterated by rapid generational exposure to starvation scenarios, extending their length as tiny, near-microscopic filaments that extend for dozens of metres.
Spinethorn is laid along the floor moreso than up-high with this new development, allowing it to be walked into and stretch out to grip and pull individuals into the mass, followed usually by a rending limb from limb due to increasing pressure.
Finally, Crotalids are investigated. Their odd strands compared by the tremendously experienced Zigzy to previous lifeforms in its long memory of sequences. The following is Zigzy's internal dialogue during the discovery process.
"Strands, irritating. Reptilian but with something else instilled. It calls back to Terran or even Protoss sequences in character, not origin. Revelation. Psychic influence in genetic code…originating from where?
Experimentation with hyper-presentation of appropriate strands after triggers are located. Extreme hunger and a lack of nearby ability to feed self. The creature attempts to create a warpspace anomaly. It seems the current creature mass is insufficient to support warpjump.
Aside: Unknown thoughts began spreading in my mentality with warpspace anomaly. I believe it was fear."
Second Mind Zigzy, "The Crotalid Sequences"
A spike of terror spreads through the hive. A Crotalid lounging in a nearby riverway is suddenly aware of a team of humans in equipment moving through their area of control with a vehicle behind them. The vehicle is moving towards hive at a quick pace, sending gouts of flame at obstacles.
The Crotalid lies in wait as they near a natural crossing point before roaring out of the water, tearing the crew compartment of the vehicle free whilst bullets rip into its hide and get caught in layers of muscle. Elsewhere, dozens of other engagements take place as Hoverwings focus on keeping track of enemy movements.
Rotor-craft begin to search the skies around where Terran hunters were taken, perhaps suggesting they were more important than was initially believed, and more assets are being deployed into the area. Crotalids reap a bloody toll across major crossings and digging out of Drone prepared defenses whilst massive walls of Spinethorn keep the seeking exterminators away from our hive, swallowing a dozen of them.
This broad-spanning operation is done at the behest of Zren, its mind guiding the entire operation across our borders, the dozen skirmish successes and minor fatalities on our side owed to his skill at war, the very purpose of the Zerg.
Many things are recovered, from laser rifles that, through weight of fire, slayed Crotalid's, to body armour that provided no protection from their chomping jaws and smashing tails. Hoverwings are ignored, whilst Drones are kept far away from the skirmishes. The most difficult to account for event is the runs by the rotor craft spilling munitions on Crotalids. Heavy calibre shells killing them easily enough despite Zren's best efforts to keep them safe.
Whilst this takes place, the equipment samples are stared at by confused Zerg, having no basis in the sciences required to understand them.
Evolution Roll: Zigzy: "Infestation of Terrans"=3d6(5, 3, 3)
Evolution Roll: Zigzy: "Grox Infestation"=3d6 (1, 1, 2)
Diplomacy Roll: Zhakarov: "Hiding In Plain Sight"=3d6 (3, 5, 5)
Evolution Roll: Zigzy: "Spinethorns"= 3d6 (2, 2, 5)
Evolution Roll: Zigzy: "Crotalid Mystery"=3d6 (6, 5, 4)
War Roll: Zren: "Defense of the Hive"= 3d6 (4, 5, 4)
Continuance Roll
Must exceed 3
d6=4
OPTION
INFESTED
With efforts to recover technology, long-asleep strands of Terran memory are awakening. Zerg-infused knowledge or remnant Terran humanity can be replaced.
Replace War, Diplomacy, Growth or Evolution with Technology at a 2d6 rating.
Must ping and inform me of desired change to be recorded as such.
