[Multiversal Empire] 6 – Evolution of the Swarm

As one may expect, using organic material to try to reach space proved quite bothersome. The first six Zerg probes I tried to send out into space burned up in the atmosphere or exploded. 

At this point, I had the morphing of these probes automated, the process fast enough for me to launch a new probe each week at my current pace, but I was having difficulty adapting the probes to survive such harsh conditions. I couldn't morph on more layers of chitinous plating; otherwise, it wouldn't gain enough thrust to breach the atmosphere in the first place. Nor have I found a way to shield the probe's internal organs from all the excess heat.

However, while that endeavor was still in the works, with small amounts of progress with each new iteration of my Leviathan Probes, I made remarkable progress with trying to make overminds for the Swarm, the hardest having been the development of brains. These Overminds were not designed like the ones used by Kerrigan's Swarm; these Overminds were essentially massive spherical blobs of flesh that I had begun morphing at the center of every hatchery and spawning pool across the planet.

While these Overminds were not needed to keep control of the swarm, I used their sheer brainpower towards the various projects I had initiated and the Primal Zerg Experiment, allowing me to start more projects or focus more of my mind towards more worthwhile projects.

Of the nearly twenty thousand Overminds I had morphing, 70% of them would have their brainpower focused on my Space Program, while the remaining 30% would focus on the other smaller projects, such as my attempts at spine crawlers, bile launchers, and other defensive zerg structures that would be critical in defending the planet and my Swarm from any future attacks.

...

More years passed, and more work was done. The swarm constantly evolved into new strains and iterations and changed to become a galactic threat, if need be. Through extensive work and effort, the entire planet was terraformed to suit better the Zerg, and all life that was not Zerg was infested and shortly assimilated into the swarm. With the addition of the Overminds, or 'Bio-Computers' as I have begun calling them, I have completed much of it.

We have sent out more than a dozen Probes into Space so far, each in different directions, and it has given me a good look at what sort of solar system I face. The currently unnamed Solar System had six celestial bodies, two asteroid rings, an ice ring, and around half a dozen 'comets' that orbited the system, one of which nearly struck the planet a few months ago.

Due to this danger, I had begun making a 'vault' deep within the planet's mantle, inaccessible by normal means and completely hidden by all but the Swarm. In this vault was an assortment of Spawning Pools, inactive Hatcheries, a dozen Overminds, and enough Creep to keep the vault alive for at least a few thousand years if not indefinitely.

Creche was the fourth planet from the sun, with the closest planet on an orbital path to collide with the sun within the next few centuries. The second planet from the sun was a magma world, while the third and closest neighbor to our planet was a barren terrestrial world without any life or atmosphere. As for the remaining two celestial bodies, the next after the Creche was a gas giant, while the farthest planet, just before the first asteroid, was another terrestrial world.

I was already making progress in trying to make my first 'Ark' ship to colonize the third planet from the sun. This ark ship would be designed to act like a drill, pierce as deep into the planet's surface as possible to give the Zerg on board the freedom to expand a new Hive beneath the surface.

Once we had space-faring Zerg like the Leviathan, I planned on slinging a few ice asteroids into the two other terrestrial planets for later terraforming operations. The third Ark ship would be filled with as many Zerg as possible and sent forth to the Magma world. 

From what I remembered, Zerg were adaptable to whatever planet they evolved from, so while it may take a few attempts at colonization, eventually, I would have new Hives on most of this system's celestial bodies and with that, I'd begin operations in trying to morph Zerg Organism that could act as Leviathans and become moving spaceships for my Zerg to start exploring the nearby solar systems within a few light years of our Solar System, but those were all future plans.

For now, I'd continue experimenting and learning.

...

The Primal Zerg continued to evolve into new variants and entirely different organisms than one would expect from a Zerg. If life was a game, these Primal Zerg were min-maxing countless different skill and perk paths, making unique and sometimes very common builds to make surviving easier, some 'classes' did not have much potential and usually ended up being mere fodder for the much larger Primal Zerg or walking food sources for other Zergs. In contrast, others evolved into more complex and highly situational paths, like the forty-variants of Zerg Parasites that embedded themselves in a host and tried to take over or kill the Zerg from within. Some of the Parasite Strains did well in this category, while others struggled to amount to anything more than acting as a sort of leech, leeching off their host's meals.

It led to a great many progressions in my research and projects, with a few strains contributing to the chitinous carapace I now use as the hulls of my primitive spacecraft along with another train providing a way for my ships to contain heat without losing too much from the empty void, while yet another strain provided my ships with senses that allowed it 'see' without having to worry about damaging its ocular organs, its 'eyes' so to speak, not that the near two dozen that lay on its 'hull' resembled the tiny human organs.

Though the major focus I have with the Primal Zerg was the dozen or so strains of Zerg with Psionic Potential. While most of the strains had next to no potential so far, there were three I was focused on, and I found that they had great potential, either as a strain to be used by the Swarm, or for the uniqueness of the Psionic Abilities that manifested.

Spatial Awareness of entities within a ten-meter radius by feeling for a creature's soul. 

A strange form of Psionic Domination.

And lastly, a Psionic ability that quadrupled the processing power of the Zerg's brain for a few minutes, allowing for much faster thinking, analysing, and strategic planning, the particular Zerg that gained this ability was rather weak. Still, it worked as an Ambush predator, hiding beneath the surface or within nearby structures in wait for prey.

These three were fascinating, and I couldn't wait to see if I could replicate their gifts.