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Chapter Text

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The first thing he knew when he woke up was that everything was different. That the life, the world, he had known was gone. One minute he was out in the woods camping as a storm came by and the next he was this.

Whatever or wherever this was.

He was tiny, he could sense that, and low to the ground. Through his tiny eyes he could see the area right around him. He had mandibles in his front with a sharp tooth filled maw.

Moving towards the rim of the water he looked into the pool, gazing at his reflection. What he saw seemed to strike at his memory, as if he had seen something similar before.

Turning from the water he slowly made his way back to the spot in the bushes that he had first woken up at. Though there was much he didn't know, what he did know was that he was hungry.

So he ate.

His first choice was some of the plants around him, a choice that he would come to learn was not common for others of his new kind. As he chewed on the fruits, leaf, and bark of the tree he felt himself grow warm.

He then began to change from the Essence he absorbed.

'Essence,' the thought came to his mind. He knew of that, he had heard of it before, but where.

It didn't matter at the moment he thought, what did was what it was doing to him, to his body. He was now capable of absorbing water from the environment, and storing them in sacks within his body. His outer skin started shimmering as it gained the ability to absorb energy from sunlight through photosynthesis.

Like plants did.

He also found himself benefiting in two other ways, which pleased him as it meant a better chance of survival. The first was his skin hardened even more, becoming tough like bark. The second was that thorns grew from his back in such a way that attackers would get hurt from touching him.

This was good, he thought, as he hid in the bushes to try and figure out his new life.

The first thing he realized is that he must have died in the storm. How he ended up here he didn't know, though he figured maybe it was like the 'next great adventure' Dumbledore had talked about in the Harry Potter books.

Which had him mentally grinning.

It faded as he began thinking about the situation he was in. So he had instinctively knew the concept, the word, Essence. Adaptation was something that also came to him.

His next thought was where did I come from, and the concept of a Spawning Pool was what came to him.

That is when it clicked.

'Oh my lord. I'm a Zerg, a primal one.'

Then a pause.

'I think its Zerus.'

Whimper.

It took him hours to come to terms with that but eventually he did. When he came out of his funk he became grateful of how he had hid himself from the troubles.

Not paying attention to his surroundings could have killed him.

He didn't want to die.

So he had to think. He had to plan.

He was doing this for a few hours when he stopped, as he felt the Essence within him flowing and changing. As he was thinking he started noticing that connections and patterns were coming to him faster and quicker, and even better, than was possible before. A slight internal chuckle later as he began noticing that he was starting to make deductions between the deductions.

He had to pull himself back from going too far down that rabbit hole of deductions.

That was when he realized something, even without the presence of external essence he was able to change himself. He knew that this wouldn't work for everything but its use on his mental abilities couldn't be ignored.

He grinned.

Snap.

He stopped and waited.

Snap. Snap.

'Okay,' he thought, 'something is here. How can I benefit from this.'

He knew that he needed to figure out what was out there and if it was something he could target. If not for essence than for some additional biomass.

That was when he saw a body move near his bush. Seconds later he took a chance and struck, biting the creature that had come into his warren.

The other primal zerg fought back, not wanting to die, but his initial sneak attack caused the creature to falter and that was all that was necessary.

Upon its defeat he had taken on his accumulated biomass, and useful essences. The essence wasn't anything super special from a pure power level but it did allow him to grow four additional limbs, of the leg variety. This was a great start, especially when added to his mouth mandibles and tail.

He would stay in the area for the next few days. Drinking from the water, eating from the local plants, and feeding on the other primal zergs which came about. Eventually he had grown to the size of a boxer dog and thus knew it was time for him to leave the area.

Before he left he decided to give it one more day, though he knew it was a risk, but he wanted to see what sort of meal he could get before he began his journey.

It would not be a disappointing day.

As he watched the pond from his hiding place he saw a larger critter came nearby. This primal zerg was a bit bigger than he was and so he decided to leave him alone.

But that wasn't to be.

Not when an even bigger primal zerg came by and began fighting with the first large one. The fight lasted for a good ten minutes before the first one won against the second. The first one gouged on the essence and biomass for a bit before looking up and then taking off seemingly satisfied that he got what he wanted

While hidden in his bush he watched it all unfold and only peaked out when the winner was good and gone. Moving towards the dead body, senses alert for danger, he soon began to feast.

Jackpot.

If nothing else the biomass itself would have been good enough, as ingesting it did enlarge him to an even bigger size that backed his plan to leave the area.

But it was the essence that was truly the win fall, and not just one but two different but related kinds. He suddenly found his internal organs shifting, splitting, becoming more dispersed. Instead of a single organ for each function he now had multiple ones, each quite smaller and in far different positions. His brain didn't change, which explained how the other primal managed to defeat the creature - brain damage was still deadly.

The second came from the response to the first, as his organs dispersed his metabolism became sanitized. He would no longer sweat excessively, or leave behind any dander or biological residue, now would he ever have such things as skin problems or bad breath. It also effected his waste products, reducing their quantity and making them minimized, sanitized, and deodorized. It amused him slightly for if he was still human this would have been greatly coveted. Of course this was not to say that as a primal zerg this was useless - in fact it was the opposite for the ability to not have his body reveal his location could be priceless.

He raised his head as he heard a roar some distance away. Though it had no bearing on his own location he decided to take it as the sign it was - time to leave. Where he would go he didn't know but it was time for him to find a new home.

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It took about a month but he had managed to turn the whole of the forest into his range. Not that any of the larger creatures had become aware of that fact, the secrecy was to his benefit of course. This was everything within the borders marked by the lake to the north, the river to the south, the plains to the east, and the rising plateau up to mountains to the west.

As it took about a week of travel to go from one corner to another on foot - which is all he had at this time - he had decided to go with a multiple dens throughout the region. These were simple burrows and cubbyholes located in the most convenient locations for him, though often out of the way from the dangerous creatures that also inhabited the area.

He hunted when and where he could, especially if the critters were lesser than him in ways that made his success evident. Over the last month this had seen him gaining a number of new essences, including stronger armor and claws and even better senses.

While that was good and helpful it didn't make him feel as good as him growing two additional limbs did, this time he made them arms. Arms which ended in hands containing five digits in a similar pattern as to what he had when he was human, though his new ones were better. It took a number of absorbed essences but his present fingers had a bit more joints in them, giving him even greater motor control and physical coordination, including perfect steadiness no matter what is going on. Of course they ended in wicked strong combat oriented claws.

Him being automatically ambidextrous was well and good but it quickly became only the start. Within the week of him gaining hands his own personal essence shifted and changed so that his ability to design, make, or shape things with his hands was unparalleled. Now, if he was a normal zerg, this would have been useless, but he wasn't a normal zerg for you see he made traps.

Of many kinds and all over the places. Weight traps, fall traps, snares, dead-falls, even a few wooden cage traps. When he wanted an essence from someone stronger or bigger than him he made up his weakness by using a trap.

He did not feel bad because trap making was him utilizing his intelligence and capability. Which was a cornerstone of being a zerg. Plus it helped him gain some of his more useful and unique of abilities.

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As he began absorbing the essence of the creature he had just hunted he couldn't help but be awed a bit at how focused essence could be. This was especially true now for as he continued to eat he could feel his claws changing at their tips, granting him an ability to shape wood in quite precise and complex ways, all without actually damaging a tree. While he knew other uses were sure to come to him in time his first thought was that it could be used to create improved traps.

Suddenly he heard a sound and the ground began to shake. He reacted instinctively jumping to the side and away from where he had been, and not a moment too soon. For coming out of the ground exactly where he was was a primal zerg.

'Well this isn't good,' he thought as he scrambled off the ground. He would hunt somewhere else while thinking up of ways to capture and kill the burrowing zerg.

It was a few days later that he ran into the burrower zerg once again. This time the encounter wasn't as 'peaceful' as the first one was. The burrower appeared right in front of him and so he struck out with his claws. Though he hurt the burrower what he had not expected was for his claw to embed itself in the carapace of the other primal. Which is exactly what happened and which made him realize that he was not in a situation he was entirely suited towards winning. So as the burrower zerg roared in pain he did the smart thing - he ran away. He was grateful that the other primal was as distracted as he was for it meant that by the time the other primal realized he was gone, it was already too late to chase him.

So came the standard of the next few weeks worth of activities, for it was quickly made apparate that the burrowing primal was on the hunt for him in particular. He had to be on his most stringent watch for whenever he found himself distracted the burrower seemed to appear near him. It happened so often that started feeling a bit like Captain Hook being chased by the croc. As he didn't like that feeling or being the prey and so he began planning, trap planning.

He would use the next week for his planning and trap laying, broken up with some hunting. Most of this hunt was for biomass though he didn't object to some new essences, especially when they strengthened his claws and armor. He was especially pleased when he suddenly became tireless upon the absorption of the essence from another primal zerg.

Him starting the gauntlet was delayed twice by two other primals touching them. The first time it happened nothing was actually caught, which intrigued and worried him at the same time. Another smart primal was not entirely something he truly wanted to have to face.

The second time it happened he found himself both ecstatic at the gained essence and frustrated at the need to rebuild the trap. The fact that it was the boulder trap and thus the most fussy is what upset him the most. That said, the moment he began absorbing the essence and felt his leg muscles change and shift and expand to the point where he could now leap vast distances.

Having to spend an entire day rebuilding the traps might not have been the exact thing he wanted to do, but in the end he also couldn't say it ruined anything. So he waited a day, big deal, one more day meant nothing for a primal zerg, especially one such as him who was developing quite nicely.

When everything was ready he did one of those things that he never liked doing - he made himself the target. It reminded him of how Palpatine let himself be chased so that he could fight Mace Windu. Though such a gamble might be successful, it is a great risk as so many things can go wrong. That said, sometimes such antics are either the best or the only way to do something in a comfortable time span. Which is what he felt this particular encounter was like. Plus, much to his amusement, it feels good to defeat some a foe in such an intelligent manner.

So he started the whole gauntlet - as he called it - by standing in the middle of the field at position one. He made himself noticed, while trying to not be so noticed that other primal zerg get involved. He wasn't entirely successful on that, and so found himself having to battle a primal who thought he was an easy target. Needless to say he wasn't and the other primal found that out, right before dying. The essence wasn't anything particularly new, thought it did provide him some minor boosts to already present abilities.

Then the burrowing primal appeared and the chase began through the gauntlet. As the burrowing primal chased after him he also attacked using his claws.
Seven traps were set up, each somewhat different from the last in order to create confusion. Poison, tripping, spiked both in ditch and in wall, were the preceding ones leading to the final trap which combined it all.

Soon was nearing its end, much to his sadness in someways as he was having fun. Still he got 'cornered' and was being set upon by the burrower primal who was by this point as angry as most primals could be.

Which benefited him as anger reduced logic, even in the more animalistic zerg.

Then it happened, the point that he was waiting for, the final firework point. Not that there was any fireworks of course but that wasn't the point. The point is that he knew it was going to be spectacular.

Which it was for in a span of a few minutes the burrowing primal ran into a tripwire that hurt him, spikes that damaged him, walls that closed on him, a cage that held him for a moment.

As the other primal gave out an angry roar he moved to jump on the main primal who had paused in the middle of a glade. A clearing naturally made of stone which blocked the burrowing ability, which of course was the point. As soon as that happened he lept out of the way using an ability he had only recently gained, which amused him.

As soon as he was out of the way he moved to a point and activated the final trap. Which soon led to two massive logs slamming into him just moments before a giant boulder followed it by. As the other primal was left battered and bloody by the triple attack he jumped down and engaged in direct combat.

A major part of the battle was keeping the burrower primal in the stone zone, so he couldn't escape. All around that battlefield control was sheer violent battle - claw and tail and mandible galore. The burrower fought back as heavy as he could, with spike and claw and swipe of tail.

With all the damage that the traps had caused him the burrower eventually fell to his strikes. With a mighty roar he dug into the now dead burrowing zerg, gathering biomass and absorbing essence. He ate and ate and ate till nothing but bone was left for this was not an essence he wanted others to get for as long as he could stop it.

As he ate, and grew larger due to the biomass, he found himself changing, shifting as he assimilated the essence. The first essence was the expected one and soon his body began changing to allow him the ability to burrow under both dirt and loose stone. This wasn't simply digging for he realized immediately that he could move underground in such a way that unless he wanted to he didn't even leave tunnels in his wake. It also saw him gain hundreds of new joints, which collectively increased his general flexibility (though it had its focus as a necessary element for underground movement).

There were two bits of unrelated essences he absorbed, both of which explained how the burrowing zerg had become so successful. The first bit was a new resonance sense that let him track those who he had either absorbed some biomass from or who had absorbed some of his. This was something he knew would come in handy in the future, especially as it worked to increase his sensory ability. The final essence gained was unexpected, for he found his mind expanding to a point where he could use geometric equations in the field as if he had a calculator with him. Thinking about the ability he realized it perfectly fit into the way a burrowing primal could plan their moves.

Moving towards the edge of the stone circle he gave one final look at the remnants of the burrower, picked clean of essence, before burrowing for the first time. With a self-satisfied smirk he then took off towards one of his warrens and a bit of leisurely rest.

He felt he had earned it after all.

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There were reasons he was always careful when he left the relative safety of some sort of covering - and this was one of them. For he could hear the pop, pop, pop of ranged weapon fire. As he gazed out of his hiding hole he saw a number of nearby zerg fall to 'bullet' holes.

One of the smaller weaker primals happened to fall near him, which enabled a slight reach out and then a pull in. A claw swipe and a bite attack and the creature was dead. Upon the first bite he knew immediately that the ranged weapon which had struck him was a spike missile, which fit the zerg motif. With the second bite he could feel his body changing, adapting, as he gained some interesting new essence. His sensory organs and armor became multi-layered and reinforced to the point that he became protected from attacks that interfered with his senses, all of them.

After taking in all the biomass he moved a bit out of his hiding spot before burrowing underground. He would move some distance away before peaking back up to see what was going on. The point of this was to seek out and find the attacking zerg, both where he was and what he looked like. The later was important on deciding if he was to be attacked or an from while the former effected how the attack was to happen.

Upon seeing the other primal he knew that battle was going to happen. Not only was the other's size in the acceptable range but he clearly had an essence that was very much necessary. Even if he hadn't seen the other primal fire his spikes he would have targeted him anyway due to the hundreds of spikes on his back in positions that scream 'firing arcs.'

He attacked the spike primal as soon as he began eating, using the distraction of that act to give him an opening advantage. As soon as he lept from the ground he began attacking with mandible, claw, and tail. He kept himself in close proximity so that the spike zerg couldn't launch the spikes in the same massive way that he knew the primal would do - since that is what he would do in a similar situation. Still, even with that care, he did get attacked by some of the spikes serving as more point defense function.

The battle didn't take as long as it could have, mostly because how focused he was and now caught unaware the spike zerg had been. In the end, as he had expected and hoped, the spike zerg lay dying and then dead while he loomed over it.

A second later he began eating, taking in both nutrients from the spike primal's biomass and absorbing some useful essences. As he ate his fill his body started changing in order to more easily house, produce, and launch spikes against enemy targets. He also felt some new muscle instincts appear giving him a greater proficiency in controlling the arcs that the spikes would go. As the essence stabilized within him he felt numerous spikes begin growing on and in his carapace as well as a more massive spike upon the end of his tail.

Upon gathering as much biomass as he could he moved away, burrowing to a monitoring point some distance away. While there he staid and watched as some of the smaller primal zerg began feasting upon the remnants, some of which gained spikes upon their backs. As soon as he learned what he wanted to learn he left the area, heading back to one of his secured shelters.

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It was a hunting day and he was crouched low in his leafy hiding spot. The day had already gone pretty well with him absorbing the biomass and essence of a number of different feral zerg. None of it was game breaking stuff but it all came in handy and would aid in his continued survival. Especially his new ability to track by scent, that was a new feature he found extremely useful. It had been gained accidentally when he came out of his burrowed hole and into a zerg, the subsequent battle was quick and mostly painless since it started with surprise.

The primal zerg he was going after didn't seem to have any special features, but appearances could be deceiving. That said, in truth, he had targeted the creature due to his biomass more than his essence. Though it wasn't like he would say no to that if the zerg he was hunting had any interesting essence.

He was waiting for the perfect moment to strike, a moment that was being delayed by how much attention the other primal was paying to the area around him. He could strike now if he wanted to but his senses told him that it would be unwise.

So he waited.

Then a mighty screech was heard a bit off in the distance.

He saw that the primal zerg was distracted just enough that he choose to leap from his hiding place and attack.

Blasts from his spikes, swipes from his tail, rakes from his claws, and bites from his mandibles all struck at the other zerg in a series of mighty blows. The primal zerg got some strikes of his own as well, one particular strike penetrated his calf muscles pretty deeply. Still, the distraction and his strength proved advantageous and soon the primal zerg ceased fighting as it died.

Without pause he began devouring the now dead zerg, his sweet biomass filling him up. As his mind filled with the sweet taste of essence he knew he had been wrong, the other's essence was in fact useful. He also knew why the other primal had seemed as if he could see all around, because he could.

He was glad the other primal was as large as it had been, he was going to need the biomass for this adaptation. He was thinking this as his body was changing as thousands of sensory filaments began forming and spreading through his skin and upper carapace level. By the time he had finished eating and was deciding what to do next he had successfully gained the ability to see and sense things in a 360-degree circle around himself. It was as if he was looking down at his body, like he might have in one of those top down adventurer games, like WoW.

Though it was only his standard vision that was enhanced at this time it did still mean he couldn't be surprised which was a supremely useful ability.

As he left the body he decided to investigate the sound he had heard, the one which let him successfully defeat the primal. Running through the forest he realized it was in one of his higher up cage traps. It was a simple trap of sticks and vines designed to drop a cage door trapping a creature inside. He had put multiple of them in an arrayed circle with food in the middle of them all, just in case.

As he got to where the cages were he had expected to maybe see one creature, if that, so seeing three of the cages closed with primal zerg present was a shock. Which he quickly got over as he moved rapidly towards the cages in order to find what delicious essence he might be absorbing at this point.

The three primal zergs were of the smaller size category, but that is all they had in common. One looked a bit like an extended larva which kept trying to hide itself by changing its skin color, with little effect at this time. The second had long arms and feet and seemed less reptilian as compared to many other primal zerg. Finally, the third, well it looked as if a bat and an eagle had crossbred, which he found intriguing. Especially as he saw the large leathery wings it had off its back.

A barrage of spikes through the bars of the cage and the first primal was dead. A few bites later and the tiny bit of meat but amazing essence was being absorbed into his being, which soon led him to being able to shift his skin color, a bit like a chameleon though with much greater finesse and color options.

'Nice,' he thought, 'this will make it easier for me to hide.'

The second essence was no less wonderful for him absorb, especially since it was a forest that he currently called home. The changes happened rapidly, his muscles and skeletal structure were augmented in a number of subtle ways. All of which came together to allow him a much easier time moving and living among the branches of trees.

'It's like I am gaining back some of my ancestral human traits, soon I can live in a tree like a monkey.'

Then he moved towards the final creature caught in his trap, which led to him grinning. A swipe of his claws later and the bat-eagle like thing was dead, with its meat and essence being absorbed.

"Oooh," he gasped a bit out loud, for the feeling of the essence rushing through his body was heady and honestly a bit game changing for him. First he gained the ability to emit sonar waves for ecolocation or even as a sonic weapon. The later which he could use to disorient, incapacitate, injure, or kill an opponent.

While useful it was what the second essence would do that would change everything.

Soon he could feel the essence changing him, adapting his body in many ways so he could successfully gain the ability to fly. It was no easy task what his essence was doing, which he knew and could feel as he sat and watched and monitored. Still it was happening, he was gaining wings, two of them and they were coming from his back.

Large leathery ones that he could feel, just like his other limbs. Which is what they were, two new limbs for him to use and control and manipulate as he saw fit. As he followed the now formed wings with his eyes he traced the limbs with his mind, discovering that the two primary bone protrusions each had secondary, which each had tertiary, which then had a fourth. In the end all of it was covered in in thin leatherly membrane that made the flying possible.

As he reached up with his tail he touched the various parts of the wings, getting an understanding for how they felt and what their consistency was like. The main parts of the wings themselves, the limbs of muscle and bone, were strong and flexible and took the prodding without harm. The same could not be said for the membrane, which was easily pierced by the sharp claw that lay at the end of his tail.

'I'm glad I heal fast,' he thought as he damaged his new wing. Heal fast he did, as all primal zerg did, for within moments the membrane was closing and fixing itself and then the tear was gone, as if nothing had touched it.

'Hmm," he thought, 'while that is great the wings are now a weak spot.'

He stared at the wings in thought before reaching into his muscle memory and giving a command.

Which saw it all act, soon the outer membranes began shifting in upon itself, like papers in a folder. The outer group moved towards the middle which then moved towards the inner group of each limb. The limbs themselves shifted and folded and became tightly packed, with the fourth tier moving into the third, and then the third to the second, and that one into the first. Then, as if the wings were never there to begin with, those stubs moved into a new section of his outer carapace designed to protect them when not in use.

The wings disappeared just as easily as they appeared. Grinning a bit he extended and then retracted them three more times. It never caused problems and in fact it became easier and simpler the more he did it.

Sitting back on his haunches looking at the cages he couldn't help but laugh. After all the difficulties he went through getting the burrowing trait the essence for flight was so simple.

He then did something he had long wanted to do - he extended his new wings one more time and then launched himself into the air.

He was flying.

As he did so he let out a sound of sheer bliss, which was rare to hear from a primal zerg. But he couldn't help it for he was flying, zooming through the air with little care. Oh yes, of course he was paying attention to his surroundings to make sure he wasn't attacked by another flyer or at range but even with that he was simply enjoying life.

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It was a hunting day and so he could be found laying half-burrowed by one of the lakes in his forest. He had been there for hours already and had only struck out against a few of the primals, with little new essence gained.

That would prove to change when a pack of smaller larva-like primal zerg came by. As he was eying those larva primals he noticed a few that seemed a bit different from those around them. The most apparent feature was them having four legs, tiny stubby ones but legs nonetheless. This meant they had already absorbed essence and thus had begun adapting already. As he gazed at them he suddenly noticed they all had a third eye, a fact quite rare for those at their level.

So he struck out, almost immediately taking two of the half dozen out at once. A movement of mandibles later and both were grabbed and swallowed, though it wasn't done in a single bite. He was right about them absorbing essence, and what an intriguing essence it was. Between the two there were three distinct essences that he found incredibly useful to him.

The first was shared by both of them and seemed to be the start of a metasensory path of traits. His instincts called it lifesense, and though the former human part of him shook his head at the corny term, it seemed to be apt - for with the trait he could detect the life force of the creatures around him. This resulted in him gaining a new eye, all the better to sense the energy.

From the essence of the other larva he found himself developing the ability to sense the true intent of those he observed. As he studied the essence now flowing through him he was struck with awe on what this meant - for with it he could learn the motivations, plans, and goals behind the actions of the creature he studied.

The final essence seemed to be grant him the ability to detect emotions and emotional states of those around him. He knew that since he was capable of advanced emotions he could detect them while those primals with less advanced feelings could only understand the basics - happy, depressed, angry, lustfull, etc.

As the essence absorption finished he could be seen laying in his hiding place meditating on his new essences. He couldn't help but feel these were near-psychic abilities, which interested him mightily as the zerg hadn't been known for their complex psychic abilities. He knew he would have to study the concept further, to see where he could take it in time.

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Today he choose to hunt and explore further into the lakes region he had seen beyond his forest. He was quite thankful for flight for the advantage it gave him in the pursuit of such tasks were nearly without equal. In fact he was extremely glad when he discovered that the lakes actually fed into an ocean, a vast and deep one.

As he flew about the region he saw an island which had a large tree growing from it. One quick and painless, for him anyway, fight later with a flying primal that had made its home there and he had a temporary base camp. Though in most ways it was less than his own essence, the primal flyer did have some enhanced flight essences which added to increase his own capability.

It delayed him for a while but there was no way he was interfering in the flow of essence that was moving through his wings, muscles, and bones. Especially when he noticed and felt a few wing bones actually shrunk in response since they weren't needed anymore.

For the next week he choose to stay in the area - scouting, exploring, and hunting. He had decided that as an area around his forest it would do quite well to know this region's secrets and mysteries. The hunting was as much for fun as it was for continued adaptation, especially as most of the creatures around weren't useful from an essence standpoint, for all that they were quite delicious to eat.

As he hunted he took in both biomass to grow bigger and fragments of essence to increase the likelihood of gaining new adaptations. This was a recent tradition  for him, one that cane about when he realized that a bunch of lesser fragments could come together to create an advanced essence. This region would prove that new philosophy true when he found himself quickly developing some new and interesting essences.

The first was a series of simple adaptations that would come to aid him in his movements. All of them in fact, including the new enhanced swimming ability that he did not previously have. The fact that the same few sequences of essences enhanced sea, ground, and air movement both amused and intrigued him - and said allot about how such abilities worked in this universe.

He also discovered four new poisons to make and gained the sacks to store their components. Interestingly enough some of the new formula were different mixtures of already stored compounds, which meant new sacs weren't needed just an upgrade to the mixer gland. While not really sure how he was going to use it he also found himself being able to create ink, similar to that of a squid, which he found himself storing in an internal sack. Besides the potential to write with it, it's real use would have it give him a blinding attack usable on creatures with eyes.

As he moved about he began to eat a number of the various biolumenescent plants and fish. To his amusement even found the absorbed essence soon changing his body till he was able create light. Exerting his will on the essence, as he saw no advantage in gaining a full body glow, he pushed things around till a few glowing eye-like orbs manifested in useful places around his body.

As he hunted he found that the essence of undersea primals changed his body so that his lungs became vestigial - useful only to make sounds and speak rather than a necessity to live. One double check later and he was sure the not needing to breath was complete, rather than simply altered for a different medium. To his benefit this meant he could live underwater, in a hostile environment, or even in a place with zero atmosphere, like space.   

Over the same period he was hunting for new essences he was also attempting to self-direct his personal evolution. He was doing this in part by constantly pushing the limits of how deep he traveled under the ocean. This was made a bit easier first when his need to breath was removed and second when he could create his own light, not that his other senses didn't work. By the time he turned to head back to base he knew He had gotten to the point of such constant adaptations that pressure had stopped being an issue for him at all.

As he flew back to what home base he mentally considered all the biomass he had consumed in the recent processes and all the changes that he had gained. He then began to ponder what was next for him.

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Months later he noticed in one corner of the region he inhabited that some of the primal zerg were quite similar to each other. Sitting in wait he ambushed two of the smaller creatures of the group when they least expected it.

Swallowing them nearly whole - an act possible due to their size difference - he enjoyed the tasty nature of their meat. Though their essence didn't do anything for him the information he absorbed did. He soon learned that these primals were actually directly birthed by an alpha primal, rather than them coming from an spawning pool larvae. And not just one for in the gathered memories he learned that there was a few packs of these alpha primals. The second, and somewhat more useful gain was the knowledge that those of the same nest could communicate with each other. But for all that they were in a group and worked to better it they were still fully individual entities.

Good.

It allowed him to take what he needed without ending the natural evolutionary line that this pact focused primal zerg were creating. This wasn't out of him being kind but rather a selfish desire - if he left some of them around they could gather essence that he could later take when he hunted them. The hunting process in order to find the nest alpha was not an entirely easy process but eventually a breakthrough was made and the site was uncovered.

It was when the two nest alphas began fighting that he knew it was time to attack. Perfect was the thought he had on that for it allowed him to do what was necessary while they were already distracted. As he was a bit bigger than them he knew he had to hide lest they see him and run away. He used his burrowing ability to get into the absolute perfect spot before leaping and then striking out.

Though he found some benefit in taking in the essence of one of the other nest creatures it wasn't until he absorbed the two nest alphas that he truly gained the benefit.

Numerous ones in fact.

The primary one saw the creation of a new glad in his body that would let him transmit alpha level pheromone signals, ones that could be picked up by those with with the appropriate receiver glands. It also gave him knowledge of how to create the reciever gland, though it didn't put that in his own body. The versions that the two had were slightly different which benefited him, for it made his version stronger than what they had.

He also gained a slightly improved synaptic network, which he realized was necessary to control the output of the gland. It also led him to gaining a deeper understanding of how to move his limbs, all of them. That, he knew, would be quite helpful in combat. The final general adaption was a slightly improved sense of sight and smell. It wasn't supremely different but even a point or two difference could come in handy in battle.

Amusingly enough he also gained a whole slew of sexual essences - including those based on sexual reproduction and birthing. Though useful he made sure he excersized his will in order to lock those essences down, rather than letting them fully manifest. So instead of having sexual organs of both a male and female variety he instead gained a specialized and mostly vestigial node to contain all the applicable essences.

As soon as he got what he needed from this particular fight he took off. Just in time too as he noticed that the surviving members of both groups had united into one. Watching in interest he saw that one of the once children grew a bit bigger after absorbing a sibling and began giving sending out pheromone orders. He knew this due to the essence he had just absorbed gave him an instinctive sense of when the ability was being used around him.

Where there is a will there is a way, he thought, as he watched the new leader take over both nests and make the resulting whole stronger. Just as he was wondering about birthing he noticed the new alpha was absorbing the birthing essence of the two so his nest could expand.

"I wonder how he will take to that ability," he thought as he quickly got away from the nest.

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It was a little over a week later that, as he was gliding from tree to tree, he stopped upon noticing something that was quite intriguing. It was another primal zerg, which wasn't surprising, but what was was the adaption that he seemed to have.

The other primal had the standard claws and rending tail and heavily reinforced carapace, as was standard. But that wasn't what seemed to make him unique, rather it was the hemispherical shell on his back that seemed to contain scores of spherical pods.

If that was it then in truth he would probably have just moved on, while visually nifty it seemed more effort than it was worth at the time. But he had stopped at a perfect time to see one of pods detach from the primal, extend legs, open eyes, and then scurry off.

'Oh,' he thought, 'that could come in handy.'

Which is why he decided that he was going to need to act. But he didn't want to just attack without planning for after a bit of monitoring the situation he figured that the pod critters would participate in the fight as well. After counting the pod he realized that the pod primal had scores of them, which made the encounter quite dangerous.

Of course he had a number of weapons that he doubted the other primal had - including both a sonic blast and a ranged spike attack. Which did not even take into consideration the mobility he had in both the trees and in the air.

'Right then,' he thought, 'let's do this.'

Then he extended his wings, got his spikes ready, and opened his mouth in preparation for a sonic roar. Which stunned the other primal just long enough for him to get in a second attack before the other could, which he did by launching a volley of missile spikes at the other primal.

All the primal could do was growl in anger as the spikes hit his pods in mass. Some pods were hit by a large number of spikes and thus died while a large number were hit by a few and were injured.

The pod primal was then able to shake off the stun effect enough that he began launching his pods. It was only a few at a time but their presence in the battle was impressive. Especially when some of the pods opened their tops and began launching their spikes at their new enemy.

Realizing that the pod primal was not able to move when he activated a pod gave him some ideas. As that fact came to him he was already launching some more attacks, both missile and sonic. The missiles this time targeted the pod primal himself rather than his pods and were targeted against parts of his body that seemed lower in armor density.

The sonic blast was targeted against the pods, which was different from how last time it struck the primal. Unlike the primal the much weaker pods were not simply stunned by the blast, rather they were killed by the intense sonic energy directed at them.

At this point our primal jumped down from his tree and directly engaged the pod primal, who was still focused on activating another set of pods. His claws were out as he struck the primal with as many intense blows as was possible, followed up by tail strike and then spike volley.

The pod primal interrupted his standard activation to strike out with his own volley of spikes, just like his pods were able to do. The strike was painful but the fact that the pod primal followed it up by activating a pod rather than striking again allowed him to gain the upperhand.

The battle went on for a few more minutes before a combination of claw, talon, spike, and sonic saw to the death of the pod primal. It tried fighting on even as it was left an increasingly bloody mess but in the end even for a primal zerg the damage multiplied till death occurred.

Which rapidly came with a final strike followed a rending by claw and mandible. While the biomass of the former primal was delicious it was the essence gained that was the most sweet. An essence that gave him the ability to create small pod creatures from his own biomass that could be stored in carapace pouches. When activated the pod creatures become mobile and can operate remotely but at his behest and under his control.

He quickly noticed that the pod creatures could only house a limited amount of all the essence he had gathered. This amused him quite a lot as it was in many ways similar to the limited essences that most of the creatures of the Zerg Swarm could possess.

It made him wonder if this essence was in some ways an evolutionary relation to the one that lay at the center of the Swarm.

Mentally shrugging he continued to feast and absorb, trying to see what other essences he could gather from the pod primal. There was very little there in terms of weapons, armor, or even extended senses. He did gain the essence of synergy, which was highly important when one made use of the pod creatures to extend his reach.

When he finished absorbing all the new essence he stopped, debating what to do with all the remaining biomass that was present. He decided to eat as much as he could, which he knew was not equal to all the meat present. In the end the sounds of the forest got to much for him to stay in the area and so he extended his wings and took off.

As a number of smaller primal zerg moved forward upon his departure he began to wonder what the presence of the homunculus essence would mean for the region.

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Chapter Text

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As he lay in his burrowed warren safe from the attacks of other primal zerg he felt the earth above him move a bit. He could tell that it wasn't the heavy thump of a massive predator coming to destroy him. So he moved slightly creating areas where the surface was but a thin layer away.

He then waited.

He wasn't disappointed for soon with a thud the ground gave way under the other primal, who soon fell into the hole. The second it was distracted was all he needed to strike out, kill it, and then enjoy its meat and essence.

It was a somewhat young primal that fell, though there was some essences useful to him. One such essence was a bit amusing, for the other primal had an even greater regeneration ability then he did, not that it helped him stay alive after being so thoroughly eaten. The other useful essences were intertwined for they all had to do with poison - its creation, storage, and usage.

As the essence was absorbed he knew that within his body there would now be special sacks, each containing a different chemical composition. The now digested creature had known three different poisons, which made him wonder how many others the primal zerg had created. But even more was the new organ which could create the poisons out of a number of gathered chemical compounds.

As he laid back his body was changing again. This time it was his jaws, claws, and spikes which shifted slightly to make room for some new veins. These veins were linked to the claws and spikes and could be used to convey the poisons from sack to weapon then to target.

'Hmm,' he thought, 'I'm going to need to find more poisons me thinks.'

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As he traveled about he found himself near a lake within what he considered his forest. He thought to head down to it for some water when he noticed something, there were no zerg around the eastern edge of the lake.

Which made him wonder why.

A minute later and he had the reason, for the lake was home to a mighty primal zerg. It was an interesting primal as well in that it possessed multiple heads, like a hydra from human myth.

'Oh this is going to be an interesting fight,' he thought. For fighting the other primal was exactly what he was going to do, he wanted that essence. For even without contact he could tell it would aid him immensely, both in using his pods and also in general life.

Hiding in the nearby trees he took a few minutes to activate his pods, of which he only had six compared to the scores that the pod primal had. Still that was more backup then he had had before, so he was satisfied.

It was still less than the nine heads of the hydra zerg which was in front of him at the time.

Thinking about it he knew he had to be fast in his striking. For if he allowed the primal to regroup then chances were heads would be regrown and energy recharged. That would not be good.

So once his six pods were up and active and flying around him he took aim and began issuing his shoot orders. He was lucky in that with his pheromone transmission abilities his communication and coordination with the pods were better than what the pod primal himself had.

When everything was ready he launched some spikes just as he leaped off his tree in a single gliding motion that took him within range of the hydra primal. Once there he swiped with his claws at what looked like a vulnerable part of the hydra zerg.

As the head tried to dodge from him his pods began striking as well. Some with claws seeped in poison, others sonic blasts, and a few attacked with his ranged spikes.

Of course the hydra primal wasn't without its own mutiple attacks, much to his sorrow. All heads which could turned towards him and his pod minions and blew out blasts of noxious and foul acidic bile. Blasts that hurt him immensely when it struck his body while pretty easily destroying those pods it hit full on.

Thankfully the pods were small, maneuverable things that were able to dodge from the blasts. As for him, well his armor took the damage as best it could but he knew his regeneratiom was acting in overtime healing from the acid damage.

What he quickly did was move to the ground and put his wings away. Being in the air where the acid blasts could destroy his wings was not a game he had any wish to play.

Not when things were going pretty well from him so far.

So he struck and struck heavily with everything he could bring. His ranged attacks targeted the necks of the hydra zerg while he focused on the other's lower body. His pods zoomed close by in order to distract and be safe from the acid attacks.

Head after head fell but so did his pods, not that it saddened him since they weren't independent creatures. Still with them dropping he knew he had to do it fast, a fact he especially learned when he waited too long at one point and a new head regenerated as a replacement for a lost one.

Though he hurt in many places, in the end his advantages outweighed those of the hydra zerg and so victory was his. Roaring in triumph he began to devour the meat and essence of the now deceased hydra zerg.

'Oh boy,' was the thought he had as he ate and absorbed the essence.

As the essence allowing multiple brains flowed into him he immediately restricted it's capability to give him a second brain. Instead he integrated it and the older essence of dispersed organs together so that additional clusters of neurons now existed as nodes throughout his body in addition to his core brain.

With the new nodes present he instantly felt his mind expand its capability in the ability of multitasking. This was especially useful as it meant he could utilize his multiple limbs and attacks without them becoming ineffective due to concentration issues. It also allowed him to compartmentalize his mind in such a way that he could occasionally have a few parallel thoughts occuring at the same time. While this wasn't free or limitless it still had its great benefits, such as aiding in self-analysis and even giving him an autopilot system in his brain. On the later he knew if something shut off his conscious mind then that would kick him and get him away from the danger. So all in all it was all quite useful he thought.

He also heavily pushed the second brain essence into his pods, invigorating and enhancing their mental capacity. Though they were not autonomous sentient entities he did boost their intelligence and capability quite far upward. A fact which would make them all the more useful to him in the future.

As he continued to eat he continued to absorb essence, including the hydra zerg's ranged acid bile blast attack. Unlike the hydra he didn't let the essence change his blood, instead he enhanced the internal sacks he had till they grew resistant enough to hold the acid easily. As he ate he felt his mouth expand a bit as a second esophagus was formed connecting the poison and acid sacks to his mouth, allowing him another efficient ranged option.

As he pulled back from eating and took flight upon extending his wings he felt a few additional changes come over him. These enhanced his skin and armor so as to be more resistant to the corrosive effect of acid. Which was a very handy new feature.

After eating his fill he took off ad perched upon a nearby tree, sitting as close to invisible as possible. From there he watched as a number of smaller zerg darted out to feast on the carcus. To his amusement this included one primal who suddenly sprouted a few new heads upon eating the remaining essence.

As he flew back to his closest warren he couldn't help but think, 'well it looks like the hydra primal still remains.'

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As he was burrowing through the earth he stopped as he felt the basic emotions of a primal zerg that lay nearby. He was angry and full of hate to a degree that was quite uncommon for most primal zerg. Said primal was also injured and limping from what was probably a recent battle he had been in.

Which made him a target, though not an easy one for no zerg was every an easy target.

After burrowing to a spot a bit away from the limping primal he jumped to the surface and then onto a nearby tree. He wanted to get full sense of the primal before he struck.

To his physical senses the primal was small and weak but to his lifesense abilities the primal was massive. He knew that size didn't always equal power, but in practice it really did as even a very powerful but small primal couldn't survive being eaten. Which led to the philosophy that the older a primal was the bigger they were too.

So something didn't add up.

Which amused him and made it so he was looking forward to the subsequent fight and absorpotion.

Oh he figured there would be danger in the fight but he was willing to risk it since he didn't feel it was deadly.

'Especially,' was his thought, 'since the primal is already injured.'

After spending a few minutes activating his six pods he began the battle.

He never played fair, he always struck first and in secret so he could get a surprise round in the battle. This was possible since he could burrow, glide through the trees, and fly in the air - all positions that allowed him to strike first.

Which is what he did as soon as he decided to battle the other primal. A stun attack followed by an acid attack and then a leap which brought him in for some closed range claw and tail spike attack. Using his mobility he would also burrow underground, leap into a tree, or fly into the air to control the battlefield.

At the same time his six pod critters would also attack, either at melee ranged through claws or at ranged through sonic, acid, or spikes. Though attack was their piority they were also designed to take certain blows that would have harmed him immensely.

Of course as the saying goes no plan survives first contact with the enemy, which proved to be just as accurate on Zerus as it was on Earth. Especially when one faced another primal zerg without knowing what essence fueled abilities they may have.

A fact which came into play in this battle.

As soon as the other primal overcame the stun effect he started to grow, and grow, and grow. From where he started as smaller than a hound he finished at almost twenty times his origional size. As his first clawed swipe had proven, with the increase in size came a corresponding increase in his strength and toughness.

As he dodged an attack before making one of his own he realized that for all the power that the primal was bringing to bare he was still injured. This was apparant as every once in a while he would shrink for a moment as the pain overwhelmed him temporarily. As the fight continued the temporary became longer and longer till, as death was near for the other zerg, him staying at his 'real' size pretty much became the standard.

A few additional acid blasts and spike volleys from pod and primal and the other primal lay dying, which would lead to the first of a couple of surprises. The blast of emotions that he felt when the other primal died was not what he expected - it was not as emotional as it had seemed like it would be.

When the other primal zerg died completely he gave a slight chuckle roar at how small the primal had become, especially compared to his gigantic war form. Giving his version of a grin he then tucked into the zerg, gathering biomass and absorbing some amazing and unique essence.

With the first bite he found himself absorbing the special essence which allowed the other primal to directly control his size. All zerg could grow by ingesting biomass but with this essence he could grow or shrink as he wanted, when he wanted. Even with only a momentary analysis of the essence he could tell there were restrictions and limitations to it, especially with shrinking. Still, for all that he wasn't planning on using it on a day to day level, he knew that it would come in handy in the future.

As he absorbed the next bit of essence he suddenly found that his muscles and organs could be overcharged, boosting his capabilities temporarily. The act took some energy and biomass but it could come in handy in battle when he needed to make his attack better, stronger, or more efficient.

He mentally chuckled at the next bit of unique essence, it was as simple as it was useful. It gave him an instinctive ability to be as precise as he wanted to be in the application of force. No matter how big or strong he got no harm would be done unless he wished to cause harm. As he thought about the ability he couldn't help but remember something similar on Earth, when people talked about Superman and how he needed to be careful.

As he absorbed the next bit of essence he could feel his internal body changing with the formation of new subdermal sensory nodes. In a way similar to what he felt while assimilating essence he was now instinctively aware of his exact physical condition : heart rate, respiration, blood-sugar level, the presence and response of foriegn substances, and so forth. It was useful in many ways, especially as he got larger through the absorbing of biomass, but none more so in how much control he now possessed when he assimilated new essence.

As he absorbed the essence of the other primal's mind and emotions he realized that this primal had used the negative emotions like other zergs might use an armored carapace. The emanations of hatred and bitterness would lead others to instinctively keep their distance or be frozen in place through fear. Of course as the essence became one with him it was made to adopt to his needs - which equated to expanding his natural empathy ability so he could also project and manipulate emotions rather than just sense them.  

When he had finished eating the meat and absorbing all the available essences he gathered his scouting pod minions and made off towards one of his closest safe warrens for some needed R&R.

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As he flew over the ocean he came upon a small tropical island. Landing upon a high cliff of the tallest mountain on the island he began surveying the find. He quickly noticed that there were quite a lot of primal zerg in close proximity to each other, and they didn't seem to be fighting. Which was a surprise here on Zerus, one that made him want to investigate a lot further.

So he did.

He quickly realized the island seemed to have three dominant primal types. The first were similar to birds, and they hunted fish from the sea. The second were monkey-like and they lived in the trees and collected fruits. The third moved upon the ground and farmed.

He stopped at that last thought.

Then double checked, yep farmed was an appropriate word. For as he gazed at the last group he could see some of them planting seeds in one area while others gathered the fully grown crops from another.

These primal zerg had gone through a version of the agricultural revolution.

It was brilliant but also sad, since he knew they would not survive if a more powerful zerg came along. Which was when he consciously realized he wasn't going to destroy them, they were too interesting.

But the didn't mean he wasn't going to gather their essence.

So he began planning, picking out which targets he would hunt and when. The later was just as important as he decided to do it when the ones he picked were alone. Though it might take him days it's not like he had any limitations on time and anyway it would be fun.

Which is exactly what it was, he thought as he lay upon the high rocks after gathering all he needed. A few examples from each creature type plus the plants of the island and he got all the nutrients, biomass, and essence he needed. Though there was little offensive or even defensive essences to be had the utility ones were quite useful.

From the flying zerg he found himself becoming a better tracker as well as now capable of intense aerobatics. Though the other primal had used said abilities to hunt 'fish' his own essence made it a generalized combat enhancement. From the monkey-like zerg he gained quite a bit enhancements to his leg, arm, and finger muscles and joints. What made these essences spectacular for him was that they scaled up well - whether he was a meter tall or a kilometer the abilities still worked to increase capability. From the ground primals he found himself gaining new sensory nodes in his fingers, mouth, and nose designed for intense focusing and heavy analysis on what he touched, smelled, and tasted. He also found his carapace becoming thinner but yet stronger and more flexibly resistant to damage.

That's when he got to the general essences gained as a collection from the whole group. Many of them provide both dedicated knowledge and physical enhancements in the field of crop and animal cultivation for nutrients, biomass, and essence. In some ways in these essences he could see where the basics of the nutritional side of the Creep might have come from. But was also intriguing was all the other fruits, vegetables, and grains that these primal zerg had - it was a veritable farmer's market of options.

With a bit of a wonder at the mysteries still in the world he left to head back to his forest.

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As he flew about the continent he paused when he came upon a savanna grassland containing two giant trees equidistant from each other, with one much larger than the other. As he gazed upon the two trees he couldn't help but feel that the lushness of their leaves were quite out of place considering the season - which was winter. Which is why he stopped and landed upon a nearby cliff a bit distant from where the trees were situated.

Upon staring at the trees for a while he realized that the 'leaves' weren't swaying in the breeze. Further study made him realize why - they weren't leaves but rather hundreds of zerg. But even more, they weren't trees but rather the nests for a quite expansive pack of primals.

A boom was then heard and right before his eyes many hundreds of small winged primals took off in all directions. As the majority of primals left the 'trees' behind their nature as being primal zerg was quickly revealed. How this was possible he did not know but it seemed some zerg gained the essence to morph into a structure.

Extending his wings he flew high up into the air while looking to find some stragglers and or a weak young nest zerg. Upon finding a number of the former and one of the later he took off into the air while quickly making plans to strike.

He fly high in the air and then dive bombed the primals that were laying about in small easy to target groups. A series of sonic energy blasts to stun, some launching of spikes to injure or kill, and a few swipes of his claws and tail to make sure and he was enjoying the biomass and essence of dozens of primals.

Dozens out of the many hundreds that were in the savanna zone.

Before the new essences from the pack primals fully began shifting his body he focused his attention on moving towards the smallest of the nest zerg. He moved forward cautiously for he figured that the nest primal still adhered to the zerg philosophy of having both offensive and defensive abilities. He worries were proven correct when he was attacked by spikes at range and clawed tentacles as he got close. Plus there were the various other primals which came quickly to defend their nest.

As he flew and attacked then burrowed and attacked then landed and attacked he realized he could be at this four hours, even considering the nest's smaller size. Which is when he realized he didn't need to kill the nest primal to take the essence, he just needed to take bites out of it. Which is exactly what he began to do, to much more success. With his weapons being used to fend off the nest's defenses he struck out with his tusks.

He would move about, take a bite, feel the essence flow into him, defend himself, then move to another area. This was the method for about twenty more minutes, till two events changed the status quo. The first was his senses telling him all the available essence had been absorbed, for all that some time would be needed to understand it. The second was the return of the pack in such quantities that he knew he needed to leave.

So he did, raising on his haunches he took to the air to get out of the locals attention. Making his way to the cliff he had first stopped at he burrowed a bit to sit and watch. This was useful to him in two ways, the first being to watch and see what the pack did. Especially as it pertained to the nest primal. The second was to meditate on all the gained essence, to see what adaptations he would now have.

Watching the primals was an interesting learning experience. Though they were individuals they had a sense of unity lacking in most other primal zerg. A sense heavily centered around the alpha being that was the nest primal himself. Through the connection to the nest primal all those in the pack shared both biomass and essence, which he found intriguing. Instead of each member  going it alone, like he did, they worked together to make the whole better. As this meant less biomass for each it explained their smaller size. Still, they didn't lack for resources.

Speaking of which, it was time for him to process and sort all the essence that was flowing through his being. He mentally smirked, this was going to be fun.

So first things first he looked at the essence gained from the flying zerg. A simple alteration to wings would give him a more maneuverable flight, which was pretty nice. The next interesting feature was a new ability connect with other primals to share nutrients, biomass, essence, and information. As of right now thus benefited him by enhancing his connection to his pods, but he knew it could grant greater enhancement in the future.

The final sequences of new essences gained from the flying primals were all about social appearance, interaction, and manipulation. In truth this was extremely unexpected, to the point it shocked him on how social and community oriented these zerg were, more human like than zerg. In truth he found it a bit freaky, despite how beneficial it was towards creating a true zerg society. Still he could see the advantages of having a commanding presence, being awe-inspiring and inspirational, supernally persuasive, intensively seductive, and excellent at first impressions. The fact that these were qualities that essence could imbue with near supernatural potency was a bit surprising, though not as much as some other traits.

As soon as he absorbed the social essences he found himself enhancing an already exiting essence which lay within him. This essence used his evolved psyche to bolster his self-worth to a point where he could sustain himself emotionally and psychologically without needing the presence of others. Shaking his head mentally, he quickly realized he would have never needed this advanced protection if he hadn't absorbed the social essences - which basically proved to him how new essences could be a double edged sword.

He then turned his attention to what he had gained from the nest primal, when his senses told him there was little left to assimilate from the flying zerg. He went over the simple changes first, including a stronger and better designed carapace, a much improved circulatory system, and a more efficient design bone and muscle system. The next essence improved his spikes, they became smaller, sharper, faster and easier for him to produce.

Then came the essence of the tentacle, which was quite an advanced one for all that it was similar to limb and tail. He immediately knew why for unlike the others a tentacle had its own collection of neurons around it's bones and muscles that led to increased flexibility and semi-intelligent operations. The essence immediately began changing his tail and wings, shifting bone, modifying muscles, and adding neurons to make using them easier and more efficient. At the same time the essence caused four growths to appear on his back in an 'X' formation, with each growth housing a coiled tentacle containing spikes along its side and ending in a claw. Useful though the tentacles may have been he soon realized they weren't usable when his wings were out due to spacing.

He then came to the sensory essences held by the nest primal, which were awe-inspiring in their multifaceted complexity. Millions of finely tuned filaments connected to the different wavelengths began growing within his body before extending outside his body. When the growths finalized he not only found himself having a few more eyes, including some which were segmented like a spider, but also an enhanced and advanced ability to receive, process, amplify, and transmit from the electromagnetic (visible light, infrared, ultraviolet), gamma-ray, and x-ray spectrums.

He then began reviewing the structure essence he now found himself in possession of. The first thing he did was create a small node in his body to house all of its related essences as he spent sometime analyzing all he could about it. When he finished studying it he knew his initial reaction was right, while it was important to keep all essences the last thing he wanted was to become an immobile zerg building.

But he had an idea.

Rising from his perch he extended his wings and took flight for the part of the forest he had long mastered. As he flew to his chosen site he heavily manipulated one of his pod critters, removing the combat abilities while adding morphing and essence storage to it, with a bunch of essence. Upon a getting to the forest he began hunting a number of primals for their biomass, a resource he knew was going to be heavily needed.

When the time was proper the pod was awakened and moved into the chosen position where it activated it's morphing ability. From the initial biomass of the pod, plus that which was fed to it by the primal, a new zerg structure soon was formed. Though still linked to the primal the new zerg structure he called a Nesting Warren had been given the essences of intelligence and sapience, though one bound tightly to his will.

From its initial core the new structure zerg began growing till it reached a height a bit taller than the surrounding trees. From its central trunk like body it soon grew tentacle branches which became covered in membrane leaves. It also grew downward, forming 'roots' of tentacles deep under the earth and meandering through the whole glade.

The process from initial pod to towering  tree-like zerg took less than a day thanks to all the essences it's primal had absorbed since his birth. Upon this point it's branches began waving about as the consciousness of the structure zerg woke up.

"Alpha," the zerg said to his maker and master, though it was not in sounds but emotions and pheromones. "What is thy purpose."

He had to think on that for the truth was the other had been created without true purpose.

"To gather nutrients and biomass while providing me with a place of storage, safety, and rest." A pause. “You shall be known as Daroth, for though you are a Nest you are unique.”

In response the zerg moved his body in a bow. "As wished Alpha, thy will provide." One act of directed self-will later and portions of Daroth’s body that lay in the canopy region shifted and twisted till an open space large enough to house the primal existed.

As the primal watched his creation he realized a lot more biomass would would be needed. Deciding to aid his minion he would spend the next few hours on a hunt. Vast amounts of biomass would be collected, some for him but a lot for Nest.

When he finished gathering the necessary biomass he returned to his newly grown structure zerg and used the secret opening in the upper canopy to head into the open space. Gazing about the chamber he couldn't help but notice two of the choices that Daroth had made, one being the light orbs sprinkled about and the second the wood-like paneling for the walls. Sending Daroth his approval he decided to sit back and relax in a way he had on rarely did since becoming a primal zerg.

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Chapter Text

8888

He and this far southern marsh had an interesting history.

The first time he found the marsh was in the initial months after he left his original glade, when he was still without many mighty adaptations. This meant that he was ill prepared for all the innumerable parasitic spores and bio-toxins that inhabited the marsh. So he ran, escaping with his life and only a few new essences which would lead to increase carapace strength and a growing resistance to infestation. As he put the marsh in a mental no-go zone he couldn't help but think of it like a zone barrier in a MMO, he was too low level to handle the advanced monsters of this area.

It was little over a year later when he once again gazed at the marsh. Bolstered by some advanced essence he was quite confident that he could face and survive the threats that called the region home. Of course he didn't need to survive within the area permanently as this was not going to be either a true home or target for destruction. In truth, his goal was to find and then assimilate all the potential exotic essences in the region.

His first act was a scouting one, to figure out from the both air and underground the general geography of the area. He learned that it contained a series of hills with the spaces between them flooded and marshy. He also noticed that the various primal zerg littering the area were wearing different colorations and markings, as if they were part of different groups.

Before he took to the underground he focused his senses on the lifeforms of the hill, and was given quite a shock. As he gazed upon the primal he could only think one word - cerebrate. Oh he knew that the primal wasn't actually a cerebrate of the swarm but in appearance and probably function that was what lay before him.

He wanted that essence.

Of course, he thought sarcastically, all he needed to do was get past the hordes of creatures and parasitic ooze and toxins that were adapted to the place. This probably would have been near impossible if he needed to go all out, but he didn't, piecemeal was quite possible for this.

First things first, learn to how resist, ignore, or become immune to the aura of this place. His process for this was to burrow around till his senses showcased to him a particular useful primal. Then he attacked, the particulars varying based on the creature and area in question. Many he zoomed out of the ground with mouth open to swallow hole. There were a lot of times that he jumped out to attack with sweep of claw and spiked tail. Or pushed out and then sent a ranged blast of spikes or acid, or both, at the target. He even, just a few times, launched himself into the air and came down hard on his chosen target.

During this process he only let the most blatant of protective essences wash over him, enhancing him to better resist the environment. He found himself growing numerous new layers of tissue throughout his body, all the better to resist the effects of all the biomatter of the zone. Of which there was a lot, and it was all quite varied, including parasites, toxins, oozes, waste products among others. It burrowed, ate through, or decomposed all materials that it came upon unless you were adapted to it.

The next bit of information he learned was that the biomatter had all the signs of being a zerg creation, similar in some ways to his pod critters. Of course their essences were quite different from what he had, which made them all the more intriguing to him. Thus he new the next phase of his time in the marshes, it would be searching for and hunting the biomatter spawners.

As he worked to find and hunt the spawner primals he found himself hitting a roadblock. He couldn't find anything different from the standard primals, which made him realize there had to be a guiding intelligence. Which to him meant advanced essences, and that intrigued him quite a lot.

So he needed to change his tactics in order to draw the biomatter spawners out from where they were hiding. He knew a straight up fight was not what he wanted to do, so he needed to be logical about it. Then the answer came to him, disrupt the biomatter carpet and the primals would have to return to fix it. With a bit of thought he knew exactly how he was going to do it and all it needed was for him to make a slight change to the essence of a few of his pod critters - swap out flight and spike for burrowing and sonic blasts.

When he was ready he activated four of the pods and had them burrow move to the designated spots in the marsh. When ready two were activated and then began emitting sonic blasts to clean the biomatter blanket that carpeted the area. It worked as intended, moving the biomatter and revealing the ground once again. Temporarily, of course, because not even a second later a large lumbering quadrapod moved into the area and started spewing out thick streams of biomatter.

As he leapt from his underground spot he couldn't help but be glad he could use one word - biomatter - to explain the dozens of different types of living material that resided within it. Spikes launched, tail swiped, claws extended and struck out - it was such a targeted strike that happened so fast that only a few of the nearby creatures were able to get involved. Which was to his benefit as he had no interest in getting involved in a protracted war of conquest against the region. So after a few massive attacks he was able to take down the biomatter zerg.

He repeated the process three other times, mostly to the same success. He thought mostly as by the time he had gotten to the last encounter he could tell the local zerg had gotten wind of what he was doing and already adapting. Only slightly, of course, but even that showed to him the intelligence of the local cerebrate-like primals. Even with their improved resistance he came away with victory.

As soon as he got what he needed from the biomatter creator primals he called back his pods and headed underground for analysis. His first realization was that he now knew the essences of all the miniature and microscopic zerg lifeforms that existed within the biomatter. With this came immunity to airborne infestation from the biomatter for now he new its composition. Of course, to better contain the new essences his body created a repository organ within his body, a small nodule heavily packed with biological code. At the same time his body also created a small nutrient organ to enable him to incubate colonies of microscopic zerg lifeforms. Moments later a new esophagus was grown at the same time as modifications were made to his mouth, all the better for his new spore attack ability.

So not only could he create biomatter he could also launch it at his enemies to weaken and destroy them from the inside. How horrible and yet also quite useful. This would be especially true when he took into consideration all the other essences gained that he had yet to analyze fully.

Which was not going to happen now, not when he needed to still absorb the essence of this region's pack alphas, the proto-cerebrates. A task that was not going to be quick, easy, or painless - for many reasons. Including them being rooted in locations protected from both burrowed and air attacks while being surrounded by the hordes of their packs. This meant he needed to focus his attack, for only through a single dedicated strike could he have hope to defeat that pact.

He then focused his mind on deciding which of the packs, and thus which alpha, was going to become his target. As he analyzed the gathered data he realized that the pack located in the eastern tip was a great target. From his scans this pack seemed younger and a bit more spread out and unfocused as compared to the others. Still, even with those advantages it was not an area that he could take all by himself.

As he laid within his burrowed out warren he realized that the only way to handle the hill was if he had a force at his back - even a temporary one. Of course he knew exactly what essences to use for this particular operation - the procreative ones. He also had the perfect location for those essences to manifest, in three of his pods. He knew that those zerg birthed by pod genesis would not live long due to their weak essence matrix. Still, he was fine with that as permanence wasn't their point, rather evening the odds were.

As he worked out his needs he was tinkering with their essence structure. In the end he came up with three different types of genesis creatures, two offensive and one defensive. The first offensive creature would be ground based and equipped with spine launchers. The second offensive creature would also be ground based but melee, containing huge scyth-like claws. The final creature would provide airborne defense by use of interlocking heavy armor plates. All three types of creatures had a death action as well, the offensive ones would explode dealing acid damage while the defensive one would explode and heal his forces. He also added a weaker version of his burrowing essence, one that would allow them to burrow but not move while burrowed.

As his essences began retrofitting the three pods he made his way by burrowing towards the hill he choose. He took some time but scouted out the hill area looking for a spot he could appear and hide till the assault began. When the essence finished shaping he spawned twelve of them - five each of the two offense and two of the defense. Once in combat he planned on constantly producing more of them whenever he had the appropriate biomass.

When he was ready and the time seemed perfect he began the mission. Starting from the bottom of the hill he made his way in a zig zag formation to the cave on top. A cave which the alpha of the pack had decided to make his center of operations. The combat was constant and intense, and broken up only by moments when he hid in corners away from the sight of the locals. All throughout the travel upward he continued spawning new genesis creatures, as many and as often as was possible. Starting with a baker's dozen by the time he got to the end he had a few hundred spawned creatures serving him.

After pushing through all the barriers designed to stop him he managed to make it to the central chamber of the pack's alpha zerg. The fight in here was intense and difficult with the alpha using all his resources to try and stop him from getting to his body. In the end, after wading through the now dead bodies of hundreds upon hundreds of lesser primal zerg, he stood over the gargantuan lava-like body of the alpha.

Then something unexpected happened - the pack alpha spoke. "Why must death come just as I was getting stronger."

He jumped slightly at that, "you speak."

In response the pack alpha twisted his larva-like body slightly in the air with a confusion. "Yes, I do. Its rare to find another. This changes things." The last is said with a question.

"Yes, it does. Are the other pack alphas in this marsh also speakers." He asks curiously while stilling his own forces

"No. Well not to my level," the pack alpha says while holding back his pack. "What will you do now. You have an advantage over me."

"Yes. I came for your essence and I will leave with it, how depends on you."

In response the alpha zerg started wiggling his body too and fro, growing longer and longer and then pop. His back half separated from his front half, falling off the raised bed of biomatter the alpha zerg was resting on.

"There. Have. My essence but not me. All win, all live." A slight pause as the pack alpha seems to move back into a comfortable position.

Giving the other a look he moves forward and grabs the shed biomass, ingesting it two gulps. He feels the foreign essence flow through him but puts it to the side for absorption later on.

Before he can saying anything the pack alpha primal rises upward on his limbs and says. "We talk later, maybe form pact."

"That is not an impossibility given time," is what he verbally answers while mentally manipulating the essence in one of his pods. He removed all nonessential essences and was thus able to shrink the pod's size while increasing its sensors and camouflage abilities. When the essence was prepared his new spybot was spawned, flying to his hand. "This critter is linked to me and will be here for us to talk. It will leave your presence if you wish for it to and come back at a simple call."

"Good. It will let us get to know each other better." A pause. "Is your time in the marsh over with."

"Yes. I have gotten what I wanted. I have a lot of essence to assimilate." With that said he leaves the chamber and the region, flying high up into the air on his way to base camp.

As he returned to his home he felt his mind vibrate in communication. Upon focusing his attention on his spypod he says, "yes."

"We never shared identities. I am Aborth, biological offspring of all six pack alphas within these marshes."

"I," he said then paused, "don't really have a name actually. You are the first zerg I have spoken to where I am not the primary consciousness.

Silence for a second then. "The Primary. You shall be referred to as The Primary.”

He feels a chill move up his spine at that, as if he was just touched by fate. He didn't entirely like the feeling so he closed the communication less than gracefully. By that point he had reached his warren and began settling down for a lengthy bit of essence absorption.

First he laid into the various essences gained from the regular zerg of the marsh. Besides the protective essences he found himself becoming improved in a hundred different ways as somewhat better essences washed over him. He realized after a quick analysis that a large reason for such improvement was that the marshy terrain acted like a minor spawning pool.

As he studied the essences within their physical patterns he uncovered something intriguing. It seemed that all zerg in the region were permeated with a whole host of parasitic and symbiotic lifeforms. These creatures were linked both to each other and their progenitor in a proto-hivemind that enables them to influence and control the zerg they are inside. As he examined the essence further he noticed that all zerg in the marsh (minus the alpha primals themselves) gained their symbionts from birth. A fact which restricted their later essences from pushing them out, their very matrix considered the symbionts as part of their being.

This led him to realizing that the biomatter and symbiont progenitors were of similar essence patterns. It seems that without realizing it he had hunted some of the later while going after the general primal zerg of the area. When he later got the actual biomatter primals he completed his collection of all the related essences. Though he already could create biomatter as an attack he choose to study what the various essences could do on a more utility level.

Almost immediately he discovered a few new potential functions. The first was an ability to use a parasite linked to him to see through another's eyes. Another idea was using globs of spores to create new creatures out of deceased biomass, such critters never had long lives due to their weak essence matrices. He also learned to create a sticky type of biomatter which could slow enemies moving through it.

When he got to the ability to use a bunch of zerg microorganisms speed up the healing and regenerative rate of friendly creatures, he stoped and paused. It had been over thirty minutes worth of study and there didn't even seem an end to what his could potentially create. That is when he decided to focus on other features while a secondary psyche analyzed all his potential biomatter creations.

Which is then when he turned his attention to the essences gained by the pack alpha shed body. The first thing he felt is a number of the other primal's symbionts trying to infect him. He couldn't help but chuckle at the attempt - which thanks to all of his advanced adaptations he defeated with little difficulty or risk. Not to mention his in-depth knowledge due to assimilating the various biomatter zerg.

That said, in truth, he wasn't even upset - it made perfect sense that the other primal would test his defenses in such a way.

Of course he also couldn't be too careful, especially now that full sentience was present on Zerus. Which that now a fact he established an unconscious protocol that had a secondary psyche always analyze the safety and security of all incoming essences. It would free his active mind from having to do it, and subsequently make his analysis easier and deeper.

With the Trojan horse attempt defeated he turned his attention back towards analyzing the given essence. He chuckled when he felt his brain and mind expand a dozen fold, he suddenly found himself being able to have multiple thoughts and psyche constructs operating in parallel. This essence immediately empowered the psyche he established to monitor his assimilation protections as well as the part of him that constantly connects with his pods. In fact, he realized, that the pressure he had felt constantly was gone - even though the connections were even stronger now.

This became even more true when he got to what he was calling the domination essences as they were all about control. How to achieve it, what to do with it, and how to better handle it. Even the pathways and channels he had used to link him with all the other became enhanced, even multifaceted. It was brilliant and it explained how a single being could influence and control dozens and hundreds of other zerg entities. It was awe inspiring how he could process it all with zero loss of who he was or how he personally thought.

The rest of the essences touched a bit of everything, though only a few directly benefited him. He gained a stronger carapace, which made sense considering how otherwise defenseless Aborth had been. Then he found himself gaining enhancements in leg density and muscle - which amused him as it showcased the tiny little legs that Aborth had were quite impressive. He also found his sense of taste becoming better, though not any of his other senses.

As he pulled out of his mind he contemplated the entity that was Aborth and the six others who shared his form. A form, which despite looking weak, was actually perfect for what sort of life he focused on. As the mastermind leading a pack he needed a spectacular brain, which was easier to develop in his form than he would in others.

Reaching into his mind he said, "Aborth," with no submission in his voice.

"Yes Primary," was Aborth's curious response.

"I discovered your attempt, nice try but it failed."

"I figured it would but I had to try anyway. Does it change the plan."

"No, not at all. We are Zerg, I would have been disappointed if you hadn't tried." A pause. "Don't do it again, my response won't be as amused."

"Understood," Aborth says with a mental nod as well as they end the conversation.

The Primary, and he knew he was going to have to get used to the title-name, laid amused and relaxed in his warren.

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While out hunting a few weeks later he felt the consciousness of Daroth reach out towards his active mind.

When the contact was accepted Daroth said, "there are contacts at my base Alpha."

A bit intrigued he asks, "are they attacking you."

"No Alpha. They are resting in the spaces between my limbs."

Now that was unexpected, pleasing but unexpected.

"Keep monitoring but leave them be, unless they become hostile then defend. I must think on how I want to handle this."

"Yes Alpha," Daroth replies as the active contact breaks off.

'Hmm,' he thinks. 'This could be useful, quite useful if I play my cards right.' Mentally chuckling at his use of a human euphemism he finishes his current hunt before making his way back to Daroth. Whereupon he stopped upon a nearby tree he looked into the situation with both his own senses and Daroth's. The later was only possible due to the minion being within his immediate presence.

As he gazed upon Daroth a part of him begin going over all the essences he had available to use. At the same time he was also thinking of all the resources he needed, which he realized could be summed up as nutrients, biomass, essence, and information. With many the exception of essence these were all resources that could be brought to Daroth, and thus him, by the minions. With decision made he gathered his will and, in tandem with Daroth, he began gathering and shaping the appropriate essences.

Then, at his command, Daroth began growing many new features and hidden powers. This included scent emanating pods designed to attract creatures, basins and stalks for nutrient access, and flat platforms to rest within. Over time the special essences within those features would indoctrinate those creatures into becoming his loyal minions.

As he moved towards his secret sanctum within Daroth's canopy he began pondering whether to call such minions his Horde or his Legion.

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As he was feasting upon a smaller zerg he suddenly stopped as he heard a large whistling sound from far away. Looking up he saw a fiery trail dark across the sky and then heard and felt its impact into a distant hill.

Stopping what he was doing, which wasn't really important anyway, he spread his wings and took off into the air towards the crash. It was his hope that he would get there before any other inquisitive zerg.

Though it took him a few hours worth of flying he carefully made his way over to the crash site quite easily. Along the way he stopped occasionally to hunt, not so much for the essence but rather so he could top off his biomass reserves.

As he got close to the site he began noticing more and more debris forming a trail towards what was clearly an artificial object. Upon landing near to the crash he quickly activated his pods for some additional eyes and ears and sensors. To his eyes the bits of metal, crystal, and other substances proved it artificial without any doubt and made him wonder what he had stumbled across.

That is when the bits of disparate information came together and he knew what it was.

'It is of the Xel'naga.'

One manifestation of thoughts later and the essences within the pods activated to begin growing internal spaces within their bodies. From within these pouches he would have the pods store the various artificial materials that were lying about. This would come in handy as it would allow him to study the materials in question later.

As he moved up the fire carved pseudo steps towards the wreckage his body was wracked by fire. Which he healed from while at the same time adapting to the heat in ways that made it do less harm to him. It brought a slight chuckle as he realized once again that experience could lead to adaptation and the creation of essence.

Upon getting to where the shuttle had 'landed' he couldn't help but stare at the absolute destruction that had come over it. There was not a wall still intact and the engines seemed completely destroyed. Despite that fact he he turned and focused his senses on the hull, scanning it on all wavelengths that he had access to.

As he moved towards one of the bigger holes he couldn't help but notice that some of the damage was artificial.

'Weapons fire,' he thought as he gazed upon the wall, 'which means sabotage.'

Shaking his head he walked fully into the vehicle and began looking around its open spaced interior. He couldn't see much with all the fallen bulkheads, walls, and debris. A moment later his pods began moving through the holes in the beams they could find so he could get a full sense of what the place was supposed to look like.

When he gathered enough knowledge he began to move. Using his superior strength to lift the fallen walls he began attempting to clear up as much of the room as he could. He then used some sprayed acid to make the walls and beams a bit more stable than it otherwise would have been.

When it was all done he began looking around the available space. It had a storage zone, sitting area, and cockpit section - all very standard stuff even for a super advanced alien race who walk the galaxy as gods.

By the piloting station he found two charred and dessicated bodies. From images of the Xel'naga he had seen from the games he knew that that is what they were, though none of his own senses did anything to indicate that. He paused for only a second and then did what the Zerg always do - he took a bit to see what essence he could get.

It was a mixed experience.

On one hand it felt like tasting the universe, that is how rich of an experience it was. But on the other hand there wasn't really any essence, at least not that he could understand. There was fragments, untold amounts of them, but something blocked his ability to understand them - as if they were right beyond his reach.

But he was zerg and he knew that someday they wouldn't be, so it didn't bother him. What it did do was give him the knowledge of his next step in the shuttle. So reaching into himself he gathered his lifesense and emotions and pushed them out into the environment of the shuttle.

Which led to the glow of a crystal panel in the corner of the shuttle. Taking that as a positive he then focused those same life and emotional signals towards that as an esoteric beam. Right before his senses a number of crystalline tubes began glowing in sequence till it reached the center of the shuttle and an area which had been oddly undamaged.

Moving to that point he blasted out the emotional lifesense once more upon a panel on the floor, which glowed and then shimmered away. As soon as the panel was gone a woosh of sound could be heard and then an object rose from within a hidden pocket of the shuttle.

It was a crystal, about one meters tall and half a meter thick, and it looked much like a smaller Protoss Pylon.

'Please construct additional pylons,' was the first thing that came to his mind upon gazing at the object.

Actually an artifact, one of the psi-active Khaydarin Crystals.

This he knew, without a doubt, was a priceless find without equal. In fact it would pave the way for his being to gain the necessary understanding to begin developing the essence of true psionics. That said, he knew he needed something, something to focus the trait, to synchronize and stabilize it with his ever shifting essence. Psionics, as far as he could tell, was a temperamental field that didn't mesh well with the constant evolutions of the zerg.

But he knew what to do and so, with a bit of a grin, he opened his mouth as wide as possible - and then opened it further as his essence adapted him - and swallowed the khaydarin crystal whole.

Staggering back he was hit with a wave of images too fast for his conscious mind to pick up all of them. It was of peoples, places, things, from the past, present, and future of this and other universes. If there was ever a time he was glad to be a primal zerg it was at this point, for his essence had to constantly shift in order to keep him alive and with his sanity intact.

As the essence shifted within him it became hard to tell whether a trait he had was purely biological or purely psionic, or a hybrid of the two. Everything he had and was became enhanced, even if in some areas it was but the most minute of fractions. This soon manifested in him gaining a premonition essence, which let him ping the local timestream for the presence of any impending dangers and threats to him and his.

When matters calmed down he stood in the middle of the shuttle an intensely changed primal, for all that his physical body remained as he had been before.

He also knew it was not time to rest yet. For that even without it being covered in super technology the presence of the shuttle was bad news. Yet he couldn't bring himself to destroying it and so he made a choice.

Calling his pods to their pouches he began medidtating on the loadout of their present essence. Though he did not, could not, give them full on psychic abilities he did know he could have them serve as nodes to enhance whatever working he was planning on doing.

A working that was simple to describe for he was going to take the shuttle and bury it deep underground in a hull fitting cavern he was going to create.

So he used some of his available biomass to temporarily grow bigger while also boosting his strength to even greater levels. He then burrowed underground and planted a series of his enlarged spikes in a crisscrossing pattern to create a safe and secured space. When that was done he returned to the surface and grabbed the shuttle in a way similar to a 'bear hug' before bringing it within the space he had created.

A space five kilometers underground, just to be sure.

Upon returning to the surface he began collecting all the other artificial debris in the surrounding area. As soon as he couldn't find any more of the debris he stopped the work, figuring he got most of it. He also honestly realized that leaving a few smaller pieces wasn't going to unduly give any zerg who found them a great advantage.

He then hunted, and this was strictly for replenishment biomass - both the absorption of the khaydarin crystal and the transport of the shuttle took a lot of nutrients. None of the primals he devoured gave him new essences, though a number of his already existing ones did improve slightly.

When he had hunted to his fill he deactivated the sizegrowth ability and burrowed to the shuttle where he sat in meditation for a few days. He did, afterall, have some psychic abilities to begin manifesting. A task he knew was going to take quite a bit of time, so he figured might as well start now.

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As he was flying over the plains he saw two primal zerg fighting in a grassy field. Landing on a nearby tree while working to keep himself invisible he just simply watched. Such was what he often did when he came upon one of these situations.

As he gazed upon the two primals he couldn't help but notice how different they seemed, and yet for that they were clearly equal. This was quite apparate as the fighting had gone on for thirty minutes already with little signs of stopping. Which was fine for him as the longer they fought the more tired and injured they would be when he choose to get involved.

Of course that was the question, how to get involved. He could do the standard and attack, either waiting till one of them wins or doing it when they both seem weak. Their essence would be quite beneficial, that he could tell. But that felt wrong to him somehow, as if it would be him missing the chance to test out some of his newly gathered essences.

Which really meant one in particular - the domination essences.

Though he had tapped into those essences before this was going to be his first active time. His other acts included enhancing his pod critters and genesis spawns, as well as aiding Nest in indoctrinating the lesser primals that lived within spaces. But this would be the first time he would force the creation of a mindlink through symbionts backed by empathy and psionics. He knew that when he began it would lead to an interesting experience, that's for sure.

So he waited all the while planning until the two looked as if they were tired. By that point he had already activated his six pods, each with a sonic essence designed to incapacitate rather than truly injure or kill. As he got ready to jump into the battle he made it so parts of his consciousness were actively watching both of them, just in case. He wanted to be prepared if they turned on him at the same time as they attacked each other.

The moment he saw them starting to slow he acted, giving his pods orders to fire their weapons at the two primal zerg. Four struck out with sonic blasts in order to disorient the two primals, two each. Another two blew out blasts of acid in order to weaken their carapaces, all the better to let the final strikes hit true. The final two pods, which he had only recently created, launched oozes full of spores and symbionts at the two.

He followed those attacks up with one of his own, though his was melee rather than ranged. This was an attack method that he had only rarely done before - he bit into them. This wasn't him adopting a new style of combat - he preferred range or claw slash tail swipes - but rather a necessity at this time. By digging his teeth into them he was given a vector to enhance his growing level of control over them.

Which was the entire reason his pods were focused on distraction rather than destruction.

It also explained most of his actions in this battle. He would jump in bite, transmit more control, then back away to let the pods do their thing, before moving again to bite. During his jump away his central psyche focused on bending the mind of the primals towards his will. This wasn't easy, in fact it was quite difficult and temperamental as he didn't want to remove what made them unique. The goal to be achieved was mindlink not hivemind, a fact which heavily mattered as he wasn't trying to create the swarm.

So he had to be delicate. He had to be precise. He had to be careful. He had to add connections without stripping away that which made the two zerg primals. Going into the battle they were Zargoth and Nartoth, and he didn't want to strip that from them.

As he slowly manipulated their psyche's he realized he was lucky. Neither of them had the necessary lifesense, empathy, psychic, or control abilities to resist him or protect themselves from his actions. Of course, as zerg, they knew something was up but it was completely outside their area of expertise and so they didn't know how to fight.

Which meant as the battle continued they began to slow down, to cease struggling, as their very need to fight him was removed.

In the end they stopped resisting and put themselves in a position of physical supplication. This allowed the Primary to finish grafting the mindlink onto the two others.

As he finished establishing the necessary amount of control he returned all of his attention to the physical world. He gazed at them to see what would happen next.

"I serve you Alpha," the one named Zargoth said. He was the bigger of the two, focused on physical combat and tactical thought.

"I am at your command Alpha," says the one named Nartoth. Though equally as big he was more wirey compared to the other, which fit as he focused on ranged combat and strategic operation.

"I accept your service, Zargoth and Nartoth. I am the Primary for no other name will do. Welcome to my pack, which will one day grow to be legion."

All three then got comfortable as they began discussing their new state and the nature of the pack they now served within.  

After an hour of conversation, which was mostly over their shared mindlink, the Primary got up and extended his wings. He knew the link was stable enough for him to leave them alone for a while, which was important as there was one particular thing he needed to do. So when ready he jumped into the air with a goal of finding and then hunting some flying zerg, he wanted them to have the ability to fly immediately.

It was a pretty easy task, all things considered, and soon he was heading to the site where his two betas were lying. Placing the carcass of a dead flyer in front of them both he said, "take, eat. Fly."

A rumble from them both then.

"Yes alpha," the one said.

"As you wish alpha," was the response from the other.

"Good," he said while pushing out the feeling of happiness upon their obedience.

Which happened not even a moment later. The two betas reached forward with claws and teeth and begin eating and absorbing the essence. Though the assimilation was quick both looked up at their alpha.

"Need biomass alpha," said the one.

The other nodded, "adaptation intense alpha."

"That is acceptable. We will hunt when you are ready to go."

The two nod at that as they begin getting up to join their alpha in the hunt. A hunt which will go on for a few hours till both had been filled with the necessary biomass, plus a little more, to begin manifesting the wings of the flying essence.

When that was finished they then headed back to his central glade and Nest, for some needed rest.

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Chapter Text

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They had begun heading back to the central forest when the psychic wave was first felt. So powerful was it that he dropped to the ground in shock, as did his two betas, as he momentarily lost focus on what was going on.

"That is not good," he said through their link.

"What is it Alpha, what does it mean," Zargoth asks.

"Not sure, at least not yet anyway. In fact I have not ever felt that psychic wavelength before. Without getting to close I need to see what is happening." Is the Primary’s firm answer.

He was trying hard not to think of what he figured it meant.

At that they extend their wings once again and fly upward. As they do so they keep their eyes focused far to the east, for that is where the signal came from. As they moved vertical they also shifted a bit horizontal, till the signs of what it was appeared.

It was as he feared.

It was occurring at the volcanic heart of the continent, in an area home to intense torrential firestorms. There was, within a valley protected by towering ring mountains, a vast ever moving mass. It was a mass full of all the primal zerg that had called the area of a few hundred kilometers home. They had been called to the place by an irresistible urge and now they were being devoured.

To feed the indomitable thing that he could just barely make out from the center. Claws, armor, and an eye.

His silence was interrupted by Nargosh who asked, "you know don't you alpha."

"Yes. It is an entity which spells doom for all of Zerus. It is the Overmind." A pause. "The Zerg Swarm had been born."

Without saying anything he turns his attention towards his pods. With a bit of concentration he begins manipulating the essences within them. He removed all weaponry while implementing advanced camouflage and sensory abilities. After bit of armor reduction he managed to improve its photosynthesis ability, an adaptation especially useful for it meant the pod wouldn't need to eternal to him quickly. A moment after he launched two of them and ordered them to monitor what was going down on the ground.

He then turned towards the two, "let's head back. This changes everything. New plans will be needed."

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With the discovery of the Overmind's creation he knew he needed to speak to Aborth. So one quick message of 'I'm coming in' and he was landing in the courtyard of the cave the other primal called home.

As soon as he was in the room Aborth spoke, a bit of worry in his voice. "What happened. What was that pulse. What does it mean."

"It means destruction. It means an end to all we know. It means sameness and the loss of individuality. It means the Swarm has come." The Primary says with conviction in his voice.

"How do we survive that."

"We run. We have time, the Swarm isn't going to be coming for this part of the world for some time, so no rush. But we run."

"Where can we go if the Swarm will ruin everything."

"That is my secret. One only known by the zerg of my Legion."

Aborth raises up on spindly legs. "What do you demand of me."

"For you to recognize and accept my authority as your alpha and for you to enter into a mindlink with me. You will be you. Your individuality will be maintained, that you have my promise."

A long pause. "I knew this was coming from the moment I felt that pulse. I tried offering the thought of reaching out to you to the others, but they won't hear of it." Another pause. "I...accept. What do you need of me alpha."

The Primary nods, his aura indicating how pleased it is by that. "Good. Now, let us begin for we have some work to do before you and your pack can be of the Legion."

Which led to an hour long operation to manipulate Aborth's essence pattern. As with the first betas this was a highly complex and meticulous process that made sure his true individuality wasn't swept away. It was both easier and more difficult due to Aborth's knowledge of how the control essence worked. But in the end it worked and Aborth became a full part of the growing Legion. This was a status which over the next few days was extended to the rest of his pack.

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As he gazed down upon the growing mass of the Overmind through the senses of his scout pods he knew it was time for him and his Legion to say goodbye to Zerus, probably for good.

How they were going to go about leaving was a different matter, one he had thought long and hard on. His first thought, calling upon the spacefaring behemoths, was quickly discarded as he did not wish to copy the Overmind. So was his second thought, contacting the Xel'naga via psychic messaging, for he did not know who among them (if any) he could trust. His next idea was also ignored, that of simply launching himself into space, for he realized the Legion could not follow if he did that. When the final answer came it wasn't him who thought of it, but rather his two Betas.

Which actually pleased him.

The idea they had was for him to warp the Legion to another planet. They knew this wasn't a simple or easy act but with their own embedded khaydarin crystals they also knew it was possible, especially for the Primary. Which was indeed quite true for his many meditations had given him at least a basic understanding of all psychic fields.

How he was going to warp the Legion away was quite easy to determine, for all that it was difficult to accomplish. To prepare for the act he began collecting spare biomass while altering five pod critters to serve as focusing nodes for the act. The pods would have most of their advanced essences stripped from them, with the exception of flight and psionics, with the later centering around a large khaydarin crystal. From that he would manifest a warp portal that would bring everyone to their new world.

While the collecting was going on he began meditating on his khaydarin empowered psychic essence. This saw him reaching deep within himself in order to interface with the Xel'naga warp network. Upon the confirmation of the link he found himself bombarded with untold millions of network access points from all around the universe. Quickly focusing his will he limited it to only the Milky Way, still hundreds of thousands, and then only worlds that the Xel'naga were no longer actively using, which brought it to tens of thousands. With a twist of his thoughts he had both Zerus and Aiur appear as locations on his mental map, though neither were designated as potential warp points. One mental wave of his hands later and only the points within a zone linking Zerus and Aiur remained present, leaving only a thousand points. Then he removed worlds that were destroyed, wastelands, or inhabited by sentient species, this left only a few hundred potentials remaining. From out of that he asked for world's within clusters playing home to rich biomass intense biospheres that were visited by non-sentiet spacefaring creatures.

Only ten worlds remained.

One by one he forged a link to their datanets in order to learn more about them. As he scanned the information he found himself a bit amused at how all it took was some psychic ability and a Xel'naga attuned khaydarin crystal and access to the system was his. A part of him wondered if maybe he was being given behind the scenes support, but well time would tell on that and right now it wasn't the point.

A few of the planets caught his interest as not just potential options but places he might want to explore in the future. There were five worlds that intrigued him, starting with a tundra world with hidden valley biospheres full of mammoth life. Oceanic world with savanna islands and nutrient rich seas. Mountainous world with vast underground caverns full of rich life. Volcanic world with dangerous magma fields that play home to a great many lifeforms adapted to the harsh environment. Jungle world with massive towering trees home to a bizarre amalgamation of lifeforms.

But the world that caught his interest the most was the one super massive planet that showed up on the map. The twist was that from space it looked and scanned as a gas giant but from the ground it was a fully terrestrial world. Standard gravity, multiple continents and vast oceans, a huge assortment of life, in that it was pretty much perfect. If it had a negative it was the lack of metals, a trait which would have restricted the development of most civilizations but would have near zero effect on his legion. Of course there was one other reason he decided to choose that world, it was other a few hundred light years from Aiur, but on a different vector than he figured the Swarm would travel.

Upon pulling out of the Xel'naga network he turned his full attention towards what his secondary psyche tendril had found at the same time. The ability to split his consciousness was quite useful in his leading of the Legion, but also when he was going about such examinations. So all the while he was looking at the map his other self was data mining the Xel'naga network for any useful information and psychic essences. Unfortunately most of what was gathered was heavily fragmented and nearly impossible to comprehend at his current level of development. Still there were benefits gained, for example most of his psychic channels were widened by the experiences in the psychic datastream.

But more to the point was him gaining an arcane essence, which is the trait to mask his presence from psychic detection, spirit sight, and aura reading. Though his strength was pretty basic right now, it couldn't hold up to the Xel'naga, it was pretty impressive compared to what most psychic species could do (which included both the Overmind and the Protoss).

As he fully pulled himself from it all he turned to his Betas and said, "location chosen, now we tie up loose ends before we leave Zerus."

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As he gazed upon Daroth he pondered what to do with him now that he was leaving Zerus. His quickest thought was to leave Daroth behind, but he dismissed that as a waste of resources and capabilities. Especially since he was taking the rest of the Legion with him through the warp portal.

With a twist of his will Daroth was given access to the essence of motive telekinesis. Another flex of his powers and his minions brought a vast amount of biomass for Daroth to absorb. A final push of his authority and Nest was given all the necessary details for what he wanted him to do.

Mentally grinning at the order Daroth began using the biomass to shape and grow his lower tentacle roots into something more limb like. At the same time dozens of motive nodules began forming within his lower body, all the better to balance his form. Finally he used his new burrowing ability to move the surrounding earth out of his way. When this was done he stood up from where he had once been rooted and began moving, slowly and ponderously as he tests his new legs.

Upon watching Daroth move about he couldn't help but link the sight to the idea of the Ents from Tolkien and the Night Elf Ancients from Warcraft. At that he turned his mind to other matters, namely directing the appropriate essences to the Nesting Warren structures of his Betas so they too could Uplift and move.

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As he landed upon the island of zerg cultivators he had pushed out an aura of safety, good will, and happiness. So strong was it that the hapless zerg on the island all stopped in their tracks, overcome by the positive feelings. If he had meant them harm this would have been a perfect time to strike.

They were lucky he did not mean them harm.

Reaching into the core of their zerg minds he gave them an awareness of the growing darkness that was the Overmind, what it meant for them, and what he was offering them. Which was both them joining his Legion as Deltas and coming with him when they left. Most answered affirmatively, the peaceful few who desired to stay were allowed to, while those who caused problems were devoured.

To aid in them becoming deltas the Primary quickly grew two Nests upon the island. They were then influenced into making said structure their new home. As that went on the Primary learned that his strong biopsychic touch had caused their psyche to halfway transformation into delta status. This would, he would think, warrant further study in the future.

To make sure they didn't loose all that they had cultivated the Primary focused on his essence and began making a change to a pod. Removing most abilities but granting the structure morph essence he would create another structure design.

Known as a Farmtop this zerg structure took a tree-like form with multiple tiers of flat canopies. Upon each canopy the Legion would begin cultivating plants for nutrients and biomass while open spaces within would serve as storage. With biomass gathered from the dead primal zerg plus some felled trees a few of these structures would be created.

Though the structure zergs on the island all had Uproot he knew to let them travel to the warping site would be inefficient. To aid in speeding up the process he used a miniature warp portal and linked the group to the primary cluster. As he knew it would be the transport went off without any problems.

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As he stood within a cleaning by a natural spawning pool the Primary activated one of his structure pods and had it take root nearby in order to transform into a zerg structure. As his minions came by and fed the pod biomass the new structure started to grow towards his mature state.

As that was happening the Primary turned towards his two Betas to say. "The primordial substance which lies within those pools are what let the zerg have its great ability to assimilate and shape essence. For that reason collections from numerous spawning pools will be coming with the Legion as we travel to a new world."

The three then gaze upon the newly risen structure zerg. Though tree-like in a way similar to the Nesting Warren this zerg structure possessed a large number of fountain like protrusions raised over basins and wells. The structure is also wider than tall, notwithstanding the tentacles which lie upon its edges.

Upon an act of will from Primary the first Genesis Fountain began sending out mighty hallow roots towards the nearby spawning pool. A pool was specifically chosen for being the one the Primary was born from those few years ago. Once ready the zerg began sucking up the primordial oozes of the pool, for storage within his many basins and pools.

"Before I leave you to your work, here is the essence to Uproot. Use it to move to the nearby spawning pools where you are to drink and store. If you find yourself filled up too quick I shall give you brethren."

"As you command Primary," said the consciousness of the Genesis Fountain to his lord and master.

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Pulling back from seeing through the eyes of this scout pod he turned to look at the gathered zerg around him. "It is as I feared, the Swarm has accelerated their conquest of Zerus. Though it is a few years before he gets to us there are already reports of his scouts."

In the pause Aborth said, "the Legion has fully assembled Primary. Your Legates are with their Cohorts and their assigned Nests have all their omegas resting within their leaves. The Domus are all gathered around with as much nutrients and biomass that can conceivably be carried within their forms. All that is left is for you to give the order."

The Primary says "good" while also transmitting the emotion of a job done well to all those of the Legion. This immediate causes the zerg equivalent of cheering, both physical and mental. He lets it go for a good five minutes before moving from where he was surrounded and into the special clearing.

It was the clearing in the center of the plains that would - momentarily - play host to a majestic act of psychic willworking. As he activated the five psionically focused pods he began gathering his will and energy towards the act. With a wave of thought he also received the psychic energy of all the zerg in the Legion, be it the majority from those of the hivemind or the excess from those sharing mindlink. With them, and his own power, he reached into his khaydarin crystal in order to gain access to the Xel'naga psychic network. In front of his eyes a swirling vortex began appearing, first hazy but slowly strengthening in shape and darkening in color.

Though it took thirty minutes the warp portal was open between Zerus and the far distant world of Marren.

One scout pod later and the Primary gave the orders for the Legion to head through the portal.

The Legate Zargoth was the first actual zerg to head through, with his immediate cohort. Their purpose was to scout and prepare the immediate area. When they had cleared a section large enough around the portal site the rest of the Legion followed suit.

At almost the same exact time that the last of his Legion marched through the portal he felt a whisper cross his mind. Immediately he reacted, putting up the strongest mindshield he knew in order to protect and hide what he was doing. He realized too late to stop it but he didn't just block his location, rather he clouded the whole of the local psychic aether. Though it would fade relatively quickly it existed just long enough for the Overmind to use his meager telepathic powers to occulade himself from Xel'naga sight. This he felt through premonition, for it was the beginning of a sequence of events which would lead the Swarm towards becoming a scourge on the galaxy.

Not taking the time to fully process what just happened he moved to step through the portal. Once he passed through it began closing in such a way as to not impede or risk is own passage. As soon as he stepped upon the grassy field that was their arrival point he force snapped shut the portal.

It closed.

On Zerus all his pods died, acid eating away them entirely till not even essence remained. This wasn't just the five psychic pods but all the various scout pods he had placed around the world to monitor various activities.

On Marren his first action was to look at the nearby Xel'naga Temple before turning his gaze towards his Legion. "We are home. Send out the flyers, let us find the site for our capital Hold. Till that is, let this place serve as our initial Hold."

Which saw one of his zerg moved forward towards the designated spot and begin morphing into a Hearth, the heart of a Hold. As the Hearth was growing the domus who had come from Zerus began moving till they arrayed themselves in a particular spiral order before rooting into the ground. Soon after other zerg started placing themselves in morph into the various other domus the Hold needed.

Within two hours of arrival the initial Hold was complete and the Primary began making plans for what was to come next.

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He had been flying through the sky ignoring all the stress of being the leader of a nation when he first spotted them, the Ka'zula - the space dragons. Of course he knew about them from the records he had collected but it was different seeing them in person. Especially when he turned all his senses onto them for they lit up like a Christmas Tree.

It was glorious.

It was also going to lead to the next major evolutionary point for himself and his Legion. He just needed to absorb their essence, which was no easy feat. At least not in the standard zerg way of mass attack to bring them down.

But then he stopped and questioned that thought. For he soon realized there was no real reason to destroy them. With their sheer size - in the multi kilometers - he could collect the necessary essences without their death. Especially since he wanted their spacefaring essences rather than their body for transport or space warfare.

It was for those reasons he decided to do the assimilation a bit differently than what the zerg were known for. Sending a mental pulse out, he ordered a Shifter Coop to morph one of its omegas into a Skypack Roost structure. When the consciousness of that structure had appeared - even as its body was still growing - he ordered the deployment of a few units of sky zerg. He was especially careful to make sure this batch contained essence absorption abilities.

Though it would take a few days eventually he found himself surrounded by a few hundred aerial zerg. Then, at his order, and as one, the great horde of them made for the various sky dragons flying about and resting within the valley. Upon reaching them his zerg landed - only a few on each - on the backs of the mammoth creatures. There they pierced armor and began consuming some biomass - and all the associated essences. With the exception of the Primary himself, none of his zerg were more than five meters long and so none of the space dragons even felt it.

"Its the equivalent of a bug biting us, yes in vast amounts it could be deadly but at one or two its just annoying," the Primary said through his mindlink to his four betas.

It is Aborth which replies from where he is laying within the center of the cavernous Hearth. "Yet it gives us the essences that the species possess, especially with your spreading out the absorption."

Nartoth then says, after a moment of delay, "I find myself glad we are not destroying the species. Which is a new concept for me."

Giving out a mental nod at that the Primary says, "the Legion should expect more of such behavior. We gather essence, yes, we adapt, we absorb, we assimilate but we do not need to destroy. In the long term if we let them live they might come up with other useful essences." A pause. "We are finished absorbing the useful biomass and heading back." A stop as he concentrates on detaching himself from the already healing wound of the space dragon and heading back. Once on the ground he begins going through all the essences gathered by him and the other aerial zerg of his Legion.

Of which there was many.

The space dragons were ancient, at least over a million years old. Though highly evolved and intelligent they weren't sentient, despite the length of their existence. Still, even without that, their essences were advanced in numerous interesting and unique ways. All of which were now flowing through him, and from him into his Legion.

As he analyzed the essence he came to realize that it was their control of gravity that enabled them to fly - both in space and in an atmosphere. They did this through a vast array of precisely calibrated nodules within the whole of their body. Said nodules manipulate gravity - reducing, increasing, and shaping - to enable the space dragon to move. It also served to protect them - when they felt threatened they could create gravity shields some distance. But what was even more miraculous was the special organ they had that let them generate warp fields and travel through warp space. As he studied the essence he quickly realized that a size limitation existed - in that you had to be over a particular size.

Without question or hesitation he immediately channeled the essence into his body and began forming dozens of gravity controlling nodules. He wanted to be free of the shackles of a planet without resorting to the use of psionics and this was his means for that. To the others of his Legion he gave the essence to only those who needed it, it wasn't useful for his ground zerg for example. Aborth took to the essence in glee, as it allowed his body a great deal more mobility, for all that he remained looking like a giant slug.

The other essences gathered by the space dragons were manifold in their application and capability. Their regeneration ability was different than the zergs, greater in some ways while weaker in others, but when the two combined the result was amazing. The essences they had developed in order to sustain their sheer size quickly and easily went to the structure zerg, making their operations so much smoother going. Their senses and reflexes had adapted to being used at FTL speeds just as easily as they did to moving slowly, which the zerg took to with little issue. He also discovered numerous enhancements to their outer carapace to better enhance their ability to collect energy from sunlight, including catching solar rays from right in front of a star itself.

They had one more major essence - the ability to sense, collect, process, and use Vespene Gas in order to supercharge and refine their capabilities. In fact, the Primary realized quickly, this was one of the major reasons they used this world as a stop over - it contained intense vespene reserves. As the essences flow through his body and he found his senses expanding he realized there was more to that - the upper middle cloud later WAS vespene gas. The adaptation towards vespene gas was one he quickly passed around to all the zerg of the Legion. At the same time he designed an Extractor structure zerg to collect and process the gas for the Legion, while ordering numerous examples of them to be grown.

When he had finished processing all the essences he felt were available at this time he took flight. Up and up he went, passing the lower, middle and upper tiers of atmosphere and just kept on going. Soon he broke the last layer and found himself into lower orbit, and then up he went again. There was a split second when he felt pain as his body started collapsing but then essences flowed and he became just as adapted towards space as he was a planet.

Freed from the limitation of a planet he choose to spend the next few days flying around the planet and visiting its moons. It made him quite glad to be able to multitask, for while his greater consciousness was enjoying space a large number of his psyche tendrils were ruling the Zerg Legion.

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The end. For now.

Chapter Text

Lexicon
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Marren - The new homeworld of the Zerg Legion.

The Zerg Legion - The name for the society nation of primal zerg under the absolute authority of the Primary.

Hold - A community of Legion zerg.

Alphas - A primal zerg who heads a pack. Legion zerg recognize only one true alpha, the Primary, with those who might have been alphas considers betas.

Betas - Also Legates. The chief lieutenants of the Primary and the senior leadership of the Legion. Have a permanent mindlink with the Primary but are still fully individuals.

Deltas - Also Cohorts. Name given to the baseline primal zerg of the Legion. They are individuals but are in a mindlink chain that leads to the Primary.

Gammas - Also Domus. The structure zergs of the Legion. Due to their particular essence sequences they have a weird position in the Legion. They come from omegas but have authority over deltas.

Omegas - Also Horde. The hivemind zerg of the Legion. Though an omega may be intelligent they are without a separate consciousness. (A perfect example of an omega zerg are the pod critters.)

Infestation - With infestation the weaker primal zerg become hivemind omegas while the stronger become mindlink deltas.

Figures of Renown
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The Primary - The supreme leader and high alpha for the Legion. An elder primal zerg.

Aborth - A primal zerg who choose to join forces with the Primary and accept a mindlink to him. Is in possession of his own mindlinked and hivemind pack of primal zerg. Is a proto-cerebrate.

Zargoth - A primal zerg focused on melee combat and tactical focus.

Nartoth - A primal zerg devoted to ranged combat and strategic focus.

Daroth - The first structure zerg of the Legion, technically a Nest. Despite that nature his sentience and power puts him on the level of being a beta zerg.

Structure Zerg
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Hearth - A domus that acts as the heart of a zerg Hold.

Nests - A domus that provides support (nutrient, biomass, rest) to the cohorts and hordes of the Legion.
Warren - A Nest subtype domus dedicated to Hoard support.
Lodge - A Nest subtype domus dedicated to Cohort support.

Forum - A zerg community structure. This domus serves as a meeting place for the cohorts of the Legion.

Cache - A zerg resource structure. A domus dedicated towards resource storage.

Lifewell - A zerg development structure. Within the pools of a Lifewell large amounts of essence are stored for future developments.

Farmtop - Farming structure.

Genesis Fountain - spawning pool

Shifter Coop - A deployment structure home to the shifter zerg of the Legion. It is the shifter zerg which morph into the zerg structures.

Skypack Roost - A deployment structure for the aerial zerg of the Legion.

Extractor - A resource structure designed to collect and process Vespene Gas.

Units
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Morphling - This specialized zerg breed morphs into the biological structures (Domus) of the Legion.

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The Primary's Attack Abilities
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Melee Assault - Claws (six), bites, tusks, tail spikes. Psychic sword.

Ranged Assault - Spine launchers, acid beam, sonic blast, spore attack, empathetic wave. Psychic blast.

Modifications - Poisons (all attacks have a poison element).

Maneuverability - Flight, tree swinging, burrowing.

Special - Pod critters (8), genesis spawning