* Through So Lifeless A Substance *
The Terrans build their facilities out of the strongest metals in the universe. They are impentetrable for all but the most advanced weaponry, and they stand as a pragmatic reminder why a race of imperfects survives in the sector's all-out war. From wrecks of old I've seen their insides, and they are works of art - with technology and efficiency solely a medium. The Terrans install the most sensitive detection systems this galaxy has ever seen, so when the buildings are in danger the threat can be neutralized quickly.
If they are destroyed, they are rebuilt. If they are merely damaged they form task forces to repair the enormous metal monuments. There is some sort of love that they have for their metal, but it is a very practical love.
The Protoss have a connection with their infrastructure which is at once deeper and cheaper than the Terrans. They are cold and impersonal, much more so than the most hastily built Terran outpost. What can be said of their defenses, their technology? Both are impeccable: the Protoss are a perfect of form. They are awe-inspiring and to those who know little of their flaws, quite imposing (even after years of war, their defensive cannons still have me consider my own mortality). Infinitely accessible, their origin in the psionic network means their vast resources can be accessed anywhere in the universe by even the lowliest zealot.
A thousand buildings made, a thousand buildings lost. Not a single tear shed.
For as valuable, as practical, as they are, the only ones who can care for all of them are the upper echelons of command. A common footsoldier has no true understanding of their complexity. The Terrans' bond is cameras and sensors, the Protoss' bond is psi-force and data, but the Swarm's bond is blood.
Each of Our constructions weaves its own connection into the very heart of the Swarm. There need be no instruction given from commanders to rush to their defense, even to troops thousands of miles away. The invaders scoff and say "why do they not make their buildings of metal?" but how can so gripping a bond be formed through so lifeless a substance? Theirs are buildings, structures of convenience, but Ours are living organisms, with blood, sweat, and tears. When pierced by a bullet or burned by plasma They feel pain, and the Swarm can feel Their pain as though it were Our own.
The invaders do not understand why, when they massacre a simple outpost, the Hive retaliates with such a bloodlust. But We call our hatcheries 'Father,' and who would not seek revenge on the man who killed his father? We call our colonies 'Daughter,' and what creature would watch as his daughter was mercilessly slaughtered?
That is not to say Our armies are not driven by pure emotional rage; all does go through the Overmind. It lays out strategy of decisive victories and where there is room for improvisation Its Celebrates craft brilliant tactics. When Our fathers must fall to prepare for a greater victory, this is a grave proposition. As the invaders murder Our sisters, only the will of the Overmind is strong enough to keep all of Us restrained. Our enemy's minor attack faces little apparent resistance. But We have Our revenge. As their true offensive - a vast fleet of starships buzzing with technological modifications beyond comprehension - assails Our primary stronghold, the fury of the Swarm is unleashed.