Private O'Nill was still puzzling over the stamp he had found on the document when he returned to his barracks. It reminded him of the Inquisition logo, but had a planet in the background, which was topped with a wreath of a plant. He was still studying it when he noticed the title: Project Overmind. The title was the only understandable part of the text, since it was in Low Gothic. He finally slid the document away in his boot, and decided to tell his officer in the morning.
Newt was slightly annoyed. Almost all of the undergrowth had been chopped and hauled, so they needed another source of biomass. Also, they needed a substitute for- Newt's eyes narrowed. The memories of his normal time told him of several towns where they were desperate for food, and would do almost anything for it. And his zerglings had found just the place to retrieve it…
The town of Arboreal was shrouded in forest. Of course, the local trees grew in a few years, and sprouted with insane enthusiasm. Of course, this made it impossible to grow food on site for the loggers, so it had to be carted in. Every week, convoys of a dozen wagons each brought in grain, vegetables and several important tools that had to be replaced up the long trail to the town to support the thousand inhabitants. Of course, the local wildlife has evolved to be extremely competitive, and will often attack the escort of these food trains. Which is why they always had a large contingent of soldiers guarding them.
"D'Arvit! Soldier, watch where you poke that thing!" Sergeant Hall rubbed his back, where an ill-timed turn had poked him with one of the crossbowmen's bolts. As the man apologized, Hall thought: Just glad they decided to put the pointy end at the bottom of the quiver. Turning, Hall shouted to the flanking escorts. "Any signs of hungry critters yet?" The man in charge of the group shouted back through the trees, "Found unusual tracks! Hope that they don't get ideas." Another hundred yards passed, before the flankers called again. "Whatever they were, they ate a Bounding Scorpion without getting severely hurt. Do you think you could send some more squads to support us?"
Newt watched the local people pass by within thirty feet without noticing. Behind him, dozens of Zerglings lay in wait for his orders. Ahead, a hundred more of the vicious little critters lay in wait. Unfortunately, the Swarm still didn't have a source of catalyst to sub in for vespene gas, so no higher strains could be formed. Fortunately, Newt possessed the knowledge of all the Zerg and their enemies, so now most things were instinctual. The first time he had ordered a zergling to do something, it was confused at . After more experimentation, the species had learned how his mind worked, and now could execute his orders with unnatural precision. Maybe, Newt mused, because they are hooked into my conscious.
Hall was uneasy. Usually, there were several attacks by the wildlife by the time they reached the town, but today it was unusually quiet. Not even the calls of the more common creatures. While Bounding Scorpions were not the most deadly opponent here, they were still four feet of chitin covered danger. The claws were capable of cutting through steel, and it, well, bounded along; moving far faster than humans could in this mess. Hall's soldier sense was tingling, and he didn't know why. When the feeling grew to be unbearable, he shouted for the flankers to pull back. This decision would prove to be the tipping point.
Newt's soldiers (even if they were completely will-less, he still thought of them as men) burst from the undergrowth as the flankers turned their backs. The most attentive of the guards heard the slight rustle of grass over carapace, and turned to meet the advance. Two zerglings ganged up on him within seconds of the start. Coming from slightly to the right and left of the man, he put his shield between him and the leftmost one, and blocked the talons of the right one with his sword. Or, at least he tried, and mostly succeeded. Talons capable of tearing through tank armor in time cut clean through the two inch wide sword, but it did deflect those talons a critical six inches. The second zergling tore through the entire length of the metal covered shield, distracting the man from the second attack of its partner. As the man fell, his friends were already dead, being unprepared for the voracious attackers at their backs. In five seconds, the entire side of the convoy was stripped bare.
And that was only the beginning…
