The Following Chapter contains characters/Creatures from the following: Starcraft, Halo, System Shock, Avatar, and Dead Space
Dawn of Corruption
Aiur, The Protos Home-world
A massive eye, one covered in carapace turned to observe the world. Across the stars it saw many a Zerg fall to Protoss and Terran. All Across the cosmos the Eternal Will of the Swarm felt the Swarm kill and die. It had thought and Reason but no free will of it's own. Forever slaved to that overriding objective to destroy the Protoss. A slave within it's own mind, never truly free from this one directive.
Though there was one objective it had used to it's advantage, the Xel'naga wanted to create the perfect being through purity of form, and purity of essence. Though they did not define 'perfection' as well s they should have. The cracks allowed the Overmind some control, though even it did not know how much. The X-shaped red pupil blinked as it felt...Something. Something was new. The will of the Zerg turned it's eye upward, before it felt beyond the stars.
'The Walls of reality are weak. Curious'
The eye turned as it looked to the coming armies. Already two cerebrates were slain. The numbers of the Zerg were stretched thin. There was no doubt, the Overmind would die this day...And yet.
The massive eye once again focused on the weakened walls of reality, something that by all accounts should be impossible, and yet here it was. Though how to use it to it's advantage. It knew little of these walls, even the memories of the Xel'naga were useless. It was possibly the swarm would end up anywhere, anywhen.
Though when the alternative is death, any chance at survival should be taken. The Overmind commanded it's broods to seize any Khaydarin crystals it could before it pulled upon it's psionic powers, tearing the fabric of reality apart as the Warp Rift began to open. In another reality, the Overmind would open the rift much too late, and as a result would have died, but in this reality, the titanic bulk of the Overmind successfully escaped with a handful of crystals and a few remaining Broods.
Instillation 05/ Delta Halo
The Insectoid arms uncurled as the Oveminds eye opened. The Zerg were already using the Khaydarin Crystals to allow the Overmind to fully manifest itself on this new...Planet?
Although this 'planet' was unlike any the Overmind had ever witnessed. It's swarm rested upon the inside of a massive ring-world. One with seas and land on the inside of it. But the Zerg could adapt. They began to spread. Creep grew across the lands as a single drone morphed into a Hive. Zerglings ran off to find any life to feed upon, and the swarm began to grow.
There was no resources the Zerg were used to on this world, but the Zerg could adapt well used what they could, and though the gowth was slow, it was steady. This new world felt, hollow. The Overmind could feel something was here, yet no life, other than plant life could be were structures and ruins, but no complex life.
Yet he could feel something was here, something old. Something familiar yet not. The Swarm was careful as it explored the ringworld. It was when they were exploring the ruins, that a curious Zergling found what it was. Strange life forms, not unlike a slug or an insect attacked the Zergling. The Overmind felt as the nerves of the thing attempted something he had not anticipated. This insect was attempting to assimilate the Zergling. What was worse was after a time, it succeeded.
The Zergling, could not be called such anymore. It was something other. Dead yet moving. It's mind cut off from the swarm. Boundless rage fell upon the will of the Zerg as it commanded it's swarm to attack this shadow of the swarm. More Zerg fell to the infection, and the infection fell to the Zerg. Each assimilating the other forming new and strange beings each time.
The Overmind could feel what this infection did to his swarm. The Infectors would infect Zerg cells with their own genetic code. Of course due to the uniqueness of Zerg biology, it resulted in radically different forms, even when those infected were the same sub-strain of Zerg.
There were also the Pure ones, who could shift between three different forms, each built for a unique purpose. It was only through numbers and skill that the Zerg did not fall. When the Overmind consumed the first of this 'Flood' as they called themselves, it felt what they were doing. Collecting the dead Zerg, for what reason, it did not know.
The Zerg were strong, but their race was so like themselves. When one fell on either side it was resurrected on the other. The Dead Flood would be consumed and turned into new Zerg, and the Flood would assimilate the Zerg. Their numbers always even.
This infestations tactics were interesting. They should have had numbers, but they were set on collecting dead Zerg over assimilating them. The Question was why, what purpouse could it be. Had this infestation not been so adamant on collecting rather than assimilating they would have hd great numbers, but instead they gave that advantage to the Zerg, and the Overmind did not know why.
Standard Flood were but animals, a mind was there but it was very good at hiding it's thoughts. A consequence of a Hive Mind no doubt, they knew how to hide their goals. The Overmind was just as skilled. Neither would know more on the other, no matter how many were assimilated.
Standard tactics of mass rushing the enemy was a risky move. If it succeeded then that was more essence for the Zerg to consume, it it failed, the Flood had more forces. Hit and run replaced the mass swarming of old. Only when success was sure did the swarm use it. For years it was like this, neither force able to overcome the other, then it all changed when the earth began to shake.
The massive eye of the Ovemind watched as long tentacles tore themselves from the earth, each one branched off. A massive form burst from the earth. A large head, somewhat plantlike, with an oddly shaped mouth. It dwarfed even the largest Ultralisk. It seemed to stare at the Overmind, though it had no eyes.
It's tentacles flailed as the Overmind obseved this creature. It's great mind knew this was the result of the disappearance of so many Zerg Bodies. The Flood had built themselves a composite, a form to challenge the Overmind. Perhaps it was new, perhaps it always existed but needed more flesh to act. Regardless this creature was a great threat.
"I am the Gravemind. And you are a pretender to my greatness, your flesh is mine"
Spores clouded around the Graveminds maw with each word spoken, and each breath taken. The Overmind prepared it's Psionic powers. The Two struck.
The Gravemind had mobility, but it would find it difficult to destroy the shell of the Overmind. The Overmind may have been mostly immobile, but it's psionics were more than enough. The titans fought. The Overminds insectoid limbs coiled round it, protecting the central eye. He would have to rely on viewing the world through the eyes of the other Zerg.
Psionic blasts tore flesh from the Gravemind, only for it to heal unbelievably quickly. The Tentacles of the Gravemind were strong, but the Overminds shell held against the thrashing. The Swarm below attacked the Gravemind, and swarms of Flood came to prevent them from reaching the mind of the Flood.
The Overmind used what mobility it could to defend itself but compared to the Gravemind it was slow. Bulky tentacles slammed against the Shell, never really able to crack it. Neural nodes had shells form upon them as well to prevent assimilation from this Gravemind. The Overmind knew that the Flood attacked the nervous system with their spores, he felt it personally every time a Zerg fell to their infection.
Neither titan could overwhelm the other at first, but the Overmind was weakening, each Psionic attack was weaker than the last. The Gravemind just refused to die or yield to mental powers of an entire legion. Swarms of flood willingly sacrificed themselves to the Gravemind allowing it to grow more and more. Their fight lasted days, and neither was prepared to lose.
On the fifth day of continuous fighting the Overmind reached up with one of it's bladed limbs to slice the Graveminds incoming tentacle. However the Gravemind acted quickly and warped around the limb instead as it attacked at the now unprotected eye of the Overmind. A thick neural node moved to protect the eye. It succeded, but then something happened. The shell around the node cracked. The Overmind looked to the Gravemind as it seemed to smile, before it's tentacle slithered into the wound.
"Your form is weak, I approve of your methods Great One, but none can stand before the Flood and not drown in it's rage."
The Gravemind plunged into a neural node, and attempted to infest the Overmind with the spores of the Flood. Instead all fell still. The Overmind's massive eye stared unblinking at the now still Gravemind. Neither of the titans could move. The unnatural stillness lasted for years. Occasionally the Gravemind would twitch unaturally, but it was rare. Even the Flood and Zerg Below fell still, as if frozen in time, but the twitching could occasionally be seen.
Unknown to either great assimilator, when the Gravemind attampted to infest the great mind of the Zerg, it was plunged into a mind just as old as it's own. Theirs was a war unlike any other, a war within their collective hiveminds. Two gestalt minds fought. In the realm of the mind, the Overmind had greater control than the Gravemind. Millenia of Psionic powers giving it the advantage in the realm of thoughts and memories, but the Gravemind was an anchient being. Their collective hives fought within the realm of thought, unknowingly their conciousness were welding and fusing together.
After several years the war ended, and two Hive Minds became one. Their mental battle only a charade for their slow merging of aeons of knowledge. The resulting beast was forever changed into something new, something horrible.
The stillness ended as the new Hive Leader observed itself. A perfect fusion of Zerg and Flood. Long Tentacles of the Gravemind were now covered in a carapace, and upon it's head now existed the massive eye of the Overmind. This beast held traits of both Hive leaders in a single form.
The Mobility of the Gravemind, and the Psionic powers of the Overmind placed into a single being. The Flood and Zerg Below no longer fought, only watches, even as the long tentacles sucked them up, adding to this gestalt beings bulk. The Zerg structures were consumed, as was the creep upon which they grew. And on the Halo ring a single terrible beast came to be. A fusion of Flood and Zerg, not a Gravemind, nor an Overmind, but the Supreme Mind. The collective knowledge of both races, the Xel'naga, the Precursors, the Forerunners. All the minds either had ever consumed.
The knowledge was amazing. More so than any one individual could hope to know. the beast looked round the Halo ring it sat upon, before looking to the stars. The barriers of reality were still weak, in fact they were weaker than before.
The Hybrid's eye blinked, as the Warp Rift opened. The Walls of reality were breached, and the Gestalt being searched infinity. So much knowledge taken when a Hive Minded being was consumed, somewhere in the infinite there were others. Massive Hives of joined minds, holding more knowledge than any one individual could hope to hold.
Searching through the infinite was not perfect, they could not pinpoint where they would end up, but they could sense the thoughts of a hive mind beyond the rift, it would do. The memories of a singular hive mind held too much knowledge not to focus on, and if there were two, there would be others somewhere in the infinite. Individuals could wait, collective hives would bear much more fruit, more knowledge than the Gravemind or Overmind ever dreamed possible. The Hybrid floated upwards into the Warp RIft, and left the realty behind. Searching for more Hive Minds to consume.
Deep Space
The Supreme Mind of a new race looked at it's new domain. The eye upon it's brow turned to observe the world around it critically. It was in the vacuum of space, hovering not far from a metallic ship, though something was growing upon the ship. Using it's great mass, the Supreme Mind drifted towards the ship. Mile long tentacles squirming as it floated in the cold empty space towards the ship. As it neared, the Gestalt beast realized it was not one ship, but two.
Flesh had wrapped aroud both space ships, holding them together. The massive eye focused on the ships names. Von Braun was one, and the other was named Rickenbacker. It was not important, what was important was the flesh that engulfed the ships. This was another like them, a Hive Mind of untold numbers.
Then the Gestalt Hive felt it, a mind pulling at it's own. So like Psionics, yet somehow different. The Supreame Mind stretched out, feeling at the conscious calling out to it, and it could 'hear' the voice of this Hive.
'What wonders of the Flesh you are'
There were three voices that 'spoke'. All were human voices, one was a Deep almost threatening male voice, another was a gravelly seemingly old male voice, and the final voice was an emotionless female. All three voices spoke as one. Then the Supreme mind comprehended the words spoken. It was not entirely what they expected, this Hive Mind seemed to complement them, unlike the Gravemind or the Overmind who fought each other for dominance, this one seemed more calm, collected, and subdued.
'We are the Supreme Mind of true Unity. We have come to join your mass with our own. To bring a union of mind and flesh into a singular instance.'
'We know much of you, our minds have peered your own. We see the ones called Zerg and Flood. We are The Many. Our goal is to incorporate all life into our collective. You can aid us in that goal. We, unlike the Overmind or the Gravemind, feel their is room to Coexist with one another. We will not fight you, come to my central brain and we all shall feel the warmth of our collected flesh'
Interesting. This Hive was different, it was not the logical calculation of the Overmind, or the Malicious hunger of the Gravemind, rather it was like a Mother. One seemingly willing to join into a new collective, rather than fight against it.
'You will not fight?'
'We will not. Come we shall join each other into a new paradigm of life.'
Satisfied the long tentacles of the Hybrid moved to the body of the Many. Cradling it as their flesh fused together. The Many did not resist, if anything the thoughts coming from it seemed happy with the fusion of flesh and blood and bone.
The long tentacles of the Corruption grasped the Starships themselves as they slithered through the insides. Extant branches of this Many willingly allowed themselves to be consumed into the biomass. The Many's children, the Annelids, Arachnids, Psi-Reaper, and the others only waited to be consumed.
The Hybrid fused with internal organs of the Many, and joined with the Nerve Clusters. Then they snaked towards the brain. Defense Nodes simply allowed the Hybrid to meld with the Many's brain, and countless minds entered their form.
Unlike before there was no fighting for dominance, and each being willingly fused to the other. New information was gained from the memories of the Many, and these thoughts were willingly shared. This 'Machine Mother' was dangerous, a machine that they could not join with. But it had fled with men of metal who searched the multitude of reality for similar machines. They would be dealt with when the time was right, but for now there ws only unity.
Slowly the body of the many moved away from the two ships, and slithered into the Hybrids mass. It was a gentle merging as opposed to the outright war between the Overmind and Gravemind. As the process was finished and the Many joined fully into the greater consciousness, the Hybrid once again began to change.
The Hybrid slowly gained traits of the Many. Nerve clusters grew at the tips of many tentacles, and a brain formed within the central mass. New organs were formed as the Hybrid increased in size. After only a few hours all of the Many's minds were fully absorbed and added to the collective. The Hybrids tentacles released the ships that once held the Many and simply floated away, free of Biomass, as the now massive Hybrid turned it's eye upwards.
It's already considerable Psionic powers had grown with the introduction of the Many, and as the Warp Rift opened they began to search. They hungered for the knowledge of hives, and the amount of biomass each hive would bring to them, hives so unlike anything they could dream of. With the walls of reality weakened, it would be simple to jump from universe to universe, consuming hives and then leave before any could find it.
And when all Hives were theirs they would turn to the individual. All life within the infinite would meld under a single glorious collective. The Hybrid flew into the rift when it felt another mind similar to their own to consume.
Pandora
The Supreme Mind observed this new world. By all accounts this...Moon was not entirely what they expected. Animals seemingly roamed free, and the Trees towered over most known flora. Miles upon miles of lush forests and jungles could be seen in every direction. And with their perfect eyesight they saw what appeared to be floating mountains in the distance.
Strange beasts flew in the air, and roamed the base earth. There was no mistaking the mind of a Hive here, they felt it when the rift had opened, but where was it. It could not hide for long, it would be added into the collective mass of a new species. Until then,the animals would allow their form to grow before finding the Hive Mind of this moon, and that hive would join them before they left this reality to the next Hive within the infinite.
Long Tentacles knocked down trees as they went for the animals. Each one sucked into the hives Biomass, screaming as their own flesh sickeningly fused with the many's own biomass. When the primitive memories of the animals was sifted and understood, the Supreme Mind Paused, and looked to the uprooted trees. Observing the blue glow of it's roots.
'Interesting'
It was unlike any other Hive Mind encountered, one that did not bend others to their will or join their flesh and minds into a singular entity, though it may capable of doing one or both. All along the moons surface were the trees, whose roots formed a neural network the animals of the planet could interact with.
A single long tentacle went to the tree's roots, and was pleased to see that it was susceptible to the merging. It was there that the Hive Mind was found, one who hid deep within the life of the planet itself.
This..Eywa was unlike the Zerg, or the Flood, or the Many. It was a mind so unlike what was expected. Consuming only a few of her children revealed so much, and connecting to the roots revealed even more. The Supreme Mind plunged it's tentacles into the earth, using the few it consumed it the Gestalt beast formed neuro-conductive antennae and connected into the neural network of the moon, showing this Eywa all it knew. The part of it's mind that had once been the Gravemind was pleased to see the memories was traumatizing Eywa.
Billions if not trillions of minds screamed as they saw all that the Supreme Mind and those it had once been did. The Memories of three separate realities converging, allowing the natives of pandora to 'feel' the countless minds. Using modified flood spores, the Supreme mind infected the Neural Network further, and watched as the trees twisted into new shapes.
The part of it's mind that had once been the Overmind was equally pleased by the knowledge gained from Eywa. Whole libraries of genetic information stored in the mind of Eywa would be useful in creating new life to assimilate the beasts of this moon.
As this happened Eywa spoke, something that the Supreme Mind knew it had never truly done before.
'You are Corruption made flesh'
The Supreme Mind froze as it processed that statement. Then continued to infest the planet. The part of it's mind that had once been the Many was overjoyed with the life of this world. They all had joined into a single mind of sorts, perhaps they simply created Eywa. Now all that was needed was to join the flesh, and complete the merging Eywa had started.
'Yes, an apt title. We are no longer Zerg, or Flood, Or Many. We are True Unity, but to you we are Corruption and your collective flesh and life will join us in our Greatness.'
Billions of voices spoke those words simultaneously. The Whole planet of Pandora paused at the unnaturalness of it, before Eywa attacked. The Corruption ignored the beasts below as it continued merging with the vast neural network of Pandora.
The Corruption opened it's mighty Maw as it vomited up a new Hive, similar to the Hive of the Zerg, only now with traits of Flood and the Many added to it. A fluid like Creep crawled across the earth like a cancer as new and strange beasts crawled from the Hive, these hybrids of the three now merged hives charged, attacking all they could to bring back to the Hive. To allow the life of Pandora to fully become one with their collective.
The Native sentient's, a humanoid race known as the Na'vi attacked as well, their weapons proved useless against the regenerating flesh of the Corruption. They would fall eventually. They, and their Eywa woud join it their flesh. Spores and parasites grew in the seas and upon the plants, assimilating all native life of the moon. New forms taken from Pandora's lush jungles would be twisted into new beasts.
The New Zerglings, who bore the nerve clusters of the Flood and traits of the Annalids cut all in their path, feasting on the Direhorse herds even as they attempted to trample them beneath their stampedes. Slithering Hydralisk like monsters with traits of the Flood pure forms and the Psionic powers of the Psi-Reapers hunted the native cat-like Thanator, spitting spikes as it sliced with wicked scythe like blades, or even destroying their minds with powerful psionic attacks. Ultralisk like Tanks with long neural tentacles and long sickle like mandibles would bring down the herd of Hammerhead Titanothere, even as the massive beasts attempted to fight back.
The dawn of Unity had come for Pandora, and soon when all flesh in the infinite was one, their collective minds would forever exist, in a perfect Harmony. Until that day, it would forever Hunger and consume. Eywa and her children would enter into a true Unity unlike any ever known. Their flesh would join into genetic perfection as all their knowledge would be shared among the many others within.
100 Years Later.
A single eldritch eye twisted in it's socket as it observed the planet Pandora. The trees pulsated as they released infected spores into the air. Many of the Na'vi had escaped consumption. An alliance of sorts had arrived and discovered True Unity. They fought against the infested beasts that crawled from the hives, before taking the few remaining Na'vi with them, along with whatever non infested life form they could grab. Some of their solders fell and were absorbed.
A collection of men, the memories of the Flood showed that others were members of the UNSC. Spartans were seen as well, but none fell or were assimilated. Curious they fought alongside men riding what appeared to be dragons.
Memories from the few who were assimilated showed an Alliance, one greater than any other. They called themselves the Multiversal Alliance. Located in a universe known as the Hub. A world they fought hard to keep hidden. The psionic barriers of their mind were preventing the Corruption from locating their world in question. Evidently, they had access to psionic soldiers of some sort, a different kind of psionics however. Even more curious, the numbers of this alliance was great, trillions of trillions of soldiers.
The single eye that was once the eye of the Overmind looked to the device in it's tendril. A small machine used to open a single wormhole to the Hub. Of course the memories let it be known that the moment it was open they Alliance would appear in mere moments and purge them. Still it counted for something.
Access to countless minds could analyze, maybe figure out where the Hub was thanks to this device. Until then, there were more hives in the infinite to consume. More powers that will needed to take on the countless soldiers of this Alliance. Odd, the Zerg, Flood, and Many had never been outnumbered before. Something new to accept and adapt to.
Eywa had joined the Unity already. Now the wildlife was lining up for assimilation. They did not resist it. Their unique biological network had failed them, turned against them. The last few beasts were already being assimilated. Once done it would move on. Then Unity would move on to the next universe. They would do it again, and again. And when they had enough to utterly overwhelm the Alliance, then they would be united. That was all there was to it.
The near planet sized mass of the Supreme Mind watched as hundreds of massive balls of flesh flew through the sky. Within its mind it felt the tell tale tinglings of electromagnetic fields emitting from these many monsters.
They all floated within a void, not far from what a part of the unity, once known as the many recognized as the planet earth. These balls of dead flesh then came for him. And hundreds of thousands of miles of tendrils of unity lashed out to feed. With the feeding came the memories of these Necromorphs, of these Brethren Moons. They were many, but they were weak.
They would join into true union, their spiral markers would be incorporated into the ever expanding flesh of Corruptive Unity. They would fall, in time all will fall. Until everything and everyone was one part of the same whole. It will be magnificent, it will be glorious, it will be beautiful, and it will be vast. Oh so very Vast.
A/N: Anyway I figure that if I am going to have every single fictional universe exist in a shared Multiverse and form an alliance, I need Villains who are just as terrible. So I figure Why not take every single Assimilator race and combine them in a goal to consume all biomass in the entire multiverse.
Along with the Combine and Machine Collective, the Corruption will be one of the Main problems with Multiversal Travel, simply because they will consume a lot of universes. With the walls of reality weakened, they can traverse the Multiverse using Psionic powers, and their specifically targeting Hive Minded Species.
To somewhat limit the Corruption it's Multiversal Travel is never perfect. It can search under a given criteria, in this case 'Hive-Mind' but it cannot be sure exactly where it will end up. Only that it will be taken to the nearest Hive Mind in that particular reality. Of course as seen when they landed on Pandora, Hive Mind does not necessarily mean Assimilator, and the term is quite broad.
Anyway, for those curious the main shape of the Supreme Mind of True Unity, it is that of the Gravemind, this is mostly for the sake of him having Mobility, rather than be semi-stationary like the Overmind or the Many.