Disclaimer: Look, I don't know why you keep reading this. Most of the time, I just go on an irrelevant tangent on something loosely related to either relatively recent scientific developments or whatever random shit feauxen and I were talking about before I started writing this, before turning it straight into a flat statement that everything I wrote about up until that point is entirely unrelated to the actual story. Then I type the exact same four word statement about my lack of ownership. I mean, seriously, I should probably start copying and pasting at this point. That is all these disclaimers have ever been, and for the duration of this story, ever will be. For those who just started reading this, congratulations, I just saved you the annoyance of reading through 38+ other disclaimers. For the regular readers of this, I would recommend seeking psychiatric help. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is the literal definition of insanity. Then again, that's just my opinion. My very unscientific opinion. Also, don't own it.

(Have you ever noticed that the spaces between all these scenes are a tad shifty? I mean, one second, the characters are doing this one thing, the next they shift to something else. There's just a random shift between absolutely everything. It you're wondering where I'm going with this, that's a good question. I have no idea. Anyway, time for a transition to the story.

What the fuck am I doing)

Shit, he's starting to catch on to my game. Now he's pre-empting me and making fun of himself in a self-conscious fashion that actually makes some twisted kind of sense.

fuck

(Time to plan the next level of the game. Muhahahahaha!)

~f

Catalyst

Zerus was a harsh world, capable of killing most life forms that were unfortunate enough to walk its surface. Heavy volcanic activity kept the planet hot, causing massive storms that covered as much as half of the planet at once. Lava flows ran rampant across the terrain, filling the atmosphere with toxic fumes and boiling what little ocean there might have been. Despite all of this, the surface of Zerus swarmed with life. The parts of the planet's surface that weren't covered with streams of lava were covered in nearly omnipresent flora, creating a mostly green surface, a surface which was only broken by the many small lava flows. Most organisms would die on this planet. But the native Zerg were definitely not 'most organisms.'

Throughout the jungles and wastelands of Zerus the primal zerg hunted each other, hoping to devour one another and use their prey's essence to perfect their own. Every individual was different, making use of its own unique weapons, defenses, and hunting methods. A casual observer could easily mistake each primal zerg as a separate species, varied as they are. In this respect, the harsh and varied environment was perfectly suited for them. Each adaptation leads to another weapon, another defense, another way to gather essence and evolve. There were zerg that spew a fire-like acid, zerg that burrow under the ground to strike unsuspecting targets, zerg that fire bullet-like spines, and many, many more.

Even with all these different mutations, flying zerg were rare. The winds on Zerus were powerful enough to rip the wings off of most flying species, and the open air left nowhere to hide from any predators on the ground looking to the air for a tasty snack. The few that manage to survive were highly specialized, having survived only by being too difficult to kill.

One such zerg had more than most. It possessed a slender body with four short wings that beat rapidly to provide lift. It also had an extremely long digestive system which it could use as a sort of harpoon to grab and envelop smaller prey from the ground. It could launch a pod that exploded into a large gas cloud around would-be predators, blinding anything unfortunate enough to get caught within. It was not intelligent enough to have a name for itself, but the terrans would eventually come to call it a Viper. It was usually alone in the sky, capable of capturing unsuspecting prey at its own discretion. As such it was off guard, unaware of the looming threat approaching from above.

It didn't even see the leviathan before it swallowed the viper whole.

The leviathan descended through the atmosphere, easily weathering the winds that had grounded the primals. Its massive oval body bore numerous worm-like tentacles, some ready to impale anything that came too close, others ready to open their mouths and spew out the tens of thousands of zerg forces residing within or swallow anything on the surface below. From its sides poured countless newborn corruptors, spreading out in massive swarms that searched for more vipers to kill and consume. On massive, gravity-manipulating tentacles they flew, spewing ink and death before them. In a few minutes, the corruptors had eliminated most everything near the leviathan, and they flew back with the spoils of their conquest.

The other primal zerg had not been passive. Masses of them were already converging on the leviathan, scrambling over each other in a massive pile, clawing desperately. The Swarm did not care. Rather than risk letting any primals reach it, the leviathan opened its vast maw and fired its explosive bio-plasmid payload, impacting the mass below with a powerful discharge. Many primals escaped the blast, and they were all more than ready to attack. The leviathan turned to face them, its massive bulk whipping the air around it into a frenzy. Its tentacles lashed out at the ground below, carving scores in the dirt and killing the slower predators. Clusters of bile swarms flew with pinpoint accuracy to strike down the few that escaped.

At this point, even the least intelligent of the primal zerg had realized they couldn't fight this behemoth head on. Some of the primals burrowed into the ground and detached the specialized eggs they carried on their backs. Within seconds, the eggs hatched, releasing small flying locusts that flew up at the leviathan in a thick cloud.

The corruptor fleet had by now returned to the leviathan, swollen with essence. Upon seeing the locust swarm, they fired indiscriminately, tearing through as many as they could. A few locusts still managed to spit their acid on the leviathan before they were obliterated, but the leviathan's thick skin weathered the attack with little damage. Frustrated, the creatures below released a second wave of locusts.

The Swarm changed tactics immediately. A third of the corruptors folded in on themselves, converting into cocoons. The leviathan rained down drop pods, deploying its ground forces in order to stay the endless tide of primals and buy time for the corruptors to complete their transformation. Within minutes, the cocoons burst open to reveal brood lords, which immediately began to rain broodlings onto the surface of Zerus. The brood lords aimed their living ammunition deliberately, sending them straight through the locusts on their way down. When the broodlings reached the ground, they surrounded the locust bearers, isolating them from the rest of the pack. Six of the leviathan's larger mouthed tentacles slammed themselves into the ground. When they lifted, the swarm hosts were gone. The leviathan pulled up its forces and flew out of the atmosphere, with the corruptor fleet following close behind. They had gotten what they needed. Deep within the bowels of the leviathan, the first swarm hosts and vipers were already being born.

They weren't the only ones. Deep within the forests of an alien world, little acidic slugs were given armor and limbs, repurposed into the Swarm's frontline. Within days, roaches were ready for deployment. On another planet, zerglings tore down moss from the canyon walls, growing little pockets of acid across their body. Eventually, these pockets consumed almost the entirety of the zerglings, once more giving rise to the explosive baneling.

In an evolution pit, Abathur observed his most recent projects. The queen had already lost its ability to fly, but its legs were developing rapidly. The spore colony, now capable of crawling, had just managed to support its own weight for the first time. An ultralisk had just successfully grown its second pair of kaiser blades. The roaches had just arrived, but already some were showing the telltale traits that would eventually form the ravager. Still, there was so much to do for all of his projects. Abathur wondered just how much time it had taken his future self to accomplish all of this. He was already having difficulty coming up with ways to accomplish the tasks his future self had apparently completed.

Of course, part of that might have been the special projects. Cloning essence without access to the original sequences was always difficult, but even accounting for that there were aspects of the weavers and boggart modified changelings that eluded his grasp. Still, he would evolve and grow in skill like he had for his entire existence. Knowing the end product he strove for would only make it easier, faster. In the meantime, Fenris's brood had just returned from Zerus, carrying the swarm host and viper strains. What would he need to collect next? The borbu matriarch, most likely. His counterpart's memory was littered with memories of just how useful the infestors he would make from the matriarch's essence would be. Then he would move on to scantipedes, ash worms, mitoscarabs, karaks, carrion wasps...

(Transition)

"And these...Broodmothers," the Overmind mulled over the word, stretching it out, tasting it. "What was their purpose?"

"Command of broods. Replacement for cerebrates," Abathur responded verbally, though the Overmind heard it just as easily as if it was thought. Within the glorious frenzy of the hivemind, there was essentially no difference.

"It must be assumed that they were created after my demise, and long before this...terran ritual brought you to the past."

"Yes. Cerebrates, incapable of independent life. Eventual extinction. Broodmothers, necessary. Valuable use of Queen of Blades' essence."

"So she guided her own children, just as I have mine. What were these broodmothers? How did they serve her?"

"Managed broods, engaged in combat. Some differences from cerebrate. Greater independence and combat ability. Necessary without resurrection," Abathur paused. "Recommend recreation and integration into Swarm. Greater battlefield capabilities, improved battle tactics. Subordinate to cerebrates."

"They would serve under my children, as they serve me..," the Overmind considered. "Your proposal is not without merit, Evolution Master. Your counterpart will begin work on this."

Abathur's hands twisted together in discomfort and a low growl escaped his throat. The existence of his younger self was still deeply uncomfortable. He had been unique among the Swarm for the entirety of his life. To have another like him was...disconcerting.

"Calm yourself, my child. You remain unique among us, and your position remains unchanged. As of now, you are merely a more capable multitasker." Abathur remained unconvinced.

"A different topic then. Your interference in your past has changed your future dramatically. Our conflict with these terrans may never occur, and the Queen of Blades may never be born. The loss of my daughter never born will be a heavy one to bear."

"Was greatest leader," Abathur agreed.

"If she truly was, that makes her absence all the greater. And yet, you seem to have procured a replacement," the Overmind mused.

"Luna." It wasn't a question.

"Indeed. She has the potential to fulfill the Queen of Blades' formal role, however far in the future that may be," suggested the Overmind.

"Unrecommended. Luna, still immature. Incapable of greater strategic thought. Potential not yet developed," Abathur interjected. "Interrupted infestation process. Remaining flaws in hivemind connection. Could lead to stability issues. More important factor. Swarm must pose no threat to Swarm leader. Breeding replacement may result in insurrection. Unacceptable."

"And yet, without a replacement, my death would result in chaos, a fractured Swarm, my children turned against each other in a petty conflict. A 'Brood War', was the name used. Is this not equally unacceptable?"

"...Organism Abathur will serve Swarm."

"As you always have, Evolution Master," the Overmind said emphatically. "The only thing that remains is your retrieval. Daggoth is leading Tiamat brood to your planet. Should you be able to produce your own leviathan, the journey would take significantly less time."

"Difficult. Cannot collect necessary resources. Humans possess nuclear weapons. If aware, would eradicate. Simple hive cluster, optimal outcome." That was odd. When had he started to refer to them as humans? That was irritating. If there was one behavioral change, there could be others.

"Those are unfortunate circumstances. Daggoth will take some time to reach you, years perhaps."

"Survived 15 years. Can wait."

"I am pleased to hear that. The Swarm greatly anticipates your return."

(Transition)

Abathur had told Luna about the Swarm. He had told her of the planets they colonized and grew on. He had told her of the enormous vessels, the living creatures that moved from system to system. She had listened to these stories in glee, imagining traveling in them herself. But she had always pictured something similar to what they had on Earth; a tiny enclave on each world that kept to itself as much as possible, only striking when they needed to. A small society where everyone fit in.

Luna hadn't been prepared for the sheer scale of the Swarm.

They covered worlds in creep, they spread like wildfire across systems. When they arrived on a planet, they didn't hide, they dominated. The size of the Swarm had overwhelmed her, tossed her mind around like a hurricane. She didn't know how long she would have lasted without the intervention of the Overmind, and that was only because it was in and of itself vast enough to drown out the rest. Even now, she could feel it talking with Abathur, like a dark spire of thought descending from the sky. She wasn't even paying attention to it, just walking through Hogwarts' halls, but the Overmind still dominated her mind. She didn't even notice the human until he put his hand on her shoulder.

Luna immediately whipped around, grabbing the offending limb and twisting it away. She looked up into the startled face of a ravenclaw student. Older than her, likely, not that it mattered. He didn't appear particularly threatening, but Luna herself was proof that that meant nothing. He wasn't making any more moves just yet, so Luna decided to let him speak.

"Merlin's sake, Lovegood," said the human. The name Anthony Goldstein popped up from Luna's memory. "The hell was that for?"

"You startled me," Luna replied in a cautious tone.

"Well, that's on you. I was yelling your name for 5 minutes, and you didn't so much as glance at me," Goldstein retorted. It was at this moment that Luna learned she could still blush in human form.

"I was thinking about other things," Luna said defensively.

"Whatever. Look, Lovegood, I hear you hate about Umbridge just as much as the rest of us. Potter and his buddies are organizing a group to get around her crap. If you want in, we're meeting on Hogsmeade weekend in the Hog's Head," Goldstein said.

"And you're inviting me?" Luna asked incredulously.

"If you walked out of her class, you're not going to snitch. And if you don't join, well," Goldstein shrugged. "Doesn't cost me anything."

This was bizarre. A human was inviting her to their meeting. Luna couldn't remember the last time a human had wanted her for...anything. Her eyes narrowed. "And what do you get out of it?"

"Nothing. Look, Lovegood, you can join it or not, I don't care. Just thought you might want to know, ok?" Goldstein replied dismissively.

"I...I'll consider it," Luna replied hesitantly. It might be worth checking out. After all, her mission was to learn more of the human's secrets, and it wasn't like Umbridge was going to teach anything. She could take a look. If it turned the way the rest of the 'events' the humans had invited her to, then she now had means to deal with it. It would just be another reason to thank Abathur for his modifications.

(Transition)

"You've made a great deal of progress, Thenabar. Far more than I could have reasonably expected."

Thenabar paused in his reading, looking up towards Dumbledore. "Thank you?" It was an odd compliment, but thanks were almost always the appropriate response to compliments.

"You're quite welcome," The human replied, obviously amused at Thenabar's confusion. Well that was fine, Thenabar was amused at the human's utterly irredeemable, nonstop, illogical, entirely preventable stupidity. "Are you content here, Mr. Jaren?"

"I'm not miserable," Thenabar lied.

"But wouldn't you prefer to be out there, among your peers?" Dumbledore continued.

"Possibly," Thenabar replied. "I haven't exactly had the opportunity to find out for myself what they're like." For some reason, statements like that always had the greatest effect on Dumbledore, invoking a feeling of wistfulness and regret. Thenabar used them as much as possible.

"Would you like to?"

It was moments like this that Thenabar wanted to laugh. Perhaps he had been around this particular human too long. Perhaps he had been around humans too long. Whatever the case, he was picking up their sense of humor, and the sheer lack of knowledge they displayed about what went on under their own noses made him burst into laughter every time there were no prying eyes on him. He had unfortunately few of those moments, with the little house elves spying on him, but that just made each moment more precious. Thenabar dearly wished he had that privacy now. He was just so stupid.

"I wouldn't mind giving it a try," Thenabar said, grinning.

Purity of Essence: It's like Nazis, but they're in space. And also insects. And they can change their DNA at will, which adds a whole new dimension to the whole 'racial purity' doctrine. ~f

Purity of Essence: The xel'naga have an extremely unique method of reproduction. In each universe they shepherd, two races always emerge, one with purity of form, one with purity of essence. These two races travel to Ulnar, where the eldest xel'naga give their life to ascend the races into new xel'naga. But even before their ascension, these races gain special benefits from their purity. The zerg, possessing purity of essence, ironically have the ability to get rid of that purity and consume other essences to change their form. While the zerg can do this instinctually, it is possible to engineer this process if an intelligent being oversees the process. Essence can either be used as a general catalyst for evolution, or specific traits can be extracted from said essence and assimilated into whatever consumes it, sometimes heavily modified to suit the receiving creature. Those with purity of essence have an instinctive sense of the quantity and quality of essence in a given area or being. They also possess an extremely high rate of mutation, and are able to adapt to any scenario within a few generations. The zerg have even been known to intentionally expose themselves to such hazardous environments in the hope of evolving to a stronger form. Purity of essence is what gives the Swarm its identity; to call it the Zerg's greatest strength would be to downplay its integrity to all forms of the Zerg. Without purity of essence, the Zerg would be nothing. With it, they have the potential to be anything.