Zerg (thing)

The Zerg are a playable race in the game Starcraft by Blizzard Entertainment. The Zerg were a creation of the Xel'Naga, a superior race of super-intelligent beings. After their failed experiment, the Protoss, the Xel'Naga drifted to another planet, Char. There they found an inferior race of animal like beings. They decided that this would be their next experiment. They created a large, immobile being with an exoskeleton as thick as the hull of their ships and an intelligence to rival even their own. They imbued this creature with a telepathic link with all the other creatures on Char, but unlike the Protoss, this telepathic link was not two ways, the large creature (the Overmind) completely controlled the actions of the other creatures. The inferior creatures on Char had little to no intelligence, however the Overmind could "see" through their mind and had all the intelligence each creature required.

The race that was linked with the Overmind was the dominant race on Char, however it was not the only. The Overmind recognized this, and recognized his race could be that much greater if it had the characteristics of the other races. Hence, the Overmind sent out its minions to absorb the other races into theirs. After the Overmind's minions were done, the early beginnings of the Zerg race had begun.

Soon the Overmind had the ambition to leave the limits of Char, and so he created a strain adapted to Vacuum, without the all-seeing Xel'Naga even noticing. When the Overmind sent out these inter-planetary flyers he noticed the Xel'Naga ships orbiting Char and decided it would not do. He directed his flyers to attack the Xel'Naga ships and absorb the Xel'Naga into the Zerg race as he had all the others. The Xel'Naga were ill prepared, and when the Zerg entered their ship and began absorbing them there was little they could do. The Xel'Naga were wiped out while rejoicing over their greatest creation.

After this the Overmind spread his minions from world to world, completely converting the planet's Ecology with a biological layer, dubbed "Creep", which spread over the ground. The "Creep" provided nutrients so that the Zerg creatures and biological "structures" could be planted and live off of it. After many, many millennia, the Zerg race had absorbed over a million species. The Overmind had siphoned out the less useful, and promoted the most useful, capturing the best aspects from all. The Overmind bred simple larvae creatures at hatcheries, the staple of the Zerg race. These simple larvae held the basic DNA strain for every other Zerg creature, and at the will of the Overmind could go into gestation and would, in time, be born the creature the Overmind willed. The result was a highly complex hierarchal society, much like an ant society, with Warriors, Gatherers, Drones, Queens etc.

As the Overmind's race spread it became increasingly difficult to control every single creature, and so the Overmind used the drones to construct creatures similar to himself in every way, except less intelligent and undying loyalty to the Overmind. The Overmind then transmitted his orders to these "Cerebrates" rather than the individual creatures. As the Zerg race continued to spread, even these Cerebrates found it hard to control their individual portions of the Zerg race, so they in turn created Overlords. Overlords were un-intelligent, flying, squid-like creatures with telepathic capability. Great numbers (over a thousand) were required on each world, and they relayed the orders of the Cerebrates to the underlings.

For the next few hundred years the Zerg race simply spread and evolved no more. The Overmind was about to give up hope, when he found the Protoss. This race was even mightier than his, and had unbelievable telepathic capabilities, which exceeded even his. He launched attacks against the Protoss, but was continually driven back. The Zerg race was just not strong enough. Then the Overmind discovered the Terran race. This race was inferior to both the Zerg and Protoss races, however they had some characteristics that may give the Zerg race the edge needed to defeat and absorb the Protoss. So the Overmind invaded the Terran planet of Chau Sara and began going about absorbing the Terrans. In an effort to stop the Zerg from ever becoming strong enough to defeat them, the Protoss razed the Terran planet of Chau Sara. Hence, the story of Starcraft begins.

The Zerg are a deadly race, and my personal favourite, as they are extremely cheap, fast and build with the greatest speed of all the races. Albeit, they are the weakest, four basic Zerg units (Zerglings) are required to defeat one basic Terran unit (Marines), and six to eight to defeat a basic Protoss unit (Zealot). Despite this, they have distinct advantages. In a swarm the Zerg are rather difficult to defeat, and if they encroach on any other races land that race can no longer build on any creep that may grow. The Zerg are the easiest race to rush with, as an army of 100+ can be contructed in under ten minutes. They recover far quicker than other races, as they build quickly and have cheap constructs, however some strategy is required with the Zerg, as a full frontal assault on a Protoss base will end in defeat.

Long live the Zerg!