Ch 7
Zerg Mana – 8,755/1,000,000
Zerg Supply – 18/65
Well I guess that means that the drones have already started building those last two Hatcheries. I'm surprised I don't have more mana, but after thinking about it, I realized that the other Hatcheries spawning during the night meant that the creep hadn't had much time to absorb much light, not to mention there isn't much light to absorb at night anyways. I can't wait to see how much mana I'll have by tommorrow.
Getting up, I'm surprised to find myself alone in the Hatchery. I'm a little surprised, and actually feel a bit hurt at this. I guess I really have gotten used to sleeping in the arms of my Queens. They aren't far though. They're all out and further spreading the creep, though I'm a bit surprised at their pace. It almost seems a bit manic really. After getting a drink and a bite to eat, I wonder over to the closest one, Joy, and ask, "Hey, what's going on?" I know I could've just reviewed what the Overlords had seen, but I decided to just ask.
Joy turned fearful eyes to me and answered, "We faced Endermen last night. They weren't very tough, but it was impossible to pin them down. Skeletons and Zombies are easy to kill. We can rip them to shreds with our claws. But the Enderman kept teleporting away, usually behind us, and something about their presence… they're scary. I don't want to have to face those things again."
"Were they able to hurt you?" Joy shook her head and said, "They did much the same thing as the Zombies, trying to grab and bite. But those noises they make… none of us want to fight them again if we can help it."
I nodded and said, "That's why I wanted to leave the Endermen to the Zerglings. The monsters of this world aren't terribly difficult to destroy, but some of them are pretty creepy. I'm glad none of you were hurt." Joy nodded, slowly smiling again now that we had stopped talking about Endermen.
I nodded to the vastly expanded Creep and asked, "Is that why you all are working at such a fast pace?" Joy nodded and said, "The faster we get the creep expanded, the faster we can leave this place."
I nodded at that, and asked, "Do the Endermen leave bodies like the other monsters here?" Joy frowned in distaste and nodded. That was another thing that set this world apart from Minecraft. The monsters didn't disappear in death. I'm glad to hear that the Endermen leave bodies though. That'd make assimilating their ability to teleport easier than actually trying to catch one. Reviewing what the Overlords had seen last night, I watched proudly as my Queens stood back to back fighting off a few Endermen. I'm surprised there were so few though. After the fight, Asura and Cuddles had left the Hatchery to join the others in spreading the Creep. It's rather astonishing how far they'd been able to spread it. With the new Hatcheries set up, the entire forest biome has been covered in Creep, as well as a good chunk of that desert to the East, and a part of the Jungle to the North had been added, as well as the plains to the west, the mountains to the south, and the taiga to the south west. I had to shake my head. I don't think I'll ever understand how the climate of this world works.
Anyways, time to go to work! With all my drones out, I'll need to make new ones. Also, with my Queens out so far spreading Creep Tumors, I assigned each one an Overlord so that they'll be able to evacuate quick if necessary. As for expanding the creep, I can't decide if I should pack a couple Overlords full of Drones and send them off in different directions, or just have each Hatchery provide three drones to continue on in different directions themselves.
Speaking of Overlords though, something's been bugging me. If I remember correctly, in Starcraft 1, Hatcheries provided supply for the Zerg. Why don't these Hatcheries do the same? I don't understand it, but hopefully it's something I'll be able to change come the next level up. Maybe I'll even be able to make the Hatcheries capable of defending themselves. They've got four giant spikes after all. Why can't they use them like the Queens use theirs?
That's for later though. Deciding to go with just having each Hatchery provide three more drones, I quickly set out to do just that. With 39 extra drones, I'm now down to… 7,780? That's it? Sheesh drones are cheap! My supply is now 57/60. Hatcheries aren't cheap though, so I hold off buying anymore of those. Actually when it comes down to it, I'll only be able to afford 19 Hatcheries now! 20 of my drones will just have to choose new locations and sit tight. With 19 new hatcheries on the way, I'm down to 180 mana and 38/65 supply. By days end though, the sheer amount of space I'll have covered with creep is at least five times larger than I had yesterday, what between the Queens working overtime and the new Hatcheries set up.
With business taken care of, I go about my routine of following some of my Queens, occasionally engaging in small talk, swimming in the Spawning Pool, and flying about in an Overlord. I'm actually starting to feel a bit lazy. Well, this is a Minecraft world isn't it? Why don't I start acting like it? Tommorrow, I'm going to start mining.
-END CHAPTER-
Overmind mana – 100/100
Zerg Mana – 180/1,000,000
Zerg Supply – 38/65
Units:
1 Overmind
11 Overlords
20 Drones
12 Zerglings
6 Queens (Broodmother)
Structures:
19 Hatcheries (19 Spawning in progress)
1 Spawning Pool