Zerg Infestation

I like your infested Terran idea. But would an infested Terran still have enough memories of his past life as a marine to remember how to use his suit of armour and gaus rifle? Or would the infestation process erase that part of his memory so the new zerg consciousness can take over?

 

I think the Zerg would know how to use the gun. I mean, Sarah was a Terran, I think she would remember how to use at least the canister rifles. And the suits are not exactly that complicated. Just press a random button and it will start firing. Press another and the Zerg gets stim packed.

 

I just thought of a very good reason why Infesting Protoss would not be impossible. The ultimate goal of the Overmind's invasion of Aiur was to assimilate the Protoss into the swarm. Obviously, if it was impossible to infest Protoss, the Zerg would not have invaded Aiur in the first place.

In any case, there are two schools of thought in this thread, so maybe a compromise could be reached. In a modification of my idea, the Zerg Blarg could still infest a Protoss building, but no Infested Protoss could be produced from it. Visually, the infested building would have tentacles and bio-matter growing from it.

To give a motivation for infesting a Protoss building other than rendering an enemy building useless (why not just destroy it, for instance), the infested Protoss building would gain an attack similar to the Sunken Colony.

So to sum up the modified idea:

Zerg Blarg can infest enemy buildings. Process takes about fifteen to twenty seconds, Zerg Blarg is lost, building gains new visual look. Can infest any Terran production building with the result of being able to produce Infested Terrans. Can also infest any Protoss production building, but with the result of gaining a sunken colony of sorts to bring more offense directly to the enemy's position. A fair compromise and neat idea, no?

 

Remember that the zerg infested the Terrans first to gain the power required to assimilate the Protoss. Well they have the power now. No reason not to go for it.

One thing to note though is Kerrigan has a different agenda

 

@ the8thark. I feel that when a Terran unit is Infested it would be killed. I also feel that Zerg would not be able to use the Gauss Rifle of their own accord. However, when the Infestation takes over, even though it would kill the conscious part of the Terran, it would still have control over the Terran's basic functions, or subconscious parts of the brain, being the brain stem. This would include basic mechanics and thoughts like, walking, moving, breathing, hunger (even though it would not be able to eat, which would be excruciating for the Infested Terran), and most motor skills, which would include attacking. A lot of you are probably saying 'walking and breathing and that is a bodily function but shooting is not!' but I feel that all Terran people (no matter if they are Marines, Reapers, Ghosts or Civilians) would have spent their whole lives training, practicing and possibly even in battles, etc. I feel that quickly aiming and shooting would be almost a natural instinct for Terran, meaning that if they are Infested, they would still have this instinct. Obviously all of the motor skills would be slowed down, so it would walk slower, attack slower, etc, but they would still be able to do them.
I still strongly disagree with Protoss Infestation, even if Infested Protoss are not produced. I do not like the idea of a Sunken Colony type result of after Infesting a Protoss building. Also, The Zerg seek to eradicate all other life in the universe, taking all the advantageous genes in the process. Even if they cannot assimilate Protoss genes, they would still seek to destroy such a powerful race.

 

But they can assimilate Protoss genes - remember the ultimate goal of the Overmind was to become unstoppable by incorporating such a powerful race into the swarm. And subtly, building upon and using the Xel Naga idea of unifying purity of essence and purity of form, the Zerg having the former and the Protoss having the latter.

 

You are confusing Assimilation with Infestation. Assimilation just requires their genes, but Infestation requires a living host, which the Protoss would not allow. Also, remember that in the game, none of the Protoss infantry left corpses? The Zealot, High Templar, Dark Templar, etc, all died in a blue fiery bang, and all the vehicles exploded, so how are they going to get any Protoss genes at all? It Zerg cannot assimilate them, then they will seek to eradicate them.

 

hmm... well maybe this is the deal. The queen can either "infest" or "broodling" a unit. They are basicly the same except infest only works with terran and broodling works with toss. Since terran units are more cheap than toss units, u get to kill it and take use of it. With the toss u can brood, so u kill it but u dont get control of it, it just dies and u get 2 broodlings. Of course this would only be for bio infantry.

 

While it is true that in the game no Protoss left corpses, Blizzard just did that for visual appeal. A real Protoss would leave a body - they can't just vanish. Yes, Protoss psionic abilities are incredibly advanced, but matter cannot just disappear. Law of conservation of mass.

In any case, the fact that Zerg were trying to get Protoss genes in the first place means that it is possible to incorporate the genes for assimilation. I guess I'll cede the point that a Protoss would do all in his/her power to kill himself before being infested, but the Zerg still can take over buildings (for instance the lore that the Dragoon shrine on Aiur is now infested). And, at one point or another, it would be possible to catch a Protoss warrior completely off guard and attack so fast that an infestation could take place.

It's kind of funny, ItzaHexGor, that we both have opposite opinions that are each completely valid - I think only official Blizzard lore will prove one of us wrong. I am enjoying the discussion/argument. Out of curiosity, if Blizzard announced that some form of Protoss infestation would definitely be seen in Starcraft II, how would you personally like to see it done, given your disagreement with it?

 

I like DontHate's idea. Infestation can only be used against Terran, but Broodling can be used against Terran and Protoss.
Ninerman13. I never said that the Protoss completely disappeared when they died, because this is obviously impossible. But, have you ever wondered how the Zealots ever actually become Dragoons when they have no crippled or freshly killed body left over to put in the Dragoon? I have thought about this a lot, and I believe that when the Protoss unit dies, it would be warped back to Aiur or Shakuras or wherever. It'd kind of be like a reverse of when a Protoss unit is warped to the planet, like Zealots being warped in from the Gateway, except it is triggered when they die. This would enable certain Zealots, depending on how they died, to be placed within the Dragoon, which acts as a life support system.
The Zerg would probably be able to physically Infest a Protoss building, but because the Protoss inside would take the honorable death, as opposed to being Infested and murdering their kin. Also, the Zerg would then have no use for the structure, just like how at the moment, they have no way of using the Infested Shrine. They might be able to salvage materials from the Shrine, but they aren't able to use it as the Protoss did. Again, even if the Zerg tried to Infest a Zealot as quickly as they could without the Zealot knowing and actually managed to get the Infestation inside before the Zealot could stop it, immediately, when the Zealot starts to feel the Infestation take hold, he would shut down his mind. Completely. Nothing would be able to be done faster than shutting down the mind in a single thought. It would be like trying to hack a computer that can instantly have its electric cord pulled out of the wall. No matter how fast you can hack, there is nothing that could be done to stop it shutting itself down. The Infestation would have to be instantaneous for it to work on Protoss, which it isn't, so it's impossible.
Agreed, I am enjoying this conversation as well. You're a great debater. In answer to your question, if Protoss had to be able to be Infested, here's how I would do it. I would have them Infest machines, like the Dragoon/Immortal, maybe the Colossus (might make it unbalanced), and possibly even the Stalker, (which wouldn't work as well because the Dark Templar is supposed to have fused itself into the metal, making is solid and have no biological part inside). The creature that Infests the Dragoon (the Dragoon is the best example) would basically work just like a Hermit Crab, because it would purely use the outside mechanical parts as defense and protection. It would have an extremely large amount of armor, over double the normal amount of armor, because it would have its natural carapace, plus the armor of the Dragoon or Immortal. I'm not sure about the attack. It wouldn't use the normal weapons of the unit, because the Zerg Infestation wouldn't be able to operate them. Most likely it would use its front two legs to stab downwards at its enemies, trying to impale them (or at least a part of them) to the ground. They would only attack with one leg at a time so that they can keep their balance. I've already posted this idea in the topic "Zerg dragoon like unit?" (http://www.starcraft2forum.org/forums/index.php?topic=3427.0). I also feel that the idea of Infested units having over double the armor should apply to all Infested units, because they would all have some kind of armor, plus the Zerg carapace. The Infested Terran should still be able to fire a gun though because this is a lot simpler than operating a machine. except it would fire a lot slower than other Terran infantry.

 

You raise a good point - it's possible that the body is instantly warped back to Aiur. And it makes sense too from the standpoint of making Dragoons. The only thing is, if I remember correctly, Protoss Dragoons are created when warriors have been mortally wounded, but not if they have already died. This would counter the whole warp back after death idea for the sake of Dragoon creation, as I believe the Protoss still have to physically recover wounded warriors from the scene of the battle.

Another thing - I don't think all Protoss are warriors. There have to be some civilian Protoss, and they are probably running at least some of the structures in a Protoss military base. Even though we don't know much about the civilian Protoss, its safe to say that they are probably at the psionic level of a Terran Ghost. (Zealots haven't quite mastered the Khala, Templars are true masters). So if a Zerg were to infest a building, these Protoss (and maybe even some Zealots whose mastery of the mind isn't 100%) would not be able to shut down their minds instantaneously, thus paving the way for a possible infested Protoss. After all, Terran Ghosts can become infested (e.g. Kerrigan).

That said, I like your infested Dragoon idea. It's a good compromise between both of our ideas.

 

there are three protoss caste's judacators: aldaris, the conclave and so on, templars: the warriors zeratul artanis and so on, and the khalai (i think that's how you spell it) there are no protoss' that are khalai in the story cause there civilians but in the first brood war mission for the protoss (first anyway) the is a reference to the khalai survivors

 

Firstly, I did say that the Zealots would be placed in a Dragoon depending on how they died. Just like how many people who have suffered heart attacks or asphyxiation have been able to be revived, I think that they would be teleported back to Aiur or Shakuras, and revived if possible. There would obviously be many that have died in such a way that they won't be able to be revived, but there would still be a few that would be able to be revived. Also, how would they recover wounded from the battle? Zealots are as strong as they ever are, until they're dead. Even if they only have one health left, they won't be crippled, because they are still able to run as fast and attack as powerfully as other Zealots. Zealots fight to the death, and it is only after that when they would have a possibility to come back as a Dragoon.
I doubt that there would ever be any Protoss civilians on the battlefield. The Protoss buildings do not require any electricians, mechanics or engineers inside to operate the controls, like the Terran would. Protoss buildings are just warp-gates. They warp the units in directly from Aiur or wherever, so there doesn't need to anyone inside buildings Carriers or operating controls. As for the Forge Cybernetics Core, etc, these would just be self running machines. Once you command them to start an upgrade, there wouldn't be anyone researching it, it would do it all independently. So even if there were Protoss inside, they would still be trained in the Khala much more than Protoss civilians are, so they should be able to do minor things, like creating small beams or balls of energy, and I believe that they would all be able to shut off their mind if they need to. There would be nothing for one of the Protoss to loose if they did kill themselves, because they would have died anyway, and this way they prevent themselves from being used as a tool to destroy more of their own kin. The Terran do actually have a lot of psychic potential, but even if they developed it enough to be able to shut down their mind to prevent Infestation, I don't think they would. They would be to cocky and think that they could fight it, or they would be too selfish to want to give up their own life.
I'm glad you like my idea, it would basically just be the Zerg using the armor of a Protoss vehicle as additional protection. No Protoss would physically be Infested, they would already be dead.

 

While they do fight to the death, Protoss are still organic beings - haha it's not like in the game where they have one health left and suddenly one more hit BAM DEAD. They can lose limbs, or get chopped in half, or have a hole put through them. The warriors who have injuries sufficient enough that they can't physically fight anymore are put in Dragoons.

 

If a Zealot does loose a limb, get cut in half or have a hole put through them, and are still alive, chances are they will be killed next attack, and warped back to Aiur. There is a chance that when this happens, the Protoss warrior will be able to be revived and placed in a Dragoon. There would be very few circumstances where a crippled Zealot would be left on a battlefield.

 

is that why zelots have that cool death? they get warpped back to auir?!

pussies

 

They would get warped back to Aiur (or Shakuras) as a corpse. They aren't pussies. They don't warp back when they are almost dead because they are scared of dying, they do it so that they might be able to continue fighting for the Protoss as a Dragoon. If they died on the battlefield it would take far too long for them to be transported back to Aiur and then put in the Dragoon. It isn't like the Zealots are fleeing the battle, because they have just fought to the death.