If Zerg were to infest Earth...

[Pandonetho]

How would dinosaurs be able to bolster the Zerg Swarm? Certainly some of the world's most deadly apex predators were dinosaurs, but what could they really contribute? They don't have molecular-edged claws, like the brontilith. No urticating spines, like slothiens. The only thing I can think of would be slightly more efficient movement speed or strength in the form of superior musculature, rather than relying on flooding the minion's system with adrenaline (Zergling adrenal upgrade).

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't think Dinosaurs would really bolster the Zerg swarm that much. Although, I think it'd be interesting if that one Dinosaur (I forget its name) with the defensive shell and ball tail weapon thing was assimilated.

[MattII]

Are we sure about that? It is a bacterium. Bacteria have DNA. I see little reason they wouldn't be able to somehow make use of them; perhaps culture them or reproduce the effects in strains like Defilers. Bacteria are an extremely important part of life. Your body harbors trillions of bacterial cells, without which it wouldn't function properly. I wonder whether these are retained in assimilated breeds, or whether they are supplanted by Zerg-borne bacteria. But where did THOSE bacteria come from, eh?

'Make use of' and 'infest' are two different matters. Infestation requires a multicellular structure to actually bond onto, thus single-celled bacteria can be 'made use of', but not 'infested'.

The only thing I can think of would be slightly more efficient movement speed or strength in the form of superior musculature, rather than relying on flooding the minion's system with adrenaline (Zergling adrenal upgrade).

This assumes that earth-based musculature is actually superior to that of the Zerg, which I somehow doubt, given that the Zerg have a lot of diverse creatures to compare.

And the Turritopsis Nutricula? Why not? They're immortality derives from the ability to change from a mature adult to a younger version of themselves, a sort of polyp. Say a Zerg base were eradicated save for a few stray Zerglings. These could backpedal their development, become a larva, and from there mature into a Drone to re-establish a base. Or skip all that and establish a Hive directly from the Zergling itself?

this assumes that they maintain both the DNA of both the Larva and the Hatchery, and that they have the necessary resources to perform such transformations. What I can see happening is that this could provide the Zerg with an ability to regenerate even from death (surviving cells revert and begin dividing) given sufficient resources.

I think the Swarm would be pretty interested in our bacteria and viruses, honestly. We have some extremely virulent, deadly and adaptable shit. Nature can be a bitch! And it doesn't take much to adjust some of these things. Anthrax -- Bacillus anthracis -- for example, is related to Bacillus cereus, which is literally a garden-variety, benign bacterium. Scratch that -- as far as I know, it IS B. cereus! The only difference is the inclusion of plasmids, free-floating strands of DNA, that produce the toxins. Bacteria are so versatile and change with so little an addition -- they kick ASS! If the Zerg could target bacteria native to humans or Protoss, and turn them against their bodies with plasmids/bacteriophages/retro-viruses/whatever, we'd be screwed. Or what about developing a bacteria that somehow rusts metal at a fast rate? Sure, big things are scary and, well, big, but don't underestimate the small stuff.

Extremophiles could also prove interesting to them, given the wide range of diverse, especially Deinococcus Radiodurans, which remains fully viable at radiation doses 500 times that which are instantly fatal to us (no more diesing like flies when exposed to Irradiate).

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't think Dinosaurs would really bolster the Zerg swarm that much. Although, I think it'd be interesting if that one Dinosaur (I forget its name) with the defensive shell and ball tail weapon thing was assimilated.

Ankylosaurus it's called, but then given we already have the Omegalisk, even this guys seems more than a little underpowered.

[mr. peasant]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't think Dinosaurs would really bolster the Zerg swarm that much. Although, I think it'd be interesting if that one Dinosaur (I forget its name) with the defensive shell and ball tail weapon thing was assimilated.

I assume you're talking about an Ankylosaurus, right?

[Pandonetho]

Yeah, that's him. He's my favourite dinosaur man!

[Norfindel]

The books really show just how infectious and dangerous the creep really is to anything non-Zerg. Imagine if the Zerg were able to use the old spore colonies to release creep spores into the air, killing or infesting any living creature within range. Creep you can run away from, the Zerg warriors, not as likely, but how could the average person defend against something in the air that'll kill/infest you?

Well, the Zerg actually do that. They mass Spore Colonies that infest a whole planet. That's what happened with Chau Sara, right? (from the SC manual).

Interesting notes from my SC manual: here it says that the Protoss ships that destroyed Chau Sara were 50. And it took 60 years for the Zerg to go from their native planet to the Terran colonies.

[Zero]

I don't think it worked exactly like that with Chau Sara. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but the infestation of Chau Sara was underground, spread throughout the inside of the planet's crust. There was little to no indication that the Zerg were even there, that's why everyone was so surprised to see the Protoss arrive and glass the planet's surface. I was referring to a more surface-and-above type of quick, large-scale infestation.

[mr. peasant]

Here's something that I haven't seen mentioned yet: Infested porcupines!!

It'd have two modes: a slow 'crawl mode' that has a shotgun-spread-pattern ranged attack with its spines and a fast, high armored 'ball mode' that does melee damage.

[warrior6]

im surprised nobody mentioned birds that have exellent vision like owls, eagles and hawks. they would make excellent scouts.

gorillas and bears would also make good heavy infantry.

baboons may also be quite lethal.

[Visions of Khas]

baboons may also be quite lethal.

Now if we can get the Zerg to infest bonobos, everything would be hunky-dorey with their make love, not war instincts.

[warrior6]

Now if we can get the Zerg to infest bonobos, everything would be hunky-dorey with their make love, not war instincts.

lol hope you know baboons are freakin viscous