Twenty minutes later, bump.

I say have Nargil investigate the swamp world with little value on it. Furthermore, we should probably send forces to deal with Kingston's men invading our worlds although it worries me they're getting closer and closer to the interior of our colonies. Might be time we get our interior colonies to beef up their defences since it seems the last freighter keeps going deeper.

Hatch some Drones.

Then hatch some Zerglings.

Go rush the enemy base. Kekekekeke.

>>13499903
>Kekekeke

I've never understood how that's supposed to resemble actual laughter.

>>13499885
A vote for the swamp world. Is that our only vote?

>>13500097
Original swamp voter here - seems pretty dead tonight. Most unfortunate.

>>13500145
Happens sometimes at the start. Some of the regulars tend to be late.

Go for the swamp world. I also agree we should beef up our defenses. Start by doubling our overlord in system patrols.

new to this but i vote swamp world

>check /tg/, hoping for zergquest
>ZergQuest!
>My mandibles when

Ok, allow a search of the Swamp, and have some drones harvest carnvore plants to have them ready.

Edit news footage of only the 'aliens', not the zerg attacking. And edit it so the zergs are attacking the 'Aliens'.

Bring Ernie, Bernie, Warbrate and Gorn togeather for a round table talk. We want to start acting out attacks between our swarm and Bernie's swarm, and also *shudder* offer him more troops to ...modify...to restock his armies. Also, ask about any offspring and ask them to be handed over, please.

And check up on Protoss, and postion a few overlords around the perimiter of the system. I wanna catch any incoming calls from other Protoss.

>>13500194

also send in forces to crush those outposts.
Oh and check to see how all the other brates are doing see if they help with anything, or have any problems.

Fuck yeah Tyranid quest!

*gets eaten*

Nargil prepares a group of overlords to head after the swamp world. Meanwhile, we increase the number of overlords patrolling our colonies.

After about forty minutes, Nargil's party makes planetfall on the world. As far as we can tell, it doesn't even have a name. The surface is thick with stringy trees, ropes of an ever-present moss, and an intermittent mist of Hydrogen Sulphate and ammonia. Rudimentary bats and lizards squirm about, letting off odd cries, though it appears that some of them flee from others, even of their own species. Nargil feels that something familiar is here.

bump

>>13500271
I like the sound of that. Nargil must find it.

>>13500225
(Whoa. Slow down. We don't have any way of splicing apart the news stories being broadcast from other systems. As always we could build the massive transmitter necessary to create our own broadcasts, but it would certainly make the transmitter an open target to the Confederacy)

>>13500287
Agreed, but be careful. If it seems like the jungle is gonna eat them, bug out.

Did we just find Dagobah?

>>13500271
Have Nargil continue looking.

Also, were we able to capture any of these new cloak-capable Valkyrie missile frigates?
How is Warbrate and the forces under his command doing?
We must also replenish our nuclear arsenal; have Defensebrate make that a priority in his queue.

Also, how is the work progressing with our shipyards around Yoshus, and the progress on our new, hidden bolt-hole codenamed 'Gamma Site'?

>>13500287
Where should it start? The flora? The fauna? The water? Digging for artifacts?

Ask Nargil what exactly is so about this place familiar.

After that due a quick check in with other brates see how they doing personally and if we can help them with anything. Stating with account brate ask why it has been so quit as of late.

>>13500297

Assist Nargil with his exploration.

Also, have third wave colonies that haven't been visited by Kingston produce more forces than usual. We can't let him keep skulking around.

And in regards to our colonies under attack - perhaps we should leave the defence of the colonies up to Warbrate. We don't want the terrans to get a foot hold in our colonizing space.

>>13500336
Fauna, then flora.

>>13500336

Start with water and artifact hunting.

Then move on to fauna and flora.

>>13500297
Couldn't use our new satalites? Blast Ok, is there a way to use our new satalites rather then passively?

Well, still, other then that, round-table with actor, warriors, and the creep. And send some Drones to harvest plants

>>13500342

have Gorn lead the counter attack on ground,while Warbrate takes the fleet to get that dammed freighter.

On a completely different note, lets give Artisanlord recording equipment for preperation of ZergTV.

>>13500352
Seconding.
Water, artifacts, fauna, then flora.

>>13500372

Seconding giving Artisanlord Director status.

>>13500372

yes this must be done!

>>13500331
QUIET YOU

>>13500332
We did not recover any valkyries. In fact, we fled from Brontes with little more than a few Terran prisoners and the satellites.

Toaster explains to us that it has "got the nuclear thing." It is directing the Terran command centers for us.

Yoshus is operational (you may remember that it brought both of our cap-ship totals up to four, recently), though we have yet to decide on a tertiary base of operations.

>>13500355
(The satellites are receivers. Their only broadcast capability is transmitting a location for the news transmitters to hone in on. They aren't meant for combat, though if you can think of a way, I'll consider it)

>>13500371
(Except we don't know where the freighter is, and nothing is under attack right this moment...)

>>13500372
Artisanlord is thrilled by the prospect. It recruits five Zerg from all walks of the Swarm, and plans to put them in a Nydus Canal and film the true story of their attempts to live together in The Real Zerg. Accountantbrate is pleased by the low production value.

>>13500376
>>13500352
Nargil's overlords begin trawling the water. It appears to be more or less unremarkable, though the microbes are primarily Hydrogen-based, which is rare (most life the Zerg have encountered has been Carbon- or Silicon-based, but it has seen variations and exceptions before). Nargil is sure that it is close, but still missing something

>>13500475
hydrogen based?

light a fire.

>>13500475

Time for Cerebrate check in,try and ask each brate how they doing and if there's anything they need.

>>13500475
Have Labrate begin going over the collected memories of those Valkyries to try to identify any weaknesses we can exploit; we will need to make a note to capture one intact during our next fleet action against the Confederacy.

Have Citybrate and Defensebrate be on the search for a new fall-back planet, as well as preparing the Fourth Colonization Wave.

Have Nargil begin looking for Xel'Naga artifacts and examining the local fauna.

>>13500555
Oh, parasites, right. Didn't think of that. It would explain the odd behavior of some of the animals

>>13500475
I just got weird hunch find nearness land fauna capture and dissect look anything that might seem note worthy. Especially parasites. Hope am wrong about this

>>13500475
Hydrogen based? Maybe we should look into incendiary projecting zerg?

>>13500513

Second this

>>13500513
Warbrate is concerned that we devoted so much of our combat assets to saving Bernie, when we are clearly in the midst of a dangerous invasion. Gorn is concerned that we pulled back rather than pressing the advantage while the Terrans were caught off-balance. Accountantbrate is very annoyed with our insistence on costly military action when the comparatively cheap subterfuge worked so well for us in the past.

Internbrate and Labbrate are ashamed at their continued lack of progress in finding the secrets of the arbiter we captured, though they are sure that they can reliably pilot it and use its special abilities (if not replicate them). Internbrate claims to have a niggling feeling about Kingston's invasion.

Most of the other cerebrates are absorbed in their work, generally expressing unease at our apparent inability to find a decisive victory against the Terrans.

>>13500510
(That's certainly an option, though it'll require more than one vote...)
>>13500597
(Is that a vote?)

>>13500547
Offhand, Labbrate's only conclusion is that the ships have fixed weapons on the front, meant for firing at range. A unit that got particularly close might cause the valkyrie to risk damaging itself to fire, and a unit flanking would have the definite advantage until the craft turned around.

>>13500574
>>13500572
(Ok. Two votes for specifically searching for parasites. Is this the plan, or are we setting a fire?)

banelings Fuckyear!

Anyway, after the director is finished, I would like him to corograph our war.

Tell Artisanlord to record some of his plays as well.

>>Hideyoshi Einals
No, captcha, we're not copying Hideyoshi.

>>13500632
NO FIRE!

>>13500632
No fires please. Probably wind up ignititing the atmosphere.

>>13500632

Let's not burn the hydrogen-based lifeforms just yet.

>Create sci-fi world with options for several possible "familiarities" with other franchises
>Everybody thinks of one, fails to see the others
>Completely divided opinions on how to proceed

Notquitetoplanbutcouldhavebeenworse.jpg

>>13500632
Hey, which of the lesser cerebrates, if any, are not assigned to a task right now?

>>13500475

look for parasites,no fire

Ask Colonylord how our next wave of colonies is doing. We're on what, fifth wave now? Sixth? In any case, I distinctly recall the order being given to continue relentless expansion at all costs, this wave being careful to select and fortify the occasional world so that we have military strongholds which can effectively build up forces to defend each wave without significant draw from our main armies.

>>13500703
Could you give us a clue?[/Izzard]

>>13500706
Wormface and Salem Saberhagen are conspicuously without any orders, though they are trying to be incognito about it.

>>13500632
Have Internbrate expand on it's hunch; it was right before, and it might be right again.

Begin sending cloaked overlords more into Terran space. Have them warp in at extreme edges of systems, then get in closer while cloaked. We need to know if the Terrans are amassing another fleet.

Hey, send an overlord on a search for Yoda.

What are we doing on the swamp world anyway? We started out saying test the water but now everyone want to look for parasites. And somebody mentioned banelings, what made you think of those?

>>13500719

have them begin watching confed TV, and relying what they see to Artisanlord.

>>13500714
Colonylord is following our orders fervently. It has chosen eight of the ten worlds it will use for the fifth wave. It seems to be trying to find worlds that are naturally conducive to a defensive position as much as it is trying to find worlds rich in resources.

>>13500717
(So far, you're stumbling around two very dangerous possibilities, both of which have a lot of potential to A) screw you with a sideways banana, and/or B) screw Kingston with a sideways banana. If you go in a whole different direction, you might find a whole different option. I haven't decided on the others, so they might not be as epic. Or they might be really epic. Depends on how this plays out. Only one will end up actually being what Nargil is talking about, though. It's pot luck!)

Personally, I'm thinking it's that swamp world from Titan AE, but that doesn't matter. Can we use our satalites to find the source of the transmission, and can we use them to get something other then news 24-7? Like, what chanels do we get?

I personally hope it's an artifact but a parasite could be possible. Only two thinks I could think of being familiar.

>>13500777
I'd say we should look for artifacts

>>13500801

Agreed .focuses on checking these two out the most

>>13500727
Internbrate isn't sure yet, but it feels like this isn't an invasion at all, like the colony drops might just be a diversion or a hopeful side mission. It is pretty sure that the retreating dropships are important in some respect...

(You'll have to get some people in on this. Warping into Terran space is always dangerous)

>>13500733
(See? Other options, you have. Dangerous options, perhaps. Hmmm? Hmmmm.)

>>13500774
The satellites are currently in an overlord's ventral sacs over Xenta. Use them there?

>>13500821
Understandably, if we find Yoda, we genuflect.

No annoying Psychic midgets.

>>13500819
>>13500801
>two

Not how it's working tonight. >:)

>>13500821
>The satellites are currently in an overlord's ventral sacs over Xenta. Use them there?
Fuck no! That would lead the Confederacy right to our home base!

No, if they're going to be activated, it should be done in an uninhabited system, preferably booby-trapped.

Clearly the correct course of action regarding the swamp planet is to see if there is a large flat sparkly rock area near one of the poles. Truely massive rock area, with pillars and a dingus in the center.

>>13500821
nah, postion the satalites somewhere they're get a clear view and solar storms won't interupt them. Also, Not Near one of Our bases!

Anyway, Accountbrate is right. We need to start going back to our roots. Are their any terran populated planets that are more 'piratey' or 'agriculture'?

>Surprise Beends
NOT THE BEEES

>>13500821
Have Warbrate send out several squadrons to try to track down those dropships that got away, as well as patrolling for any more of these invasion freighters.

If we find any more, make sure that we capture one of their dropships.

>>13500863
(Is that KotOR 2, or am I missing it? Also, good to see you)

>>13500852
System uninhabited you say. So... we get back to Antiga then... why does it always come back top Antiga.

>>13500821
>It is pretty sure that the retreating dropships are important in some respect...
I would suspect that the Terrans are abducting our zerg for experimentation, except of course that since they're our zerg we would know that already if that were so. What else could they be doing, scanning our planets? They wouldn't need dropships for that.

>>13500850
Parasites, if we can't do both.

>>13500884
Glen Cook's the Black Company, the aptly named "Glittering Stone."

i guess parasite i just have to hope we dont get the side ways bannana

>>13500821

Don't use the antenna on Xenta? Warp the Overlord to a Terran colony undetected and use it there.

Also, we have a chance to do something that Kingston really doesn't expect, i.e. not fall into his fucking trap.

I say we don't react immediately. We've never been successfully patient, why not do it now?

>>13500899
Heh, maybe we'll luck out and there's another huge crystal like on the Protoss homeworld.

>>13500899
(Then I was missing it. Never heard of that. Not that it'll necessarily stop me from looking it up on Wikipedia and throwing some form of it in, if you all go for it)

>>13500895
>>13500904
(Decided, then?)

Though the swamp world could also hold a certain English actor known for his work in Shakespearean theater... and fake ears.

>>13500924
THis Anon is going for whatever the hell TUCAMP suggested.

I still think we should look for artifacts

>>13500924
I'd say general exploration and checking, we've been looking at this planet for what... a few hours? Days? I still don't quite understand how you could have hydrogen based life, but what ever I'm not a biologist, just a baffled chemist.

>>13500944

After we check for parasites.

>>13500955

biologist here.

not to derail, but carbon-based life is just as much hydrogen-based as it is carbon-based. It's like he's saying that the life there respires in some fashion.

>>13500955
I think Hydrogen based life is pretty cool, and an artifact, or Sister, might be secondfiddle to 'The water is zerg'.

>>13500938
Actually you don't. That would lead to going into alternated universes. And while I would love to be able to infest the Borg and so something with Richard Dean Anderson, it's a very slippery slope crossovers. Might end up with The Doctor, and he's more clever than Kingston will ever be.

We need more capitals ships, scouts, and transport options for our ground forces. We need to be able to swamp a DZ with lings and lisks.

We may also look into modifying a few dropship hulls into dedicated boarding craft, preferably with extra armor and no atmospheric capability, to allow for better chances of successful boarding in combat conditions.

As for the swamp planet, scan from orbit for regular land/water/mineral formations, maybe the planet itself is what's setting off the radar.

>>13500955
(It was a throwaway line. I think they really meant Silicon, but it's not like the writers probably cared. Anyway, you've totally been staring intently at the water for several minutes while you decide what to do next.)

OK, from here on out, you get one vote (starting with the first vote to quote this, in case you accidentally say something before reading this). First to three gets it. So far, you've found odd-seeming animals you suspect of hosting parasites and strange hydrogen-based cells that you consider setting on fire. You may still decide to vote for looking at another aspect/region of the planet, or even of leaving the planet entirely. Best of luck.

>MANVILLE timation
Yes, Captcha. This thread has gone to MANVILLE.

>>13501002
why not specialized some overlords for that? The dropship part, I mean.

>Revolt Liquafox
Captcha is right. Zerg is water and will revolt agasint thier terran overlords.
Hey, have we been looking into mine control lately?

>>13500969
That would make sense.
>>13500983
Oh you thinking Kerrigan might down there too? Seems a little odd for her to be on a planet well outside of the sector. It's probably somewhere between Xenta and Zerus or what ever the name of the zerg homeworld is.

>>13501019

Again, while conducting a biological survey, search from orbit for any regular formation of land, minerals, or water.

>>13501019
I vote for searching for an artifact.

>>13501019
Check the fauna for parasites.

>>13501019
I'm saying artifact.

>>13501019

What could possibly fuck us and give Kingston a give boost if we choose wrong here?

Answer: Kingston is landing on that planet SOON, and if we don't find it first, he'll use it to fuck us up.

Send a huge number of Zerg to land on that world as soon as possible. We can at least stop Kingston from using the superweapon.

>>13501019
Gone to Manderville, actually, what with all this wandering. And shit, explore the rest of the planet, what are we lazy? MOVE!

>>13501019
Geological/topological survey. I think the funny feeling is coming from a structure of formation and not the odd flora and fauna.

>>13501048
>>13501054
>>13501057
>>13501073
>Scan it from orbit; It's the only way to be sure: 1
>Treasure hunt!: 2
>Parasites? In MY swamp?: 1

First to three...

Artifacts

>>13501036
'I sense a presence I have not felt since...' makes me thing 'There is another. Your...sister!' I mean, i could be wrong, but I could be right.

>>13501110

YOU MANIAC, YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!

Also, CA, can we begin moving wraiths in system, along with drones and a ground complement to set up a hardened position on planet?

>>13501103
Mine was a vote to scan it so it was tied.

>>13501149
And 'Move and Explore'...i think we decided on 'Scan the Planet'

>>13501190
So that would actually be 3 before >>13501110 chimed in. Though I think it's being written out for the silly treasure hunt. Which we could have done after spending a few hours looking at the whole planet. It wouldn't be zerg quest if we didn't have to undo massive blunders of our own making.

>>13501080
>>13501083
>>13501076
(This pause was me deciding what you find, by the way. Sorry)

Nargil's overlords retreat from the swamp world enough to survey it from orbit. After a bit of scanning, it becomes apparent that there are underground structures (perhaps sunken into the swamp, perhaps built under it), and that there is a small amount of movement going on in several of them. We locate several entry points, though most appear caved in, closed off, or underwater.

One of them, though, is above-ground and relatively easily accessible. Should we investigate?

>>13501246
Of course, Nargil! FOR SCIENCE AND BIOLOGY!

>>13501246
Yes with haste "Adventure Ho"

>>13501246

Its obviously a trap. Set up a perimeter around that point, with gausslisks and lings, have drones blast out a new entry point away from it, and then send in search teams of zerglings and gausslisks.

>>13501246
Huge, cyclopean underground ruins with inscrutable entities? Let's go exploring, what could possibly go wrong!?

And yes, really, send down a recon force.

>>13501246
Reconnaissance in force.

Search, but with ovewhelming force, just in case.

>>13501246
Is it possible to establish a small outpost on the swap world?

A single Zergling with a whip, his fists, and a beat up fendora.

>>13501273
Swamp Cthulu?

>>13501246
Strange happenings underground you say. Good sir, why would you ask the question of whether or not we should sally fourth into yonder cave system for the purposes of investigating said strange happenings. And just to throw this out there, fhtagn.
>following Hipurve
Captcha you and I both know that Bernie is not hip and that he follows us.

>>13501294

We need to make this happen NOW!

>>13501294
But zerglings don't have fists! Hell, only our special modded ones even have opposable thumbs!

I was looking for this thread.

>>13501260
>>13501262
>>13501273
>>13501276
Nargil sends down a team of three gausslisks and four zerglings. They approach what appears to be a bunker opening. The vault-like door is opened by turning a very large, very rusted old wheel, which in turn unlocks the door. After a minute or so of pulling, we have the gausslisks just pull the door loose. The zerglings surge forward into the gap.

And find nothing. An empty staircase leads downward, mostly untouched by the mold and moss of the outdoors. They move down, despite the lack of light, until they come to a corridor lit by a single, sporadically flickering florescent light. At the end of this hallway is a large blast door. There is a panel sunk into the wall on the side, with a small keyboard and a black screen.

How do we proceed?

>>13501327
Then we have our work cut out for us, don't we? Short-Drone! Bring me my Tendril!

>>13501357
>>13501304
>>13501294
1 - Wrong franchise. By a long-shot. You won't see this coming.
2 - I DEMAND DRAWFAGS IMMEDIATELY

>>13501351


Send in five more teams like the first, along with one infested terran in marine armor per team. If we have no terrans available, get some thumblings.

Meanwhile, have our gausslisks and lings take a look at the screen.

>>13501357
Don't forget we need to throw in Connery as Dad.
>>13501351
Well let's knock on the door to this Vaultech brand Vault. If we get no response take the door off the hinges.

>>13501351
...

A Vault Tec Vault?

Dude what?

Anyway, open it!

>>13501351
Does Nargil have any pilotlings with him? Having a Zerg with fingers and opposable thumbs would make typing stuff on a console easier.

Also, call up Labbrate; mechanical and electronic technology is more his specialty.

Let's see if the console reacts to a zergling gently pushing a key.

>>13501408
Vault tec vault
nothing bad will happen...
but really open it

>>13501408
The description sounded like Fallout to me, so I'd knock first.
>munction doctrine
Why yes captcha we do subscribe to the munchkin doctrine in zerg quest. Full speed to the Macguffin!

>>13501351
We proceed by helping the Master take over the wasteland. Then we send in our most dexterous units in to use computers as we study the walls and other technology laying around.

>>13501351

Parasites? Differing types of species of creatures shying/shunning other types of their own species who are acting oddly?

OH MY GOD

IT'S THAT ONE PARASITE DOOHICKEY FROM THE HALLOWEEN ZERG QUEST

>>13501531

That makes too much sense, also, a planet wouldn't be terraformed that fast.

>>13501531
Oh -shit-, he's right.

Swamp world, underground ruins... I just started thinking of the Flood from Halo. In the first game the base the Flood were released from was also located under a swamp.

One zergling hesitantly knocks on the door, loudly tapping with its claws. Nothing happens. It then turns to the console on the wall. After prodding a button or two, a small red script appears:

Enter Code G15.
_

>>13501531
(Yes. That is what could have been. Not now. Now it's something entirely different.)

>G15
You sunk my Destroyer! Curse you random console in space!

>>13501578
Awww. When can we meet our brothers?

>>13501567
Should we type in G15?
It's probably asking for a countersign from a codebook, though.

>>13501567

See if Labrate can work up an uplink for him to start bruteforcing the lock.

While that's happening, have the lisks search the room for clues.

>>13501578
If it's now a offshoot of the glittering stone I will be so torn. Well let's crack it open then.
>XXVIII Johomil
Artisanlord must now write a play about the life of Johomil XXVIII, Emperor of the Gerbils.

>>13501531
>>13501546
>>13501587
The thing from halloween zerg quest was some kind of tadpole like thing. If you'd searched the water or looked for parasites like was suggested before...

>>13501567
Enter Code G15 then. We know that code, right?

OKAY, EVERYBODY STOP AND PAY ATTENTION TO ME FOR A SECOND! JUST A COUPLE THINGS FROM THE LAST THREAD THAT I'D LIKE TO BE SURE ARE TAKEN CARE OF!

In the last thread we crushed Terran invaders on the resource rich moons of Olsen II. I propose we set the lesser cerebrate Salem Saberhagen in charge of the Olsen II A, C, and D (it'll be good for him, chores build character after all). Instruct it to step up expand the mining efforts on Olsen II C and set up colonies on A and D. The colonies on A and D should focus more on building defensive forces that can be quickly deployed to counter another attempt to invade.

Also, on Olsen II C there are Terran add-ons that are left over from the base we destroyed there. We need to either warp in some of our own Terran buildings to link up with those or send some of our SCVs to construct new buildings to link with those add-ons (whatever's quicker) as they may contain info about the new ships and vehicles Kingston is using. Also that would leave give us a functioning Zerg controlled Terran base that could assist in the defense of that system, should it come under attack again.

One more thing, what kind of planet is Olsen II anyway? We wiped out the bases on the planets moons but we never checked the planet itself nor did we check the rest of that system. If it needs to be done, Salem Saberhagen can take care of this as well and report to us if there is anything unusual.

>>13501567
Is there a book lying around? I remeber this from terminator 3, the console asks for a random code and you have to look it up the reply in a book filled with codes. Have our zerg look around for a book or something.

>>13501629
I second all of your points. We might as well get that stuff working in the background while our primary attention is focused on this swamp planet.

If possible, move demolitions equipment down there, to force that door open if we are unable to get the console to do so.

>>13501578

Could these maybe-parasites possibly be the first form of the zerg? The worm-like organism that was first discovered by the Xel'naga and eventually cultivated into the biological (yet refined and dapper) biomonsters that we are today?

>>13501629
>>13501656
Third. Measure passes, Salem is now in charge of the Oslen system

>>13501619
(Water was the baddies from Evolution. Parasites was the tadpole creatures. If you'd honestly gone looking for Yoda, I'd have introduced the Jedi. No lie)

>>13501594
It takes us about an hour to bring a tech team from Labbrate's stores. Two Infested Terrans carry in a large computer that Labbrate threw together. After a few minutes of tinkering, the Terrans begin hacking the console. It appears to be an older model, built under military encryption to become a deadlock in the case of a failed entry, but it is woefully outmatched by the modern-day technology it is up against. The console soon proclaims "Access Granted." and deactivates again.

The walls creak loudly before the hydraulics pull the blast doors up out of the way. There appears to be some crushed metal underfoot, but it is unidentifiable following its indeterminate stay under a fifteen-ton door. Scarring on the rim around it indicate that it may have detonated explosively (but ineffectively) at the time that it was crushed. Ahead is a rickety-looking freight elevator. Although it is very, very old and of a very outdated design, it appears relatively stable and usable.

Take the elevator down?

>>13501689
Sure, I mean it's not like it's probably completely empty and full of outdated junk right?

>>13501689

Get at least four teams ready first.

>>13501674
I may not be wearing a top hat while playing zerg quest, but I can put on my fedora and/or ascot if you like.

>>13501689
look for stairs?

>>13501701
>>13501700
>>13501689
I support going in paranoid. If the other results were hyperevolving nitrogen based life that is killed by Head and Shoulders, Dyles, and Yoda I think that what ever is down there is dangerous.

>>13501689
>honestly would have introduced the jedi.
Fuck.
Anyway, yeah, done we go. Put on our Vault suit, and hope that it's better then our undead-brothers, or Jedi Zerg.

Get Ernie to start playing 'Hacking and whacking' as we decend.

>>13501689
Prepare several exploration teams, and at least 1 more tech team. Have the metal examined to see what it was before its destruction.

Then have the teams take the elevator down and begin exploring.

>>13501689
>Water was the baddies from Evolution

Damn it guys you know what we could have done with that?! At the very least I'm thinking we could have cut the time it takes our units tospawn in half. And water had almost unanimous support in the beginning too. Damn.

>>13501629
Salem Saberhagen whines profusely about having to watch a backwater colony, but does as we say. It grumbles. It begins setting up full-scale mining operations on the moons orbiting the gas giant Olsen II.

>>13501674
(Nope. Just surprisingly similar evolutionary paths. We've got a universe chock full of habitable worlds that actually have life. There are going to be do-overs)

We move the tech team and two gausslisks into the elevator, all it can hold. We load up several teams of reinforcements to send along the way, though they will spend a while in transit.

Close analysis of the metal crushed beneath the door yield puzzling results. It is a very advanced composite titanium alloy, which we have not seen before. If we could replicate it, we might be able to decrease the weight of our Terran units by nearly a quarter without losing armor integrity. There is not quite enough here to provide a usable sample, however.

The elevator descends, rocking and shaking the whole way as if it will fall apart at any moment. If we were confined to just the bodies inside of it, this would be very, very distressing.

When it reaches the bottom, the room is rather dark, but very warm. Taking a few steps forward, we realize that the heat is coming from what appears to be a foundry of some kind. Slow-moving machines are assembling some sort of robots at a very leisurely pace. There is a large, four-monitor set-up of frankly ancient computers surrounding a desk dead ahead.

>>13501689
>There appears to be some crushed metal underfoot, but it is unidentifiable following its indeterminate stay under a fifteen-ton door.

Ya know, this reminds me of terminator 3 to. It's been a while but I'm almost positive that the T-X was crushed beneath a set of blast doors as something exploded in the end.

>>13501914
>as something exploded in the end.
T-850 self-destruct.

>ancient computers
Examine the computers; also search the desk for a codebook, operations manual, or employee welcome packet.

>>13501910

What does it look like is being produced?

Also, investigate the monitor bank and desk.

(We're gonna get terminators, aren't we?)

>>13501910
...what kind of robots? Get a more thorough investigation going.

>>13501914
Really? I suddenly got the feeling of Dwemer... or more conventional Dwarves. Still, more exploring is needed.

>>13501967
>>13501910
Screw terminators or lighter terran stuff... you know where this is going to end up right...

FUCK YOU ALL NIGGER FAGGOTS

>>13501910
>>13501992

Or...!

>>13502032
that would be awesome
but then... the doctor oh god

>>13502051
Pertend that Zerg are the best life. Hide Bernie. Become god via backing of strange English person.

=================D

Bitch cunt

>>13501967
>>13501971
>>13501959
The techs immediate walk up to the consoles, deliberately not touching the controls. Dried, hundreds of years old blood is caked onto the desk, with what appear to be fingernail grooves scratched away from one of the keyboards. Nearby is a small codebook, which is unmarked, but the techs clearly discern that it consists of the combinations for the blast door. It is weathered and moldy, its print so faint that it is hardly legible. There is nothing else at the desk.

One of the gausslisks steps forward enough to get a look at the machines being constructed. They are humanoid, and appear to be made out of the same alloy as the crushed thing under the blast door. They are being assembled laboriously slowly.

>>13501971

Seconding more investigation.

If possible, relay some images of what our units are seeing to Internbrate/Labbrate and maybe even Nargil. See if they can correlate/associate any of the technology we're seeing with any in the records on Terran technology we might possess.

>>13502096
If Kingston gets this, we are eternally boned. This place either must become a fortress of ours or destroyed. Period. Although if skynet does exist, maybe we should let him get it...

>>13502072
ZERG ARE SUPREME! Come to think of it, I do believe this is the fourth of fifth time I've mentioned Doctor Who in Zerg Quest. Still waiting on more exploring.

>>13502096
More investigation is required.

Also, Warbrate is to release a portion of the Swarm to Defensebrate's control, who will bring it here to turn this world into a fortress-planet. I want Zerg orbital defense platform-biots and cloaked overlord patrols in this system set up immediately.

Labbrate is to bring in whatever research equipment and zerg it needs to crack the secrets of this facility.

...well, at least we didn't find the Bydo or something similar...

>>13502106
I'd rather not have to fight Skynet too.
>>13502096
Well, let's keep looking around, see if we can shut this facility down, take back enough of the titanium alloy samples to learn how to make it, check to see if there is a self-destruct.

>>13502160
>>13502147
(Important question: Investigate how? Are you going to try to hack the consoles? Fiddle with the machines? Press the jolly, candy-like button?)

>>13502096
If we could construct all our terran tech with it's own robotic pilots... Holy crap, imagine if we mass produced terminator terran marines. It'd be as if they were permanently stimpaked without the heath loss. And we'd get so many with hardly any resource investment.

>>13502177
Send some of the search teams further into the tunnel complex.

Also, I want to press the jolly button (press a key on the consoles after hooking up all of our hacking equipment).

I still wish we'd checked out the water. Man those things from Evolution were nearly indestructible. Even nuking them just made them more dangerous.

>>13502177
Explore all of the facility, then read everything we found, then fiddle with switches.
>>13502186
Or we could just use pilotlings and not have to worry about making Skynet.

>>13502177
Do not interrupt the machines until we have completed our exploration of the facility. Once we have seen all that there is to see here and have a better understanding of what we found we can start hacking or pressing buttons.

Why not use the terminator tech to grow our zerg with adamantium skeletons? We can have Artisanlord create an Energizer Zerg commercial for our new TV shows, he just keeps going and going and going; even after his flesh is ripped off his endoskeleton protects his brain and allows him to rip apart the enemies of the swarm!

>>13502177
HEY! Just thought of something, machines are not Nargils thing, they're Labrate and internbrate field. Nargil won't be interested in this so much, He's disdainful of tech, so how about we let him start testing the water back up top while we explore this facility and confer with our tech experts.

Pressing the big shiny button worked out pretty well last time.

Try our luck a second time?

>>13502260
That's not going to work, it was already said that it was one thing only. Also, I assumed that the tech teams were under Labrate's control. Nargil can work on that carnivorous plant he found.

>>13502244
Better yet, we can try to infest Skynet.

>>13502297
Oooh, ooh! I'm getting MASSIVE flashbacks of The Master from Fallout here.

>>13502311
Masterbrate?

God, I can hear the other cerebrates making fun of his name already.

Gaaaah!
Fooken timezones.
I forgot about traveling over the ocean.
I thought it was still Tuesday and got caught up reading about the reverse chivalry paladin. >:|

>>13502319
>Masterbrate
Yes. We must do it. And name the resulting cerebrate-abomination that. Pic related.

So it looks like we explore the rest of the tunnels first, see if there are codebooks or anything else with information we might need, then we hook up the hacking equipment and see whose home.

>>13502354
Personally I'm hoping someone had the sense to leave a journal in a sealed safe or something so we can get a bit of background on what this place was and why it went to hell.

Guys, these aren't terminators.

These are Necrons.

We've just doomed the entire galaxy.

>>13502203
>>13502225
>>13502196
While exploring the entire tunnel complex is unlikely, as continued evaluation from orbit is revealing that most, if not all, of the underground facilities are connected, some exploration is surely possible. As the Terrans attempt to hook their interface device up to the consoles without activating them, the gausslisks go for a stroll.

Following the machines down the line, they come to a split in the production line. Half of the machines veer to one side, while the rest veer to the other. The 'lisks split up. One follows the path shortly to another production line, which brings a large rifle to the machine's hands, which grasp the weapon as if by instinct, though Labbrate has a more technical explanation concerning BIOS-level subroutines. It amounts to instinct, in the end, just technical in nature. The machine is then grasped by an overhead claw and dragged out of sight through an opening in the upper portion of the wall. The parts are all obviously old and worn, but function with the efficiency of well-designed machines.

The other gausslisk follows the line to a...skinning facility. The machines' feet are centered over what appears to be living human flesh, which is stretched disgustingly over the skeletal frame, and sealed along the back with some sort of dermal adhesive. Internbrate is mystified, calling it a reversal of our own Power Armor Zerg units: the organic wrapped over the synthetic rather than the synthetic welded to the organic. The resulting cyborgs are visually indistinguishable from Terrans, and we observe six or seven different models of human skin before the gausslisks turn back toward the foundry.

What should we do now?

>>13502409
Find Skynet and create Masterbrate.

>>13502409
>T-800
Gentlemen, I believe we have found our new infiltration vector.

Also, if no codebook or journal was discovered, I think it's time to get cracking at the computer core. Let's whose home in this cozy little Cyberdyne Facility.

>>13502389
sounds legit maybe we can team up

>>13502409
Tell Labrate to learn everything he can about everything in that facility. Particularly the alloys and skinning procedure. Looks like we just got ourselves a new infiltrator.

>>13502430
I don't think that would work, their scanners would be able to detect the fact that these are robots.

Anyway, at the very least, this is free resources. Let's get this under our control and figure out its original purpose.

>>13502464
>their scanners would be able to detect the fact that these are robots.
Yes, if the Terrans did an in-depth mediscan.
But they seem to be doing bio-scans mostly, for tell-tale Zerg proteins and genetic markers.
Should be enough to get a Terminator team into place at a water-treatment plant to begin spreading Infestation spores.

>>13502464
>>13502430
>>13502429
Labbrate begins interfacing with the desk's computers the way it did with the door console, bypassing ancient security codes and horribly out of date lockout procedures. After a few minutes, the terminals blink online. Lines of code spew by, debug information for some long-dead programmer or intended user. After a little while, the system is properly initialized and the screens go blank. One line appears, centered on all of the monitors, followed by a blinking cursor.

62% memory failure. System date unknown. Enter date.
_

Wait wait waiiiit...Terminators? But nowhere near earth...? i see, maybe an autonomous colony that survived the fall of skynet?
well, thank god for that that they aren't being assembled extremely fast. Ever since that one anon kept pushing his nuttery about ascending from flesh to machine-code, I have been worrying about an eventual crossover with our competition. No, not 'nids, competing RTS universe. CORE would fuck us all greatly. Would they ever.

On the other hand....if Bernie got his hands on a Krogoth...

>>13502500
So infestation spores disguised as what? Ketchup packets? Also, I have come to the realization that Kingston (in his infinite totalitarianism) might have instituted new policies involving ID databases and/or travel papers, so new people coming in from nowhere with no regulation identification might still be suspicious.

>>13502538
Do we know what the date is, by Terran reckoning?

Let's enter that, if we know it.
Otherwise, Year 0 of the Rise of the New Swarm.

>>13502538
I suggest not giving the date, but rather inputting a greeting instead.

speaking of bernie, good to see no official communication between us and Kingston.
I have a good plan on that. Maintain a lack of knowledge on Bernie. We saw a terran world under attack by an unknown presence, and we could choose to help it or destroy it. As we were being assaulted by these base-drop-n-scoot freighters, we decided to destroy it. Make it as official and public as possible, but only to a few select terran worlds so the 'toss don't get wind. Make it clear we're dangerous alien lifeforms yes, but ultimately it is Kingston's fault for provoking our aid of this new alien bio-menace.

Show the rescued uninfested humans from Brontes if possible. Keep them uninfested for further PR scams. Possibly put them under artisanlord's watch to avoid any accidental infestings. Wherever they eventually go, give'em a little zerg-grown biodome they can grow food in and live as comfortably as possible. Leak occasional footage of them awkwardly adjusting then beginning to raise a family. For Zergtv broadcasts, call it The Bereaved of Brontes. It'll screw with Terrans so bad to see us playing Peace Corps with the refugees.

Would this be a doable plan or do you think he's recovered enough unscorched DNA from Brontes to see through the ruse? (even if he does, continue with part2. The perception of us no longer being marauding assimilation machines may start up pro-zerg Heaven's Gate type cults and fuck over their faith in their imperial leader's description of our activities.)
The nice thing about these long breaks betwixt quests is you can meditate on interesting ideas like this.

>>service caribbean
But captcha, we haven't gotten to earth yet. We can't give our refugees authentic Caribbean!

>>13502538
This is another shiny red candy like button event isn't it. Have Labrate hold off on inputing a date unless that's all he can do.

>>13502596
I think the show title you're looking for is "Leave it to Brontes"

>>13502538
If we don't know the date on a Terran calendar we can ping the Terran network with one of our stolen satellites. That the info that will be sent will have a date attached.

>>13502565
>So infestation spores disguised as what? Ketchup packets?
Actually, why not? Who would be suspicious of a condiment packet, especially if it comes packed in a lunch bag or the StarCraft-equivalent of a McDonald's Value Meal?

>>13502538
Zerg have little use for "dates" so enter the date the terrans use. The machines copy humans so it'll probably accept that

>>13502654
Genius. Pure genius.

>>13502603
>>13502585
>>13502577
Labbrate's Terrans attempt to bypass the prompt, but it proves impossible. All functions are simply hard-coded to be dependent on a system time. The computer will not function without it. Attempting to put in messages or commands gains us nothing but an error about improper date parsing.

The date on the Terran calendar is October 22, 2500, though we do not necessarily need to be honest with this computer. It is clearly very old, designed in another century.

For that matter, we do not necessarily need to answer it at all. We could always just leave.

(Really, Blizzard? 500 years? That seems awful short for the Terrans to have drifted across the galaxy in cold sleep and then established an interstellar empire from the ashes of their crashed ships...Maybe I'm just being pessimistic about human progress)

>>13502577
Year 0 of the New Swarm sounds fine.

>>13502746
blizzard has no fucking clue about science or the distance in space and they'd have to be traveling at a signifigant fraction of the speed of light to reach anywhere in 500 years that wasn't next door to Earth to begin with

>>13502631
Haw, that'll work too.

>>13502654
dunno about you but I'm always suspicious of fast food. Eyaugh.

But you're on the right track, disguise it as something hoitytoity and fancy. Orange duck sauce, a liver paté, or even... Crème fraiche.

It'll let you get the high rollers, the top military brass, the businessmen, the industrialists. All the 'hidden backbones' of the planet's society. Then taking over is as simple as making them just a twinge more selfish and controlling each day, until they finally meet together one day and can be all Illuminati about the fate of the world. Everyone with either government pull or large amounts of disposable resources will be yours!
It shall become a far simpler matter of infesting the populace from then on.

also don't overlook the power of soy/corn magnates. Imagine how much shit we use that in now. Imagine how the future looks! It's probably still a key ingredient in many processed foods.

I don't have a date in mind, but we should probably try to avoid dates around its 'awakening.' The machines could wake up aggro. See if it goes batty if you put a past date in. Say, 1904?

>>13502746
The problem with using Year 0 is that it might cause conflicts in the program, especially if it's hardcoded for a certain date format.

Let's go with the current Terran calendar. As much as I'd like to go with the New Zerg Calendar, it would only cause problems with this ancient computer system.

>>13502757
Don't know about that, the facility is clearly Terran in origin, I don't want to give it an alien date as it may screw something up

>>13502746
You're not pessimistic, you're a realist. THough I am more impress that we've done all this in... a little over a year. I think we've managed to do a whole lot more then what happened in cannon. For those of you keeping track, October of 2500 puts us at the end of BW.

>>13502746
Enter a clearly spurious date. January 1st, 2000, maybe.

>>13502746
>We could always just leave.

Ha, yeah like that'd happen. When do we ever do the smart thing?


Give the 2500 date and lets get this show on the road.

I'm tired.

>>13502828
(I'm date fudging, of course, but I wanted to make it more realistic that the UED hasn't blown in and tried to wreck everybody's shit quite yet. Them being a few months late is reasonable. Them being a year late or more? Really suspicious. I dunno. The canon timeline's been fudged with already, too)

>>13502802
>>13502792
>>13502757
>>13502791
>>13502678
(Got a decision brewing, guys?)

>>13502885
>(Got a decision brewing, guys?)
Looks like we're going with the current Terran date.

>>13502885
The fact that SC1 and BW from start to finish is 11 months does show that Blizzard can't tell time. As for the computer, I say set it to November 11th, 1111 at 11:11 am.

>>13502885
>(I'm date fudging,

Yeah, well without the destabilization caused by the fall of the Confederacy there is no longer any weakness for the U.E.D. to take advantage of. In fact the confederacy is more powerful now than it ever was what with unifying with the Umojans and the Combine.
Input 2500

>>13502746
Travel is the only aspect that fucks it up. Did blizzard ever mention when FTL warp travel was discovered?
Humans expand in leaps and bounds when they first dive into a new technology, then they'll hit a massive wall for a few centuries until the next giant leap. Battlecruisers in the FMVs don't seem much larger than sea-borne battleships and a shipyard could throw one out in a month at the height of the Pacific War.

Also they probably had a 'great leader' by pure fictional chance to stop them from bumfucking around and fighting each other all the time.

Imagine the difference between Bush (either one) and Roosevelt (either one) in this kind of situation. When we have a great leader (doesn't necessarily have to be political, could be scientific), shit gets done. When we don't, we sit around fapping to porn and/or praying to Jesus.

To be honest I never read much of the additional worldbuilding, it just wasn't my bag, so I'm unsure of their timeline overall, but it is doable based upon what they did immediately after crashing and when they got the ships up and running.

There's a reason our production capacity tends to be mid-to-high tier in spacy civ-building games after all.

>>13502988
I wouldn't say technological progress has slowed or stopped in recent years, rather it's just been going in different directions (faster computers, more portable technologies, etc). I would be surprised if our civilization 500 years from now isn't almost incomprehensible for us.

In any case, current date sounds fair. But it might activate all the drones on some insane mission.

>>13503021
Can we take samples before we enter any date? I'd rather like to use the titanium alloy even if everything goes wrong.

We input the correct date, even letting Labbrate adjust for the local time zone. The computers whir for a moment.

>Evaluating force concentrations
>. . .
>Estimating time scale
>. . .
>Date coincides with force concentration projections.

>Evaluating fusion cell viabilities
>. . .
>Date coincides with fusion cell decay.

>Evaluating attached device
>. . .

Labbrate's hacking machine begins to hum and blink, and the computers whir very loudly. An underlying groaning sound emerges throughout the facility. Labbrate's overlords in orbit register a marked increase in activity across the entire underground system. Heat signatures are popping up all over, motion trackers are going haywire, and primitive Terran scanners bathe the sky in superficial radiation.

Whatever this is, it is awake.

>Date coincides with attached device software.

>VoidGate system initialized and synced with attached device.

>Unidentified creatures detected.
>Unidentified humans detected.

> WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP? <

(And with that, I need to go to bed. We'll continue the Zerg Quest Terminator Expansion Pack next week)

of course I am probably high-balling, but I am presuming construction efficiency at home is as reliable in the field.
The empire isn't really that huge to me, most of the hard sci-fi empires I see are ridiculous once FTL is added.
(And if anyone here plays Renegade, hooboy not even close.)
It just seems to me that production speed + travel time would account for most of what would hold us back in space that didn't deal with emotional state. Conquer those and...

You'll have to excuse my slow speed, hotel I'm staying at is ancient. I can't imagine how old this tiny monitor is. Makes it hell to read captcha.

>>13503061
Damnit, the AI is awake. I wanted to hack it and suborn it, making it serve us.
Now we'll have to negotiate.

I maintain that you have not jumped the shark... well not yet any way. If you bring in the Glittering Stone and Lady then I'd say you jumped the shark in spectacular fashion.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13499509/

Upload to Skyn--I mean, the Archive--complete.

>>13503084
Even if that's true, it's implied that the Koprulu Terrans were in the Long Sleep until 2259. That means they went from less than 40,000 murderers and rapists set loose with completely trashed ships and without even interplanetary communications to an interstellar empire spanning no less than two dozen worlds in under 300 years. I mean, with that kind of progress, Australia should be on its second or third planet by now, right?

>>13503061
coulda used that picture a few threads ago ;D
When we took whatshisface. Icarus.

Sleep on my suggestion! I think an effective PR blitz is just what the zerg could use to upset the logistical balance behind the army currently screwing with our colony worlds. Have to pull a couple troops here and there to quell cults or dissenters who are all "If he lied about the zerg then what else..."
I don't care how we disperse, but disperse them we must!

I'm gonna be stuck in EE for about a month so I'll be slow on the next few threads as well btw.

>>13503181
Still have to spring for a big-ass transmitter array to do any Zerg TV at all. And I don't even have to pretend to be clever to know Kingston will be all up in your grill as soon as you start broadcasting. You guys have yet to get enough support in one thread for this (though it keeps coming up).

I'm kind of disappointed, really, since you've got some hilarious plans for it...but at the same time I'm relieved, because it'll be hard to figure out how to make the public react to Teen 'Lisk, an '80s movie about Michael J. Fox becoming a Hydralisk during the full moon.

Also, EE?

>>13503157
I'm not too proud to admit that this thread went kind of crazy. I started out trying to reintroduce Dyles and ended up creating Skynet instead. There's certainly a point where something went terribly wrong/right.

Anyway, good night, guys. Try not to stay up all night considering the implications of an Infested Yoda.

>>13503259
Eastern Europe. Specifically Estonia but I'll be moving around (contractor work) but staying at the same hotel, closest to main temp office.
I'm not in the dirt-poor areas but like on the cusp. Housing projects and such we've been hired to build up.

I was actually thinking of disseminating the information to terrans in other ways. Perhaps sacrifice a satellite for the first one, a timed broadcast that interrupts a major live broadcast. When they track the sat down it's all alone by itself and the video is all that is there. Maybe 3 hours worth of footage brit nature show-like where the zerg were just observing the saved humans. It won't run its course, but you make it longer so they can see it wasn't just staged when the military reviews it.
Another alternative would be infesting a worker at the broadcasting station who manually interrupts the show, and pulls a V with sending out futuristic blu-ray copies or whatever they use to store media in that time. We're not using our own networks for the media blitz, but a variety of different subtle ways.
The more people who see the Brontes survivors living in their little biodome peacefully the better!

Maybe the latenight showing will show video taken from facility cameras on brontes on what those 'unidentifiably nonzerg horrors' did to the other survivors. Really drive up those heropoints. (They don't know we're secretly perverts too yet ;) )
The plan is to essentially give us DracoInLeatherPants status to the average civilian on the street. Perhaps a successfully infested terran can be shown visiting the brontes families, telling them it was his own choice to join because he wished to expand his mind and knowledge across the stars?
Ha-HAH! just got our sitcom neighbor. Harry the Zergova's Witness. Only not as pushy.

>>13503159
Australia doesn't have starship wreckage lying about with a couple engineers that might know how to rebuild parts of them though.
And I'm pretty certain wherever they landed wasn't trying as hard to kill them as Australia would.
If we hit Australia first when we find earth, THAT ONE fucking tree alone will get rid of marine/firebat rushes.

anyway, now that I have some more knowledge on this matter, two dozen worlds...The expansion should probably be a quarter of that, with the remainder 'mining camps' or somesuch. Only 40,000 doesn't seem like it would give you the population to hold that many....I mean you could CLAIM that many, colonize? That is stretching bodies way too thin for the resources/manpower they need for those fleets. For some reason I had ten times that number in my head. Yeah, they totally botched the mathematics portion, no doubt.
I mean, murderers and rapists, there had to be some major Lord of the Flies-esque power struggles. So at the end of that you have maybe 30-35k people breeding. It's like they didn't take into account any random variables.
Blizzard made up a number and then basically said "Every single one of these mofos survived. And then they bred like Mormons."

So, looking at it from a real zerg's perspective here, not just 'us playing as zerg' we can see that such a thing would be possible in the game itself.
This is a unique opportunity. The infesteds we got before, were forcibly turned, or subtly turned against their will while living amongst other humans through spores. These were necessary calculated militaristic actions. We were attacking an enemy.

Now, out of nowhere, these people most likely view us as their saviours, they saw the devastation of the rest of their planet. To calm them, an overlord most likely showed them Kingston attacking us around the same timeframe. We claim no knowledge of the hellspawn that started the invasion, only that he broke open a hole in Brontes' defenses, and we did what any rational commander would have done with this opportunity. We looked similar enough that the new menace did not immediately attack us.

They naturally fear us. They fear our might. But they are also thankful for getting away. At first apprehensive of their new master, they soon realise they are not mere playthings, more like valued 'pets.' Pets which can communicate their needs and desires. And so these are grown for them. They live as normally as possible in their biodome, and the cerebrate realises, this is not a learning opportunity it would have had the Overmind been around. It can observe them unhindered, like a child with an ant farm. Here, let us see what happens when you place a sugar cube here. Or a miniature weight here. Oh! They pick it up! They move it around! Joyous! We could always peek into their minds once infested, but it wasn't the same. And perhaps if they see how much these ants enjoy their captivity, others will wish to join too, of their own free will. After all, our primary mutation was a focus on innovation all-round, and voluntary infestation would be a truly novel approach to enveloping the universe.
bam, there's the canon hook.