The Overlord was largely unconcerned. The fleet commanded by the Necron General was merely one of many belonging to her dozens of Tomb Worlds, and a portion of the lost vessels could still be recovered.
Necron Crypteks had already begun salvaging the damaged warships, preparing to bring them back to the Tomb World for extensive repairs. Vessels with severe structural damage could no longer self-repair using Living Metal alone; they had to be towed back for reconstruction by Canoptek constructs. Necron ships, much like those of the Protoss, are essentially built by swarms of these tiny mechanical workers.
Probes and Canopteks alike truly live a hard life—born to be beasts of burden.
"No, my Liege. Those xenos... they are very likely biological weapons of the Old Ones. They exhibit terrifying reproductive speeds and combat capabilities. Beyond opening Webway gates, they are capable of short-range warp jumps."
"But that is still not enough to stand against us."
"Indeed, my Liege. But anything connected to the Old Ones is our enemy."
A long, grueling war had once raged between the Necrontyr and the Old Ones. The scale, duration, and impact of that conflict profoundly shaped the entire galaxy. Back then, humanity was little more than burrowing mammalian ancestors.
"Mmh, a sound observation. I will take it under advisement."
The Overlord naturally knew that anything related to the Old Ones was a foe, but she had another crisis to address. Even after a slumber of over sixty million years, the Flayer Curse seemed to be spreading through the lower strata of the Necron ranks.
Of course, these matters were of no concern to the Overmind. It had neither the will nor the ability to solve the Flayer Curse. That was a blight laid down by a C'tan in its death throes. The Overmind had zero research on the Star Gods—it couldn't help, and even if it could, it wouldn't. It wasn't that kind-hearted.
---
Over the following period, the Swarm continued its cautious expansion. As its territory grew, the sector occupied by the Zerg became a significant blot on the galactic map. Even by the standards of a game like Stellaris, they were now a "civilization with a visible color" on the galactic stage—not only qualified for a seat at the table but ready to snatch the food off everyone else's plates.
The Imperium of Man was too fractured; the Overmind didn't fear them at all.
The Necrons were dangerous, but they were bogged down in their own civil wars.
Chaos was the greatest threat, yet even the Ruinous Powers knew that winning a conventional war against the Zerg in realspace was a low-probability event; they could only resort to underhanded tricks, exploiting the Swarm's lack of adaptation to the Warp.
The Eldar? Unless they brought out the forbidden black technologies of their ancient empire, they were just meat to the Swarm—tiny slivers of "bean sprout" flesh not even worth a second glance.
The Orks certainly had the strength to go toe-to-toe with the Zerg, provided they had already formed a massive WAAAGH! If they tried to develop after encountering the Zerg, they would never get the chance to reach critical mass.
The Tyranids, like the Orks, posed a massive threat. The larger the Zerg Swarm grew, the more it would have to face the pressure of the Tyranid Hive Fleets. The ceiling for that pressure was incredibly high, and the Zerg hadn't hit it yet.
The T'au and the Leagues of Votann? One was not worth the worry, and the other barely existed beyond the background lore.
For a moment, there seemed to be no major obstacles before the Zerg. But the Overmind knew that a lack of obvious obstacles often meant they were hidden everywhere.
I've provoked the Necrons now. I hope they don't target me specifically... I still don't even know which Dynasty that was.
The icons of Necron Dynasties were far too difficult to memorize. Even though the Overmind had been a Warhammer fan, expecting him to remember every single Dynasty sigil was asking too much. The sheer volume of lore and data in Warhammer is staggering; he wasn't a professional researcher before he crossed over.
But I remember the Silent King and the Stormlord are in a civil war, dragging other Dynasties in. This Dynasty probably just woke up and doesn't know yet. Once they find out, they'll be too busy picking sides to deal with me.
Enemies that would be fatal to most transmigrators were merely "minor nuisances" for the Zerg. As long as a main battle fleet didn't come knocking, the Overmind remained unfazed.
I wonder how my two unlucky "brothers" are doing?
The Overmind still thought about his fellow transmigrators in the Protoss and Terran roles; he wanted Hybrids badly. But the Hybrid technology was in the hands of the Terran "brother," while the materials required the Protoss.
Speak of the devil. Just as the Overmind was dwelling on his long-lost comrades, a scrap of intelligence finally surfaced.
"Overmind."
Cerebrate Zasz suddenly checked in. It had been months since his last report, which was unusual.
"What is it, Zasz?"
"We discovered a human system under siege by Tyranids. Originally, we planned to take the system along with the Tyranid Hive Fleet."
"And? What's the problem?"
"We were blocked. Something has severed our connection with the local Swarm units. It isn't the Warp, but something far more... incomprehensible."
"???"
The Overmind was baffled. What did he mean by "more incomprehensible"?
The Overmind immediately projected his consciousness into the front-line units. In a remote corner of the galaxy, within an industrial Hive World roughly the size of Saturn, a skirmish was taking place between Tyranid and Zerg biological ships. The scale was small—only about a dozen bio-ships on each side. Usually, a skirmish this size wouldn't require the Overmind's personal attention, but something was wrong.
And then...
The Overmind saw exactly what Zasz found "incomprehensible." Through the eyes of an Overseer, he could clearly see the Tyranids and Zerg fighting below—and a third group of units mixed in, attacking both sides.
"What the...!"
Numerous Zerg units, draped in strange mechanical apparatuses, were locked in combat with the Swarm. At first, the Overmind thought it might be Stetmann's Mecha-Zerg.
No, that's not it.
Mecha-Zerg are pure machines with no flesh. But these "Zerg" units had bodies.
Swarm units controlled by machinery? Am I dreaming? Someone can actually ignore the Hive Mind's control to hijack my units?
Even the "Psi Destroyer" from StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty only worked by tracing the Overmind's genetic sequence to mimic the Hive Mind. Even that couldn't overpower the Overmind's direct control. Yet, he truly could not control these units. It wasn't lag; it was a total, absolute disconnection.
Wait!
Piecing the situation together, a specific term flashed through the Overmind's mind.
Project Cerberus? If it was that, then it actually made sense. Any Zerg player wouldn't be a stranger to that name—especially the competitive ones.
After all, that skin pack costs about 12 bucks.