History Fanfic / TheSwarmOfWar

* DeadFic: Last updated in 2017.

* WhipItGood: During the Battle of Tyran, the Overmind's human body is given a number of weapons, including two chainsword. He only needs one, so he takes the other's chain and remakes it into a whip.

* {{Megalodon}}: A Zerg SeaMonster type. It's even called the Carcharlisk.

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7080862/1/The-Swarm-of-War The Swarm of War]]'' is a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' [=/=] ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' {{Crossover}} written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1272704/VexMaster VexMaster]]. It tells the story of James Malcolm Raynor, a nerd with knowledge of both universes killed by a car... and reincarnated as a Zerg Larva on the fallen Aiur. The guy morphs to a Drone... then a Hatchery... then a Hive Cluster... and just as he's ready to take over after Kerrigan's depowerment... the Xel'Naga artifact transports him elsewhere. From that moment, James is no more. There is a new Overmind. And that Overmind lands on a new planet. A planet just in the middle of a Warp Storm. Well, time to rebuild... and consume.

As of 2015, the story is in the process of being betaed, but is a very enjoyable one even without it.

%%* BadassBoast:%%Quotes alone aren't acceptable context.
%%-->''We are the Zerg. We are the Swarm. We are the Devouring Ones. We are the God Killers. We are the Conquerors of Aiur and Destroyers of Tarsonis. We are the Unending Doom.''

%%* BeehiveBarrier: Naturally, considering the Zerg shield technology comes from the Protoss.
%%* TheBattlestar: The larger Zerg [[LivingShip Living Ship]]s, like the Hive Ship.%%Are what?
%%* BewareMyStingerTail: Zerg Patriarchs have the beam firing type.
%%* BigDamnHeroes: In the final battle of arc 2.

%%* ABoyAndHisX: Alena and Tobi.
* BrainInAJar: Humans allowed to survive under the Swarm largely end up as these in the end.%%So far, it has not been specified how aware and of what they are.%%Confusing grammar.

%%* FromNobodyToNightmare: Starts as a nerd, ends up as... well, we'll see.%%ZCE, speculation.

%%* HumanSacrifice: Judanus. The Ruinous Powers pay him well.
%%* HumanPopsicle: The Space Marines from the original ship.

%%* HumongousMecha: Bugklaw's Stompa.

%%* ICanRuleAlone: Judanus to Ga'huld.

%%* MookPromotion: The Spyling[=/=]Blood Master is the SixthRanger.

%%* UsedToBeASweetKid: Alena is... quite the horror by the end of the first arc.
%%* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Changelings.

%%* WifeHusbandry: James/Overmind and Alena turn out to be this.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The Overmind makes powerful bodies for himself and his Champions. Also, Warboss Bugklaw gets bigger and stronger with each encounter, until he's six meters tall.

[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7080862/1/The-Swarm-of-War The Swarm of War]] is a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' [=/=] ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' {{Crossover}} written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1272704/VexMaster VexMaster]]. It tells the story of James Malcolm Raynor, a nerd with knowledge of both universes killed by a car… and reincarnated as a Zerg Larva on the fallen Aiur. The guy morphs to a Drone… then a Hatchery… then a Hive Cluster… and just as he’s ready to take over after Kerrigan’s depowerment… the Xel’Naga artifact transports him elsewhere. From that moment, James is no more. There is a new Overmind. And that Overmind lands on a new planet. A planet just in the middle of a Warp Storm. Well, time to rebuild… and consume.

The first story arc – the first 40 chapters – is about the Overmind taking over the planet. The second arc – finished in summer 2014 – is about the Swarm testing itself against future enemies on a remote planet, opposed by the Imperium, the Eldar, the Chaos, [[VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine Captain Titus]]... and [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Scout Sergeant Cyrus]].

* ArchNemesis: Warboss Bugklaw. [[spoiler:Too bad he doesn’t survive into the second arc.]] Judanus seems to be shaping up to be one in the later chapters.
* AssholeVictim: Elegas, when confronted by Elric and accused of having… inappropriate feelings toward his sister, merely replies that she was only a half-sister… ''[[TooDumbToLive and then asks about her daughter]]''. Mind you, said daughter is [[{{Squick}} something like seven]].

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: James’ first body was a Hive sized Ultralisk variant. Gets better later, when he starts making Zerg Titans and [[LivingShip Living Ship]]s up to ten kilometers long, with bigger stuff being planned.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The Overmind makes powerful bodies for himself and his Champions. Also, Warboss Bugklaw gets bigger and stronger with each encounter, until he’s six meters tall.

* BadassBoast:
-->''We are the Zerg. We are the Swarm. We are the Devouring Ones. We are the God Killers. We are the Conquerors of Aiur and Destroyers of Tarsonis. We are the Unending Doom.''

* BeehiveBarrier: Naturally, considering the Zerg shield technology comes from the Protoss.
* TheBattlestar: The larger Zerg [[LivingShip Living Ship]]s, like the Hive Ship.
* BewareMyStingerTail: Zerg Patriarchs have the beam firing type.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the final battle of arc 2.

** When Zerg attack humans with acid and spores, the results are… not pretty. Roots growing through your body, acid melting off flesh...
** Chapter 23 describes a battlefield full of corpses... and then a severed head comes alive - a [[PuppeteerParasite Spyling]] still has enough life in him to try searching for another host. Of course, a few tentacles must be grown first to move around.

* BrainInAJar: Humans allowed to survive under the Swarm largely end up as these in the end. So far, it has not been specified how aware and of what they are.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Elegas harbored rather… inappropriate feelings toward his sister.
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Zerglings are often called “Dog-things” by humans.

* CarryABigStick: Bugklaw’s mace during his first Waaagh. As befits his name, it was made from Roach claws.

** The village which called for help against the Orks is attacked due to Tobias being mistaken for a daemon.

** During a battle between the King’s Army and the Chaos, forces led by the Loyalist Space Marines attack and wipe out the Chaos. The commander of the Kings's forces thanks them for the help... and is immediately exterminated along with his army; due to the King refusing to recognize the Space Marines as his superiors, his kingdom had been branded as heretics.

* CoolSword: Judanus’ sword, once it absorbs Ga’huld the daemon.

* CrossoverRelatives: It is strongly implied that the Tyranids are the descendants of another [[{{VideoGame/Starcraft}} Zerg]] group which got sucked into TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 universe in the same incident, but into another time and place.

* DealWithTheDevil: Not counting the obvious examples for the Chaos Marines, there is Judanus' deal with Ahriman [[spoiler:to get him into Warp before he’s killed by the Swarm]].

* EasyLogistics: Averted. There are a lot of issues with feeding an army a million strong, and the Ork invasion runs into significant problems once they find out their spores don’t grow in Creep.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played with. Enough of James remains in the Overmind to care for Alena, but it later turns a good part of it is attraction to her psyker talent. It doesn’t tend to extend to other children, in any case (although quite a few ''are'' spared for PragmaticVillainy purposes). Chapter 64 has a Zerg Matriarch having... some strange sensations connected with an Imperial Guard commander, eventually appearing before him in a humanoid form for a talk. And then we are introduced to James and Alena's child...

* FalseFlagOperation: In the second story arc, a Zerg force is lost in a minor Warp anomaly and lands on an Imperium world. Investigation reveals LaserGuidedAmnesia in the colony’s memories, which implies artificial causes with hints pointing toward [[spoiler:the Eldar and their psyker powers]]. However, Volran guesses correctly that the real culprit is [[spoiler:the Overmind, since only he could have done such a precise work]]. The next chapter reveals [[spoiler:it was an Eldar attack all right, but the Overmind attempted to erase the evidence for his own reasons.]]

* FatalFlaw: The remains of James’ human overconfidence cause quite a bit of trouble at first. Matriarch Asmodeus takes heavy casualties due to her reluctance to use proper recon, leading to her being replaced.

* FlauntingYourFleets: Chapter 46 describes a fleet of tens of thousands of [[LivingShip Living Ship]]s at the start of the Zerg expansion, and that’s just the ones in the kilometer and above size category.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Starts as a nerd, ends up as… well, we’ll see.

** The Host’s attack against Bugklaw’s forces starts with him summoning a small army of Zerg and ''flinging'' them at the Ork tanks and Stompa.

* GunshipRescue: During the Imperium’s battle with the Zerg, a rampaging Ultralisk is destroyed by Valkyrie gunships. Then, a massive wave of enemies comes, too much for the gunships. All seems lost, but then [[spoiler:a KillSat network reactivates. Kind of a PyrrhicVictory though; the humans take enormous casualties themselves.]]
* [[ABoyAndHisX A Girl and her Zergling]]: Alena and Tobi.

* HormoneAddledTeenager: The ''Overmind'' goes through such a stage a few months after arriving in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe. Doesn’t quite work the way it does for humans, but it’s enough for some confusion. Then Alena goes through the same… enough for them both to be confused.
* HumanSacrifice: Judanus, naturally. The Ruinous Powers pay him well.
* HumanPopsicle: The Space Marines from the original ship.
* HumansAreBastards: There is an off handed mention of James adding the “boundless cruelty of a human” to the Swarm.

* HumongousMecha: Bugklaw’s Stompa.

* ICanRuleAlone: Judanus to Ga’huld.

** The Swarm’s first attack against an Imperium fleet starts with dozens of asteroids (with shield disruption fields). One Cobra Class Destroyer makes a HeroicSacrifice, the rest survive, although not completely unscathed.
** Chapter 63 has the tables turned - a Chaos attack on a Zerg fleet starts with a bombardment by ''an entire shattered Emperor-class battleship''.
* KissOfDeath: The Blood Master exchanging his body for that of a Chaos Terminator. He even calls it “the kiss of your doom”. Not the slightest bit erotic, of course. Then there is a Krakenlisk’s attack, which involves grabbing an enemy ''starship'' and blasting it point blank with a BreathWeapon.

* LastStand: Lord Hebaras against the Swarm. Eblas against Judanus’ forces.

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: James accepts his reincarnation very quickly. Then he builds an empire within months. Then he gets to the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe… well, it’s technically not him anymore, but still, he develops a new plan quickly enough.

* LostColony: They are the descendants of a destroyed warship’s crew, at least the ruling class is. The planet was already settled by the time they arrived, and they took over.
* LoveIsInTheAir: The entire royal family and the court are destroyed by [[spoiler:Alena’s pheromones. And perhaps her psyker power as well.]]

* MeaningfulRename: After Char, the name “James” isn’t used often, except in some private concersations. There is only the new Overmind. After the first arc, the planet upon which it occurred is named New Char, although it is unclear whether it had a name earlier.
* {{Megalodon}}: A Zerg SeaMonster type. It’s even called the Carcharlisk.
* MeleeATrois: Five sides in the first arc. 1)The King’s Army. 2) The Space Marines and Duke Verin’s forces. 3) Judanus with his Chaos Marines and cultists. 4) Bugklaw with his Orks. 5) The Swarm. The second ark has the Swarm, the Imperium Inquisition, Chaos, Eldar, and [[spoiler:Vegin, although it turns out he is actually with the Chaos.]] In one of the intermission chapters, the Swarm manipulates the Orks, Imperium and Eldar into that, with Dark Eldar and Chaos joining in later.

* MookPromotion: The Spyling[=/=]Blood Master is now the SixthRanger.
* MultipurposeTongue Alena can use hers as a [[CombatTentacles Combat Tentacle]].
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: The first Host and its bodyguards all have four arms. And that’s not counting all the CombatTentacles and Kerrigan style wings.
* MundaneUtility: The Ultralisks’ SharpenedToASingleAtom Kaiser Blades turn out to be very useful for cutting down trees.

* NoSell: Theq’aras shoots the Blood Master with a full volley from a Meltagun. The guy gets knocked back a few meters… and then thanks the Chaos Terminator for the experience – now the Swarm knows what a point blank Meltagun blast is like.

* PhlebotinumOverload: The Overmind’s first bite of the Warp Storm is enough to send him into a coma. After that, he’s careful not to bite off more than he can chew.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Alena’s mind grows from 5 to 16 in a matter of months. Then, an adult looking Zerg/human body is made for her.
* PowerCreepPowerSeep: When the Imperium encounters the Zerg for the first time, they are much easier to dispatch than one would expect from the earlier chapters. [[spoiler:That’s because it’s a LostColony which lacks some of the upgrades]].
* [[PowerCrystal Power Crystal]]s: The Khaydarin Crystals serve as that. Also, [[spoiler:at the end of the first arc, the temporary success of the human forces is because Alena ordered to put small amethysts in all weapons, with her and the Spylings regularly charging them up with psionic energy.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: A lot of children are spared – because they can grow up to become powerful psykers, or, failing that, workers producing advanced equipment.
* PuppeteerParasite: The Spylings are capable of consuming a human brain and then taking over from inside the empty skull – with all of the target’s memories, of course.
* PyrrhicVictory:

* RemovableTurretGun: Titus sees a heavy bolter during his mission to retake the facility. Unlike the usual examples, however, he has a cyborg Huscarl carry it – the weapons he carries already are heavy enough.

* RousingSpeech: Armanus gives the DoNotGoGentle type after it’s discovered most of his brothers have been corrupted or killed by Chaos.

* SerialEscalation: Starts with a few hundred humans, a few hundred Orks, and the Overmind with a few dozen Zerglings… Ends up with human armies a million strong, hundreds of Chaos Space Marines, hundreds of Daemons. hundreds of thousands of Chaos Cultists, millions of Orks, and tens of millions of Zerg (with all kinds of advanced tech brought out). And all of that is ''before'' the expansion to other planets starts…
* SignificantAnagram: Sergeant Lori [[spoiler:Anela]]? And with an immediate commander named Jon [[spoiler:‘Mac’ Ronyar]] at that?

* TastesLikeChicken: The Overmind compares the taste of daemon essences to human food… although chicken isn’t on the list.

* TeleportSpam: Bugklaw does this at the end of the first arc… after using ''a lot of teleporters'' for a surprise invasion.

* ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts: In the first arc, the Zerg had most of their units burrow and hibernate, with little outside indication about the real size of their army. The Orks turn out to have an army millions strong on a remote archipelago. In the second arc, the Imperium has its first encounter with the Zerg… a rather degraded LostColony…

* TimeSkip: After the end of the first arc, the Overmind rules the planet, but cannot expand beyond until he consumes enough of the Warp Storm to clear the way. It takes decades, but of course there isn’t much to tell about.
* TookALevelInBadass: The new Swarm, the new units, Warboss Bugklaw…

* UpgradeArtifact: Judanus’ transformed Power Sword grants him spellcasting abilities thanks to the daemon trapped inside.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Alena is… quite the horror by the end of the first arc.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Changelings.
* WaveMotionGun: The Lance cannon serves as one in the first arc. Two have appeared, and each was a BIG trouble.

* WeHaveReserves: The Overmind is perfectly willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of creatures to delay Bugklaw’s Stompa for a single day. Later, at the end of Arc 2, Volran assaults an impregnable fortress... by sending creatures at it until the Imperium RagnarokProof weapons break down from constant firing.
* WeWillMeetAgain: the Daemon Prince Nar’heskor screams it at the Zerg when he is forced to flee a battle. [[spoiler:doesn't happen; Judanus pulls a {{Starscream}} about ten seconds later.]]

* WifeHusbandry: James/Overmind and Alena turn out to be this.
* WorfEffect: The Overmind’s first mental battle is against [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ahzek_Ahriman Ahzek Ahriman]]. That’s a ten thousand years old Badass with knowledge and power only surpassed by the Greater Daemons and Primarchs… and he’s completely [[CurbStomp Curb Stomp]]ed. At the end of arc 2, a hastily prepared Overmind Host takes out (barely) an Avatar of Khaine. Volran seems to suffer from the trope as well - as the Champion most inclined toward direct combat and brute strength, he was killed twice already.

* YearInsideHourOutside: The planet upon which the first arc occurs is trapped inside a Warp Storm. Inside, over five centuries have passed. Outside, it’s a single century at the most. [[spoiler:For an orbiting abandoned starship in the Storm itself – ten hours.]]

* YouAreInCommandNow: In chapter 45, after the battle is finished, Lieutenant Worak realizes he’s the only officer alive in his regiment. Naturally, he then reports to Captain Titus.
* YouMonster: Elegas’ final words to Elric. Elric’s reply is “Well, I am a monster now, Elegas”.

* YouShallNotPass: The Imperium’s attitude toward the Zerg in the second arc.
* ZergRush: [[TheBigGuy Volran]] actually has it as a tactic – a psionically reinforced stampede of a million Zerg isn’t easy to stop.

* UpToEleven: After the Overmind’s upgrades Leviathan is a kilometer long and wide with massive firepower. Then, he introduces the Hive Ship which can ''give birth'' to these, three at a time.

* CurbStompBattle: The first Warboss against the Ultralisk, then the Kingdom forces against the Chaos. Alena and the Host deliver these to… well, whatever they have encountered in the first arc. An Avatar of Khaine turned out to be much more of a problem.

* DealWithTheDevil: Not counting the obvious examples for the Chaos Marines, there is Judanus’ deal with Ahriman [[spoiler:to get him into Warp before he’s killed by the Swarm]].

* EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods: The Krakenlisk.

* FiveManBand: Seems to shape up for this, but Hargen and Elric are yet to express their traits enough to be sure.
** The Overmind: TheLeader.
** Alena: TheLancer[=/=]TheChick (although the last quality is only seen when inside the virtual reality).
** Volran: TheBigGuy – and apparently smarter than can be expected.
** Blood Master: TheSixthRanger.

* GreenEyes: Alena, at least before she joins the Swarm.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Swarm's command creatures have names like [[Literature/TheBible Lucifer]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Anub'arak]], [[Franchise/StarWars Maul]] and [[Literature/LordOfTheRings Shelob]].

* HumansAreSpecial: The new Overmind is certainly much more creative than the first one. And GenreSavvy enough about the trope.

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The Overmind is GenreSavvy enough not to try absorbing Chaos Space Marines, despite the usefulness of the Gene-seeds for his plans.

* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:Chapter 86 ends with the Overmind presenting one to Calgar: Either stop the Zerg from taking Guilliman or kill the Swarmlord while its weak and save Macragge from the Tyranids.]]

* OffTheRails: The Overmind has decided to use its position in the timeline to change certain aspects. [[spoiler:Most interestingly, knowing of the first Tyranid advances has allowed it to manipulate certain events so the Imperium is better prepared against Hive Fleet Behemoth in order to eventually change the timeline. It appears to be successful, forcing Marneus Calgar to choose between allowing the Zerg Overmind to consume his Primarch or destroying the Tyranid Hive Fleet entirely, saving Macragge and the Ultramarines.]]

* OffTheRails: The Overmind has decided to use its position in the timeline to change certain aspects. [[spoiler:Most interestingly, knowing of the first Tyranid advances has allowed it to manipulate certain events so the Imperium is better prepared against Hive Fleet Behemoth in order to eventually change the timeline to ensure Macragge falls to the Zerg. While certain details had to be fine-tuned, the first part has been completed with Marneus Calgar's victory over the Tyranids in Prandium.]]

* OffTheRails: The Overmind has decided to use its position in the timeline to change certain aspects. [[spoiler:Most interestingly, knowing of the first Tyranid advances has allowed it to manipulate certain events so the Imperium is better prepared against Hive Fleet Behemoth in order to eventually change the timeline to ensure Macragge falls to the Zerg. While certain details had to be fine-tuned, the first part has been completed with Marneus Calgar's victory over the Hive Tyrant.]]