Swarm

Basic description:

Insectoids with 4 eyes and can fly. Have access to Hivemind channel.

Physiology:

Perhaps one of the more bizarre races found in the world post-Changes, they are of an insectoid-humanoid body plan. 2 legs, a trunk, and 2 arms... but it ends there. Females are slightly bigger than males. They have an exoskeleton that gives them a variety of tones ranging from black to gold. Their heads are noteworthy of course for their 4 eyes, usually 2 on each side of the head. They also have wings allowing them for long range flight which they often use for migration purposes. They have an affinity and attraction towards electricity, being able to sense it, project it, consume it, and more. The affinity for electricity also means the Swarm individual is unable to wear most clothes, but they don't seem to miss it. Also, as the Swarm progresses through ranks, they increase in height, weight, and strength. This is what is all public knowledge though as the Swarm as a collective does not allow their individuals to be autopsied, dissected, or have preserved samples being made from their bodies and will go to great lengths to make sure it never happens... up to and including hostilities from Hived Swarm such as the Katia Hills Medical Research Institute Massacre which ended with the Hivers dropping cluster bombs on the morgue facility holding Swarm bodies. Any samples that are currently out in the field are known to be massively mutated and/or have serious defects, perhaps as a misdirection from the Swarm/Hive command to throw anyone off to the true nature of the Swarm race. It is not known why the Swarm collectively is so mysterious about their physiology but it is very successful, the inner workings of the Swarm brain is not known, but a clue can be alluded to it from their behavior, it is quite clear that Hived Swarm can communicate to each other through some form of telepathy.

History:

The Swarm is very mysterious about their physiology, they are also mysterious about their history, they absolutely refuse to share it with non-Swarm and perhaps they don't even care about it, it's not important to them. That being said, there are two main competing hypotheses from Surgeons and other scientists who study the Swarm.

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ExGrug Hypothesis - This scientist believes that Swarm were originally aliens who, while technologically advanced, had a weak, frail, and perhaps not even chemically solid physical form. They crashed on Earth at some point and scanned for the dominant lifeform... finding the organisms who had numerical superiority, who were present in nearly every environment, could eat from other lifeforms, could adapt, possibly looked at eusocial hierarchies as superior, etc. They found insects and molded their forms into this. This would explain why the Swarm are so adamantly against their tissues being examined, that they are alien visitors... a problem with the ExGrug Hypothesis though is that Merika has regular contact with alien species and none of them from the Arzenwa to the Zoltarians know nothing of an alien species coming to their worlds and molding themselves into the numerically superior/eusocial species.

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Lakshmia Hypothesis - This scientist believes that ExGrug is being a bit extreme and that the Swarm were always on Earth, either as humans who genetically engineered themselves into the Swarm or a species of insect that rapidly evolved into having humanoid-like bodies. She looks into the fact that electricity manipulating animals existed even before the Changes and the Swarm may have modified themselves into having this on top of their insectoid bodies. The thing with tissue samples being protected to an extreme may not have to do with Swarm secrecy but more to do with some sort of honor, with the Swarm protecting the dead and giving them last rites. A problem with this hypothesis is that the samples that are known, none of them have any parallels when it comes to genetic codes, proteins, enzymes, etc. However, this is also the 'safe' hypothesis.

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Outside of the genesis ideas, the Swarm's history in Merika has been rocky. At one point, not too long ago, the Swarm staked out territory in parts of regions from the Plains Region to the fringes of the Middle West Region and held onto it rather aggressively, attacking non-Swarm who got too close to Swarm nests and compounds, and often without little warning and with symbols that were hard for non-Swarm to even decipher. When the Swarm decided to take the Upper Michigan Atomic Radio Power Plant though for themselves with the resulting battle with the death toll in the thousands on both sides and that was only in 2 days of fighting, that it was decided something needed to be done. Workteria, looking to prove it's worth as a deity, used a thrall exterminator and threatened to cause a catastrophic failure in the plant, which would blow it up, kill more thousands of both sides, and make it all for nothing unless a Conclave of the Regions was called and this gets settled politically and with a compromise. It was rare to call a Conclave of the Regions, where leaders of all Regions and leaders of cities, racial and class paragons, clan leaders, high priests of deities, and others get summoned... but it was the Swarm issue that made it happen. A treaty was made; the Swarm in Merika gets declared Merikan with all the rights and responsibilities that comes with that, they get Upper Michigan and keep a Silo they call home. Non-Swarm are guaranteed safe passage through Swarm territory as long as they don't try to trespass into the Swarm physical shells of nests. While the Swarm would get the Atomic Radio Power Plant, they are to make sure distribution of power is not to be messed with, with the Swarm/Hive populations only taking the power they need, that the Hive command would turn over any power armor they got from Elites and Savages they were trying to automate. It was agreed to, not only that, but it also elevated Workteria from a simple ex-lieutenant of Mallama into a deity in it's own right and it gained a temple in the Soap Lake Holy Land. Since the treaty, there has been less issues involving the Swarm who almost except for life act recycled are now completely insular other than making the occasional trade.

Culture:

The Swarm generally serve and honor the Megaqueen, their deity, their goddess. This goes into the honor aspect of Swarm physiology, it is believed that any individual Swarm can become an avatar of Megaqueen, thus every Swarm body is a Megaqueen shrine. Swarm do not place a lot of value on the individual and will generally work as part of the Hive when seen outside. The Hive is a multipurpose division of the Swarm race, ranging from foragers as they are young and as they get older they become warriors and soldiers.