The Evolution of the Togot Swarm
Abathur worked with remarkable efficiency. Within a day, the Togot Swarm had produced three entirely new kinds of bugs. The egg sacs within the Mother Nest were laying eggs almost without pause, which worker bugs then carried to the incubation chambers.
Just two days later, the first batch of new bugs had finished hatching. They burst from their shells and immediately began feeding, growing at a rate visible to the naked eye after consuming massive amounts of food. Two more days later, they had already matured into adults.
There were three kinds of new bugs in total. The first was a bloated sphere at least five meters tall. More than twenty tiny insect legs supported its body, allowing it to move only slowly. At its front was a huge maw filled with sharp teeth, while dozens of cavities resembling writhing intestines lined its body.
As soon as this bug was born, the soldier bugs previously used by the Togot Swarm swarmed toward it under the Mother Nest's command. It devoured them mouthful by mouthful, converting them into highly concentrated biomass and storing it within its body.
This was the Broodmother. Its organs were extremely simple—feeding organs, digestive organs, storage sacs, excretory organs, and feeding organs for other bugs. Its only function was to eat, endlessly eat, then use its powerful digestive organs to convert and store the biomass before feeding it to other bugs.
The Broodmother's digestive organs were so powerful that they could even digest chitin. Everything it excreted was worthless residue that could not be converted no matter what was done to it.
The second kind of bug was an improved soldier bug called a Scythe Drone. Its muscles had been greatly enhanced, including powerful hind legs that let it leap five