Baneling

The baneling was an explosive strain of the zerg, a living suicide bomber evolved from the zergling through a brief chrysalis phase. Its body was remade to carry sacs of highly corrosive acid, and when it reached an enemy it triggered a reaction within that volatile payload, rupturing in a shower of searing acid that devastated structures and ground forces alike. First encountered during the zerg campaigns on Sorona in the Koprulu Sector, the baneling became a feared and instantly recognizable threat.

Transformation from the zergling#

Banelings were created from zerglings following a brief chrysalis phase. In the new form, the zergling's claws shriveled and became withered, while a swollen sac filled with volatile chemicals grew out of its back. The zergling's skin was repurposed, stretching over newly formed growths, and its bone plates softened to hold bulbous, pulsating acid sacs in place. The remains of the carapace offered no real protection, but allowed for unhindered delivery of the baneling's payload. The creature's digestive and reproductive tracts were assimilated as nutrients to accelerate the process and make room for fleshy, mutated adrenal glands, which were re-purposed to produce and store large quantities of highly corrosive acid that few materials could withstand.

Because of its added mass, the baneling's legs were thicker than the zergling's in order to stabilize the body, and its feet were replaced by sharp spikes that allowed it to navigate rough terrain, albeit at a slower pace. Yet due to their bloated nature, banelings were barely able to walk, and were observed tucking into a ball and rolling instead. The strain possessed a rudimentary sonar system, which Dominion scientists theorized was a degeneration of the zergling's complex optical structure. A transmitter at the center of the baneling's skull emitted pulses that mapped its surroundings, echoing back to two evenly spaced receivers and feeding the creature a continuous stream of spatial information. Baneling anatomy also contained lungs and a heart. Because all of the Soronan mold proteins existed within them, banelings could survive on minimal oxygen and moisture. Banelings of the Leviathan Brood retained the spine-like growths of the zerglings that had metamorphosed into them.

Detonation and tactics#

When a baneling drew close enough to an enemy, it triggered a reaction within its volatile chemical payload that caused the creature to explode in a shower of searing acid. The explosion destroyed the baneling but inflicted terrible damage on its enemies, proving highly effective against both structures and ground forces; a clutch of them could wipe out a group of vehicles and infantry in the blink of an eye. The strain's lethality was heightened by the zerg predilection for burrowing. An apparently safe area could become a deathtrap as banelings erupted beneath their foes, giving enemies virtually no time to react. By 2511, the Terran Dominion had developed a neutralizing spray for its vehicles that could halt the corrosion from baneling acid. Terran scientists theorized that the triggering enzyme for the baneling's detonation had been adapted from those of early infested terrans.

History#

Banelings were first observed during the Siege of Cask on Sorona in 2503. The defenders of Cask held out against the zerg long enough that the Swarm came to spawn only minor breeds such as zerglings to send into battle. The pressure of the siege drove the development of a new strain, with zerglings incorporating an acidic native mold into themselves, and these new banelings were sent against Cask, their spray of acid destroying its defenses and eradicating the terrans present. Later that same year, when other terrans first encountered the baneling, they assumed it to be a mutation of a previously unknown genus rather than a morph of the zergling; the strain was added to the list of zerg threats, and scientists began an effort to develop chemical rounds that could detonate banelings prematurely.

In 2505, Abathur used the baneling strain as a base for a mutation that upgraded the mutalisk, allowing its glaive wurms to explode on impact. After joining Sarah Kerrigan, the primal zerg pack leader Dehaka would selectively breed his pack to create similar explosive strains among the primal zerg. Baneling acid sacs were later harvested for Project Simulant in an attempt to recreate the baneling in robotic form, an effort hampered by the sacs constantly melting through the surrounding plate infrastructure before the engineers made it work. Controlled banelings with replaced nervous systems were also fielded by the Cerberus Program, in spite of the significant cost of doing so for a creature destined to destroy itself.