The queen of alpha have has been systematically abosrbing the memories and knowledge of captured humans, and intel shows she may have adapted her fighting style, as well as hive functions, to fit one of four historical leader archetypes: the khan, the tsar, the ceasar, and the pharoh. Each of these variants has an altered form of screech, an ability added to their core moveset, some statistical variation, and some unknown changes to hive weed physiology that acts in an unexpected way. (I think some utility or combat ability to be added to base queen that gets replaced with the "new" ability of each strain to make these sidegrades, if these get considered.)
Ceasar (Ranged)
(Screech) Subjugate: Give a Simple Command to every marine adjacient, Leadership skill reduces duration .
(Ability) Acid Ballista: 3x1 acid glob attack, neuro or acid, can charge for accuracy.
(Stats)Trade armor and health for Plasma cap/regen.
Hive weeds give all xenos weak corrosive acid and weak resin wall building for a few minutes after resting on them.
The Ceasar is the title given to a ruler of the holy roman empire, often bastardized to kaisar by non romans, and typically thought of as an expert in siege weaponry, and the enslavement of defeated enemies.
Khan (Ambush)
(Screech) Inspire: Give all nearby xenos buffed pheromones, revives crit xenos plus health.
(Ability) Meatshield: Aggressive grab humanoid, blocks bullets and melee, slowed attack speed
(Stats) Trade Plasma capacity/regen for speed and resin shaping speed.
Hive weeds heavily speed xenos.
The khan is the title of a military leader passed down through generations to promising leaders of mongolian nomadic steppe tribes, among other euroasian territories, the most famous of which being genghis khan.
Pharoh (Support)
(Screech) Direct: Pointing to a xeno and then to a target will give them large bonuses against that target, xeno visible only, 3 directs per screech.
(Ability) Resin Architect: Rapidly creates thick resin formations, full Xray during duration.
(Stats) Trade Speed for Plasma capacity and toggleable long vision.
Hive weeds give a weak shield to resting xenos.
The pharoh is a title appointed by the previous pharoh, which is an egyption leader, who are often well known for their logistic and engineering endeavors, most famous of which being the great pyramids of gyza, which was built almost entirely from slave labor.
Tsar (Front Line)
(Screech)Terrify: Channels screech, the longer marines stay in range or vision they gain terror that causes confusion, screen shaking, and gradually increasing pain.
(Ability) Parade March: Begins a single file charge, for each xeno behind the queen, she gains more damage resistance and more structure damage in a 3x1 area in front of the queen.
(Stats) Trade speed and spit for armor and health.
Hive weeds increase xeno slash damage and tackle “damage”.
The Tsar is the name for russian royalty, the kings and queens ruling over this large swath of slavic territory; often known for having a worse bark than bite, with sometimes outdated equipment and flashy parades, but with the numbers and ferocity to beat back almost any foe that challenges them.
Let me know what you think, or if I got anything wrong, I think to make this work you'd need to add a unique ability and maybe some utiility function to hive weeds that would be a tradeoff for taking one of these strains.