Reading that makes me think that a 9 headed hydra would be pretty damm scary in close-quarters 
Can attack up to 9 enemies with full pool or 18 enemies with about half-pool or one enemy four times in the same turn with full pool for all of those 
For added challenge one coudl build the hydra as a melee combat adept 
For reference that's EXACTLY what I would do.
Drake-PC's in my head should always go an Awakened path... Augmentations don't transfer between forms (Drake/Humanoid) but Adept powers do...
Chompy Chomp time!
