Chapter 5: Local defense
Kay was agape with complete awe.
He wasn't sure what he was seeing. The fathomless sky had darkened and turned to dusk, showing an unusual landscape in the night. To any people with dimwitted intelligence and untrained eyes, they would see a night sky with a bright moon overhead, and cooler, gentler air would blow through the leaves of trees and bushes.
But to Kay's eyes, he found a few things wrong when he looked carefully.
The sky itself was completely black, devoid of any stars. There were no constellations to speak of. Not even a single tiny dot of light in an otherwise infinite expanse. Then there was the moon. For some reason that Kay could not explain for the life of him, the moon was one giant white hexagon. No crater dotted its surface either! Even though it provided some light during the night, the shape of the celestial body definitely created more questions than answers. Aren't moons supposed to be spherical in shape?
After what seemed like several minutes of awe and dumbfounded contemplation, Kay finally broke the silence. "Virid. Random question, but... What the hell am I looking at?"
Virid looked up as well, chittering to herself in contemplation. '... It appears to be a six sided artificial moon.'
Kay shook his head as his gaze was fixated on the abnormal shape. "We need to spawn some overseers and inspect the space around us. Fast. I don't know what this is, and I don't like it."
'We need to morph the hatchery into a lair first. Only then can we morph our overlords into overseers.'
Kay nodded, getting into a running start and headed to the red cave. "Morph our underdeveloped overlords into at least three overseers. If we don't have enough accelerant, then we can make due with just one for now. I recall that they have CRAZY vision that helps them see over long distances and find hidden things."
'The overseers are specialized in detecting hidden units. However, for the purposes that they are needed for, this can be arranged. They shall use their eyes to analyze our environment. This would do well to help us to understand where we are.' Virid said, staying calm and collected.
"Since we are needing zerg capable of detecting hidden dangers, maybe we should also have a few drones turn into spine and spore crawlers near the developing lair, evolution chamber and spawning pool? You'd never know if someone invisible is sneaking around our base." Kay said, entering the red cave.
'But we still need to invest in mutating our forces. We don't have enough accelerant for our needs yet.'
Kay sighed. "Well, be glad that I and the drone that's digging sand out of this cave is making way for a plan B. You know, just in case if we get overwhelmed by attackers." Kay said, spotting the drone pushing sand and deciding to follow it.
'Plan B?' Virid asked.
"Retreat underground, of course! Since there is a hexagon moon and no stars, then it might mean that we are currently inside of an artificial environment. And if there were people that made this artificial environment, whose to say that they also have a surveillance system they can use to keep tabs on us?" Kay said, helping the drone to deliver more sand out of the red cave. From what Kay noticed, the drone had dug so much sand out of the cave that the tunnel that lead underneath reached a fifth of a mile.
'You will need more drones then. Sending spare drones to assist.'
As Kay carried armfuls of loose sand and joined with the one sand digging drone, scattering many grains of it with each step as he did so, he had to step to the side when several more drones went down the same passage as him. It became so crowded, that Kay had to give up on his efforts in assisting the many drones. He noticed that the production of bio-matter had significantly decreased, but it was to be expected when most drones were given a different task from their usual resource collecting roles. Nearly half of the drones that was collecting creep to feed the hatchery was quickly re-purposed to dig out the sand inside the cave.
Then there was the black mass of wetness that started to creep across the ground. Kay looked down to see that his feet had been enveloped by a dark slime that moved along the surface of the sand. When he heard a slithering sound, he looked at the source of the noise. It made his stomach flop when he discovered what it was.
A thorny worm swam through the creep as though it was water, and found itself a place it could settle on. Immediately afterwards, it then formed a little pile of itself and pulsed repeatedly, forming a brightly colored cocoon. After a time, that cocoon would burst open and frothed creep from itself, only to sink and hide under what it produced. This was another reason why Kay disliked a zerg queen's ability to spread creep. Zerg queens tend to gestate creep tumors from within themselves, with dormant parasitic worms that was adapted to spread creep after leaving the insides of the queens' abdomen. These worms were genetically engineered to produce more creep tumors once when they have been laid, and would continue to spread creep until they were exterminated. This method enabled the zerg to quickly overtake worlds, which were key to the zerg swarm's success. It was a method that grossed out Kay greatly. "Why is the creep creeping into the cave?" Kay asked.
'Shifting the sand will become easier if it's processed by the creep. It will also help the drones to quickly find a space in which to form a hive cluster.' Virid replied.
"Oh~! Didn't even think of that! Thank you." Kay said in turn, leaving the cave entrance. "How long until the hatchery morphs into a lair so we can get our overlords morphing into overseers?"
'A few more seconds.' Virid said. 'But you could have found that out yourself if you actually checked.'
"Right, right, the zerg hivemind psionic connection. I got it." Kay said tiredly. As expected, the hatchery's chrysalis had broke into thin, crinkled skin that contained its juicy insides. It fell away to reveal a tougher looking bio-structure underneath. The hatchery had evolved longer spines and teeth, with extra carapace and muscles that convulsed more powerfully. The new and improved zerg bio-structure had taken the place of the hatchery, filling the same purposes as its previous form, yet also expanding onto more possible opportunities of evolution. A lair had been formed.
One of the newly formed overlords instantly had a chrysalis surround itself when the lair's chrysalis broke apart. Kay didn't command it, but then realized that Virid was doing much of the work commanding the many zerg organisms anyway. All Kay could do was kick back and wait till the overseer was done developing. He frowned when there was a lack of lawn chairs to sit in, or blazing campfires to poke at to pass the time. Any welcome reprieve would benefit him and his boredom, but he wasn't so lucky. In the presence of a starless sky with a six-sided geometric moon, the time to relax would have to come later.
And after a brief passing of time, the undeveloped overlord was replaced by an overseer.
This creature was quite strange looking, yet it possessed the barely similar mental acuity that the overlords contained, standing to Kay's reasoning that it also spoke in a broken English pattern if he wanted to talk to it. But its appearance was wildly different from its overlord cousins. It still floated above the ground and still had two huge pincers below itself, but that was when the similarities between itself and an overlord stopped. It had several antennas and thin tendrils that periodically spasmed when it felt a disturbance in the air currents, or smelled something funny. But the biggest advantageous adaptations that this creature developed was located in its eyes. It had seven of them, evenly spaced around its body to provide maximum coverage of the terrain. Even though the creature had many eyes, anything that happened to get too close to it would become prey to its scrutiny. After Kay had scrutinized it and read its mind on how it can use its abilities, Kay smiled. "Okay, overseer. Mind if you fly up a bit and look at everything from there? We need your oversight."
'We obey, swarm leader.' The overseer said, floating upwards at almost triple an overlord's speed. Kay didn't note any mental deviations from it. An overlord's thought patterns were comparably similar to an overseer, save for some judgemental capabilities that was somewhat diminished. He figured that the overseers wouldn't be very useful if their level of psionic control was diminished when they morphed from an overlord, so it would only make sense that their minds and mental patterns would remain roughly the same after their transformation. They were still able to relay their masters' psionic control of over the swarm, and the swarm considered that more important than everything else.
As the overseer reached an acceptable distance in altitude, it scanned the environment with its analytical eyes, looking at everything with inhuman, harsh judgement. Its irises had widened inextricably, becoming nothing more than black pools that thirsted for visual stimulation. A hidden organ extruded itself from the top of this overseer creature, which looked like a ball of overseer eyes. It was through these extra eyes that the overseer's vision increased in size, extending its sight greatly.
And it was then that the overseer saw something. It alerted the swarm that it saw a mechanical, flying device that was languidly circling a distance away. It was far above the ground, and far past the low rock wall that made up the summit of the caldera. Its flight pattern appeared to be that of a vulture circling a corpse, or a scout investigating a foe from a distance. Since this flying machine was mechanical, the former theory was discarded.
The flying machine itself appeared to be triangular in design, seeming to look like a boxy flying manta ray that was colored in red and sandy-brown paint. Unlike the animal, this machine was supported in the air by windless currents. But through the overseer's scrutiny, Kay could see that the flying machine uses a small amount of anti-gravity to keep it aloft. The several orbs that floated above it could be another means of flotation, likely balloons of hydrogen and/or helium. From the overseer's perspective, he saw slight movement in the center of this triangle, where a small translucent sphere was located. A lizard-like silhouette was seen within.
Kay couldn't tell if the figure inside that triangular plane was one of the lizard-men or something other than a human being, but he figured that the important thing to focus on right now was to prepare for a possible confrontation. Perhaps an ugly, hostile confrontation. "Virid. There's a scout checking us out."
'We could move the spore crawlers below it and take it out of the sky.' Virid suggested.
"... Actually, I want to see what this guy does." Kay said, folding his arms and deciding to wait. "If he attacks us, he'll just give us a reason to counter-attack them."
Despite Kay's suggestion to exercise their patience, the triangular plane took a dime-turn and sped off hastily, detaching itself from the balloons that now floated rapidly upwards, which supported the theory that the balloons really were filled with lifting gasses. '... Oh, I think I know why he left.' Virid announced in realization.
Kay turned to Virid, who was facing the same direction that the overseer was also facing, as it looked at that triangular plane. "What scared him away?"
'I think it was when all of us were looking back at him.' Virid answered with simplicity.
Before Kay could ask, he immediately understood. He noticed that many, if not all, of the zerg organisms had stopped what they were doing and turned to see if they could spot the scout in the black sky. The scouting plane must have started fleeing when it noticed the swarm had turned and faced the direction that the scout was hovering at.
"... Ah crap." Kay said aloud. The scout must have noticed that many of the zerg was looking at its direction, and rabbited out of the airspace when it realized it was discovered. This could mean that the lizard-man hunters that tried to hunt the overlord hours ago have told one of their friends about their crossbow wielding hunter challenged Kay and stayed behind. That, or they assumed that their crossbowman had died, which was the likely result they assumed would happen when he wasn't able to return to the rest of his hunting party in time.
'We need to prepare, and fast. We don't know for how long that scout was staring at us.' Virid hissed, already crawling to the hatchery to inject it with more writhing pods that stimulated larvae growth again. She did so with her other queen sister, soon to be joined by yet another queen that is being made within the lair.
Kay sighed slowly, turning to look back at where the scouting plane used to be.
PANIC!
One of the zergling pairs that were the furthest away from the lair, and close to where the scout plane had disappeared, was suddenly attacked!
From one zergling's perspective, several crossbow bolts and spears had penetrated into one of its sibling's hide. A lucky throw from a javelin managed to puncture behind the skull and stab into the brain, severing its connection to the zerg hivemind permanently. The other zergling screeched in ravenous anger and ran forward at its sibling's attackers. The attackers were a group of thirty... perhaps forty lizard-men that was dressed in heavier and differently colored garb. They wore equipment that contained less leather than the hunters that hunted the overlord several hours ago, but instead contained more robust metal that was denser and more protective. Their weapons were even more impressive, some bringing bulky tower shields, others carrying what looked like rifles and heavy machine guns. Their armor scheme was silver and blue colored.
The zergling that charged at the party of invaders managed to attack three of the offending enemies before it finally got itself killed. Their armor is tough, but they were easily sliced into when the zergling's attack-claws and forearm claws struck them. The damage was superficial though, since the zergling's attack didn't inflict many bleeding wounds. Kay would have guessed that four or more surgical strikes would strip them of their armor and revealed weak points composed of softer flesh. Any attacks that resulted in severely gory lacerations would certainly impede these intruders and make them think twice about attacking the zerg.
Kay clenched his teeth, feeling whatever sense of control he had slowly being eroded. A platoon of soldiers must have been given the order to slay the invasive zerg species within this area. They would try to take the caldera summit territory as theirs! Kay marched forward and roared. "One zergling from a paired group, come to my aid! Virid, spawn some zerglings and keep them coming! Bring the hydralisk!"
Instantly, one zergling from each two zergling teams departed and rendezvoused at a location that was between the lair and the soldiers. Kay took a quick count of all of the zerg that had obeyed his command. 36 zerglings were coming to him, with even more zerglings that would arrive later. The only hydralisk was also at his disposal, ready to meet shields with its claws, and bullets with its spine projectiles.
Kay charged forward for several minutes, but eventually came to a complete stop at a designated area, mentally commanding the zerg to set up a line of defense right behind him. With the burrow mutation just then becoming active, he would tell the hydralisk to hide itself in the sand behind the zerglings' defense line until it was needed. Kay intended for the ranged attacking zerg to be used as a surprise attack. But for now, Kay awaited for the trespassing soldiers to come to his ambush.
When they were finally in visual range, they slowed their march and took up weapons, carefully taking their aim at Kay and his line of zerg forces. Maddening clucks and hisses ensued between themselves. The biggest one among them roared at everyone that close to himself, and they all immediately went silent. The big lizard-man soldier took careful strides forward, taking his time to look at the zerg with authoritative scrutiny.
Kay immediately understood that this was the leader of the war-party. Kay slowly strode forward, keeping his movement deliberately slow and proceeding forward with a relaxed demeanor. The war-party leader recognized Kay's gesture and proceeded to meet with him partway. They stayed five feet away from each other. A guttural series of clucks, growls and hisses sounded out from the leader.
Kay raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Listen, I don't know what you're saying, but it probably has something to do with one of my zerglings attacking one of your boys over there. Not sure if this will get through our language barrier, but I'll try to make myself clear. Let it be known that if you attack the zerg in this area again, then I won't hold all THESE monsters back." Kay said, gesturing to his line of zerglings. They all growled and screeched when Kay gestured to them. "Do we have an understanding?"
The soldiers in the war party took a step or two back when the zerglings made their threatening and terrifying noises. Despite this, the leader made a scoffing sound and aimed his pistol-like weapon at Kay's face, making several more growls and clucks at a more ferocious tone. He gestured toward his lizard-men, and then toward the area where the zerg had made their home in. He flicked his hand as though shooing someone away, mostly toward Kay and his present zerg force. He then pointed to the zerg hive cluster and then towards himself and his soldiers.
Kay cocked his head, though the leader shifted his aim to keep his pistol trained on Kay's skull. Kay then sighed and shrugged, shaking his head as he did so. "Listen. This language barrier is getting us nowhere. If we take our time to learn each other's language, then maybe we can understand one-another better." But then Kay's face turned into a scowl. "But if what I think you are trying to say is true, then I am sorry to say that I will not leave the area. I'm staying here." Kay did his best to gesture over what he said, gesturing to his throat and lips and shrugging, and then motioning his hands in a back-and-forth between him and the war-party leader. But when he gestured to himself and the zerg, and then taking step back and digging his heel into the ground while gesturing with his hands that they are not moving, the war-party leader made the biggest scowl Kay had ever witnessed on a lizard.
After an angry sounding hiss, the war-party leader stepped back and stopped a few feet from his forty lizard-man war-party. He let out a loud, guttural series of clucks and roars, prompting his party to unsheathe their weapons and take positions. They clucked and hooted, waving their weapons around and aiming their ranged armaments at Kay's forces.
Kay, on the other hand, sighed. "If you really want to make this mistake, then it's your funeral." Kay said softly, taking his turn to step back, then posturing himself into a fighting stance with his claws and wings outstretched for battle. His zerglings, as expected, hissed and screeched monstrously as mad grins widely parted their gnashing teeth.
A standoff between two forces began with one seizing the other and searching for their enemy's weaknesses. The zergling had animosity and bestial rage, with claws capable of cutting through neo-steel armor. The lizard-man soldiers were disciplined, and carried weapons that could kill a zergling quickly when they focused their attacks on a single target.
But both parties had no idea on what their respective enemy's strategies were. Despite the fact that Kay has access to the hivemind connection, he was certain that there were tricks that these lizard-men would use against him and his fellow zerg. And then there was the lizard-man party leader and the possible curve-balls he would throw. This could mean that the leader of the soldiers had a heightened tactical acumen, enabling him with the gift to analyze the flow of battle and rapidly make adjustments in strategy to compensate for immediate losses. In retrospect, Kay had very little experience when it came to fighting like a zerg commander! But he remembered that he had another resource to capitalize on. 'Hey Virid. Want to micromanage my forces for me? Make sure that any zerg that gets too wounded burrows underground and heals safely. I would prefer they escape under the sand before they die. Okay?'
It was Kay's first time using the hivemind connection to psionically communicate directly to another zerg organism. He could even sense the small amount of surprise in Virid. 'The hydralisk you have brought and hid will pop out and take down their ranged attackers. If there is a chance our own forces might be overwhelmed, it shall turn the odds of victory in your favor.'
When the war-party leader issued the signal to charge, his platoon of soldiers rushed forward, the shield-bearing troops taking precedence in the front lines. Kay then psionically commanded the zerglings to charge forward in all of their ferocity and meet the lizard-man soldiers in melee combat.
The shield bearers did their best to stop the front-most zerglings from dealing too much damage to the main forces at and behind the front lines. Zergling claws managed to make deep scratches and gashes into their shields and exposed armor, but the soldiers continued to soldier on. However, the zerglings have a tactic they are most known for using: swarming their enemies. Despite some zerglings getting severely wounded by a potshot from a lucky bullet, many of the zerglings surrounded and flanked the circular phalanx, forcing the soldiers that are behind the shield bearers to defend their exposed flanks. The lizard-man soldiers brought out their heavy hitting melee weapons. They defended themselves with difficulty, while the ranged fighters took careful aim as they pulled their triggers. Despite their efforts, the zerglings would burrow themselves into the ground in time when they received too much battle damage, even when there already had been a few zerglings that had perished and died.
A powerful beam of light had sliced through the darkness, a high whining/humming sound loud enough to distract Kay from the fight. He noticed that the weapon in question was actually fired from the party leader's pistol. The weapon in question turned out to be some sort of energy weapon, having enough firepower to reduce a zergling into a burned-out hollow within five seconds of sustained fire. Despite being spoiled for choice, the party leader changed targets and issued forth its five-second firing at another zergling, and then another, and then another. "That's not good." Kay said aloud during the battle.
'The allow me to even the odds.' Virid announced.
A sharp supersonic whistle was heard, whooshing past many heads and hitting the party leader's firing hand. The attack was so fast that he didn't have time to register the hit. Seconds later, the party leader clutched at his hand and started yelling in pain. When he looked up, it was only to find a hydralisk. He hadn't accounted for the hydralisk suddenly appearing. He couldn't have accounted for the hydralisk before now, since it was hiding from his forces during the entire battle!
The hydralisk dipped its head as the flaps on the sides of its head opened, only to release another blindingly fast projectile, this time pegging one of the party leader's soldiers in the eye and embedding itself past his head and to the back of his helmet. This time, the zerg forces had the upper hand, but only just. The numbers kept whittling down between the two skirmishing armies until eventually a force of 9 remaining zerglings, and a hydralisk, were fighting against four of the last lizard-men soldiers. 14 additional zerglings had burrowed themselves during the fight, keeping themselves safe until their health had recovered completely.
Once the heated battle drew to a close, the four remaining lizard-men started retreating. One lizard-man soldier still carried a chewed tower shield as he tactically retreated, whilst the party leader was already ahead of the shield-bearer. They were promptly chased off by the surviving zerglings. The two that were still in heated combat were chosen. They would be subjected to Kay's wrath. One was easilly pounced upon by his leaping strike, which brought down the soldier instantly. Once Kay got back up from pouncing the soldier, as blood seeped past his wrists and drenched his bone wings, he turned and stared at the final soldier that remained alive.
The last soldier had his hands and feet ripped apart by so many errant bites and claws during the battle that he was rendered unable to escape. Despite his limiting handicap, he was still hissing aggressively. But Kay felt like he could see... no... FEEL the fear in his eyes.
Kay leaned down to inspect the crippled lizard-man, which made the cripled lizard-man quicken his breath. Kay sighed deeply before he made his next decision. 'Virid. I think we'll be needing an infestation pit. Infesting this lizard-man and connecting his mind to the hivemind network will be the quickest method to learn the lizard-men language. I think an infestor would benefit us greatly.'
'Can you not use your psionics to divulge the information?' Virid asked.
'Well, I could, but I think my psionic power had deteriorated somewhat. You said that some of my brain had been partially dissolved, remember? I'm thinking that being in that void for too long might have had a profound effect on my psionic powers. I tried to create a psionic lash or an energy blast attack during the fight, but nothing happened. If I'm correct, my psionic abilities might have been retarded when I floated in that black space.' Kay reached down and grabbed at the scruff of the lizard-man's armor and dragged him, deciding to keep him alive for the time being. The lizard-man soldier wriggled and clucked in annoyance and complaint.
'Would that mean your mind and powers have been lobotomized by the void?!' Virid asked incredulously.
'Afraid so.' Kay said simply. 'I mean, I feel as though I still have the psionic potential, but... I just need to find a way to re-activate it and practice using it. Perhaps if I can find a method to make it stronger than what it used to be, then I might be able to recover my lost strength.'
'That doesn't make me any less worried. What if your psionic retardation is permanent?' Virid asked.
'... I don't really know how I should feel about a zerg queen being worried about me.' Kay said, amused by her reply.
'... I will focus our efforts in hatching an infestor.' Virid said, changing the topic subtly.
Kay nodded, turning his head to look back at the lizard-man he was dragging along. "Listen, dude. I really hate to do this to you, but uh..." Kay hesitated, thinking over what to say to his 'captive'. "... We're going to have to probe your mind for a bit. I hope you don't mind being infested."
The lizard-man soldier hissed at Kay, wincing in pain as his shredded feet made contact with the creep.
"... Yeah. Well... I'll be sure to let your buddies know that I take no joy in doing this. I want to tell you that I'm sorry for what I am about to do, but... You wouldn't understand me. ... For the moment."
A/N: BATTTLE!