Chapter 12: Flanked

A bio-structure was made a while ago, created during Kragnon and Kay's long-winded conversation. Virid cared not for the individual's desire to reach out to another to engage in conversation. The zerg's hivemind psionic link was all that was needed to transmit commands and information to other organisms. As she overlooked the process of the fifth, and final, evolution chamber, she noted that the roaches and infestor at the southwest encampment had gained information involving the reinforcements that would soon arrive. They were close, and would soon be supplying The Crescent Arms encampment with this MEM device they spoke of. And with the added information that Kay had uncovered, Virid considered that the arriving gilanians were the primary threat.

The bio-structure responsible for the creation of the nydus worm was a hemisphere of twisting and sliding growth, consisting of several worm-like things that slid and slithered around and on one another. The entrance into this bio-structure contained a toothed entrance of a circular maw that would, more than happily, gulp down any zerg organism and transport them to any nydus worm or network that has been established. That, or eject them out of its mouth should the swarm require them here. The peristaltic process within the guts of the nydus worms enabled almost instantaneous travel between two points. Kay was ejected from the orifice of the nydus network, the peristalsis, almost organically pneumatic in nature, forced him to flop onto his face when coming back into the new day. Morning light had brightened the world anew.

Once Kay got up and reacquired his bearings, he looked back on the structure that jettisoned him back to the hive cluster on the surface. "... So this is where the other end of that nydus worm leads to." Kay paused for a few seconds. "... Or is THIS where the nydus worm begins? ... Questions for later." Kay said, turning around and walking to Virid.

Virid was tending the lair, with the four queens aiding her and taking their turns with larval injection. Virid turned when Kay approached her. Kay knew which one was Virid from the other queens quite easily. He didn't know how, but like ice creams having many flavors, Virid's consciousness had a personality that was easy to recognize, which made it easy for him to tell her apart from the other queens. The zerg hivemind made this possible, of course. 'The reinforcements will be coming soon. What is your strategy?' Virid asked.

Kay looked down and nodded, tapping a foot into the creep. It jiggled like jello as it was agitated. "... No fuckin' idea, but I really want to avoid conflict as much as possible. If things start to get hairy, I want a nydus worm to sprout near my position." Kay said, looking up and snapping his fingers at an overlord that was overhead.

The overlord grumbled and lowered itself, allowing Kay to enter its ventral sack. Virid looked up at the overlord that contained Kay. 'Will you be fighting the Crescent Arms soldiers?'

Kay made a telepathic gesture of shaking his head. 'No. I'll be warning them that there will be fighting if they don't get off our damn lawn.'

Virid paused. '... We don't have a lawn.'

Kay shrugged. 'Lawn. Creep. Whatever. Forget it. It's just another terran expression.'

As Kay floated ten kilometers southwest, he had his overlord deposit him ninety meters away from the encampment. When the overlord came into view of the gilanians manning their encampment, they alerted everyone and scrambled to fortify their defenses. Kay proceeded forward in a slow walk, his hands held up in a harmless gesture. He slowed his walk even further when the gilanian soldiers aimed their weapons at him, and Kay stopped when he was twenty meters away from entering their encampment.

It was then that Kay started shouting at them in a calm manner. "I call upon the resident leader of your encampment!" He shouted in Gilaish. "Contact him and say that I request his presence! Failure to do so would chance a grave outcome for everyone that has set an unwanted foot in zerg territory!"

The gilanian soldiers hissed and clicked their language with one-another for a long while. They were confused at first, but it only took a few minutes till a gilanian in uniform decided to leave the main tent. He wore silver and blue, with symbols and medals of various designs. Obviously, it was Phelioc. He stood five meters away from Kay, standing like a stoic statue. He hissed a sigh before speaking. "... So you can speak Gilaish? I somewhat felt convinced that a Hidden Water Spring Tribe member was responsible for teaching you our language, but I am starting to doubt that."

Kay lowered his hands. "It's thanks to your men, really. I'm sorry, but it was a necessary evil to learn as much as I could from the one soldier you left behind."

"Impossible." Phelioc scoffed. "The bondman armor he had on him registered his heart rate stopping, so we can assume that the cause of his death was quick. Something that I, or anyone, would likely blame you for."

Kay shook his head. "Don't act like I don't know what REALLY happened. The moment I spoke in Gilaish, you became privy to my conversation with your soldier named Rothef. Once you learned that I could acquire information from him and his mind, you slated him as a security risk and opted to have him terminated. In fact, I have already hypothesized that you had a camera, microphone, and special explosives installed in his armor to ensure that he remained loyal to you. Not only that, it also enabled you to analyze whatever information and data you could gain from us when he was still active."

The colonel stiffened his stance. "You have no proof of that."

Kay kept his pose. "But you know that I'm right."

Phelioc paused for several seconds before huffing. "What is it you want?"

Kay paused before he gestured behind himself. "This land is now my property. The Hidden Water Spring Tribe was already dead long ago, thanks to the shryik serpents that replaced them. I then came here and replaced the shryik serpents afterwards, making it a new home for me and my zerg. And now, it would seem as though your men has made contact with my pets. I thought it would be fair if I asked you to kindly get off my land so that further conflicts could be avoided."

Phelioc chuckled with a smirk. "Really now? This place is yours? I'm sorry to say this, and I really am, but the holy emperor, Gollog the Immortal, wishes to have this area claimed in his name. You are in the way sadly, and I hate to be in disagreement with a... unique character." He said, gesturing to Kay. "But alas, you killed my men, so I must be firm in delivering righteous punishment onto you."

Kay cocked his head and raised his eyebrow. "Judging from your tone, you're not willing to reciprocate my request. Perhaps you didn't listen to me when I said I eliminated a shryik serpent infestation?"

"And the blood of my men was spilled by your hands, and your... hounds with their blades. That spiny serpent we faced was unusual and unexpected, but even I'll admit that it was a ferocious monster." Phelioc inhaled and exhaled. "But even so, I can't lose favor with my emperor if he found out that I retreated with only one patrol ending up being defeated. I'd lose face with my other colonels! I'm afraid I'll have to stay instead, rather than let my superiors know that you tried to politely let me leave through civil discussion. I'd be humiliated for sure!"

"... But... But I eliminated a shryik infestation. Did you not hear me when I said that?" Kay said, blinking.

Phelioc raised his hand. "That is not important. What IS important is the will of Emperor Gollog. I ask you that you leave this area peacefully, and allow our forces to investigate these lands. However, if you tell us the location of the tribe, then perhaps in return, our research division can give you a safe place to frolic? They will surely want to analyze you and your creatures in an agreeably safe environment. If I were you, I would accept to assist us."

Kay narrowed his eyes. "And if I refuse?"

Phelioc slowly turned around. "MEN! TAKE AIM AND FIRE ON MY COMMAND! IF I FALL TO THE GROUND, FIRE! IF THIS BUG-MAN ATTACKS, FIRE! IF YOU SEE HIS BLADE HOUNDS COME TO HIS AID, FIRE!" His men quickly aimed their weapons and trained them on Kay, expecting a fight to commence soon. He then turned back toward Kay with a shit-eating grin. "Do we understand each other?"

Kay frowned. He then placed two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. Suddenly, roaches emerged from the ground violently, situated behind the firing squad of the gilanian soldiers. Two of Phelioc's men panicked and retreated to the safety of the encampment, while others remained stationed in their places, albeit startled by the ambush. Phelioc turned around to find the source of the sound of disheveled soil and screaming, and paled when he saw what caused the sounds. Phelioc turned around again to find Kay making the same shit-eating grin that the colonel once made. "I think we understand one another perfectly well, Phelioc."

Phelioc paused for several seconds before his expression soured. "This is not over. Call off your beasts and I'll call off my men."

Kay crossed his arms. "Aaaaaaand?"

Phelioc paused again. "... That's it."

"No." Kay said. "You were supposed to say 'And we will leave you alone too.'"

Phelioc stiffened his posture. "Like hell that would happen."

"... Even if I asked politely and say 'please leave my swarm alone?'" Kay asked.

Phelioc quickly unsheathed a weapon from his person and aimed it at Kay, only to slowly back away from him. "This isn't over. MEN! RETREAT TO THE ENCAMPMENT! SET UP THE AUTOMATED TURRETS AND PLACE SEISMIC SENSORS ON THE ROCKY GROUND AND THE SAND SURROUNDING THE BASE! THE ENEMY CAN BURROW THROUGH THE ROCK!" Phelioc shouted, cautiously walking backwards and holding his pistol in Kay's direction.

Kay waved at Phelioc. "I'll give you until midday for your chance to leave with your pride and your lives intact. Peace out." As Kay said this, the roaches buried themselves back under the earth, leaving the gunmen with no nearby targets to aim at. The gilanian soldiers hurried back to their base, followed after by Colonel Phelioc. Kay, meanwhile, turned around and strutted toward the overlord he rode in, a cocky smile across his face.

Virid didn't seem pleased. She decided to speak when Kay was halfway on his approach to his overlord. 'The roaches could have melted those soldiers easily. Why use this approach?'

"Simple." Kay replied. "I wanted to make a statement. I expect 'Phelly' over there to contact his superiors and report about the recent events. He'll get his orders and it would be either to remain at his position, or to retreat out of our territory. If they stay, then I'm going to enjoy sending our zerglings to 'play' with him and his men. But if they decide to leave, then it'll give us more time to further adapt to this world and strengthen our hive cluster."

'The reinforcements will arrive in two hours. Midday on this world will occur in five and a half.'

Kay looked up as he walked, noting that the air was quickly becoming less cool due to the heat of the sun. "My message will give them enough time to think things over."

Kay could tell that Virid was hissing. 'Kay, I highly recommend we route the reinforcing forces soon.'

"Virid, Virid, Virid!" Kay said, chuckling. "You still need to learn how to envision all the possibilities of strategy, tactics, as well as diplomacy and politics! Tell you what. Once I get back, I'll see if Kragnon has any games that can help improve your mental capabil-"

Ching-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-DOOHF!

Kay was thrown to his side as several simultaneous explosions interrupted Kay's conversation. After a few seconds of silence, Kay got up and looked around weakly. He tried to stand, only to find that his arm, leg, and wings were completely torn apart. All he could do was sit up straight or hobble around on one leg. His head was swimming in confusion and had a dizzying feeling, but that cleared up quickly when he looked back up and squinted at the gilanian encampment. ... And from what his eyes could see, the soldiers there had a mortar-type weapon that was aimed at his position. The bombs they used had apparently landed to his left and behind himself. The shots had landed very close too, some almost landing on his head! As the sting of his wounds finally became realized, Kay Growled. "... I think it's time for a good ol' fashioned zerg rush."

Kay immediately burrowed himself into the ground. It was a tactic that he hadn't expected himself to use, but he needed to protect himself until he could fully regenerate his lost limbs. But as of now, the zerg swarm was at war with the southwest encampment.

"That is my report, Commander Kralluf." Phelioc said with his four top men behind himself and standing in front of a widescreen monitor, which was once used for communicating with General Pallax in a prior conversation.

Kralluf was a stout gilanian, but he carried a large bladed hammer over his shoulder, whom had six men stand behind him. He wore a very ornate set of armor of silver and blue, with a blue cape that trailed behind his back. A metal plate was surgically implanted into his head, and the symbol of The Crescent Arms Division was painted on it. [Mm... So this bug-man beast-master calls his beasts 'zerg'? A rather funny sounding name.]

"It's what the bug-man called them, sir."

Kralluf shifted in his stance as he reached to the side and fished out a set of papers. [So from your report that I can recall: He has command of several dangerous creatures, some of which you have classified and given names to; He can pluck memories and knowledge for those that become 'infested', as you claim; He has eliminated a nest of shryik serpents, as you say he claimed he did; He has taken refuge in the Hidden Water Spring Tribe's headquarters, which you assumed; He has access to a poison that can melt gilanians, bones and armor and all; You have collected biological samples for transit to The Cube Research Division, of which I know they will be thankful for; He has figured out the functions of the bondman armor, which you have doubted; He has displayed superior tactical acumen, which seems to dwarf yours in comparison; And finally, he knows your name and wants you and your men to leave your stationed base. Did I get all that?]

Phelioc nodded his head. "Sir, yes sir."

Kralluf nodded, throwing away the papers. [This is a rather interesting turn of events. I bet ten gallons that Faddoh would fall in love with you after he gains those samples of yours!]

Phelioc winced and frowned. "Uh... The infatuation would be acknowledged, sir."

[Even so, I would not let this insignificant insect stall our emperor's plans. You are to get rid of him and now. Kill him and his pets however you wish.]

Phelioc nodded and turned to one of his officers. "Tell the men to set up the trench buster and fire it as soon as possible. Use a smart-cluster explosive." The officer nodded and retreated. Phelioc turned back to face Kralluf. "And what about my patrolling captain that was injured by the spine serpent, or the medical officer that had his hands deep in the melted corpse?"

[Hmm... Better have them travel to the reinforcements. Their desert platform is already equipped with a MEM device that will transport them to a Cube Research facility. Do you have a dune boat available?]

"We have two, and several sand-boards at our disposal." Phelioc snapped his fingers, telling one of his officers to transport the very important people off-base.

[Good, good.] A loud mechanical sound was heard, followed by a cluster of explosions from a distance away. [Keep doing good things like this, and I might put you into a safe desk job.]

Phelioc smiled. "Thank you sir, but I prefer to scuff my boots every now and then."

[Heh-heh-heh, ah. I always appreciate a fellow soldier that doesn't mind getting his hands dirty once in a while.]

"Colonel Phelioc! Those big bugs are back and they're puking on us! They're melting us with their vomit!" An officer called out.

Phelioc turned around with a dangerous glare. "WELL? MAN YOUR GODS-DAMNED POSITION, PISS-ANT! KILL THE PUKERS!" As the soldier ran out of the tent, Phelioc turned back to face Kralluf again. "I'm sorry sir, but my men need me."

Kralluf nodded. [Have your camera feeds link with this communication channel. We'll record the events and send the info to the scientists for data analysis.]

Phelioc nodded, snapping his fingers again to tell one of his officers to do just as their commander commanded. As phelioc turned and walked toward the exit of the tent, he was greeted with war once he was on the other side.

The roaches had already unearthed themselves to attack the mortar installation, their acid quickly melting the machine and the soldiers that operated it. That was when several automated turrets, placed before their arrival, started firing on the roaches and doing minimal damage to their targets.

Phelioc was incredibly agitated when the roaches ran away and burrowed themselves outside the sensor range of the seismic sensors. "THROW THE JAVELIN SENSORS! EXPAND OUR MAXIMUM TURRET RANGE!" Just as Phelioc shouted his command, several of his soldiers started throwing spear shaped devices, landing near the burrowed roaches. The second after they impacted the ground, the turrets opened fire on their enemies that were further away, yet still underground. The bullet holes trailed further up the ground till the turrets stopped firing, either killing the roach it targeted or that the vomiting beasts finally moved out of their range again. As expected, such a tactic had bought them more time. But that time was scant and too precious to waste for the Crescent Arms soldiers at the forward base, and Phelioc knew it.

He eventually heard the telltale noises of a dune boat being brought to life. At least he'll be sending some of his men to better company. Phelioc smiled, but he knew that his fight was far from over. It was then that he noticed a shadow that was looming over him. Looking up, he found a... giant... balloon... creature. Was it the one that his men said they saw in the distance? One of his men managed to voice his question. "How long has that been drifting there?"

Drifter. A good alternate name for the overlords, 'drifter'. For something like these bug things that this bug-man commands, this one didn't look too particularly threatening. "I don't like it. Shoot it down." Almost immediately, the flaps underneath it opened and released a collection of zerglings and yet another new thing that Phelioc didn't expect. They rolled around and collided with his men, turning them into a screaming corpse as the fluid splashed onto them and made them vanish. Phelioc aimed his energy pistol at one and it instantly exploded into a shower of acid. "TARGET THE JUICE FILLED BURSTING THINGS! DON'T LET THEM GET CLOSE!" Bursters. Another good name for these new creatures. They were actually called banelings, but semantics mattered little during the battle.

After the 'drifter' was blown out of the sky, the 'bursters' and 'blade hounds' were dealt with next. A Pyrrhic victory was felt by the soldiers in the encampment, but Phelioc knew that it couldn't be that easy. One of his top officers coughed before speaking. "Sir? Should we recall the patrol groups to defend our base camp?"

Phelioc shook his head. "No. Those pukers are going to kill them in an ambush if they so much as get near our camp. Tell them that they're on their own until reinforcements arrive."

The 'pukers', as Phelioc called them, erupted out of the ground and started puking on one of the sensors. The soldiers fired at the sudden emergence of these buggy monsters, but a few seconds later, they dug themselves back into the ground at the same time. Several seconds passed and the 'pukers' targeted another sensor, further removing the turrets' ability to target enemies at its maximum range. One of the soldiers understood what was happening. "These bugs are smart, sir! I think they're learning!"

Phelioc silently cursed to himself. "Hmm... Could we just tie one of the javelin sensors to some rope and pull it in if it is at risk of being destroyed?"

One of his soldiers shook his head. "Once the javelin goes in, it implants itself into the ground, sir. There's a button that needs to be pressed in order to retrieve it."

The roaches rose again and started attacking the sensors further into the camp, only to dig into the ground and restart this guerrilla tactic. Phelioc hissed his contempt. "... Link the turrets with the long range sensors and automate the turrets within the long range sensor pulse intervals. It's the only chance we have for a long-term solution to fending these bugs away."

His men nodded and went to work giving the turrets new programs. More were set up closer to the sensors, whilst five tall poles were slowly erected and installed. Once they became active, the turrets instantly started firing. The turrets fired a shot every time the long-range sensors 'pinged' and detected either movement or something underground that was organic. Anything that didn't register as a gilanian triggered the anti-underground turrets into aggression. However, Phelioc's mood completely changed when the turrets started firing INTO the camp. He quickly became worried.

And that was when he saw them. Horrid, lurching monstrosities with expanded chests and tentacles flailing in their mouths. They grouped up on a soldier and one of the long-range sensors, whilst one of the turrets started attacking the other turrets and his own men. "DISABLE THAT TURRET!" Phelioc demanded. Three men were shot down as a fourth forcibly removed a pin to an axle, forcing the machine to shoot straight up.

The victorious soldier gave the machine a cursory glance. "... Colonel! Some kind of stinger is embedded into the turret's processor!"

Phelioc was able to see a beige and red line that connected the turret to... something else that was buried in the ground. Another surprise. "MEN! GET A JAVELIN SENSOR AND SET IT IN THE BASE!" The soldiers looked at Phelioc when he made his order. "MOVE IT!"

Phelioc's dwindling soldiers mowed down the... monsters that couldn't possibly be gilanian... and went near the center of the base. Once they had set the javelin sensor, the turrets instantly shot at their feet. It was then that some large thing erupted out of the ground. It was the lone infestor that had followed Phelioc around when it first came to their base. Phelioc had no idea that he was being followed by it, but his face seemed to pale even more when he learned of the creature's existence.

The infestor coughed up a green growth and it covered the men, making them scream in anguish as the fungus bore into their skin and forced them to stay in placem the pain paralyzing them in their places. The infestor then vomited several oblong spheres that seemed to pulse for a brief time before turning into more of those lurching monsters that looked so similar to a gilanian. Phelioc was feeling as though his voice might give out soon. "ATTACK THAT THING! ATTACK THAT THING THAT IS SPAWNING THOSE THINGS! ATTACK ITS PAWNS!" Spawners and its pawns. More apt names that might sound better for the infestors and its infested. More semantics, really.

The large monster burbled as it crawled around on its short stocky insect legs. It threw more of that green fungus that severely wounded, even killing, Phelioc's soldiers as it tried to make its escape. That was when the roaches decided to join the fray in another battle, this time deciding for the final push. It was also when a rumbling sound was heard. Phelioc did not know what that sound meant, but he kept blasting the 'spawner' with his energy pistol, burning and shearing the flesh of the giant organism, making it screech in pain. The battle was joined between the remaining Crescent Arms soldiers and these creatures collectively called 'the zerg'.

It was the toughest battle that Phelioc had ever fought, but he could tell that the battle would not be his. Another hour and a half, and the reinforcements would finally arrive! But by then, he knew that it would be too late.

The ground erupted, and a huge thing emerged from the disturbed rocky soil near the camp. As it shot out of the ground, the ground around it became purplish, dark and gooey. Phelioc looked at that thing with a transfixed stare. A soldier of his, avoiding a wad of sizzling acidic spittle shot from a roach, had made his way to his colonel and started panicking. "Colonel Phelioc! What are our orders?!"

Phelioc simply just stood there, watching the nydus worm's mouth expand.

"Colonel Phelioc, sir! Orders!?" The soldier shouted again, sounding more concerned and panicked.

Phelioc dropped to his knees and stared at the monster. "... What kind of cruel god made our odds so unfavorable? What kind of monster can control beasts like that? What kind of underground hell awaits us in its belly?" He said as zerglings emerged from its orifice and rushed toward his encampment. Kralluf decided that this new monster should be called 'under beasts', and the zerglings rushing out its maw would be called 'blade hounds'.

As the Crescent Arm's encampment became overrun with the zerg, Kralluf sighed, looking through the cameras of men and panicked soldiers that soon became dead men. He turned around to his own men. [Alright, my lads. Let us mark this day as an unusual turn of events. We need to send this information to Pallax and Faddoh right now. You send this info to Pallax and you send a copy to Faddoh. You and you will muster all of our forces in case Gollog issues a full-scale assault on Red Desert's mountain. You, get my desert platform ready.]

[What about me, Commander Kralluf sir?] One of his officers replied.

[... I don't know. Look pretty, or something.] Kralluf huffed in annoyance.

"Commander Kralluf, I presume?"

Kralluf turned around to find a bipedal zerg creature. The bug-man beast-master! [Gilaish talking mother fucker. You have a lot of nerve, attacking my men.] He said, pointing accusingly at Kay.

Kay, with arm and leg finally healed, stood in an aggressive stance. His wings were still small, but were slowly growing back to their original size. "They threatened me first. They attacked me first. I will say this to you, and you better understand what I have to say. Don't you fucking come near my hive cluster, or we are going to have problems, and I will solve my problems with my zerg. Do you want to know what solution I use to solve most of my problems?"

Kralluf was hesitant to ask, but he asked anyway. [What is this solution?]

Kay motioned behind himself and a pair of zerglings dragged a simpering colonel to the front of the camera. His arm and legs were eaten all the way past the knees and elbow, but gauze had prevented the wounds from making him bleed out too much. Kay picked up and held the colonel by his neck, which made him whimper even more. Kay began choking him by squeezing his windpipe. A clawed hand swiped at the last intact arm, making the colonel scream at the top of his lungs in extreme pain. The limb was quickly eaten up by the ravenous zerglings that swarmed close to the bug-man beast-master. Kay made a sinister smile at Krullaf. "Biting... Swallowing... And ingesting. Cleaning up the mess in the most efficient way possible—by eating it. Here's a warning for you, Kralluf. Leave me the fuck alone, or I WILL KILL YOU IN A WAY THAT WAS WORSE THAN YOUR COLONEL'S. Tell your emperor that if any of you or your empire gilanians so much as draw tasteless graffiti on my land, I will search for the one who was responsible and wash the illicit depiction with their blood, making this mountain even redder than it needs to be. Do you understand, fat-boy?"

Kralluf stood still for several seconds before breathing in. [You have gonads of heavy brass, bug-man. You have large, heavy brass gonads indeed. I'll pass this message in its entirety to my emperor by myself if I have to. But if he so wills it, then I'm afraid that we will have no other choice than to fight. And believe me, the emperor will see this as a challenge to him. YOU have been warned.]

Kay approached the camera that recorded his face, dropping the colonel and letting the zerglings surround and attack him. "The zerg are never forgiving when enraged. Know that if you provoke our wrath, I am beyond forgiving you if you continue this. I'll even come for your Gollog and make him suffer a mortal death the likes of which no one will soon forget. Tell your reinforcements to bail and return to wherever they came from. Now."

Kralluf paused before speaking. [What is your name, bug-man?]

Kay paused. "... I have been suffering amnesia lately, so... Call me Kay, for now."

[... A monster like you killed one of my best colonels, and you're named 'kay'?]

Kay sighed. "It's a temporary name. Yes, it sounds like a woman's name, but remember that I am not gilanian."

[Then what are you?]

"I am zerg." Kay said, slashing the camera whilst the zerglings in the tent started matching their master's aggression toward all the technology within their immediate vicinity.

Kay could feel a pang of contentment from Virid. 'Our enemies shall review their course of action with the swarm more carefully now. You have done well.'

Kay looked at his new left hand and flexed it. It felt the same, but he knew that he had to be more careful if he is to deal with this gilanian empire. 'Any more information with the gilanian reinforcements?' Kay asked.

'I had already sent a pair of zerglings to follow after the vehicle that escaped the battle. They will track them and ensure that the escapees never return.'

'Good.' Kay mentally said, turning around and letting the zerglings cause further mischief and destruction to the entire encampment, and also letting the colonel drag himself around on his bloodied stumps, bawling as he moved, while the zerglings tortured him relentlessly until he finally died. Kay had decided that the colonel's corpse would be left there, letting the zerg eat his flesh once blood loss had taken his life.

A/N: It's fight time! :D