Chapter 49: Major Battle 8: Collapse 2
The chrome spire with red glowing circuitry had noisily emerged from the ground, popping up near Ponpon's bandit hideout and toppling over a few pillars as it did so. Ponpon couldn't believe his eyes. He was completely surprised by this turn of events since he could not process the sudden emergence of an unknowable variable. The chrome spire stood tall and silent, ominous in whatever message it was supposed to have sent. Ponpon didn't like it, and cared not for the message he received, if the message was even supposed to be for him.
Ponpon shook his head and hissed. "I-I don't understand this at all. Is Johnny doing this?"
Ponpon was accompanied by the thug that had fetched for his boss earlier. "Johnny or not, I think this is something completely different, boss."
Ponpon turned to his hired thug. "What makes you say that?"
"Well... It's chrome and has that red color. I'm thinking this might be related to those Kiln Keepers I've been hearing about."
A loud CHUNK sound emanated from the top of the spire. "If it's Kiln Keeper related, then I'm getting the hell away from here while I can!" Ponpon said, turning around and running back into his hideout, his fat jiggling around violently as he went into a sprint. The zerg were a force to fear, but Ponpon was more worried about his own self regarding the possibility of being killed by Kiln Keeper robots. "PREP MY PERSONAL MEM DEVICE! I'M MOVING TO A NEW HIDEOUT RIGHT NOW!"
A goon hesitated for a second after being startled by his employer's shouting, but he quickly complied as he went to Ponpon's custom MEM device and typed in a set of coordinates on the terminal attached to it. A low noise that was similar to a flat tuba responded to the goon, which told him that the coordinates he had inputted were incorrect, or invalid. "Uh..."
"WHAT IS IT?!" Ponpon yelled out, running to his personal MEM device and standing on top of it.
After looking at the MEM device's control interface terminal, the goon slowly looked back up at Ponpon with a graven expression. "Selected device coordinates not active. Its condition is... Its condition is... Disabled."
Ponpon stared at his goon. It was as though his eyes were murderous daggers. But then his gaze shifted to the shimmering lights that grew in brightness near the entrance of his hideout. The shimmer was quite similar to reflected light from a source of water that has been disturbed. After a few seconds had passed, Ponpon saw silvery fluid rush into his hideout, flooding it with sudden rapidity. The liquid seemed to flow up walls and envelop whatever object or person it touched, which seemed to smother and drown Ponpon's bandits until they remained motionless, the chrome flood enveloping everything as it flowed. Ponpon panicked as he stepped back and tried to run away from the torrent of unnaturally shiny water. His ankle was caught on something as he tried to make his escape, which resulted in him tripping onto the ground. Whether it was some errant item on the floor, or the silver flooding fluid catching onto his ankle, was pointless to speculate on since the shiny water drenched and drowned him all the same, like all of the other Spiker Titan thugs he had hired.
The origin point of the silvery fluid started from the chrome spire that had erupted in front of Ponpon's bandit hideout, its top splitting apart into four spikes. The spikes then created a circle of energy that made static red electricity. The electricity became more intense, and then formed the fluid that had washed over Ponpon's bandit hideout, enveloping itself in the process.
Some roaches, and a few infestors, that were tasked to spy on the bandits in the hideout, were also smothered by the waves of chrome. A roach tried to burrow through the fluid, but it was seized by the chrome liquid when it tried to do so. After that, the fluid then dismantled the roach at the cellular level. It was a process that was identical to the zergling that had been dissolved in the 'doorway' of the Kiln Keeper factory, which was once annexed to Empire City. The roaches and infestors that remained underneath the sands dug their way toward the nearest hatchery. However, one by one, the roaches were enveloped by the silvery liquid, which forced them into paralysis before their cells were taken apart. The roaches and infestors adapted by burrowing deeper into the sands, but that had only given them time to delay the chrome liquid from absorbing them. The spying zerg organisms at the bandit hideout were eventually lost.
Kay blinked his eyes a few times when he noticed the savage effects of the chrome spires through the eyes and senses of the roaches and infestors at the bandit camp. The spire that created the chromatic liquid that covered everything seemed too dangerous to ignore, and he had a feeling that things were about to get worse. "... Kay uh... This seems bad." He said, voicing his opinion.
The other zerg commanders, Virid and Corvurn, had mentally heard his announcement. Virid directed her attention to the area where the recent loss of zerg lifeforms had started, and her expression immediately turned sour and angry. 'What is this new foe that hinders our brood? Is this the work of the Kiln Keepers again?'
Corvurn was displeased. 'Strange. Swarm organisms dismantled. Process similar to Kiln Keeper factory door at Empire City population center. Zergling strain death process, exact to roach strain death. Spire design consistent of new Kiln Keeper variation. Unknown capabilities regarding reflective spire slime product. Enveloping capabilities witnessed.'
Kay sighed. "Well I don't like it, but I can see this getting more widespread if we don't act, and soon. We could try and see if that spire can be destroyed, but we don't know if another spire is going to pop out of the ground. As a precaution, I want you and Virid to get to the surface and hitch a ride to the moon."
Virid looked up at the ceiling in the lowest underground chamber, which was the deepest part of the largest subterranean hive cluster in Kiln. 'I must retreat off-world? The Swarm is not known for cowardice. This is not the way of the zerg.'
Kay shook his head. "Yeah, well you might be able to dig underground, but not even the roaches or infestors could escape from this shiny grey goo. So, as a precaution, go to a nydus worm, or nydus network, and come to the surface. I'll direct a leviathan to hover over a nydus worm, so you better get your ass moving and get yourself off the ground with the leviathan's help."
Kay could hear Virid mentally sighing. 'If you must insist so much, then I shall humor you. Just stop whining already. ... Hmm? Our largest hive cluster is under attack?! It's another of those spires!'
"Virid." Kay said with urgency.
Virid changed her mood from surprise to annoyance. 'Of course. Right away.' Virid replied. She directed the zerg organisms closest to the spire that erupted through the hive cluster to attack it, while she made good on her escape to the nearest nydus worm.
The first zerg strain that had attacked the emerging spire cleaving through the earth was, predictably, the zerglings. Their claws and fangs raked across the surface of the spire as it continued its drilling ascent, but their attempt to attack the intruding structure did little but create shavings of chrome and silver. Several times did the spire puncture through different chambers that were dug out and inhabited by the zerg, and sometimes they punctured through a bio-structure by coincidence. Roaches and hydralisks were next to respond to the threat, and they surrounded the spire in their mass of numbers. The roaches did their best to bathe the spire in a coat of their acid spit, while the hydralisks assisted with their supersonic needle spines that clanged and penetrated into the spire's metallic surface.
The spire was reduced to nothing, and it had eventually stopped penetrating and rising through the ground. But another spire began to emerge and penetrate through the largest hive cluster seconds later. And then another did the same. And another. And another. The chrome spires with red, glowing circuitry were invading the massive underground hive cluster with such rapidity that the zerg were having a difficult time preventing the invasion happening within their own homes. Even when the zerg had eradicated several spires before they protruded completely through the ground and made their way to the surface, a few managed to accomplish their goal by reaching to their full height above the ground.
The fully emerged spires had activated when they reached their peak height. The tips had split into four spikes to begin creating the chromatic slime. However, harder hitting organisms have already positioned themselves above the protruding towering structures, mainly consisting of ultralisks and corruptors. Only a hundred towers had the chance to produce a small amount of the chrome slime before they were destroyed. But even with their destruction, the slime was already trying to envelop and dissolve everything that it touched and covered. However, its ability to disassemble matter by its touch was met with failure when the fluid tried to dissolve a baneling, its acid overtaking the chrome slime completely.
After the chrome spires had been destroyed by the zerg's efforts, no more spires had tried to penetrate through their home from underneath. But that didn't stop other chrome spires outside the supermassive hive cluster from forming. Shiny, thin towers shot out of the ground and towered mightily over everything, forming a loose technological forest of ominous design. From the top of the spires, their four spikes formed and created their circles of energy that sizzled and crackled red. Chrome slime were produced from these new spires, and the zerg did what they could to eradicate this new threat.
The mutalisks, corruptors, and guardians were overqualified when they were tasked with targeting and destroying the spires producing the chrome slime. The mutalisks' glaive wurms spun quickly enough to not allow the slime to stick to them, and the acid that coated their blades ate away at the slime and chiseled at the spires. The corruptors were greatly effective in attacking the spires, since one could use their caustic spray to damage a spire structure or cover them with a layer of suffocating orruption, while others would have free reign to unleash their parasitic spores onto their sky-scraping targets, or some similar duty. The guardians were very effective at unleashing their acidic payloads onto the chrome covered ground. They were assisted with a swelling army of banelings to help protect the boundaries of the massive hive cluster. The spine crawlers were ineffective against attacking the slime, since their impaling tendrils would get stuck in the chrome slime, which disabled their primary means of attack. Once the danger of the chrome slime was fully realized, the mutalisks and guardians were primarily set to the task of attacking this shiny liquid, using their acid-based ammunition to clear away this dangerous fluid. Overseers also assisted the corruptors, using an unstable growth to hinder the spires with infection.
Virid had already traveled to the surface, and was greeted by the impressive size of a zerg leviathan. An overlord with fully developed ventral sacks had picked up Virid, along with several drones and zerglings, and transported its cargo to the awaiting leviathan. Outside of the subterranean supermassive hive cluster, a tide of chrome slime had formed outside of the zerg territory. The bile launchers were already unleashing their dangerous payloads to the tsunami of chrome that threatened the super hive cluster, forcing the disassembling liquid to recede and preventing it from enveloping everything. Once Virid had boarded the leviathan, the gargantuan creature tilted its entire body and enveloped itself in orange warp energy. Several seconds later, the leviathan appeared to blink out of existence as the orange energy surrounding it flickered and wavered before dwindling to nothing.
'I have left the subterranean hive cluster. Approaching the hexagonal moon's hive cluster now.' Virid responded.
Kay sighed in relief. "Good. The zerg are defending their hive cluster on the surface fairly well, but I have a gut feeling that might change sometime soon."
'Command organism Kay,' Corvurn said. 'Request sample of aqueous chrome.'
"Denied until we know we can control this new threat." Kay said, carefully running his hands through his mock-hair. "I wonder if they are appearing everywhere else on Kiln?"
'The overlords, overseers, and changelisks disguised as zerglings outside the super hive cluster, are seeing more spires emerging from the ground.' Virid reported. 'The spires emerging under and around the super hive cluster is more abundant than in other areas.'
Kay sighed. "If this is the Kiln Keeper's doing, then I can understand why they're using the chrome spires to attack us. But why are they surfacing in other areas?"
'Perhaps the Kiln Keepers have learned about the changelisks' ability to disguise their appearance?' Virid suggested.
Kay could see the logic in that theory. "Possibly. But then again, why now? If the Kiln Keepers realized that we were more dangerous than they initially anticipated us to be, then they would have used the spires sooner. I have a hypothesis, and it has something to do with Gollog."
'Will you be visiting his palace again?' Virid asked.
Kay shook his head. "No. I'll just use a changelisk to walk in my stead. I have some questions I want him to answer anyway." He said, crossing his arms and huffing. He was not really looking forward to finding out the answers to his current questions.
High in the air, several unmanned fliers were heading towards the territory belonging to the zerg. One of such was actually piloted by a changelisk disguised as a gilanian called Johnny. He took control of the only flier that he was manually piloting, and maneuvered around the spires that protruded from the ground. The spires produced more of that mysterious chrome fluid. The other fliers ran straight into the chrome spires either exploded, or became absorbed by the downpour of the slimy mercury. Johnny's airspace was soon populated by several other airborne objects, even when the decoy fliers continued to dwindle to nothing. Mutalisks, corruptors, overseers and guardians parted once he had neared them. The smell of bile was heavy within the air as acid was used to combat the spires and the mercurial fluid they produced. Corrosive fumes condensed into dark chemical clouds that rose high over the battle zone, which was a byproduct of the zerg's efforts to eradicate the smothering chrome slime, and the spires that produced said chrome.
Upon finding a place to land in, Johnny slowed his speed and descended. There was a patch of creep that seemed like the perfect place to act as a landing strip for him. His flier descended onto the stretch of creep, which skidded on the creep for several seconds, but his speed decreased until he was finally at a complete stop. Once parked, Johnny unbuckled himself and disembarked from his flier, eventually stepping onto the creep for the first time in his life. The sensation Johnny felt was a lot like coming back home after living a lifetime with an alter ego. He looked at the horizon and saw various zerg organisms approaching him. Zerglings, roaches, hydralisks, and even a couple ultralisks and large queens greeted him. It was a big family reunion, and it was to a family that was a nation wide, and still growing.
Johnny sighed. "Now how do we convince Baroness Tak that we can be trusted?"
A large queen trilled with uncertainty. "Must you verbally ask me this, changelisk? We are a psionic hivemind. Oral speech is beyond our need, with an exception to all non-swarm and non-psionic races."
Johnny nodded. "That is true, but co-commander Kay wants my relationship with 'the zerg' to be convincing to the baroness at Gargantua Citadel. Apparently, he wants me to role-play as a gilanian that is against the Golden Star Empire, and he wants me to make it believable. Will you help me make my alibi?"
The large queen hissed. "No one will be around to hear us. This diversion is silly."
Johnny shrugged. "It might not make as much sense as a snake wearing a bra, but our masters still wants the baroness on our side."
The large queen groaned in annoyance. "Very well. Then allow me to start this pretended farce by saying that you are not supposed to be here." She said, taking a few steps toward Johnny and flashing her wings.
Johnny held up his hands. "Wait, don't kill me. I came here hoping to acquire your 'blade hounds' to help me take down the empire. I heard that you and your zerg monsters are at odds with them. Well, so am I."
The large queen hissed, but folded her wings back behind herself. "You may say such things, but how do WE know that you are not an imperial infiltrator trying to confuse or deceive us?"
"I know someone that can vouch for me. She is called Baroness Tak, and she is in charge of a city called Citadel Gargantua. If you permit me, I can retrieve my long-range communication handheld." Johnny explained.
She sighed. "Very well. But if I find out that you have tricked me, I will end you."
"Fair enough." Johnny said, backing away and heading to the flier he arrived in. After pilfering through the contents of the items he brought with himself, he finally found what he was looking for. He pressed several buttons on his long-range communication handheld and opened the screen when the call was accepted. A grizzled face with a permanent scowl looked back at Johnny.
[Hello, this is Baroness Tak's secretarial directory. Please state the nature of your call.] The gruff gilanian responded to Johnny.
Johnny smiled. "Hello. This is Johnny. I want you to notify Baroness Tak that I am okay, and that I wish for her to accept my request to communicate, using both audio and video transmissions please."
[Acknowledged. Please wait for a moment.]
There was a long pause that lasted forty two seconds after Johnny had requested Tak to talk to him. The zerg that gathered around Johnny were idle, and would rather focus on the current threat that threatened their hive cluster. However, Tak's face had finally appeared on the communication handheld screen. Her smile was warming. [Johnny. It's been an hour since we last talked. How fares your journey?]
Johnny sighed. "It's faring well, but... I kind of came upon a difficult situation."
Tak blinked a few times. [Did something happen?]
"I'm being held hostage by the monsters I have been trying to befriend, for one."
Tak's face suddenly changed into a distraught expression. [Oh dear me. The blade hounds didn't recognize you?]
Johnny shook his head. "Actually, it's far far more complicated than that, and I do emphasize on the 'far' and 'complicated' parts. If I had to guess, the blade hounds are only part of a bigger pack. I think I also found their... mom, I guess? To confuse you even more, their 'mother' is not exactly a blade hound."
Tak blinked again. [... I don't think I understand what you mean. Their mother is not a blade hound?]
Johnny shook his head. "Nope. Worse still, they are very wary of me and they are showing me distrust. In fact, I told the mother about you, and I said that you could vouch for me and say that I am an enemy of the empire."
Tak shook her head in disbelief. [Hold on there. You can TALK to them? I mean... Use basic Gilaish to communicate between yourself and their mother? I don't believe it.]
Johnny sighed, then turned to the large queen. "Would you like to talk to the baroness?"
The large queen sighed. "If it is deemed necessary to clear you of all suspicions of being an imperial infiltrator, then yes."
Tak narrowed her eyes. [... Who said that?]
"My ladyship." Johnny announced. "Allow me to introduce you to... well... this." Johnny turned the handheld comm device away from his face and held it over his head. Once he faced the camera of the handheld comm towards the large queen, Johnny could hear Tak gasp.
The large queen neared Johnny and looked at the long-range communication handheld with the surprised and shocked face of Baroness Tak on its screen. She leered at the baroness. "You are the baroness this intruding gilanian spoke of?"
Tak's eyes were unblinking and alarmed when she saw the large queen talk to her. Or rather, talked to her in a mouth-less way. [Uh... Y-yes. I am Baroness Tak of Citadel Gargantua. Who am I talking to? ... And what am I talking to?]
The large queen was indifferent in her expression. "I do not have a name for myself. Those that are greater in age, or have been granted a purpose, are given such things. I am a breed of zerg strain that our empire enemy refers to as a 'caretaker'. But that does not matter now. What is the relation of our intruding gilanian to you? Speak quick, before I suspect of him of being a Golden Star Empire infiltrator."
Tak paused for a second before shaking her head and replying. [He has came to my citadel after he said he was saved by a pack of blade hounds. They guided him to my city, and he has assisted me greatly during his stay. He even saved my life from a terrible bandit lord once. He had requested me to allow his return to the blade hounds in hopes to befriend them and help with fighting Emperor Gollog and his armies.]
The large queen nodded a few times. "Your words have spared him, but know that it doesn't mean we entirely trust you. The empire has angered us, and we demand retribution through their blood. We cannot lend you our blade hounds, as this gilanian calls them, to suit your needs. In a manner of speaking, we require every single combat strain to eradicate the gilanian empire known as Golden Star."
Tak seemed like she was emotionally deflating. [Oh... I'm sorry Johnny. It looks like your mission was a failure.]
The large queen held up her clawed hand. "However, we share common enemies. If you truly wish to see a grizzly end to our enemies, then you may assist us in our war against them. This assistance is not needed, but your help will be accepted."
Tak paused again, but nodded. She paused after she stopped nodding before asking a question. [If we do assist you, what will me, or my city, receive in turn?]
The large queen clasped her clawed hands together. "We shall continue to distance ourselves from your citadel. Since no empire forces, or Kiln Keeper machines, had marched out from your city, we had assumed that it posed no threat to us. As a result, we ignored your city. If you do not assist us in our war, then we shall continue to treat you as gilanians that hasn't threatened us."
Tak furrowed her eyebrows. [... If that's true, then this means your children will come to my city if provoked to do so. Some of the population here would not take to their homeland being invaded by monstrous looking beasts, and I know they will defend themselves.]
"You insult the Swarm by calling them monstrous beasts. We are the ultimate lifeforms that had evolved past many weaknesses, and we continue to evolve when new weaknesses are discovered. You would do well to remember not to summon the wrath of our brood. If your people attacks us, then we will see that as an invitation to attack them back." The large queen warned.
Tak pursed her lips for several seconds, but then slowly sighed. [My people in this city are not seeking war with the empire, and they would not seek war with any other faction. I have made sure that my city supports a neutral stance in regards to the empire and their politics, or anyone else. My diplomacy has ensured the safety of everyone within these walls, and I am to ensure that such peace is maintained. To directly assist you would break my neutrality with the empire.]
The large queen tilted her head. "Then would this mean you will not assist us?"
Tak shook her head. [Allow me to finish, please. If I truly were to assist your forces, then I must ensure that evidence of my actions must never be discovered should I, or anyone under my affiliation, were to assist your efforts in your mission to eradicate the Golden Star Empire. Have I made myself clear?]
The large queen hissed. "... Then you will assist us to gain our favor, but only if it doesn't ruin your reputation with your citizens in your citadel, or any other faction. Very well. You may do as you wish, but our masters are not charitable rulers within the Swarm. They do not give others peace when there is no benefit to be gained. And our Swarm is not known to be peaceful."
Tak nodded. [Very well. I shall bear that in mind. If you can forgive me for asking, who are your masters?]
"There are three." The large queen began. "One who is named Virid, who has tasked herself with the protection and expansion of our brood. Her co-commander is Kay, and he has set himself to slay the threats that dare attack our Swarm. The third is Corvurn, a master of evolution that mutates and strengthens all that is of our brood. It is through them that the swarm have adapted on this world, and it will be through their command that Gollog's empire, and all our other enemies, will fall."
Tak gulped when she heard that. [I-I see. Will I have a chance to meet them in the near future? That is, of course, after they have defeated the empire?]
"That remains to be seen. A new tactic employed by the Kiln Keepers is keeping them occupied. Their current adaptation against the swarm is puzzling. They are much like us. Adapting to our tactics, just as we adapt to theirs. But machines will break as time forces their bodies to rust. We will outlast them." The large queen hissed.
Tak nodded again. [I see.]
[Baroness Tak! The guardsmen are reporting a disturbance outside of the citadel walls!]
Tak looked away from the large queen and at something off-screen from her perspective. [Can this wait? I am in the middle of an important call.]
[Metal towers a mile high are coming out of the ground! They're damaging and destroying our citadel walls, my baroness! Everyone is in an uproar!]
Tak hissed. She then looked back at the large queen. [It appears as though the assistance you are willing to accept will have to be postponed. An unfortunate event has occurred, and I am needed to foresee the damage done to my people's home. If we are ever to talk or meet, then I pray that it is to forge a friendship, or create good standing between my citadel citizens and your... zerg kin.]
The large queen bowed. "Very well. Shall I send this gilanian back to you? The food we grow here is extremely toxic, and is not for gilanian consumption."
Tak nodded. [He can come back as he pleases. However, I wish for him to return safely, and as quickly as possible. But if you can excuse me, I have been summoned. Goodbye, caretaker.]
"If fate is willing, we shall meet again." The large queen said, bowing again.
[Johnny. I wish to speak with you in private. It needs to be brief.] Tak said.
Johnny looked up at the handheld comm in his hands. "Yes, my ladyship. Caretaker. May I?"
The large queen hissed in annoyance. "Be quick, lest I grow suspicious."
Johnny guided his handheld comm device to his face again and walked toward the flier he flew on. "Is something happening at the citadel?" Johnny asked.
Tak shook her head. [I don't know what my bodyguard is driveling on about, but I will find out the source of this disturbance. I will call you back if there is something that needs to be discussed.]
Johnny nodded and sighed. "Yes, my ladyship."
[Also.] Tak added. [Be careful around those monsters. It has come to my attention that these 'zerg organisms' are far more dangerous than first perceived. That caretaker definitely seemed smart, for one. Once you get the chance, fly back home. And whatever you do, don't invite the zerg to the citadel.]
Johnny tilted his head. "But can we assist them in any way?"
[Right now, I have my own problems to deal with.] Tak said, sighing. [Take care of yourself, Johnny. Goodbye.]
The communication link between Tak and Johnny had finally ended. Johnny, on the other hand, placed the handheld comm device back in the flier that he arrived in and returned to the large queen. He breathed in a deep breath before he sighed. "Well that's a shame."
The large queen shook her head. "She acts selfless in her diplomacy, but it is cowardice that stays her hand from acting against the empire. Her fear is childish."
Johnny sighed. "She knows that if she doesn't assist us, then the zerg will test their boundaries with her people. To prevent that from happening, she is going to have to find a way to assist our efforts in killing Gollog, or help us eliminate all that's in his control. She'll find a way, whether she likes to or not."
The large queen nodded. "Our commanders expect you to act in the baroness' stead. There is little than what a wayward overlord can accomplish."
Johnny shook his head. "Plus, there is Zero Wind to worry about. He already knows that I am not a gilanian."
"He was, and perhaps still is, an unforeseen problem." The large queen hissed. "But he cannot hide for long."
Johnny nodded. "Better for us to morph those virophage bio-structures at key locations then."
"But then comes the more important question. Will the baroness allow you to assist us?" The large queen asked.
Johnny smiled. "Actually, I think this would be a perfect opportunity for me to assist the zerg. I can even say that I did so on the behalf of Baroness Tak, and I would ask you to keep this secret between you and me."
The large queen tilted her head again. " A lowly changelisk like you has an idea?"
"Yes." Johnny replied. "If you allow me control of your zerg organisms, then I can direct them to attack the spires that are emerging around the city. After all, we can assume that the spires are either the Kiln Keepers' doing, or Gollog's doing. Either way, I am technically assisting in destroying your enemies."
The large queen paused before nodding. "I see the loop in this logic, but where is the evidence that suggest the spires are a new Kiln Keeper variant, or is the result of Gollog's actions?"
"There is none. All that you said is you would accept any assistance. Since the spires that attacked the super hive cluster is also attacking the citadel, I'd say that's enough of a reason to allow me to direct your airborne strains to help fight the chrome spires. We can just tell Baroness Tak that the spires are also attacking the zerg, and that we agreed to let the mutalisks, corruptors, and guardians follow after me so that they can destroy them." Johnny explained.
The large queen nodded once more. "Very well. Return to your aircraft. A legion of swarming air strains shall accompany and follow you."
Johnny nodded back to the large queen and turned around again, marching to embark on his flying vehicle to make his way back to Citadel Gargantua. As Johnny prepared his flier for take-off, the air high above him was slowly being populated with several flying zerg organisms, ranging mainly of mutalisks, corruptors, and guardians. Overlords that were filled with drones and queens also populated the flying swarm, but their purposes were different from the flying combat strains that would follow Johnny. To eradicate the chrome spires, and the fluids they produced, was the flying combat strains' job.
Once Johnny had buckled himself in and turned the flier's engine back on, the runway of creep was driven over again. Johnny took to the skies, and a swarm of flying zerg organisms followed after his aircraft. The mutalisks and the corruptors were able to match his speed, but the guardians lagged behind due to their slower method of propulsion. However, a plan was put into action, and its main focus was to create a loose relation of friendship between the remaining gilanians and the zerg, based on the subterfuge of a zerg changelisk, disguised as a gilanian, that succeeded in befriending a baroness.
But there were still mysteries that Kay demanded to be answered.
At the center of Kiln's North Pole, a city was beset by all sides of an idled swarm. The zerg organisms had swarmed this place in massive armies, with countless droves once dying at the power of a laser that shined down on them at all times. The laser had died a long while ago, and the creep had nearly infested the entire Shallow Ocean, while many hatcheries rose out from the water's surface as a result. The sky was populated with flying zerg of many kinds, including a few that were newly spawned leviathans. The ocean was populated with even more zerg forces that traveled on the ground, their numbers supplied by either the hatcheries or the nydus worms.
The beach surrounding the entrance to Empire City, and to the Palace of Dreams, was covered in creep and heavy hitting zerg organisms. Bile launchers were positioned to be in range of the imperial structure, their dangerous payloads ready to unleash hell when Kay deemed it necessary. Ultralisks, overseers, and hydralisks surrounded the topmost structures of Empire City, making sure that nobody that wasn't zerg came in or out. The fighting between the zerg and the imperial gilanians had died down completely, and it had remained so when the city was taken over by the swarm's infestation. Within the city, the infestation had taken root in its entirety.
There were a few corpses of empire soldiers, and fewer slain gilanians that took up arms to fight the zerg, that laid dead in the streets and alleyways of the city within. There were far more bodies than the dead gilanian defenders, since the fight between Gollog's soldiers and the swarming zerg created so much death for both sides. The zerglings didn't have the time to sniff out the fresh or rotting bodies, which would normally be carried to to the drones near the hatcheries. The drones and the zerglings would cut off the armor from the dead, and pinch the flesh from their bones. The brains were given special care, as the skulls were carefully delivered to the hatcheries so that the memories and knowledge within them would be extracted. Once the brains were flushed of all useful information, they were finally consumed and turned into usable biomass.
The only surviving residents of Empire city was an encampment of homeless gilanians, which had little to no money to buy an escape from the coming infestation. Emperor Gollog, and his servants that had Kragnon, was living in the lap of luxury in the Palace of Dreams, while the slums suffered. When the fighting finally stopped, it was because all empire soldiers within the city were finally completely hunted down and preyed upon. The fighting could have continued within the city had it not been for Kragnon's capture. Recent events have made Kay seek certain questions to be answered, even when he could be at the palace to ask those questions himself. A changelisk assumed Kay's shape and form, and proceeded to approach the heavy, white, opalescent doors that lead into Gollog's palace within Empire City.
Not-Kay knocked on the huge doors. "Gollog! I have a few questions, and I want them answered!"
A sigh responded back. [Go away, Kay.] Emperor Gollog answered back. [I have no wish to talk to any fake that bears the resemblance of my greatest headache. If your REAL self comes here, then I might be less reticent to acquiesce your request.]
Not-Kay huffed. "Don't pull that shtick on me! I want to know if the spire things coming out of the ground is your doing! I WILL tear down your front door and come for you, just to get a straight answer. If I have to get my answers that way, then it's gonna happen whether or not I get consent to enter your palace!"
[Let's see... How should I, an emperor that has conquered nearly the entirety of Kiln, put this as diplomatically and delicately as possible? ... Oh! I think I found the exact words I wanted to say. You can go suck the scum from the corpse of an old sex-slave's nether regions and politely fuck off.]
Not-Kay reared his head back in disgust. "Ooh. Wow. I must be visiting you when you're at your most depressed."
[I am not proud or fond of the recent decisions I have enacted, yes.]
"... So you ARE responsible for the chrome spires?"
Another sigh perverted the air as it was exhaled from the comm system over the opalescent doors. [If you really wanted to find out, you could have came in person and asked me yourself.]
Not-Kay sighed. "Then let me be the first to tell you, yet again, that you have brought this upon yourself." Once Not-Kay backed away from the large opalescent doors, a swarm of zerglings, roaches and hydralisks approached the door and started attacking it ceaselessly. A hole was formed, and it was wrested wider by the zerglings' efforts. Not-Kay walked through the newly created entrance, and he was followed after by the zerg entry breach team.
[It has taken twelve hours to create and install that door.] Gollog said dryly. [Not that it matters much to me now.]
Not-Kay and his dangerous retinue of zerg scaled the opalescent steps toward their shared enemy. Upon scaling the top of the large staircase, Not-Kay and the zerg behind him saw the interior of the throne room for themselves. At the side of the chamber opposite from Not-Kay was a sitting Gollog, brooding on his throne and staring with an unamused glare at his intruders. Besides his tall throne was Kragnon, still sitting comfortably in the chair that was offered to him a long time ago. Not-Kay crossed his arms once he stopped at the center of this massive chamber, backed by several zerg organisms. "What matters is that I'm here in spirit. If you don't answer my questions now, then I will be taking back Kragnon by force. Now tell me as clearly as you can. What is happening?"
Gollog sighed, then got up from his seat of power. "You can have him back. I already transferred the commands to myself and activated them."
Not-Kay raised an eyebrow before looking at Kragnon. After giving the albino gilanian a long glimpse, Not-Kay returned his attention to Gollog. "Did any odd scales fall out of place when I last saw him? Any blood leaving his body? Bruising? Public humiliation?"
Gollog shook his head. "None of the sort. It isn't as if someone dies when commands from one person transfers to another. However, it appears the warden that this clone is related to," Gollog said, pointing at Kragnon. "possessed a very powerful command that I had not accounted for."
Not-Kay tilted his head. "... Which was... a new Kiln Keeper variant?"
Gollog shook his head again and sighed. "No. It's something called 'the reclamation protocol'. I had thought it was something that relates to achieving godhood, but the result of activating that command was nothing I had expected. In short, the spires coming out of the ground was my fault, since it was the activation of the protocol that brought them out of the earth. But then again, I do blame you for forcing my hand in activating the protocol without knowing what it did."
Not-Kay furrowed his eyebrows at Gollog. "So are you only now regretting not helping me find a way out of this prison?"
Gollog chuckled. "No, Kay. If I had the chance to do things differently, I would do this dance all over again. Perhaps I'll be more focused in killing you, if that really were the case? Either way, what has been done has been done. I cannot undo the damage that I have caused in my... desperation."
Not-Kay sighed, then gestured to Gollog. "I'm not going to let some chrome slime made from some silver spires ruin my day. My zerg can destroy the spires and rain acid on the shiny slime covering everything. As much as I enjoy seeing you at your most morose, I think it's time I take Kragnon back from you."
Gollog hissed. "You may have him. He is of no use to me now." He said, gesturing to Kragnon.
Not-Kay nodded at Gollog, looked at Kragnon for a few seconds, and then shook his head. "Well uh... What do I have to do to get him out of that dazed state of his?"
Gollog sighed. "That is simple. He responds to specific phrases, abstract sentences that are not normally spoken during a conversation. To get him out of his complacent behavior, I simply whisper to his ear this two-part phrase. 'The wardens and the emperor are awesome and fun, but their pets eat their favorite color of krell scented dinner plates. Iron, copper, silver, onyx, gold, and opal'."
Not-Kay nodded. "Kay." He started his walk toward Kragnon, eventually coming near him and seeing him up close. He seemed healthy, if Not-Kay's perception of Kragnon was accurate. The captive gilanian did seem slightly chubbier than before, probably because he had been so well fed. Not-Kay leaned down to level his face with Kragnon's ear, and he began to speak softly. "The wardens and emperor are awesom-~!?"
Not-Kay couldn't react quick enough when a shiny wrist-blade passed through his torso, splitting him in half. The changelisk disguised as Kay had its current form destabilized, forcing it to fall as two unrecognizable blobs of fluid that turned into puddles on the ground. It happened so fast that even the zerg that followed the late Not-Kay were in disbelief. Kragnon rose up from his seat with a giant grinning smirk on his face. His appearance then wavered into something completely different. Something darker. Covered in black cloth. Wearing several metal bands. Bearing a red mask. "I agree." Zero Wind said, no longer assuming the guise of Kragnon.
A zergling within the crowd of zerg changed its shape and assumed the guise of Kay, despite the recent death of a changelisk that once had been disguised as Kay. Kay had developed this recent tactic regarding changelisks being within a swarm of zerglings a long while ago, which began after the infiltration mission into Empire City. Kay made sure that every twenty zerglings would be joined by a pair of changelisks that is disguised as one of their own. Since he brought roughly thirty zerglings into Gollog's palace, Kay would still have roughly a couple changelisks to use for communication purposes. Not-Kay 2 pointed a finger at Zero Wind with anger and surprise. "You! You're the fucking guy that warned Ponpon about my zerg in his hideout!"
Zero gazed up at Not-Kay 2. He then looked down at the changelisk puddle that he was responsible for making. He then looked back up at Not-Kay 2. "Hmm! For a leader of a bunch of beastly bugs, I didn't know you could have a double."
Gollog sighed. "What did you think I said? I said 'I have no wish to talk to any fake that bears the resemblance of my greatest headache.' That was supposed to be a clue."
Zero shook his head and bowed at Gollog. "I apologize. I won't let this oversight happen again."
Not-Kay 2 growled at the hand-waved attempt on his life. "If I am understanding this correctly, you hired Zero here to kill me while my guard was down?!" He said, pointing at Zero Wind.
Gollog turned to Not-Kay 2 with a bemused smile. "How else am I supposed to kill someone in a discreet manner, Kay? To assassinate someone, you hire an assassin."
Zero Wind unleashed a secondary blade from his armband and slid the edges against one another. "When Emperor Gollog hired me to kill you, I thought it was just another attempt at my capture. But after coming here through a MEM device and listening to his side of the story, I was more than willing to accept him as my client after he gave me the figures of the payment. What is the reward for your death, you may ask? Several thousand gallons of water that can fill the volume of this entire palace."
Not-Kay 2 scoffed and shook his head. "I'm somewhat surprised someone would go that far to kill someone! I mean... Killing someone just for some fresh drinking water? Water should be free to drink when you're thirsty, not some commodity for trade."
Zero Wind stepped forward and broadened his stance. "A fine thing, that ideology of yours. Alas, on a world of sand and killers, it makes no difference to where the blood of life comes from. Be it the rivers and the lakes, or the veins and the hearts. It has been a pleasure, but I will be killing you."
"Your 'assassination target' is not here, Zero." Gollog said, face-palming.
Zero Wind turned toward Gollog. "... So the person I am seeing before myself is not my target? He's another double?"
Gollog gestured at Not-Kay 2. "I saw that zerg organism shift in front of me. It's another doppelganger that can assume the guise of another, be it a blade hound, Kay, or a gilanian. Though he bears your target's image, he isn't your target."
Zero Wind turned back at Not-Kay 2, tilting his head as he looked back at him.
Not-Kay 2 sighed before he changed appearances again, this time in the form of Gollog. "Oh, look at me! I know everything! I am high and mighty, but I only act this way because I don't want people to know I have small hemipenes! I have my subjects lick my butt because I am an asshole that deserves to have graffiti written on all the walls of my kingdom! What does the graffiti drawn on the walls look like, you may ask? Why, it's a shryik serpent barfing on my naked body as I am tied to a wooden post, and it's making my little peens happy! The only way I can get aroused and do any conquering outside my territory is for people to badmouth me, because I am so smart and want everything my way!" The fake Gollog said in a sarcastic and extravagant way.
Gollog's expression hardened, staring with utter animosity toward the changelisk that took the form of himself. "Are you done?"
The changelisk returned back into the guise that is exact to Kay once more. "Yeah. That feels cathartic, to be honest. But back to the point, I want Kragnon back from you."
Gollog shook his head. "You must be incredibly thick headed if you think I will give him back now. Especially now since you just mocked me."
Not-Kay 2 nodded a few times. "Mm-hmm... Considering that you tried to kill me with an assassin, that's also rude of you to do too. But now that the niceties have passed, I will proceed to tear everything apart until I find him. Including everyone here." Not-Kay 2 said, stepping back and letting his zerg march forward. They started growling with savage intentions, staring at the assassin that attempted to kill their leader, inching ever closer into killing distance.
Zero Wind took an even wider stance, looking ready to attack in a single instant. "Before you begin, I have a question." Zero said. "If I am talking to a shapeshifter that is supposedly telepathic to his own kind, then do you know where the REAL Kay is?"
"I might tell you if you help me find who I am looking for." Not-Kay 2 replied.
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline that request. Can't have an emperor wanting me for dead again when he has hired me to do a job. But mark my words. I will find you! Tah-tah!" Zero Wind teased.
Before the zerglings ever had a chance to pounce onto the assassin, Zero Wind vanished in a static blue and white light that was the obvious sign of a MEM shift, which was often done on a MEM device shift pad. Zero Wind somehow managed to do so without the use of such a device, similar to how a shadow of the Pyramidal Guard Division would retreat out of danger. The zerglings sniffed at the ground where the assassin used to be, then whimpered their confusion. Not-Kay 2 groaned. "Huh... I thought he was going to put up more of a fight before he chickened out."
Gollog tilted his head. "... I don't know what this 'chickened' word you said means. Honestly, it sounds like something General Pallax would say." Gollog then got down from his seat and approached the horde of zerg. "But I can assure you that intruders in my home will not go unpunished. I SUMMON FORTH MY DIVINE POWER! ACTIVATE THE DEFENSES WITHIN MY PALACE OF DREAMS!"
The walls and pillars started to shift, as though a silent earthquake was quietly rocking the palace. But then the pillars and the walls broke apart and revealed a sky that was similar to the sky outside the palace. The ground crumbled away beneath the platoon of zerg within the palace, but they did not fall with the ornate floor tiles and plaster, though it did give away to a vast ocean of thick clouds, covering whatever waters and lands that might lie beneath. Not-Kay 2 looked up and noted that Emperor Gollog was growing larger in size. He had reached past five meters, ten meters, twenty meters, and then slowly came to a stop at the final height of thirty meters. Gollog loomed over his intruders and gave them a scrutinizing stare.
Not-Kay 2 stared wide-eyed at the gigantic emperor. After a lengthy pause, Not-Kay 2 finally spoke aloud. "Uh... Kay, this is new."
"YOUR SWARM HAS INTRUDED INTO MY HOME, BUG-MAN BEAST-MASTER KAY." Gollog said, clenching two hands into fists and raising them over the intruding zerg. "AND IN HERE, I AM THE MASTER OF THE FATE OF ALL THAT DWELLS WITHIN IT!" Two large fists quickly struck the intruding zerg, flattening them into pancaked versions of themselves and killing them.
The zerglings rushed forward with simpleminded determination as they swarmed all over Gollog's feet and ankles. Their scratching and biting amounted to nothing, the giant emperor's flesh fazing out of existence when a claw or tooth tried to rip and tear past the visible surface. The roaches tried to burrow to safety, but they were removed from their only advantage that they needed, since the ground was removed from below them. However, they had resorted to spitting at the giant emperor from a distance instead, even when their spittle did little. They could drench Emperor Gollog's knees with as much acid as they wanted, but the acid was incapable of dissolving him to his thighs. The hydralisks fired their supersonic projectiles at their gigantic enemy in that strange room, but their needle-thin spines passed through their target and twirled harmlessly out the other side.
"HERE, IN THIS PALACE OF DREAMS, ALL THAT I IMAGINE SHALL BECOME TANGIBLE TO THE TOUCH!" Gollog started stomping and kicking the zerglings that surrounded him, squishing several with each foot that fell, or launching flailing bodies with every punt. The zerglings were killed off at a rapid pace, either becoming a morbid two-sided corpses, or projectiles that fell onto their fellow zerg.
The zergling's numbers may have dwindled, but they were still joined by more of their brothers. The front door to Gollog's palace already had an entrance made into it, and Kay wanted to capitalize on that when it could still be taken advantage of. Even the creep started to make its way up the palace's staircase, increasing the speed of the zerg organisms that traveled over it. Newer zerg combatants entered into the battle within Gollog's throne room, consisting mainly of infestors and swarm hosts. There were even a few queens and some drones that came to this fight.
"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT INSECTS TO ME! AND AS INSECTS, I WILL SWAT YOU FROM EXISTENCE!" Gollog dragged his feet as he made sweeping kicks, striking several zerglings with incredible force and hitting any roaches that got near him. The hydralisks kept their distance as much as they could, even when a zergling or roach landed on top of them.
That was when the infestors and swarm hosts came into play next. The infestors unleashed several cocoons from their maws, just as the swarm hosts produced several eggs from the many capillary ducts from their dome shaped 'incubators'. After a brief time of incubation, the cocoons and eggs erupted into infested gilanians and locusts respectively, and they unleashed their weapons and acid onto the emperor that couldn't be damaged. The reinforcements provided by the infestors and swarm hosts helped to reduce the loss of resources, but the zerg forces were still dying.
"I HAVE SENTENCED DEATH ONTO MANY OTHERS THAT HAVE DONE FAR LESS THAN YOU HAVE! I HAVE SENTENCED MANY TO A LIFE OF TORTURE, BECAUSE THEY EITHER LOST THEIR PASSION TO SERVE ME OR BECAME DISLOYAL TO MY CAUSE! I SUMMON FORTH MY DIVINE SWORD AND DAGGER, AIDED BY THE GUIDING SPIRIT TO VANQUISH THE FOES BEFORE ME!" Two huge weapons manifested beside the giant emperor, one shorter than the other, and they started to cut a massive swath into the ranks of zerg. The dagger was more focused on the more dangerous creatures farthest from Gollog, creating a gash that penetrated through their bodies. Many of the hydralisks, infestors, and swarm hosts died by the giant dagger. The zerglings, locusts, and infested gilanians were the main prey of the giant sweeping sword .
The creep had grown into Gollog's throne room that somehow hovered over the air, despite there being no 'ground' of which to thrive upon. It didn't stop the drones from forming embryonic cocoons on the floating creep, while the queens circled around them for protection. The zerg were dying by the droves, even as the two giant flying blades and their enormous emperor continued to kill them. The creep somehow grew a lip on the outer edges of the battle within the throne room that turned into an invisible floating sky arena. It somehow couldn't grow behind the entrance into this place, or go past this lip that limited it.
"TO RISK INVOKING MY RAGE IS TO CHALLENGE MY DIVINITY! TO HUMILIATE MY POWER IS TO SUMMON MY RAGE! TO BELITTLE MY KINGDOM IS TO BRING DOOM TO THE WORTHLESS! WHAT IS A FAITHLESS NONBELIEVER TO AN IMMORTAL WITH THE POWERS OF A GOD?!" Gollog thundered his loud voice at the army of zerg beneath his feet, squishing and kicking them whenever he got the chance to. His gigantic flying blades flew through the ranks of zerg and glided into them, their blades cutting effortlessly into their hide with a sharpness that was unheard of. Several of the zerglings that had swarmed into this chamber were directed to a safe place, and they formed chrysalis' around themselves.
Not-Kay 2 shook his head. "This might be hard to believe, coming from a 'doppelganger' that has my shape and form and all, but I have just remembered something that I think you should know."
Emperor Gollog turned around with a savage look and stared at Kay. He hissed lowly, too distracted with everything around him to think clearly. However, when he looked at Not-Kay 2's general direction, Gollog's expression turned into puzzlement when he saw the hatchery that was behind him. He hadn't noticed it when the drone had morphed into an embryo, since he was busy fighting the zerg that bit at his ankles and shot at his face. He wasn't sure what kind of plan or strategy that Kay had enacted, but he could tell from Not-Kay 2's stern face that he would not like what he would say, or what came next.
"It's true that I have survived the wrath a god. But the zerg, before I was infested by them, or even born, had so much more history that even I cannot recount. There was one feat that I have learned that the zerg had achieved before coming here to Kiln." Not-Kay 2 spread his arms out wide as the cocoons behind him started to hatch. "The zerg killed their gods."
Seven ultralisks erupted from their cocoons, enlarging to their full height within a span of scant seconds. How they were able to grow so large so suddenly was beyond Kay's understanding, yet the zerg somehow had the amazing ability to completely ignore the principles of mass and energy conservation, no matter how much nutrition is needed to constantly assist a growing body as it develops. The ultralisks stampeded forward and passed through the giant blades, though they became somewhat injured by their seemingly supernaturally animated method to lacerate and cleave through the other zerg strains with little resistance.
"OOF!" The ultralisks rammed into the thirty meter tall emperor, almost knocking him off balance when he tried to take hold of their massive Kaiser blades. It was only then that Kay thought he saw something during that moment. A flicker of light in the sky? Gollog clenched his teeth and hissed his frustration, summoning his own strength to beat down one of the ultralisks that was trying to push him down. "YOU FAIL TO UNDERSTAND, KAY!" Gollog bellowed, ripping an ultralisk's Kaiser blade from its joint and stabbing another ultralisk with it. "YOU, AND EVERY FOOL THAT THINKS OTHERWISE, CANNOT KILL AN IMMORTAL!"
"I believe said I would rewrite your foundations." The zerglings that were transforming into banelings within their safe places were directed to roll into the entrance of the throne room. The sky flickered more. An unusual thing was discovered from the destruction caused by the banelings. Apparently, there were several mirrors and diodes that was behind this realistic sky that they seemed to produce. He wouldn't have figured it out if one of the ultralisks hadn't stomped so noisily on the ground. "... But then again, I think I'll settle with destroying your foundations instead."
The damage that the banelings caused had created a hole. It gave Kay the window he needed for the other zerg organisms to exploit. The zerglings swarmed into the open wound of the dream-light creating structure behind the sky, and they ravaged it from within the walls of the throne room. The hydralisks aimed their spine projectiles upward when they filtered into the crumbled wall. The roaches made themselves useful by using their attack-sickles on their backs to rip the floor open, and burrow into the mirrors and diodes underneath the illusion. Gollog noticed this dire detail too late. "WHAT?! NO!" He shouted, throwing an ultralisk's Kaiser blade toward the zerg infesting his walls, but that had only damaged the inside of his throne room even further.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this illusory chamber was whittled into shattered shards, the sounds of glass breaking and metal snapping was heard in a crescendo of intense destruction. An enormous dagger tried to stab at the zerg that was deconstructing the walls, but it vanished when it flew between the destroyed segments of the dream-light producing surfaces. As the destruction of the dream-light producing surfaces increased, it came close enough to start affecting Gollog's form. Gollog saw his hand disappearing, due to the lack of dream-light that sustained his manifested form. He quickly retreated as a result, even ignoring the brutish bullying of the ultralisks.
But alas, he was backed into a corner, and the surfaces that produced the dream-light that he required to exist in his throne room was quickly deteriorating. Even his big sword could not help him since it too disappeared trying to stab and slice the zerg from outside its disestablished boundaries. Gollog was clenching his fists into tight balls, and his teeth was jutting outward from his scowl, which were obvious signs of great frustration. When he spotted Not-Kay 2 again, Gollog exhaled an angered sigh. "YOU PLAGUING PEST. I CURSE YOU, AND HOPE FOR THE DAY THAT YOU DIE. I CARE NOT IF IT IS THROUGH MY HANDS, OR BY ANOTHER"S HANDS. MAY YOU SUFFER AN AFTERLIFE OF HUNGER, SHADOW, METAL, ASH AND FIRE."
"I will never go into another prison again." Kay said to Gollog. The ultralisks sliced their mighty Kaiser blades through the last remaining walls that created the illusion of the sky, and Gollog's form was forced to be no more. Not-Kay 2 saw one last expression of Gollog's face, which had contorted into confusion and surprise. It was an image that Kay was sure to cherish for a long time.
Kay knew that Gollog could appear elsewhere. Wherever that could be, Kay knew that he would have to be ready for when Gollog comes back for his revenge.
But things would still become worse before they could get any better.
A/N: Everybody heard the news?! Starcraft 2 became free to play! No more starter edition for me! :D