Chapter 50: Major Battle 9: Collapse Final

Within the deeper places of Planet Kiln lied a place where Gollog's most well kept secret resided. There was a maze of chrome that contained countless corners and corridors, which would be what any intrepid explorer would find when exploring that place. Within one of the chambers, tucked away in the deepest part of this crypt, a sovereign leader was casually sleeping. But even when his real body was resting, his mind and spirit was believed to be projected through technology capable of creating matter from light itself, and so, manifest the legend of the immortal ruler of Kiln, Emperor Gollog of the Golden Star Empire.

Pallax cared little about finding his emperor's supposedly eternal resting place. It would take a lifetime for just a single gilanian to find the crypt where Gollog was lying in in his endless sleep, and it would only reward the usurper of the Sovereign Crypt with another lifetime with the risk of death removed. Life Without Death. Pallax cared not for such an immortality, or the potential promotion of becoming the next immortal emperor within the Kiln Prison System.

Pallax sighed as he drank clean drinking water in a glass cup, having already shed his gold and red uniform a long while ago. He was okay with re-donning his sanitary medical gown and taking it easy in his temporary leave of duty. He was currently lying on an inclined bed, using a terminal that was positioned close to himself. He used it to change to different viewpoints of different surveillance cameras, and much of them were non-functional. The many cameras within the inner areas of Empire City were, unfortunately, disabled by the infestation, preventing him to glean on the actions and tactics the zerg employed. He was somewhat curious to see what the zerg were like when they were commanded to idle from their assault. He was also curious on what they have done with the gilanians that were incapable of defending themselves in Empire City's slums.

He immediately sat upright when he switched to a camera that showed the inside of the throne room, and Pallax knew right then that his emperor had activated the palace's automated defenses. The battle was in Gollog's favor for a great while, but the zerg had already focused their attention toward the fractal mirrors that created the illusory defense system. Pallax was both impressed and saddened to see the zerg discovering the means to defeat Gollog within his own throne room, only to dismantle it in such short time.

When that surveillance camera was also disabled by the zerg infestation, Pallax laid back down into his inclined bed and sighed. "Damn the zerg." Pallax said aloud, drinking the last gulps of water and then dropping the glass onto the ground carelessly. It didn't shatter like he expected it to, but he didn't care either way.

'If we are to survive, then we must find a way for the zerg to leave this prison. There is no other choice.'

Pallax turned in his bed and grunted, pressing the shuffle button on his terminal to periodically change to different surveillance camera views in random thirty second intervals. He had spent much of his time watching the terminal's images change from one active feed to another. Many minutes had passed before Pallax decided to take in a big breath and exhale a long-drawn sigh. He would rather be doing something important, instead of being so useless. Being temporarily resigned from duty because of a simple argument was not something Pallax had wanted to have happened to himself.

There was a knock on his door. Pallax sat up to look at the door that supposedly made the knocking noise. "... Wh-who is there?" Pallax asked.

"Your emperor. Allow me inside your room." Gollog's voice answered, emanating from the door that the knocking sounds were heard from.

Pallax sighed again. "You may come in. I was just going through the surveillance system on different camera feeds. I saw you being defeated in your own castle."

Gollog hissed as he opened the chrome painted door and headed into the room Pallax had made his home in. "A trifle annoyance to an immortal. Nothing more." He eventually stood before his general and looked him up and down, an unamused frown fixed onto his face. "You still haven't donned any pants, I see."

Pallax shook his head. "Forgive me, my emperor, for you have removed me of duty. I saw no need to wear my uniform, so I re-equipped my sanitary medical gown. It's quite liberating compared to that stuffy armor." There was an awkward pause before Pallax posed another question. "If I might ask, sir? Why have you seen it fit to grace me with your presence when your palace is under attack?"

Gollog inhaled and made his own sigh. "I have activated the command that the cloned warden ancestor once had. But now that I found out what it really did, I have regretted activating it."

Pallax blinked his eyes a few times. "... What happened, sir?"

Emperor Gollog hesitated to answer, sighing and sitting down at the foot of Pallax's bed. After he sat down, Gollog answered Pallax's question. "I activated a Warden Command that activated something called 'The Reclamation Protocol'. I initially thought that it would 'reclaim' the person that activated the command and make them a god. In my impatience... I have actually summoned a flood that is covering the entirety of Kiln. I have no idea on how to stop it."

Pallax sat upright in his bed and stared in maddened disbelief at his own emperor. "... The mercury flood is YOUR doing?"

Gollog nodded. "It would appear so."

Pallax sighed. "Pardon me for my words, sir, but if you were not being manifested by dream-light hover-bots right now, I would have kicked you in the shoulder."

Gollog turned toward Pallax with an annoyed expression, but then rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I suppose I truly do deserve such a kick. Alas, this manifested form feels no pain. Such exertion would only waist your energy and effort."

"What are the capabilities of this mercurial flood? I see it climb surfaces and envelop objects, creatures, and other gilanians, but I don't know anything else about it. I am unsure if this is affecting the zerg organisms and their territory, but I hope to know of any information you may have learned."

Gollog shook his head. "I don't know for certain. The Pyramidal Guard Division is already being stretched too thin, and they have made their 'claims' that their cloaking capabilities are somehow being circumvented by the zerg. They have made a footnote in many of their reports that their invisibility fails when they come close or are in the presence of the oculars and the barnacle sentries. Little is done in the ways of making progress in regards to their stealth and reconnaissance. The purple slime mold growth that is within zerg territory also exhibits unnatural properties, which not only feed the zerg organisms, but also somehow supplies their numbers as well. Needless to say, the zerg are a self-perpetuating force." At that very moment, a ringing noise emanated from Emperor Gollog. The ringing pulsed several times before it was addressed by an eye-rolling Gollog. "Communication request accepted, transfer audio and video signal to nearby terminal screen." He said aloud, directing pallax's terminal screen to face himself. Once the call was answered, screaming could be heard on the other end.

The dark glass masked face of Guik greeted her emperor, but the words on her mask was set to 'panic'. [Emperor Gollog! Please respond! You are in grave danger! The silver flood is getting everywhere! Even under the ground itself!]

Gollog raised his hand in a regal manner. "Calm down, Commander Guik. Explain as plainly as you can."

Guik shook her head frantically before taking in a calm breath. [I can try, sir. The silver flood is spreading everywhere, and dissolving the ground at a pace we had not accounted for. It has already taken over our division headquarters, and it's going to infiltrate into the Sovereign Crypt. We predict that the surface area within the outer structures of the crypt will increase it's enveloping speed by eight hundred percent after breaching. If you do not vacate the premises, then you will be caught in the silver flood.]

Gollog shook his head. "Where will we go to, Guik? To the zerg infested moon with a device that recycles a shared air supply? They would be less than courteous to allow us that comfort. I, on the other hand, will stay here. It's called a crypt for a reason."

There was a long pause from Guik, her face-mask's letters temporarily changing to 'concern'. A crashing and sloshing sound from her end of the call distracted her, but it was enough to force her to attention and make her reply to Gollog. Her face-mask's letters changed back to 'panic'. [Then you are on your own, my emperor. May the gods have mercy on all our souls.]

The connection then ended, before both Pallax or Gollog could detect any further changes that was happening to the Pyramidal Guard Division's base of operations. Gollog sighed softly after he and Pallax were alone. It was a strange feeling. Pallax could have sworn that he was seeing Gollog at his most weakest, all because his empire was in a losing war against a collection of creatures they never could understand. And the true piece of irony that tied the end of their empire was Gollog, for he was the one responsible for activating the Reclamation Protocol, though it was instigated by the constant antagonism that the zerg caused.

"Eight hundred percent." Pallax repeated. "If my math is correct, and judging the position between where we are and where the Pyramidal Guard headquarters is located, we have about a minute, perhaps a minute and a half, of free time before we start getting wet."

Gollog nodded. "Indeed." There was another awkward long pause between Gollog and Pallax. The distant rushing of water was heard from outside the doorway, but neither the general or the emperor cared. Gollog sighed one more time. "Do you remember that thing you would say if you ever came across your own death? What was it?"

Pallax smirked and stifled a chuckle. "I promised myself I would only ever say it at the moment of my death."

"Considering that we are about to drown, I'd say now is a good time as any. Well?" Gollog said, turning to Pallax and staring at him.

Pallax sighed with a smile. "I suppose so, since I can't find no fault in your statement. ... By the stars of Yile, the oceans of Kruv, the plains of Peej, and the eye of Barl, I await the ethereal spirit that guides the lost souls to their final rest. Taleitas, goddess of the dead path, bring me to the door that is guarded by your brother. He who is nameless, but is known by those who have died, and forgotten when made alive again. Let me be free of my prison."

Gollog stared wide eyed at Pallax and tilted his head. "A tribal death prayer? I never figured you to be a superstitious person."

Pallax chuckled and shook his head. "It's not really superstition. It's a belief I picked up when I was staying with the Hidden Water Spring Tribe. You sometimes forget who you are when you're immortal and lived a life that is not governed by an emperor. It was nice for a time."

"Hmm. I should have outlawed religion then." Gollog said, shaking his head and smiling absently. "Time spent praying could be time spent working for the empire. Do you know how many idle hands could be used to tinker with tools? Being put together just to pray sweet nothings to imaginary and false idols is a waste of time!"

The sloshing of the chrome fluid was becoming louder, the door into the chamber creaking dangerously when something on the other side pressed onto it. Pallax relaxed into his bed, crossing his hands behind his head as he got comfortable. "Yeah, well, we're going to die anyway, so I don't really care about your opinion anyway. As of today, the Golden Star Empire no longer matters, and I can finally take my last vacation in retirement."

The door that was buckling under immense pressure was finally pushed out of place, and a flood of chrome fluid washed into the room and covered everything with a smothering mirror shine.

'Goodbye, Pallax. It's been fun using you as a reconnaissance asset.' Kay said to Pallax one final time.

Pallax could not understand what that last message meant in time, because his body was disassembled before he had the chance to.

Citadel Gargantua was suffering from a sudden invasion, and the invasion consisted of a liquid that was enveloping everything it flowed over. The chrome fluid even spilled over the wall that was supposed to keep threats out of the city, and the gilanian citizens of Gargantua panicked as they tried running away from the danger. People were trampled, and then promptly absorbed into the tsunami of chrome. It was at that point that the flood was becoming a serious problem for Tak and her city.

Johnny looked down as he saw the devastation that occurred below him. He shook his head. 'This is a terrible mess Gollog caused on us.'

'The We are in agreement with the shifting one.' The overlords telepathically said to Johnny. The overlords were far behind the flying swarm of zerg that was following after Johnny's green flier, but it and its brothers were content with siding with the guardians in their migration.

Johnny sighed as he looked past and over Gargantua. A forest of metal spires have erupted outside of the walls, some spires having already pierced into the defensive fortification that was meant to keep intruders out. The city was quickly being vacated, but there was little time before the whole city and the escaping population was caught within the flowing chrome.

Johnny sighed, flying a little lower and directing the swarm behind himself. 'The city is already being smothered by the silver slime, so we need to act quick. The mutalisks should do a quick fly-by and attack the fluid already in the city. The corruptors will have to spread out and target a spire. After that, they can focus on attacking the ocean of chrome. The guardians will need to focus on the ocean of chrome itself, though they'll take some time to get to it. Stall the tide for as long as possible until the guardians get here.'

'The We agree. The large We will join soon.' The overlords said in unison. Soon, Gargantua would suffer another invasion, and the people within the city would become more panicked when they bear witness of the zerg flying over their heads.

And The Swarm came to their walled city.

The confused screams of the populace were misplaced with their fear when several had ducked back into their homes. However, many still ran down the streets and alleyways to escape the coming flood of chrome, regardless of the zerg-filled airspace above their heads. The mutalisks were the first to attack the chrome tide, and they launched their spinning, acidic glaive wurms into the enveloping pools. The tide slowed in its envelopment of the city, but it still continued to flow at a slowed pace.

The corruptors flew past the mutalisks and past the ocean of chrome. Their targets were a forest of metal spires that were producing the enveloping chrome liquid that was endangering everyone. Once each one of the corruptors were in range of a spire, they unleashed a spray of caustic fluid onto them and corroded them down to size. After a spire had been sufficiently damaged, it ceased in its chrome production and fell into the ocean of silver, letting the corruptor change targets and attack the next chrome spire.

And then the 'large we' appeared. Several leviathans had warped into position just above the city, and they floated toward and over the vast ocean of chrome. They did not dare use their tentacles to attack the chrome fluid, since the impaling tendrils that the spine crawlers tried to attack the fluid with were immobilized by the chrome fluid. But the leviathans had other abilities they could use. One was to discharge a heavy-hitting bio-plasma projectile onto the fluid, which burned and eradicated much of the mass. The other was to produce mutalisks from its body that would further help reduce the production of chrome slime.

The guardians flew over the city and dropped their acidic bombs onto the chrome that affected and spread over the structures. Their acid dissolved not only the chrome, but also any object that they were being dissolved by the chrome at the time. The acid spores that were released from the guardians exploded when they impacted the chrome covered surfaces, but they were effective in limiting the speed of the chrome fluid's envelopment of whatever it flowed over. If it had not been for the guardians, then Citadel Gargantua would have been rapidly overwhelmed.

The gilanian citizens within Citadel Gargantua were greatly confused when they noticed that the swarm of zerg did not attack them, even when they have slowly learned of the Golden Star Empire's attempts to eradicate them. They eventually noticed that the zerg were actually ignoring the gilanians and attacking the chrome fluid instead. Though several were still running for their lives, a few had started to loudly cheer for the flying zerg that sailed over their city, especially those that saw firsthand their efforts to strike down the enveloping fluid, and the towers producing it in the distance. Johnny could imagine the expression of surprise on Baroness Tak's face, and out of the habit of being in the guise of a gilanian for so long, he smirked from the imagery he imagined in his head.

The infestation within Empire City was nearly complete. All that was left to infest was the Castle of Dreams. Any servants, be it maids or butlers, have already made good on their escape during their master's battle with his zerg intruders. There wasn't even a single concubine that remained in the palace, or some lowly floor polishing janitor. Evidence of life remained, but their signs pointed to a rushed evacuation of the premises. The palace was empty of much life, but it didn't deter Kay from trying to find a certain person that had been stolen from him. He didn't know if the lovechief was taken to a different location or left within this palace and forgotten about, but Kay would still persist in searching and reuniting with Kragnon.

A zergling pushed open one set of doors and looked within. Judging from the various hanging meats, plants, dried fruits, and different kinds of cutlery, cabinets, refrigerators and freezers, this place that the zergling had intruded into must have been some kind of scullery. Why an immortal needed a second kitchen when his dream-light manifested form required no earthly sustenance is beyond Kay, but it could have been a kitchen that was reserved for visiting dignitaries and guests. The intruding zergling softly scampered into the room to inspect what treasure its insides might hold. A tray of boiled and salted krell eggs was discovered by the zergling, and it was quickly gobbled down. After that, more zerg organisms politely infiltrated into the room and started raiding everything that was a foodstuff, or took whatever small metal utensil that could be processed into useful materials back at the nearest hatchery.

A roach clawed at a different door with its sickle-claws, forcing the locked door open that revealed to the roach the arboretum inside. It had a high dome ceiling that allowed different levels of light into the room. Several of the plants within this chamber were quite different from what Kay was familiar with, and there were a few plant species that he didn't know existed on Kiln. Some breeds of plants were very exotic and rare, sectioned off from the other plants to live in their own conditions. Other plants were very ordinary, and were pruned to match the aesthetic of the room. Many of the statues and sculptures depicted the visage of Emperor Gollog, all with his pearly white gown and opalescent boots, gauntlets, and pointy crown. The roach spat at each statue and sculpture it came across, which were then further destroyed by the other zerg organisms that later entered this room.

Further into the castle, nearly within the center, a hydralisk pushed itself through a heavy set of doors to find a curious chamber. A large bedroom that contained white, extravagant silk curtains that wrapped around a circular, yet soft piece of furniture centered at in the center of the room. The silken curtains circled one way and the other, as though the curtains rotated on magnetic rails on the ceiling. The hydralisk slithered through the slowly circling fabric that softly orbited the central furniture piece. At the center of the room, there was an extravagant bed that emanated an unusual air from itself. When the hydralisk slithered onto the bed, it could feel its weight changing. As it turned out, the bed was able to produce a light anti-gravity field that enabled whoever was on the bed to rest more comfortably. Kay wondered why someone who's form was manifested by dream-light would ever need such a bed. But then again, Kay surmised that it could have been used for guests. Romantically inclined guests, if the tone and theme of this room was any indication. The hydralisk eventually coiled itself into a little ball and rested on the bed, looking quite content with how soft and comfortable the bed was.

With door after door being pushed down, room after room being investigated, and corridor after corridor being traveled, Kay was starting to lose hope, and was worried that he might not find Kragnon quick enough. Though the metal spires that produced the chrome fluid was driven back by the swarms of mutalisks, corruptors and guardians, the chrome slime had already started digging through the ground and destabilizing Empire City from underneath. The guardians could retard the spreading of the chrome slime from the surface of the ground, but there were still so much chrome fluid being produced by the endless forests of metal spires. Deep ravines were already being carved into the earth, thanks to the guardians and the chrome fluid dissolving everything. There were no signs from the chrome fluid that suggested any form of ceasing anytime soon.

Kay was becoming frustrated since he was having difficulty finding his gilanian friend. There was one other logical reason for not locating Kragnon within the castle itself. He was either MEM shifted to a different location, or he was safely secured in a hidden passageway or safe-room within the castle altogether. Walls were quickly torn down to try and locate a hidden gilanian, with several overseers providing assistance with their incredible ability to detect anything that could have been hidden in plain sight, be it secrets, missing gilanians, or cloaked enemies.

Several minutes had passed before the castle of dreams was completely dismantled, each wall and hidden entrance being discovered and meticulously searched for the gilanian that was once a lovechief. But the zerg organisms' search for Kragnon was fruitless, since they could not find who they were looking for in time. Several passageways were found to lead into Empire City and its various streets, but none of the paths had led to the lovechief that Kay wanted to find. If Kay wanted to be truthful, he had seriously regretted not implanting a parasite into Kragnon's nervous system behind his brain. But alas, that could have be considered a breach of trust between two people in a loose friendship, and Kay could envision that breach of privacy to be very upsetting to Kragnon. If a zerg parasite burrowed into someone's flesh and connected itself to their senses, then it would be understandable that the person would become delirious and horrified upon learning about their 'guest' inside their skull.

But speculating on ifs, ands, or buts could not bring back someone who was missing. Already, the chrome ocean and the zerg guardians were creating landslides that were spilling into the deep ravines of clay and heavy ocean gravel. The ocean that once was a mixture of salt and fresh was became polluted into a silvery sheen when the metal towers came. The creep that had spread over and under the vast majority of Shallow Ocean was overwhelmed, as both the chrome slime and the creep tried to envelop each other, but the chrome slime was still able to absorb and dissolve the creep with incredible speed. It unnerved Kay greatly.

Just how much chrome slime is being produced by the metal spires?

Johnny's flier circled high over the air, the flying zerg strains that followed him to fight the spires having already losing interest in tailing his aircraft. Johnny could feel a smile stretch over his face as he defended Baroness Tak's citadel, but also assisting the zerg in leading their air combat strains to the spires that threatened the zerg way of life. He gazed down at the ground and saw that the population of the city were having mixed reactions regarding the presence of zerg over their domiciles. Some welcomed the zerg overlords that floated closer to the masses, but many more were against their occupancy within Gargantua's airspace, and they shot their weapons in the air to scare off any intruding zerg organism that got too close.

Johnny couldn't blame them. The zerg are ugly as they are vicious, and he could testify to that since his true changelisk shape was the stuff of nightmares.

A ringing could be heard from behind Johnny. After looking behind himself, he saw that his handheld comm device was notifying him that he was being called. After setting the flier on autopilot and fishing out his handheld comm device, he activated it and resumed manually piloting his airborne vehicle. "This is Johnny speaking. How may I help you?"

[Johnny! Is that you in the sky?!] Tak's voice echoed into Johnny's ear.

Johnny smiled. "Is it a little green flier? Since I'm the only one up here, then yeah. That's me."

[I'm glad that you're okay. When I heard that my personal flier had been taken down, I thought for sure that my cousin Ponpon had given you trouble when you returned. Worse still, I thought that the zerg caretaker would have stolen you away from me.]

"I was a little worried too, at first. At least I got the flying zerg monsters to follow after me."

[Which brings me to my next question. Why did you bring them here?!] Tak said, frustrated.

"When me and the caretaker heard that your city was being attacked by the chrome spires, I had the idea to help assist the zerg. More specifically, I led their flying zerg to the area where you guys were being attacked. I didn't think that those spires would be so tall, but those bat looking things seem to have it covered."

[So you brought them over on a whim?]

"No. I brought them over to assist them in attacking their enemy. I hope you do not mind, my ladyship, but I was acting in your best interests when I brought the zerg with me. They said that they were having trouble with the spires, or metal towers as that guy I heard call them, so I told them I could lead them to the spires harassing your city."

[This is not good for me, Johnny. The population is going to go into a full panic after seeing these... creepy bug things in the sky. If they find or figure out that I had a hand in this, then they would group together and create publicity that will create problems for me. They would form a popularity vote to have a magistrate sit in on my office in the fallout. In short, I would lose my power over the people of Gargantua!]

Johnny shook his head. "Please be open minded, Tak. If I had not done this, then that chrome fluid stuff would have covered the entire city, and we wouldn't be talking like we are now."

A sigh could be heard. [I know, Johnny, and I am grateful with what you did. But... Ah, dammit! You have left me in a difficult position.]

"If you want, I could land and we can talk about this." Johnny offered.

[No. I'm too angry to think coherently right now. If you did come down though, be warned that I will slap your damnably roguish face. And maybe kiss it.]

Johnny blinked a few times. "... I think I'll stay up here then."

[Heheheh. Ah... So how are you doing on fuel?]

Johnny checked his energy gauge on his dashboard for a split second. "Well, I have a solar panel powering my flier, so... about dusk."

[That's a few hours away from now. I should be calmed down enough by the time it becomes sunset.]

"Noted. I guess I'll... Talk with you, or fly with the bat things until then."

[If you really want to fly with the bat things, I won't stop you. For now, I have to fix this mess and calm down the rioters and fear spreading preachers. After that, we can rebuild Gargantua's wall and the other homes that have been damaged.]

[Mam, part of the city is being destroyed.] Said another voice.

Tak sighed. [Is it the silver flood, or is it the zerg?]

[It's a landslide, mama. The sand is receding, and it's pulling houses and buildings with it.]

[When has this occurred?!]

[I have just received the report half a minute ago.]

[Grah! If it's not one thing, it's another. Have the citizenry evacuate that part of the city. Mobilize the guardsmen into hover-fliers to pull people from fallen buildings if you need to. Where is the sand receding into?]

[Precisely into where the wall was dissolved by the silver flood, mam. I think the flying zerg monsters and the silver flood is causing the landslide.]

[... If this keeps going, then the entire city might slip into that silver ocean. Damn.]

Johnny decided to look over the entire city. Sadly, the other voice was stating the truth. Part of the wall that had been destroyed was draining the sand from within the citadel. Johnny intervened into the conversation between Tak and her damage reporter. "My ladyship Tak, I'm seeing the bigger picture up here in the sky. Sand is sliding into the chrome ocean, even when the zerg are doing their best to prevent the chrome from enveloping everything. Everybody needs to evacuate the city, and now."

Tak sighed as though she was stressed. [Where will the people go, Johnny? Where will I go? If we vacated the entire city, the people will have to migrate somewhere safe. Some of the Gargantua citizens will die of heat exposure in the desert, and more if a shryik serpent decides to pick us off one by one. We don't have many options left to us.]

Johnny nodded and paused briefly. "... This might sound crazy, but... What if you asked a zerg caretaker if she could-"

[AAAAH WHAT IS HAPPENING?!] Tak yelled.

Johnny narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ground, looking down on Tak's palace. "Tak? Tak, what is going on?"

[IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!] Another voice answered. [BARONESS TAK, WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS?!]

[UH... I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T-]

The audio transmission ended for Johnny, and he was no longer able to hear Baroness Tak, or the other gilanian's voice. The entirety of Gargantua seemed to be in grave trouble, but he didn't know how or in what way.

Suddenly, a cacophonous rumbling was heard, as both towers, shacks, and everything in between was wobbling violently. The flying zerg strains were unable to feel the earthquake since they were in the sky, but they could see the ground-bound structures teeter and lean dangerously. It was then that the entire city of Gargantua tilted at an angle, as tons of sand from under the citadel was shifted. After the entire city became unbalanced, the chrome sea was pushed away, which then forced the tide to crash onto Gargantua. Citadel Gargantua was covered by a tsunami of chrome liquid, much of its inhabitants now enveloped by the wash of dissolving and disassembling fluid. Around twenty seconds later, Citadel Gargantua slowly slid into the ocean of chrome fluid and was eventually completely submerged under the mirror-like surface of reflective water.

Johnny could only watch in horror. After seeing what had just happened right in front of himself, he knew that there was little he could do to salvage whatever could be saved from the disaster. Any gilanian worth their salt would mourn the loss of their friend. Johnny could mourn the loss of the baroness that he had saved from her cousin, only to lose her to the tide of mercury. A weaker man would break down at the thought of everything they had ever accomplished vanishing into a puddle.

But Johnny was a zerg organism. A changelisk, the evolved cousin of the changeling strain, had no room for emotions in its heart to mourn. There was only loyalty to the Swarm. Johnny shook his head and sighed. "We lost the citadel."

'An unfortunate loss. Kay is deeply displeased.' The large queen, that Johnny once talked to, telepathically said.

"So... what do we do now?" Johnny asked. "Act like nothing happened?"

'The Swarm will continue its efforts to eradicate the chrome fluid. It is a threat that must be eliminated.'

"... Then I'll keep flying. If I land into the chrome sea after this flier loses power, then so be it." Johnny said, setting the autopilot on again as he relaxed into his seat. A frown was plastered onto his face, since he knew that he was no longer of use to Kay and Virid's brood.

'You have served us well. Kay may give you the means to escape with a leviathan, if you wish to be saved.'

Johnny shook his head and sighed. "Our wills and minds are shared, so saving me wouldn't make a difference. I have no emotional attachment to my own life, or the purpose I was once created for."

'Very well. Kay will fondly remember you.'

Johnny nodded, then closed his eyes. Once Kiln's half-destroyed sun moved past the horizon once more, Johnny's flier would lose power and silently glide into the vast ocean of silver, its chrome spires constantly producing gallons after gallons of the ferrous mercury that made the ocean of mercurial fluid keep rising. The mutalisks, corruptors, guardians and leviathans may have been busy in their attempt to destroy the chrome slime that was enveloping everything, but the chrome sea was showing no signs of slowing down or receding. It kept on rising by unknown means.

Within a leviathan that was overlooking the dark side of Kiln, Kay was pacing back and forth with a studious eye fixed on the planet. Already, the chrome slime was eroding the ground at an incredibly quick pace. The sand proved to be a weak medium for the silver fluid to flow through, yet it continued to dissolve every small particle of gritty silica. It also proved to be Citadel Gargantua's undoing as well, since the entire city was built on top of the sand. Once the sand below the city was sliding into the acid and chrome that fought against each other, the city eventually capsized, landsliding to its doom. Once that had happened, Kay stopped his pacing, breathed in a deep lungful of air, and then growled. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. This is getting out of hand."

'This is unfortunate.' Virid responded. 'There is very little landmasses to create hatcheries on. Even the cave systems found further away from the super hive cluster has been filled with the chrome fluid. What has Gollog unleashed onto this world?'

Kay sighed and shook his head. "No fucking idea. All I can assume is that Kragnon was the key to this whole thing happening."

'We were unable to find him, or anyone else of importance at the Castle of Dreams. The Swarm is incapable of staving off the chrome fluid. Our underground forces will be called off and transported through the nydus network to safer locations.'

It was evident to Kay that the zerg were fighting a losing battle to the chrome slime. Even when the deployed flying zerg strains could unleash acidic projectiles into the vast ocean of chrome, the silvery sea was still rising. More and more mutalisks were produced from the leviathans, and more guardians and corruptors were deployed to join with the mutalisks and leviathans to combat the new threat. But alas, the ocean of chrome was still steadily rising, and Kay didn't know how to stop it.

Many of the overlords were prepared to mutate ventral sacks to carry as many ground strains as they could if the combative air strains could not deter and tame the chrome sea in time. However, when the underground chambers started to fill with the chrome slime, Kay realized that it was already too late.

The roaches, ravagers, queens and banelings were summoned and grown in vast numbers to attack the invading shiny fluid. They amounted a brave defense against the shiny fluid, but the zerg that tried to fight back were caught in its tide. Many underground chambers were filled with the chrome fluid, and they were eventually lost to the silver sea. One by one, the creatures born in the super hive cluster dwindled rapidly in numbers as it seeped through the ground and disassembled whatever material it drenched.

It was around this time that many of the overlords were commanded to evolve ventral sacks, which then picked up as many of the zerg organisms on the ground as quickly as possible. They would safely ferry them to safer places, mainly to the safe confines of a leviathan's insides. The majority of the strains that were chosen to be evacuated by the overlords were the drones and queens. Several scores of zerglings, as well as many roaches, hydralisks, infestors, swarm hosts, ultralisks and everything else were the next to be moved off of Kiln. Many of the drones were delivered to safety, as well as a plentiful number of queens as their fates were prevented from being disassembled by the silvery fluid produced by the chrome spires. Nydus worms and nydus networks shivered and convulsed when the ground below them became invaded by the silver flooding liquid, and they started vomiting spouts of chrome fluid into the sky. A few overlords were sprayed with the fluid, and the fluid quickly enveloped them as a result, turning them into a dripping mirror ball before becoming reduced to what looked like melted gallium.

The overlords floated off of Kiln, and the entire planet of Kiln was now a smooth ball of chrome, with chrome spires slowly being submerged by the chrome they produced. In the span of a few hours, the entirety of Kiln was transformed from a desert planet with little water, to an ocean of chrome that shone brightly. Even as the leviathans, mutalisks, corruptors and guardians still attacked the terraformed chrome planet, the ocean continued to rise and expand. More mutalisks were being produced from the leviathans to attack the chrome ocean, while corruptors and guardians had to hitch a ride with the leviathans and behemoths on the hexagonal moon in order to quickly reach the now planet-wide combat zone.

Kay sighed depressingly. "... I don't think we'll be able to find Kragnon at all now. Dammit."

'We can still try to dissolve the chrome fluid and the chrome towers.' Virid suggested.

Kay kicked at the inner fleshy wall of the leviathan he was in. He could hear the leviathan grumble its annoyance at being used as a tool for stress relief. "Dammit!"

'Kay?'

"We're at fault here, Virid." Kay explained in frustration. "If we weren't so aggressive in the first place, then Gollog wouldn't have resorted to using the reclamation protocol. We pushed him too far, and he acted in blind desperation. It was because of us that it turned out this way!"

'Kay.' Virid hissed. 'We had no idea that these events would turn out this way. It makes little sense to brood over wrong decisions. In order to survive, we must adapt to any circumstance, whether or not we agree with the outcome. To survive is the way of The Swarm.'

Kay paused, and the pause felt like an eternity onto itself. He took a deep breath before exhaling another sigh. "Then how would you propose we adapt to... THIS?" Kay asked, gesturing to the chrome ball above the hexagonal moon. "How do we evolve against an entire planet?"

'It's not a question about how to do it, Kay.' Virid answered calmly. 'It's about how we must.'

Kay paused. "... So... How MUST we evolve against an entire planet?"

'In any way we can.' Virid replied.

"... That's oddly cryptic coming from you."

'You were the one to teach me about vision. I thought it was about time I taught you something.'

Kay sighed and nodded, and then began contemplating a plan to survive. "How must we... How must we... Evolve against this... Corvurn. You're an evolution master. Have any ideas?" Kay asked, knowing that if there was any zerg organism that had the drive to find a way to surpass a biological limit, it would be an evolution master.

'Antibody adaptation.' Corvurn replied. 'Same mutation used against gilanian micro-machines, mistaken for anti-zerg contagion. However, time limited. Planetary deployment of nanite antibodies requires time and planning. Have neither. Too late to implement.'

Kay sighed. "Then get started as quick as you can. The leviathans can't produce enough mutalisks to wash away the chrome ocean."

'Too late.' Corvurn replied. 'Chrome volume increasing. Decrease in chrome production is absent. Analysis suggests exponential chrome production. Zerg strains specialized in eliminating aqueous ferrous limited in number. Attacks only surface chrome. Insufficient damage. Producing more specialized strains deemed necessary, but will fail. If chrome production continues, will envelop everything within veil space.'

Kay shook his head and scoffed. "Uh excuse me, but did you say 'veil space'? What is that supposed to mean?"

'Will explain.' Corvurn said, almost sounding annoyed. 'Veil space is space within Kiln's veil. Overlord strain entered veil once long ago. Lost connection to overlord strain. Experimented with veil. Used zergling strain for testing. Unknown elements detected. Unmakes matter. Measurement of veil: longest diameter measured between hive cluster on moon and half destroyed sun.'

Kay sighed deeply. "So... What you're saying is that this chrome fluid will eventually reach my position? Even to the hexagonal moon?"

'Plausible.' Answered Corvurn.

Kay paused for a long time before he collapsed to his knees and looked down onto the moist floor. He felt as though he was finally defeated. Ironically, his defeat was by some chrome fluid that would continue to grow and expand until it even reached the hexagonal moon and sun. For the first time in a lifetime he could remember, he didn't know what to do. "..."

Kay felt a consciousness abruptly enter into his own awareness. 'KAY!'

"Ah, what the hell?!" Kay shouted, as he was jarred out of his depression.

'Corvurn Junior.' Called Corvurn. 'Explain outburst.'

'NO TIME! KAY! COME TO LOCATION! TIME LIMITED! USE DROP SAC! URGENT!'

Kay sighed. "Fucking hell, alright already. Just uh... um... Let me find wherever the hell a leviathan's pore is located."

After a few minutes had passed, and after Kay became lost a couple of times, Kay had finally found what he was searching for. As Kay entered the pore, spongy flesh grew and enveloped his body while it was filled with creep. After entering one of the many pores of the leviathan, a sac formed around him and sent him to where Corvurn Junior was awaiting Kay. Upon being released from the leviathan, Kay could feel the inertia of gravity very slightly affect the sac he was in. However, the surface of the hexagonal moon came at him quite quickly from his perspective, and he collided onto a patch of soft creep at the end of his drop.

When Kay got up from his impact site, he immediately started choking. He had completely forgotten that there was no atmosphere on the hexagonal moon. His lungs burned and his eyes watered, solidifying into ice crystals in this airless environment.

'Kay.' Virid said with a droll tone.

Kay wobbled in his footing and landed onto a knee, holding both hands to his neck as he gasped for the air he desperately wanted, but none had came.

'You are part of the Swarm. You can survive without air.' Virid said, annoyed.

Kay softly landed onto his side, succumbing to the pain in his chest. He desperately wanted this pain to finally subside and go away.

'Oh for the love of... Just hold your breath and keep your mouth closed! Or do I need to come over there and bring with me a pair of zerglings you already know so fondly?'

Kay blinked a few times. After calming his mind, he closed his mouth and kept himself from breathing. Sure enough, the pain in his chest subsided quickly, and he was able to stand back up. His eyes still felt like they were being stung by tiny cold needles when he looked around in this airless environment, but he could feel that pain subsiding at a slower rate. '... Um... Thanks Virid.' Kay replied.

'Don't mention it. Ever. Corvurn Junior, Kay is near your location. Tell us why you requested his presence.' Virid hissed.

As Kay adapted to the airless environment, he turned to see a lankier, skinnier version of the evolution master that spawned it. Corvurn Junior was gesticulating rapidly, pointing at... a glowing heptagonal sided white door? Kay could have sworn that he saw something like that once upon a time ago. 'Kay, please enter. No time. Time limited here. Time abundant through door. Enter door! Now! Quickly!'

Kay held up a hand at Corvurn Junior, still somewhat breathless. 'Hold on a minute. What IS through that door?'

Corvurn Junior sighed. 'Era Agency. Taken over by Swarm. Contains hope for Swarm continuation. New mutations developed. New strains unlocked. Requires command organism Kay's presence. Enter quickly!' Corvurn Junior urged, anxiety in his mental voice. Kay had no idea that an evolution master could get so anxious.

'Hope for swarm continuation?' Kay repeated, almost disbelieving Corvurn Junior's words. 'Wait a minute, how did you come by that conclusion?!'

Corvurn Junior growled in frustration. 'Developed new mutations and strains. Analyzed several alternate timelines. Can create new ones. must hurry. Era agents in other timelines becoming aware. Must act now. Window of opportunity decreasing. Hurry!'

'But what about Virid and your dad? Can't they come along?' Kay asked.

'NO TIME! GET! IN! NOW!' Corvurn Junior immediately reached for Kay and started swinging him in the air.

'Waaah, CJ! What are you-?!' Before Kay could ask his question, his legs were released and thrown into the heptagonal doorway of light. After that toss, Corvurn Junior slithered after Kay and he went through the time gate as well. Seconds later, the door had closed onto itself and disappeared from sight.

Virid and Corvurn didn't know what to say. The exchanges between Corvurn Junior and Kay were rather puzzling, but they were no longer able to feel Kay's or Corvurn Junior's consciousness. Before too long, Virid decided to break the silence. 'Kay is gone...'

'Confirmed. Command organism Kay no longer sensed. Similar to parasite attached to era agent, similar to Swarm strike force sent onto Era Agency.'

'The younger evolution master seemed to be doing well, however.' Virid said, sounding relieved. 'I assumed that the attack on the Era Agency was successful. I was right to think so.'

'Query. How to proceed?'

Virid paused. '... I assume with your previous plan of adaptation.'

'Chances of survival using nanite antibodies, minimal to nonexistent.' Corvurn replied back.

'It's our only hope. If I can think of something, I will share my ideas with you.'

'Postulation needed. Proceeding with original plan anyway.'

Within a lone leviathan that was unleashing mutalisks and bio-plasmid discharges, Virid looked onto the completely chrome surface that was now Kiln. The mutalisks, corruptors, and guardians were unleashing their projectiles onto a planet-wide enemy, but the tide still rose higher and higher no matter how much of the silver fluid was countered by acid-based weapons and projectiles. From the eyes of the zerg on the hexagonal moon, they could see Kiln growing larger by a small degree. Indeed, the entire planet was growing bigger.

Virid huffed when the leviathan she was on unleashed it's most devastating attack yet again. 'I can only hope that The Swarm will find a way to thrive. But as for us... All we can do is survive.'

If she could use the overlords' brain power to calculate how long it would take for the chrome fluid to reach the hexagonal moon, she'd learn that it would take about eleven days before the volume of silver liquid filled the entirety of the 'veil space', as Corvurn called it. She didn't account for the exponential growth that the fluid seemed to be capable of, or that the speed of its growth could be slightly mitigated by the swarm of zerg strains that had the means to damage and dissolve the dissolving aqueous mercury.

It would appear to Virid that the gravitational pressure of the planet was becoming less dense as its core was transforming and dissolving into more of the chrome fluid, which made the chrome fluid increase in size and expand outwardly even more so than before.

Corvurn Junior was right to urge Kay into going into the time gate, since staying longer within this timeline would surely ended poorly for the zerg, and for him as well. Virid sighed one more time as the space within the veil was quickly filled, despite the fact the flying zerg strains that continued to attack its surface could remain above the surface of the chrome. But they would soon be either pushed into the veil, or absorbed into the mirror surface of the chrome water. Those two fates were undesirable, but Virid, and all of the zerg that were stuck within this forgotten timeline, will have to face such fates near the end of their lives.

Day 1 of the zerg presence on Kiln.

"Yeah." Kay turned and pointed at the reddish sand that filled the tunnel. "I would like to know if this cave reaches into a deeper system of caverns. You are to start digging out as much sand as you can. Got that?"

The drone looked at the sand in the filled tunnel. Then it looked at Kay. Then it looked back at the tunnel again. A slight pause later, the drone crawled forward and started sifting its pincers into the sand. 'Me dig!'

"... Um... Kay. You do that." Kay said, noting that drones were somehow even more simpleminded than the overlords. Although, if Kay wanted to be honest, he was curious as to how the other zerg strains thought patterns would be like.

'Complex orders are never a concern for the simpler minded strains. All they need is a command to follow.' Virid said.

"Hey, it's my first time being a zerg with an intact human will. Cut me some slack." Kay whined.

Virid sighed. 'Don't make me regret my decision of turning you into a swarm commander.'

"Reap what you sow, as the old expression goes." Kay said aloud, watching the drone deliver pincer-fulls of sand. Similar to handfuls of sand, except pincers. "Since you saved my life and brought me into this mess, I suppose I'm now your problem, and in your debt too."

'Where did that expression come from?' Virid asked.

"... Huh. You know, I don't really know where it came from. It's just something that some people of the past I remembered say to me sometimes." Kay said, deciding to leave the cave and let the drone work unsupervised. Technically, the drone was still being supervised since it was connected to the zerg hivemind's psionic network.

'... I will slate this train of thought as another disruption to our goal. Must I fetch the zerglings to keep you in check?'

"Oh, the zerganity~." Kay dryly said. As he left the red cave, he decided to ask what Virid's progress was... But he could already see that the drones were still skimming the surface of the creep fields and feeding what was collected to the two drones. By now, one of the drones went to the direction of the spring, while the other formed a chrysalis around itself on the spot. The overlords that Kay had sent was still circling the entire summit of the mountain's caldera, slowly expanding their search pattern that covered an area that expanded to a few square kilometers of ground. It was truly a large and impressive mountain.

Suddenly, a white septuple sided shape was discovered by one of the overlords that were patrolling the area. It was an unusual thing to behold, since the overlords had no idea on what to make of it. Virid was quickly aware of this new structure that was within the awareness of the zerg. 'Hmm? Now isn't the time for terran games. The overlords have discovered something.'

Kay directed his attention to the strange object that the overlord found. Kay tilted his head as he looked in the general direction of the small, yet odd edifice of glowing white. "A SOMETHING is the apt word to describe it. What is it?"

'I have no clue. I suggest approaching with caution.' Virid suggested.

Kay sighed as he took off into a sprint towards the strange object. After several meters of running, Kay eventually came to a stop in front of the glowing... thing. Even when Kay had gotten close to it, he couldn't make heads or tails on what it was. After looking it up and down several times, Kay shook his head. "Well whatever the hell it is, I'm not sure if I should poke it and find out what it does."

'I could have one of the zerglings claw at it.' Virid suggested.

Kay nodded. "A good idea, but I don't want to risk blowing it up and discover what other purpose it could have been used for. But then again... It could be just a weird monolith that could commemorate something?" Before Kay could come up with an experiment to find out what the structure was supposed to do, long tendrils with spiked tips crawled through the strange structure. Kay paused for a few seconds before shouting a short yell and backpedaling a few feet away to safety. "WAWAHAHA~!"

'Kay? What is going on?' Virid asked, sounding confused and concerned.

Kay watched the long tendrils trail and coil out of the strange glowing monolithic object. More and more tendrils seemed to slither out of the glowing structure, and Kay didn't know if these tendrils had an end. He didn't even know where they began! However, as more of the tendrils flowed out of the glowing object, another thing followed after the tendrils after some seconds had passed. After analyzing this new thing that emerged from the object, Kay saw that the tendrils were, in fact, part of it. They were part of a creature that had a feminine, nose-less face with sharp teeth and studious eyes analyzed her surroundings before looking at Kay. She paused as Kay stared right back at this creature. However, that was when Kay felt it. "... Virid? I think this white thing is a door. Also, something that seems like a zerg came out of it."

'What?!' Virid replied, surprised.

The feminine creature slithered out of the structure, her mass of tendrils supporting her that seemed to transport her around. She also carried something within a pair of arms that was held close to her chest, which looked like a brown fleshy sack that contained green, sloshing fluid. She raised a tendril at Kay, as though it was a gesture to let her speak. "Greetings, Kay. Please know that I am on your side." She said with a softness to her voice. She spoke with a subtle coldness, but also somehow spoke with a great volume of intelligence.

Kay blinked a few times. "... Uhhhhhhhhhhhh... Yeah. Hello to you too, I guess." He said, awkwardly waving a hand at the creature. "Forgive me for asking, but... I don't think I know who you are."

The feminine thing bowed. "My apologies. I had not realized that different timelines had the troublesome effect of creating certain paradoxes."

Kay blinked again. "... Timelines? Wait... You're... You're from the future?" He said, pointing at the supposed time traveler.

The feminine thing nodded. "That is correct. I was sent back into the past to prevent a terrible event from happening. I was spawned to store and provide information that was greatly needed prior to your arrival on this prison planet. There is a version of your future that had a facility that enabled me the means to travel back in time and come here, into this alternate timeline. The swarm organism responsible for my creation had given me my name, and it is a name your future self had fondly accepted. You may call me Othafurn."

Kay paused, but then nodded. "Uh... Kay, that sounds cool. ... Oh, and uh, so is your name too."

Othafurn furrowed her eyebrows. "... Wow. You actually do say your name in an easygoing manner. I must admit, your future self was more... hardened when I met him."

Kay sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, I won't lie to you, I was not expecting to see a long legless centipede lady after my first day here."

"Your first day?" Othafurn looked left and right immediately, as though expecting some kind of danger to appear. "Then would this mean that the Era Agents haven't arrived yet?"

Kay tilted his head. "What-a agents?"

Othafurn turned back to Kay and stared at him. She seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief. A pause passed before she began to slither away from the glowing door to make her way to the center of the summit. "Then their future has either been circumvented in this timeline, or have not yet been made aware of our presence within this new timeline. I believe I have met you upon a lucky break!"

'Kay, what is she saying?' Virid asked, unsure about Othafurn's exclamation.

Kay shrugged his shoulders as he followed after the slithery... thing. "I have no fucking idea, Virid."

"Virid is here too?" Othafurn asked. "I must visit her as quickly as possible. There are a great many things we all must discuss." She said, slithering even faster toward the creep that had been established at the center of the mountain's caldera.

Kay shook his head as he matched his speed with Othafurn. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I kind of want to know what happened that turned everything tits-up in the future."

Othafurn looked back at Kay with a confused expression as she slithered toward the hatchery. "... That expression is lost on me."

Kay rolled his eyes. "Well, if you connect yourself to the zerg hivemind psionic network, I'm sure we can understand one another better. ... Uh... By the way, don't mistake that as innuendo, please."

"Not right now." Othafurn replied, slithering toward Kay and Virid's base of operations. "I need to deliver this spore pod."

Kay sighed. "Kay, well, what's in the spore pod then?"

"A means to help evolve your brood, Kay. It will seed strength into our Swarm in ways you cannot comprehend. All will be made clear if you allow me to do this one task. Please lend your trust in me, and everything will be set right for the Swarm on Kiln." Othafurn answered.

Kay raised an eyebrow at the timeline traveling zerg strain, but he continued following after her and provided her company along the way. Whatever Othafurn is, it seemed as though her surface thoughts were genuine and truthful. But for some reason, she kept her own mind closed from the zerg's psionic hivemind network. Kay would have considered that to be suspicious in itself, but she had allowed him to sense if she was telling the truth or not, and he could feel that she was indeed a zerg organism. But even so, he was still curious on what was within the spore pod she carried, and what kind of information she was keeping from him. All he could do was be patient and wait for the reveal.

But then again, her presence in this world raised a lot more questions than answers for Kay. What kind of shenanigans had occurred in the later events that forced a future zerg organism, called Othafurn, to be created just to go back to the past and warn The Swarm, grant them information of the future, and provide mutations unknown even to himself? Needless to say, Kay was starting to feel a little excited.

But he could also sense that Virid was developing a pang of doubt directed toward the unknown zerg organism. It was dawning on Kay that Virid and Othafurn might not be able to get along with each other quite as easily. Hopefully they could get along in the future.

Kay would allow Othafurn to do her thing and see what happens.

A/N: How do you guys feel about a bonus chapter that is 20K words long? '3'