Chapter 61: An Ancient Power Returns

Kay was at a very difficult position. Stuck with no place to go, and with no way to escape, the prison that had settled around him had also became his only refuge. His current opponent was one that happened to be the most devious compared to any other enemy that he had ever fought against. He would gladly face a different enemy than the one he was currently being challenged by. It was more insidious than the smallest needle delivering a constant cyanide injection, more annoying than an ephemeral and invulnerable apparition that silently laughed in his ears constantly, and more powerful than any kind of army that the zerg could ever muster against. It was, truly, the most difficult foe that Kay had ever tangled with, even when the methods he had at his disposal were nothing more but temporary tools that kept it away. Such weapons dulled with time, and his enemy had a tactic that can eventually counter whatever tool or gadget he wielded against it. It took so much patience to keep this enemy from trumping him, but he was now close to defeat for the umpteenth time. Even with so many cards in his hand, he knew that the only thing his current foe needed was one to finish this game. Kay just needed to plan his steps carefully with the tools he had and win this match.

"Got any threes?" Kay asked Corvurn Junior. They were currently sat onto a ramshackle table made of ruined metal, and they were currently playing a card game within a dimly lit room that used to be Seneschal Zagion's head office.

Corvurn Junior peered down at his hand and carefully looked at his one card. The anticipation was palpable. How long did it take for someone to look at the last card in one's hand to know what card it was? Kay swore that Corvurn Junior was tactically pausing on purpose. The evolution master responded by shaking his head. "Go fish."

Kay rolled his head and sighed, taking another card from the deck. To play the game of Go Fish in the first place, Kay had to program a manifestation alter to properly manifest a deck of playing cards. The first few times he programmed and manifested a deck of cards, they ended up catching on fire, or was so brittle that it broke apart into pieces, or was blown away into loose dust by the lightest of breaths. At one point, one of the deck of cards he manifested changed into some kind of matter that was at its triple point, where it was constantly becoming a gas, a liquid, or a solid. It rolled out of its containment when it was manifested, and Kay couldn't find a container in time to have Corvurn Junior analyze it, or was able to recreate its manifestation since. Kay looked at his several cards and sighed, then looked at Corvurn Junior. "Okay, your turn."

"Queens?" Corvurn Junior asked.

Kay sighed and gave one of his queen cards to Corvurn Junior. "Gaaaah, you're beating me at this game already. The hell is your trick?"

Corvurn Junior chittered happily as he took Kay's card and placed it down with his last card. "Learned probabilities. Chances of card numbers, suites, and faces understood. Normal method of deck shuffling now ineffective."

Kay paused as he stared at Corvurn Junior, and he swore that he could see a smile stretched across his face, despite the fact that the evolution master had a vertical mouth instead of a horizontal one. Kay scoffed and swiped the cards off of the table, which had became a hobby for any loser that lost at whatever card game was offered to the table. A new deck of cards could be created quite easily, even if every new deck would eventually be discarded onto the floor. At least the creep was indifferent to whatever bio-degradable material landed into it, and the deck of cards that was piled onto it was manifested as a papery material anyway. Kay furrowed his brows as a dissatisfied expression stretched across his face. "You fucker. You learned how to count cards while playing Go Fish."

Corvurn Junior shook his head. "Impossible. Skill only useful in Blackjack."

"Well Blackjack or not, I'm getting tired of this card game." Kay said, sighing. "And between this and a little bit of Poker that I sort of remember, I also remember nearly every variation of War that exists."

"Terran card game called War? Unusual, yet intriguing. Explain rules?" Corvurn Junior asked, pleading his fingers together.

Kay looked at Corvurn Junior for a few seconds and began snickering. "Kehehehe... Wow. The evolution master's progeny evolution master, capable of evolving the zerg swarm to be the deadliest organisms in warfare, wants to know how to play a card game named War? I mean... That's kind of ironic."

Corvurn Junior seemed to sigh. "Indifferent. Projects can wait. Idleness, undesirable. Have time utill projects require tending. Teach War card game."

Kay sighed and rolled his eyes, nodding at Corvurn Junior. "Okay C.J.. I'll tell you some of the basics." Kay said, getting up from his seat and going to a nearby manifestation altar. After pressing a few buttons on the manifestation altar's side panel, a fresh deck of cards was being created before his eyes after he was done inputting the codes. After retrieving a new deck, Kay went back to the table and sat down. This too has also became the norm. Just as the loser throw the cards off the table, they would then be next to deal the next set of cards.

Kay halved the deck and placed his half close to his side of the table, while he placed Corvurn Junior's half to Corvurn Junior's side. Kay smiled as he began his explanation. "In this card game called War, two players receive an equal number of cards in a single deck, called stacks. Two players draw a card that is faced-down from their stacks and turn it over, and the highest value always beats the lowest value. The values go from Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and then goes to ten and downward. When one player's card is higher than his opponent, then it gets added to the victor's loot pile. If two players draw a card with the same value on it, then the players go to 'war' by drawing three cards each from their stacks which remains face-down, while the next cards after that is drawn and flipped over. It can go on indefinitely until somebody finally draws a higher valued card. All of the cards that were brought into the war is then won by the player with the higher valued card. The player that captures the most cards in the game, wins."

Corvurn Junior nodded at Kay's explanation. "Mm. What about Joker?"

"Jokers are mainly left out of a game of War for the most part." Kay said. "But there are some variations of the game that includes the Joker too."

"Variations of War card game?" Corvurn Junior asked curiously.

Kay nodded. "Yup! There is Guerilla Jokers, where if one player pulls a Joker card, it starts a war between the two players. There is Threes Beats Faces, where any three cards can beat Jacks, Kings, and Queens. Fours Beats Aces, where any of the number four cards can beat aces. Strategy War, where you can have three cards in your hand that you can pick from, drawing one card from your stack after playing the card from your hand to add back into it. If a war happens in this variation, then a card is pulled from a stack before a card from the hand is chosen. And then there is Add On, where players can risk drawing an additional card from their stack during a war, but will lose the war if their total cards equal fifteen or more, with all face cards equaling ten in value. If both players bust, then the count between the players resets and the war continues."

Corvurn Junior nodded as he listened to the rules of the other variations. "Understand. Which variation recommended?"

Kay smirked as he leaned back, picking three cards from his stack and holding them in his hand. "Since you are a quick study, I figured that we can play War while using all of the variations I just described to you. Go ahead and take three from your stack. After you have your hand, pick a card and set it forward. We'll flip them upwards at the same time. And remember. No using the hivemind connection in this game too."

"Redundant. Already understands rules. Repeating rules, unnecessary." Corvurn Junior grumbled as he took three cards from his stack. He noticed right away that the cards given to him have already been reshuffled, even when he didn't see Kay shuffle them beforehand. "Disadvantage detected. Leveled playing field. Unable to see command organism Kay shuffle deck. How?"

Kay smugly smiled. "I figured out how to randomize the cards in the deck when the manifestation altar manifests them."

"...Clever. However, will adapt." Corvurn Junior said, placing down a card.

Kay nodded, drawing out a card from his own hand. Kay had a King of Hearts while Corvurn Junior had a King of Clubs. Kay snorted. "Looks like we're at war from the start."

Corvurn Junior and Kay drawed another three cards from their stacks and placed them down, and then added a new card into their hand before placing their chosen cards forward. After flipping them over, Kay had summoned a Joker card to combat against Corvurn Junior's Ten of Hearts. Corvurn grumbled. "War again."

Another card was drawn from each of the player's decks, with Kay picking and flipping over a Five of Diamonds, while Corvurn Junior chose a Ten of Clubs. Kay grunted. "Hmm... I think I'll add another card to the war."

"Over fourteen is lose condition." Corvurn Junior warned, taking a card from his stack and adding it to his hand. "Unless willing to risk?"

Kay paused for a few seconds, nodded, then drawed a card from his stack, and then drawing one more to place it face-down. "I think I'll risk it."

"Also willing to risk." Once Corvurn Junior drawed a card from his stack and placed it forward, both cards were then revealed.

Kay drawed a Nine of Spades while Corvurn Junior drawed a Four of Diamonds. Kay chuckled. "Hahahaha, I guess this means we're still at war! Ah, what are the chances?"

Kay couldn't tell, but he felt as though that Corvurn Junior was slightly amused by the recent events. "Hmm. Draw from stacks. Must find way to win war."

Both Kay and Corvurn Junior added another card to the ever growing cards that were sent into the war pile, then picked a card from their hands again and flipped their cards over. Corvurn Junior may have picked a Jack of Spades, but Kay surpassed the evolution master by drawing an Ace of Spades. He won the war, earning him all of the cards that was drawn so far. "Oooooh~! OOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO~!" Kay hooted, pointing at his winning card.

Corvurn Junior grumbled. "Agitated. Should have picked four card."

Kay waggled his finger. "Ah ah ah. No telling your opponent what you have in your hand. We discussed this."

Corvurn Junior threatened to swipe the cards off of the table. "Will not tolerate taunts. Will destroy card game if taunting persists."

Kay chuckled and leaned back into his seat again. "Alright alright, I'll chill. If you don't want to play this game, we can stop now and go back to working on your research and projects."

Corvurn Junior stared at Kay for a few seconds before relaxing and retracting his arms from swiping distance of the card game. "Appreciated. However, must give apology. Environment degrading to idle behavior. Threatened destruction of War card game, unnecessary."

Kay paused for a couple seconds before he nodded his head. "...If that's your way of saying you're sorry, then I forgive you."

Corvurn Junior nodded back. "Forgiveness appreciated." He said, checking the cards in his hands.

Kay paused awkwardly for several seconds before he decided to break the ice. "So uh... How are your projects coming along? I noticed that you haven't been discussing them with me lately."

Corvurn Junior grunted. "Progress is slow. Time cannot be hurried, despite available resources. Coming close to breakthrough. Some projects more enjoyable, yet resources limited in other regards."

Kay sighed and slumped in his chair. "Ain't that the truth. I would have liked to bring Virid or your dad back with us, but I guess that wasn't possible with whatever energy restraints you had at the time."

Corvurn Junior took his chance to sigh as well. "Conditions, not ideal. Bio-matter, accelerant, and energy required for time gate, limited. Must plan on most efficient resource managing methods. Seek victory for swarm. Victory over Golden Star Empire enemy must be achieved."

Kay nodded. "Well we shouldn't lose our heads when we finally find a way back to our own timeline. ... Or uh... come back in a new timeline where we retcon our starting conditions. Is that what you're trying to do?"

Corvurn Junior nodded. "Analyzed time travel research of Era Agency. Many complications detected. Loopholes are difficult to detect. Determining effectiveness of alternate methods. Slow progress. Time, very lingering resource. Limited. Swarm not accustomed to using technology. Prefer organic mutations. Time travel mechanics, difficult to adapt to. However, will adapt. Matter of time. If ineffective, other projects will take over. If projects successful within designed purposes, will use."

Kay nodded back. "That's good. Man, I can only imagine what my face would look like when we come back to the past from an alternate future. Perhaps I should prepare some flash cards and practice with them, in case any of the conversations between myself and my past self becomes awkward on our first meeting?"

Corvurn Junior shook his head. "Waste of time. Waste of resources. ... Conversation lengthened unexpectedly. Must take break. Continue game after projects surveyed and inspected. Must ensure project completion."

Kay nodded and placed the cards in his hand face-down. "Okay, sure C.J.. We can play this later."

Once both players left the table, they continued out of Zagion's ruined head office and walked to an evolution chamber that was processing Corvurn Junior's latest projects. There were two that seemed to be the most promising, if a little time consuming. Somewhat literally in regards to a particularly virulent disease that could supposedly 'infect time itself', whatever Corvurn Junior had meant by that. But still, the two swarm commanders worked together to achieve their goal, even as the chrome slime that was outside of the time dilated dome prevented their leave. Darkness within this place was all consuming, but the surviving swarm had survived in this condition for some time now. And if Kay and Corvurn Junior's projects bore any fruit upon their completion, it could allow the swarm to persist even after the end of the timeline they are in. It was just a matter of time.

In the new timeline

There was darkness.

An unbelievable amount of darkness.

More pitch-black than the shadows of night.

Significantly gloomier than a graveyard painted with tar after dusk on a new moon, no stars, and cloudy skies.

Hollow of all light and significance.

It was akin to the unfeeling feeling of being unconscious.

And this unconsciousness was what one particular person was experiencing, of whom was dreaming of this ebony-filled rest.

However, like all dreams, there always comes a time when the sleeping becomes awake.

"Ahhh... fuck... Dohr... I... Ow... my head... What the shit." Kay said, feeling like his mind had been torn in half. Did he drank too much beer and developed a hangover again? He couldn't be sure. He slowly sat up from the hot sand as he felt the sun's rays hitting his carapaced form, and feeling something weighing him down at the same time. He clutched his head, praying that the pain would go away quick. Did a dwarf hit his head with a golden brick or something? He couldn't be sure. He even forgot what had happened after the era agent he named Bubbles threw that weird device at him. He was too embroiled in pain to figure out whatever made this anguishing sensation cleave his brain. He just wanted a cure to the pain.

"Command organism Kay? Functioning within parameters?" Corvurn's voice ringed in Kay's head painfully.

Kay winced as he covered his ears. "Ooooh... Don't talk, please. I... I think I have a hangover. Or... I don't know what it's called. Uh... Headache? Yeah. I have a headache."

'Better?' Corvurn asked through the psionic connection.

Kay felt his head deepen in pain again. "GHK! No no no, that's worse! Ahhhh... Oh fuck me. This is... This is worse than drinking a whole bottle of vodka and waking up in the morning after. Uhhh... Shit." He said, palming his head and wishing for the pain to go away.

Corvurn sighed. "Will use lesser verbal communication. Better than nothing. We must evade detection. Kiln Keeper and gilanian empire armies, closing. Anomalies within area, dissipated. Must evacuate."

"Anomalies? What are..." Kay got a chance to see his surrounding environment and found himself in a massive crater made of dark glass. This glass crater was kilometers wide, and was definitely beyond the scope of Kay's ability to calculate how large it was. For the moment at any rate. Worse still, he also found debris of several machines strewn about within the crater, which looked as though some kind of battle had once took place there. He could barely recognize what the machines looked like, but he thought he saw what could have once resembled Kiln Keepers and Golden Star Empire vehicles and technology, and a few gilanian corpses that seemed... twisted and charred. Like they were pulled and torn apart by some kind of force. Oddly, there were no zerg corpses to be found. There wasn't even a patch of creep that would slowly spread across this seemingly glassed land. Kay blinked a few times. "... What the fuck happened here?!"

"Unknown." Corvurn replied, looking around with uncertainty in his tone. "Anomalies ceased. Kiln Keeper machines and gilanian empire soldiers contained area. Zerg heavily disorientated after anomalies lifted. Method, unknown. Resulted in quick defeat of territory known as orange zone. later on, Kiln Keepers and gilanian empire forces, attacked. Their assailant, unknown. However, found you intact and unconscious. Organism Othafurn attempted to cure unconsciousness. Successful, but suffered."

"Othafurn?" Kay said, wincing as he tried to get off of the ground and finding out he could not do so. When Kay inspected his person, it was then that he noticed the carapaced coils surrounding his body. After following the coils around his body, he noticed that Othafurn was lying on his legs, her eyes closed and her breathing slow. "Oh... Oh shit! Is she okay?" He asked in surprise.

"Unknown." Corvurn grumbled. "Gained unconscious condition after attempting mental link. Brief burst of psionic power, followed by organism Othafurn's current condition. Command organism Kay awakened afterwards."

Kay sighed as he lightly shook Othafurn's shoulder. She didn't respond to Kay. He could sense that her brain activity was... well... inactive. Othafurn was somehow made unconscious, all because she wanted to bring Kay back from his unconscious slumber. Out of all the times he remembered ever waking up from being unconscious, this was probably the worst one. Why Othafurn wanted to wake Kay up through the use of a mental link, Kay didn't know the answer to. His head was hurting, and trying to think on how to mend Othafurn's current condition was difficult for him at the moment. Kay paused for a while before he sighed and looked up at Corvurn. "Ugh... Fucking hell. I need to sober up and recover from this headache. I can't think straight right now."

Corvurn huffed. "Hexagonal moon hive cluster, safest location. However, inaccessible. Organism Othafurn took great risk to resuscitate command organism Kay. Barely bypassed gilanian empire orbital defenses. All zerg strains sensed deep psionic presence in swarm hivemind. Followed to your location. To your temporal tomb. Prompted organism Othafurn's method of your revival."

Kay paused and shook his head, feeling his headache becoming stronger again. "Wait wait... Orbital defenses?"

Corvurn looked at Kay and pointed upwards. "Visible during night. Look up. See with own eyes."

Kay looked up at the sky, as per Corvurn's instructions. He didn't expect to understand what he was seeing, but his eyes widened when he noticed the faint, thin lines of light that crossed and stretched over the dark sky. Four of these lines intersected and crossed with each other right above him, while other lines of light intersected three or two times a little farther away in the distant horizon. Somehow, his body had tricked him into thinking that it was the daytime. His eyes was very sensitive to light as his body was feeling real warmth for the first time in a long while. But Kay stared up at this... strange wonder, already feeling his head deepening in pain. "What... What is that?"

"Gilanian empire orbital defense. Super satellites, called 'sky rings' by empire gilanians. Arranged in loose cage pattern. Nine circular mega structures rotate in orbit. Interlocked, magnetic gyroscopic rail axle stations rotates structures. Has anti-orbital capabilities. Can deflect and counter many zerg air strains. Targets swarm drop sacs deployed from leviathan or behemoth strains. Has sensor network on global scale. Not safe here. Must depart now." Corvurn said. Once he finished his sentence, a nydus worm burrowed out of the blackened glass and roared into the night air that was slowly becoming morning. The nydus worn opened its maw to allow its passengers entry into its innards. Kay was too distracted by a heavy migraine to notice that a nydus worm was erupting near his position, but was forced to pay attention to it when it emerged out of the ground, making Kay's head hurt more. Corvurn gestured to Kay, and then to the nydus worm's mouth. "Must retreat now. Lingered too long. Underground hive cluster, closest safe area. Bring Othafurn organism and enter nydus worm strain."

Kay got up and tried to hold Othafurn in his arms, even if her long tail and tendrils still dragged him behind since her body was so long. "What? But... I just got back! Can you tell me what happened after I was locked into that temporal tomb?!"

"No time. Retreat now. Sensor network will detect us." Corvurn said, urging for Kay to enter the nydus worm as quickly as he could.

Kay groaned, but he carried Othafurn's torso into the nydus worm's maw, its swallowing pulling Othafurn's tail into itself. Once Corvurn followed suit and entered into the nydus worm's maw next, zerg organisms of various kinds started spilling out of the newly emerged nydus worm in vast numbers.

The zerg swarm's drones and queens worked quickly to morph into hatcheries and spread the creep as far as they can. Several of the drones would morph into dedicated spine and spore crawlers, with certain zerg bio-structures being morphed to necessitate the quick spawning of more advanced zerg strains. Once the zerglings started coming out of the nydus network and spreading their numbers outwards, the transformation of the drones eventuated into a release of gushing liquid that revealed the bio-structures responsible for forming the zerg's larvae, otherwise known as the hatcheries. Once overlords and mutalisks began to hatch from the pupating eggs that the larvae turned into, the creep would begin rapidly expanding farther with the overlords' help, while the mutalisks would assist the zerglings with covering more ground. Whatever event that had caused the Kiln Keepers, and the Golden Star Empire soldiers, to suddenly become vanquished in the enormous black crater of glass, it had ultimately resulted in Kay's apparent release from his temporal tomb.

Even when Kay felt uncertain of Othafurn's current benumbed condition, he was also beginning to feel better as he traveled through the guts of the nydus worm. For some reason that he couldn't explain, he currently felt as though he had woken up from a horrible nightmare that lasted an eternity.

A/N: Wait, what happened to the expedition team in the second bonus chapter? And what kind of events coalesced to enable Kay's freedom from his temporal tomb? :U