Chapter 69: Major Battle 13: Cancerous Luck

Within the command center of a capitol fortress, several surveillance officers and colonels were working together in their tireless tasks that would seem like a silent chaos to those uneducated to Golden Star military protocols. Such military prowess was second-nature to them, but it was a well known fact that such continuous service can wear down the morale of even the most stalwart of men, and it mattered not if such men were either human or alien. Twenty continuous years of fighting against the zerg had the hindering side effect of taxing the mental health of the Golden Star military. Even when the Kiln Keepers had offered them the opportunity to war in their stead, the zerg had made it abundantly clear to everyone that the robotic prison guards couldn't effectively shield their prisoners from the swarm, or be able to fully eradicate them by their own methods. Such was the reality that the Golden Star citizenry, military, and what remained of the lingering empire, was forced to accept.

A commander, dressed in a set of silver armor with blue accents and a cape, paced back and forth as he surveyed his men with a judging eye. Oftentimes in the earlier years, he would bark at anyone that dared lollygag or not follow protocol to a certain level of professionalism. He considered any lapse in clarity or concentration as a danger to his command, and had drilled several lessons into his men that such behavior would compound and compromise the military strength of the Golden Star Empire. But after fighting for so long, even as he kept diligent watch for any flaws that could further compromise his ability to command his troops and the Kiln Keepers, he was beginning to feel his resolve slowly weaken. It was a heretical thought to Kralluf. A cyborg that was supposed to have a will of steel, was gradually rusting away? Kralluf had immediately casted that thought away from his mind. No matter how weak the flesh is, the spirit of a commander needed to be the epitome of tactical brilliance, and to be a spirit that contained an unbreakable will.

But fighting this long war, especially against a foe that's as tenacious as the zerg, was substantially deleterious to everyone's mental health. Kralluf himself was beginning to have doubts, even when he chose not to voice them.

One of the communication officers in Kralluf's command center turned around and saluted at his commander. "Sir. General Pallax has sent a communication invite addressed to you. He requests your presence in a conference call."

Kralluf was silent in his answer for a few seconds. He then looked at his communications officer. "Did he specify who would be present in the conference call?"

"Uh... No sir." The officer replied.

Kralluf growled and furrowed his brow. "Then send back this message to General Pallax. Unless he also has Faddoh in the conference call, I will not be attending it."

The officer was hesitant, but he nodded and saluted again to his commander. "Y-yes sir."

Kralluf shifted his gaze to the rest of the officers under his watch, and sighed. Oftentimes in the distant past, he couldn't bring himself to care about his other commanders. He often commanded his own division to the breadth that his power allowed, and it was usually to the extent of 'liberating' territories and resources that were not aligned to the Golden Star Empire. But in recent years, he was becoming more concerned about the morale of the soldiers in the empire, as well as the well-being of his fellow commanders, his general, and his emperor. But there was one person he had became most concerned about recently, and it was Commander Faddoh. It's became quite the sore subject for him, since the robotized Commander loved to go on a tangent and talk for hours on end. Perhaps it was one of the perks of having ones consciousness in a metal body, and being able to flap one's lips incessantly on virtually any topic?

But in the latter days that followed, Faddoh was becoming more curt when he had to attend a meeting or conference call. So much so that his conversations only lasted for a few minutes, or even seconds at times. Today was incredibly irregular for Kralluf, however. He had received no messages, missed calls, or any form of mail from the eclectic scientist that is in charge of the Cube Research Division. Nearly every day, since the day Faddoh had been promoted to commander, Kralluf was harassed by his seemingly limitless ability to yap about any topic that came to his mind. But today, for the whole day, Commander Faddoh had not made any attempt to communicate with Kralluf. Not once. Something was up, and Kralluf believed this trend started sometime in the early morning. He wasn't sure what had happened to cause Faddoh's sudden silence, but he wouldn't work up the nerve to call Faddoh himself. They were both complicated men, and they had their own habits and routines that each adhered to. And Kralluf needed to break Faddoh's current routine in order to find out what kind of outcome had changed his behavior.

"Sir." Said the same communication officer that reported to his commander. "General Pallax has informed me to tell you that he had sent a communication invite addressed to Commander Faddoh."

Kralluf nodded. "Good. I'll have the conference call here." He said, walking to the center of the room.

"Sir, yes sir." The communication officer replied, saluting.

Seconds later, six monitors were wheeled in front of Kralluf, and three faces appeared within those monitors. Sadly, Kralluf would only be talking to Ralkan, Pallax, and Gollog in this conference call. Embittered by the lack of a certain company that was supposed to be present, Kralluf decided to get straight to the point. "Where's Faddoh?"

Pallax sighed as he gave a straight answer to Kralluf. [I messaged him an invite to our conference call. However, it's up to him to decide if he wants to join us this afternoon.]

Kralluf growled. "You could have persuaded him that it's a mandatory call."

Pallax shook his head disapprovingly at Kralluf. [Kralluf, I am done being a mediator between you two. You and Faddoh have performed admirably within the divisions our glorious emperor had placed the both of you in, but I cannot abide to the position of a glorified hatchling-sitter that would sit between two grown adults. If there is something you want to talk to him about, then you can call him yourself.]

Kralluf hissed to himself.

Ralkan intervened into the conversation. [I don't think it's a good idea contacting him at the moment. Ever since the incident at the discovery this morning, he's been VERY reclusive. When I tried to ask him on what his current research projects were, he only said that he was heavily researching into something.]

[Like what?] Pallax asked.

[No idea.] Ralkan answered, shrugging his shoulders and sighing. [All he said is there was an information blackout that had to be investigated, but he never specified to me what it was. He has Guik helping him investigate into the matter, but I don't know much else than that.]

Pallax sighed. [This must be serious if he's not filling us in with whatever data he's found so far.]

Kralluf stamped the ground. "That's not good enough, Ralkan! Maybe you haven't heard it from me, but I had received no communicative contact from Faddoh. Like, AT ALL. Something odd happened and it's got our top robotic scientist spooked."

[Actually, now that you mentioned it, I have never heard you express sympathy before. That isn't normal either.] Ralkan said, voicing his analysis.

Kralluf leered at the image of Ralkan. "Don't you ever call it 'sympathy', you gangly fuck. ... I would rather prefer to announce it as 'burdened professional concern'."

Ralkan rolled his eyes. Pallax sighed, and had spoken next. [Whatever you do, Kralluf, bear in mind that personal matters does not mix well with business.]

[Indeed.] Gollog said in a droll tone. [It is akin to mixing water with oil.]

Kralluf sighed. "Then let's not beat around the bush any longer. Why are we having this conference call?"

Gollog adjusted himself. [We merely wanted to have the most recent update about the condition of the danger zones in the Red Desert. I heard from several reports that the anomalous effects produced within the danger zones have finally been lifted. Sadly, the reports didn't state who or what was responsible. What is the current status with your danger zone investigations, Kralluf?]

Kralluf nodded. "The Kiln Keeper robots have reported as much to me. I had sent some soldiers and scientists down to investigate the anomalies in the outermost danger zones, and they have confirmed that the anomalous effects are absent. However, despite our successive purge of the zerg in the orange zone, and finding the discovery located at the center of the red zone, this 'information blackout', as Faddoh called it, manifested hours after the anomalous effects disappeared, just as the zerg organisms in the orange zone turned docile when the light cycle was at 23.534% waxing."

[Docile?] Pallax repeated.

"As in refused to attack the Kiln Keepers or my soldiers. When fired on, they just retreated away from us a few feet at a time. It was almost like they lost the will to fight back." Kralluf took in a breath before he continued. "Anyway, when the blackout happened right when the light cycle was at 43.725% waxing, the ENO sensor network malfunctioned, and my ground teams investigating the red zone and the discovery was reported missing. Worse yet, the Kiln Keepers operating in that area was destroyed by an unknown attack, reported so by an Intelligent Automaton Kiln Keeper variant. Worse still, the information blackout had removed all information relating to the discovery. We still don't know what could have caused it and who did it, but we can only assume that it was done by a group of computer hackers that knew what they were doing."

Gollog sighed and looked down for a few seconds before speaking again. [This does not sit well with me, Kralluf. How come I was not made aware of this sooner?]

[Yeah.] Ralkan chimed in. [And what is with this 'discovery' thing I keep hearing about? I tried to access the military information network on any kind of relative data that's stored there, but I found nothing.] Ralkan paused for a few seconds before his face slowly contorted into soporific realization. [... Of course. The information blackout. I am such an idiot for forgetting that so quickly.]

Gollog raised his hand. [Many of you were asleep when the blackout happened, whilst my attention was diverted on a matter regarding our informant's information. We already know that the information our informant had shared with us was also shared with the Era Agency, and we learned of this years ago when we tried to share our information with them. Whoever our informant may be, he may very well be an ally that exists outside of the Era Agency's peripheral awareness, and that fact alone has them scared. We originally thought that the informant had came from the Era Agency itself, but we can confirm now that our mysterious informant acts alone and has access to the Era Agency's time traveling technology.]

Kralluf nodded and sighed. "Yeah, them era agents were always a paranoid bunch. If something doesn't work for them in a timeline, they try to change it up at the risk of making things worse. I wouldn't be surprised that their interaction with the flow of our world's events led up to the zerg's origination."

Pallax narrowed his eyes at Kralluf. [Origination?]

Kralluf nodded his head. "Yup. From the information that I have analyzed, regarding the zerg individual we know as Kay, the bug-man beast-master that commands the zerg, he and his monsters seemed to be only interested in attacking and infesting empire assets, and any faction that was actively hostile against them. He also shared his desire of finding a way to escape Kiln's prison system. Judging from the scant recordings of his conversations between the commanders, the general, and the emperor in the alternate timeline, Kay has a great deal of intelligence that is deceptively downplayed. There had been no sightings of him for several years now, but I'd still assume that he came from a place that is outside of our prison system, one that is rich with a history that even we cannot fathom."

Gollog sneered. ['Rich in history'... Pah! I would consider it to be a great miracle for my old eyes to see what lied beyond our veil's sphere. And yet, my jealousy burns at the thought of him having once lived outside of our veil. What I can only dream of only pales in comparison to what he had experienced!]

Ralkan's expression changed into confusion. [Uh... Rather than focus on the past, I think we should be more concerned about the present. Emperor Gollog, perhaps you can share with us on what you have discovered with your research?]

[Which?] Gollog asked dryly.

[We already know about the informant's paradoxical information from the other timeline, my emperor. I'd like to know more about this 'discovery' thing that I had only recently learned about.] Ralkan replied.

Gollog nodded. [Very well. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can tell you with readied confidence. It's the same as everywhere that I and my surveillance officers had looked. There are no image captures or video recordings that relates to the discovery at the center of the Red Desert. It was as if an expert computer hacking genius actively sifted through the entire information network and had pilfered or destroyed any visual evidence of the discovery. The effort made to expunge such data must have be done by a group of data infiltrators, and that they knew what they were doing. I could even say I was impressed by such an effort.]

[Do we know who did it?] Ralkan asked.

Gollog shook his head and sighed. [We do not. If these people attacked more confidential files, then our security alert system would notify us of the data intrusion. Since we didn't regard the discovery as confidential, the information we uploaded was easily accessible to all military assets. In hindsight, the data should have been labeled confidential in the first place. The hacker group must have found a window of entry, entered, did their damage, and left without us ever noticing. What perplexes me the most is the purpose of this data attack. Why delete all images and videos of the discovery? What would it accomplish? And more importantly, who did it and how? Sadly, these questions might not be answered in the foreseeable future.]

Ralkan nodded for a few seconds. [... How about descriptions?]

Gollog raised an eyebrow. [Pardon?]

[You know, descriptions.] Ralkan repeated to Gollog. [Even if there is no recorded video or image data, there has to be at least some sentences that gives us at least a few tidbits of detail on what the discovery looked like.]

Gollog nodded and smiled. [I see. I'll have my surveillance officers search through the remaining data to see what they come up with.] Gollog then addressed Kralluf. [Commander Kralluf. You are to spearhead your forces and reacquire new evidence of this discovery at the center of the Red Desert's red zone. You are free to exterminate, eliminate, and eradicate all zerg organisms that your forces encounter.]

Kralluf bowed before his emperor and smiled savagely. "Yes my emperor. As we speak, my forces are already mobilizing. They are currently re-creating a perimeter around the orange zone. As per standard procedure, the Kiln Keeper forces will be on the front lines, while my troops will back them up from behind, using good old artillery tactics and bomb runs. If those zerg monsters remained as harmless as before, I'm sure that-"

"Commander Kralluf, sir! Zerg are engaging the Kiln Keepers!" A surveillance officer barked.

There was a surprised, dumbfounded look upon Kralluf's face as he turned to gaze at the person responsible for the outburst. Several seconds after the disruption, Kralluf immediately turned to his video conference audience. "Uh... If you can excuse me, something just came up."

[Zerg?] Pallax asked bluntly, unamused by the current event happening before him.

"Zerg." Kralluf replied.

Pallax breathed deeply before releasing his own sigh. [Don't be afraid to request the deployment of Pinnacle Superior.]

"I'll consider it. End communication." Kralluf replied, craning his neck and huffing in frustration. "And I thought it would be easy from here on out." He then straightened up and began yelling his orders to his men. "ALL UNITS, AND ALL FLYING FORTRESSES UNDER MY COMMAND, HEAR THIS! WE ARE TO INFILTRATE THE CENTER OF THE RED ZONE THAT THE ENERGY PLANT WAS ONCE LOCATED AT, AND ACQUIRE VISUAL DATA ON WHAT IS DUBBED 'THE DISCOVERY'! IF YOU SEE ZERG, KILL IT! IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT ZERG, DOCUMENT IT AND MOVE ON! ALL OTHER OBJECTIVES FROM HERE ON OUT IS SECONDARY! MOVE OUT!"

And so, the Kiln Keepers, and the Golden Star Empire military, went into battle with the zerg once more.

Corvurn was notified by the overlords of the sudden battles taking place around the newly created hive clusters, near the center of the Red Desert's large glass crater. He grumbled when he took notice of the opposition that was fighting the zerg. Apparently, the Golden Star Empire's military had enough time to pool enough resources, assets, men and robots to form a massive perimeter defense that circled the zerg swarm's territory. In twenty years' time, the Kiln Keepers had perfectly adapted to the tactics that he, Othafurn, and Virid had orchestrated against them. Especially more so when their ENO sensor network could detect the intention in their psionic hivemind connection, which would prompt the Golden Star military to try and counterattack the zerg swarm's tactics.

Othafurn had noticed this sense of consternation from the evolution master, even when he hadn't necessarily voiced it in the first place. 'Is something troubling you?' Othafurn asked, already safe in a faraway location.

Corvurn sighed. 'Empire and Kiln Keeper forces redoubled efforts. Current command organisms unable to stem attack forces. Swarm territory will recede. Significant loss is expected.'

'For many years, you and I have kept the swarm the way it was as we awaited for Kay's return. He has returned, but it appears as though you are following old habits.' Othafurn said.

'... Astute analysis. Must reflect on strategies. Look for possible flaws. Remove detectable weaknesses. Command structure for swarm is limited. Command organism Kay's mission, unexpected variable. Swarm requires more psionic control. Overlord strain, insufficient. Leadership is lacking.'

'Then the answer should be simple. Create a leadership caste to supply further control to the swarm.'

'Hmm. Command organism Othafurn is correct. Closest template requirements analyzed. Queen strain can evolve to fulfill leadership role. Can expand crown. Contain more brain matter. Huge queen strain requires slight changes. Prime candidates for leadership caste. Function similar to command organism Virid. Little resources required to create leadership caste. Can create multiple broodmothers. Deployment imminent. Queen genetic strands appears malleable. Possibility for improvement? Will introduce accelerant during birth. Analyze results during deployment.'

'I hope that Virid can forgive me for giving you this idea.'

'Forgiveness, irrelevant. Adaptation and mutation required. Kay has returned. Held back mutations for twenty years. No more holding back. No more waiting.' Corvurn said, finishing his conversation with Othafurn. After that exchange, he went back to what an evolution master does best. Evolving the zerg swarm was his metaphorical bread and butter, and he did his work with an unseen pride.

The swarm will always adapt, as it always has.

[This is air recon group 12, Squad Captain Gakar reporting. Kiln Keeper bipeds are engaging the zerg.] A reconnaissance captain said as he coasted over the battlefield. Hundreds of meters below him and his accompanying stealth fliers, the bipedal Kiln Keepers unleashed their laser weapons upon the zerg organisms that were in their path. Flashes of red lightened up the late afternoon that was slowly becoming night, and the war zone quickly became striven with violence, destruction, and death.

[I think the walking robots are called 'authoriators' or something.] Another stealth flier pilot remarked as he watched both monsters and robots clash on the ground below him. It was a glorious sight to behold. The brood lords and guardians' projectiles struck hard against the ranks of the Kiln Keepers' formations. As the broodlings met with the Kiln Keepers in melee combat, the acid spore projectiles clashed heavily onto their metal bodies and reduced them to scrap husks that sizzled violently. The vipers were a dangerous force in the air, since they had the capability to abduct powerful units and provide a blinding cloud that cloyed their vision and limited their ranged attacks. Infestors worked with the vipers to dominate strong Kiln Keeper variants, since an abducted robot could be equally corrupted with a dominating neural parasite, hijacking its programing and making it target their allies instead. Some of the Crime crusher, Cage of Law, Justice Extremity, and Blind Judgement variants had unwillingly joined sides with the zerg swarm, and the swarm used the Kiln Keeper's own weapons against them to great effect.

[They're called Peace Keepers. They're as abundant as a vaph nest population in an unkempt graveyard. I heard stories that if you were on the wrong side of the law, then they would outright kill you. Especially if you committed a crime in front of them.] Bile launchers were formed from an advantageous distance away from the clashing battle. When the Kiln Keepers intruded in zerg territory, or in close proximity to the bile launchers, the stationary defense would rapidly launch large globules of scalding acid at every interval of seven seconds. The Kiln Keepers were quick to move out of the way of the acidic fluid as it splashed down near them, but they still proceeded forward slowly in order to detect any hidden surprises that were below the sands. But even then, the defilers were also a force to be heeded. Their dark swarms protected the zerg, even when they were under the thickest of laser-fire. Worse still, the defilers and infestors had evolved in their respective metabolisms. Rather than completely consume a zerg organism and kill it, the defiler had learned to take only what it needed, with each gratifying chunk of gory flesh consumed for the purposes of restoring energy, and leaving their partially eaten allies to survive and regenerate their health somewhere else. The infestors seemed to have picked up on the defilers' habits, also taking wholesome chunks of flesh from healthy and larger zerg, and also restoring their energy in the process. Even so, zerglings seem to be their constant and primary food source, and both defilers and infestors were often seen snacking on a hapless zergling when they strayed to close to their reach.

[Keep watch for any oculars, barnacle sentries, dread maws, and flier caretakers. If we fly too close to them, then our jig is up. Don't get caught, or we'll be heading back to our carrier fortress with our asses getting shot at.] Mutalisks, devourers, corruptors, and scourge became the antagonists of any airborne Kiln Keepers that flew above the ground and attacked the melee oriented zerg with impunity. Coupled with the vipers' parasitic bomb and the devourers acidic spores that weakened the defensive value of armor, the corruptors, scourge, and mutalisks ruled their territory's skies. As they ruled the skies, it gave the creep that grew across the ground the ability to quickly spread, aided by the brood queens, emerging nydus worms, and the odd toxic nest that appeared where there was no creep to grow on. Overseers and overlords maintained a safe position away from the conflict, but a daring few were selected to help spread creep further, or implant changeling and changelisk Peace Keepers that retreated past the firing lines, or acted dead as the unaware variants moved ahead and ignored their downed 'comrades' that fed their tactical positions to the zerg's psionic hivemind intelligence.

But that was when they began to notice certain details about the zerg monsters that swarmed against the Kiln Keepers. [... Hey uh... Anybody notice something different about those jags below us?]

They first noticed that the zerglings came in an alarmingly larger swarm than normal as they flooded out of the mouths of the nydus worms. They seemed to last slightly longer against the laser fire thanks to their bulkier carapace, and their attacks were slightly fastened due to an adrenaline overload. Their claws even gained the mutation that enabled them to strip and shred any Kiln Keeper variant of their protective armor. Ranks of the Peace Keeper variants were downed by floods of zerglings, coming in swarms that were egregiously larger than normal. They even leapt high into the air and descended onto their enemies with bestial glee and rage, confusing the Kiln Keepers' targeting capabilities. The zerglings' attacks were increased by the raptor strain, a green-winged zergling whose attack power was made that much more devastating, while their numbers were multiplied and supplied by the quick spawning of the swarmling strain's capabilities, a purple-spined variant that was spawned as a quick defense strategy against intruding enemies. To make matters worse for the Kiln Keepers, even the death of a single zergling would be easily replaced by another, since the dead zergling is reconstituted at a primary hive, only to eventually be respawned with renewed vigor.

Then there were the roaches, which seemed to come in two varieties that traveled in pairs, or in groups that contained an equal number of both breeds. One that was the green kind of roaches, which seemed to do slightly more damage against the Kiln Keepers' Peace Keeper infantry variant due to their hydroidic bile. And the other was the purple kind of roaches, which did the same amount of increased damage as its green cousins, but had created a more obvious effect on the enemies they attacked. Upon being attacked by the purple tinted roaches, no matter what variant had been attacked, the Kiln Keepers were heavily slowed in their ability to move and attack their enemies. The more heavy hitting Kiln Keeper variants, like the Crime Crusher, Justice Extremity, and Blind Judgement variants were crippled with this sluggish ailment as their usual crowd-clearing attacks were circumvented by an acidic sludge that caked their joints and made them move slower. The corpser strain of the roach variety was incapable of spawning roachlings from the destroyed Kiln Keepers, especially so since they had no organic components to convert into roachlings, but the other breed of roach had the capacity to slow down the Kiln Keepers, spelling their doom in eventual agony that was followed by their destruction. But alas, the two breeds of roach strains could still become and morph into ravagers, which had also acquired mutations that made them more lethal. In essence, their bile ducts became bloated, and the contents within them exceptionally potent. Now, when a ravager launches a glob of corrosive bile at a group of enemies, the attack would deal more damage and explode at twice the area of effect. Swaths of Kiln keeper infantry formations were reduced to nothing when the improved roaches and ravagers came into play.

What came next were the hydralisks. As they came closer to the fight, they seemed to absorb slightly more damage before they succumbed to death. It was a slight change to their usual longevity in previous engagements, but it was a significant boost to dealing more harm to their enemies attacking their territory. But what was more worrying was their sudden bursts of savagery. Seemingly half of the time, or at the start of an engagement, the hydralisks became enraged at the sight of their enemies and doubled their efforts to deal harm to them, effectively launching their spines and slashing their scythe-claws at a faster speed yet unheard of by both Kiln Keepers and Golden Star Empire soldiers. This power was also applied to the hunter killers, making them that much more lethal on the battlefront. Suddenly, the hydralisks of the zerg swarm were looking very dangerous to the stealth fliers at that moment. They saw that the hydralisks were given a sudden boost to their longevity and combat power. When their ancillary carapace was coupled with a burst of the hydralisks' moments of frenzy, they became a significant force that needed to be reckoned with. And like the roaches, the hydralisks' next transformations had also received several mutations. The impaler strain had gained the capability to further damage their enemies with their piercing tentacles, tenderizing them with savage damage. The lurkers had also improved, their range of attack being able to reach much farther away than before.

But this trend still continued with the banelings, as two more varieties populated the field of battle. Banelings with purple sacks rolled forward as they delivered their volatile selves to suicide bomb their robotic enemies. Like the raptor strain of zerglings, the hunter strain of these banelings launched themselves into the air and closed the distance in quick fashion, exploding the robots in splashes of acid. But the other breed of banelings, having green acid sacks that seemed to fizzle neon green mist, were even more troubling. When one of the greener banelings exploded, otherwise known as the splitter baneling strain, two smaller versions of themselves would replace their parent and deal extra, if slightly lessened, acid damage. But even with the new strains introduced to the baneling population, their attacks were increased by an alarming degree. Their acid splashed farther from their rupturing detonation, successive collisions with their targets suffered twice from the liquid corrosion, and any nearby zerg organism that was caught in the acid splash seemed like they regenerated their health from the dousing. They effectively evolved into a true tide of terror.

The mutalisks were also given a boost to their capabilities. For one, the mutalisks gained the ability to use two types of glaive wurms, switching between light targets with their vicious glaives, that bounced through six targets at once, or striking heavily armored targets with their sundering glaives, that sliced into them with lethal acid that chemically exploded everything it touched. But to only add to their already impressive attack power, their usually quick tissue regeneration was increased significantly when brought out of the fight. After a brief pause from the fight, with their health restored to full after a period of seconds, they returned to the fight with greater frequency to their attacks. Such rapid regeneration made them into a tremendously vicious threat to all foes on the ground or in the skies. Land or air, nobody was safe against the mutalisks. But their devourer metamorphosis had also gained and increase in their capabilities. Their gaping maws delivered their corrosive acid at an increased speed, while their prescient spores descended down onto any enemy that was on the ground, granting the devourers the ability to attack land targets. The devourers even gained an improvement to their acidic spores, becoming more osmotic and lasting much longer than before. Their acidic spore attacks even splashed outward in a corrosive spray onto nearby enemies, making the devourers a truly dangerous foe to fight against.

The swarm hosts had also gained new mutations, as well as two new strains that would hinder and kill the zerg's various foes. The swarm hosts could rapidly incubate and spawn locusts much more quickly than before, effectively swarming their enemies with devastating numbers that were summoned en masse. But the two newly introduced swarm host strains created quite the distinction in regards to their mutations. The carrion strain of the swarm hosts had kept their ability to spawn flying locusts, which could deal more damage to their enemies than what was normal for a regular swarm hosts' locusts could accomplish. They had slightly less life, but it paled in comparison to their damage output. When spawned, the flying locusts that the swarm hosts spawned would flutter toward their enemies, combating either foes that shared the airspace with them, or would swoop down and meet their enemies on the ground and target their enemy's anti-air capabilities. The creeper strain of the swarm hosts were more suited for a defensive role, being able to spawn locusts that had pressurized glands that can strike both foes on land and in the sky. Even though the swarm host creeper strain's locusts lost their ability to fly, their parent gained the advantageous ability to generate creep wherever it burrowed itself. Coupled with its other ability to deeply burrow into the ground and reappear anywhere where the zerg are present, whilst having a preference to emerge from a layer of creep, had given the zerg the ability to generate creep in locations that is far away from a hive cluster. An especially dangerous strain when used in conjunction with the shrylisks, a type of stealthy burrowing transport strain that had been assimilated into the zerg swarm twenty years ago. Hive clusters could be silently formed while they were diligently protected by a creeper swarm host.

But worse still was yet another group of reintroduced strains that worked together in the same frightening development. The ultralisks were usually an incredibly dangerous force of nature to contend with, since their carapace was so thick that the laser blasts the Kiln Keepers tried to take them down with was heavily mitigated. But now, their offensive power had reached into a whole new level of impossible capabilities as they burrowed straight through the ground and charged into the battle at the same time. The burrowing and charging ultralisks exploded out of the ground in a stunning display power, which also stunned their victims, making them vulnerable to further punishment. Their kaiser blades had developed a slight orange tint when they struck out against their enemy, as though the air itself became aflame when their monarchic blades passed through their prey. It was noticed too late that the momentum of their massive Kaiser blades wasn't slowed when they attacked. Worse still, the attacks they dealt to their foes seemed to invigorate them and restore the wounds they sustained. It was almost as though the Kaiser blades themselves assimilated the matter that was cut from their enemies and was resupplied into the ultralisks' tissue. But the ultralisks also had two strains that was produced from the zerg swarm. The noxious strain of ultralisk had gained the ability to create a constant noxious mist of acid particles that damaged nearby enemies, which can explode into a toxic cloud that can further injure their foes unfortunate enough to be close to them. They had the power to clear entire armies of infantry with incredible impunity. The torrasque strain of ultralisks were also a dangerous addition to the swarm. They might not have the crowd-clearing ability like their noxious strain brothers, but they could form a cocoon around their bodies when they verged onto their death. But once the cocoon hatched ten seconds later, the ultralisk torrasque is brought back from the grave, becoming ready to fight to the death again. If a minute had passed after their revival, then they could be revived from their next death all over again. The vipers began to assist the torrasque strain ultralisks as liberally as possible when the Kiln Keepers noticed that the cocooned siege breakers would become restored after their revival, using their abducting tongues to pull the cocoons out of the battle before the cocoon membranes were ruptured by the Kiln Keepers.

As the battle raged into the night, another new strain of zerg populated the conflict, staying behind the swarm's battle lines and replacing the queens duties of being the usual field medics. These new queens had a different appearance to them. They seemed to have smaller wings, differently shaped crowns, were slightly smaller than a queen, and seemed to have a purpler glow to their abdomens. Their healing capabilities seemed to me more gradual when compared to the previous queens, but seemed to restore more health in a bio-mechanical process of transfusion. They may be slightly weaker than a zerg queen, but the swarm queen assisted the wounded with a speed that was greater than their creep-dependent sisters, even when off of the creep themselves. Their presence in the battlefield afforded an ease to micromanagement in the commanding zerg caste, which enabled the normal queens to return to their hatcheries to spawn more larvae. The swarm queens were often assisted with brood queens, brave overlords, and creeper strain swarm hosts behind the battle lines, which helped further the spreading of creep.

[Flaws detected. Anomalies detected. Analyzing strategy... Analysis complete. Deficient unit formation. Deficient unit composition. Upgrades required. Requesting additional assets. Modifying equipment. Altering current strategy. Awaiting assets. Warning. Strategy inefficient. Analyzing variables and anomalies... Analysis complete. All Kiln Keeper assets deemed inefficient. Requesting assistance from non-Kiln Keeper assets.] When the new strains were introduced into combat, and when the recent mutations were introduced to the swarm, the Kiln Keepers were experiencing more casualties than they had expected. Especially when the zergling raptors and both types of ultralisks entered into the fray, since the reduced armor that once protected the Kiln Keepers was removed by the zerglings, which was then attacked and destroyed in great swaths as the ultralisks rampaged through their formations, restoring their health as they burrow charged into the battle.

There was a sudden shift in the war between the Kiln Keepers and the zerg swarm, and it was obvious to the stealth fliers that the swarm gained a horrifying advantage. [Um... Command, be advised. The zerg... The zerg have evolved.]

[Air recon 12, could you repeat your last report?] A surveillance officer answered back. [You said that the zerg have evolved?]

[Confirmed, command. I'm looking at the ground here and I'm seeing all kinds of damage being done to the Kiln Keepers' Peace Keeper variants. The zerg are quickly gaining ground, and I think I'm seeing new breeds of zerg being deployed against them. I've never seen these kinds of jags before!]

[Understood, air recon 12. How quickly are the zerg gaining ground?]

[My math might not be as good as yours, but I see the jag zerg wining against the unassisted Kiln Keepers, and gaining more ground at triple than what's considered normal. Relay my video feed and you'll see what I mean.]

[... Oh gods... I will notify Commander kralluf immediately. ... He's not going to like the news.]

[I'm just the messenger, so what do I care? Either he kills me, or the zerg will do his job for him. Either way, I'm kind of fucked here.]

[Uh... Copy that, air recon 12. Continue with your reconnaissance until your position is discovered. If you survive for an hour, or if you come under attack, then you may return to the carrier fortress you deployed from.]

[Copy that, command. This is Squad Captain Gakar, signing out.]

[Spawners detected!] One of the stealth flier pilots following Gakar shouted. Below the formation of stealth flier airborne reconnaissance patrol, the bellied forms of the infestors and the blightbringers crawled toward the war that was drawing the swarms' attention. They dragged their fat guts across the ground and created a trail of fluids as they go, spawning infested gilanians that shot down both land and air enemies, while the blightbringer had the added ability to produce aberrations capable of boosting the defenses of other zerg next to them.

[Sigh... What about them? You already know that if you stay clear of their sporing, you'll be safe.] Gakar replied to his squad member. They understood the infestors' ability to create fungal spores that not only slowed and immobilized unfortunate victims, but would also grow destructive roots into their armor and flesh.

However, the blightbringers had finally developed an ability they hadn't had the chance to use before that moment in time. [... Ah! Captain! Spore growth is crawling across my hull!]

This recent variable wasn't ideal to the captain of the reconnaissance patrol. [Divert your flight pattern and slow down, pilot. Your injury will slow the rest of us down.] Gakar ordered, hissing in contempt.

[Uh... Yes sir. I'll-AAAAH~! TAKING FIRE! TAKING FIRE! LOSING ALTITUDE! SHIIIII- *static*] It was too late for the pilot that had the fungal growth growing along the hull of his stealth flier. Spines suddenly punctured through his aircraft at such an alarming rate, turning his stealth flier into Swiss cheese before everyone's eyes. The swarm queens, hydralisks, and hunter killers were quick to find an airborne intruder that entered their territory, and they reacted to the trespasser in the zerg swarm's usual draconian way of punishing such intruders.

It had dawned on the squad captain that the bright green glow of the fungus, that rapidly grew on the unfortunate pilot's hull, had turned him into a target in the night's sky. That, and he hoped that diverting the flight path of the injured aircraft, even if it was a slight turn, would allow the surviving stealth fliers a greater chance of survival. After all, it wasn't the first time that the zerg had to deal with flying stealth craft before, and nor was this his first time dealing with the zerg either.

But he also knew when it was a good opportunity to retreat when there is a minimum of acceptable losses. A gilanian proverb came to his mind at that moment. It's never wise to tease a mongwedger more than once. [Command, this is air recon group 12, Squad Captain Gakar reporting. One of our stealth fliers has been shot down. Returning to our carrier fortress now.]

[Understood, air recon 12. Your reconnaissance will benefit the Golden Star Empire's efforts in eradicating all its foes. May the emperor favor your loyalty.]

Gakar rolled his eyes, but he and his squadron was already making a speedy getaway from zerg airspace. As they attempted their retreat at that exact time, the ravagers below the reconnaissance patrol began to launch globs of corrosive bile into the air at uneven intervals. It was as if the zerg became aware of the reconnaissance patrol's presence that intruded in their territory, even if they hadn't had the chance to detect them yet. Two more stealth fliers died, but four survivors managed to escape from zerg airspace. From then on, it was smooth sailing over a marching sea of red dots. One of Gakar's squad pilots decided to voice his opinion. [Huh... That was close! Those bombardiers were very pissed off at us this time!]

[They discovered one of us, so they figured that there were several more that were flying recon in their airspace. They might seem like dumb animals, but they are dangerously, and deceptively, intelligent.] Gakar answered.

[This is shryik serpent shit! How is the empire supposed to cull these beasts if they can breed faster than we can kill them?!]

[I don't have the answer to that question, kid.] Gakar answered, keeping a sigh from escaping his breath. Somehow, the zerg had became that much more dangerous than before that evening. The flying fortresses may have been designed for the purposes of exterminating the zerg infestation, but all they had been doing was managing their population on the surface of Kiln. He believed that the emperor, the general, and every commander under them, are going to have a fit once they learned that the zerg had became stronger by a ludicrous degree.

Back at the capitol fortress that Commander Kralluf was stationed in, the surveillance officer that had received the video transmission from the reconnaissance patrol gulped in trepidation. He knew well that his superiors will not enjoy learning of this update on the war front. But once he swallowed his fear, he turned around and gestured to the silver and blue commander. "Uh... Sir. I have some disturbing reconnaissance footage that needs to be addressed, sir."

Commander Kralluf gave a piercing gaze at his surveillance officer for a few seconds, and sighed. He recognized bad news when he saw it, and the facial expression that his surveillance officer was giving him was spelled out as 'pretty bad' to him. "Better show it to me then. Put it on the main monitor."

"Sir, yes sir." The surveillance officer replied. He turned and went back to his surveillance monitor and sent the video recording to Kralluf's main monitor.

As the video played, Kralluf's expression remained stoic through half of the video. When he finally saw the different strains of the zerg organisms and how they had suddenly improved, his stoicism slowly degraded into shock and awe. "... This ain't good."

The surveillance officer nodded. "Indeed it is not, sir. How shall we proceed?"

Kralluf gazed back at the officer and huffed. "We're not going to take a break on the job, that's for sure. Call all available commanders, General Pallax, and Emperor Gollog. They need to know about this."

"Yes sir." The surveillance officer replied.

Kralluf shook his head and grumbled as he walked to the six screens he once used for his earlier conference call once more. Like last time, three faces greeted him again on the six screens. Ralkan's expression had a mix between unease and anxiety, while Pallax seemed more tired than normal. Gollog, the emperor of the Golden Star Empire, seemed marginally more agitated than last time Kralluf had talked to him, even if it was only a few minutes ago. [Commander Kralluf, do you have an update for us?] Gollog asked Kralluf.

Kralluf sighed. "Uh... Yes my emperor. I'm sending all of you a video file of a reconnaissance patrol that surveyed the zerg's territory earlier. Apparently, they have been holding back until this point."

Ralkan's expression became puzzled. [Holding back? Care to tell me what that is supposed to mean?]

"Watch the video I sent you. Now there's several new breeds of zerg fighting against the Kiln Keepers right now, and they are wrecking them much faster than before." Kralluf replied.

[How fast?] Ralkan asked.

Kralluf shrugged. "I dunno. Like... Three times more than normal? Watch the video and you'll know."

[I'm watching the video right now, but I still don't know what you... Uh... ... ... Oh... No way... Fuck... This is bad news!] Ralkan said as his became paler in the face as time went on.

Pallax narrowed his gaze off-screen. [This is too sudden of a coincidence. What was the factor that created this change in the zerg's tactics and evolutions?]

Gollog hissed. [Isn't it obvious? Ever since the energy plant had dissipated, and the information blackout had removed all data relating to the discovery in the center of the red zone, the zerg organisms became more aggressive as a response. And these new breeds of zerg have me concerned... It's as though they became aware of our attempt to enter the red zone again!]

Ralkan sighed loudly, depressed by the recent information he had learned. [We're all going to fucking die.]

Gollog rolled his eyes. [Ralkan, shut up.] He then sighed as he leaned forward and shook his head. [I didn't think I would have to use my secret weapon so soon...]

Kralluf blinked a few times. "Secret weapon? What is it?"

Gollog gave Kralluf a deadpanned stare. [It's a secret weapon, Kralluf. It's supposed to remain secret until it has been used. With that said, I want every Golden Star citizen and military personnel clean of all zerg diseases, and devoid of any brain leeches. After they have been completely sanitized, they are to MEM shift to the fifth sky ring satellite by tomorrow morning.]

Ralkan took his turn to blink a few times. [Uh... Emperor Gollog, sir. What do you mean by that?]

Gollog paused, but then breathed a heavy sigh before replying. [I'm ordering everyone to retreat into the fifth sky ring before the morning comes. I will activate my secret weapon once dawn arrives, and nobody will get the chance to survive afterwards unless they relocated in time. Do you understand?]

[Uh... Yes sir.] Ralkan replied, feeling hesitant to ask any further questions.

Pallax narrowed his eyes. [Emperor Gollog, with all due respect, you make it sound as if this weapon is capable of mass destruction on a scale that we don't fully comprehend.]

Gollog nodded. [That's exactly right, Pallax. Even your deductive and tactical genius can understand that even I have certain limits that I am willing to test.]

[Then that means you would risk genocide to our race in order to defeat the zerg?] Pallax guessed.

Gollog sighed. [Yes.]

Kralluf blinked a few times. "... I'm getting the impression that this weapon of yours is incredibly dangerous."

Gollog shook his head. [Only if you're still on Kiln when the next dawn comes. Rally your men, Kralluf. That includes you two too, Pallax and Ralkan. I'll inform Commander Guik and Commander Faddoh of the apocalypse to come. As of this moment, everyone in my empire is to evacuate the surface of Kiln.]

Kralluf raised a hand. "About that. Perhaps I can be the one to warn Commander Faddoh? I need to have a word with him anyway."

Gollog raised an eyebrow at Kralluf, then nodded. [Very well, Kralluf. You may. I will message him to accept your call. I'll even threaten about demoting him to janitorial work if he doesn't receive you.]

Kralluf bowed. "Thank you kindly, my generous emperor. I will now prepare for the coming evacuation, as per your instructions. End communication."

The screens surrounding Kralluf had went dark as the second conference call was finally discontinued. Kralluf stood there for several seconds before he slouched and sighed. The display of his posture was easily seen by the men under his command, but he didn't seem to care at all. The surveillance officer that reported to Commander Kralluf had finally spoke up to him. "Uh... Sir? What are our orders?"

Kralluf looked at his surveillance officer for a few more seconds, and then coughed and straightened his posture. "We are not going to abandon this fight just yet. We can set up the automated systems so that all flying fortresses can automatically seek out all zerg infested territories on their own. I want those automated systems activated at the last minute, so I want everyone to get the automated systems ready before sunrise. How long will it take for everyone to evacuate the flying fortresses and MEM shift to the fifth sky ring?"

"Exactly one hour, sir." Another surveillance officer answered him.

"Then activate the automated system an hour and five minutes before doomsday begins. Once the automated system is in place, then everyone at their stations is free to evacuate their respective fortresses and MEM shift to the fifth sky ring installation." Kralluf added. He then turned around and began walking away from the central command area. "I'm going to give someone a private call. I am not to be disturbed during this time."

"Sir, yes sir!" His men said, saluting to him as he walked away from his command post.

Kralluf sighed as he finally retreated back to his private quarters, which took him roughly ten minutes to get there. It had plain, yet serviceable furniture that dotted the inside of the room. However, the walls, ceiling, and even the floor, was draped and designed with various kinds of animal trophies. A large and stuffed mole/mongoose/badger animal that was the size of two bears seemed to be Kralluf's second-most prized possession. The ultimate trophy that Kralluf had hunted was hanging behind his desk, which happened to be an ultralisk's Kaiser blade, which was carefully carved by a diamond-cutter to be a sixth of its original size, and placed on a placard. The silver and blue hues within Kralluf's private quarters became brighter as he walked into it. He sighed as he went around his desk, sat in his desk chair, and looked dumbly at the monitor on his desk.

He really didn't want to do what he is about to do next. "Huh... ... ... Galfroy. Make a call to Commander Faddoh."

[Command detected. Requesting communication link to specified individual.]

A long pause separated Kralluf from what felt like an eternity. Patience was not a virtue that was easily mastered by Kralluf, but he endured the painful wait as he tried to connect to Commander Faddoh. But the call was accepted all the same, as the visage of a green-faced gilanian greeted kralluf. A grin was plastered on his face, but Kralluf had noted that the grin was somewhat lacking. [Kralluf! In all my years, I had never expected that you would call me! Oh, but even so, I'm hoping that you could call me again at a different time. Right now, I am teetering on the verge of some vital information that I need to uncover, and I'm worried that any distractions might-]

Kralluf instantly regretted his decision, but swallowed his displeasure. His pride was still on the line. "Listen to me well, you tin-canned vaph refuse. I only called you in the afternoon because you didn't make any attempt to contact me throughout the whole day. I talked with Ralkan, Pallax, and Gollog recently, and they said that you and Guik were researching into something relating to the information blackout, or the discovery that was discovered at the red zone." Kralluf paused and breathed in softly. "But in either case... Uh... Look. I'm not really the type of guy that buddies up with labcoats, nerds, smart-alecs or smarmy know-it-alls. I just wanted to know what's up with you, Okay?"

Faddoh's smile slowly lessened to a neutral expression, followed by a depressed sigh. [I know I can be somewhat... overbearing, Kralluf. I'm not even self-conscious about my behavior much of the time! Ever since I converted my memories and knowledge into data, and uploaded that data into this machine body, I have noticed that I am slowly losing much of my sanity over the years. However, despite such a dark moment of my history, I am still given a small ray of hope in my new life thereafter. Each day, I am reminded on how proud I am of my daughter and the deeds she is responsible for, and I would thank Emperor Gollog every day for giving me the chance to bask in her triumphs, and she to bask in mine. You and I know too well that the life one can live is worth living, when you have a purpose that inspires you to reach for any goal you desire.]

Kralluf rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah, I heard this before. Let me get to the point already. So uh... what was so important to you that you decided to not annoy me today?"

Faddoh nodded and sighed. [Very well.] After a brief pause of Faddoh looking left and right abruptly, he then leaned closer, making his face larger on Kralluf's monitor. [What I am about to tell you is top secret. No news of this is to leave this room, and there cannot be any information leaking out into the public limelight. I suggest we switch our normal communication channel frequency to using encrypted shadow frequencies instead.]

"Right." Kralluf leaned back in his desk chair. "Galfroy. Encrypt my current call, and switch its current communication signal to a shadow frequency bandwidth."

[Commands detected. Commands completed.]

Kralluf leaned forward and began to talk softly. "Alright, talk to me."

Faddoh sighed. [Right... To begin this cavalcade of secrets to you, I'll start with what I managed to uncover from the data regarding the information blackout. From what I understand, it was an inside job.]

Kralluf widened his eyes and narrowed his brows.

Faddoh nodded. [Sadly, I am unable to track down the traitors responsible for the deletion of this valuable data, but what I have discovered so far was shocking. They had spent a meticulous amount of time deleting every piece of video and image file that had documented the existence of the discovery, and it was just after something eliminated all of our forces stationed near the discovery when the blackout began. Or perhaps after the blackout began? Anyway, just before the information blackout manifested, the ENO field sensor network was recording several sudden spikes of ENO field activity. I looked at the readings, and they were so astoundingly high that even the ENO sensor network couldn't calculate the scale. However, even those records have been deleted by the blackout, but I had uncovered the information by going through the stored data of a hard copy information storage item.]

"What is it?"

[It's a simple diskette.] Faddoh replied with a sheepish smile. [However, this information blackout had gained the attention of the Era Agency. As such, they had offered to help us acquire the data that had been deleted from our systems. But in exchange, they want my daughter's assistance to help them gain the information they need to give back to me.]

"Uh... Wait, what?"

[Time travel shenanigans, Kralluf. Basically, then need my daughter's expertise and skills in order to gain the information they need to give to us. My daughter has agreed to work with them, while I continued on my end to snoop around for any additional data that would be important. Gollog might not exactly agree to this plan, but he is always the kind of person that wants results instead of details.]

"Mm-hmm. So what did you find out?"

[A single image that has captured the likeness of the discovery.]

"Send it to me. I'm kinda curious on what it looks like."

[Sadly, I can't do that.]

"Uh... Why not?"

[There is currently a salacious virus in the information network servers. I believe it was created by the hacker group responsible for the information blackout, and I think they used that computer virus to specifically attack all image and video files that relates to the discovery. However, despite the careful data wipe, I was able to pull the image from the diskette and use outdated technology to print the image on a sheet of plastic. Our call might be encrypted and using shadow frequency communications, but even showing this image to you, no matter how briefly, might attract the virus' attention.]

"Hmm... Well, is there anything else you want to cover with me before you show the image of the discovery?"

[... Hmm...] Faddoh said, leaning backwards and looking down in contemplation. [... Well, I think I covered most of everything? I suppose a quick glimpse is in order. I will give you about five seconds to memorize everything.]

"Why five seconds? Is the virus that quick to decipher an encrypted shadow communique?"

[I wouldn't know, but I don't want to take any chances either. Here it goes!] Kralluf saw Faddoh backing away and turning around to grab something out of view, only to flash the image to Kralluf for a little more than four seconds, but no more than at, or over five.

Kralluf blinked a few times, his expression devolving into utter stupor. "... It's... Enormous! Is this another zerg organism?!"

Faddoh shook his head. [Again, I wouldn't know, but it definitely has some similarities. But to add to the mystery, the discovery had disappeared from the center of the Red Desert's crater during the information blackout. Something that humongous would have a hard time covering its tracks if it tried to escape across the desert. So far, we found none.]

Kralluf sighed as he scratched his head. "Does this mean that this... mass is immobile? Or did it dig itself underground?"

Faddoh shook his head again. [These are the wrong questions to ask me, Kralluf. We don*static*w what it does. But the best we can hope for is to be v*static*nt.]

Kralluf tilted his head. "Uh... I think you're cutting out for me, Faddoh."

[... What? I*static* hear *static* ... Oh no, this *static* means that *static* virus *static* affect*static* comm*static* We *static* at *static* are *static* lose *static*]

The connection between Kralluf and Faddoh had ended abruptly. Kralluf sighed. It felt as though that this virus was also responsible for the disconnection between himself and the commander of the Cube Research Division. Kralluf grunted and got up from his desk. At least he had learned everything he needed from Faddoh. But at the same time, he knew that he needed to be careful. Somehow, somewhere, there was a traitor in the Golden Star Empire's ranks, and Kralluf was getting the impression that it wasn't someone that had parasites behind their brain, or was infested by the hyper-evolutionary virus. "Well this is fucking great." Kralluf said to himself, walking around and pacing between his various trophies.

He walked up to an aquarium and inspected its contents, sneering at it in contempt. It was a present from his own emperor, a gift for becoming a commander to his military division. The other commanders had significantly better commendation rewards, compared to what he was given. But in hindsight, he probably would have killed the other commanders' little pets if he was given theirs instead. Kralluf's gifted 'pets' were not even worthy of being hunted.

However, as he inspected the aquarium, he noticed that the lid was left slightly ajar.

Kralluf turned around and looked down at the ground as slowly as he could. Barefooted footprints.

The silver and blue commander sampled the air as softly as he could. He tasted the familiar smell of something wet and sweaty that clung to the air. And it had the stench of the zerg.

It wasn't very pungent, but it was a subtle hint that he had overlooked. Kralluf was then reminded of his most recent conversation with Faddoh, a topic that regarded a traitor, or several, that was within the very command structure of the Golden Star Empire. Kralluf slowly walked up to his desk and reached under it. A conveniently hidden, density-altering, hammer-axe was pulled out and gingerly held within Kralluf's hands. "Galfroy, lock this room down. Notify me of any commands that would circumvent my previous command, tell me who ordered the command changes, and tell me where to find them."

[Commands detected. Initiating lockdown.]

"Good. Now direct me to the closest life sign that is not my own." Kralluf commanded, craning his neck and letting it pop.

[Command detected. Calculating... Calculation complete. Life sign location: behind the door to the bedroom.]

Kralluf immediately sprang into action as he threw his hammer at the door. The hammer wrenched the door from its hinges, which forced a muffled groan to trickle from an injured person seconds later. Kralluf entered his own bedroom to look upon his supposed saboteur. However, his eyes widened inextricably when he saw who it was.

It was Kay.

A/N: Haven't had a major battle in a while, huh? :3