Chapter 70: Mighty Malicious Power Commanders

Kay's nose was suddenly bloodied by the door which had unexpectedly crashed into and slammed onto his face. He clutched his facial injury as he squirmed on the floor. Despite the tough carapace that covered much of his body, his carapace didn't offer any form of protection to most of his head. But at least he was rather thankful for the regenerative capabilities that the zerg achieved in their evolution.

But then there was one particular problem that had manifested itself within that moment. Kralluf had discovered Kay in his own bedroom.

[Kay, the worm we've installed in Kralluf's computer server is going to take some time. Stall him for a few minutes.] Kragnon instructed Kay.

Kay had only ducked into Kralluf's bedroom so that he could try and keep from being discovered, since he didn't want Kralluf to know that he was snooping into his possessions. But alas, when Kay looked up, it dawned upon him that his stealthy infiltration mission was at risk of being discovered. A pause of several seconds passed between the floored zerg commander and the Crescent Arm's commander, which had filled the air with pregnant and gravid uneasiness. Tense awkwardness perverted the air, while a poignant sigh emanated from Kay. "Well... Um... Thid id a fine pickle I'm in." He said, sounding as though he had a head cold.

Kralluf was in disbelief. He slowly pointed at Kay. "You're... You're Kay, aren't you?"

Kay blinked for a few times, but he understood Kralluf's incredulity. This was the first time that Kralluf had ever met Kay within this new timeline. Kay rubbed at his nose, feeling the cartilage within painfully crinkle back into place. "I might not dound like mydelf right now, but uh... Yeah, I'm Kay."

Kralluf chuckled slightly before he positioned the bladed part of his hammer to Kay's neck. "After all these years... After decades of fighting the zerg threat on Kiln... Hahahaha! I finally have the opportunity to meet you in person!"

Kay looked up at Kralluf with a flat expression. "... I uh... I didn't come here to fight you."

Kralluf shook his head. "Don't care. Stand up slowly, and I won't take your head off. Steady now." Kay rolled his eyes as he slowly got up from the ground and wiped blood from his mouth. Once Kay was standing upright, Kralluf inspected his body with prided scrutiny. "... Huh. The archived video footage made you look smaller than I thought. And you certainly didn't wear this weird looking armor too."

Kay gingerly raised his arms above his head. "Call it a fashion statement." Kay felt as though his nose was clearing up fairly quickly, even if there was still some blood clotting his nasal passages.

Kralluf shook his head with an amused huff. "I'd expected something more frilly if you were actually trying to make a fashion statement. But enough of this distracting banter. Why are you here?"

Kay paused before he answered. "... Would you believe me if I told you I was trying to find a way to destroy the sky rings?"

Kralluf gazed into Kay's eyes. He nodded, but looked as though he wasn't satisfied with the answer. "I wouldn't doubt that, but that is not what I wanted to know. Why were you in my bedroom?"

Kay shrugged. "I needed a hiding place. Your bedroom seemed like the perfect place. It allowed me to eavesdrop on your conversation with Faddoh, but I kinda wished that you knocked on the door before you busted it down on my face."

Kralluf shook his head. "To be fair, this is my bedroom. I don't have to knock on any doors when in my own private quarters."

Kay paused. "... Well, you got me there."

Kralluf backed away from Kay. "Now don't move from that spot."

"What are you going to do?" Kay asked.

"I'm going to contact the other commanders, and notify the fortress guards, that there is an intruder in my private quarters." Kralluf answered, walking back and nearing his desk. He then began to use one hand to interact with his desk's monitor.

[Kay, don't let him raise an alarm! It'll lock the worm out the the capitol fortress' information network! You have a few more seconds!] Kragnon urged Kay.

Kay hardened his gaze. "No no no, you're not going to do that."

Kralluf scoffed. "And why is that?"

"Because I'll stop you." Kay warned.

"I have my density shifting hammer-axe trained at your head. Move in a way I don't like, and it's going straight through your bloody face like a skin covered vase." Kralluf warned back with a hiss.

"Dense or not, even projectiles can be redirected from their target if you alter their trajectory quick enough. I'm giving you one last chance to stop what you're doing, or else I'll make you stop." Kay growled.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to make me." Kralluf admitted. "As much as I would like to talk to you and get the opportunity to know my enemy better, it's still my duty to kill all that is zerg. If I killed you, then I can remove one of the zerg's leaders and finally acquire a strategic advantage in this long war." Before Kralluf got the chance to raise an alarm, a razor tipped wing glided across Kralluf's desk, which destroyed his monitor and keyboard. Kralluf responded to the attack by instantly shouting "LAUNCH!" which made his hammer-axe launch toward Kay.

Kay needed scants seconds to use his other bone wing to deflect the hammer that threatened to smash through his face. He barely had time, but his wing was bent dangerously in trying to deflect the melee projectile, but he redirected the launched hammer by only a minimal margin. Kay could feel the hammer itself grazing the left part of his face, making his cheek rip off of his mouth and flap violently across his jawbone. The impact alone made Kay violently twist around in several circles, which then quickly crumpled to the ground in a dizzying land. The hammer had impaled itself into the nearby wall shortly after.

Kralluf sighed as he checked the damage on his monitor once he saw Kay falling to the ground. He frowned in contempt when he noticed that his computer monitor was cut into three pieces, and that the keyboard was no longer operable. "Dammit! You busted my monitor and keyboard!" He slammed his fists on his desk and stood up. After that, he walked around his desk, intent on finding the fallen Kay to punish him. However, when he rounded his desk, he didn't find Kay laying down on the ground. Somehow, Kay had vanished, leaving only a trail of blood and s puddle of red that marked where he had once been. After a pause of several seconds, Kralluf soon realized that he didn't put Kay out of the fight just yet. "Galfroy! There is an intruder in my-"

"Nuh-uh!" Kay shouted as he leapt over Kralluf's desk as hands descended and covered the commander's mouth. Kralluf had his mouth held tightly closed, which prevented him from shouting out his next command. "Thash not going to happen." Kay had sneakily crawled around Kralluf's desk just as Kralluf thought he had knocked down his foe. He even used Kralluf's own desk to block his sight, and launched a surprise grapple when the opportunity was presented to the former spectre.

[The alarm didn't go off. Phew! Just a few more seconds, Kay!] Kragnon urged.

Kralluf struggled to get his next sentences out, and tried to grab for the hand that was over his mouth. When Kralluf did grab at the hand that prevented him from speaking his command, Kay was in for a nasty surprise with what happened next. Somehow, Kralluf's strength was a lot stronger than Kay had anticipated. He could feel his own hand getting crushed under so much pressure as Kralluf squeezed with his cybernetic augments. In a fluid motion, Kay's hand was pulled away from Kralluf's mouth, had his arm leveraged over Kralluf's shoulder, and then pulled down forcefully. Kralluf then turned around in a quick motion and targeted Kay's other arm and wrenched the elbow backwards till it made a crunching noise. After Kay's arms were broken, Kralluf launched a series of punches that were quick and efficient, disorientating Kay and pushing him backwards untill he was against a slightly ruined desk. "That's enough lip from you!" Kralluf yelled, grabbing Kay's head and kneeing him, forcing him to fall backwards and land on the desk. Kralluf quickly noticed that he had pulled a bit of Kay's cheek flesh from his own head when he delivered that knee-kick to his chin. He threw the lump of flesh onto the ground.

"Ragh~..." Kay grunted, limply rolling on Kralluf's table as he tried to get up with his arms, but failed when he noticed too late that they had been broken by the silver and blue commander. "You're... ougher an you look." Kay strained to say, slightly shaking his head from the concussion he was experiencing.

Kralluf shrugged his shoulders and groaned. "Just because I don't fight in most zerg engagements doesn't mean I didn't upgrade myself. Galfroy! There is an intruder in my private quarters! Activate the intruder alert, and send an emergency notice to the every commander, and to General Pallax!"

[Commands detected.] There was a sudden klaxon that blared Kay's ears, which also alerted everybody that was within the capitol flying fortress.

[Dammit! My link with the worm is cut off! Sorry Kay, but you're getting no further help from me.] Kragnon said, sighing.

Kay grunted painfully as he swiped a healthy bone wing at Kralluf. Kralluf braced himself, but was launched against the glass containment of Kralluf's aquarium, making the rocks within itself shift around violently. Kay rolled off of Kralluf's desk and weakly landed on his feet, but he then stood up and began flexing his arms. His bones were mending, but it would take a good while before they were back to their full strength. At least he knew that the bones in his arms would strengthen against being broken again, sans any future amputations that would remove his limbs. At least he could feel half of his sheared lips growing back. "That was *cough*... That was a stupid thing you did, Kralluf. I'm going to have to kill you now." Kay said through a pained moan.

A rock pelted Kay's head, making it shatter into several pieces upon collision. Kay looked up to notice that Kralluf had reached into his opened aquarium to retrieve a rudimentary throwing projectile, which made Kay taste the bitter dust particles of the thrown stone in his lungs. Kralluf gestured to the embedded axe that was stuck in the wall. "RETURN." By his command, his hammer had pulled itself out of the wall and quickly floated toward Kralluf. After catching his hammer, he then gestured to Kay with a taunting expression, urging the zerg intruder to approach him. "Whatever the hell you were trying to get from my home, you're going to fail trying to attain it."

Kay growled. "Before I get what I had came here for, at least you'll finally be out of my way when I rip out your heart." Kay lunged forward and aimed his wing's flange blades at the commander. Kralluf was quick to anticipate Kay's attack as he dodged to the side and hooked Kay's wing with his hammer-axe. Kay tried to retrieve his wing, only to find it quickly fastened to Kralluf's weapon. "... Uh..."

Kay lost his balance when Kralluf swung his hammer-axe, which lifted Kay off of the ground and pulled him into a circling swing that tossed Kay into Kralluf's aquarium, making the container explode in a shower of glass. Kay shakily pulled himself from the glassy shards that lacerated much of his face, though did little damage to the rest of his body that was covered in carapace. It was then that he felt a numbness to his wing that once had been stuck on Kralluf's hammer-axe. It felt as though it was sliced off. He could hear Kralluf preparing another attack right behind himself.

Kay reacted by spinning around and avoiding the heavy melee, elbowing Kralluf's head, grabbing it, and then grabbing a stone from his aquarium and smashing it against the shiniest part of his chrome head. A vibrating ring emanated from Kralluf's head, making him take a few steps back and holding the sides of his temples. Kay took this opportunity to rush at the stunned commander and tackle him. The shoulder attack pushed both Kay and Kralluf through the desk in the private quarters, forcing Kralluf to drop his hammer-axe as he collided onto one of the trophy-filled walls.

Kay's bent wing was slowly straightening as the battle ensued, and was intent on using it to deliver a fatal blow to Kralluf. But Kralluf fell and rolled backwards, dodging the sharp wing before it could kill him, and delivered a kick to Kay's knee. Kay lurched over, which gave Kralluf the window of opportunity he needed to pull Kay's head forward and charge him onto the trophy wall. Kay was briefly stunned for several seconds as his head was punched straight through the wall that was decorated with several antlers. Kay struggled, but he pulled his head from the deep indent. Once he had turned around, Kralluf was already pulling several kinds of antlers from the walls and fashioning them into sharp punching implements.

Kralluf then began using those newly crafted antler-gloves to punch Kay in rapid flurries and combos, while Kay raised his arms up to his chest and face as he tried and block the piercing attacks. Several sharp antlers broke off from Kralluf's attacks and were lodged into Kay's body, forming a bloody collage of ivory and bloodied carapace. When Kralluf's attacks finally ceased, it gave Kay a momentary period to relax as he leaned backwards on the trophy wall. He spat a small amount of blood. "Ugh... Damn... You might... be short... but you pack a mean punch."

Kralluf humored Kay. "I may be wasted on cross-country, but I am a natural sprinter. Very dangerous over short distances! RETURN!" Once Kralluf was reacquainted with his hammer-axe again, he lifted his favorite weapon over his head and readied himself to deal a massive blow to Kay's skull. It would have been a fatal strike that would have ended this battle.

[Perhaps you should use your psionic abilities? *static* Since you have already been detected, masking *static* psionic presence from the sky ring's sensor network would be moot *static* point.] Othafurn said. It sounded to Kay that his helmet's connection to Kragnon was experiencing technical difficulties.

Kay held a hand up at Kralluf, which forced him to remain still as a vice-like compression field stopped the commander from moving. He began to slowly rise above the ground as Kay's telekinetic abilities affected and controlled Kralluf. A scowl that bared teeth plagued Kay's face. "At least I'm a quick thinker." Kay then jumped and heavily dropkick-ed Kralluf directly in his chest, launching him across the room and colliding with the wall at the opposite end. After Kay distanced himself from the silver and blue commander, Kay steadied himself on his feet and took in several deep breaths as he focused his psionic power on his body. Within seconds, an orange mist seemed to manifest around Kay as he concentrated on his wounds. The ivory colored protrusions that were stuck in his body was slowly pushed out, which quickly clattered onto the ground. His missing bone wing was also growing back at a rapid speed, which soon mirrored its shape with another wing as they became a completed pair.

Kralluf grunted as he stood up, but then paled when he saw that Kay was quickly recovering from his injuries. "... You can accelerate your regeneration? That... doesn't seem very fair to me."

Kay grunted as he removed a rather lengthy antler from a rather deep stab wound. "As an old expression that I remember goes, 'all is fair in love and war.'"

[Kay, you *static* get out of there!] Kragnon suddenly urged, with desperation heavily laced into in his voice.

But it was too late as an invisible force descended over Kay. Before Kay even knew it, he was forcefully lifted and slammed repeatedly onto the ground in rapid succession. Kay groaned as he felt several bones in his arms, legs, wings, and ribs within his body, grind and snap from the sudden force being applied to him. After the violent slamming, Kay's body was then slammed a final time and left on the floor. Much of his armor had shattered into tens of hundreds of pieces, and his helm was no longer of any use to him since all he heard was a long shrill of static before a bleep ceased the white noise, which told Kay that he was no longer connected to Kragnon, Othafurn, or Corvurn. Kralluf tilted his head when he noticed Kay's current predicament. "... What?"

"No need to thank me, Kralluf." Said a nearby voice. A gilanian-shaped robot seemed to have materialized from the very air itself. Its armor plating was a coppery sheen, while the joints were a neon green. It also seemed to wear some kind of black and purple vest that was tied to his chest with a strap harness. The machine stood proudly between Kralluf and the crumpled form of Kay. The green LED face bared a cocky smile as it watched Kay with amusement.

Kralluf hissed. "Faddoh, you bastard. How the hell did you get in here?" He hissed, using his hammer to prop himself.

"I came in through your bathroom." Faddoh explained. "I suspected that a zerg assassin would try to target one of us one day, so I had MEM devices secretly installed in every commander's private domiciles when all of you weren't aware. I also borrowed Guik's light-screen mesh before I had came here."

Kralluf shook his head. "... I need to talk to you about that later. Also, you have Guik's light-screen mesh? What for?"

Faddoh simply beamed a smile at the silver commander. "To test a theory. I had expected that the detector strains of the zerg organisms have their own methods of seeing through the Pyramidal Guard's invisibility-granting technology. I had also theorized long ago that Kay not only has the ability to detect ENO fields from his zerg organisms, but also low-emission ENO fields from every other organism to some degree. Since I am a robot that was equipped with a light-screen mesh, I had the perfect opportunity to test my theory. Turns out that I was right!"

"Gragck~."

Faddoh looked down at Kay and tilted his head. Somehow, Kay was still alive after Faddoh's surprise attack. "... Hmm. He's a lot hardier than he looks, no?"

Kralluf hissed. "Did you call for backup? I don't think the two of us alone can take him down."

Faddoh turned to Kralluf. "You have sent an emergency notice to the other commanders, correct?"

Kralluf nodded. "And to General Pallax."

Faddoh smiled and turned toward Kay again. "Good! We will have no problems then."

Coming out of Kralluf's bedroom, Pallax, Guik, and Ralkan walked towards Faddoh and Kralluf. After surveying the damage that was done to Kralluf's trophy room, Pallax shook his head. "Kralluf, have you been playing with your prey?"

Kralluf shook his head as he picked up his hammer-axe. "It was almost the other way around, but Faddoh came just in time."

Guik's face-mask's letters changed to 'cautious' as she looked upon Kay's crumpled form. "I see that the situation is dealt with perfectly. Commander Faddoh. May I have my light-screen mesh back?"

Faddoh nodded as he undid the straps of the black and purple vest, removing it from his person and handling it to Guik. "But of course, sweety! Here you go. But remember that Kay can sense your presence, even with your invisibility activated. And speaking of Kay, I wonder if Gollog will allow me to move him to a research facility?"

Kralluf shook his head. "Good luck getting him to agree to that."

Guik quickly retrieved the light-screen mesh and hastily applied it. Ralkan walked forward to look at Kay's broken body. "... So this is the bastard that fucked the other timeline our informant came from, eh? Doesn't seem very tough."

"GRACHK~!" Kay could feel his ribs snapping back into place, which made him cough some blood.

"AHH!" Ralkan immediately jumped back and threw a knife at Kay, which had embedded into his arm. Ralkan then hid behind Pallax.

Pallax narrowed his eyes at Kay. "Faddoh, you need to contain Kay before he becomes a problem."

Faddoh nodded. "But of course, my general! Containing with my manipulation field now!" Faddoh shouted, pointing both of his arms and enveloping Kay with distorted air. Kay could feel as though he couldn't move.

Kay began to lowly laugh. "Heheheh... You... fuckers..."

Kay was blinded by bright light as his face was zapped by Pallax's pistol. Pallax then sheathed his golden weapon as quickly as he had drawed it. "Quiet you." Kay's body was immediately smoking when Pallax had shot his golden pistol at him, which had also made the zerg commander lay eerily still on the ground. Pallax then turned to Ralken. "Connect to Emperor Gollog right away. We need to get this variable sorted now."

"Yes general!" Ralkan chimed, pulling out a plastic sheet from his person and tapping onto it. After a few seconds of delay, the image of Emperor Gollog was shown on its surface.

[What is it?] Gollog said, sounding annoyed. It seemed as though that the sudden evolution of the zerg organisms on the battlefield was wearing him down heavily.

Ralkan saluted. "Sir, we have captured a zerg command organism! Designation: The bug-man beast-master!"

Gollog narrowed his gaze. [You have captured the one known as Kay? Let me see him.] Pallax nodded, and turned the plastic sheet over to point its camera toward the weakened form that was Kay. There was a pause, followed by a gloating laugh that emanated from Gollog. [Hah hah hah hah hah! This is almost too perfect! After all these years of hiding, he has decided to come to us! Oh, this is almost too good to be true!]

Faddoh stood partway in front of the plastic sheet, using a single hand to keep Kay contained and paralyzed. "Forgive me for intruding into your merriment, my emperor, but I would like to request taking this individual into my care. I would love to acquire this new specimen for testing purposes, and I believe that researching his weaknesses will help bolster our forces even further on the battlefield."

Gollog shook his head. [There is already a deadline, Faddoh. I will be unleashing my secret weapon tomorrow morning. We have been over this.]

Faddoh bowed. "Then I humbly request that you postpone the activation of the secret weapon, my emperor. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that has been presented to us, and I believe that our empire would benefit from the study of his biology, entomology, and psychology! I greatly implore you to reconsider this, for this might give us the insight we needed to help us find a way to eradicate the zerg menace once and for all!"

There was a long pause, but Gollog sighed. [... Consider yourself lucky, Faddoh. I shall postpone the activation of the secret weapon to eight days from now. You have until then before everything living on Kiln dies.]

Faddoh smiled broadly. "Excellent! May I request a solid-fuel rocket to transport my specimen to my lab space in sky ring five?"

Gollog shook his head and hissed adamantly. [Under no circumstances can we allow such a monster into the only assured safe haven that the Golden Star Empire has. We have been over this, Faddoh. NO. ZERG. RELATED. TESTS. ON. THE. RINGS. Use your mobile research facilities instead.]

"Gergj."

The gathered commanders, and Pallax, looked down at the wounded zerg commander. Ralkan decided to voice his concern. "Uh... Pallax, didn't you kill him?"

Pallax shook his head as he raised an eyebrow at the still-alive Kay. "I used my pulse laser sidearm's stun setting. Bastard must be more faster healing than I thought."

"You fuckers..." Kay hissed out, even when his face was mottled with scabs and burnt flesh that had healthier skin growing underneath. A demonic, and smiling leer greeted the commanders and general. "... Are in for it now. R~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~U~G~H~!~!~!" Kay pointed his two arms in front of himself and concentrated his psionic powers into a singularity, directing his mental energy at the middle of the gathered leaders of the Golden Star Empire. He had inadvertently activated this hidden power by accident once before, which reflexively manifested when he had his heart stabbed by Bubbles' blade. But at that moment, he decided to use that same power as an unstoppable attack that would remove many powerful leaders from the battlefield.

"GUIK!" Pallax shouted.

Guik acted quickly by summoning a black circle from her hand and using it to envelope the psionic singularity that Kay tried to create and detonate. When Kay released the psionic singularity, he expected an explosion to ravage Kralluf's trophy room that would also kill all of Gollog's commanders and his second-in-command. But the explosion didn't occur. Kay's face slowly deadened into a dumbfounded expression, while Guik's face-mask's letters changed to 'nonchalant.' "Whatever he was trying to make, I have it contained."

Kralluf emitted a snort of amusement, while Ralkan walked backwards and cowered behind Faddoh. Faddoh simply beamed a proud smile at Guik. Pallax simply kept his gaze sternly affixed on Kay, already realizing that Kay was more dangerous than he seems.

"WHA~?!" Kay stammered. "H-HOW?!"

Guik turned to Kay and shook her head, as her face-mask's letters changed to 'coy.' "A lady never tells her secrets."

Pallax walked up to Kay and pointed his golden pistol at Kay's face again. "Faddoh, I thought that your specimen is contained."

Faddoh shrugged. "This isn't my fault, sir! My manipulation field emitters can only contain matter. Whatever that attack was just then, it must be a result of his... no, it HAS to be the result of his mental power being projected into a form of energy!" Faddoh explained frantically, almost sounding excited by the display of power.

Pallax paused, but then sighed. "... In short, no." He knew that even with both hands, Commander Faddoh was incapable of permanently containing Kay on his own.

Kay summoned a crushing field of energy that trapped Faddoh and Ralkan, gripping them in the air. It was the window of opportunity that Kay needed to propel himself forward in a psionically shifting lunge. Pallax yelped as he tried to fire his weapon and dodge at the same time, but he had his leg caught in Kay's attack when he attempted the dodge, and had his pistol destroyed by Kay's same attack.

Kralluf growled as he readied his hammer-axe. "GUIK! REBOUND HIS ATTACK!"

Guik's face-mask's letters changed to 'confusion' as she readied two black circles from her hands. "Are you sure?"

Kay rushed at Kralluf, his claws colliding and clenching onto his melee weapon with an intense strength. Kralluf was able to match Kay in terms of strength, but Kay was slowly gaining more leverage as he used his telekinetic powers to increase his own strength. "GUIK~!"

With little time to act on, Guik quickly ran up to the two commanders that wrestled with one another and ran up Kralluf's back. She jumped up high and descended down on Kay with one of those black circles that she seems to effortlessly command. When Kay looked up to see what kind of attack that Guik would unleashed, he felt his own psionic power emanating from her black circles. After that, a flash of orange light filled Kay's vision, and he immediately blacked out.

Somehow, a hole had formed within the capitol fortress after Kay's battle. A beam of light started from Kralluf's private quarters that ended up creating a swath of destruction at a diagonal angle, piercing through several levels of the flying fortress and punching out the bottom of the aircraft, which also damaged two other flying fortresses, and destroyed a flier. The apocalyptic burst of psionic energy was supposed to explode outward in a radial explosion, but Guik somehow contained Kay's energy in her black circles and later expelled it in a straight line that seemed to dismantle everything in its path.

But after that battle, Kay was no longer sensed by the zerg swarm.

A/N: Alright. I proofread all previous chapters and did some grammar changes. And before everyone freaks out, I switched the names of 'shryzors' to 'shrylisks'. I dunno why, but it just seems to roll off the tongue better. I'm sorry about my writer's block. Had to feed it to some rabid hamsters.