Chapter 79: Fallout of the Necrostorm

Up above the ground, the neon-green rain descended down onto the deserts, tropics, pillar forests, cities and single ocean of Kiln. The higher atmosphere cooled the neon-rain, which enabled the irradiated water to quickly form into bright green rain clouds above the warm world. However, the heated air of the desert had caused problems for the global climate. As the hot air mixed with the cold and glowing rain, the sudden difference in temperatures had created a global thunderstorm that brightened the sky with green streaks. Minutes later, the neon dry thunderstorm eventually evolved into a neon rainstorm. As the land became drenched, the plant life, ranging from the tropical regions that contained trees and shrubs of varying growths and climates, and animal life, ranging to the mightiest bull mongwedger to the smallest vaph pest, was drenched in an unending torrent of deadly flooding. This flood even affected the last vestiges of every gilanian civilization on the surface of Kiln.

As the rain came down, all living things were beset by an indiscriminate decay. The wood and leaves of the trees and bushes became gray and brittle, which made their branches and leaves fall seconds after being drenched by the irradiated rain. Animals that were caught in the rain were unable to make for shelter in time, and they tried to find their respective shelters as quickly as they could. Many had died in the rain, their corpses becoming dust as each drop of neon pattered and pummeled their ashen corpses, only to be washed away in swirls of pitch and jade. The animals that did find shelter in time had doomed themselves into a tomb. The irradiated rainwater would flood into their burrows and nests, which would create a deathbed of loose flesh that looked similar to gray clay, while their weakened bones would jut out of their hide and reveal their skeletal anatomy.

The zerg were able to withstand the radiation to a degree, but even their regeneration had a certain limit to their capabilities. Much of the zerg managed to escape the coming doomsday rain through cave entrances that led to the underground super hive cluster, or had retreated into the maws of the nydus worms and omega worms. But there were many more zerg organisms that were either too far away from ever reaching sanctuary, or were otherwise incapable of finding and entering a safe refuge in time. The air strains of the zerg swarm, commanded by the various broodmothers, had suffered severe casualties, while the ground strains that were caught out in the open on the surface had also began to decay in excruciating pain. Zerglings began to perish in innumerable droves.

Because of the armor-shredding mutation that the raptor strain of the zerglings had acquired, they managed to quickly destroy and drive back the Kiln Keeper forces on the surface. But as of then, the rain would become responsible for killing the entire zergling population on the surface of Kiln, which enabled the Kiln Keepers an opportunity to retake the ground they lost. Every overlord, overseer, and hatchery structure above the ground even suffered from the dangerous effects of the rain. The overlords and overseers perished quickly, but the hatcheries, lairs, and hives slowly deteriorated. The queens, large queens, and even the broodmothers and swarm queens tried their best to heal their precious bio-structures, but such a task proved to be too much of an effort for them. They, and every other bio-structure on the surface of Kiln, gradually faded in the rain as ash and dust.

Even as Kay was respawned a minute later from the closest hive, the rain was already seeping through the desert sand and affecting the creep tumors and various other bio-structures underground. There were some underground hatchery chambers that were lucky enough to be morphed in natural subterranean air-pockets. Some were unlucky, for the pressure of the water on the surface eventually corroded the ceiling of the tunnels and caverns, making them collapse in a downpour of earth and irradiated floodwater. Any zerg organism that dared to swim through this glowing liquid would die seconds later.

Even the underground refugee camp cluster had been heavily affected. As the irradiated flood washed through the tunnels and arrived at the camp cluster, the remaining refugees tried to bolt away and flee to safety. There was nowhere to run. Some gilanians tried to bravely run through the floodwater, but they quickly tripped on their own decaying feet and died by either drowning, or from further decay. Other gilanians were luckier than others, since they remained on the upper sections of the platforms. Several of the surviving gilanians that had either slept through the panic, or were otherwise too sick to run, were safe from the toxic floodwater.

Tak's tent, on the other hand, was conveniently built upon a slope that was high enough to remain dry from the toxic flood, and it was also built within a naturally formed air-pocket in the underground cavern. Creep tumors had quickly formed on this higher ground, and a few zerg organisms were able to avoid the torrent of irradiated floodwater by vacating to the higher ground that Tak's tent was built upon. Several drones and zerglings milled about with nothing to do, while both queens and swarm queens did their best to heal any zerg creature that were infected by the irradiated floodwater. The queens prevented the decay from overtaking many of the zerg organisms that were unfortunate enough to become partially soaked by the irradiated floodwater, but by the combination of the frequent usage of the queens and swarm queens' transfusion, while being on the healthy yet malignant creep, enabled the zerg to heal faster than the decay could kill them. There were a few roaches that survived by burrowing underneath the flooding, but they had to have a major dousing of transfusing fluid in order to keep themselves healthy. And then there were the three hydralisks. Corvurn had them burrowed near Tak's tent in case it was ever beset by a force of enemies that Tak's bodyguards couldn't handle. But now, they were trapped with them.

From what Kay had noticed, the effects of the decay was slowly dwindling. The decay of the decay might enable his swarm to acquire a second wind from this setback. But unfortunately, he didn't when his swarm would adapt against this necrotic liquid.

Kay paced back-and-forth in the hive cluster that he had spawned from. There were a few leaks that had sprung from above him, but he was careful to avoid them since his learning from his first encounter with the glowing water. More and more of this dangerous rain seemed to continue flowing into the zerg swarm's underground super hive cluster, as though it had no intention of stopping anytime soon. Thunder could still be heard, even from the underground hive cluster. Kay sighed. He sensed that this storm was going to last for a long while.

A rumble had distracted Kay from his psionic surveillance of his swarm. As Kay turned around, he sensed that a shrylisk had traveled to his current location. After popping through the creep-covered ground and opening its maw, it belched out the familiar vertical-mouthed face of Corvurn. Kay sighed and turned to him. "You might not have any facial features, but I can tell that you're pretty pissed about this." Kay said to Corvurn.

Corvurn growled as he went to the edge of the pooling glowing green and poked one of his pinkies into it. "Adaptation against radiation, troubling. Swarm adaptation normally mutates against radiation-type stressors. However, radiation weapon used by organism Gollog exhibits properties unknown to swarm."

Kay watched the evolution master dipping one of his fingers into the dangerous water and cringed. "I already figured as much. But why is this radiation different from what the zerg normally faces anyway? I mean... We can adapt to various kinds of radiation at an insane rate already."

Corvurn gritted his teeth as he felt the decay graying his finger. "Command organism Kay's assumption, wrong. Concentrated radiation dangerous to swarm organisms. Over-mutation can occur following high exposure levels. Natural zerg adaptation can fail, weaken certain strains, or expire organisms. Some mutations might benefit swarm. Would be tested and analyzed before assimilating. This radiation, different. Electromagnetic in design, but cell and tissue mutation absent. Promotes forced necrosis upon exposure. Swarm adaptation slow against radiation poisoning. Doomsday weapon is fluid-based, yet affects underground hive clusters to great effect."

Kay groaned and slouched. "So... What now? Does this mean we can't ever swim in this water? If we take too long to adapt to this water, the Kiln Keepers might redouble their efforts and start infiltrating our underground super hive cluster! We'll be boned if we don't adapt to this, and quick!"

Corvurn grumbled as he nodded, despite that his hand was graying and falling apart. "Probable possibilities. However, resource tumors acquired heightened production of bio-matter resources. Analyzed resource tumors and resource vein growths. Unexpected results discovered. Contemplating new strain creation."

Kay raised an eyebrow at Corvurn. "... So why are you here?"

Corvurn turned to look at Kay. "Command organism Kay experienced radiation exposure previously. Reviewing possible adaptations developed against organism Gollog's doomsday fluid. Visual and psionic analysis complete. No adaptations developed within you. Will continue work elsewhere shortly."

Kay hissed a sigh. "Well... Thank you for concerning yourself with my well being." Kay then straightened his posture. "Say, do you think I should break the 'no psionic communication' rule this once and contact Virid? I don't know how dangerous this 'doomsday fluid' is, and I want to know if Gollog is launching it toward her moon right now."

Corvurn huffed and looked down in contemplation. "... Against requested actions. However, breaking rules does not necessitate bending rules, considering present risks. Will inquire command organism Othafurn to contact Virid on hexagon moon hive cluster. You, however, must exert control over organism Kragnon."

Kay blinked his eyes. "... Uh... Why?"

Corvurn grumbled as his decaying hand's regeneration was slowly beating back the decay. "Erratic behavior detected. Seeks to infest gilanian strain survivors. Against command organism Kay's will over swarm."

Kay's eyes widened. "... Uh... Why?!"

Corvurn shrugged. "Organism Tak developed illness. Possibly contracted from doomsday fluid radiation. Resistance to will of swarm hivemind growing stronger within infested organism Kragnon."

Kay's mind went through several possible strategies he could use to prevent Kragnon from infesting Tak in her sickened condition. After quickly reviewing his options, he thought up a plan to act on. He pointed at Corvurn's shrylisk. "How long would it take for me to get to Tak's tent using your shrylisk?"

Corvurn contemplated on Kay's answer. "Hmm... Twelve minutes, perhaps. However, doomsday fluid might increase travel time. "

Kay hissed and kicked at the creep. "Not good enough. I might have to take control of one of the changelisks to stall or stop Kragnon."

"Recommendation. Use psionic power to form barrier against doomsday fluid. Hover over irradiated ground." Corvurn suggested.

Kay blinked at Corvurn. He didn't know he COULD hover over the ground. "... how quickly can I reach Kragnon by that method?"

"Seven minutes. Perhaps less. Recommend leaving now." Corvurn replied.

Kay walked up to Corvurn to grasp his shoulder and nodded at his evolution master in a knowing manner. Kay then turned toward a tunnel that normally lead toward the underground refugee camp cluster, but it instead had the glowing floodwater blocking his path. Kay knew that if he took a dive in that doomsday fluid, then he would have to wait another minute for his body to be gestated in the hive he emerged from earlier. After taking a breath, he focused his mind and imagined a shell surrounding his body, and thinking about being lighter than the air. As Kay floated toward the glowing water, it was pushed away by the psionic power that Kay exerted.

With a smile, Kay focused and steeled his mind and proceeded to travel through the flooded tunnels.

Kragnon was sighing constantly. Or at least the changelisk lookalike of him did. He had only found out recently that his precious baroness had came down with a sudden illness. His son and two daughters were instructed to refrain from touching her, since her doctor told everyone that she could have the same sickness that had dissolved and killed nearly everyone that came into contact with the irradiated floodwater. After his transformation into an infested zerg organism, Kragnon had regretted his decision to trade his health in exchange for the safety of his beloved Tak and her people. He thought that the plans he had made with Tak would have accounted for Gollog's doomsday weapon. The preparations he made with Corvurn, whom was currently in charge of Kay's swarm, had not accounted for a torrential flood that was laced with some kind of powerful nuclear waste. Nobody expected the outcome that had happened to them.

"Dad?"

Kragnon was distracted from his brooding. He had been patiently sitting outside of a section of tent that an unwell baroness was staying in. His chair was an uncomfortably basic metal box frame that was covered in a taught cloth, but his changelisk body didn't mind the discomfort. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Yes, Kragak?"

Kragak sighed. He had been brushing a few tears from his eyes. His scaly face was dried, but his eyes were tinted red. "Mother has asked for you to come in now. She wants to talk to you."

Kragnon sighed once more as he stood up from his seat. Once he turned and followed his son into the sectioned-off divide of tent-flaps, he was beset by a tear-wrenching sight.

Baroness Tak was gently nestled in her large red bed, while her two daughters silently cried. They looked like matching twins since the two wore matching dresses tailored to their sizes, except one had pinker accents, while the other had accents that was a deeper and darker crimson. The doctor wore a simple white coat, but it was by a stroke of luck that he was traveling to Tak's tent during the flood. Had he not made his rounds to the baroness, then he too would have been swept by the necrotic tide. The only thing that Tak wore was a nightgown. Being royalty, she had the luxury of owning several different types of garments in an extensive wardrobe. Her theme always had to include some kind of red color, due to the fact that her red freckled scales was her most well known physical feature throughout the entire world. But her eyes had paled, her behavior became lethargic, and her temper was... Well... Still inexhaustible and sharp witted.

Kragnon slowly walked toward Tak's bedside and lowered himself to her, placing his elbows on the rim of her bed. "Hello, my beloved."

Tak turned to look at Kragnon. "Ah... There you are."

Kragnon nodded. "You asked of my presence?"

Tak nodded and smiled. "Indeed I did. I can feel myself growing weaker by the second. I thought it would be a good idea to get what I needed to say off of my chest before I... Well..."

"NO!" One of the sisters said, urgently wanting to paw at Tak's arm. The other sister joined with her, but the doctor stopped them both.

Tak turned to her daughter and sighed at them. "Girls. What have I taught you?"

There was a pause before they replied in unison. "It's impolite to be rude to royalty, just as it'd be impolite to be rude as royalty."

Tak nodded and smiled. "Good. You two are still young, but I have hope that you can lead the future of the people of Gargantua." She then turned to Kragnon. "Darling. Could you come closer?"

Kragnon nodded and obeyed as he crept closer to Tak, putting his listening holes closer to her face. "Yes? What is it?"

Tak sighed. "As it stands, you are the only parental figure to the next generation of my family's bloodline. I was hoping I could ask you to shepherd them in their growth until they become ready as the new leaders that could lead the people of Gargantua."

Kragnon sighed. "That's an awfully big task, Tak. I don't think I have it in my heart to accept that request."

Tak shook her head as a pursed frown appeared on her lips. "It is a great undertaking, yes. Had I known that you were so knowledgeable of various types of technology, of computer backdoor hacking, and acquiring information without ever making your presence known to the information network, then I would have made you a vizier much sooner." Her frown deepened when she realized what she had said. "... Even if that had meant we would be forbidden from courting, due to the laws made by my predecessors."

Kragnon shook his head. "Tak, don't ever talk like that. The children we had made gave us hope and light during the darkest time of our lives. If I had the choice to change anything that we had done differently in our past, then I would have worked on a contingency that dealt with this glowing flood."

Tak chuckled softly and shook her head again. "Ho-ho-ho, Kragnon! You know that you are not an era agent!"

Kragnon hissed as he retreated back and rested on his knees. "I know..."

Tak also hissed as well, but more in annoyance. "Don't make me forget that you are still keeping secrets from me, even if you want me to believe otherwise. But other than that, I know that you have other plans that conflicts with my own. I know you enough to know that you have plans within plans. But I would be remiss as a baroness to not take your feelings into account. So please, my darling. Tell me what plans you have that would otherwise conflict with mine."

Kragnon paused for several seconds before he nodded and sighed. "... I have been meaning to tell a few of the secrets that I had been keeping from you." Kragnon said, as he tried to contemplate a way to somehow convince Tak that hhe could cure her illness by being infested with the swarm's HEV.

Tak smiled. "Then tell me why I haven't been able to smell your musk? Even now, your scent is as eluding as a moon shrouded by heavy clouds."

Kragnon gravely paused. "Uh..." He was completely dumbfounded by Tak's observation.

Kragak and his two sisters turned to Kragnon with concerned glares. Tak, on the other hand, smiled warmly. "Come now, darling. Don't think that I couldn't get used to the usual tricks that the doppelgangers employ. I know that the one talking to me is one of them right now."

Kragnon's eyes widened and blinked several times. "... How long had you known?"

Tak sighed. "A while now. How entrenched are you with the zerg monsters, Kragnon?"

A pregnant pause perverted the space between Kragnon and Tak. After such a hesitant lapse, Kragnon leaned forward and looked down at the ground. "... Long ago, I was within a cold-pod, located under what once was Red mountain, and in an underground village that once belonged to the Hidden Water Spring Tribe. I was within a type of cryo-stasis hibernation for eighty long years. I may seem like your age, my beloved, but I am actually more likened to be a hundred and thirty years old by now."

Everyone, asides from Kragnon, widened their eyes at his secret.

Tak scoffed. "So I mated with an elderly man? Ugh, this would be very bad for my image if this kind of news got out. ... My loins are suddenly itching."

Kragnon looked at Tak with a flat stare.

Tak noticed Kragnon's expression and softly smiled. "... So uh... What happened before? What happened after?"

Kragnon sighed. "Before, I used to be a child under Gollog's rule. I didn't know what was happening at the time, since I was too young to understand anything. But some people broke me out of this strange facility and told me of his vile ways and unfair laws. After seeing how he had treated the people that were not under the boot of his fealty, I then took it upon myself to never be under his rule ever again. Thirty years of my life in those times had been dedicated to avoiding his rule. But I turned out to be a very important asset to him, though I knew not the reasons why that would be. Such are things I could never fathom, and I find myself not wanting to. When I came to the underground village, under what used to be Red Mountain, once located at the center of the Red Desert but becoming erased buy the flower made of energy, the unanimous decision was made to put me into a cold-pod. After that, it was nothing more but semi-lucid dreams of a reality that was not my own."

Tak nodded. "What happened next?"

"Kay freed me. He told me that he could be trusted, and he proved so by saving my life. Though I had my doubts that shoving my scaly hide into the maw of a zerg's shryik pawn could prevent me from my death."

"It ate you?!" Tak said, surprised.

"Yes. I thought that would be the end for me at first, but I was not digested by the sand-burrowing zerg-infested beast. When I saw light again, a changelisk doppelganger came to my side and swore to guard me from harm, or help assist me in my tasks. You all already know him by the name of Johnny."

Kragak sighed in exasperation. "I already knew that he was weird, but... I never knew he was one of those zerg critters."

One of the younger daughters with the dark red trim scrunched her face in puzzlement. "He was a zerg? Huh. I didn't know he was like those spiky puppy things."

Tak shook her head at her son and daughter. "Quiet. Please." She then turned back to Kragnon. "So when have you decided to... Exclusively use a doppelganger to be in your likeness and act in your stead?"

Kragnon gulped. He was somewhat worried about telling Tak the whole truth. "Well... You see... Uh... Due to a certain trade that I had made with the zerg, it enabled us a means to create a refugee camp underground, where we hope we could avoid the doomsday and wait it out until it's over. But in doing so, I had to trade places with a doppelganger in my likeness and mannerisms."

Tak stared at Kragnon for several seconds, and then smiled. "You became one of their pawns. Didn't you?"

"WHAT?" "WHAT?" "WHAT?" "WHAT?" Kragak, his two sisters, and the doctor yelled out in unison.

Kragnon looked up at Tak. "... How did you know?"

Tak sighed reservedly, but she kept her smile. "Darling. You know that even I have a few tricks up my sleeves, even as a baroness."

Kragnon paused, but after a few seconds of that hesitation, he understood by what Tak had meant. "... Heh. You used a bluff to get me to tell the truth. Clever girl."

Tak groaned as she tried to shift her body to get comfortable. Pain wracked her body, but she didn't mind it much. "So where is the real you?"

Kragnon sighed. "Hidden close to this tent. However, I don't wish for my infested face to be seen by your eyes. I have changed too much, and I'm afraid that the memory of my new self might tarnish the mental image of what you once loved. And I love you too much to wound such a beautiful tapestry of our past romance."

Tak smiled broadly. "Ever the romantic. Remember the first time we went to the Festival of Rain?"

Kragnon nodded, recalling the memory. "It was a year after we had first met. And it was the first time we danced, if I recalled."

Tak sighed contently. "The celebration would begin on the first day of rain. Once that rainy day began, the food vendors would open their shops and begin selling their wares. If you brought them a handful of rainwater, they would trade you fruit-glazed insect bread in the shape of a bowl. The fruit glaze was often used to collect more rainwater to drink out of, or to be traded with other types of food that was sold at the celebration. The bread often became very soggy after being soaked for so long, but nobody minded eating the soggy bread. They considered it part of the tradition to the festival celebration. And then there was the music performers. Oh, I loved music performers that uses water as the theme of their performances! Remember what the song they sung about? Something about those big ripples in an ocean?"

"Waves." Kragnon answered.

"Yes. Waves." Tak said with a giggle. "They would try to store gallons of water before the rainy day began, but they always fall short from the quota they needed because of the thieves that kept stealing from them. But when the rainy day came, they were able to collect all the water they'll ever need for their performance. Four stages would play as the people inside the crossroad began to dance in the first month's showers. As they played their music and danced with the crowd, they splashed their audience with the spills of water that would have rocked their stages."

Kragnon smiled. "And that was when everyone took off their clothes as they danced."

Tak tried to stifle her laugh but failed. "Oh, but you joined in on the madness too! Sure, you kept your loincloth on, but it sure didn't leave many to their imaginations when you sidled up next to me~."

Kragak's expression soured. "Okay mother, that's enough. There's children here."

Tak looked at Kragak, and then to her two daughters. "... Hmm. Quite right. I'm sorry, my child. Maybe it's time that I rest?"

Kragnon got up from his knees. "Quite right." He gestured to his son and daughters. "You three. Go straight to bed, and don't leave the tent under any circumstances."

"Why should we?" Kragak said with a sneer. "You're not even our dad."

Kragnon furrowed his brows and forcefully pointed behind himself. "GO TO BED. NOW."

After a pause, Kragak and his sisters filed away and left their mother's sight. Tak sighed. "Don't be so harsh on them. I'm dying."

Kragnon was hesitant to give an answer to Tak, but he sighed as he leaned against the wall that lead out of Tak's bedchamber. "Right..."

Silence filled the tented room that Tak and Kragnon was occupying. Before the silence became any more suffocating, the doctor coughed. "Uh... I think I'll stay in this room, in case my patient needs my attention."

Kragnon shook his head. "Not to worry. I am quite capable of keeping watch over her. You should get comfy and find a place for yourself to rest at."

"Ah." The doctor replied. "... If that is the case, I'll be in the next room. Remember to call me if you have any problems."

"Thank you, Doctor Orez." Kragnon said, nodding to the doctor. The doctor nodded back to Kragnon and began leaving the room.

Now it was just Tak and Kragnon by themselves. Tak smiled at her lover. "You know, for the first time in my life, I never would have thought that the 'no-touching' rule would ever be used on me before now."

Kragnon rolled his eyes. "Get some sleep. If this sickness is temporary, then you will get better in the morning."

"And you'll keep watch over me like a paternal krell? Oh, be still my beating heart~." Tak said, smiling with a teasing tone.

"Or just keep pestering me and continue tiring yourself." Kragnon sighed.

Tak sighed. "But don't you need sleep too? Even when you're a doppelganger, I find it cute on how you snuggle so close to me. It was almost like you had forgotten what warmth feels like."

Kragnon looked down. "... I guess I did."

There was another pause before Tak decided to break the tension. Unsatisfied with the answer she was given, she asked another question. "Being a pawn. Or as you called it, being infested. What's it like?"

Kragnon was hesitant to answer. After another pause, he sighed again. "I'm not going to answer any more of your questions. Please fall to sleep? Think of your health."

After a long pause, Tak sighed. "Well... If you insist. Goodnight, my darling."

"Sleep well, my beloved." Kragnon answered.

Minutes passed by as Tak made herself comfortable, despite her weakened state. The rise of her chest grew and shrunk as her breaths became concentrated. Kragnon thought that the baroness seemed so calm as she eased herself into slumber. When her breaths finally slowed, Kragnon left his leaning position and slowly sneaked toward Tak. Summoning a blade of bone from his dominant wrist, he would use it to create a cut on his other hand.

It needed to be a small cut, for he knew that all it took was for a single drop of blood to get onto an eye, in the nostril, or into any orifice or wound that would enable Kragnon to infest his beloved. And he knew that the heightened regeneration of the zerg could save Tak from her bedridden state, staving her from a death that she never deserved. But doing such a thing would also transform her into a pawn of the zerg. It would not only rob her of her individuality, but also her very own sanity. Kragnon was hesitant in giving his own infected blood to his lover, but he was conflicted with several other kinds of emotions. The zerg side of him felt dead, and it wanted to obey the voices that told him what to do. But then, there was his own mind, still somehow managing to keep parts of his sanity intact, even when something screamed for him to cease, there was the memories of his love life that contained Tak. They contained strong emotions, and he felt that it was the love he gained from those memories that had drove himself to sacrifice his own health for the betterment of others. Tak was able to join her people in the refugee camp, but it amounted to very little at the very moment the neon flood had began pouring into the underground. Kragnon hesitated three more times, but he felt ready to draw his blood on the fourth try.

Kay, or rather, a changelisk using his identity, pulled Kragnon's arms away and covered his mouth.

A/N: Gonna sleep and spell-check this in the morning. Tired as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-