Chapter 84: Rise of the Overcommander Ascendant

Kay was in a dark and cold space, whose light was only produced from artificial sources, and that warmth could only be shared by either another zerg body or from the creep itself. Such was the reality to those that were forced to live in such cold, limited conditions. However, the zerg were able to adapt to nearly any condition, provided that they had enough time to adapt to their environment. Within such environments, it didn't matter how passive or aggressive, unremarkable or dangerous, safe or toxic it was, the zerg would populate and infest virtually anyplace.

However, within the infested Era Agency, which was protected by a time dilation barrier that still resided within the timeline that the zerg first originated from, Kay was becoming anxious. Many days had passed as Corvurn Junior worked diligently on a plan to allow the zerg to survive the silver fluid apocalypse, caused by Emperor Gollog. As of then, it would only be a few more days till the time-dilation around the infested Era Agency facility finally falters and shuts itself off, which would allow the chrome fluid to finally flood the last vestige of safety for Kay's brood. Kay paced back and forth, yet patiently waited for Corvurn Junior's best possible plan to help the zerg survive a doom that would erase them all from existence.

"Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeon, work faster dammit." Kay whispered under his breath. He could entertain himself by watching the hydralisks shoot and fence with each other, or to completely disconnect the psionic connection to a pack of zerglings and let them run rampant in a feral frenzy. But alas, Kay was feeling a sense of dread as the final day of his existence, and the final day of the existence of his remaining swarm, was drawing nearer.

However, before the perpetual night became too long, a pair of doors finally opened. Its opening revealed Corvurn's near-duplicate spawn of himself, the descendant evolution master Corvurn Junior. A depressed sigh escaped his vertical mouth, while his carapace and bulbous head was slightly drenched with a transparent green jelly. "Apologies. Experiment took longer to test."

Kay turned to Corvurn Junior, his tone bearing a serious urgency. "C.J., talk to me."

Corvurn Junior huffed. "Performed several tests with available genetic samples. Results unchanged."

Kay growled as he gestured to Corvurn Junior. "But what about boosting the power to the time gate? Or even using a different waveform variance in the time gate's energy input that would hide the temporal radiation?"

Corvurn Junior shook his head and growled with Kay. "Insufficient energy. Temporal radiation reserves needed for time dilated field around Era Agency facility. Only defense against chrome fluid."

Kay rolled his head and walked away from Corvurn Junior as he held his head in frustration. "C.J., we don't have the luxury to stay here anymore! Our resources are produced at a reduced rate, the time-dilated field is going to destabilize soon, and we won't be able to survive once we're smothered and pulled apart by the chrome fluid!"

Corvurn Junior sighed. "Must acquire more temporal energy. Current reserves, lacking. Must produce more. With enough temporal energy, can produce alternate timeline. Currently, lacking reserve temporal energy. Alternate energy sources cannot power time gate. Electricity, incompatible. Temporal energy rare, exotic. Difficult to produce. Requires inducing paradoxes within timeline, which allows temporal energy production."

Kay groaned as he walked to a wall and leaned on it, frustration seeping into his voice. "But if we so much as create a time paradox in an attempt to collect fuel for our time gate, the Era Agencies from the alternate timelines are going to catch wind of our intrusion into the timelines and sabotage our escape from this doomed existence. If we don't do something soon in the next few days, we'll be fucked." Kay turned to Corvurn Junior and gestured his emphasis. "FUCKED!"

Corvurn Junior shook his head. "Not true. Taken several biological samples from several strains. Taken samples from command organism Kay. Discovered possible solution."

Kay sighed. "C.J., we talked about this. Don't take any biological samples unless you asked for consent first." After a short pause, Kay gestured to Corvurn Junior. "But continue explaining your discovery."

Corvurn Junior dismissed Kay's complaint. "Discovered hidden element. Time sand particles found contained within command organism Kay's brain. Developed unique mutations within brain matter. Resistant to timeline manipulation. Allow matter-folding capabilities. However, time sand capable of passing through time gate using modified energy output. If resonance ripple effect applied to time gate during activation, time sand particles emits temporal radiation nullification field. Created mutation capable of increasing field. Applied to specialized zerg strain. Power requirement made cheaper, reduced to tenth of needed power requirements due to resonance ripple effect activating latent properties within time sand."

Kay nodded with Corvurn's explanation. "Hmm... So what is this new strain you developed?"

Corvurn Junior shook his head and gestured at Kay to follow him. "Not new strain. Specialized strain. Follow. Will explain."

Kay huffed as he followed after Corvurn's child. After passing through a few hospital-styled hallways through the Era Agency's infirmary, Kay and Corvurn Junior passed through a couple more hallways until they met upon a small spawning pool, stuck between two medical/surgical beds. The remains of a chrysalis caked the walls and creep-covered floor, whilst something long and slithery was soaking itself in the pool. Once its face poked up from the toothed lip of the slightly small spawning pool, Kay's face changed to puzzlement. "... Who is she?"

Corcurn Junior pointed at the organism. "Advisor strain. Capable of retaining extensive information. Induced mental exercises and complex algebraic problems to develop eidetic memory. Will assist swarm."

Kay looked upon the creature's face and slowly eased into her mind. It was then that he saw the fragments of a past she once lived. "... Oh god, I thought she looked familiar, even without the scales covering her face. She used to be Zagion's secretary." Kay turned toward Corvurn Junior in surprise. "What did you do to her?!"

Corvurn Junior sighed and gestured to the creature. "Advisor strain creation required additional biological component. Used gilanian secretary. Contained abilities needed for advisor strain. Tested organism Kay's brain tissue mutations with advisor's specialized mutations. Temporal radiation nullification field mutation, active. Escape more important."

Kay turned back to the lithe yet lengthy zerg organism. It was hard to imagine her as a heavily infested gilanian. But the mutations that Corvurn Junior had developed within her would yield the best possible chance for Kay's brood a means to finally escape their current doom. And as of then, this new mutation that was developing within this elongated zerg organism seemed to be their only hope of leaving the infested Era Agency facility. Kay sighed as he gazed upon the heavily infested form of the gilanian. "... Considering our current options, I suppose this option is our only best one." Kay turned to Corvurn Junior and emanated a defeated sigh. "Do what you have to do."

Kay tumbled forward as the wind swept him off of his feet. A sudden coldness enveloped his carapace and skin, and he remembered to hold his breath as he was submerged into a suffocating blackness, barely lit with the muffled glow of the zerg-owned hexagonal moon. The color of a deep purple glowed beneath everything, which provided barely enough light for the resource tumors to photosynthesize into resources. The zerg organisms that were close to kay's intrusion into their territory ceased their activity for brief seconds to inspect Kay. After their curiosity was satisfied, they continued with their current tasks.

Kay got up from the slime covered ground and rubbed off any creep that had stuck to his carapace. After cleaning himself, Kay looked around and allowed his mind to reach out. 'Virid. Are you nearby? I'm here, and I need to discuss some tactics with you.'

'Kay?! How did you get here?! Was there an opening when you went through the sky rings?! Were you responsible for that vortex of psionic concentration?! And why am I sensing that the hivemind has changed?! What happened?!' Virid asked, her psionic communication sounding her telepathic surprise.

'Yeesh. I'll need to ask you to calm down first before we meet in person. I was not prepared for a tirade of questions when I arrived here.' Kay said, wincing from Virid's excitement.

A hesitant pause elapsed before Virid relaxed herself. Her response followed. 'My apologies. This was... very unexpected.'

'Well, to abridge what I had went through to get here, I'll tell you now.' Kay sighed as he thought of past events. 'Turns out that the temporal tomb that I was stuck in eventuated in the accelerated growth of a new Overmind, and through psionic communication that was outside of our timeline, was told by C.J. to hide inside of my subconscious till his power was needed to be used again. After I became conscious after the temporal tomb had fallen, I infiltrated a secret facility and freed a protoss, enlisted Kragnon's help to find something inside of a commander's headquarters that will empower the zerg, and then ended up being captured by all four of Golden Star's commanders and their general. I was later transported to a secret Golden Star facility that tortures prisoners indefinitely, but I had broken out of there with the help of the protoss I freed earlier. Sadly, I found out later that I was stuck within that facility for several days. During those days of containment, Kragnon infected himself with the HEV on purpose as trade to let the populace of Citadel Gargantua a safe area to evacuate into, and Corvurn allowed the refugees to form their sanctuary within zerg territory, all in order to break me out of the dark mausoleum. Once I came into the underground refugee camp, I was attacked by Gollog that was using the same robotic body that Kralluf used in the previous timeline and killed me using some kind of glowing rain that is highly radioactive and irradiated, but I was able to be respawned from a healthy hatchery. Once I respawned from one of the hatcheries, I thwarted an assassination attempt on Baroness Tak's life, acquired a 'psionic focuser' device that can focus my psionic powers apparently, and it was then that I discovered that The New Overmind was hiding in my subconscious the entire time. ... And I think that's everything that happened from my perspective?'

'A... New... Overmind?' Virid repeated.

'Yup. I used his powers to create a wormhole to bring me here to get myself closer to you. And speaking of which, where are you?' Kay asked.

'Uh... A leviathan will deliver me to your position. I will be landing near you shortly.'

'Actually, could you bring me into your leviathan? I'd prefer breathing recycled gasses over holding my breath in a vacuum.'

A sigh escaped Virid's psionic connection. 'As you wish.'

Kay looked up and focused on a black speck in an immensely black sky in the horizon. Kay was barely able to see the slowly growing dark spot, but he undoubtedly knew that Virid was aboard that distant leviathan. The leviathan drifted closer to Kay's position in a matter of several seconds. As it got closer, Kay could sense that there were hundreds of other leviathans and behemoths floating above the veil that kept the zerg from leaving Kiln and its prison system. Though they were far and away from the firing range of the sky rings, they were forced to reside in close proximity to the matter-deleting veil. However, in order for the leviathans and behemoths to survive in this blackened space, Virid seemed to have developed a unique way for her separated brood to generate more resources.

As the Virid-controled-leviathan floated over Kay, Kay could see that there was a layer of creep growing on its very shell and carapace. He surmised that there were resource tumors that were growing inside of the leviathan, and that they were somehow connected to the creep-covered-carapace that was exposed to the vacuum environment. Kay could also sense that not only were there leviathans and behemoths just above the veil, but they were also tasked with basking in the light of Kiln's sun, and they did so outside of the constant darkness of Kiln's permanent eclipse. Though there was no cosmic radiation to photosynthesize into bio-matter and accelerant, Kiln's sun could only provided just a trickle of energy. But there were so many leviathans and behemoths, which implied that the hatcheries had been growing their numbers over Kiln's hexagonal moon for twenty years. There seemed to be thousands in the air, and each one seemed positively taught with bio-matter and accelerant. If their reserves grown too cumbersome to contain, then another behemoth or leviathan would be spawned to share and store excess resources within themselves.

A slithery tendril hovered close to Kay, its end opening up to reveal an inviting tunnel for which Kay could pass through. Kay took to the hollow tendril and entered it. Soon after, Kay was within the massive zerg organism. After a minute or so of walking within the moist confines of the bioship's innards, he found the part of the leviathan that Virid resided in. The leviathan's nerve center. Once he passed through a fold of flesh and found Virid there, looking down upon the drones and queens that were busy with their appointed tasks, he sighed. "After twenty years, we are finally face-to-face again. Heh. For some reason, it feels like it has been an eternity for me."

Virid turned around and crawled toward Kay. Kay was surprised to witness Virid's new size, and discovering that an impressive set of horns adorned her spiny crown. Asides her scaled-up body-shape, her gaze was skeptical as she analyzed Kay's body. "... You barely changed in appearance, yet I sense that your mind has deepened with so much strength. Is it really true that you have an Overmind contained in your subconscious?"

Kay nodded and smiled, even when a smidgen of discomfort hid behind his assuring facial expression. "It's true all right. But uh... I think he's more than content with letting me have control of my own body at the moment. I'm actually thankful that he's... keeping himself put in my subconscious right now. ... I'm a little weirded out by it but uh... It'll take some getting used to."

"Hm." Virid replied as she studiously stared at Kay. "You do seem somewhat different from when I last saw you."

Kay gestured at Virid. "Well I certainly recognize your mental pattern. However, you have certainly... Uh... Well... 'GROWN' since the last time I had seen you."

Virid stared at Kay before huffing her answer. "That's certainly a more polite way of saying that I have fattened during our time being separated from our main brood on Kiln."

Kay raised his hands up in defense. "Whoa whoa whoa, I didn't call you 'fat'. I called you 'grown'."

"You were thinking 'fat'." Virid deadpanned.

Kay hissed in defeat. "Well now you're just being a butt. I mean, is it really that hard for a fat-assed queen to develop a sense of humor? Huh... I guess you wouldn't develop one from being on the moon for twenty years."

Virid sighed, a hint of nostalgia escaping her exhalation. "I remember that casual personality now. Strangely, before this meeting of ours, I somewhat missed your aloofness."

Kay perked up from hearing Virid's remark. "Uh... Really?"

"Yes." Virid then huffed. "But now I don't. I had forgotten how much I grew annoyed by your inane behavior, and I am regretting having to reunite with you again."

Kay raised an eyebrow at Virid for a few seconds, before a sigh-muffled chuckle escaped his lungs. "Oof. You wound me. So scathing." Kay said sarcastically.

Virid rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's stop reminiscing on our meeting and act like proper commanders. Why are you here?"

Kay smirked. "I'm hoping to put into motion a two-pronged large-scale assault against the Golden Star Empire. As of right now, I need to have all of the zerg to get rid of all hostile forces on the surface of Kiln before we mobilize against Emperor Gollog's sky rings. Once that is done, and once the sky rings are destroyed, we'll be able to go after Gollog and finally remove the last of his empire's foundation."

Kay could feel Virid's excitement as she clasped her claws together. "Then the time for waiting is over? At last! Now I won't have to linger near this cold moon any longer!"

Kay nodded. "I knew you'd be excited for this. Have any queens or broodmothers that will take over for you here? I'll need to bring the both of us to the other commanders in the super hive cluster."

Virid nodded at Kay before she turned away. She tapped herself into the psionic hivemind and began communicating. 'Broodmothers Sytyk, Kalixa, and Vammar! I am needed elsewhere. Prepare all the zerg under my control for battle.'

'Will we finally be going to war?' Another broodmother asked Virid.

'We will soon. But as of now, we must prepare.' Virid replied. After she was done with giving her orders to her broodmother lieutenants, she turned to Kay. "My broodmother underlings will take care of things on the hexagonal moon's hive cluster. However, I need to ask two very important questions. How did you come to my hive cluster? And more importantly, how will we get to the underground super hive cluster under Kiln's surface without activating the sky rings' weapons?"

Kay nodded at Virid with a smile. "I'll answer both of those questions at once. I used one of my new powers that The Overmind unleashed for me. All I have to do is think really really hard at one spot, and then I focus really really hard at a completely different location. After some effort, I can then create a wormhole that's connected to any two places of my choosing. We can shorten the time it takes to cross an expansive gap between locations to only a few seconds, where it would otherwise take hours, days, maybe even weeks, months or years, for one to walk the same distance without using the wormholes."

"Ah, I see! So that was the power The Overmind has given to you." Virid said and nodded, amazed that such a power even existed. "Then this means that the leviathans and behemoths are no longer the fastest means of transportation anymore?"

Kay shrugged. "Technically, yes. But it's not easy for me, since forming wormholes does take a lot of focus to create. Anyway, are you ready to reunite with old friends and meet new ones?"

"Form the wormhole, Kay." Virid trilled. "I am ready."

Kay nodded at Virid before he turned away. What he now needed was an open space. Thankfully, there were plentiful open spaces within the leviathan, and Kay focused on one that was right in front of him. Once he concentrated at the space in front of him, a ripple in space eventually formed a purple vortex. The vortex then formed the same red, orange, yellow and white disk from before. When Kay looked at the center of the vortex and the passage it formed, Kay could see the underground hatchery that he was once in, but colored differently. Kay strained a sigh as he used his mental might to keep the wormhole open. "Kay... You can uh... Go through... Make it quick. I'll... follow."

Virid paused to inspect the wormhole before nodding at Kay. She hurriedly scuttled through the vortex. Once Virid was on the other side of the wormhole, Kay leapt through and closed the vortex behind himself.

Meanwhile, aboard one of the many gyroscopic mag-rail stations that prevented the sky rings from falling into Kiln's atmosphere, a general in red and golden armor was sighing as he surveyed one of several camera feeds in his office's private quarters.

Pallax sighed as he watched the Kiln Keepers proceeding to build forward bases that would manufacture more of their numbers. It would take some time for them to increase their numbers. The Kiln Keepers suffered heavy losses due to the unexpected mutations that the zerg developed, which especially includes any of the Peace Keeper robot variants that were unfortunate enough to get caught by the zerglings' claws. Somehow, their claws had suddenly developed enough strength to rip open the armor of the Kiln Keeper armor, which not only allowed the zerglings to rip the circuits and mechanical parts apart, but also enabled the other zerg strains to attack their exposed weakness directly. In short, the zerglings' claws seemed to have developed an ability that shreds armor. Worse still, the zerg have also developed several other breeds of themselves that gained unique abilities that hindered not only the Kiln Keepers, but the anti-air capable zerg strains also wounded the flying fortresses by a great extent.

Even during Kay's capture and containment, the six or seven days that followed were an absolute hell for both the Kiln Keepers and the Golden Star Military. The Kiln Keepers had lost so much ground that their forces had to be constantly supported by both the sky rings' energy lance orbital bombardments and Golden Star's own military forces. Several flying fortresses had suffered heavy losses during that time, but Kay's escape had cemented Gollog's decision to unleash his secret weapon a day earlier, which was later dubbed 'Operation Necrostorm' by Emperor Gollog himself. Zerg activity was reduced to zero on the surface of Kiln, but Faddoh had calculated that there may be some underground pockets that were unaffected by the irradiated floodwater. Gollog even stated that he had personally sought out the bug-man beast-master in order to watch if the necrostorm had any affect on a zerg organism, reporting that the irradiated rain had an overwhelming affect on zerg biology.

He remembered the cacophonous cheering from several of Golden Star's military personnel, the crowds riling themselves to early celebration on the day Gollog said he watched Kay die by the rain. But what Pallax thought he saw from Gollog's posture and face told him a different story. Though Gollog wore a smile upon addressing his loyal servants on a ring-wide broadcast within the fifth sky ring, Pallax thought he saw what looked like a practiced smile.

Many hours had passed since Pallax had caught that practiced smile, and Pallax was only then developing concern for his emperor.

Abandoning the surveillance feeds, he turned to his computer terminal. "Sky Ring Computer Artificial Intelligence, aka Skrico. Access information from your database, and then playback the announcement that Emperor Gollog made, the one regarding the death of the zerg organism, codenamed Bug-man Beast-master."

[Commands detected. Accessing.] After a few seconds had passed, an image of Gollog above a group of people was shown to Pallax, and posing with his hands outstretched and standing in front of several opalescent pillars of great size. Pallax leaned towards his computer terminal monitor.

The image then began to animate. [Torus Chain. Cube Research. Crescent Arms. Pyramidal Guard. All divisions and all citizens loyal to the Golden Star Empire and to me. Hear me now. The enemies of our empires that once lived on the surface of Kiln are now no more. To the citizens and the officers that have been relocated so far above our world, within the fifth sky ring satellite mega structure orbiting around Kiln, I wish to reveal to you my master plan that was enacted in secret.] Gollog began to move while the camera followed his movement. A dark screen was panned towards as it turned on to reveal three models, one that was a representation of the sky ring super structures, another that was a globe of Kiln, and the third that was a combination of both. Gollog pointed at this screen. [Currently, we are all located within the fifth sky ring. Most of my military personnel are mainly located within the gyroscopic mag rail stations that interconnects with each sky ring mega structure. Rest assured that, yes, this enormous installation was created by the Kiln Keepers. But also know this, my people, that the Kiln Keepers had built the sky rings for us! It is a clean habitat where it is free of the corruption that our enemies would dare spread to us. It will be here that we will begin rebuilding our empire. It will be here that we shall mend our wounds, and empower our next generation. In this mega structure, you are free to eat, drink, play, procreate, and anything you may wish so long as you obey the rules under my power.]

The two models containing the sky rings began emitting green clouds while the globe that did not have any sky rings circling it had a cloud with green rain over it. [But some of you may have noticed the green rain outside of your windows. Though it was once a cause of concern for many, know that the green mist was of my doing. With my instructions, the Kiln Keepers created a specialized system of manifestation alters, each one able to create highly irradiated water, which would then be spouted towards the surface of Kiln. Millions of gallons of poisoned water was sprayed down towards Kiln. All life on the surface of the world below us, both plant and animal, both gilanian and zerg, are now dead because of this necrotic storm I had unleashed onto them.]

Gollog then smiled toward his audience and gestured to them. [But rejoice, my citizens! This means that our enemies are incapable of causing harm to my rule ever again! This is a victory for our empire, yet it came at great sacrifice. Our numbers may have dwindled, but we shall continue to exist, even after I brought my apocalypse down onto our precious world. The nonaligned gilanian factions, the very infidels that we once shared our borders with as they constantly dared resist my absolute rule, and the zerg, the invasive organisms that hunted my brave soldiers and invaded the cities that were part of my kingdom, have died by the drowning green water. Their flesh was reduced to mud the very moment the irradiated water made contact with their carapace and scales.]

Gollog brought his arms down and folded them behind his back. [But don't think that this rain of radioactive plague would be permanent. I was meticulous in creating this dangerous fluid that would wash over the entirety of Kiln, yet it will only pollute the world in a short span of time. We can return to Kiln without having to worry about the radiation soaking its sands and water one day. But as of now, it will take thirty years for the irradiated water to become stable, and allowing Kiln to be safe to traverse once more.]

A smile formed upon the emperor's face. [All traitors against my rule, all monsters set upon our destruction, and all enemies against the glorious Golden Star Empire, are now laid dead under our feet. Rejoice! Know that we are at a new height of power! The Kiln Keepers agreed to become our protectors as they continue to hunt for the monstrous zerg, an enemy that we have fought valiantly against for twenty years. As of now, we shall grow stronger in both strength and numbers, my loyal citizens. In thirty years after our time staying within the sky ring mega structures, we shall populate Kiln once more. On that day we will retake our homeworld. And with it, our legacy.]

The cheering went on for several seconds. "Pause the playback... here." Just as the emperor turned away after listening to the applauding and roaring audience, Pallax saw that Gollog's smile had... diminished?

After gazing upon his emperor for several more seconds, Pallax released a sigh. The general of the four armies saw the real face behind the mask, and the face was plain for him to see. It bared the unmistakable sign of dissatisfaction. There was something in Gollog's mind, and it was bothering him, even while making the announcement of Golden Star's victory over the zerg.

Pallax knew that he would have to make an appointment to meet with the emperor in order to discuss this most pressing detail he discovered.

A/N: You know, I don't think I have explained to you guys all the kinds of plants and animals that live on Kiln. :o

Vaph: Parrot-beaked rat things, whose skin is as wrinkly as a mole rat, but also has a gray patch of fur on their back. The young are born naked, and have underdeveloped beaks.

Krell: Exists in three breeds. The flying breed that lives in the wild, a ground breed that is bred to be either tame pets or as a livestock food source, and a third breed that used to be used for krell fighting. The males have bright and colorful plumage that is usually red and green, while the females are usually duller with different tints and hues of brown and white. They don't contain beaks, but they have both sharp incisors and grinding cuspids and molars that specialize in consuming both plants and smaller animals, like Vaph. Any hollowed-out organ, such as a bladder or stomach, could be used as a temporary reservoir that holds drinking water.

Shryik serpent: The badass predator of any desert region. They follow the vibrations their prey makes in the sand, and then ambush when an opportunity presents itself. Their sharp scales are colored to match the sands they burrow in, while their teeth are designed to draw food into their throats, and slice prey that tries to resist being ingested. Females are known to be quite large when at their mature growth, while the males, known as bulls, can reach impressive lengths and sizes. Both genders can cover territories that are many kilometers wide, but the males demands a bigger tract of land to hunt in, and would often resort to eating other female shryiks to sustain himself.

Saltwater Pincer: A red-shelled crustacean that lives in the saltier parts of the world, They are a type of Pincer that typically lives in the salty oceanic layer of the Shallow Ocean. They are mainly carnivorous, and they have far-reaching arms. One arm is usually buried under the surface of the sand, while another is kept out of sight. The buried arm would then wiggle a pincer to attract prey into the ground, whilst the hidden arm is primed to lash out and catch its meal. To gilanian fishermen, it is a hard crab to fish for since they could grow to five feet wide, while each of their double-jointed arms could reach fifteen feet.

Freshwater Pincer: This Shallow Pincer is an uncommon, yet smaller breed of Pincer, but is a more active hunter than its large saltwater cousins. It uses floating foliage as camouflage, and waits for its prey to come closer. Sadly, floating foliage is hard to come by since the Freshwater Pincer uses its own camouflage as a nursery. And if the den mother abandons her nest, then other predators would raid the nest for the eggs and zoea. Gilanian fisherman often build traps that trap Freshwater Pincers, which only helped reduced their populations further.

Fresh Fish: The colloquially named 'Fresh Fish' is a type of freshwater euryhaline oceanic fish that feeds on salty seaweeds, saltwater worms, and brine flies on the surface, while keeping its own salt levels balanced in the freshwater layer of the Shallow Ocean. Their scales are silvery, while they also have two sets of fins that flashes between black and white, which is used to signal other fish that there is danger in the area, or that there is an uncontested supply of food. Their telescopic eyes can see far, and their sensitive sense of smell is superb, and will avoid an area if it contains a predator that had made a recent kill. Gilanian fisherman are cunning enough to use nets to trap these fish, which could then be eaten raw, or brought back to port to be dried and traded.

Salt Fish: An overgrown predatory fish that lives in the salt layer of the Shallow Ocean, which looks exactly like a Fresh Fish, but bigger. It is capable of hunting Fresh Fish or any crabs that are detected by it. It is rare to find a Salt Fish in the Shallow Ocean, yet gilanian fisherman would say that, once in a while, when food becomes scarce for the Fresh Fish, they would begin cannibalizing on each other. The survivor of the cannibalistic blood frenzy would then develop a taste for other Fresh Fish, which would later grow into a Salt Fish.

Mongwedger: This is a creature that can stand as tall as 4.5 meters, which has sandy-yellow fur that is grown in a rough coat, which look like a combination of a badger, weasel, and mongoose. They are an omnivorous animal that bears huge strong claws, which is used for digging for the roots of underground plants. They could also use their claws to fish out Shryik Serpents and slice them into pieces. Sadly, they are a type of animal that requires water that is abundant in supply. Many shryik hunters often tame mongwedgers to hunt down troublesome shryik serpents. Multiple mongwedgers would be needed to hunt down a bull shryik serpent.

Brine Fly: Water is rare in any desert, and an oasis can provide the fluids one may need to survive another day. Unfortunately, Brine Flies are capable of infesting any oasis they come across, which can pollute the water with salty brine years later. However, Brine Flies can be grounded down and packaged into a staple, if unpleasantly bland, food source. A crunch with every bite!

Vaph Grass/Maze Moss: This is a type of plant that is able to live underground, but is depended on a source of water to hydrate it and some level of lighting. Ancient mongwedger caves often contains a form of cave moss, which is prized for turning into various types of finer twines and ropes. Vaph are also known to make their nests within the grass and moss, which ruins its weaving qualities.

Kalumas trees: Fruit bearing hardwood plants that bear edible fruit. However, the fruit is bitter when dry, but becomes more flavorful when supplied enough water over the course of weeks. Botanists would work tirelessly to bio-engineer a kalumas fruit to have a different taste, which is a secret that gilanian fruit drink companies covet.

Skraken Mushrooms: A mushroom that exists in abandoned mongwedger caves. Vaph nests would become plagued by Skraken Mushrooms, which either kills the vaph colony's nest or forces them to leave. It is a prized fungus that the wealthy would pay heavily for in order to have their chefs prepare with their meals.

Pitcher Plant Bush: A type of low-bearing bushy plant that exists near bodies of water and tropical climates. It is the bane to brine flies, often consuming hundreds in its entire life. If a particular oasis is prone to brine fly infestation, then the Pitcher Plant Bushes could feed on thousands upon thousands of brine flies, its cup becoming so full that the flies near the lip could escape. Depending on the brine fly infestation, Pitcher Plant Bushes could grow incredibly large to accommodate its nutritional intake. Gilanians would often cover one of the lips of the fresh shoots of a newly forming pitcher of the pitcher plant. Some agricultural practices even involve sealing the lip of the plant entirely, which lets the pitcher fill with fluid. After several days of fermenting the water, the 'fruit' could be plucked and then drained. The juice slurry could be imbibed as an intoxicant.

Mai Grain: Grows abundantly near pitcher plant bushes and seldom next to Kalumas trees. When grounded down to make flour, they are kneaded with krell eggs and baked into bread with a depression in its center. Bowls, or any other types of containers, are often used to store water. Bread bowls are a type of edible container that is often filled with hydrating soup.

Fireroot: A type of herb that typically grows underground, which normally thrives as a symbiotic root structure with Pitcher Plant Bushes, Kalumas trees, vaph grass and seaweeds. It is a type of plant that is capable of growing a large reservoir that contains a plentiful supply of purified water, which it uses to hydrate the plant it grows with. However, it will only give the precious water it stores within itself if it siphons some of the photosynthesized sugars from the plant it is attached to. It is a type of symbiotic root that develops a spiciness that is typically used as a defense mechanism against animals with a root diet, but gilanians farmers would farm these roots. Culinary dishes usually uses a thirtieth of an ounce of grounded fireroot to improve the taste of any meal. If more than that was added to the meal, then the dish would become more and more inedible.

And uh... I can't think of anything else at the moment. Feel free to send me a PM or review on what I missed, or what you guys would like to add. '3'