DISCLAIMER: Hey...well obviously, I=m not the owner of Blizzard, so I don't
own this stuff. I did add and change a few things, SPOILER WARNING, a few
technologies of SC 2 are in this chapter. Hopefully I did my best to get it
right...please no flames...structured criticism welcome. Thanks for just
reading in any case! Oi Vey...here we go!
A dreary day plagued the world of Aiur. Zeratul, looking up into the sky, noticed the dark clouds that hovered over the uncertain fleet. Surely enough, a drop of rain hit the ground beside his heavily armored foot, the droplet sizzling a bit on the heated ground before disappearing into vapor. His black orbs looking once again at his fleet, he signaled a shuttle to pick up him and his team and bring them to Gantrithor II, a remake of Tassadar's ship, in his memory of course. Zeratul had greatly respected the only High Templar ever to learn the ways of the Void, seeing as how it had saved his race. That a Templar of any sort could be persuaded that the Khala was not the only way was inspiring to him, driving him forth to teach all the others about the ways of the Void, the ways of individuality and freedom. He taught them that patriotism could be held within yourself, and that you didn't need to rely on the Khala to make your way through life. His main example was the Terrans, with their greatness far surpassing what would be expected of them. At the moment, he was teaching the zealots, crazy, bloodthirsty patriot warriors for the Protoss. It was tough going, but he hoped dearly that he was hitting home somewhere. For anyone to give up the Khala, he knew, would be tough. But he would teach them how to access the Khala, without having to rely on it. All in due time, however, all in due time. The rebuilding of Aiur was going slow, most of the land wasted. A worldwide "skin-scraping" was taking place, taking off the upper layer and using it to make a form of Uraj crystal that gave the mighty fleets their power. Using some of that crystal for the formation of Pylons to power the cities, the Protoss were slowly rebuilding their fleets, readying for a final onslaught against the Zerg. But something strange was happening...they were sensing a new, just as powerful as Kerrigan, being that was forming in the hive-like species' world. Not just that, but a new, powerful breed of Zerg and even Protoss was found. How it happened, nobody knew, but it had. The Terrans were also creating their own new technologies, while the Zerg revamped their old ones, ever evolving. Not to mention the newest, and greatest thing to have happened lately. The Xel- Naga had reappeared, billions strong, and had taken the Protoss, their chosen, under their reign. They had taught them many things, including how to transport their pylons from place to place, which had greatly changed many of their strategies already. Even Arbiters could be cloaked now, thanks to Xel-Naga technology. They had come back with the forming of the hybrid race, stating that they were coming to "uncreate" the race of the damned. Claiming that the Terrans had created he hateful and loathed race, they said that they were here to fix things, and that if the Protoss helped and followed them, they would all be led to victory. This included allowing anti-Khala teachings, as well as the integration of the Dark Templar into their own race. Zeratul, as well as all the rest of his crew, had been thrilled at this, and had immediately commuted the short distance to their home planet. To show their race a great genrosity, they had immediately begun the remaking of Aiur. They were to contact the other Protoss once they were done. Something had gone terribly wrong, however. The Protoss, unwilling to give up their way of life, and especially unwilling to give up the Khala, had rebelled against the Xel-Naga. The Naga, more disappointed than terrified, had merely destroyed the city that attacked, and begged that the rest of the Protoss reconsider. It was a no go, however, none of them wished to change their ways of life. They had gathered a massive assault, which was of course obliterated by the all- powerful technologies of the Xel-Naga. Since then, they would only speak with the Dark Templar. Zeratul heaved his shoulders slightly, as if dropping the weight of the world off of them. He felt as if he were, as the human put it, grasping for straws. He never understood what that meant, but thought it quite accurately identified his feelings. Shaking his head, he then wondered why he hadn't been contacted by the human Raynor yet. The brash, quick witted young officer had quickly won the hearts of the Dark Templar, with his hopes of one day ridding the world of evil. He had realized that it was evil that stole his love of Kerrigan, and evil that had torn apart the Protoss. Since then, he had set himself out to rid the galaxies of evil, and the Zerg were pure evil in his eyes. Dedicating himself to the eradication of that race had given him great pleasure, especially with the help of the Dark Templar. He himself had even become a bit adept at manipulating the powers of the Void, strange as it was. No normal human had ever grasped Protoss "powers". The abilities were usually too hard to explain or teach to the humans, but Raynor had proved a quick study. Since then he had kept in steady contact with Zeratul... As of late however, he had been silenced. It was a strange feeling, he found in place of his worry for Jim. Almost as if it were....brotherhood. That kind of thing was unknown to the Protoss, but the humans had it within their freebirth colonies. Shaking his head, the Dark Templar got back to his work of planning out the world...no easy task. It was hard for him to continue his toil in planning, his daily work, without knowing that their backs were protected. That was another reason the Protoss was on edge. The human was supposed to give them the go ahead to begin building...so far all they could do was build up their base and defense. He shook his head in near defeat...he didn't know what to do. His troops thirsted to rebuild on the now thriving plains of Aiur, felt the literal need to create what was once before...but they could not. It was just not the time, and Zeratul felt he failed in explaining that, no matter how hard he tried. He had just about been ready to call it quits, when his holoscreen popped up with an image. At first his heart leaped, for he saw it was the human, Raynor. But then it sank. Something was extremely wrong.
Around Jim Raynor, the remnants of the Zerg Broods circled, testing him out. Him and his few compatriots had been stranded on this "abandoned" outpost. His comrades had died, but somehow he had survived up until now. He had long since accepted that his time was short however...it wouldn't be long before they all struck and finished him off Suddenly, movement stopped around the human. All of the Zerg creatures hesitantly backed away, and made a small gap. Jim gawked and looked at the entrance. At first, he saw nothing, nothing but the charred remains of the aptly named planet. All of a sudden, he saw a waver, a ripple if you would, in the air. He knew it was no trick of heat for it was bordering 40 degrees Fahrenheit around him. All of a sudden, realization hit him like a bullet train. His mind wouldn't accept it, couldn't grasp it. Was it possible, was it...her? A bio- electromagnetic pulse rippled through the area around a slim, almost beautiful creature. Webbing of certain appendages had added a strange, almost ghost-like beauty to her. Space-y dread locks draped around her face, small nubs marking her forehead. The eyes...ever watching, ever seeing, gazed deeply at Jim, and for a moment, he found himself in them. He found what he had been looking for, what completed him. For so long, he had gone without, and now it was here for the taking. The young marine opened his arms as two fan-like wings appeared from seemingly nowhere, poison filling the tips as Kerrigan prepared to strike. She chuckled slightly as she stepped forward, slamming the wings towards his body.
Zeratul shook, finally bowing down to his knees. So the Zerg had taken the last of the decent humans. Oh he would make them pay, he was sure of it, and he would get the Xel-Naga to help him differentiate the two humans, and make them human again. Furious, he looked as the marine form stood stock still while a zergling climbed up its leg. After a while, the great hound- like creature turned its head away, and bounded off to distances unknown. With a voice as grating as gravel and as multi-dimensional as the very worlds they knew, Raynor, the now infested human, spoke quickly and menacingly. "Zeratul, we know where you are. We know of your attempts to bring Aiur back to it's former justice, and while very noble, we do not condone them. We of the Zerg have now surrounded you, and are swooping in for the attack." He said, flinching at this point. For a minute, a brownish, loving, pleading gaze exited from the eyes, and Zeratul knew there was still a chance at that point. But then the infestation once again took over. It grinned a silly, evil grin, looking with malicious intent upon the Dark Templar. "As I was saying, we are swooping in for the kill. Prepare for battle." After that his screen went blank, and his mind, numb. He sounded the alarm and sat. What would he do without his only trusted human companion, his only ears to the inside of what those blasted mortals thought? He would die, he reasoned out soon enough, he would die without honor or chance of it and, he would die a ruthless, callous dance. He rose from his seat gently, and got to the door. There was already a guide waiting for him, which turned after bowing politely, and lead him to the arena through which he would go to reach the battles. The Protoss hardened his facial features, and set himself for his duty. That's all it was....his duty... As he passed through the empty arena, he began to ponder, however. Tired as he was, his mind was still keen. Why would that belligerent thing tell them he was going to swoop down on them and attack them? Surely, he did love to gloat, but he also knew that it would be better to surprise them unawares. It was the way of the Zerg to know how to attack as well as when. What could he gain from telling them beforehand... Suddenly he realized what he would have to do to prepare for battle. Gather his troops together and await the hordes...but to his knowledge the Zerg did not have any technology such as the Terrans did. They could neither knock out their shields, nor could they destroy a large amount of them if grouped tightly together with a nuclear blast. He just could not fathom why they would warn them beforehand. Nevertheless, he put the shield on high, and set the photon cannons for full scan. It took a longer time to scan the surroundings, but it was worth it in that it could see farther. Setting a group of zealots at each main entrance, he laced the perimeter with dragoons, and set a company of archons at the Nexus. New units were being trained, and the high templar were sapping energy from various khaydarin crystals around the area. Everyone was preparing for battle. Shaking his head, he set his cloak field, and went out into the area with a group of dark templar, all of which extended their specialized psi blades at once. A few Dark Archons hung around, readying to control massive transports and turn the units against the zerg if at all possible, or even just to freeze them with their maelstrom ability. Observers passed around the very perimeter, using their sweeping abilities to pick up anything on the edge of Protoss sensors. A few scouts lie in wait, hovering around the main compound, and 4 carriers, fully equipped, lay in wait in a hangar, with technicians attending to them. It gave Zeratul great sorrow to think that most of these troops would die. He felt saddened at just the thought that Protoss who had done nothing wrong, who were good people that he knew, would die. And their country would lead them to that battle. Feeling unclean, he awaited the battle. Finally, one of the alerts sounded, and all around the base, photon cannons popped their turrets up, and began firing off charged particle balls, blowing clean away pieces of the zerg transport units, which quickly regenerated of course. A cacophony of sound blasted away as particle blasts were sent hurtling at the flying beasts, blowing away pieces of the beings with a faraway crack and squelch. He steeled his face as a squadron of 12 mutalisks in spread formation came from them quickly in the other direction. Apparently, the Zerg had learned from their recent incursions. Smiling slightly, he sent the Dark Archons to mind control the transport units, then the air units to support them. Sending the dragoons to block the mutalisk attack, he readied for the inevitable zergling mass attack. Smiling grimly, a simple tugging at the corners of where his mouth would be, he sent all of the dark templar into an alternating formation at the entrance, putting the dragoons behind them. The zerglings would be wiped out before they even knew what hit them. After a couple of minutes, the tell-tale kicking up of dirt appeared in the distance, his keen eyes aware of this immediately. As they neared the formation, he could tell they sensed something wrong, but still they came at him. Slashing downwards with his own psiblade, he watched as dozens of others lifted their blades and slammed them down on zergling bodies with crushing force. The reaction was instantaneous. Due to the makeup of the Zerg body, after death the bodies spontaneously combust. This was one such time. Every zergling that met the barrier was killed instantly, unable to figure out why they couldn=t move forward, they stopped until the creatures in front of them moved. Dragoon cannons burst and flared, destroying zerglings as well with each deadly photon burst. Zeratul knew that precious time was running out, however, as the overlords with their sensor array began to near. Scouts were downing them one after another, with cooperation from the Carriers, but their efforts just weren't enough. There were just too many of them. Finally, he withdrew the ranks of dark templar, and sent in the zealots to sweep up the zergling mess. They made quick work of them, with the nearby shield regenerator charging their shields quickly and efficiently, the zerglings were short work. And with scouts and Carriers pumping away at the overlords, only about 3 made it in, quickly mowed down by cannon fire as they entered their array. The mutalisks were killed long ago, not even mattering in this duel of the elite. But something still ate at Zeratul in the back of his mind. Why did they notify him of the attack...and so far in advance? Strange... All of a sudden, a large missile headed straight for the condensed group of warriors, overgrown with some kind of bio material. It exploded, leaving a sheet of red growth over everyone who was in its area. Zeratul was spared this only barely, jumping out just in time to watch it fall the ground and eat through the tightly packed dirt. He looked to his other troops, watching as their shields fell slowly, appearing in flashes as the material ate through them. Shaking his head in horror, he realized that they had been defeated. He had forgotten all about their little magicians, the defilers. One of them had sent a plague upon them, to destroy their shields in wake of the second wave. By the time that second wave got here, all of their shields would be destroyed. The only thing he could do now would be to save the archons, their main offensive against the zerglings. As the templar-beings quickly hurried to the shield regenerator, he watched as the others sat, poised and ready to die. For die they would, and they knew it...their shields were their main protection against most of the Zerg scum. New troops were being put out every hour, but it still would not be enough. Zeratul felt as if he had let all of his people down...and for what? For nothing...no honor, no glory, just a half-finished planet, and too much turmoil.
Come dawn, Zeratul walked out to meet the day, and found that his encampment was surrounded by transport units, ground units, and air units, all closing in for the kill...all Zerg. He once again dawned his shields, and his psiblade, readying for battle as he layed out his plan to all of his units, one he had made during the night. None questioned him, not even the radicals. Those who had once even slightly opposed him had finally found why he had done the things he had done. They were all ready, and willing, to die for the cause he had fought for so long. He smiled inwardly...even on the day of doom, the Protoss would retain honor and dignity...maybe it wasn't for nothing. Perhaps something would live this day, something in them...not something so much as sentient, more a feeling of honor and kinship, for he saw templar and dark templar conversing, shaking hands. If the Tribunal would only listen...they don't need the Khala for brotherhood, they need a wider understanding of life. But the others of the Protoss had long since been shut away in their little shell, content at knowing only each other, caring nothing for the world... Finally, time came. Sensor sweeps from observers showed that there were hundreds upon thousands storming in, making sure they would wipe them out for good. But they had not known that through the night the protoss had been working... They had made yet another three layers of walls, and cannons in between all of them, overlapping each other many times over. It was dangerous, for cannon overlapping could result in meltdown, and following explosions, but even that would aid the Protoss in their last stand. Also, templar lined the walls, readying to use their great powers to send a field of electrical energy which worked quite well against the biotic forms of the Zerg. The deadly electricity took a while, then finally set off their internal mechanisms which caused their spontaneous combustion at death. The larger the creature, the longer it took, but seeing as how the most of the ground forces were zerglings, they figured that it would work quite well. And after they had spent all of their energy, they would come back to base and merge into the beings that were the Archons. Also, almost twenty shield generators had been raised in the night, giving them yet another upper hand. They could support all of their ground troops quite easily with these, ensuring a long, and not painless, battle. Last, but not least, over fifteen carriers, and forty-five scouts had been constructed from the time of the first wave and the time of the last. The evil defiler had of course made second, third, and even fourth visits during that time. They had simply regenerated their shields each time. Finally, the time for war had come, however, and Zeratul walked out to face his enemy with pride, dignity, and not least honor in his heart. The battle had begun.
A dreary day plagued the world of Aiur. Zeratul, looking up into the sky, noticed the dark clouds that hovered over the uncertain fleet. Surely enough, a drop of rain hit the ground beside his heavily armored foot, the droplet sizzling a bit on the heated ground before disappearing into vapor. His black orbs looking once again at his fleet, he signaled a shuttle to pick up him and his team and bring them to Gantrithor II, a remake of Tassadar's ship, in his memory of course. Zeratul had greatly respected the only High Templar ever to learn the ways of the Void, seeing as how it had saved his race. That a Templar of any sort could be persuaded that the Khala was not the only way was inspiring to him, driving him forth to teach all the others about the ways of the Void, the ways of individuality and freedom. He taught them that patriotism could be held within yourself, and that you didn't need to rely on the Khala to make your way through life. His main example was the Terrans, with their greatness far surpassing what would be expected of them. At the moment, he was teaching the zealots, crazy, bloodthirsty patriot warriors for the Protoss. It was tough going, but he hoped dearly that he was hitting home somewhere. For anyone to give up the Khala, he knew, would be tough. But he would teach them how to access the Khala, without having to rely on it. All in due time, however, all in due time. The rebuilding of Aiur was going slow, most of the land wasted. A worldwide "skin-scraping" was taking place, taking off the upper layer and using it to make a form of Uraj crystal that gave the mighty fleets their power. Using some of that crystal for the formation of Pylons to power the cities, the Protoss were slowly rebuilding their fleets, readying for a final onslaught against the Zerg. But something strange was happening...they were sensing a new, just as powerful as Kerrigan, being that was forming in the hive-like species' world. Not just that, but a new, powerful breed of Zerg and even Protoss was found. How it happened, nobody knew, but it had. The Terrans were also creating their own new technologies, while the Zerg revamped their old ones, ever evolving. Not to mention the newest, and greatest thing to have happened lately. The Xel- Naga had reappeared, billions strong, and had taken the Protoss, their chosen, under their reign. They had taught them many things, including how to transport their pylons from place to place, which had greatly changed many of their strategies already. Even Arbiters could be cloaked now, thanks to Xel-Naga technology. They had come back with the forming of the hybrid race, stating that they were coming to "uncreate" the race of the damned. Claiming that the Terrans had created he hateful and loathed race, they said that they were here to fix things, and that if the Protoss helped and followed them, they would all be led to victory. This included allowing anti-Khala teachings, as well as the integration of the Dark Templar into their own race. Zeratul, as well as all the rest of his crew, had been thrilled at this, and had immediately commuted the short distance to their home planet. To show their race a great genrosity, they had immediately begun the remaking of Aiur. They were to contact the other Protoss once they were done. Something had gone terribly wrong, however. The Protoss, unwilling to give up their way of life, and especially unwilling to give up the Khala, had rebelled against the Xel-Naga. The Naga, more disappointed than terrified, had merely destroyed the city that attacked, and begged that the rest of the Protoss reconsider. It was a no go, however, none of them wished to change their ways of life. They had gathered a massive assault, which was of course obliterated by the all- powerful technologies of the Xel-Naga. Since then, they would only speak with the Dark Templar. Zeratul heaved his shoulders slightly, as if dropping the weight of the world off of them. He felt as if he were, as the human put it, grasping for straws. He never understood what that meant, but thought it quite accurately identified his feelings. Shaking his head, he then wondered why he hadn't been contacted by the human Raynor yet. The brash, quick witted young officer had quickly won the hearts of the Dark Templar, with his hopes of one day ridding the world of evil. He had realized that it was evil that stole his love of Kerrigan, and evil that had torn apart the Protoss. Since then, he had set himself out to rid the galaxies of evil, and the Zerg were pure evil in his eyes. Dedicating himself to the eradication of that race had given him great pleasure, especially with the help of the Dark Templar. He himself had even become a bit adept at manipulating the powers of the Void, strange as it was. No normal human had ever grasped Protoss "powers". The abilities were usually too hard to explain or teach to the humans, but Raynor had proved a quick study. Since then he had kept in steady contact with Zeratul... As of late however, he had been silenced. It was a strange feeling, he found in place of his worry for Jim. Almost as if it were....brotherhood. That kind of thing was unknown to the Protoss, but the humans had it within their freebirth colonies. Shaking his head, the Dark Templar got back to his work of planning out the world...no easy task. It was hard for him to continue his toil in planning, his daily work, without knowing that their backs were protected. That was another reason the Protoss was on edge. The human was supposed to give them the go ahead to begin building...so far all they could do was build up their base and defense. He shook his head in near defeat...he didn't know what to do. His troops thirsted to rebuild on the now thriving plains of Aiur, felt the literal need to create what was once before...but they could not. It was just not the time, and Zeratul felt he failed in explaining that, no matter how hard he tried. He had just about been ready to call it quits, when his holoscreen popped up with an image. At first his heart leaped, for he saw it was the human, Raynor. But then it sank. Something was extremely wrong.
Around Jim Raynor, the remnants of the Zerg Broods circled, testing him out. Him and his few compatriots had been stranded on this "abandoned" outpost. His comrades had died, but somehow he had survived up until now. He had long since accepted that his time was short however...it wouldn't be long before they all struck and finished him off Suddenly, movement stopped around the human. All of the Zerg creatures hesitantly backed away, and made a small gap. Jim gawked and looked at the entrance. At first, he saw nothing, nothing but the charred remains of the aptly named planet. All of a sudden, he saw a waver, a ripple if you would, in the air. He knew it was no trick of heat for it was bordering 40 degrees Fahrenheit around him. All of a sudden, realization hit him like a bullet train. His mind wouldn't accept it, couldn't grasp it. Was it possible, was it...her? A bio- electromagnetic pulse rippled through the area around a slim, almost beautiful creature. Webbing of certain appendages had added a strange, almost ghost-like beauty to her. Space-y dread locks draped around her face, small nubs marking her forehead. The eyes...ever watching, ever seeing, gazed deeply at Jim, and for a moment, he found himself in them. He found what he had been looking for, what completed him. For so long, he had gone without, and now it was here for the taking. The young marine opened his arms as two fan-like wings appeared from seemingly nowhere, poison filling the tips as Kerrigan prepared to strike. She chuckled slightly as she stepped forward, slamming the wings towards his body.
Zeratul shook, finally bowing down to his knees. So the Zerg had taken the last of the decent humans. Oh he would make them pay, he was sure of it, and he would get the Xel-Naga to help him differentiate the two humans, and make them human again. Furious, he looked as the marine form stood stock still while a zergling climbed up its leg. After a while, the great hound- like creature turned its head away, and bounded off to distances unknown. With a voice as grating as gravel and as multi-dimensional as the very worlds they knew, Raynor, the now infested human, spoke quickly and menacingly. "Zeratul, we know where you are. We know of your attempts to bring Aiur back to it's former justice, and while very noble, we do not condone them. We of the Zerg have now surrounded you, and are swooping in for the attack." He said, flinching at this point. For a minute, a brownish, loving, pleading gaze exited from the eyes, and Zeratul knew there was still a chance at that point. But then the infestation once again took over. It grinned a silly, evil grin, looking with malicious intent upon the Dark Templar. "As I was saying, we are swooping in for the kill. Prepare for battle." After that his screen went blank, and his mind, numb. He sounded the alarm and sat. What would he do without his only trusted human companion, his only ears to the inside of what those blasted mortals thought? He would die, he reasoned out soon enough, he would die without honor or chance of it and, he would die a ruthless, callous dance. He rose from his seat gently, and got to the door. There was already a guide waiting for him, which turned after bowing politely, and lead him to the arena through which he would go to reach the battles. The Protoss hardened his facial features, and set himself for his duty. That's all it was....his duty... As he passed through the empty arena, he began to ponder, however. Tired as he was, his mind was still keen. Why would that belligerent thing tell them he was going to swoop down on them and attack them? Surely, he did love to gloat, but he also knew that it would be better to surprise them unawares. It was the way of the Zerg to know how to attack as well as when. What could he gain from telling them beforehand... Suddenly he realized what he would have to do to prepare for battle. Gather his troops together and await the hordes...but to his knowledge the Zerg did not have any technology such as the Terrans did. They could neither knock out their shields, nor could they destroy a large amount of them if grouped tightly together with a nuclear blast. He just could not fathom why they would warn them beforehand. Nevertheless, he put the shield on high, and set the photon cannons for full scan. It took a longer time to scan the surroundings, but it was worth it in that it could see farther. Setting a group of zealots at each main entrance, he laced the perimeter with dragoons, and set a company of archons at the Nexus. New units were being trained, and the high templar were sapping energy from various khaydarin crystals around the area. Everyone was preparing for battle. Shaking his head, he set his cloak field, and went out into the area with a group of dark templar, all of which extended their specialized psi blades at once. A few Dark Archons hung around, readying to control massive transports and turn the units against the zerg if at all possible, or even just to freeze them with their maelstrom ability. Observers passed around the very perimeter, using their sweeping abilities to pick up anything on the edge of Protoss sensors. A few scouts lie in wait, hovering around the main compound, and 4 carriers, fully equipped, lay in wait in a hangar, with technicians attending to them. It gave Zeratul great sorrow to think that most of these troops would die. He felt saddened at just the thought that Protoss who had done nothing wrong, who were good people that he knew, would die. And their country would lead them to that battle. Feeling unclean, he awaited the battle. Finally, one of the alerts sounded, and all around the base, photon cannons popped their turrets up, and began firing off charged particle balls, blowing clean away pieces of the zerg transport units, which quickly regenerated of course. A cacophony of sound blasted away as particle blasts were sent hurtling at the flying beasts, blowing away pieces of the beings with a faraway crack and squelch. He steeled his face as a squadron of 12 mutalisks in spread formation came from them quickly in the other direction. Apparently, the Zerg had learned from their recent incursions. Smiling slightly, he sent the Dark Archons to mind control the transport units, then the air units to support them. Sending the dragoons to block the mutalisk attack, he readied for the inevitable zergling mass attack. Smiling grimly, a simple tugging at the corners of where his mouth would be, he sent all of the dark templar into an alternating formation at the entrance, putting the dragoons behind them. The zerglings would be wiped out before they even knew what hit them. After a couple of minutes, the tell-tale kicking up of dirt appeared in the distance, his keen eyes aware of this immediately. As they neared the formation, he could tell they sensed something wrong, but still they came at him. Slashing downwards with his own psiblade, he watched as dozens of others lifted their blades and slammed them down on zergling bodies with crushing force. The reaction was instantaneous. Due to the makeup of the Zerg body, after death the bodies spontaneously combust. This was one such time. Every zergling that met the barrier was killed instantly, unable to figure out why they couldn=t move forward, they stopped until the creatures in front of them moved. Dragoon cannons burst and flared, destroying zerglings as well with each deadly photon burst. Zeratul knew that precious time was running out, however, as the overlords with their sensor array began to near. Scouts were downing them one after another, with cooperation from the Carriers, but their efforts just weren't enough. There were just too many of them. Finally, he withdrew the ranks of dark templar, and sent in the zealots to sweep up the zergling mess. They made quick work of them, with the nearby shield regenerator charging their shields quickly and efficiently, the zerglings were short work. And with scouts and Carriers pumping away at the overlords, only about 3 made it in, quickly mowed down by cannon fire as they entered their array. The mutalisks were killed long ago, not even mattering in this duel of the elite. But something still ate at Zeratul in the back of his mind. Why did they notify him of the attack...and so far in advance? Strange... All of a sudden, a large missile headed straight for the condensed group of warriors, overgrown with some kind of bio material. It exploded, leaving a sheet of red growth over everyone who was in its area. Zeratul was spared this only barely, jumping out just in time to watch it fall the ground and eat through the tightly packed dirt. He looked to his other troops, watching as their shields fell slowly, appearing in flashes as the material ate through them. Shaking his head in horror, he realized that they had been defeated. He had forgotten all about their little magicians, the defilers. One of them had sent a plague upon them, to destroy their shields in wake of the second wave. By the time that second wave got here, all of their shields would be destroyed. The only thing he could do now would be to save the archons, their main offensive against the zerglings. As the templar-beings quickly hurried to the shield regenerator, he watched as the others sat, poised and ready to die. For die they would, and they knew it...their shields were their main protection against most of the Zerg scum. New troops were being put out every hour, but it still would not be enough. Zeratul felt as if he had let all of his people down...and for what? For nothing...no honor, no glory, just a half-finished planet, and too much turmoil.
Come dawn, Zeratul walked out to meet the day, and found that his encampment was surrounded by transport units, ground units, and air units, all closing in for the kill...all Zerg. He once again dawned his shields, and his psiblade, readying for battle as he layed out his plan to all of his units, one he had made during the night. None questioned him, not even the radicals. Those who had once even slightly opposed him had finally found why he had done the things he had done. They were all ready, and willing, to die for the cause he had fought for so long. He smiled inwardly...even on the day of doom, the Protoss would retain honor and dignity...maybe it wasn't for nothing. Perhaps something would live this day, something in them...not something so much as sentient, more a feeling of honor and kinship, for he saw templar and dark templar conversing, shaking hands. If the Tribunal would only listen...they don't need the Khala for brotherhood, they need a wider understanding of life. But the others of the Protoss had long since been shut away in their little shell, content at knowing only each other, caring nothing for the world... Finally, time came. Sensor sweeps from observers showed that there were hundreds upon thousands storming in, making sure they would wipe them out for good. But they had not known that through the night the protoss had been working... They had made yet another three layers of walls, and cannons in between all of them, overlapping each other many times over. It was dangerous, for cannon overlapping could result in meltdown, and following explosions, but even that would aid the Protoss in their last stand. Also, templar lined the walls, readying to use their great powers to send a field of electrical energy which worked quite well against the biotic forms of the Zerg. The deadly electricity took a while, then finally set off their internal mechanisms which caused their spontaneous combustion at death. The larger the creature, the longer it took, but seeing as how the most of the ground forces were zerglings, they figured that it would work quite well. And after they had spent all of their energy, they would come back to base and merge into the beings that were the Archons. Also, almost twenty shield generators had been raised in the night, giving them yet another upper hand. They could support all of their ground troops quite easily with these, ensuring a long, and not painless, battle. Last, but not least, over fifteen carriers, and forty-five scouts had been constructed from the time of the first wave and the time of the last. The evil defiler had of course made second, third, and even fourth visits during that time. They had simply regenerated their shields each time. Finally, the time for war had come, however, and Zeratul walked out to face his enemy with pride, dignity, and not least honor in his heart. The battle had begun.