The Sons of Aiur

As night fell on the planet Aiur, High Templar Tassadar strolled over to the Judicator. "What right have you to do this to us? The Zerg are infesting our homeworld, and what do you say? You say to stay and fight, when in the future, a better battle can be fought, when we are stronger!" Aldaris' glowing eyes glowed brighter and he looked over at Tassadar in disgust. "Don't you realize that if we stay and fight, we have a better chance to fight off the Zerg forces?" "Yes but an invasion is coming! The provinces of Callan and Fribi have been lost already! And they are the two biggest provinces in the world!" shouted Tassadar, as he furiously slammed his three fingered fist onto the table. "I will NOT recruit my fleets for this! This is insane! The Zerg will overrun you! Your forces and mine COMBINED could not defeat this evil. You must leave the planet now, while you have the chance!" and with that, Tassadar left the complex and boarded his carrier. "Coward!" Shouted Aldaris after him.



In space, as Tassadar's fleets headed for Shakuras, the place of hiding selected for the Protoss, on the other side of Aiur, there was an evil. An evil so dark it could envelop the planet whole. The Zerg, a powerful, Mighty race of organic life, was slowly making its way across the planet.



Tassadar left his carrier, the Guntrithor, and walked over to the Nexus.

"Aldaris and the Conclave refuse to join us in our assault against the Zerg." He announced to the Leaders.

"But why would the conclave stay? It is suicide to stay and fight!" Cried a Zealot.

"I tried and failed my friends, tried and failed." He said, with a glimmer of remorse for the Conclave.

Tassadar joined Zeratul in his Quarters.

"What is the plan?" asked Zeratul. "I say we should try to convince them more, for if they fail, we will fail also." He said, feeling more remorse.

"Well, I hear the Terrans are trying to help them, but I know that they will have massive casualties as well." Zeratul said quietly.



In early dawn, shadows moved across the ground of Hydralisks, deadly killing machines that shoot spines out of their hard exoskeletons, and Zerglings, small, Dog-Like warriors who could tear a person to bits. In the Hive, the Zerg Queen was building up her forces for the assault on what was left of the Planet Aiur. Suddenly, her brood felt a fear, and a lust for battle, as they saw a protoss fleet coming towards them. The conclave was trying to overrun them. "But they will fail," thought the Queen, and sent her minions to fight.



As Aldaris led his troops in, he saw the Zerg forces and started to worry. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this," He said to his advisor

"But we will win sir, no matter the cost." Said the advisor, valiantly.

The bombardment was first. Carriers, Scouts, and Corsairs dropped their energy-like cargos, and then the Carriers launched their compliments of Interceptors. On the ground, Hydralisks launched their poisonous spores from their hard carapaces. Suddenly, a fleet of Terran ships arrived. "Mind if we join you boys?" Said the confident voice of Jim Raynor, a terran ex- Marshall of the colony Mar-Sara, which was overrun by the Zerg.

"Raynor. As ever, your assistance is appreciated." Zeratul said, glad that there was help



Just as it looked like the Protoss were going to lose, the Brethren of Zeratul whisked into battle, decloaking themselves for only a few moments. "Zeratul! It is by fate only that we meet, for we heard of your ascent on the Zerg." "Well met, my brother. If only I could see Raszagal again, I could-" "Zeratul!" Came in Tassadars voice, panicked. "It does not look like we are going to win here. I have a plan." His voice changed to a calm, deepness, and was the only one on the comm channel. The whole fleet was listening. "You know how only Dark Templar energy can destroy the Zerg cerebrates, right?" "Yes - I do." Zeratul replied, not sure of Tassadars plan. "Well, I am going to sacrifice myself, since I lived on Shakuras for a long while, and learned to harness your power. It is by this sacrifice alone will we defeat the Overmind." "Tassadar! You wouldn't –" Tassadar cut him off. "Zeratul, old friend, you will live to see the plains of Aiur as they once were. I will not. But know this, noble friends, I will be with you, in spirit, and will await the day where I see you again." He spoke with stubborn valiance, as if he was determined to do this. "Tassadar, surely we can't change your mind." Zeratul said, feeling a wave of sadness overcome him. "No, you cannot. You shall live, and so shall you, Fenix, and Raynor, and, Aldaris. You shall all live to see the plains of this great planet once again, as they were, unscathed by the Zerg treachery. But time runs short. It is now, or never that we defeat the Zerg." "Well, if I cannot change your mind, then let it be known that you, Tassadar, noble prince of Aiur, saved our planet, and may the gods protect your soul! En Taro Adun, Noble Tassadar!" "En Taro Adun, Zeratul." A moment of silence, and then every Zealot, Carrier, every protoss warrior in the region, chanted "En Taro Adun" to Tassadars Honour. "Good bye my friends, and, Adun willing, may you retake this world!" And with that, Tassadar lat the rest of his crew off of then Guntrithor, and charted a course, directly into the heart of the Overmind. As the rest of the fleet retreated, Tassadar began building up his energy. Flashes of blue and white energy swirled around him. He began chanting words known to very few Protoss, elders mostly.



As the Guntrithor rumbled past, Scourges slammed into the side. Tassadar seemed unaffected by the rumbling and shaking of his Carrier, and soon, his eyes glowed from yellow, to bright blue. In the sky above, a swirling cloud of energy formed. "En Taro Adun!" Thought Tassadar as his carrier slammed to the side of the Overmind. The explosion alone took the Overminds' health to half, but was quickly repairing. Soon, three tornadoes of energy circled the Overmind, and energy gathered from the energy cloud. All light seemed to disappear except for the blue and white lighting energies. The energy seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then struck the Overmind. A lightning bright, nearly blinding flash followed, and an explosion that could've stopped Aiur's own orbit, totally destroyed the Overmind. Everything in the area that wasn't Protoss was dead or dying. Lucky enough for the Terrans, they were the first to escape.



As Zeratul watched the blinding explosion from space, He felt sad that his friend had to die. "What he did was for the good of all of us, Zeratul." Aldaris reassured him.

"Yes. I know." Zeratul said. From that day forth, the Protoss never lived in fear, and, the Dark Templar, banished from Aiur for generations, finally was able to return home. The Terrans left for their colony worlds, and the war with the Zerg was over. But, in a small corner of the galaxy, the infested Sarah Kerrigan awaited her recovery…