The Grey Templar
By Starspawn07
Foreword:
OK, this idea began as a story based on Cassandra Y's "Day of Realisation" ( in the movies - alien/predator section ). Great work Ms Y !
As I tried to make it more original, I hit upon another idea : why not start a series of crossover fanfics starring everyone's favourite dark templar ?
Confused ? Alright, let me elaborate :
Those who have completed the StarCraft: Broodwar campaigns will have read at the end of the story that , "Zeratul and Raynor went their separate ways, never to be heard of again."
Where have the two heroes gone ? Until StarCraft 2 comes out ( if there ever will be a StarCraft 2 ), that is all up to our own imaginations.
Yes, our imaginations. I am going to be busy for a long while ( some years, in fact ), so if some of you feel like it, you can carry on the story for me, in whatever style you like, in whatever universes you choose : Guyver, StarTrek, StarWars, DC or Marvel comics etc.
What will Zeratul encounter on his travels ? Anything is possible.
We can have several writers working on different parts of his journey at the same time.
If anyone of us has the resources, he/she can even start a TV series or such based off it.
That is, after I have finished this first installment, of course.
In fact, this is my first time uploading fanfiction, so I apologize if this does not meet everyone's expectations yet. Plus I am not yet intimately familiar with the Predator universe, so I'll be taking some liberties with my descriptions.
Comments, suggestions or criticisms ( and preferably some follow-ups ) will be appreciated.
By the way, I do not own the characters in my stories, and whatever characters/scenarios I create, you have my permission to write about them any way you want.
Acknowledgments:
Director Ridley Scott and co., creators of the Alien.
Swiss Surrealist H.R.Giger, pioneer of the biomechanoid style in art and creature design.
Director John Mctiernan and co., creators of the Predator.
Dark Horse Comics, which started the AvP Franchise.
Electronic games producer Blizzard Entertainment, architect of the Starcraft Universe.
The late H.P. Lovecraft, pioneer of modern horror fiction. ( I just felt like giving my favourite author some credit. Don't worry, there's nothing scary in this story. )
Anyone who has attempted a similar piece of writing before,
And anyone whose original ideas I have directly or indirectly used in this story.
Alright, enough said, on with the story:
Prologue : The Derelict
As the pale blue mist subsided a little and the enormous structure gradually came into view, Eya took a long, deep breath, and then exhaled, muttering "Oh boy … ".
The elders were right, it was magnificent. Firtly, it was huge. The whole thing was shaped roughly like a "U", with the two ends pointing diagonally upwards and towering several storeys above the surrounding hills.
As Eya flew his shuttle across the valley and approached it, he could make out more stunning features. The whole exterior of the structure was smooth but drab and tarnished, and riddled with faint, but perfectly straight lines. Even on this world of perpetual darkness, where it is impossible to distinguish colour without the aid of artificial lighting, the pale grey of the Derelict stood out against the dark blue of the rocky landscape around it.
Plating sections, Eya smiled to himself, recalling the architecture lessons he had when he was young.
Past one more hill, and Eya was now close enough to make out the exact shapes of the two ends. They were connected to the middle of the structure by two thick arms that raised them off the ground, bent slightly downwards, each ending in a gigantic knob that was shaped differently from the other. The one now directly above him had horizontal ridges sticking out, as if it housed successive levels of giant platforms inside.
Against the dim moonlight, it looked menacing, almost apocalyptic. Eya quickly lowered his gaze and slowly hovered on towards the entrance of the Derelict, which, the elders told him, was situated between the two gigantic arms.
It was all dark underneath, except for a few points of light. No sign of any strong foundations connecting the structure to the ground. A spaceship, Eya mused.
Eya parked his shuttle just within the Derelict's shadow and stepped further into the darkness.
The entrance was a vertically oriented, oval- shaped hole in the wall, framed by a gentle ridge which ran around the hole and protruded slightly at the two points of the oval. Within it Eya could make out a dark, tubular passageway with wrinkled walls leading to the interior of the Derelict. There was a faint, light coming from the other end.
Eya walked up to the two heavily armed, spear wielding guards standing at either side of the entrance, who saw him coming and immediately crossed their spears to bar the entrance.
"Who are you ? what's your business here ?" The guard on the left hissed through his helmet.
" I am a scientist. My name is Eya. " Eya tugged gently at the white robe he was wearing. " I … uh … am here to participate in some scientific investigations of the Derelict."
"Welcome, Eya. I've been waiting for you." The voice came from within the entrance. There stood a tall man wearing the same kind of white robe as Eya's, only this one's looks greyer and more stained. His features were withered, his tusks held close to his face, suggesting the humble reservation of a person who has seen a lot in his life.
"Hello Kurh."Eya waved and smiled to the older scientist.
The guards lifted their spears, and Kurh turned around, motioning for Eya to go with him, and the both of them walked along the passageway, which stretched for a considerable distance into the heart of the Derelict, and was dimly lit by fluorescent lamps hung from its ceiling.
Occasionally, it would branch off into a separate, smaller tunnel, and when Eya looked into it, he saw the same wrinkled walls, and faint light from the other end, casting eerie silhouettes of frames and blurry moving shapes onto the floor.
Kurh ignored all the side passages, and led Eya straight to the end of the main passage.
What awaited them at the end was a breathtaking sight, and for the second time in the night, Eya blurted out, "Oh boy !"
They were in a large round hall, and this time brightly lit by metre-long oval fluorescent lamps attached halfway up the walls. The wall, Eya noted, curved gently out of the hall from the floor up, then curved in again towards the ceiling. On them were carved intricate , repeating designs that looked oddly organic: ribs, tubercles, smooth balls arranged into neat sections and columns, like rows of silent spectators gazing down at the centre of a huge arena. All the columns ran down the walls, and converged at the centre of the plane floor, where a group of scientists were crowded around a huge artifice of some sort. Eya glanced around. There were other scientists as well, standing at random locations in the hall, some studying the patterns on the walls, some typing away at the computers, some sat or stood still in front of equipments that Eya couldn't quite make out. Everything about the hall looked grey, but on closer inspection, there were hues of beige, pale green or brown.
"Is that the … ?" Eya pointed to the strange monument in the centre.
"Go see for yourself." Kurh said with a smile.
They strolled over to the centre of the hall, squeezed past the crowd, and stopped in front of the "monument".
There was a large, hardened, brownish, tangled mass, about two men tall. On one side, on one side Eya could make out what seemed like the back of a chair, on the other, slouched against the chair, the figure of a strange giant humanoid being wrapped into its seat by strange tubes and sheets. Right in front of this being, covered in similar organic patterns to the wall and floor, was what appeared to be a six man tall, 2 to 3 metre thick telescope pointing diagonally upwards, with all sorts of weird looking knobs, tubes, wires and such equipment jutting out of the end that was facing the strange seated humanoid. Eya noticed a half-metre wide gaping hole in the latter's chest, with rib fragments sticking outwards.
"And that would be …" Eya brought his face close to the hole.
"Yes, this spaceship was once infested with Kainde Amedha. We suspect that there are still some lurking around here." Kurh explained. Then he recalled something else. "There were Pyodhe Amedha as well. We have found some of their remains."
"O ?" Eya raised his brow-ridges in surprise. He was about to ask Kurh to tell him more, when both of them were distracted by a heavy tap on Kurh's shoulder.
They spun around, and came face to face with a tall, imposing figure. He wore a heavy, formidable - looking set of armour and a helmet which covered most of his head, except for the braids sprouting from its back. Another guard, Eya thought.
"You'd better come see this, Kurh." The guard said under his breath, then turned and sped off towards one of the doorways at the foot of the walls. Kurh sighed, then tried his best to catch up to the guard. Eya followed close behind, out of curiosity.
The trio raced through a short passageway and came to a much smaller circular hall than the previous one. Or perhaps it appeared small because it was dark. There was no illumination except for a few spotlights shining onto the floor, where a few scientists were going about their usual business. The room was crisscrossed with frames and ladders. Like in the main hall, columns of the eerie biomechanical designs ran down the walls and converged at the centre of the floor, where there stood a large cylindrical water tank. A particularly bright spotlight made it stand out from its dim surroundings.
The guard, followed by Kurh and Eya, went up and stood in front of the tank.
Eya stared through the its glass walls, and gasped in horror.
Inside was what appeared to be a giant, black emaciated lizard, about three men tall. Along its sleek limbs were joints that would remind one of an oversized crustacean, or a roach. Spikes protruded here and there. Six large blunt ones adorned each side of its back.
Its head was covered in wide, frilled plates. Leathery tubes sprouted from the back. And in front, was a large forehead and heavy brow ridges, under which were two large black eyes, which stared ahead with a blank expression. Under the eyes were four short tusks folded over what appeared to be a mouth. No doubt about it. Though a bit large, that was definitely the face of –
" A Yautja !" Eya exclaimed.
" … crossed with a Kainde Amedha, yes. Somehow, the owners of this spaceship were able to combine the features of the Kainde Amedha and our own species in a certain way so as to create this terrible beast we see here. A frightening thought, though I still fail to see why Zuz called us here with such urgency." Kurh turned towards the guard.
"Just look." Said Zuz, and all of them stared into the water tank for a few more seconds.
And then the creature's fingers began to twitch.