Chapter 1: Wreath for the Fallen
Eight terran marines in red CMC armored suits walked over the white, snowy terrain, their C-14 rifles at the ready for shooting the enemy. Their heavy suits' helmets and visors protected their heads from the biting cold that planet Cylas offered no matter where they'd go.
Ahead of them there was a forest of trees so tall that they seemed to be connecting the ground to the sky. The trees had green, spiky leaves covering their branches entirely, and in some spots on those branches they had copper, scaly cones.
The marines were almost in the shade of the forest, but one of them spotted some shimmers in the shadows. He lifted his gun and shot in the direction of the unusual sight, only to cause the light-refracting entities to duck and run toward his squad.
As the marines opened fire, three of them received surprise blows from something swift and green that kept appearing out of nowhere and damaged their armors. The sounds were similar to that of swords cutting through the wind and clashing with the metal of the armored suits.
The shimmers moved fluidly, avoiding most of the bullets. It was almost like dealing with ghosts – psionically-gifted terran soldiers trained to go on stealth missions and sometimes call down nuclear missiles. But these marines knew that ghosts were nowhere near as powerful as these adversaries that ambushed them. These creatures – which bled dark purple blood when a few lucky shots landed – could remain cloaked indefinitely.
"We're getting decapitated here!" one of the marines said as he watched his teammates drop like flies. In response to his shouting, a scan was done by one of their satellites above the area, allowing the marines to see their enemies through the displays on their visors.
They saw five alien humanoids with gray, scaly skins, heads crested toward their backs, black, braid-like nerve cords – which were tied like hair buns that had silver caps at their ends – green glowing eyes, and silver armor that defended their chests, shoulders, arms, legs, and their two-toed feet. They wore purple bandannas to hide the lower portions of their faces, and on their backs they had capes of the same color. These aliens, identified as protoss, appeared semitransparent through the marines' visors for the short moment during which they were revealed by the scan.
"Shoot 'em!" one of the marines said. His four remaining teammates targeted the protoss and opened fire.
Two of the protoss were killed, but two of the surviving ones took down three marines while the third protoss fought the marine who gave the order to shoot. A few shots and blade swings later, all that remained of the fighters was one marine and one protoss.
"You scaly motherfuckers are always in our way," the marine said, glaring at his enemy.
The protoss faded out of his sight, not wanting to grace the terran with any words.
"Hide in the shadows like you always do, dark templar. Won't face your enemy in a fair fi–" The marine went quiet as a scythe of green light split his helmet – as well as his head – vertically in half.
The female protoss who wielded the scythe pulled the weapon out of the helmet and let the terran's body drop to the ground. "Sorry about that," she said. Her eyes glowed bright green, and her skin was dark gray. The lower portion of her face was covered by a black bandanna. A pair of fleshy extensions dangled from her head as if they were the antennae of an insect. The armor she wore on her chest, shoulders, arms, and knees was mostly silver while the pair of long, winglike capes on her back and the cloths that went from the front and back of her waist to the ground were completely black. Unlike the other protoss, she walked over the snow barefoot, and had five shoulder-length nerve cords ending in silver caps.
The remaining male protoss revealed himself to her, squinting. "Why did you slay the terran that should have died by my blade?"
She made the scythe disintegrate. "I understand that you wish to avenge your fallen comrades, Makatai, but I bear grave news."
Makatai calmed down and looked at her with his eyes fully open.
"Prelate Alys'tor has been severely wounded in battle. He was teleported back to our settlement, but his life seems to be hanging by a thread. You should go see him."
"Oh, Adun, keep him among us so that I can get to him," Makatai said. He took one last look at the snow that was stained by the blood of the slain terrans and his fallen comrades, then he ran toward the trees.
Deep in the forest, in a palace made of silver with green windows, many protoss gathered to watch over the wounded prelate, who lay in a dark purple bed. Stained rags were wrapped around his head, left arm, and his abdomen.
"Perhaps we could put him inside an annihilator," a female protoss said.
An old male protoss looked at the prelate, who could barely keep his eyes open due to the pain. "I think the prelate is far too wounded to survive the procedure. I am afraid his time with us has almost come to an end."
The female protoss glared at him. "Do not say such things!"
"You know that it is true," the old protoss told her.
Her glare turned into a frown. "What will we do without a leader? How can we organize our army if he dies at a time like this?"
The prelate raised his right hand and said, "There … is still hope. Where … is my … my son?"
"I feel his presence nearby," the old protoss said.
Makatai blinked into the room. "Father!" He went next to the bed and grabbed Alys'tor's right hand.
"My son … listen carefully. I want you … to lead our people … once I am gone."
"You can still be saved!" Makatai said. He turned around to look at the other protoss in the room. "Why has not any of you put him in an annihilator yet?"
The prelate struggled to deliver his telepathic message to his son. "Makatai … It would be … wasted time … and resources."
Makatai looked at his father, and his green eyes started to emanate streams of their light. "Nothing would be wasted. If you leave us, we will have no leader."
"You ..." Alys'tor said while pointing his index finger's sharp claw at him, "will be their leader."
"But, Father, I am in no way prepared for this! I have failed to keep my brethren from dying. I was the sole survivor of that battle."
"We all … learn from our mistakes."
"Mistakes like these could cost us our tribe! Please, Father, choose someone else!"
"Son … I believe that you are the best choice I could make. My dark archons shall serve you." Alys'tor looked at the female protoss who wore black cloths. "Lady in Black, where are the dark archons? Are they still anchored to our realm?"
The Lady in Black raised her antennae while her eyes glowed brighter green. After a moment of silence, she said, "I sense them. They're not far from here."
"Go … and bring them. Bring … everyone. They must … They must hear … what I have to say … about the future of our tribe."
She bowed. "As you command, Prelate." After turning around, she hovered above the ground and took her leave.
A man dressed in a white skinsuit with a backpack on ran over the snow while screaming. His hair was red, ruffled, and short, with a long fringe hanging over his forehead. His eyes were brown, and his buckteeth stuck out of his mouth, covering his lower lip.
Behind him, a dark, bulky protoss figure with no legs chased him, levitating while emanating a fiery red aura similar to the being's eyes. It was three times taller than the terran, and held something in its right hand's claws. "Cease this foolishness!" the entity said in a distorted, echoing voice.
"Uoooh!" the man yelled, trying his best to evade the strange protoss' left claw that kept reaching out to grab him.
Eventually the chaser caught up to him and put its left hand on his back, pushing him forward until he face-planted into the snow.
The man raised his head so he could see again. "Gaah!" He tried to reach for the thing in the protoss' right hand, but was denied access to it.
"Must have energy!" the dark being said before it tore a blue light out of the terran with its left hand. This caused the terran to shriek.
A protoss identical to the other one arrived, and it used a beam of its red flames to drag a red vehicle that was about 70 meters long and 50 meters tall, more suited for air than ground due to its shape and its wings pointed toward its back. The being tore a similar blue light out of the vehicle. "Must feed!"
"What has this vessel done to deserve this?" The aircraft's voice sounded hoarse, monotone, and for some reason it put the accent on the wrong syllables.
The terran laughed while smirking at the vessel.
That caused the machine's artificial intelligence to say, "This vessel should not have trusted the UED scum."
The man stuck out his tongue and blew raspberries at the machine, but had more of his energy drained by the protoss as punishment. He yelped in pain.
"There you are!" the Lady in Black said as she allowed her feet to sink into the cold snow after she had stopped levitating.
Looking at her, the terran tried to speak. "Layla i Bak!"
She was looking at the other two protoss, but then gave him some attention. "Garf, why did you and Raven wander off at a time like this?"
Garf's eyes looked to his right as he was trying to invent an excuse. "Weaah ..."
She scowled at him, then looked at the red aircraft. "Raven, what mischief have you and Garf been up to?"
"This vessel tried to bury the hatchet and help the ghost find edible roots under the snow, but the ghost tried to abandon this vessel in a frozen lake. Now this vessel just wants to bury the ghost."
"You can try to kill each other later," she said. "We have serious matters to attend to. Prelate Alys'tor is about to pass away, and he said that he wants everyone to be there to hear his last speech. That includes you two, even though you're terrans."
Garf's eyes were wide open, as was his mouth. "Aister die?!"
"Oh. That is most unfortunate," Raven said.
"We must hurry!" the lady said as she turned to look at the forest in the distance. "The prelate doesn't have much time left."
Makatai continued to hold his father's hand. The prelate was slowly slipping away from the mortal realm, his eyes having lost much of their once bright green shine.
The two fiery protoss dragged Raven and Garf into the palace, then let them go and went to levitate at the side of Alys'tor's bed. One of the dark archons said, "We are here, wise one."
"Nandu-Xnora … Khartal-Solash … I … pass leadership … to my son. Please … guide him … with your wisdom … for the short time while you are still of this realm."
"But the pain … We yearn to die in battle!"
"I understand, Nandu-Xnora. You dark archons … suffer and constantly crave energy. But the enemy is too powerful, and your knowledge is too valuable to be lost."
"Our thoughts are in chaos!" Khartal-Solash said, putting their hands over their head.
"Meditation … can help you focus."
"Why cannot we unleash our mind control powers on the enemy?" Nandu-Xnora asked. "The war would be over today if we do."
The Lady in Black glared at the dark archon after hearing that.
"To enslave a being's mind … is to give it a fate worse than death," the prelate said. "I abhor that act as much as the xel'naga do. If someone wants ... to be our enemy, respect their choice. If they join our cause … then it should be by their choice as well. That is why … I have spared those two." He pointed at Garf and Raven. "If the enemy can be reasoned with … then the conflict can be ended without any more bloodshed."
Garf stood there, among the protoss, staring with a sad expression at the dying prelate.
Makatai shook his head. "Father, these terrans we fight are not like them. They will attack the second they see us. We cannot get a word in before they launch burning pieces of metal at us at high speeds."
"There … must be a way, Makatai. Remember … everyone has a reason … for what they do." After he drew one last breath, Prelate Alys'tor's body went limp and then turned into dust, leaving behind only his armor and purple cloths.
"Father! Father, do not go! I need you! We need you." But there was nobody there, on the bed, to hear Makatai.
"You must stay strong, Makatai," the Lady in Black said. "You have an army to lead."
"But I … I do not know what to do. I am a failure when it comes to battles. My poor planning has led to the death of four of my brethren."
"You will learn, young one," she said. "I shall train you. The dark archons will impart their wisdom to you. These people need a leader, and you are the one everyone is looking up to."
Somewhere in the background, Garf was wiping his tears away with his right arm's sleeve. He grabbed the thing from the dark archon's right hand and took it back. The white, helmet-like object was his ghost mask, which had three green goggles – a large one for his right eye, and two small ones for his left one. It also had a breathing filter in the mouth area, and two hoses coming from the left and right side of its cheeks.
"This vessel does not understand why Alys'tor spared you, UED scum," Raven said.
"Hoy! Shad ya yap, t'n can!" Garf said while giving the machine a nasty look. Then he put his mask on and left the hall.
A female protoss with lilac skin and a blue bandanna stood among ten protoss children who wore nothing but cloths over their light-gray bodies. Her nerve cords were kept tied in a bun, and her eyes glowed green. She had silver, upward curved pauldrons to match the armor on her chest, pelvic area, arms, and feet. Each of her pauldrons had an extension with its inner portion having blue glowing lights. These extensions stood upright near her head, as if they were horns growing out of her shoulders. From under each pauldron, a strip of dark blue cloth dangled, reaching to her knees. From her waist area, she had two other cloths that covered her front and rear, reaching slightly above the level of her feet. A cape to match those cloths covered her back, all the way to the ground.
Makatai walked up to her and looked her in the eyes while his were still flooded with light that spilled out. "Khar, please … deal with the funeral rites for my father. I would help, and I should, but … I must spend some time alone to decide whether I shall lead or pick someone else to lead."
"It will be done," she said. "Your father was a great leader, and has showed my family kindness by allowing us to join this tribe. It is the least I can do to repay him."
"You better make up your mind soon, young warrior," the Lady in Black said to Makatai. "It is only a matter of time until those terrans find our settlement."
"I shall try," Makatai said before walking away, his eyes still spilling green light.
The Lady in Black walked around the settlement, her feet sinking into the snow each step. She saw the centurions use their blue blades to attack training dummies that were made of metal piled up to remotely resemble terran marines. The centurions could turn blue for a brief period and pass through the dummies while charging. Then they hit the dummies with attacks that would normally stun creatures.
Near them there was a group of dark templar who faded out of sight and attacked training dummies, destroying them with one swift swing of their green warp blades.
A bit further, there was a nexus – a building shaped like a square pyramid. Sixteen probes – autonomous machines – gathered minerals from a patch, while other six probes collected vespene gas from two assimilators. The new probe model had only one green glowing eye in front, a circular part of the same glow on its left side and another on its right. Under the probe, there was a green jet keeping it hovering above the ground. On the probe's back there was a crest sticking out. The machine's armor was made entirely out of silver metal.
As the Lady in Black continued her stroll, she ended up in an area where the stalkers – protoss minds merged with cybernetics – honed their skills. They shot at flying silver discs and jumped at training dummies to tear them with their bodies' four legs and two small claws. The stalkers had a vaguely arachnid shape, with their hunched backs almost twice as tall as a marine in CMC armor. Most of the stalkers' bodies were covered in silver, save for the three spots around their backs, and the blue, glowing parts of their legs' "knees", along with their claws' tops. Their shields on the right side of their bodies also had seven blue spots – six toward the top, and one at the middle. Their heads were covered in silver plating, had green glowing eyes, and the lower portions of their faces were hidden under a blue bandanna.
Everything seemed in order there, so the Lady in Black decided to go inspect the rest of the army. But before she could leave, a stalker walked up to her. "Yes?" she said to him.
The stalker bowed. "Good day, my lady!"
"Good day to you too."
"My name is Gorgas. I am your biggest fan."
"Well, that's nice. I am sorry, but I cannot stay for a chat right now." She turned to leave, but the stalker appeared right in front of her, in the blink of an eye.
"Please! I must have your number!" the stalker said while holding his claws together.
The Lady in Black shook her head to decline his request. "I remain devoted to my partner, even if there are high chances I might be a widow now."
The stalker just stood there, one eye wider than the other. "Huh?"
She walked away, leaving him there with his confusion.
After checking on the fleet of corsairs, oracles, and void rays whose pilots trained to fly in various formations, the Lady in Black went to the Temple of Young, a triangular pyramid. Inside, she found seven of the protoss children and four machines with transparent lids. In each machine, there was a protoss baby. She looked around, hoping to see the protoss she came for. "Can any of you kids tell me where Khar went?"
The children looked up at the tall lady with their wide green eyes. The eldest of them, a boy, said, "Khar went to the east of our settlement to get materials for a wreath."
"Thank you," the Lady in Black said before leaving.
At the edge of the settlement, the Lady in Black saw Khar and three protoss children climb one of the tall trees. They were picking the branches from the middle and collecting them.
"I want to pick the cone!" a protoss girl said while reaching out for one of the tree's copper, scaly seed holders.
"You can pick it, Kaika, but please be careful so you don't fall," Khar said. "You younglings are our tribe's future."
"I will catch anyone who falls," the Lady in Black said.
"What brings you here, Lady?" Khar asked.
"I am inspecting our forces, learning of their strengths and weaknesses so that I may give the best advice to our future prelate."
"Then why are you looking for me? I am not a warrior. My job is to take care of our warriors' younglings."
"Your services are important for our tribe, but make no mistake: if you are not prepared to defend these younglings from the dangers that may fall upon them, you shall regret not training in the ways of a signifier."
"Just because my parents became signifiers does not mean that I wish to be one too."
"Time will be the judge of that," the Lady in Black said while scowling. "What is the purpose of this wreath you are making?"
After taking the cone from Kaika, Khar said, "Have you not heard about the wreath for the fallen?"
"Please forgive my ignorance. This tribe has not seen death from the moment I have joined until recently, when these terrans arrived."
"We make one of these to represent how much we care about those we look up to, or those we love, after their departure. It is like a promise that, once our time in the mortal realm is up, we will join them."
The Lady in Black seemed saddened by something. She looked toward the blue sky that was beginning to darken – a sign that night was almost there. "Khar … could you ... show me how to make one of those wreaths?"
"Of course I can," Khar said, slowly making her way down the tree along with the three children. Once she reached the bottom, she walked up to the Lady in Black and looked into her eyes. "You have lost someone close to you, I believe?"
"I may have. I am too far away to know for sure. It pains me to talk about this, so just … teach me how to make one, please."
"Do not worry. I will teach you. But you will have to acquire the materials for it: one cone and twelve branches from the middle of one of these trees."
"That will be easy. You go on your way; I will catch up with you as soon as I am done. I will also check on the rest of our forces as I return."
At sunset, all of the tribe members, except for the babies and Matakai, gathered at Alys'tor's funeral. Most were on one knee, with their heads bowed in respect as the remains of the prelate were put on a silver tray and lowered into a hole in the ground by the pair of dark archons with the help of telekinesis. The dark archons put the soil and snow back on top of the grave, and then stood aside, looking at the silver blade monument at the head of it.
Khar walked up to the monument. On it, she put the final piece – the wreath for the fallen.
To be continued.