The Man Who Was a Dark Templar

Chapter 2: A New Home

(Note: Although the conclave was aware of the terran presence, most of the dark templars still had no idea that there was such a race. At least that's my theory, heheh. I also made a leap in logic that the telepathy between a protoss and a terran would be different than either one would have with another member of their own race.)

Zosh, the young protoss dark Templar looked over at his very old mother Areha. Areha was one of the oldest dark templars alive and her eyes showed her age to her loyal son. After her husband of over eight hundred years (in terran time) had died, she had decided to live out her remaining years peacefully communing with nature on the uninhabited world of Tulmar (the world known as Vhas to the terrans). She had simply lost her taste for social life without her husband. She was sitting on her bed in her converted cave. The cave had a single miniature pylon in it and a few appliances, but otherwise it looked like a regular cave, though be it a very well lit one.

The one person that she cared to have in her presence was hers and her husband's only offspring, their son Zosh. Zosh tried to visit as much as he could, knowing that his mother would not be around much longer. Here, he saw her shut her eyes and begin trembling. A strong sensation of fear went through his body and he cried, "Mother!"

While keeping her eyes shut, she said in an astonished voice, "Zosh, can you not feel her? It is amazing."

"Feel who? What are you talking about?" asked Zosh.

"It's so strange, I don't know. It is a telepath, but not a dark templar," she uttered slowly.

Zosh clenched his fist and said, "It must be one of our former brethren then. Those who cast us out, one of the wretched conclave."

"No, she isn't. She's not a protoss at all, she's something else altogether," said Areha.

Upon hearing this, Zosh sighed, as he remembered that his mother was a very old woman, and her mind might very well be deteriorating. He decided to humor her, and he said, "There, there mother, I think you need some rest."

Areha opened her eyes and looked at her son in almost disbelief, she said, "Listen to me Zosh, I may be very old, but my mind hasn't gone yet. Now I am telling you that there is another telepathic being out there, and she is in danger. We must help her!"

Zosh did not believe his mother, but he decided to go along with her out of respect anyhow. He said, "Alright mother, tell me where this person is. I'll do whatever you wish."

Areha could sense the disbelief in her son, but she pushed the feeling aside for the urgency of the situation. She and he walked out of the cave into the jungle fields and she pointed off to the right and said, "This way, we must hurry." Zosh nodded and said, "Alright, let's go in my corsair." Areha replied, "You go in your ship, I wish to go on foot."

"I'm not letting you go on foot alone," said Zosh firmly. Areha sighed, "Then I guess we shall both go on foot." Zosh sighed, "Fine mother, I know better than to argue with you."

"Don't worry my son, I'm not going to lead you on a pointless search. She is heading almost in this very direction, so it shouldn't take long."

The warp trip had apparently taken its toll on Maggie's wraith, for it was having trouble staying air born. She knew it was a risk taking a damaged ship into hyperspace anyway, so it wasn't much of a shocker. What was really worrying her was the fact that the other two wraiths and the science vessel were gaining on her now that she was having trouble flying.

She just needed about two more minutes for her Moebius reactor to charge up in her suite, as well as the larger Apollo reactor of the ship. Then if she did everything just right, she might be able to still pull off an escape, though her plan was not that plausible. Her plan was to wait until they were just about within firing range of her, and then carefully and somehow safely, open the hatch to the wraith, stand up while still in flight, fire a lockdown round at the science vessel taking out its scanning abilities, and then turn on the wraith's cloaking device. Then, she could fly over undetectable, and take out the science vessel before it came out of lockdown.

Even as she went over the plan in her mind she saw how ridiculous and desperate it was, but still, it was all she had, and since she would die anyway if she didn't, she figured, "What the hell?"

When the other two wraiths and the science vessel were just about to close in on her, and her ship was flying very low to the ground, she pulled the lever, gave the command for the safety override, and popped the hatch. Unfortunately, the hatch got caught in the wind sheer and tore off. But she ignored that fact and kneeled backwards and aimed. She fired, and the lockdown shell went right to its mark. To her dismay though, just before it hit, the science vessel released a special round of it's own. Another EMP, which hit right within the vicinity of her ship, as well as that of the other two wraiths. All three ships, as well as Maggie's suit, were drained of cloaking ability.

Just then Maggie's ship went a little too low to the ground and part of its lower laser cannon caught on some sort of thick and low to the ground tree. The entire plane was violently thrown into a forward tumble. Since Maggie was not strapped into the cockpit, she was thrown free of the crash that followed.

As Maggie flew through the air she faintly heard her wraith exploding, but it didn't even register. Her mind was busy having her whole life flash before her eyes. That ten seconds or so that she was in the air seemed to last for an eternity. But little did she know, that luck would be on her side for once.

She saw rocks in front of her as she fell forward, and it looked like she was headed for the tips of those rocks. But her estimation was slightly off, and she flew over, instead of into the rocks. And right behind the rocks was a small lake, perhaps about thirty meters or so across.

She was flying into the water, and there was a small chance that she might survive, but not if she went in face first, for that would certainly break her neck at the speed she was going. She didn't know how she did it, but she managed to force herself into a roll in the split second or so that she had to maneuver. And she hit feet first into the water. It took all of her psionic strength to keep her back from breaking as her body jerked out of motion so quickly.

It hurt, everything hurt, but the pain told her that she was alive. Due to the weight of her gear, she sank to the bottom of the lake. She flapped furiously to get to the waters edge. She guessed that she would have enough power to go into cloak for at least a short time very soon. The cat and mouse game was getting more and more strenuous, but she was willing to stick it out to the bitter end.

The two pilots had seen all of this in a blur, and neither one of them suspected that someone could survive something like that. Still, intelligence would not be satisfied with something like that. They needed a dead body to bring back, or at least, a big enough part of one. They lowered their wraiths next to the lake and got ready to go fishing, so to speak.

Just then they saw Maggie desperately crawl up out of the water. She tried quickly to flip on her cloaking field, but it still didn't have enough power. The two men aimed at her before she could even grab her gun, so she just let herself fall on her back, so that she could die peacefully. One of the pilots aimed his gun at her head, but the other one stopped him and said, "This bitch has given us a lot of trouble, do you really want to give her an easy painless death like that?" The other pilot smirked and said, "I see your point."

The two pilots walked up to Maggie and one of them kicked her gun away. Then he said, "You've had your little fun deserter, but now it's time to suffer." He carefully aimed at her lower right leg with his handgun.

Just then Maggie again sensed the alien presence. She had thought that she had imagined it before, but now it came in clear as a bell. She looked over instinctively, and saw two blurs coming towards her. They looked the way that ghosts looked when using their personal cloaking fields, only the shape seemed a little different.

The pilot had selected the place on her leg her wanted to shoot first, and he said, "This is for dragging us so far out into space!" But before he could fire, something invisible sliced through his neck, and his severed head fell on the ground. The second pilot screamed, "HOLY SHIT!" and he urinated in his pants. Suddenly, there was a spray off blood from his stomach, and the upper and lower halves of his body fell separated from each on the ground.

Maggie was paralyzed with fear, and she screamed. Just then, two translucent figures appeared in front of her, and they were not human. Maggie was about to pass out when she heard a female voice echo in her mind, "Be not afraid, we are here to help you." She and the strange alien woman looked directly into each other's eyes, and they experienced a telepathic bond with one another that neither of them had ever experienced anything like before. They shared thoughts, memories, and feelings with one another.

They stayed looking into each other's eyes for about two or three minutes before Zosh said, "Mother, what is going on here?" Areha turned and looked at her son and pointed and said, "Zosh, get your corsair and destroy the science vessel over there."

Zosh nodded and started running, but on the way, he said to himself, "Science vessel?" It was a generic enough name to be a guess, but the way his mother had said it made him think that she knew exactly what she was talking about. He wandered just how strong of a telepathic bond his mother and this strange creature were sharing.

He ran as fast as he could to his corsair and lifted off immediately. He flew back to where his mother had pointed, and sure enough, there was a strange looking hovering vessel in front of him. He was uneasy about attacking a strange alien craft that he knew nothing about, but he decided to do as his mother had told him anyhow.

Since he couldn't fire while moving, he zipped up close enough before firing that he could get off numerous shots before the ship would be able to get out of range. He pulled up almost under the alien ship before firing his first shot.

The scientist in the vessel was so shocked to see a yellow alien craft that he didn't even think to retreat from it. And even when the first shot came out of the alien craft, the scientist did not understand what was going on. By about the third shot he realized that he was being attacked, but by then it was too late. He desperately tried to pull away, but almost as he started moving the science vessel took it's final hit and exploded.

After that, Zosh flew back to where he had left his mother and the alien, and he was a little worried when he didn't see them there. He headed back to his mother's home and ran in, and was relieved to see them both sitting and talking.

Zosh approached slowly and cautiously and said, "Is this, I mean, my lady, are you, a Xel Nagga?" Areha looked over at her son and said, "No Zosh, she is a terran." Zosh repeated, "A terran."

Maggie was surprised at how calm she was to be in the presence of aliens, especially when she had just seen one of them cut to men in half using what seemed to be, his mind. The realization that not only intelligent aliens existed, but also that she was the first one ever to make contact with them should have exited her much more; she knew it should have. But it somehow seemed perfectly natural to her.

It was because of the telepathic bonding that she and Areha had gone through. Indeed, they had almost traded pieces of each other. That was the natural feeling that was there, in the twenty or so minutes that they had known each other, there were as close as two life long friends could have been. They understood the way each other thought, and respected one another.

Maggie had learned that Areha and Zosh were both protoss, and that he was her son. She knew that they were from an exiled group known as the dark templar, and she even knew a little of the origins of the dark templar. It was all so very fast, and yet, so very familiar.

Zosh was very much the uneasy one in the situation, and he said, "If you're not a Xel Nagga, then might you be another creation of theirs as we are?" As much information as Maggie had gotten out of the bond, she did not know who or what the Xel Nagga were. She said, "Who are the Xel Nagga and why do you think that they have anything to do with me or my race?"

Areha broke in and said, "We all have many questions that we would like to ask, but there will be time for all of that later." Then Areha looked over at Maggie and said, "You need food and some rest right now, for you are with child."

Hearing this made Zosh even more exited and uneasy and he exclaimed, "Pregnant! How are we supposed to deliver a baby of one of these things?"

Areha said sharply, "Zosh, we do not refer to our guests as things. And don't worry, she's not going to give birth today. Now be the polite son that I've raised you to be and get out guest some fresh fruits. And while you're at it, kill a large mammal for her, I believe her species requires protein."

Zosh nodded uneasily and walked out, almost glad for a chance to be separated from the situation for a little while. The fact that there was another telepathic race in the universe did not sit well with him, especially since he had just witnessed them making war on each other. He was reminded of the stories his father had told him about the aeon of strife. The incredibly long and bloody war that countless thousands and even millions of protoss must have died in. And even the final resolution of the war eventually lead to the exile of the dark templar from Aiur. And even the exile had been first intended to be their execution.

Zosh had thought over all of this many times, and he had always felt so troubled that his people gave in to hatred so easily sometimes. He didn't believe that the protoss were evil, just that they perhaps needed guidance. He had dreamed a few times of a great and benevolent telepathic race that might come and teach the protoss the error of their ways, so that they might all live in peace some day.

But here, seeing another telepathic race, of which at least three members of were trying to kill a pregnant mother, it bothered him. For it was driving him to a harsh philosophical conclusion, that war and hatred were simply inevitable and inescapable in the universe.

Back in the cave, Areha was trying very hard to make Maggie comfortable, and Maggie was trying very hard not to trouble her host. Areha felt a great deal of sympathy for the terran creature that she had bonded with. Through their bonding, Areha had seen the horrors of the terran military that took place in the terran academies and science facilities regularly. She had seen the tampering, the forced training, the forced removal of Maggie's eyes, and their uncomfortable replacements. She had seen a young girl ripped away from her parents and raised in what could be called a prison.

Even in Aiur's worst days, there had always been an importance placed on family. But in the terran society, it was commonplace for the military to claim a child the second it was out of the womb. In deed, Areha could not judge Maggie for the times that she killed, for she had been brainwashed to follow any and all orders given to her no matter what. She wandered how, in such a society, anyone managed to feel anything. It was for that reason, that Areha felt so much respect for Maggie Reeve, for she had overcome all of her programming, and fought to save her child from the life that she had endured. There was great nobility in that, in Areha's eyes. This was all compounded by Maggie's age, considering that if she were protoss, Maggie would still be considered a child.

"Will others come here searching for you?" asked Areha.

"Well, I would say that if no one comes in the next hour, then no one else has followed, because that's about how long a warp trail is detectible. So if someone is coming, then they've already left." Maggie's expression became more serious and she said, "If someone does come, I don't want you or your son risking your lives for me. I'll try to make another run for it."

"I'm not about to let you get killed," said Areha.

"I'm grateful, but this isn't your fight," said Maggie.

"Do you think that we are so helpless?" asked Areha. "I may live alone, but I still have many friends on Shakuras, including even the matriarch herself. I'm not going to let the terran confederacy touch you." Then Areha added, "If you don't want to accept help for your own sake, then let it be for the sake of your child."

Maggie sighed, "Alright," realizing that she was defeated.

Areha left Maggie to rest and recover from her ordeal, and walked out of her cave. She summoned her son telepathically. Within about ten minutes Zosh came walking out of the trees carrying a large container of fruit he had gathered.

"What is it mother?" he asked.

"Zosh, I need to talk to you about something very serious now, but first, I need you to promise that whatever I say to you here will not be repeated."

Zosh found the request very strange coming from his mother, but he agreed.

She began speaking very seriously, "The tribes have known about terrans for some time now, just as the conclave has. But it was kept a secret from the population for an important reason."

Zosh could barely believe what he was hearing, and said, "What possible reason would there be for covering up the existence of another telepathic race?"

"Well, the tribes were never sure that the terrans were telepathic at all. You see, some of our spies reported sensing what they thought were psychic emanations from some humans, but not from others. But what they did know for sure was that the terrans were a warlike and dangerous people.

The tribe leaders knew that there were many dark templars who would wish to seek out another telepathic people. Life on Shakuras is sometimes a struggle, and we are a lonely and forsaken people. You can imagine the feelings that such a discovery would spark. And we couldn't have that."

"Why not?" said Zosh.

"Because the terran race is dangerous, and we do not want to risk contact with them. If their confederacy learned of the protoss, there would surely be much bloodshed to follow. As a people, they generally have little respect for life. Their confederacy would seek to conquer the protoss, and however ridiculous an ambition that would be, they would almost certainly bring great destruction before they were defeated. These people will even use atomic and nuclear weapons and irradiate worlds to win a war.

Zosh my son, think about it, you know deep down that we made the correct decision in keeping the discovery of terrans a secret."

Zosh sighed, for he couldn't really argue with the decision, and yet, he still felt betrayed by the tribal leaders.

Areha let her son sit in thought for a few minutes. Eventually she said, "Our guest tells me that there is a possibility that more terrans will follow her here. We should know in a short time if they're coming or not. If they do come, I don't want you to engage them yourself, just lead them away and call in reinforcements."

Zosh said firmly, "I will call if that is your wish, but I am not a coward."

"You are not acting as a dark templar today, you are acting as my son, and I want you to do as I say." The way she spoke was so firm that he was having trouble finding the will to defy her.

Whether it was out of pity for her old age or respect, or a combination of the two, he could not bring himself to argue with his mother. He sighed, "As you wish mother." And he went to his corsair.

To everyone's great relief, no one else came after Maggie Reeve, which surprised the ghost soldier very much.

That night, Areha said to her guest, "I would like it very much if you stayed here with me, at the very least until your child is born." The request surprised Zosh more than it did Maggie, but he kept quiet and waited to hear the strange creature's response.

Maggie didn't respond right away, and Areha added, "I know what you're thinking of, but don't worry, you won't be any trouble. I can have Zosh bring a few probes to help us out. And I don't want to stress the point too strongly, but I don't think that you have anywhere else to go."

"You're right about that, it's just that, well, no one's ever been this generous to me before. And I understand that you came out here to be alone."

"I did, but I don't mind one companion, in fact, it would give me great joy to have a baby around. I'm not asking you out of pity, I promise. I really would like you to stay with me," said Areha.

"In that case, nothing would make me happier," said Maggie.

This made Zosh very uncomfortable. He didn't trust the strange monkey like creature to be left alone with his mother. He waited for a few hours until the terran went to sleep and then he walked outside of the cave with his mother and said, "I'm trying very hard to have faith in your judgment mother, but I'm worried about this."

"My son, you cannot imagine what the telepathic bonding with this creature was like. Their telepathy is so very different than our own. I was almost fully engulfed in her mind, and she in mine. I won't hide it from you; she was a soldier and a killer. But none of that was by her choice, and that part of her life is over now. I know that I can trust her. If you can't, then trust me, I am perfectly safe with this terran."

Zosh sighed, "Alright mother, but I still don't like it."

-To be continued