The grand reclamation of Aiur, purported by many of the Templar as the start of a second Protoss golden age, waged below them as the Void seeker warped into the planet's outer atmosphere. It was clear that the fighting that could be seen in small pockets was only the clearing forces, with the Golden Armada in orbit the fighting would easily cover half the planet once the actual invasion began.
"So many Templar... How can Amon think to strike against us here? Surely even one as mighty as the Dark one of legend would fall beneath such might..." The zealot's words seemed to be as much an effort to convince himself of his idea as it was to broach the idea to Zeratul, who looked down upon the planet of his exiled ancestors and couldn't help but feel that the Templars numbers here were exactly why it made such an opportune target for the Dark One.
"Get us close to the capitol ship and I will get aboard, I must speak with the Hierarch in person and convince him of this threat. Even if Aiur isn't the trap I think it might be, the losses we suffer taking it will only make Amon's task all the easier when he does strike." This assumed he wasn't going to be impaled upon sight once aboard his old student's flagship, given his links to Kerrigan and her small but significant cadre of 'traitors' he was not exactly welcome amongst the Protoss high command even with the actions of the war against the Overmind being in his favour.
Still, Zeratul had always been one to take risks in the name of the faceless billions his work had thus far saved, if this was to be his prophesied fate then he would be most disappointed. At least the heroic last stand against the dark one had been suitably climactic even if it was the exact opposite of the path he wished to travel, execution as a traitor just didn't have the same mystique to it.
"Prelate, we are in position, are you okay?" Breaking from the slightly foreign thoughts that reminded him far too much of Jim for him to be entirely comfortable, Zeratul nodded in what he knew would seem a calm and aloof manner.
"I am, just centering myself for the challenges ahead. Once I have spoken to the Hierarch be ready to land, though I want the ship airborne again as soon as possible afterwards." With his senses and his mind telling him it was a trap, Zeratul didn't want to fall for the same mistake he had when he had been chasing the prophecy, the Void Seeker could take valuable minutes to become airborne from being properly docked and that was time they potentially didn't have.
"Understood Prelate, En Taro Tassadar!" And with a nod that conveyed far more confidence than he actually felt, Zeratul shadow jumped to where he could feel Artanis' presence, the cold of the Void almost a welcoming feeling after their exertions against Amon mere hours ago.
One of the peculiarities of travelling through the shadows was that it made the traveller aware of what was happening at both his jump point and his destination in the time it took for the traveller to arrive, which meant he could hear Artanis speaking to the gathered Protoss Templar before a far more dangerous voice spoke.
"The invasion fleet stands ready Hierarch, some of our advance forces have taken ground occupied by the Terran scavengers we drove off on our arrival, we await only your command Hierarch." Her words showed Selendis to be exactly who Zeratul had always known she had been, as Jim's forces on the planet and their mission had been known to the Protoss for almost a year, Selendis' conservative outlook on non-Protoss as well as the string of defeats she had suffered against the Raiders and Kerrigan meaning she was one of the most vocal opponents to inter-species co-operation.
Exactly not what they needed when they were on the verge of a war to end all life in the galaxy, but Zeratul had to work with what he had, and what he had right now was Artanis' faith in his judgement which thankfully remained strong even through the aftermath of Kerrigan's return.
"You must halt this invasion at once." The more powerful the Dark templar and the further distance they had to travel were both factors in determining how they appeared after shadow travelling, and Zeratul knew from Jim's and Kerrigan's memories that his appearance method was, to quote the ex-marshall, 'Badass'.
"Zeratul..." Artanis' whisper was a far cry from the other Templars reactions, Selendis acting on instinct as she whirled to face him, psy blades igniting even as she spoke with the distaste that only came with those who were 'righteous'.
"Traitor! Templar, seize him!" Even as the zealots that made up the hierarch's honour guard ignited their psy blades and arrayed themselves around him threateningly, Zeratul couldn't help but scoff slightly at the so-called 'threat', he had faced down the Queen of Blades at the height of her power and come out of it in one piece after all.
The first zealot threw himself forwards with the sort of cockiness that belied his arrogance in his ascension to the detail, blades aimed at merely incapacitating Zeratul rather than crippling or killing him. Zeratul waited with the long suffering patience of someone who had been attacked by his larger and far more emotional brethren one too many times.
"Overextension and overconfidence, your form is correct but these weaken your ability..." The repeated attempts on his life had become something of a training exercise for Zeratul, even as his hand lashed out like a snake and grabbed the inside of the Zealot's arm, using the bigger Protoss' momentum to send him flying into a group of the zealots stacked up behind him.
"Your attacks lack strategy..." Blinking above a psy-blade strike aimed for his head, Zeratul utilised some of the 'martial arts' memories he had picked up from melding his mind with Kerrigan's to swing his leg around to kick the zealot who had attacked him in the face, landing in a crouch and spinning in a rapid circle to trip two more of the zealots who were too slow to dodge backwards.
"Enough!" The shout from Artanis came as Zeratul stood in an overly relaxed manner, obviously his student had decided that he wanted his guards somewhat combat capable after their conversation, perhaps out of a slight sense of compassion from his memories of training with Zeratul.
"We will hear him out, and I will not have in-fighting on my ship!" Despite the call from their Hierarch, several of the Zealots only lowered their psy-blades rather than deactivated them, obviously the unity of the High Templar to their somewhat still young leader was not as resolute as they would like to project it to the rest of the sector.
"Glad to see you reined your attack dogs in Artanis, the situation is too serious for me to waste time with training these amateurs..." Despite himself Zeratul couldn't resist the unsubtle attack on the Zealot guards honour, though if he had been a true threat to their lord then he could only be glad he had spent considerable time teaching Artanis in the ways of combat, Kerrigan wouldn't even break a sweat taking these glorified baby sitters down.
"Zeratul, this is not the time for past grudges, though you are correct that there is obviously some remedial training required for my guards I imagine that is not why you risked death coming here. I will hear you out, as I always will if you visit." Apart from the first part, the rest of Artanis' instructions were clearly aimed at the assembled Templar, a reprimand and a command without being overt about it.
Obviously becoming Hierarch had been good for Artanis, especially given that he would not have been so forceful with Zeratul prior to his ascension. Zeratul could only hope that his former students new position hadn't truly created a gulf in the bond they had once held with each other.
"The End war is upon us Artanis, I have seen Amon, he has returned..." The mention of the dark God, one who had long descended into children stories as opposed to the histories of their race, still brought gasps and muttering from the gathered Templar.
"Do not believe the words of this traitor Hierarch, remember this filth and his actions in the Overmind war caused us to have to abandon Aiur in the first place!" Zeratul had to resist the urge to physically flinch as his darkest moments were dragged out so casually to discredit him, but instead he merely gave her the same look he had seen Jim give some of his less experienced Raiders when they stepped out of line.
"This coming from the Executor that HAS gone to war with the human that the Hierarch has declared friend of the Protoss, who stood with Tassadar at the felling of the Overmind, not once but twice?" It was oddly satisfying to actually fight back in defence of his reputation for once, something he could attribute to Kerrigan's influence during their time fighting together recently, certainly Selendis' flinch and the narrowing of Artanis' eyes showed that these missions he had just brought up definitely hadn't been sanctioned by the Hierarch either before or after they had happened.
"Given the result of those campaigns I could use your lack of tactical judgement as an indication that this invasion shouldn't go ahead, but this threat is far too serious for me to waste any more time on such trivial things..." With his most vocal critic silence for the moment, Zeratul returned his focus to Artanis even as the Hierarch seemed to come to a decision.
"Everyone, leave us!" If the order wasn't enough of an indication of how far Selendis had fallen with his revelations about her attacks on Raynor, the cold and commanding glance he cast her way when she tried to protest his order spoke volumes.
"We will speak of your actions later Executor, and I hope for your sake that these allegations are the most serious of incidents you have been hiding from me..." Zeratul couldn't help but be impressed as the Zealots warped out without further incident, though to Zeratul's surprise Selendis approached him and bowed her head in what was obviously meant to be an apologetic action.
"Dark Prelate, I-I apologise for my earlier words. You, you had a point about my... overzealousness and the fact I let it control my actions at times, something that Friend Raynor has pointed out to me after both of my defeats to him and the Q-Kerrigan." An admittance of her acts and what seemed to be a sincere apology to him?
It took some small effort not too laude what had obviously been a difficult admission over the often cocky Protoss commander's head, but he resisted the urge and instead used the opportunity to try and build some trust, in these dark times the chance to make another ally out of an opponent was something Zeratul couldn't ignore.
"All of us have things that we regret Executor, I especially have burdens that weigh upon me far more heavily than any disdain or hatred you could show me, which is why I have come now to try and prevent us from making a final mistake that will doom our kind forever. This invasion will merely consume our forces and make us weak and distracted for when Amon does strike, and given what I have seen that strike could be far sooner than even I predicted." Which was true, he had hoped that despite the signs the Dark God would be decades, if not centuries in the waking after they had dealt with Narud.
"You speak as if you have met the Dark God in the flesh old friend, and given what we know of his influence over Kerrigan and the other Zerg, surely Aiur would be far too useful a resource for us to leave uncontested for him to gather minions upon. I know of your protests to this invasion, even if the somewhat biased nature of my supporters has stopped you from approaching me directly before now, but to cancel the invasion now would not only risk the destabilisation of my power as Hierarch but also tip Amon's hand." Zeratul was surprised, both that Artanis was not listening to his advice, and that the Hierarch had offered a good counter argument against holding off the invasion.
"You think that Amon will use Aiur as a battleground against us? Surely if it is such a trap then springing it..." Zeratul paused as he pondered what Artanis was telling him, and judging by the surprise on Selendis' face this was the first time she had heard of Artanis' views on Amon's return as well.
"Is the best course of action in all but the worst case scenario, when you are fighting a vastly more powerful foe who is at best fighting you half-heartedly, even if you know what one of his moves is almost definitely going to be you don't reveal that information. Such an action would merely cause Amon to either try and overwhelm us with his power, or sink into the shadows and strike without warning. At least here the Golden Armada can keep his focus fixed on us whilst our allies prepare to aid us."
Zeratul couldn't help but nod appreciatively, as Selendis seemed torn between disappointment at being kept from the Hierarch's true motives for Aiur, and gratitude for Artanis' unspoken counteracting of her previous dismissal.
"It seems that my lessons and those of Tassadar did more than improve your ability on the battlefield Artanis, it seems that Amon's focus on me could well end up being his undoing..." Zeratul did not give praise often, merely succeeding on the battlefield was not an accolade, more of an expectation for him.
But, to be able to foresee Zeratul's own actions to strengthen the humans and Zerg and come up with a strategy to split the enemies focus so thoroughly was nothing short of tactical genius, especially as it had even fooled his own forces into believing they were doing this despite Zeratul's protests. If there were any of Amon's spies amongst the High Templar, then the information of the rift growing between the two of them would only make the dark God all the more overconfident.
"In which case your mind is set Hierarch, I can see there is nothing I can do to persuade you..." The change in tone caught Selendis by surprise, but Zeratul now knew his role at the end of this conversation and was merely shifting into his best acting in an attempt to sell the act that little but further.
Even as Artanis gave the signal for the other Protoss to return Zeratul was already searching with his psionics in order to find the Void Seeker, it would do for his dramatic exit to be any less impressive than his entrance after all. More than a dozen Protoss warped straight back into the room, barely giving Zeratul time to begin shadow travelling before more of the, arrived.
"Very well Hierarch, but had better pray to that Khala of yours that I am wrong, otherwise the doom of our race will be on your hands..." And with that he found himself back on the Void Seeker, already planning his next move based on his Hierarch's subtle instructions.
"Dark Prelate, how did the meeting go?" The zealot from before seemed surprised at the speed of his return,
"Get me a comm channel open to Friend Raynor, and then once the invasion has secured a beachhead get us down there, I will be resting until Jim is available..." For it was going to be a long day tomorrow, and Zeratul couldn't help but get the feeling that despite Artanis' confidence, something was going to go very, very wrong...
A/N: When it gets to the point that I am being pestered on other stories about this story I can't help but get another small chapter out, though I will point out that such tactics are slowly turning me off this story entirely *hint*.
I promised that this chapter was going to include Artanis and Zeratul's big fight, but I want to make something more of the initial invasion of Aiur than there was in the game, primarily to explain why Amon didn't just 'infect' the Khala at any time and had to wait until the Protoss reached Aiur.
Also, I wanted to expand more on Selendis, Artanis and others before things went to shit. Selendis is very much just a bit-part character that is used as a villain and nothing else, if it weren't for the fact that I have a 'saving people' thing when it comes to my stories then I really wouldn't know enough about her to care. That is something that really could have been a good prelude to Amon's plans, if you had worked with Selendis for several missions first and then she had been corrupted.
Anyway, will see what people think of this and we can go from there.
Regards
Defias