Hello everyone, I have returned! Just got back from Holiday and now I'm ready to continue my fics. 'The Hero of Remnant' will receive an update next Saturday but until then, I hope this chapter will satisfy. Now, review response time. Bravo Tango; unfortunately I had to cut the Protoss from the chapter, but I'm making up for it here as you'll see soon. Lord-Krun; yeah, the issue with war stories is finding a good balance to make the opposition a reasonable threat. What I'm gonna try for is that to Remnant, the Protoss are few in number but make up for it with a vast technological advancement and better tactical know how whilst to the Protoss, Remnant isn't as practised in their level of warfare but makes up for it in sheer numbers and geographical knowledge. Le MAO XVII; yeah, I have no interest in RTS games whatsoever but I like the story of StarCraft, now that's weird. And yeah, you basically summed it all up pretty well in your review. Akshka; okay, here's an update. And OutlastTheDark; hey, it's hard recreating/identifying an unknown element. I always thought the Hybrid were pretty cool looking… you think I'm weird now, don't you? Hey, he's gotta be a General for a reason right? Now, on with the show!

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Chapter 7- Consequences

Alaris winced slightly as rolled his shoulder forward, clutching his injured arm with his free hand. He was fortunate that most of the wounds he had sustained were easily treated, needing only minor medical treatment. Only a few others had been so lucky. Most had accepted the honour of becoming Immortals, towering Guardians of the Protoss that struck fear in the hearts of even the most steadfast of enemies. The others had declined the offer, either not being injured enough to declare themselves worthy of the title, or preferring join their ancestors in eternal sleep.

Alaris had wondered if he would ever be brave enough to choose the latter option. The only way he knew was the Warriors way, and he would not give up that mantle any time soon. In the past, a Protoss who had chosen to die rather than be born again would forever be remembered in the Khala, but with the way of the Khala long gone, he did not know what awaited the spirits of the deceased Protoss. Perhaps their willingness to embrace the unknown made those that chose to die braver than those that chose to fight on.

Alaris winced again as he shifted in the medical bed, quickly clutching his leg as white hot pain shot up it. Out of all his injuries, the one on his leg was the worst. So bad in fact that the medic treating him offered to have it amputated and replaced with a cybernetic leg, though he had declined the offer. He wanted to fight again, that much was certain, and he didn't want a robotic attachment to hinder his skill.

He quickly raised his head as he heard the doors to his chambers open, where he was greeted by the sight of his Praetor, Thraos. He no longer wore his Armour, instead now adorned in formal robes of blue and silver, that portrayed his status in the Protoss Military. Alaris also had a similar robe for off duty hours, though he much preferred the comfort of Armour much more. In fact he felt nearly naked without it, his current condition forcing him to wear medical fatigues until his Armour was repaired. He could now also see clearly the extent of his teachers injuries, bandages wrapped around his chest and right arm, the clean linen indicating either the wound had healed enough to stop the flow of blood or they were new.

"Praetor!" Alaris wheezed as he attempted to stand to attention and salute.

"Calm yourself Alaris," Thraos stated, holding his hand up in a halting motion. "I think it is fair to say that your current health will allow such a breach in protocol just this once."

Alaris nodded once as he let himself lean back onto his bed, shuffling slightly so that he could sit up properly without causing too much discomfort. Thraos quickly grabbed a stool and placed it in front of the bed, proceeding to sit on it seconds later. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two simply stared at one another, neither sure of what to say to the other.

"How did the debriefing go, Sir?" Alaris finally asked, breaking the veil of silence that had thus far threatened to smother the room. Thraos cocked his head in thought as he recalled the event before answering.

"It went better than expected considering what had happened." Thraos replied, nodding his head slightly. "But I fear that the actions of that day will not so easily be forgotten if what I've heard is anything to go by."

"How so, Sir?" Alaris quizzed.

"Ilaris has since intercepted more chatter on their radio system, it seems they have become aware of our existence." Thraos sighed, shaking his head solemnly. "Already their Military is attempting to mobilise a strong planetary defence against us."

"Have our vessels already been engaged?" Alaris questioned, though he immediately felt stupid for asking that question. If they'd been engaged already in orbit, the medical bay would be filled with more wounded than it already was.

"No, not yet." Thraos confirmed, gesturing with his hands slightly. "As far as our scans indicate, their Fleet has remained in atmosphere, either unwilling to engage us or simply unable. The Executor has recalled all scouting parties to the core of the main fleet whilst all future ground operations have been cancelled until further notice."

"I see..." Alaris murmured as he laid his head back slightly. His mind immediately went to his original mission, of their objective in which too many lives had been lost. "I trust our own excursion has not been for naught?"

As Alaris turned to face the Praetor, he saw unmistakeable signs of body language he had not seen before. His head was bobbing slightly, and the ends of his severed nerve cords twitched here and there. He wasn't pleased at all.

"The Phase Smith has informed us that the Crystals we retrieved were dead, having lost all power upon arriving." Thraos replied, the signs of contempt obvious in his body language. "Yet they brimmed with power when we first retrieved it."

"How is that possible?" Alaris murmured, almost too quietly for the Praetor to hear. He had seen it first hand the power the Crystal had radiated, and he was fairly confident that the same Crystals were responsible for the variety of explosions that occurred when the Base had been destroyed.

"I do not know, Alaris." Thraos sighed, having finally controlled his emotions to a reasonable level. "Perhaps the way it was transported through the Probe was responsible, or perhaps it needed to be harvested in a certain amount of time."

Alaris simply nodded in response, looking away from the Praetor as he closed his eyes. This was all because of him, the lives lost. If he had simply had better control of his emotions, then none of this would have happened.

"You seem troubled, Alaris." Thraos murmured, quickly placing his hand on Alaris' shoulder. "Your skin is shaking and your head is bowed… what troubles you?"

"This is my doing Praetor." Alaris finally stated, turning to face the Praetor with downcast eyes. "I ignored all your teachings and let my rage consume me. I have failed you as a Student."

To his surprise, Thraos simply nodded slowly in response, taking in Alaris' confession of poor judgement. It seemed an eternity before he spoke again.

"You are right, you did ignore my teachings." Thraos agreed, though his voice did not show any anger, only agreement. "But you also acknowledged the mistake. As long as you vow to never make the same mistake purposely, then you have not failed me yet. Who knows, perhaps I can make a Commander out of you yet."

Alaris chuckled in recognition of the praise, though the downcast expression remained.

"It is standard Military practice for me to at least receive some form of punishment." Alaris replied, earning a small shake of the head in response.

"I think the wounds you have received are punishment enough, don't you think?" Thraos retorted with a raised eye. "I think it is safe to say that-"

"No, I need to be punished or I won't learn." Alaris interrupted, causing the Praetor to lean back slightly. "Besides, if you are discovered of not following regulation, you will be punished far more severely."

Thraos nodded slightly in recognition, stroking his chin in deep thought. Seconds later, he snapped his fingers as a suitable punishment entered his thoughts.

"Very well, how about this. As soon as you're able, you'll be on Armour cleaning duties for the entire crew for a week." Thraos suggested, wagging a finger in Alaris' direction. "I believe that will stop you from making the same mistake, I'm sure."

"Yes, I believe so..." Alaris gulped, his eyes going slightly wide in recognition of the punishment. Perhaps it would have been better to simply let the Praetor overlook the situation.

Thraos merely chuckled in response as he watched his Student panic slightly. That was good, as Alaris had said, it would stop him from repeating the mistake. He heard that the Zer'atai Dark Templar were extremely bloody in combat, and the Zerg Bones that made up the majority of their Armour was not so easily cleaned. The two chatted with one another a while longer, both retelling old stories of their time together and various other combat missions. Eventually however, the time for Thraos to leave came, as he had been summoned to the Bridge. After a short goodbye, Thraos left the medical bay, leaving Alaris alone once more.

With no more distractions, Alaris let his eyes close as he allowed himself to drift into a deep sleep. He would need all the strength he could get when he was able to walk without discomfort, and not just for his eventual punishment.

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Thraos quickly adjusted the clasps of his Armour as he approached the Bridge, making sure he was in a presentable fashion. He had been called to the Bridge by the Executor himself, and it sounded like it was urgent. As he approached the door, the Zealots guarding the entrance to the Bridge quickly saluted as he approached, the doors opening quickly afterwards.

When he entered the Bridge, he was surprised by the lack of Protoss within, save for four figures surrounding a large table, a large holographic map of the planet they orbited hovering above it.

He quickly identified one of the four Protoss as the Executor, who stood at the head of the table, who nodded in acknowledgement of the Praetor. One of the Protoss wore the Armour of a Zera'tai Dark Templar, the rims of the Armour plated in Gold that refracted the light of the room clearly. It was impossible to read his face, for a large Hyrdalisk Skull covered it, his emerald eyes glistening through the sockets.

The third figure was female, at least that was how they appeared. Their body was not made up of blood, bone or muscle, but of metal and cables, white Armour protecting their form. Amber lights glowed out of their eyes and all around their body, occasionally flashing from time to time, whilst a set of cables protruded from their head, mimicking the Nerve Cords that had once been so common on all Khalai.

The final figure was an imposing figure, tall even by Protoss standards. They wore pitch black armour that covered their entire body, a red 'T' shaped visor granting them vision. Even the Nerve Cords themselves were protected by a shining sheet of fabric, deadly looking spikes sticking out along the rim of the coating.

He realised quickly what he had observed meant, a spokesman for each sect of the Daelaam. Nerazim, Purifier and former Tal'darim. Thraos murmured a silent prayer to the Gods as he approached, his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

"You summoned me, Executor." Thraos announced, before quickly bowing his head in recognition of the other Protoss in the room.

"Took you long enough!" the Tal'darim hissed, his fists clenching and unclenching as he spoke. "Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting for you to arrive? I didn't expect this level of tardiness from you."

"Silence, Oanis!" Velran demanded, raising his hand quickly. The Tal'darim, now known to him as Oanis, quickly nodded in response and backed off slightly, though Thraos could still feel his eyes glaring at him behind the helmet. With the Tal'darim now calmed, Velran turned back to face Thraos.

"Thank you for coming Praetor, how fare your wounds?" Velran asked, gesturing to the Praetor's body as he spoke.

"I have suffered worse at the hands of both the Terran's and Zerg, Executor." Thraos replied, giving a quick salute as he spoke.

"That is good to hear, Praetor." Velran stated, nodding his head approvingly. "Now, I'm sure you are interested to know why you have been summoned."

"I admit, I have begun to wonder why I have been summoned." Thraos responded, his eyes drawn to the map in front of him.

"Then let us now keep him waiting any longer, we all have duties we need attending to." the Dark Templar stated, his voice coarse from age.

"Agreed, Zyrrakch." Velran agreed, turning to face the Dark Templar as he spoke. "As all of you are no doubt aware, our initial contact with these 'Humans' has been violent to say the least. They have killed our brethren, and we have responded in kind. And judging from this transmission we received on an open channel from one of their leaders, this dispute will not end soon."

Velran pressed a button on the holo table where the sound of static quickly filled the room, the noise rebounding on the walls of the Bridge. Then faintly, a voice began to make its way through.

"Whoever, or wherever you are, I know you're listening." a voice called out. It was hard to make out any specific qualities of the voice, save it was male. "We are more than aware that you've been accessing our systems, scanning our data. We demand that you cease these activities immediately, or suffer the consequences. We have no doubt in our mind that you are also responsible for the attack of one of our installations, and we demand that you hand over those responsible so they may be brought to justice for the lives they have taken. If you don't reply within 24 hours, we will see this as an open action of war."

"Spoken like the vain fool he appears to be..." Oanis muttered, growling slightly in disgust. "I trust you will not respond to his demands?"

"In that you are right." Velran responded with a nod from his head.

"Good, then I suggest we hurry up and get on with purifying this planet immediately." Oanis stated, bringing a fist up to his chest.

"Purify the planet?!" the Purifier stated in obvious contempt, her synthesised voice clearly portraying her opinion. "Have you lost your mind?! Glassing the planet would defeat the objective of this mission!"

"Have you managed to cross a circuit in your mainframe at all, false Protoss?!" Oanis spat back, turning rapidly to face the robotic Protoss. "We have ignited a war with these lesser beings, clearly colonisation should be the least of our concerns! Purification by cleansing fire is the quickest and most efficient way to deal with these gnats before they can prove a threat to us!"

"And whilst we burn away their warriors, we also burn away the countless innocents from this world!" Thraos butted in, lending his voice in the debate. "I have seen first hand what Glassing can do, the horrors it can inflict!"

"Not to mention the retaliation from their Fleet we will receive." Zyrrakch added, leaning forward onto the table. "Our vessels will be vulnerable while they Glass the surface, and we do not have enough Ships in this fleet to Purify it quickly enough."

"If their Ships posed a threat to us, then they would be far closer to our position." Oanis retorted, his clawed hand pointing out of the window of the Bridge. "Clearly their vessels are not designed for Space combat, and I doubt their barrages would even hamper our shields."

"As much as your opinion is appreciated, Glassing is out of the question." Velran finally stated, turning to face the Tal'darim as he spoke. "I know that the Tal'darim would have long suggested this course of action and their Death Fleet would already be navigating their way through the remnants of the planet, but we are Templar. You chose to follow our way, like the rest of your kind did, when you split from Alarak and his followers."

"So I did..." Oanis muttered, tutting in disgust as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Does anyone have any other suggestions?" Velran asked, glancing around the table to those gathered around him. The Protoss gathered paused as they collected their thoughts, thinking through every possible action.

"I think it is safe to say that whatever we choose, we need more reinforcements." the Purifier stated, gesturing all around her as she spoke. "The Warriors aboard this vessel, and the others in the fleet, will not be enough to sustain a long term ground campaign."

"If we are wise, we could possibly dwindle their numbers through guerilla tactics." Zyrrakch suggested, shrugging slightly. "That way we could deal large amounts of damage to them whilst sustaining few casualties of our own."

"True, but they have the advantage of living on the planet, knowing what routes to avoid." Velran retorted, glancing to the Protoss as he spoke. "We could have a war party waiting to cause a massacre across a road, only for the enemy to march unhindered through another."

"Where is the majority of their Army located?" Thraos asked, stroking his chin in deep thought as he analysed the planet.

"In this sector here," Velran responded, clicking a few controls on the holo table as it focused on a specific part of the planet. "According to our scans of their data, it is known as 'Atlas', and they pride themselves on Military might."

"Clearly the fools have not fought many Wars if they believe 'that' is might." Oanis scoffed, rolling his eyes in disdain. "Having an army of Androids can only end in disaster."

The Purifier simply glared at Oanis in response, her metal claws clenched so tight she threatened to dent the metal in her palms.

"And are their suppliers located in the same area?" Thraos asked, looking up to Velran as he spoke.

"Some of them, yes. But they are mostly scattered around the planet in various locations." Velran responded, his eyes narrowing as he studied the Praetor. "What are you suggesting?"

"We cannot risk engaging in a true fight with the numbers we have right now. We have a technological advantage over them, but they could quickly render our ground units useless through sheer numbers." Thraos explained. "But if we attack their suppliers, we could hinder their supply chain. Then they will have less weapons and ammo to rely on, slowly dwindling away their resources."

"That could work at first, but they will soon catch on." Zyrrakch retorted, gesturing carelessly at the map in front of him.

"Not if we move unpredictably. We could make out the first few attacks as if going through a chain, then when they reinforce the next potential target, we attack one on the other side of the planet." Thraos explained, quickly earning a few approving nods in response.

"While that course of action could work, we will still lose many warriors in battle." the Purifier explained, shaking her head slightly at the prospect.

"At the moment, yes." Velran agreed, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. "But I already have plans in motion. I have full intention of contacting Aiur so they may be informed of this development. My intention will be to request reinforcements in the form of the Golden Armada, then the enemy will hold no prayer against our might."

"Then it is agreed?" Thraos asked, turning to all present.

"I believe so..." Velran stated, quickly standing straight as he once again addressed the Protoss. "You are all dismissed, I will inform you all of our course of action once I have contacted the Daelaam. I do not want any word of this meeting getting out, understood?"

The Protoss didn't need telling twice, quickly nodding towards the Executor before leaving the room at their own pace. Velran waited until he was alone, turning around to observe the view of the planet from the window of the Bridge. It looked almost peaceful in stark contrast to the battle that was slowly approaching. With a final sigh, Velran closed his eyes as he drank in the tranquillity in the air, the calm before the storm.

"And so it begins..."

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Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, because there's more where that came from, you can be sure. Liked it? Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your reviews.

Raging Archon out.