Another day, another chapter. And now we've hit double digits (Yay)! Okay, so review response time first. Lord-Krun; glad you liked the chapter, I had a blast writing it up. And some of those questions WILL be answered. Bravo Tango; congrats, you spotted the reference! As for Atlesian and the 'energy bolts', it states in the RWBY Wiki that the Paladin's have 'Energy Cannons' plus to the Protoss, Dust projectiles would look like energy blasts. As for the whole Team system, best to ask Rooster Teeth themselves about that. Edboy4926; glad you liked it. Dragonsoul1; that and the woman had blonde hair as mentioned in the brief description. Cipher96; try telling that to the conquered. Akshka; glad you liked it. And OutlastTheDark; no joke, but that entire battle was based off of the 'Battle of the Mead Way' as portrayed in the novel 'The Eagles Conquest' by Simon Scarrow, which is set during the second Roman invasion of Britain. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 10- Expansion
Thraos watched as the Probes began the deconstruction of the Atlesian Garrison, using their Particle Beams to slowly eat away at the structural supports of the large building. Soon after their initial victory, another wave of Protoss arrived to begin preparations for constructing a Nexus. In all of their ground campaigns, the Nexus had always been at the heart of an Army, so construction of one was paramount. Unfortunately, the present Garrison they had conquered stood in the way of a suitable foundation, and it was deemed unfit for the Protoss to make use of. After gathering whatever intel they could from the building, the Probes immediately began de-constructing the base making sure that when it did topple, it would not crush either the Protoss or one another.
After gruelling hours of work, the Garrison finally fell, leaving a solid base for the Probes to begin work. One of the Probes hovered over to the centre of the former base, quickly firing one of its many micro-beacons into the centre before buzzing off. The other Probes began doing likewise, placing micro-beacons around the larger one. After many minutes, a Nexus warped from the first micro-beacon, followed quickly by multiple Pylons, Gateways, Robotics Facilities and a Forge.
Once the Expansion was large enough, more structure could be Warped in, such as Shrines for the High and Dark Templar, as well as a Cybernetics Core. But at the moment, they only had enough for what they had, plus a few additional Pylons and Photon Cannons for defence. They could not risk warping in a Stargate, for the structure was so large it had to hover high in the air. Too close to the ground and any ship, no matter how small, could crash into the ground. Too high in the sky and the Protoss might as well have been telegraphing their position to their enemies.
Thraos stepped back slightly as he felt the hum of Warp Energy go off around him, as the first of the relief force began to arrive. They had endured many losses in the initial assault, too few to defend the base, so Executor Velran had deemed it necessary to send in reinforcements. The first of the forces to arrive were the Zealots, who quickly filed out and began to scout the surrounding terrain. Thraos decided it was best to leave the Zealots to their duties, turning around to see how the analysis of the Huntresses body was proceeding.
"Praetor!" a familiar voice called out, causing Thraos to spin around immediately at the sound.
"Alaris!" Thraos exclaimed as he saw the familiar armoured form of his student rush towards him, carefully brushing past other Protoss as he made his way to him. "It is good to see you on the field of battle again!"
As soon as the two Protoss met, they clasped each others forearm and shook it once before relinquishing their grip.
"Likewise Praetor." Alaris responded, nodding his masked head in unison. "I heard the battle was glorious."
"Glorious? Yes, but we lost many good warriors." Thraos said matter of factly, turning away as Alaris followed him.
"Their sacrifice shall be remembered." Alaris stated, holding a clenched fist to his chest. "Is it true what they said? That you fought their Commander one on one and defeated her? And that she had some form of Psionic capability?"
"Yes, that much is true." Thraos answered as he turned to face his student, who watched him with keen eyes. "In fact, I am going to see the Surgeons to see if they have discovered how she could use such abilities. You are welcome to join us if you wish."
"Of course Praetor." Alaris responded with a nod. "After all, it is best to know ones enemy if you wish to be victorious."
"Indeed it is." Thraos chuckled, glad that at least now his student was starting to catch onto his lessons. "Come, it is not far from here."
The two Zealots proceeded to walk in unison, the others they passed saluting Thraos in respect whilst others simply nodded or bowed in acknowledgement. Eventually, they made their way to the main Warp Gate, which hummed to life as the two Protoss approached. Seconds later, Warp energy surrounded the two as they were quickly warped back aboard the main Mothership, where another Legion of Protoss awaited deployment. Thraos and Alaris made their way through the long spanning corridors of the vessel, eventually finding themselves in a large room where a Khalai surgeon was performing an autopsy on the Huntress, many cuts and insertions ranging across her body.
"Ah, Praetor." the surgeon said as he bowed softly. "I'm glad you could make it, I have made quite a few interesting discoveries courtesy of our specimen here."
"What have you learned?" Thraos asked, wishing to cut right to the point rather then mince words.
"Well, it appears as though our friend here was protected by a 'natural shield' of sorts." the surgeon explained, holding one of the Huntresses limp limbs as he examined the muscle structure beneath the skin. "If the files that Ilaris are anything to go by, then I suspect that this was her 'Aura'."
"Aura?" Thraos murmured as he looked over the corpse before him. "That explains how she lasted so long against me."
"How does it work?" Alaris questioned, stepping forward slightly as he entered the conversation.
The Khalai surgeon blinked slightly before turning to face Thraos. Thraos simply nodded, giving him the go ahead to reply to the query.
"Well..." the surgeon began, falling silent as he gathered his notes on the matter. "...from what little I have gathered this Aura is considered the manifestation of their Souls. The strength of the Aura changes depending on the subject, but it is usually activated through either the use of 'Dust' or is unlocked by someone who already has Aura."
"Dust?" Alaris asked, confusion evident in his tone. "But the Phase Smiths stated it was useless!"
"I believe that is a question for the Phase Smiths, I am merely a surgeon." the surgeon replied matter of factly.
Alaris quickly composed himself, nodding softly before stepping back, the conversation now slipping back between Thraos and the surgeon.
"This Aura, is it the manifestation of their soul? Or is it more familiar to us?" Thraos questioned, wishing to get the bottom of a thought that had been plaguing him since the battle. The High Templar had mentioned that the Huntress was a vast vessel of Psionic energy, yet she had not chosen to manifest it.
"As far as I can tell...no." the surgeon simply replied, shaking his head slightly. "My research indicates that it is in actuality their Soul powering this shield."
"What?" Thraos nearly shouted, pausing only to compose himself before continuing. "Are you certain?"
"I'm afraid so Praetor." the surgeon replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "I am sorry if this information displeases you."
"But the Templar...they fed her own energy back into her." Thraos continued to ramble, his mind trying to wrap around what he had just been informed.
"That does not necessarily mean it was Psionic energy they fed back into her, sir." Alaris replied, stepping forward again. "Our High Templar are also able to do the same thing with Terran robotics."
"The young Zealot is correct." the surgeon replied, nodding in Alaris' direction slightly in recognition. "It is highly possible they simply feed the energy exhumed by her Soul to generate her Aura into her body."
"That...is possible I suppose." Thraos conceded, nodding slowly as another query wormed its way into his mind. "There was something else that she could do though, she could generate some strange mist from her hands...could that potentially be Psionic in nature?"
"It is possible..." the surgeon hummed as he tapped his chin in thought. "Though I will not be able to make such a judgement with just this body, I would need to study more. I would greatly appreciate it if you procured me the bodies of those who display such abilities so I could study it."
"I will try my best, though I think you'll find it will be much easier to perform field studies rather then being cooped up in here all day." Thraos nodded, earning a small bow from the surgeon in return. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."
"By your leave Praetor." the surgeon replied, giving a quick salute to the Praetor. "Adun Toridas."
"Adun Toridas." Thraos responded, leaving the room seconds later.
Thraos and Alaris quickly walked down the corridor, eventually making it to the main hall of the Mothership where the two stopped to discuss what to do further.
"You go on ahead Alaris, warp back to the Nexus." Thraos ordered as he nodded towards the Warp Gate stationed there. "I must make a trip to the Forge before I join you."
"How come?" Alaris asked with curiosity, his head tilted to the side slightly. "Was your armour or weaponry damaged during the battle?"
"No, but I was disarmed during the duel." Thraos responded as he looked at his gauntlets, clenching and unclenching his fists slowly. "I think t would do me good to have my Psi Blades reactivated, lest it happen again."
"Understood Praetor." Alaris nodded knowingly, quickly saluting him as he began to back off. "En Taro Tassadar."
"En Taro Tassadar." Thraos responded likewise, saluting himself as he backed away and made his course for the on-board Forge.
Under normal circumstances, Alaris would have followed the orders and simply reported back to the Nexus and awaited his Praetor's return, but something had begun to nag at his mind at the thought of the 'Dust'. Was it possible that perhaps it wasn't as useless as it first appeared to be? There was only one way to find out. When their forces had captured the Garrison, they had requisitioned everything, including multiple Dust caches to study. If he was fortunate, the Dust would be being studied by the Engineers within the Forge at the Nexus rather then on-board the Mothership.
As he approached the Warp Gate, he changed the coordinates to Warp him directly into the Forge rather than at a designated Pylon. He quickly felt the cool wisps of Warp energy surround his form as he was transported to the ground. The cool energy was quickly replaced by a near blistering heat as his surroundings began to materialise, quickly finding himself within the main chambers of the Forge. Phase Smiths of all clans worked around him, constructing stronger plates for their armour, and rewiring the workings of their weapons and shields to make them sharper and denser respectively.
He quickly approached who he assumed was the head Phase Smith, a Nerazim judging from the abundance of Zerg trophies on his armour, and stood behind him, the craftsman seemingly unaware of his presence, too embroiled with his work.
"Excuse me Phase Smith, if I may have a moment..." Alaris suddenly spoke, causing the Phase Smith to nearly jump up in surprise as he turned around, backing away upon realising how close Alaris was.
"Templar!" the Phase Smith bellowed in shock, quickly composing himself at the sight at what was effectively a superior officer. "Forgive me, I was not expecting company."
"The fault is with me Phase Smith." Alaris quickly defending, placing a hand on his chest. "I have come to speak with you on a potentially delicate matter."
"I see..." the Phase Smith replied as his emerald eyes scanned his armour up and down. "Are you experiencing a problem with your shielding? Or are your Psi Blades malfunctioning in any way?"
"No, my armour and weaponry are fine Phase Smith." Alaris explained, igniting his Psi Blade to prove his point before deactivating it. "I have come to speak with you on the matters of this...Dust."
"Dust?" the Phase Smith questioned, before his eyes widened in realisation. "I see...this way Templar."
The Phase Smith led Alaris to another section of the Forge, far away from the others within the complex. After passing through a door, Alaris found himself within a small workshop, no bigger than what Terran's called 'a house', where a small number of Phase Smiths and Probes were examining Dust crystals of many different shapes, sizes and colours. The Phase Smith Alaris had first spoken too led him to an unoccupied work station, a small number of Dust crystals surrounding him.
"What have you managed to discover?" Alaris asked as he picked a green crystal off of the table, examining it carefully before placing it down again.
"A lot more then we did on-board the Mothership, that much is certain." the Phase Smith replied, the joy in his voice clearly heard. "These crystals are exhuming a large amount of power, similar to the Minerals found within the Korprulu Sector, perhaps even more powerful."
"If so, then why did they lose that power on the Mothership?" Alaris questioned, picking up a red Dust crystal and examining as he had before.
"I cannot say, perhaps it requires a certain atmospheric pressure to remain active." the Phase Smith replied, not entirely sure of the answer himself. "But we do know one thing, they are extremely volatile."
"How volatile?" Alaris asked, the red Dust crystal still in his hand.
Before the Phase Smith could respond, a small explosion behind them shook the room, causing everyone inside to turn in its direction. A small fire had started as a Probe quickly shot out of the flames, beeping wildly as the fire covered its shielding, speeding around in circles in complete panic. Eventually, the fires coating its form died down as the Probe sped to a stop. Not long after, another Probe emerged from the flames, its plating covered in soot as it slowly floated towards the other Probe, hitting it in the back of its head with one of its wings before floating away.
"Oh..." Alaris murmured as he very carefully placed the red crystal back on the table, stepping away slightly as Engineers rushed to deal with the flames before they could spread.
"Indeed, and that was just a small sample." the Phase Smith responded, shuddering as he imagined the damage a much larger quantity could achieve.
"Do you think it would be possible to integrate these Dust crystals into our armour and weapons?" Alaris queried, turning to face the Phase Smith once again. "To give them different offensive and defensive properties?"
"I haven't thought of it, but I can see your line of thinking." the Phase Smith responded, scratching his chin in thought. "As of now, not likely. We would need more samples to experiment with to ensure it is safe, and there is the possibility that our own weapons are already superior to anything we could make out of it."
"I'll discuss the matter with the Praetor, see what he thinks of it." Alaris offered, earning a small nod from the Phase Smith in return.
"I see...regardless, we will need Dust crystals whether we use them or not, so we know best how to exploit them to our benefit." the Phase Smith explained, quickly standing to attention as he turned to address Alaris. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to my duties."
"I have kept you long enough Phase Smith." Alaris replied, giving the Phase Smith a quick salute. "May your deeds bring you glory."
"And you as well Templar." the Phase Smith responded, turning to leave the young Zealot to ponder just what he had learned.
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The Hybrid hissed as it shook the many chains wrapped around its form, each one jingling as they collided with one another. The chains were weak as it already knew, nowhere near as strong as the Terran's Neo-steel or any metal made by the Firstborn. All of this was just a display, to make Cinder Fall feel as though she was in charge. It had already taken control of her two lackeys, the thief Emerald Sustrai and the assassin Mercury Black. It wouldn't be long until it had control of the weak minded Faunus within the prison, and the Grimm imprisoned alongside it would take little convincing.
The only problem was Cinder, who had thus far resisted every attempt to dominate her mind. She was strong, that much it would give her, but she wasn't entirely invulnerable. It had managed to block her link to her Master, Salem, in an attempt to sow a discord between the two. Perhaps if she thought she had been abandoned, it would make her vulnerable to its attempts of domination. But despite the sweetness it felt at such thoughts, its mind could not help but feel lost.
Ever since its awakening, it had heard nothing from its brethren, or even Amon himself. It was meant to be glorious, the first of a new generation of Hybrid Reaver's, fused with the essence of the Grimm. But its glory was cut short when it was injured, and it was forced to hide away and wait out the campaign. It had awoken, only when the Firstborn had arrived on the planet and engaged with the natives, something that confused it greatly.
They should have all been dead, slain by Amon during his grand awakening. The words he once whispered into his head were now silent, causing it great sorrow as it came to one single explanation.
He was dead, they were all dead. He was the last Hybrid on this planet, possibly the Universe. There would be no glorious age where only Hybrid and Amon ruled, no final darkness to break the Unending Cycle.
But that would not stop it from finishing its task.
It would bring the eternal darkness upon this planet, and if it failed and died trying, then it would ensure to drag the rest of this miserable planet down with it. The Hybrid let out the equivalent of a bestial chuckle as it felt the presence of two Grunts within the White Fang. Already, it was whispering into their heads, breaking down their sanity so they were now nothing more but a lump of clay within its hands.
Now, it was time to expand operations.
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Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Liked it? Feel free to review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your reviews.
Raging Archon out.