Chapter Forty-Seven: Eucatastrophe
Never before had Kaloth seen Daggoth in such a fury.
He observed in awe as flyers descended on the outlying protoss defenses. They came in an onslaught. It struck the photon cannons, blasting them to pieces as the ground forces were swept away. Dragoons made a stand as zealots fled, but many died in moments. Protoss vessels flew in to meet them, only to be met by Devourers.
"Artanis!" said Selendis, her voice controlled. "Guardians and mutalisks are pressing toward our outer defenses!"
"Prepare to repel them at once, Selendis." over the psychic channels. "The ritual must not be interrupted."
It had taken a lot of work to learn to access protoss communications. However, Daggoth had devised the means to link up to their networks. So long as he kept a low profile, he could provide information. Daggoth was now striking at all the most vulnerable parts of the overextended line. Kaloth had allowed them to advance until their lines were at their breaking point.
The battle the Matriarch had fought had done the job of dividing the protoss forces. The sacrifices of the Swarm there had ensured the enemy could not focus their power. In a direct confrontation, the protoss could stand against the Swarm. But divide them, and it would be a simple matter to conquer them one by one.
"Be warned, Ulrezaj, they have some new breed of mutalisks," said Selendis, panicking creeping into his tone. "These... devourers spit a corrosive acid that is burning through shield and armor alike."
"It matters not," replied Ulrezaj. "The zerg are only good for sheer numbers-"
Ultralisks landed in other locations to the south. They were supported by hydralisks and struck at the southern bases. Dark Templar and Khalai alike were ripped to shreds by tusks and spines. Overlords ensured none could hide, only flee or fight. The traitor zerg rushed to support them, but even as they did, they ran into lines of lurkers. Ulrezaj had been skilled in his deployment, but he lacked understanding of the broods.
He'd focused almost exclusively on the lesser broods. A critical error. The sort only an amateur would make, Kaloth had made it when he was younger. This was why the Overmind gifted cerebrates with one strain at a time. When you got all of them at once, you had no idea how to use them.
Thus the lurkers tore through his forces en masse. And since he did not value his forces, he had not brought any overlords. Without their coordination, the Slave Broods' ground forces were decimated in moments. Zerglings were impaled by the hundreds, as hydralisks lasted only a few extra moments. The mutalisks, meanwhile, shot overhead to shore up the defenses on the southern bases.
"What were those?" asked Ulrezaj.
"Lurkers," said Selendis, trying to keep control of herself. "Kaloth maneuvered them between our bases to intercept!"
Meanwhile, Selendis and her ships were driving back the air thrust. Their anti-air capabilities were tearing through the mutalisks. However, the photon cannons had been obliterated. So Kaloth ordered the withdrawal of his guardians across the river.
Selendis, of course, pursued them. It was in their nature to be aggressive. The Khalai tried to eradicate all zerg en masse, rather than work around them. A worthy pursuit, but one that could leave them exposed.
Case in point, even as they closed on the guardians, Kaloth loosed his trap. Wave after wave of scourges shot toward them in the air. They hardly had any time to adjust their fire before they were upon them. Kaloth aimed for the carriers first.
The protoss showed admirable courage. Many of the scouts interposed themselves between the scourges. Dozens of explosions, great and small, filled the sky as the battle turned. They died to save the larger vessels that they might retreat. Even so, several carriers fell, and many scouts were destroyed. The rest shot over the base, and the dragoons covered their retreat.
"Ulrezaj, there are massive numbers of zerg disembarking near your hives!" said Selendis.
Of course, while all this was happening, Daggoth had landed more ground forces. These had shot toward the slave broods and assaulted their nearly defenseless bases. Ulrezaj had a few sunken colonies and some proton cannons. But with his ground forces annihilated and his air forces engaged, his hive was overrun. Flesh was torn as the Swarm thirsted for blood.
The Slave Broods were rapidly being put out of their misery.
"Ultralisks are coming at us en masse!" said Selendis. "There are dozens of them! And thousands of zerglings with them!"
By now, Ulrezaj had realized what was happening and was panicking. More forces were landing at the bases and approach the bases. And yet then something else happened. More slave broods came out in massive numbers to intercept the assault. Apparently, Ulrezaj had possessed other hive clusters.
"Hydralisks are attacking our bases in massive numbers! We're cut off!" said Selendis.
It didn't really matter. Zeratul was taking charge now. "Retreat, immediately. Draw back to the second line of defense. Ulrezaj-"
"I'll use my swarms to slow them down," said Ulrezaj.
The slave broods were sent en masse like a hammer to smash those attacking Selendis. They covered the retreat of Ulrezaj and opened the way for her. Those who had been lead astray by the Dark Templar were now casually disposed of. As no more than tools.
Kaloth had sacrificed many zerg. But he had always sought to make those sacrifices mean something. Even those he had allowed to die against Tassadar because of Kerrigan's. They had been martyrs to the cause of the Overmind.
These slave broods were not martyrs. They were battering rams. Inanimate objects thrown to soften defenses like so many impaler rounds. All to slow down an enemy, a competent cerebrate could have defeated.
The hubris of this Dark Templar astounded Kaloth.
"Reinforce the photon cannons!" said Selendis, mustering her reserves. Her fleet limped into position. "Scouts, stand by to intercept guardians! Carriers provide ground support!"
"We're losing so quickly," said Ulrezaj, voice shocked.
Kaloth sent in the full might of the Swarm from every direction. And Daggoth drove them into a rage. Yet the protoss fought on, their heroes at the front. There was Aldaris, standing before his men and casting psionic storms into his forces.
"Devourers are coming from the north!" said Selendis. "They're coming at us from every side!" Now she was barely keeping control of herself.
"My broods have been wiped out!" said Ulrezaj. "How is that even possible?!" His voice was shaking.
"YOUR PRAYERS SHALL NOT AVAIL YOU!" roared Daggoth. "YOU AND ALL YOUR KIND SHALL BURN IN THE VOID PREPARED FOR THE WORSHIPPERS OF AMON!"
"The photon cannons are failing!" said Selendis. "All reserves to the defenses!"
The defenses were broken on all sides. The armies of the protoss fled, many dying before they could reach the temple. Kaloth and his forces surged toward the temple that even now was flickering with energy. Guardians fired globs of acid to burn the walls.
This corrupted idol would burn with the rest.
"Executor, the channeling is complete!" said Zeratul. "Withdraw our forces into the Temple... and brace yourself!"
The protoss fled within the walls, hoping themselves safe. They were wrong. Kaloth would tear every stone of this temple up before Amon ruled it.
It was the deep breath before the plunge.
Artanis could hear the sound of the zerg firing upon the temple, even as the Khalis and Uraj were set in place. In these few moments of silence, with nothing to do but think, something occurred to him. It was something that he should have asked long ago.
But with all the chaos, he'd never had the time. "Might I ask something, Zeratul?"
"Yes," said Zeratul.
"I have been upon this world for a long time," said Artanis. "And yet, I have never seen the sun."
"The sun is almost always hidden from sight by the energies of this place," said Zeratul. "However, if this works, we may well see it today. The temple will draw upon the innate void energies of Shakuras and use them as a weapon." He drew out a green crystal and offered it to Artanis. "Take the activation crystal."
Quickly the two of them stepped into the stand as wounded protoss limped into the room. The temple was vast, and yet their army had filled every room. Now, Artanis and Zeratul were raised upward into the violet ceiling. As the designs passed him by, Artanis wondered if they should not have stayed and fought.
Perhaps they would have all died. But the zerg should have paid a high price for it. Higher than if the temple collapsed on their heads, which seemed likely now. Where was Aldaris? Artanis had not seen him, or Selendis and Ulrazaj, for that matter. He prayed they had survived.
But their survival would be for naught if this plan of their did not work. Now Artanis knew how Aldaris had felt when the cerebrate had returned to life. All their strategies and plans had revolved around these gems. Good warriors had died to see these returned.
What if the Khalis and Uraj failed? What if something had damaged one of them and made them nonfunctional? What hope was there then?
None.
But surely Tassadar would not have set them on this path, had they been destined to be destroyed. But what if Tassadar was not real? What if he was but an extraordinary protoss, a great moral teacher, but not a god? What if Tassadar was but a madman who had channeled his delusions to the cause of justice? Surely no madman could have deceived all the world?
But he had not.
Aldaris and the Conclave had seen him as such. Yet Tassadar had been right. His choices had never led them astray. This doubt was irrational, Artanis must accept that Tassadar would not abandon them.
And yet, as lights began to fail and the howls became ever louder, it was difficult to believe.
In the end, they were committed. There was nothing to do but have faith. It had always been so easy when Tassadar had been here, but he was gone. Just as so many others were.
The lift reached the top. Artanis and Zeratul moved forward toward the activation crystal. Around the shield, they saw tens of thousands of zerg flying around them. They were like a legion, and the shield was failing. At any moment, it would fall, and this sacred temple would burn, and with it, all hope for the protoss race.
Artanis put in his crystal at the same time as Zeratul and put all his hopes into play.
The crystals began to spin, and then light poured in. Psychic energies swirled around the temple en masse. A great pillar of light shot upwards and then radiated outward. All went white as the roar became deafening. For a moment, Artanis stood at a tempest of power. He saw nothing, heard nothing, and sensed so many things that he could hardly comprehend them.
And when the light settled, the zerg were gone.
There were no corpses, no remnants to show they had ever been there. The twilight of Shakuras faded away, and a swift sunrise rose overhead. Looking out into the distance, Artanis beheld the land all around. Where once the festering corruption of the zerg had clung to every rock, now there was only healthy land.
On and on, it stretched.
And Artanis knew without a word that victory was theirs. Every zerg upon Shakuras, every one of the defiling monstrosities was destroyed. Would there be battles to come? Perhaps, but now the protoss stood united.
The darkness of the world had passed them by, and a new dawn had come. Now, at last, they could rebuild the civilization that had been shattered. Yet it would not be Khalai or Nerazim, but a mix of both virtues, without the extremes that had nearly consumed them. A new protoss race would emerge from these trials, wiser and stronger than ever.
It was a moment he would never forget.
Once again, the promises of Tassadar had withstood all challenges. Shakuras had held. And though the planet was in the hands of the zerg, Aiur had not yet fallen.
Author's Note:
So, the final chapter is done.
This fic was way longer than I expected it to be. Brood War is, by nature, a far more complicated story. I'm finding it difficult to think of things to say. When you pour years of effort into something, in the end, you feel sort of exhausted.
Next fic will focus more on the UED and Dominion conflict, I suppose.