-Chapter 40-
-Cleaning House-
A tide of wild rampaging Zerg slammed into Ellen's defenses and wild Zerg bit, clawed and shot spines at Ellen's forces but to little effect. From her vantage point high up on the Hiveliskes head Ellen could tell that none of her Brood had taken any damage.
"Heh! As expected. My 3rd gen swarms psi-armor makes them all but invulnerable to normal Zerg."
As Ellen watched, her Azure swarm ripped into the attacking Wild Zerg forces like a sword through exposed flesh. Dozens died every second as the obsidian black Zerglings bit chunks off their Wild counter parts and bisected them with their blades. Obsidian 3rd gen Hydralisk's launched volleys of spines from all five of their heads into the living tide, ripping through their bodies like tissue paper often wounding or killing three at a time with each shot. Blood, bodies and organs soon coated the Creep which were absorbed even as the battle continued unabated. The difference between the fighting strength and survivability of the 3rd gen Azure Zerg VS the Wild Zerg was like night and day. Every strike of the Wild Zergs blows was deflected and repulsed by the psionically reinforced armor and bodies of the Azur swarm. While every bite and every cut and projectile from the 3rd gen Zerg was a instant kill or a crippling wound. In minutes a wall of Wild Zerg corpses was stacked high as a Terrans head forcing the Azure Zerg forces to advance their lines dozens of meters forwards through the hordes of charging Wild Zerg. The toughest part for them wasn't fighting off the enemy it was rather killing them fast enough to move forwards. Even with the orbital bombardment reducing their numbers the Wild Zerg received near continues reinforcements from the local hives around the region, all constantly producing fresh bodies for Ellen's meat grinder. Ellen had no problem just letting the Wild Zerg exhaust their resources trying to attack her forces but She also had the environment of Aiur to consider. If the Wild Zerg strip the planet of biomass and kill off all the plant and animal life then Aiur will be turned into a lifeless desert planet. The Protoss would most definitely not appreciate that and Ellen's goal of having them indebted to her would go out the window.
"I've seen enough." Ellen waved her right arm. "Time to hit them where it hurts!" She said pointing towards the closest enemy hive cluster.
The Hivelisk's shuttered to life opening their underbellies and activating their internal Maws of the swarm. The clawed structure in the internal cavity glowed opening a warp gate summoning swarms of Scourges and Mutalisk's flying out from the Hivelisks bodies into the skyes above. Dropping from the portal they flew skywards forming into regular V formations as they passed over the increasing hordes of Wild Zerg that arrived every second. The Azure swarm Scourges stayed back while the Mutalisk's took up the vanguard. Minutes passed as the increasing aerial formations of Ellen's Air born forces took to the sky spreading out in all directions to clear the region of all enemy hive clusters. Cruising through a cloud bank a Azure Mutalisk's advanced thermal sensory organs in its horns detected a group of enemy Wild Zerg advancing towards them through the air. In a millisecond all the other Mutalisk's and Scourges in the Azure swarm formations for miles around also knew the enemies position. More and more Azure swarm forces detected ever increasing numbers of enemy Mutalisk and Scourges as the two sides moved against each other.
Reacting to the enemy threat and memories of past training battles with their Brood master Ellen, the Azure swarm forces split up, with the rear line Scourges flying higher and the Mutalisk splitting into two groups. A smaller but weaker advanced force and a larger main force. The frontline Azure Mutalisk forces cleared a cloud bank instantly encountering over a hundred Wild Zerg Mutalisks. Both forces fired at the other creating criss-crossing streams of bio-projectiles and explosions. But like with the ground fighting the sky battles were the same with the 3rd gen Azure swarm forces suffered minor to no injuries even from multiple strikes while the Wild Zergs Mutalisk suffered heavy casualties. Nearly every strike from a Azure swarm Mutalisk attacks were fatal to their Wild brood counterparts. As the aerial battle continued the main Mutalisk forces of the Azure swarm joined their vanguard accelerating the Wild Mutalisk's forces annihilation. While the Mutalisk's of both swarms battled in the skies, the Azure Scourges flew unmolested over head. Minutes later they detected the enemy hive cluster below and began a power dive. As they flew straight at the target hive cluster below the Azure Scourges shared data about its layout and structure allowing them to target the most important structures. Hive structures were the highest priority followed by Lairs, Hatcheries and then Drones. Spires and Greater Spires were next on the list with Defensive structures last.
Responding to the enemy proximity the Wild Zerg's Spore colonies opened fire filling the sky with hundreds of bio-projectiles. The Azure Scourges noted the trajectories of all the incoming anti-air fire and the paths to their targets beginning a coordinated and rapid evasive maneuvering and zigzags to evade the oncoming anti-air fire. The Scourges dodged and weaved left and right through the increasing waves of attacks while avoiding colliding with each other. Reaching terminal velocity the Scourges of the Azure swarm closed in on their targets. Waves and waves of the obsidian colored Scourges slammed into the Hive cluster. Their psi-reinforced nose spikes piercing the thick armor of the Hives, Lairs, and Hatcheries before exploding inside. In seconds three Hives, six Lairs, and ten Hatcheries exploded, quickly followed by the deaths of half of the Drones in the area. The Spires and Greater Spires collapsed from the impacts of dozens of Azure Scourges and reduced to rubble pile's of flesh, chitin and blood. After mere moments the Hive cluster was utterly annihilated with few survivors. But not being enough The Azure Mutalisk arrived over head suffering no losses from their previous battle. Looking down the Mutalisk detected the movements and heat signatures of thousands of surviving Wild Zerg. Aiming their large tails to the ground they began firing barrages of projectiles. They swept across several kilometers several times before everything was dead. With one last sweep of the area the Mutalisk were satisfied and left to attack the next hive cluster.
Standing up on the Hivelisk's head Ellen grinned at a report of yet another Hive cluster being destroyed. Looking through her broods eyes she saw that the majority of the Wild Zergs forces attacking her Hive cluster had been defeated. Their bodies laying strewn about for miles around her in a gory field of bodies. With the Wild Zerg reinforcements reduced to a fraction of what it was and the forces attacking her Hive cluster mostly dealt with, Ellen moved on to the next phase of her Aiur campaign. Thousands of 3rd gen Drones swiftly moved out from the inner Hive cluster and began gathering the corpses of the dead Wild Zerg and bringing them to the Digesters to be broken down and recycled. While this was going on Ellen's attention moved to the growth of the fleet of Harbinger's. In Her inner Hive cluster twenty of the heavy assault transports now floated over the ground ready to be deployed. And hundreds more waited in the Tamashī no ki in orbit.
Opening warp gates across the sky over head two hundred Harbingers quickly flew into the sky's of Aiur and landed taking on dozens of Drones and Heavy Drones. Once they were all full the fleet took to the sky, gathering into groups of ten they all accelerated scattering into five different directions. Their courses leading them to the closest Destroyed Wild Zerg hive clusters. As the fleets of heavy transports departed Ellen stretched feeling a bit stiff from being in one spot too long.
"Well that was a little to easy?"
Ellen linked with the Overseers in orbit searching for the remaining Wild Zerg Hive clusters on the continent. The Overseers scans picked up that the hundreds of remaining Wild Zerg hive clusters across Aiur have all sped up their production rates expanding their territory in response to Ellen's attacks.
"Not unexpected," Ellen mused thinking.
With a glint of destructive intentions in her eye Ellen ordered the Tamashī-no-ki in orbit to bombard the largest Wild Zerg hive clusters on Aiur continually from orbit. All across the obsidian surface of the Tamashī-no-ki a thousand thick scales flexed open each covering a Spine cannon or Glaive launcher. Each of them gathering into firing groups that focused on one Hive cluster at a time. A few minutes passed as they all aligned their sights on their planetary targets and all at once fired. A hail of thousands of projectiles streaked towards Aiur creating a hail of shooting stars as they entered the atmosphere. In a heavy storm of fire they fell bombarded dozens of ten to twenty mile wide hive clusters across the planet. Wild Zerg dashed around burrowing to avoid the orbital bombardment as the hive clusters around them were obliterated from the barrage of fire and death. Hives were blasted to pieces and Extractors detonated from impact producing chain explosions that took out multiple structures and killed hundreds of Wild Zerg. The bombardment lasted a full hour destroying 35% of the total number of Wild Zerg hive clusters on Aiur. Ellen checked the global maps in her swarms collective mind satisfied with the result. She then checked on the Harbingers and Drones recovering the biomass of the destroyed Wild Zerg hive clusters.
Through their eyes She saw piles of meat burned and pulped being loaded onto the Harbingers by the Drones. Some were full while others were nearly empty. Ellen waited a half hour for all of them to be filled to capacity and only then recalling them. At the same time a second wave of Harbingers left the Azure swarms hive cluster bringing with them Zerglings Hydralisk's and Roaches to secure the destroyed enemy hive clusters from counter attacks. Hours passed as each destroyed Wild-Zerg Hive cluster was harvested of all of their biomass and used to make a increasing number of Azure swarm units. Zerglings, Hydralisks, Roaches, Mutalisk and Scourges that attacked more and more Wild Zerg hive clusters speeding up the Azure swarms territory expansion. Six hours after the orbital bombardment Ellen's Azure swarm forces had octupled in number and destroyed thirty more Wild Zerg hive clusters and doubled the size of the Azure swarms main Hive cluster. As the war to clear Aiur of the Wild Zerg continued Ellen's attention was drawn to the the Xel'naga ruins that the Overmind had also been attracted to.
Ellen dropped off the head of the Hivelisk spreading her bio-armors wings gliding through the air. She ordered her commanding group of Queens to continue their work clearing Aiur of the Wild Zerg hives until she returned. Gliding to the creep covered Temple Ellen circled around the edifice several times before landing at the main entrance. Despite the Creep covering it the stone structure was remarkable well preserved if covered in creep.
"I wonder what's in there that the Overmind found so intriguing?"
Walking forwards through the open doors Her foot steps echoed through the cold stone structure. As She walked deeper in to the building she noticed that the composition of the stone was some what like that of the Temple of the Valkyrur in Gallia on Earth with semi holo-graphic qualities like the ruins on Reach.
"This building must have been created before the temples in Gallia?" Ellen theorized as she looked around.
Going deeper in She came to a pair of door ways on both sides of the hallway opposite each other. Ellen chose the left door first and walked over and peeking in. Inside she found a stone sculpture on the wall, depicting a battle between two fleets in space. One looked like a Forerunner fleet with a few Key-ships and Fortress class ships and the other was, well it looked like angles of varying sizes and shapes. They had pure white ivory like bodies with golden plating around their joints and wings. Most of them were of the none humanoid verity esoteric and eldritch in shape and form. They were just a mass of wings and arms holding weapons that were shown firing golden beams.
"What the Fuck is this!" exclaimed Ellen surprised at the depiction.
Ellen looked down seeing a large recess in the floor at the base of the stone picture. After looking back to the picture and the around the room Ellen left entering the other room opposite the first. The chamber was much the same as the previous one was, with another stone carving and recess in the floor below it. Except that the stone picture now showed a battle on a planet between the 'Angels' and what was obviously the Flood. The floods forces in the carving consisted at least five different types including pure forms. Their numbers extended back to the horizon where a giant angel consisting of three rings with eyes and wings was floating in the sky glowing while projecting destructive energy from its center down to the flood below burning them to ashes.
Ellen shook her head putting the pieces together. It wasn't the presence of these depictions that worried Ellen, she had already known or at least suspected that the Flood were real and a great threat ever since She found the Forerunner ruins on Reach with Aliasse long ago. Rather what bothered her was why the Forerunner/Xel'naga put these pictures here in the first place. And what was in those recesses in the floors of each room, and what those Angels were.
"There's still so much I don't know."
While Ellen contemplated the significance of this information a group of Overseers to the far west detected a horde of over a hundred thousand Wild Zerg including Guardians and Mutalisk's heading her way.
"Seems the Wild Zerg are stepping up their counter attacks."
With her attention needed elsewhere Ellen turned and left. Upon exiting the ruins She looked skywards linking with the DZK resting in the Tamashī-no-ki. The bio-construct opened it's eyes, extending its limbs to the walls of its chamber. A warp gate opened in front of it and the DZK pushed off the walls launching itself through the gateway. The giant living weapon dropped from the sky kicking up a dust cloud as it landed in front of the temple. Wordlessly Ellen flew up to the scale on the upper back and entered the DZKs control core.
"Can't let these Wild Zerg gain a inch of progress."
The DZK stood up forming the aura skin over itself taking on its ethereal blue form. With a flap of its aura wings the DZK took off, flying on a intercept course with the incoming Enemy forces. In the control core Ellen floated arms crossed legs together watching the bio-screens as the hordes of Wild Zerg appeared on her HUD. Streaking projectiles shot through the air striking the DZK. The dozens of heavy impacts were barely felt as they continually struck the Aura skin. Ellen ignored the attack and instead focused on the enemies doing the attacking. Zooming the HUD view in like a telescope She sighted dozens of Guardians and Mutalisk firing at Her from many miles away. And below them was a carpet of tens of thousands of Wild Zerglings, Hydralisk and Ultralisk. Seeing as the older generations of Zerg from the Over-swarm were so inferior to the Azure Swarms 3rd generation types Ellen decided to ignore the ground forces and focus on the air born enemies. With a thought the DZK extended it's wings and began glowing as thousands of tiny aura particles were generated from the wings themselves and all at once launched forwards in a hail of star dust projectiles. The scattering cloud of pure white particles emitted from the DZKs outstretched wings accelerating towards the Wild Zergs air fleet ripping them to pieces and turned even the well armored Guardians into swish cheese in mere moments.
Flesh and blood fell from the sky along with the corpses of the Wild Zerg's air forces. Ellen felt the proximity of her own swarms forces and looked eastwards. There on the horizon were dozens of Harbinger transports and Mutalisk's mixed with Wyvern escorts.
"Empress Let us handle these rabble for you." projected a Hive Queen commanding the fleet.
The Harbingers quickly cut off the Wild Zerg's forces on the ground and with the Mutalisk and Wyverns started bombarding the exposed ground forces into submission.
"Vary well then. You handle the forces here while I take out the Hive cluster they came from."
Ellen left the enemy here to the her Hive Queens and flew easteards. A short time later the DZK stopped over a massive Wild Zerg Hive cluster. From the observation reports the ever watchful Overseers gave Ellen knew that this hive cluster used to be 1/3rd its current size. Ellen wasn't surprised as she more then anyone under stands just how fast the Zerg can grow and expand their forces when left unchecked. Just as She had finished Her thoughts the DZK came under heavy and oppressive anti-air fire from hundreds of Spore colonies and Ultralisk equipped with spore symbiotes on the ground.
"It seems they are adapting quickly and focusing on survival over winning. If I leave them alone any longer these Wild Zerg will run rampant across the galaxy."
The DZK raised its arms gathering immense amounts of energy into its palms and mouth where small orbs of psionic energy gathered. The countless attacks striking it's aura skin were easily ignored as it gathered power. The three orbs of Psionic power grew and grew until they were as big as the DZKs torso.
"Disappear!" shouted Ellen launching the orbs towards the ground.
The three orbs scattered across several miles as they flew down to the hive cluster below in a delta (triangle) formation. The three orbs exploded producing a blinding flash of light that could be seen for miles in all directions. Shortly after the light burst dissipated a massive rapidly expanding shock wave blew away entire forests and small hills for twenty miles around the impact zone.
In a guarded stance Ellen opened the DZKs arms and legs beholding the destruction she had wroth. Three gigantic one mile wide craters below her each combining into a larger six mile wide blast zone.
"Uh! I think I used to much power on that one!. Oh well I need to put the DZK through its paces anyway. It is still a one off prototype. Still The Protoss won't like it if I keep leaving craters like that all over their home world. I should be more careful next time hehe!."
Ellen linked with the Overseers in orbit getting the coordinates of the next Wild Zerg hive cluster and moved on to the next target. 5 hours and ten destroyed hive clusters later Ellen felt like she needed to check in on Raynor and Fenix. Looking through the eyes of her Overseers Ellen saw that a small army of Templar had stayed behind just like in the history of the original universe. However there were a few differences such as the Purifier Talandar the Hyperion along with the Terran and Templar armies guarding the warp gates. Surrounding the warp gates was a small make shift ringed fortress.
"Hmm. That's different. I'll need to pay them a visit after i'm done purging Aiur of the Wild Zerg."
The DZK boosted dew east to the next target. Minutes later while crossing over a mountain range along the way Ellen sensed the hazy minds of several dozen Protoss. It was only for a moment as She darted over the mountain range but Ellen still needed do all she could. After all she wanted the Protoss in her debt so the more of them she saved the more they'll be indebted. Flying back over the location she detected the Protoss again and scanned the area more thoroughly detecting a massive Xel'naga ruin at base of the mountain and in it. Reminded of the ruins on Reach Ellen decided that a investigation was warranted. Leaving the DZK in the air Ellen personally descended to the base of the mountain wings extended. While gliding down in concentric circles She quickly sighted a bare clearing next to the Mountain side. Drifting farther down Ellen saw that the clearing was covered in hundreds of Khaydarin crystals. Landing She looked around sensing that the Protoss were already inside the underground ruins. All around Ellen were Khaydarin crystals of varying sizes and shapes but most of them were oval shards jetting out of the ground either alone or in clusters.
For a moment She wandered what all this was for but then Ellen remembered some info Haruka had told her once before concerning the underground Xel'naga that held the largest and purest Khaydarin Crystal on Aiur at its center which also held a A.I. Feeling more invested in finding weather or not these ruins were those same ones Ellen tried remembering how to open the door to the ruins.
"Ah!" Ellen snapped her figures remembering.
Walking up to one of the largest crystals She placed a clawed nail on the crystal drawing a perfect spiral based on the golden ratio. Moments later a large rock by the stone wall levitated in the air revealing a stairway down into the mountain. Not wanting to waste time taking each step Ellen dashed down the stairwell skipping every ten steps with every stride. She quickly reached bottom and the first chamber in under a minute. Revealed before her were five branching tunnels, and in the center was a tall gem studded pillar, but what was the most interesting was a faint echo of a heartbeat that seemed to come from deeper in the ruins. Ignoring the pillar Ellen looked around catching sight of a system of vine's that seemed alive with faint psionic energy that weaved a network through the ruins.
"These vine's must connect to the central chamber?"
Ellen had so much to investigate here but what worried her the most were the unknown group of Protoss that got here before here. Now that she was closer they seemed... off some how? Shaking her apprehension away Ellen progressed following the psionic trails of the vines and Protoss. After spending the better part of a hour following the Protoss through hundreds of various identical chambers Ellen finally felt that the Protoss had stopped reaching their intended destination which must have been the central chamber. Seeing no reason to keep her self hidden Ellen opened a warp gate to Her desired destination and literally dropped in on them. Much to Ellens surprise the so called Protoss were Protoss but not the ones she thought they were. Standing before her were a dozen Tal'darim. Most Supplicants loyal servants to Ascendants and High-lords, but standing at their center was the one person Ellen wanted to see the least.
"Alarak!" Ellen exclaimed in surprise.
Alarak cocked a hairless eyebrow.
"Ellen? By what horror or luck do our paths cross again?"
Sighing Ellen remembered the deal She had made with Alarak some time before. In exchange for the Essence of the Slayn Elemental, a unique creature that could produce Solarite through its digestive process, something that was very valuable not only to power the ancient Khalai Ark-ships but also as a powerful weapon and power source in its own right. Ellen had given Alarak a large supply of the material after it had been produced by a Zerg creature evolved from the Slayn Elemental as well as a sizable amount of Ragnite which Abastein implanted into and integrated into Alaraks body and cells greatly boosting his personnel powers. It was a mutually beneficial deal and one that Ellen had made not only to allow her swarm the ability to produce Solarite but also gain a ally among the Tal'darim.
"What are you doing here of all places?" asked Ellen crossing her arms.
Alarak relaxed waved a hand towards the giant crystal floating before them.
"To procure this wonderful thing of course. I have it on good authority that it contains significant information. And as the Saying goes knowledge is power."
Ellen glanced at the giant Khaydarin crystal a moment. It stood nearly two stories high in the massive chamber nearly as big as a stadium and glowed with a white aura around its nearly clear facets.
"I'm also interested in this thing. Supposedly it had a artificial intelligence inside. Its probably watching us right." Ellen glanced at the Crystal noticing the valkyrur spiral below it and in the ceiling above along with the same vines that seemed to extend through-out the whole ruins branching from it's top and bottom halves. The vines themselves extended in a spiral to the walls and beyond almost covering the floor and ceiling.
Alarak chuckled stepping closer to the crystal.
"Haha. It seems both of us have come here to acquire that power."
Ellen shrugged her shoulders.
"Still hungry for more ay. I would have thought you'd tried over throwing High-lord Ma'lash by now?"
"Oh i'm taking my time with him. All things have their moment and place. But whittling his power base down ever so slowly so as not to gain his unwanted attention is a slow process."
For a moment Ellen and Alarak glanced at each other. The two were skilled schemers and planners and even though the two would never admit it both of them in a odd way admired and respected each other if for nothing more then recognizing the same quality in each other if nothing else.
Ellen wanted a question asked before She went any further.
"Alarak. What's with the stealth gear on your arm," said Ellen noticing a odd crystal device on Alaraks arm.
Alarak seemed impressed that Ellen had spotted his psi-cloaking unit.
"Ah this little device. Its just a little toy meant to keep any nosy Templar left on Aiur from noticing our presence. But it seems that your ability to detect such things can ignore this devices abilities."
Ellen shrugged.
"It works. I only sensed that you were Protoss. Not Tal'darim. Anyway While since were here we may as well see what this thing has in it."
Alarak hummed to him self thinking.
"Hmm. Mutual cooperation? Well you would have a better understanding about this kind thing then any of us. And I don't have to worry about any of my enemies black mailing or torturing any of my soldiers to gain information."
With a raised eye brow Ellen remembered how cutthroat the Tal'darim society can be and in another thought realized Alarak should have no knowledge of this place let alone the giant crystal.
"I guess this is a diverging point in the history of our universe (sigh)"
"Did you say something?" asked Alarak.
"Just wondering how you knew to come here know when Aiur was in its current state and about this place?"
Alarak gave a short curt laugh.
"I was informed of this place by my spy's of course. And why wouldn't any self respecting Tal'darim take a opportunity to gain more power. Even if it is knowledge. I think you can help with that."
Ellen scoffed.
"Right. We are allies are we not. Just wait while I'll see if I can communicate with the A.I." She turned to the two story sized Khaydarin crystal floating in the chambers center and walked closer until she was close to what looked like a control console of some kind." From what I know this crystal houses a A.I. It must have been created by the Xel'naga long ago. I'll try to connect with it."
Ellen placed her hand on the console while forming and using several Aura tendrils coming off her back to connect to several of the vines. Ellen closed her eyes and focused, a moment later the crystal to glow magenta (purplish-red) and Her mind was instantly linked with the Intelligence within the crystal, her senses perceiving a large sun lit grassy field around her stretching out to the horizon. Ellen looked around as the wind gently caused the knee high grass to sway in waves.
"Valkyrur you come at last." said a feminine voice.
Spinning on her heels Ellen saw the form of a female forerunner with a odd metallic headdress in a white skin suit ending in a odd metal device that the alien woman seemed to be standing on. Or was it apart of her dress?
"Uh? hello. You know what I am?"
The Forerunner nodded gracefully.
"I have been waiting for one of you to arrive for quite some time. You Valkyrur serve a great importance to the future. I am First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song. Though you may call me Librarian as it was my purpose and last great work to catalog and preserve the existence's of many races through out the galaxy."
Ellen stared at the Forerunner not too impressed.
"Your not a real Forerunner are you?"
The Librarian nodded.
"No. The original Librarian died long ago on ancient Earth when the Halo array fired. I and others like me are uploaded personality imprints based on the mental essence of the original."
"I figuered as much. Cutting to the matter at hand, Valkyrur like me were created as living weapons to fight something or someone right?"
"Correct. But let me explain. Long ago my people ruled this galaxy. In our wisdom we uplifted and guided many younger races and with our power we enforced law and order. Stopping disputes and ending pointless wars that would have taken a great many lives. And for many millions of your years we reigned as the undisputed rulers of this galaxy."
"Until the Flood and whatever those Angels were forced you to create and fire the Halo array right."
The Librarian became some what saddened in her expression.
"Yes. However it was our own arrogance that lead to the creation of the Light. In our long history we learned about much of the universe and its nature. Even traveling to other layers of its dimensional membrane. Much like moving between the skin and sinew of a living body. But one of these dimensions was far different then the rest as it was there that both our material layer of the universe and the emotions and intentions of all sentient beings were made manifest. At first we thought it just another layer like the rest with its own different form of reality. But we did not understand that in traveling to it that we altered its nature. Allowing our emotions and desires to not only manifest there more strongly but also allowed beings born within it to travel to our material reality."
"I'm guessing that those Angel like beings were created in this other dimensional layer and they invaded our material layer."
"Yes. But the beings you call Angels were formed from the will of a singular being. A being that was the culmination of Our arrogance and conceit and was born in this immaterial plain. It was born from Our emotions and will. And with the parasite that was the trial and revenge of our predecessors the Precursors for murdering them in our own pride and desire our empire fell."
Ellen crossed her arms taking a few moments to absorb this information.
"That's all interesting. But not very useful. You created the Halos to win the war but what did they really do? And how does Valkyrur like me fit in."
Nodding the Librarian waved her hand and a group of seven holograpic rings appeared.
"The Halos were in truth a last desperate act. We knew we could not win the war. But we could keep the Parasite and the Light from winning."
"M.A.D Mutually assured destruction. It's a concept My people came up with after inventing fusion bombs."
The Librarian closed her eyes a moment understanding the underlining meaning of Ellen's words.
"Yes. But the Halos were more then mere weapons. They were seals that would keep the Light from reentering our material plain."
"So if the Halo array were damaged or destroyed the Light could reenter our material plain." Ellen said
"I am afraid a few already have." the Librarians Imprint said.
"How?" Ellen asked.
"The Halos seal is not unbreachable. As it allows physical beings to pass through from our side. But not the immaterial Light from its side. This is because the Light and others like it can enter our plain of existence but they cannot exist without a constant connection to their own immaterial plain. Another dimensional layer known as both the Void or Slipstream space functions as apart of the seal as it is empowered by the Halo array and keeps the Immaterial plain from connecting to our own from the other side. However material beings from our side can cross the divide but at great cost. A analogy would be akin to a air filled container being forced underwater. Great force is needed to move it down in to the water (immaterial plain) and once released it rushes back to the surface of our material plain."
"I guess this confirms it then. These Light must be from the Immaterium ala Warhammer,40k."
"What is this Warhammer 40k?" Librarians In-print questioned.
Ellen looked at the A.I. thinking on how to explain it.
"Just asking but do you know that this universe was artificially created by a being called Psyon."
The Liberians inprint nodded.
"To a extent. Over its long history and exploration the Ecumene discovered evidence of artificial creation on a universal scale based on convergent realities. Hinting at the universe being created instead of forming naturally."
Ellen stood there a second surprised.
"Haha. That's a genuine surprise."
"We did not however make contact with the being you called Psyon. Is that the name of the one who created our universe?" the in-print questioned.
"Yeah. But i've never meet him. But a friend of mine has. It's complicated."
"I understand." the in-print nodded changing the subject. "You came here with a group of Protoss did you not? "
"Yeah. I've made a previous deal with the one named Alarak. He's a ally of sorts. One not to be trusted completely however. What do you know of them?"
"The Protoss were created during my peoples experiments into Psionics and similar phenomena from the Immaterial plain. We experimented into the energy of the Immaterium and its uses, creating a race that can naturally utilize it's properties before applying such to ourselves through advanced biological engineering. But this was the Lights path into our reality and bodies."
"It possessed you?"
"Many of our people that were altered to be able to use Psionics succumbed to the Lights influence. But the majority of my people did not realize this until it was too late and a sizable portion of our empire had been converted to worshiping the Light as if it was a God."
"So the Light manipulated your people into worshiping it and used them as soldiers. Does worship empower the Light?" Ellen asked.
"Yes. Greatly so. If the Parasite did not enter the war then the Light would have completely over taken us. But the Parasite and its will born from the Precursors did not want the Light to take us over."
"A three way war for galactic dominance !" said Ellen musing to her self.
The Librarian continued.
"The war ravaged the galaxy leading to the deaths of many living beings on countless worlds. It was my duty and that of my rate of life-workers to ensure a future for the other races. Humanity who now calls itself Terran was one such race, as was many others we saved as best we could."
"Did the Light take control of any other race?" Asked Ellen.
"Yes. The Protoss were one such race. The Tal'darim that accompany you are what the corrupted named themselves. Though the Light is as intelligent as it is powerful. It understands that while exerting total control over a living being will ensure its loyalty completely, this also dilutes and weakens the energy it receives from the religious Faith it demands of its slaves. The Light uses many methods but all are meant to either destroy its enemies or ensure their absolute faith in the Light as a God. For that is where it gains power. And the Light craves power to no end."
Ellen considered the strategies involved with the Lights methods and their weaknesses.
"So the light lets some people retain their individuality to use them to empower itself while using the few it completely controls as prophets or avatars to draw faith from the rest. Sounds like a typical God type character from some fantasy story. Except for the possessing people part. Are the Tal'darim and Alarak possessed by the Light?"
"No they are not." The Librarian replied. "Under the Halos seal it would prove impossible for the Light or its possessed servants to exist on our plain of reality. However there may be methods to circumvent this limitation. As said before the Halo seal is not unbreachable. If a great number of Protoss were plunged into the Immaterium and pulled back into this plain it may be possible for the mental emulations of the Light or its possessed Forerunner servants to return to the material plain within the flesh of the Taldarim."
"Mental emulation. Like a copy? Like what you are?" Ellen wondered.
"Yes. The flesh of the Tal'darim would be used to create and house a imprint of the Light or its willing servants. But they would also be weakened greatly from the originals. And they must be servants of the Light whom retain their individuality. Though their forms may change greatly."
Ellen's mind was quickly drawn to Amon and Duran(which is Narud spelled backwards).
"I think that two of them may have already come to this side of the seal than."
"Who?" the Librarian asked with some concern.
"I think their names are Amon and Narud who also may go by Duran. They may be here in the Koprulu sector planning something. Maybe even gathering power to destroy the Halos."
The Librarian took a moment to analyze this information.
"If that is the case. They may be planning to create more vessels for the lights return. Hybrids of the Protoss and Zerg would make the best host forms far better then the bodies of just Protoss."
"How would fusing the two races help in that?" asked Ellen.
The Librarian answered.
"The Zerg and Protoss were both creations of us Forerunners. One with purity of Form to possess great psionic powers. And the other with purity of Essence to evolve and fight the parasite called the Flood. Both represent extremes of power, one physical the other Psionic. If combine then the resulting lifeform would be far more powerful then either of its componet races. But Valkyrur like you are different. You were created to fight the light and so your souls are more powerful by fare."
"What do you mean by that?" Ellen asked. "What's the difference between a Valkyrur and a Protoss besides race. Don't Valkyrur just have super powerful psionics that can materialize into a solid aura structure?"
The Librarian shook her head.
"Yes and No. Valkyrur were created to be able to resist the Lights influence by simply having superior souls that shin far brighter and strongly then any other giving you strong independent wills and immunity to the Light's ability to control and influence souls. Your Aura and stronger psionic powers are a side effect of having such a strong soul."
Ellen slumped a little hearing that, giving a short laugh to herself.
"Hehe. I'm starting to understand." Ellen felt more relaxed know that she knew more about the nature and purpose of Valkyrur.
"That wasn't the only differing quality however. Though Valkyrur are immune to the Lights ability to control Souls all of the current inhabitants of the galaxy were uplifted based on the Valkyrur theory." Ellen listened intently to the Librarians words. "Originally the Immaterium was a place the souls of all sentient beings were connected to naturally and went to upon death and thusly created many creatures and immaterial life forms based on their emotions and strong feelings. This is how the Light was created. However during the final years of the war I and my Life workers altered the essence of all the races we had collected and cataloged so far on the Ark installation 00. In order to weaken the Lights potential future hold over their souls and minds should the Halos seal fail in the future. The alteration to their essence and souls allowed the souls that developed from individuals to remain isolated from the Immaterium and by extension the Light within their own isolated pocket dimension consisting of the same dimensional space as the Immaterium. New souls would at first develop in it's mothers isolated soul scape and then upon birth separate becoming independent to a degree, much like cells dividing. As the infant grows and develops its individuality and soul scape would grow with it. In many ways t his is superior to the old way as it allows souls to be less influenced by the Immaterium's inhabitants and others directly while developing in its own unique way. The Protoss Khala that connects their race emphatically was the prototype for this and was the only part of the Valkyrur theory I myself was able to complete. I left the rest to my fellow life workers and the Iso didact. And after them the ancilla, Monitors of the Halos and Instillation 00.
"So you weakened the Light by starving it of its food just like the Flood and strenghtened the defenses of the souls of every sentient being in the same stroke. But that still doesn't explain my ability to devour souls and burn them for power?."
The Liberians expression changed looking concerned and at the same time hopeful.
"It was during the last battle fought directly against the light that a shard of its essence was taken and examined, at great cost to our forces. But we were able to learn from the Lights own properties and abilities. And from it created a weapon to use against it. Valykrur were created as the soldiers that would protect the Galaxy from the Light and its followers. But a few of them were also improved with the information and shards of the Lights own essence which we altered and copied to suit our needs."
Ellen was taken aback at that revalation.
"So my ability to eat and manipulate souls comes from the Light itself! I can become stronger by eating souls? but using this ability causes problems."
The Librarian grew concerned at this.
"What is this problem exactly?"
"Uh... Well whenever I use my Red Aura my personality shifts becoming more violent and aggressive. I'm still me and in control but I... just feel less inhibited and express more of my dark inner thoughts and desires is the simplest way to explain it."
"I see. Is there anything else..." the Librarian was saying when Red Ellen interrupted. Both Ellen and the Librarian were surprised at the intrusion.
"Hey floaty M's floaty bitch. Yeah over here! HELLO!"
"Who is?" the Librarian asked.
"Shit! Red keep it down in there!" Ellen shouted to her self.
Greatly perturbed the Librarian was even more curious as to who that was.
"Ellen who was that?"
With a deep sigh Ellen answered.
"Well when I rejected My soul eating powers dew to the way using them makes me act and kept ignoring them, it kind of, over a few hundred years, resulted in my personality splitting. Now I got a insane."
"COOLER!" shouted Red Ellen.
Ellen continued.
"Counter part to my normal personality. (Sigh)"
The Librarian surprised at the situation thought carefully about her theories and the compiled information the Monitors had provided from updates over the long eons.
"This second personality surfaces when you use your soul manipulation abilities and represents your uninhibited and darker inner desires correct ?"
"Yeah I guess." Ellen answered.
The Librarian continued.
"Then it is a necessary part of you soul and vary being. In order for You to truly mature as a Valkyrur you must accept it and make peace with you darker half. If not you can never truly master your soul manipulation powers and will be ill prepared to fight the Light on equal footing."
Ellen let out a depressed sigh.
"I kind of already knew that. Im... afraid of hurting people or allies if I went berserk."
"THATS ALWAYS BEEN THE PROBLEM YOU SNIVALING COWERED!" Shouted Red Ellen from her prison deep in Ellens subconscious.
The Librarian surprisingly took Red Ellen's side.
"I believe your counter part has a point. It is not healthy to repress this short of thing. One day you will be forced to deal with that fear of losing control. Unfortunately I can not help you any further in this matter."
Ellen rubbed the back of her neck.
"I get it. One day. I'll finish dealing with that fear. But moving on to other matters, you said before that it was the Monitor A.I.'s that completed the Valkyrur template not the Forerunners?"
The librarian nodded. "Yes. Only the basic template theory of the Valkyrur had been created and finished just before the Halos fired. The real Librarian left the rest to the Monitors and In-prints of her-self like me to complete in preparation for the lights eventually return. The primary research into the creation of the Valkyrur was conducted on a world you already know about. Its name is Remnant."
That name piqued Ellen interest greatly considering Her right hand Brood commander Solus was there.
"That world! well... that would explain a few things actually. Does Ragnite have anything to do with the Dust crystals on Remnant and a connection to Khaydarin crystals?"
"Yes. Khaydarin crystals were first created to bolster psionic abilities and technology. Both Ragnite and Dust are derivatives of it. Ragnite unlike Khaydarin was created to be ingested and integrated into the body of living beings. And by doing so it is able to synchronize with the soul and psionic abilities more naturally. Dust was a experimental and elemental prototype psionic weapon that led to the creation of Ragnite."
"Ragnite is quit important." admitted Ellen. "It's critical in the creation of third gen Zerg and the DZK let alone helping me regain my Valkyrur abilities when I transferred my soul to a new body."
The Librarian continued.
"Ragnite was also the catalyst which allowed the creation of Valkyrur. This is also why so much of it lays within the tectonic crust below Gallia on Earth. But the essence of a Valkyrur is also required. Though many Terrans carry fragments of your blood and that of Aliasse and Alicia from the war you caused on Earth within them it is not complete enough to allow them to become Valkyrur."
Ellen ignored the Librarians admitted knowledge of Her actions on Earth.
"All of this has been very informative miss Librarian. But how was Ragnite created?"
The Librarian suddenly stood rigid as if reluctant to share that information.
"I am not authorized to disclose that information. Only the Monitors of the Ark facility may tell you that. I'm sorry."
Ellen gave a single chuckle.
"Heh. I wouldn't think it would be that easy. Thanks for all the information. But one last thing. Alarak came here to gain more power so he could over throw Ma'lash who currently leads the Tal'darim who serve Amon. He's not completely trust worthy, but I trust his sense of self interest. Interest that aligns with my own for now. So if you could provide him with something to sat his desire for the moment that would help. He would probably steal the giant crystal your in if not."
The Liberian lowered her head.
"That would be a problem as it is not yet time for me to leave here."
"Hmm?" Ellen hummed in question.
Raising her head the Librarian produced a small crystal storage device in her hand.
"I believe this will sate his desire for the moment."
Ellen took the data crystal.
"One last thing Ellen." the Lirarbrain said.
She looked at the Librarian seriously listening.
"I am aware of the One named Selvaria on Earth. Time travel is a dangerous thing, and for someone from your future to be here in the present is a significant threat to the timeline. Though I know not what the Lights intentions with her is."
Ellen shrugged. "Last time we met she nearly killed me with a attack directed at my soul. Since she's supposed to be my daughter from the future It would be a paradox if she did kill me. Then again if she's from a alternate universe the whole paradox thing goes out the window. But it's not like i'm going to let her kill me either way. Will I see you again?"
The Lirarbrian gave a last piece of advice.
"When the time is right. The other in-prints of the Librarian and the Monitors on the Halos all have their purpose. In time you will meat the others and gather the other great crystals."
"Great crystals?" Ellen asked. "You mean there are more pure giant Crystals like the one you?"
"Yes and they are needed to finally defeat the Light. But that is in the future. Those events will transpire in due time. For now i've said all I need to. Farwell Ellen."
Everything went white and Ellen woke up back in the giant chamber. As she separated from the vines she suddenly realized she had overlooked something.
"Damn! I forgot to ask what the deal with those massive Ragnite Warp gates was! Oh well."
Ellen felt a object in her right hand, looking down she saw a small fragment of the crystal just like in the virtual world.
"Wonder what's in here?" She wondered.
Looking back She saw Alarak and his goon squad looking impatient. Ellen walked over to him and tossed Him the crystal.
Catching It Alarak glanced at it a moment, then to Ellen.
"And this is ?" He asked.
"Information the A.I. in the Crystal thought you would like. You do know how to access data in crystal storage medium right?"
Alarak scoffed.
"We Tal'darim are warriors, but there are those that know such things as this. It could become a security issue to have one of my own Phase smiths to access the information in here given the number of rival Ascendant's looking for any information to use against me, and perhaps you if our partner ship is discovered. I would rather have a more secure method of accessing this data if possible."
Getting the hint Ellen remembered she had three Templar Ark ships in her possession.
"I know a few Templar phase-smiths that could help without either of us risking the other ascendant's learning about us or what's on that crystal. But In return I would like you to help me eradicate the wild Zerg on Aiur.
Alarak considered the offer.
"Hmm. Vary well but I will only dedicated a single Mothership and its escorts to this endeavor."
Ellen grinned with a shrug.
"Well then shall we get going. The faster we exterminate those Wild Zerg the faster you get the info on that crystal."
Alarak said nothing only turning to leave. He and his Supplicants quickly made their way out of the ruins while Ellen used a warp gate to return to the DZK still floating in standby mode above the mountain. Now that she knew that He was present. Ellen was able to easily find Alarak's ship in orbit and warp gate there. Looking through the DZKs senses Ellen saw that Alarak had a small fleet of three Carriers or rather battleships with him. The standard Tal'darim design was to bolster as much destructive power as possible. Thus instead of Carriers the mainstay of the Tal'darim fleets were battleships that seemed to be retrofitted Templar Carriers. Ellen could only guess that they were stolen during the Templars war with the Overminds swarm and converted to serve the Tal'darim.
A image of Alarak blinked on on the DZKs bio-screen.
"I've called a Mothership. It will arrive in a few hours. Once this is done it will return to protect my holdings."
"Understood. For now lets focus on clearing the Western continent of the Wild Zerg. You can focus on orbital bombardment for support against the surrounding hive clusters while my Swarm focus on the ground battle against the main hive clusters."
Alarak took offense at the thought that his warriors needed to act as support.
"My Supplicants can fight as well as your beasts. We may be partners but I won't act as second fiddle to anyone outside the chain of ascension."
"Alarak, I was just suggesting that your forces hang back because I would think you would want to conserve as much of your military power as possible. The Zerg on Aiur may be going Wild with out the Overmind but they are still Zerg and rapid breeders. In fact, now that they have no one to hold them back the Wild Zerg are growing exponentially in numbers."
Alarak growled at Ellen's Logic.
"Hmph. Vary well then. My ships will support you from orbit."
The image blinked off.
Ellen sighed.
"That guy is insufferable some times. But he's a rather loyal and useful ally so long as I keep him content with more power. Hmm thinking about it I think I know the perfect person to translate that data for him."
The DZK leaned forwards boosting back down to the planets surface.
-Ketill 4, Skygeirr Platform-
The white haired Emil Narud in his lab coat walked into a large high tech laboratory accompanied by a Umoja representative and his two shadow guard (Umoja Ghosts) escorts.
"Mister Narud I hope that this demonstration will be more interesting then the last one. These Hybrid your creating are certainly powerful but all the ones you've showed me so far have been wild and uncontrollable!"
Narud scoffed continuing down farther into the lab.
"Science is a process that requires experimentation and failure. After words result in success. Which is why i've called you here."
Narud and the Umoja agent with his escorts passed through a set of large security doors entering a elevated observation room over looking a containment chamber a dozen meters below. Below them a roughly humanoid figure laid in a corner of the chamber. The bones of hundreds of Zerg were piled on one side.
"Subject 0079. You have a mission!" Narud shouted through the intercom.
Subject 0079 half opened its reptilian eyes and slowly got up. Its reptilian form was covered in a thick layer of armor plates covering strong muscles that looked hard as steel what little of them was visible. Subject 0079's tail flicked up and down in anticipation. It took two heavy steps forwards on its thick legs and licked its lips through the hard mask like armor plating over the head with a dozen floaty tendrils extending from the back of 0079's skull.
"What is my mission!" 0079 asked.
"It talked!" exclaimed the Umoja agent in great surprise.
Narud made a tiny grin.
"Yes. The previous creatures were mere test subjects meant to perfect the process of creating Hybrids. 0079 on the other hand is the first unit to be given higher intelligence and the capacity to understand language so training them is much easier."
"I see." said the Umoja agent. "So what will the mission of 0079 be?"
"I'll send him off to attack a Dominion prison for the purposes of rescuing a certain person who would be useful in my organization. And before you ask rest assured that such a attack will have no way of tracing back to neither your nor me and will be saw as nothing more then a random Zerg attack."
Nodding in agreement and satisfaction the Umoja agents fears were relived some what.
"Very well. You may begin the test."
Narud nodded and turned back to 0079 below.
"0079 your mission is in the screen in the next room where the transport is waiting. Read the file and enter the transport."
0079 turned around and walked to the door which opened for him. Narud turned to the Umoja agent.
"The observation room is this way. Please follow."
Minutes later 0079 was in the back of a dropship exiting the atmosphere and entered warp space.
-Dominion Prison Facility, New Folsom-
The Dropship exited warp space over the volcanically active planet and activated its stealth cloak disappearing from sight and sensors.
The New Folsom Prison, formally the New Folsom Confederate Mine was constructed on one of the more stable lava lakes on the geologically unstable planet planet, and it was soon producing the materials necessary for the Confederacy to begin building a new fleet of battlecruisers. Not long after however those same catalytic elements were discovered in the Sara system. The mine was suddenly viewed as a colossal waste of government funds and closed. However Confederate financial analysts couldn't let such an expensive investment sit unused for long, so the mine was transformed into New Folsom Prison. The prisoners were typically people who were enemies of the Confederacy, but too valuable (or popular) to kill. But here they used to work the mine's machinery, requiring only a minimal guard staff and robotic sentries. After the rise of the Dominion emperor Valerian ordered the release of many people only imprisoned for political decent against the now defunct Confederacy. But the prison is still the home to many violant criminals and with somany people released the prison now had a surplus of room. So many more violant criminals from other prisions including cyogenic prisons were moved to New Folsom as indentured laborers.
The stealth Dropship entered the atmosphere and approached the prison gliding over the lake of molten magma on its approach landing over tower on the far edge of the facility. The Drop ship hovered over the tower opening its rear ramp. As the ramp lowered 0079 stepped to its edge with a visible grin on his lips. The ramp stopped and 0079 leaped off exiting the cloaking field and becoming visible. With a loud thump he landed on the hot metal surface. With his evolved biology 0079 barely felt the heat which would kill a normal Terran. 0079 could sense the minds of the Terrans in a mile range of his position. No one was alerted to that landing nor did they know He was there. Moving stealthily 0079 claimed off the roof and broke through a air lock door. In moments a pair of armored guards arrived and exited the airlock into the hellish enviroment.
The guards were equipped with powered exo-armor of a smaller type then a full CMC-Marine armor. It was easier to maintain use and cheaper, but not meant for a actual battle field as its enviromental systems were the only thing matching a full CMC-armor. The armor, hydraulics and weapons were all scaled down to suit the prison job.
"Anything?" one guard asked as he scanned the area around the door.
"Doesnt look like explosives? What caused this?" the other answered as he scaned the door.
"What do you mean doesn't look like explosives? That doors a half meter thick Neo-steel plate! the only thing that could have did this is either a bomb a SCV or...!"
The guard realized too late that he didn't look up and only did so just now. To the guards dismay He saw a giant Zerg just above him its claws dug into the neo-steel tower just hanging there.
"Graaaaa!" 0079 roared as he droped onto the two guards tearing them into pieces.
0079 feeling satisfied at his kills quickly moved on blitzing through the guard post killing ten more guards including four robotic sentries.
"Gah.. agh!...(last breath)" exclaimed a guard officer as he died.
0079 pulled his claws from the officer and accessed the terminal using the access codes 0079 retrived from the dying mind of the officer. Turns out dying people are easy to mind read. 0079 opened the prisoner directory finding the location of his target. A moment later the door burst open and a hail of gunfire ate into His back armor.
"What the fuck is a Zerg doing here?" shouted a guard as he continued firing his rifle.
0079 was more pissed off then injured by the comparably small arms when compared to a Marines C-14 rifle. Turning around 0079 leaped at the guards ripping them to pieces. Continuing on his mission 0079 dashed through the facility killing guards that got in his way and avoiding various traps the guards tried springing on him. One included a SCV pushing him into a lava pit. These guards were not equipped for a fight like this and died in droves as the beast ripped through them in a trail of terror and death.
"Shit! shit! shit!" a guard yelled as he unloaded a full mag shooting down a hall at 0079. 0079 leaped and flipped through the air showing his athletic prowess despite the bulky body and kicked planting a clawed/armored foot onto the chest of the guard sending the man flying into the wall with a sickening thud/crack as the mans skull was broken open like a egg from the impact allowing a stream of blood to drip down his face. 0079's heavy foot falls echoed through the multi-level holding area as he looked for the proper cell. Stopping at the numbered cell he took a closer look inside seeing a middle aged man in the orange jumpsuit with green eyes, a half- bald head with a faint curving scar on His left cheek. Though He was some what frightened at the Zerg staring down at him Edmund Duke was never a coward and just stood there looking back at the monster.
"Well? You just going to stare at me or are you going to kill me?"
0079 laughed darkly at the Terrans words.
"Glad to see that you haven't lost you fire in this hell pit Duke."0079 said.
Duke was taken aback by the voice of the monster. It was distorted by the over mutated vocal cords but Duke still recognized that voice.
"No! it couldn't be? That... is that you Mengsk!" Duke softly exclaimed in shock.
0079 chuckled reaching out and ripping the door off its hinges.
"Yes... it's me. And im here to retrieve you Duke. Things have changed and are changing. And the person that brought me back and changed me into this has use of people like you and me."
Slowly Duke stepped out giving The mutated Arcturus Mengsk a wide berth.
"I would normally greet a old war comrade with some expensive wine but given the situation?" Duke said.
"No need for the banter. The guards will be hear soon. We should go." said 0079 Mengsk.
"What just leaven without me?" said Dukes cell mate.
0079 Mengsk turned to the cell where a mountain of a man stood. Even without CMC-armor He was 6 feet 7 inches tall and looked around 363 pounds.
"If ya bust'n outa here you may as well take me too. Not that im into working with freaks. But anything's better then rotting in this shit hole."
"This is Tychus. He's a former Marine from the guild wars. And a former ally to Raynor" Duke explained.
"Is he now." mused Mengsk the cogs in his mind turning.
-Chapter End-
