Chapter Two
"The goddess watches over us,"
…
"For the goddess!" Sola roared as he plunged the golden war glaive deep into the head of a Skork, the metal with an overlay of a power field cutting through flesh and bone like paper making the large reptile thrash with abandon. If he had a mouth and teeth would have been gritting it as the large head he is standing tried to throw him off into open air.
"Rina, spear!" he cried out to his partner who immediately threw a long pike as long as they are to him. With a skill that came only from thousands of repetitions, Sola caught the massive weapon with one hand with all his might plunged it with all his strength deep into the already gushing wound of the Skork. The severely wounded animal immediately made an ear splitting screech that would have made anyone with an ear five kilometers away to burst out in pain as it struggled on its death throes.
Sola however isn't yet finished, yelling with his entire strength he plunged the spear deeper into the skull of the Skork to the point where it came out the roof of its mouth as it made one more screech before falling silent as it fell to the ground with a large thud sending plumes of dust everywhere as its massive body finally failed it.
Huffing, Sola struggled to stand up as he looked at his kill. The massive snake-like creature with a dozen legs on each of his side is obviously finished, especially with the golden spear lodged on its head where blood pooled like a small lake. Every inch of his body hurt but he couldn't even be happier in his entire life. Only the bravest or the most foolhardy of the Khalai dare hunt a Skork. The massive fifteen meter monsters are apex predators on this planet and something that the hunter must be wary of when hunting. More than one settlement of Khalai is made food for these monsters before the Enlightenment.
"Sola! Sola!" the familiar sound of his heart interest and hunting partner made his face beam as he turned towards her direction. There she is dressed in hunting garbs like he is with skin tight leather armor though hers ended only to her upper things showing long beautiful pale legs of the lightest blue being hidden by a long violet loincloth.
He only smirked victoriously as she stopped in front of him looking in awe at the dead Skork lying there in front of him, mouth gaping wide with the golden spear stuck on the roof of its head. "I don't believe it; you've really killed it,"
"Duh, what did you expect from the son of a Hierarch?"
"I don't know, being eaten alive I guess," shrugged the female Khalai before once more approaching the dead beast and nudging it with her foot. "Your father's either gonna flip or be overjoyed at you after this kill,"
"I'm gonna take him being proud," answered Solas knowing very well that shit storm that is coming from his father the moment he returned to the palace. His father is well known for being level-headed but he is obviously stressed. Being the first ever Hierarch of the Khalai demands a lot out of him and he knows that his father can't afford distractions as much as possible, especially with the upcoming celebration that all of the Khalai looked forward at, including him.
Ironically this is also the main reason why Solas chose to go on this hunt. Young Khalai males normally took the Hunt as a coming of age practice even from the Eon of Darkness when their race started spawning. Protoss males would go out from the safety of their tribes' comfort and head to the unknown to hunt any wild beast that can provide a challenge. They must be able to kill the beast and bring back its hide, skin and head as trophies, the bigger the kill, the more the honor. Unfortunately a Protoss must be on the required proper age before they even undertake the Hunt. Solas have completely disregarded this part and went to have his Hunt anyways. This is the only time that their deity would arrive in the next five cycles and for any Protoss assigned to have a Hunt on this cycle is considered the greatest of honors.
"You think we're going to see her up close this time?" asked his friend crouching at his side handing him one of their traditional skinning knives that Solas took as he began hacking the head of the dead Skork. Skorks are like snakes but only with four legs able to walk and swim at the same time. It can also be able to traverse steep cliff sides making it one of the most dangerous animals in their planet and one of the greatest to be the target of the Hunt for a Protoss.
"I bet I will Salliah," he answered, barely managing to hide the excitement in his tone. With a kill like this, I would be able to see her up close and if luck holds, I would receive her blessing," Like all Protoss, Sola revered the Lady of Creation to the point of fanaticism. Protoss of the First Houses still kept relics of the things that the Lady has given them during the First Unification, for them it is the highest of honors to receive something from their revered deity. In fact, even Sola's house has one of these holy artifacts, a golden sash that his father told him the goddess has entrusted to them. It is placed in the most holy of places at their House Temple forever guarded by pairs of Prophets. Only once every ten cycles does their family allows them entrance to see the sash. In fact Solas saw the golden sash of the goddess ten times in his entire life and he has prostrated himself every time.
"You almost done Solas?" asked the female Protoss as he just finished hewing the large head of the Skork and managed to nail the pins on its sides for the ropes that will haul it. Blood and bits of Skork meat cling to him in droves, not to mention the droves of insects; signs enough of a hunter in a successful Hunt.
"Now I am," if he had a mouth, he would have smirked at his friend as he simply gave her an eye smile before the two of them started dragging his prey back at the direction of his home.
…
Aiur, the golden city, the city of a billion souls , the beacon of the stars. It is the home-world of the Protoss civilization and the place where before during the Eon of Strife, the ten Houses that now form the Enclave fought one another for the most miniscule of reasons. Later this city would be a beacon of hope to many things and a shining star that could rival even the Light of the Emperor of Mankind.
Destrius Austras, Hierarch of the Protoss as his usual habit stared at the topmost spire of the Golden Pyramid of Aiur at this beautiful city of his people. It has been his habit ever since he was elected Hierarch a hundred years ago during the First Unification.
How far his people have come since their emergence from the dark; he knows of course that his race is strong, humanoid in form, their bodies are built specifically to fight with elegance and grace. Long limbs and flexible with reinforced carbon fiber bones, their claws at their hands can tear through flesh, skin and hide with ease. Even their nourishment method is designed to adapt at the harshest of environments. Protoss don't need to eat to survive, all they needed is the light like plants, it sustains a Protoss far better than any food might for a human body. Their secrement is also the same way, when a Protoss sweats, the energy they have is returned to its environment keeping their world clean and natural. Protoss have no mouths due to this fact or any other orifices in any way other than their glowing eyes of blue. They are built for fighting and surviving.
Unfortunately being built for fighting is not exactly a good thing if you have no one to fight. His ancestors, great leaders on their own right tried to curb this function by basing their entire ethics and tradition into a life of honor, establishing the Hunt in the first place for young Protoss to curb their lust for a fight. It didn't work out so well in the long run. Thanks to their desire to state their honor, tribes fought against tribes for little slights. They misunderstood the meaning of what their first ancestors passed down from generation to generation creating the Eon of Strife where a thousand tribes scattered throughout the planet massacred each other drowning the land with their own blood. Destrius himself have witnessed that barbarism that wittled down their people from a thousand tribes to ten measly few left almost leading them to extinction. From this darkness came the Lady of Creation, their beloved diety and goddess.
He still remembered that day, the day when the Lady of Creation appeared. He mentally sighed as memories brought him back to the past. Blood, gore, sweat, bodies littered the ground as the hundreds of struggling bodies did their best to tear each other apart. He saw himself hacking non-stop at the bare chest of another Protoss with the haft of his makeshift axe blood is everywhere and the sound is deafening as war cries mixed with the wailing and he crying of the wounded and the dying. It is like a symphony of the damned surrounding them all, encasing them in the throes of war.
And that is where they saw her, shining with great light at the topmost hill of what would soon later come to be the Golden Pyramid of Aiur. At her side are the Celestials, beings of light and power with wings of light energy. It is at that place that the division of the Protoss came to an end and the Eon of Strife as terrible as it is became the stepping stone for their rise as a race. At that very place, the Lady of Creation opened their minds taking advantage of the Protoss' way of talking to one another using psionic waves to unite them under the Khala. In their division, she united them, their every emotion, their every thought joined as one under the light of the Khala, a psionic unity using the goddess as their basis and anchor to their souls. Now every Protoss are bound not only by their traditions but also their unity by sharing their minds with one another. Where before the Protoss care only about honor, now they care about their unity. No Protoss nowadays think only for himself, but for his entire race as whole.
Now this is the result of the actions of their goddess. A planet united under one reason, their respect and their love for their deity. She has taught them much over the past century, uplifting the Protoss from the barbaric tribes they are to a great civilization preparing themselves to rise to the stars. Where once they used sticks, stones and the occasional crude metal to craft items and weapons; now they use energy tools powered by the Khaydarin Crystals that their deity gave to them at the First Unification.
From his vantage point he could see the entirety of the city of Aiur, the heart of Protoss civilization and every Protoss' pride and joy. It is here that the temple of Creation stands and every Protoss scattered in different cities of the planet made a point to pilgrimage at least five times a single cycle. Mountains covered the northern and eastern edges of the large plain where Aiur stood like sentinels with narrow passageways that can easily be defended. The southern and eastern parts of the city on the other hand have no natural barrier other than the Lake of Birth where the gestation of many infant Protoss is made.
Protoss after all reproduce very different from other species. Unlike mammals, Protoss do not mate. Instead, partners give samples of their blood to Protoss gene masters who received the blessing of gene editing from the goddess herself. These specially learned Protoss would then remove whatever impurities they would find from the donated genes before placing them on one of the birth pods floating in the Lake of Birth where the natural waters heated from the core gives the start up energy for the life inside the pod. The young Protoss would then grow with millions of its siblings inside different pods better and stronger than the previous generation ever will be. It is a far cry of the ancient Protoss whose children would be at risk of dying from predators of the deep when birth pods are set to sail. Now young Protoss are not in danger of dying while they are helpless as ancient guardians that not even the Protoss know guard the deep waters of the Lake of Birth. It is another thing that is a blessing from their goddess.
All in all it is a good thing, he thought to himself as he returned his gaze to the rising spires of Aiur surrounding the golden pyramid. Each of these spires houses thousands of Protoss, plying their craft. With no need for food, and no reason to butcher one another with the creation of the Khala uniting them all, majority of Protoss now pursue whatever it is that interests them. Be it the nature of art, wisdom, knowledge, history, animals or even pondering the simplest of questions like "why a stone does does not move?" In the golden pyramid is found the largest collection of tomes by the millions fanatically protected by the present Celestials, beings of light and their goddess' personal guardians. Dozens of them lived in the Library of Tomes being its librarians, teachers and guardians of sacred knowledge. Every day thousands of Protoss would enter its humongous halls to seek knowledge and wisdom from the tomes inside the library or simply as a pilgrimage to learn something from the guardians of their deity.
Not that Protoss are pacifists, far from it in fact. Despite their unity now, and their lack of desire to hurt something unless it proves itself a threat to the Unity as a whole, the Protoss are still warriors to the core. Large part of its citizens still visits the millions of training grounds dotting in empty spaces all over Aiur to hone their skills of being a warrior. Aiur may be at peace with its defenses that the goddess' personally "suggested" which the Protoss did not question to build; but the outlying cities in different continents are not yet so lucky with the odd one or two animal trying it's luck on them. Beyond the golden walls of Aiur still lived the wild animals' native to the planet, great beasts with armor of chitin and carapace that devoured anything and anyone that enter their domains. These so-called badlands are the Plague Lands, places where vegetation and nature ruled free and only those who participated on the Hunt are allowed to enter these dangerous territories past the walls to bring back a prize. Where once these creatures pose a threat to the Protoss, now the hunters became the hunted as Protoss utilized technology taught to them by their deity rendering the natural weapons that the animals relied on so much useless. Now these creatures stayed away from any settlement and only the most hungry or the foolhardy dared to test the valor of their former prey. Having them around is also not so bad. Large numbers of them often roam past their forests giving the warriors enough practice to use their skills in actual combat instead of the training grounds. Real life and death battle after all is completely different from training.
Still, his race as a whole is as diverse as any civilization can be. Divided into three caste systems, the Protoss boasted their society to be more efficient than anything the universe will ever produce. As complicated and diverse their lifestyle is, the way of life for them is actually quite simple. The Artisan Caste represents the civilians, though seventy percent of them can be called into active service when the occasion ever calls for it. The Artisans are the largest in the Caste system. They are your usual day to day Protoss honing their crafts in their chosen fields. They are the ones in charge of research and development, dedicating their lives to the ever improvement of their race as a whole. It is them who made Aiur to what it is today and many takes pride from their work, especially those who belonged to the craft of engineering. Basically it is the Artisans who keeps the cog of the Protoss community turning.
Second and probably the ones who would be well-known on the galaxy later is the Templar Caste. The Templars are the armed body of the Protoss. Unlike the Artisans, those of the Templar Caste spent their days learning only one doctrine, war. Divided into three classes, the Templar Caste serves as the blades of the Protoss people against their enemies.
Largest of the Templar Caste classes are the Templars. With the doctrine of the Protoss that ranged fighting is cowardice at its heart, the Templars are comprised mostly of Zealots; warriors that wielded energy blades powered by their own psychic energy drawn from the power of the Khydarin crystals. It can take any form depending on the weapons wielded by its owner. In the Templars are also placed the pilots, and many other Great War machines at service on the Caste like the powerful Immortals, four legged walkers with twin cannons driven by the soul of a fallen Protoss and the Colossi, powerful six legged golden machines designed like an insect that can challenge a titan in terms of firepower alone.
Next and albeit a small group compared to the Templars are the High Templars. Leaders and wielders of the power of the Khydarin Crystal, this specially trained Protoss are powerful Psykers also. Being able to harness the entirety of their psychic strength, they are able to manipulate the four elements into their will though able to conjure lightning on their foes is their most favorite tactic. The High Templars are the most respected in the Protoss warrior society and having one of the greatest of responsibilities. In time of direst need, a High Templar can be one with his Psychic energy and be able to transform himself to a being of immense power at the price of his life.
Lastly of the Warrior Caste Class is the Dark Templar. Not much is known of this Protoss even among their society. Wanderers, information gatherers, spies, outcasts, these solitary beings who chose this path are very different from the rest of the Khalai. They did not ornament themselves and they do not carry with them a Khydarin crystal other than the ones that powered their glaives. It is widely known though that when a Dark Templar comes bearing news; it is in your good opinion to listen. Dark Templar barely does anything without reason and they spent most of their times outside the walls in the Plague Lands.
The last Caste is the Hierarchs. These are the highest echelons of Protoss society. Divided into two, the Hierarch Caste rules over the entirety of all the Protoss and is responsible for their entire species' well-being. The first group is the Council led by the Hierarch. This group is the one in charge of the day to day demands of the entire race and keeps the society running smoothly. In times of peace, the Council which is comprised of the Elders from the different Houses of the Protoss handles the requests and the upkeep of their people. In times of War however, the Hierarch, chosen leader by their goddess herself is the one in charge and his power supersedes everyone else when it comes on making decisions. There is only one Hierarch that had been elected ever since the uplifting of their race.
The second part of the Hierarch Caste is the Priests. This is perhaps the most influential of all the Castes and only the noblest and the most devoted of their kind are given the honor to enter this part of the Hierarch Caste. Sure the Protoss revered their goddess greatly and with no doubt, but being a Priest takes that Faith an extra mile more that bordered on fanaticism. To be a Priest means being better than anyone else in a lot of fields; priests are not just preachers teaching the "Tenants of Faith," a set of rules and values that their goddess imparted to their ancestors when she first revealed herself to them. It is also the Protoss' holy book. The Priests' are the greatest warriors in Protoss society but also teachers, leaders, helpers and models for the other Protoss to follow. Millions apply to a slot on being a priest every time there's a vacancy but only one would be chosen and even sometimes, no one in the case of no one passing the Trials that tests ones faith, strength of body, character and spirit.
Put everything together all of this and you have the Protoss' society at the crisp of its infancy during the Years of Unification that would later spread to at least a thousand worlds under their influence.
"Hierarch," the voice of his aide brought Destrius' thoughts back to the present as he turned to one of the Centurions, his honor guard assigned to him enter his door with a small incline of his head in respect. Unlike a regular member of the Warrior Caste, a Centurion is garbed more heavily in terms of their golden armor making them harder to kill even if their energy shield generator fails.
"Pardon my intrusion Hierarch, but we have found your son as you have ordered," said the heavily armored Protoss, his blue eyes meeting the Hierarchs.
"Good," nodded Destrius turning his gaze back to the expecting city whose residents are buzzing around like bees in beehive. This is after all the celebration that all Protoss looked forward to and everyone is coming out in their best attires and crafts to honor their goddess….except his son for some reason that went galvanizing off to who-knows-where. "Bring him to me,"
"Yes my lord," the Centurion saluted once more before walking out with barely a sound made despite his heavy bulk.
Sure that he is no alone once more, Destrius can't help but let off a tired sigh. He seriously doesn't know what to do with his son. Solas is a good kid but too strong willed for his own good. He has the habit to galvanize off past the Protoss norm of ways and Destrius is more than enough aware that he isn't exactly displaying to be the ideal father for that boy. His duty as Hierarch is demanding, especially with their race slowly achieving its desired self-identity. Purity of Form, the goddess called it. His race is that and more. He also knows that their destiny isn't simply on this planet alone. The entirety of the Protoss with the teachings imparted to them by the goddess knows that there are a lot of worlds other than this one and it is his race's destiny to share the light they have with everyone else. This is why the reappearance of the goddess to their city is such a big event. He knows that today is the day that their goddess would finally allow them to take their first steps to the stars where their fate awaits.
"Father," the familiar psychic presence of his son registered on his brain and the Hierarch turned to greet his only child when his eyes lay on the dead head of a Skork being carried out by an even bloodier looking Protoss who is unable to hide his nervousness from the psychic senses of his father. Destrius sighed for the second time of the day. He isn't sure if he wanted to throw his son off the edge of the balcony or congratulate him for attaining such a worthy price on his early Hunt.
…
She smiled as she looked at the bustling golden city awaiting her arrival. It has been a hundred Cycles on this planet, each cycle equivalent to five years in regular Earth time. A hundred cycles ever since she showed herself to the Protoss and made them who they are today. They are not close to Purity of Form as she desired at first when she scoured this land for anything worthy of her time and thought. They are a barbaric people intent on tearing each other apart until she intervened, giving them the power of the Khydarin Crystals and pulling their psychic thoughts together into her giving them a unity with each other that no other sentient beings can replicate. The souls of their fallen also stayed with her, their consciousness bonded together by the crystal that is her at the middle of their planet. And their prayers and faith gives her strength beyond measure as she deemed it to be for the sake of the galaxy as a whole.'
This might look like manipulation but this is in fact protection for them as it is a facet of strength for her. Chaos is attracted to psykers and believe it or not, the entirety of the Protoss are psykers. The Khydarin crystal that is a part of her silence the warp, the bigger it is, the larger the field making this planet invisible to the eyes of Chaos. Being bounded to her, their souls are safe from being food for the Chaos gods and their unity combined with their faith thanks to the Khala is their unbreakable shield against its influence. As long as their thinking remains like that, no whisper of Chaos can enter their heads.
"It is time," she mentally sent a command at the hundred beings accompanying her and a hundred heads bowed as one as she pulled her psychic strength together pulling them all into a teleportation crystal with a flash and guiding them straight to the point at the middle of the plaza that the Porotoss readied for her arrival specifically.
A tidal wave of sound immediately greeted her ears like a tidal wave and despite herself, the Lady of Creation has to erect a psychic shield to tone down the noise as the Priests try to calm the crowd who immediately fell flat on their faces at the appearance of their goddess with her custodians, Celestials who now flew into open air at her sides.
Protoss maybe her Created and her arm that will bring her light to a galaxy of darkness, but the Celestials will be her angels. They are wandering beings of energy and thought that came from a long passed away species who experimented on transforming their bodies to pure energy at Aiur. Their success however is not the dream they imagined. As they became one with everything they become purposeless, unable to live, unable to comprehend their existence, forever floating into the empty eddies of time without knowing what to do. She found them large numbers of them by accident in her search of the desire to create.
She had pitied them, their existence an everlasting curse based on ignorance. Thus she remade them anew, delaying herself many years as she created new bodies for them, armor and clothes to take the shape of their humanoid energies for them to manifest once more at the physical plane. She gave them purpose once more and bound them to her thanks to their new bodies. She shared to them her dream of driving away the coming darkness and they answered her call. They became her Celestials, her guardian angels and her archangels, forever sworn to protect her main avatar in the physical realm. With their energies, they lifted up a great island up to the sky and built the city Silverhallow there. It is the home of the Celestials and also a place for her avatar to rest fully and call home.
"My children," she said simply to the gathered still bowed crowd who heard her words as they are projected into each and every one of their minds. "Please rise," she commanded.
The sound of shuffling feet is then heard by the millions as the attending Protoss followed. She simply waited for each and every one of them to finish pulling himself or herself up as every eye available is trained on her.
"My children," she began once more. "You have come far and I can't be more proud than I am today seeing all of you gathered here today exactly as I envisioned you to be. You are now more than I ever expected you my children, I still remember the barbaric tribes slaughtering one another at the outskirts of this land, not caring if their blades spill the blood of the innocent. You are not the people any longer. It is right only to use your skills against those who threaten you, but a blade to kills is not what you are, you are the blades that will protect. You are a people united and such strength you have will be to protect those who trust in you. For the future we must fight and live on, not to destroy what we hate, but to protect what we love," she took a sigh once more letting everyone attending her sorrow, her pride and her joy of the momentous future that will make the Protoss shine one the stars.
"You have all studied my teachings and such as those that I impart to you, I did to prepare you for what is to come. All of you are aware that there are other worlds out there in the stars. Some of them are peaceful, some of them are not. Many trials will you my children face as you take this first step outside your world, I have prepared you all as best as I can with wisdom and knowledge that you would need. It is up to you though to grasp that destiny with your own hands. Do not fret, I will guide all the way through and be with you. You will face monsters, zealots, unreasoned bastards that will test your very soul and faith. I have prepared you by teaching you how to make weapons to bring them down, but no weapon can challenge the greatest one you have, your Unity. As long as you are united, nothing can be too impossible. You will face darkness and its manifestations, you will be the light against it, a sword that will shine on the galaxy and pierce the darkness on its heart. You will be my warriors, my custodians, my ever living gems that will shine on the darkness. This responsibility I give to you, do you accept it?"
The last sentence may be asked simply by her but for the attending Protoss, it might as well have been a shout, a challenge to all of them. Silence followed. For a moment no one made a sound other than the flapping energy wings of the Celestials….until the sound of a glaive turning on sounded at the front beside the Hierarch from a young Protoss who raised said glaive into the air.
"My life for Aiur! For the goddess!" he roared with all his being sparking a fire on the oil that is the assembled Protoss who then roared in follow-up, fists, glaives, spears and many others raised as they accepted their mission in life.
"For Aiur! For the goddess!"
For the Lady of Creation, she only smiled as she stepped down from her raised dais letting her created meet her personally. Mind you, that Protoss who started that shout really has a future ahead of him.
…...
Author's Note:
Sorry for the late upload readers. I'm busy with school. Thanks for the awesome reviews by the way. I accept critics and suggestions. Please don't flame. Just tell me what's wrong instead of being angry and pissed off. I am open to ideas for this story.
By the way, is it really okay to add the Protoss in this story?