"It Will All Be Over Soon..."
by Gaming Lord

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Note: This is a little gruesome at times, and doesn't quite have a happy ending...

Darkness settles over the land of the Dark Templar, over their homeworld of Shakuruas. Very few clouds pass over the sky. The oceans are a majestic dark blue, the moonlight playing in it's waves.

Here a dark templar stands on the edge of a cliff, ignoring the rather active Protoss base behind him. Wrapping his cape around his form, he watches the waves crash on the shore beneath him. He hangs his head rather sorrowfully, his eyes dimming to a dark blue glow.

This templar, Jor'Kol, was part of an attack against the zerg. Zerg, that have recently started to attempt to reinfest his homeworld. The worst part of it all is that the Zerg were succeeding.

The last battle Jor'Kol was in, was a horrific one. So much happened so quickly, that he was at a lost of words to describe what had happened. Only his memories serve as a reminder of that battle, one that was fought in vain, and lost so quickly.

Jor'Kol was part of a scouting party of dark templars, accompanied by several Observers. They were to scour the immediate area for any possible threats, and then send a transmission back to their base for reinforcements.

Looking around him, Jor'Kol watched his fellow brethren. Several dark templar of varying ages ran through the rocky terrain with him, their warp blades moving back and forth on their wrists as they moved.

After a while, the scouting party stopped. One of the templar mentioned that he had sensed something unnatural, and suggested they send an observer ahead to see if anything stood in their path. It was agreed, and Jor'Kol took hold of one of the small, humming machines. After programming a few instructions into it, the observer flew off ahead into the darkness.

What the templar saw frightened them. It was not just a mere zerg hive that they beholded, but rather, a large factory of death. Numerous hives and lairs were found, too many to count. Zerglings, hydralisks, infested terrans, all were patrolling their base, protecting it with their lives. It was then that the observer exploded in a cloud of blue flame and green acid. The Zerg knew that the Protoss were here, and their base started to bustle with activity.

The literal hundreds of larve that scattered the ground began to weave themselves into eggs, into various, deadly strains of monstrosities. Jor'Kol immediately sent a transmission for backup, his telepathic voice quivering with fear. Fear, a sensation he had not felt for some time.

The scouting party then panicked as they saw a large overlord fly overhead, seeming to laugh at them mockingly. Several large hydralisks, hunter killers, unburrowed in front of them, their teeth glistening with spittle. The dark templar attacked immediately, killing one of the gruesome beasts. The other few hydralisks attacked, swiping with their claws and hurling their spines. By the time the creatures were slained, one of the Templar layed on the ground, dead. Another was severly injured, bleeding from bad wounds on his shoulder and stomach.

It was then that nearly all movement at the zerg hive halted, as all of the zerg took notice of their slained brood members. The Dark Templar froze in place. Then, zerg after zerg started to advance on the small scouting party, a stream of claws, acid, wings, and death. They began to run, running as fast as their legs would carry them, as fast as the wind. Zerglings nearly hanged off their heels. Mutalisks flying lower and lower, hurling their glave wurms at the ground near the protoss warriors. Their shields were being depleted rapidly, and only Adun know how much longer they would last...

Next, a bright flash of red and green fluids, followed by the sound of an explosion. Jor'Kol glanced behind him to see the remains of an infested terran and a fellow templar fly past his face. He continued to flee, and screamed as he felt several sharp spines enter his calf. Limping, he felt the arms of one of his allies support him.

The backup arrived, but never had the chance to help. As several arbiters flew in, thousands of small winged creatures filled the sky. The winged demons screeched and started to slam into the aircraft, exploding as they hit the ships. Jor'Kol could sense the telepathic screams from the arbiter crews as they disintergrated into flames. He silently cursed himself as he fled, he had ordered them to come in and warp in reinforcements. Looking back, he realized it would have been better if the arbiters had recalled him and his scouting party instead.

In the end, only he survived. As he neared the base, he heard the loud burrowing of Lurkers, the loud screaming of his comrades as the underground spines burst through the ground and into the protoss. Only leaping towards the saftey of the photon cannons, flinging himself to the dirt behind the defensive structures, did he managed to live.

The zerg continued to attack for awhile, but eventually retreated. It was then that Jor'Kol stood silent. He walked around, and surveyed the damage done to the base for a while, watch as fellow warriors tried to help each other's wounds, or carried off the dead. He then moved over to a cliff near the edge of the base...

The very same cliff he stands over now. If protoss could shed tears, Jor'Kol would do so. Wrapping the cloak over his form even more tighter, the depressed templar sits on the ground, hoping to forget. Hoping, praying to Adun, that the memories will fade. That the sounds of his now dying brethren screams will soon stop, that the sounds of structures collasping to the now invading Zerg will cease... That it will all be over soon.