Zeratul moved forward slowly.... he tore off the Protoss garment that he was
wearing as if it were a sign that he was no longer a Protoss. Underneath the
cloth were Zerg growths all over his body...he looked like he had a skin
infection. Artanis watched with disbelief
," Zeratul... don't do this! Kerrigan did this to you! You are a Protoss, a
Dark Templar!." Zeratul shook his head," I am Zerg..I exist to serve
my queen... ." There was pride in his voice..Artanis realized that he could
do nothing... Zeratul was a Zerg now. " Damn you Kerrigan!" Raynor
shouted. " Don't you see how perfect this universe would be if every living
being were controlled by a single mind? There would be no wars.." Kerrigan
said. Suddenly 10 silent figures moved past Raynor and Artanis and decloaked...Dark
Templars. Kerrigan began to laugh.. 10 Zerg Queens floated towards them.
Kerrigan towards Zeratul, " Zeratul, use your Maelstorm ability so they
won't be able to run away."
Zeratul nodded," Yes my queen.. ." Zeratul focused his psionic
powers.. a large brownish red cloud engulfed the Dark Templars..the Zerg Queens
moved forward and created cocoons around the Dark Templars with ease since the
Dark Templars were frozen by Zeratul. Kerrigan laughed again.." Soon all of
you will be mine! " Artanis realized that Kerrigan wasn't going to sit and
watch them all day, he contacted the Protoss Base, " This is Artanis!
Requesting recall now!" A blue light engulfed Artanis and Raynor, within
seconds, the two vanished. Zeratul turned towards Kerrigan," My queen, now
I am ready to serve by your side as long as I live... my transformation is now
complete. I am Zerg ." Kerrigan smiled at Zeratul, " I know... but
your transformation isn't complete..not yet. You will infiltrate a Templar
Archive at the Protoss Base and take the information you need to reach the peak
of your power. You will lead an army of Hydralisks. You can destroy the Terrans
but I want the Protoss alive. Especially Artanis. Is that understood?"
Kerrigan said. Zeratul nodded, " Yes, my queen. I will not fail.. ."
Protoss Base
Artanis stood up from his chair... how could they possibly get Aiur back without
Zeratul? To make things worse, Zeratul was now on Kerrigan's side. What does
Kerrigan want?, Artanis wondered. He let his mind drift back... a few years
ago...
Artanis fell down on the cold floor..he picked himself up. Tassadar moved
closer towards Artanis," How can you become a templar if you can't even
defeat your own hallucination?" Artanis remained silent..ashamed. "
But I thought that a hallucination can't effect a physical form," he said.
Tassadar shook his head." That is what everyone thinks. The power of a
hallucination rests here," the High Templar pointed at Artanis' head.
Artanis nodded... he understood. " Okay..you may rest if you want,"
Tassadar said as he moved towards the exit.
" Tassadar, why are we fighting the Zerg?" Artanis asked..he thought
he knew once..but now he wasn't sure. Tassadar turned around," We aren't
fighting...though it might seem like we are,but what I think we are really doing
is protecting the Uraj and Khalis crystals."
" The what?" Artanis asked again, not sure what his instructor just
said.
" The Uraj and the Khalis..that's what the Zerg want. With those
crystals..the Xel'Naga prophecy says that the Zerg will be able to infest the
entire universe from a single place," Tassadar explained. Artanis couldn't
believe it..was it possible? " The Xel'Naga...their technology is way
beyond our understanding.. do not forget that," Tassadar said. With that,
he left the room.
"How could I forget..." Artanis whispered slowly. Kerrigan won't be able to find the crystals without a Protoss. That's why she wanted Zeratul... now that she had him.. it was only a matter of time before... . Artanis stood up," Contact Raynor! Tell him we're evacuating the planet. We're heading for the Dark Templar homeworld..
Zerg Primary Hive
8 Hours Later..
Zeratul walked towards Kerrigan..," My queen..the Protoss Base is
abandoned..I managed to gain access to the information you asked for. I am at
the peak of my powers." The Queen of Blades nodded slowly..." It's
time for us to go to Shakuras... ." Kerrigan stood up and walked towards
the exit of the Zerg Hive. Hundreds of Zerglings, Hydralisks, Ultralisks,
Mutalisks, Guardians, Overlords...waited outside. Kerrigan walked towards one of
the Overlords. The Overlord picked Kerrigan and Zeratul up in it's
tentacles...the Overlords began to load the Zerg into their ventral sacs.. a war
was about to begin..
Protoss Flagship Ganritor II
Low Orbit over Shakuras
Artanis watched as the Terran buildings landed on the blue-purplish dunes of
Shakuras. Raynor had followed him back here to help him and the other Protoss to
prevent whatever Kerrigan was planning. Artanis took out the Uraj Chrystal from
his pouch which was made out of a Bengalaas skin. The chrystal shined brightly.
Artanis remembered that he was entrusted to hold the chrystal while the Khalis
was entrusted to Zeratul. Which menat that Kerrigan had one of the
chrystals..and that she would most probably be looking for him. Artanis had to
wonder wether they would be able to stop Kerrigan. With Zeratul..there was no
telling what Kerrigan would do with the powers of a Dark Templar at her
disposal.
" Artanis.." Artanis turned around to face the viewscreen. The image
of a Protoss scout pilot appeared.." Artanis, long-range sensors are
picking up an incredibly large amount of Zerg Overlords heading towards the
planets atmosphere," the scout had a worried tone in his voice. Artanis
nodded..," I want you and the other Corsair and Scout pilots to hold them
off as long as you can." The scout nodded before he terminated the
transmission. Artanis contacted Raynor, the Terran's face appeared on his
viewscreen. " Artanis, I know what you are going to ask me to do, my
sensors has picked them up as well," Raynor said even before Artanis had a
chance to say anything. The young Templar nodded. " My Valkyries and
Wraiths are on their way. We've set up defences around the Xel'Naga temple in
case Kerrigan makes it through. So all we need now is..well...luck," Raynor
said. " More luck than any of us can imagine. I won't want to be around
when Kerrigan unleashes her broods... Entaro Adun," Artanis said before
turning the viewscreen off.
High orbit over Shakuras
Dan Harbinger and 20 other Wraith pilots checked their weapon systems. Dan
shrugged in his chair, he didn't have much room to breathe but he had enough
oxygen in his air tanks to last 5 hours. The Wraiths were all armed with Gemini
Missles, enough to do damage on the incoming Overlords, Mutalisks and Guardians.
" Here they come!" a valkyrie pilot shouted. Dan took a deep
breath..like a swarm of locusts, the Zerg were heading towards the fleet.
"All units! Spread angle! 10 head 3' o clock ! 10 head 9'o clock!" Dan
shouted over the comnlink. 10 wraiths flew to the right to attack from that
angle another 10 attacked from the right. " Valkyries! Move in!" Dan
shouted. The valkyries flew forward, attacking from the front. Missles and acid
spores began flying around. Dan's Wraith zipped through 2 Mutalisks and blew
away an Overlord. Suddenly he realized that Scourges were heading towards the
fleet. " Pull back!" Dan shouted, he realized that they didn't have
enough firepower to gun all of them down.
" Sir! 80 Protoss ships coming form the planet surface!" a pilot
shouted. Dan realized that 30 Scouts, 30 Corsairs and 20 Carriers were coming to
back them up. But the scourges were still coming. " DAMN!!!" a Wraith
pilot shouted before 3 Scourges exploded when they hit his wraith. Dan began to
think.. " I have an idea! Lead the Scourges into ramming the
Overlords!" Dan shouted. He brought his Wraith lower, barely missing a
scourge. The scourge turned around and chased after Dan form behind. Dan
accelarated his speed, he dove under an Overlord, zipping through many others
the scourge tried to follow him but exploded when it ran into an Overlord.
Before long, the entire brood was destroyed.. or so they thought. Dan was about
to feel relived when he realized an entire brood...10 times larger than the one
thy had just destroyed, were heading towards them..
