Chrono Nightmare
Chapter 4
Duran parried each blow but it was clear that the archangel's unlimited energy would get him in the end. If only Tyrael showed some kind of weakness in his fighting style then Duran could exploit it. But Tyrael's skill was flawless as he thrust his sword towards Duran once more.
Duran stepped back a few paces and slowly made a few steps to the right. Tyrael went to the left as they circled each other. Tyrael made the first move, lunging towards Duran at an inhuman speed. Duran was prepared though and rolled out of the way and quickly raised his sword to parry the blow that had been meant to sever his head.
They both backed off and circled each other again. Duran lunged this time and raised his sword above his head for a deathblow. He swung down with all his might and smashed the ground. He turned around in time to see a blue sword being shoved through his body. Tyrael pulled out the sword and swung down again slicing Duran's right arm off. Then twirling around he brought Azurewrath down in a diagonal arc from Duran's shoulder to his leg thrusting the sword into the ground.
Duran gurgled for a moment, then his body split into two and he fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Tyrael stood up and picked up Duran's sword. Sheathing his own Azurewrath he began slowly walking back towards the glowing light.
A low rumbling sound erupted suddenly as Tyrael was about to step back into the light.
gEt bAck HeRe tYraeL… I'm NoT tHroUgh wIth yoU yeT…
Tyrael whipped around to see Duran's body fusing together slowly. A few seconds later it began to rise, a horrid mess of flesh, bones, and blood. Before Tyrael stood a true hellspawn, horns protruding from every part of the body and faces of tortured souls flowing throughout its grayish body.
'It seems you are truly from Hell Duran. Prepare to meet Diablo.''
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Reavers shot their destructive scarabs through various Sons of Korhal infrastructure as the city of New Antietam burned on the dusty sands of Korhal. The attack had been a complete surprise and casualties were light. For the last month the Terran and Protoss under the command of Zeratul and Artanis had been raiding and destroying the Sons of Korhal for its deception and betrayal of Kerrigan. Jim and Sarah were on Tarsonis with their own forces wiping out the Confederacy and outlying Zerg bases.
Mengsk had been caught totally off guard and his forces had been slow to respond to the joint attacks of Terran and Protoss. Inside the Nexus of the Protoss headquarters near the Dominion capital of Augustgrad Zeratul and Artanis planned their next attack in the twilight hours of the planet.
Artanis, Zeratul, and several other Protoss templar stood around a tactical psi map hovering above a table.
'Judging by the way the Dominion defenses are laid out it would probably be wise to attack from… Sector 6.
Artanis pointed at a piece of land west of Augustgrad.
'Do not be so quick to judge the best attack point from defenses alone. It could very well be a trap. These terrans are intelligent, we've seen that from Raynor and Kerrigan. A weaker defense could be a lure into a large force, we've used this tactic for many battles and it wouldn't be surprising if the terrans use it…'
Artanis nodded. 'Perhaps we should attack from two sides. The map indicates that sector 4 has light defenses.' Artanis pointed to a small area north of Augustgrad. 'Should one of the areas be a trap then the second force should be able to punch a hole through the defenses large enough to clear a path for our fleet.'
Zeratul nodded in approval. 'Well conceived plan Artanis. We will move out at daybreak, but for now let us rest.' The Protoss filed out as the computer began blipping. It began lighting up and a small hologram appeared.
Improper shutdown detected.
Resuming download of Augustgrad defenses…
…
…………
Download complete.
Analysis beginning…
Heavy defenses detected in Sectors 4, 9, and 6, attacking from these sectors are highly inadvisable…
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A Greater Spire collapsed in a pile of flesh and blood as the arclite shells of
the siege tanks blew it apart. Marines marched around the area, shooting
anything moving that was Zerg. Wraiths flew overhead shooting down Overlords and
Mutalisks. Soon another group of dropships would arrive to drop off Jim Raynor
and Sarah Kerrigan.
Several buildings flew into view suddenly. A blue painted command center, barracks, engineering bay, and factory flew into view. Their gravatic boosters pushed the buildings towards the ground where the Zerg hatchery had been a few minutes ago. Sure enough the dropships came and groups of marines and firebats emerged, followed by Raynor and Kerrigan.
"Alright lets get this show on the road. Get the privates into SCV form and get them mining. Set up defenses, we don't have much time before Duke and his men show up. Lets move!" Raynor gave his orders and men gave a cheer before they began scuttling away to do their tasks. Kerrigan laughed lightly.
"Your men sure do love you Jim. Strange though, most of them I've never seen before." Jim laughed nervously. He knew he couldn't let Sarah know about the whole future/past thing. He tried not to think about it though, seeing as she could read people's minds.
"Yeah, guess we have lots of volunteers these days!" Jim said laughing nervously. Sarah eyed him strangely before walking off towards the Command Center. Jim sighed and looked up towards the sky thoughtfully.
'Man it's hard to believe how things are turning out. A month ago we were sitting in a Protoss base on Auir with an alien force of pure evil rampaging across the galaxy with no hope at all and now look at us. We're taking care of every major enemy at the same time… and more importantly Sarah isn't some crazed homicidal hellspawn… I wonder what's going on with the Zerg, they haven't launched any major attack for a while now. Oh well, guess that's not a bad thing…'
Jim walked towards the Command Center as several valkyries and wraiths soared overhead. Little did he know that the Zerg were
planning on attacking, and soon…
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"Hurry up over there! I want the Overmind dead as soon as possible!" A twisted female voice cried out into the night.
Hunter Killers, Devouring Ones, Hydralisks, Zerglings, the whole shebang was rampaging across Char ravaging the enemy Zerg buildings. It turned out to be the main hive cluster of the Tiamat brood. Daggoth lay in the middle of, pulsating like every other cerebrate slug.
Red hued Zerg erupted from the ground fighting Infested Kerrigan's swarm but they were no match. Sunken Colonies were quickly ripped to shreds as Guardians pounded them from afar to let the ground army in. The large canyon walls of the base echoed with cries and explosions of acid mixing with blood.
A few hours later the last remnants of the cluster were being destroyed and the fighting had died down considerably. All that remained was Daggoth, who was bleeding heavily. Infested Kerrigan laughed at the cerebrate. "What's the matter Daggoth? Not feeling your usual self?" she taunted.
'Who… who are you? How do you command such large numbers of Zerg…'
Kerrigan let out another laugh. "I know you are talking with your precious Overmind, Cerebrate but let me tell you, you and the Overmind shall know who I am… or you should have known… I am the Queen of Blades, the ruler of the Universe, and enslaver of every species in the galaxy. Now… you die."
Kerrigan raised her razor sharp claws and brought them down upon the Cerebrate's head(?)
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Tyrael was kneeling on the ground. Duran had definitely gotten stronger over
the past few millennia. The putrid beast had smashed him to the ground with his
tentacles and it had actually hurt, quite badly. Only a Demon could do that and
Tyrael's worst fear about Duran was confirmed. Though it is said the Xel'naga
had destroyed themselves in the end, it was not the whole truth.
The Xel'naga had tampered with lives of living creatures and their powers became immense. It was in that time period that the battle over Sanctuary had occurred. They were on different planets, but the Xel'naga had kept a distinct watch over Sanctuary and the hellish creatures it produced. Many of their Zerg creations were modeled after the hellspawn. The Protoss on the other hand, were modeled after the good, righteous followers of the light.
It was because of this the Zerg inherited their natural aggressive behavior, and the Protoss their honorable traditions and strict discipline. The Xel'naga had eventually swayed to favor the destructive behaviors of Hell and the Zerg though. It was because of this that the Archangels ultimately predicted the conquest of the Zerg over the universe. The Xel'naga had been working on a device to transport the Zerg back in time to the earliest days of the battle between Hell and Heaven and the arcane powers saw this.
The Xel'naga's psionic powers had been proven to be too strong to be transported across time and the Archangels found it necessary to destroy them. The Xel'naga resisted and were destroyed. Tyrael had led the charge against the final Xel'naga stronghold. It was there that he first encountered Tarias'sase "Duran" Hellaiseh. He was the prince of the Xel'naga, and as thus, had been granted great powers coming from the deepest depths of Hell.
Tyrael had managed to slay the Council of Xel'naga and after a great battle with the Xel'naga prince, Tarias'sase was left wounded upon his throne. Tyrael had raised out Azurewrath and was about to make the final blow when Duran spoke.
"Please… Archangel… let me live and I shall release my powers… I would become a mere mortal…"
Tyrael had been skeptical but in the end agreed. Duran released his powers and Tyrael spared him. It went against everything he stood for, letting an enemy live. But the higher powers agreed with him. They foresaw the events to come and did not stop them.
"rEaDy tO gIve uP yEt tYraeL?! I sHalL mAke yoU SuFfeR!
'You are truly pathetic Tarias'sase. I spared your life and you came back and brought destruction upon the good and righteous. You will not be spared this time. You will return to the Hell you embraced so long ago.'
Finishing this, Tyrael dived towards the demon creature that was Duran. It would all be over soon anyway. Tyrael's life energies connecting him to the mortal world were draining and Duran had no way of getting to the past so it would work in the end… or so he thought…
End of Chapter 4
A/N: Alright there it is. Have fun reading it?