STEEL, SOUL, AND SPIRIT: FALLING DARKNESS
By
Gregory P. Wong
Chapter 1: Departure of the Alliance Fleet
Executor Straas looked over the landscape that he was about to depart from. Sawea was a beautiful world, a perfect place to raise a family...
He turned away from the window. He couldn't rest, no yet. And he couldn't leave his children there either. Ulreathan's Thres'nalop forces might pay a visit...
He heard thumping steps coming up from behind him. He looked behind him, and saw his wife, Szcraa, walking up to him. Like him, she was a Cyberlisk, a cyborg.
Her upper body was that of a mutated hydralisk, though her arms ended in four-clawed hands. A scythe was retracted over her wrists.
Her flesh ended at about one-and-one-half meters down, where double-jointed Goliath III legs and lower body took over. She stood three meters high. He was little taller than his wife. The specially built Goliath-III legs were weaved with special sensors, giving him as much sense as his skin.
A tail projected out of the rear of the metal, serving as a heat sink. Twin plasma cannons were slung over her shoulder, though currently folded over her back. His and her chest could open and fire explosive-laced Magna Needles. Their own bodies could manufacture the biological explosives, if they were feed sufficiently.
"It's a pity to leave this place, love," said Szcraa. Her orange tinged carapace caught the sun a certain way, giving her a glowing appearance.
"I know. But we have to hunt for those Thres'nalop. And our children won't be safe unless you or I are with them," he replied.
Their children were strange beings. The triplets, two males and one female, had been born with strange appearances. Stanton, named after a heroic Terran Ghost, looked almost like a green-eyed, blond-haired Terran toddler, except for some minor differences. His skin had a slight blue tinge to it, and the blond hair growing from his head appeared similar to spines. He had stroked Stanton's hair; it was as soft as could be hoped. Perhaps the hairs would harden in time. He was not sure if he that those type of hairs pliable or firm. Visible on his son's wrists were twin scythes that could extend at will. It would be hard to keep his son from slicing things up.
Kitheran, son number two, looked like a Protoss. The skin was a little on the reddish-brown side, and the back of the elongated Protoss head was slightly flattened. Instead of knobby Protoss feet, his legs terminated in three-clawed feet, similar to his father's. The body of Kitheran was more muscled than the Protoss norm, and like Stanton, he had wrist-scythes.
Yysthre, last to be born and the only daughter, looked remarkably like a Cyberlisk. She was born completely organic, and her lithe build reminded him of her mother. The little female's carapace was a dark shade of gold, with metallic blue streaks running down her flank. And her eyes were a deep and beautiful blue. Like her similar mother and father, she had Magna Needles and, like her siblings, scythes that could be molecularly rearranged.
The three had characteristics of all three known races, so one name wouldn't be enough. That had been Khalai Rethoj's idea, actually.
Stanton's "Protoss name" was Vereas, and his Zerg name was Aarrcht. Kitheran, also Andrew, had the Zerg name of Zavast. And Yysthre had the Terran name of Diana, and the Protoss name of Mythril.
Their children showed remarkable development, packing the growth of a few years into only a few months.
"You mean only you. Who was the one that defeated Ulreathan?" asked Szcraa.
"Let me ask you this: could I have defeated anything while I was dead." That was a long story.
"No one..." murmured his wife.
He looked down at his wife's right arm. She was wearing the armband of obsidian crystals, a nuptial gift from their wedding. The armband had once been an ornament of the Dark Templar Esralath. His gift from her, a golden colored headband, had once been the property of the Assault Commander Traenid, now part of the Gray Archon Traenid/Esralath.
"Executor. Fifteen minutes until departure," said Deneras, the helmsman of the Phantasm. The flagship of the former Executor Traenid/Esralath was now his.
"Thank you. I will be in the command room in five minutes."
The Templar nodded, spun around, and headed for the command bridge of the carrier.
He slipped his arm around his wife's waist. Szcraa put her head on his shoulder. They just stared out on the landscape for a few moments. Then they headed off to the command deck.
Assault Commander Szcraa looked out the window as the Phantasm powered through space. The fleet escorting the flagship was impressive.
Four new Terran Nova-class dreadnoughts coasted on either side of the flagship. The three remaining battlecruisers from the battle of Waj Norhal had been converted into dreadnoughts. At good 50 percent larger, the craft were very impressive, both defensively and offensively.
The Protoss and Terrans had been working extensively with singularities, i.e., black holes. The Protoss had had some success, using singularities to make a Dragoon's attack more potent, but that was about it. However, with Protoss know-how, and Terran ingenuity, the singularity laser was born.
Drawing energy from a sealed black hole, the lasers were nearly five times more powerful than the normal lasers that the former battlecruisers had carried. The Decimator laser batteries could rip apart class-X neosteel in seconds. To defend against fighters, pulse lasers were introduced. Using accurate and rapid pulse cannon tech, the Terrans had combined it with reliable and hard-hitting lasers. The pulse lasers dealt out heavy damaged, and at speeds normally only allowed to Protoss Seraph interceptors. Metasteel, a combination of Terran neosteel and Protoss alloys, offered nearly unbreakable protection, while heavy Protoss plasma shield emitters shrugged off damage.
Next to the eighteen dreadnoughts were thirty Centurion-class destroyers. They had been upgraded from the older Samurai-class destroyers fielded by the Waj Norhal defense garrison. From all she knew, the rest of terran space did not know about the destroyers. Waj Norhal had completely and exclusively made them. The destroyers, only a few dozen meters smaller than the old Terran battlecruisers, were decked out in anti-ship and anti-fighter weaponry. Photon torpedoes could rip apart heavy armor, and heavy pulse laser batteries could swat fighters from existence. Also equipped with shields
Lastly, the humble Maverick-class corvettes were also introduced. The corvettes, which resembled miniature Valkyrie frigates, were armed with four batteries of Stinger lasers. Though primarily used as skirmishers, they made excellent hostile-insertion shuttles. Small shield generators extended the life of the rugged ship.
The Terrans were not the only ones to have new ships, she knew. Shifting her gaze, she looked out at the Protoss section of space.
Cruising along with the speed of a frigate, were twenty-four Protoss Phalanx-class strike cruisers. Their four forward facing rear wings housed revised antimatter cannons. However, revised should not mean weak. The combined firepower of a Phalanx was nearly equal to that of a larger and slower dreadnought. Though the cruisers had far less durability, they were incredibly fast. The skinny, pointy-nosed craft zoomed out ahead of the Dragon-class carriers. Those were indistinguishable from the Phantasm. The external changes had not been drastic to the older carriers, except for a size increase. Some pulse laser point defense systems, and a several Stormreaper singularity laser batteries, to fend off close range fighters and light ships. Not too many external changes. However, internally they were quite revolutionary.
Normally, Protoss carriers could transport a maximum of seventy interceptors. They could launch a maximum of twenty-four; any more and the carrier would lose control of the drones. Now, the Dragon-class carriers could hold one hundred-fifty, and launch eighty Seraph interceptors. The extra throw weight from the sixteen carries could mean the difference in battles.
She turned away from the sight of the ships, and took a seat next to Straas'.
"We're ready to perform a hyperspace jump, Executor," reported a Khalai.
"Of course. Proceed."
With a push of a button, the fleet jumped into hyperspatial travel. Szcraa hoped that the Alliance fleet could perform and survive the task it was about to perform. Only time would tell...