Chapter 31: The Fall of Aiur
The first and fifth Draconian armies were deployed around the Conclave fortress of Khor-Shakal. The Second and Third Draconian armies were deployed to the other two Arkships, their defenses were mostly intact for the moment, meaning less Draconian troops were needed to hold the lines.
Deedlit was currently staring at the Spear of Adun as the Protoss engineers and phase-smiths were running around bringing her systems back online. For the High Elf Goddess, seeing it on screen even with her great powers was very different to seeing the massive ship in person being readied. Despite her experience with the massive titans of the Draconian fleet, these Arkships were enough to leave even her impressed, with the highly advanced technology, slender and graceful lines and sheer size that rivaled anything in the Draconian fleet.
"What a glorious sight," she murmured quietly. Shaking herself free from her thoughts, she turned her attention to the Protoss. She could sense pride and despair coming from many. Pride in the ancient ship, and despair for needing to use it in the first place. Despite their inner turmoil, there was a degree of satisfaction that was apparent to everyone. The forebears that they so respected had succeeded in providing for them, even in this most difficult of times. They may be forced to abandon their beloved world, but none doubted that they would eventually retake their home and that they, and the mighty ships they were now preparing, would lead the campaign when they would take back their home.
One Protoss, noticing her interest in their preparations, stopped in her own work to talk to her. "She is magnificent, is she not?"
"That she is, I am impressed by the large scale designs, how you make them so sleek and graceful despite their monstrous sizes. I thought that the Forceria and Phoenix classes were stretching the edge of the graceful looking vessels for their monstrous sizes. But this is something completely different."
The Protoss nodded. "She was built before the Aeon of Strife, during what was perhaps the true Golden Age of our race. The knowledge to build another of her kind has long since been lost. Thankfully, we still know enough to be able to maintain and operate her. Whilst we had hoped never to be forced to activate her, I am thankful that she is here. Without her, many of us would surely perish."
"The humans have a very poignant saying 'it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.' Something I think we can all agree on. Perhaps together we can find a way to build them again."
"I would like nothing better. A ship of this majesty should not be prevented from being built again. But we must be thankful for the three we have. Always assuming we can get them into orbit past the Zerg." She trailed off towards the end, clearly somewhat fearful, for herself, for the others on board and for the majestic vessel that would work to save them all.
"Have you seen our Phoenix class ships? They are keeping the Zerg at bay. They have enough weapons alone to single-handedly whittle down a Zerg brood. We will keep the 'door' open for you even at the cost of our lives," Deedlit assured her firmly.
"Then I will thank you for the aid that you have and are yet to provide us. To think, races and enemies that we once thought to be inferior or enemies, and in some cases attacked mercilessly, now come to aid us during our darkest hour. No Protoss could have predicted such a thing being either needed or provided to us."
"It's because of him. My husband Xapferey… He has seen many things, he brought my people out of hiding. You know we Elves once thought as you did. We were and are eternal, to us humans were barbaric and cruel, moving from one thing to the next with no regard for the land around them. But he proved us wrong, he believes that life should be cherished and treated as an equal. Looking down on others because they are younger he sees as foolish, they will learn as we did. My parents and closest friend are prime examples of that. I mean I was the youngest of the High Elves at 150, my parents are over 7,000, Estas is a thousand years my senior."
The Protoss blinked in astonishment. "Living to such an age is truly an incredible feat. The wonders that you and your race must have witnessed!"
"Far less than you would imagine. We were isolated in our forest, protected by powers that altered even time to the human or other races. Keeping them confused, keeping them from us. It took the meeting of myself and Xapferey and the steps we took to break us from our insular isolationist ways. A way we came to see is sadly one that promotes arrogance and a feeling that we cannot do wrong. It is not a crime to make that mistake. Races even older than mine have made it and many races will continue to make it. It is a mindset to be shaken off, not embraced."
"And we have fallen into the same trap and too many have paid for it with their lives."
"But you have allies to help you pick up and put the pieces back together; we never did. It took the enterprising and progressive thoughts of a young man millennia our junior, and constantly making us listen to them and pounding them into our heads to become what we are now."
"But he was in time." She gestured around, indicating the world as whole. "One might argue that we have been as well, but it is only just and with no element of planning or skill on our part. In many cases, it is despite our actions, rather than because of them that we have any hope at all."
"Well history is best viewed from the eyes of the present, so we can evaluate and correct mistakes when we see things occurring in similar patterns."
"Indeed. We need to adjust our thinking very quickly if we are to survive."
"There's no harm in that, still I am impressed with the ship nonetheless."
"Then I will accept the compliment." Looking over the preparations, the Protoss had an air of satisfaction. "And you will be able to inspect the ship in action very shortly, as we are nearly ready for launch."
"It's complicated, but I have had the ability to inspect parts of it in the past."
The Protoss looked surprised. "How is that possible?"
"An alternate timeline you could say… it's complicated and will be explained if my husband decides to reveal everything."
She shook her head. "It is probably better if I do not know."
"Probably not." She gestured outside, hoping to change the subject. "What do you think of our Sovereign class ships? Not as big as the Arkships but you have to admit they look very nice."
"That they do. They are a formidable presence and I will not deny that I am very pleased to not be facing them down."
"Agreed, their transphasic torpedoes are enough to give me nightmares, shields unless they are heavily modified do nothing to stop them."
"And the Zerg have no shields at all and the Terrans have rudimentary shields at best. None of us would stand a chance against you in an open war, would we?"
"Probably not, we knew of the capabilities of all races thanks to the scouting and a famous human once said 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick."
"Then we are fortunate indeed." As she finished, another Protoss approached and nodded. She returned the nod and turned to Deedlit. "It would appear that the Spear of Adun is ready to launch."
"Then let's start her up and start warping your people aboard. The 9th army is protecting the warp gate and escorting refugees through."
"Then we have no time to lose." Swiftly, the two women warped aboard, the Protoss taking up a commanding position. "Helm, ignite our engines and get us in position to begin the evacuation. We have little time to lose." With a massive roar, the mighty ship slid free of her docking points and accelerated clear of the ground battle, warping aboard her defending troops as she departed.
Deedlit opened coms with the Draconian fleet.
"Phoenix, Starseeker, the Spear of Adun is launched, move to escort and begin aiding the Spear of Adun in beaming up refugees."
"Understood Milady," the mighty Phoenix class ships began beaming up more Protoss, speeding up the evacuation process.
Underneath them, the beleaguered Protoss, weary and without hope, were increasingly and suddenly pulled from the fire, sometimes in mid strike, and into the safety of the orbiting ships. Almost half a world away, the Pride of Altaris similarly broke free of the planet below, beginning its own mission of extracting survivors. With each ship that flew above the burning Protoss homeworld, the spirits of the tormented natives rose that little bit higher, knowing that survival, if not necessarily victory, remained a viable possibility.
"It's going well, if we continue at this rate, we'll have saved 91% of your people."
"That is more than might have be considered remotely possible before today." The Protoss said sadly. "We faced extinction as a culture before today, there is no doubt of that. Now, we may just survive to persevere once more."
"In that alternate timeline, the Protoss would have lost something like 80% without the help we have brought. We have a brighter future ahead now."
"That, indeed, is something great to have gained from this."
"The other Arkship are launching, we'll be out of here in an hour and a half, hour tops."
"Then we must focus on the tasks ahead." The Protoss nodded before moving away to give further orders.
Back at the Overmind, Louise was staring at the blob waiting for it to say something.
"So, you are the one that I allowed to gain control of the swarm."
Louise raised her head in defiance and with a small amount of the arrogance of the Queen of Blades, she stared down the Overmind. "If you want to call aloud, then go ahead. But I am far stronger than even you were able to make me. I don't take any pleasure in this, I had hoped I had escaped this already. But at least I know that the Swarm will not serve Amon under my control. That is not a guarantee that you can give."
"No and you know why. But you also know that I cannot and will not simply give you control."
Louise smiled slightly. "Oh, I know." With a burst of finely honed power, she lashed out at the Overmind, directly challenging it for command of the Swarm. The Overmind lashed out in return with all the control and power it could muster, resulting in a brutal stalemate that neither could easily overcome.
The Zerg, recognizing the threat that their master faced, retaliated in incredible force, swarming towards the waiting defenders. Heavy plasma and particle energy lit up the oncoming Zerg, Jim Raynor himself was loving the Draconian D-3 personal phaser projector. Five seconds of concentrated fire from the massive beam cannon would tear a hole even in an Ultralisk. The problem was, despite the destructive power of the weapon, the sheer number of the Zerg and Ultralisks in particular meant that having those five seconds was difficult at best. Despite the massive firepower of the ground armies defending Louise, it was only the might of the Terran, Protoss and Draconian fleets that kept them all from being overrun.
The Draconian troops continued to blast the Zerg back, pouring petajoules of energy into the rushing mass of bodies to keep them at bay. The fortresses were helping for the moment but even their walls would eventually be overrun. Against the full might of the Zerg, very little could stand forever. But it did not help the Zerg's cause that their own leader was currently fighting desperately for his own life and control of his race. Louise was even more powerful than the Queen of Blades he had originally envisaged and significantly more free of the control that she would have been under. While a part of the Overmind was terrified of the circumstances that he now faced and the very likely probability of defeat, the remainder admired her abilities and strength, proving herself a worthy successor to him and likely a formidable opponent to his masters, something he had long desired above anything else. The Overmind was continually losing psionic ground against the Primal Queen of Blades, her assault growing ever closer to obliterating him utterly. He continued to struggle, trying to pull on the psychic power of the nearby Daggoth to help him, but it was only slowing the inevitable.
It didn't take long for Louise to push the Overmind to the brink, and for a few moments she used her power to hurt it as much as she could. The screams echoed psionically around space for a time before petering out. With a feral scream of anger mixed with joy, Louise obliterated both the Overmind and Daggoth. She suddenly sensed the chaos and confusion from the Zerg as their leader fell and moved swiftly to take advantage. Across Aiur, and the entire sector, startled Zerg swiftly came under the control of their new queen.
Some, but not all.
Kardis, incensed by Louise's play for 'her' troops, swiftly nailed down her control over of the remaining Zerg. Within minutes, the confusion of the Zerg was no longer apparent, but they were instead at war with each other. Louise had succeeded in claiming a full quarter of the Swarm and, despite Kardis's best efforts, she clung to that control like a bulldog and would not be shaken loose. More worryingly for Kardis, Kerrigan's control extended to several of the more elite strains of Zerg, including the gene-spinner Abathur, giving her command over a force that, despite its inferior size, was still a formidable match for the remaining Zerg.
"Louise pull them out, I'll give you cover, head for the star sector I am mentally sending you we're pulling out," Xapferey said in his true voice while gathering his power. With a titanic roar of biologically targeted energy, Xapferey blew the Kardis controlled Zerg back, severely stunning them. All the while he began mentally contacting each of the Protoss Executors he could reach. "Gentlemen, as you had obviously either seen or sensed my fight with the one leading the Zerg, I regretfully must ask you to shut down or destroy everything you cannot take with you. My reason is that is not her true form, her true form is wakening and gathering strength to reappear. I fear she may be able to drain the psionic energies that power your technologies here, and the less she gains, the longer it will take for her or her underling to return."
"Lovely." Jason snarked. "Confirmed, the evacuation is complete, all forces withdraw immediately."
Tassadar sighed. "Our people are evacuated, we have no reason to remain now. All Protoss forces, retreat at once."
Aldaris was filled with impotent fury. Fury because the idea of abandoning Aiur was utterly unthinkable. Impotent because he knew that it was, in fact, the correct call. "I confirm the order of Executor Tassadar. Withdraw to the fleet immediately."
"Tactical, target the Warp Gate, it has been shut down now that everyone is through. Transphasic torpedoes until nothing's left," Xapferey ordered. The Forceria's turrets launched five of the feared yellow torpedoes from orbit. They slammed into the massive construct and consumed it in a terrible fury, leaving a massive crater in its place. "Spear of Adun and your part of the fleet, I suggest you follow us to Forceria. Pride of Altaris I will provide coordinates to your place of refuge. As for the Memory of Nezin I suggest you head for Shakuras."
A moment later, Xapferey teleported aboard said ship to talk with the Protoss Executor. He handed him a pad with the suggested first stop; the massive artificial space station Midway, situatedin between the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies.
The Executor looked stunned. "You are certain of these coordinates?"
"Yes, even your ship would probably need to refuel before the final stop. Atlantis, coordinates will be provided there but Atlantis is the galactic regional capital of the Empire in Pegasus, you have to admit the Zerg would probably never think to look for you there."
"That is undeniably true." The Executor conceded. "But I am surprised that you have been able to establish not only colonies in other galaxies, but stations in between galaxies. Such a feat is truly impressive."
"Thank you. We decided it was necessary to have a retreat location far enough away that if the worst happens, the sheer distance alone would be a deterrent. Even the Zerg cannot fly that far without sustenance and there is nothing between galaxies to provide them with any."
"Indeed. Then we shall begin on our journey. Our thanks, Emperor. Far too many have already died, but far more would have done so had you not bent the Conclave's stiff necks."
"It was the right thing to do, I did what was necessary to save lives and on a private note, I must admit I did get a lot of enjoyment scaring Aldaris straight. Good luck, you're expected on Lantia and a currently unused island continent has been set aside for your people."
The Executor nodded in thanks, before turning to have his fleet begin the long and dangerous journey ahead of them.
"My final gift to you," Xapferey said as he stretched out his will to the Protoss ships, boosting their speed to twice normal while controlling space to make it an easier journey on them. With a grin, Xapferey teleported back to his ship. Turning, he ordered his forces back home, while escorting the Spear of Adun and her fleet to Forceria. After a couple hours of uneventful spaceflight, they came close to Forceria. "Spear of Adun, I need you to slow before reaching the outer system so the defences can provide you a safe path," Xapferey said over the comms.
"Understood." The mighty ship, and the accompanying fleet, began to decelerate as the fleet approached the edges of the system. Even before arrival, the mines were shifting to give room to the massive ship and allow her entry. Once through, the Protoss sensors went wild as they saw the sheer activity, ships of all types, from the small Nova frigates to the massive Sovereign class ships were moving through the system, other ships were coming and going towards the planet, the orbital or systemic stations, and the various refineries throughout the system. With the time altered, Draconia's forces plus the arrival of the Pegasus contingent spread trade and security throughout the Milky Way part of the great Empire. Even now, there was more activity then even Aiur at her height of power.
Utter silence filled every single Protoss ship at the sight in front of them. Never more so was the sheer power of Draconia on display. No Protoss, living or dead, not even the nearly awaked Grand Preserver Rohana had ever seen a force or a civilization that could boast the same was what they were currently witnessing. What however was both truly heartening and terrifying to the Protoss were the defence platforms in orbit around Forceria, there were 7 massive Star Fortress platforms and two colossal Star Castles in place. The defences on a Star Fortress alone made even the god-like Phoenix class look like a wimp in comparison. That was also ignoring the tens of thousands of automated platforms scattered throughout the orbit and system.
The Star Fortress was twice as tall as a Sovereign class was long, every inch of her covered in weapons and launch bays. Attached to them were shipyards building every ship Draconia had imaginable and several partially completed Sovereign class ships could be seen berthed in them.
The Star Castle was three times the size of a Star Fortress, with tremendous armaments of every kind the Protoss could see, in the shipyards of each station, while only begun, were the keels of six brand new Phoenix class ships beginning to be built.
The Executor swallowed. "Once again, Empress, I am very glad that we are not enemies."
"As am I, and here you can plan to retake your home, and we will aid you in said endeavor to the best of our capabilities." Deedlit replied.
The Executor nodded. "What concerns me, if you have gone to all the effort of creating such structures and forces and you are as benevolent as I believe, what kind of enemy are you expecting to need this much strength for?"
"One of great power, one who is served by a fallen Xel'Naga. The one who uplifted your people and was the one who created the Zerg Swarm. A powerful enemy who is moving in the shadows. The one my husband was fighting was an aspect of her will, and when she awakens properly… things will become a lot worse."
"By Aiur….Worse than what has already occurred? That is difficult to believe and yet I fear it is not as unlikely as I might wish to think."
"It will be made available to you, but here on Forceria, on Lodoss… many things you wouldn't believe possible are indeed true here. Within the history of Lodoss, the Battle of the Gods. The Kingdom of Sorcery of Kastull…" Deedlit trailed off. "Beings of tremendous and terrible power are now playing in the galaxy. Xapferey the Dragon god of multiple domains and Kardis the Goddess of Destruction."
"Kardis...the name your husband called that being on Aiur. And she can return to full power?"
"We believe so, you have to understand during the War of the Gods, Kardis and Marfa the Goddess of Creation struck a final blow against the other and both were badly injured. Marfa perished recently, but Kardis slumbered. Only recently had she woken and is gathering strength to return to full power."
"Is it possible to stop her?"
"Yes, you have two possibly three gods on your side, the others on Lodoss aside from Myrii the now Lesser God of War will probably stay out of the fighting. But we can stop her, but we need to remove her servants. Even now they will move to remove the Cerebrates with agents of their own making. They will seek to wake Kardis properly and her servant Amon"
"How long are we likely to have before they make their move?"
"A while, it'll take them time to waken both Kardis and Amon, which means they'll be securing their acquisitions until they can get one or both. So they'll be likely staying put for the moment… I rightly cannot say… though if other things remain constant, we may have a fair bit of time."
The Executor nodded slowly. "Then we had better not waste the time we have."
"Indeed not, we should discuss where to have your people set up. We do have lots of room, as the northern areas of the empire are undeveloped and filled with sparse population."
"Very well, that discussion I will leave with my superiors. For now, I will secure our fleet in orbit so we are ready to warp down to the planet when a decision is reached."
"Sounds good, my husband and I will speak with them as we arrive in orbit. I can already see great things come from this alliance," Deedlit said with a gentle smile.
Deedlit teleported over along with the Judicator council members that came with the Spear of Adun along with Grand Preserver Rohana. Welcoming them to the meeting room on one of the Star Castles, she and Xapferey sat down, using their will to make the seats more usable for the Protoss visitors if they wished.
"Judicators, Grand Preserver, I wish I could have held this meeting in better times. But we must look to the future. As while I have aided in the aversion of many large disasters, there are still more that could occur," the Dragon god began. "I have had this conversation or similar ones with Tassadar, but it seems I need to have it again… what I am about to show you, I have known about for many years and it will be a shock to you, but it needs to be done."
With that, Xapferey set the screen to play the introduction to Legacy of the Void. Then he waited for their reactions and questions.
He wasn't disappointed.
A number of Judicators shot from their chairs, pointing at the screen and shouting over each other, each demonstrating their disbelief with what they were seeing. Calls of "Trick!", "Impossible!" and "Liar! rang throughout the room.
"Gentlemen, ladies please… this is no trick. Why would I need to trick you on such a matter? This knowledge led me to save your people… knowledge we can still use. Aiur has fallen, but we do not need to let the Khalai fall as well."
While it calmed them somewhat, it wasn't enough until Aldaris stood. "Enough!" Despite being one of the most junior of the Judicators, his voice carried enough force that the others subsided. "It does us no good to argue how we got to this position. We are here and we must face the issues that have arisen as a result. It was our blindness to the world around us that brought us to this point, we cannot continue on this path."
"I agree, while the knowledge I have couldn't stop the fall of Aiur completely, we must use it to our advantage. Without my interference, Aiur would have been devastated, 80 percent of the people slain and the rest scattered. Our enemy is moving and has been for millennia, one of our enemies is Xel'naga… and he has created a bastard race of Zerg/Protoss hybrid in his desired image. Without my interference you would have had no warning and Shakuras would have been destroyed. Even your vaunted Khala would be lost to you by his actions."
Even Aldaris looked shaken at that and he had just witnessed at close range a battle between gods. "How?"
"That part was not explained well to my knowledge… because Amon, the Xel'naga lacked physical form, he could influence the void and eventually pierce into the Khala. I intend no harm with this but a simple demonstration. A moment later Xapferey's will entered the Khala, his voice booming commands. A simple moment later had all the Protoss raising their right arms helplessly. He withdrew a moment later. "I apologize, but better an ally to show where there is weakness to fix it, than an enemy to exploit it correct?"
Every single Protoss was ashen-faced as they collapsed into their chairs. In minutes, virtually everything they had held dear, everything they had believed had come crashing down around them.
"It is the hard truth I know, and I apologize for breaking it to you so harshly, but together we can protect it. I myself engineered a information connection and how to protect it. We can protect the Khala together."
The Protoss exchanged looks around the room, then turned back to Xapferey, their expressions hard. "How do we do this?"
"First of all, on Forceria, we have learned ways to manipulate energy… every facet and field… it may seem as a primitive term but we call it magic. Diverse, powerful and dangerous. We can provide magical defences against outside interference and I can step in to aid if I need to. The fact of the matter is simple, on this world beings of great and terrible powers exist, for simplicity they are gods. After all what would you call a being who manipulate matter, energy and time on a whim?"
"So, anything you do, could be undone by another god or goddess?" Aldaris asked.
"Theoretically yes. Gods and goddesses have specialities... call them domains, things they are primarily good at. They can empower their followers and even bless them for better results, but the more of a domain occurrence or followers a god has, the more powerful they become and the more powerful their followers in an endless reinforcing cycle. Take Kardis for example. Her primary domain is destruction, but she also shares some domains like magic, war, and evil. She also technically holds Zerg as one of her domains as she currently commands the swarm and she controls the creator too. I am a newer god of Forceria with a vast following so I have more domains I specialize in. I am the god of technology, spaceflight and creation, I also share the domains of magic and war with other gods and goddesses."
"And how could this protect the Khala then?"
"Well… bear in mind I am just giving the facts on what domains are, not making any suggestions. But domains are also areas of control, if the Khala or even the Protoss became a domain, then you would be both subject to my will and protection. Again, this is just what would happen, I'm not expecting you to agree with it. Option two is we use the time to research. Your Grand Preservers were trained to know every facet of the Khala. Every ripple am I not correct Rohana?" She nodded. "Then what we need to do is simple, two of the Grand Preservers along with whoever they need should come to Draconia and work with the Archmage Research Council. Together we should be able to set up wards and defenses on the Khala and buy enough time to protect it against unwanted intrusions."
"Agreed, that is a much more palatable solution for us. Now onto matters of where we should begin building our settlement, where would you recommend?"
"I would suggest this desert here, recently a survey team found a large cache of minerals there, and by large I mean enough to feed both our empires' war machine for about 20 years. We are more than willing to share the bounty with your people. We also discovered what we now know to be solarite deposits on several moons within this system and one deep in that desert. As well as more minerals throughout said moons."
Aldaris reviewed the location Xapferey suggested, nodding slowly. "It would appear to be an ideal location. With abundant building materials, water and plenty of sunlight, it is an excellent location. We thank you, Emperor."
"My pleasure Judicator, we already have people mining there along with a small settlement, but they have been made aware of your coming and are ready to set aside a week's worth of minerals as a preliminary package to help your new colony."
"Your generosity is overwhelming. Our people are in your debt."
