Upon dropping out of warp, all three factions were shocked at the forces bearing down on Samateus, Surriel and the Dominion forces in their established space station. The Hyperion quickly short-jumped closer to its station and began relentlessly harrying the opposing forces, Mira's frigate launching and adding to the defense of the space station. Beyond, closer to the singularity that obscured Ulnar from a distance, the brilliant light backlit the forms of several Void Thrashers far larger than those before seen. They appeared to be attempting to fire bolts of Void energy at Ulnar itself, stopped by Samateus, who held a shield barrier in place surrounding Ulnar in its entirety as the Ahr'Aht ship behind worked with the machine attachment that Mira had provided them.
Before they could react, one had turned to Zagara's Leviathan and another to the Spear, both readying to fire upon their targets. Karax saw them turn, as Zagara did, the Leviathan readying its own response in the form of a massive acid bolt while slowly floating back and away from the Thrasher, the Spear turning slowly to bring its armaments to bear against the Thrasher targeting them. Artanis looked over the readouts on their scanners, capital ships from all three races in numbers greater than they had seen before the fall of Amon by Sarah, surrounded Ulnar, the majority of those remaining focused on the barrier while others turned to keep them from receiving aid.
The Thrashers fired, however, and to the surprise of all watching, their bolts seemed to flip back and strike each other instead of lancing forward at Zagara's Leviathan and the Spear. The Thrashers returned to the Void in flashes of light and dissipating Void energy. Materializing behind where the two Thrashers had been, sat the Obsidian Flare.
Artanis did not need to say anything, Karax instantly directed the Spear closer as Zagara moved past both to assist in fighting the crazed Zerg, Terrans and controlled Protoss. Once close enough to view the bridge of the Flare, Kul could be seen manning the main control console, Arska and Taluth nearby, assisting where they could. None could see him at first, though Xerxes gently brushed the minds of the Protoss there, first unsettling then angering Alarak, who glared at Kul from the distance, cursing that he could not simply commandeer the teleport system of the Spear to go and kill the youngster that had gotten him into this mess of events.
**Alarak, as much as I'm certain you want to end me right now, there are bigger problems to deal with.** Xerxes then reappeared behind them, on the Spear. However, when Alarak turned, the Hybrid appeared incorporeal, psionic lightning and energy obscuring his form. Artanis glared, yet held his thoughts, giving Xerxes a chance to explain why he had simply absconded instead of dealing with his concerns on Aiur.
**I will have my come-uppance, after Amon is defeated once and for all.** Alarak snarled, seeing the psionic barrier enveloping the Primal Hybrid and knowing Xerxes would simply absorb any direct attack aimed at him in such a state.
**You will likely die before he does.** Xerxes chuckled, shaking his head. His nervecords dancing around as a trail of light, even his wings outlined and expansive headcrest just visible by the energy outlining his form. As he relaxed near them, he lowered his sheilding, returning to how they had seen him during their encounter earlier, eyeing Alarak and daring him to attack. The Highlord glowered, yet did not strike, not further wishing to give strength to this Hybrid.
**And you know this how?** Alarak chided, arms still crossed.
**Because he's existed long before time, as Ashtareen has. Knowledge of the Gods must have been pushed aside by most, if none are aware of this.** Xerxes sighed a bit, his headcrest appearing to fold inward a bit, to be less spread open and more streamlined, the carapace contracting and interlocking without his conscious direction. Alarak growled at the jab, yet Karax and Artanis also nodded, knowing that indeed, the idea of deities had been considered far-fetched and childish for centuries and passed off as unneeded by the Conclave.
**If we are to trust you, we need you to explain how you…** Vorazun trailed off intentionally, shaking her head at the notion that he had somehow bore the Zerg Hybrids that had been on Aiur with him. Xerxes sighed, shaking his head.
**That would take too long at this moment. I can say this much, it does involve what Samateus had mentioned regarding the Illithichtiels, and yes, Artanis… Mother had been one.** Xerxes admitted, lowering his gaze. Artanis had not even thought to bring the question up in his presence, how did he know? Xerxes chuckled.
**Arbiter cloaking fields were derived from the ones I had designed for the Flare, and intended to put on all Ark ships, before the underhanded turnaround from the Conclave. Admittedly, we have been following since we disappeared on Aiur.** Xerxes explained, amused at the spark of rage that directed at him from Alarak. He sighed, able to sense the concern of other Protoss on the Spear at his presence, and turned when Karax received a hail from the Hyperion. Valerian was wide-eyed and appeared fearful.
"We could use some assistance, these forces are insistent on stopping whatever it is that Sam is doing, we've taken quite a bit of fire." As he stopped speaking, the image cut out as an explosion rocked the Hyperion. Xerxes reacted first, engaging his psionic barrier and racing toward the Terran ships as a blur of violet psionic energy, not too unlike Samateus had. The Obsidian Flare followed, the outer petal-like shields of the ship rippling on their surface as weapons batteries moved and targeted anything near it known as hostile, far more weaponry at its disposal than the Spear. Karax seemed a bit perturbed, that the Spear, being so much larger, had not nearly a fraction of what the Flare appeared capable of.
**Karax, I can send an update to reactivate the Spear's auxiliary system for you. Downside is it'll shut down everything for a few moments.** Kul announced from a distance, though he tried to mask it, another presence worked in tandem with him on the Flare. Not a physical one, no, a hologram?
**I would appreciate it, as we are still far enough back from the battle, though are you able to cover us in the brief period we will be vulnerable?** Karax responded, turning to Artanis briefly to receive a nod of approval.
**Of course! Just a moment.** Kul broke his psionic connection, two brief symbols in almost blinding violet appearing on the console in front of Karax briefly before the Spear shut down all non-essential systems. It remained dark a moment before slowly coming back to life, thankfully without any opponents deciding to fire on them.
**Reinitializing A.I. systems. Greetings, Phasesmith Karax, Hierarch Artanis, and associates.** Issued a voice from the region of the Solarite core, a psionic mind and voice swept through the Spear of Adun, several of the more decorative sweeping panels at its outer extremes rippling, as the petals of the Flare had, flipping over sequentially to bring small weapons nodes online.
**Greetings. Though I suppose you have a name then, or shall I simply refer to you as 'Spear'?** Karax replied, amused and interested in the formerly dormant artificial intelligence system. A hologram of a Protoss, looking like a cross between how Xerxes had before becoming Hybrid and Khrillian from the shared memories, projecting near him. It bowed low, robes obscuring its physical features.
**You may call me Ahren, or Spear if that is how you have been referring to me thus far.** It responded, Artanis raising a brow as Alarak simply stared. At first, Rohana seemed taken aback, eyeing the form of the hologram the AI used. It looked so much like, yet so different from Xerxes it was almost hard to look at. Ahren turned, bowing to Rohana. **Preserver Rohana, it is good to see you well. The Judicator had been cautious to leave you in my care, however it seems Stasis did preserve you and the others as intended. I am, admittedly, saddened by the loss of the Khala, it must have been very difficult to adjust.**
**Admittedly, I am surprised you have empathy on such a scale, the Judicator programmed you as well?** Rohana straightened up, blinking lightly. Vorazun appeared to relax, more and more impressed by the things the one who hinted at being her Sire had accomplished. Alarak scoffed at Rohana and Karax, the two more interested in a machine personality than the battle beyond.
**I am a form of psionic 'clone' of the Judicator, given the purpose and knowledge he bestowed upon this ship. Normal artificial intelligence systems aren't capable of properly coordinating all of the functions of an Ark Ship, or at least weren't when I was built.** Ahren explained, moving to the console next to Karax. The AI hologram watched for a moment, quite happy that Karax seemed more than capable of interacting with his systems and issuing commands, helpfully stopping him from dismissing one of the newer windows. Karax paused, reading over the window and raising his brows.
**These are active? Why couldn't we utilise that before?** The phasesmith asked, quickly scrolling through the window and then sending it to the command station behind him, where Artanis and Vorazun took interest in the new readout. Several hundred drones, similar to the interceptors used by Carriers, had been sitting unused within the support rings of the Spear, unlaunched as Karax had simply been locked out of their control.
**To keep the Conclave from using me as a weapon against factions like the Nerazim. That had been their intent at one time.**
**Indeed, such could be utilized to wipe out a civilization…** Karax hazarded, briefly looking over his shoulder at Rohana, who bowed her head somewhat in shame. She had known of some of the suppressed systems, yet her oath to Xerxes before she had gone into Stasis, kept her from mentioning them.
**Had it been necessary, yes. However, I suggest moving closer to the Hyperion and utilizing the drone fleet to protect it as the Flare has already moved to do.** Ahren announced flatly, disliking that he could potentially be used as a means to subjugate other races. Karax nodded, Artanis also agreeing with the suggestion put forth by Ahren, the AI system.
The Spear then lurched forward, disappearing and reappearing in a blink, right above the Flare, between the Hyperion and the attacking fleet of Amon's thralls. Vorazun and Artanis each took control of the weapons systems, directing the drone fleet to circle around and defend within their range. Three launched at a time, each in quick succession, all three hundred of the drone docking bays having been full and dormant until this time. The small machines each had connection to the central AI system, some would swoop in and fire on a target, then zoom past and allow others to follow. When one group had harried a target enough, they would switch targets and distract from the Spear itself or other allies nearby.
One third directed toward protecting the Hyperion and the Station near it, the swift moving ships quickly clearing the area of opposing forces.
As things appeared to be turning toward the favour of those attempting to protect their home sector from being overrun and darkened by Amon, Xerxes could be seen engaged in battle with several Hybrid dominators that had attempted to strike at Samateus. One would strike at him with bolts of psionic energy, another attempting to strike him with its talons while others watched for openings. Xerxes, thankfully, appeared no worse for wear, at times stopping the bolts before they reached him and then throwing them back toward the clone Hybrids, more aiming at their thralls swarming around him and attempting to strike at the barrier Samateus appeared to hold.
Three Thrashers were launching bolts at her, the energy absorbed by her light-barrier and helping keep her strength up, yet a few times it appeared to flicker as she slowly weakened. Xerxes turned and swiftly dodged a few bolts fired at him in quick succession, a much larger Hybrid Dominator flexing its talons as his attention switched to it, eyes glowing crimson. Xerxes growled at it, raising his wings, and roared as he charged. It readied for his strike, bracing its larger limbs before it as, just a moment before impact, he feinted, blinking behind the Hybrid and swept his wing through the body of it.
It returned to the void in a flurry of released energy, as Xerxes had cleaved it in half before quickly launching a volley of his own, psionic lightning launching forward at a group of Hybrids heading for him. They howled in agony as his storm tore through them and sent them back to their master, Xerxes taking a moment to relish their defeat before he noticed Samateus beginning to tire. He blinked behind her after a moment, cautiously approaching.
**I'm alright, though I may have to ask Ashtareen's help directly.** Samateus told him, tilting her head to one side to regard him out of the corner of an eye, the armour of her helm turning transparent. Surprise and curiosity swept over Xerxes, yet he knew better than to ask her to show him herself fully at this time, tilting his head slightly.
**You are able to do that? I give my consent, if you require it.** He hazarded, realising his form had changed over time to be not too dissimilar to hers in configuration. She purred in his mind, nodding and quickly warning Kemet before she seemed to curl herself inward, her light increasing in intensity.