Chapter 4 – Wielder of Twilight

February 6th 2502, 08:00
New Citadel of the Executor
Shakuras

The following morning, Raynor stepped out of his quarters in the Citadel of the Executor. Though the Hyperion was like a home to him, he enjoyed the feeling of resting upon solid ground, something he'd had a reduced number of opportunities to do since the events that had culminated in the destruction of Mar Sara. As he walked by the two Protoss guards that were standing by the door, he sighed and shook his head.

"These guys take everything too seriously." he thought. "Honestly, who'd be able to sneak all the way here?"

He stopped for a moment and considered telling the two to take a rest, but he knew they would probably be offended or feel he wasn't satisfied with their service. With another sigh, he walked towards the quarters Artanis had offered the blue wraith. To his surprise, Raziel was sitting on an elaborate stone bed with his eyes closed, showing little regard for the soft mattress. The room was ornamented with a few crystal sculptures and a small fountain with a carved stone basin was embedded on one of the walls, and a floating crystal sphere was hovering above Raziel's head, giving off a dim light.

"Huh... What are you doing?" he asked.

Raziel slowly opened his eyes.

"I do not even know if I am capable of sleep. The Reaver will sustain me until I am able to feed again, but there is little for me to do in order to pass the time at a place like this."

"I guess Artanis wanted to be polite and let us rest a bit. He's probably planning something though, considering your abilities. You won't need to worry. Nobody here would think of making you do something against your will. I doubt they could anyway."

"What will happen now?" the wraith asked.

"He's probably going to show you around and tell you a few things about their general history, to help you get your bearings. If Zeratul was here, he'd probably introduce you to him, but either way, he'll probably bring in a Dark Templar trainer or two so they can gauge your skill or something. I'm not sure how that whole Templar thing works. I mean, I know the High Templar and Dark Templar wield different energies, and that there was a huge scuffle back on Aiur a few centuries ago, but I think it's a bit of a religious thing to them."

Shortly afterwards, Artanis stepped into the chamber.

"I trust you have rested well." he politely said.

"I spent most of the time observing the crystals, but I suppose you could say that." Raziel replied.

"Good. I believe it is time for a bit of a history lesson. I hope that by understanding our ways, you will feel like one of us."

Raziel reflected upon those words. He had been all by himself for an entire millennium, and was no longer used to the company of others. Still, he thought, he might as well make the most of his stay. The Protoss and the odd resemblance between his abilities and theirs had manage to arouse his curiosity. Putting his thoughts of vengeance against Kain aside for a few hours, he looked around as Artanis guided him out of the building and through ample streets, going over the entire Protoss history and explaining the functions of each structure along the way. Though elegant, he noticed that the architecture of some areas was more sober, with less ornaments. Artanis explained that the Dark Templar favored function over form, and then gave him an account of the recent conflicts that had made it necessary to reconstruct several cities.

Meanwhile, on Korhal...

As his keen senses picked up the sound of human voices, Kain made his way to a large door, guarded by two soldiers. Still unseen, he shifted through it in his mist form and came upon an interesting scene.

Arcturus Mengsk the First, self crowned Emperor of the Terran Dominion, had considerable power at his disposal, and the fate of millions of lives in his hands. Ever since Kerrigan's betrayal, he had grown increasingly suspicious of those around him, bordering on paranoia. He was struggling to maintain a neutral expression at the reports of not one, but two unidentified creatures moving about in his homeworld. Two beings he could not control, two potential threats.

"We cannot afford to let these intruders slip by again." he said in an icy tone. "Any being that can take down a contingent of fully armed and equipped soldiers and disappear without a trace is a danger that cannot be underestimated."

"We don't have the manpower to conduct a planet-wide sweep." one of the generals said. "And if we're dealing with Dark Templar assassins, they're probably gone by now."

"But if they are still here, they must not escape. I want to know who and what they are. I want to know what they're doing here, and how they managed to kill so many Dominion personnel so easily. I want them caught and interrogated."

"You are most welcome to try..." Kain thought as he maneuvered closer, intently processing every detail of the scene.

"This could well be the prelude to a Protoss invasion." Mengsk continued. "We need to get them out of the way once and for all. This sector belongs to humanity, not those psychic fish faced freaks. I want every inch of the planet searched. Intensify the research on their technology, and double the guards on the palace and the spaceports."

The generals silently nodded, shivering slightly at the steel in his glare.

"Now... What's the next order of business?"

"Well, your Majesty..." one of the generals said. "There is this unsightly matter regarding the behavior of a certain young man... Your heir keeps evading security and going on unauthorized expeditions to insecure dig sites. We suspect he may even have attempted to hire known criminal organizations to assist him."

"Still playing games behind my back, is he? Well, he will learn... Anything else?"

"They botched up yet another attempt at fitting a Protoss star drive on one of our experimental ships..." another general said. "The device was improperly calibrated and the ship went out of control. We'll be scraping burnt flesh from every corner of the base for months."

"Captured technology doesn't grow on trees, and each of those accidents sets us back by years. Tell them to clean up the mess and get their act together. We are running out of parts and can't spare the forces for an acquisition run right now."

"Quite the arrogant sort..." Kain thought. "This should prove amusing."

With a plan already forming in his cunning mind, Kain patiently waited until Mengsk dismissed his generals. He considered giving the whole thing a more dramatic air, but he had little time to waste toying with mortals more than strictly necessary. Instead, he slowly and silently approached him.

"It would seem that you have a bit of a problem in your hands... Emperor." he said in a slow, pondered tone that nonetheless left Mengsk quite startled.

"Who's there?!" Mengsk asked, suddenly turning around and looking at every corner of the room.

Kain enjoyed watching this moment of pure terror, but then revealed himself before the so-called Emperor started making too much of a ruckus.

"I am Kain. An emperor of sorts, such as yourself." he replied with an inhuman calm.

"What the hell are you?! And how did you get in here?!"

"I have my ways. Not that I needed to put much of an effort into it."

Kain was doing his best not to seem threatening, though his appearance made it more difficult. Still, such precautions were unnecessary, for Mengsk's typical arrogance soon surfaced once again.

"You're one of those things that have been going around killing my men, aren't you? Give me one good reason not to call the guards right this instant."

"Well, there is the matter of the other being... You could say is somewhat like me, though inexperienced and single-minded, but has the potential to wreak much more havoc. For you see, he is, for all intents and purposes, indestructible. Even if you were able to destroy his physical form, he would instantly reconstruct himself and proceed to tear into your forces. From where I stand, it seems that you need me."

"So it seems... But what are you?"

"I am not sure if you would believe it, and either way, you are wasting time. I no longer sense Raziel's presence, which could mean he is no longer in this world. Perhaps he ran into one of your enemies. You do not want such a being siding with them, do you?"

Kain found himself playing a tune by ear, talking about things he didn't know much about, but given the paranoid appearance and the unease of this so-called Emperor, the vampire had him dancing to it, reacting exactly as he had hoped. After a couple of hours using his powers of persuasion, he managed to convince Mengsk that he would help deliver Raziel right into his hands. However, Mengsk was far from completely trusting him, and decided to send a small commando unit with him, more to keep an eye on the vampire than to actually provide assistance, since Kain had made sure to inform him of the wraith's terrifying powers. One might say that he was proud of the unstoppable agent of destruction he had unleashed.

Meanwhile, on Shakuras...

"As you grow to understand our ways, so will you learn to better command the powers you wield." Pharon said. "The Protoss have two different belief systems. The Khala, followed by the Protoss of Aiur, emphasizes restraint and unity. It is used to keep our immense psionic powers in check, so they do not go out of control. Though you are not a Protoss, your psionic abilities should suffice to enable you to use some of the lesser High Templar abilities. The Dark Templar were exiled for refusing this unity, and have learned to harness the power of the void. They are more independent, and tap into more volatile and chaotic energies. They believe they are fulfilling the true potential of the Protoss, unbound by the Khala."

"They were exiled?" Raziel asked.

"Yes. When the Xel'Naga left Aiur, our people plunged into a long dark age called the Aeon of Strife. One of us, now known as Khas, created the Khala as the means to unify the tribes by restoring our collective psychic link. Some, however, rejected those teachings. The Dark Templar are the descendants of those who were exiled for their defiance. Some of them still harbor old hatreds towards the Protoss of Aiur, causing no end of tension even as we speak."

"Yet they now stand together..." Raziel said.

"They had no choice." Pharon replied. "Aiur was ravaged by the Zerg. Most of the Protoss race has been wiped out. Zeratul led the survivors to Shakuras through an old warp gate."

"Perhaps there is yet hope. They have not killed each other off just yet."

"No, but they were close at one point. Aldaris, one of the members of the old Conclave that ruled Aiur, was never exactly thrilled to live among the so-called heretics. When he discovered that the Matriarch, Raszagal, was under Kerrigan's control, he led an uprising against her instead of informing the other remaining leaders. Most unfortunate. Lives were needlessly lost, and the Matriarch's condition was only discovered much later."

Raziel stood silently for a moment, watching a High Templar and Dark Templar sparring in the distance. Pharon noticed his interest.

"Tassadar was the first to combine the teachings, to harness light and darkness in unison. Many of us strive to follow his example."

"Ultimately, you seem to shape your power according to what you believe in." Raziel said. "But what would that be? What is it that drives you?"

"The Khala is about harmonious unity. It is about putting pride and excessive individualism aside for the greater good. It is about restraint, about keeping one's power in check and only using it when necessary. One could say that the Protoss are mighty beasts, psionically speaking. The power of our minds is like a raging storm, and there lies the potential for great harm. The Dark Templar believe in survival at any cost and do not restrain their powers, relying on the void to enhance their natural abilities. Their persecution and exile made them value stealth and cunning, making them deadly combatants. In certain ways, they are more creative, adept at unorthodox methods."

"It would seem that my strange transformation has somehow attuned me to the energies they wield."

"Yes. Your psionic potential is vast, and the powers you already possess are but a small sample of what you could achieve. I sense that there are some barriers that are keeping you from unleashing your true strength, but these can be overcome with experience."

"I can think of no better time than this to seize this opportunity."

On Shakuras, Raziel found a home. In order to keep himself busy before his inevitable confrontation with Kain, he eagerly started dabbling in the Templar arts. As he developed his psionic abilities, he realized that interacting with Protoss technology was quite simple, as if he had been born with the knowledge. Four months passed without a single incident, and Raziel gained a certain fame among the Dark Templar due to his dueling skill and the Reaver. He was formally accepted as a Dark Templar after successfully completing his Shadow Walk, baffling the Dark Templar who were testing him as he slipped through the shadows as if he had been born to do so.

One day, as he explored Shakuras on a borrowed Corsair, he felt a strange tingling in the back of his mind. Suddenly his surroundings vanished, replaced by a bleak and charred wasteland. He saw an endless horde of Zerg, apparently gathering for some sinister purpose. He heard warped voices in his mind, and suddenly he knew where those creatures were heading. He swiftly turned the ship around and rushed to a large towering building decorated with banners of the Protoss tribes.

After a few moments navigating its ample corridors, he reached a large, pristine chamber, decorated with statues of Protoss heroes. Effigies of Adun, Fenix, Tassadar and others stood side by side, and he remembered hearing rumors about a statue of Raynor being in the works, though it was meant to be a surprise. Two representatives of each of the Protoss castes were sitting on crystal thrones in a semicircle, and facing them, at an elevated seat, was Artanis, who had reluctantly been appointed Hierarch after Zeratul's disappearance. They seemed to be discussing something, but went silent as soon as Raziel approached.

"The Zerg are on the move." the wraith said. "They are planning to seize the moons of Shakuras in the cover of an ion storm."

"What? How did you come across this information?" One of the council members asked.

Some of the other council members stared at the wraith, barely concealing their distrust towards such a bizarre creature. A few of the Dark Templar, however, simply watched with a degree of curiosity. Artanis stepped down from his seat and approached Raziel.

"I need to have a word with you in private." he said, gesturing at the wraith to follow.

Artanis led Raziel to a small chamber nearby and locked the door.

"Raziel, does this have anything to do with that incident on the platform?" he asked.

"Yes. Ever since I devoured that Cerebrate's soul, I have been hearing their thoughts in my head. They still do not know what happened on the platform, but they are frightened. They were discussing orders from someone... some... queen, I believe. Apparently she thinks it unwise not to have a fortified position hidden close to Shakuras."

"I see... Though I would advise you to keep that ability secret for the time being, I do appreciate the information. Would you like to join me in dealing with the invasion attempt?"

"Certainly."

As they made their way out of the building, they ran into one of the council members, the same who had asked how Raziel had come across the information he had presented. Raziel was more interested in moving out than making casual conversation, but the Protoss approached them, clearly intent on saying something.

"You are the one called Raziel, yes? I am Judicator Telorus."

"You are a member of the council, if I am not mistaken..." Raziel replied.

"Yes. Keeping our race united in these dire times is quite a taxing undertaking. But I would not be so rude as to treat a guest with suspicion. If there is anything I can do for you, say the word, and it shall be taken care of."