Author's Note: This has been a long time coming. Now that all the previous chapters are in their correct places, hopefully things can resume at a more reasonable pace. I strongly recommend that any aspiring authors keep the prologue within the confines of the first chapter. It's amazing how such a tiny mismatch in numbering could cause such a blunder as misplacing an entire chapter without realizing it until months later.
Chapter 15 – The Hounds of the Void
August 28, 2502, 19:15
Strike Fleet 9 Command Ship Vesperia
Deep Space
"Any further questions before we commence this operation?" the adjutant to the Executor asked. He was a younger male Protoss, wearing a more modest – but still considerably flashy by Terran standards – suit of armor, in a design more focused on protection and practicality than on blinding onlookers with the reflections from excessive golden plating.
In the same meeting room, sitting around a metal round table with a disc-shaped holographic projector mounted at the center were Raziel, a few Dark Templar in their traditional garb, a High Templar in her own traditional golden armor and a handful of pilots.
"Only one." Raziel intervened. "The gist of the plan is blinding the Zerg along these corridors of space in preparation for the main assault, correct?"
"Yes."
"But what exactly is the plan once we reach the actual surface of Char? By all accounts, the entire planet is one colossal deathtrap, between the Zerg infestation running all the way from orbit to deep underground… not to mention the volcanic activity."
While he considered himself a force to be reckoned with when it came to most enemies, he was painfully aware that the numbers involved were simply ludicrous. Then there was the fact that he still did not know what would happen if his physical shell were to be destroyed so far from Nosgoth – nor had he any intention of finding out.
"An excellent question." the High Templar intervened. "One we are certain many are asking behind closed doors. We are working on a plan for that, thanks in no small part to Judicator Telorus. When everything is ready and the time is right, we will divulge the information to everyone."
"Any other questions?" the Executor's assistant asked. He paused for a moment and, seeing how no one else spoke, adjourned the meeting.
"Just one more outpost..." Raziel pondered as he watched the holographic projection of a rocky moon orbiting a gas giant. "And those abominations will be blinded in an entire sub-sector. We almost have a clear line to Char."
As the meeting concluded and the participants left the room, Raziel had a sudden feeling that something wasn't quite right. Suddenly, the lights in the hallway flickered and then died out completely.
He glanced around, while the Protoss on the ship scrambled about in an attempt to determine what was wrong, when he sensed something. Instinctively bringing up the Reaver, he blocked a blow from an unseen assailant and, before they could react, blasted them with a telekinetic burst. Strengthened by his training, the blast slammed the unseen assailant against a wall, disrupting their cloaking.
"Not this again..." Raziel hissed in annoyance as he spotted another figure covered entirely in black, sporting a straight energy blade as dark as the starless sky.
Another lunged at him from behind, but he rolled out of the way and slashed, tearing a gash through their back. A second figure fell to the ground, gurgling, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"It seems at least I am becoming a little more adept at detecting hidden pests..."
Just then, he was blasted off his feet by a telekinetic burst, far stronger than anything he'd been able to muster so far. A third figure, much taller and bulkier than the others stepped forward, raising its own dark blade.
The Reaver seemed to react with a will of its own, emitting a strange growling sound and directing Raziel's arm even as he scrambled back to his feet. Much to his surprise, the blade started shifting from spectral blue into a bloody red, reminiscent of the energies of the Argus Stone.
Before he could even consider what was happening, Raziel found himself fending off the brute's advances as it charged at him with its blade raised. Not wanting to take any chances in a drawn out fight, Raziel took a hard swing with the Reaver, and the same growling sound echoed through the halls again. In a flash, the brute found itself relieved of its arm, bleeding some sort of black smoke from the stump. Reacting on instinct, Raziel blasted it with a bolt of telekinetic energy for good measure… which manifested itself with the same crimson hue. As it struck, the creature's body appeared to implode. The crimson light faded after a short moment, and the Reaver returned to its normal appearance.
"What just happened?" a younger Dark Templar asked, dumbfounded by the sight.
"Get off the ship." Raziel said, seized by a sudden and terrible suspicion.
"What?"
"No time to explain." Raziel insisted. "Inform everyone else you find. Tell them to get off the ship, now. We are completely immobilized."
Slowly becoming more familiar with the layout of Protoss ships, the wraith rushed towards the chamber housing the power core. Inside, he found two technicians, both dead. Upon further examination, he saw no visible injuries. However, as far as he could tell in the dim light, they had both been subjected to a strange, nefarious energy and their souls appeared to have been consumed.
"Curious..."
He then looked around and realized that the crystalline power core was not simply disabled. It had been smashed to pieces.
"But why would they…?"
He then ran to the nearest observation deck and as he looked outside through the glass-like substance used by the Protoss in such chambers he saw a star going through what appeared to be its death throes, drawing the ship ever closer. It appeared that during the meeting someone had somehow disposed of the technicians, altered the ship's course and destroyed the power core. Without power, the shields were down and the ship was impossible to move. Calling for help was definitely not an option either.
With growing unease, Raziel finally realized what the strange assailants were trying to do. Though he could, in theory, form a new physical body from within the spectral realm, he did not know if the conduits he normally used also existed in this strange new sea of stars. Furthermore, since time moved infinitely slower within the spectral realm and he was currently in the middle of space, the absence of gravity meant he could be effectively trapped for millions of years, if not forever, since he had no means of propulsion of his own.
For the second time since emerging from the abyss, Raziel felt something akin to fear… and he loathed it. He rushed to the shuttle bay where he found the same young Dark Templar dutifully waiting for him alongside what appeared to be the last shuttle.
"Not to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing still here?" Raziel asked.
"What does it look like?" the young warrior retorted. "Get in."
Moments later, as the Dark Templar strained the engines as far as he could without overloading the shuttle's considerably smaller power core, the lifeless craft tumbled into the dying star's gravity well, completely beyond saving.
"Did everyone else make it out?" the wraith asked surprising himself with his display of concern for anything other than his revenge.
"As far as I know."
"This settles it." Raziel pondered. "Someone is definitely targeting me. This is the second time those… creatures have struck."
"Zolmus has sent word." the Dark Templar said. "There will be consequences for trespassing so brazenly upon Shakuras, once we discover who is behind this. For now, though, it would be wiser to conceal your presence."
"But how are we-"
Raziel was cut off as something within the dying star seemed to disagree with its latest meal. Its collapsing form contorted, before unleashing a massive gravity wave. The young warrior quickly redirected all power to the shields. The craft was rocked by a terrible shaking, almost threatening to come apart, and their surroundings became an indistinct blur for what felt like a few seconds before stabilizing again.
As the trepidation ceased and his troubled mind found a moment of tranquility, Raziel surveyed his surroundings. The shields had held somehow, taking the onslaught before finally flickering out, but the shuttle appeared to have been hurled across space, out of the small star system.
"Let us hope we do not have to do that again." the young Dark Templar remarked.
As both of them surveyed the instruments – the wraith finding it considerably more difficult as he was still becoming fully accustomed to the technology – the warrior eventually spoke again.
"This planet is not on the records." he said as he nodded at the barren rock below. "The warp drive did not take kindly to that little stunt and we are losing power."
"Bring us down then." Raziel said with a resigned sigh. "We can do nothing else from here."
Several minutes later, as the shuttle descended, the power core started making a strange noise. Both of them instantly stared at it.
"Some days..." the Dark Templar remarked with a sigh as the shuttle lost power and started plummeting towards the surface. "One should simply stay in bed..."
"You have to be one of the strangest Protoss I have ever met." Raziel said, crossing his arms. "Right there with Athame."
"I will take that as a compliment." the young warrior remarked as they continued on their descent.
What happened next, Raziel could not tell, as he was momentarily blinded by the glare as the shuttle's speed and trajectory managed to heat whatever atmosphere the remote planet had, flooding the shuttle's cockpit with light. Once he had regained his sight, he found himself lying face up on a rocky ground. The shuttle appeared to have plowed into a steep cliff side, embedding a portion of the cockpit in it, sending three parts of the main hold crashing below and scattering smaller pieces everywhere. As for his erstwhile companion, he was nowhere to be found, and there was no sign of a corpse.
"Well… that happened..."
As he paced around the barren landscape, trying to determine what to do next, little did he realize that his steps were being watched. Atop a cliff, the young Dark Templar fixated his eyes on him, while communicating with someone else.
"The hounds of the void have struck again, as you predicted. He remains… unharmed, if such a thing can be said about his current state."
A small pause.
"No. He still suspects nothing. Or at least no more than he did since Marahna."
Another pause.
"Honestly, this cloak and dagger act is bordering on… how you say… bovine excrement? They will not wait for him to regain what he has lost. They are already terrifi-"
A longer pause.
"I understand. But letting him stumble around blindly like this can easily backfire. If you want to get him where he needs to be, then I suggest you hurry."
