Chapter 14
"Welcome, Captain", Admiral DuGalle said as the meeting began. "I am glad to hear of your victory over the Queen of Blades. With the threat of the zerg neutralized, we can now focus our attention on the rest of the sector. The Directorate has sent us here to reunify humanity by bringing our wayward colonies under our control. The Dominion had fallen quickly to our assault, giving us control over the bulk of the terran worlds."
"While you were away, we opened communications with the Umojan Protectorate and the Kel-Morian Combine", DuGalle said. "Both were made to submit to the Directorate. Faced with our overwhelming might, they had no choice but to surrender."
"That is good", Flash replied. "But there is always a danger that they might revolt, and we may be subverted from within."
"Rest assured Captain, we have taken that into consideration", DuGalle said. "The Kel-Morians are easily placated. Their leaders are solely concerned with profit. It was simple enough for us to offer the leadership enough benefits to draw them to our side. The Umojans are a much more prickly problem. They would most likely be planning to escape our control. However, our grip over them is absolute and we have them under constant surveillance. Every precaution has been taken to keep Umoja in line."
"So now that we have taken control over the rest of the terran worlds, what is our next objective?", Flash asked.
"We must destroy all threats to humanity", DuGalle said. "As such, the Protoss must be destroyed. We cannot allow an alien race that threaten humanity to exist. Therefore, you shall lead an attack on Shakuras, and wipe out the Protoss."
A massive swarm of zerg warped in over Shakuras, followed by a sizable UED fleet. The zerg immediately began engaging the protoss fleet over Shakuras and a contingent of zerg were ordered to land on the surface of Shakuras to set up a foothold.
Flash continued to wait aboard his battlecruiser in orbit. Then, he finally received the information he was waiting for.
"Captain, we have detected a large energy buildup occurring on Shakuras. The source appears to be a temple on the planet's surface", the adjutant reported.
"Detach half of the zerg fleet", Flash ordered. "Send them toward the temple, and have our ships follow behind them."
The massive swarm of zerg began descending onto Shakuras, heading straight for the Xel'naga temple on the surface. The protoss fleet put up heavy opposition as they tried their hardest to stop the zerg attack, but the protoss fleet was depleted, with most of their ships being lost over Aiur and Char. Slowly but surely the zerg fleet began pushing their way through the atmosphere. As zerg began landing on the ground, the protoss defenders engaged them, preventing the zerg from approaching the temple.
It seemed that the entirety of the protoss forces were concentrated in this location. The protoss were making every effort to protect the temple until it could activate. However, the zerg numbers were immense. Little by little, they whittled away at the protoss numbers and began overrunning the outer defenses. The protoss did everything they can to stop them. Archons and reavers were able to hold the line against countless swarms of zerg, and the arbiters were able to imprison flocks of zerg in stasis. Despite all of this, the zerg finally managed to make it to the outer edges of the temple.
When it was about to seem as though all was lost for the protoss, they were finally able to activate the temple using the Uraj and Khalis crystals. A massive wave of energy flowed outward from the temple, wiping every zerg off of the surface of Shakuras.
With the invasion halted, the protoss defenders began cheering, as they once more had repelled the zerg from their world. However, the celebration suddenly fell silent as a shadow fell over the temple.
The UED fleet, which had used the zerg to clear a path to the temple, had now arrived. With most of the defenses of the temple shattered, the fleet had gotten into position before the protoss could reposition their forces. Then, the command was given. The UED fleet began bombarding the temple from above, killing the protoss inside and reducing the massive structure to rubble.
Artanis watched in horror as he saw the temple fall to pieces around him. He had been so happy just moments before, but now it seems that their previous defense was for naught. Then, a massive yamato blast struck his position, and Artanis was killed. He was just one of many deaths as the temple collapsed, taking with it many of the protoss defenders.
The protoss defenses were in shambles, but the UED fleet didn't pursue. Instead, they retreated back into orbit, while the remainder of the zerg began descending onto the planet's surface unimpeded. There was no need to spend human lives on this, it was much better to let the zerg do all of the dirty work.
The zerg swarm began landing on Shakuras, and they quickly started rampaging across the planet. The remaining protoss civilians fled as the zerg overran all of the outlying settlements. The remnants of the protoss military forces collected in Talematros, the capital city of Shakuras.
The Khalai and the Nerazim, once enemies, were now firmly united as they faced the incoming horde grimly. Recognizing that their end was at hand, they decided to give the fight their all and die fighting. As the zerg began scaling the plateau, the protoss readied their blades. Whenever a zerg appeared, the protoss attacked, killing any zerg they could get their hands on.
However, the numbers of the zerg were virtually endless and soon the outer defenses of the city were overrun. The battle moved into streets of the city as every last warrior fought to their last breath. The streets of the city were filled with corpses, mostly zerg though there were dead protoss as well. The towering spires collapsed one by one as the zerg tore through the foundations.
The protoss on Shakuras had their last stand, but they couldn't change the ultimate outcome. The onslaught of the zerg proved to be too much, and the last defenders fell and with them the last protoss on Shakuras.