Installation
"This entire chain of events had been mastermined by Kerrigan. And we played right into her hands !" The young Protoss warrior in tattered armour slammed a fist furiously into the palm of his other hand.
"Yes we did, Artanis." Zeratul sighed and looked around the simple meeting room that was a pale imitation of the Templar function rooms back on Aiur. Instead of a shining gold, everything was constructed of a bone white stone. The room was circular. A large section of the wall was transparent, allowing a generous view of the starry cityscape of New Antioch, one of the current political centres of both the dark templar, and the Protoss survivors of the Zerg invasion of Aiur who have taken refuge on this world of perpetual twilight.
Smooth white pillars stood at wide intervals in this window and curved in slightly at the top like gigantic ribs, supporting a flat white featureless ceiling. At the latter's middle there was a round opening with raised edges, like a barrel turned upside down and plunged halfway into the stonework. Directly below this feature, on the flat white floor was a similar opening, facing up. In between them, held vertically in mid air by an invisible force field, was a half metre long, trigonal flawless crystal, which emitted a strong blue glow, lighting up the faces of the protoss warriors seated around it.
"Yet our course is set nonetheless. Using the Temple's energies against the renegade Zerg may accomplish Kerrigan's aim, but it is our only chance of survival."
"And survive we will, my warriors !" Nodded an aged female warrior sitting opposite him. Her nerve chords fan out from behind her head and drooped down close to her cheeks like braids. Most of her scales had fallen, leaving behind a pale grey leathery complexion. She was dressed in long thin red and brown flowing robes rather than the tight face scarfs and loin cloth of younger dark templar. "Too long have we labored in futile defense as our enemies pushed us further and further away from victory. The time has come to let loose the full fury of our powers. Never again shall Shaquras be despoiled by the foul touch of alien species. These Zerg shall be the first to fall before us."
Zeratul looked over at her, and his eyes narrowed. "Matriarch, I have served you for millennia. I have always valued your strength and your wisdom. Yet, recently, in your mind, I sense something that clouds your true spirit. Kerrigan may have left, but I wonder if her treachery remains."
The Matriarch smiled meekly and waved a hand. "Be at ease, Zeratul. I am still the same Raszagal that you have always known. Recent events have weighed down heavily me, and I am wearied. Worry not. My warrior spirit shall continue to shine before you, and light your path to victory."
"Indeed …" Zeratul raised a brow ridge.
"The time for action is upon us !" Artanis announced, and waved his hand in front of the crystal. Holographic projections of labeled maps, text and flow charts appeared around the crystal. The young praetor proceeded to explain the plan of action.
Zeratul glared at the floating images, and tried hard to pay attention. They blurred frequently, and he found it hard to distinguish them from the images that were going through his own mind. His traumatic experience with the Overmind. Antioch going up in flames. Tassadar's self sacrifice. The death of Aldaris …
"Zeratul, are you with us ?"
Someone tugging at him.
"Zeratul, wake up !"
-
"Wake up !" Kart shook Zeratul by the shoulder. "We need to get out of here !"
Zeratul opened his eyes, gasped, and looked around him. He was leaning against the wall of a small rectangular empty cell, Kart sitting beside him.
The ceiling, floor, and all three walls were painted black. On the forth side, where Zeratul was facing, the cell was closed off by a line of thin vertical columns of red light, ten centimetres apart from each other, projected from ceiling to floor. A laser barrier.
Beyond that was a grey corridor running from his left to his right, whose walls leaned in slightly and were rounded at the corners, like the inside of a windowless train. They were lit up by phosphorescent lamps set into the ceiling.
Zeratul stood up and rubbed his head. "I must have been exhausted. Did something happen to us ?"
"Nothing." Kart heard his stomach growling. "In fact, we haven't even eaten for quite some time. Don't you feel hungry ?"
Zeratul laughed softly and removed his face scarf to reveal a lower face with nothing but a few gill slits below the cheek and chin. "I don't eat solid food."
"Oh." Kart chuckled as well. "Never mind. We need to think of a way to escape from here."
"Agreed." Zeratul clenched his fists, and felt something odd about his hands.
"I just remembered." Kart shrugged in apology. "They took our weapons."
"Damn them." Zeratul cursed, and stared frowning at the laser beams encaging them within the cell.
"Damn them …" Kart agreed as he stared at the columns of red light as well. "Wait … the Void allows us to manipulate the path of light, right ?" His face lit up.
"Correct." Zeratul nodded slowly, the frown gradually disappearing.
"Can't we bend those beams away ?" Kart pointed at the laser barrier.
"We could try." Zeratul stood up and walked over to stand just a foot away from the barrier. He opened his palms and faced them forward. His eyes glowed a fiery orange as he called on the power of the Void.
Sections of the laser beams that were directly in front of him began to flicker. Soon, they began to ripple like ribbons blown up by a breeze. Starting from the bottom, the beams broke up into wavering strips which thinned and drifted away, shortening them upwards, while the light from the points of projection at the ceiling became more intense, as if the beams were being redirected back into the their source.
Now Kart stood beside Zeratul, imitating his posture and concentrated deeply, calling upon the energies of the Void as well.
The entire laser barrier broke up and sublimed into a glaring constellation of red light in the ceiling.
At once, they dashed out of the cell into the corridor outside, bumping into the wall opposite them. The next moment, the laser barrier sprung back into its original state. Kart stared at the latter while catching his breath. "That was dangerous."
"You did well." Zeratul wrapped an arm around Kart's shoulders. Indeed, the young Jedi's mastery of the Void was astounding. True, Kart was not yet a full fledged dark templar, but thanks to his curiosity and creativity, he was progressing far more rapidly than Zeratul himself did in his own youth.
Still, he could have gotten Kart killed. The boy had not yet learned how to create a plasma shield around himself. Zeratul wondered if that were even possible for someone of a species other than a Protoss. Well, Kart did achieve a notable level of psionic resonance with that psi-blade. Now they just had to go take it back from their captors.
A few sparkles and a crackling sound to his right caught his attention. They had been spotted.
"Kart. Cloak. Now !"
-
Darth Maul and Gaya sauntered past the line of droids guarding the corridor. One could hardly find any windows here, since this entire complex was underground, or rather, set deep into the surrounding architecture to hide it from the common people who inhabited the city.
"My Lord," Gaya began.
Darth Maul halted and turned around, "What is it ?"
"While I was struggling with that Jedi Master, back on TP6 …" Gaya felt herself shrink from the Sith Lord's gaze, and could only mutter. "Some of the droidekas fired at me."
"An accident." Darth Maul "I am sure they were targeting the Jedi only."
"Was it ?" Gaya blurted out, then lowered her gaze as the Sith Maul fixed his eyes sternly on her again.
"It was." Darth Maul said coldly. "Do not question me."
They came to a trapezoidal sliding door set in the wall of the corridor.
Beside the door, set into the wall a metre above the floor, were a series of black, barely visible buttons and labeled diodes.
Darth Maul held out a hand towards the key pad. Just as his fingers were a foot away from the nearest button, the door seemed to slide open by itself, and he froze, looking at it in surprise.
"Hahaha." The hoarse, familiar, and disturbingly high pitched voice of an old man came from within the room. "Relax. I could sense you approaching. Nothing escapes my notice."
"Of course, Master Sidious." Darth Maul bowed as he stepped into the room, followed by Gaya.
The Dark Lord's quarters was all black, and also quite spacious, unlike the rest of the complex. Metre long vertical elliptical sections at two metre intervals along the glassy smooth walls emitted a ghastly red glow, that was strong enough to reveal the general layout of the room, but too dim to show any details. This, along with the blackness and slight reflective quality of the walls, floors and ceiling, gave a visitor the dreadful impression that the room extended far beyond its real confines and into the unfathomable depths beyond, where unknown horrors lurked among the never ending forest of dreadful red eye-like glowing ellipses.
In the centre of the room were four black cushioned seats around what appeared to be a squat black unlit furnace with a flat base. Upon closer inspection, its top was covered in intricate circuitry.
Above it were a set of holographic projections, mostly bluish squares of various sizes.
And seated facing the entrance, his pale, hairless, wrinkled face partially lit up by the dim glow of the projected images, and mostly hidden in the shadow of his black hood, was an old man in a black cloak.
Darth Sidious spread his arms and grinned. His hands were pale and wrinkled as well. "Sit down."
Darth Maul and Gaya obliged, each taking a seat on either side of the Dark Lord.
"It went well, Master." Darth Maul reported. "One of the stronger Jedi is dead, and we have brought the one you wanted to see."
"I know you have." The greater Sith Lord nodded. "My plans never fail." He turned towards Gaya, "Though I did not expect to capture your brother as well. You are more cunning than I thought, little one."
"Neither did I, Master Sidious." Gaya felt Darth Maul's cold, stern eyes on her again. "It was Lord Maul's prowess in battle that ensured the mission's success."
"I see." The Dark Lord resumed his reading.
"The Jedi padawan seemed quite attached to the Strange One." Darth Maul explained. "The latter may have imparted some of his unwholesome skills to him. What do you intend to do with them, Master ?"
"Oh, we shall recapture them !" Darth Sidious chuckled.
Darth Maul sat staring at his Master in confusion, then his eyes went wide.
"I told you nothing escapes my notice." His Master laughed. "They have broken out of their prison."
"How… ?" Darth Maul muttered, then stood up. "Forgive us for our negligence, Master. I shall go deal with them this moment."
"Haha. No need. I have planned for this. It is all going exactly as I wish." Darth Sidious stood up as well. "Come, let us go to the assembly hall."
-
"Whoa, which one is it ?" Kart exclaimed softly as he stepped into the armoury.
"Let the Force guide you." Zeratul replied, following close behind. "Isn't that what your master would say ?"
"That's what everyone says. I'd like to see one person try." Kart scanned the seemingly endless rows of metal racks before him.
The walls in this room were a glassy black, and it had no source of illumination except for the white light coming from the corridor outside, giving the visitor a false impression of its true size.
They walked up to the nearest weapon rack and began searching through the row of blaster rifles, pistols, gauntlets, helmets, shield generators, what appeared to be broken light sabres, and plenty other dubious looking equipment. Zeratul was sure that their own weapons were being kept here. At least, the psionic emanations that he recognized as that of Kart's psi-blade light sabre hybrid felt the strongest here.
"Show yourself !"
The both of them spun round and froze as they saw a tall figure in black robes standing at the entrance. He was around the same age as Gaya, with similar claw like tattoos on his face, and on his bald head as well. There was something familiar about him, which Zeratul could not quite recall at the moment.
"I know you are in here. You cannot hide from the Sith." The Dark Jedi ignited his lightsabre.
"I'll reveal myself and distract him." Zeratul whispered to Kart. "Carry on searching."
Silently, Kart stepped further away from the entrance.
Zeratul faced the Dark Jedi and let the Void energies disperse from himself. "Hahaha, you have found me." He pretended he was the only person who had snuck into the armoury. "You are indeed strong in the Force. Tell me, what is your name ?"
"Rav." The Dark Jedi replied. "So you are the Renegade Sith the Master has talked about ?"
"Renegade Sith ?" Zeratul raised a brow ridge and held up a hand. "Tell me, what makes you think that your Master is Orthodox Sith ?"
"Your mind tricks do not work on me, Leatherhead." Rav growled.
"Of course not," Zeratul laughed. He had not even begun using mind tricks. "I am quite honest with younger warriors. I can't say the same for your so called Master. Doubtless he has promised you power and glory. Do you truly believe that he will give you those, and take nothing away ?"
"Shut up !" Rav yelled, raised his light sabre in both hands, and leapt at Zeratul.
Pivoting on his left foot, Zeratul swiftly spun clockwise to face his right, and struck Rav's right arm with his left palm as the Dark Jedi swung down on the empty space where Zeratul stood a moment ago.
This light but precise push caused Rav to stagger to his left. As he steadied himself and turned to face Zeratul again, the Grey Templar dropped to a combat ready stance, placing one foot far in front of the other and pointing his open palms forward.
It had been some time since he had the chance to use the Dark Templar's unique unarmed combat techniques. Most members of the Rogue Tribes were former warriors of the Sargas Tribe, who were feared for their lethal killing arts and ruthless assassins.
Forced to defend themselves against superior numbers and weaponry, the ancestors of the Dark Templar resorted to a style of fighting which emphasized concealing one's hostile intentions till the last moment and landing discreet yet efficient and vicious blows.
"Your Master has told you to embrace your passions, but passion is not all there is to achieving victory." Zeratul did believe in what he said, but he uttered it in a condescending tone which angered the Dark Jedi even more.
With another roar, Rav swung his light sabre around and charged at Zeratul, who stood still until he was within slashing distance from Rav.
The Dark Jedi took a broad horizontal swipe at Zeratul, who leapt up out of the light sabre's way and darted his right leg forward in midair. His clawed foot knocked into Rav's head almost as quickly as one of those projectiles used by the Terrans impacting its target.
This threw the Dark Jedi backwards by three metres. He steadied himself, clutched his head with one hand, and stared up with fiery yellow eyes at the Grey Templar. "I will kill you !"
Resilient, Zeratul thought as he landed nimbly into the same position he was before executing that kick. Normally, his opponent would suffer a severe concussion after such a blow.
"Do try." Zeratul taunted.
Keeping his murderous gaze on Zeratul, Rav pointed his light sabre behind him and dashed towards Zeratul. Again, the Grey Templar kept still, until Rav brought his weapon abruptly forward, swinging it from the right in a broad arc towards Zeratul's head.
Calmly, Zeratul dropped down, the red rod of light whizzing harmlessly past the top of his head. Reaching up with one hand like a serpent striking its prey, he grabbed and held on to Rav's weapon arm, while jabbing a clawed thumb into Rav's armpit. It hit something hard, and Zeratul's eyes widened in recognition. Bionic implants. Rav had had dislocated joints. Now he remembered seeing a Dark Jedi with broken limbs flee the cave of the Ancient One just before he had fainted there.
The Dark Jedi screamed and jerked his right shoulder backwards, wrenching his right arm free from Zeratul's grip and swinging it back violently with light sabre pointed down.
Zeratul leapt to his left to avoid the red blade, coincidentally out through the doorway into the corridor outside.
He turned just in time to see Rav standing right before him, grimacing savagely, a red rod of light fast approaching his face as Rav swung the light sabre down at him. Zeratul's hands shot forward and caught Rav's wrists just as the red rod of light was a mere two inches from the Grey Templar's face. They held that position for a while, Rav's bionic implants almost giving him an edge over the taller Protoss warrior in the contest of strength, gradually backing Zeratul against the wall of the corridor.
And then Zeratul kicked hard at the wall behind him slightly to his right and forcefully spun to his left, pulling Rav's hands to his left while at the same time digging his claws deep into the Dark Jedi's wrist, causing the latter to involuntarily let go of his light sabre.
Before Rav could react, Zeratul punched Rav hard in the chest, like a mantid shrimp ramming its prey. There was a satisfying 'creak', and all the air went out of the Dark Jedi's lungs. Rav fell back and landed flat on his back.
Placing a foot on Rav's chest, Zeratul demanded, "Where is your Master ? Where is the Sith Lord who lead the raid into the cave ?"
Rav coughed violently before muttering, "Like I'll tell …"
Zeratul bent down until his face, now wearing a grim expression, was a foot from Rav's own. "If you refuse to tell me, I still have other methods."
"Bluff …" Rav grinned, then gasped in shock as Zeratul's eyes turned from a fiery orange to a deep glaring red. "Wha …"
The Grey Templar wrapped the Dark Jedi's head in his largish hands. A deep red haze condensed around both of them. Sparks of miniature lightning crackled through this unnatural looking cloud, mostly around Rav's head.
"You have no will. You do what I tell you. Your knowledge is mine. Obey !" Zeratul's voice, now with the spine-chilling quality of someone speaking while drawing long deep breaths and metal being dragged across metal, echoed back and forth in Rav's head, hammering away his mental resistance layer by layer. The Dark Jedi shuddered. His eyes glazed over. Ripples appeared in the air around his head.
And then Zeratul let go of Rav, and leaned back against the wall, gasping for air. The red haze dispersed. The glow in his eyes returned to orange.
"What the hell did you do to him ?"
Zeratul looked up to see Kart standing at the entrance to the armoury and starring down at Rav's unconscious body. There was a wierdly blank expression on the Dark Jedi's face.
"Mind control." Zeratul replied under his breath. His voice had returned to normal as well. "A forbidden ability that can be gained through a deep connection with the Void. I couldn't make it permanent, but it was long enough."
"I got our weapons." Kart held up his light sabre hilt as well as Zeratul's gauntlet mounted warp blades, which he handed to the Grey Templar. "What now ?"
"The assembly hall." Zeratul stood up and put on his gauntlets.