The key to reality.
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Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.
"By the will of our mentors, by the wisdom of the Xel'naga:
These records will aid you in the understanding of our kind, young one. May they be of use to you:
The Ihan-rii: A faction of protoss originally from Aiur. They rose as a minor sect within the Tal'darim in service of Amon. But as they saw through the machinations of the dark one they splitted from their wayward brethren, wandering the stars as abandoned children. In their desperation they sought guidance from a group of major clans within their sect. These clans would in turn grant the Ihan-rii a purpose: to find the Xel'naga and wake them against the Dark One. They in turn created the Umbral choir, by which the will of the Xel'naga was made action by the rest of the clans.
The Umbral Choir: The governing body of the Ihan-rii, made of mostly members of the major clans within their original realm. Only those most respected among the rest of the clans could be elected to such an esteemed body, but in time only the old and bitter allowed entrance of like minded individuals into their ranks with the rarest of exceptions.
Elder Xiltar: Born only 254 years before the sudden disappearance of his people from the rest of the galaxy, shortly after the end of the Aeon of strife in 500 C.E. As his people entered into stasis he was no more than a young judge within the Ihan-rii military, a position that would eventually bring him to the attention of the Umbral choir. Shortly after the awakening of their kind from stasis and the loss of most of their leadership in the opening moments of the end times he was elevated to the position of elder of his clan even though he was still a young warrior, an event that had not occurred in several generations.
The edict of repose: the Ihan-rii were subjected to the edict of the repose, which was issued by the elders of the council who claimed to have received a vision by the Xel'naga ordering them to place their civilization into stasis and to board great ark ships in order to wait for the return of their lords. This in time was discovered to be a false claim, made manifest from the partial deciphering of the endtime prophecy".
-Of Nebulas forgotten, servant to Idris
Mentor's pride - in orbit of Zhakul
Xiltar
There was one truth the Ihan-rii had deemed fit to share with their wayward brethren.
They would never subject themselves to the influence of a single individual. For while it did bring decisive and ultimate arbitration to any decision a council would meander with, there had only been once a case in which his people had been ruled by one single figure.
And they hated that memory.
The accursed Tal'darim had been the natural enemies of the Ihan-rii for all of their history as the Ihan-rii were originally the lower links of the damned chain of ascension that chained their beings onto the will of the first murderer.
For this sole reason their people had always been taught to never link their wills to a single being like their ancestors had done with their highlord.
This truth had been the only reason as to why this protoss who governed themselves under their so called unity in the Daelaam had agreed to enroll themselves under the designs of Xiltar.
After all they had even invested resources into hunting down and murdering the last highlord of the Tal'darim while the galaxy burned around them.
As such the protoss that now walked the same path alongside them had been offered a compromise by which their people could find leadership and further unity could be found amongst their kind.
The elder stood present amongst several other protoss while they began their discussion about the future. Contrary to what his station may have demanded, he wore the simple black armor of an Ihan-rii zealot as it was adorned with the runes of his service. This carapace had served him well during his years as Judge and nothing but some gray clothes changed the pattern in which the Ihan-rii warriors entered combat.
Xiltar listened to the concern of the new members of the umbral choir that now included those representatives from the remaining Daelaam protoss who held positions of high regard amongst their kind. In this council Xiltar found willing partners in his plan to erode Amon's victory, for such a task he issued members of this council with the mission of stealing as much tactical information as they could from the hybrid host.
Though most of the resistance to Amon had already been crushed by the hybrid host they nonetheless were tied down hunting small pockets of survivors and marshaling their forces to launch the invasion of what remained of this universe.
As such the council decided that leaving the hybrid to hunt these pockets of resistance proved invaluable to buy the armada time.
Time was beginning to run out and as such this meeting of the council had been called by Xiltar in order to plan their next move.
"Members of the umbral choir" he called as he had heard numerous times before as the other elders spoke in their few gatherings. But this time it was his turn to speak towards another crowd "The number of resistance targets to Amon has diminished to less than 85% of their original strength. The zerg broods under the crazed broodmother Zagara have been eliminated, time is running out and as such I called this meeting to establish our plans for the future".
The rest of the council listened as it was composed of fourteen members.
Xiltar, though considered a young protoss in the original council, was now one of its most prominent figures. And as he had more sway over the Ihan-rii members of the alliance, he was joined by another 6 members, those executors and admirals that served directly under him during his time as a Judge and supreme military commander of the original host that had gathered this fleet of survivors.
The other seven positions were led by an executor Aitan and Centurion Jonus, the two remaining members of the Daelaam high command. Previously only minor figures within its military apparatus they now were the sole governing body of what remained of their kind and they were accompanied by their close advisors much like himself.
A tall but old templar bent forwards in his seat as he wished to address those gathered. This warrior sported the attire of the High templar even as his rank had been that of an executor for more than four years. His nerve cords remained intact to Xiltar's discomfort as the Khala had been preserved by means they did not fully understand.
"Indeed it has come to such a moment, 'elder' " spoke Aitan with a trace of disrespect in his voice as he found having to regard someone younger than him in such a manner truly ludicrous "But the situation in the armada grows dire, we have no time to follow the mad ramblings of someone such as the exiled Zeratul. Our focus should not be wasted on the function of his relics since we should instead divert our attention to finding a new refuge for our people and make a plan for our descendants to take retribution in our stead".
Such bravado had been common within the words of the old executor in all previous meetings, showing that his will had not been shaken and that he was willing to stand as a beacon for his people in the absence of their hierarch. But in reality Xiltar found that there was more pain and fear in his words than since his statement spoke of desperation and the willingness to flee.
The figure next to him shook her head disapprovingly as a Nerazim clad in gray armor reprimenda the actions of her comrade. Xiltar found it humorous that the Nerazim covered their faces with cloth that swayed in front of him, but he wished to respect their traditions so in time they may do so to theirs
"Silence Aitan. You know as well as any one of us that there is no permanent sanctuary from the hounds of the void. The plan we will decide upon may well be the only chance our people will get" spoke centurion Jonus, she stood as the only claimant to the leadership of what remained of the Nerazim leadership. As she was the only survivor of the shadow guard after the fall of Shakuras, her military rank outweighed any priestess amongst the orders of her tribe "Our mission here in Zhakul was only a temporary venture in order to claim what knowledge of the Keystone the preservers had. As such, we should discuss our findings before criticizing our Ihan-rii allies".
Xiltar found it hard to deal with the Khalai protoss as they showed more disposition towards ignoring his words and suggestions as they still distrusted his kind. The Nerazim on the other hand acted with more prudence when speaking to his admirals and executors, but in reality he knew of how much they distrusted his kind for their close relationship with the Tal'darim.
"Please, continue" said Jonus.
"Very well, centurion" began Xiltar "As all of you know, the keystone that we recovered from the world of Korhal has been shown to be the same artifact that the prophecy gathered by Zeratul spoke of. In this prophecy the keystone was used to awaken the dormant Xel'naga and rouse their spirits from whatever sanctuary they lay upon and usher our kind onto hope" he motioned for his vessel's auxiliar to show a projection of said artifact "We did not fully understand in which manner this keystone operated nor how it was meant to be used. But thanks to the findings of the now gone preservers of this world we have finally deciphered a method to open the relic and uncover its secrets".
"And how may this be accomplished?" asked admiral Kiot, his most fervent of followers and a loyal warrior who had proven himself to be a capable commander even before the disappearance of his race.
"If we manage to channel void energies in a particular pattern, we can access the content of its small data banks and reveal whatever its was meant to show us" explained Xiltar "I will need the support of a phase-smith for such an endeavor.
"Hmm" scoffed Aitan. "For what purpose if I may ask?".
"In order to unlock the information inscribed within it we will need to attune the energies of the void to such an extent that even the smallest error may well end in the death of whoever is channeling energy into it" he placed a hand on his chest "I will be more than willing to put my sake in harm's way for our people so no other may need to pay the price of failure".
His disposition to not put more of his people in danger was met with disapproval by his lieutenants since they saw him as too valuable to place in such a peril. But he could not shoulder the death of more of his brethren.
Admiral Kiot managed to calm the rest of his warriors as he knew that the young one would not allow any other to do such a task.
Executor Aitan nodded and contacted his vessel "Call for phase-smith Exandra and have her board the mentor's pride".
After a few seconds a column of light materialized aboard the stone floor of his vessel as the phase-smith warped into the bridge without much resistance from his vessel.
The column of light dissipated to reveal the shape of a girl who wore the cloth of a civilian and as her blue hood covered her features Xiltar found that the only way he could be able to recognize this figure in a crowd would be due to the disproportionally large gloves she wore.
Were they some kind of tool?
"H-how may I be of service?" the girl asked in a timid manner.
"The leader of the Ihan–rii wishes to ask for your aid, phase-smith" Aitan began "You are to oversee his experimentation with a relic of dubious origin as it may hold a clue to our survival" Aitaan got up from his seat and approached the scared being.
Contrary to what Xiltar may have originally guessed, he approached the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. At that instant she seemed to enter a calm state as she the executor might have spoken to her through the Khala.
It was strange to see two beings exchange so much with so little.
"I-I'm willing to act, elder" spoke phase-smith Exandra timidly "I will show our people that I'm deserving of the legacy of my father" she said with decisiveness.
"Thank you" replied Xiltar "In reality I wish for all of the council to bare witness to what may come out of the Keystone as I wish for this to be an act of compromise amongst our ranks" he continued analyzing the faces of the rest of the council, finding a lot of unwillingness to accept his invitation. As they most likely felt threatened by being in a foreign warship and placing themselves at a disadvantage should a conflict erupt.
"I would be willing to accept elder" spoke Jonus "Should we be allowed to witness this event aboard my vessel" he saw her acting as a mediator to the rest of the council since her vessel was mostly used as a scouting ship by the fleet since its original purpose of being a civilian transport had been taken by a void world the Ihan-rii had donated to her people.
Void worlds were massive mobile stations that housed the civilian population of his race along their long sleep and to his relief as well as sorrow the void worlds he had managed to gather were mostly empty as its population had been pressed into the army by the stupid decisions of the rest of the council.
"Very well centurion Jonus. We will take the keystone to your vessel in a few cycles as I need to listen to the reports from our scouting cohorts beforehand. Admiral Kiot, escort Jonus and Exandra to the chamber where they keystone is" he ordered his right hand man to do such a task as he knew that of all his executors he was the most lenient towards outsiders "If there is nothing else toi report. then I'll see you after i'm done".
The council ended the session and warped towards their respective vessels while the two outsiders were escorted along the corridors of his vessel as esteemed guests.
Shuttle bay - Mentor's pride.
Othan
The events that had transpired in the terran base had left Othan and the remaining protoss, visibly shaken.
While her team had not been the only one to take casualties as the other expeditions also brought several deceased warriors none compared to the butchery that had been made of his departed companion.
One had been thrown with such force that the armor had visibly vent in certain places while the other one suffered a more cruel fate as his wounds showed nothing but utter barbarism in the action of their foes.
As she stood guard over X-9951, she saw as templars took the corpses of their fallen Khalai brethren and warped them onto their vessels while the other Aspbads performed rites of exhumation for the spirits of the fallen ones as they would eventually give the corpses back to whatever family they had in life so their memory would be etched into their souls as the body was released into the void.
A cruel practice.
Since she did not wish to dwell on that grim reality, she began to ponder the horrifying discovery that they had found within the data core. In the return trip aboard the Nerazim transport Toidanis and herself had analyzed the data banks and had made the discovery that the abominations found in the lab originally were rejects from the hybrid breeding program, but what shook her most was the presence of the other… components.
In the reports these creatures had been designated simply as 'husks', made from the materials of Zerg, Protoss and an unknown technology that was designated as 'revenant matter'.
What disturbed her about all of this was how little information had been recorded on the origin of this matter, with one of the only entries on the subject explaining how one Emil Narud had brought this material as a 'gift' to one of his coworkers while the only information that was annexed to said coworker was nothing but a single sentence.
To guard the gates of Hades…
She pondered if it was wise to reveal this information to the cohort or even to the rest of the armada. Toidanis as well as herself had agreed that this warranted further investigation on their part.
As she witnessed her brother arrive at the bay she mentally ordered Toidanis to keep these revelations a secret, in time she would tell her brother. But not before discovering what this Emil Narud had plotted.
Afterword.
Been on a kick lately, but I need to establish a schedule for these stories, so I may begin to update every other day as a test.
Hope you understand and enjoy it so far.
Edit - Well I need to give myself an award for the most incoherent plot I have ever seen. In later chapters I completely jumbled details that were written in another manner first so this has been corrected as I intend to change the next few chapters in the same manner.