Hello and we're back here with another chapter of StarCraft 2! In this chapter, we now move on to the mission of A Sinister Turn and the official introduction of the hybrid oh boy!
Also, I'm curious and clearly Fanfic doesn't want me to set up a bloody poll for some reason and it took weeks for it to appear on my profile. Are you guys ok with me making a account? I want to know what you guys think about it and do let me know about it since I was wondering if you guys are willing to support me and stuff. Other news is at the end of this chapter.
Besides that, enough wasting time, we got some comments to address!
J-SECTION-L: What games I liked? Mostly strategy games, 4x games with the occasional fighter games.
Dakzillaman: Thanks! It's quite flattering to be seen like that. Yea, I'm glad that you understand my hesitance to show more Carbot episodes in the previous chapter. As for the NASL grand finals episode? Perhaps in the future.
.1: Don't you mean Tosh? I have the intention to work on him after we are done with the Protoss missions.
Jamieoeyes: Oh. Well, that's interesting indeed. But we're talking about Oz and Ironwood over here and so they doubt that there are huntresses with that kind of Semblances.
Ssgtsplatter: In the future, I have the intention to make several of our guests suspicious over Cinder. And perhaps in the later chapters we can explore more of RGQC's aquarium.
Yolo27th: Don't worry, we'll get to that in the future.
FGOFanlover: Hmm… perhaps I would do a mixture of both in a way? The updated models of reforged and the actual story of the OG. Of course, I would have to make some changes to hopefully make it work. Knowing Ruby, she would go nuts with any weapons she could get her hands on.
Zekken182: Correct Zekken. I got Aries from that novel that had a manga that still hasn't uploaded a chapter in months! So irritating waiting for it.
Like before, I do not own RWBY or StarCraft. All of these belong to their respective owners: Rooster Teeth, StarCraft 2 belongs to Blizzard Entertainment. I only own my OC in this story
A Sinister Turn
[Before we begin, Lily please stand by, so that we may show you what the others were watching.] QAI explained as Lily just shrugged.
"This better not give me a headache."
[Due to the progress the others made in the story, there will be a minor headache.]
Lily just sighed. "Better than nothing then." This was followed with Lily's eyes glowing white for a second, she then let out a small groan and raised her hand up.
"I'm good, if you were all curious by the way. Damn Raynor have been busy huh?"
"He has." Kali just smiled at her granddaughter.
"Well then, let's get this show on the road!"
"Yea! Let's start now!" Nora being Nora yelled out as the screen lights up.
The fragments of the ancient prophecies have been found. Now Zeratul must take the fragments to the preservers of Zhakul to learn their hidden meaning.
"Knowing how things are going, someone is going to stop him from discovering the meaning behind those prophecies." Mercury muttered."
"True I must say. What secrets does it hide I wonder…" Cinder hummed as she took a sip of her drink.
Hyperion Lab - 15:32 Shipboard Time
…
The screen lights up back where everyone had left off before to show Raynor back in the Laboratory staring at the crystal. Ariel in the background could be seen clearly concerned as to how long Raynor had been staring at it, Raynor then snapped out of it as he looked around before his eyes landed on Ariel who signalled him. A clear sign that she wishes to speak to him.
"I just have to wonder, how long had Raynor been staring at it?" Sun wondered as he got everyone to think through it.
"We spend watching Zeratul in his journeys for at least 30 minutes friend Sun Wukong!" Penny so helpfully pointed out.
"Oh, well that's convenient. Thanks Penny." Neptune just smiled.
"No problem, friend Neptune!"
Raynor then walked towards Ariel who was about to speak only for him to interrupt her before she could say anything. "I'm ok, Doc, before you start asking."
Ariel however, looked unconvinced at what Raynor had said. "You were staring at that protoss device for a very long time. Are you sure?" Ariel probed him as Raynor admitted.
"Well, now you mention it I could use a drink or two. Maybe what I saw'd make more sense if I was drunk."
"Yea… I guess we could understand him. There's still a ton of questions left unsolved." Yang admitted.
"Then hopefully, the next few visions should explain everything." Blake joined in.
"Yea, it should be easier with those preservers guys Zeratul needs to find." Lily adds in.
"What was it, Jim?" Ariel, indulging in her curiosity, questioned him more.
"An old friend of mine... "Raynor glanced to the side before resuming. "looking for the end of the world." That was all he said as Ariel just nodded at him. Raynor then decided to change the topic as he landed his eyes on the artifacts.
"So these things are still a big mystery, huh?" He asked. Ariel, knowing that Raynor wants to move on, just nods as she explains.
"Actually I have found something interesting. Whenever you use that protoss device over there, the artifacts respond by drawing together and expanding their molecular matrices."
"Uh… what?" Ruby tilted her head in confusion. That same sentiment was shared by almost everyone in the theatre room except for Pietro and several others.
"A little slower and with shorter words, please." Raynor, probably having a hard time understanding why Ariel had just said, made his request which Ariel agreed to make it simpler.
"Well, if you think of them as dry sponges, they draw ambient energy like water. These things try to absorb as much energy as they can."
"Soo… those things store as much energy they can take? And when Raynor uses the Ihan crystal, it basically absorbs all the energy it releases. Right?" Neo tried to summarise it as Torchwick just nodded before shrugging.
"Close enough."
"Are they dangerous?" Raynor then asked due to his worry if these things could actually be dangerous to house in the Hyperion. But Ariel doesn't seem to be worried about it.
"Not if you're human. If my theories are correct - and you were a protoss, for instance - they could drain the life right out of you."
Going by her theory, can't they just strap it to something and bring it to the field since it basically kills protoss if they get too close to it?" Qrow half-jokingly suggested as everyone just stared at him, Ironwood on the other hand, was giving an incredibly bizarre expression at Qrow before giving a facepalm.
"Sir?"
"Nothing, Specialist Schnee." Ironwood muttered.
"I don't think that would work, Huntsman Qrow…" Penny raises her finger up.
"Sounds insane and stupid. But like what dad said, if it stupid but it works, it's not stupid." Lily chuckled to herself as Qrow laughed.
"Are you serious?" Weiss raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward slightly to have a good look at Lily.
"Trust me. Some of the idea's that father had back home sound completely stupid even for me, but it worked in ways I did not expect. He even applied some of it when he was training me when I was younger.
"Really?" Ruby was next.
"Yea, one of them involved throwing a bunch of projectiles with his semblance and he wanted me to dodge all of them. Trust me it sucks, but it taught me how to control my breathing and keep on the move. In fact, I'm proud that I can now avoid getting hit. Most of the time." A small smile could be seen on Lily's face as she reminisced about the times of her training with her father.
…
"Well, that was interesting I must say." Ozpin was the first to speak after a period of silence from them trying to process what Lily had just said. "Should we try to do something similar to get their standards up?" Ozpin then whispered to Glynda who just shrugged before scribbling it down. It might work.
Raynor just nodded before turning his gaze onto the console as the screen then pans towards the Zerg containment tank, and compared to before, its tentacles have clearly grown much bigger than before which could be said the same for the green bit of it. In fact, it began to occasionally pulse alongside it, occasionally glowing.
"Ugh… Whatever that thing is, it grew bigger. Again." Coco once again shuddered as Pietro took out the table as it let out a beep.
"What's new father?" Penny then asked as she too peered into the tablet.
"It says here that the specimen has grown an ocular organ as well as the fact that there are two types of cell present. Cell A and Cell B as Stetmann calls them. Cell A seems to mutate at random all the time while Cell B hunts down these mutations and destroys them. It is basically a survival of the fittest on the cellular level it seems." Pietro began to rub his chin
"Wait, so Cell A keeps mutating while Cell B hunts it down? Talk about taking survival of the fittest to the extreme." Ilia pondered out as Raven raised an eyebrow as she mutters to herself.
"So, in short, those who are under Cell A who survived Cell B would survive and mutate future. Thus, making themselves stronger with further mutations and the cycle repeats… I wonder…" Penny then took over as she continued where her father left off.
"Stetmann has also taken samples from it and began tinkering with them. And as a result, he had created a very dense but flexible material which could be used to reinforce the superstructure of the Hercules-class cargo ships we saw several missions ago."
"That is… Interesting… I wonder how he made that material." Ozpin wondered loudly.
"Remind me of what dad did with his semblance a couple of times." Lily muttered as everyone looked at her as she shrugged. "He managed to make himself some extremely dense yet flexible clothes with his semblance that other time. It even tanked a point-blank shot from Aunt Ruby's Crescent Rose when they were training for old times' sake, it made him resilient as hell since aura piercing attacks won't hurt him as much as it should."
"And how did he do it, Miss Belladonna?" Ironwood then spoke next as Lily scowled for a split second. "Tons of testing last time I've talked with him about it. And tones of times getting shot at with all the goddamn assassination attempts on him." Lily just sounded annoyed while everyone's eyes were wide open.
"Wait what?! You mean that Jade was the target of assassination?" Jaune spoke up rather loudly that it caused Lily to wince slightly.
"Yea, White Fang extremists have tried to have him dead multiple times ever since their coup failed. And uh, some Atlesian rich people that had absurd claims that dad intends to subvert its culture. He made many friends and enemies. Nevertheless, he still survived it all and got back at those who wanted him dead."
"Wow… that happened…" Coco mumbled.
"Yea no kidding but I think we're talked enough for now." Lily then pointed at the screen as it resumed.
The screen then darkens as Raynor could be seen leaving it, only for it to light up once again but this time, Raynor was currently in the Cantina and talking to his old buddy Tychus.
"How'd you become such good buddies with those freaky pro-toss? All I hear is they kill Terrans like you and me on sight!" Tychus could only question it as Raynor explained.
"Some of 'em would. But some others would fight to the death protectin' people like us." Raynor took a short pause as he continued. "I helped 'em defend their homeworld from the Zerg during the first war. When Kerrigan came back leading the Swarm, I helped 'em out again. They're real big on loyalty."
"Guess we know that the Protoss look kindly on those who help them. Then again, I'm not the one who had their home invaded by a bunch of giant insectoids." Torchwick mumbled.
"Yea, same with how you saved me all those years ago…" Neo smiled as Torchwick just chuckled and shook Neo's hair.
"So that's why she's loyal to him…" Weiss muttered.
"Yea. Helping someone in need in the past would encourage them to do the same to you in the future. Mostly everyone I've known so far has a good in them. Mostly." Lily just gave a small smile before it became a frown.
"Uh… Lily, what do you mean by mostly?" Ruby then asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing to be concerned about." Lily just waved her aunt off. But it's clear on everyone's face that they don't buy it at all as the screen resumes.
"Damn Jimmy, almost sounds like you respect 'em." Tychus sounded genuinely at awe as Raynor just continued onwards.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Tychus." Raynor stated it as the UNN news network starting to play above the both of them.
This is UNN news with Donny Vermillion - Donny Vermillion interviews Crown Prince Valerian - Zerg inflict heavy casualties on Dominion forces - Raynor's Raiders quiet - Actress Kyla Velassi nominated for best performance -
"Guess this is an interview coming right up?" Pyrrha wondered.
"But with the crown prince." Jaune added.
"Hopefully the prince is a better person than his dad." Ren was next.
"Oh oh! I believe so!" Nora stated her theory as fact.
"We have a very special guest today... crown prince Valerian! Thank you so much for joining us, Highness!" Kate appeared on screen as a young-looking man with blond hair tied into a pony tail, with what the audience could guess is a military uniform decorated with royal symbols.
This earned looks from everyone between Lily and Valerian on screen as their outfits were conveniently similar enough. A mixture of a military uniform with royal symbols. Lily was also looking at the screen and back at her outfit multiple times before she just shrugged.
"That has to be a coincidence. Right?" Mercury pointed out.
"Yes, it must be…" Cinder muttered.
"Speaking of which, did you make this outfit yourself Lily?" Blake then wondered as her 'daughter' responded back.
"Sort of? I played a part in how it looks but it was mostly you and dad that designed it and created it with some help."
"We had help?" Blake raised an eyebrow.
"Yea! Coco over here was hired by both of you to assist in coming up with the design for me." Lily then sticks her thumb out and pointed it at our resident fashionista who just looked genuinely surprised.
"...I helped out?" Coco was genuinely stunned at the revelation that an alternative of hers helped make Blake's alternative daughter's outfit.
"Yea, you became a Huntress and a designer in your spare time. Come to think about it. Hang on, I think your name is still on it somewhere..." Lily then took off her cloak and began looking through it as a tag hidden within it had Coco's signature on it. "Ah, there it is." She then showed it to everyone.
"Wow. That's awesome!" Ruby seemed all giddy about it. Perhaps if she has time, she should ask Coco for any clothing advice. If she needs any
[Besides, that we should resume.] QAI's voice could be heard as the screen resumed while Lily wore her cloak back.
"Thank you Kate, it's wonderful to be here." Valerian thanked Kate as she continued onwards with a question.
"Let me get right to the question on everyone's mind - is there anyone special in your life right now?"
"That question of all things?" Tai raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, it seems." Raven added in.
"Truth be told, Kate, I have had a crush on you for many years." Valerian proceeds to admit as Kate just gave a flattered laugh in response.
"Oh stop!"
Valerian then changed the topic. "But in all seriousness, with the Zerg invasion, there's little time for such things. I've been studying military tactics under General Warfield, and whatever spare time I have is devoted to statecraft."
"Why does this oddly seem familiar?" Weiss narrowed her eyes.
"I'm just going to say it here, Aunt Weiss. Your father's an asshole. And Mengsk is an asshole too, so I guess it seemed familiar to you." Lily bluntly stated as Weiss's mouth was wide open while at the same time, there were nods that Lily's right in a way.
"Language Miss Belladonna!" Glynda shouted as Lily shrunk. She had the tendency to get into trouble from the headmistress back from where she was from. It's not a good experience.
Valerian took a short pause before he continued. "It's my goal to be the best emperor our people could ask for. When the time comes, of course."
"Wonderful, now I've got two of 'em to worry about." Raynor sarcastically responded as he looked down upon his drink.
"I think he would be better than his dad." Ruby admitted.
"Ever the optimist huh Ruby?" Yang just smiled as she rubbed Ruby's head and messed up her hair.
"Hey! Stop that!" Ruby protested as Summer just giggled at her children's antics. Oh, how she missed it…
Raynor looked up before he made the decision to check on Tosh. Hopefully he hasn't done anything dangerous yet.
"Guess Jimmy wishes to check on Tosh. I wish I could get a grasp of what he's thinking." Qrow said it out loud.
"Then again, out of everyone, he's the only one who could immediately tell that Zeratul was on board the ship." Tai added in.
As he made his way up the stairs, Tosh turned to face where Raynor was as he greeted him. "Good to see ya', brotha'. I been - wait. I can see it in your eyes." Tosh paused as Raynor looked at him with suspicion.
"You've seen into the spirit world... The protoss. He gave you ... a crystal! And now you've been seein' what he's seen."
"And there he goes again with him knowing what Raynor's been through. Creepy as hell if I have to interact with anyone similar to him." Sun admitted as his buddies all agreed with him.
"Interesting how he phrases it as seeing into the spirit world, yes father?" Penny then nodded before turning to Pietro.
"True I wonder how his head works…"
Raynor however, doesn't appreciate Tosh 'reading' his mind as to what he had seen recently and retorted angrily. "That ain't nothing to do with you. Stay outta my head, Tosh!" Raynor made his demand as Tosh obliged.
"Have it your way. But you want to tread careful when you go lookin' into the beyond. If you need me, you know where I be."
Tosh assured Raynor who then turned around and left the Cantina as it darkens before it lights up again showing Raynor back on the Bridge talking to Matt.
"How long was I down in the lab, Matt?" Raynor could only ask as Matt says it all.
"It can't be that long right?" Ilia rubbed her chin.
"I don't believe that's the case, Penny helpfully pointed out that it's been 30 or so minutes in the last viewing?" Kali shocked her head.
"You've been gone for hours, sir. You've been in the lab all that time?" Matt then asked.
"Wait. HOURS!?" Everyone collectively shouted together.
"But we have only been watching it for less than an hour. How has he gone for that long? Robyn was the first to speak her mind out.
"That should be how it works right?" Penny tilted her head in confusion. It was then that QAI decided to intervene.
[Do note, Zeratul contacted Raynor at 04:14 in the morning, and Raynor "exited" the memory at 15:32. Knowing that Raynor heeded Zeratul's Warning and looked into the crystal one right after the other, including having conversations with the others after their previous mission, that's a difference of 11 hours and 18 minutes.]
"How?" Weiss was currently having a mental breakdown trying to process it all.
"This is mind boggling…" Ironwood rubbed his head.
"Yea, that's much to take in… Welp. As dad said occasionally in these kinds of situations, 'don't think too much about it. It's better that way.'" Lily gave a small piece of advice as nods could be seen.
"I used the Ihan crystal Zeratul gave me. I'd swear it only lasted a few minutes... So vivid... Zeratul's been searching for a Xel'Naga prophecy about the end of the universe. There's more, I just haven't got to it yet." Raynor explained though it was obvious that he looked exhausted after staring at that crystal for hours.
"Yes, it does feel like it lasted a few minutes and not hours." Winter muttered.
"If that's the case sir, I recommend you get some rest before you look at that Ihan crystal again. You don't look too good." Matt then offers a suggestion as Raynor just nodded while walking away."
"Thanks Matt." Raynor walks through the door as it closes behind him as the screen goes dark.
"Looks like we're going to see more protoss action later, I'm excited!" Ruby voices her thoughts as nods go around.
"Reminds me of that one time dad worked so hard that mom had to intervene and ask him to rest as he was about to pass out from exhaustion." Lily rubbed her chin before she spoke again. "Oh! And it also unlocked my semblance at the same time!"
"Speaking of Semblances, what's yours? We never asked about it." Blake gave a curious look at her daughter as she asked. Everyone else was also paying attention to the conversation. Especially Ozpin, his group and Cinder's group.
"It's called Second wind. As the name suggests, it allows me to restore vigour and aura for myself or anyone I touched. Though, I cannot use it for too long or else it would do the opposite and drain others of their aura and vigour. Or it could also hurt me directly if I'm not careful."
"That's a cool semblance Lily!" Ruby jumped in.
"Yea what she said! I wonder what it can do in a fight!" Yang just smiled as she slammed her fist together.
"I can see how helpful that can be in long term combat." Weiss admitted as Lily nodded.
"Perhaps later when we have time, we can have a spar. It would be a good way to see how much you all changed when you are older compared to now."
"That sounds great, I wouldn't mind sparring with you when we have the time." Pyrrha nodded as Nora joined in.
"Yea! Lemmi see how you fight later!"
[Affirmative, will inform master once he gets back that you all wish to use the combat room.] QAI responded as the screen lights up.
The screen lights up to show Raynor staring at the Ihan crystal and like before, Zeratul's voice could be heard once again. "I gathered allies and we made our way to the forbidden archive of Zhakul. There, a triumvirate of mystic Preservers awaited us. And in the shadows... something else was watching - and waiting."
"I can never get used to having a voice inside my head." Ghira stated how he felt about it as his dear wife comforted him.
"I'm sure it would be fine, after all it's just a show, yes?" Kali smiled at her husband who just grunted in response. It was then QAI spoke out.
[Some background information for you all. The planet Zeratul is heading to is called Zhakul. It is an ancient xel'naga planet discovered by protoss wayfarers after the Aeon of Strife. When the Conclave took power on Aiur, all texts and artifacts from the Aeon of Strife were sealed away on Zhakul and guarded by three holy preservers. It is these three preservers that Zeratul seeks.]
"Aeon of Strife?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow.
[The Aeon of Strife was a massive civil war amongst the protoss long ago, it earned the status of the bloodiest, most violent civil war ever recorded in galactic history, and lasted for a millennium.]
"EHHH?!" That was the reaction of pretty much everyone.
[Yes, explaining the Aeon of Strife would take too long. We shall continue onwards.]
The screen resumed as Raynor could be heard speaking. "Alright Zeratul, old buddy - you got your mysterious prophecy. Now let's see what your Preservers made of it." And like before, the crystal began to glow with a hollowing sound as the screen changed to show Zeratul's green eyes once again.
"My quest to decipher the prophecy took me to the forbidden archive world of Zhakul." Zeratul began his explanation as his ship could be seen heading a direct course towards Zhakul.
"Ohh… dark planet… Spooky…" Nora muttered.
The scene then changed to show three protoss which the audience guessed are the preservers seemingly, with their hand out, sealing away some sort of archive as numerous protoss symbols could be seen on the floor itself. Zeratul continued explaining. "Here, three immortal Preservers guarded ancient knowledge."
"These guys are the preservers?" Mercury rested his foot on the chairs in front of him.
"And what are they locking away?" Cinder then asked.
[Zhakul was once a Xel'naga world. And much of it was turned into an archive world. The preservers you see are as of yet, sealing away all texts and artifacts of the Xel'naga.]
"Why though?" Penny was next to ask.
[It was under the orders of the Conclave; they are a group of elders that lead the protoss empire at the time. After the fall of Aiur however, they were wiped out due to their pride and arrogance. This resulted in the fall of the protoss empire and the birth of the Daelaam, we will cover more of them in the future.] QAI explained as this got nods out of everyone.
"Guess the old farts got it coming to them." Torchwick snickered.
[You are not wrong Torchwick. Their hubris and arrogance had resulted in them having screwed priorities over a major threat.] QAI agreed.
He then took a short break before continuing on. "Only they could transcribe the prophetic fragments. I needed to seek them out quickly." And so, the screen darkens.
"I wonder what we will find over there." Velvet wondered.
"Hopefully some answers at least as to how it turns out." Coco then adds in.
"Now why do I have a bad feeling…" Raven muttered out as everyone looked at her.
"What do you mean mom?" Yang then asked with curiosity.
"Every single viewing, we had since the start had always resulted in conflict. I believe this would be no different. Though I wonder who would try to stop him…"
"The Zerg like the others?" Ruby so helpfully offered.
"Perhaps…" Ozpin joined in.
The screen lights up again to show Zeratul's ship flying over what looks like a deserted protoss base that had a gateway, a forge, a cybernetics core and several photon cannons. Zeratul appeared on screen as he made an observation.
"It is strangely silent here, yet these structures are intact. With power they would be functional."
"Something isn't right…" Ironwood muttered.
"What gives general?" Qrow sarcastically questioned. "The fact that the place is clearly desolate or that the buildings are clearly unpowered?" This earned Qrow a stare from Ironwood as the Void Seeker came to a stop.
As it did, several small machines with a single eye could be seen appearing on the field as they were brought in by the Void seeker. One of them could be seen heading towards the mineral field as it began powering up. As soon as it started. The probe released a beam of energy that soon became a black hole as a Nexus was in the process of being warped in.
"Aww! Look at those tiny machines! They're so small" Nora squealed.
"I assume that's the beacon transponder in action?" Glynda points out as QAI confirmed it.
[Correct.]
"What are those machines called?" Pietro was next.
[Those are Protoss probes; they are the main protoss workforce of expansion and military efforts.]
"I want one!" To nobody's surprise, Nora was the one to make such a request. And like before, the request was granted as a smaller probe which was the size of a football appeared out of thin air and began to float towards her while making beeping noises.
"YEAAA! Imma call you Probius! You and I will be best friends with Renny!" Nora cheered as she pulled the probe into a hug. Emerald could be seen with her hands on her face the whole time in the background.
Somewhere in the chaos wastes… A realm lord could feel the disturbance within the dimensions. As if someone broke the 4th wall again.
As soon as the Void Seeker dropped all the probes it was carrying, it then took off and flew off screen as it darkens.
"Uhh… where is the ship going?" Lily pointed out as all she got in return was a bunch of shrugs.
The screen lights up to show the Nexus up and running as probes could be seen zapping the mineral field to harvest them. At the same time a probe could be seen leaving the mineral line and dropped two beacon transponders at strategic locations before returning back to the mineral field.
"Guess Zeratul is not taking part in this mission." Velvet hummed as she bit into a carrot cake that was recommended to her.
More probes could be seen leaving the nexus as they began harvesting minerals while at the same time, the two beacon transponders had finished warping in as pylons then appeared in its place much to the audience's awe. And at the same time, as soon as the pylons were deployed, all the once disabled protoss structures reactivated.
"As I said before, those pylons have design flaws as without them, all structures are disabled. This, from what I guess, makes them a priority target to shut down the base itself." Pietro pointed out.
"True father but if powered, it means that they are connected to the psionic matrix." Penny added in after her father.
"Now that I thought about it, where are they making all these structures?" Yang then questioned. "Since they are all teleported in, that means that they had to be built somewhere else right?"
[Correct Miss Xiao Long. All protoss structures you see here are all made on the planet called Shakuras. The homeworld of the Dark Templars and where the survivors after the fall of Aiur fled to for refuge. Which they were initially welcoming to the idea at first.]
"Talk about irony right there." Qrow points out.
[This is true.]
"Wait, what do you mean, at first?" Robyn narrowed her eyes.
[While we will explore more in the future but in short, the Khalai demand for resources from their dark brothers which soon stirred tensions between the both of them. It was eventually decided by the Khalai that both sides would manage their own resources, a decision that led the Khalai to accuse the Nerazim of hoarding and withholding resources from the greater Daelaam.]
"I supposed that would always happen when there's more people than the place can support…" Lily muttered.
"Something similar happened in where you're from?" Ghira raised an eyebrow.
"...Yea? While I was still a kid, an event known as the Great Migration occurred. This saw a massive influx of both Faunus and Humans from all over the kingdoms migrating to Menagerie thanks to father's efforts to attract immigration to fill up open jobs. And the troubles all the Kingdoms had in the future."
"To say the least. It worked well. Too well…" Lily scratched her cheek.
"Overpopulation quickly became a problem for Kuo Kuana and Dad had to take some drastic actions to prevent a famine from happening, which included resettlement to new places to set up towns and villages as well as Militia to deal with the hostile locals. Then there was the case of food shortage that would have happened had he not spent a large sum of the government budget on importing food from the other kingdoms, and setting up more agricultural districts."
"I can understand your father's predicament Miss Belladonna," Ironwood then spoke up with a hint of sympathy. "Running both the Academy and Atlas itself can be incredibly tedious."
"Yea no kidding."
Zeratul then appeared on screen to give his speech. "The mighty spirits of the preservers are imprisoned close by - we must find them." At the same time, the gateway began to activate as a warp rift could be seen at where there was once a teal crystal on it.
"I wonder… How does that work?" Summer pointed out as QAI addressed her.
[What you see is a protoss structure called a gateway summoning a protoss warrior from light-years away, most likely from Shakuras. And the travel time is measured in mere seconds. So very soon, a protoss warrior will exit it.]
As soon as QAI finished his explanation to Summer, a Stalker could be seen exiting the gateway and standing by as more of its brethren could be seen being summoned by the gateway.
While that was going on and several more beacon transponders were dropped by a probe later, Zeratul popped in once again to make a point. "There are many abandoned structures in this place that we can make use of. They merely need their power restored by the construction of a few well-placed pylons."
"There are more abandoned structures? What's going on?" Neptune wondered.
"If the Preservers are so important, then why is everything abandoned? It just doesn't make any sense." Sun added in.
"Oh! I know! They all go to sleep!" Nora tossed her ideas into the list.
"Perhaps?" Jaune and his fellow teammates could only shrug.
"Or something worse must be happening right now." Pyrrha then offered her thoughts into it.
That proved to be the case when suddenly, a stalker entered Zeratul's base but something's wrong with it. First of all, it had a black and green colour scheme compared to the blue and white of stalkers or the gold and teal of the protoss structures. Secondly, it seemed more rigid and robotic in its movement, excluding the fact that it's a cyborg.
"That stalker looks different compared to the rest." Tai pointed out.
"Is it because of the colour? Because it's definitely the colour scheme of it." Qrow points out as Raven just rolled her eyes at her twin-brother.
"The Preservers you seek serve a higher power now, dark one." The corrupted stalker says as it began firing at the photon cannon which returned fire. Zeratul's stalkers also blinked in to support the photon cannon. This turned the tide extremely quickly as the corrupted stalker's plasma shields were brought down before it got destroyed quickly by Particle disruptors and Phase disruptors combined.
"Ok! What's going on? We all just saw protoss on protoss! That should not be happening at all." Lily points out.
"Yes. Something is definitely wrong here." Ozpin made his observation as Zeratul appeared on screen confused.
"Higher power? What could have corrupted these protoss so? Truly, something foul has taken hold of this sacred place." Zeratul came to that conclusion as more beacon transponders were deployed as his stalkers were given instructions by Zeratul.
"Higher power?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't sound good at all..." Yang pointed out
"Someone's controlling them…" Lily's eyes widened. She'd seen this kind of ability before in Vacuo before.
"Lily?" Kali gazed upon her granddaughter.
"The stalker's movement earlier was rigid and robotic. Even though they're cybernetic, I've seen semblances that can do that to people before. It bends and controls them like puppets on strings…"
"Is that so?" Cinder purred quietly.
"Yea… Scariest shit I've seen so far." Lily shivered as Ironwood and Ozpin glanced at each other before coming to the same conclusion and nodding.
"Stalkers explore the surrounding area and seek out the abandoned structures." Zeratul's voice could be heard as the stalkers from earlier as well as an additional one which was just recently summoned heeded him.
"As the dark one commands." One of the stalkers acknowledged before heading south to explore a bit. Time passed rather quickly as they came across a robotics facility guarded by a single corrupted stalker.
"Huh, that's one of the abandoned structures?" Summer wondered.
[Affirmative.]
"A Robotics Facility! This structure may prove useful to us." Zeratul observed that a stalker fight began as both sides began blinking in and dodging each other's shots. In fact, when one of Zeratul stalker's shields were low, it blinked back as the others continued trading shots with their corrupted kin.
As the corrupted stalker exploded after taking too much fire, a probe could be seen floating in before warping in a pylon and going back to the mineral fields. Pietro then came to a conclusion.
"Fascinating. Compared to the Terrans who need a SCV to continuously work on building their structures, the Protoss just need a probe to 'warp in' their buildings as they return back to mining or gathering minerals."
"Don't forget about the Zerg father!" Penny interjects. "I've come to the conclusion that for the Zerg, a drone needs to be expended to build their structures! Seeing that the drone mutates into the structure itself!"
"Excellent observation my daughter." Pietro smiled at his daughter as the screen continued on.
The stalkers then headed north of their base under another order from Zeratul. But as they were heading there, a ping could be heard as the screen zipped right back to the Robotics Facility which was now reactivated. This also resulted in a rather large walker could be seen warping into the field.
It was then that a protoss warrior in a tank full of solution could be seen on screen.
"I return to serve." He announced as Zeratul appeared on screen.
"My thanks, mighty one."
"Yeah! They got the big guns now!" Sun cheered as everyone in the theatre room except Lily, remembered how sturdy those machines of war were in the mission which had them present.
Said immortal began walking back into the base as the camera moved on to show the stalkers from earlier eliminating a corrupted Zealot, the stalkers then came along another abandoned structure as Zeratul calls it out.
"A Dark Shrine! Once power is restored it could be of great value to us."
"A dark shrine, eh? Is that where all their dark templars hide?" Mercury wondered out loud as QAI confirmed him.
[In a way, your correct. The Dark shrine you all see here serves as the training ground of dark templars and if reactivated, would allow Zeratul to employ the use of his brethren in battle.]
"If they are anything like Zeratul in battle, the help would be appreciated." Ironwood adds his thoughts to the matter.
A probe could be seen heading towards the Dark shrine and like before, it planted a beacon transponder to warp in a pylon near the Dark Shrine and began floating back into the base. Everyone then returned back to base when the screen panned away from Zeratul's base to show a chasm that had corrupted Protoss guarding it.
Several of the same structures the audience saw from earlier could be seen before they retracted into the ground. This caused a greenish bridge to form out of thin air as a stalker could be seen crossing it to join the others. Things quickly moved off to show a protoss shrine as something warped in with psionic energies erupting from it.
"INTRUDERS…" Its voice echoed as it fully made its appearance.
And when it did, however, it caused everyone's hair on their necks to stand. This thing… looked protoss, but everything else says otherwise as it floated in place. There's something clearly pulsing in its head and there's obvious traits of Zerg on it, part of its body was covered in some sort of armour carapace? Doesn't help that it has some sort of wispy tendrils on its back. In short, everything is wrong with that thing.
"What is that thing?!" Coco called out as everyone could feel the amount of power radiating out of that thing.
[The one responsible for corrupting the preserver guardians.]
"That's not what we meant! What is that monstrosity?!" Sun adds in with terror creeping up his back. However, QAI kept quiet as he let Zeratul do the talking.
"A... protoss and Zerg hybrid... Gods, an abomination! Who created this atrocity?" Zeratul expressed his horror as the hybrid floated in the middle of three crystals that so happened to have the preservers trapped in them.
"A Protoss Zerg hybrid?!" Everyone yelled out.
"Who would make such a thing?!"
"Kill it!"
"The preservers! They're in those crystals! They need help!" Ruby pointed at the crystals on screen as Summer tried to hold her daughter from overreacting.
"Come, my SLAVES. The time has come to give me your STRENGTH." The hybrid commanded as it began draining the preservers of their strength.
"He's draining them…" Ozpin's eyes widened.
"That… not good at all." Tai nodded.
"No shit." Torchwick snarked.
[Do note: That Zerg Protoss hybrid name is Maar.] QAI gave everyone some additional information.
"That thing has a name?!" Ilia yelled out.
"Yea, and its name is Maar apparently..." Lily muttered.
The camera then cuts back to the Dark Shrine as a pylon warp next to it and as soon as it does, two Dark Templars could then be seen warping into the field itself before one of them spoke up. "Zeratul! Truly fate has sent you here."
Zeratul then responded back. "Join me, brothers, and we shall cleanse this place of evil."
"Command us!" The other Dark Templar nodded as both of them could be seen heading back to base from the shadows.
[Due to the presence of cloaked units under Zeratul, we enabled the filters from the previous viewing. Though, we won't be able to see any cloaked or burrowed units from the enemy for story's sake in the future.] QAI explained as he got nods in return.
An alert ping could then be heard as the Maar appeared on screen. "This knowledge is FORBIDDEN."
"Brothers, be ready for combat! The abomination approaches!" One of the recently summoned Zealots yelled out as more units could be seen warping in from the gateways.
"Yea kill that thing please, it's uncanny as hell." Neo shivered as the Maar arrived onto Zeratul's base as the fight began.
Once Maar reached the base, it blinked in close and released a Psionic Shockwave that sent anything that was not pinned to the ground flying back as it began sending Psionic Shock attacks at the defenders. Zealots could be seen charging at Maar after getting back onto their feet as stalkers and an immortal could be seen blasting it.
Though Maar just lifted its hand out as the immortal began floating into the air in some sort of psionic prison as it dodged a Zealot strike. Though its shields were taking a pounding from the combined firing from the photon cannons as well as stalkers who were spread apart.
Dark Templars could also be seen striking Maar as they zip around it as they jumped in for a strike before leaving before Maar could hit them. Several of the audience could be heard cheering for Zeratul's men to slay this abomination. The effect that kept the immortal in the air wore down, before it came crashing down on the ground and making a small crater in the ground, right before it got back onto its feet and laid onto the hybrid with its Disruptor cannons.
It didn't take long with the Immortal assistance to shatter Maar's shields. This alone reinvigorated the protoss defenders as Zealots could be seen slashing Maar as Dark Templars could be aiming for its face. Though this wasn't without casualties as several Zealots fell to the Hybrid's wrath.
Stalkers and an immortal were also keeping up the pressure as Particle Disruptors and Phase Disruptors tore into its now exposed flesh. Though it was clear that it wasn't a fair fight for the protoss and that they're struggling to kill that thing off with how resistant it was to damage.
"Just how tough is Maar exactly?" Pietro wondered.
[The entire Remnant combined will be unable to hurt that thing. That's how dangerous and resilient it is.] This fact alone from QAI paled everyone hearing him. Including Cinder and her gang. To see such resilient monstrosity on screen reminded all of them at how small and simpler things were on Remnant compared to the wider universe.
With a final shot from the Immortal to the face, Maar goes down as it dissipates from taking too much damage. As for our dear audience? They were cheering for their victory from that thing.
"They did it!" Yang extended her fist outwards as every student cheered except for Lily to just stare on the screen with her eyes narrowed. "
This fight isn't over yet." She mumbled out.
"What do you mean?" Velvet wondered.
"If Maar was truly dead, shouldn't the corrupted protoss be free? Or the Preservers could be out of their crystal cages?" Lily pointed out as she was proven correct when Maar appeared on screen.
"I shall return." That was all it said as the camera pans to show Maar draining the Preservers of their power while its wounds began to rapidly heal. "Come, my SLAVES. The time has come to give me your STRENGTH." Maar uttered again.
"Are you kidding me? It's not dead after getting its face blown off?" Sun muttered.
"I think Zeratul needs to free the imprisoned Preservers if he wishes to kill off Maar for good." Jaune came to that conclusion as he was proven right.
"The hybrid is draining the preservers to survive! I must free them before it is too late!" Zeratul came to the conclusion as the base was immediately attacked by a wave of corrupted protoss.
"Looks like Maar's sending the Guardians after Zeratul…" Ironwood came to the conclusion as the fight between those under Zeratul, and those corrupted by Maar.
Zealots on both sides could be seen charging and clashing against each other as stalkers could be seen exchanging fire on each other. Zeratul's Dark Templars could be seen dashing throughout the skirmish and focusing their attacks on the corrupted stalkers. A second Immortal could be seen reinforcing the fight as they blow chunks into the stalker lines before finally eliminating them all.
Though their reprieve was short lived as Maar had just finished healing and made his move. "Your lives are FORFEIT. Surrender to DESPAIR." Maar demanded as it made its way to Zeratul's base.
"Talk about being hammy with its threats." Lily muttered as Blake gave her a quizzed look. Lily just shrugs. "I'll tell you later mom."
"We embrace the glory of battle! Let us all face that abomination as one!" A Zealot roared out as Maar approached the base once again but this time, they were ready for them. Though it was clear to everyone that Maar was noticeably bigger than last time.
"Is it me or did that thing grow bigger?" Yang pondered before asking.
"Yup. It definitely did." Ruby deadpanned. Clearly unhappy with seeing that… Thing.
"QAI?" Glynda raised an eyebrow.
[With Maar actively feeding on the preservers' energies every time it regenerates, Maar grows stronger and larger every time Zeratul's warriors force it to retreat. Freeing the Preservers is the only way to kill this abomination.] QAI stated it as most of the audience could only grimace at what QAI had just said.
The battle between Maar and the protoss defenders happened once again only this time, Maar used its psionic abilities to pick up all the Zealots and Dark Templars near it into the air. Right before it blinks right on top of the stalkers who blink away from it while the Immortals take the brunt of the damage.
As both sides traded fire on each other, Maar slashed one of the Zealots through the chest before grabbing another and, with an agonising scream coming from the Zealot. Maar crushed his skull with the audience cringing at such a brutal display before throwing the now dead Zealot aside as his corpse began to disintegrate.
"Ugh…That's unnecessarily brutal." Jaune muttered as his face was slightly green.
"I concur." Pyrrha agreed as she had never witnessed someone having their skulls crushed like that.
In the end, Maar was repealed once again as it uttered. "Your doom is only delayed." Its voice echoed as more corrupted guardians came to attack Zeratul's base and like before, they were repelled. With some time to spare, Zeratul ordered his warriors.
"Brothers! With the abomination recovering, push forward! We must free the preservers!" Zeratul ordered his men as all of them left the base as a probe could be seen building photon cannons to help defend the base while the main army was away. As they made their way, Zeratul's warriors encountered one of the Guardians outposts with their black and green colour scheme.
Zeratul's warriors, with the orders from himself, pushed forward before they clashed with the corrupted Zhakul Guardians. Both sides exchanged fire against one another as Zealots could be seen charging into the fray and clashed. They were doing decently well and were pushing in until Maar made his announcement that it's basically done healing.
"Some SECRETS must remain HIDDEN." Maar hammed it out as Zeratul's forces could be seen making a tactical retreat back to base, Zealots could be seen disengaging as Stalkers blinked away with the Immortals following the main army close by.
"Ok, Maar heals fast. Too fast for my liking." Sun stated his thoughts as everyone agreed. The rate in which Maar recovers is much faster than expected. Combined with the assaults from the corrupted guardians that followed after, gives very little time for Zeratul's forces to push before Maar returns.
"Yea, there's no time to make any progress before Maar comes back." Fox agreed.
"If that's the case, the most viable tactic is to intercept Maar and then push forward while leaving the base defences to deal with the guardians." Ironwood came to a conclusion.
"Yes, and the corrupted guardians do not appear to possess any detection when assaulting the base. So, if that's the case, Dark Templars could be utilised to be base defenders with their stealth." Ozpin came to the conclusion as well.
Maar made its return much bigger than before, but this time, it tried a different tactic and began blinking all over the place while entrapping many stalkers and zealots in Graviton Prison. It worked much better than before as Maar caught several stalkers out of position and they were quickly destroyed via unleashing Psionic shockwaves and the occasional clawing that goes right through the shields.
Though, due to overwhelming fire, Maar was quickly overwhelmed and was sent back to regenerate as Zeratul took the opportunity to push onwards as Maar uttered. "You cannot destroy me. I shall rise again."
"By Ohm, why won't he just shut up already. I'm getting sick of hearing him talk." Neo grumbled.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but, I have to agree with the midget. Is there a mute button we could use on Maar?" Yang reluctantly agreed before asking QAI only to be interrupted by Neo.
"Midget? Seriously? That's what you're calling me, you dumb blond bimbo? Is that the best you got?" She countered as Yang's hair caught fire as her eyes turned from iliac to red.
"What did you say to me, you little shit?"
Everyone was about to stop both Neo and Yang from verbally fighting each other again when QAI stepped in. [No fighting in the theatre room, both of you right this instant. Leave your animosity for each other out of here or else I would be forced to pacify the both of you.]
This got grumblings from both girls as the screen resumed.
Zeratul's forces continue onwards after defeating Maar and manage to wipe out a Zhakul Guardian outpost that happens to have the last abandoned building in sight. A templar archive could be seen not too far away as a probe could be seen moving in from the base.
Zeratul then appeared on screen. "This templar archive lies abandoned!" He came to that conclusion.
"Templar archives? Another important structure?" Robyn raised an eyebrow.
[Yes. The Templar archive allows Zeratul to gain access to High Templars which you all have seen in the previous missions. While it wasn't shown in that one, High Templars also possess a powerful ability to turn the opponent's own energy against them called feedback. In short, High Templars can grasp the energy currents present in beings or machines, and drain them through a violent chain reaction. This backlash may cause grievous wounds to living beings, or massive structural damage to machines. If the target happens to bristle with energy, the powerful psionic Feedback may destroy it outright.] QAI explained.
"If that's the case, what would happen if they were to use feedback on us?" Pietro pondered.
[While I do not have an exact answer as it's untested on Huntsman or Huntresses, with a 71.563% chance that it works the same way and drains all of your aura. On machines and androids however, it has the potential to destroy them all with it.]
"That… Sounds pretty bad and terrifying." Emerald admitted.
This however, was interrupted by Maar who once again made his appearance.
"CEASE your foolish struggle. There is no HOPE." Maar demanded as he was intercepted almost immediately by numerous Zealots, stalkers and immortals and taken out without having time to deal any serious damage to them since Maar got focused down despite the power boost. This understandably made Maar look more like a nuisance at this point judging by how fast Zeratul's warriors finished him off.
(Note: Getting tired of repeating Maar's dialogues over here.)
"Well, that was fast." Weiss admitted.
"And rather efficient with how his stalkers blink back when Maar attacks them"
"That and the Immortals basically laying it down upon it, General Schnee." Lily unconsciously blurts it out before her eyes widen at her accidental reveal. "Whoops…"
"General Schnee? What do you mean by Lily Belladonna?" Winter raised an eyebrow at Lily as everyone now looked at her with curiosity. Especially Ozpin and the general himself, Ironwood."
"Some circumstances happened in the past that resulted in Ironwood's resignation." Lily answered vaguely to no avail.
"But when we first met, you called Ironwood a tyrant Lily." Blake pointed out as Lily could only curse herself internally.
"Yea… Some stuff happened that made Ironwood begin to abuse his power and position, thus he had to be replaced by Winter. I think he shot one of the council members of Altas. Or at least, that's what they say." Lily could only mumble out as everyone went wide eyed. Ironwood shooting a council member of Atlas? What happened to drive him to do that?
[We are getting distracted. Let us resume.]
The probe that was seen before could be seen warping in several structures onto the field as the screen panned towards the Templar archives as the pylon had just finished warping in. When power returned to the Templar archives, a High Templar could be seen warping into the battlefield as he spoke out after being freed.
"Our liberation is at hand!" He cried out with joy
"Ready yourself, noble warrior. We confront a terrible evil this day." Zeratul explained the situation.
"Command us!" That was all the high templar said as he then joined up with the rest of Zeratul's forces. Before confronting Maar again. But at this point, Maar was humongous as it towers over everyone as Maar blinks into the fight only to get feedbacked by the High Templar.
Maar screamed in absolute agony as the very energy used to fuel its abilities were turned against it. In fact, it was potent enough and served as an excellent distraction that it allowed for everyone to have an easier time breaking Maar's shield.
"That sounds like it hurts…" Coco could only wince as everyone recoiled back when they heard Maar screaming in agony.
[It does. Imagine having the strength to do feats like what Maar did. Now have those energies turn on you and rip you apart from the inside. And with Maar leeching off the Preservers, it has a lot of energy in its system which the High Templar use against it.]
Understandably, Maar was furious at the prospect of getting feedback as Maar blinked towards the High Templar only for a Zealot to leapt onto its face. This allowed the High Templar to float away while Psi Blast it. Like every single time at this point that the author is getting sick of it, Maar retreated after getting his ass whooped hard.
Zeratul's Warriors then began to push towards a bridge only to see a several stalkers and a fuck off void ray guarding it. To say the least, there was a ton of dodging and blinking involved in an attempt to destroy the void ray in the skies, but they did it and disabled the Void ray with the assistance of the High Templars casting a psionic storm on the ship itself.
"Well that happened. Never though in my life would I see them trying to pick a fight with those ships without sufficient support, yet here we are." Qrow admitted as the Void ray's lights could be seen fading. Zeratul's warriors stared at it before they moved on, leaving the Void Ray cold in the air.
(Author's note here. Logically, there's no fucking way Zeratul and his warriors can push into the Guardians base which had Void Rays. Which lore wise, are approximately 600 meters in length and 280 meters tall. So, I'm cutting some parts of the mission itself such as the abundance of Void Rays and carriers on Brutal. Just a heads up because that's bullshit.)
"Yeeep…" Tai nodded as they all watched as Zeratul and his warriors pushed deep into the base.
The base itself clearly was fortified as it had photon cannons around as well as the presence of Immortals and Archons. Things got even more complicated when Maar had just recovered and like before, announced its presence that it was on the move.
"OBLIVION comes. NONE shall stand." Maar hammed it out as what resulted could be considered a blood bath on both sides.
"Big fight coming?" Nora wondered out as Probius just beeps and nods at her.
"And I think this is going to get messy fast." Pyrrha came to a conclusion as Jaune agreed.
"Yea… not looking forward to it."
Zeratul's forces clashed against Maar and the corrupted Guardians. The Battle rages on as Stalkers could be seen blinking back or away when their shields broke as Immortals could be seen blasting anything that gets close as well as tanking shots which were meant for the fragile stalkers.
Zealots could be seen charging into glorious battle with no fear as Dark Templars could be seen striking from the shadows and freeing many of their corrupted brethren from the abomination's control. It was a tough battle that resulted in many deaths. But the battle slowly turned to Zeratul's favour as the High Templars he had freed earlier played an important role in the battle.
Psionic storms were unleashed on largely packed enemy forces during the fight while feedback was used on other corrupted High Templars and on Maar again, and like before severely hurting it in the process. Seeing the situation becoming dire, several High Templars did something none of the audience expected to see.
Some of them channelled their psionic powers in their hands before seemingly dissipating into pure psionic energies as their very essence combined into a ball of as it grew larger and larger. In fact, some of them could be heard uttering. "Two become one!"
"Are they doing what I think they are doing?" Ruby's eyes were wide open as her partner confirmed it.
"Yes, it appears that we're watching the formation of an archon."
"Heroic sacrifice is required it seems." Blake added.
"Big shiny ball with a face is back! Zap them all!" Nora proceeded to yell out as Ren shook his head. Also, Probius was making noises as if it agrees with Nora.
It only took several seconds for the archons to fully complete their merger and unleashed their rage upon Maar and utterly obliterating the abomination before assisting the rest of the forces as they fought them off.
"I'm starting to see how those archon fellas are dangerous." Torchwick admitted.
"Yea, and seeing how these two Templars have to sacrifice themselves to have a trump card in the fight." Neo came to a conclusion as well.
As Maar was sent back to regenerate, Zeratul's army all pushed forward only to encounter 3 crystals that happened to have the preservers trapped within. "The spirits of the Preservers are entombed within! We must break them open immediately!" Zeratul gave his orders as all of them charged to dismantle the crystals.
"As you command." A stalker could be heard responding back as all of them blinked forward and opened fire on the crystals as Maar was unable to do anything but stare at them with hatred.
[Note,] QAI suddenly spoke. [Due to Maar being in the process of recovering, it's unable to do anything to stop them from breaking the preservers free.]
"Welp, good. Screw that thing." Neptune let his thoughts out as pretty much everyone agreed with him.
As the final crystal was destroyed and the preserver within freed, Maar died for good as the powers once used to sustain itself were gone. And while it dissipated, Maar let out a final curse upon them all.
As that was going on, all the preservers could be seen walking towards each other as Zeratul's forces disbanded and returned back to base. At the same time, Zeratul could be seen walking towards the preservers as one of them spoke up.
"We have seen the prophetic fragments in your mind, Zeratul. We will make of them what we can." The preserver explained while at the same time, the archive behind them activates and unsealed itself.
"Time to get some answers as to the prophecy." Ozpin hummed as he took a sip.
"Hopefully it's something that is worth the risk." Qrow added in.
The three preservers then raised their hands out as the screen darkened before showing a vision of space as well as two planets could be seen among the glistening stars in the background. That was followed by one of the preservers speaking. "The Cycle shall draw to its end. The Xel'Naga who forged the stars will transcend their creation…"
"A vision of sorts?" Coco wondered as QAI confirmed it.
[Correct.]
"Cycles shall draw to its end. Again, with the mention of a cycle…" Ozpin narrowed his eyes with his hand on his chin.
"But what cycles are they talking about is the question." Glynda joins in.
"Yet, the Fallen One shall remain…" Another preserver joined in as an explosion could be seen in space before everything in sight was plunged into darkness.
"Fallen one?" Ruby could only wonder out as everyone could only shrug.
"I think one of the Xel'Naga went rogue or something… After all, who gets the title of 'Fallen One?'" Lily came to a conclusion as Blake looked at her daughter.
"Are you sure about that Lily?"
"It's... just a theory…" Lily then slowly shakes her head as the screen resumes.
"Destined to cover the Void in shadow…" Another preserver spoke out as it was quickly followed by two glowing eyes appearing out of the darkness and stared directly at the audience.
"So, something, or someone wants to punch the galaxy into darkness? Why though?" Neptune glanced at his partner who just shrugged.
"Whoever it is, this scream of bad news and needs to be addressed. Which I'm sure we would see happening."
"Spooky red eye thing…" Nora softly spoke out as everyone could feel a chill going up their spines the longer the red eyes on the screen continued to stare at them.
"It begins with the Great Hungerer."
"Great Hungerer?" Everyone could only be curious as to who is the Great Hungerer.
The screen then turns pitch black as the preserver finishes it. "It ends... in utter darkness."
"In utter darkness. Sounds like a bad horror scene or something." Yang joked as chuckles could be heard.
The scene lights up to show Zeratul and the preservers again. "A Greater Hungerer... could it refer to the Zerg Overmind? It has a part to play in this prophecy?" Zeratul wondered to himself as he continued.
"Wait the Overmind is part of it? How again? Didn't it die to who's that guy again?" Jaune wondered as Ren helped him out.
"Tassadar."
"Right, thanks Ren. How is it important since it's already dead?"
"So many questions and so few answers, huh uncle Jaune?" Lily gave a smirk.
"Uncle… Huh. Never thought someone older than me would call me uncle." Jaune sheepishly admitted.
"Get used to it." Blake deadpanned as Pyrrha and the others could be heard giggling in the background.
"I must seek out the Overmind's final resting place. Our ancient homeworld... of Aiur." And with that, Zeratul turned around and walked off as the screen darkens.
"Basically, in their next mission, Zeratul will head to their homeworld of Aiur?" Ruby asked as her mother responded to her question.
"That appears so my dear."
"But how would that work? That thing has been dead for years already, is there anything left of it?" Weiss pointed out as her older sister joined in.
"Perhaps we shall see it in the next viewing sister."
"I'm still curious. But I can't help but fear that we're stepping into something we shouldn't know…" Velvet admitted as Coco assured her.
"Don't worry about that Velvet. I'm sure whatever it is, it will be fine."
[That is all for now. You may all leave the theatres for a break. Master is approaching back but… Something is wrong with him…]
"Is RGQC alright QAI?" Lily asked.
[Yes… But he's tainted.]
"Tainted?" Everyone could only wonder what QAI meant but were interrupted when RGQC could be heard.
"What QAI meant is that I've spent too long in the Realms of Chaos and its power is starting to affect me. But my job is done and now I'm back." RGQC appeared once again through the portal but something's wrong with him. Besides the fact that his apparel looked torn and worn down, his skin seemed paler than usual as well as black veins could be seen all over his exposed parts of his body and could be seen emerging out near his eyes like a spider's web.
Then there's the fact that his eyes were glowing bright orange as well as red runes that screamed trouble seemed to cover his entire body. RGQC was also noticeably twitching uncontrollably with a rather large book in his hand that glowed blue.
[Master are you alright?] QAI could only state its concern as everyone felt a shivered up their spines at the state of the realm lord.
"Not really." RGQC admitted as he stared at the book in his hand. "I've been constantly hearing voices in my head for years now, with one of them tempting me with all I 'desire'. My body aches after slaying so many Daemons that immediately attacked me upon sight, and dealing with the corruption affecting my body, while also getting into a fight against Daniel the Daemon in a one-to-one combat."
"Daniel?" Ilia raised a curious eyebrow."
"Yes. Daniel the Daemon prince. I called him that, much to his irritation." RGQC let out a mischievous snigger. "Anyways, I got a report to make and a new item to research on after I purify myself. QAI, would you mind taking this to my collection room for study?" RGQC then held the book one handed before letting it go as it began to float into the ceiling before disappearing.
[Of course, master. I've also taken the time to prepare the purification room for you.]
"Excellent." RGQC smiled. "Besides that, it's been a while since I saw ya. But I got issues to deal with first. So go all take a break while I go handle my own problems, kay?" RGQC made a request as everyone nodded back at him as they left the theatre room. Leaving RGQC all alone.
"QAI?"
[Yes master?]
"After I handle what I need to do, I wish to have a match with you, it's been a while since I have a game with you, QAI."
[Affirmative Master. I will prepare an 81 by 81-kilometre-long terrain map for our match like before.]
"Good. That is all." And with that, RGQC vanished into thin air.
And so, we are done with the mission, A sinister Turn. I admit, for those asking, I have plans to complete the protoss side campaign before we return back to our regular missions. That means our dear guest will see the alternative end of the galaxy and let them marvel at the Protoss last stand against Amon. I can't wait to get working on that in the future.
Besides that, how do you feel about this chapter so far? Liked how it's going and stuff? I've been thinking about some stuff which includes doing a redux of my first story, which I clearly abandoned due to how bad it looks right now compared to my more recent stories. It's literally a cut and paste story with very little change to the canon story.
In fact, me looking through it makes me cringe at how it could have been better had I not been new to the world of fanfiction writing.
So, I want some of your thoughts on the matter. Though with me already busy with this and two others. I want your thoughts on it before I do anything else. Also, just a reminder, do let me know your thoughts on me setting up a account so that you guys can support me or something.
But anyways, with my other works, if you like it and want to see more of it in the future, favourite and follow this work of mine. If you wish to say anything to me, good or bad. Leave a review. I will answer it if I feel it is relevant or I want to address it. Or just PM me, whatever suits you.
With that, I will see you guys in the next chapter soon.
RGQC out!