Chapter 23: Looming Conflict
The heavy door shut with a thud as Stukov entered the austere and modest office of his superior in the UED's fortress on Char. In the corner of the room, an antique device played music, a somber tune. Admiral Dugalle was seated at a plain desk, and he looked up and watched Stukov approach.
"Alexei, the recent debacle is threatening to undermine our mission. I understand your decisions, but we now have a very serious problem." Dugalle's face was unusually stony as he addressed his old friend. "Already there have been murmurs about our involvement with the zerg spreading among the colonies, though we have been trying to counter with our own propaganda."
Stukov gave a grim nod. "I suspect that Mengsk may be trying to foment discontent against us. The news wouldn't be spreading so quickly otherwise."
"I felt that using the zerg in our operation was distasteful, though these were the orders given to us. And now they have shown themselves to be unreliable as well." Dugalle tapped his finger on the desk. "Tell me Alexei, what do you plan on doing about this? This is your project."
"I assure you Gerard, I am working toward a solution," Stukov said. "We are in an unexpected situation. We don't have a single Overmind to exert control over to command the cerebrates, and we do not have enough psychics to try to control each and every cerebrate. Though we might not be able to even if we did have enough psychics, since we would need to fight our way through their personal forces in order to subdue and drug them. If any were to kill themselves rather than be captured in such a manner, it would be a further loss to us."
"I am not hearing you provide a solution," Dugalle said.
"We are working on an alternative manner to control them," Stukov replied. "They have been making progress and I will be hearing from them soon."
Dugalle nodded. "Then we had best hope these plans are successful. There are still more enemies we must address. The protoss are proving to be a thorn in our side. It was initially our plan to deal with them after bringing the terran colonies under our control, but we must ensure they cannot pose a threat to our plans."
"I understand." Stukov saluted before turning around and exiting the room.
He walked down the corridor to his own office where he sat down in his chair and let out a sigh. Stukov poured a small cup of vodka and downed it in a single gulp. For a few minutes he simply sat there, letting the worry he had been keeping inside drain out. After taking a look at his schedule, he rose from his seat and began walking to the area of the fortress set aside for the researchers.
Upon arriving at the lab, Stukov had Duran pulled aside to speak with privately.
"Lieutenant Duran, I was told that you might have a solution for us?" Stukov asked.
"Yes, vice admiral. I have been working on a device that can replicate the signals the zerg use to communicate," Duran said. "The zerg's coordination is their greatest strength, but also their greatest weakness as seen by the effectiveness of the Psi Disruptor. With this device, we can emulate the zerg Overmind to a degree, allowing us to control all of the cerebrates."
"Good work, Duran. It seems your experience conducting zerg research for the Confederacy has proven useful. None of my other scientists have managed to make as much progress as you have. Your understanding of the zerg truly exceeds theirs." Stukov paused for a moment as he considered how odd it was that this man from the colonies had proven more effective than the brightest minds of Earth.
"You honor me with your praise," Duran said with a smile. "I endeavor to serve to the best of my ability."
"When will this be ready?" Stukov asked.
"I should be able to have a working prototype of the hive mind emulator done soon, but it remains to be tested," Duran said.
Stukov nodded. "Do you think this will allow us to control the zerg which are currently still opposing us?"
"That would be rather difficult," Duran replied. "The range is rather small and the power of the signal may be too weak to subjugate the zerg commanders if they have a strong enough will. I do not know exactly how effective the device will be in practice."
"This is concerning," Stukov said. "Make sure to work on improving the effectiveness of the devices. We will need them ready soon. Your progress will be monitored."
"Of course, vice admiral." Duran gave a brief nod with his head.
The ashy skies of Char had become familiar, Daggoth mused to himself. The hot and punishing environment had been where the zerg stayed for several years. But it was but a brief period in their history and Daggoth recalled far more worlds that the zerg had visited in their journey across the galaxy. It was the Overmind that had led the zerg through that journey, and Daggoth was there almost since the beginning, being one of the first generation.
He had no greater joy than the time he had lived during those times, faithfully serving the Overmind as he sought to bring the swarm toward perfection. But it was this blasted place, the area of space the terrans named the Koprulu Sector, which had brought an end to it all. Without the Overmind, Daggoth knew that he was missing a piece of itself, its guiding light. The swarm was but a mere shadow of its former self.
It felt so alone now, with so many of its fellow cerebrates now gone. Araq and Gorn dead on Aiur. Zasz, dead at the hands of the protoss because of Kerrigan's idiocy. That was something that he had never forgiven her for. And Kaloth, who had been the most promising of the new generation. It thought differently from the others and his ability and skill were second to none; the Overmind had truly succeeded well there.
Alas, the cerebrate had also been imparted with a flaw. It was almost like a human in the emotions it had. His attachment to Kerrigan led him to betray the swarm and strike down the new Overmind that Daggoth had endeavored so much to raise. Just thinking about the creature that had dared to claim ownership over the zerg made him stew in rage. For just this once, Daggoth doubted the judgment of the Overmind in bringing her into the swarm, as heretical as such a thought was.
Kaloth had spun a narrative about how the zerg were stronger by being able to work with outsiders. What a farce. Daggoth had seen the results of this. The zerg on Char subjugated, forced to serve these terrans. Meanwhile, Kerrigan was off frolicking with others trying to curry favor with them. It was sickening to watch. It had been abundantly clear to him that Kerrigan would treat the zerg as nothing more than her own personal attack dog, an instrument for her whims. It was perhaps more humiliating than serving these terrans from Earth. At least they had a greater purpose for which they were fighting for.
It grated on him to see the zerg reduced to such a state. He had no choice but to submit for survival, but one day he will make sure this state of affairs is overturned. Daggoth knew that the terrans had never trusted him, and after he had intervened to force them to bring back the cerebrate that was sent to Krydon, the efforts of the terrans to control him would be redoubled. But he would be ready for them when the time comes.
He would restore the zerg to their height. Though the past could never be restored, he would bring about a new age of their ascension to perfection.
For just a moment, Artanis could pretend that he was once again standing in one of the great cities of Aiur. But these golden spires were not nearly as grand nor as resplendent as the cities that the zerg had laid waste to. The city that had sprung up around the warp gate was only a pale imitation of what had once been on Aiur. However, it was still a beacon of hope for the future.
As Artanis walked down the street, he was greeted by a khalai protoss who bowed his head in respect.
"Honored Praetor, I wish to express my admiration for your tremendous valor and dedication toward protecting us. It is thanks to you that I have been able to see Aiur once more. You are the pride of our race."
Artanis nodded his head. "I will endeavor to do all that I can to ensure that our homeworld is secure. One day, we shall reclaim the glory we once had."
As Artanis continued walking, he saw the many builders working on constructing new structures, while on the other side he saw craftsmen building new machines. The city was a far cry from back when it was only a military encampment. Many of the refugees on Shakuras had moved back to resettle here.
Artanis had been leery about allowing civilians back into a potentially dangerous area and he had presented those concerns to the leadership. However, since there had not been any serious attacks in quite a long time and the situation was completely under control, the risk was seen as minimal. Furthermore, many of the khalai refugees did not wish to stay on Shakuras. Tensions were growing because the refugees were taking up the land of the native dark templar and so a return to Aiur was seen as the best way to stabilize the situation. He just hoped this wouldn't backfire on them.
Still, he was glad to see everyone's positive attitude toward the situation. It bolstered his spirits and reminded him of why he fought. More and more outposts were being built in the wilderness as the feral zerg were pushed further back, securing more territory to be reclaimed. Being able to once again make Aiur the home of the protoss was no longer seeming to be as daunting of a task.
As he arrived in the center of the city, he saw Zeratul emerge to meet him.
"Artanis, the leadership on Shakuras has requested for us to give an accounting of our recent actions."
"What is their purpose with this?" Artanis seemed somewhat taken aback.
"Perhaps they are displeased with the unorthodox actions we have taken," Zeratul said.
"Then I shall explain that our actions were just." Artanis walked to the conference room to wait to be contacted.
It was Aldaris and Raszagal who were leading the questioning.
"Artanis, we have heard of your excursion on a terran colony," Aldaris said. "Such acts were reckless and irresponsible, costing many protoss lives and causing unnecessary provocation to the terrans of Earth."
"It was the honorable course of action for us to repay the terran James Raynor for the aid which he has rendered to us," Artanis said. "He stood with us on Aiur to fight the Overmind itself and has continued to aid us with no benefit to himself. It is only right for us, the firstborn, to do our duty in protecting those who cannot defend themselves from the zerg."
"Yet you fought more than just zerg." Aldaris's visage remained stern.
"We did not anticipate that the UED would intervene directly," Artanis admitted. "It was thought that they would simply let the zerg under their control fight. But as a result, they have exposed their duplicity."
"Your short sightedness-" Aldaris was cut off before he could finish.
Raszagal raised her hand. "Your actions were honorable. We have given you command over the fleet with discretion for how it will be used. As of now, I see nothing improper with what you have done. So long as you allow yourself to be guided by virtue, you will not stray from the right course."
Artanis bowed. "Thank you for your encouraging words, Matriarch."
Aldaris was still displeased. "You must remember that your duty is still to Aiur. Our focus must remain on securing our homeworld, not engaging in expeditions in terran space."
"I believe in serving Aiur, and my commitment will not waver," Artanis declared. "Everything I have done, I have done for the good of our race. And I believe that the expedition aided in that purpose. Our swift victory allowed for Raynor and his forces to continue aiding us here on Aiur, whereas otherwise they may have been destroyed by the UED. And weakening the UED's position with the terrans helps to reduce their threat. We cannot wait for them to unite the terran colonies before turning to attack us."
"We shall see about this," Aldaris said.
"You may now leave Artanis." Raszagal dismissed him and the meeting was over.
Artanis was not angry with Aldaris for his statements. The situation on Shakuras was volatile and the Judicator was under a lot of pressure having to balance competing interests. The traditionalists detested that they had to live with the dark templar and longed to return to Aiur. Meanwhile, the dark templar still detested Aldaris for his role in the persecutions of the past. Try as he might, Aldaris was barely able to keep the situation under control.
The simplest way to resolve the conundrum was to return all of the refugees to Aiur, but that was not yet viable. Too much of the planet was still infested with zerg and the farther from the zone around the warp gate, the more dangerous it became. Artanis knew that the Judicator was simply frustrated by the pace of progress and thus reacted negatively to what he saw as a distraction from their mission.
While Artanis was managing the fight against outside enemies, the effort to make sure society didn't break down at the seams was even more important. After all, without the protoss who produce the weapons and ships, there would be no fleet. It was important for everyone to do their part, and he knew that he was just one of the many working to rebuild their civilization.
Though this was a dark time for the protoss, there was still hope for a brighter future, a new age even greater than before. Artanis felt joyful as he walked outside and saw a human female, one of Raynor's soldiers, talking with one of the protoss craftsmen. Perhaps they were discussing the different design philosophies of terrans and protoss, seeking to meld technologies together. Or perhaps they were simply talking about more mundane matters and just getting to know each other.
For too long, the protoss had been stuck with the ways of the past, isolated from the outside and unwilling to change. But now, they were forced to open up, to interact with the other intelligent races. The newer generations may grow up to be more curious about other races and new ideas. Already, the rift with the dark templar was beginning to heal, though the peace was fragile. Still, hope filled his heart as Artanis thought of these things.