A few minutes after leaving the Judicator Assembly, Lyra’s nerves began to calm down as she walked beside Tassadar. Her sense of curiosity soon returned and so began the questions: “So...what are the Protoss?” she asked.
Tassadar chuckled, as much as a race of voiceless, psychic communicators could. “Translated: Protoss means ‘Firstborn’ in our language. It means that we were the first race to come into being in the universe. Our race predates eons, likely far longer than your race has existed. We are a race of warriors who seek honor through combat. We maintain a psionic link to one another thanks to the khaydarin crystals that we wield which we collectively refer to as the Khala. This link was made possible by the Xel’naga; a race of mysterious beings that forged the stars before uplifting our people to become the civilization that you see today. Our race is highly religious, worshiping the beings and the gifts that they bestowed upon us. I would advise caution with your words when you are around those who are not myself or my students as many are not so forgiving as we.”
Lyra nodded noteing to be careful around other Protoss from now on. She did not fully understand much of what Tassadar said about their race, but she learned that they revere these ‘Xel’naga’ for nurturing their race in its early days.
Another thing that Tassadar mentioned is the caste system in place to maintain order: The Khalai are the workers and artisans, the Templar are the warriors and the Judicators are the lawmakers and politicians that run their civilization, while the Conclave are the elder rulers that govern the Judicators.
Tassadar also mentioned a tribe of Protoss that have willfully severed themselves from the Khala to live by their own will. These Protoss were branded as heretics for such an act and became known as the Nerazim, also known as Dark Templar. The Dark Templar were exiled from Aiur a long time ago and it is unknown where they have resettled.
Their conversation was brought to a halt as the duo arrived at the training grounds where Lyra will begin her training as a warrior. Upon arrival, two Protoss walked up to them. “En taro Adun Tassadar, old friend” one of them said. “It has been too long since we have last seen each other.”
The other Protoss turned his gaze from Tassadar to Lyra. He gazed at her for a moment before asking. “Who is this that has accompanied you? I do not recognize her kind from any of the worlds that I have visited.”
Tassadar chuckled. “Nor would you, old friend. This is Lyra Heartstrings. I discovered her in a secret Tal’darim hideout a few hours ago. When I arrived, the enemies were all slain while the facility was flooded with Terrazine. At the time I found her, her mind was addled by the substance. Despite her lack of combat experience, she alone brought death upon our enemies. I counted twenty bodies shortly before they began to disappear. Although, she does not remember her actions and she has never seen combat before today, I can tell that she has great potential as a warrior. I have brought her here today to mentor her training.”
The second Protoss laughed while his skin changed color to reflect his jovial mood. “That is impressive for someone who has never fought before. I look forward to seeing your progress, Lyra Heartstrings.” As his color returned to normal, he stood up to his full height. “I am Praetor Fenix, steward of the templar. I hope to be able to test your skills once Tassadar is through mentoring you.”
“And I am Praetor Artanis,” the first Protoss said. “Fenix, Tassadar and I go back centuries and have explored and fought on many worlds together.”
Tassadar look at the two that he has mentored over the years and it filled him with a sense of pride. “It is good to see that neither of you have changed over our time apart. However, I must see to her training posthaste. The Conclave has tasked me with an important mission in the Terran sector. I will be training her during the mission as well.”
Artanis looked at Tassadar with curiosity. “How will you be able to do that?” he asked. “Can she even wield our technology and if she could, why would you not entrust her training to another? Myself and Fenix are currently in between missions right now so we can spare some time providing her with the basics of combat.”
Fenix glared at Artanis. “What have I told you about involving me in matters without my permission, Artanis?” Although Fenix didn’t like being volunteered, he did admit that he did find the idea of mentoring Lyra to be appealing.
Tassadar thought about the offer that Artanis was presenting and given the preparations that he needed to make for the mission, the idea sounded like something he couldn’t pass up. “Very well, I leave her training to the two of you. I am scheduled to depart in a week’s time and I have much to prepare before then. Artanis, be sure to visit Phasesmith Karax to get her fitted for her own psi blades and armor. Fenix, why not start her off and see what we need to work on.”
Fenix and Artanis nod their heads. “It will be done,” said Artanis.
Tassadar walked away, leaving Lyra in the hands of her new trainers. Lyra tensed at the thought of having to learn to fight and kill from these Protoss. She had never imagined that she would be doing anything other than spending her life playing her lyre. Those who know what her people were like couldn’t blame her since the military were the only ones trained to fight. She had a feeling that the Protoss would dominate the Equestrian Royal Guard in a fight, even with the new weapons that were being introduced to Equestrian society.
Lyra knew that if she wanted to survive to see her Bon Bon again, she would need to develop the fighting skills to protect herself. She also knew that she was going to have a rough time learning to fight from these guys.
One training session later, Lyra wished that her foreboding feelings were wrong. Her muscles were aching from her sparring session with Fenix and she had a number of bruises, that were visible through the fur on her body, from the kicks and punches she had received.
“Your movements are novice at best, Lyra Heartstrings,” said Fenix. “Although, I do commend you for getting one hit in on me. I could also sense hesitation in your attacks. Your behavior is one that is not used to fighting.”
Lyra placed one arm on the back of her head and nervously chuckled. “What little I do know I learned from Bon Bon. Unlike me, she was trained to fight and kill when necessary. Sometimes, I would ask her if I could take part in her exercises. I managed to keep up with her somewhat despite my lack of training. Mainly I entertain others with my lyre.”
Fenix tilted his head. “What is a lyre?”
“A musical instrument with strings.”
“What is a ‘musical instrument’,? For that matter what is this ‘music’ that you mentioned?”
“You know what, never mind,” Lyra said with a sigh.
Fenix thought for a moment then shook his head. “Let’s go find Artanis. We need Karax to get your measurements for your armor and weapons.” Fenix headed toward the forge with Lyra following behind him.
Arriving at the forge, Lyra saw Artanis with who she could only guess was Phasesmith Karax. Artanis introduced Lyra to the Phasesmith and requested for her to be outfitted for her weapons and armor.
Karax beckoned for Lyra to come to him. “This should only take a few moments,” Karax said.
Karax was a patient Protoss that focused on the quality of his work over the political ramblings around him. As a phasesmith, he was part of the Khalai caste, which as far as Lyra knew was where Protoss were categorized if they weren’t warriors or politicians. Karax wore a full body armor that had a red robe with gold border worn over it. The armor was also equipped with two mechanical arms that each had three grasping claws attached to them.
Karax had analyzed Lyra’s form using a crystal designed for that work. The crystal took the necessary measurements that Karax would need to craft Lyra’s weapons and armor. Using the info, he began the design process for Lyra’s weapons. Using technology that was far beyond Lyra’s comprehension, he brought material form to the holographic design that he was working on. Soon, a pair of focusers that were small enough to fit on Lyra’s wrists were floating in midair.
After a few minutes of admiring his work, Karax took the focusers and gave them to Lyra. “It will take some time to design the armor, Lyra Heartstrings. In the meantime, how about you test out these weapons and become used to their feel. I will make adjustments as necessary.”
Lyra thanked Karax and placed the focusers on her wrists. Just like with the previous focuser she wore, the crystals embedded into the weapons also turned to an amber color. When she focused her magic into the weapons, a pair of amber colored energy blades appeared from the ends above her hands. Lyra took a moment to admire the energy swords.
It is not easy to tell when a Protoss is surprised. However, in this case, it does not take an expert on Protoss expressions to know that Karax and Artanis, who were watching what transpired in silence, were surprised at the color change of the Khaydarin crystals in the focusers.
Karax asked Lyra if he could see one of her focusers for analysis. Lyra removed one and gave it back to Karax. What Karax found as he analyzed the device was that there was a mysterious energy form that was flowing through it. Despite his best efforts, however, he was unable to identify the energy signature. He concluded that the energy is unlike anything the Protoss race has encountered throughout the eons of their existence. Finding a way to return Lyra home would prove more difficult than expected.
He handed the focuser back to Lyra while Artanis began making his way to the door and motioned for Lyra to follow. After the duo left, Karax began considering new ideas and new designs for future projects.
Once Lyra and Artanis returned to the training grounds, Fenix, who was waiting for them, began drilling Lyra in basic training exercises and doing his best to help her maintain a proper combat form. Strangely enough, Lyra was taking to the training easier than he expected. However, she still had a long way to go before she was ready for the battlefield, an issue that he was certain that Tassadar would rectify during the course of his upcoming mission.
Several hours later, Tassadar returns to the training grounds. Lyra noticed that he was accompanied by a more slender looking Protoss who’s physical features suggested to Lyra that the newcomer may be female. Tassadar and the new Protoss approached the group and exchanged greetings. Lyra was soon introduced to the new Protoss who went by the name of Selendis.
As it turned out, Selendis was a student to Artanis who has earned her way to a high position among the templar caste. Selendis gave Lyra a wary look as she observed her. For some reason, Lyra had a feeling that she and the female Protoss templar may never truly get along.
“What brings you here, Selendis?” Artanis asked.
“I came to see what the Zealots were fussing about for myself,” Selendis said with a hint of disappointment in her mental tone. “Also, you will receive a communication from the Conclave about your next mission shortly.”
Right on cue, Artanis receives a psionic communication from the Conclave that will send him to some fringe world on the edge of Protoss space and Fenix was to accompany him. They were scheduled to depart in four days, which gave the duo even less time to help Tassadar train Lyra.
“By your leave, Artanis,” Selendis said and she walked away.
Wasting no time, Fenix and Artanis directed Lyra to the training area to begin her training in earnest.
A week went by quickly. Tassadar began personally training Lyra after Artanis and Fenix left on their mission. Tassadar was impressed with the progress that Lyra was making and felt that she would be combat ready in no time.
Tassadar took Lyra outside the city in order to teach her to hunt the local wildlife. In order to help Lyra to not fall apart on the battlefield, he intended to use this exercise to help her get acquainted to the idea of taking lives. He knew this was not an easy task given the culture that she hailed from. As expected, Lyra did have some difficulty killing the wildlife and some of the more vicious creatures nearly killed her. In time, she soon was able to kill a beast without freezing up and leaving herself vulnerable. Tassadar knew though, that killing a beast was different from taking the lives of sapient creatures like the humans, that experience will have to come from the battlefield.
Onboard the Gantrithor, the Protoss flagship for the expeditionary fleet, Lyra stared in amazement at all of the systems that were present. She already knew that the Protoss were far beyond all of Equus in terms of technology, but the fact that the Protoss can create such advanced technology from crystals really blew her mind. Many of the ship’s interface systems looked like magically conjured images that she had seen during her brief time as a student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Even learning as much as she could about Protoss technology during her first week with the enigmatic aliens did not fully prepare her for the wonders of being inside an actual spacecraft.
Stranger still, she thought, was the fact that she was able to retain more of that knowledge than she figured that she was capable. Normally, her mind was easily distracted that most of what she heard went in one ear and out the other. It was the reason that she flunked out of Celestia’s School. However, as her training progressed, she began to notice that her mind was more focused, as if something had made some slight changes to her ability to retain knowledge. This change may also explain how she was able to remember the combat lessons her mentors have been imparting on her.
However, while her mind may be soaking up the lessons, her body was not yet able to keep up with her mind; an issue that can be fixed with time and dedicated physical training, something that she was still not looking forward to.
Since Protoss do not consume food and instead sustain themselves on sunlight and moonlight, Tassadar had gatherers search for any flowers and other vegetation that was considered safe for Lyra to consume and placed what was gathered in stasis fields for the journey to prevent the flora from getting spoiled.
“Are you prepared for your first journey into the stars, Lyra?” a voice asked into her mind, jarring her out of her thoughts.
Lyra looked around and saw Tassadar behind her. “Oh! Yes!” Lyra quickly answered, giving away how distracted she was.
“Are you feeling alright?” He asked, with a hint of concern.
“Yeah, I’ve just been remembering this past week and how I’ve been learning so many new things in such a short time.”
“I would have figured that our lessons might have been overwhelming for you at first. However, you have shown a remarkable ability to retain such knowledge, despite what little you have told us about your past.”
“I’m actually surprised as well. Usually, I’m too scatterbrained to remember a lot of what others tell me.”
“Hmm,” Tassadar placed a hand on his chin. “Perhaps your exposure to terrazine has had a lasting effect upon your mind. Regardless, we must depart.”
Tassadar ordered the crew to begin the launch sequence. As Lyra eagerly awaited the beginning of her journey into space, her thoughts focused briefly on her marefriend. She held onto hope that she and Bon Bon will see each other soon.
The ship began to gain altitude from Aiur’s surface and before long, was in orbit above the planet. Lyra noticed a number of other ships were closing in on the Gantrithor’s position and positioning themselves to face the same direction that the flagship was pointing. Lyra was soon met with the feeling similar to being shot out of a cannon. However, she was not swept up by the inertia which was due to the systems in place to prevent that.
With the expeditionary force on their way to Terran space, Tassadar beckoned for Lyra to follow her to the ship’s training room. On the way there, she noticed that a number of Zealots were being held in suspended animation for the journey. She and Tassadar would be spending most of the journey training for the battles to come.
The duo entered the training room which featured artificial image projectors that were made to simulate the Hallucination ability that is used by the High Templars. There were a few Zealots making use of the facilities to keep their skills sharp and a few Dragoons, quadrapedic robotic shells that are piloted by physically crippled Protoss warriors, practicing their accuracy with their built in photon disruptors.
Lyra and Tassadar made their way to an undisturbed area of the room. Tassadar turned to face Lyra and assumed a combat stance. “Let us see what you have learned from my students from this past week. Come at me with everything that you have.”
Lyra gulped and assumed her own combat stance that she had been practicing with Fenix. She took a deep breath to calm herself and prepared herself for the painful lessons that were coming.
The time spent training with Tassadar had been quite productive. In time Lyra not only learned how to handle herself against opponents using ranged weapons by fighting against the Dragoons, but she also learned how to project an effective combat shield to give her some protection on the battlefield. Lyra’s confidence has also improved to the point where she was quite sure of herself when she was sparring against some of the Zealots. While training against some of the High Templars, she figured out how to create images; a feat that was seen as nothing short of impressive given the time she had actually been training.
On the bridge of the Gantrithor, Tassadar stared at one of the Terran-controlled planet that the fleet was holding orbit over. Initial reports have stated that a Zerg presence was detected on the planet. Close range analysis have found that the Zerg are running rampant on the planet while the Terran military are doing the best they can to control the situation; an action that Tassadar knew was doomed to failure. Earlier, he put in a request to the Conclave to determine the next course of action and now he is awaiting a response.
“Executor, we are receiving a transmission from the Conclave” said one of the crew members.
“On screen” Tassadar responded.
A flat, rectangular, holographic image appeared in front of Tassadar. On that screen was displayed an image of Aldaris, the representative of the Conclave. “The Conclave has reviewed your report and has given orders to have the planet purified.”
Tassadar was surprised by this order. The Conclave has practically ordered an act of genocide against a race that was supposed to be protected. To ‘purify’ a planet would mean to bombard the planet with their weapons until all life readings on the planet were non-existent. Such action would be a violation of the Dae’Uhl, one of the core principles of Protoss society that would have the lesser races, such as the Terrans, to be protected from threats such as the Zerg.
“Aldaris,” Tassadar started. “What the conclave is suggesting is clearly a violation of the Dae’Uhl. There has to be another way to resolve this. If we act fast enough, perhaps we--”
Aldaris was beginning to turn red. “You have your orders, Tassadar. The Conclave’s will is absolute. Do not question their orders again.” he interrupted, with a clear hint of a threat in his words.
Tassadar paused, the weight of such a solemn act has been thrust upon his shoulders. “It will be done,” he said.
The transmission ended. Tassadar stood in silence as Lyra walked up to him. She was shocked beyond belief about what the Conclave had ordered him to do. She had never in her life imagined such a thing could ever happen, and yet, it was about to happen right before her eyes.
“You can’t do this! They are ordering you to kill innocent lives. What if Bon Bon is down there?” she said, tears starting to form in her eyes.
“We have our orders, Lyra,” Tassadar said in a saddened tone. “The least that we can do is scan the planet for any creatures that bear a close similarity to your genetic profile.”
Tassadar ordered one last scan of the planet’s surface for any equine signatures before ordering the fleet to charge up their main weapons. Much to Tassadar’s and Lyra’s small relief, the scans came back negative so Lyra was glad, at least, that they were not about to kill Bon Bon by accident.
Once the fleet’s ships had their weapons fully charged, Tassadar hesitated for a moment before ordering the ships to open fire on the planet’s surface.
The resulting display of bright lights being fired from the ships left a stunning, yet horrifying impression on Lyra as the beams of photon energy made contact with the surface. The resulting explosions were widespread as they expanded to cover every inch of the planet’s surface. With each explosion, Lyra imagined millions of lives being extinguished in an instant. The sorrow that Lyra felt was unlike anything that she has ever felt before. It threatened to overwhelm her.
Tassadar did his best to calm Lyra’s turbulent emotions, but they were beginning to affect him as well. He briefly felt the anguish that she felt and began to question whether or not he was doing the right thing. He buried those thoughts quickly as he noticed that she was beginning to lose consciousness from the stress. He managed to catch her before she fully passed out. He had her placed in a nearby empty chair until she regained consciousness.
Meanwhile, their sensors had picked up a small force of Terran ships that were closing in on their position. The ships soon engaged with the fleet in a desperate ploy to avenge the lives taken this day. Tassadar, believing that enough blood had been shed today, ordered the fleet to ignore the Terrans and begin moving toward their next target destination.
A world called Mar Sara.