The destruction of the Heart of the Conclave has sent much of the Protoss population into a panic. The chaos has further divided the people into those who remained faithful to the Conclave, those who prefer to remain neutral on the matter, and those who sympathized with Tassadar’s followers. With Khor-shakal destroyed, the latter faction have openly sided with Tassadar’s followers and provided what resources that they could. Some of the new supporters provided their own personal Carriers to support their war against the Zerg.
Sweetie was on the Hyperion checking out what ammo she could use to help break out Tassadar from his prison. She intended for this to be the last battle against any Protoss opponent for a long time, so she armed herself with as many Lockdown missiles that she could carry as well as C-10 rounds.
Raynor had decided to remain on the Hyperion and assist in the breakout from the ship. He would normally be on the front lines when it comes to missions, but he was still not fully recovered from his injury. In exchange for taking it easy, Horner allowed Raynor full command of the ship for the operation.
Artanis sent a number of Observers to search Aiur for Tassadar’s prison and found it in a walled city a few miles away from Khor-shakal. The Observers discovered a smaller walled area near the city that his forces could use to establish a forward base for their assault.
The area around Tassadar’s prison was heavily defended and would take a lot of firepower to breach those defenses. Once he had a grasp of what they would be up against, Artanis called for a strategy meeting with Fenix, Sweetie and Raynor in attendance. Zeratul and Lyra were nowhere to be found.
Sweetie had faith that the Dark Templar had a plan to help save Tassadar so she wasn’t worried. Lyra was likely with them so she would be in good hands.
Fenix started the meeting. “All seems lost now, but we must fight on. We must secure Tassadar’s release from the Judicator before they can execute him for treason. Without him, I fear there is no way to defeat the Zerg or their Overmind.”
“Don’t worry, Fenix” Sweetie stated. “We have a plan to free him and the Dark Templar will help.”
“You seem to have a lot of faith in the Dark Templar, Sweetie, but why would they disappear when we need them most?” Fenix responded.
“It’s not that I have faith in the Dark Templar themselves. I simply trust that Lyra knows what she’s doing. We have been close for years and have been in a relationship for three of those. Lyra and Zeratul will execute their plan when the opportunity presents itself. It’s our job to create that opportunity.”
“Tassadar laid it on the line for me, Sweetie, and my crew on Char,” Raynor said. “I’d like to repay that debt. Besides, I’m a long way from home, surrounded by hostile aliens. I’ve gotta do something.”
“Then you shall, bold human. You shall.” Fenix stated.
Raynor nodded and returned to the Hyperion via shuttle to prepare for battle.
With some time to spare before they executed their plan, Fenix and Artanis decided to get to know Sweetie a little. “I have heard that you were the one who mentored Lyra before she came to Aiur. You must be quite skilled to have trained her as well as you did. She put up an impressive fight against myself for one inexperienced in the art of combat,” Fenix said.
“Thanks for the compliment,” Sweetie said. “I trained as a covert agent for most of my adolescent years. I was once the top agent in my organization and that created a bit of a rivalry among my comrades.”
“‘Once’?” Artanis asked. “What happened to make you lose that position?”
Sweetie sighed as she relived her most painful memory. “We were betrayed by someone that we thought we could trust. He was our agency’s primary benefactor. When he no longer needed us, he ordered an assault on our headquarters. We never saw it coming, and they killed everyone that worked there in the chaos. I was the only one who managed to escape. After the incident, our benefactor…” She put a lot of venom in that last word. “...publicly denounced our agency as rebels against the leadership. Our people were not desensitized to the media so any propaganda was bought by the populace. Since then, I was determined to have my revenge on him and to restore the honor of my fallen comrades.”
“How did you end up in the Koprulu Sector?” Artanis asked. “Lyra has informed us that you come from a world far from this sector.”
“I made a deal with a powerful being that I would take part in wars in this sector for the next eight years in exchange for an opportunity to exact my vengeance. I know it seems unfair, but hopefully, I will get something more from this journey to make it all worthwhile.”
“I hope so as well,” said Artanis.
The three of them began preparations for the operation to save Tassadar.
Numerous tribes of Protoss had the base surrounded on three sides, which increased the pressure on the rebel forces. Every known piece of Protoss war technology was being thrown at Sweetie and her allies. Whenever a Carrier showed up to harass them, Sweetie fired a Lockdown on the Carrier, making it easy prey for the Hyperion and Fenix.
Artanis, who was tired of being attacked from every angle, sends a significant force to the southwest of the walled base. The Furinax Tribe, who were supporting the Ara Tribe that had Tassadar imprisoned, sent all the support that they could spare to help their besieged base. However, Artanis’ attack was too swift and they were unable to save the base in time.
Artanis sent more troops to support the attacking force as they pushed against the waves of Furinax Tribe members. Sweetie’s rounds were just about as effective as everything else against the Protoss shields, making her consider researching a way to make or obtain special ammunition that could penetrate Protoss shields in the future.
The remaining Furinax Tribe base fared little better than the previous one and the tribe was forced to retreat.
In response to the attacks, the Ara Tribe launched a powerful air offensive of Carriers and Scouts, with a pair of Arbiters following behind them. Artanis moved his forces to intercept the offensive, however, the Arbiters placed a large number of Artanis’ forces in stasis fields while the attackers picked off the ones that did not get frozen.
One of Artanis’ Observers detected another Observer in the attacking group so Sweetie could not get close to the attackers without risking herself. She unleashed a Psionic Storm on the lone observer before placing the Arbiters into Lockdown. While the attackers were distracted with Sweetie’s antics, Artanis called in a number of Carriers to attack the small fleet. The ships were wiped out along with the helpless Arbiters.
Using this opportunity, Artanis ordered the Carriers to attack the Ara Tribe’s main base. The Hyperion accompanied the Carriers. Sweetie and Fenix accompanied a ground force of Zealots and Dragoons to attack the base from another angle to split the enemy’s attention. Sweetie let the Protoss forces deal with the Photon Cannons while she kept an eye out for enemy Carriers and Arbiters.
The ground forces broke through the initial defenses and were attacking the inner part of the base. In the center of the base Sweetie and Fenix saw a large structure that looked like a pedestal holding up a large cylinder with a lone figure inside of it. The two approached the console of the stasis cell. With the chaos of the capital ship attack, nobody even paid attention to them. Fenix sent a transmission to Artanis: “We have found Tassadar’s stasis cell. We will attempt to free him now.” Since Fenix couldn’t operate the console in his current form, he instructed Sweetie on what to do.
Sweetie couldn’t help but feel that there was a trap about to be sprung. Never doubting her feelings, she remained wary.
The stasis cell was opened a few seconds later before Sweetie moved away from the cell. Tassadar emerged from his cell and landed on the ground.
A psi blade hummed behind the Templar commander. Tassadar turned his head slightly to find Judicator Amdor with his blade near his back. “I expected you to attempt to retrieve your hero,” Amdor said. “You will learn that the will of the Conclave is absolute. Make peace with Adun.” Amdor reared his arm behind him in preparation to strike, when his arm was grabbed by something invisible.
The air behind Amdor began to darken and a form of a Protoss began to appear. Zeratul maintained his grip on the Judicator’s arm. “Stay thy hand, Judicator. The stewards of Tassadar shall not fall while the Dark Templar live. Call off your guards and stand aside and you may yet live to see another moonrise.” he threatened.
“I will not be addressed so by one so devoid of the Khala’s light. You and your vile brethren shall die with these traitors,” Amdor said.
Sweetie walked up to the Judicator. “Are you seriously so fanatical to your religion that you’re willing to throw your entire race to oblivion? Because if you are, your religion isn’t a religion anymore, it’s a damned cult.”
“How dare you refer to our beliefs as something so lowly!” exclaimed Amdor.
“I do dare because you can’t even see the futility in your war against the Zerg. You are facing an enemy that will simply revive itself even if you blow up the planet. Did your Conclave learn nothing when the attack against that one Cerebrate proved futile? You can attack the hives all you want, but they will always be free to make more as long as the Cerebrates live. Let me make this as simple as I can. You. Need. The. Dark. Templar.”
“ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES! YOU WRETCHED CREATURE!” Amdor screamed, before he broke free from Zeratul’s grip and recklessly charged at Sweetie, who smiled sadly while shaking her head.
The next few moments that followed for Amdor were a flash of green, the feeling of his body below the neck going completely numb, and his head falling to the ground. The last memory that Amdor experienced was seeing a pair of aquamarine hooves walking toward the one who slighted his religion before his body burst into a bright light.
Sweetie smiled as her marefriend approached. “You know, if the agency were still around, I would have selected you to be my partner on every mission.”
Lyra smirked. “Even without the agency, we’re already partners in more than one way.”
The two shared a laugh. It helped relieve some of the tension as they prepared themselves for the true battle that was to come.
The time had come to begin the assault on the Overmind.