//------------------------------//
// Aiur: Eye of the Storm 
// Story: Starcraft: Warriors of Purity 
// by Xarmar13 
//------------------------------//

The civil war that Tassadar brought to Aiur had come to a swift end with the death of Judicator Amdor. The remnants of the Conclave were unwilling to lead nor were they able to find someone to replace him as the proxy of their authority. Because of this, the Conclave went into hiding until  the day that they could gather the political power they needed to reassert their authority.

With the fall of the Conclave, the remainder of the Judicator caste, who had maintained a neutral stance during the civil war until now, decided to cast their lot with Tassadar’s followers under the pretense that his forces could bring a swift end to the war against the Zerg. The Judicators offered Tassadar the services of their Arbiter ships to aid in the upcoming assault on the Overmind, which Tassadar gladly accepted.

Sweetie was a bit disappointed in the Judicators for how quickly their allegiances shifted when their Conclave was defeated. For the sake of eliminating the Overmind, however, she was willing to overlook their duplicity for now.

Tassadar was expressing his gratitude to everyone for rescuing him from Amdor’s prison. Filled with renewed vigor and hope, he felt fully prepared for the real battle that was ahead of them.

Aldaris, who had finally graced everyone with his presence after the civil war ended, said nothing as he walked past Tassadar while his own feelings of disgust were leaking out and were felt by everyone around him. Sweetie could not help but respect Aldaris’ integrity as it showed that he had more backbone than his fellow Judicators.

Aldaris approached Sweetie with a request. “I need an escort to my estate so that I can take my Arbiter into battle. You and your...friend...will do,” he said, adding venom to the word ‘friend’ which earned the Judicator a glare from the Pony Ghost.

Sweetie sighed and rolled her eyes, then walked over to Lyra to tell her of the task that Aldaris wants them to do. Lyra rolled her eyes then nodded. On the way out of their forward base, Lyra informed Artanis of where they were heading and he wished them luck.







The capitol city where Aldaris’ estate was, was overrun with Zerg. Normally, the two of them could handle such an infiltration. The complication was that Aldaris was with them and he would be difficult to hide since he can’t hide his psionic presence nor can he use the Dark Templars’ stealth abilities. Because of this, Lyra and Sweetie were forced to deal with the Zerg that came their way.

Lyra snuck behind a few Hydralisks and sliced them diagonally while Sweetie shot numerous Zerglings and Hydralisks in the head, as well as shooting down a few Mutalisks. The trio had to avoid any Overlords that were floating around while they were escorted by more Zerg. Aldaris assisted by using an illusion to lure Zerg to one location and electrocuted them all with a Psionic Storm.

Eventually, the trio made it to Aldaris’ home which also had a bit of a Zerg infestation. After clearing out the ones that they could find, they found a small hangar that was surprisingly intact given the chaos outside. In the center of the hangar floated an unmanned Arbiter. Aldaris boarded the spacecraft and spoke to the Ponies: “I will be heading back to base, now. I trust that the two of you will have no problem returning on your own.” With that, Aldaris flew off in the direction of their forward base, freezing a few pursuing Mutalisk in a stasis field on the way.

A little irritated that Aldaris did not show gratitude, the duo sighed as they snuck their way back to base.






Everyone gathered in one location to discuss their next move against the Zerg. Tassadar started: “The time has come to let loose the fury of the Dark Templar.” He looked at Zeratul. “Perhaps the time has come to tell our friends of the foe we face,” he said, referring to Fenix, Artanis and Aldaris.

“Indeed” Zeratul started. “When I slew the cerebrate on Char, I touched briefly with the essence of the Overmind. In that instant, my mind was filled with its thoughts, and I tell you now our worst fears have come true. The Zerg were indeed created by the ancient Xel’naga, the same beings that empowered us in our infancy. But, the Overmind grew beyond their constraints, and has at last come to finish the experiments they began so long ago.”

“So you see my friends, we fight not only to save Aiur, but all creation! If we fall to the Zerg, then the Overmind will run rampant throughout the stars, consuming all sentience-all life. It is up to us to end this madness once and for all,” Tassadar finished.

Fenix, Artanis and Tassadar agreed on a strategy while Lyra, Sweetie and Aldaris were away. They were briefed upon their return. Afterward, Fenix asked Lyra, “You have learned a number of Zeratul’s techniques. Did he teach you the method for slaying Cerebrates?” Lyra nodded. 

“Good. Our forces shall engage the primary Zerg hive clusters in an attempt to weaken their defenses. Once their numbers have thinned out, Zeratul and Lyra can infiltrate the clusters and assassinate the Cerebrates. Adun willing, the Cerebrates’ deaths will distract the Overmind long enough for us to assault it directly. Raynor, you and Sweetie shall stay behind our forces and conserve your energy for the true battle. We will need all of the resources that you can provide for the Overmind.” Raynor and Sweetie nodded in agreement. “Tassadar will maintain his position alongside the Hyperion aboard the Gantrithor while the rest of us will assist in the assassination of the Cerebrates.”







On the border of the Zerg Hive clusters, a small infiltration group led by Zeratul, Lyra, Fenix and Aldaris avoided detection long enough to establish a forward base near Zerg territory. Aldaris’ cloaking field proved effective at keeping his allies hidden from the Zerg. 

Soon, the Zerg started sending small attack groups that were completely manageable, but one particular Zerg strain was being deployed that proved a real nuisance: the Defilers. Defilers, by appearance, looked like larger versions of the Zerg larvae. The one that attacked also had a large number of small insects crawling all over it. It had a dangerous attack when it sprayed a crimson mist all over the area in front of it. The mist rotted away whatever it touched and bypassed the energy shields. It also hid underground once it had made its attack.

To deal with the Defilers, a number of Observers were constructed to spot the disturbed earth where the Defilers were hiding. Once spotted, Zeratul and Lyra quickly attacked the Defilers in their holes.

Artanis, wanting to get to the Overmind as soon as possible warped in a large number of Zealots, Dragoons and a number of High Templar who had volunteered earlier to sacrifice themselves to form Archons and overwhelm the Zerg defenses. A small number of Scouts were warped in to deal with any Zerg Guardians that were hovering around.

The sheer number of Protoss being fielded against the Zerg overwhelmed the hive defenders. In the chaos of the conflict, Lyra and Zeratul each attacked one of the two Cerebrates in the area. Both creatures were quickly felled by the void energies channeled by the two Dark Templar.

With the Zerg in the area no longer organized, the creatures were easy prey for a cleanup force. 

Meanwhile, the Hyperion and Gantrithor were allowed to advance on the Overmind’s nesting grounds. As per their strategy, Artanis had the Hyperion and Gantrithor take up positions on opposing sides of the Overmind and prepare to assault it with a pincer strategy. 

Before the battle began, Tassadar decided to give one final speech. “My friends, this is our final hour. Not all of us may survive the coming conflict. Yet, death may be a blessing should we fail here. We seek now to destroy a foe that has ravaged its way across the universe, consuming all in its path. And now it has reached the end of its long journey. The Overmind has come to destroy all that we hold dear and assimilate us into itself. And I say to thee, this shall not come to pass! Aiur shall not fall! Artanis, I stand ready!”

Zeratul seconded the motion. Raynor showed determination to see the matter through. Aldaris, unusually enough, seemed eager to begin the battle that would determine the fate of Aiur. 

“Let’s do this!” Lyra shouted, earning a chuckle from Sweetie, who was also eager to get the battle started.







Raynor put a hand on Sweetie’s shoulder, grabbing her attention. “Since we’re throwin’ everything at that thing, you’re gonna need to pull out all the stops. Which means it’s time to break out the Nukes that’ve been aboard the ship. Sweetie knew that now wasn’t the time to be holding back anything. She still had reservations about Nukes, but made an exception when it came to the Zerg. She checked the marker module on her gun to confirm that it was functional. 

Raynor began building up his position, focusing on getting the Nuke Silos set up for Sweetie first. The other Raiders hunkered down in Bunkers to defend their position. Marines and Firebats were equipped while Siege Tanks were manufactured. Some Siege Tanks had to be replaced whenever a Queen infected a Siege Tank pilot with Broodlings while the monsters that come out of the pilot’s corpse hit the self destruct mechanism on the tank to prevent replacement pilots from taking the tank back. “A crippling design flaw that needs to be remedied in the future,” Sweetie thought.







Artanis was surprised by the number of Templar who were willing to sacrifice themselves to bring the power of Archons against the Overmind. So many lives would be lost for the defense of Aiur. He felt pride in his people and sadness toward the loss of so many lives for this one battle. 

Leaving nothing spared, Artanis ordered the manufacture of a number of Reavers and had a significant number of Scouts warped in to protect the ground forces. With the Reavers, the attack was going to be expensive on the mineral stores, even with Raynor providing some of what he harvests to assist.

Aldaris called in a number of his fellow Judicators in their Arbiters to support the destructive force that was about to be unleashed on the Overmind.







The Zerg assault was relentless. Guardians and Mutalisks hit Raynor’s forces hard and Raynor was barely managing to repel the aerial assault. Siege tanks were very helpful in dealing with Ultralisks. Sweetie managed to disrupt the Zerg momentum by launching a Nuke upon a hive cluster. Taking advantage of that disruption, Raynor deployed a number of Wraiths to counter future flyer assaults.

With Raynor’s distraction, the Protoss managed to waylay part of the Zerg defenses from the other side of the Overmind’s base. Reaver scarabs tore through Zerg structures while Archons blasted any units that did not go after Raynor and Sweetie.

In a desperate move, the Overmind deployed the majority of its forces to deal with the Protoss. The Guardians and Ultralisks withstood the Protoss attacks long enough to destroy a few Reavers and Archons, but the assault continued. Lyra, Zeratul and the Dark Templar provided backup to make up for the lost troops.

For all of their efforts, the Overmind finally came into the view of the Protoss and Raiders. The Overmind was an enormous brain-like mass of flesh that had used its tendrils to embed itself into the planet’s crust. The core was protected by a hard black shell that was nearly impregnable to outside attacks.

With the defenses of the Overmind penetrated, the Protoss and Raiders moved in to try to break through the shell. Sweetie launched the last of the available Nukes against the massive beast, but it hardly did much damage. Sweetie started shooting all of her ammo at the Overmind and that did nearly nothing. Even the Archons and Reavers were not doing much damage and the Dark Templar blades were just as effective.

The attacks had started wearing away at the Overmind’s shell, however, and eventually the shell broke leaving the core of the Overmind exposed. Unfortunately, everyone was exhausted and their ammo nearly spent. The Archons’ rage had been expended as well, causing the psionic entities to burn out and disappear. Sweetie’s C-10 ammo was just about expended too, leaving her with just her hands and hooves.

Tassadar, who had been observing the scene, began weighing his options. With everyone running on empty, he soon understood that to strike the final blow, he would have to do something drastic. He informed everyone of his intentions: “The Overmind has been weakened, but we are in no condition to continue the fight. I will steer the Gantrithor into a collision course with the Overmind. If I channel enough of the Dark Templars’ energy through the hull of the Gantrithor, I should be able to bring swift death to the accursed abomination. Remember what was done--”

Artanis interrupted Tassadar’s speech when he noticed something going on next to the Overmind. “What is Lyra doing?!” 

Everyone turned their attention to the aquamarine unicorn. She was channeling a dangerous amount of her magic and infusing it with void energy. She looked like she was struggling under the strain.

In a panic, Tassadar warped himself out of the Gantrithor and appeared next to Lyra. “What are you doing Lyra?” Tassadar asked with concern. “Your actions are reckless and you may end up killing yourself.”

“And you weren’t?” Lyra retorted. “If you’re done martyring yourself, then help me with this. Bonnie will be very upset if I get killed while helping her.”

Tassadar blinked, then shook his head before channeling his own psionic and void energies into the attack. Zeratul saw what was happening and added his own energies to strengthen the attack.

“We need a little more.” Lyra stated.

Sweetie began adding her own psionic power into the attack. However, when Sweetie got too close to the Overmind, something shot out of it at incredible speed and hit Sweetie in the head hard enough to knock her unconscious. 

“Bon Bon!” Lyra exclaimed.

Another figure walked past where Sweetie was lying. Aldaris was grumbling something that could not be fully understood, something about tainting his own energies with the Dark Ones. He began channeling his energies into Lyra’s attack.

Fearing the coming attack, the Overmind attempted to activate a warping ability and escape. However, the escape attempt came too late as Lyra unleashed the energies that tore the Overmind apart. The creature succumbed to the energies and slumped over. The closing warp gate tore at part of the Overmind’s corpse, leaving nothing but a lifeless shell.

The chaotic energies that destroyed the Overmind had been overwhelming for Lyra and she collapsed from exhaustion.

The Protoss picked up the Ponies and retreated to a relatively safe place for them to recover while observing the aftermath of their attack.