Having secured the immediate area around the warp gate to Aiur, Sweetie and Lyra returned to the settlement to plan their next move with the others. The Dark Templar appeared impressed with Lyra’s skills. Sweetie couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of the attention that her marefriend was getting. She quickly suppressed those thoughts and chose to be proud of her instead.
Sweetie was carrying the two crates that were left in front of the warp gate with moderate effort. Sweetie was impressed with how her suit could enhance the strength of her already formidable earth pony strength.
On the way, Sweetie received images from the Overmind, apparently upholding its end of the bargain. It showed her the means and the feeling of asserting her will on another. Sweetie did her best to not show her diverted focus to the others. She knew that in order to know that the knowledge stuck, she would need to test this ability.
As luck would have it, a pair of Zerglings decided to ambush her and her group from underground. Noticing the opportunity, Sweetie put the crates on the ground and remembered the feeling of controlling a mind. She focused her mind to try and replicate that feeling and to her surprise, one of the Zerglings, the one she was focused on, stopped advancing toward her.
The other Zergling slowed its pace and looked back at its partner. The next thing it knew, its partner charged into it and started sinking its teeth and claws into its chitin and tearing it apart. The victimized Zergling soon fell limp and stopped moving. The offending Zergling removed its teeth and claws from the corpse and stared at Sweetie, as if awaiting its next order.
~”It would not be in your best interest to maintain control of the Zergling with your current level of power.”~
“And here I thought I could surprise Lyra with a new pet.” Sweetie joked to the Overmind.
With a mental command, Sweetie ordered the Zergling to jump off a nearby cliff and fall to its doom. The Zergling obeyed the command and jumped without hesitation. A few seconds later, Sweetie could feel the link to the creature being severed when it failed to survive the jump.
Lyra was surprised by what she saw. Everyone who was around them were surprised by what they saw, everyone except Sweetie. Lyra took notice of her neutral expression and had to ask her: “Did you do that?”
Sweetie took a moment to calm herself from the rush of controlling a mind. She was beginning to wonder if this was how Queen Chrysalis felt when she controlled her changelings. She picked up the crates again and looked towards Lyra to respond: “Yeah, I was experimenting with my psionic power and I wanted to see if I could control that Zergling.” She conveniently omitted any part about the Overmind teaching her the ability.
A thought popped into Sweetie’s head and decided to ask the Overmind: “Did you know about the Dark Templar settlement on Shakuras?”
~”When Zeratul murdered Zaaz, the Cerebrate that was killed shortly after Kerrigan’s assimilation into the Swarm, his mind touched with mine. I learned about Aiur’s location from him. I was obsessed with completing my design on Aiur while ignoring any potentially relevant information. Amon was not aware that the Protoss could wield void energies at the time of my creation and the exile of the Dark Templar occurred after his demise. Thus, at the time, any information related to Shakuras was of no interest to me.”~
Sweetie couldn’t blame Amon for not anticipating the potential capabilities of the Protoss due to the unpredictability that free will brings. She also knew that she would have to tell Lyra about the parasite in her head at some point. She could always trust her with a secret.
The journey back to the settlement was nearly uneventful as Sweetie continued exercising her mind control ability, this time on a Hydralisk, to equally satisfactory results.
The returning warriors were met with the Protoss leaders, who congratulated them for clearing out the nearby Zerg infestation. Lyra ended up telling Tassadar and Zeratul about Sweetie’s new ability, which surprised the two of them. Zeratul was the first to speak: “There are a few types of beings that I know of that can control Zerg. One is the Overmind, another is a Cerebrate, another is the Queen of Blades, and the last are Dark Archons, to a lesser extent.”
“Dark Archons?” Lyra asked.
“You did not think that only High Templar could merge to become Archons, did you?” Zeratul asked rhetorically. “Should the dire need arise, all Dark Templar can merge to become Dark Archons. Though, we sacrifice our warriors in doing so. Dark Archons were once used to spread fear across any battlefield. The terrifying might of the Dark Archons drove us to outlaw their creation.”
One of the Zealots pointed in the direction of a number of Shuttles heading in their direction. Upon arrival, a number of Dark Templar emerged from the Shuttles in a way that showed that they were escorting a VIP.
The group was soon greeted by an elderly, whom Sweetie and Lyra could only guess was elderly, female Protoss. She introduced herself as Raszagal, Matriarch of the Dark Templar. She showed that she was very welcoming toward the refugees.
Sweetie could sense something familiar about the Matriarch, even though they had never met. Whatever Sweetie was sensing felt...wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on it but something was wrong with the elderly Protoss. She decided to let it lie for now and continue listening to the Matriarch speaking with the Khalai.
“Zeratul has informed me of the fall of Aiur, and I am deeply grieved. I am one of the few Dark Templar old enough to remember our ancestral home with clarity. Yet, no matter how tragic the circumstances, it is clear that fortune has reunited our people.
“We Dark Templar will never forget our banishment from Aiur, nor the Conclave’s sins against us. But you and your companions are no longer of the Conclave. The examples set by Tassadar and Lyra have shown you that when the light and dark sides of our energies are united, our power is undeniable.”
Aldaris countered by saying that the Zerg are an unprecedented threat. Raszagal mentions a dormant power nearby that could scour the Zerg from Shakuras in the form of a structure: an ancient Xel’naga Temple that was situated above a nexus of powerful cosmic energies.
Something about that filled Sweetie with concern. If this nexus of cosmic energies were to fall into the wrong hands, there’s no telling what may happen. Someone may even try to use the temple to blow up the planet if the nexus is as powerful as she fears.
While Aldaris was gung ho about using the temple, Raszagal quickly shot that idea down, saying they needed a pair of lost crystals called the Uraj and Khalis. The Uraj was laced with psionic energies like the kind the High Templar use while the Khalis was laced with void energies. Both crystals needed to be found and used in unison to activate the temple.
Before the search for the crystals could begin, however, Raszagal suggested clearing the grounds around the temple of two Cerebrates that were nesting there.
A forward base was established on an island next to the larger island where the temple and a decently-sized Zerg hive cluster was. The defenses around the island were formidable and prevented most air attacks from getting through without much loss.
Zeratul had an idea on how to bypass those defenses by deploying ships that were in the same class as Scouts called Corsairs. These ships used the pilot’s power to generate Disruption Webs that disrupted any neural impulses and computer guidance systems. Since Spore Colonies needed a brain to function, the web worked on them. The downside of these ships, however, was their lack of ground attack.
A group of accompanying Dragoons assisted with cleaning up an island that had a few Spore and Sunken Colonies. The Dragoons took care not to walk into the Disruption Web since the effect was indiscriminate. The island was soon cleared and more resources were available for the Protoss to gather.
The Zerg were quite aggressive. Their attacks were frequent and they kept the pressure on the Protoss. Artanis ordered an outpost to be constructed near the untapped resources. The outpost became the target of heavy Zerg aggression, which took pressure off the main base.
Lyra defended the outpost by cutting down every invading Zergling and Hydralisk while Sweetie shot down Mutalisks.
To get to the infested island, Artanis ordered the construction of a number of Shuttles to transport Lyra, Sweetie, and any troops that would accompany them. A number of Zealots, Dragoons who were fewer since their large frames took up half the available space on a Shuttle, as well as a number of Dark Templar.
The Corsairs’ Disruption Web easily opened the way for the Shuttles to safely drop their cargo on the Xel’naga Temple island. Lyra tore apart a few Spore Colonies while Sweetie coordinated with the Dragoons to shoot down Mutalisks, Overlords as well as pesky Queens. Zerglings and Hydralisks were dismembered by Zealot blades while Dark Templar took advantage of the chaos to attack Zerg that didn’t have a Spore Colony or Overlord in the area to sense their presence.
Soon, the Cerebrates’ positions were compromised and vulnerable. Lyra worked together with the Dark Templar to cut down the helpless overgrown larvae. Conveniently, after the Zerg became docile from the loss of the Cerebrates, a lone Overlord hovered over the island and deposited the last person that Sweetie and Lyra ever thought would show up on Shakuras, Kerrigan.
“Well done, mighty Protoss,” Kerrigan said mockingly. “I’m glad to see that you all are as violent as ever.”
“What are you doing here?” Lyra asked warily.
Kerrigan glared at Lyra for a moment. She would not forget her humiliation on Char so easily. She continued in a nonchalant tone, “I’ve simply come to assist you in eliminating the renegade Zerg.”
Maintaining her mental defenses, Sweetie communicated with the Overmind: “This is the one who is supposed to save the universe? The one I’m supposed to protect until she saves the Zerg from enslavement?”
~“As I have mentioned, her personality has been altered by Amon since he cannot control her. It is likely that he intends to shape her into a villain that everyone will try to kill. You must ensure her safety until she is ready to stand up to Amon.”~
“That sounds like it could be one of the most difficult missions of my life, given the odds of success right now.”
“I bring news of an event that threatens us all. If you’d be so good as to escort me to your Citadel, I’ll tell you everything I know,” Kerrigan continued.
Raszagal acquiesced to Kerrigan’s request and warned her that they would not suffer her treachery.
Sweetie and Lyra returned to the settlement with the Queen of Blades, Sweetie groaning inwardly about how much of a hassle it would be to protect her in the future.