The trek through Aiur’s fields had been a harrowing experience for Lyra, Zeratul, Artanis and Tassadar. Between the feral Zerg that were being controlled by Amon’s Hybrid and the Khalai Protoss being controlled by Amon himself, the group was beset by enemies on all sides. Lyra was slightly handicapped at the moment because she had to carry Fenix’s broken Dragoon in her magic.
While Lyra could still handle a few Zerglings, she had to rely on her Protoss allies to keep her protected until they could find a standing encampment of Nerazim to find shelter from their enemies.
During the trek, the three Protoss helped all the Khalai that they could, capturing them and severing their nerve cords to free them from Amon’s control. Lyra assisted by binding any Zealots that attacked with a Maelstrom to give her friends an easy time freeing their comrades.
Every few hours the group had to rest while Lyra regained some of her stamina since she had been hauling Fenix around for that long.
Eventually, the group came across some of Amon’s Zerg attacking a pair of Nerazim and who appeared to be Karax. One was already too far gone to save while the other was tackled from the side by a Zergling and clawed to death. Karax was all alone then.
Acting quickly, Artanis and Zeratul charged in and started slicing apart Zerg after Zerg. The Zealots who followed the group assisted the two leaders and soon cleared the area of Amon’s Brood.
Artanis approached the Phasesmith and insisted that he sever his nerve cords. Karax turned around to reveal that the deed had already been done. He asked Artanis if there were others to which he responded that he was only able to save a few.
Since they were so few on a world that was teeming with enemies, They would have to escape before Amon found them.
Tassadar and Artanis knew of an ancient ship that was left beneath the ruins of Kor-shakal, the former seat of power of the Conclave. The ship was called the Spear of Adun. Tassadar and Artanis needed Karax’s assistance to activate the power cells to get the ship online.
Hoping the ship was still functional after millennia, the group, with Karax added, traveled to the former capital.
The Protoss set up a Nexus Point on an overlook near the Spear of Adun. Lyra was finally able to relax for a few moments so she put Fenix on the ground. Even if he wanted to protest the treatment, Fenix’s Dragoon shell was still barely functional where the life support systems were the only thing running. He couldn’t even speak from within the shell.
Lyra decided to ask Tassadar, “Do you think Fenix will be alright?”
Her first master looked at Lyra while soothing her worries, “Fear not, Lyra. As long as his life support systems are online, he will live. Once we escape Aiur, we might be able to use some of the facilities aboard the vessel to fabricate an Immortal shell that we can transfer his body to."
Lyra was relieved not just from Tassadar calming her, but also from knowing that her friend was going to make it.
As Karax was inspecting the state of the power cells needed to launch the Spear of Adun, the Protoss heard a deep, dark, creepy yet feminine voice, “Artanis...Tassadar...Why do you flee from your salvation?”
The voice came from Selendis, who was being used as a vessel by Amon to speak directly to the Protoss.
Since Amon found them, the Protoss had to hurry and activate the power cells before Amon’s forces overran their position. Karax managed to activate the first of the power cells but needed the remaining ones to be cleared of Zerg infestation before he could activate them.
While Karax could not activate the other power cells yet, the ship was still receiving enough power for him to activate the ship’s support systems to help them out. Of course, this was limited to warping in Pylons without the need of a Probe for the time being.
Karax gave control of the ship’s functions to Tassadar who warped in a Pylon next to some inactive Photon Cannons and a Shield Generator to provide some defense for one side of their Nexus Point.
While Tassadar and Artanis were preparing their Nexus Point’s defense and raising an army, Lyra took Zeratul and pushed into some Zerg infestation at the bottom of the stairs east of the overlook. Lyra quickly wiped out the minions in the area with a Storm Charge while Zeratul used his Shadow Strike to free the next power cell. Since the Zerg were not using Spore Crawlers or Overseers, the two were able to clear out the infestation around the next power cell without fear of retaliation.
With the second power cell active, the Spear of Adun’s sensor array was reactivated and was reacting to something.
Amon decided to take a moment to taunt the Protoss before sending a few corrupted Warp Prisms to send in more corrupted against the defenders. Lyra teleported atop the Warp Prisms and slashed them apart while Zeratul slashed off the nerve cords of some of the corrupted Zealots, freeing them.
Once Tassadar’s forces were ready to move out, the army pushed south through more corrupted Protoss and Zerg. The force of Stalkers and freed Zealots were able to free the third power cell.
In retaliation, Amon summoned a number of Nydus Worms to send continuous waves of Zerg against the Nexus Point. Using the power fields generated by the first two power cells, Artanis was able to warp in numerous Zealots and Stalkers to deal with the Nydus Worms.
Since Artanis was focused on one side of the area, Lyra and Zeratul quickly dealt with the infestation around the fourth power cell. Lyra drained a large amount of life force from nearby Zerg and unleashed it on the power cell to activate it.
Amon’s counterattack with a combination of Warp Prisms and Nydus Worms were countered the same way as before.
To bring an end to the Corrupted and Zerg incursions, Artanis gathered an army from the third power cell while Lyra and Zeratul fought their way through more Corrupted to reach the army. Once they arrived, the entire force moved against the nearby Corrupted base and overpowered the defenses. After, the army gathered near the fourth power cell and did the same to the hive cluster.
At this point, Amon began calling on his numerous Hybrid to prevent his enemies from activating the last power cell. Numerous Hybrid Destroyers and Hybrid Reavers gathered around the last power cell.
As Lyra and Zeratul as well as Artanis’ forces pushed against the Hybrid, the Protoss lost a lot of soldiers. Lyra completely drained the life from a Hybrid Reaver and unleashed it upon the last power cell. Once active, Artanis continuously warped in Zealots and Stalkers to fight the Hybrid until they were finally wiped out.
With all of the power cells activated, Karax was able to begin launch procedures for the Spear of Adun. The stone bridges shattered as the platform holding the massive ship in place was retracted. The ship was ready to go.
Karax warped every Protoss that was not under Amon’s control aboard the ship while Amon’s forces continued attacking the Nexus Point.
Despite the age of the ship, the Spear of Adun was still functional enough to be used as a means of escaping Aiur and Amon.
While everyone was examining the ancient technology that was surprisingly useful for a ship that was older than Celestia. Lyra, who was carrying Fenix in her magic, was led to the lower decks of the ship where a starforge was built in to construct weapons of war.
Karax input the command for the construction of an Immortal. Once the construction was completed, he was able to transfer Fenix’s remains into his new body.
While Fenix was spending time to get used to his new home for his body, he thanked Lyra for rescuing him from Amon’s control, though he was embarrassed for being helpless and had to be carried for miles.
Lyra and Karax returned to Artanis and Tassadar on the bridge to give them the good news. However, Fenix was unable to head to the bridge due to the size of his Immortal. Instead, Fenix decided to explore the parts of the ship that his large size would allow.
Lyra saw the Hierarch and Praetor examining a device that reminded her of the star map on the Hyperion.
“So, where are we headed now?” Lyra asked.
“An excellent question,” Tassadar responded. “Since Amon has begun his war, we need to be ready for anything he will throw at us. While we need to return to Shakuras and bring the Nerazim aboard the Spear of Adun, we also need to go to Korhal to retrieve the Keystone before Amon’s Hybrid get to it first. If they get away with the Keystone, our last hope will be lost.”
Artanis continued, “So our choices are to either bolster our forces with Nerazim support before they are invaded by Amon’s forces, or to retrieve the Keystone.”
Lyra hummed. “The Dominion are pretty strong on their own but so are the forces of Shakuras. But I think recruiting the Dark Templar should make things easier for us once we retrieve the Keystone. If Amon’s forces get it first, we can still ask Raynor and Kerrigan to help find it.”
Zeratul appeared before everyone from his usual black smoke. “I agree with Lyra’s assessment. Exterminating our people will be at the forefront of Amon’s priorities. My people must be warned.”
Tassadar had his mind made up and ordered the Arc Ship to set course for Shakuras.