Lyra returned to the Spear of Adun to rest after her efforts to drive off the Moebius Corps and the Tal’darim. Artanis congratulated her on another job well done when she made his job of securing the celestial locks much easier.
After the operation was complete, Artanis left a garrison behind to protect the locks in case any of Amon’s forces came to interfere again.
Tassadar discussed the exploration of the temple with everyone and decided that he would explore alone. However, Lyra insisted on accompanying him and was not taking ‘no’ for an answer.
Unfortunately for the duo, the Spear of Adun would not be able to provide support inside the temple. Since Tassadar and Lyra would be heading inside alone, there was also no point in making any adjustments on the war council terminal.
Preliminary scans had picked up a number of unknown energy signatures which the Daelaam believed belonged to the various devices in the temple.
Other scans of the temple found that the temple stood as a border between universes but what Lyra sensed was a vast amount of void energies within. She suspected that the temple may be a gateway to the Void itself.
After making the necessary preparations for themselves and giving temporary command of the Spear of Adun to Vorazun, Lyra and Tassadar entered the accessway into the temple.
A single Leviathan carrying the two Queens of the Swarm approached the Alterian Rift.
A few days ago, Kerrigan received a mysterious message within a dream that told her that the Xel’naga lied within the temple of Ulnar in the Alterian Rift.
Since she had no other leads, Kerrigan took a chance with the vision and dared to enter the rift with the Leviathan.
After finding the temple and searching around, Kerrigan noticed the strange Protoss vessel but tried to avoid it to prevent any awkward encounters with the Daelaam.
Kerrigan and Sweetie discovered a separate accessway into the temple.
While Moebius and the Tal’darim were guarding the celestial locks for that section as well, Sweetie dealt with the Moebius Corps using her Blight Dragons by tearing down the ships and infesting the infantry. Kerrigan overwhelmed the Tal’darim using Ultralisks, Zerglings, Hydralisks and a large number of Mutalisks. The two Queens had an easy time routing Amon’s forces.
Once the locks were secure, Sweetie and Kerrigan entered the temple together.
A few days passed since Lyra and Tassadar entered the temple. They had no luck in their search so far as they explored the temple with Tassadar using a psi blade for illumination and Lyra using the light of her horn.
Tassadar saw a stone tablet that appeared to show an image of Zeratul and things he saw on Shakuras. He also saw what appeared to be a Xel’naga hovering over Kerrigan in the image.
Suddenly, part of the wall above the duo broke and a Hybrid fell through and landed before them. The Hybrid appeared motionless until it looked like it was getting up. What they really saw was Kerrigan getting the abomination off from on top of her.
“Hey Kerrigan,” Lyra greeted. “Is Bonnie with you?”
“All shall submit.” A second Hybrid said from above them before it ended up impaled in multiple places by chitinous tentacles. The Hybrid slumped through the hole before another figure flew down on leathery wings.
Lyra immediately recognized the figure and rushed forward to tackle and hug her. Sweetie never got tired of Lyra’s affectionate nature.
“What are you two doing here?” Lyra asked cheerfully.
“We’re looking for the Xel’naga. What about you?”
“Same thing as you. Let’s search the place together.”
Sweetie chuckled, “Sure, wiping out Hybrid will be much easier with the four of us.”
After the Ponies assured Tassadar that Kerrigan wasn’t going to stab any of them in the back, the group continued their exploration.
Kerrigan stated that the Hybrid had been impeding their progress for a while.
“The prophecies foretell of two ascended races working together to seek out the Halls of Revelation within the temple,” Tassadar said. “Only with both present will the shrines reveal the means to awaken the slumbering Xel’naga.”
“Guess we’ll find out if those prophecies were worth anything,” Kerrigan commented.
The group moved forward past a wall of devices that receded into the ground when the approached.
They noticed that the guardians of the temple were beginning to reveal themselves. Spotting a group of round constructs, Tassadar quickly dealt with them with a Lightning Dash.
The larger construct next to them activated upon their destruction. “Purity of Form. Purity of Essence. Prove your strength.” the Temple Sentinel said.
The Sentinel prepared to smash the ground around it so everyone cleared the area around the construct. When it smashed the ground, a number of smaller constructs were summoned and moved to attack. Sweetie impaled the smaller constructs while Kerrigan spawned Banelings to burn the Sentinel in acid while her Kinetic Blast heavily damaged the large construct. Lyra and Tassadar coordinated their movements and sliced the Sentinel to pieces.
Upon its destruction, a floating stone that had an orange glow appeared from the rubble. It placed itself on a pedestal that had the same glow as the stone. On the other end of what appeared to be a door was another pedestal that glowed blue while already having a stone placed on top of it.
The door began to open and Kerrigan commented, “So the constructs hold the keys. Good to know.”
Sweetie and Lyra examined the setup for a little longer before an old memory was triggered. Sweetie spoke first. “Hey, this setup. You don’t think…” Sweetie trailed off to see if Lyra picked up on her train of thought.
“Could it be?” Lyra asked hopefully.
“A Daring Do-type adventure!” both shouted simultaneously.
“This is definitely the kind of adventure that A.K. Yearling would write about,” Sweetie continued.
Tassadar and Kerrigan were very confused about the Ponies sudden change in behavior. However, both of them had a feeling that this was just something between them and let the matter drop before they risked saying something stupid.
Once the mares calmed down, the group proceeded past the door.
Just past it was a device that was emitting solar energy and Tassadar decided to collect it with a message speaking in their heads, “Our knowledge is your heritage.”
A trio of Hybrids met the group next. Tassadar and Kerrigan dealt with a Reaver while Sweetie broke the shield of a Destroyer with an EM Shot before impaling it in the head with a tentacle that extended from her finger. Lyra drained the life force of her Destroyer before unleashing it against the Reaver that Kerrigan and Tassadar were fighting.
Another Sentinel activated after the Hybrid were killed. The Ponies let Tassadar and Kerrigan handle the construct since they didn’t get much action against the Hybrid group.
The guardian’s death revealed a stone that glowed blue and floated over to the nearby blue pedestal.
The orange pedestal was still empty but Lyra saw the other statue they needed across a chasm. Instead of teleporting over to activate the dormant statue, Lyra fired a magical bolt at the statue which immediately reacted by floating over to them.
The Sentinel attempted to unleash a powerful beam of psionic energy at the group but other than that, the statue was as easy to deal with as the first two.
As expected, the destruction of the Sentinel revealed the missing stone that floated over to the remaining empty pedestal to unlock the door mechanism.
The first shrine that Tassadar wanted to find was on the other side of the door. When everyone approached it, the shrine began to activate.
The group was suddenly greeted by a group of Moebius Reapers and Tal’darim Zealots. Since everyone was on the same page that they were part of Amon’s forces, Sweetie, Lyra, Kerrigan and Tassadar showed no mercy to the intruders.
Sweetie hurled a Baneling Grenade into the middle of the Reaper group while Tassadar unleashed his Lightning Dash that quickly destroyed the Zealots’ shields before rapidly slashing them.
Reinforcements came in the form of Stalkers and Medivacs. Lyra didn’t care for who was aboard the transports so she grabbed one of the ships in her magic and smashed one into another, causing both to crash and burn in the chasm below. Kerrigan spawned a group of Banelings that made quick work of the Stalkers.
Hybrid soon came into the fight while the four were slaughtering their forces left and right. Lyra fully drained the life from a Hybrid Reaver and used the energy to destroy a nearby Destroyer. Sweetie sliced one in half when she willed one of her tentacles to flatten and form a sharp edge.
When Amon’s forces were driven off, the group received a vision from the shrine. It was learned that the Xel’naga were born from within the Void. Their purpose was to cultivate life and perpetuate the Infinite Cycle. They took on a physical form when a new universe was created and thrust back into the Void if destroyed. The assembly of the Keystone and the coming of two who bear one of the two Purities was all part of the Xel’nagas’ plan to continue the Infinite Cycle.
“Amon indwells my people...possessing them through the Khala, but he has no physical form...not yet. If he were separated from the Templar, he could be forced back into the Void!” Tassadar said.
When the group crossed the bridge that just formed, a powerful crimson beam pierced the ceiling of the temple and a number of Tal’darim Warp Prisms descended and started warping in a large number of Tal’darim warriors. Lyra dealt with the Warp Prisms while the others took advantage of their grouped up formation to devastate their numbers.
More Tal’darim were ahead fighting one of the Sentinels with a moderate number of smaller guardians assisting it. The group took advantage of the distraction and wiped out the Tal’darim before demolishing the Sentinel and its guardians.
An orange stone was released from the Sentinel and it floated to the pedestal to unlock the next door.
Moebius Corps ambushed the group in the next chamber with a number of Spectres and Reapers with a Thor as well but stood no chance against the four powerhouses.
The door to the next shrine had caved in so they would need to find another way to their destination. A group of Hybrid tried to entertain the group for a few seconds before they were dispatched.
After taking out another Moebius ambush, Tassadar found another solar-powered Xel’naga device. A voice spoke as he picked it up, “Our heritage is your future.”
A small number of Moebius heavy machinery attacked another Sentinel. Once the chamber was wiped out, an orange stone floated to its pedestal to open the way to the shrine.
As expected, a number of Warp Prisms, Medivacs and Hybrid ambushed the group to keep them from the shrine. Lyra began siphoning the life force of any of the nearby enemies and used the energies to take out the Hybrid while Sweetie created a pit of spikes underneath her enemies.
When the area was clear, the group got their next revelation. From Ulnar, the Xel’naga seeded the universe with life. They created the numberless races throughout the multiverse. They would always observe and identify the potential of the races they created without interfering with their development. The Infinite Cycle deemed that two races would emerge. One would be pure of essence, an indomitable spirit that is capable of great change. Another would be pure of form, a being of vast psionic potential that could house the essence of a Xel’naga.
Sweetie knew where Discord’s plan would ultimately lead her. She could only ask herself if she was truly worthy enough to become a part of something so great.
The introspection would have to wait as the path opened to the next section.
When they crossed the bridge, the group noticed something was wrong. Someone had already opened the next door. A number of Hybrid were sensed ahead attacking the last shrine. They needed to hurry.
With no time to rest, the group used every ability at their disposal to dispatch wave after wave of Hybrid, Tal’darim and Moebius Corps. They also had to dodge the displacement beams from Tal’darim Motherships.
Seeing a third Xel’naga device down a corridor, Lyra teleported to it and picked it up, hearing a voice in her head, “Our future is as one in the Void.”
Everyone quickly entered the chamber where the shrine was held and easily dispatched the Tal’darim and Moebius group before engaging the Hybrid, including one that looked like an enhanced version of the Hybrid Reaver except its claws were crimson. When the Hybrid Behemoth finally engaged the group, Lyra used her speed to slice off an arm before it had time to react. Sweetie gathered a lot of magic into her horn before firing it at the Behemoth and vaporizing it.
The third shrine was activated and everyone received the final vision. Within the Chamber of Ascension, the Xel’naga have slumbered for eons. The two destined races’ arrival was supposed to awaken the Xel’naga from their slumber. The elders among them would give their lives to bestow their essence to the chosen to allow them to be reborn as Xel’naga.
The group entered the Chamber of Ascension to finally meet the Xel’naga. What they soon found was what brought surprise to everyone but Sweetie: the Xel’naga were all dead. Their remains lie within the ruins of the chamber.
Suddenly, Amon spoke to gloat of his victory. He pulled Tassadar toward him and declared the completion of his new host body while showing it to him in a vision and declared that his endgame would soon begin.
A nearby door opened to reveal a flow of void energies filling the room. The group fled from the chaotic energies and hoped to find a way out of the trap before it was too late.