Chapter 14: Radiance
It had taken her two weeks, but Seeker was finally at the border of Consortium space. The main reason for the delay was the bureaucratic resistance involved in a sanctioned border crossing. Getting permission from the Kel Morian ponies to bring a warship into Consortium space was a lengthy process that ordinarily took months. Since time was of the essence, bribes needed to be paid, promises needed to be made, valuable trade goods needed to be acquired, and forms had to be filled out. Seeker had no idea that being a Dark Templar could ever involve so much paper work.
Crossing illegally would have been a simple process, and regular enough occurrence that it would have gone ignored. The Kel Morians held the largest sub-sector of the sector, and the United Fleet was no where near large enough to catch all the illegal crossings. If Seeker wanted to, she could just fly through on a small shuttle and have free reign through out Consortium space. The UF probably wouldn’t go on a man hunt over such a small incursion.
But it wasn’t the UF she was worried about, as much as it was the numerous bands of pirates, rebels and mercenaries that would have made her easy prey. Consortium space was the capital of commerce for traders of every faction in the sector, but the further one gets from the capital, the more lawless things become. Pirate raids, as well as “legally sanctioned corporate acquisition of goods,” were common for anyone who didn’t travel with a strong escort. Well the UF did provide protection for traders traveling their space; it was only after a heavy trade tax, and an even longer wait list. The only way for Seeker to safely conduct her search for the wayward preserver was to bring a heavy escort of her own, and the only way the Kel-Morians would allow it is if they believed she was there on trade business.
With the Supreme Matriarchs blessing, she requisitioned the GAV (Golden Armada Vessel) Radiance for her investigation, as well as a number of small shuttles, and Khaydarin power cells to trade. The cargo shuttles and power cells were just part of a cover. The Khalai did occasionally trade with the Kel Morians, so a trade convoy wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. She would keep the true nature of her mission to herself.
The Radiance was a Mantis-class cruiser, based off an ancient Protoss design called a Void Ray. It was a balanced design built for multiple purposes ranging from escorting against fighter attack, orbital bombardment, and long range ship to ship bombardment. The Radiance was a long, flat, rectangular shaped ship, usually only crewed by about two hundred ponies, with robots used to fill most of the more mundane roles. On both its port and starboard sides was a hanger bay that ran through the ship, usually used for small shuttles, or fighters.
The ships bow had two Photonic Beam cannons on the left and right ends, as well as a third larger beam cannon between the two. Either of the two smaller beam cannons are able to fire their beams at different targets, allowing the mantis to quickly shoot down multiple small targets approaching from the front half of the cruiser, though they are unable to hit anything on the rear of the ship. Power from the two smaller cannons could be transferred to the main cannon, focusing a powerful beam able to damage even the largest of ships from a long range, though it could only fire on a ship directly in front of it.
The attack was mostly used to damage large, slow moving targets, while the smaller beam cannons would be used on anything else. Two missile launchers were mounted on the top side allowing for long range attacks in any direction. Lastly, two rapid fire photon cannons were mounted on the top portion of the ship, with two more on the bottom, providing good all around protection from smaller fighters.
Unlike the old prismatic beam cannons that required a Dark Templar to channel the beam, which could possibly kill the channeler and the crew, the new Photonic beam cannons were able to operate on the ships power alone. However just like the old void ray, if the situation called, a Dark Templar could channel his or her own void energies into the beam for an enhanced effect. Doing so still ran the risk of killing the channeler and destroying the ship.
While Seeker had the utmost confidence in the ship, it was in the crew she had her doubts in. The Golden Armada wasn’t too happy with being forced to give up one of their cruisers to such a young mare, especially a Dark Templar, but they had no choice in that matter. They did however have a choice in the crew she received. Rather than a battle tested crew, she was given augments from different ships through out the fleet. Usually crewmen whose skills were still untested and would not be missed.
The ship's captain was Overseer Starsong. He was a red unicorn, with green eyes and a blond mane. He sported a cutie mark of a sun surrounded by asteroids. He was a High Templar who had only recently been promoted to an overseer, and had never been put into any major leadership roles in the fleet before. Starsong knew that he was only given his promotion and command of his own ship because the Golden Armada was unwilling to give up any of their veteran commanders. He had served in several battles before, but never as the captain of his own ship.
He had served on ships that had run escorts in Consortium space before, so this was nothing new to him. The fact there was a Dark Templar along for a cargo exchange was nothing out of the ordinary. They were the only ones qualified to deal with the Kel-Morian traders, and used this opportunity as a form of training; to learn how to blend in with the other cultures. This was a mundane mission to say the least, but even so, he was determined to make the most of the situation and prove his worth.
Seeker could respect where the stallion was coming from. She too was still young and mostly untested. The only reason she had been given this assignment was because of her relationship with Sovereign which is what helped her track him down in the first place. But tracking down a young run away stallion within their own space wasn’t seen as a grand achievement. However tracking down a target in one of the most lawless regions of the sector might be just what she needed to prove her worth as a Dark Templar.
The Templar who escorted Sovereigns shuttle into Consortium space a few months back didn’t have much useful information other than his last known whereabouts. Seeker ordered the Radiance to travel to the nearest inhabited system to ask about any Khala vessels that had come by. Naturally the locals were less than cooperative without incentive. It was typical of the other ponies to be unwilling to assist unless they received some sort of personal compensation; it was the usual level of greed she had come to expect from Kel Morians.
Fortunately Seeker brought many Consortium bits with her, being fully aware of just how deep greed runs in Consortium space. The Khalai themselves had no use for currency within their society, but they used it to trade with the Consortium. If their bits ran dry, they could also always trade their power cells they were supposedly here to sell.
She had to give the Kel Morians credit for keeping accurate records of all ships passing through, even if it is just in hopes of being able to sell the information. There was a clear trail to follow so far; Seeker was pleased with the results of her investigation, knowing each world brought her one step closer to Sovereign.
Starsong on the other hand was less than pleased with the investigation's results. It had been six weeks since they had entered Consortium space, and so far there hadn't been any signs of any danger or excitement. A part of Starsong wished they would run into some of that famed Consortium pirate action, maybe a zerg nest, or perhaps they’d accidentally find themselves in the middle of Kel Morian mining dispute, which was known for ending in bloodshed.
Instead they had encountered six weeks of smooth sailing. It seemed his ship was being used as little more than a glorified personal transport for some mare who didn’t even trust him with the details of her mission in the first place. The crew had grown restless; they were Templar after all, and Templar are born warriors. They should be patrolling their borders for enemy incursion. Instead their talents were being wasted bribing and trading with merchants. Starsong had been patient long enough. If he was going to continue wasting time in Consortium space, he would need answers.
Seeker was busy studying some maps of the next world they would be visiting, listing all the star ports on that world she would have to next investigate. She was rather displeased by the Captains interruption.
“Overseer I thought I made it clear that I was not to be interrupted,” she said to the stallion without looking away from her maps.
The lack of respect vexed the overseer. This was after all his ship, and he felt a certain level of respect was to be paid to any ship captain. “You’ve been dragging us all over Consortium space for six weeks now. You’ve handed off over a third of the trade goods we were suppose to be protecting, yet you’ve brought no new cargo on board. I’ve done these pointless escort missions before; they don’t run for this long. If you can’t give me a straight answer as to what you’ve been doing with that cargo, then I’m afraid we’re going to have to head back to Aiur so you can explain what you’ve been doing to the Executors.”
Seeker finally looked away from her maps to meet him eye to eye. “Your orders are to do what I say overseer. If you can’t do that, then I’ll find a captain who can.”
“I was ordered to escort a cargo run, and there is clearly more to this mission than just an exchange of cargo.”
Before the conversation could continue, one of the crew members on the bridge sent him a message through the Khala, informing him that they’ve picked up a distress signal from an unknown vessel. Starsong immediately left the mare’s quarters and made his way back to the bridge.
Seeker may not have been connected to the Khala, but she could tell by how fast he had taken off that something important, or at least potentially interesting, must have happened. She quickly ran after him.
The two ponies entered the bridge, and found four ships in the distance on screen. It seems three small raiding ships were attacking another vessel. Starsong ordered the crew to magnify image as best as they could. The three attacking ships all had a symbol of a diamond collar painted on.
“Looks like we have some pirates” commented Starsong, doing his best to hold back a smile. “Templar, move us in to engage. Glorious combat awaits!”
“Belay that order!” demanded Seeker. “Those aren’t pirates. Those are Diamond Dogs. They’re a security firm that operates in Consortium space. This is their jurisdiction not ours.”
“They’re attacking a civilian ship!” shouted Starsong. “Isn’t that what they’re supposed to be preventing?”
“Security firms tend to demand fees now and then from passing ships. Odds are they were unwilling or unable to pay. Either way, we should stay out of this,” replied Seeker.
Starsong wasn’t about to sit back and watch pirates prey on helpless civilian ships. He didn’t care what company logo they wore, pirates are still pirates. “As I said, glory awaits. Move to engage. Red alert status!” The ships crew obeyed their captain, and began to bring their weapons online as the sound of the red alert sirens were heard through out the ship.
“Overseer! There are three problems with what you are about to do. One, that is not a Khala ship, it does not concern us. Two, the Diamond Dogs are a very powerful security firm with in the Consortium; if we attack them now, we’ll have problems later. Three, if you don’t turn this ship around, you will be relieved of command!” shouted Seeker.
Starsong made his rebuttal. “One, Templar don’t run from pirates. Two, justice doesn’t stop when we cross the border. Three, once a ship has entered red alert status, the acting ship captain now has full authority until we stand down from red alert. If you want to have me relieved from command, you’ll have to wait until the red alert is over.”
Seeker wasn’t going to stand for any of this. “Templar, stand down red alert! Now!”
The ships crew ignored her orders. One of them explained, “Sorry ma’am. But only the acting ship captain can order a stand down from red alert status.” Seeker did her best to suppress her rage. It was only intensified by the sight of Starsong’s smile at the crewman’s reply.
“How long until we’re in weapons range?” asked Starsong.
“One minute until we’re in range for cannons. Fifteen seconds until our missile launches are in range” replied a crewmen.
“Lock launchers one and two on the closest ship and fire on my signal. Hail the enemy ships. Give them one chance to back off,” commanded Starsong.
“You’re letting them know we’re coming?!” asked Seeker. “If they escape, they’ll transmit that it was us who attacked them!”
Starsong ignored her comment.
“Shall we launch fighters Captain?” asked a crewman.
“Prep them for launch, but keep them in the bay. No need to reveal our full strength early on,” he replied.
“We’re picking up a transmission,” announced one of the crewmen.
“Well what do we have here? Looks like we got ourselves some heroes,” said a ponies voice coming from the speakers. “Now you listen here. This has nothing to do with any of you. Just turn around, and go about your business before you do something you regret.”
Starsong was unconvinced. “Launch missiles one and two from launcher one,” he commanded. Two missiles raced through space towards their target, smashing against the ships shields. While minimal damage had been done to the ships hull, the ships shields were disabled.
“Oh you gone and done it now son,” said a voice from the speakers.
“They’ve cut off all hails,” informed a crewman. “They’re on an approach vector; they have missiles locked on us.”
“Fire missiles three and four from launcher one on same target. Fire all missiles from launcher two and second nearest target then rearm launchers. Fix photon and beam cannons on third target and fire as soon as it’s in range.”
“Understood Captain,” said a gunner.
The Radiance’s missiles launched at their intended targets. The damaged raider rolled out of the way while launching counter measures, dodging the two missiles meant for it. It only received minor damage from the missiles exploding from behind. The second salvo of missiles fared the same as the other raider mimicked the maneuver. With its shields still up, it suffered no damage from the explosion. All three raiders now counter attacked with missiles of their own. The large mantis cruiser was unable to dodge their attack, and its shields weakened from their impact. Fortunately, their missiles were meant to damage small fighters, not large cruisers, so the Radiances suffered no hull damage.
The Radiance missile launchers lowered beneath the ships hull while the robotic crew began to rearm them. Now in range of their short range weapons, the Radiance fired its beam and photon cannons onto the third raider. The ships pilot seemed to be particularly skilled as he dodged the majority of the photon cannons rapid attacks. The beams managed to land some hits, but were unable to stay focused on the target long enough to do penetrate the shields.
The three raiders, now close enough for a short ranged attack of their own, returned fire with dual gauss gatling guns. The shells were meant to damage light armored vehicles, but their focused fire was enough to temporarily breach the shields and damage the hull underneath. They focused their fire on one of the still rearming missile launchers.
“Captain, our shields are holding, but they did inflict hull damage. The lift for missile launcher one is damaged, we can’t raise the launcher to fire. Missile launcher two is now rearmed.”
“Order the robots to remove any missiles before they start repairs. We can’t risk them going off inside the ships hull,” replied Starsong.
“These mercenaries are veterans. They do this every day for a living. Your crew isn’t ready for this yet. Transfer power from weapons to shields, then head back to the warp beacon. We can jump away from there, the shields should hold,” suggested Seeker.
Starsong ignored her advice. He wasn't about to let his first battle at the hands of pirates end in defeat so easily.
Seeker was starting to remember why she didn’t fit in with the regular Templar forces. Too often they let pride and an overrated sense of honor prevent them from making sound decisions.
“They’re coming around for another attack. They’re coming from behind,” announced a crewman.
“Full salvo from launcher two on the raider with the damaged shields. Set missiles to detonate when they’re within fifty yards in front of the raider. Have canons and beams focus fire after missile detonation,” ordered Starsong.
The launcher fired all four of its anti mater missiles. Again, the raider launched counter measures and attempted to roll out of the way, but instead flew head first into the blast. The unshielded ship was damaged and slowed by the attack, then was quickly blasted to pieces by the rapid fire photon cannons. The remaining two raiders launched another salvo of missiles at the remaining launcher, followed by another burst from their gatling guns.
“Captain, launcher two has been damaged. The lift is still operational, but the launcher will be unable to fire. Two hull breaches detected, no casualties to report.”
“Lower the lift and begin repairs,” ordered Starsong. “Any idea how many missiles they still have?”
“Scanning… We aren’t detecting any more missiles sir, that should have been their last salvo. It appears they already used their ammunition on civilian vessel before we arrived. But their gatlings guns can penetrate our shields and inflict significant hull damage if they can concentrate fire… They’re coming in again from the side!”
“Lower our cannons below the hull; take all weapons offline and transfer that power to our shields. Put the ship in a roll; I don’t want them to be able to focus fire on anything.” ordered Starsong.
“What are you doing?!” shouted Seeker.
Starsong ignored her question. With some hesitation, the crew followed his orders, and they were now a slow moving, though quickly rolling target. The raiders came in for another attack, and then another, then another. Each attack further weakened the shields, and eventually began to inflict damage on the ships hull. After a number of fly bys, they received a message from the Diamond Dogs.
“Well look at that!” the voice said with a laugh. “We beat you boys so hard you’re doing death rolls. We’re feeling generous today, so we’re going to let you go this time. Don’t let us catch you in these parts again you hear?” the transmission cut off as the raiders began to make an escape.
“Launch all fighters and have them target their engines. I don’t want them to live long enough to tell their friends about us,” ordered Starsong.
The fighters, which had been prepped ahead of time, took off from the hanger bay to attack the raiders. The raiders weapons were specialized in shooting down enemy fighters, but they made no resistance. They only kept trying to escape, but were unable to outrun the small Khala fighters who proceeded to disable their engines.
Starsong was pleased to see his plan had worked. “That’s such a shame. It appears they wasted all their ammunition trying to smash against our shields. Now they’re sitting ducks,” he said with a chuckle. “Bring the beams back on line. Cleanse their wretched souls with righteous fire,” he ordered.
Another transmission was coming through. “Hey now, let’s not do anything hasty here. That ship we were attacking, you can have half of what it had. Hell you can take the whole ship. Think about this! If we tell our boss your ship interfered with a legally sanctioned corporate acquisition, you’re all going to have a nice big bull’s eye painted on the side of your ship. Do you really want that?”
Starsong looked over to one of his crewmen and asked, “Does that ship have any long range communication available at the moment?”
“Our scanners say no Captain,” reported a crewman.
Starsong smiled at the reply. “Open fire,” he commanded. The Radiance’s beams roared in indignation as they cut against the two ships, eventually slicing them in half. A thunder of cheers filled the ships bridge; the crew of the Radiance had for the first time engaged in honorable combat and emerged victorious. “Hail the civilian ship. See if they require assistance.”
“We already wasted time and resources fighting their battle for them. Now you want to see if you can give them even more?” asked Seeker.
The Overseer ignored the Dark Templar. Even if those civilians weren’t Khalai, they were still ponies, and every pony is entitled to justice.
Seeker couldn’t understand why Starsong insisted on giving further assistance to a complete stranger who probably would never be able to ever return the favor even if he wanted too. But she had to admit, even if she didn’t agree with the overseer, she did respect his commitment to the Templar and the Khala.
The Dark Order was expected to get results by any means necessary. The Templar Order was expected to uphold justice at all times. Even if she didn’t agree with Starsong, she admired that he stuck to his principles. In truth, she doubted other Templar would have gone out of their way the same way he did. At first she was certain he was just hungry for glory, but if that were the case he would have left the merchants to their fate immediately after the battle; not be sitting at a dinner table with them.
Assuming they would have to make communications not meant for Kel-Morian ears, Seeker joined with the Khala. She didn’t like joining with the Khala, even if only temporarily. Knowing that everyone could sense her deepest emotions was… disturbing. For any other group of ponies, the very idea seemed far to intimate to do with just anyone.
Starsong could feel her discomfort, and it was starting to make him feel a bit uncomfortable linking with her. Would you relax? You’re making this awkward. We’re just accepting their hospitality, and seeing if they need any further assistance. If you don’t want to be here, just return to the ship.
I’m not going anywhere. I need to make sure you don’t make any crazy promises we can’t keep. In fact, I should probably have you arrested for what you did! replied Seeker.
“I can’t thank you two enough for the help you gave. Most folks around these parts couldn’t give a damn what happens to anypony else, much less take on the Diamond Dogs for them,” said the other pony. His name was Fix It. He was a short and chubby Kel-Morian earth pony mechanic with a green coated hair and mane. With their ship's captain killed in the attack, he was now in command.
“The Templar don’t allow the wicked to go unpunished. It is our life duty to help,” replied Starsong.
“Well, thank Celestia for life duties!” he said raising a glass with his two hooves.
“To life duty!” Starsong raised his glass with his magic and tapped it against the captains before enjoying some very fine wine. “Khalas Light! What’s in this?!” he asked.
“Like it eh? That’s Celestia's tears, imported all the way from Vatican space. They got some of the best wine in the sector. Imperials love it, but they can’t directly trade with the Vatican, so we serve as the middle man. They pay well for this stuff,” explained Fix It. “You know what? Take a box, in fact, take ten. It’s the least we can do.”
Excellent! You risk the lives of your crew, and you get some boxes of wine to show for it, complained Seeker.
“That’s very generous of you,” said Starsong
“Well that’s what we originally agreed to pay the Diamond Dogs for escort services. Then they suddenly decided they wanted one hundred boxes, so I’d consider myself lucky”
“They were going to kill you over wine?” asked Seeker.
“Like I said, Imperials pay well for this stuff. The cargo in our hanger is worth more than the ship right now,” explained Fix It.
Amazing the level of greed the other ponies in this sub-sector are willing to show isn’t it? asked Seeker.
“Well, we thank you for the dinner and the wine. The robots should be just about finished fixing your ships engines. We’ll be taking any salvage we can collect from those wrecked raiders, but feel free to take whatever your cargo bay can carry as well. There should be more than enough to repair both ships,” said Starsong.
“Really? I don’t know what to say. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have to ask, why are you doing this?” asked Fix It.
Why are you doing this? We risked our ship to help theirs. They’re already going to make off with vast wealth after they sell their cargo, asked Seeker.
“We already have plenty of spare parts, and our ship barely took any damage. Not to mention your cargo bay doesn't have much room left anyway, so we’ll still get to take the vast majority. I doubt we’ll miss a couple tons of scrap. Plus I’d say you need it more than we do,” replied Starsong.
Fix It was shocked by his generosity. Sure in the end he wasn’t giving up that much, but he was used to ponies taking everything they could get, even if they didn’t need it. “You know what, you Khalai folk are alright. I know ponies say you guys are creepy, and honestly the way your friend there keeps glaring at me I can see why, but you’re alright. First that hornless Khalai unicorn loans us the money for our cargo a few months back, then you folks-”
“What hornless unicorn!?” shouted Seeker.
“You know him?” asked Fix it.
Why is this hornless unicorn important? asked Starsong.
“He’s an old friend of mine. Was his name Sovereign?” she asked.
“That’s the one. You should have seen him at the casino tables. The guy was winning left and right like crazy. He was really generous too. He was handing out his winnings to anypony who he thought could use it. Everypony wanted a piece of him. Our captain asked him if he could borrow some bits for a cargo run, and promised a big return for his investment. To be honest… he was kind of gullible. A lot of ponies made the same offer and never paid him back. But our captain did pay what he promised after the first job. No point in making enemies with a potential future lender right?” said Fix It.
“He just came out and told you he was a Khalai?” asked Seeker.
“Well no. He didn’t want anypony at the casinos to know he was cheating. But after we showed our sincerity when we paid him back, he took us out for some drinks and… well he let a lot of things slip,” explained Fix It. "Your friend's quite the drinker when he wants to be."
That idiot! He’s been making a scene these last few months? He does not need that kind of attention, she thought to herself.
Who in the Khalas Light is Sovereign?! Are you telling me we just wasted six weeks of our time just so you can find your friend?! asked Starsong
This is why I hate linking with the Khala, Seeker thought to herself, again forgetting her thoughts were being shared.
I can still hear you, said Starsong.
Damn it! Overseer, I’m terminating this connection. Seeker tried to do as she said, but to no avail. The overseer was a High Templar, thus he had a strong mental will, and he wasn’t going to let her disconnect that easily.
You and I are staying linked until I know everything, he announced.
Fine. I’ll tell you when we get back to the ship. Just let me ask a couple more questions first, she replied.
“When was the last time you saw Sovereign?” asked Seeker.
“Last I met him he was in Raydin IV. The Captain wanted to stop by and drop off a box of wine as a courtesy but… he just seems to have disappeared. Heard that was a couple of months ago; not positive though,” replied Fix It.
“Thank you for your time. You’ve been very helpful,” said Seeker acting polite for the first time since sitting at the table.
“No problem ma’am” he replied.
Starsong, set a course for Raydin IV when we get back to the ship. I’ll explain everything on the way.
Stats
Page generated in 0.041 seconds
Total duration
973 users online
417,446 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
FIRST!
Okay, is that supposed to be a modified version of the void ray(a diferent ship than the VR), or are you just screwing with my mind right now?
Don't you mean, the lack of respect?
Cuss lack of disrespect is something good.
Um...is it me, or is there something wrong with this picture?
So...there are no more zerg on Aiur, and the world has been reconcored? Wait, weren't teh Khalai ponies stationed of Shakuras?
Um, could you explain to me this "Mantis" ship design(if it's not VR) because I am not familiar with it.
The chapter was very good story wise. A couple of confusing parts(the ones up top) but they can be overlooked. (Random fact, leadership is written together, not two separate words)
If I am to be sincere, I think of this Starsong as an honorblinded bonehead, and I would be rather pleased if something...unfortunate happened to him.
And you were right. School has really slowed your chapter posting. Compared to the rest of the fit this chapter came out like:
2628994
Warp ray was a typo. I'll fix that in a sec. I just got done reading up on the void ray when I had written the chapter, so the term "warp ray" was still fresh inside my head. Thanks for catching that, as well as some of the other typos you pointed out. I'll get to work on those right away.
Again, ship designs have changed in the last few hundred years. The mantis is suppose to play the same role as the void ray. It still uses a big powerful beam, and can still use void energy from a Dark Templar if one is available. But if you've read lens of the void, you can see why that is a dangerous and less practical method, which is why the new Khala phased it out. Even though its not common practice, it can still be performed. Thing is, many ships in lore do have multiple armaments (like battle cruisers turrets), you just don't see it in game because that would be OP in a multi player, not to mention it would be more demanding on the graphics card. Think of this as the equivalent of a US Destroyer. A destroyer was a ship armed with many smaller weapons meant for taking out fighters and submarines to protect larger ships. The difference is that its beam cannon (like the void rays beam cannons) can be focused as one powerful beam to take on large ships, as well as divided into smaller more precise beams to deal with smaller targets.
As for Aiur, yes it is the capital of the Khala faction. Remember, the original warp gate lead back to Aiur. The were zerg are only a shadow of what they used to be when they first arrived. Though through the Confederacy, they have become a force to be reckoned with again. There will be more on them later. I just started introducing the Khala, so there will probably be more on them and a bit more on the Dominion before you see much info on the Confederacy and the Zerg. I do hope to get the Khalas lore chapter out this weekend. Nothing is set in stone yet, but more than likely, the Confederacy will have the next lore chapter.
As for Starsong, lets face it, that's been the way the Templar have been portrayed during the entire series.
"The Protoss do not run from their enemies, Aiur is our home world and where we shall make our stand!" ~ Alderas
Almost the entire conclave was killed on Aiur.
"The only cure for zerg infestation is purification with fire! If you seek to stop us, we shall meet in glorious combat!" ~ Selendis
Most of her army was killed, and she lost one of the GAs few remaining mother ships.
"You act as if you fear these humans Zeratul. Are they such as we? Was it not us who defeated the Overmind?" ~ Artanis
Zeratul had to remind him that they fought along side the Terrans to defeat the first Overmind. Fortunately he convinced Artanis to send a scout team to disable the UED blockade, then had the majority of the fleet fly on by. Arguably underhanded, but considering Artanis wanted to charge them head on initially, it was probably for the best. Can you imagine what would have happened if Artanis had just taken the entire fleet and attempted to charge through that blockade? Or even after they had disabled the blockade, if Artanis had his way, they would have met the UED fleet afterwards instead of ran away to continue their mission.
"I hunger for battle. I fear no enemy, for the Khala is my strength! I fear not "death", For our strength is eternal!" ~ Fenix
We all remember what happened to him at Antioch. Dragoon suit
There is a reason why the Nerazim were able to survive while the Khalai stood their grand and "died honorably." The Nerazim knew when and when not to fight. And when they did fight, they were willing to use just about any tactic. There was a twitter once to the devs that asked why the Templar, if they are part of such an advance race, limit themselves to some very impractical codes of honor that seem to reflect chivalry from the dark ages. I think it was Metzen that made the reply. He said something along the lines of Protoss being of a radically different psychology. Just as we view their strange code of honor as bazar, they view human ethics the same way. Things to us that seem natural like lying, cheating, stealing are completely foreign to them. Being a society where everyone always know what everyone else is thinking tends to make those concepts pointless.
2629032 Okay, glad to be of service.
Again, mind explaining the changes?
Okay. Can't wait for more Khalai and Zerg. And mayba some *hinthint* going on between Sweets and Sovi. Then Seeker catches them in a motel room, and either we have a murder, threesome or a really awkward and complicated talk.
Yeah, I know how Templars are portraited. But they are awesome. This guy in particular...I just plain dislike. Nothin' personal to your OCs.
2629458
If by changes you mean ships... simply put, ship designs change over time. I don't have an exact time line down yet, but there was about three hundred years of time between the ponies arrival in the sector and now. That might change if I create an actual time line when I'm done with the lore chapter.
In the actual game starcraft, the void ray comes with some pretty pitiful weaknesses. But that's mostly game play. While in gameplay people can build them by the dozens, in lore the void ray is actually still very experimental, and there aren't very many of them; kind of like archons. The whole point was to see how effective and practical of a weapon it could be so they could apply it to other ship designs. While the weapon proved to be very effective, it wasn't practical because of the massive strain that it put on the... "gunner"? Channeler? Whatever you want to call it. The reason they needed a Dark Templar to channel the void energy was because the Nerazim didn't have the technology to focus the beam on their own. It never states if its because they literally can't use technology to control the void ( find that unlikely because they do use warp blades, which are technology), or if its because they don't want to; perhaps fearing an over reliance on technology could weaken their will and mastery of the void over time. But because a Channeler is required, the void ray is a very dangerous weapon to use. Void Rays could actually explode violently when they open two or more of the ships flux field projectors; if the channeler/gunner can't keep the energy contained, the ships core explodes killing the crew.
The main reason the Khalai ponies decided to switch to the purely khayradin energy beam was because it was safer and more practical. They had to make a cruiser sized ship and cannon in order to get the same effect however, as opposed to the frigate sized void ray design. But it is a potentially more powerful weapon, because if a Dark Templar does step up to channel void energy into the beam, the purely psionic beam turns into a prismatic beam (which focuses both psionic and void energy for a much more devastating effect), and because its from an even larger cannon, it's potentially more powerful than the smaller cannon on the original void rays.
This is how it's described in the lore as Theromos was instructing a young Dark Templar on how to properly channel the voids energies into the beam. "The void ray is one of the first ships designed by the scientists of Aiur and Shakuras working together. It gathers the psionic energies of the Khala, focused through phase crystals, and combines them with the might of the Void. They meet in the prismatic core and then are amplified by the flux field projectors. The energies arc from the projectors to the main crystal, the source of the prismatic beam. However, while our brethren's technologies can align and contain the Khala's powers, taming the Void's potency requires a dark templar to focus and funnel it into a useful form. Without a disciplined Nerazim mind, the forces generated by the void ray will become too wild and cascade beyond control."
I like the story and such, but I really, really need to know about Applebloom, RD, and Jet.
And sorry if I missed something, but what were the Diamond Dogs flying? They kinda sounded like Valkeryie mixed with Viking.
Neat chapter bro. Continue please.
2629032
I suspect it has something to do with their uplift by the Xel'Naga. They didn't really get a chance to "mature" on their own before they had space travel, I know that StarCraft probably wouldn't be the best example but sci-fi literature is full of Proud Warrior Races that obtained highly advanced technology from another species that there's a trope for it.