Starcraft: Queen and Country
By Wanderer D
Chapter 022: Disconnected
"Nerath."
Jerked from her current project, the short Nerazim turned around to face the interloper. "Father." She tilted her head slightly, studying him. "You seem troubled."
He walked fully into her lab, pacing around a little as he was wont to do before facing her. "I have received a request from Zeratul."
She blinked. "It was my impression that the word 'exile' implied a lack of further contact." She shrugged. "I suppose self-exiles do things differently."
"I wonder if you have spent the many hours you have in here sharpening your wit instead of forging."
"As always, father, you wound me with your astute observations, but I will note that I am still a work in progress."
The taller Nerazim chuckled, shaking his head, but then straightened up, regarding her seriously. "His request is not an easy one, and was addressed to our family's elders. It has been approved."
"I get the distinct feeling that the revelation of the nature of this request is not going to be pleasant for me."
"It is not."
Nerath didn't exactly cringe. She had seen it coming. "What is it, then?"
"He has requested, on behalf of Executor Selendis—and thus with the blessing of Artanis himself—for one of our most talented phase-smiths to assist in a difficult medical procedure that is to remain secret."
Nerath crossed her arms. "Ignoring how unlikely it would be for Selendis to work with Zeratul is hard enough. But why come to our family for that? Surely there are much better prepared healers to deal with the matter of healing. We so-called phase-smiths don't have much to offer… unless…" Her eyes widened. "The void channel?"
Her father gave her a look.
"I'm still deciding on a proper name."
"In any case, that is indeed the case," he responded, once again pacing around the room, and resting his hand on some of her designs as he studied them.
"But father, we cannot give them the designs!"
He glanced at her.
"We can't!" She insisted. "Surely they understand this?"
Her father released a breath and nodded, turning to the table once again for a moment, then finally walking back to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Zeratul has promised that the designs will not be handed to the Khalai, and despite Vorazun's dislike of him, we all know his honor is without question."
Nerath sighed. She knew this was true. They all knew, even as they shared Vorazun's pain over the loss of her mother. "Very well. I shall prepare." She hesitated, walking up to her console and bringing up information about Selendis, although there wasn't anything really new that wasn't widely known to the Nerazim. "Do we really not know what this is all about?"
Her father shook his head. "No. All we know is that Executor Selendis herself requested this of Zeratul, and that it involves a long term mission she is part of."
"Fine." She glanced at the picture. "At least she's pretty."
"Please don't start a war," her father said with a sigh, just as he stepped out.
The echoing voice of the Protoss Templar accompanying him as he turned around yet again.
"Tell me, Gallus of Equestria, does your whole species have so little patience?"
"Griffons?" Gallus snorted, pausing to glance at his companion. "I'm extremely patient, for a griffon. Granted, I might not be as patient as Celestia herself, but I'm not godlike or immortal enough to embrace inner peace to any extent close to that."
Ganox regarded him with that slight tilting-up of the head that indicated the Protoss was amused.
"Tell me, are all Nerazim usually late?"
"I would not know," Ganox said, his voice more an indicator of a shrug than his body language. "For I have not met any Nerazim myself. They are part of the Daelaam, yes, but not of the Khala. With its absence, their thoughts, and their traditions remain a mystery to most of us."
"I suppose that makes sense," Gallus said, starting to pace again. He had repaired his armor as best he could from his experience working under Swann, the blueprints sent by the engineer, and equipment helpfully provided by one of Selendis' phase smiths.
The metal provided and the sources of energy were less heavy than in the original design, but he now wore enough golden highlights on his blue armor that he now looked like a beefed up version of himself that had somehow joined the Royal Guard back in Canterlot.
If he ever set paw in the Hyperion again he'd probably be teased about it before Swann tried to pry it open to see how it worked.
Ganox shifted. "I am curious, however. Your friendship with Dark Prelate Zeratul is unusual, but you seemed to be more comfortable in your conversation with him, than with any of us, despite us being allies. Why is that?"
Gallus paused, then sighed. He turned to look at Ganox. "Am I that obvious?" he asked aloud, but before Ganox could answer his rhetorical question, he continued, "It's hard for me to understand this Khala of yours. I don't know how I could live with sharing my every thought with my entire species."
It had taken him weeks to get used to wearing such heavy armor, and even though the Hyperion was huge, he would still get sudden claustrophobic attacks if he went into a room and the exit was blocked… and if Zeratul hadn't used his mental powers to help him adapt to the thought of the huge vacuum of space behind a (relatively speaking) thin wall of metal and cables between him and instant death, his life in the spaceship would have been a real nightmare, if at all possible.
Unaware of his thoughts, Ganox nodded lightly. "And so, the fact that the Nerazim have no connection to the Khala…"
"It's that individuality that I can relate to, yeah," Gallus completed, sitting down next to the Templar, who remained standing. Gallus contemplated the lack of… anything really, other than rocky outcroppings around them. "On the one claw, I can relate… sometimes I wish that I could tell everything, absolutely everything to Smolder, or Sweetie, or Silverstream, or any of my friends.
"I know Smolder would tease me, but she'd also stand beside me to help me face whatever was holding me back." He grinned. "I know Yona would offer to pound whatever it was to a flat surface for me. I know Sandbar would sit down and work it out with me. I know that Ocellus would try to find some egg-headed way to solve the problem. I know that Silverstream would be more than happy to cheer me up, introduce me to others that could help and go with me the whole way." His smile turned gentle. "I know Sweetie would offer me her hoof, dust me off, and face whatever I need by my side."
"Indeed, that Khala allows everyone to share in those experiences as you share them, it is not invasive."
"Yes. I understand that, but… I guess what I value out of that in a big part is that they're all individuals and we can't just project our solution to each other with absolute clarity, if that makes sense?"
"It does not."
Gallus rolled his eyes. "Okay, hear me out." He paused to contemplate his words. "The thing that makes all of their effort and support all the more valuable to me, is that each of us, as individuals don't know what the other is thinking, we just know that we're there to help each other. If Silverstream could just… I dunno, transfer her whole idea to me, it… I feel it would lack that sense of choice, that… um, what's the word… will to help? despite not knowing if it's going to or not. It's difficult to explain."
"Clearly." Ganox's voice was not mocking, but he was very much not impressed with his explanation.
"Well, okay," Gallus sighed. "You know Sweetie Belle."
"The Zerg Queen, yes."
"She has something like the Khala that you have with the zerg."
When Ganox's eyes flashed, Gallus quickly waved his claw. "I know it's not the same! What I mean is, she can share all she wants with the Zerg, but she also is part of a greater whole, just like you are part of a greater whole through the Khala, right?"
"...right," Ganox conceded slowly, very much not happy with the Khala being associated with something the Zerg would do.
"When I spoke to her, she told me that she loved the feeling of being part of something much greater, which I think you can understand. But… unlike the Khala, she can never be… absorbed into it. She can never lose herself in that… and although I really understand that it's not an issue for you… it's… a horrifying fate to me."
"And that, strange creature, is why the Nezarim originally rejected the Khala," a female voice said as its owner emerged from the shadows. She had dusky, dark skin, a shade lighter than Zeratul, and was also short, for a Protoss. Like Zeratul, her eyes were green, not blue, but unlike Zeratul's silent confidence, her way of walking and talking revealed a Protoss that somehow was borderline mischievous.
Ganox straightened, studying the female for a moment. "I presume you are here on behalf of the Nerazim to assist us? Are you the phase-smith? You move like a warrior."
"All Nerazim are warriors, Templar," the female responded, "for is not life a battle, and those that continue to battle known as such?"
"Ah." Ganox said. "I begin to see why you would consider the lack of Khala a blessing, young Gallus."
"Oh?"
"I cannot imagine the headache my whole species would get from sharing their thoughts with this one."
It had been somewhat odd that Nerath had been told to meet emissaries on a derelict planet so that she could travel with them to her destination. Usually, the information would have been passed to her, and she would have just made her way there, but she had found herself warped from her fathers ship to the surface of this chunk of rock in order to meet them.
She had immediately cloaked herself and hid as she made her way to the meeting point. Not out of fear of enemies, but because observing her contacts could give her some insight into the nature of their request, and more importantly insight into how they thought.
If they had indicated any intention of stealing her secrets… well. She wouldn't kill them, of course, but there would be no chance of assisting them at all.
Thus, she had watched, observing for the first time the strange creature that had arrived with the templar. At first, she had assumed it was some sort of automaton, or robot as the Terrans called them, but this creature was actually flesh and blood under an odd combination of Terran and Protoss tech. Nothing too advanced that she could see, but functional. Curious.
Their conversation had been enlightening. This Gallus creature knew Zeratul personally. It was perhaps due to him that she was here at all. It also had some interesting thoughts about the Khala, and the more she watched him struggle to identify what had so disgusted her ancestors, the more she could relate to him.
When he finally gave voice to what her tribe had also said so long ago, she decided to reveal herself, and soon they were on their way inside the Templar's ship.
It wasn't until they warped right next to a Zerg Leviathan that she started questioning her life choices, and somewhat regretting teasing Ganox. Her words had surely crossed some Khala-induced cultural taboo and she had unwittingly awakened the desire in him to end all of their lives once and for all.
When the Leviathan did not attack, and simply moved out of the way to reveal the Protoss base on one of the moons of the planet below, the secrecy started to make sense.
It wasn't that the secret couldn't be shared. With the Khala, probably every Protoss that cared knew about it. No, the truth of the secrecy was that these damned Khalai had lost their minds, so that, if they shared what was truly happening, no creature with a semblance of sentience would ever entrust their lives to them.
These Protoss were crazy.
Unusual ways and allies might help make the impossible happen. Today they plan and try save Sweetyling, maybe tomorrow she repays that in kind.
Crazy for one unorthodox for the other.
Creativity in Obscurity.
Make new allies today to defeat the enemy of tomorrow.
Cooperation of two Species will covery the weakness of eatch of them individualy. Zerg units are often cheap and come in mass. Protoss are coming in low numbers but their attacks leave quite the impression.
Terrans seem to be versatile and a good mix out of both opposition of species strengths and weaknessess.
Has Gallus now shields to defend himself i wonder.
I rather take regeneratives shields over sturdy armor.
Terrans might have repair on their side, but Protoss & Zerg have constant hit point improvments on theirs.
The only problem i see with Protoss tech is the lack of individual Huds to give the Protoss a indicator when a personal retreat for regeneration of once shield might take the enemys chance to thin out armys one by one.
Great chapter!
I love that these stories continue.
I am with the rebels on this as well.
Good chapter!
So... we have found the Twilight Sparkle of the protoss?
I aprove.
The Khala doesn't extend infinitely. We can be assured of this fact because messengers are still a thing, and they need external apparatus to extend the range of the Khala (Psi-link spires on Kaldir and the Psi matrix on Aiur) so not all Protoss would know what's going on with Selendis.
It's entirely likely, and this is just a theory, that the Khala is only able to extend as far as the individual's psionic ability can. In essence, this means that the Khala can only reach as far as a bit outside of the ship/station and cannot reach the planet.
For some reason, this chapter brought to mind this exchange:
"How do I know for sure I can trust you?"
"I guess if you could know for sure, it wouldn't be trust, now would it?"
-Shaman King (2001 Dub)
So... did they warp to the Leviathan or hug it?
missing " at the beginning.
Now i can't wait for her to learn the reason she is there and flip 180 and making the Protoss think of her as crazy. And not just because the cultural differences.
I do love the madness Equestrians seem to bring to any sci-fi setting. Nerath's in for an enlightening trip... assuming she even believes what's happening.
11279572 Thanks!
11279722 fixed the typos! Thank you.
sapient - because animals are all displaying sentience, but Apes, Crows, Elefants, Dolfins etc etc are sapient and than think and use logic.
11279987 that's the point.
11279472
Always a delight to read this Authors storys
11279473
Sad that things / Storys like 'Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant' eventually end, but they are so mind blowing to read.
Longest masterpiece still running after years is also 'XCOM: Ranger'.
11279519
Rebel? As in Gallus or the Nezarim?
11279532
Unless she has a Assistant or is teached by leading character i am not sure it really fits...
11279544
Sounds about right... But i wonder how Amon do it basicly Universe wide later on...
11279683
Damn... That is a good one!
11279722
Nice avatar picture
A Nerazim like to mess with other Protoss? Dounds very entertaining
11279731
Somehow i can take comments to seriouse with that avatar of yours... Kind expecting a pun or something to follow
11279923
Your welcome.
Hey Wanderer D i have a question. By now all the sc2 campaign's can be played co op up to 3 playing together. Can we have something like that in the campaign? Maybe play with fellow sc2 players or alone with all three races as sole Commander the HOS campain and make a recounting of it. That sure will be bloody fun
For instance if i play with Buddy we have all one of the three races.
-- Terran: Defend bases and farm Crystall/ Gas for the Collective ressources that are shared.
-- Protoss: Basicly do the heavy hitting.
-- Zerg rushes bases to rush the workers so the Terran can steal it shortly after. Also scouting and forward observation with borrowed in units.
11280002
So more like on a instinctiv level? Like when dogs and cat hide before a Earthquake?
11279544 11280014 There's a bit of that, but the Khala also has a force-like essence to it, so that something sufficiently strong emotion-wise can reach far beyond what you'd expect. I'd argue that conscious use of the Khala to communicate directly and such (without any sort of aid) is much more limited than Nerazim and Terrans would expect, however to people that value individuality, the concept is still too invasive to really make a distinction.
In post-Into the Void official material, the Khalai have lost their sense of purpose and their understanding of each other... to the point that even when they live in the same area, they are emotionally and intellectually separated to the point of almost not caring about life or death, so it definitely is something much greater and far-reaching than an individual's range. The Khala, beyond it's religious aspect, gave all Protoss that were part of it a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and individual-specific guidance.
"Protoss Templar accompanying him as he turned around"
"Protoss Templar accompanied him as he turned around"?
"more comfortable on your conversation"
"more comfortable in your conversation"?
"also stand besides me to help me"
"also stand beside me to help me"?
"I know Yonna would offer"
"I know Yona would offer"?
"support more all the valuable to me"
"support all the more valuable to me"?
"It wasn't until they warpped right next to"
"It wasn't until they warped right next to"?
11280047
Sucks to be them...
The sense of belonging will be the ownership of Amon over them in the future.
The sense of purpose is to end all life, theirs included...
The individual-specific guidance will be managed via Hybrid later on...
Amon played them very well... Clever trap disguised as blessing
11280014
My theory on Amon's involvement is that he simply picked his time well. He infected the Khala at a moment when all Daelaam were joined to retake Aiur. The Psi Matrix is on Aiur, extending the range of the Khala to encompass all Daelaam on and around the planet. Amon must've infected the Psi Matrix specifically, or some other input, and spread himself to all Protoss that were participating in the reclamation.
To extend that theory, Amon's influence wouldn't have taken any Protoss that were not present on Aiur (which were next to none, a lot of Protoss participated in the reclamation), until those Protoss came into contact with any Protoss who were infected. Like a disease, basically. It wasn't universe-wide, it was simply that all Protoss were present.
11280047
Again, it's just a theory. There's nothing concrete that's been written about the Khala or how the Protoss in general work, as far as I'm aware (hell we don't fully understand how they eat or reproduce except "sunlight").
Bear in mind, though, that the Khala wasn't always there. The Protoss when they started out did not have the Khala. The Khala was invented to stave off a humongous war among the Protoss and it worked, unifying them as a species barring certain splinter groups (Tal'darim, Nerazim, and some others I don't remember).
It's also something to bear in mind that Protoss are not born into the Khala. It's a thing you have to join - the Tal'darim for example still have their nerve cords but chose not to join it. The Nerazim are also born without it, then ritualistically sever their nerve cords, rendering them unable to join completely.
11280530
It is stated in the Protoss campain if Sc2 and earlyer that the Protoss are elevated by Amons followers for specifically the purpose to make them a servabt/slave race. A tool for Amons plans. But they unknowingly rebelled and forced Amon followers to flee.
Most visual appeling shown and spoken of by Artanis himself on Ulnar, The Tempel world if the Xel'Naga.
11280722
I dont know how thats relevant, we're not talking about Protoss creation but the Khala's creation
11280853
The Protoss got elevated to be a tool, the Khala is the way to guide the tool.
The Zerg got the same treatment. Just with the Zerg it worked. The Hivemind.
11280875
Amon had no influence on the creation of the Khala, as far as I'm aware. Amon was responsible for uplifting the Protoss and enslaving the Zerg, but any events after that are those race's own doing, not Amon's influence.
11283558
Amon followers actually. Next time i play Sc2 LOV i check out where it was mentioned.
11283566
Amon followers count as Amon's influence, m'dude, they do Amon's bidding. Narud also counts :p
I'm almost entirely certain Amon had no part to play in the creation of the Khala, and simply realised at some point that he could use it to his advantage. He's not some massive genius planner who planned everything way back when, his plans were proven to have repeatedly failed.
He failed to enslave the Protoss, they unknowingly rebelled.
He failed in his goal to get the Zerg to assimilate the Protoss (he seemed unaware that it simply wasn't possible).
He failed to see the Overmind's betrayal.
He failed to see how strong the three factions were becoming (Raynor, Kerrigan, Artanis)
And he ultimately failed his penultimate plan.
Every time one of his plans failed he turned to a different method of attaining his goal, but he never turned back to influence those he had previously influenced any further. The only direct and constant intervention he had was with Moebius, but that wasn't him, that was Narud acting under orders to try and create the Hybrid in case the Zerg failed, which they did.
As far as I'm aware, Amon also had no part to play in trying to get rid of Kerrigan in both WoL endgame and HoTS, that was all Narud (and Kerrigan being really pissy)
11283596
Duran in Sc1 co confirmed it in the Hybrid Mission of the Add On Brood War. Than Narud called the Protoss a broken tool. As stated. When i replay Sc2 in the near future i try name when it is mentioned.
The Taldarim are Amons success before LOV...
11283621
Sadly you have to take everything in the bonus SC1 mission with a grain of salt as it was different lore that was retconned for the SC2 storyline. Some of it isn't relevant (The bonus mission was going to refer to the original storyline they had, where the Xel'Naga were going to be a fourth faction that as a whole would be antagonists. They retconned it into just Amon)
The Tal'darim are not "Amon's success". The Tal'darim have been a faction since the creation of the Khala. Amon had no part to play in their creation just as he had no part to play in the Khala's creation. Amon came to adopt the Tal'darim as his troops some time during or before Wings of Liberty. The only reason Amon was able to influence the Tal'darim so extensively is due to their aggressive nature and excessive usage of the "Breath of Creation", a.k.a. Terrazine. Amon promised them lies, few knew the truth (Ma'lash knew) but ignored it in favour of their strength and the idea that they would survive whilst others did not. Ultimately, Amon STILL failed, because the Tal'darim faction (minus some fringe groups) betrayed him with Alarak's help.
11284231
Well shit. I was not aware of that. In that case i have to replay all 3 campaign's of SC2 and check out what i can find there...
Thanks for letting me know about the retcon
Hey D, since Galus has now a customised Protoss armor on him...
Did he changes class to Beserker? Or perhaps he get a long distance Plasma sniper?
11294910 It's more like he adapted some Protoss aspects to his own armor, so no full class change, I'm afraid.
11294920
What ability and weapons will he use? I doubt Protoss can produce Terran weapons. Sooo...
-Beserker
or
-Dragoon Gallus?
I wonder if we get some Protoss follow the HOS campaign to keep Sweetie Belle under medical care and learn more about Zerg. I wonder how they might react and comment to see Sweetie Belle slowy become the Queen of all Zerg ♡
Super enjoying this. The current latest chapter as of this writing. It's like the scene of the guy coming in with pizza and everyone is going crazy. XP
WoL, HoS & LoV campaigns can be all player up to three players. So maybe Kerrigan, Sweetie and the Protoss?
Understanding and comprehensive acknowledgment ♡
Mutual distain to understand one another's thoughts, perplexing
Loving the potencial for verbal sparring matches