Char: Finding Zeratul
Thanks to Lyra’s and Sweetie’s stealth abilities, the Protoss, with the addition of Artanis, Aldaris, and the Rebels were able to escape the Zerg ambush without casualties. Raynor had been shuttled to the Hyperion, which had just returned to Char. Sweetie had waived her own evac because she intended to assist in the search for Zeratul.
To Sweetie’s surprise, a Dropship from the Hyperion appeared alongside a number of Protoss Shuttles. The Dropship landed and opened its main door to reveal Matt Horner carrying a few things.
Matt walked up to Sweetie with the objects and began handing them to her, saying that they were found in Kerrigan’s old room and that if she were still herself, she would have wanted Sweetie to make use of them.
Matt handed her a prototype psi-augmenter that was designed to work with her suit’s cloaking device, allowing her to remain cloaked indefinitely. Even if Sweetie was used to managing her suit’s energy stores, she still had to be careful of how long she remained cloaked during prolonged stealth missions. The augmenter would eliminate that inconvenience.
The next device that Sweetie received was not as useful at this point in time, but would be once she had more powerful resources to work with. The device was a modified version of the tactical nuclear targeting marker that was designed to require substantially less time to maintain before a Nuke locked onto its target.
The third and final device was a sniper module for her rifle. The device would allow her to hit a target from a very long range. The scope of her rifle was also designed to work with the module. Sweetie had a feeling that she would be using the new module quite often.
Sweetie thanked Matt for the new tech and watched as he boarded the Dropship and returned to the Hyperion. She then followed the Protoss and boarded boarded a Shuttle to the planet’s surface.
In transit, Sweetie took the time to observe the interior design of a Protoss vehicle. She decided that while the ship was quite advanced, the design was gaudy. It was understandable since Lyra had told her that Protoss focused on combat and knowledge, finding aesthetics to be unimportant to their culture.
After an hour of searching, Tassadar sensed the faint presence of the Dark Templar Prelate. The source appeared to be coming from a Terran installation on an island that was completely blanketed by a Zerg hive cluster. The Hyperion also sent Sweetie an alert that Duke’s forces were still operating in the area.
Tassadar looked at Sweetie with curiosity over what he just heard. “Are these forces friends of yours?” he asked.
Sweetie shook her head. “No, Duke belongs to the new Terran empire that was founded shortly after the fall of Tarsonis. Their leader, Arcturus Mengsk is a madman who ordered the placement of psionic waveform emitters that lured the Zerg to Tarsonis.”
Tassadar was visibly shocked at the revelation. “Why in Adun’s name would he do that?!”
“To remove the Confederate government from the Koprulu Sector and establish his own dictatorship to rule as he sees fit.”
“Does he even realize how many lives he threw away for his ambitions?”
“He doesn’t care. He’s the type of person who, if he could, would blow up an inhabited planet and sift through the remains to get what he wants. The reason the other Terrans in the Koprulu Sector aren’t outraged is because he puts up a convincing political facade and tells everyone that he’s some valiant defender of humanity while using propaganda to increase the effectiveness of his lies.”
Tassadar hummed. “Then we shall keep our forces alert in the event that we encounter this ‘Duke’ and his forces.” Sweetie nodded.
The Shuttles settled on a small island not far from the installation and established a forward base to open a way into the installation. The Protoss made full use of the resources on the island and created a solid defense of Photon Cannons, disc-shaped structures with a small tower in the center that elevates when enemies are nearby. As the base developed, Artanis started calling in a number of Scout fighters from a structure called a Stargate, a structure made up of two hovering masses that generate an energy field that ships exit from. There was also a structure that was constructing unmanned Shuttles and a type of robot that looked like a segmented worm. Lyra, who had been studying the book that Discord gave her, told Sweetie that those robots were called Reavers. According to Lyra, Reavers attack by launching an explosive scarab robot that is manufactured inside its chassis. “Those scarabs seem similar to the spider mines that are supplied to Terran Vulture bikes” Sweetie thought.
A lone Scout had wandered a little too far from the island and came under attack from a Dominion Missile Turret. In retaliation, the other Scouts came and opened fire on the lone turret.
In response, a small fleet of Dominion ships composed of a Battlecruiser and a squadron of Wraiths came out of hiding from wherever they were. Sweetie, Lyra and Tassadar received an open transmission from Norad III which was still in high orbit away from the battle zone.
<”Protoss Commander, this is General Edmund Duke of the Terran Dominion Armada. You are in violation of our airspace and have endangered human lives in your reckless attack against the Zerg. I order you to withdraw your ships immediately. If you fail to comply, I will not hesitate to open fire upon your vessels.”>
Tassadar, not in the mood to negotiate, sent Duke his own ultimatum. “General Duke, I am Tassadar and you are well known to me. Whatever leniency I extended to you and your comrades before has been in error. I know of the atrocities that your Emperor has committed. Heed my warning, flee back to your Emperor or we will burn your pathetic fleet down to the last man.”
The transmission ended right there and the small fleet engaged in battle against the superior Scout fighters. Missiles flew all over the place and the Wraiths were taking more time damaging shields than causing actual damage to the ships. The Wraiths were quickly shot down by the Scouts’ antimatter missiles. The Battlecruiser was not designed to handle so many fighters and was quickly shot down into the molten land below.
The victorious Scouts returned to base to prepare for their next sorties. A number of Shuttles were prepared and loaded with Reavers while additional Scouts were warped in to provide air support. Once prepared, the Scouts moved ahead to ensure the Shuttles were protected. The Scouts had to shoot down a few Scourge on the way. Once the vanguard had arrived on the island, the scouts distracted the Spore Colonies while the Shuttles dropped the heavy weapons on the island. The Reavers made quick work of any Hydralisks and Zerglings and obliterated the Zerg Colonies and structures on the way inland.
With the route secure, Tassadar, Sweetie and Lyra boarded a Shuttle and landed on the island. With the chaos wrought by the Reavers, the trio easily made it into the installation.
“We must hurry! I can sense Zeratul and his Dark Templar are nearby, but I am unable to contact them. I fear they may be in grave danger” Tassadar said.
“We need to be careful. The Zerg outside were organized. I get the feeling that Kerrigan is getting the hang of controlling the Zerg,” Sweetie said.
Tassadar nodded in agreement and the trio continued deeper into the installation. Sweetie decided to test her new psi-augmenter by attempting this rescue while cloaked the entire time.
The trio comes across a pit area to discover a few Zerglings and Hydralisks surfacing from the wiring and metalwork. Lyra and Tassadar electrocute the two groups above the stairs while Sweetie shoots the Hydralisks in the pit in the head.
Heading downstairs, the trio comes across the scene of a bloody massacre. Ignoring the grisly scene, they head into the next room to find more unfortunate Marines. To the trio’s surprise, a few Dominion marines survived their encounter. The Marines approach the trio and beg them to take them along. Lyra, Sweetie and Tassadar look at each other for a moment and shrug. Sweetie motions for the Marines to come with them, much to the Marines’ relief.
A branching corridor contained a few more Zerglings and Hydralisks with a few Marines holed up in a room. An unburrowing Zerg turned Lyra’s and Sweetie’s attention behind them to find a human that had been infested charging at the group with a mad look in his eyes. The creature looked like an infested Marine with a shattered visor and the signature Zerg growth all over his body and armor. Thinking quickly, Lyra rushed toward the infested terran and sliced him through the midsection.
The corpse of the infested human began releasing gas, which made Sweetie curious about something. She looked at the Marines and asked them, “Hey, any of you got a match or a lighter?”
“I got one,” one of the Marines said. He handed his lighter to Sweetie, who sparked a flame on the lighter. She then tossed the lighter at the infested human. The moment the flames made contact, the gas around the corpse ignited and a small explosion was triggered.
Lyra was startled by the blast while Sweetie jumped a little in surprise. “As I thought…” Sweetie said. “When these guys were infested, their bodies were filled with a highly volatile gas. These infested humans were made into suicide bombers that explode when they make contact with something, We need to be careful moving forward, there are probably more of these guys around and we can’t afford to have one of them blowing up in our faces.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and headed down the main corridor of the installation. The next room had a few Zerglings and an Infested Terran in the far corner. Beyond that room, the path split into two paths.
The group investigated the large room beyond the two doors. Sweetie suspected that the dead end path to their left might be the perfect spot for Zerg to hide. Just in case, she hit the end of that path with a Psionic Storm that hit some hidden holes. Smoke started rising from the holes a moment later with a scent that something living got fried.
The next branch of the room was defended by a pair of Hydralisks which were quickly dealt with. Up some stairs to an upper level, the stairs of which were guarded by a pair of wall-mounted Flame Turrets, the group discovers a teleportation field that allowed some Protoss reinforcements to join them.
The last part of the room had more stairs that were guarded by a Flame Turret and a pair of Hydralisks. The area up the stairs was deceptively empty when the group came under attack from a moderate number of Zerglings, which were mowed down quickly.
With nothing left to search in the large room, the group advanced down the only remaining path. Along the way, one of the Marines claimed that they heard something strange before more Zerg surfaced along with an Infested Terran that appeared very close to the group. Thinking quickly, Sweetie shot the infested terran in the head before he could explode.
Continuing down the gore-spattered hallway, the path splits once more but into three paths this time. The group chose the path to their left and found a moderate group of Marines under attack from a large group of Zerglings and Hydralisks. Most of the Marines were rescued while some at the frontline of that attack were not so fortunate. The Marines decided tagging along with some Protoss was better than taking their chances with the Zerg.
Back at the crossroads, the group took the path that was across from where they were now. A Marine heard another noise and they were ambushed by more Zerglings and an Infested Terran. Lyra slashed another Infested Terran that was above ground for some reason. The group entered another room that had some stairs to an upper level that was guarded by several Hydralisks. Dealing with those, Sweetie went up the stairs to find a terminal that had no security to it whatsoever...just like the Jacobs Installation. The terminal allowed Sweetie to unlock the security doors somewhere, likely down the remaining path at the crossroads.
Returning to the crossroads, Sweetie noticed a pair of Infested Terrans up ahead. Being clever, Sweetie created a pair of illusory images of herself and ordered them to engage the infested terrans. The creatures each collided with an illusion and blew themselves up. Moving down the corridor, they had to dismantle a number wall-mounted traps and had to deal with a third Infested Terran at the end of the path before some stairs up to the upper level. The security doors were protected by floor-mounted Missile Traps which were easily disabled. Tassadar could sense that Zeratul was very close but the next area had a moderate number of Zerglings, Hydralisks and an Infested Terran, which were eliminated by a couple of Psionic Storms.
The Zerg group, for some reason, were guarding a cell door that had a number of Dominion Marines, Firebats, and a Ghost. Since they had nothing better to do, they accompanied the group.
The group discovered that they were in some sort of prison cell block, given the orientation of the area.
Suddenly, a loud cacophony of beastly calls were heard from around a corner and the group discovered a large number of Zerg charging at them with an Infested Terran in the ranks. The charge was in vain thanks to the three psychics using their Psionic Storms.
The group examined each cell door and found one was locked. Tassadar could feel Zeratul’s energy from the other side of the door so everyone looked around for an unlocking mechanism. One was discovered at the end of the cell block guarded by six Autogun Turrets that were no match for the small force. Sweetie accessed the unsecured terminal and began wondering why these things weren’t password protected at least.
The door opened and Tassadar and the ponies entered to find Zeratul and the Dark Templar sitting around the once-locked room. Tassadar greeted the Dark Prelate and stated his intent to bring them home to Aiur.
Zeratul looked at Tassadar and responded: “Greetings to you, mighty Tassadar, Lyra and Sweetie Drops. I knew that you would not forsake us. You two…” He pointed at Tassadar and Lyra. “...have found completeness beyond the scope of the Khala. Yet, I can still sense that Lyra’s true potential has not been fully realized, yet. What lies beyond the teachings of my people and the Khalai, I do not know.” He looks at Tassadar. “I fear that the Conclave, in its pride, would never welcome outcasts such as we.”
“Outcasts though you may be, it is your vision and courage that may yet save our homeworld from the Swarm. I beg of you, Zeratul, return with us to Aiur. Though they are petty, and have, in ignorance, cursed your kind for generations...help me save our people” Tassadar said.
Zeratul was moved that someone of the Khalai faith, who have persecuted the Nerazim at every turn, was actually humbling himself before him. He paused for a moment and said: “Since our banishment long ago, we have never failed in our responsibility to Aiur. Though it shall cause us great pain to see our homeland once more, we shall return with you, Tassadar. We will do what we can.”
“I thank you, Dark One. Let us proceed to the surface with haste. Our homeworld awaits.” Tassadar said.
Before Lyra left the cell, however, Zeratul stopped her. He took from his robes what appeared, at first, to be a focuser, but the design was actually different from the ones she wore. “This is a gift to you, Lyra Heartstrings. This is a focuser for the Nerazim version of the psi blades that you wield. It is called a warp blade. Unlike the psi blade, which is powered by our energies, the warp blade is powered by our strength of will. I can tell that you are well practiced in honing your will. Perhaps one day you will no longer need this focuser, that you will one day be able to create a warp blade without technological assistance.” He handed Lyra the focuser. Lyra, grateful for the gift, replaced one of her focusers for her new one.
“Thank you, Master Zeratul” Lyra said.
Zeratul said nothing as he and Lyra left the cell and began their walk out of the installation.
Onboard the Gantrithor, Tassadar had the coordinates to Aiur transmitted to the Hyperion. The Protoss and Raiders breathed a sigh of relief to finally be leaving Char, which has been a very eventful fifty days for many of them.
All ships set course for Aiur, the world where the Overmind awaits and the arrogant Conclave that will foolishly get in their way.
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I wish I could thumb this up more than once.
Well then...
Even if they do find aesthetics unimportant, their stuff still looks pretty cool.
Haha... Op invisible Ghost pony go brrrrrt
They dont even have music
Let em buuurrrnnn
They totaly deserv it
After all that one most wonder how mutch Ponys would own Protoss if on equal ground trough Terrazzine and Jorium
Basicly Terrors ground version ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_
_/¯ logic
9677800
Dito. Best Starcraft saga crossover with MLP
9741795
And they didnt even try... Just to think what a artist could do
Letting all sountracks of SC1 & SC2 playing in the background wile listening to autoreading makes this so mutch better
Damn fine chapter. Its not getting any less entertaining re-re-reading it 👍
One must wonder what will become of the Zerg one day... They are a living weapon and at some point a weapon is no longer needed.
I wonder if the Zelebrates had to be the way they are to stay imortal. Hard to say what is more beneficial:
Kerrigan Sc2 Queens or Zelebrates
I guess the Suicide bomber of the Zerg got discontinued between 1 and 2 because like the medic they are game breaking used with some competence.
After all they are used in the campaigns so rarely because they would make the enemy to hard to defeat
11694572
Discontinued? Not really. They just got repurposed from suicide bombers to zombies and gave the bomber status to the Banelings. Besides, Infested Terrans were more trouble than they were worth. Not only did having access to them be conditional to having a Terran player to work with, but training them like any other Terran unit went against the playstyle of the Zerg. Not to mention that if they blow up next to your own units then they take damage from the blast as well. 100 minerals and 50 gas along with a 40 second train time for a unit that's hardly reliable, that is a huge waste of resources for a unit who couldn't blow a bunker without someone covering him who was likely to get killed by said unit.
*steps off soapbox and carries it away*