Starcraft: Warriors of Purity

by Xarmar13

Stand: Shakuras

Sweetie and Lyra emerged from the warp gate and took a look around their newest refuge. The area around them was almost devoid of vegetation. The land was an ebony colored desert and the sky was in a state of twilight with no clear distinction between night and day. There were also the bones of long dead creatures scattered across the landscape.

There was some indigenous life around so there was enough vegetation to support some wildlife at least. Unfortunately, if Lyra and Sweetie started running low on food, they would have to scavenge hard for it. The two of them resolved to not stay on Shakuras for too long.

“Remind me again how the Dark Templar live here?” Sweetie asked Lyra.

“Protoss don’t need to sustain themselves on food and live on sunlight and moonlight,” Lyra explained. “The dark atmosphere also seems appropriate for their kind.”

“I see…” Sweetie shrugged.

Protoss continued to emerge from the warp gate. Many of the survivors were concerned for their futures. Some were concerned about the lack of light, others still were hoping for the Zerg to come to them so they could avenge their friends. One thing was certain, their lives have been drastically changed.

Artanis, Tassadar and Aldaris were inspecting the area around them with different thoughts. Tassadar was hopeful of the future where the Khalai and the Nerazim will unite in arms. Artanis was more concerned for the well being of the survivors. Aldaris, however, was frustrated that the situation had spiraled so badly that they were forced to retreat to the planet of heretics. Sweetie took notice of Aldaris’ frustration but said nothing because they had more important matters to deal with.

The first thing they needed to do was to establish a base camp and provide shelter for the survivors. Thankfully, a number of Probes made it through the warp gate so they had the means of establishing a base camp.

Lyra was hopeful that the Dark Templar would show up soon to provide assistance to the survivors. Zeratul reassured Lyra that the Dark Templar have likely picked up on their signal by now and were on their way.

Artanis was concerned for the safety of Fenix and Raynor. Sweetie reassures him that Raynor is very resourceful and would be a difficult person to corner. “You should also have more faith in your old friend,” Sweetie added. Artanis felt a little silly for doubting Fenix’s survivability.

The Ponies and Protoss leadership led the survivors away from the warp gate and across the dunes of Shakuras. The journey was rough for some and the Khalai were not equipped for the desert environment.
Shortly after the survivors left the warp gate, Zerg began emerging from the structure in large numbers. Zerglings and Hydralisks secured the gate while Drones emerged and sought a location to build a hive cluster on Shakuras.

The survivors continued exploring the area, seeking a place to build a more permanent settlement. Suddenly, a small scouting group of Zerglings intercepted the Protoss. Lyra reacted quickly and sliced the Zerglings in half, staining the sand red.

Artanis became concerned that the Zerg had taken control of the warp gate. This served to motivate the survivors to quickly establish themselves before the Zerg came looking for them in larger numbers.

A minor distance later, Sweetie spots a proper area to establish themselves. The Probes go to work warping in structures for the populace to take shelter.

Before they could fully secure the area, however, a large number of Hydralisks charged toward the encampment. Sweetie knew that they would be hard pressed to handle so many. She shot a few Hydralisks in the head while Lyra and Zeratul dismembered and stabbed a few of them in the head. Aldaris and Tassadar unleashed Psionic Storms on a few and Artanis fought valiantly against the Zerg.

Thankfully, reinforcements came in the form of shadowy assailants that quickly cut down the remaining Hydralisks. One of the Dark Templar approached Zeratul to welcome him back home: “Adun Toridas, Zeratul! Glad I am to see that you’ve returned home after these many decades. But the strange guests that have followed you here seem ill-tempered.”

“Well met, my brother!” Zeratul responded. “Indeed, these creatures known as the Zerg have no regard for the sanctity of life. Once we have secured this area, I shall tell you everything I know about them in council.”

“I am sure the Matriarch will be eager to hear your tale as well,” said the Dark Templar.

“I would also like to introduce our new brother and sister,” Zeratul said. He motioned toward Tassadar and Lyra. “Our new brother is called Tassadar, while our new sister is called Lyra Heartstrings, or Lyra as she prefers. Both of them have learned to wield our own energies alongside the energies of the Khala. They have proven quite capable in the recent times and have also taken the Shadow Walk.”

“The Matriarch will be happy to meet them soon.”

With that, the Dark Templar started guarding the area. Artanis received a transmission from Fenix and Raynor that mentioned them trying to retake the warp gate on Aiur. Sweetie figured that this meant that they needed to deal with the nearby Zerg invaders to secure the warp gate on the Shakuras side.

While Artanis was marshalling forces to engage the Zerg neighbors, Lyra, Sweetie and the Dark Templar went on a preemptive strike on a few Zerg Sunken Colonies. There were no Overlords in the area so they were easily able to handle a few Colonies. Spotting burrowed Zerg, Sweetie directed Lyra and the two unleashed a few Psionic Storms around them which resulted in a few smoking holes in the area.

A few Zealots joined the fray and drew the fire from a Sunken Colony that was near a Spore Colony that would have detected the cloaked warriors.

At the end of the path was more resources for them to use. Communicating with Artanis, he sent a probe to establish a Nexus and began establishing a defense to protect the area from attack. Sweetie and Lyra protected the outpost until it was able to hold its own without them.

Some Dragoons have joined them in their hunt for Zerg. The need for them was immediate as the area in front of the warp gate was guarded by a pair of Sunken Colonies and a harmless Creep Colony. There was also an Overlord watching the area which was shot down by the Dragoons.

While the warp gate was still active, there was still no sign of Fenix or Raynor. Sweetie would rather shut down the gate to stem any Zerg reinforcements, but she would also prefer to wait for the two of them to communicate again before making that decision.

Moving past the gate, the group headed across a bridge. Atop a slope leading to a plateau, the group encounters a series of Sunken and Spore Colonies all along the top. There were also a few Hydralisks guarding the Colonies. A few Zealots and Dragoons were impaled on the tentacles of the Sunken Colonies while an unfortunate Dark Templar met his end as well. Mutalisks began scrambling to defend the hive cluster that was ahead. In response, Artanis sent a number of Scouts to counter the Zerg flyers.

The group descended the slope ahead of them and into the main perimeter of the hive cluster. They were met with heavy resistance and some of the Zerg started descending from the same slope that they had just descended. “I can’t believe that I made such a rookie mistake,” Sweetie thought.

~”It is a common tactic for Zerg to lie in wait until their prey moves past them to emerge and attack while their backs are exposed.”~

Sweetie ignored the Overmind’s commentary and focused on the battle. She started by coordinating with the Dragoons and Scouts to shoot down the Mutalisks and Overlords, the latter to give the stealth members some breathing room to deal with the Zerg behind them without concern for retaliation.

A series of Protoss Shuttles flew in nearby and dropped off a few Reavers to assist in the operation.

With the arrival of their new robotic companions, the Protoss forces quickly pushed back against the defending Zerg. The overwhelming force of Protoss proved too much for the forces protecting the hive cluster to handle. The Zerg in the area were soon wiped out.

Before the Protoss began celebrating, Artanis received a transmission from Raynor from the other side of the warp gate: “Artanis, my crew and I will remain here on Aiur and shut down the gate from this side. It’s the only way to make sure that the Zerg wont send more reinforcements to Shakuras.”

“You will be hopelessly outnumbered, and once the gate is shut down, there will be no one to save you should you be overrun” Artanis responded.

“Yeah, well...I’m a man of action. What can I say?” said Raynor. “Take care of Sweetie for now. I’ll send some supplies for her and Lyra to last them a few weeks. Should be able to get to Shakuras by then.”

“I shall remain with Raynor as well. My duty is to Aiur after all,” said Fenix.

“Farewell then, brave warriors. We will send through all the troops we can spare,” said Artanis.

Raynor thanked Artanis for the support before ending the transmission.

Sweetie was at least glad that Raynor was looking out for her and Lyra. She could only sigh as she just had to team up with a race of sunlight eaters.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

A new chapter in the history of the Protoss begins.

Were do all the Protoss buildings come from?
I could imagen they have literally multible worlds as inventory store but after losing Ajur using them must have be very difficult...

[Black--Soul]

With about 30% Remaining of Ajurs population plus what lives on Sakuras i really doubt Protoss can risk any offense. Repopulation will be a pain...

[Black--Soul]

I wonder how many Protoss will be overall alive after the Saga is done...

What will the Zerg do once they are free...

The Terrans will probably continue fight one another forever more...

[Black--Soul]

Something that Protoss need more than anything is builders, they literally have a civilization to rebuilding after all.

Dark Templer/ Nerazim should easily outnumbered Kalai Protoss, will be tough to be the minority instead of the majority of the race.