Starcraft: Warriors of Purity

by Xarmar13

Interlude: Whispers of Oblivion

Months had passed since the fall of the regime of Arcturus Mengsk. When his crimes were brought to the public, those who were uncertain about how to feel about the fall of the Emperor began celebrating the end of a tyranny that they had no idea they were under.

There would be a lot of expectations for the new Emperor, Valerian Mengsk. The reputation of Raynor’s Raiders, the part that was not portrayed in the media, put a positive spin on Valerian’s own reputation. A small percentage of the citizens suspected that Valerian struck a bargain with the Queen of Blades. It was soon revealed that Kerrigan had a personal vendetta against the former Emperor as a result of one of his many crimes against humanity.

The popular opinion eventually accepted was that Valerian struck a bargain with Kerrigan where she would help him stage a coup d’etat against his father in exchange for her being his judge, jury and executioner. The fact that Raynor’s Raiders took part in the coup made the explanation more acceptable. The minimal loss of civilian life made the transition between regimes smoother.

Raynor was made a General of the new Dominion and Matt Horner was given the title of Admiral. The positions were accepted if only to give credibility to the rumors.

Lyra remained outside the public eye. She wasn’t about to commit to any position in the Dominion since she had her own home where she would eventually return.

Before Bon Bon left in search of Amon, she showed her ability to manipulate essence to the Pony Templar by making a small alteration to Lyra’s essence to allow her to see what normally cannot be seen without assistance. Lyra thanked her marefriend for the gift as Bon Bon left in search of Amon.

A few months after the coup, a familiar Void Seeker entered Korhal’s atmosphere. Remaining as hidden as possible, the ship entered teleportation range of the Hyperion where Lyra was currently residing. When the ship locked on to Lyra’s position, one figure was teleported into the ship.

Lyra quickly sensed the presence of her old master, Zeratul, and happily greeted him.

“Sister Lyra, I need your assistance. You saw the prophecy that I gave to you and Raynor, yet the prophecy remains incomplete. There is a final fragment somewhere and I need your assistance in finding it.”

Since she had nothing better to do, Lyra decided to go with him while also leaving a note to let everyone know where she was and who she was traveling with.

During their travels, Zeratul told Lyra about what he learned so far, “As it was foretold. Amon, the Dark God, lives again. If any hope remains for our galaxy, it lies in the hands of the Xel’naga. Only one piece of the prophecy remains unfulfilled: that on the world where Amon was reborn, the last light will be revealed. There is one being who knew that location, a creature known as Samir Duran, or to the Terrans...as Narud.”

While Zeratul was flying his Void Seeker through an asteroid field, he continued, “In this system hides a long forgotten Moebius facility. We must hope his secrets still rest within its walls.”

Zeratul received a transmission from a Daelaam Praetor named Talis who was requesting aid. Someone or something was abducting Templar and she tracked them to a Terran facility that was currently under attack by Kerrigan’s Swarm.

When Zeratul was close, Talis informed him that she wished to free the Templar before the Swarm overran the place.

Kerrigan sensed Zeratul’s presence and contacted him, “Zeratul. I thought I sensed your presence...Let’s not mince words. Why are you here?”

Zeratul explained his mission of information finding and rescuing Templar while mentioning that he brought Lyra to assist him.

Kerrigan growled, “Fine, just don’t engage my forces and I won’t attack yours. The only reason I am even allowing you that is because you have Lyra with you. And I don’t need Sweetie’s Brood turning against me.”

Zeratul told Talis about the tenuous agreement he just made with Kerrigan. After, he and Lyra landed in Talis’ base.

Working quickly, Lyra and Zeratul finished setting up defenses and preparing a force of Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals and a few Colossi to engage the Moebius facility.

The Moebius crew struck first with a pair of Vikings and a Wraith. When Lyra heard one of them, she noticed that his voice sounded creepy.

As Lyra and the Protoss progressed through the facility, she noticed that the Moebius Terrans were acting like fanatics to Amon. She suspected that the entire Moebius Corps may have been fanatical followers of Amon the whole time, that or Amon corrupted their minds. Zeratul figured that the Hybrid must have corrupted them.

After clearing one Moebius holding, Lyra called in a Probe to set up a Pylon at her location. Once the Probe finished its task, the Gateways were able to directly send reinforcements to their location from within the energy field generated by the Pylon. Lyra called in a few High Templar, some who volunteered to become Archons. She also called in some Dark Templar to add their powerful warp blades to the fighting force.

After clearing more Moebius troops, the Protoss freed the first group of Templar. The captives claimed that Moebius experimented upon their flesh and most didn’t survive.

Moving further, the Protoss made a disturbing discovery: the Moebius Corps was experimenting with Pylons and learned how to warp in their own troops. After destroying the containment unit, the Pylon was reclaimed and used to warp in their own troops.

Cutting across the projected Swarm attack path, they encountered a moderately defended Moebius holdout. Noticing a Thor, Lyra took control of the pilot’s mind and used him to tear into his own base. It then blasted the nearby bridge control that allowed the Protoss to send more of their mechanical units to bolster their attack.

Moving onward, the Protoss encountered more Moebius defenses and a pair of Thors that Lyra brainwashed.

They discovered another captured Pylon that warped in more Moebius soldiers which was quickly liberated.

Sweetie convinced Kerrigan to not destroy the Moebius reactor until the Protoss finished their business but their Broods still decimated the Moebius Corps in their path. What surprised Praetor Talis was that Kerrigan’s Swarm actually cleared the rest of the way to the last Templar prison. “What am I looking at?” Talis asked Zeratul.

“My guess is that Sweetie Drops convinced Kerrigan to lend us her aid.”

“The way is clear. Free your brethren and leave. I have a facility to destroy.” Kerrigan said.

Lyra blasted the last prison open, revealing a captive High Templar and a pair of armorless Zealots. The Templar revealed that the Tal’darim were responsible for the abductions and taking them to Terran stations to be twisted into Hybrid.

“The Tal’darim? Those heretics have never ventured so close to our worlds,” Talis said.

“Actually, there was that one incident over five years ago when a cell was discovered on Aiur. I was there when it was discovered,” Lyra said.

The High Templar said that he was initially held in an unusual Xel’naga temple called Erras. That was all he knew.

Zeratul located a terminal nearby and looked through files that weren’t deleted yet and discovered that the temple was located on Atrias in the Sigma Quadrant and was where Amon was reborn.

Talis agreed to travel to Atrias to assist Zeratul and Lyra.

---

Lyra sensed Ma’lash inside the Xel’naga temple on Atrias. “Huh, I wonder if Ma’lash is still upset about me killing his favorite First Ascendant.”

Lyra, Zeratul and Talis overheard Ma’lash’s order, “Tal’darim, seal the temple! None enter until my work is done. Any who defies my order will answer to their Highlord with blood. Also, if there are any sightings of Lyra Heartstrings, I want her found and terminated with extreme prejudice.”

“I’ll take that as a maybe,” Lyra said.

While they wished that the Tal’darim was their only concern, there was also the fact that Atrias itself was dying. Their resources would be limited as a result due to a shortage of Vespene in the area.

With careful spending, Talis was able to put together a strong defense to repel Tal’darim attacks. With the area periodically erupting with Vespene, Lyra and Zeratul moved to each erupting geyser and used their psionic powers to gather Vespene and return it to their base.

With the resources, Talis was able to warp in a small fleet of Void Rays to begin pushing toward the temple.

Some rock formations were discovered that were being excavated by the Tal’darim. Out of curiosity, Lyra checked out the rocks and took out the Tal’darim around them. Once each area was secure, she blasted apart the rocks and uncovered a trio of natural Vespene vents. Zeratul used the Void Seeker to gather from the vents.

With a source of Vespene secured, Talis moved her fleet of Void Rays and Carriers against the Tal’darim guarding the temple. Once the garrison was demolished, the small fleet blew an opening into the temple door.

Lyra and Zeratul entered the temple with a few Stalkers while Talis stayed behind to defend against enemy reinforcements.

---

Talis reported that the Tal’darim had begun to retaliate with Hybrids among their ranks.

As this was happening, the bridge Lyra and Zeratul crossed deactivated, leaving them with one way to go, two if they preferred to teleport back.

A trio of Zealots foolishly charged the group and ended up dying to invisible blades.

A pair of Sentries set up force fields to block their way with a Warp Prism nearby to warp in reinforcements. The two Dark Templar teleported to the other side of the force fields. Lyra unleashed a powerful blast from her horn that shot down the Warp Prism while Zeratul tore the Sentries apart.

A pair of Photon Cannons awaited the group on the other side of a chasm. While Zeratul considered projecting a Void Armor on his allies, Lyra had another ability that she had secretly been practicing. Taking the idea from the Tal’darim Blood Hunters, she figured out how to disable enemy defenses by placing them in Void Stasis.

Once the group teleported across, Lyra placed the Photon Cannons in Void Stasis, leaving the power sources helpless to assault from Stalkers.

Teleporting across another chasm, they encountered a Tal’darim Vanguard. Using his Shadow Strike ability, Zeratul eliminated the construct in one hit. Lyra hit a nearby Warp Prism with a Psionic Blast to prevent more reinforcements from warping in.

The path split in two directions. The left path held a large Particle Cannon that was shooting at Talis’ forces. The cannon was guarded by two Photon Cannons and two Stalkers. Lyra placed both cannons in Void Stasis while Zeratul and the Stalkers took out the Tal’darim Stalkers before dealing with the Photon Cannons and tearing down the Particle Cannon. Their efforts were rewarded with a trio of Stalkers from Talis.

A Hybrid and a pair of Photon Cannons were the next obstacle and were wiped out by the previous strategy.

Their next obstacle involved sneaking around a small group of Void Rays that were guarding a few Observers. Carefully the group teleported across a chasm to deal with another Immortal and a Warp Prism.

After dealing with a group of Stalkers and an Observer, the group’s attention turned to another Particle Cannon guarded by a pair of Photon Cannons and a pair of Scouts. Lyra placed the Cannons in Stasis while Zeratul destroyed the Pylon with his Shadow Strike. The Stalkers shot down the Scouts and everyone finished all three of the Cannons, rewarding them with a pair of Stalkers and a pair of High Templar.

Their path led them to an observation platform where they saw Ma’lash near an altar communing with Amon.

Amon commanded Ma’lash to ready his people for war. Talis suggested destroying the altar that Ma’lash was using to communicate with Amon to delay the inevitable assault and warn Tassadar and Artanis.

A door opened behind the group and a small group of Tal’darim led by a pair of Ascendants exited from it, intent on finding Zeratul and Lyra. Zeratul deployed his Void Armor and the group rushed the Tal’darim ahead of them as well as the next group that contained a few Stalkers, an Observer and a Wrathwalker. Zeratul used his Void Armor ability while everyone picked off the enemies.

After fighting through more groups with Ascendants, the group comes across the last Particle Cannon guarded by a Hybrid, two Stalkers, two Scouts and a Photon Cannon. The Nerazim rushed the Hybrid and Stalkers with Void Armor deployed. Lyra placed the Cannon in Stasis and everyone teleported to the other side of the chasm where the Particle Cannon was. The Scouts and Photon Cannon were dispatched and the Particle Cannon fell after, receiving Stalkers and High Templar as a reward.

After another group of enemies, the altar was in sight. When Ma’lash saw the group he began using the nearby Warp Prisms to warp in more reinforcements.

“You are finally cornered, Lyra! Tal’darim, the true god demands their death. Do not fail him,” Ma’lash said.

Lyra was briefly confused by what he said about her being cornered. When she looked back she saw no one and her new detection ability she got from Bon Bon wasn’t going off either. With a shrug, Lyra joined the fray as they dealt with a few waves of Tal’darim and Hybrid, including a Hybrid Reaver.

Ma’lash disappeared during the conflict, leaving the altar wide open to attack.

Once destroyed, a mysterious presence emerged from the void energies seeping from the device. The voice was one that gave Lyra the feeling that she could trust it. “Zeratul, Lyra, the Keystone shall usher you unto hope.”

Zeratul contacted Talis and told her that he found the salvation he was looking for.

Suddenly, powerful waves of void energies assaulted the majority of their forces. “Your salvation shall come by my hand alone. Let your suffering come to its end,” Amon said. The void energies began assaulting the temple structure, attempting to collapse the whole complex.

As they began to escape, the void energies conjured simulacrums of Protoss units, Lyra quickly dispatched the Void Shadows. Talis infiltrated the temple and ordered everyone to rally to her.

The group teleported over a newly formed break in the structure. It was a reckless run for the exit for everyone as they fought to get past Hybrid, Tal’darim and Void Shadows.

Only Zeratul and Lyra ever made it back to Talis, who decided to cover their escape at the cost of her life.

Zeratul called his Void Seeker to him and warped himself and Lyra aboard. The two managed to escape.just before the temple collapsed.

With the knowledge they gained, Zeratul and Lyra head for Daelaam space to warn the other Protoss that the End War had begun.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Months had passed since the fall of the regime of Arcturus Mengsk. When his crimes were brought to the public, those who were uncertain about how to feel about the fall of the Emperor began celebrating the end of a tyranny that they had no idea they were under.

Its over... Yet so mutch more need to be done...

Time to start Lotv

[Black--Soul]

The Mobius foundation is a better enemy than Mengsk in Augustgrad

[Black--Soul]

This is where the fun begins anew

[Black--Soul]

Kerrigan can be very nice if she has the insensitive for behavior like that.

[Black--Soul]

Sad to know less than 60% of the original Blizzard team works these days for Starcraft and it's content.
Still the mod community managed to compensate.
Love the co-op campaign they made.

Makes me wonder if Amon had only a lesser body and used the Khala to move his mind into another body.
From a hybrid into what ever he tried to construct later on.