As soon as they exited warp space the zerg units opened fire.

Spores were launched toward every inch of the Golden Armada. The projectiles were so plenty and dense that several Daelaam fighters literally had nowhere to dodge to. The plasma shields of the capital ships shook violently every second. With overwhelming numbers, newly arrived mutalisks and corruptors performed a charge on the trapped Daelaam ships.

A wise commander would’ve retreated already, but a victim of brainwashing was hardly wise. Artanis’ loyalty to Amon had blinded his sight.

The hierarch could no longer see that his invincible armada was trapped and was in danger of being completely destroyed. He couldn’t see that his ground forces were sitting duck, and it was just a matter of time before they were overran. He couldn’t see that if he lost his forces here, he wouldn’t have a planet to fall back to. He couldn’t see that his people were on the edge of being exterminated.

Maybe he did, but he didn’t care.

All he could see was the queen of blades. Amon had given him an order, and he would die before failing his master.

“Golden Armada! Maintain defensive formation!” The Golden Armada had taken some losses, but most of the losses were in fighters. Most of the capital ships merely lost some shield to the spores and flyers.

“Warriors on Char! Hold your ground and do not yield! Amon must not be disappointed! Hybrids! Follow me and capture the queen of blades! Fight for Amon! Die for Amon! Selendis, command the fleet.” Artanis passed the command of the Golden Armada and warped away in a light beam.

The situation was dire. A distance away Kerrigan’s fleet had abandoned its former defensive position and was pressing forward. The hunted had became the hunter. The fleets of the broodmothers had formed a semi circle around the Golden Armada, half surrounding it. If the Golden Armada warped away now they could make it, but it was nothing but an if.

Selendis nodded as Artanis left. Before she issued any order she looked out the window of the mothership. A blue transparent layer was flashing. It was the mothership’s shield, and it was continuing to blink as endless waves of attacks hit. If the most protected ship in the fleet was like this, how bad was the situation for the other ships in the front?

“Executor?” An adept asked hesitantly. There was no time for Selendis to be thoughtful. “We await your orders.”

Selendis’ mind washing ensured her loyalty to Amon, but she still had her own thoughts and opinions. She knew the battle was going toward a bad direction, but her brainwashing meant that instead of ordering a retreat to save her own people she would rather stay and fight to death for Amon. She was just doubting her ability to complete Amon’s will.

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But then again, victory or defeat, she needed to fight.

“Prepare the remaining warriors in our armada for warping. All capital ships except this ship prepare for a short distance jump. Open up a comm to all the fighter pilots.” Selendis looked out into the open with determination.

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Artanis opened his eyes on the surface of Char within a Daelaam fortified position. All around the position zerg units were combating the protoss units. Psi blades clashed with zerg carapace. Claws and spines connected with plasma shields. The smell of burnt flesh covered the area.

The Daelaam forces on the ground were in a terrible position. Nydus worms kept on popping out of the ground, sometimes even inside the protoss flanks. Sometimes the protoss could destroy the worm while other times they couldn’t, but it didn’t matter. Zerg units simply left the body of the worm anyways and engaged the protoss forces. Destroying the door didn’t stop people from exiting a room.

The protoss were fierce, but the zerg weren’t weak either. Those in the nydus worms were fresh elites, and their enemies were warriors who had been fighting for hours. Their psionic energies were exhausted. Some of their shields were broken while others were weakened. Some protoss were wounded. It was their loyalty to Amon that made sure they were still fighting. Small groups of warriors were still a distance away from the main Daelaam forces, trapped after being warped in, and judging from the converging zerg forces they wouldn’t live to meet the main forces.

Luckily along with Artanis came around 40 hybrids, 30 reavers and 10 destroyers, and 800 Daelaam warriors. These 800 were the last of the Daelaam forces. The elite guards of Artanis himself, they were the best of the best. Each of them had slain at least hundreds of zerg. More importantly, they were fresh troops.

“Report.” Artanis ordered via the khala as more and more reinforcements solidified and joined the battle with their brothers.

The neural network transported his order to the high templar in command almost instantly. The response was also immediate.

“We have 1200 warriors left, including 32 immortals. Several other groups of our brothers are trapped by the swarm. They are too surrounded to meet with us, but they are willing to sacrifice themselves and delay the zerg.”

“Where is the queen of blades?” Artanis was in grief of the losses. He had sent over five thousand warriors on this attack, and now most of them were either dead or dying. He needed to make their sacrifice be worthy, and what was a better way to honor the dead than completing the mission they died for?

The high templar had no answer, so Artanis spread the message to the entire Khala. He got the answer within a second.

“Hierarch!” It was a zealot. Judging from the emotions Artanis sensed through the khala the zealot was desperate.“Lock onto my location! The queen of blades...Uh.” The zealot disappeared from the khala before he could complete the sentence. Either his nerve cord was severed or he was dead.

It took Artanis a second to locate where the zealot was.

“Mobilize the warriors for an assault.” The hierarch told the high templar as he ignited his red blades and charged into the battlefield. Two roaches were immediately severed into two pieces each.

A distance away the zerg forces were still swarming up, attempting to overrun the protoss defenses. A hundred zerg fell, and a thousand rushed into the fight.

The swarm was endless.