Ascendant Nyon had been really successful recently.
Nyon left Slayn with one carrier and returned with nine. This was more than a miracle. Keep in mind that the tal’darim didn’t really have its own shipyards, and all the ships in the Death Fleet were made up of prizes in war. This was an inefficient way, and in some cases defeating the enemies didn’t mean capturing their ships. As a result most of the ascendants had few ships. For instance, Fifth Ascendant Alarak had a tiny carrier count of two. The tal’darim wasn’t the First Ascendant in the End War that was powerful enough to challenge Ma’lash. He was just another ascendant looking for any chance to ascend. Nyon could technically speaking challenge Alarak and have a good chance of winning.
The tal’darim of lower levels admired Nyon as Nyon’s rise didn’t pose a threat to them. The same couldn’t be said for ascendants with a higher rank than Nyon, especially those with a smaller fleet than Nyon. Positions in the chain of ascension had to be backed up by forces. When the forces weren’t enough to back the ascendant’s social status, the ascendant would usually meet a terrible end at the hand of a challenger.
The proud ascendant walked past four zealots guarding the door to the Highlord’s war chamber and entered the room. Ascendants of all levels were on the side. Their gaze turned to him as the door opened. Nyon calmly walked by the ascendants. His feet, protected by metal armor, created a rhythm of clicking in the room.
As Nyon walked, he could noticed a mixture of fear and hostility from the other ascendants. Nyon enjoyed this feeling. Fear meant he had more power. Hostility meant he posed a threat to the ascendants. Both were good news to the ascendant.
Nyon stopped at the front of the hall. Ma’lash was sitting in a large seat at the end. The first ascendants were sitting on the side based on their places on the chain. First Ascendant Nuroka was closest to Ma’lash. He was a proud and rebellious ascendant, but Nyon could feel Nuroka was odd by his psi emission. It was as if something was on his mind and was bothering him. He barely reacted when Nyon entered.
Second ascendant Guraj was a loyal supporter of Ma’lash. He reacted to Nyon’s extry with a smirk. He had swore his utter loyalty to Ma’lash, and Ma’lash had promised to support him back. With the Highlord behind him, Guraj didn’t feel threatened by anyone from below.
“Fifth Ascendant Nyon.” Ma’lash said before Nyon could observe the other ascendants. Ma’lash’s voice was still full of pride, but this time he had some respect. Someone that could turn one carrier into nine in a short amount of time was to be respected in a world where power was the only thing that mattered. “Looks like you have returned with quite the reward.”
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“The Daelaam are weak. Their ships are tied up fighting the swarm. They are vulnerable. I used this chance to strike. My bravery paid off.” Nyon explained with a deeper meaning. His mind drifting to the message Jean passed to him.
The ascendants sat thoughtfully. It appeared that Nyon wasn’t lying and the Daelaam were really weak. They were so weak that they couldn’t deal with a single carrier. If Nyon could multiply his ship count by nine, then it was hard to imagine what they could do with an entire fleet of ships.
Highlord Ma’lash was thinking as well. As ruthless as he was, Ma’lash knew a clash between the Death Fleet and the Golden Armada would leave both sides heavily wounded. This was why despite having small conflicts with the Daelaam, such as attacking outposts, patrols, and shipyards, the tal’darim never engaged in a full on war with the Daelaam.
Nyon estimated the strength of the Death Fleet to be around ten motherships, around a hundred carriers, and nearly two hundred destroyers. This was much weaker than the Golden Armada, not that the Death Fleet was to be undermined. After all, every protoss ship could do massive damage and would be very tough to take down. The Death Fleet in its current state could fight the entire Dominion Fleet and gain an upper hand.
By the way the tal’darim had many motherships because the Protoss Empire, during its Golden Age of Expansion, once disabled their own motherships and sent them to the furthest edges of the sector as monuments. The tal’darim hunted some of those motherships down, executed the crew members in stasis, and took over the modified the Daelaam motherships into tal’darim versions. Tal’darim motherships were much more destructive than Daelaam ones. They served one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to destroy the enemies of the Highlord.
Back to Ma’lash. Upon realizing how “weak” the Daelaam was, the Highlord knew it was a chance to strike. If he waited until the conflict between the swarm and the Daelaam ended, whatever the result, attacking the Daelaam wouldn’t have the same effect. If he striked now, the tal’darim would be victorious and be heavily rewarded. As the Highlord Ma’lash would be benefited the most.
“What do you think, First Ascendant?” Ma’lash asked. Usually he didn’t need to ask for the opinions of an underling. As the Highlord he could launch war to whoever he wished. However, if Nuroka didn’t support him and backstabbed him during the battle then things could go bad really quickly. Asking couldn’t eliminate the chance of betrayal, but it was better than nothing.
“Yes. Indeed. We should use this chance to strike.” Nuroka answered after a few moments. He seemed off. Ma’lash looked at him suspiciously. Finally he announced his order.
“Assemble the Death Fleet.” He stood up and moved his body, creating a series of metal clashing sound from his armor. “It’s time to show the Daelaam cowards the might of the tal’darim!” Nyon smirked inside. Ma’lash just had to make the attack seem so brave. It reality it was just another honorless backstab.
Ma’lash walked out head on. The First Ascendant followed. And then the second. Nyon tightened his grip in frustration as he waited. Now wasn’t the time. Ma’lash was too powerful and he was still relatively weak. He needed to be patient, and soon he will become the Highlord of the tal’darim. He had no doubt.