“This is the fourth attack by the tal’darim.” In the twilight council Vorazun complained to Artanis. Several other high templars were here as well, including Urun and Selendis.
It had been half a week since Admiral Urun defeated the swarm, but the victory failed to bring peace to the Daelaam. The tal’darim Death Fleet, after briefly retreating upon the defeat of the swarm, returned. This time it was must more aggressive. Base after base fell before the Daelaam could even respond to the attack. The several fighters in the outposts could do nothing against the tal’darim.
“We must do something.” The matriarch was not going to allow the tal’darim to continue their rampage. She was already angered when she heard the tal’darim retreating from Daelaam space after the Golden Armada took down the swarm with severe losses. The Daelaam sacrificed a lot more than they needed to because of the tal’darim. She wasn’t planning to let them leave untainted. Not again. ”Mobilize our armada.”
Artanis had his own thoughts. “How are our ships?” He asked Urun.
“32 ships down. 200 more damaged and being repaired. Around 400 ships are in battle condition.” Urun should be proud of the numbers. He defeated the swarm while being outnumbered and had only lost about ten percent of his ships. The casualties of the swarm would be several times that number. But Urun wasn’t satisfied. Every protoss was precious. Every protoss ship needed large amount of resources to build or fix while the zerg leviathans and corruptors could be built in weeks and days respectively.
Vorazun noticed Artanis’ hesitance. “The Death Fleet has less than half that number. My scouts reported a recent internal conflict in the tal’darim power structure. Those fools have fought with their own people. The Death Fleet is a mere form of its former might. This is a battle we can win.”
Artanis was thinking. Vorazun was right. He could and probably should face the Death Fleet. The next question would be how many ships he should send. He needed to keep some forces at home, but he had to send out an armada large enough to push back the Death Fleet without taking heavy losses. As good as the current situation seemed to be, there was just so many fractions in the sector that would be more than happy to strike if the Daelaam showed signs of weakness or took too many losses.
Artanis was about to speak his thoughts when suddenly a deep voice came from beside.
“The tal’darim are servants of Amon. You must take caution.”
All the templar in the chamber jumped. None of them have noticed someone there. The twilight council was like the royal palace of the Dominion. It was one of the most fortified places, guarded by the most elite and loyal warriors. More, all those seated were mighty warriors themselves. And yet an unidentified individual just sneaked inside. They wouldn’t even notice him if he hadn’t spoke.
The figure emerged from the shadows. Green saber. Green eyes. Green shoulder plates. Zeratul. One of the few dark templars powerful enough to avoid almost any kind of detection. Even observers had trouble catching his form.
The templar reacted differently. Artanis seemed surprised, in a good way. Vorazun, on the other hand, drew her weapon instantly.
“Templar! Arrest this traitor!” The door opened, revealing two shadow guards were acted as sentries. These elite guards of Vorazun obeyed their leader’s order without a second thought. They ignited their warp blades and blinked forward.
Zeratul knew why Vorazun was so angry at his sight. He killed Vorazun’s mother, the former matriarch Razagul, after Kerrigan infected her. He did what had to be done, but that didn’t make his action acceptable, especially to the daughter of the one he killed. Vorazun had never forgave him. Plus, there was always the fact that he accidentally showed the swarm where Aiur was, so…
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Facing the shadow guards, Zeratul remained calm. He had been through way too much for to be intimidated by two dark templar who he saw as children. If he wanted he could kill them both without taking a second hit. Of course, the elder had no intention in harming his own.
“I am not you enemy.” He tried to calm the situation down, but Vorazun refused to listen, so he turned to Artanis.
“Hear me, brothers.” He looked directly at Artanis. The hierarch might be the only one willing to hear him out. “There is a darkness approaching. A fallen xel’naga seeks to destroy all life forms in the sector.”
“That’s absurd.” Selendis cut him off. She was never too fond of the dark templar, nor was she happy to listen to the one that brought destruction upon Aiur.
“Let him speak.” Artanis stepped in with authority. Selendis seemed unsatisfied but quieted nonetheless, but the shadow guards didn’t move. The leader of the Daelaam looked to the matriarch of the dark templar. Vorazun held her straight face for a few seconds before logic finally overcoming her. She sighed and waved her hand. The shadow guards obeyed and left the room.
“Amon is….” Now allowed to speak, Zeratul’s maximum level public speaking ability went into action. When he was done, his fellow protoss were astonished.
“But why does this terran Jean believe the firstborn will follow Amon? The xel’naga created us, but that doesn’t mean we are their slaves.” Artanis noticed Jean’s part in Zeratul’s story. All Zeratul knew was that Jean believed the Golden Armada would serve Amon and thus did everything she could to take it down before it could be controlled. Zeratul didn’t know why she believed that, and neither did all those seated.
“I don’t understand either, but Jean seemed to firmly believe in that idea. She even allied herself with the swarm to weaken us.”
“Wait, the swarm attacked us because of a terran?” Selendis stood up, very surprised. The battle between the swarm and the Daelaam was bloody, and she failed to believe it was all due to the delusions of a terran female. Yes, Selendis believed Jean was having delusions in believing the Golden Armada would be corrupted by Amon.
“Yes. Jean manipulated Kerrigan into attacking us by using her ambition. But the swarm is down, and the problem now is the tal’darim fleet.” Zeratul pulled the topic back to the current situation.
“Any chance they are sent by Jean too?” Selendis.
“No. The tal’darim serve Amon and Amon alone. Jean is ruthless, but she knows better than allying herself with the dark one.” Zeratul sounded confident, but in reality he wasn’t. After all he just tried to assassinate Jean. He just hoped the girl wasn’t traumatized by that life threatening experience and decided to go bad.
Selendis turned to Vorazun. She had never liked the dark templar much, but even she had to admit the Nerazim had an advantage in information gathering. Their cloaking ability made them discreet. “Didn’t the tal’darim undergo a recent power change? What exactly happened?”
Vorazun shrugged. “Slayn is a fortress. My scouts can only sense the tal’darim fleet in war against each other. As for the details…” She trailed off. “It doesn’t matter. Jean or Amon, we need to take actions.”
Artanis agreed. “Vorazun, protect this planet with your Nerazim fleet. I will leave 100 carriers here. The rest of the Golden Armada will follow me to face the Death Fleet.”
Urun was slightly surprised. “You are leading the expedition yourself?” Artanis usually stayed behind and monitored the entire civilization while generals like Urun commanded specific battles. Such was the case in the war against the swarm. A leader should stay away from danger.
“Yes. I need to learn more about Amon. Urun, Selendis, prepare the armada.” The two templar nodded. “Zeratul, I want you to join me in my expedition. We have no idea why the tal’darim is coming for us, but whatever the reason is I am going to need your help.” The older templar agreed without a second thought. He was more than happy to have a chance to redeem himself.
“Vorazun.” Artanis turned to the last templar.
“I know.” The female dark templar reassured. “I will keep Shakuras safe. After all, it is my home too. As long as I am breathing Shakuras will not be harmed”
“Very well.” Artanis stood up and walked out of the council, preparing for war. He had just heard about Amon, but the news of a new enemy didn’t encourage him to put more forces at home. If anything, it caused Artanis to put more forces in the expedition fleet.
After all, the enemy was in the front, right?