From out on his post at the bridge of his ship, the Dark Star, Zeratul stared emptily at the vast void of space in front of him, wondering what its dark horizon holds for him and his race. It has been a year since he had been forced to kill the Matriarch on the now distant planet of Shakuras. Since then he and what little of the Dark Templar he could gather had fled that world in search of a new home. They had found it after three months of wandering, a planet just outside the Koprulu Sector, an as of yet undiscovered system, unknown to them, the Zerg and even the other Protoss. They had settled on one of the planets far out in its orbit from the twin suns of the system, it had provided them with the twilight that they had known on Shakuras, a deathly reminder and a consoling shadow all at the same time. The planet itself was cold, its barren surface stripped of almost all life, its harsh atmosphere perfect for mineral and vespene gas formation but deadly to all but the most resilient and mighty of species, species such as the Protoss. From there they had set up several bases, fortifying it as best they could and in that they had succeeded well, they had created a settlement almost as great as mighty Telemantros was on Shakuras. But he was far from that world now, far from his new world and even further from his beloved Aiur. He had journeyed out in a Corsair accompanied by only four of his most trustworthy brethren. He had gone with his brethren in search of a world, a world long rumored to hide relics of the Xel Naga, the race that had spawned the mighty Protoss and the nefarious Zerg. He hoped to find what he had found on Shakuras, a weapon, a weapon to purge the world with blood, to strike the Zerg till they were but charred flesh.
"By Adun what saps your concentration this day Zeratul? It is rare to see your eyes flicker with uncertainty, even rarer still to see you dozing as you were." Chided Larez with a flash of his glowing green eyes as his image appeared on screen of Zeratul's communications screen in the cockpit of his Corsair.
"I think only of what has befallen our race Larez, of what has happened that could have been prevented, what I have had to do and what blame rests with me." Answered Zeratul his voice indicating a deep sadness.
"Blame not yourself for the death of the Matriarch, she asked you to release her, and is not death better than a life of servitude to the Zerg?" Chimed in one of the other Corsair pilots, Talaris.
"You two are both so young, but I am weary, immortally weary, I have seen the Overmind and seen it slain by the mighty Tassadar, I have watched the death of many of my comrades, the fall of my homeworld and horrors beyond imagination. You are lucky that you did not live to see us thrown off Aiur because if you had your rage would----"
"Alert Prelate Zeratul, we have detected several objects closing rapidly on our location, our sensors indicate that they are of organic composition and they match neither UED, Dominion or Protoss in terms of scanner recognition." Interrupted two of the other pilots simultaneously.
"Thank you for informing me of this development." Zeratul said inclining his head to the images of Taelar and Yelnaz on his screen. "We shall proceed, if they are Zerg than there is little chance that they can catch up to our vessels, only the scourge can match the speed of our craft and it is unlikely Kerrigan would send out scourge on their own, unaccompanied by mutalisks or other of the Zerg fliers."
"But Zeratul I believe that you should see this." Taelar says. "Look at the readings on my screen."
As the readings flash up onto his screen Zeratul is forced to reconsider his previous position. "I acknowledge your concern for us, these readings indicate that the creatures are devourers, but I believe we will be able to outdistance them."
"As you say then Zeratul."
However Zeratul's confidence is misplaced as the scourge and devourers tear through space, unknowing of the Protoss' presence, merely following Kerrigan's orders to patrol the area that they are currently flying in. But they close in bit by bit as they sense the presence of ships in their sensory range and with that simple thought in mind they sped up, closing on the Corsairs.
"Zeratul, it seems that our previous estimates on their speed have been incorrect, they are now within visual range." Shouted Yelnaz over the communications link.
"Well then it is best we turned to face them." Zeratul said calmly.
Even as they were saying this the Devourers were drawing closer, their visceral bodies quaking as they sensed the Corsairs on the fringe of their sensory awareness. Sensing the Corsairs they accelerated to full speed, closing the deadly gap between the two sets of fighters rapidly, their jaws dripping with their corrosive acid.
"Zeratul, be aware that the Devourers number five, equal to the number of our own crafts." Taelar said.
With those words the Corsairs finally turned to face their pursuers. Their noses dipped gracefully to the right as they turned almost as one, their engines cutting down as they turn to minimize the distance traveled during the turn, finally though they break out of their lazy turn and their engines come roaring to life as they face their pursuers, rocketing towards them.
The Devourers shared little of the emotions that the Corsair pilots had, they felt neither fear nor hatred for their enemy, perhaps that was a weakness or perhaps it was a strength but as it was they readied themselves for battle as they sensed their prey closing on them. They rapidly increased the rate of acid secretion and they stiffened their carapaces as much as they could and then they were ready.
The Corsairs and Devourers met in a patch of space just over the planet nearest their goal. The Corsairs attacked first, sending a barrage of Neutron Flare energy blasts to try to warp the very tissues of the Devourers with lethal radiation that was their weapon.
"DIE DIE DIE DIE." Taelar screamed in the throes of his own battle rage as he streaked towards the devourer that the group had assigned to him, his weapons blazing, lighting the space around the devourer up with the unearthly glow of his Neutron Flares.
The Devourer that Taelar was attacking was almost unaffected by the weapon that Taelar was using. Though it could not gloat it could certainly appreciate the benefits granted to it by its large size and unearthly armor, almost as strong as that of the Carrier. It merely shrugged off the first barrage of Taelar's attacks and replied in the only way it could : with a burning mix of acid. Taelar for his part should be given credit for being able to evade the first gouts of acid only to fall prey to the third corrosive blast. Immediately the acid went to work, the spore burning the into the hull and engine.
"Damn, Zeratul I have taken extensive damage." Taelar shouted through the intercom as the acrid smell of acid filled the cockpit as the acid burned into the section of the hull just above the cockpit suddenly he heard a dull, thump shudder through the craft originating from behind him. The Devourer had used his distraction to drop behind him and that thump must have been the shaking of his engine compartments as they absorbed the acid. The thump came again and he inwardly cursed himself for being so easily distracted by his damage reports. Behind him the Devourer launched its attack again, its visceral body quivering as it discharged its ammunition. Taelar looked at his damage reports, his engine plating was damaged almost beyond repair. Desperately he weaved and turned dodging blast after blast of the acid, but he knew he couldn't do it forever, his engines were damaged and he had little hope of maintaining 100% efficiency.
Meanwhile as the deadly dance continued between Taelar and the devourer the others themselves engaged in the battle for their lives.
Zeratul maneuvered his craft expertly, like an extension of his own body, twisting his craft around the devourers first gob of acid he sent forth a blast of energy straight towards the Devourers head or more specifically its eyes, the least armored of all its body parts hoping that it would be enough and for Zeratul it was. The devourer had let fly several blasts but then Zeratul had been able shoot it in the eye, at once its eye exploded as did half its brain as the tissues were warped, blasted by the energies focused against it. From there it was pretty much dead in the air, listing hopelessly as its battered brain tried to command the body with nerves that no longer existed.
"Zeratul, my shields have not come up and I have taken extensive damage to my engine pods, I require assistance." Taelar cried through the comms system.
"Turn then, towards me Taelar. I shall clear that Devourer from your back." Zeratul replied his yellow eyes flashing.
With that Taelar desperately dove his Corsair towards Zeratul's, his engines by now were trailing fire and were down to 60% functionality. The engines for their part were excellently made, no doubt a lesser craft would have lost all power but Taelar had no mind to appreciate that knowing that it would be the cause of his death. Falling towards Zeratul he prayed that Zeratul could dispatch the Devourer.
Zeratul streaked upwards to meet Taelar with his cannons ablaze. Finally his blasts seemed to be having an effect as the white flashes burned into the Devourers armored hide. The Devourer was forced to choose between either the being that fled from it or the one that was tormenting it. It chose the latter: it dove veered away from the battered Taelar and streaked after Zeratul, its body spraying blood from the wounds it had received.
Yelnaz, Larez and Talaris mean while were involved in their fights. Yelnaz had summoned all his skill to perform a series of concentric circles, pushing his craft to its limit until he broke off suddenly, breaking and sending his craft upwards and above and most importantly Behind the Devourer chasing him. With his hull shuddering he launched his blasts with skill, sending the Devourer off course and into the path of a passing meteorite, its Zerg hide exploding into a fleshy burst of blood and guts. Larez and Talaris meanwhile dispatched their attackers with deadly efficiency having witnessed Zeratul's method of attack.
Finally though the last of the blasts had subsided and the Devourers were naught but expanding clouds of organic matter. The Corsairs though were not unscathed, Larez and Talaris and Yalnez had taken skin damage, their hulls slightly charred while Zeratul remained almost untouched while Taelar's craft lurched to and fro with its engines at 30% efficiency and trailing a plum of blue fire.
"Zeratul I have taken damage to the hull, however it is minor." Said Talaris to be agreed with by Yalnez and Larez.
"My engines are all but non functional, they are down to 30% efficiency and I have taken extensive hull damage." Taelar said his shame filling him at his defeat.
"Did any of you notice something odd about that fight?" Zeratul said, his eyes flaring yellow.
"I did Taelar." Taelar replied ."My shields did not collapse rather they did not unfold around my craft, I was expecting a defensive shield in front of me when I was first hit only to take the hit with its full force."
Zeratul seemed thoughtful for a moment before he again spoke : "Whatever has caused that effect on our shields I feel that it has something to do with the planet we seek. So let us not keep it waiting. Can you make it Taelar?"
"That I can do Prelate." Taelar replied.
"Well then let us be off, for Aiur."
"For Aiur."
And with those words they set off for the planet barely within sight, a lush green world, almost like Aiur but would it like Aiur suffer a tragic fate or would it grant them a new beginning, be a new Aiur. All the way to the world these thoughts weighed heavily on Zeratul's mind above all one image stood stark in Zeratul's mind, the image of the Matriarch sliding to her knees in death and uttering those words : "To you I trust my tribe."
