"What? Ya got somethin' 'gainst us, buddy?" asked the Terran.
"How dare you speak to me in that manner!" shouted the Templar.
The Templar got up but soon found a gun up to his face.
"Heh. Did ya think I'd be that slow?" asked the Terran.
"Now, now, stop. We are all on the same side." stated Ardarriss.
The Templar stared at the Terran's visor, trying to see if the man was bluffing. If he could get a chance he could quickly Psi storm him. He stared hard to see the Terran's eyes but instead the last sight he saw was looking at the ceiling, a bullet through his head.
"What? Why did you do that?" The other Templar got up from their seats.
"Stop this madness right now!" shouted Ardarriss.
The Templar sat in their respective seats and stared at the Judicator.
"Why don't you sit down... Jasen." Ardarriss asked, but it was more of a command.
"I dun want to. Just get to the point." Jasen replied, his hands across his chest.
"Alright. If I supply you with nuclear missiles, will you destroy some settlements on Shakuras?"
asked Ardarriss.
"Shakuras? Ain't that the Dark Templar planet? Hey buddy, you better show me the money and the nukes." replied Jasen.
"I will pay you afterwards." answered Ardarriss.
"You crazy? I ain't 'fraid of nuttin' but these guys. They born to kill. I want two thirds of the money up front." said Jasen.
"Two thirds? One half." offered Ardarriss.
"Two thirds up front." repeated Jasen.
Ardarriss sighed. "Two thirds..." He gave Jasen a small chip.
"This contains the money. Transfer it then come back." he said, then squinted his eyes slightly, "If you do not return..." Ardarriss let Jasen finish his sentence.
"Dun worry. I'll be back." Jasen said while walking out.
He walked through the door and through the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a small crack, from which to go in and out. Jasen squeezed through the crack, and then cleared his throat.
He walked out and got in his ship. He transferred the funds and sat still for a moment. Shakuras... he thought about it. His thoughts were interrupted by a young woman.
"What are ye thinking about?" asked the woman.
"You're going to have to wait here. I'm going to go to Shakuras." replied Jasen. He speaked normally now. Back inside the building he had spoken like an uneducated person, just to trick them into thinking he was a fool.
"What did ye just say? Are ye worried about me?" asked the woman, acting surprised.
"Look. This just isn't the place you should be going to. You see me? I was trained to kill, I have to kill to earn money but that planet is filled with Protoss born to kill." he replied. His throat was beginning to dry out and hurt. He rarely talked like this.
"I see ye throat is dry again. I will stop talking." she said.
"If you want, you can follow me back." Jasen said.
Jasen and the woman walked back to the Protoss building. Jasen and the women squeezed through the crack, one after the other.
"I bet it's times like these, that make you happy that you have a small chest." Jasen said, smiling slightly.
"What? Why I outta just knock ye lights out." she said and she punched his shoulder.
They walked down the hall and stopped at the door. Jasen sighed.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes." she replied.
Jasen and the woman walked through the door...
* * *
Back at Dalomir, in the Xel'Naga Temple... (back and forth, back and forth, ahhhh!!)
"I found it!" shouted Edwarg. Nak'Talagos and Edwarg traced it straight to it's source. They both began feeling the walls.(That doesn't sound right...) Edwarg's hand fell through a part of it and soon his entire body went through.
"Well? Have you idiots found anything yet?" he heard a voice ask. He saw shadows coming down the hall. Zerg he thought. He stuck his head through the wall and looked around.
"Where have you gone?" he asked quietly. There was no answer. He looked back at the hall. They were nearing him. He began concentrating. His forehead was soon covered in his own sweat. The shadows grew larger. He concentrated as hard as he could, his body shook a little, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He opened his eyes and soon found himself face to face with a Hydralisk. He quickly sidestepped to the left and was about to ignite his psionic blades but soon saw that the Hydralisk just walked past him.
He looked down to see that he had succeeded, he was invisible, except... he looked to his right and saw the gold Sargas Tribe insignia on his shoulder. He slowly walked backwards and blended in with the wall behind him. The rest of the Zerg passed him and even the Queen of Blades didn't notice him. An infested Terran followed her and behind him was her advisor Samir Duran.
Duran turned his head and stared right at Edwarg. His stare seemed to burn through Edwarg's skin. Edwarg looked back at Duran. Duran nodded his head slightly and smiled. Duran turned his head and followed after the Queen of Blades. Edwarg was now seriously puzzled. Did he see me? he asked himself.
"Leave." he heard Nak'Talagos say.
"But I can't just leave you here." replied Edwarg.
"I was left here to protect this temple, and I shall do so."
"But-"
Edwarg was cut-off. "Leave now." Edwarg looked at the wall and saw Nak'Talagos in leather armor, a crude version of his own, a bow in one hand, a bag of arrows on his back, a sword on his belt, and 3 small daggers on the side of each leg. There was also a small plastic cup on his shoulder which had some kind of liquid in it.
"You cannot defeat the Zerg with those." Edwarg stated.
"I will defeat them or die trying, we Protoss do not run from our enemy. You however have more pressing matters to attend to. Hurry and leave, I will distract them." replied Nak'Talagos.
Edwarg knew he was right, he had no choice but to run. He ran off out of the temple, he knew it wasn't right but he had to warn Auir of the danger right underneath them..
* * *
Nak'Talagos had taken a short cut and had gotten in front of the Zerg. He saw a small Zerg come towards him, it had many legs and ran like a hound. He waited behind a wall. When the small Zerg turned the corner, a dagger hit it right in the eye. Before it could scream Nak'Talagos smashed the thing's throat. He pulled his dagger out and rolled to the other side. The shadows covered him.
Another one of the small Zerg rounded the corner and saw it's brethren lying there. He heard something behind him and soon his head was gone. Nak'Talagos stood still his blade in the air, Zergling blood sliding down from the tip. He stuck the sword back in it's sheath and rolled back to the corner. He pulled out some rope from one of his pockets and tied it around the Zerg. After doing so he lifted them up to the ceiling.
He ran back and hid in the shadows. He took out an arrow and put it with his bow. He aimed the arrow directly at the rope. Another Zerg came out. This one was a huge one. It had 2 blades protruding from it's back. Nak'Talagos shot his arrow. It cut right through the rope and the Zergling fell on the Ultralisk's head. The Ultralisk swung it's huge blades around because it wasn't able to see.
Nak'Talagos took out another arrow and dipped it in the liquid on his shoulder. He put the arrow to the bow, aimed and fired. The arrow thrust forward, the liquid turned to fire as a large amount of oxygen hit it. The arrow hit it's target, the small, thin peice of flesh known as the neck. The fire on the arrow helped burn through the rough hard surface and soon the head of the Ultralisk fell to the ground.
Nak'Talagos smiled (He can too! He's got a mouth.) and ran off. Some Hydralisks smelled the scorched blood and followed the scent. When they arrived they saw the body of an ultralisk and 2 dead Zergling. They followed a trail of blood and ended up next to the head of the Ultralisk.
They spoke to each other telepathically. They heard a loud noise and looked in it's direction. An arrow flew right through both heads of the Hydralisks standing beside each other. Nak'Talagos took out another arrow and ran off.
A huge amount of Zergling ran off ahead of the group. The first scout group had dissapeared. They ran in unision, they smelled blood and soon their mouths were filled with their own saliva.
They heard footsteps and quickly burrowed. Nak'Talagos heard the sound and knew something went underground. He was trapped. He stood still and looked for a weapon he could use. He took out a small container and dipped it into the liquid on his shoulder. The container got some of the liquid and he pulled it out. He closed the tiny container and threw it. He quickly took out a small dagger and threw it.
The dagger hit the container spraying the liquid everywhere. The liquid began to turn to fire and landed on the ground. The small Zerglings quickly unburrowed themselves, scared of the fire which was burning some of them. Nak'Talagos quickly unsheathed his sword and ran forward, slicing left and right and when he was done, none of the Zergling were left alive. He stayed their on one knee, his mighty sword in the air.
He heard growling and quickly put his sword back. He looked at the container on his shoulder, the liquid was mostly gone now. There was no time to lose. He jumped up and grabbed onto the ceiling.
The Hydralisks were quick to react. They had heard the Zerglings screams and had quickly slithered towards the screams. There were 5 of them, enough to take out at least 2 Zealots. They arrived to their destination and saw burnt bodies and chopped up Zergling. They growled and opened up their mouths, ready to attack.
Nak'Talagos screamed and jumped off the ceiling, landing on the head of a Hydralisk. The one behind it shot it's needle spines. Nak'Talagos jumped up and the needle spines hit the Hydralisk instead. Four to go he thought. He kicked one of them in the face and somersaulted over another. One of the Hydralisks swung it's tail. It missed Nak'Talagos by mere inches. He rolled on the ground and threw three daggers in one quick strike. Three Hydralisks went down. One was left. Sensing that it was in danger, it started to shoot out it's needle spines like crazy. Nak'Talagos swiftly dodged the dangerous needles and looked at his leg. Only 2 daggers left he thought. He manuevered around and pulled out an arrow. When he reached the Hydralisk, he shoved the arrow into it's scull.
Nak'Talagos heard voices nearing him. "I want him caught. I want him dead!" he heard a voice shout. He ran in the other direction but something smashed into him. He looked at his body to see he was covered in some kind of green substance. His movement began to slow down and he looked behind him.
"Well? Did I succeed in ensnaring him? Go and check out you idiots!" shouted the voice again. Nak'Talagos felt the substance to see that it was sticky. He quickly stuck his arm on the wall and one by one, slowly began climbing upwards. The green substance was starting to wear off. He started to feel the wall above him and felt his hand go through. He lifted himself up with all his strengh and made it through the "wall". He looked down and saw the Zerg. They might have gotten him if he hadn't gone up.
He ran through the secret hallways and ended up in the weapons area. He grabbed some more daggers, another sword, a shield, a rubbery rope, and more arrows. He ran forward and ended up in a vast room. He pulled on a hole in the ground and the bottom lifted up.
He was at the ceiling now. The Zerg were right underneath him. He tied one end of the rubbery rope to the hole on the ground, (which he had lifted up) and the other end to the handle of his shield. He looked down at the line of Hydralisk. He smiled, he had too. He dropped the shield and let the floor that he had lifted up, fall. He quickly ran off before any Zerg spotted him.
The Hydralisks down below were soon hit by a metal shield, which bounced off their heads and moved upwards, only to come down again and hit the other Hydralisks. The startled Hydralisks began spitting their needle spines at the shield which made it move back and forth as well as up and down. The Hydralisks were continuosly beaten by the shield.
Nak'Talagos poked his upper body out of another "wall" and took out his bow and an arrow. He aimed at the Hydralisks and shot at one of them. The arrow hit the Hydralisk in the back and caused it to bump into the Hydralisk in front of it. The shield came down and hit both of them.
Nak'Talagos smiled again and took out another arrow. Before he could shoot it, blue-lightning like energy seared at him. It hit him in the back and he fell downward. His body felt cold and he could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and layed there, unmoving.
The Queen of Blades stared at him. "What the hell is that?" she asked while poking at Nak'Talagos' body with a tentacle.
"I am not sure, my Queen." Duran replied.
"From my past studies, I suggest that that "thing" over there is a Protoss warrior from the past, amazing it's still alive." Sinister added.
"It won't be for long." The Queen of Blades said.
Nak'Talagos looked up. He sat up slightly and grabbed the cup on his shoulder. The Queen of Blades didn't notice or didn't care. She readied to kill him but soon saw a burst of fire before her. Her vision was blurred for a few seconds and when she recovered she saw that the warrior was gone.
"Damn! What the hell were you 2 idiots doing?" she screamed.
"I myself was blinded." replied a startled Duran.
"As was I." added Sinister, who didn't seem startled at all.
Nak'Talagos ran through the hallways, his ribs aching, his legs cracking. He reached his destination, labeled "the museum" by the Xel'Naga, he had to destroy it. He went to get more weapons but saw a huge container filled with the mysterious liquid. He tied the container to his back and stepped out of the "museum". He started going towards the main room, a room filled with mysterious powerful crystals.
* * *
Edwarg ran as fast as he could and when he arrived at the Spaceport, there was nothing more than creep. He sighed and looked to the west and saw a cave. I'll be safe there he thought. He ran off towards the cave.
A few minutes later he arrived. He went inside. It was damp and smelly and there seemed to be a continuing thumping noise. He walked towards the noise and ended up right in front of a cacoon. It started to beat faster and he heard footsteps. He ran past the cacoon and hid in the shadows.
Around five hooded figures arrived and stood in front of the cacoon. The cacoon began to split and soon cracked open. A small amount of liquid spurted out and a figure stood where the
cacoon once was. It was a fairly muscular creature with smooth skin, which was just white and began to turn slightly red. It had "hair" flowing down it's back just like Edwarg, but unlike him, the creature had clawed feet. The hooded figures quickly handed the creature a robe like their own. The creature put it on and made sure to cover it's head with the hood.
The creature turned it's head slightly and Edwarg saw that the creature had the face of a Protoss except it had a mouth with sharp teeth in them. The creature spoke in a low growling voice surrounded by a booming Protoss like voice. "You may show yourself, Protoss warrior." it said.
Edwarg swallowed hard, (can he swallow???) and walked out. He saw directly into the creature's eyes. It had pupils that seemed to slice through him but soon the pupils disappeared and the eyes lighted up, like a Protoss. After lighting up, it would soon become pupils again and so on.
"Who are you?" Edwarg asked.
"I am a Hybrid, the Alpha of my kind." it replied in it's unique voice.
"A Hybrid of what exactly?"
This time a voice in his head answered. "I see your dear Zeratul has not told you. He is a Hybrid of your own brethren and your enemy."
Edwarg looked at the hooded creatures. They had answered to him through the mind. "A hybrid of my own brethren and my enemy? You speak of the Zerg?" He asked.
"Of course."
"Wait? Zeratul? He knew of this... this... thing?" he asked, shocked by what the hooded creatures had said.
"Yes. He saw our... unsuccessful creatures. We destroyed all of them, they were too aggressive. Something we didn't want." the voice answered.
"Then what about the powerful one on Auir?" asked Edwarg.
"He is our worker. The most important one. If you didn't have a Probe, would you survive?" replied the voice.
"No... you lie! I know your weakness, the crystals in that temple. I can use them to kill you!" he shouted. One of the hooded creatures waved it's hand and the cave dissapeared. Edwarg was amazed.
"Now.. what temple?" asked the Hybrid. It was smiling slightly.
Edwarg looked at the direction of the temple, and saw that the temple was on fire. Burning from tip to bottom, smoke surrounding the huge, once beautiful temple. He saw Zerg running out of the building.
"What did you do?" asked Edwarg.
"Nothing. Your dear ancestor sacrificed himself to destroy that temple." replied the Hybrid.
Edwarg ignited his psionic blades and got into a fighting stance. "I may not have a chance at defeating you but I will die trying!" shouted Edwarg.
"I do not wish to fight. Leave this area Protoss warrior. As will we." said the Hybrid.
"What? I can't even get off this planet." replied a startled Edwarg.
"Then... Hmmm... You see that tree over there?" asked the Hybrid.
"Tree?" he hadn't remembered any trees being anywhere. He looked around and saw one. Weird he thought.
"Go over there. We will use our space faring ships and basically "recall" you back to Auir. But if you are to try and destroy our cacoon, then... Auir will be gone." said the Hybrid. His voice seemed to growl more.
Edwarg had nothing to lose. He ran towards the tree and when he arrived he turned around, to see the hooded creatures and the Hybrid being enveloped by a large blue circle. Edwarg sighed and looked up when he heard a noise. Another blue circle appeared above his head and soon enveloped him.
* * *
Meanwhile (again) far off in a lone ship...
Zeratul awoke after he hit his head on something. He sat up and looked around. Where was he? He started to slowly remember a few things. He remembered himself being in a shuttle during a fight, going from ship to ship then ending up inside a psi storm. He was sure something was still not right.
He slowly began learning how to control the ship. Moving left and right, forward and back. He still didn't know where he was. He looked at a planet. It's rim began lighting up and soon the sun began forming behind the planet. Zeratul immediately covered his eyes and looked the other way.
He tried the com link and found out that it was only slightly damaged. He opened the control panel and started tinkering with the wires...
