Shakurus

Ever since the fall of Aiur the survivors of the protoss have converged to this planet, joining their Nerazim brethrens. From those survivors the Golden Armada was created.

The Golden Armada was created by Artanis after the fall of Aiur with the purpose of one day retaking the planet. Currently located on Shakurus, the armada combined the technology and manpower of both the Daelaam and the Nerazim. Motherships acted as flagships that held the protoss commanders and held the majority of the ground forces. The armada had up to 500 capital ships alone, including motherships, carriers, and tempests. The amount of smaller ships like void rays, phoenixes, and scouts was numerous.

It was safe to say the Golden Armada was what kept the Daeleem race from extinction.

In the haul of one the motherships above Shakurus, a light beam dropped down from the ceiling, and a slant figure started to solidify. In merely a few seconds the warping was complete. It was a female protoss. She was fully armed and armored. Her advanced armor showed that she wasn’t just a casual zeolet but was instead an executor.

“Where is the hierarch?” The protoss, high executor Selendis, asked one of the zeolets guarding the warp zone.

“Hierarch Artanis is in his chamber.” The zeolet recognized the templer and replied politely. Selenis nodded and continued on walking. She moved past a hallway, which was guarded by 20 heavily armed and armored zeolets, and entered a chamber. There, she met the one she came for.

“Hierarch Artanis” Selendis said with respect. The hierarch was worth the respect. When others have fallen he rallied the remaining protoss together and fended off the zerg. Every Daeleem knew the leader was willing to do anything to take back Aiur.

“Selendis.” Artanis was looking out the window. He turned around when his assistant entered. “I can sense your anger.” He said peacefully.

“The swarm have attacked several outposts. Casualties are high.” Selendis said with some anger. The protoss race once dominated the stars, but after the Overmind and the fall of Aiur the amount of Daeleem protoss was dwindling fast. Elite warriors were rare and precious. Protoss members needed centuries to grow before they could fight in combat. Sure, the outposts held some resources and represented some strategic value, but that wasn’t what made Selendis angry. What really angered her was the loss of protoss life.

Artanis frowned. “The swarm have not attacked for years.” After the brood war Kerrigan pulled her forces back to the zerg planets and left the other forces untouched. Both sides knew a war wouldn’t benefit either side. In a serious war the Golden Armada would win, but not without serious losses against the overwhelming zerg numbers. Why would Kerrigan break this peace now?

“The survivors said in all the cases of attack a leviathan entered warp space and unleashed hundreds of drop pods. The zerg easily overwhelmed the outpost and slaughtered most of the warriors with their overwhelming numbers.” Selenis explained. Some protoss survived thanks to their emergency warping system.

Artanis considered his options. Such an attack couldn’t go unchecked. The warriors couldn’t die in vain. Still, it could be a trap. As far as he knew there might be two dozen leviathans behind the other side waiting for the small fleet he would send. “Send 3 carriers to every outpost and prepare the Armada. Tell the templar to direct all power to the shields and call in the armada if anything goes wrong. We can’t afford to lose them.”

“As you wish, hierarch.” Selendis obeyed and exited the chamber. Artanis continued to look out the window, doubting what would happen to his race.

Jean stood in the bridge as Kerrigan’s leviathan warped on top of another planet that held an outpost. A few hours ago they had just destroyed another protoss base. The Daeleem put up a good fight against all odds, but there was just too many zerg. The casualties of the zerg was three times that of the protoss, but even so the zerg was the final winner. A zerg unit could turn from a larvae to a combatant in a few hours. The protoss needed centuries. If there were more trades like this then the Daeleem would be erased from the sector.

Kerrigan looked down on the surface of the planet as waves of drop pods were thrown down from the leviathan. The zerg capital ship carried dozens of hatcheries within that could constantly produce all kinds of zerg units as long as there was enough resource. Obviously the queen didn’t lack minerals and vespine gases, which meant there was practically limitless zerg units. Those permanently sent down to the planet below to either fight to death or bury underground and wait for further notice were merely a portion of the overall zerg units onboard.

But this time the zerg didn’t efficiently and explicitly overwhelm the protoss base. Instead, they grouped up and waited. Jean looked at Kerrigan. There was only one person that could command the zerg forces to hold their ground. Kerrigan glanced back at Jean.

“You have the best zerg essence in you, and with this essence you have high potentials,” The queen of blades said slowly. “but you need more practice to efficiently use that power.” She gestured for the ground below.

“Now is your chance.” Kerrigan said as if it was a suggestion, but Jean knew she didn’t have a choice. Kerrigan was a queen for a reason. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Still, the girl wasn’t bothered. Instead, she was more than happy to have a chance to enhence herself. But before she could enjoy herself she needed to make sure nothing went wrong. “I am more than happy to crush those protoss, but is it the best way? The Golden Armada can be heart any second.” Previously all that was sent down to the planet were expendable zerg units. Jean was fine with sacrificing them, but she wasn’t fine with being sacrificed.

Kerrigan grinned. “Your caution is foolish and unnecessary.” Jean frowned. Kerrigan was being oddly insistent on her going down to the surface, but Jean knew she didn’t have a choice. The queen would take no further questions, and so she nodded in agreement and walked away from the bridge.