“Just got news from Nyon. The tal’darims are inside the trap.” Jean grinned at a computer panel.

“Just like you planned.” Nova added, folding her arms.

“Just like we planned.” Jean turned around and corrected.

“All I did was ask a few tactical questions. You’re the one that came up with the actual plan.” Nova said with a wide smile.

Jean smiled and walked closer to Nova. The agent was slightly taller than Jean. Jean could almost feel Nova’s breath. “If you didn’t mention how hard it is for the Death Fleet to stumble upon the Glacius facility then I would’ve missed that. The Death Fleet would’ve failed to weaken our target and open a spot for us to strike. You deserve a reward.”

Nova acted quickly and put her hands around Jean’s head and pulled her forward. She was about to kiss her when Jean suddenly pulled away. Nova licked her lips in disappointment.

Going back to the control panel, Jean pressed a button that opened a communication. Lovers don’t value what they get easily. She wanted Nova to follow her loyaly, which meant she needed Nova to love her. To value her.

“B932, maintain your speed and move toward the assigned coordinates. Don’t get too far away from the Death Fleet but don’t get into firing range. Once you reach the given location jump away to my coordinates.”

“Order received.” The B932 AI responded coldly. It was the battlecruiser that was been chased after by the Death Fleet. The one leading Ma’lash and his ships to the Glacius facility.

“These terran filth. Move faster you fool! They will be jumping away very soon.” It had been nearly an hour since the one battlecruiser frightened Ma’lash, and now the Highlord was raging through his bridge. It was bad enough he had to bring his ships this far after a terran battlecruiser. It was even worse if they were able to escape.

Ma’lash thought of leaving the battlecruiser, but everytime his ships slowed down the battlecruiser would stop as if he was taunting at the Death Fleet. Ma’lash would be powered with another surge of anger and chase after the terran ship.

The Highlord wasn’t stupid. He thought of the possibility that this might be a trap, but then again there were few things that could take a jump on the Death Fleet. Even though all he had was several dozen ships, but they were all ready to jump away at a moment’s notice.

Suddenly the terran battlecruiser blinked, and Ma’lash knew he had failed to punish the one that frightened him. The next moment the battlecruiser disappeared.

Ma’lash smashed into the bridge before him with his armored fist, but the next second he saw something that turned his depressed mind pleasant again.

A Daelaam research facility that hadn’t fully evacuated yet.

Ma’lash knew from experience that a facility like this was usually well hidden and well protected. In fact, his fleet would even miss this place if it wasn’t for the accidental battlecruiser. But now that he was here, he had no intention of letting this large piece of cake go. A place like this would usually hold some extremely prized weapons or technology.

“All ships move toward that facility. Be ready to engage the enemy.” Ma’lash ordered.

“Should we inform the other ascendents?” A lower ascendant under the direct command of Ma’lash asked.

“No. This facility belongs to me.” Ma’lash wasn’t someone that liked sharing, especially when all the ships here belonged to him. There might be some defenses, but he was confident his own ships could take them down. Why would he share such a gift?

The ascendant backed off obediently.

As the Death Fleet got closer and closer to the Glacius facility, the defensive Daelaam fleet started to take action. The twelve carriers that were waiting in high orbit was mobilized. They formed a tight formation and approached the Death Fleet under the cover of the fighters.

It was 12 Daelaam carriers versus 4 motherships and 32 carriers from the tal’darim side. The Daeleem fleet didn’t have a chance of victory.

And nor did they need victory.

The mission of the Daelaam fleet was to hold off the tal’darim long enough for the Glacius facility to be evacuated. An entire facility wasn’t easily transported back to Shakuras, and the high templar in charge had been working as fast as she could, but there was just too much to do. Despite starting the evacuation as soon as Artanis gave the order only a small fraction of the facility was transported.

And now the Death Fleet was here with their greedy eyes on this facility.

“Templer, we are outnumbered three to one!” High templar Tara spoke through the Khala connection. “And yet the tal’darim will not find us an easy prey. Glory to the Daelaam!”

A wave of courageous emotions flowed through the nerve chains of the templars in the defensive fleet.

Without a word, interceptors, scouts, and phoenixes on both sides engaged each other. The red clashed with the gold.

In terms of numbers the tal’darim were at an advantage. The carriers stayed behind and fired a swarm of interceptors and the fighters used their speed to protect themselves, but the three motherships were using a completely different style. Under the protection of the thickest layer of plasma shield in the protoss arsenal, the mothership moved forward toward the enemies without any hesitation. Incoming attacks, whether they were anti-matter missiles, ion cannons, or laser beams, were deflected without even shaking the shield.

Ma’lash’s mothership was the first to charge into the battlefield. For the Highlord, the faster they destroy the enemy fleet, the less time the Daelaam had to evacuate their facility, and the more he could find.

Ma’lash might be a cruel villian, but that didn’t undermine his skills in war.

The tal’darim capital ship’s khaydarin crystal blinked, and an area in the middle of the Daeleem fleet twisted. The concept of space and time became blurry, and all of a sudden all the Daelaam ships in the area were sucked into a vortex.

The units in the vortex would reappear after a while, but for now the Daeleem fleet was crippled. The vortex hit the center of the fleet, and four carriers and half the fighters were gone for the time being. The already great advantage of the tal’darim just multiplied.

Tara groaned in frustration. As the commander of a fleet she had a mothership of her own, but one was less than three.

A distance away the tal’darim fleet pushed closer, and the Daelaam fleet was just down to two third its formal ship count. Things have just went really bad for the Daelaam.