Ji’nara walked along the burnt floor of Slayn.

The female ascendant had no mental burden in betraying Nyon. Nyon let her live during his takeover, and she had pledged her life to him, but so what? Her past submission was only for the sake of her future domination.

Zealots and lower ascendants kneeled down as Ji’nara walked by. The Second Ascendant had quite the power in the society.

A few minutes later Ji’nara entered a heavily guarded fortress. Photon cannons scattered over the place, making sure no cloaked unit could sneak inside. Small groups of patrols walked around in alert. The safe surrounding of Slayn didn’t wipe out the caution of these elite warriors. Ascendants and reinforcements could be warped into battle whenever they were needed. The Death Fleet, currently in orbit, could be called down with a moment’s notice.

The first step of taking Nyon was to deny his reinforcements. That was why Ji’nara was here.

“Halt. State your purpose, Second Ascendant.”

Walking more into the fortress and was paused by a pair of zealots, Ji’nara felt the suspicious eyes of the warriors scanning over her. Normal zealots were lower than the Second Ascendant, and the zealot should show some respect, but these zealots weren’t exactly the case. They were directly under the Highlord, which granted them the right to question Ji’nara. She couldn’t punish him without the approval of Nyon, and refusing to answer the zealot’s question could raise suspicion. Tasked to protect the Highlord from enemies by from outside and from within, these zealots were ultimately loyal to Nyon. They were the greatest threat to her plan.

“I am here to see the Highlord to discuss the matter about the war against Amon.” Thinking quickly, Ji’nara didn’t hesitate in responding.

The zealot found it reasonable. “My brother will escort you to the Highlord.”

“There is no need.” Ji’nara tried, despite knowing how low her chances of getting lucky was.

“We have our orders, Second Ascendant.” The zealot replied harshly.

Ji’nara felt the “Second” from the zealot burning. She silently held her fists tight, but she hid her anger from the zealots. There was no need to argue with a soon to be dead man.

The first zealot continued his patrol while the second zealot lead the way further into the fortress. Ji’nara followed the second zealot.

The two walked by heavy defenses. Ji’nara even saw some vanguards on the way.

Walking by another bridge, Ji’nara noticed the place was empty. Her psionic sensation could detect most enemies, so unless the best blood hunter ever born was hiding in a dark corner she was alone. Of course, there was the second zealot…

“Zealot!” Ji’nara said darkly. The zealot turned around, only to see a pair of bane blades cutting through his body. He wasn’t ready for battle, so his plasma shield was off. The two red blades cut his body in half with very little resistance. The fatally wounded zealot tried to produce a scream to warn his comrades, but Ji’nara showed that she didn’t became the Second Ascendant with a pretty face. Before the zealot’s psi energy could form voice in the air the Second Ascendant turned her blade and beheaded the zealot.

Smirking at the fading zealot, Ji’nara turned and took out something from her armor. It was a red metal cylinder. She dropped the cylinder on the ground and left.

When Ji’nara arrived into Nyon’s chamber, her doing was unnoticed. The guards thought the killed zealot have returned back to his post. The guards thought the zealot was still with Ji’nara. This lack of information gave Ji’nara precious time.

“Highlord.” Ji’nara silently calculated the time. “I have an idea against Amon. If we can…” Just like she counted, that was when the cylinder she dropped came into effect.

The cylinder contracted before exploding and sending a wave of blue energy through the entire fortress. Immediately, all across the field protoss shields went down. Communication devices were burnt. Tal’darim warriors groaned as their strength was weakened.

Ji’nara felt the slight pain in her head and smiled. The device, according to Amon, was an EMP emitter. Apparently Amon received it from his terran underlings. For this mission, the emitter was modified to be stronger and smaller.

The EMP wave generated wasn’t strong enough to completely disable the guards, but then again they weren’t meant to win the battle by themselves. They were designed to destroy communication devices and cut off the cry for help from the fortress. Reinforcements couldn’t arrive if they didn’t know something was wrong. Amon and Alarak didn’t need to take out the reinforcements. They just need to stall the reinforcements long enough.

Of course, Ji’nara kept her smile hidden and put on a shocked face.

“What?” Nyon frowned. Who would want to attack him on Slayn? Who could attack him? The Death Fleet could descend upon this place with a moment’s notice. “Guards! Call down the fleet.” He ordered.

A zealot moved into the chamber and tried the communication device. There was no use. “It’s disabled, my lord.”

A cloud of smoke appeared beside Nyon. Ji’nara almost drew her blade, but the calm look of Nyon showed her it was not an enemy. As the cloud cleared, she noticed it was a blood hunter.

“Highlord, someone set off an EMP charge in our center. We have lost contact with the outside world.”

Nyon acted quickly. “Send a squad of warriors outside the fortress to establish contact.” The zealot left. ”Gather the guards and prepare for battle. Whoever did this will surely follow it up.” The blood hunter nodded and blinked away.

A squad of five zealots walked out of the fortress. They were more than excited to find help not far away from the fortress.

“First Ascendant! Someone attacked the Highlord’s fortress with an EMP. Highlord has ordered the fleet to move upon the fortress.” The zealot was a bit lame in the mind, which was why he didn’t find the group of armed forces outside the fortress at this strange time confusing.

“Is that so?” Alarak smiled and ignited his blade. “Then what are we waiting for?”