Kolvan surveyed the bridge
of the carrier Rexallar with an appraising eye. It was smaller
and more spartan than he was used to; the old-style carriers used by the
Guardians were designed with a larger crew in mind. The Rexallar,
on the other hand, made use of more modern automation and could be piloted
by a single Protoss.
Now, however, the bridge was
teeming with warriors. This was the first time the Guardians of the
Xel'Naga had come aboard the Rexallar, and Kolvan was accompanied
by several of his most powerful Templar. Tassadar/Elranor's lieutenants
were present also present, including the Rexallar's courageous Captain,
the officer who had led the combined forces of Tassadar/Elranor and Kolvan
to victory against the treacherous Zerg Cerebrate Ultor.
That battle was over now.
Ultor was destroyed, its Zerg minions killed off, and the prize was theirs:
a titanic Xel'Naga warship, its defenses crippled but otherwise undamaged.
Only now, after victory had been secured, did the question arise: where
would they take this gargantuan battleship? Kolvan thought he knew.
Tassadar/Elranor noticed him
now, and extended its ethereal hand in greeting. Kolvan duplicated
the gesture. "We thank you, Kolvan," the Archon began, "for making
possible our victory over the Zerg swarms. We thank you also for
trusting us. It must have been difficult for a loyal servant of the
Xel'Naga to join forces with the descendants of rebels."
Kolvan nodded. "My sincerest
thanks to you and the Captain, as well." He then turned to the ships'
main viewer, which displayed a wide-angle view of the other Protoss ships
in orbit. The Rexallar and a few battered ships of his own
were all that had survived the last battle. Their fleet would be
pitiful, he thought, were it not for the Xel'Naga dreadnought. He
remembered the business that had brought him to this ship, and turned back
to the glowing Archon.
"My probe teams have begun
to assemble batteries of photon cannons along the length of the battleship,"
he said. "I don't think we'll be quite able to match the original
arsenal for close-range firepower, but we'll have a strong defense, nonetheless."
"What about the main guns?"
asked the Captain. This was the real issue, Kolvan knew: the four
planet-cracking energy cannons that they had been forced to disable after
Ultor had threatened to turn them on the Xel'Naga world.
"They seem to be powered by
direct plasma-projection, a technique that our own scientists never gave
much thought," replied Kolvan. "I doubt we can repair them with our
present understanding of the technology."
Tassadar/Elranor now broke
in. "The Terrans could do it," said the Archon. "We are certain
of it. They make use of plasma-projection technology in their Yamato
cannons."
"Terrans?" said Kolvan.
"A race of somewhat primitive
sapient beings who have settled several worlds in a sector of space near
Aiur," the Captain told him. "Now that I think about it, it seems
likely that they could repair these plasma cannons."
"That is one more validation
of the course of action we have already decided upon," added Tassadar/Elranor.
Kolvan looked the Archon in
the face, to little effect. To such a mighty entity of psionic power,
facial expressions were a primitive exercise. He could not discern
the Archon's meaning, so he asked him outright, "What do you mean, Tassadar/Elranor?
Will we not resume the search for living Xel'Naga that your Elranor-half
began so long ago?"
"No," said the Archon.
"We have come to realize that, through our search, we have discovered something
more valuable than living Xel'Naga: a weapon that could bring ultimate
victory over the Zerg. This ship, if repaired properly, could be
used to finally liberate Protoss space from the threat of the Zerg.
We must steer this vessel to the Terran worlds first. Then, if all
goes well, we move on to the Zerg infestation.
"The search for the Xel'Naga
will not resume," the Archon concluded, "until victory is ours."