StarCraft 1. intro after GT2

( 1st Mar 2009:

This was originally posted at the end of Grey Templar 2. If you've already read it, just ignore ... )

K, Remember I said that writing is easier than drawing ?

It actually depends on the kind of idea you want to convey.

A picture speaks a thousand words.

I am starting a Grey Templar comic on deviantart.

Now, Fanfic net has a rule ( I don't know if it has been changed ) that you must have some fanfic content in every chapter, so here goes:

**The Grey Templar: Warp Storm ( intro )**

The Warp.

A parallel reality beyond the physical realm, the twisted, chaotic regions of the Immaterium, where the souls of most conscious organisms go after their material shells have expired, where thoughts can manisfest as external phenomena, where the natural laws that we take for granted in the physical plane do not always apply.

The Webway.

An unfathomably vast system of interdimensional passageways that exists partly in the Warp, and partly in the Materium, through which one can travel almost instantaneously from one end of the galaxy to the other.

Long ago, our people constructed special monuments on their colonies to gain access to this webway. Monuments such as the aptly named Webway Gates, built from a versatile, psychically active substance summoned from the Warp itself,

Such as the portal that towered before us now.

Anything built of wraithbone tended to appear as if it once belonged to a living thing. This one looked like the gem encrusted spine of a giant vertebrate that rose up above the surrounding trees and bent forward slightly, forming an elegant half arch. The air between its lower side and the ground shimmered like the reflection of the sun on water.

Now the shimmering intensified, and within the dancing lights she appeared, a lithe figure dressed in the odd, tight-fitting costume of her order.

"You made it, Harlequin."

"I have been exploring the Webway for millennia." She grinned proudly. "Nothing in there can give me pause." She hopped gracefully to my side, the both of us now facing the opposite sides of the clearing.

"Not even a Warp Storm, or the Shadow ?"

"Some shifting of the paths, but with the proper knowledge and skill, we can still find our way safely to the desired destination. That is why we use the Webway, rather than the Warp itself, as the mortals do." She peered at my face. "You look wearied, my friend. Does a Warp Storm have that much effect on a warlock ?"

"What appears as an insignificant shifting of paths to you, has … had a far more disruptive effect on my mind." I looked down at my hands, willing a glowing blue cloud to condense atop my open palms. "The future looks so … clouded to me now. I have the premonition that something important is about to occur, yet its precise nature is still concealed from me."

"You will see it clearly in time." She pinched my shoulder. "For now, we must hide."

Even before she finished her sentence, I was already turning towards the forest behind me. My divination abilities may have been temporarily confused, but my psychic precognition was very sharp when it came to sensing dramatic changes just seconds into the future.

We hid behind a large tree and peered cautiously at the Webway gate, which ironically reminded me of the time when we were young initiates hiding from the stern keeper of a shrine.

As it did when Lydia came through, the ethereal sparks that jumped between the ground and the top of the Gate flashed more brightly, and this time, instead of a Harlequin, what emerged was a tall, imposing figure, much too tall to be an Eldar.

It was clearly _eldoid_. Two arms, two legs. A head atop an upright body. Its frame, and its gait was unlike any such species I've encountered. It's body was almost entirely wrapped in clothing, including a ragged cape, so I could not make out all of its features, except for its eyes, which emitted a lime green glow. Those eyes now gazed intently upon the portal which their owner had just stepped out of, as the creature assumed a posture suggestive of curiosity and deep thought.

At last I could not suppress my own curiosity, and reached out with my mind, to catch a fleeting glimpse of the creature's thoughts:

… _not a Xel'naga Warp Gate, then what is it …_

…

Now it should be pretty obvious which Universe I'm dropping Zeratul into this time. In fact, Starcraft was heavily influenced by it.

Heard of it or not, head over to deviantart, search for Grey Templar, and look for the one by Starspawn07.

One more thing: this Thursday I'm flying to New Zealand and won't be back till Chinese New Year. After that I may still be busy for some time. So if I haven't updated ( this and DaemonHunter ), know that I'm still alive and will update eventually.

That's all for now.

Have a good day/night,

Star :)


	2. Interloper

**The Grey Templar 3: Warp Storm**

Don't you just love Blizzard for dragging its projects ? .

No, seriously, I still love them. What to do ? I'm a fan XD

This one's continued from:

http://starspawn07_deviantart_com/gallery/#Comic

( replace the underscores with dots. deviantart has some weird issues; the page may not load properly all the time … )

From now on I'll jump back and forth between text and illustration mode ( and 'hiatus' mode XP ), so be warned !

Also, I'm trying to break free of my usual style of writing, so this may sometimes appear a bit … warped …

**Interloper**

"If you are not Terran, then what are you ?" Zeratul visually scanned the figure before him. She ( or what appeared to be a she, if he learned correctly from the discussions of anatomy with Raynor. Then again, it was some time before Raynor could distinguish Protoss gender too … ) still looked Terran, except that she exuded a kind of unearthly elegance and depth of mind that Zeratul had never sensed among other humans he had met. Also, as her silky dark hair danced lightly in the breeze, Zeratul saw that, unlike other humans, she had long thin ears that pointed sharply backwards. 'Elfin', Zeratul recalled Raynor using the word once when they were exchanging folk tales.

"That should be my question." She pointed her sword at Zeratul's chest. "What are _you_ ? How did you get into the Webway ?" Her voice was calm and soft but commanding. It reminded him of Kerrigan's voice, only more serious.

"Ah, that confirms it. You cannot read my mind." Zeratul laughed. "Even if you did, you will never understand my thoughts."

"Very well, if you are that eager for deeper telepathic contact." Her eyes glowed phosphorescent white. "Then perhaps you want a taste of what you felt before you lost consciousness."

"You mean … this ?" Zeratul's right hand shot up and a bolt of orange red force lightning erupted from the centre of his palm, past the sword, under the wielder's arm, past her waist, through her cape, and struck the ground behind her, burrowing harmlessly into the bone-white stonework of the platform.

She remained motionless, her gaze fixed steadily on Zeratul's from the same four metres away.

At once, Zeratul felt a shift in the air behind him, and the sharp edge of a blade pressed against his neck.

"One more time, and your head rolls." A higher – pitched voice, with the same elfin smoothness.

Zeratul froze.

Lowering her sword, the elf-lady who had just ignored his psi-assault as if it were a harmless light show smiled at both Zeratul and her accomplice standing behind him. "It's fine, Liya, he missed on purpose."

Zeratul felt the blade being withdrawn from the side of his neck, and relaxed slightly, then immediately put on a serious expression again. "It was for not restraining my arms. My next shot will not miss. "

"Oh, do try." The she-elf sheathed her sword and put a hand on a hip.

First, I will immobilize both her and the one behind me, then I will see what she has that I need, Zeratul thought as he stepped slowly forward.

Three steps later, Zeratul felt a sudden intense nausea, and his eyes flared lime green in shock as his knees went soft and he collapsed into a sprawl. He brought one hand close to his face and saw it dissolve momentarily into a familiar lime green blur, like a shaky video transmission. "No, not now …" Zeratul drew a deep breath and gathered his internal energies, sighing out in relief as he felt the latter stabilize and his hands became distinct again.

He heard the calm, smooth voice just above his head. "You are tired. You have travelled a long way on an important quest. There is no benefit in harming me now. You are as curious about my people as I am about yours. That is why, we will let each other live until the other one has outlived his or her usefulness. That is what you are really thinking, is it not ?"

"Your words do not frighten me." Zeratul tried to stand up, and looked sideways to hide his expression.

"Putting up a front is pointless. I may not be able to read your thoughts, but I have seen a lot, and my intuition has never failed me …" There was a chuckle. "though, I never expected you to be ill. Perhaps knocking you out was unnecessary …"

Zeratul shook his head in mild disbelief and whispered one of those expletives that Raynor liked to use, especially when dealing with dangerous adversaries like Kerrigan. "Crazy b_tch …"

"How rude." The calm voice pretended to be hurt. "First you compare me to a race of religious fanatics, and now you call me a female canine."

Zeratul's skin flushed bright blue and he stared back at the source of the reply in astonishment. ( Protoss blood is blue, so I imagine that when they blush, they turn blue XD )

A mistake. What Raynor forgot to tell him, was that elves are, apparently, also taller than humans. This one returned his gaze from the same level ( actually, Zeratul is way taller, but he's now a bit weak in the legs … ), and he found it hard to look away from her eyes, whose golden irises caught and dimly reflected the moonlight.

"Yes, I am familiar with Terran slangs." She appeared amused by his reaction.

"I apologise, I … still do not know your name." Zeratul raised a brow ridge at his own question. Was that what Raynor called a pick-up line ? Or did he call it a stalling tactic ? Likely something in between.

And to his surprise, her tone softened. "Neha … That is all you need to know." ( Yes, it's likely the same farseer from Daemon Hunter ;)

"Zeratul." The Grey Templar placed his right hand on his left chest in greeting, then froze and slowly glanced down as he realized something very important.

He was now completely naked.

"Since you already guessed my intentions, o clairvoyant Neha, would you … be so kind as return my belongings ?"

Neha laughed and walked past him. "Of course, come, I'll show you where they are kept."

Zeratul turned to follow, and as he did so, he saw a lithe figure clad in a checkered form-fiting costume approaching him and Neha. Her face was painted in bold black and purple patterns, her hair tied back in three long thin ponytails, which reminded him of full grown nerve cords. In each hand she clutched firmly a short thin sabre.

"Peace." Zeratul made his greeting gesture again.

Liya only glanced suspiciously at him as she whispered to Neha in the Eldar language. "You are serious about keeping him."

"This I am not sure: he may have something to do with these … unsettling premonitions I've been having." Neha replied in the same tongue. "though I admit, I am fascinated. I have never felt such psychic potential in another species before."

"I noticed. Most of your conversation was not voiced. Where do you think he came from ?"

"That I don't know. I suspect a connection to the Old Ones. They leave a subtle mark on those that they have nurtured. It cannot be described, but you can feel it, as I felt from him … a simplicity that leads to an unearthly effectiveness … a … _purity of form_ …"

"Admiration, hmm." Liya leaned closer towards Neha. "Tell me, do you … desire him ?"

Neha froze and her smile faded. "I do not desire anything, Harlequin. My actions are guided by the hand of fate alone. Desire is but an illusion through which She Who Thirsts lures souls to their doom."

"Indeed … it's just so rare to see you interrogate someone without wearing your power armour."

"Do we have a problem ?" Zeratul stopped walking as well, and looked from one elf to the other, not knowing what was going on.

"Nothing." Neha relaxed and walked on.

…

"Oh wow, is Starspawn finally gonna include romance in his fanfics ?"

No promises, guys. Must be careful or else Slaanesh will eat our souls XD XD XD

Anyways, that's all for tonight.

Have a good time, and Happy Lantern Festival to all of you !

- Star *,~


	3. Which Aspect are you ?

Could Zeratul have defeated Neha ? Not sure. Most Eldar Farseers have been alive for countless millennia …

Neha: ( *'mind-pwns' the author* )

Star: YEOW ! haha … I forget, it's rude to remind a woman of her age ;P

Before I forget:

I do not own any character or plot device I write about.

Starcraft was created by Blizzard Entertainment,

Warhammer 40000 by Games Workshop,

And Dawn of War series by THQ and Relic Entertainment

* * *

**Which Aspect are you ?**

The room reminded Zeratul of his short but memorable stay in the Jedi Temple, except that everything here was built of a shiny clean, bone white, organic material which seemed vaguely familiar to him.

It took an hour of self-refreshing meditation in various poses for him to realize just how familiar he was with this style of construction. A style similar to the fine architecture of Shaquras, the new homeworld of his own species. Of course, the proportions were different, the inhabitants here being of a smaller stature than the Protoss, and that, he realized, was why that portal in the forest had seemed alien to him.

As he inspected the circuitry embedded into the walls, he realized that they pulsed with psychic energy, so much so that he could actually draw that energy into himself ( just enough to dispel his own fatigue, for fear of causing a black out in the psionic grid ). The only other species who powered their appliances through psionic means was … the Protoss. Certainly a Dark Templar would feel at home in this installation ( if he or she didn't mind the bright lights ). Zeratul peered into and behind the simple vase shaped furniture, half expecting to see a piece of Khaydarin crystal suspended in them. He found none, yet.

His own crystal lay glowing on a round low table in the middle of the room, along with his garments and his equipment. Some time ago, he had his own ship, which he had generously left in the hands of the Yautja clan he befriended. Why bother maintain a transport, when you hold the key to a network of hyperspace gateways ? Problem was, Zeratul had only a foggy idea how this marvelous technology left by the Ancient Ones actually worked. And now he ended up in _someone else_'s network of hyperspace gateways.

Or was it ?

What was the connection between the Ancient Ones and Neha's people aside from this seemingly accidental linkage in the immaterial dimension ? Were there Xel'Naga relics left hidden on this world as well ?

Deciding that uninformed guesses were pointless, Zeratul quickly put on his Dark Templar cloak and utility belt, as well as his trusty weapon gauntlets, and walked over to the wall opposite the large window that afforded a view of the expansive moonlit forest outside. A rectangular section of the wall roughly his height and width receded to one side, and Zeratul stepped through the resulting doorway into the corridor beyond.

"Where are you going ?"

Zeratul looked towards the source of the voice. A tall gaunt figure in a green cloak stood to his left and was pointing a long white rifle at his face. The figure's own face was hidden in the shadow of its hood and a white scarf covering its lower half.

It was the same figure who had been stealthily ( Zeratul sensed him anyway ) pointing his rifle at Zeratul in the forest.

"To have a talk with Neha. We have some information to exchange."

"The Farseer is busy." It seemed that elves had a smooth, deliberate quality to their voice. This one was slightly deeper than that of Neha or Liya. Likely male. "You can talk to me." He motioned towards the door. "Go back inside."

"Those walls cannot hold me for long." Zeratul raised his hands. "Why not give me a tour of the place ?"

The elf seemed to hesitate for a moment, then lowered his rifle. "Fine, but no more disappearing tricks."

"Do you not have orders to follow ?"

"I take orders from _noone_." The elf put a particular stress on the last word.

"Indeed." Zeratul made subtle psionic adjustments to his voice to make it sound as trustworthy as possible. "How shall I address you then ?"

"Raam." A grey-gloved hand reached out and pointed past Zeratul. "I will take you to the Farseer. We can do our touring on the way."

"I am Zeratul …" The Grey Templar turned to follow as Raam proceeded to walk in the direction the latter pointed. As they did so Zeratul ruminated on the words that Raam had used. "Are you familiar with this place ?"

"Depends."

"Ah …"

There was little to see within the same building. The last doorway they came across brought them out into the open again. It seemed that Neha's headquarters, which Raam called the assembly, served mainly as a link between her base of operations on this planet, and her Craftworld, which Zeratul took to mean the planet that Neha came from.

As such, it was shaped like a giant bone-white triangular gateway, two large identical sections leaning towards and pressed against each other to curl and point upwards in the middle. The resulting portal shimmered in a manner similar to an activated Warp Gate.

As Zeratul was to find out, most of the Eldar ( which, according to Raam, was what his species was called )structures had a minimalist design, as if they could be transported in one piece over long distances. Yet he could see no visible propulsion or compaction systems on them.

The first facility they came across was a large clearing in the forest, bordered by a ring of decorated colonnades and altars, which emitted a blue-green glow from crystals and translucent globes embedded in them to illuminate the clearing now that night was falling. One particular altar, at the far end of the clearing, was particularly wide with a flat top. Atop this stood a larger than life-size statue of what seemed to be a warrior dressed in exaggerated but still elegant armour with flags and streamers and various weapons signifying its revered status.

Normal Eldar armour, it seemed, was unusually form-fitting, and covered the entire body, from the flexibly segmented foot armour all the way up to a helmet with an elongated cap and a mask similar to the one that Raam carried with him. Even this armour was made of that ubiquitous bone-white material that the Eldar used, and which Raam called Wraithbone.

This Zeratul could clearly see, for within the clearing now were roughly a dozen of these armoured warriors, all of them female, engaged in ferocious mock battle with various weapons. Sabres, rifles, lances, swords …. Now and then there were faint warcries, which Zeratul imagined must have sounded very impressive in real battle, but were now muffled, perhaps to prevent the Eldars' enemies, if there were, from noticing the existence of this place.

"An Aspect Shrine." Raam explained. "Those who have chosen the path of the warrior train at a shrine founded by one of the Aspects. Every Aspect is unique in some manner. These ones are Banshees, judging from the red plumes at the back of their helmets."

"Interesting" Zeratul saw that some of the Banshees who were not training appeared to be paying their respect to the great statue. "Which Aspect are you from ?"

"I don't follow any particular _path_." Raam replied. "Rangers like me were originally exiles from Eldar society."

"Ah, then we have a lot in common." Zeratul smiled then narrowed his eyes as he noticed a slim figure leaning against the statue and talking to the worshipping Banshees. It was Liya. She met Zeratul's gaze, smiled faintly, then appeared to announce something to the others in the shrine, and pointed in Zeratul's direction. Her smile turned to a mischievous grin as her audience stopped their training and turned to look at the tall grey-skinned stranger who had been watching them from outside the shrine.

"What is happening ?"

"From the shape of the Harlequin's lips as she spoke," Raam's own eyes were narrowed. "I believe she told them that a special guest has come to join the training."

"Ah…" The lime green glow in Zeratul's eyes intensified with excitement. "Then I should not keep them waiting, should I ?" He stepped towards the two widely spaced colonnades that appeared to mark the recognized entrance to the shrine. As he approached it, he noticed that the air between the columns shimmered then thinned out, like the surface of water evaporating away, as if an unseen barrier had just been dissolved to allow him entry. "It's been a long, long time since I have sparred with a dedicated warrior class."

"I will not be responsible for any injury you sustain." Raam stated as the both of them stopped near the middle of the clearing and Zeratul made his greeting gesture towards the Banshees who now sat in a circle along the edge of the clearing facing inward.

From the statue's side, Liya watched Zeratul's mannerisms in amusement. "You are brave."

"Among my people, I am considered a seasoned warrior." Zeratul took off his weapon gauntlets and placed them at his feet. "I won't be needing these. They are too dangerous to be used against material armour."

Liya tilted her head and held a finger to her lips, then her eyes brightened and she announced something to the Banshees again. This time, Zeratul, heard her words loud and clear, though he did not understand them, and he realized that the energy barrier generated by the colonnades absorbed the sounds from within the shrine, thus accounting for the apparent lack of noise to an observer outside the training grounds.

"What did she say now ?"

"I told them to try and take your gauntlets, and keep them." Liya answered in Terran, her tone hinting at a more than normal eagerness to see Zeratul getting cut up by Eldar blades ( Harlequins consider fighting a fine art. And fine art is there to be _enjoyed_ and _appreciate__d_ ... ). Raam, on the other hand, was now sitting up against a column and watching the entire scene with nonchalance.

"Then I shall guard them." Zeratul dropped to his empty handed battle stance, one foot far in front of the other and hands drifting before him in a deceptively gentle pose, yet ready to grip and twist a limb off its joints in a split-second.

A few of the Banshees now stood up and drew their swords. Their masks concealed their expressions, but Zeratul could feel a growing concentration of psionic energy within them. He had already seen them display a remarkable level of agility and stamina during their mock battles. Now he realized the energy barrier had screened out more than just sound waves.

I have fought through an entire Zerg swarm and crossed blades with the mightiest of the High Templar, Zeratul thought, whatever these Banshees can throw at me, physical or psychic, I am prepared.

What he was _not_ prepared for, was the dreadful ( and to Warhammer 40k fans, **legendary** ) **Banshee HOWL …**

**

* * *

**

What does the Banshee Warshout sound like ? Go to Youtube and search for "Dawn of War 2" or just get Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and play. Trust me it's a fantastic game.

Sorry no action in this chapter. I'm thinking while I type .

Next chapter will be exciting … hopefully XD

Till then,

Have a nice day/night, and happy Valentines :)

-Star


	4. Economy of motion

I wonder if anyone noticed: there were some serious continuity errors in the last 2 chapters. ( Sleepless midnight XP ) Those have been corrected.

**Economy of Motion**

A brain-jarring wail shook the training grounds at the same time that the three Banshees ( for convenience's sake, let's call them Banshees A, B and C ) sprinted in unison towards Zeratul with sabres in hand, and plumes streaming like the crest feathers of a pouncing dromaeosaurid ( those intelligent pack hunters from the Jurassic Park series … )

Psionically altering the Eldars' usually smooth voice to give it the aspect of feral howling, sirens and insane raving pressed into one broadcast; Zeratul had never heard such a frightening warcry before.

His vision blurred as the terrible sound resonated with his nerves and induced a joint weakening nausea. ( Fortunately, the Protoss do not have alimentary organs, so Zeratul did not have to worry about throwing up. )

As Zeratul contemplated throwing up a plasma shield instead, the wailing stopped, and he regained his concentration just enough to pull himself backwards as Banshee A thrust her sabre towards him from his left.

( The problem with war screams was that you cannot maintain a uniform loudness and frequency throughout the battle. Especially when engaging in close combat, you have to regulate your breathing according to your movement. )

Zeratul grabbed the hand holding on to the sabre and spun to his right, using A's sabre to block Banshee B's two-handed diagonal-upwards sword slash ( complete with one fierce psi-augmented yell ).

The latter weapon slid up harmlessly along A's sabre with a sharp ringing noise. As the two blades separated, Zeratul took advantage of B's now wide open stance and stabbed forward with A's sabre ( dragging its original owner forward as well in a weird one-sided tango … ), forcing B to do a backflip to avoid the counter attack.

This preliminary skirmish temporarily drew Zeratul's attention away from the gauntlets he was standing over. Now Banshee C who had been waiting a short distance behind the Grey Templar swept the ground before her with her lance, bringing its forward section towards the two gauntlets …

And started as Zeratul raised one of his bare bird-like feet and snapped its powerful clawed digits around her lance just before it hit its target.

Ignoring the pain of the impact on the sole of said foot, Zeratul sank the claws of his other foot firmly into the ground ( thin layer of fine sand above dry soil ) to keep himself stable and gave the lance a violent twist, wrenching it out of C's hands. He then threw it forward, caught it further down the pole ( with the same foot ) and used it to keep both B and C at bay.

A, annoyed at getting pulled about by her opponent, stepped forward in a wide circle ( with her hand in Zeratul's grip as pivot ) and used the momentum to throw herself at Zeratul, face to face, wrapping her legs around Zeratul's waist, turning the edge of her sabre towards Zeratul's neck, who staggered in surprise and instinctively brought up his free hand to block the incoming blade.

Watching the fight from beside the statue, Liya's heart skipped ( in sheer excitement, not fear ), expecting Zeratul's hand to spew blood as A's sabre bit into it. Yet, she saw no blood at all.

In fact, the sabre did not really touch Zeratul's hand, only inching dangerously closer as if impeded by an invisible sheet of rubber. In the slowly diminishing centimetre of space between the hand and the edge of the sabre, the air glowed like the horizon as seen from the upper atmosphere.

"Interesting," Liya fingered the hilts of her own sabres while keeping her eyes fixed on Zeratul.

That was close, Zeratul sighed inwardly in relief while focusing his energies into maintaining the plasma shield around his right arm. He did not want to expand the shield to its full form ( a sphere covering his whole body ) for fear of burning A's body.

Before he could react, A brought her face close to Zeratul's and …

Let out a Banshee Howl with all her might.

Zeratul, being blasted at such a close range, saw his vision obscured by imaginary fireworks and felt as if all his nerves were getting fried in an instant by one of those high voltage electrical currents that run through the Terrans' power grids. The next second, waves of numbness and nervousness crashed through his body, and he dropped the lance at his feet ( actually, he just stepped on it, using both legs to try and stay balanced ).

Now B and C took the chance to creep stealthily towards the temporarily weakened Zeratul, each with one hand held out ready to grab one of the gauntlets. Unfortunately for B, just as she was right in front of he and A, her hand about to reach the closest gauntlet, Zeratul doubled forward ( from a combination of weak legs, and also that, as Zeratul had learned from experience, this was the fastest way to get rid of a large organism clinging on to him. ). A's back crashed down towards B's head, who instinctively leaned to one side to avoid a possible fatal injury. She was hit in her belly instead, and forcing half the air out of both her lungs and A's, ending the latter's war scream with a painful yelp !

As A lay stunned atop B for a moment, Zeratul recovered his senses and leapt back a few metres, knocking into C who had just grabbed a gauntlet and was about to turn and run.

Zeratul spun round and was about to reach out and catch her when the Banshee jumped up twice her body height and somersaulted forward in a brilliant display of agility and dexterity to land gracefully behind Zeratul right near the second gauntlet. She bent down to pick it up, ignoring the cloud of sand that Zeratul threw at her which blocked out her view for a second. When the latter had cleared, she gasped in shock. The gauntlet had disappeared.

Several metres away, Liya grinned, eyes wide with with both curiosity and anticipation ( "cutting him up would be _sooo_ fun …" ).

"Haha … Consider it … as you win."

C stood up to see Zeratul walk in a friendly manner towards her until they were now only a metre away. A and B approached them as well.

"H … how ?" C stuttered in Eldarin.

Zeratul understood the quizzical tone of the word. "A secret." He raised both his hands to head level, and C jerked back in surprise. Zeratul was now wearing both his gauntlets.

"I … didn't feel anything …" C shook her head in disbelief.

"Strange, you just stood there and let him take back the device in your hand." A pointed out.

"Are you alright ?" B asked.

"Now that you ask, I do feel a bit cold and … odd … but I can't say why …"

Zeratul, not yet learned in the Eldar language, sighed, and turned to look around at the circle of Banshees seated around the clearing. The latter regarded him with poses ( they were wearing masks so you cannot see their faces ) suggestive of looks of fascination, and in a few of them, apprehension. Some of them had stood up, perhaps originally intending to challenge him to the next round of combat yet not sure whether they should, having witnessed something that they did not understand.

Slowly he turned towards Liya while bowing slightly to the Aspect statue, hands crossed over his chest. Then he turned towards the entrance to the shrine …

… to see Liya drop down smoothly right between him and the two largest colonnades, one leg before the other in a comfortable high-kneel. She pointed her finely forged sabres in Zeratul's direction, one in front of the other, and stared up at him with face lowered, and a dark grin. "Leaving so soon ? Why not play with me ?"

Zeratul, thoroughly impressed by the Harlequin's acrobatic skill ( the speed itself was unbelievable. That he could not hear her jump was even more so. ) replied in a light tone,"It would be my honour…" He began to take off his gauntlets again.

"You can keep those on … no, better still … show me what they do !" Liya stepped forward. "Come ! Let me see what you really are !"

* * *

Damn, this fight scene had some _suggestive_ moments. I wish I were in Zeratul's position XD

About the "magic trick" that Zeratul pulled on Banshee C, it's actually a very simple feat for a dark templar of his skill. First, throw sand in C's face, and cloak the gauntlet on the floor at the same time. Next, walk over to her and pick up the invisible gauntlet ( with one foot ). After she has stood up, use Void energy to numb her ( or stasis-freeze her for a few seconds ) in the hand holding the other gauntlet and take it back. Last, put the gauntlets on and show them to her.

Suggestions are very very welcome. Anything goes, don't be shy ;)

I'll update when inspiration hits.

Till then,

Have a nice day/night :)

-Star


	5. Dance of Death

Ah, so much clean-up to do even after posting a chapter _

Because I'm such a "responsible" and "helpful" guy, I just turned my part-time job into an almost full-time commitment XD … No seriously, we do need some extra hands now :/

Plus I'm reading several fanfics simultaneously ( yes that explains the author alerts. Your stories are just so addicting :)

So, updates will come real slow.

Thanks for the vids, JjValour :)

**Dance of Death**

Zeratul pointed a finger upwards in a bright philosopher gesture. "I think, therefore I am …"

The origins of this phrase had been lost to pre-history. Apparently, great thinkers of every species who had had a mystical epiphany came up with roughly the same conclusion: that one's reality is defined by what we perceive and believe in. The mind is central to the existence of a conscious being.

Zeratul's recent brush with death and the _beyond_ had taught him through his own experience the veracity of this ancient idiom.

Liya's response though, showed far more than just an acknowledgement of Zeratul's wit. "Warp- spawn."

Zeratul immediately slumped into a confused look, staring back at the now even more excited Harlequin with one eye half closed and another brow raised. Some time ago, he had been mistaken for a renegade Sith Lord, and now,

"What ?"

Before he even reached the question mark, Liya suddenly shot forward towards him, appearing right in front of him in a breath. If we are to say that the Banshees' agility was astounding, Liya's speed and grace was unreal. It was as if she glided and drifted from place to place even as she did use her legs to give herself a kickstart now and then. Zeratul immediately snapped out of cartoon mode back into a serious appearance.

As Liya was about to run her forward sabre right through Zeratul's right chest, the latter yielded to the motion of the incoming weapon, swinging the right side of his upper body backwards with his left shoulder as pivot, so that the sabre, followed by the slender arm holding it, slid past his now sideward facing chest, scoring a non fatal gash along that region of his robes.

Zeratul kicked his right leg up and behind him like a footballer preparing to shoot a goal, while bringing his left palm forward in an attempt to strike Liya's hurtling form off course, only to find that the latter was no longer in his sight.

He shot his gaze to his right just in time to see the the sharp edge of a sabre gliding straight towards his neck. He quickly leaned back away from the blade, placed his outstretched palm on the ground for support and brought his upraised right foot forward like sledgehammer. It _appeared_ to connect with Liya's stomach, but Zeratul felt no impact. Unflinching, Liya leaped, or rather, drifted backwards, slowing gracefully and soundlessly to stand in front of a column. There was no panic in her motion. That confident smirk, with a subtle hint of battelust and dangerous curiosity, remained on her face as she kept her eyes on Zeratul.

"Were you referring to me ?" Zeratul steadied himself into an upright position. A thin blue green mist leaked out like subliming dry ice through the tear in the chest of his robes. Zeratul frowned in its direction, and the mist disappeared, leaving only a faint sliver of blue green glow.

"Was I ?" Liya spread her arms. "I've never been good with descriptions, but …" She jumped up till she was leaning ( horizontally with head raised to stare at Zeratul ) forward in the air, level with the top of the column behind her, her legs tucked in. "I prefer talking through dance." She kicked the column and flew straight towards Zeratul.

The Grey Templar crouched down and rolled forward to avoid the Harlequin. The latter pointed her sabres backwards and landed near his previous position on her feet and knuckles, elbows and knees bending smoothly to absorb the shock. The next second she kicked forward with one leg, throwing herself backwards.

She spun round in mid-leap, slashing down with one sabre in a wide arc around herself and onto Zeratul, who was just standing up and turning around to face her.

Zeratul instinctively brought one arm up to shield himself from the downward swinging blade. The latter tilted up as Liya landed before him. He winced as the beam of moonlight that it reflected swept right over his eyes and partially blinded him for a few seconds.

When the glare faded, his eyes widened in shock.

"No, you are dead ! …"

He was no longer standing in an Eldar shrine in the middle of a forest, but somewhere even more familiar, a sight that used to haunt him in his nightmares. Nightmares which he was quite sure were long gone.

"We destroyed you !"

An enormous, round, cavern. The wall surfaces, of a faded red-brown colour, were covered in extensive reliefs of twisted organic forms that one dared not scrutinize for fear of dreadful revelations. Other similar forms were vaguely silhouetted against a blood red glow that was emitted through translucent sections of the walls. Ridges of complex yet regular black striations spread out from the centre of the cavern's bottom, curved up along the walls and met in the middle of the ceiling to give the impression of the hollow of a sea urchin skeleton.

And suspended by fleshy tendrils and cords between these two converging points, in the very centre of the hollow, was the object of Zeratul's terror.

"I … SEEE … YOUUU …" The vertical slit-like pupil widened, shifted down, and contracted as like the gates to an unknown black abyss as it fixed its gaze on Zeratul.

Its free tendrils extended like the time-lapse footage of growing vines, and slithered their way towards Zeratul.

"This … is NOT real !" Even as he shook his head and said so, Zeratul took a trembling step backwards.

"How real is real ?"

A quick blurred form of what appeared to be a large brown scythe shaped like an arthropod claw stabbing towards him from a side.

He leaned away from it, but it managed to leave a painful gash in the side of his right arm, close to the shoulder.

Pressing his right hand to his wound, he glanced to his right at the apparent source of the new voice, and stiffened in shock at the figure that now stood but two metres from him.

"Kerrigan …" Zeratul growled harshly.

The Queen of Blades smiled and tilted her head in a mock gesture of satisfaction at being recognised, while her amber, feral, eyes glared down mockingly at the hunched protoss warrior's own angry ones.

The next moment, one four-fingered hand shot forward,

And stopped as it was just about to close around the human-Zerg hybrid'ds throat, its claws, shaking with restrained rage, only just grazing her skin.

"Why did you stop ?" The smile disappeared, but the mocking stare held.

Zeratul did not answer. Presently, several regretful memories were replaying themselves to him in his mind's eye, and his real eyes lost focus, his gaze wandering off of his intended victim.

And then he arched back and stumbled several metres backwards as Kerrigan gave a vicious high kick to his face. Having no visible nose or mouth, it sustained no significant damage from the kick, but it still hurt and disoriented him like one of Tassadar's Sargas assassin techniques.

When he next regained his balance, he felt a writhing mass of ropy appendages coiling and tightening themselves around his arms and legs. Even without looking down, he remembered where he had felt this before.

"Why aren't you moving ?" Kerrigan asked in the same half-curious, half mocking manner as she cat-walked towards the bound Grey Templar, her wing claws waving menacingly behind and above her.

Zeratul stopped struggling against the red tendrils. He took deep breaths and clenched his fists. With each exhale, a stronger and stronger halo of lime green plasma filaments bristled out from all over his body. The neon green glow in his eyes brightened till their glare became like twin stars.

For the second time since he arrived on this planet, he activated his warp blades.

There were whistles and whoops of fascination at the sight of the twin rapiers of translucent green glowing psionic energy, which stopped short as Zeratul suddenly vanished into a fading green blur and arcs,

Even before the mass of tendrils left behind, cleanly sliced up like crab rolls, dropped to the ground where he stood, he appeared in mid jump right in front of Kerrigan in another green blur.

The Queen of Blades gasped and jerked back in shock, and hurriedly brought her wing claws forward to defend herself.

Those met with a few of the green arcs surrounding Zeratul, and they fell too, shorn off at the joints. They hit the floor with a metallic clatter and hum.

"That was for letting me live."

Zeratul calmly brought one warp blade near to the neck of the figure standing before him. "Next to come off will be closer to your vitals … Liya"

"Now, why didn't you bring that out earlier ?" The Harlequin held up her now empty hands and smiled in defeat. "What was it about this … Kerrigan that enraged you so much ?"

Zeratul withdrew his blades, knelt down and closed his eyes to wait for the bout of light-headedness to die down. He opened his eyes just to see the blurring outlines of his hands become distinct again. After further concentrating his internal energies, he then examined the broken pieces of Liya's sabre now lying between their feet. "A wise warrior will not reveal his secrets until absolutely necessary. Certainly your skills with those sabres and illusions are only a fraction of what you are truly capable of."

"Right, right, all that." Liya looked up at the night sky. "Hmm, it seems she's at it again."

"At what ?" Zeratul followed her gaze.

From somewhere else in the forest, a column of pale blue light shone up towards the sky, surrounded by a shimmering streams of white, with faint hints of other hues at the edges, like an aurora dancing around the central beam.

"Even when her powers are weakened she still insists …" Liya sighed.

"Insists about what ?" Zeratul asked without taking his eyes off the mesmerizing lights.

"The Farseer is trying to communicate with the Relic." Raam appeared beside the two, reminding them of both his existence and the fact that he has a special ability too : stealth by minimal action.

"Ranger !" Liya gave the green cloaked male Eldar a stern glare.

"What Relic ?" Zeratul prodded enthusiasically.

"You will tell him nothing !" Liya made to reach for one of the pouches on her flip-belt. ( Harlequins use "flip-belts" to further augment their already formidable agility, allowing them to perform "impossible" feats of acrobatics. Combining it with a utility belt is just for convenience. )

"Sorry, Harlequin, but, I don't take orders from anyone." Raam shrugged and grinned while silently moving a hand towards the trigger section of his rifle. "Besides, I'm not telling him, I'm taking him there. You see, he has business with the Farseer."

"No, you will …" Liya fumed indignance, and seeing her dramatic ( Harlequins were also stage performers ) expression pleased the Ranger to no end ( he would not show it of course ;). "I'll come with you !"

She announced something in Eldarin to the Banshees. the latter nodded and proceeded to talk casually among themselves.

She then hopped after Zeratul and Raam as they exited the training grounds.

Once outside the psi-barrier, Raam suddenly stopped walking, and closed his eyes.

"What is it ?"

"I hear … gunshots, and screams." Raam's eyes flicked open with a start and turned towards the column of blue light. "Space Marines ! by the squads !"

"Oh no …"

"Space marines ?" Zeratul was about to enter cartoon mode again when he saw Liya dash past him and Raam ( with even less regard for the laws of physics than when she fought Zeratul ) and glide towards the column of light.

* * *

K, even though I'm incorporating the trailer, this fanfic has little to do with the Dawn of War 2 storyline ( which isn't even published yet ).

Also, I've finally found a way to include the G-Man ( yes just him, nothing else from Half-Life, yet ) into this fanfic !

Till then,

Have a good time :)

-Star


	6. You will Claim Nothing !

Yup, it's half-way between a serious fanfic and crack. My earlier fics ( before GT2 ) were intended to be horror. If you've seen a truly scary fanfic, please do share it with us :)

( damn, now I miss shatteredenigma even more :/ )

Hedatary, what do you mean you hope you "don't miss it" haha XD

And… OMG … Dawn of War II came out !!! :D

Hurry up, Blizzard :(

**You will Claim Nothing !**

"Retreat to the Assembly," Neha telepathically commanded her followers, "I will divert their fire !"

"Farseer …" The reply was muted as the speaker was torched by a Dreadnaught's flamethrower till she went limp and then thrown onto the ground like a rag-doll. Her team charged the walker, but where either seized and in maimed its three-clawed hands or swatted away.

"Go alert the others, prepare for return to the Craftworld !" The Farseer ordered the remaining banshees and warp spiders ( teleporting Eldar warriors ) who immediately disengaged themselves from the melee. The former leapt up and into the surrounding trees, while the latter simply vanished leaving behind rapidly fading afterimages.

They were pursured in every direction by a hail of bolter rounds, fire streams, and plasma missiles, none of which were accurate enough to stop them, as if a strong wind was blowing them off their intended trajectories, noisily tearing up the surrounding vegetation while leaving the escaping Eldar untouched.

When all the Eldar except one had fled the scene, the dozen Space marines still standing turned their attention to that figure standing outside the trapezoidal entrance near the top of the step pyramid at the far side of the clearing, silhouetted against a gradually dimming pillar of blue light which shot up from its apex to the sky.

"I claim this relict in the name of the immortal Emperor !" One of the heavily armed warriors, who, unlike his companions, wore no helmet (revealing a dashing but weathered, hyper-masculine human face ), and had a few extra decorations besides the black Blood Raven icon that dominated the chest of his bulky red armour, raised what appeared to be a long, heavy chainsaw, and charged up the steps of the pyramid towards the figure.

"You will claim nothing !" Neha pointed her hands forward and white hot bolts of lightning shot out from her finger tips to strike the marine, causing the latter to stop half-way up the pyramid and spasm and tremble violently in pain where he stood, just three metres away from her.

"Brother Seargeant !" The rest of the Marines, upon seeing their commander under attack, charged up the pyramid as well, their heavy metallic boots creating a deafening rumble as they beat against the stone steps, which was joined by an equally loud crackling and hissing as more bolts of lightning streaked out from Neha's hands and struck everyone of them as well. "Aaaargh !!!" As they shook and screamed from the intense pain and shock, they opened fire with their bolters in the Farseer's general direction. Just before they succumbed to the agony caused by concentrated raw psychic energy running through their bodies and tumbled down the pyramid steps, they saw to their dismay that all their bolter rounds slowed down to a halt just a metre in front of their target and drifted down onto the ground at the Farseer's feet, as if impeded by a wall of water, visible only as ripples in the air. Those projectiles that did manage to reach her body bounced harmlessly off her power suit.

Neha frowned with the increased effort, channeling more and more energy into the lightning so as to overwhelm those marines that still refused to fall, including their Commander now doggedly pushing his way towards her inch by inch.

It was a contest of endurance, one in which the hardened Space Marine commander was at a serious advantage.

Neha saw to her horror that several of the marines that she thought she had knocked out were now picking themselves up and staggering up behind their Seargeant. Their armour was dented and tarnished, but their determination was not.

"I have no choice now." Neha whispered as the white glow in her eyes took on a slight purple hue. She never had the chance to execute her last resort, whatever it was, as she suddenly felt daggers being driven into her head. Both her eyes and jaw dropped wider and she clutched her head with one hand.

The Seargeant himself took advantage of the Farseer's momentary loss of concentration to close another inch between the two of them, and swing the upraised chain-sword down before him in a wide diagonal swipe,

drawing a thin spray of blood.

All the lightning died off, and a heavy silence hung over the clearing. Behind the Seargeant, his fellow marines collapsed on the steps from a mixture of relief and exhaustion. Slow metallic footsteps could be heard coming up the steps on another side of the pyramid.

Neha looked down at the long streak of gradually expanding dark red in her abdomen, then to the astonishment of the onlooking marines, she giggled softly. "I should have known …" She looked to her left to see another marine without a helmet ( showing a bald head ) approaching her from that side, a distinctive halberd held in one hand. This man was far older than the Seargeant himself, but still retained the rugged, powerful appearance of a supersoldier of the Imperium. His eyes glowed a dim radium blue.

"Thank you, brother Librarian." The bald nodded in reply to the commander while keeping his eyes on the Farseer,

Who gently fell back …

And ( unseen by the human standing before her ) was caught by an invisible arm just as her back was half a foot from the stone below, then gently lowered to the floor.

The Seargeant raised his chain-sword again, this time standing over Neha to ensure a fatal blow. "This world is ours, witch !"

The witch responded with another unnerving smile. "Indeed …"

Without hesitation, the Seargeant brought the chain-sword down towards the figure lying at his feet, then jerked back in shock as the 'blade' of the weapon broke cleanly in half and its chain flew off in numerous fragments, ricocheting loudly and dangerously off his and the Librarian's armour, the stone floor, and an invisible immaterial barrier that now surrounded the Farseer and sparked with the impacts, hinting at a hollow spherical shape.

The Librarian had caught sight of the entity which had dropped down right behind the Farseer in a green blur and slowed her fall, but before he could act on it, his own halberd broke into two at the middle of its pole, and he staggered back instinctively. He looked down at the surface of the break and noticed that it was completely smooth.

"Too slow, Terran !"

And again, before he could react to the strange telepathic growl, he was struck in the chest with the force of a falling construction beam by a large bird-like hand with grayish scales and knocked back off his feet.

"Brother Librarian !"

"Behind you !" the Librarian shouted as he tried to get up, was pushed back down by an invisible force, and froze.

The Seargeant spun round. He saw noone, except for his fellow marines, who were now pointing excitedly at their helmets and shoulder plates.

"I'm right here !"

He looked up at the source of the voice, and swore.

The harlequin, who stood perfectly balanced with one foot on each of the Seargeant's enormous shoulder plates, knelt down, and brought her face upside down right in front of his, and grinned, while pointing one end of a small bone white tube at his throat. "You did something rather mean to my friend down there, what do you think I should do ?"

"Do what you will. More of us are coming." The Seargeant replied defiantly. "This world belongs to the Imperium !"

"Oh, you humans and your empty boasts." Liya rolled her eyes. She plunged the tube into the side of his neck. The latter gasped, then his expression slackened and he fell limp, while Liya jumped off and darted towards the nearest tree.

"Brother Seargeant !" One of the marines pointed his bolter at the Harlequin. "Stop right there, alien !" The other marines followed suit,

And then gasped and lost grip on their weapons, and looked about in confusion as one by one the latter jerked and spewed out metal fragments with sharp, ear-piercing patters. A few exploded, throwing even more shrapnel around and stunning their owners.

One turned his bolter over to see a coin-sized hole that tunneled right through from one side of the weapon's chamber to the other. He scanned the surrounding forest through the glowing green, eye-like visors of his dome-shaped helmet. "Show yourself !" He shouted in his metallic voice.

Nothing happened.

…

From one clearing and several trees away, a shadowy figure in a green cloak sitting atop a tree branch lowered his rifle, and smiled. "Foolish mortals …"

He heard two familiar footsteps approaching his tree, and he jumped off the branch to land on the forest floor below.

"Take her back." Zeratul lowered the half-conscious Neha gently onto the floor, and then looked back where he ran from. "I will not be long."

Raam caught his arm. "What are you going to do ?"

"To finish what your Farseer was trying to accomplish." Zeratul looked up at the sky. The column of blue light was completely gone. "In a sense."

The Ranger did not let go. "If you even think of running away …"

"Let him go …" a husky whisper.

"Neha …" For the first time, Liya's voice showed concern and tenderness.

"I know what you want to do, Zeratul." Neha groaned. "I will hate you for it, but I won't stop you …"

…

"Brother Librarian, are you alright ? What happened just then ?"

"I am fine." The senior psyker ( WH40k word for "psychic". There are psykers in almost every faction. E.g Librarians for the Space Marines … ) rubbed his head to dispel the last of that numbing cold. "Those Eldar have all escaped." He bent down over the Seargeant and placed a hand on the latter's forehead, then sighed in relief once satisfied that the commander was still alive, though still unconscious. He brought his left wrist close to his face and pressed a point on the top of his gauntlet. He then proceeded to send a status report to the Battle Barge, requesting for temporary base construction material, as well as alerting other squads of the situation.

"Shall we pursue them ?" One of the marines asked.

"No, brothers. We will not pursue anyone until we have established an outpost in this location." The Librarian waved his arm casually before him. "For now, we must hold our position until reinforcement arrives."

The marines nodded and proceeded to take up sentry posts at various corners of the pyramid and the clearing.

The Librarian, meanwhile, descended the steps of the pyramid and started examining the structure.

It was, as mentioned, a step pyramid with a square base, built atop a larger stone pavement, all edges rounded and blackened with age. At each corner was the larger than life statue of a tall, lean, humanoid figure facing outward in a battle-ready stance. There were amphibian-like features in the extremities. Curious broken off stubs of what once appeared to be segmented appendages sprouted from behind the elongated Salamander-like head, neck and chin. There were scales, but the stonework was too worn down to show the exact structure of the creature's skin.

Along the pyramid's walls were reliefs depicting strange scenes involving several different kinds of apparently intelligent beings, including the strange amphibians. Some looked alarmingly human, others were of a nightmarish form beyond that which any human mind could conceive.

The top of the pyramid was a small square platform. At each corner was the black statue of an insect-like creature facing the centre of the platform, where the tips of another black structure could be seen.

That was all the dim moonlight would reveal.

The Librarian looked up again at the stone doorway that led into the pyramid's dark interior. "What secrets do you hold ?" He felt tempted to go in and explore, but duty came first.

Just then, he felt a low rumble, and saw that the clearing was once again lit up by a familiar pale blue light.

This time, instead of an aurora, there were points and streaks of light which flew around the fiery column, like moths dancing around an ethereal lamp.

The column itself started as a pillar of phosphorescent blue haze which issued out from the top of the pyramid and rose up to a black object suspended in mid-air directly above. The librarian recognized it to be the same black object that sat barely visible atop the pyramid just a moment ago.

Then a thinner column of intense white light shot down from said object.

The moment it hit the pyramid, the rumbling grew louder, so that he could actually feel it from the ground under his feet.

A cloud of dust and mist rose from the ground around the pyramid, and obscured it's outline.

"Brother Librarian, the relict is collapsing !"

"What ?"

…

Zeratul kept the crystal, turned and walked back towards the Eldar base.

Soon there would be nothing left of the relict above ground, at least nothing that the Terrans would find interesting.

These Terrans, however, were different from the ones he had seen in the past. These appeared larger, stronger, tougher, and more determined than the humans of the Confederacy or the Dominion, or even the UED expeditionary fleet.

An elite ? Possible. After all, among the protoss Templar themselves there were groups of elites formed based on prowess in combat. As he had once said himself, "Do not be so quick to underestimate these Terrans."

And what would he do now that he had shut down a Xel'Naga temple, burying one of the very objectives of his quest. What _appeared_ to be a Xel'Naga temple that is. Its construction more closely resembled the temples that the Protoss had built to honour the Ancient Ones, though those statues here were clearly not Protoss ( they had mouths and no claws ).

Unlike a real Xel'Naga temple, such mortal edifices could be easily shut down by channeling the energies of the Khaydarin crystals, as the legendary Khas did when he shook an arena to dust during the Aeon of Strife ( the scale of destruction never failed to amaze Zeratul and the Grey Templar wondered if the old legends were not a bit exaggerated ... )

Also unlike a real Xel'Naga temple, such structures contained little of the knowledge and powers of the Ancient Ones, as he learned through his journey.

Was that what Neha was seeking as well ? Why ?

Zeratul quickened his pace.

-

No G-Man yet I know XD he will appear … sooner or later … in this fic or the next one …

Coming up … Zeratul's first visit to an Eldar Craftworld !

Till then,

Have a good time,

-Star :)


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