When Jean entered the bridge, most of the others were already there. Even Swann was here. The frown on his face told Jean he wasn’t happy to be dragged out of the armory and into this meeting. The big blue figure was present as well.

“All the mech are now manned.” Swann said. He was tired, but his spirit was up. “The vikings can’t transform in combat, but they should still be able to enter assault mode in a relatively peaceful condition.” It required a lot of experience for viking pilots to safely complete a transformation from fighter mode to assault mode in the midst of combat. Experienced pilots could land on smaller units, like marines and zerglings, and crush them alive. Some pilots could even lift off into the air to dodge Ultalisks blades. The marine turned pilots didn’t have that kind of experience, at least not yet.

“Good.” Raynor nodded. “All the mercenaries are in place as well.”

“You know, Jimmy, it is going to be a waste to have such a powerful army and just sit back.” The only person in the bridge that would talk to Raynor this way was Tychus Findlay.

Raynor didn’t feel offended of being called by his nickname in front of his officers. “What are you saying?”

“Remember the job I talked about earlier? The one about the protoss artifact? Now we can grab it.” Tychus glanced at Jean as it was her that stopped him last time he suggested it. “Am I right, girl?”

Jean saw the grudge from Tychus, but she wasn’t worried. Tychus by himself wasn’t a threat, and Raynor wouldn’t alienate her just because of a few words from his friend. “I don’t know the exact defenses on that planet, but if the protoss defending the artifact are fanatics as you said, then there should be an army protecting the place. I don’t think we have the men to defeat the defenses in a straight up fight, and even if we can we will take heavy losses, but we might be able to sneak in, grab the artifact, and get out without engaging the defenders.” She looked at Raynor. “We should do this”

Raynor nodded. He was really enjoying letting Jean do all the thinking and talking. Horner was better at dealing with ships. Swann was an engineer. Tychus had more brawn than brain. Raynor himself could do tactics if he needed to, but he wasn’t an expert. Jean might be the best tactician in the room.

“Matt, set the coordinates to Monlyth.”

Monlyth.

The planet was just one of the many forest planets in the entire sector. Perhaps the only thing that made it special was the piece of xel’naga Keystone it held.

The Tal’darim worshipped Amon, and they safeguarded everything that was crafted by xel’naga hand. The Keystone was one of such things. Of course, the entire Keystone wasn’t here, or else the entire Death Fleet would be on Monlyth as well. For some reason, the Keystone was broken into four pieces. These four pieces were stored on four different planets. Monlyth was one of these planets.

The Keystone fragments were put under the protection of Sixth Ascendant Nyon. In the Tal’darim society, the Highlord was the absolute leader. He had the authority to command and punish anyone of the lower ranks as he pleased. In the time of crisis, the Highlord could summon and command the Death Fleet.

The Ascendants were lower than the Highlord but were above pretty much everyone else. The First Ascendant was lower than the Highlord but higher than everyone else, including the Second Ascendant. This chain of command continued down the line. The ascendants had their own fleets and followers. Sometimes lesser ascendants would pledge their loyalty to higher ascendants in exchange for protection or resources.

Usually, these lower ascendants would have their own armies as well. Their forces tend to be smaller than those of the upper ascendants, or else they would no longer be lower ascendants. Sometimes the upper ascendants would merge their underlings’ forces into their own fleets. Other times they might send the underlings to different missions.

In the case of Monlyth, Sixth Ascendant Nyon dispatched a few ascendants and their forces to protect their fragment of the xel’naga Keystone.

In the space above Monlyth, a small Tal’darim fleet endlessly patrolled the area. Consisted of one carrier, three destroyers, and twenty phoenixes, the fleet was enough to deal with most enemies that dared set their eyes on the work of god. The small fragment of red was so small in the endless depth of space, but this small fragment of ships could end fleets ten times their size.

Unfortunately, the enemy they would be facing wasn’t included in the “most enemies” category.

All of the carriers and destroyers were piloted by ascendants. Due to the nature of the Tal’darim society, the carrier pilot was higher in status than the destroyer pilots.

That was why when a massive amount of warp signals appeared in the space a distance away from Monlyth, the carrier pilot started giving orders.

“All ships prepare for battle!” The ascendant said loudly. In the face of an enemy force dozens of times their size, the Tal’darim didn’t have a single sense of fear. If anything, he was thrilled.

To a Tal’darim, there was nothing better than a glorious death, especially if the warrior died fighting for god.

Of course, the ascendant didn’t climb to his rank by being stupid. He glanced at the sensors and saw 20 warp signals. In most cases, only capital ships had warp drives. Twenty capital ships, wherever they came from and whoever they were, were much more than the several capital and medium sized ships could handle. They could fight and die, but their sacrifice wouldn’t change the results.

As his warriors readied themselves for war, the ascendant took out a comm device.

“Ascendant Dyges…”

The Keystone was put in an open field. Four giant statues stood tall around the fragment.

A Tal’darim with red armor was standing in front of the Keystone. His eyes were shining red light, a result of his intake and usage of the crimson void energy. Two sharp spikes enough to stab a human being clean through extended off his shoulder platings. His legs weren’t touching the ground. In fact, his entire body was floating in the air.

The ascendant was looking at the Keystone.

Not all ascendants were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to guard a piece of god’s artifact. It was an honor, and he felt honored by Nyon’s decision to entrust him with this sacred duty. This amount of trust could only be repaid by his absolute devotion.

The ascendant’s fist suddenly went tight.

The only problem with this mission was its boringness. Instead of fighting against enemies like the Daelaam or the zerg, he and his warriors had to stay here on a planet where no enemy would be foolish enough to attack. Without an enemy, he couldn’t prove his bravery to his people and gain the honor he deserved. He could fortify the planet as much as he wanted to, but a thousand years of planning the defenses wasn't enough to match the glory of one victory. A part of him was hoping for an enemy to jump in and attack the Keystone so he could defeat them in combat.

This was not an odd prayer among the Tal’darim, and today every Tal’darim that wished for combat would be satisfied.

The communication device of ascendant Dyges started blinking, and the Tal’darim commander retreated from the Keystone and turned to his trusted lieutenant.

“Ascendant Guris, you better have a good reason for contacting me.” Guris was the commander of the fleet whereas Dyges was the commander of the ground forces. Dyges was technically the commander of the overall defenses of the artifact, but Guris didn’t really respect him. With the latter having command over the fleet, Dyges had no choice but to act like he didn’t see the disrespect in the lower ascendant’s every move. Of course, that didn’t mean Dyges would talk to Guris with a smile on.

“Ascendant Dyges, twenty warp signals have appeared close to the planet. I am preparing my warriors for battle, but we don’t have the numbers.” Guris was too occupied to respond to the resentment from his competitor.

“What are you suggesting?” Dyges frowned. Combat was good. Victory was better. Defeat, on the other hand, was not exactly a good proof of strength. He wasn’t worried about the safety of himself. He was worried about the possession of the Keystone.

Nyon trusted him to guard the piece of artifact. He couldn’t lose it. He simply couldn’t.

As Dyges was thinking, the fleet commander was still talking.

“I will engage the enemy fleet when it comes out of warp space. I suggest you use that chance to prepare for a ground assault. The Keystone must not be lost.” Guris said with absolute determination.

“I understand. For the Highlord. For Amon.” Dyges nodded. Their competition was nothing when the honor of their god was at risk. They would gladly drop their grudges and give their lives for the greater good.

“For Amon.” Guris shut the communication device and turned back to the battlefield. The few Tal’darim ships have already formed a formation. The twenty phoenixes were scattered out so they could maximize their speed and agility. The carrier was in the center so it could unleash and control its interceptors as safely as possible. The three destroyers were a short distance away from the warp signals. Their destruction beams could be turned on with a single command.

In front of them, twenty leviathans appeared out of nowhere.

Their purple carapace shined in the distant light.

On the surface, Dyges groaned as he sensed the twenty zerg leviathans that just exited warp space. The amount of zerg these ships carried was much more than what the Tal’darim forces on the planet could hold.

“Supplicant!” Wasting no time, he cried out.

“My master?” A Tal’darim with an armor shiner than normal Tal’darim zealots walked in.

A common thing in this universe was the presence of a small squad of elite warriors for every commander. Usually every commander, whether it was terran, protoss, or zerg, would have direct command over a squad of specialized units. These units were usually tightly connected to the said commander, whether it was via money, past connections, or blackmail. Apart from being reliable, they tend to be experienced, well trained, and well armed. They would stick to the orders of their commanders more than that from anyone else.

In peaceful times, these units would act as bodyguards of the commander. In times of war, they would act both as the guards of the commander and as a potentially decisive factor in the battle. A small group of elite forces put to a good position could potentially change the tide of war.

This was a reoccurring theme seen through the sector. For example, Raynor had his group of old buddies from Mar Sara. They were, for now, under the command of Matthew Horner, but if they had to make a choice they would follow the orders of Raynor over that of anyone else. Tosh had a group of reapers that would kill for him. His spectres would also die for him.

Another example, the name of all of Mira’s forces, Mira’s Marauders, came from the elite group of forces the mercenary leader had. The group was made up of, well, marauders. Tough and well armed, they would kill anyone with a single word from Mira. Legend says this loyalty was the result of a series of blackmail, but the fact remained that Mira got herself a group of men she could count on.

In the case of the Tal’darim, this role was usually played by supplicants.

Supplicants was a general term referring to Tal’darim warriors who obeyed the orders of the ascendant they swore loyalty to above that of everyone else. Even if the ascendant decided to go against the Highlord, the supplicants would give their lives for that futile cause. In the original timeline, when Alarak traveled to the Spear of Adun to seek an alliance against Amon and Ma’lash, he brought some Tal’darim warriors with him. These warriors were his supplicants. If Alarak tried to bring ordinary Tal’darim warriors with him, even if he had command over those warriors, those Tal’darim would draw their blades on him before he could even finish his thought as allying with an enemy against one of their own was against the Tal’darim culture. Only supplicants were willing to do something as treachery as that.

The quality and quantity of the supplicants varied with the status of the leader, but usually the supplicant units were stronger than normal ones. In this case with ascendant Dyges, his supplicant forces were consisted of around 50 supplicant zealots and 80 supplicant slayers. These seemed like a lot, but they were just a small portion of the over 2000 Tal’darim on the planet.

“Summon every warrior on the planet and prepare for battle. Gather the supplicants.” Dyges suddenly remembered something. “Bring me a war prism.”