The void shadows kept pushing. Narud couldn’t afford to lose this fight. Jean’s sword was already placed on his neck. There was no way to back off now. Get killed in the void, and he would be dead once and for all.
The Purifier fleet was ready. Countless ships short ranged jump into their assigned locations. All the carriers formed a giant square in the first line. They turned to the side to allow maximum fire coverage. Tempests in the second line fired accurately through the openings between the carriers. Thanks to the Purifier tactical net, none of the tempest rounds hit a friendly unit.
Tens of thousands of fighters covered the flanks of the firing squad of carriers and tempests. Instead of charging into the middle of the sea of void shadows and getting engulfed, they launched several bombing runs and used their speed and agility to get out of danger as soon as they unloaded their payload. Smaller void shadow flyers pursued, but mirages, with their ability to fire while flying at maximum speed, covered the retreat and kited the pursuers to their death.
A scout fired a pair of anti-matter missiles at a void shade viking, blasting it apart, but the death of the void shade only brought a lot of unwanted attention on the scout. A dozen vikings turned around and charged at the scout, who quickly turned tail and ran. The vikings pursued closely. Instead of turning around and standing its ground, the scout took a deep drive toward the area with the densest carrier firing, where countless photon cannon rounds and lasers were flying. The Purifier data net delivered the location of all the blasts fired to the scout pilot near instantly, allowing the scout to carefully dodge all the shots. The void shadows, on the other hand, didn't share the same luck as they were gunned down from the side. When only two vikings were left, the scout turned around, obliterated one of them with another pair of missiles, and simply crashed into the last starfighter. When the smoke cleared, the void shade viking was gone whereas the scout survived, thanks to its plasma shield.
Like magic, the front of the void shade army quickly decomposed. Layers and layers of darkness were peeled away by yellow bombardment. The Purifier fighters took some losses as well, but compared to the void shade casualties...
“Keep going! Overwhelm them!” Narud, on one of his most defended platforms, shrieked. Armies and armies of void shadow ground forces assembled around him, but neither they nor Narud could do anything to help the fight in the air. Even Thors couldn’t hit anything this far away. The Xel’naga could only encourage his forces with his words.
Countless void shadows were blasted into crimson energy, and countless others took the place of the fallen. From the platform, Narud could see the sea of black about to overwhelm the spots of yellow and white.
Perhaps he did have a chance of surviving.
Suddenly, a million explosions erupted among the void shadows. Narud stared in horror as those explosions engulfed chunk after chunk of the void shadow fleet. When the explosions disappeared, the formidable, tight void shade formation was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a crowd of scattered, disorganized flyers that contained empty gaps miles wide.
When the Purifier held their ground, the Warden fleet wasn’t sitting back and watching the show either. They had fewer ships and firepower than the Purifiers, but they did have one equalizer: Nukes.
As the void shades charged and the Purifiers blasted, the Warden fleet sent out nearly one thousand specialized crafts. These crafts didn't have any armament, but they did have miniaturized defensive matrixes and enhanced accelerators. Oh, and also, they each carried a nuclear warhead.
During the battle, under the cover of their defensive matrixes, these ships entered their designated location and turned off everything. No weapon. No engine. The void shades overwhelmed them, but these mindless puppets didn't find any need to destroy the lifeless vessels, especially when they were being bombarded by a full fleet. Narud also ordered every single flyer under his command to go for the Purifiers.
When all the nuclear payload were in the middle of the void shade fleet, Delta triggered those nukes.
Some of the one thousand nuclear missiles were destroyed by the Purifier bombing or by random acts of the void shades, but the rest were still enough to rip hundreds of holes among the void shades. The melting heat of the explosions wiped void shades off the face of the void. Even all the layers and layers of shades couldn’t cancel out the full power of the blast. Within moments, the void shade fleet was crippled.
This would never have worked with a conventional fleet, but Delta realized the void shades didn't have even the least amount of intelligence, and she used it to her advantage accordingly.
The rest of the battle became a simple slaughter. Void shades continued to attack fearlessly, but their courage wasn’t enough to change the tide of the battle. Without an endless reinforcement, they weren’t able to break through the Purifier guns.
Narud watched as the last void shade battlecruiser was overwhelmed by scouts and crumbled into dust.
Almost at the same time, a familiar entity appeared in his conscious.
“Narud, I’m disappointed.”
“Amon!” Narud gulped, if Xel’naga could gulp. He knew while Amon’s real body was inside his fortress, he was able to project a conscious to come over here. “Please, listen to me.”
The lesser Xel’naga begged.
“You have failed me one last time…”
“I still have an army! I can keep them from taking this platform for a long time! You need me!”
Narud tone was growing desperate.
But Amon has already had enough. Instead of sending the reinforcement Narud desperately needed, the dark god simply abandoned his servant. After the nuclear onslaught, Narud’s fleet was gone. His ground forces were still in plentiful numbers, but without air control, they were just sitting duck. Instead of wasting forces trying to defend a lost cause, Amon simply hoped Narud could buy more time with his death.
Sensing Amon was gone, Narud raged. Hundreds of his own void shades were ripped apart by Narud himself. He knew his fate was sealed. There was no way out. The Allied forces from the material world would burn him to crisp.
The Allied fleet pushed forward across the position where the void shadow fleet was. Finally, the Purifier fleet and the Warden fleet found their way to above Narud’s platform.
Orbital defenses burned.
But instead of attacking the platform and destroying it, along with Narud and the rest of his forces, the Purifier fleet and the Warden fleet simply stopped right there.
A single Purifier vessel deviated from the fleet and headed for the platform.
“Hold your fire.” Narud realized the Purifiers were sending a messenger. At the desperate situation he was in, he would be a fool to shoot the messenger down.
The vessel landed in an open space between a sea of void shadows. A single Purifier walked out. She was one of Delta’s clones.
Narud faced the messenger.
“It appears as your master has abandoned you.” Delta commented as she looked around. “It doesn’t look like you’re worth risking his forces.”
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t rip you apart right here right now.” Narud wasn’t exactly in the best mood.
“Do it, and you will be obliterated.” Delta wasn’t afraid. Even if this wasn’t just one of her clones, the level of control she had over the battlefield meant she had Narud’s fate in her total control.
Narud growled. Needless to say, he didn't enjoy being the underdog.
“If you intend on gloating, you have came to the wrong place.”
“I am not attempting to gloat.” Delta replied shortly. “I am here to offer you a way out in one piece.”
Narud couldn’t believe his ears. His first thought was that the Purifiers wanted to toy with him. But that thought was quickly put down by a newly gained hope. If the Purifier was telling the truth…
“I’m listening.”
“You have spent millennials serving him, but now he has left you to die. Amon’s death is imminent, but do you want to go down with him?”
Of course not. Narud wasn’t the loyalty to death type.
Delta continued.
“Turn your banner and serve us, and we will let you live.”
Narud was considering the option. At this point, the final battle between Amon and the Allied forces was imminent. If he continued to serve Amon, he would die right here. If he betrayed Amon and Amon ended up winning, he would no doubt be killed. But if he turned and the Allied forces happened to win, then he just might live.
Plus, with Amon gone, he would be the only Xel’naga alive in the void...he would be the one and only god. Of course, there was Ouros, but his life was on a timer.
“As you wish,” The Xel’naga finally agreed. “I will serve you, but I hope you stay true to your word.”
Delta tilted her head.
After Narud’s surrender, all the void shards under his control were destroyed. This allowed biological entities to enter the void. This included Jean, Kerrigan, Nyon, Zeratul, the entire Swarm, and the entire Tal’darim Fleet.
Narud was allowed to rebuild his forces. But just in case, the Xel’naga himself was placed under half the Purifier guns. One false move and he would be fried. Obviously, Narud himself wasn’t that happy, but he had no say in that matter. He didn't have a second of peace either as he was forced to constantly create new void shadows, who were then delivered to a separate space. When the battle against Amon begins, they would be the first line of cannon fodders.
Jean went right to work. Her first guest was a certain infested terran.
“Commander Turner, I recall that we have made a deal. Narud’s head is mine.”
Stukov wasn’t exactly satisfied with what Jean did with Narud. Narud, during his times with the Dominion, captured and experimented on Stukov. If it was up to Stukov, he would make Narud die the longest, most painful death possible.
Instead, Jean let Narud live.
“I understand your desire, Stukov, but we need Narud, at least for now. As of the moment, Amon is still hidden behind layers of his own void shadows, covered by void shards. Only the Purifiers and the Wardens can fight underneath the void shards. We need Narud’s forces.”
“Narud is an ancient Xel’naga who has served Amon since the very beginning. He cannot be trusted!”
“I have Narud under three motherships and thirty carriers and twenty tempests. The moment he does something I don’t agree with, he dies.” Jean countered quickly. She has had the same concerns Stukov had.
“He can still turn his void shadows against our forces before he dies…”
“His void shadows will be wiped out in the first hour of the battle. After Narud outlives his usage, you can have him.” The girl promised. If Stukov’s infested terran army wasn’t almost completely useless in the void, she might considering letting him have Narud, but as of the moment, Narud’s army of void shades could do much more than Stukov’s army of infested terran. Do the math, and Jean has made her decision.
Stukov looked into Jean’s eyes. Jean stared back without hesitation. The infested terran looked menacing, but Jean wasn’t soft either. In a real fight, Stukov would be dead in seconds. Even if she had emotions, she wouldn’t be afraid when the infested terran in front of her had eleven sniper rifles trained on him. One of them belonged to her lover.
The former UED general finally gave in.
“I hope you keep your promise.”
He turned and left the room.
Jean’s facial expression relaxed, but suddenly, a shade of red covered her sight. She immediately stood up.
“Jean?” Viper asked in the shadows. She looked around, searching for enemies but finding none.
Jean didn't respond. Instead, she tilted her head, as if she heard something. Finally, she spoke up.
“Leave the room.”
The ten G-1s left without question. Viper opened her mouth as if she wanted to object, but she nonetheless complied. She knew Jean was much smarter than she was. If Jean decided it was the best, it was probably the best.
When the room was clear, Jean spoke up.
“Hello, Amon…”
