Chapter Twenty-Seven: A New Dawn

"Tassadar." Zeratul gazed into the distant sky, where a great brilliance shone. In that moment, he seemed to understand; Tassadar’s psychic energy, together with that shadowy force, had vanished completely.

"En Taro Tassadar." Zeratul and the other conscious Templar bowed toward the place where the light had faded. At that very moment, the shuttles of the Protoss Empire arrived.

After paying their respects, Carrell and his companions felt their sealed cultivation return. Evidently, the Fang King was truly dead.

Once everyone had departed aboard the shuttles, the broodmother who had been imprisoned in the undersea temple by the Fang King also managed to escape. She had originally been captured by the Fang King as bait to mock Tassadar, but after Tassadar’s entire plan was exposed, the Fang King simply ignored her. Now, unable to leave the ocean depths on her own, she began to develop using the resources left behind. Meanwhile, with the deaths of the Overmind and the Fang King, the swarms that had once been controlled by the shadow force were now leaderless, turning upon one another. This greatly relieved the pressure on the Skrull Empire, who swiftly eradicated the remaining swarms.

To uncover the cause of the swarm’s sudden madness, the Skrull Empire dispatched a fleet to the swarm's homeworld. Upon arrival and investigation, Skrull scientists unanimously concluded that the chaos was due to the broodmothers’ struggle for power. To avenge the Avebon Empire, and to prevent the Zerg from ever rising again, the Skrull decided to flatten the planet with nuclear arms. As the apocalyptic-grade nuclear mushroom cloud blossomed, the world that had birthed the swarm fell into an age of darkness.

In response to the Skrull’s vengeance, the Protoss Empire made no objection. The Zerg and Skrull had their own grudges, and besides, the Council of Light and Shadow was embroiled in discussions over the incident with Tassadar.

"Lord Zeratul, are you saying Tassadar perished together with the Fang King? But what of the Sacred Relic?" Elder Priestley tugged at his beard in disbelief. That fiend, who had plagued the Protoss for thousands of years, was dead? It seemed altogether too unreal.

"Elder Priestley, that I do not know. Perhaps our detectors are better equipped to answer your question," replied Zeratul, slightly exasperated by the elders’ dazed expressions since hearing of the Fang King’s demise.

"Ahem, everyone, calm yourselves. The Fang King was indeed a formidable enemy, but he was only at the twelfth level of psionic power. The true threat lies in the dark god behind him. I have reviewed the data from the detectors: it shows Tassadar did indeed perish alongside the Fang King, and the Preservers were unable to collect his memory. I suspect he ascended as well. As for the Sacred Relic, it likely fell into a temporal rift." Aldaris cleared his throat, bringing the elders back to their senses.

"Ascended? Can it really be so easy? Perhaps I should attempt dual cultivation as well." Clearly, this news was even more provocative; after all, Tassadar had only just broken through to the eleventh level, and to ascend by merging with twilight power seemed much too simple.

"Calm yourselves. Merging with twilight energy is indeed powerful, but such a fusion leads either to ascension or utter annihilation. You cannot dwell only on Tassadar’s ascension and ignore all those who turned to ash," Aldaris quickly intervened. After Aeton’s ascension, many had considered dual cultivation, but the dangers had dissuaded them. Now, with Tassadar added to the list, there would surely be more who wished to follow.

"Archbishop, Lady Rohana asked me to inform you: she and her sisters intend to ascend," a messenger hurried in at that moment.

"What?! They too? What day is this?" Aldaris glanced in a daze at the time displayed in the hall: noon, 11:00, 14th of May, Year 4900 of the Khala Calendar.

"It’s not immediate, Archbishop," the messenger caught his breath. "Upon learning of the Fang King’s death, Lady Rohana let go of her long-held obsession. She has informed us that she and her sisters will ascend in a hundred years, passing on the office of High Preserver to their disciples."

Aldaris nodded. The loss of the Sacred Relic to the Fang King had been Rohana’s obsession. Now that the Fang King was dead, her heart was at peace. Though the Sacred Relic was still missing, the bottleneck that had held her for so long had begun to loosen.

"We understand. Please tell Lady Rohana we will prepare accordingly." On reflection, Aldaris found himself pleased. The ascension of the three Preserver sisters, united as one, would inspire those who followed the Path of the Khala, perhaps deterring them from pursuing the more perilous twilight path.

"Is there anything else?" Aldaris asked, noticing the messenger still lingering.

"It’s Lord Raszagal. She says she, too, is close to ascending." The messenger screwed his eyes shut and blurted out the news.

For a moment, Aldaris was at a loss. Was this some kind of mass ascension festival? By this reckoning, Raszagal would be the quickest to ascend—a testament, perhaps, to the uniqueness of the Nerazim.

"Very well, I understand. You may go." After dismissing the messenger, the Council of Light and Shadow fell into silence, each elder needing time to process the day’s avalanche of news.

Meanwhile, in the divine realm, a melodious bell sounded once more, rousing Aiur from his brief slumber. Wearily, Aiur glanced at Tassadar, who was now coalescing his divine form. The fusion of light and shadow had hastened Tassadar’s ascension, but his foundations were shallow, and he would need more time to fully restore his divine body. Yet the consecration of a new god could not be neglected. After some thought, Aiur granted Tassadar the mantle of the God of Victory before returning to his rest.

On the 1st of January, year 5000 of the Khala Calendar, the three Preserver sisters ascended to the divine realm, passing the office of High Preserver to their disciples, the Zamara Triad. On December 30th of that same year, Raszagal ascended, passing the title of Matron of the Dark to Zeratul. The Protoss Empire entered an entirely new era.

With the dawn of this new age, the Protoss Empire, seeking to unify the disparate timekeeping systems of its star sectors, reformed its calendar. From then on, the New Divine Calendar was adopted, its passage aligned with the divine realm’s time. This move was praised by scientists and most of the female Protoss.

For accuracy, however, the old calendar was not abolished; instead, a dual-calendar system was implemented.

In the divine realm, Aiur, who had barely dozed off, was greeted by four newly ascended deities. One by one, he conferred upon them their titles: Rohana as the Goddess of War, Orana as the Goddess of Guardianship, Shantila as the Goddess of Craft, and Raszagal as the Goddess of Fate. These four, their foundations stable as those of ancient Kass, presented themselves together with the newly-formed Tassadar before Aiur, then set about building their own palaces.

After their war with the Zerg, the refugees from the Avebon Empire all joined the Skrull Empire, and the Avebon Empire faded into history.

Having dealt with the Zerg, the Skrull Empire—out of deep-seated aversion—prohibited travel to that region. Yet they did not know that, deep beneath the sea, one survivor remained.

Thousands of years later, the Skrull Empire discovered two intelligent species in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The fact that both species coexisted on a single planet intrigued their scientists immensely.

On the world they named Hala, two species thrived: the Kree, a humanoid race, and the Kotai, a psychic plant species.

As Kree civilization had advanced to the information age and begun to explore space, the Skrull Empire sent a team of scientists and diplomats to Hala in hopes of integrating its civilization into the Skrull Empire.

"Pond, what kind of planet do you think Hala is, to have produced two intelligent races?" one Skrull asked his companion, his excitement barely contained.

"Quiet, Lawrence, unless you want to lose your breakfast, sit tight. The ship is about to reach the jump point." Pond fastened his harness, casting an exasperated glance at his overly exuberant companion.

"Heh, I’m sitting down. It’s my first long journey; I can’t help being a little excited." Lawrence quickly buckled up, but his mouth kept moving. "Hey, Pond, when do you think the scientists at the Academy will figure out a smoother way to jump? This method is so uncomfortable."

Pond felt a vein throb in his forehead. "Everyone gets here the same way. You’ll get used to it."

Lawrence nodded, then shook his head. "What about the legendary Protoss Empire? Are their ships this rough too?"

Pond was even more exasperated. "How should I know? No one’s ever ridden one—maybe they’re a bit better?"

Just as Lawrence was about to speak, the ship’s intercom announced the imminent jump, beginning a ten-second countdown.

Pond and Lawrence fell silent; speaking during a jump was a surefire way to lose one’s lunch.

With a powerful jolt, the ship pierced the jump point. "Hey, Pond, how many more jumps are there? How long will this take?" Lawrence clutched his stomach, looking uncomfortable.

"About a dozen more, I think. If you’re not feeling well, take some medicine, or you’ll be sick by the end," Pond replied, shaking his head at his friend.

Amid this banter, Pond and his party finally arrived at Hala.

Their ship entered orbit, and a diplomatic team was dispatched to make contact. As the diplomats went to greet the inhabitants of Hala, Pond and Lawrence stood at a porthole, gazing at the planet below. "Beautiful," Lawrence praised the world that had birthed two races. Pond looked left and right but saw little to distinguish Hala from other life-bearing worlds, so he simply shook his head.

The diplomats soon returned with landing coordinates. The Skrull vessel descended to an emergency platform, where the leaders of both species awaited them.