"Large-Scale Life and Psychic Signals Detected on the Surface!"

"Large-scale life and psychic signals detected on the surface!"

"This planet looks pretty peaceful." Tychus exhaled a smoke ring, suspicion in his voice. "But my gut tells me it's not that simple."

Raynor's gaze swept over the data on the star map, and his brow furrowed slightly.

Monlyth's surface was indeed lush and green, but scans showed abnormally high energy readings in certain regions, and—

"Sir!" an operator suddenly shouted. "Large-scale life and psychic signals detected on the surface!"

Psychic Power?

The air on the bridge seemed to freeze instantly.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes toward the central console.

The operator quickly projected the captured footage onto the holographic display.

In the image, a group of tall humanoid creatures clad in gold and silver armor stood guard within an ancient ruin. Shining cyan-blue energy weapons extended from their hands, while an ominous glow shone from beneath their helmets.

"Protoss." Raynor's expression darkened instantly, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the edge of the console.

"Protoss. Ah! Now I remember!"

Tychus suddenly tapped his temple with his fist, sending cigar ash scattering. "The Moebius Foundation mentioned a bunch of lunatics calling themselves the Tal'darim guarding some Artifact here."

He turned to Raynor, his tone unusually serious. "Little Jimmy, these guys aren't your friendly Protoss buddies. They're Amon's fanatics—the kind who kill without blinking."

Leon, Mike, and Chris exchanged grim looks.

As special operatives transferred from the Imperium of Man to serve aboard the Hyperion, they had heard of the Protoss, but this would be their first direct encounter with them.

Mike spoke up at the right moment. "Intelligence Department records indicate that the Tal'darim can be classified as hostile targets."

As he spoke, his finger traced a red line across the holographic map. "The 'Amon' they worship