Protoss Portal

Zeratul had barely finished speaking when the green, prismatic crystal, which refracted light like a gemstone, dimmed, ending the image with a precise coordinate that humans could understand.

Augustus the crystal back into the storage compartment in the Power Armor's breastplate and ordered an officer from Alpha Squadron over the communications channel to collect the remains, weapons, equipment, and supplies.

Then, Augustus asked in the channel if anyone knew the location of the Protoss High Overlord Taldarin. A few seconds later, an Alpha Squadron medic answered Augustus's question in the much quieter public channel.

Before long, Augustus and Faraday found the Taldarin, who were inside a still intact Protoss Gateway.

The magnificent pyramid-shaped Protoss structure seemed to be cast from gold and blue gemstones, towering and majestic, with its cylindrical vaulted tops converging to form a central, suspended a massive, azure-blue Khaydarin Crystal.

As Augustus approached the Protoss's elegant and magnificent buildings, he could hear a soft murmur emanating from the crystals, a sound as melodious and pleasing as a mountain stream, forming its own rhythm. Just a few dozen yards away stood a towering Pylon, from which the Psionics matrix network expanding and contracting appeared as a barely perceptible pale blue halo under the scorching sunlight of Char.

The Protoss's structures seem to have been built to bring them closer to the sun; they shine brilliantly in the sunlight, like piles of gold in the radiance.

Climbing the hundreds of steps is a pilgrimage for a Templar Knights, beyond which lies their Fleets and homeland, behind the warped spacetime rift of the Warp Gate. But Augustus felt little reverence; as a human, he found it difficult to resonate with the Protoss's thoughts and customs.

However, these buildings, which can be described as works of art, also conform to human aesthetics. Augustus just thinking that it was fortunate that the nobles of Tarsonis had never seen Protoss architecture, otherwise they would have thought that it was not luxurious and grand enough.

At the top of the Gateway was a flat-topped platform, the size of two football fields, where many Protoss Templar Knights stood ready, guarding High Commander Taldarin of the Protoss Koprulu Expeditionary Force.

The high-ranking governor turned around in his Dragoon armor, the joints of his mechanical limbs bending inward, and the cockpit slowly descended in front of Augustus, almost entirely landing on the ground.

"What a thrilling battle." Taldarin's mangled body, enveloped in the icy blue nutrient solution in the cockpit, pressed close to the shaped transparent window of the cockpit, his gleaming eyes fixed on Augustus.

Augustus sure if he was seeing things, but he noticed a small fish had just swum into the cockpit of the Taldarin Dragoon.

"If Adun were here too," he Augustus. "This is the first time I have shared the glory of victory with mankind, and it certainly won't be the last. Praise be to the light of Khala."

The Templar Knights surrounding Taldarin pressed their long, blunt chins close to their chests, one of their ways of showing respect.

Even the Aiur Protoss who communicate directly on a spiritual level through the Khala sometimes use gestures and words to express courtesy and respect, and their Nerazim Dark Templar brethren, who voluntarily severed their ties with the Khala, need this method even more.

"Governor of Taldarin, it is my honor to fight alongside you." Augustus opened his helmet visor, but he did not smile; his expression was cold and stern.

Augustus's Arturus, had warned him that he should be ruthless and act like steel.

"The Dark Templar Zeratul just told me that they discovered spatial distortions in the main hive area of the Char Zerg." Augustus didn't mince words.

"I don't know what that means, but I think I have to get there immediately and find out what the Zerg are doing."

"Dispatch an elite force, lightly equipped." Taldarin's nostalgic look vanished in an instant.

"Before that, we must withdraw the remaining troops from this area and establish new defensive lines in treacherous areas that the Psi Emitter cannot reach," Augustus.

"There's no need for that," Taldarin Augustus. "I can allow your warriors to teleport back to the Fleets through the Warp Gate."

"This is truly a timely help, High Archon." Augustus, reminded by the Taldarin, suddenly remembered that the Protoss could transfer their armies via Gateway.

"Then this matter becomes much simpler," he said. "I will take a few men to the location Zeratul mentioned and investigate."

"And me," Taldarin replied. "It is the Templar Knights's honor to risk one's life to protect the people."

"Okay," Augustus simply replied, offering no further flattery.

Augustus discovered that dealing with the proud Protoss wasn't as difficult as he had imagined. First of all, the Protoss wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for humans; at most, they would ignore them. They respected warriors and those of high moral character. Once these two requirements were met, the rest was much simpler.

However, apart from a very few individuals, very few people can impress the Protoss, and even fewer can earn their respect.

Just then, Raynor's voice came through Augustus's channel. "I found Duke and Tychus. They've been holding out in Char's Wasteland all night, and they're just as terrified as we are."

"Bring them here." Augustus looked down at the entire Alpha Squadron base from above the Gateway and found that apart from the Protoss Gateway beneath his feet, very few buildings remained standing in the entire base.

"The tallest Protoss building you can see is the one. Have Duke bring all the Nova Squadron scouts and scientists he captured over here."

Augustus waited on the Gateway platform for another ten minutes or so until a mixed Revolutionary Army of about a thousand men walked through the collapsed fortification wall toward him.

These people were mostly traveling in Vulture and armored vehicles. Compared to the number of troops previously led by Duke and Tychus, it is clear that they have suffered significant losses.

Surviving a night on the exposed Ash Plains of Char paid a heavy price for these warriors; the Swarm in the darkness were far more terrifying than ever before.

"That night was truly the most nerve-wracking moment of my life." Tychus Augustus hear Tychus's loud voice as he walked two-thirds of the way up the steps.

"The Zerg surrounding us in Char's wasteland is only a fraction of what you have here, but it's still an absurd number." He moved quickly, ascending the Gateway steps rapidly with the aid of his Power Armor servo system and adrenaline. "We've built positions on several protruding hills, setting up trenches, barbed wire, and Spider Mine, and we've even deployed Viktor Kaczynski's little spider robots."

"A dozen bugs swarmed at us, like Reading III flies splattering in your face while you're driving Vulture. The torrent of gunfire had barely swept over those bugs when even more, stronger ones immediately rushed in," Tychus said.

"It's like trying to kick away the waves crashing on you on the beach. Wave after wave of bugs come, and once you fall down, you can never get back up."

"Well said, Tychus, how much did you drink?" After several years of getting to know each other, Augustus understood Tychus's habits better than his mother. Tychus liked to have a drink when he went to war, but he usually didn't drink much, just to stay alert. The side effect was that he would talk incoherently.

"Whiskey, the strong, spicy kind." Tychus stepped over the stairs to Augustus, showing him a long gash on his chest. "That was the work of a big, red Hydralisk; it almost killed me."

"I showed him the portrait of Lisdale on the breastplate of my armor, spat a mouthful of wine into the beast's head, and then stared it to death."

"Alright, shut up, Tychus. I'll listen to your bragging later." Augustus, as always, ordered the other to shut up, then looked at Raynor and Duke behind Tychus.

"General Duke, where are the Nova Squadron members?" he asked Duke, who was opening his helmet visor.

Duke's bright white Power Armor had long since lost its luster, and the disheveled general looked rather listless. "Lieutenant, bring those damn bastards up here. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses!"

A dozen or so Nova Squadron soldiers, Power Armor had long been stripped off and who were left only in their combat uniforms, walked toward Augustus, including two Confederacy Ghost operative.

It's worth mentioning that, as a relatively well-known Confederacy squadron, the Nova Squadron excels at infiltration and covert operations. During the Guild Wars, they often disguised themselves as the Black Ripper and appeared behind the Kel-Morian Combine's lines, delivering a fatal blow to the Kel-Morian Combine's Guild Guards.

"Marshal, guess how many Psi Emitter the Nova Squadron placed in Char?" Duke's voice was as arrogant and condescending as ever when he looked at the Nova Squadron prisoners, as if he were speaking through his own nose.

"Four," Augustus.

"At least ten," Duke said bitterly. "Each Psi Emitter's signal can attract all the Zerg within 2.5 light-years, which means the entire Zerg of Char will be affected."

"That's ruthless," Raynor said.

"What else were you told before you were ordered to activate these Psi Emitter?" Augustus looked at one of the Nova Squadron Ghost operative, whose Psionics level was still fluctuating around PSI5, making it impossible for him to use his psychic powers to harm Augustus.

"No, sir, nothing at all." Due to the limitations of the situation, this Confederacy Ghost operative had not yet had his Psionics suppressor removed, so even if he knew something, he couldn't say it.

"Activate the Psi Emitter, then await evacuation orders," he said.

"But you didn't receive the order?" Augustus asked.

"It's too late, sir. The Zerg swarmed in as soon as we activated the Psi Emitter Zerg," the Ghost operative said.

"Take him away. Every Psionics is valuable. Once the Psionics suppressor is removed, he can be used by us," Augustus instructed Duke.

Normally, a squad deploying Psi Emitter must evacuate immediately after activating Psi Emitter, or they will be overwhelmed by the Swarm. But in Char, a place teeming with Zerg, a squad deploying Psi Emitter has virtually no chance of evacuation.

In other words, each Psi Emitter requires the use of a Ghost operative. Considering the high costs of finding, training, and equipping eligible Psionics, as well as the scarcity of Ghost operative, the Confederacy has truly incurred a considerable expense.

"What exactly does the Confederacy want?" Raynor asked Augustus. "This number is more than just a ploy to harm us."

"Lure as many Zerg as possible to Char, then wipe us out along with the Zerg with a thousand or more Apocalypse Nuclear Missile, just like we did to Korhal." Augustus considered a possibility. "There's no time to waste, Duke. You take the rest of the Protoss and follow High Overlord Taldarin's warriors through this Gateway back to the Protoss Fleets."

"Remember, Duke, keep your men in check," Augustus instructed Duke again. "Tell our engineers to avoid touching Protoss equipment on Protoss warships unless they give permission."

Duke, the "Gateway," maintains a certain skepticism towards anything and technology outside his control, especially the Protoss.

"Without the protection of spaceships and warships, how could the human body possibly withstand the damage caused by spacetime folding? To hell with the Protoss! I'd rather die than go in."

Behind the central platform of the Gateway lies a black, swirling, hazy core. The black vortex, impervious to light, resembles a non-reflective iris, like the reverse side of a mirror, with golden lines outlining its edges.

Mysterious and unknown, it seems as if the dark space lies behind it.

The Protoss's Gateway originated from the ancient Xel'Naga Gateway, but the technology to create Xel'Naga portals was lost long ago in what the Protoss called the Aeon of Strife.

In the era of the Xel'Naga, mysterious Xel'Naga Gateway connected various distant and unknown worlds, even beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. At that time, the ancient Xel'Naga portals served as transportation hubs for the Xel'Naga Fleets to explore the universe.

Even across countless galaxies and billions of light-years, users can instantly travel to these locations via the Xel'Naga Gateway. Currently, such Gateway only exist in Aiur, Shakuras, and other unknown, distant worlds. The Protoss now only use Xel'Naga Gateway and do not create them; the Gateway they use to warp their armies are the result of reverse engineering the Xel'Naga Gateway.

Even though the Protoss's Gateway could warp through armies over distances of light-years, this technology was nothing more than a crude imitation compared to the Xel'Naga's Gateway.

"Ignorance is the most dangerous thing." Raynor had never seen it either, but he was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of tigers, and had never been afraid of anything.

"Given your short lifespan, it's understandable that you can't comprehend teleportation technology," Taldarin said. "Only the bravest warriors can pass through the Gateway."

"Damn Protoss, stop acting like a senior." Duke was always the one who acted like a senior in the Confederacy army, and he was undoubtedly enraged. "You'll see if I dare!"

As Duke spoke, he rushed into the spatial rift of the Gateway and disappeared as if passing through a shadow, with the remaining Revolutionary Army soldiers following closely behind.

"He's so easy to understand," Tychus teased Raynor beside him.

"The tactic of provocation always works on Duke; what he can't stand the most is being contradicted." Raynor understood this better than anyone else.

"Tychus, Jimmy, you stay here." Augustus looked at Corporal Faraday: "And my guards."

"Alright, let old Tychus see what this 'magical Anywhere Door' can do?" Tychus followed the group inside, and a little while later he sauntered out again.

"It's a strange feeling, like lifting up a streetwalker's skirt," he said.

Tychus's terrible metaphors never go out of style. If the Protoss weren't completely incapable of understanding Tychus's unconventional jokes, he definitely wouldn't be walking out of Char today.

"Let's go, Tychus, we still need to find Zeratul," Augustus said to Tychus.

"The Zerg have an extremely sensitive sense of smell; they can detect the scent of blood miles away, much like sharks in the water." The mission briefing displayed on Tychus's helmet was the same mission that Augustus had just listed in the command system.

"Hoping to march undetected through a land teeming with insects is harder than climbing to heaven."

"As always, as long as the bugs can't catch our Vulture, walking the dogs in Char's wasteland is as easy as strolling in your own garden," Augustus.

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