Shakuras

You've made some new friends.

Lyrak, the Dark Templar who emerged from the Xel'Naga portal, looked at Augustus and Tychus, his eyes widening slightly. "They are humans, crude and ugly, weak yet violent. Humans killing each other always brings violence and destruction."

"Wow, you've hit the nail on the head, you ugly thing," Tychus retorted immediately.

"You may be right, but Augustus Mengsk and his Revolutionary Army are different from other humans." Zeratul was introducing his human friends to his fellow Dark Templar.

Zeratul praised Augustus thus, "Augustus possesses the soul of a Protoss."

When a Protoss says a human is like Protoss, it means they have recognized the noble qualities beneath that human's appearance and are willing to regard him as one of their own.

"I believe you, Zeratul. This human does indeed possess a free-spirited, cheerful, and fearless heart." Lyrak scrutinized Augustus a few seconds, then turned to Tychus: "But why, though both are human, are these two so completely opposite?"

"I don't understand."

"I'm getting angry," Tychus warned Lyrak.

"Tychus Finley is actually an honest and selfless man; he is as reliable as a high wall you can lean against," Augustus, praising his old friend.

"I don't mind if you praise me a bit more." Tychus beamed, showing no shame or embarrassment whatsoever. Augustus adept at discovering and praising the good qualities of others, but Tychus had almost never been praised.

"..." The Dark Templar Lyrak lost interest in humans, and he narrowed his eyes warily as he turned to Tassadar.

"A Templar Knights. High Templar. I'm not pleased to see you here," Lyrak said bluntly. Admittedly, his hatred for the Aiur Protoss wasn't as deep as that for some of his fellow Nerazim, but he didn't have any goodwill towards them either.

"Even now, you're still hunting us!" His smooth skin, darker than Tassadar's, was streaked with rage. "Even if we're executed, the Dark Templar will never acknowledge the Khala."

"Khala is a cage, a chain around our necks."

"It shackles our thoughts, suppresses independent individuality, and blurs the differences and boundaries between us. We choose liberation and freedom, to embrace freedom and truth—this is the meaning of Nerazim, the people who embrace truth."

"I am not here to hunt down the Dark Templar; on the contrary, we should be compatriots and allies." Tassadar frankly expressed his views on the Dark Templar: "I have always thought you and the power you wield are heretics and erroneous, but now I have witnessed firsthand that Dark Prelate Zeratul has proven to me the courage and mercy of the Dark Templar."

"What did he say? Cages and chains?" Tychus, who was listening nearby, found the keywords and whispered to Augustus, "Someone put chains around the necks of those Protoss, which reminds me of dog leashes."

"What kind of person would do that? Treat the Protoss like dogs?"

"I'm more concerned with who's holding the other end of the chain," Augustus said, sounding as if he were joking.

"Anyway, that must feel pretty good," Tychus said.

"Tassadar was once a Protoss Empire executive officer, but he was exiled for disobeying the Conclave's order to destroy the Zerg- infected colonies. Now, Tassadar and his Templar Knights have broken with the Conclave," Zeratul explained to Lyrak at this point.

"You surprise me." Lyrak's attitude towards Tassadar, as an Executor, had actually broken with the Conclave: "High Templar, I see some qualities in you of Adun Twilight Apostle. Respect to you, Tassadar, you are a friend of the Nerazim."

"It is my honor, brother." Tassadar made a forward bowing gesture.

"Zeratul, many extraordinary things must have happened during the long years you were away from Shakuras." Lyrak then turned to Zeratul and Augustus: "You just mentioned the Zerg."

"The unsettling whispers in the void have intensified, foreshadowing impending doom. Abominations are ravaging the gardens of Xel'Naga; this may be the beginning of the end," he said, looking at Zeratul.

"The matriarch has learned of the Xel'Naga's creation Zerg wreaking havoc in the Koprulu Sector, and you are the only Dark Prelate in that area. The matriarch wishes to know what is happening there."

"I'd be happy to." Zeratul spread his right hand and placed it flat on his shoulder as a sign of respect for the matriarch mentioned by Lyrak. Then he looked at Augustus and Tassadar.

"I would like to invite you to my hometown of Shakuras, Augustus Mengsk, Tassadar."

"I am honored," Tassadar said immediately.

Dark Templar Lyrak seemed to have no objection. "Saguras welcomes Templars and Kalai who are not hostile, but does not allow any arbitrators from the High Council to set foot here."

"If you invite me, elder, I will go," Augustus said after a moment of contemplation. "But I might bring a few people with me; my men aren't very worldly."

Augustus would not miss any opportunity to meet with the leader of the Protoss Dark Templar, since Zeratul could not represent all the Nerazim Protoss. If possible, Augustus hoped to gain the support of the Nerazim matriarch.

"Shakuras welcomes them." Zeratul looked at Tychus and Faraday, then led Lyrak and Tassadar through the Gateway.

"Notify command that I will be leaving for a few hours. During this time, Major General Zander Max will be the highest-ranking officer in Haj." Augustus first relayed his orders to command before preparing to follow Zeratul through the Xel'Naga Gateway before him.

"You really want to go? We don't even know what's on the other side." Tychus was reluctant to go. "Do you know what kind of place this Shakuras is? The Protoss are completely different from us. Who knows if the places they live in are harmful to us?"

"With me, what do you have to be afraid of?" Augustus smiled, goading Tychus, "If Jimmy were here, he wouldn't be complaining about this or being afraid of that."

"Faraday, let's go."

"Should we bring the guards?" Faraday asked. "I'm worried those Protoss might be a threat to us. I know what you're thinking, but the Revolutionary Army can lose me, but they can't lose you."

"No need, we're not going to war." Augustus shook his head and, ignoring Tychus's mutterings, stepped into the vortex of blue light shimmering within the Xel'Naga Gateway.

As soon as Augustus stepped inside, he found himself standing on soft sand. The blue light of the Gateway illuminated the sand and the surrounding clusters of enormous purple crystals, but further away was shrouded in darkness.

Shakuras is shrouded in eternal twilight, seemingly forever existing between day and night, its desert reflecting a pale purple light and its mountains, buried in crystal veins, stretching across its vast, empty land.

This planet has sparse vegetation, and strong winds can easily whip up sandstorms. These sands, swirling and dancing in the wind, refract a mesmerizing blue-purple light under the moonlight, possessing a unique, strange, and beautiful aesthetic. The air here is fresh and cold enough for human breathing, but one must be careful of the sand fragments in the wind.

In the distance lies a pale purple desert, vast and boundless, serene and silent.

Two enormous purple moons filled the sky, almost taking up half of it. This made Augustus feel as if the sky were so close to him, and the mountain range, like the spine of a dragon, seemed to be on the moon.

Not far from the Gateway lies the magnificent Protoss complex, with several massive, dark green Pylon radiating bright light.

A small Protoss shuttle, only a hundred feet long, was parked at the foot of the Xel'Naga Gateway steps. Zeratul, Lyrak, and Tassadar were walking down the steps toward the dark-colored shuttle, talking as they went. The atmosphere seemed quite amicable, rather than tense as it had been at the beginning.

"It's all so dark, just sand and pebbles. How come we've ended up on these desolate planets all these days? Ma Sara, Antiga, Char, Haj, and this awful place." Tychus was reluctant, but he eventually followed.

Tychus walked over to Augustus, took out a laser lighter from his pocket, and lit a cigarette.

"Indeed." Augustus glanced at Tychus and walked toward the Protoss shuttle with Faraday.

Augustus followed Tassadar through an iris emitting a green glow into the shuttle, only to find it filled with Dark Templar clad in black armor. This seemed less a Dark Templar of respect for the guests and more a display of wariness.

Faced with twenty or thirty silent Dark Templar, even Tychus dared not complain about the bad weather in Shakuras. Augustus, on the other hand, calmly sat down and admired the magnificent and fantastical natural scenery of Shakuras through its huge porthole as the shuttle took off.

The shuttle within the blue glow emanating from the Gateway moved as lightly as a butterfly spreading its wings. It was almost non-reflective and completely silent.

The shuttle sped through the twilight-shrouded skies of Shakuras at speeds far exceeding those of conventional near-ground aircraft, traversing vast deserts, mountains, and shallow, pale purple rivers. Augustus even spotted a group of creatures that looked remarkably like pterosaurs flying past the shuttle.

About two hours later, the magnificent and splendid cities finally began to take shape.

It was a magnificent city standing in the pale purple twilight and thick fog, with thousands of dark golden towers and towering pyramid-shaped buildings rising from the thorny, rocky ground. Countless green Pylon and light bridges connecting the buildings formed a shimmering city.

It seemed to be forged from bright metal and crystal, shimmering like flowing gold and silver in the dim twilight. Numerous probes and long, dark green, skeletal spaceships flew above the city like fish swimming in water. A magnificent Nerazim warship emerged from a stargate in the sky, followed by hundreds of Dark Templar pirate ships.

"Tamateros, the first city established by the Nerazim after arriving in Shakuras," Zeratul, sitting opposite Augustus, explained the city to Augustus.

"It's breathtaking," Augustus exclaimed.

At the heart of Tamateros stands the towering Xel'Naga Temple, more magnificent than any human structure or temple Augustus had ever seen. Its gleaming organic metal surface is adorned with geometric patterns in the golden ratio and spiral patterns resembling tender fern tendrils.

It resembles a mountain peak with a gleaming spire, its summit reaching into the clouds, surrounded by Hurricane, standing tall and majestic.

The shuttle circled the Xel'Naga Temple once, then headed towards another conical spire suspended in an anti-gravity saucer. At the top of the spire was a magnificent take-off and landing platform, where numerous elegantly designed Protoss dark-colored shuttles rose and fell.

The interior of this colossal spire is quite unique, consisting of multiple spiral staircases, resembling a suspended, openwork structure. It is magnificent yet not ostentatious, shimmering like metal and jewels yet as light as velvet.

As Augustus stepped down, he noticed that he was standing on a huge circular platform with dark gold spiral patterns on the ground. Dark Templar wearing deep purple cloaks stood motionless at the edge of the platform.

If the Protoss matriarch of Shakuras is here, then those warriors must be the Dark Templar.

A magnificent dome, adorned with exquisite carvings, stretched out before Augustus, its surrounding walls of dark gold alloy radiating a soft, bright glow from the green crystals embedded in them. The statue, several hundred feet tall, at the center of the platform was particularly striking; it was a composite sculpture.

A Protoss Templar Knights dressed in the same attire as the Protoss Executive Tassadar stood in the center, his gaze gentle as he looked at the slender Protoss girl who was kneeling before him, holding the hem of her robe pressed against her forehead. Several Templar Knights and numerous ragged Protoss stood around her.

"That's Adun!" Tassadar exclaimed in surprise.

At this moment, two older Dark Templar, much more hunched than Zeratul, and a young and agile female Dark Templar emerged from the shadows and walked toward Zeratul and Tassadar, who were standing beside Augustus.

"Zeratul, my old friend, welcome back! You're home. Hahaha." The elder Dark Templar embraced Zeratul, both letting out hearty laughter like old men.

"Mohandar, the wise one." Zeratul was also pleased.

Dark Prelate Mohandar.

"Master, Mother is waiting for you." As the young female Templar Knights spoke, her bright, green eyes lingered on Augustus and Tassadar for a moment. Her gaze was aggressive, wary, and sharp, like a wild leopard cat in the jungle.

This tall and slender female Dark Templar wore dark armor and a purple robe, with a long veil, like Zeratul's, billowing in the wind. Her twilight robe was like a flowing dress, adorned with star-like green jewels.

A stunning figure, slender and graceful, with well-defined features—these are all symbols of elegance and beauty in the eyes of the Nerazim.

At first glance, those Dark Templar will be wary of her because of her slender wrists, but she is definitely a powerful and imposing master of shadows with many disciples.

Augustus recognized her; she was the daughter of the current Nerazim chieftain, Raszagal, and the future chieftain Vorazun.