The Purification Protocol

"Tassadar was in quite a bind himself right now—internal conflicts, Orega, the Purifiers."

"What the hell does that have to do with us? It'd be better if they all died. Then the universe would be a cleaner place."

At the Dominion High Command in Augustgrad, Emperor Augustus had summoned every Dominion general still on Korhal to a military conference regarding the Purifier Protoss threat that had emerged along the Dominion's borders that day.

Although those present were all senior officers from Dominion Navy and Marine Corps headquarters, the conference room was arranged simply, with only a circle of tables and chairs and a Holographic Projection screen covering the front wall.

The Holographic Projection displayed Niflheim, an icebound world shrouded in dense fog and snowstorms. Its magnificent Protoss cities, scattered across endless ice fields, were already engulfed in blazing war. The Purifier Protoss' enormous Fleets had seized high orbit above the planet. Their ivory Cybros warship armor looked ever more immaculate beneath the gleam of solar matrices as they unleashed golden beams upon the surface, pouring down indisputable might.

"These Purifier Protoss are dangerous. Protoss cannot be trusted, and neither can the robots they made."

General William Wachowski of Dominion Marine Corps headquarters had rushed over after setting aside his work. As the head of the Dominion DMC Combat Development Command, he had no shortage of administrative matters on his hands.

Already in a foul mood, General Wachowski had found the Dominion Navy officers irritating enough, but they became quiet as mice the moment the Emperor arrived in person.

"Intelligence indicates that the Purifier Protoss mothership's main cannon can even completely destroy a planet. That means they are fully capable of waging war against the Dominion." Before Doug Michael Graham, Chief of Naval Staff, lay a thick stack of reports bearing