(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Myk-Zod just wants to learn about Protoss Tech…

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In the end, Myk-Zod moves forward, pushing deeper into the abandoned outpost and dodging its automated defenses all the way through. Eventually they enter the insides of a large, golden pyramid, where the cannons don’t seem able to reach.

Setting Sarah down, he looks around the hallway they find themselves in and makes a curious noise in the back of his throat.

“It intrigues me that so much of this facility is still operational even after years of neglect and abandonment.”

Finding her footing quickly enough, Sarah nods sharply.

“That’ll be the pylons. Those massive Khaydarin Crystals you saw hovering outside at certain points. Energy Pylons are the heart of Protoss technology… without them, nothing works at least from what I’ve seen.”

Myk-Zod blinks and then thinks back, his near-perfect memory allowing him to recreate the outside in a heartbeat without him actually having to go back out. After a moment he knows what she was talking about. Nestled amidst the architecture, perfectly framed to almost appear as an aesthetic choice rather than anything too critical, had been floating crystals surrounded by golden bands. The ‘Energy Pylons she spoke of… yes, that did make some sense if he was being honest.

Of course, such large Khaydarin Crystals were hard to come by. In the time that he’d been in this universe, Myk-Zod had learned a lot about the Koprulu Sector’s signature resources. Khaydarin Crystals and Vespene Gas.

The former were psi-active crystals that could be found on every single planet in the Koprulu Sector. Privately, Myk-Zod had started to wonder if they weren’t naturally occurring like the Terrans seemed to believe but rather put there by someone else. They were blue-hued and organic, meaning that they tended to grow bigger and bigger if left alone long enough.

The latter was a fuel source that was apparently so versatile the entirety of Terran infrastructure used it. From high-performance engines to energy reactors to even the simplest of vehicles… vespene gas was adaptable in the extreme and formed the backbone of Terran expansion throughout the Koprulu Sector.

In comparison, their usage of Khaydarin Crystals was far more… simplistic, so far. They had barely even begun scratching the surface of what the organic crystals could be utilized for from what Myk-Zod had seen. And standing in a more advanced alien species’ outpost now, that feeling has never been more true.

Whatever the Terrans had managed with Khaydarin Crystals so far, it was nothing compared to what the Protoss could do. They’d barely stepped foot in the hallway and Myk-Zod was already getting so many ideas from their surroundings that it wasn’t even funny.

“The question becomes, if these Energy Pylons can power this facility years after it’s been abandoned… where are they getting their power from?”

Sarah pauses at that, tilting her head to the side as she considers Myk-Zod’s question for a long moment before finally frowning.

“I… don’t know. Sorry, a lot about the Protoss and what they’re capable of is still a mystery…”

That’s fair. From what Myk-Zod knew, Terrans weren’t exactly on friendly terms with the Protoss. Although it could have been worse. The general vibe that Myk-Zod got from his research was that the Protoss treated the Terrans largely as pests. The relationship was antagonistic, but neither side went out of the way to destroy the other at all costs.

Unlike with the Zerg, where the Protoss tended to send extermination fleets to wipe out as much of the Swarm as they possibly could, even at the cost of Terran lives.

Still, as Myk-Zod pushes deeper into the Protoss Facility, he finds himself studying every bit of writing he can find… and slowly but surely gaining an understanding of the language via his universal translator. That’s good because he figures he’s going to need to be able to read Protoss if he’s going to want to be able to interface with the outpost’s systems.

Eventually they reach what looks to be a control room. The place is covered in a thick layer of dust but otherwise doesn’t look too damaged. It leaves Myk-Zod wondering why it was abandoned, truth be told. As he moves over to a central console, his hand reaches out for it… only for the barest flicker of movement to catch on his enhanced vision.

“Myk!”

Sarah’s call out, while appreciated, is ultimately unnecessary. Even as a glowing green energy blade tries to slice through where his arm had been half a second before, Myk-Zod has already pulled his limb back and even pushed himself off the ground entirely, floating through the air so he’s nowhere near the enemy.

In this case, the enemy… is a Protoss, the first Protoss that Myk-Zod is seeing in the flesh in fact. However, he immediately clocks that this is no ordinary Protoss. For one, the eyes aren’t blue like they’re supposed to be, but green instead. The energy blade, or rather ‘psi-blade’ is also supposed to be blue normally, he’s pretty sure.

Further, this Protoss does not wear the armor that Myk-Zod has seen in pictures. Instead he wears a dark mask that covers the bottom of his face and tarnished gold and green epaulets upon his shoulders. Most importantly of all though… his ‘hair’ is cut short, hewn close to the back of his skull. That part is very unusual, from Myk-Zod’s research.

“You trespass and defile that which is not meant for you, Terrans.”

When the Protoss ‘speaks’, he does so into their minds… bypassing the universal translator entirely, Myk-Zod can’t help but notice. It’s a little annoying… and more than a little concerning. He’s tense and battle ready… but at the same time, the Protoss is at least talking rather than continuing his attack. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?

“We apologize for our intrusion, but this facility appeared to be abandoned. All we wanted was a chance to study it before moving on. We meant no disrespect.”

His words seem to give the green-eyed Protoss pause. For a long moment, he is silent. When he finally speaks, it’s with a dismissive grunt.

“Your intentions come second to your actions. You should have turned back when the defenses first tried to repel you. Instead you pushed forward anyways.”

The rebuke makes Myk-Zod wince, because that’s not exactly wrong. But before he can apologize again, the Protoss swipes a clawed hand through the air.

“It matters not. I knew you would not turn back, just as I knew you would arrive here eventually anyways. I have been waiting for you… Kerrigan.”

When the Protoss suddenly sweeps his green eyes over to Sarah, Myk-Zod tenses up all over again. He turns himself to try and put his body between the Protoss and Sarah, but Sarah isn’t having it. She pushes forward, placing a hand on her shoulder and pressing her lips into a thin line as she stares the Protoss down.

“If this is about Tarsonis-!”

“It is not.”

In an instant, whatever Sarah was building up to flares out. She looks confused and a bit deflated, even as she blinks dumbly.

“Oh… then what do you want with me? Why have you been waiting for me specifically?”

And then, when the Protoss doesn’t immediately answer, Sarah growls a little.

“Who even are you? You don’t look like any Protoss I’ve ever faced before.”

That seems to give him pause for a moment before finally he shakes his head.

“My identity is meaningless, but it was foreseen that you would not trust as easily if I maintained complete anonymity. I am called Zeratul… and I am of the Dark Templar.”

Dark Templar. Myk-Zod sees Sarah mouthing the words out of the corner of his eye, her brow furrowed in consternation. From the look of things, she was just as lost as he was.

“We are the Nerazim. You are more familiar with the Khalai, those of my kind who follow the Khala. But these words are largely meaningless to you. What matters is why I am here. Kerrigan… you are the subject of a prophecy handed down by our Matriarch.”

Myk-Zod blinks. A prophecy? That sounded a little bit… kooky to him. He’d never been particularly religious, truth be told. But then, most Kryptonians weren’t. However, this was not his home galaxy. And there were a lot of new and interesting things to be found here. Psionics, for instance… never before had Myk-Zod encountered so many powerful, varied psychic creatures before.

And the power that Sarah had drawn upon in order to destroy Daggoth and the rest of the cerebrates on Tarsonis had been… something more than even that, he was pretty sure.

Regardless, he stays quiet and lets Sarah take the reins here, offering his silent support even as she wrestles with Zeratul’s words.

“A prophecy, huh? That doesn’t sound good. And what if I don’t want anything to do with your prophecy?”

But Zeratul just shakes his head.

“You must heed my words. The fate of the galaxy relies upon it.”

Sarah bristles a bit… before finally crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back.

“Fine. Lay it on me. What’s this prophecy say, exactly?”

Myk-Zod watches as Zeratul hesitates for a brief moment before finally speaking. When he does, the Dark Templar’s mental tone somehow manages to sound even graver than before.

“You are of two minds right now, Kerrigan. There are things you wish to accomplish… but you can only achieve one of them before you must leave this universe behind for good. Otherwise, everything will be for naught and doom will come for us all.”

Talk about vague. Myk-Zod frowns, almost wanting to call the Protoss out on his entirely unhelpful words. That wasn’t even a prophecy from the sound of things. That was Zeratul’s own interpretation of a prophecy, if said prophecy was even real in the first place.

And yet… when Myk-Zod glances at Sarah, he blinks upon seeing her frozen in place. Zeratul’s words have had far more of an impact on her than Myk-Zod would have expected, leaving her absolutely still for a long moment before she snaps out of it and takes a step forward.

“What does that mean, exactly? Why only one? What doom comes for us all?”

But Zeratul just shakes his head and steps back into the shadows.

“I have said what needs to be said. The message has been delivered. You must now depart, one way or another.”

It’s obvious that the Protoss is about to try and do a disappearing trick, likely using the same cloaking technology he almost managed to sneak up on them with in the first place. Before he can, Myk-Zod calls out to him.

“And what’s to stop us from pilfering this location once you’re gone? If you don’t want us taking everything we can get our hands on, you should at least answer Sarah’s questions.”

There’s a pause at that before Zeratul lets out a rather disturbing telepathic chuckle.

“That will not be a problem. You are about to be too busy to remain.”

What? What did that even mean? Myk-Zod scowls as Zeratul disappears. Or rather, he tries to disappear. To his credit, the Protoss’ cloaking is pretty damn amazing. He entirely vanishes from normal human perception. However, Myk-Zod doesn’t have normal human perception. He can still see Zeratul slowly backing away.

He opens his mouth to tell the Dark Templar that he’s not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is, but before the words can leave Myk-Zod’s lips, there’s a suddenly chirping from Sarah’s comms unit. Both Myk-Zod and Sarah look down at the device for half a moment… and when he looks over at where Zeratul was a moment later, the Protoss is gone, replaced by a small cloud of dark smoke.

Sarah, meanwhile, pulls the communicator off of her belt and activates it, bringing it to her lips.

“Kerrigan here.”

Raynor’s voice comes through a moment later.

“Sarah, grab Myk and get back up to the fleet on the double. We’ve got a situation here.”

He and Sarah exchange a concerned look at that. Was this Zeratul’s doing? If not, how the hell had the Dark Templar known they were about to be called back like this? Either way, both of them turn and begin to leave the structure. As they go, Sarah keeps the conversation going with Raynor.

“What is it, Jim? What’s going on up there? Are you under attack?!”

“… Not yet. Nothing is going on here, exactly. But… it ain’t pretty, Sarah. Earth sent a fleet. They’re calling themselves the United Earth Directorate now… and claiming control over every Terran Settlement in the sector.”

Myk-Zod blinks as Sarah pales in the face of that news, looking outright horrified by the prospect. He has to admit, he hasn’t looked too much into this universe’s version of Earth, instead keeping his studies to the Koprulu Sector… so he’s a little caught off guard by the way Sarah stops dead in her tracks and curses.

“Fuck…”

And Raynor sounds like he’s in complete agreement, his tone solemn.

“Yeah… it ain’t good. Both of you get back up here on the double. We’ve got to all get together and figure out what we’re going to do next.”

As he flies Sarah back through the Protoss base’s automatic defenses, Myk-Zod is frankly a lot more concerned about the ‘prophecy’ over these new arrivals in the sector. They were just more humans at the end of the day, right? And from what Zeratul had said, it sounded like Sarah was expected to go with Myk-Zod and Mystique on their next trip. As if it would doom the galaxy somehow if she didn’t.

But what had he meant about the whole ‘you want two things and can only have one’ bit? What did that even mean? Unfortunately, he can tell even as they make it back to their ship and head back into space that Sarah is in no state of mind to talk about it at the moment.

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