Chapter CCXVI: The Ganthritor Flies Again ~Markior

"Wait! Stop! GIT BACK HERE!" Markior rumbled. It was too late again, Multex and NM had run off. Markior threw his hands into the air. "By Adun… Can't that guy ever stay in one place for more then a minute?" Aurora looked at Markior. "Well… he was here for a while. Don't you have one of those spies following him?" Markior turned towards the princess. "An Observer? Yes, I thought of that." Markior nodded towards the direction of his quarters. "I'll know where he is from this point, no problem." Lich tilted his head sideways. "What's that sound?" Markior looked up. "I don't hear any-…" The Nexus rumbled in it's foundations, knocking those who were standing on their feet sideways. Markior clenched his fists and looked outside. "An earthquake… an out of the ordinary earthquake." He said, the rumble making his voice shudder. He narrowed his eyes and quickly spun around while the rumbling stopped. At the edge of the room, a cloaked stranger had appeared. "Look, we don't have much time now. I come to offer my aid. I offer you the Elemental stones. They change your body to suit their elemental purpose. They should help you," he said, pulling out an ornate box from his cloak, opening it and holding it out. "I shall appear here, and remain here until I am no longer needed and the time has passed." The stranger spoke.

"Why do you hate Markior so much, Ulrezaj? Why do you still have the burning despise of the Light Protoss deep within you after so many years? The Light and Dark Protoss have been reunited more then a year ago. None of the Dark Templar still loathes any other Protoss...you are the only one who remains." Raszagal spoke mentally, her eyes lighting up. Lord Ulrezaj turned his head sideways. "How can any Dark Templar forget what the Light Ones did to us..." he grumbled. Raszagal looked at the Dark Archon. "They paid for their crimes..." Ulrezaj's body lit up. "Not enough! They shall burn like I do every single day, torn apart by…" Raszagal interrupted the Archon's shouts of rage. "By a never-ending hatred and hunger for revenge?! Is that what you want?!" Ulrezaj clenched his fists and began to speak again, but Raszagal was quicker. "Ulrezaj... I loved you when you were a Templar. You were full of ambition, so full of life. But now, all I see is the rage. You are the reason while the Dark Templar had outlawed the creation of Dark Archons for a thousand years. You're blind, Ulrezaj. Blind!" Raszagal yelled, nearly in tears.

Markior narrowed his eyes and looked at the stranger. "If you are what I sense you are, then why do I feel uncomfortable?" The stranger chuckled slightly. "Markior, if I weren't here now, all this would be so much harder. And yes, I know you won't accept one of the stones, I know that your Eternal Grey is the combination of all elements. The others, however, would be wise to choose a stone." He held the box out forwards. Kerrigan grinned and stepped forwards as first, shoving Lich to the side. "Nothing wrong with another increase of my power...wouldn't you agree, Protoss?" She grinned, looking over the stones. She looked at the stranger. "Isn't there a psychic stone in here?" She half hissed, half spoke. The stranger picked a stone out of the box. It was clear white with a few lines of multiple colours. Kerrigan took it out of the stranger's hand and smirked. "Thanks pal." Markior grumbled slightly and stepped outside while rumbling, "Fine. When you all are done, come outside. I'll be waiting in the Ganthritor II and beam you up."

Raszagal's image became distorted, but Ulrezaj didn't notice it. He looked downwards, thinking things over. Raszagal looked from side to side confusedly while her image faded away and got replaced by another. "My student..." The image spoke. It was the image of a vertical grey eye with a black iris. Ulrezaj's disembodied claws moved into a circular movement before coming to a stop in the middle of the imaginary circle. "Greetings again, my mentor." The surroundings of Lord Ulrezaj changed to a platform surrounded by a never-ending nothingness of a grey colour. The eye blinked once, and glowed. "The time has come for you to disappear, Ulrezaj. Havering has changed something... Markior has stopped being the number one threat. Even though Markior has the potential, Havering is now our number one concern. I shall take you off of Zolott for now. When the time comes, I shall deal with Havering myself. He will surely destroy Markior. You can go and rest, or train to increase your powers. You're not needed here anymore." Ulrezaj nodded. "Yes, my mentor. If that is your wish, I have no business left here." The eye faded away, and where Ulrezaj once stood, there was nothing anymore. Without a portal, a flash of light, or anything, Ulrezaj simply had disappeared. Thanatos, the human form of The Dark Lich, blinked and looked around, cured from Ulrezaj's mind-control. Multiple Zerg forces scattered across Zolott also looked around confusedly.

Markior placed the twin crystals in front of him inside the Ganthritor II. He mumbled a few Xel'Naga words, and the Uraj and Khalis began circling around each other. Markior could feel the charge of Eternal Grey power surging through his body, his eyes lighting up with the grey energy drifting around his form like a cloak. He waved a hand upwards, the Ganthritor II in response taking to the skies. "Right..." Markior looked to the side, looking at a screen of one of the Observers who was following Multex. The grey Archon muttered under his breath when he saw a few artifacts of the Aurorium sticking out of the bags which were carried by one of the robbers. "Grhm…better take care of that later…" he thought. Controlling the Ganthritor by mind and redirecting his own Psionic shield around the ship, though amplified, it was like the great carrier flagship had become an extension of his body. He blinked his eyes, a small hatch opening ontop of the Ganthritor that fired dark-blue shots into the air, which exploded shortly after. The blue shots turned into a magnitude of colours. "There," Markior smiled. "A beacon. Everyone on the planet should be able to see this. Let's hope they're smart or curious enough to come towards it."