Under the continuous bombardment of the Viking fighters and a pincer attack from ground forces, the shield of the first Protoss Nexus overloaded, causing it to explode with a deafening crash. One of the energy beams connected to the Mothership flickered and died.
Selendis's voice rang out once more over psionic broadcast, tinged with palpable anger and confusion: "Stubborn insects. You only delay an inevitable end, adding uselessly to the body count."
Raynor's answer was a precise grenade that blew a charging Zealot sky-high. "Our end is ours to decide, Executor!"
Up in the sky, the Mothership dimmed ever so slightly from the loss of a power source. Yet its main cannon began charging once more, this time locking onto a mining settlement where many civilians hadn't been evacuated in time.
The countdown continued in another form.
The cost of destroying the first Protoss Nexus was immense. The Raiders' ground forces had taken over thirty percent casualties, and nearly half of the first batch of Viking fighters was wiped out. Yet a faint ray of hope truly gleamed through. A crack had formed in the Mothership's absolute invincibility.
"Don't stop! Next Nexus, southeast mountains!" Raynor's voice came through the static-filled comm channel, raspy yet powerful. His power armor was covered in deep scuffs and scorch marks, his visor splattered with blood and hydraulic fluid. "Swann, how long on the second batch of Vikings? Matt, keep drawing their fire; don't let the Carriers and Void Rays mess with the ground troops!"
Surrounded and hunted by the Protoss fleet, the Hyperion tossed like a fragile skiff in a storm, the overload alarms of its shield generators blaring shrilly. Matt's face was grim as he maneuvered the ship to its absolute limits while dispatching the remaining Wraith fighters and newly built Vikings to intercept Protoss Scouts and Observers trying to bomb the ground troops.
The second Protoss Nexus was situated in a rugged mountain area, easy to defend and tough to assault. The Protoss deployed more Immortals and Colossi. Towering several kilometers tall, the Colossi strode forward with heavy steps, their thermal lance beams sweeping across the ground to melt rock, explode vehicles, and vaporize infantry in an instant.
The Raiders' advance ground to a halt as casualties surged sharply.
At this moment, Osiris issued a brief instruction to Valerie. Valerie gave a nod and quickly spoke in a "low voice" over an encrypted frequency that "happened" to be receivable by a nearby Raider comm technician: "The consultant's analysis shows that the leg joints of the Protoss Colossus are composite structural weak points for energy transmission; under asymmetrical force, they overload easily. Recommending concentrated fire on the leg joints on one side."
The intel spread quickly to the front lines. Though Raynor felt a sliver of doubt regarding the source, no opportunity could be wasted on a battlefield.
He immediately ordered a shift in firepower: Marauder Concussive Shells, Marine C-14 Gauss Rifles, and Viking rockets focused their fire entirely on the right leg joint of a Colossus.
The effect was instantaneous. Under concentrated impacts, blinding electrical sparks burst from the right leg joint of one Colossus, and its massive frame lost balance, crashing heavily to the ground. While not completely destroyed, it was temporarily neutralized as a threat.
The same tactic was applied to the other Colossi, and despite the Protoss trying to adjust their formation to protect them, a breach was torn in their defensive line under the desperate charges of the Raiders and harassment from the Vikings.
"Push forward! Take that Nexus!" Raynor roared, leading from the front.
Osiris recorded the outcome calmly: Suggestion adopted, tactical efficiency proven. Furthering the credibility and perceived value of the "Far Star Alliance Consultant" within Raynor's outfit. He provided no assistance beyond the scope of "analysis," keeping everything strictly within the boundaries of reasonable technical support.
At the same time, the Mothership's second purification strike descended, targeting the mining settlement. Despite jamming fire from the Hyperion and Matt's desperate attempt to launch a decoy beam with what little power remained, the destructive beam of deep blue light slammed down regardless.
At the distant observation post, Dr. Hanson squeezed her eyes shut in agony, her shoulders trembling violently. Even from afar, one could see the entire area twist and vanish inside the light. Another group of people she had tried to save had been reduced to nothingness.
Selendis's psionic broadcast echoed with cold pity: "Meaningless struggles only bring more complete annihilation. Your bravery cannot alter the laws of physics or the inevitability of biological corruption."
"Screw your inevitability!" Tychus swore loudly over the ground channel, unloading the last of his heavy machine-gun ammo to riddle a charging Zealot with holes.
After a grueling battle of attrition, the second Protoss Nexus finally collapsed into ruins amidst a violent energy explosion. The second energy beam connected to the Mothership died out. At this point, the hull glow of the "Purifier" had dimmed significantly, and its main cannon's charging rate appeared to slow down.
"It's getting weaker! Push harder! One last one!" Raynor roared, his voice hot with the scent of blood and fire. But his forces were completely spent—ammo was running empty, and wounded soldiers lay everywhere.
The final Protoss Nexus sat out on an open plain where the Protoss had gathered their last heavy forces, with several Void Rays even lowering their altitude to provide orbital fire support. This was the toughest fight yet.
The Hyperion's situation was critical—badly damaged in multiple areas, its main fighter squadrons almost entirely lost. Matt was forced to make a painful call, pulling the Hyperion back from the front lines for emergency repairs; otherwise, it faced the risk of crashing. This meant the ground forces lost their most vital orbital cover and intel feed.
At this critical juncture, Osiris once again "suggested" through Valerie that the Raiders utilize their familiarity with the terrain gained during previous cleanup operations, exploiting the likelihood that the Protoss would overlook "low-tech" traps by pre-setting explosives and EMP jammers along the path to the final Nexus.
Raynor adopted the idea. When the Protoss forces made their heavy advance, the pre-set explosive disruptions triggered brief chaos, severing their formation lines. The surviving Raider forces, combined with the last few Vikings squeezed out by Swann, launched a desperate final charge.
The battle entered its most brutal close-quarters phase—power armor clashing against Psi-Blades, the roar of firearms mixing with the energy howls of dying Protoss units.
Osiris's sensors captured every single detail. He witnessed the astounding resilience and spirit of sacrifice that erupted from humans driven to a dead end, while also observing the tactical discipline and individual valor maintained by the Protoss warriors even when facing defeat. It was a clash of wills and beliefs, making the data infinitely precious.
Finally, at the cost of nearly total annihilation, a Viking rocket punched straight through the energy core of the last Protoss Nexus, triggering an earth-shattering explosion. The third and final connecting beam vanished.
Up in orbit, the brilliant energy shield around the Mothership "Purifier" popped like a soap bubble, exposing its massive, somewhat dimmed golden hull. It was no longer an invulnerable god of destruction.
"Now's the time!" Bearing unpatched scars, the Hyperion charged back to the front without hesitation, opening fire with every weapon still capable of shooting. "All units! Target the Mothership! Fire!"
Surviving ground anti-air fire, Viking fighters, and the main cannon, secondary batteries, and missile arrays of the Hyperion—everything capable of reaching poured a torrent of attacks onto the massive hull.
The Mothership attempted to maneuver, firing secondary turrets and interceptors while even releasing a small "Vortex" to temporarily trap a portion of the Viking fighters, but without its infinite shields, its massive frame became a prime target.
Its golden armor plates shattered and peeled off in explosions, exposing internal structures that spewed turbulent streams of raw energy.
It attempted to turn its main cannon toward the Hyperion for a final gamble, but the charging process was repeatedly interrupted by dense, unrelenting fire.
With the destruction of the last Protoss Nexus, the shields of the Mothership "Purifier" in orbit collapsed completely.
Under the focused barrage from the Hyperion and the remaining firepower on the ground, the massive Protoss flagship ultimately snapped in two, plunging into the deep ocean as a burning wreck.