The War
In the process of many years, an advanced race, the Terrans, had outstretched far beyond their home planet, into distant space. Their society expanded into the farthest reaches, encountering nothing but civil war as they colonized each planet to cross their path. But, in the year 2499 AD, a war began. Seemingly out of nowhere an alien species, the Zerg, invaded the far colony of Chau Sara, using their alien abilities to infest the human planet. The fight was futile, as a third factor, the Protoss, intervened. The Protoss took it upon themselves to rid the galaxy of the Zerg infestation, and as result of orbital bombardment, destroyed Chau Sara.
The feud between the honorable, zealous, humanoid Protoss and savage, predatory, hive-minded Zerg does not spawn from mere discontent. Before the time of the two, there lived an all-powerful race, the Xel'Naga. With their advanced technology and mantra of "purity of form", they created the Protoss, meaning "first born". However, once revealing themselves to their creations, the Protoss rebelled and chased the Xel'Naga away.
And thus, the Zerg were created. With the failure of "purity of form", the Xel'Naga turned to "purity of essence". The Zerg came to be; an adaptive race that absorbed species they killed into their gene pool. The Xel'Naga created this race with the intention of prevailing where they had failed before. They believed in order to do so, they mustn't reveal themselves to their creation. To communicate with the Zerg, they created the Overmind a creature molded to it's master's image. With this they were able to control the Zerg, but, like their creations before, the Overmind secretly planned to overthrow their masters. With a devastating assault, the Zerg attacked and chased away the Xel'Naga from the Galaxy the first step to Galactic domination.
The Zerg, learning of the Protoss through the Xel'Naga's destruction, saw the Protoss as their final goal: to absorb the "first born" into their gene pool would be perfection. The Protoss learned of the Zerg's intent, and needed to fight back. As such, the feud began.
Enter the Terran, the human race. A Civil War divided the race, which, through colonization, had made it's way into the Protoss' space. As the Civil War drew to a close, it was revealed that tests were being done on Zerg subjects on the planet of Chau Sara. They eventually escaped, and infested the planet. The Protoss saw the destruction of the Chau Sara the only way to get rid of their enemy. The Zerg (after a journey of over sixty years) had already spread themselves to other Terran planets, however, and the dominant factions of humankind rallied to fend off the invaders. The Protoss and Terran found truce in the fight against Zerg and became allies.
With the secret of the Protoss planet unknown, and the ability to destroy Zerg commanders (known as cerebrates), the Alliance was safe. But manipulation revealed the location of Aiur, the Protoss home world, to the Zerg Overmind. The Zerg sent their entirety to take the planet of their predecessors, and after a long, costly battle (for all sides), the Overmind landed on Aiur and the invasion was successful.
After recuperating, the Protoss learned of a way to destroy the Overmind. And in a final, combined Protoss-Terran assault, the Overmind was destroyed. To the dismay of both Terran and Protoss, this caused more harm than good. The battle for Aiur left the Protoss population with 30% of what it began with, and with the Overmind gone, Zerg Broods vied for control of the Swarm. The ensuing Civil War amongst the Broods caused havoc upon the surface of Aiur. A havoc where if you didn't have supreme power, you weren't going to win.
Of Civil War and Desperate Survival: The Terran Dominion
The Terran involvement in the conflict for Aiur was, in essence, a mistake. Ships of political prisoners the prisoners being sent out into space rather than being executed landed far from their destination on three worlds. These worlds, Tarsonis, Moria, and Umoja, located in Protoss space, became the Terran Colonies by which their race would enter the War. Before the War, however, the humans went through a Civil War.
After colonization, the worlds built up sub-warp and warp technology, and vying for power, attacked each other. In the process many incorporate worlds were colonized and used as stages for the three powers. As the war winded down, the people of Tarsonis become the strongest faction, and declaring themselves the Terran Confederacy (led by General Edmund Duke), controlled the three planets and all that had been colonized. During a campaign to put down a rebellion initiated by the planet of Korhal (one of the colonized), the Confederacy discovered testing of Zerg subjects on the planet of Chau Sara. During this discovery, and invasion force of Zerg attacked Chau Sara from out of nowhere. The Colony was overrun, and eventually destroyed by the Protoss to halt the infestation of other planets; the effort was in vain, the Zerg had already spread to surrounding colonies.
The Terran went into defensive mode, fighting an enemy that seemed unstoppable. The Confederacy couldn't handle the job alone, and the once warring Terran factions had to work together. The Sons of Korhal (the ones who started the rebellion) were called to duty. Among the ranks were Jim Raynor, Marshall of Mar Sara, Sarah Kerrigan, a telepathic Ghost, second in command, and Arcturus Mengsk, the Leader. A series of Zerg attacks soon left General Duke defenseless and calling for help. The Sons answered the call, and the price was Duke's loyalty.
The Sons of Korhal soon learned the Confederacy was using Psionic devices, called Psi Emitters, to lure the Zerg to attack disloyal colonies. The Sons, desperate to gain power, stole and use an Emitter to lure the Zerg against the Confederacy. Their plans are interfered with as the Protoss once again come to destroy the Zerg. This time, instead of immediately using Orbital Bombardment, they wait for the Terran forces to leave. This gave the Sons the time they need to set their plan in action. In a last attempt effort, they activate the Emitter to attack the Confederacy, but at the sacrifice of Sarah Kerrigan.
Jim Raynor becames allied with the Protoss through various circumstances, a former Confederate commander. He first became acquainted with Tassadar, the former executor of Auir and then the rest of the Protoss. Now, he leads the fight against the Zerg alongside with the Protoss, leading his small group of Terrans as aid. Sarah Kerrigan on the other hand, was brought to the overmind and morphed into a hive being. She now is one of the Zerg, the greatest creation of the Overmind, a psionic infested human. At the last moments of a desperate assault on the Overmind, Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind. Though this was a great victory as well as a great loss, the war is far from over& Cerebrates, the subcommanders below the Overmind have started to act& The Queen of Blades, Kerrigan, herself sets out away from the rest of the Zerg, on her own mission to claim the Zerg hives as her own. The death of the Overmind have brought a new turn to the war.
Meanwhile, Earth has sent the UED, the United Earth Dominion, to the war. Fighting against the Confederacy as well the Zerg and Protoss, it has come under the goal to control the Zerg. They believe that Zergs can be manipulated and have set out to accomplish their mission. Behind doors, they have begun the vilest experiment ever. A new Overmind cocoon has been found and the UED plans to control it&
Retaliation - The First Borns
Dirt, rubble, ashes and smoke. The Zerg invasion on Auir yielded results devastating on a planetary scale. Hundreds decimated, cities razed, the once sacred home world of the Protoss was now festering with Zerg hive creatures. And with the loss of their home world comes the loss of hope. Situations seem dire. The ravenous Zerg have taken over in brute force and sheer numbers. However, hope is still existant, no matter how bleak. Tassadar, a previous executor, had sacrificed himself to rid the world of the Overmind. With this loss, comes a dim light of promise.
Without a central leader, the Zerg swarms are left confused. They have turned to their basic instincts, resorting to primitive behavior. No longer the purest forms in the universe, the Zerg are now killing machines, killing everything in sight, even themselves. The weakness of the Zerg is now apparent, but actions must be taken quickly. Broods are already starting to recollect under Cerebrates and the Queen of Blades. For the Protoss, the chance to re take their home world is still out of reach. For now, they gather survivors that are still stranded on Auir, fighting for their life each day. The majority of protoss have been killed, the rest seeking refuge on Shakuras, the planet of darkness, home to tribes that were once considered brothers. The Dark Templar.
These tribes are much like the Protoss, though due to past segregation have key differences. Unlike the Protoss, the Dark Templar do not share psi. To prove their permanent departure from the rest of the Protoss kind, they had cut off their central nerve core, severing a bond that connected the minds of all Protoss. They are mostly wanderers, though they have now settled on Shakuras due to an ancient temple yet unknown to others. Dark Templars provide a huge support for the exhausted Protoss troops. They introduced two main military enhancements: The Dark Warriors and The Corsairs.
The Dark Warriors use blades, similar to those of the zealot, though much stronger in nature. However, they are less shielded from damage from the lack of extensive armor. A cover-up for this flaw however is the Dark Warriors unique technique of remaining invisible to the naked eye for extensive amounts of time. Manipulating the energies of the crystals implanted in their armor, they bend light around their bodies, rendering them undetectable by normal senses. The Corsairs are special fighters, dedicated to the role of air on air. Also, they have the ability to cast disruptive nets of signals that are useful in preventing many things.
The Protoss are gathering now, recollecting their once powerful army. Simply biding time as they gather any survivors and recover, they plan to one day fight back. The time to redeem their faults and flaws is now. The "First Borns" will strike without mercy.
Decimation - The Pure Borns
Every creature for the swarm. Every life for the Overmind. The Zerg forces were successful in their invasion, now occupying most of Auir. Though the death of the Overmind was a major defeat, the spirit of the Zerg are not brought down so easily. Survival is in their blood. Naturally blood hungry, the Zerg fight on, even without a mind. They ravage everything insight, what they can not assimilate, they destroy. As the Zerg swarms continue to devastate the planet, forms of organization re surface. The Zerg are not completely mindless, each brood controlled by a Cerebrate. Though there were civil wars at first, the tension within the race has mainly subsided. Cerebrates are pooling together, most under the leadership of the late Overmind's most trusted advisor, Daggoth.
Not only does Daggoth have a mass library of knowledge, he also commands the largest of all Zerg swarms, the Jorgmund brood. Within the Zerg, he also commands several subordinate Cerebrates. He has one main goal in mind: Conquer the rest of the Auir while he starts his master plan. Determined towards his goal, he drives the Zerg mercilessly. Daggoth plans to resurrect his former lord, the Overmind. The plan has already begun, a seed planted. The Overmind will soon mature, and rightfully take it's power back and return to lead the Zerg. With every second that passes, Daggoth is one step closer to his goal.
All is not peaceful within the ranks of the Zerg however, as another power force leads her own brood of Zerg, gaining power quickly. Sarah Kerrigan, former Terran, now the Queen of Blades, the Overmind's perfect creation. She plots to take over the Zerg for herself, aspiring to become Queen of all Zerg. Already, she commands several swarms through her sick hold over the newest of Cerebrates, un-named for now. As of this moment, she sits in her lair, plotting and conniving of plans to usurp Daggoth's power for her own.
Kerrigan's army isn't the average Zerg Swarm however. She has enhanced some of the genetic strains of her species. Two species have been altered so much to the point of possessing the ability to mutate into new species. These two new additions are the Lurkers and the Devourers. Lurkers, a genetic variant of Hydralisks, have the unique ability to dig underground, sending waves of subterranean spines to the ground above. Devourers, a genetic variant of Mutalisks, are huge flying behemoths, their size rivals that of the ultralisk. They have the ability to spout acidic spores that corrode the plating of even the most toughest of ships.
As the two sides of the Zerg collect power, their original goal has not been paused. The forces of the Zerg have continued to press forward each day, slowly taking over all of Auir. Behind the mask of seeminy unity, however, the return of a civil war is inevitable. The Brood Wars have just begun.
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In the brightest light,
We find darkness...
-=Wraith Squad=--=TRP=-
TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]
Memoirs of a Withered Soul- Compendium of Short Stories on Talstorin's Background/Story of Talstorin and Durandal( out now- read it on army story board)
Happy Holidays! Cause Wraith is going to leave you others in the dust for the HSC