StarCraft History Lesson: Prelude to The Great War

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is nearly upon us and despite numerous petitions from MyGaming, the government hasn’t declared 27 July a national holiday. In preparation for this momentous gaming occasion, MyGaming has been brushing up on StarCraft history. Recently we took a look at the ancient history of the StarCraft universe in which the Zerg and Protoss were created by the hand of the Xel’naga.

The Dark Templar

Under the guidance of the Xel’naga, the Protoss flourished as a civilisation, but this prosperity soon degenerated into an ideological war known as the Aeon of Strife. As tribal warfare spread across Aiur, the Xel’naga dispersed, an act which further angered the raging tribes. Many artefacts and khaydarin crystals were abandoned during the Xel’naga retreat. Madness gripped the Protoss and their ability to link psionically with one another was lost.

The Shelak Tribe suffered greatly for their devotion to the Xel’naga. Two Shelak tribal scholars, Savassan and Temlaa, began to search for and study the Xel’naga relics, ultimately discovering a way to reunite the warring tribes. Savassan became known as Khas – “He Who Brings Order” – as he travelled across Aiur teaching Protoss how to reconnect and join with the collective psionic link. This philosophical approach was named the Khala, and its followers the Khalai.

The Second Age of Protoss dawned as sanity returned – the Protoss began to explore and colonise. Among the emergent tribes and social castes was the Templar Caste. Some Protoss refused to adopt the Khala and were persecuted by the Conclave as rogues. Templar Executor Adun could not bring himself to murder the dissidents, and instead taught them to hide. However, without the discipline of the Khala, the rogues soon lost control of their psionic powers, unleashing storms across Aiur and other Protoss worlds.

Protoss Dark Templar

A Dark Templar

With the threat of another civil war looming, the Conclave decided to banish the rogues aboard a Xel’naga freighter. Tension mounted in the moments before the rogues were cast into the void – fearing more psionic storms would be unleashed, Adun sacrificed himself to create a shrouding mist which allowed the rouges to escape. It was later discovered that the rogues managed to steal the Khalis, a powerful crystal resonating with the same energy as the rogues.

Zeratul with Khalis

Zeratul holding the Khalis

The Conclave covered up as much information as possible, and soon the rogues became the stuff of legends – the Dark Templar of tribe Nerazim. They travelled through the stars for hundreds of years, eventually discovering Shakuras, a planet they colonised as their home.

The Terran

By the 23rd century the Earth was near catastrophe due to pollution, overpopulation and diminishing resources. Under control of a worldwide fascist regime – the United Powers League (UPL) – humans began to colonise their immediate solar system.

Scientist Doran Routhe was focussed on colonising distant planets and through the UPL he secured 40 000 prisoners which were then loaded into supercarriers. These prisoners were destined for a planet relatively near Earth, but due to navigation failures, they instead travelled 60 000 light years through space, a journey known as ‘the long sleep.’

Terran supercarriers enter Koprulr Sector

During this journey, the ships supercomputers identified a genetic mutation in a small percentage of the humans that would manifest in psionic abilities within a few generations. The ships systems began to fail and in 2259 they emerged from warp space into the Koprulu Sector and descended to the nearest planets able to support human life. Three planets – Umoja, Moria, and Tarsonis – would become the new homes of the ‘Terrans.’ The Terran’s had no way of communicating with each other between the three planets.

The Terrans of Tarsonis progressed rapidly, soon discovering their neighbours. Tarsonis declared an interstellar Terran Confederacy government and began to wage war over mining rights. As political wars raged throughout Terran planets in the decades preceding the Great War, the Zerg, attracted to the psionic abilities detected in humans, managed to secretly infest a number of fringe planets in the sector – Chau Sara being the most heavily infested.

The Protoss, aware of the Terrans, had been observing the Koprulu sector, as it was on the outskirts of their territory. Having discovered a deep space Zerg probe and learning of the Zerg intentions, the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet lead by Tassadar and under Conclave orders sterilised Chau Sara on 8 December 2499 – the first blow of the Great War which unfolded in StarCraft.

Chau Sara