Starcraft: The Full Story
Starcraft's story is one of the better game stories out there, but in the game you only get the overall picture. I wanted to give the lesser events a chance to be told and show what it may be like to be one of the lesser people in the story. There are also entities in the Starcraft universe that are not seen in the main story, but must certainly have a place. So this story serves a double purpose, to present Starcraft's story in a written format (which is owned by Blizzard Entertainment and which I am in no way profiting from nor is anyone else to the best of my knowledge), and to add a depth and feeling that a dramatic story deserves. This will most likely be long and in many parts to allow for this depth, but the story deserves no less. The continuity of the story will remain, but many old and new elements will enter the story and add their twists to it.
Prologue: The Determinant
It could be described as a swarm, and in the future it would be called that many times, but for now the many shapes with their strange protrusions hung motionless on the dark side of a moon. Though the many, many vessels of the swarm sat in the all encompassing void, their hard, tough exoskeletons prevented their destruction.
The living ships, and the variety of creatures within understood one thing above all else: Obey the Overmind. Just beneath that, however, lay their insatiable lust for killing and destruction. Rarely did this cause them to go beyond the Overmind's control, for it was absolute. The Overmind itself was a creature unlike any other. Created by the Xel'Naga, the benevolent master race that at one time ruled over thousands of worlds and conducted grand experiments in species evolution, the Overmind's greatest strength was its unending capacity to learn. Originally its role was to serve as the hive mind of its race, the Zerg. Learning quickly the Overmind used the Zerg's Xel'Naga imbued "purity of essence" to evolve the once defenseless parasitic species into one capable of space flight. By assimilating the genetic characteristics of only those species that were the most superior to create ever more deadly strains, the Zerg fashioned their bodies into the perfect weapons. Always the strains made an ingenious use of blades, projectiles, chemicals, and plagues.
The day came when the Zerg turned against their benefactors, breaching their worldships and utterly erasing their last vestige from this galaxy. From assimilating the Xel'Naga the Overmind learned of how it was created and of its elder brother race, the Protoss. The Overmind knew that a conflict with this race was inevitable, and with this knowledge it set out to assimilate the Protoss' "purity of form" and in doing so make the Zerg perfect.
That had been millennia ago, and now, as the swarm neared Protoss space, the Overmind has begun to fear, for it had found no race, no final determinant that would give the Zerg the capability to combat the Protoss' psionic abilities. That is why it has taken the precaution of hiding the swarm in the shadow of a moon, to prevent any Protoss vessel from happening upon them, even though it was a million to one chance this far from Protoss space.
In the Overmind's central chamber, deep within the swarm fleet, several psychic organs grown into the walls allowed the minds of the Cerebrates to communicate with the Overmind and each other. The Cerebrates were "offspring" of the Overmind, they thought independently so that they could command their separate broods to perform the tasks delegated to them by the Overmind. However, the Cerebrates were always under the Overmind's control.
The Overmind's psychic communications resonated in the chamber and into the minds of the Cerebrates, more an energy or feeling than actual speech, "WE GROW CLOSER TO OUR FINAL CHALLENGE AND STILL WE LACK THE STRENGTH TO BE CERTAIN OF OUR DOMINANCE OVER THE PROTOSS."
Daggoth, cerebrate of the Tiamat brood which consisted of the command fleet, responded to it in a deep, grating voice, "Surely there must be a race in this galaxy, other than the Protoss, that has psionic attributes."
Nargil, cerebrate of the Fenris brood, said to the contrary in its sullen, husky voice, "Not once in all the time the swarm has existed has a strain with psionic potential been found. There is no other race so psionically advanced as the Protoss" Nargil would know because its brood scouted for new species and hunted those who would try and flee the swarm.
Gorn of the Baelrog brood, one that existed to induce terror upon its enemies, spoke up with its shrieking voice, "Is the wrath of the swarm not truly unstoppable? We have always brought forth doom to those who would oppose the swarm, the Protoss are no different. We should rush into battle against them and destroy them before they have a chance to react!" To the casual observer the chamber seemed as silent and nearly as motionless as the dead space without. The energies of the multiple psycic exchanges caused only the smallest reasonance to ocsillate the chamber.
Now Zasz, cerebrate of the Garm brood, the primary assault force, joined the discussion with its reasoning, and snakelike speech, "We have had this conversation many times throughout the ages, and it is always the same; where is the determinant, what shall we do if it does not exist? Now we must decide what to do without this determinant. Is it wise to blindly attack or shall we probe the enemy for weaknesses, though they be few and difficult to exploit.
"But the danger is greater now than ever before," remarked Nargil.
"My brood will prevent any harm to the Overmind or us," Daggoth quickly put in.
Araq, cerebrate of the swarm's humungous Jormungand primary support brood urged in its deep oppresive voice, "Anything is better than remaining here, the Zerg do not hide. Never has the tide of the swarm been stemed. Always will it bathe in glory in the juices of those who resist it."
"There is always the option of retreat, to not fight, or simply postpone our encounter," proposed Nargil. The assembled conciousnesses of the Cerebrates continued to comtimplate the confounding cerebral challenge that had plagued them for millenia while the tan, fleshy, trillobite shaped organs pulsed with those thoughts.
The Overmind responded, "NO, THE ZERG WILL NEVER BECOME INVINCIBLE UNTIL THE PROTOSS HAVE JOINED US, WE MUST BATTLE THEM, WE MUST FIND THE DETERMINANT." Then something happened that was not normal for these meetings that been almost exactly the same for a thousand years.
"I have received a message from one of my deep space probes," Nargil informed the gathered cerebrates causing them to fall silent, "it has encountered a new race that may be only the smallest evolutionary jump away from gaining the ability of psionic manipulation!"
Zasz burst out, "As one our strains we could develop this power to its highest potential."
"SILENCE, LET THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE ENRICH US AS THE CREEP DOES," instructed the Overmind as fluids secreted by the living chamber floated about the gravity forsaken room.
Nargil did so, "They are a short lived and weak race," their hopes plummeted, "but yet they fight amongst themselves endlessly, always prepared to counter an attack," hopes began to rise again, "sometimes they may rush into battle with foolish abandon, but they always have a strategy, sometimes quite unconventional ones. They despise the idea of being controlled. Still, against the Protoss or the swarm they would ultimately fail."
"IN TIME THEY WILL ENJOY BEING LED BY MY WILL AS SERVANTS OF THE SWARM, SO BE IT, THIS RACE WILL JOIN WITH OURS AND SERVE AS OUR DETERMINANT," the Overmind asserted. The cerebrates became contented and silent for a few minutes, the addition of a new strain was a joyous event, it was similar to having a new member added to their family.
Then Daggoth asked, "Shall we enter warp space and begin the assimilation immediately?" The amount of fluid that hovered about the chamber increased as the secretions became greater with the now increased psycic traffic.
"No," offered Zasz, "we shall move with patience as we always have, enhancing our race with those others who are worthy, so that we shall be that much more powerful when the time for battle comes.
"ZASZ SPEAKS MY WILL, IN THE TIME WE TRAVEL, WE SHALL LEARN OF THIS PART OF THE GALAXY, AND SWELL THE SWARM'S NUMBERS, PREPARING FOR THE TRIALS AHEAD," the Overmind agreed.
Now, the fleet of living ships began to move. The light of the star bathed the tan brown shapes as they left the shadow of the moon. With a now slightly altered course, the unfathomable numbers of the swarm plummeted into the black depths of space, never looking back.
Starcraft's story is one of the better game stories out there, but in the game you only get the overall picture. I wanted to give the lesser events a chance to be told and show what it may be like to be one of the lesser people in the story. There are also entities in the Starcraft universe that are not seen in the main story, but must certainly have a place. So this story serves a double purpose, to present Starcraft's story in a written format (which is owned by Blizzard Entertainment and which I am in no way profiting from nor is anyone else to the best of my knowledge), and to add a depth and feeling that a dramatic story deserves. This will most likely be long and in many parts to allow for this depth, but the story deserves no less. The continuity of the story will remain, but many old and new elements will enter the story and add their twists to it.
Prologue: The Determinant
It could be described as a swarm, and in the future it would be called that many times, but for now the many shapes with their strange protrusions hung motionless on the dark side of a moon. Though the many, many vessels of the swarm sat in the all encompassing void, their hard, tough exoskeletons prevented their destruction.
The living ships, and the variety of creatures within understood one thing above all else: Obey the Overmind. Just beneath that, however, lay their insatiable lust for killing and destruction. Rarely did this cause them to go beyond the Overmind's control, for it was absolute. The Overmind itself was a creature unlike any other. Created by the Xel'Naga, the benevolent master race that at one time ruled over thousands of worlds and conducted grand experiments in species evolution, the Overmind's greatest strength was its unending capacity to learn. Originally its role was to serve as the hive mind of its race, the Zerg. Learning quickly the Overmind used the Zerg's Xel'Naga imbued "purity of essence" to evolve the once defenseless parasitic species into one capable of space flight. By assimilating the genetic characteristics of only those species that were the most superior to create ever more deadly strains, the Zerg fashioned their bodies into the perfect weapons. Always the strains made an ingenious use of blades, projectiles, chemicals, and plagues.
The day came when the Zerg turned against their benefactors, breaching their worldships and utterly erasing their last vestige from this galaxy. From assimilating the Xel'Naga the Overmind learned of how it was created and of its elder brother race, the Protoss. The Overmind knew that a conflict with this race was inevitable, and with this knowledge it set out to assimilate the Protoss' "purity of form" and in doing so make the Zerg perfect.
That had been millennia ago, and now, as the swarm neared Protoss space, the Overmind has begun to fear, for it had found no race, no final determinant that would give the Zerg the capability to combat the Protoss' psionic abilities. That is why it has taken the precaution of hiding the swarm in the shadow of a moon, to prevent any Protoss vessel from happening upon them, even though it was a million to one chance this far from Protoss space.
In the Overmind's central chamber, deep within the swarm fleet, several psychic organs grown into the walls allowed the minds of the Cerebrates to communicate with the Overmind and each other. The Cerebrates were "offspring" of the Overmind, they thought independently so that they could command their separate broods to perform the tasks delegated to them by the Overmind. However, the Cerebrates were always under the Overmind's control.
The Overmind's psychic communications resonated in the chamber and into the minds of the Cerebrates, more an energy or feeling than actual speech, "WE GROW CLOSER TO OUR FINAL CHALLENGE AND STILL WE LACK THE STRENGTH TO BE CERTAIN OF OUR DOMINANCE OVER THE PROTOSS."
Daggoth, cerebrate of the Tiamat brood which consisted of the command fleet, responded to it in a deep, grating voice, "Surely there must be a race in this galaxy, other than the Protoss, that has psionic attributes."
Nargil, cerebrate of the Fenris brood, said to the contrary in its sullen, husky voice, "Not once in all the time the swarm has existed has a strain with psionic potential been found. There is no other race so psionically advanced as the Protoss" Nargil would know because its brood scouted for new species and hunted those who would try and flee the swarm.
Gorn of the Baelrog brood, one that existed to induce terror upon its enemies, spoke up with its shrieking voice, "Is the wrath of the swarm not truly unstoppable? We have always brought forth doom to those who would oppose the swarm, the Protoss are no different. We should rush into battle against them and destroy them before they have a chance to react!" To the casual observer the chamber seemed as silent and nearly as motionless as the dead space without. The energies of the multiple psycic exchanges caused only the smallest reasonance to ocsillate the chamber.
Now Zasz, cerebrate of the Garm brood, the primary assault force, joined the discussion with its reasoning, and snakelike speech, "We have had this conversation many times throughout the ages, and it is always the same; where is the determinant, what shall we do if it does not exist? Now we must decide what to do without this determinant. Is it wise to blindly attack or shall we probe the enemy for weaknesses, though they be few and difficult to exploit.
"But the danger is greater now than ever before," remarked Nargil.
"My brood will prevent any harm to the Overmind or us," Daggoth quickly put in.
Araq, cerebrate of the swarm's humungous Jormungand primary support brood urged in its deep oppresive voice, "Anything is better than remaining here, the Zerg do not hide. Never has the tide of the swarm been stemed. Always will it bathe in glory in the juices of those who resist it."
"There is always the option of retreat, to not fight, or simply postpone our encounter," proposed Nargil. The assembled conciousnesses of the Cerebrates continued to comtimplate the confounding cerebral challenge that had plagued them for millenia while the tan, fleshy, trillobite shaped organs pulsed with those thoughts.
The Overmind responded, "NO, THE ZERG WILL NEVER BECOME INVINCIBLE UNTIL THE PROTOSS HAVE JOINED US, WE MUST BATTLE THEM, WE MUST FIND THE DETERMINANT." Then something happened that was not normal for these meetings that been almost exactly the same for a thousand years.
"I have received a message from one of my deep space probes," Nargil informed the gathered cerebrates causing them to fall silent, "it has encountered a new race that may be only the smallest evolutionary jump away from gaining the ability of psionic manipulation!"
Zasz burst out, "As one our strains we could develop this power to its highest potential."
"SILENCE, LET THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE ENRICH US AS THE CREEP DOES," instructed the Overmind as fluids secreted by the living chamber floated about the gravity forsaken room.
Nargil did so, "They are a short lived and weak race," their hopes plummeted, "but yet they fight amongst themselves endlessly, always prepared to counter an attack," hopes began to rise again, "sometimes they may rush into battle with foolish abandon, but they always have a strategy, sometimes quite unconventional ones. They despise the idea of being controlled. Still, against the Protoss or the swarm they would ultimately fail."
"IN TIME THEY WILL ENJOY BEING LED BY MY WILL AS SERVANTS OF THE SWARM, SO BE IT, THIS RACE WILL JOIN WITH OURS AND SERVE AS OUR DETERMINANT," the Overmind asserted. The cerebrates became contented and silent for a few minutes, the addition of a new strain was a joyous event, it was similar to having a new member added to their family.
Then Daggoth asked, "Shall we enter warp space and begin the assimilation immediately?" The amount of fluid that hovered about the chamber increased as the secretions became greater with the now increased psycic traffic.
"No," offered Zasz, "we shall move with patience as we always have, enhancing our race with those others who are worthy, so that we shall be that much more powerful when the time for battle comes.
"ZASZ SPEAKS MY WILL, IN THE TIME WE TRAVEL, WE SHALL LEARN OF THIS PART OF THE GALAXY, AND SWELL THE SWARM'S NUMBERS, PREPARING FOR THE TRIALS AHEAD," the Overmind agreed.
Now, the fleet of living ships began to move. The light of the star bathed the tan brown shapes as they left the shadow of the moon. With a now slightly altered course, the unfathomable numbers of the swarm plummeted into the black depths of space, never looking back.
