Battle of Tyrador IX

The Battle of Tyrador IX was a conflict that occurred on Tyrador IX when controlled zerg under the Cerberus Program invaded the planet.

Background
Thousands of years ago, the Ihan-rii held Tyrador IX as their homeworld, but were forced to abandon it when they went into stasis on the fringes of the sector. It was later repopulated by the terrans of the Terran Confederacy, which became the Terran Dominion, and used as a resort world for the wealthy among their race. However, the wealth and ease of the work on Tyrador made the local defenders, the Knights of Tyrador, very lax, and much of their technology was designed for show over being functional for defense.

The Cerberus Program, once an elite wing of the Terran Dominion, was forced to go underground when the former Emperor of the Terran Dominion, Arcturus Mengsk, was killed. They since went into the business of using technology to control and enhance zerg broods, and selling them to the highest bidder.

After the End War, the Ihan-rii were awakened from their stasis by a distress beacon from a figure named "the Zeratul." However, they were unable to ascertain the origin of this signal, and instead opted to return to their homeworld.

Course of the Battle
Zerg under the control of the Cerberus Program launched an assault on Tyrador IX, blindsiding the Knights of Tyrador. A reaper, who was taking a long route back to base to avoid the dust storms, was the first to spot the incoming zerg advance. The defenders of the city of New Canaan at first thought the lamps attacked to the eyes of the Cerberus hydralisks were the lights of dune buggies, and did not engage until it was too late.

The defenders were quickly overwhelmed. Mutalisks destroyed many defending vikings, and the Knight's banshee corps were nearly wiped out, though one seasoned pilot managed to kill three ultralisks first. Ravagers battered the Knight's defensive line. Many of the Knight's cyclones were being used as amusement park displays, and went into battle armed with nothing but harmless fireworks.

As all seemed lost, a Knights raven detected the Ihan-rii fleet in the gravity well of Tyrador IX. They sent out a Behemoth-class battlecruiser to meet with the Ihan-rii, and the protoss dispatched oracles to investigate them.

The Ihan-rii blindsided the Cerberus zerg with their massive stone ships and void beams. However, initial landings were rocky, as a group of Ihan-rii were slaughtered by lurkers at a drop site. Soon the Cerberus fliers, once uncontested in the skies, found their match in the Ihan-rii's stone fleet.