Deception



Deception is a Blizzard Entertainment Map of the Month, a series of free maps released by Blizzard Entertainment for StarCraft. Deception is notably one of the only story-based singleplayer scenario released through the monthly series. The featured story leads up to the secret mission Resurrection IV found in Starcraft 64.

On board the Kimeran Pirate battlecruiser Juggernaut, Captain Buzan briefs his space pirates in details regarding a new potential venture. The venture promises to be very profitable and will earn them all a month of shore leave. The details are as follows: The three pirates are to be sent on an information hunt into a science facility controlled by the remnants of the Terran Confederacy. They are to be teleported into the installation's cargo bay and will roam the facility, extracting information from the facility's computer terminals as they go.

Prior to the mission, the Kimeran tech Velichek rigs up a new cloaking field reactor which enables them to cloak for a longer period of time. Buzan also provides them with special energy-saving lockdown charges. However, he cautions them to avoid bloodshed as that spells unwanted attention and brings no profit to them.

Two of the pirates have their alias revealed: Manic and Twitch.

Inside the Facility
The pirates open the first door into the facility's interior by hacking a nearby computer terminal. The next room has automated traps and sentries, which fire at them.

As the pirates roam the facility, the computers they hack into contain fascinating information. Studies have been conducted on human reconstruction using Protoss Dragoon technology, Zerg/Human genome manipulation, Dark Templar cloaking fields, and transferring data from brain cells onto terabyte holodrives, among others.

Further into the facility, they encounter the prison block. One cell holds the Zerg, another Protoss, and the last one is occupied by a single Infested Terran name Morik. Morik tells them that he's a prisoner there and they have been performing terrible experiments on him. He wants to be released from captivity and so he directs them to the control room with the terminal that controls his cell door. Three terminals are found, each controls one cell door. The player is free to choose which cell door(s) to open with corresponding effects seen later. If Morik's cell door isn't opened, the pirates will find their pass blocked by a locked door with no nearby computer terminal. When they do, Morik quickly arrives shouting "Kill!" repeatedly as he destroys the door, after which he hurries through.

Beyond the door, a computer yields up the data file entitled: "Maintaining Discipline In Rampant AI." (This line is a reference to the computer game Marathon.)

Shortly thereafter, the computer announces the escapee(s) according to the decision you made earlier. The pirates wonder if releasing Morik is a good idea, as he moves so quickly they can't keep up with him. By now, he's long gone.

The Teleport Pad
The pirates sneak by, hack into more computers, and find a teleport pad. Unfortunately the pad is guarded by elite guards. The computer there has a data file: "Biological Energy Weapon Limb Replacement Technology."

Up to this point, the player of the mission has had little choice about where to go. Now they can attempt to find a hidden doorway (Top Secret #1), or take the obvious pass through the teleporter.

Using the obvious teleporter sends the three pirates to the medical bay where a friendly medic heals them of their injuries. Unfortunately, she quickly runs out of medical supplies. The first three computers in the bay have a wealth of physiological information on them, such as data files on "Saving Human Mental Faculties In Zerg/Human Hybridization Experiments" and files on advanced combat training: Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (a reference to Rurouni Kenshin) and "The Origin of the Species" (a title very similar to "The Origin of Species", Charles Darwin's magnum opus). The fourth computer unlocks the medical-bay door.

The player now has more choice about where to go. One of the computers further down have startling data files: "Reanimation Using Zerg Infestation Techniques." Another has information on the Skullder Unit 001 Goliath design.

The Shadow Pirate
Thinking they have run into heavy opposition, the pirates enter the telecommunications system room and request backup from Captain Buzan. Buzan sends a medic via teleport along with a Shadow Pirate (Dark Templar) to help them. He cautions them to keep her safe as she is ill-equipped for stealth missions.

The Arena
Heading westwards, the Kimeran Pirates find Zerg and Protoss fighting in an arena (if the Zerg and Protoss prisoners were released). Station security guards are firing indiscriminately at the former prisoners. Further to the west is Top Secret #2.

Hot Zone
As the Kimerans move further along, they find an energy recharging station, which they can use to power up their reactors. However, the station begins to shake, and the pirates suspect Morik of this act.

In another pit, near the evacuation zone, Buzan informs the pirates that something knocked out the transponders in the installation, and he can't transport them out. They should head to the docking bay in the southwest corner.

In order to get there, the pirates have to pass through a series of low tunnels, where they find yet more Zerg and Protoss prisoners fighting each other.

Along the way, they see mysterious explosions kill Marines guarding the station.

The pirates, frightened, leave the area and find two more energy recharge stations. They request Buzan to transport them again, but since the transponders have been knocked out, he can't honor their request.

The pirates believe someone saw them come in, but Buzan says that is impossible; he believes no one can track the Kimeran Juggernaut.

In another series of low tunnels, they evade more Protoss and Zerg prisoners, and find some corpses of security guards. They wonder what killed them when explosions rock the area. The explosions continue, and the pirates have to carefully make their way through the area in order to escape alive. They crawl into a tunnel, hoping to find a safe way to the docking bay.

Finally they find themselves at the engineering section. Unfortunately, it's full of plasma explosions, and the pirates can't stop the chaos from there.

The Docking Bay
Carefully easing their way out of the engineering section, the pirates find themselves in the docking bay. Morik is pacing around nervously. When asked, Morik denies setting the station's power core to overload.

When Buzan moves in to pick up his crew, he notices Morik there as well. The pirates explain that Morik was a normal human whom the scientists imprisoned and injected with Zerg genetic material, turning him into an Infested Terran.

As the Kimerans leave, the installation explodes. The pirates wonder if they're being followed by cloaked Wraiths... (The Wraiths only appear if the stealth rating is poor.)

At the end of the mission, the player receives points based on how many secrets he uncovered (including the two special secrets) and on how stealthy he was. (Killing many opponents warrants an "Ultralisk" rating while killing few warrants a "ninja" rating instead and if you kill none your rating is "Perfect!!!".)

Data Files
There are 13 data files in total to acquire, which are necessary to obtain a 100% rating at the end:
 * 1) "Zerg/Human Genome Manipulation."
 * 2) "Biomechanics - Data Transfer From Brain Cells To Terabyte Holodrives."
 * 3) "Case Study - Dark Templar Cloaking Fields."
 * 4) "The Origin Of The Species."
 * 5) "Advanced Combat Training: Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."
 * 6) "Saving Human Mental Faculties In Zerg/Human Hybridization Experiments."
 * 7) "Biological Energy Weapon Limb Replacement Technology."
 * 8) "Reanimation Using Zerg Infestation Techniques."
 * 9) "Polarity Shifting Energy Shields Using Battlecruiser Technology."
 * 10) "Mecha Unit Skullder 001 Design and Specifications."
 * 11) "Maintaining Discipline In Rampant AI."
 * 12) "Manipulating Tau Particles Into Stable Orbits."
 * 13) "Utilizing Dragoon Technology For Human Reconstruction."

Top Secret #1
If they take the hidden doorway, they find themselves in a room with a solitary computer. By hacking into it, they find some startling information: a data file titled "Offspring of Infested Humans."

Top Secret #2
Near the arena, the pirates see a Terran dropship land, and from it emerges a familiar figure ... Alexei Stukov, who is obviously infested. He doesn't see the Kimerans, and moves off into the distance.

The reference to Zerg reanimation is expanded in the map Resurrection IV.

Many fans believe Stukov, who may have been working with the Confederates, set the explosions himself.

When the Wraiths attack, there is a trigger entitled "Wraiths firing on their own", suggesting the pilots of the Wraiths work for the Confederates (and/or Stukov) as well.

Special Units
The Confederates in the facility have access to special units, some of which were referenced in StarCraft: Ghost. Their units include Defense Robots, Specimen Collection Vehicles, Tower Cannons, Observation Drones and Elite Guards (powerful Ghost units).

Stealth ratings

 * 0 kills: "Perfect!!!"
 * 1-9 kills: "Ninja"
 * 10-29 kills: "Marine"
 * More than 30 kills: "Ultralisk"

Note: To get a 100% overall rating at the end, it is necessary to get a "Perfect!!!" stealth rating.