Mothership

"By the heart of Aiur!"

- Protoss mothership commander

The mothership is a powerful protoss capital ship.

Overview
Motherships are mighty protoss support vessels. At the heart of each mothership is a huge khaydarin crystal infused with an incredible amount of psionic energy. By tapping into this energy, a mothership can warp or crack the very fabric of space-time itself. The devastating power of a mothership can wipe out squadrons of enemy ships in the blink of an eye or lay waste to entire planets. Other aspects of a mothership's interior include a waking chamber for its commander, crew quarters and a med-bay. A number of escape pods are also featured.

A single crew member can pilot the ship for simple warps. More complex operations require a crew.

History
Motherships are mighty protoss vessels that were constructed centuries ago during the Golden Age of Expansion. They were designed by Juras. The motherships were intended to carry protoss explorers through deep space and bring them safely home again. In contrast to Juras' initial design, weapons were added at the insistence of the Templar Caste. Some were even converted into command ships which would lead armadas.

In the aftermath of this period of expansion, the surviving motherships became holy shrines to the protoss, representing an honored way of life and a part of the proud history of the protoss race. As such, they were left in place as titanic monuments at the farthest reaches of protoss exploration with their crews placed into stasis. It was believed that their like would not be needed again.

The Fall of Aiur
At least one mothership, commanded by high templar Rihod, remained active. Its crew assisted lower-technology aliens who had been struck by a disaster.

After the zerg devastated Aiur however, the surviving motherships were called back into service by high templar Erekul.

Juras, sole crew of the Moratun, had remained in stasis until the recall signal was sent. He rescued a number of zealots from a colony besieged by the zerg and traveled to Aiur. Empty motherships also arrived in Aiur's star system and were crewed by protoss rescued by the Moratun. The planet had been largely abandoned by the protoss, and unable to collect information about the refugees' destination, the assembled fleet of motherships embarked on a search for the protoss brethren. Meanwhile, Rihod's mothership was not brought to Aiur, for fear it could be lost in combat.

Eventually the motherships came to be crewed, not with mystics and historians, but with warriors.

Game Unit
The mothership is unique; a player may only control one at a time.

The mothership is treated as a support unit with powerful defenses.

The mothership is quite ideal as support in the back lines of a battle while capable of attacking enemies in the front lines. While the mothership has an immense amount of hit points, it is incredibly expensive and not worth the risk of being exposed to open fire. Players should expect the enemy to throw everything they have in destroying these immense vessels. The mothership is weak against vikings,  corruptors, and  void rays. Overall, it should only be built if one has air superiority and can adequately defend it.

Development
The mothership has been switched back and forth from a one-of-a-kind unit to a normal unit, multiple times since its unveiling in May 2007.

The mothership is hard to test, as it is high in the tech tree.

The mothership used to be able to survive a direct hit from a nuclear missile.

The mothership could be cloaked with Null Shield in earlier builds.

Previous Abilities
Any abilities that do not make it into the final mothership will still be available in the game editor.

Time Bomb has been added and removed to the mothership frequently. It was last removed as of April 2009 and given to the high templar in the form of Time Rift.

Quotes

 * Main page: Mothership Quotations

Known Motherships

 * Moratun
 * Purifier
 * Shield of Aiur
 * Tal'darim Mothership

Known Commanders

 * Hierarch Artanis
 * Executor Lhassir
 * Commander Rihod
 * Juras