StarCraft Episode III

StarCraft Episode III: The Fall began with the invasion of Aiur. In this campaign, the player took the role of Executor Artanis, recently appointed to replace Tassadar.

First Strike
Two days after the Overmind landed on Aiur, the Protoss were marshaling their defenses.

As Tassadar was no longer around, the Protoss Conclave appointed a new Executor. Judicator Aldaris, former advisor to Tassadar, would act as the advisor to the new Executor.

The Province of Antioch was a vital strategic location in the war against the Zerg on the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. After the Zerg Overmind forged a bond between itself and Aiur, it sent its minions across the furthest reaches of Aiur; Antioch was among the first locations to be assaulted.

The first Battle of Antioch saw the initial invasion of the region by the Overmind's minions. Elements of the Tiamat Brood were successful in laying siege to the province and cutting it off from the rest of Aiur.

First Battle of Antioch
Aldaris ordered the new Executor to defend the province of Antioch, and to reinforce the Protoss outpost there. Fenix, the stalwart Praetor of the Protoss Defense Forces, offered assistance.

After a brief time of relative peace in the region, forces from the new Executor finally broke the blockade. Once the central outpost of Antioch was reconnected to the outside world, reinforcements were quickly transported into the fortified base and destroyed all opposition from the inside out. Praetor Fenix was pivotal in the campaign and personally led the Templar to victory, with direction and aid from the new Executor.

Into the Flames
The following night, Aldaris, the new Executor, and Fenix held a discussion. Aldaris congratulated Fenix and the new Executor for defeating the Zerg, saying Tassadar's desertion had shaken his faith in the Templar Caste. Tassadar suddenly joined the communication, and declared that Aldaris should never have lost faith in the Templar in the first place.

Aldaris did not know where Tassadar had gone. Tassadar informed him that after the Zerg left Tarsonis, he did not know where they had gone. The Conclave ordered Tassadar to return to Aiur. However, Tassadar soon felt a powerful psionic call from Char, and felt compelled to remain. He travelled to Char, and discovered that others had felt the call as well - the Dark Templar.

Aldaris angrily told Tassadar that "consorting with Fallen Ones is heresy!" but Tassadar told him to be silent. He had learned from the Dark Templar Prelate, Zeratul, that the Zerg Overmind controlled the Zerg through agents, called Cerebrates. If the Cerebrates were slain, the Zerg would fall.

Aldaris demanded that Tassadar return, as he could feel the influence of the Dark Templar on Tassadar's mind, but Tassadar refused, saying "My concern is for the safety of Aiur, not the judgments of the Conclave. I will return when the time is right."

Meanwhile, Fenix agreed with his old friend Tassadar and made a plan. While the Executor kept the Zerg occupied, Fenix would directly attack the Cerebrate.

The Protoss plan worked. Fenix's force attacked and destroyed the Cerebrate. Fenix ordered a general withdrawal, to watch from a safe distance as the Zerg became erratic. However, the Zerg Cerebrate was reincarnated in front of his very eyes.

Higher Ground


Later, Aldaris and the Executor led their main strike force in an attack on Scion, a province now occupied by the Zerg. While the Executor was successful in freeing Scion, Antioch was again being overrun.

The second Battle of Antioch was an absolute slaughter. Fenix and a small detachment was left in the province to safeguard it from further assaults; however, with elements of the Fleet of the Executor caught up in war in the adjacent province of Scion, the Antioch defenders were overrun by a swift strike from the Zerg. When Fenix called for help, Aldaris told him to hold out as long as he could.

The Fall of Fenix
During the battle with the Zerg, Fenix's psi-blades "shorted out", leaving him vulnerable to attack by a Hydralisk. This was a dark day for the Templar, as Fenix, Hero and Steward of the Templar, was felled and believed slain.

The Hunt for Tassadar
The Conclave, convinced that it was winning the war against the Zerg, turned to the matter of Tassadar. Aldaris and the Executor took a small fleet with them to Char for the purpose of arresting Tassadar and bringing him back to stand trial for treason.

Aldaris proclaimed that Tassadar, rather than the Zerg, posed the greatest threat to Aiur. While Tassadar had told him the Zerg had left Char, Aldaris could still sense a lingering darkness.

The Protoss landed on an orbital platform over Char and made their way towards Tassadar's small base. On the way, they encountered some Zerg defense structures, but were able to fight their way through.

Eventually they encountered Tassadar himself, along with a Terran, Jim Raynor. Tassadar was thankful for the "rescue" until Aldaris told him he had arrived to arrest him. Tassadar was angry that Aldaris would leave Aiur while it was being attacked by the Zerg. Jim Raynor, having been in a similar position, told Tassadar not to let this get to him, but Aldaris scoffed at him.

Aldaris ordered the Executor to arrest Tassadar, but Tassadar explained that only Dark Templar could destroy Zerg Cerebrates and defeat the Zerg, but the Dark Templar had gone missing. Aldaris refused to have anything to do with the "Fallen Ones." The Executor joined Tassadar's side.

As Tassadar and his followers attempted to escape, more Zerg appeared and attacked. Tassadar was able to fight past the Zerg.

Choosing Sides
Tassadar occupied an "island" surrounded by lava. On a larger island lay an abandoned Terran installation, where the Dark Templar resided. Other islands housed Zerg and even Terrans. The Terran base was on fire, and nearby islands housed infested Terran structures.

Alpha Squadron was still on the planet, and confronted the Protoss, declaring their "violation of Terran airspace." Tassadar said his lenience towards Duke had been "in error" and he would "burn the pathetic fleet down to the last man". Duke assumed "that was a hostile response" and ordered an attack, which the Protoss repulsed.

Tassadar's forces fought their way past numerous Zerg Hive Clusters to get to the installation. Only Tassadar and two Protoss Zealots were able to make it inside.

Into the Darkness
The installation housed a number of still-living Terrans. However, they did not attack the Protoss; instead, they struck an alliance with them. Together they fought the Zerg within, while Tassadar was able to teleport Protoss reinforcements to aid them. Eventually, they neared the core of the installation, in which they were attacked by a wave of Zerg. Tassadar found Zeratul and the Dark Templar imprisoned within the facility.

Meanwhile, the Terrans continued to cause problems for the Protoss outside, so the Protoss laid an ambush. Using an Arbiter for cloaking cover, a force of Protoss Dragoons wiped out a Terran outpost.

Zeratul told Tassadar that the Dark Templar were still loyal to Aiur, but they feared traveling there because they would not be welcomed. Tassadar, however, asked them to come with him anyway.

Homeland
Tassadar took his small army to Aiur, where word had traveled of his "treason". Fenix, once thought dead, was marshaling Templar Caste warriors to aid Tassadar. When Tassadar arrived, he was sad to see what had happened to Fenix, who now inhabited the cold robotic shell of a Protoss Dragoon.

The Protoss Conclave was opposed to Tassadar's plans, which Tassadar believed could save Aiur from the Zerg. As a result, Tassadar ordered an attack on the Heart of the Conclave itself, which was defended by Vanguard of Aiur troops from the Ara and Auriga Tribes. Zeratul and his Dark Templar joined in the attack and were instrumental in the destruction of the Conclave's headquarters.

Tassadar then said he couldn't stand the sight of Protoss slaughtering one another. He was arrested by Aldaris. The Judicator Caste prepared Tassadar for a trial for treason.

The Trial of Tassadar
In the aftermath, the Dark Templar vanished. Fenix believed it was wrong for Tassadar to have put any faith in them. However, he felt he must now rescue Tassadar, as the trial wouldn't be fair. Jim Raynor joined Fenix, saying that Tassadar had risked himself to save Jim Raynor, and so he owed Tassadar a favor.

Controlling his battlecruiser, the Hyperion, Jim Raynor assisted the Protoss. However, more bad news awaited Fenix. The Vanguard of Aiur troops included soldiers of the Furinax Tribe, a member of the Khalai Caste.

Nonetheless, Fenix lead the assault. They found Tassadar imprisoned in a Stasis Cell on a well-defended island. However, the Templar Caste had superior leadership, and Fenix and Raynor were able to fight their way to the cell and destroy it, freeing Tassadar.

Tassadar had a little time to thank his rescuers when Aldaris and his troops appeared, ambushing the Templar warriors. However, they were in turn ambushed by Zeratul and his Dark Templar. Aldaris and Zeratul traded insults. The battle took place "off-screen" but it is known that both Zeratul and Aldaris survived.

Shadow Hunters
Zeratul and Tassadar discussed their plans with Fenix ... when Zeratul attacked Zasz, he made mental contact with the Zerg Overmind. When the Overmind read Zeratul's mind, Zeratul read the Overmind's mind as well. He discovered that the Overmind was created by the Xel'Naga, the same race that empowered the Protoss in their infancy, but that the Overmind grew beyond their constraints, and now sought to assimilate all life in the universe.

Zeratul planned on thinning the herd of Zerg defending the Overmind by assassinating two of its Cerebrates, driving their Broods into disarray. Fenix would attack the primary Hive Clusters, weakening their defenses for Zeratul and his companions to kill the Cerebrates.

Fenix's forces had an Arbiter, crewed by a sympathetic Judicator; they could additionally warp in more Arbiters. The Zerg put up a fierce fight, but in the end the two Cerebrates lay dead, slain by the Dark Templar Zeratul, and could not be reincarnated. One of these Cerebrates, Gorn of the Baelrog Brood, had been attacked by Fenix previously.

Eye of the Storm
Now that the path to the Overmind lay open, Tassadar rallied his forces. Jim Raynor and his Raiders vowed to assist. The Conclave witnessed the successful elimination of Cerebrates and the disarray of the Broods, and so sent Aldaris to apologize to Tassadar. While this came too late to assist Tassadar, it did mean the Judicators would not interfere with Tassadar's quest.

The Overmind was heavily protected. The Protoss and Terran forces maintained separate, but nearby, military bases, with Tassadar commanding from his Carrier, the Gantrithor. Together, they carved a path to the Overmind and weakened it when tragedy struck.

The Death of the Overmind
The Death of the Overmind (Double-click for larger video) 8OlS74Yj148 The Gantrithor was heavily damaged by Mutalisks in the battle, and was falling apart near the Overmind. Worse, the Overmind had opened a huge rift into warp space above itself, and was trying to escape. Tassadar could only see one way of ending this battle - he sacrificed himself, transforming into a pulse of destructive Dark Templar energy. This wave crashed into the Overmind, destroying it.

Epilogue
Aiur was left a smoking ruin, with only few Protoss alive to see it. Infested Kerrigan, on Char, was poised to take this opportunity to come to power herself...