StarCraft: Revelations

StarCraft: Revelations is a short story which takes place in the StarCraft universe and is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment in Amazing Stories Magazine, issue 596.

The story takes place before and during StarCraft Episode I.



Terran Confederacy Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Andre Madrid, surrounded by young cadets, watched the viewscreen in a reinforced shelter beneath the surface of Chau Sara.

A satellite tracked two huge Protoss ships descending from high orbit. Madrid wondered if the colonial fleet had effectively fought back.

The first ship fired twice - each time, enormous bolts of azure fire frained from the sky. Slamming into the ground, the bolts caused a tremor.

The fireball seemed to reach the sky and spread over a vast desert, consuming everything in its path. The vessels continued to rain destruction.

Mar Sara
Madrid and some of the others from his shelter had been rescued by a nearby Confederate medevac team, thanks to his personal emergency transceiver. He and the other were taken off the planet by a dropship, giving them a view of the burning horizon.

Three weeks later, Madrid was in action on Mar Sara at Fire Base Chimera. He had been assigned to a new unit stationed on that world for two weeks and was now watching the sun rise as he smoked Rebel Reds. He noted the planet's rocky landscape was a stark contrast to the rolling green plains of his former home Chau Sara, where he had lost his family and many friends.

When an alarm sounded, he sprinted to the barracks and got into his already-assembled powered armor suit and was geared up in less than a minute.

He went to a bunker and stepped down into it. The bunker was little more than a prefabricated paristeel box. Many marines called them "battlefield coffins".

Automated missile turrets fired hundreds of missiles at long distances. Madrid could not yet see the enemy, but he pulled down his visor to watch a holographic projection of the battle. When he switched it to infrared mode, he saw spindly flying creatures approaching the camp.

The creatures, numbering in the hundreds, spewing flame from their open jaws. Recon patrol zero-nine and Command Bravo indicated that the advancing force was negative for Protoss profile, and they were hostile (which was already obvious).

The bunker was quickly attacked by waves of small aliens and, eventually, by snake-like aliens. These creatures fired spines through the bunker's gunports, killing a marine.

Eventually the bunker started to fall apart. A fellow marine, dressed in the gear of a Firebat, told Madrid that if they didn't get out of the bunker soon, they were going to end up sharing a tombstone.

Madrid ordered the bunker occupants to run to the command center. He exited the hatch, leaving the darkened bunker and entered the mid-morning sun. As he ran, he caught a brief glimpse of a flying ray-like creature, then heard a spurt. Something hit him on his back, causing a great deal of pain. He fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

The Medical Bay
Madrid awoke to find himself covered in red and violet blood. His power suit had been split open, and a medic was treating a deep cut in his chest.

He couldn't move, and the medic informed him that he had been poisoned and injected with a stimpak. The energy boost enabled Madrid to stand up, but he had to slump against a wall.

He couldn't seem to control his thoughts: ''Those things out there are coming to kill me. Where's my rifle? What happened to my squad. I need to kill them all. Kill! Kill who? The Protoss?''

He realized they weren't his thoughts, as he heard more of them: ''You are growing. You are mine.''

Madrid screamed until he ran out of breath. He felt yet another presence: What are you? He saw, in his mind, a mass of living tissue pulsing with alien inteligence.

Confrontations
Aliens broke into the medical bay, killing the guards and the other marines. Two small aliens approached Madrid and sniffed him, but left him alone.

Long minutes later, he heard shrill screams, and believed the aliens were coming back for him. He was confronted by three small aliens and a large one. He realized the larger alien was clever, as its eyes held a glimmer of intelligence. Along its flexible shoulder plates were very small fractures, and it had bony scythes as limbs. He was able to detect its musings through his unwanted mental link: ''Unity... soon.''

An explosion rocked the room, causing the ground to shift. Two Protoss warriors entered the room. Madrid had only seem them in holographic projections before.

The Protoss Zealots had no mouths, ears, or noses. Their psionic appendages flowed out from under their head plates and were tied together. Their hands were concealed by nearly gauntlets, and they were covered by thin, reptilian skin.

The small aliens attacked, but the Protoss killed all three of them. The large alien swept its massive tail, knocking a Protoss across the room and through the paristeel plating on the far wall.

Now it fought the remaining Protoss. The tiny fractures on its shoulder plates split to reveal rows of sharp, finger-sized needles. The poisoned spines were loosed in a volley at the Protoss, but it was protected by its shields.

The Protoss dodged another volley, then leaped onto the large alien's back and tried to decapitate it with psi-blades. However, the large alien attacked with its bony scythes, skewering the Protoss. As a last act, the Protoss cut off that arm and then died.

The wounded alien tried to leave the room, but the first Protoss warrior got up and came at it. The alien fired a hundred needles at it, and the Protoss was soon covered by dozens of wounds. It faltered slightly under the influence of the spine's poison. The Protoss and the large alien then engaged in hand-to-hand combat, as the alien had no projectiles left. The Protoss thrust its energy blade into the beast's soft underbelly, causing purple blood to spatter. Then the alien was lifted off the ground and thrown into the wall.

The surviving Protoss seemed to hold a funeral for the dead one. En Taro Adun, Khas Il'Adare felt Madrid, in his own head. However, Madrid could not understand it.

A large Protoss entered the room without a sound. It was also covered in battle armor, and its face resembled that of the other Protoss. The two Protoss argued with each other. Then the newcomer placed its warm hand on Madrid's forehead for a moment.

The warrior Protoss could now be understood by Madrid. It said that the world was lost, and the Protoss Executor should take his forces and leave.

The other Protoss, Executor Tassadar, told the warrior Thuras that he would not abandon this world until they were forced to.

Thuras told Madrid that he had little patience for Terrans, but Tassadar reminded him that the Protoss were here to protect Terrans.

Thuras left, but Tassadar and Madrid still had something to discuss. Madrid accused Tassadar of killing four hundred thousand people on Chau Sara, and Tassadar admitted to this, saying the Protoss Conclave had ordered it in order to destroy the Zerg on the planet.

Tassadar said the Terrans knew little about the nature of things, and would probably not survive long enough to defeat the Zerg.

Madrid learned that the voices in his head were coming from the Zerg Overmind, which controlled all of its minions ... including Madrid.

Madrid said "I'm a man, not some mindless animal!" but Tassadar replied that the destinction would not last. The Zerg's hyperevolutionary virus had infested his nervous system and was rapidly mutating his body.

Madrid said he never saw any Zerg on Chau Sara. Tassadar said that the Swarm's advance hive spores had reached the planet, which the Terrans could not detect. The Protoss had to strike quickly.

Tassadar said he could not save Madrid from becoming an Infested Terran. He could, however, give him peace.

Tassadar placed his hand on Madrid's forehead again. Blue arcs of psychic fire shot out from his hand and engulfed Madrid's body. For a moment, Madrid was able to sense thousands of Protoss spirits.

"En Taro Adun, brave Terran: Unto the grace of Adun may your spirit soar", intoned Tassadar, over the body of Madrid. Tassadar carried the body outside into the sunset.

Canon and Errors
StarCraft: Revelations is frequently seen as canon, as it was authored by Chris Metzen, an employee of Blizzard Entertainment.

It closely follows the StarCraft storyline for the most part, but the details of the timing of the Protoss attack on Chau Sara does not match the information in the manual. According to the manual, the Zerg had already consumed life on the planet when the Protoss attacked, but according to StarCraft: Revelations the humans were not aware of their danger when the Protoss arrived.