A Sinister Turn

Previous	Whispers of Doom
Next	Echoes of the Future
A Sinister Turn
Conflict	Interbellum
Date	2504
Place	Zhakul
Result	Preservers clarify the prophecy Maar killed
Campaign	Wings of Liberty
Combatants
Zeratul's Warband
Zeratul's Warband
Zhakul Guardians
Zhakul Guardians
Commanders
Zeratul
Zeratul
Maar †
Maar †
Casualties
Heavy
Heavy

Client	Zeratul
Objective(s)	Rescue the preservers

A Sinister Turn is a Wings of Liberty mission. It is told as a flashback of Zeratul's actions, viewed by Jim Raynor through the ihan crystal.

History

Background

After much searching, Zeratul discovered the fragments of a prophecy foretelling the end of the xel'naga cycle on Ulaan. The meaning was unclear to him, but he believed the preservers of Zhakul would be able to interpret the prophecy. Aboard Void Seeker, the prelate journeyed to that forbidden archive world to find them.

Darker forces were already at work on Zhakul. A hybrid destroyer, Maar, had imprisoned the three preservers Zeratul sought and was leeching their energies. It had also subverted some protoss facilities and left others abandoned. When Zeratul arrived he found the planet "strangely silent."

Freeing the Preservers

The prelate reactivated an unpowered base and began to investigate. He only sensed the spirits of the three preservers were imprisoned, but not the hybrid Maar's presence or activities. After a time, the Zhakul Guardians, appearing to have been corrupted, attacked Zeratul's Warband. When the hybrid appeared, freeing the preservers took on an even more urgent nature.

The hybrid demonstrated remarkable regenerative abilities. When defeated in the field it restored itself with the preservers' energies. Zeratul finally overcame it by freeing the preservers.

Aftermath

Main article: campaign quotations

The preserver triumvirate examined the fragments. The clarification provided prompted Zeratul to depart in search of the Overmind on Aiur.

..."The cycle shall draw to its end"... ..."The Xel'Naga who forged the stars shall transcend their creation"...

..."Yet, the Fallen One shall remain"... ..."Destined to cover the void in shadow"...

..."It begins with the Great Hungerer"... ..."It ends... in utter darkness"...

Raynor's Assessment

Plot option starts here

Plot branch : Raynor's Raiders have attacked the Castanar installation in the Rebellion Missions

Raynor encountered a hybrid previously at a secret Dominion laboratory at Castanar, and experiencing Zeratul's encounter through an ihan crystal put the threat in perspective. The rebel was concerned that even the protoss had difficulty combating the hybrid.

Plot branch ends here

Plot branch : Raynor's Raiders have not attacked the Castanar installation in the Rebellion Missions

Although Raynor experienced Maar's power second hand, he deduced it was a protoss/zerg hybrid and recognized the threat it posed.

Plot branch ends here

Plot option ends here

The next article in this series is Echoes of the Future.

Gameplay & Video Walkthrough

The starting base has two ramp entrances. A few photon cannons are enough to fend off enemy protoss; the real danger is from the hybrid Maar who attacks regularly from either direction. Advance warning is given of Maar's impending attacks, and its location is tracked on the mini-map. Maar perpetually respawns in the south-east corner shortly after it is killed; it gains up to an additional 1200 shields and HP with every respawn. It has the ability to temporarily stun units in an area, Blink, and can levitate a unit to disable and damage it.

Erect more gateways and quickly secure the robotics facility to the west to unlock immortals. The dark shrine and templar archives to the east are protected by the eastern enemy base. The eastern enemy base may be cleared for an expansion with a relatively small force of zealots and stalkers. The western enemy base is harder with its archons and high templar.

High templar with Feedback are useful against Maar; dark templar are not as useful since Maar is a detector.

Build a large army to assault the south-east base. Attack shortly after killing Maar, and aim to conclude the attack before it can respawn. Have the stalkers support the zealots by Blinking forward and targeting enemy air units.

On Hard and Brutal difficulties void rays appear more often as well as the occasional carrier. Bring additional stalkers to compensate.

ASinisterTurn SC2-WoL VGame1

Brutal Mode Walkthrough

Achievements

A Sinister Turn Points 15 (Prophecy Mission) Criteria Complete all mission objectives

Out for Justice Points 10 (Prophecy Mission) Criteria Kill all enemy protoss on Normal difficulty Notes The western base is guarded by archons and high templar. Completing this achievement and the "Maar-ked for Death" simultaneously is difficult.

Maar-ked for Death
Points	10 (Prophecy Mission)
Criteria	Complete the mission on Hard difficulty in less than 25 minutes.
Notes
Defend the base against Maar with zealots and photon cannons. Send an attack force 8 zealots and 6 stalkers to secure the inactive buildings; add the reinforcements to this force. Attack the main base in the south. Head straight for the preservers; destroy only units and cannon that stand in the way. Retreat and avoid Maar when it respawns. Alternatively, disable or occupy the defending cannon to give dark templar a clear path to the prisons. The northwest prison is covered by a cannon and two zealots; kill the zealots and ignore the cannon. Maar is also a detector; withdraw the dark templar into the corner when the hybrid respawns.

Notes

While it'd be expected that the corrupted protoss used the Hybrid Honors decal, they were actually utilizing the Templar Caste insignia, visible on their photon cannons, gateways, and robotics facilities. The abandoned structures that Zeratul's force powered up during this mission also carried this decal, which was particularly visible in the abandoned robotics facility. This probably means that the Zhakul Guardians belonged to the Templar Caste before Maar's arrival.

Karass and his warriors, who were part of the Daelaam, were killed in the previous mission, Whispers of Doom, with the only survivors being but a few stalkers. In spite of this, Zeratul's forces in this mission wore the Daelaam Regalia.