Changes: Battle of Bhekar Ro

The Battle of Bhekar Ro took place on Bhekar Ro after the fall Aiur and before the Brood War. The zerg Kulkulkan Brood and a protoss expeditionary force led by Executor Koronis converged on the world shortly after the discovery of a xel'naga artifact by the local terran colony of Free Haven. The colonists summoned aid from the Terran Dominion in the form of Alpha Squadron. The battle gave birth to an energy creature within the temple which subsequently absorbed the zerg and protoss while crippling Alpha Squadron before leaving the planet.

Opening Moves

Free Haven contacted the Dominion after discovering the temple and when an observer acting as an advance scout for the protoss was shot down by the town's missile turret it seemed the colonists' caution had been well founded. The zerg arrived in behemoths ahead of the main protoss fleet and set about infesting the outskirts around the town. Early victims included the prospector Rastin, his dog Old Blue, and vespene geysers claimed by the prospector.

Orbital Melee

The protoss did not detect the zerg initially; believing they had arrived first they deployed troops, 20 Arbiters, and all but three carriers to the surface to secure the temple. The zerg presence was revealed when orbiting behemoths emerged from the night side in full view of the three orbiting carriers, including the flagship Qel'Ha. Many carriers returned to space to meet the new threat. Interceptors made short work of overlords and guardians, which were unwieldy in micro-gee vacuum. In response scourge destroyed one carrier and damaged another.

The fifteen battlecruisers of Alpha Squadron arrived after the battle was joined and entered the fray without hesitation, led by the flagship Norad III. The sudden arrival of the terrans threw the protoss and zerg into disarray. Yamato guns destroyed more overlords and two carriers, while cloaked Wraiths provided cover against scouts and mutalisks. The protoss regrouped and pushed forward five carriers toward the terrans hidden under the cloak of two Arbiters. The battlecruisers Bismarck and Napoleon advanced to "mop up" the Arbiters but were surprised when they were caught in stasis fields and heavily damaged by decloaked interceptors. Bismarck was crippled while Napoleon could do no more than limp away.

The zerg also began diverting attention to the terrans. Mutalisks and scourge inflicted heavy losses on Wraiths and Duke ordered his fleet to regroup. Two science vessels covered the withdrawal with EMP and defensive matrix while scanning for additional Protoss ships.

Zerg Assault Free Haven

Even before the arrival of the protoss fleet the colonists had been preparing for a zerg ground assault. The makeshift fortifications consisted of a mere steel fence and vehicles blocking the two entrances into the town. People were armed with civilian-grade small-arms and tools repurposed as close-combat weapons. Two days of preparation culminated in the expected attack which occurred during the space battle. The zerg easily broke through the fence and the colonists were forced to retreat into the center of the town. Mayor Jacob Nikolai excused himself from the front to contact Alpha Squadron for immediate assistance.

Octavia Bren manned the missile turret and manually aimed the missiles against ground targets. While all of the remaining missiles were expended immediate disaster had been averted. The detonation of the town's vespene gas storage tanks stemmed the zerg assault further and bought enough time for Alpha Squadron ground troops to intervene. Responding to the Mayor's distress call multiple battlecruisers disengaged from the space battle completely to descend to the surface. Marines supported by heavy battlecruiser support broke the zerg assault within a few hours, suffering few casualties in the process. Alpha Squadron then proceeded to fortify the the town with bunkers and new missile turrets.

Zerg Assault the Temple

The Kukulkan Brood then launched a new offensive, this time at the protoss defenders in order to capture the artifact. While the battle was going on, a majority of Alpha Squadron's ground forces were deployed along with a small troop led by Lieutenant Scott to capture the artifact as well. The battle was total chaos. First, the Alpha Squadron infantry were cut off from siege tanks and Goliath support and were slaughtered by protoss reavers and although Wraith squadrons were sent to help, they were turned back by psionic storms cast by high templar. The rest of the Alpha Squadron troops were slaughtered and forced to fall back. Meanwhile, the small detachment led by Scott managed to make it to the artifact albeit with heavy casualties and fight their way through numerous zerg and protoss. They were however, sucked in by the artifact.

Having run out of options, Duke ordered a nuclear strike on the artifact reasoning without it the protoss and zerg would have no reason to remain. MacGregor Golding, a ghost, was ordered to direct the strike. Three battlecruiser-launched warheads struck the mountain but all of the energy was absorbed by the artifact, which used it to release an energy creature. The strike was decisive but not in the manner Duke had intended. The released creature absorbed the protoss and zerg, effectively leaving the terrans in control of the planet, and headed to space. The surviving battlecruisers in orbit fired on the creature with Yamato Cannon but the weapons fire and the ships were absorbed for energy as the creature flew past.

The creature had no use for terrans and released them.

A severely weakened Alpha Squadron was left stranded on the planet. It would be months before the Dominion thought to check on them.

References

Mesta, Gabriel (July 1, 2001). StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04149-5.
Golden, Christie (May 22, 2007). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #1: Firstborn. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-7434-7125-3.

@@ Line 73: / Line 73: @@
 ==Opening Moves==
-Free Haven contacted the Dominion after discovering the temple and when the an [[observer]] acting as an advance scout for the protoss was shot down by the town's [[missile turret]] it seemed the colonists' caution had been well founded. The zerg arrived in [[behemoth]]s ahead of the main protoss fleet and set about infesting the outskirts around the town. Early victims included the prospector [[Rastin]], his dog [[Old Blue]], and [[Vespene gas|vespene geysers]] claimed by the prospector.
+Free Haven contacted the Dominion after discovering the temple and when an [[observer]] acting as an advance scout for the protoss was shot down by the town's [[missile turret]] it seemed the colonists' caution had been well founded. The zerg arrived in [[behemoth]]s ahead of the main protoss fleet and set about infesting the outskirts around the town. Early victims included the prospector [[Rastin]], his dog [[Old Blue]], and [[Vespene gas|vespene geysers]] claimed by the prospector.
 ==Orbital Melee==