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The Battle of Shi took place in 2501.[1]

Background[]

The Terran Confederacy had reached its height of power by 2499. Following the outbreak of the Great War, a number of Old Family heads, led by Arturro Calabas, developed a plan intended to continue their line if the worst happened. Each family would send an heir or two to a resort on Tyrador VIII, located away from the main conflicts. No other members would be sent for fear of making the Old Families look weak, plus they had to continue to operate their businesses.[2]

Terrorists dispatched by Cliff Nadaner, an anti-Confederate terrorist, attacked several Old Families shortly after the fall of Mar Sara. The attacks failed, causing little damage, except in the case of the Terra Family household due to the presence of a spy. Three family members were killed, but Nova Terra escaped due to her barely-controllable psionic powers, which also killed hundreds of people uninvolved in the conflict. Terra eventually ended up in the hands of the Ghost Program during the Fall of Tarsonis.[2]

Course of the Battle[]

Prelude[]

Meanwhile, the Padraig had transported the heirs and a security team to the Tyrador VIII resort. The heirs were relaxing when their security staff received the news from Arturro Calabas—Tarsonis had fallen to the zerg. Calabas, stranded there, ordered the team to take the heirs to a thirteen-planet star system he owned, The Baker's Dozen.[3]

First Phase[]

Three months later, the group made it to Shi, the fourth planet in the system. They were surprised to find the world abandoned, but the computer gave them clearance to land. Many of the heirs were unhappy at the rough conditions there. Meanwhile, some of the security personnel were worried that Arcturus Mengsk was behind this, as the Old Families were his enemies.

Three months later, a mysterious boxy ship arrived. It had clearance to orbit but not land. Unknown to the Old Family group, it released a drop pod containing a zerg drone.

A month later, a security guard, Jakk, was on duty when he noticed a group of zerg. He was captured and infested. Meanwhile, the bored heirs were taken on a bus trip, which took a turn for the worse when they encountered the zerg. They were forced to retreat, with losses.

The group spent the next month fortifying their position. A massive zerg attack ensued, and during the battle Jakk blew himself up. The Padraig took off without making any attempt to evacuate them. Eventually all the security personnel were killed, leaving only the heirs to fend for themselves. They took shelter underground. The heirs decided to use BDE-1600 mining lasers to defend themselves.

Two months later, the defense had failed. The mining lasers had taken too long to recharge, and the zerg killed all but four heirs: Morgan Calabas (son of Arturro), Antonia Tygore, and Bess and Rockham Kusinis. The Kusinis twins were lost in one part of the mining complex, while Calabas and Tygore were lost elsewhere. Each pair believed themselves to be the only survivors. The Kusinis twins began making distress calls.[3]

Second Phase[]

The Ghost Academy dispatched a Team Purple, a ghost training team, to The Baker's Dozen on a training mission. They were transported by the Cyrus, a Dominion battlecruiser commanded by Commodore Georg Darabont whose crew had developed a reputation for cowardice at the Battle of Tarsonis. The ship was undermanned, undergunned and hadn't seen a retrofit since Tarsonis.

The team, overseen by Preceptor Lagdamen, consisted of ten ghosts, including Gabriel Tosh (their leader), Dylanna Okyl, Aal Cistler (a ghost with below-average psionic power), Lio Travski (a technopath), Kath Toom and Nova Terra (a ghost with above-average power). Terra was a scion of the Old Families.

LioTravski SC-GA3 Comic1

Lio Travski detects the transmissions

In The Baker's Dozen star system, Lio Travski detected the Kusinis Twins' transmission from Shi. He and other ghosts broke onto the bridge and told Commodore Darabont about this. The commodore was initially uninterested until told there were zerg there too. Over Lagdamen's objections, Darabont intended to travel to Shi and use the ghosts in combat. As they traveled closer to Shi, the ship's techs could also pick up the distress signals. Darabont and Executive Officer Mirne, discussing their motives, wanted to redeem themselves for what happened at Tarsonis.

The marines landed first on Shi, defeating a wave of zerg. However, they were overwhelmed from hatcheries south of Mandible Canyon. Darabont ordered the use of Apocalypse-class nukes, which the Cyrus carried several of. However, these ones had to be guided by ghosts. Lagdamen was given control of their Moebius cloaking devices. Nova Terra targeted the nukes while Okyl and Cistler guided them. While on the battlefield, Terra was able to sense Morgan Calabas and Antonia Tygore.

The ghosts and marines found themselves inundated with yet more zerg coming from a larger cluster of hatcheries on the far side of Mandible Canyon. Darabont sounded the retreat, giving them six minutes to head to the landing zone. The ghosts were overwhelmed and couldn't cloak until Travski used his technopathic abilities to override Lagdamen's control and cloak them. They discovered Calabas and Tygore. Meanwhile, Terra had located the Kusinis Twins. Terra reunited with the others. The terrans were dismayed, however, as their lander was destroyed by the zerg. The Cyrus moved toward the second cluster of hatcheries, intending to destroy them.

The cloaked ghosts were discovered by overlords, but Kath Toom's superior shooting skills enabled her to kill them. However, trainee Andie Dessai was killed. The Cyrus was itself shot down by spore cannons. The zerg invaded, killing both Darabont and Mirne.

DylannaOkyl SC-GA3 Head2

Desperate defiance

Travski used his powers to track the Cyrus. It was damaged but still "alive", and he believed he could use his abilities to repair it. However, making it there and keeping it safe would require time and protection. Nova Terra's psionic abilities, which could inflict massive damage in a four-block radius, would be useful here. Aal Cistler suggested she lure the zerg, but Lagdamen and Tosh disapproved of the plan. Terra decided to go through with it. She would attack the hatchery cluster. Tosh decided to go with her.

The terrans headed to the Cyrus while they were cloaked by Travski. He then used his powers to begin repairing the ship. Toom used her shooting skills to take out overlords.

As Tosh and Terra headed out, Lagdamen gave the cloaking device controls to Tosh. Along the way they encountered walking spore crawlers, which they had to avoid. The Cyrus fell under attack, but eventually the zerg retreated as Nova Terra was "powering up" her psychic abilities there.

Nova SC-GA3 Comic2

Nova Terra's psionic might

Tosh had to flee the area as Terra was charging up. He ran out of energy for his cloaking device and had to fight zerg. As he struggled to get clear, Terra was also under attack. When she alerted him to this fact, he told her he was clear but he hadn't actually made it out of the blast radius. Terra unleashed her power, frying the zerg and hatcheries. She found a crippled, barely alive Tosh.

The Cyrus, now repaired, picked up the two ghosts. Tosh's brain was scanned. The Cyrus was able to leave Shi now that the zerg had been reduced in number or eliminated.

Afterward Emperor Arcturus Mengsk ordered the ghosts' memory wiped. Tosh wasn't wiped due to his injuries and instead a cover story was invented to explain his "delusions". Mengsk also ordered the Old Family heirs turned over to the marines, and afterward UNN "confirmed" their deaths as having taken place on Tarsonis.[4]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 April 6, 2010. "Timeline". StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). pp. 311 - 323. ISBN 978-1416-55084-6.
  2. 2.0 2.1 DeCandido, Keith R. A. (November 28, 2006). StarCraft: Ghost: Nova. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0743-47134-3.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gerrold, David (w), Fernando Heinz Furukawa (p, i). StarCraft: Ghost Academy: Volume 2 (paperback binding). Tokyopop, August 10, 2010. ISBN 978-1427-81613-9.
  4. Gerrold, David (w), Fernando Heinz Furukawa (p, i). StarCraft: Ghost Academy: Volume 3 (paperback binding). Tokyopop, March 8, 2011. ISBN 978-1427-81614-6.


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