StarCraft II: This Sacred Land is a three issue comic series that was published alongside the release of the War Chests after the conclusion of Shadow Wars. It tells the story of a team sent to rescue Egon Stetmann on Bel'Shir, having to contend with the Tal'darim, the Mecha Swarm, and Stetmann's own madness.
The events takes place between Amon's defeat and Jim Raynor's disappearance at the end of Legacy of the Void. A goal in the story was to convey Stetmann's silliness, while not breaking suspension of disbelief, and keeping the Mecha Swarm "grounded" within the setting.[1]
Description[]
The brilliant scientist Egon Stetmann has gone missing on the planet of Bel'Shir. A rescue team has been tasked to find him. Issue #1 of "This Sacred Land" reveals what they find: Dangerous Tal’darim protoss… and an even more dangerous mad scientist.[2]
Synopsis[]
A Terran Dominion rescue team, a ghost, Ensign Wallace and Captain Niemi, were sent to Bel'Shir to rescue Egon Stetmann, who had not reported in in eighteen months. However, as they arrived they were attacked by the Tal'darim, and forced to land on the planet. As the crew departs, they find the last terran base stripped down, and suddenly were surrounded by mechanical zerg, and a harvesting bot with the label "G.A.R.Y.." The bot takes them to a cave where a terrazine crazed Stetmann said he intended to judge them as trespassers for violating their sacred land.[3]
Meanwhile, nearby the Tal'darim under Fourth Ascendant Malain discussed the Dominion intrusion, but stated they could not intervene. They would mine the terrazine on Bel'Shir and purify it before anyone noticed. Meanwhile in Stetmann's cave, Stetmann was deciding how to kill the team that trespassed on their land. However, the ghost convinced Stetmann that they would serve him, and convinced the rest of his team that Stetmann could read their thoughts. Stetmann explained he came years ago, and the terrazine granted him psionic abilities. However, soon the Tal'darim arrived and disrupted the planet to harvest terrazine. To stop them and all trespassers he made Gary and the Mecha Swarm.
The ghost agreed to help him stop the Tal'darim and leave the planet, and Stetmann was delighted, but told him that he needed to test his faith. He gave the ghost a canister of terrazine in order to commune with the planet.[4]
The ghost took the terrazine, and made good on his promise to aid Stetmann. He assassinated Malain as Stetmann gave running commentary, and set off explosives in the Tal'darim base. This allowed Gary and the Mecha Swarm to rush in, devastating the Tal'darim defenders and crushing their operation. The ghost slipped back to the medivac, now repaired by Wallace and Niemi, and took a dose of sedative from the dropship, saying their mission was not over yet.
Later, Stetmann and Gary were trying to find their "lesser minion," the ghost who was working with them, when he snuck up on Stetmann and injected him, causing him to pass out. The ghost them told Gary he had to take Stetmann, and he could stay with them or go. Gary elected to go with the Dominion party as the left the planet, and the ghost mused that it was Bel'Shir who commanded him to take Stetmann away from Bel'Shir, so that he could spread the congregation of Bel'Shir across many worlds.[5]
Characters[]
- Terran
- Egon Stetmann
- Captain Niemi
- Ensign Wallace
- Unidentified ghost
- Protoss
- Other
Issues[]
References[]
- ↑ 2019-11-07, Followup on the 14 page BlizzCon lore packet: The (very few) questions that got answered. Reddit, accessed on 2019-11-20
- ↑ 08-15-2019, BlizzCon 2019 War Chest, Blizzard Entertainment, 08-15-2019
- ↑ Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (August 15, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 1 Accessed 2019-08-15.
- ↑ Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (September 12, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 2. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 2 Accessed 2019-09-12.
- ↑ Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (October 10, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 3. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 3 Accessed 2019-10-10.