( StarCraft: Frontline, volume 1, “Weapon of War” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Hector Sevilla)
On the fringe world of Bhekar Ro, terran, protoss, and zerg forces fight to claim a recently unearthed building belonging to the xel’naga, an ancient alien race that is thought to have influenced the evolution of the zerg and the protoss.
(StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel’Naga by Gabriel Mesta)
The supreme ruler of the zerg, the Overmind, discovers the location of the protoss homeworld of Aiur. The zerg invade the planet, but the heroic high templar Tassadar sacrifices himself to destroy the Overmind. However, much of Aiur is left in ruins, and the remaining Aiur protoss flee to the dark templar planet of Shakuras through a xel’naga warp gate. For the first time since the dark templar were banished from Aiur, the two protoss societies are reunited.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 3, “Twilight Archon” by Ren Zatopek and Noel Rodriguez)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
The zerg pursue the refugees from the planet Aiur through the warp gate to Shakuras. Jim Raynor and his forces, who had become allies with Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul, stay behind on Aiur in order to shut down the warp gate. Meanwhile, Zeratul and the protoss executor Artanis utilize the powers of an ancient xel’naga temple on Shakuras to purge the zerg that have already invaded the planet.
The United Earth Directorate (UED), having observed the conflict between the terrans, the zerg, and the protoss, arrives in the Koprulu sector from Earth in order to take control. To accomplish its goal, the UED captures a fledgling Overmind on the zerg-occupied planet of Char. The Queen of Blades, Mengsk, Raynor, and the protoss put aside their differences and work together in order to defeat the UED and the new Overmind. These unlikely allies manage to accomplish their goal, and after the death of the second Overmind, the Queen of Blades attains control over all zerg in the Koprulu sector.
On an uncharted moon near Char, Zeratul encounters the terran Samir Duran, once an ally of the Queen of Blades. Zeratul discovers that Duran has successfully spliced together zerg and protoss DNA to create a hybrid, a creation that Duran ominously prophesizes will change the universe forever.
Arcturus Mengsk exterminates half of his ghost operatives to ensure loyalty among the former Confederate agents who have been integrated into the Dominion ghost program. Additionally, he establishes a new Ghost Academy on Ursa, a moon orbiting Korhal IV.
(StarCraft: Shadow Hunters, book two of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Corbin Phash sends his son, Colin, into hiding from the Dominion, whose agents are hunting down the young boy to exploit his psionic abilities. Corbin flees to the Umojan Protectorate, a terran government independent of the Dominion.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 3, “War-Torn” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Hector Sevilla)
The young Colin Phash is captured by the Dominion and sent to the Ghost Academy. Meanwhile, his father, Corbin, acts as a dissenting voice against the Dominion from the Umojan Protectorate. For his outspoken opposition, Corbin becomes the target of an assassination attempt.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 4, “Orientation” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Mel Joy San Juan)
2501
Nova Terra, having escaped the destruction of her homeworld, Tarsonis, trains alongside other gifted terrans and hones her psionic talents at the Ghost Academy.
(StarCraft: Ghost: Nova by Keith R.A. DeCandido)
(StarCraft: Ghost Academy volume 1 by Keith R.A. DeCandido and Fernando Heinz Furukawa)
2502
Arcturus Mengsk reaches out to his son, Valerian, who had grown up in the relative absence of his father. Intending for Valerian to continue the Mengsk dynasty, Arcturus recalls his own progression from an apathetic teenager to an emperor.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Reporter Kate Lockwell is embedded with Dominion troops to deliver patriotic pro-Dominion broadcasts to the Universal News Network. During her time with the soldiers, she encounters former UNN reporter Michael Liberty and discovers some of the darker truths beneath the Dominion’s surface.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 2, “Newsworthy” by Grace Randolph and Nam Kim)
Tamsen Cauley plans to kill off the War Pigs—who are now disbanded—in order to cover up his previous attempt to assassinate Arcturus Mengsk. Before doing so, he gathers the War Pigs for a mission to kill Jim Raynor, an action that Cauley believes will win Mengsk’s favor. One of the War Pigs sent on this mission, Cole Hickson, is the former Confederate soldier who helped Raynor survive the brutal Kel-Morian prison camp.
(StarCraft monthly comic #1 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
Fighters from all three of the Koprulu sector’s factions—terran, protoss, and zerg—vie for control over an ancient xel’naga temple on the planet Artika. Amid the violence, the combatants come to realize the individual motivations that have brought them to this chaotic battlefield.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 1, “Why We Fight” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)
The Kel-Morian crew of The Generous Profit arrives on a desolate planet in hopes of finding something belonging to the planet’s former inhabitants that is worth salvaging. As they sort through the ruins, the crew members discover the terrifying secret behind the planet’s missing populace.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 2, “A Ghost Story” by Kieron Gillen and Hector Sevilla)
A team of protoss scientists experiments on a sample of zerg creep. However, the substance begins to affect the scientists strangely, eventually sending their minds spiraling downward into madness.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 2, “Creep” by Simon Furman and Tomás Aira)
A psychotic viking pilot, Captain Jon Dyre, attacks the innocent colonists of Ursa during a weapon demonstration. His former pupil, Wes Carter, confronts Dyre in order to end his crazed killing spree.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 1, “Heavy Armor, Part 1” by Simon Furman and Jesse Elliott)
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 2, “Heavy Armor, Part 2” by Simon Furman and Jesse Elliott)
Sandin Forst, a skilled Thor pilot with two loyal partners, braves the ruins of a terran installation on Mar Sara in order to infiltrate a hidden vault. After getting access to the facility, Forst realizes that the treasures he expected to find were never meant to be discovered.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 1, “Thundergod” by Richard A. Knaak and Naohiro Washio)
2503
Dominion scientists capture the praetor Muadun and conduct experiments to better understand the protoss’ psionic gestalt— the Khala. Led by the twisted Dr. Stanley Burgess, these researchers violate every ethical code in their search for power.
(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 3, “Do No Harm” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)
Archaeologist Jake Ramsey investigates a xel’naga temple, but things quickly spiral out of control when a protoss mystic known as a preserver merges with his mind. Afterward Jake is flooded with memories spanning protoss history.
(StarCraft: Firstborn, book one of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)