Why didn't the Confederacy activate the Psi Disruptor when Mengsk released the Zerg?

[FanaticTemplar]

The Super carreirs themselves lost contact with earth. Earth still kept tabs on them. It was only one-way information, so I don't see how it breaks canon.

How?

Still not seeing the direct evidence that points to them being faster-than-light in that passage. Show anyone else that same passage and they'd defy you to say that this is evidence that the missiles are flying FTL. I'd wager that most would go so far as to say that they are is merely assumption... oh dear, wasn't I just accused of such a thing earlier?

I'm not sure I understand why this is an issue for anybody though... if we accept that the Terrans have faster-than-light capacity for their spacecraft and their communications, I don't see how using that same technology on interplanetary missiles is some sort of massive technological leap. If we were discussing warp tech in general, that'd be something, but what's so special about missiles?

[Turalyon]

I don't see how using that same technology on interplanetary missiles is some sort of massive technological leap. If we were discussing warp tech in general, that'd be something, but what's so special about missiles?

Ok, for the moment I'll grant that this is possible. In such a case, where the hell are these missiles and why aren't they being used now? The Terrans could pretty much destroy anything using FTL ballistics. The Confederacy could have annihilated a good chunk of the advancing Protoss and the Zerg right from the beginning! Why need Ghosts to direct missiles when they can fly FTL? No guidance would be necessary since the enemy wouldn't have time to initiate counter-measures.

[Gradius]

No, that was obviously a joke and can be ignored, just like Zerg soccer. It's a gag.

The other's weren't and are canon, as there is a story behind the map your playing on, not you playing out Christmas with Raynor.

Ok, well does hemisphere-spanning platforms sound like it belongs in SC? Prior to New Folsom, the notion would have also been a gag. I don't care about the psi destroyer, but I take issue with pointing to over-the-top examples from obscure bonus maps as an excuse for whatever other ridiculous plot device blizzard comes up with next.

If there's any issue I have with the psi destroyer, it's that a government like the Dominion shouldn't be wealthy & powerful enough to fund this project. The Confederacy studied zerg for a decade and they were the largest government the sector had ever seen. And they weren't at war. But then 9 of the 13 core worlds got sacked, and it's difficult (but not impossible) to believe that Mengsk pulled something like this out of his ass in just 4 years when his priority was "rebuilding". The fact that the protoss still haven't made any invention useful against zerg is also getting old (well, unless you play my campaign). :P

Ok, for the moment I'll grant that this is possible. In such a case, where the hell are these missiles and why aren't they being used now? The Terrans could pretty much destroy anything using FTL ballistics. The Confederacy could have annihilated a good chunk of the advancing Protoss and the Zerg right from the beginning! Why need Ghosts to direct missiles when they can fly FTL? No guidance would be necessary since the enemy wouldn't have time to initiate counter-measures.

Well, Korhal has its "orbital defenses" that we saw in HoTS. And prior to SC2, terrans could not warp anything into/out-of a planet's atmosphere, so there would be plenty of time to shoot down the nukes. Similarly, Char is assumed to have bajillions of Scourge that serve the same purpose. As for protoss, they're so damn advanced they don't really need an explanation. I've always said that the point of Omega was to set up a staging ground from which all 3 factions could nuke/purify Char with impunity.

And again, perhaps manufacturing 1000 apocalypse class missiles is not that easy, and something that the Confederacy could have done while not in a period of war, a fancy & elaborate "demonstration" that serves to make an example out of Korhal. Perhaps it's simply not a cost-effective tactic.

[LestersPetZergling]

The Zerg were infesting worlds before the Guild Wars even began I'm sure... The Confederacy would have easily made it, but the question is why didn't they...

[Turalyon]

Ok, well does hemisphere-spanning platforms sound like it belongs in SC?

That's the thing I'm trying to get at since most people around here now would answer "yes and it (and all the other whiz-bang Terran tech we see now) always has been like that". Originally, the Terrans never felt "suped-up" technologically speaking and in comparison to the other two. They made up for this in their true grit.

If there's any issue I have with the psi destroyer, it's that a government like the Dominion shouldn't be wealthy & powerful enough to fund this project.

It's funny how the Psi Destroyer bugs me less than the Psi Disruptor since WoL has already "re-positioned" (or insert your own relevant synonym according to taste) the Dominion/Terrans as being powerful to the extreme. The Psi destroyer is actually consistent with the current take of the Dominion than it would have been if introduced back in Sc1/BW's time (the Psi Disruptor was enough even then). Either way, it's yet another hazily justified ass-pull.

Well, Korhal has its "orbital defenses" that we saw in HoTS.

Don't forget that the argument stems from not knowing what the Terran's actual capabilities were back in the day. Knowing what they are actually capable of later does not necessarily mean they were always capable of that in the past. Especially, when considering that there is nothing to support such things other than hindsight bias. This pervasive incorporation of what is actually new stuff retroactively as if they were always there is partly why Sc lore is Swiss cheese.

And prior to SC2, terrans could not warp anything into/out-of a planet's atmosphere, so there would be plenty of time to shoot down the nukes.

Was this expressly mentioned in the manual and game or later in the EU? Nothing states the missiles were capable of FTL in any way unless one assumes the designation Apocalypse class is supposed to somehow relay the fact that it is FTL (which it does not!). One also has to consider why so many nukes had to be used for a colony that only numbered around 35 million at the time given that they are "Apocalypse" classed which, at the least, implies a mind bogglingly massive yield - could be that it was to account for and saturate any anti-nuke defences since they were flying slower than FTL.

Either way, this "fact" is debunked if you're one to value the "new information and apply it retroactively" type thing that is going on now since WoL shows the Hyperion entering FTL in atmo.

Similarly, Char is assumed to have bajillions of Scourge that serve the same purpose. As for protoss, they're so damn advanced they don't really need an explanation.

And yet low tech nukes guided by Ghosts continue to be used to some considerable effect against everyone and wherein the counter is killing the Ghost and not actually stopping the missile...

And again, perhaps manufacturing 1000 apocalypse class missiles is not that easy, and something that the Confederacy could have done while not in a period of war, a fancy & elaborate "demonstration" that serves to make an example out of Korhal. Perhaps it's simply not a cost-effective tactic.

Oh but the Confederacy were in a period of war, if I'm not mistaken (as I usually am when it comes to the full Starcraft EU lore). Wasn't the Guild Wars winding down when the Korhal rebellion occurred? The Confederacy could've easily been stockpiling nukes all throughout the Guild Wars as a final solution against the KMC and then just turned them against Korhal because they won the Guild Wars and had a pile of unused nukes (1000 is a big number).

[Shadow Archon]

I'm curious whether you see this the same way with the Overmind retcon as it too can be defended exactly in the same vein you are doing so here.

Yes.

It wasn't a retcon. What the Overmind was doing consciously and sub-consciously are two different things. We just got to see another side of it.

Now, I'm saying it was a "good" thing to do story wise, and it could have been tweaked a bit, but meh.

To me, a retcon is not merely just a change in established facts but also a change in how the previous continuity is to be perceived when it was heavily implied to be perceived another way initially. An addition retcon tends to do the latter more than the former. With that in mind, a retcon does not necessarily have to mean something negative even though when someone invokes the term "retcon" it usually does.

Okay.

I only count retcons as direct contradictions.

The jump in logic is between the Psi Emitter and Psi Disruptor. Forget that they are called "Psi" for a moment and focus instead on how they work at a fundamental level. The emitter, as originally described, is a device that broadcasts and magnifies Ghosts brainwave patterns whilst the disruptor directly attacks the unique psionic link between higher order Zerg organisms that controls the numerous lesser Zerg. The two tech are in no way linked - the emitter only works because it capitalises on observed Zerg behaviour at the time (in truth, the attraction to Ghosts was due to the Overmind's will of wanting to find psionic potential to integrate into the Swarm) and does nothing to the Zerg in actuality whilst the disruptor is many levels above and depends on knowing intimately how the Zerg psionic hierarchy works and how to reach out and affect it.

The Confederacy studied how the Zerg functioned with Ghosts directly. Now, we know infested Terran psionics can be easily put into the Hive mind structure as one of the main commanders. Stukov, Kerrigan, Ethan, all of them were made into Terran/Zerg beings that could do this. Then there's the whole incident with Carpenter's brood and the ghost being absorbed by a Cerebrate directly and him coming out on top in terms of which personality won, and the whole Zerg brood falling under a crazy Ghost's psionic control.

A Psi Emitter, yes, it is one different thing then a Psi Disruptor. Is a Psionic ECM device really a big stretch in terms of what the Terrans can make with years of research? To me, not really. Since the Confederacy never used it, you can guess that they never got it to work. The UED however, who has been watching the Terrans for centuries now, and has planned to subjugate the Zerg hive mind from the beginning, with dissections and whatnot of various forms has the scientific knowhow on how to get the device up and running.

It...never striked me as something odd.

There is often two types of realism when dealing with fictional works. The first is whether it is applicable to the non-fictional worlds and the second is the applicability to the fictional worlds as it has been defined by it's own set of rules. Granted the second is very nebulous and much more prone to decay due to the changing whims of writers, but the original conception of psionics in Starcraft (the faux realism/rules of that fictional world are being established here) was that the Terrans were only in their infancy with its use and that there are different types of "psionics" at work that are not directly interchangeable. If they were, why else would the Overmind's actively pursue the psionic potential of the Terrans?

Terran psionics infested by Zerg could be made into hive mind rulers like Cerebrates and Brood Mothers. They definitely work on some similar wave length, especially with Kerrigan becoming the new Overmind fill-in.

They had heavy potential, and the Zerg managed to utilize that potential to create Kerrigan. She was suppose to be the psionic wedge that would give the Zerg the advantage they needed against Protoss psionics.

Of course, this didn't work out too well still, and only one form of Zerg creature has managed to even infest a single Protoss, and that was through its abilities to block out the Khala.

Oh that's right, it was retconned into it not really wanting psionic potential at all but just to kill all Protoss in general in WoL.

Uh...No.

Where does it state that?

Meh, it's hard for me to get too upset anymore about the changes in Starcraft since they've been happening since BW. Sc2 has only just vindicated my disconnect.

Okay.

As down-to-earth as one can get in a science-fiction/fantasy themed world. All these innovations serve practical purposes to the general Terran ideology of expansion, consumption, in-fighting etc. and do not leap out as just being fanciful for the sake of being fanciful.

...I don't see the difference. Magic tech is magic tech no matter how it is themed.

Not as far as we know so far. This can be easily rectified through additive retcon.

...Uh, why are you saying this?

You said that the Protoss should have come up with an answer to the Zerg tech wise that the Terrans have kept on doing. In SC1 and BW they didn't try.

In the EU, two examples come to mind that blew up in their faces.

One, a virus meant to wipe out creep was re-engineered by it to let it overcome the Khala.

Two, a small band of DT tried to usurp the Zerg hive mind by making every individual Zerg have their own identities. That just made the Swarm on the whole much more intelligent, and they still clustered together anyways similar to the Primal Zerg.

Still not seeing the direct evidence that points to them being faster-than-light in that passage. Show anyone else that same passage and they'd defy you to say that this is evidence that the missiles are flying FTL. I'd wager that most would go so far as to say that they are is merely assumption... oh dear, wasn't I just accused of such a thing earlier?

It was fired at Korhal from Tarsonis. They have to be FTL.

Strange how you can be so easily dismissive, quickly identify this as a joke and deem it not to be trusted when the reasoning you use is no different from mine (ie: that it seems incongruous with previous stuff). It's a slippery slope from hereon in...

I said it was a joke. I did not say it was incongruous with previous lore.

When someone expects you to laugh at it, and it is obviously trying to invoke humor or connect to a holiday that is focused on Earth (which we don't even know if Terrans celebrate it) I can safely dismiss it.

How?

The Terrans have shown multiple times that they have FTL real time sensors.

The Dominion can at real time detect everything within their borders not using stealth and the Umojans can use their spydeck to look at other solar systems in real time.

All Terran BCs even can sense things at FTL velocities in real time, and display them visually.

The only problem is a matter of range.

Heck, in one of the new short stories, the Dominion has charted and mapped everything within hundreds of thousands of light years in all directions. So, either the Starcraft galaxy is bigger then our Milky Way or the Dominion has mapped the entire galaxy.

Ok, for the moment I'll grant that this is possible. In such a case, where the hell are these missiles and why aren't they being used now?

They are being used.

The Cyrus, an old SoK BC that hasn't been updated since the battle above Tarsonis, had a dozen of them and used them on a tactical scale. Presumably, they have variable yields given the detonations we see. (Their blast does go above the cloud cover on an earth like planet, but that's still small fry compared to the petaton of TNT juggernauts used on Korhal)

The Terrans could pretty much destroy anything using FTL ballistics.

Uh, that assumes that their enemy doesn't use ECM at all and has no idea how to use PD.

Which we know they both utilize on some level.

The Confederacy could have annihilated a good chunk of the advancing Protoss and the Zerg right from the beginning! Why need Ghosts to direct missiles when they can fly FTL? No guidance would be necessary since the enemy wouldn't have time to initiate counter-measures.

Besides the political ramifications before the Great War, the reason they use Ghosts is so ECM isn't a problem. If your guiding the warhead from some device in real time, either on board the missile or on board the ship sending the sensor coordinates, its very possible that ECM of some type can be used against it.

That also assumes that these missiles can't be stopped or detected by the Toss or the Zerg in Warp Space itself. Both can manipulate it far better then the Terrans. Given that the Terrans can detect incoming objects from Warp Space according to HotS, I would presume the Toss and the Zerg have the same capability.

It also has to do with planning. A warp space jump takes planning before the jump commences. They can't be changed mid flight IIRC. So, if you are going to hit a target a long ways out, your gonig to need to know where they are, and know that they have no defenses against you.

And, it also has to do with how accurate these jumps are. Terran and Protoss capital ships can accelerate to speeds at least above fifty percent of lightspeed given that they travel AU distances in a minutes, and can launch Wraiths and be in weapon's ranges shortly. So, if the jump takes too long or the rift is opened too far away, depending upon the speed of the nuke, they could outrun it, or have enough time for PD to shoot it down.

Zerg are mainly in swarms in space, and since nukes don't create shockwaves in spa------

Oh yeah, there was that scene in Spectres, where Terran nukes did do this. Oh, well, we haven't seen enough of Terran space combat against Zerg except them getting swarmed quickly and killed whenever they tried to stay still and blast Zerg.

Besides those reasons, bombarding Zerg worlds with Apoc Nukes does no good for the Zerg living under the crust and in the mantle. There is a reason the Protoss punch their way down to the core of worlds to get rid of Zerg.

And they have used nukes in space combat and on ground targets without a Ghost for targeting before, but they only did it in circumstances where the target wasn't going to be able to stop the nuke incoming at all.

Ok, well does hemisphere-spanning platforms sound like it belongs in SC?'

Yes.

Prior to New Folsom, the notion would have also been a gag.

I don't see why seeing that the Terrans build 1 km long BCs and had around ninety above Char alone in BW, and that they have been building Space Platforms to act as planetary defense stations, large enough for it to accommodate BCs in their docking bays. And if we go by Uprising, that means each BC is around 9kms to 11kms long.

Then there's the fact that in the EU that came out just before Starcraft 2 that the Terrans managed to terraform Mar Sara back to its original status in a year. That alone is ridiculous to the point that makes them do whatever the hell they want industrially. I mean, replacing majority of the atmosphere, fixing the holes that penetrated to the liquid core, and dealing with any other matter that was detonated off of Mar Sara's surface. The KMC brought it back to normal SC1 levels in one year.

That...That's insane.

I don't care about the psi destroyer, but I take issue with pointing to over-the-top examples from obscure bonus maps as an excuse for whatever other ridiculous plot device blizzard comes up with next.

Its not an excuse for plot devices Blizzard comes up with since they aren't main stream. Even if you explain something in detail in a novel series, the main outlet of series still needs to flesh out the details to the point that things still make sense.

Regardless for looking at the series from an out-of-universe viewpoint, it is still canon, thus gives you an idea of what they can do in-universe.

The fact that the protoss still haven't made any invention useful against zerg is also getting old (well, unless you play my campaign). :P

..Well, they try. It just horribly backfires against them in the end.

*Sigh*

Blizzard needs to stop treating the Toss as Starcraft's whipping boy.

[FanaticTemplar]

The Terrans have shown multiple times that they have FTL real time sensors.

The Dominion can at real time detect everything within their borders not using stealth and the Umojans can use their spydeck to look at other solar systems in real time.

All Terran BCs even can sense things at FTL velocities in real time, and display them visually.

The only problem is a matter of range.

Heck, in one of the new short stories, the Dominion has charted and mapped everything within hundreds of thousands of light years in all directions. So, either the Starcraft galaxy is bigger then our Milky Way or the Dominion has mapped the entire galaxy.

I have no idea where most of this is from. The StarCraft wiki entry on the Spy Deck mostly refers to Umoja's own star system, and even when it refers to others, it mentions using known star systems. There is no problem with sensors within a star system - at least, using the major planets in our solar system as our reference point, at light speed information would arrive, at most, in a matter of hours. And we could expect Terrans to have set up multiple sensor arrays at different points within the solar system. Then the information can be broadcasted by the sensor unit to a receiver at a Terran command post through warp space. I'm mostly curious about your Battlecruiser reference though. The Wiki's article on Warp space claims that Battlecruisers can't sense objects in real space, so it's strange that they should be able to sense things in real space through warp space. Unless you're arguing that Terrans have some other means of faster than light communication.

Ultimately, everything I've seen about warp space requires an opening of warp space on the transmitter's side. Communications are broadcast through warp space. Ships open a conduit through warp space. The only exception I can think of is the Protoss' Recall.

[Shadow Archon]

I have no idea where most of this is from. The StarCraft wiki entry on the Spy Deck mostly refers to Umoja's own star system, and even when it refers to others, it mentions using known star systems.

It saw Korhal's bombardment in real time. We don't know where they are in relation with each other, but they are definitely many light years away considering Korhal is a Confederacy core world and Umoja is the Protectorate's capital.

There is no problem with sensors within a star system - at least, using the major planets in our solar system as our reference point, at light speed information would arrive, at most, in a matter of hours. And we could expect Terrans to have set up multiple sensor arrays at different points within the solar system. Then the information can be broadcasted by the sensor unit to a receiver at a Terran command post through warp space.

That assumes that Terrans don't have FTL scanners...which they do.

I'm mostly curious about your Battlecruiser reference though.

Liberty's Crusade

“Zed-Two, Quadrant Five, one AU out. Numerous anomalies.”
“Bearing?”

“Working.” A pause, and then a defeated shrug crept into the tech’s words. “Heading for Mar Sara,
sir.”

Duke nodded. “Prepare to intercept anomalous readings. Launch fighters when in range.”

Mike spoke before he thought, “Are you crazy?”

Duke turned back to the reporter. “That was a rhetorical question, I hope, son.”
“We’re one ship.”

“We’re the only ship between them and Mar Sara. We will intercept.”

Mike almost said, “Easy for you, you’re in a hard-shelled battlesuit,” but caught himself. Whatever could
go through a planetary crust wouldn’t be stopped by a few layers of combat armor.

Instead Mike took a deep breath and just gripped the railing, as if he were hoping that this might ease
the eventual blow.

“Approaching visual,” said the tech. “Putting on screen.”

The main screen flickered to reveal a scattering of fireflies against the night sky. They looked almost
pretty against the darkness. Then Mike realized that there were hundreds of them, and that these were

only the main ships. Smaller gnats danced around them.

“Are we within launching range for the Wraiths?” the colonel asked.

“Mark at two minutes,” replied the tech.

“Launch as soon as possible.”

Mike took a deep breath and wished that he had joined in the combat suit drills after all.
Even at long range, the Protoss ships had form and definition. The largest were huge cylindrical
creations, similar in appearance to luminous zeppelins. They were surrounded by hungry moths, and
Mike realized these had to be their fighters, their equivalents of the A-17 Wraiths that were now in the
hangars, just waiting for them to close to within striking range. Other golden ships danced between the
larger carriers, glimmering like small stars.

And Twilight, which covers the scene from the Protoss perspective.

Tassadar gave the order to move to the sister planet of the one he had just destroyed.

He kept his thoughts to himself, and Jake did not pry. Tassadar had been in the forefront arguing against the action he had just been ordered to take; it was to be expected that he would harbor regrets.

“Executor, we are detecting terran vessels.”

“I am not surprised, after what we have just done. Display.”

The crystal hummed and an image appeared before them.

“Vessel is identified as Norad II, Colonel Edmund Duke in command. It is a Behemoth-class ship….” Jake paid little attention as the statistics of the terran vessel were described. The protoss had long kept a watchful eye on the terrans; the Dae’Uhl, the “Great Stewardship,” demanded it. The protoss had watched this young race grow and expand, marveling at how they managed to thrive despite almost constantly attacking one another. It was the Dae’Uhl that Tassadar had cited when he had been ordered to utterly destroy Chau Sara. The protoss knew a great deal about terrans, their weaponry and ships, and what they were capable of. And while the Norad II was a powerful ship by terran standards, it was but a single vessel, and posed no real threat at all. It was a buzzing insect, easily swatted away. Except Tassadar gave no order to do so.

“Executor?” queried the pilot. “Shall I destroy the terran ship?”

Jake watched both her friend and the vessel. It was mov ing quickly to intercept. No doubt it would begin attacking them as soon as it was within range.

“There are no other ships. It comes to its doom,” Tassadar said.

Jake felt Tassadar’s respect and sorrow wash over her.

“They are…courageous, these humans.”

“Sir? They are almost within range.”

Tassadar’s next words stunned everyone. “Deploy the subwarp field and give the order to retreat.”

Jake stared at her friend. “You are supposed to destroy Mar Sara, Tassadar. This ship is nothing to us.”

“No, it is not,” Tassadar said, “and you know well it is not fear that makes me choose this course of action.” Jake nodded, slowly, as every ship in the powerful protoss fleet disappeared to human eyes, and sat back. And waited. And watched.

It takes light eight and a half minutes to travel an AU. That Battlecruiser is almost within weapons range of the Gantrithor and is already about to launch fighters only about ~three minutes after the declaration of an AU out. Either they have FTL weapons or their ships are going at FTL. The sensors are FTL right there, seeing as they have a real time visual confirmation of them.

The Wiki's article on Warp space claims that Battlecruisers can't sense objects in real space, so it's strange that they should be able to sense things in real space through warp space. Unless you're arguing that Terrans have some other means of faster than light communication.

The Hyperion in HotS detected the Dominion fleet before they exited Warp Space. This clashes with Flashpoint however.

Ultimately, everything I've seen about warp space requires an opening of warp space on the transmitter's side. Communications are broadcast through warp space. Ships open a conduit through warp space. The only exception I can think of is the Protoss' Recall.

Here are the rest of the quotes of what I was talking about:

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN’T RAISE THEM?”
Valerian’s voice was low and carefully controlled. His father had taught him this. There will be times when you’ll want more than anything to shout at people, and to follow that up with a good throttling. Resist the impulse, son, Arcturus had said. If you scream at them, all they’ll hear is the volume. And if you throttle them, why, and he had laughed and taken a sip of port, it makes it hard for them to talk.

So now, when Valerian wanted very badly indeed to shout at Whittier and then throttle him—or perhaps execute both maneuvers simultaneously—he curbed the impulse and kept his voice and manner calm. Such was not the way of a true warrior, nor a future emperor. He knew from the way the color drained from Whittier’s face, however, that he hadn’t managed to control the fury in his eyes. He would have to work on that.

“Simply what I said, sir. According to our charts, they haven’t moved from their position in several hours. And no one is responding to our queries.”

Valerian breathed deeply. A vein in his temple was throbbing and he put a manicured hand up to physically calm the agitated vessel. He inhaled the scents that he loved: the smell of leather and polished wood, the spicy aroma of pipe tobacco. It calmed him. A little.

“I see.” His voice was composed now, and he lowered his hand. “Well, it sounds like something has happened. Was there any evidence of an attack?”
Relieved to see his employer calming, Whittier turned back to the screen. His long, thin fingers flew as he called up image after image.

“Negative, sir. There is no debris in the area, no trace of enemy vessels. If the protoss had hit, we’d be seeing energy residue; if it was the zerg... well, sir, you know as well as I we’d be seeing floating debris and nothing else.”

He knew his aide was right. The Gray Tiger had not been attacked.

Not from the outside, anyway.

“Call up the bios of Ramsey’s team again,” he said. Whittier wisely did not remind Valerian that this was the fifth time he had asked his assistant to do so, and simply obeyed the command. Valerian’s jaw tightened as his gray eyes flickered over the information. But this time, he was reading the little reports with an eye toward who in Ramsey’s team might have tried to instigate an escape.

Detecting a ship in their territory in real time light years away and scanning for local debris.

So he studied star charts, studied astrophysics and solar dynamics. His superiors noticed his extracurricular interests. He told them he was aiming for a career in strategic planning and countermeasures, so they gave him access to the exploration and mapping databases, everything the deep-space surveillance probes had discovered for hundreds of thousands of light-years in every direction, a growing sphere of knowledge.

Jake quietly sorted the data for the conditions necessary for a life-supporting planet. Some stars were too big or the wrong color. Some gave off too much radiation. But the right size star, the right color star, was the right place to look for a Goldilocks world. His superiors thought he was charting the probabilities of zerg infestation. The Swarm had been mostly quiet since the Brood War; even so, his superiors approved. Long-range planning was a good thing. They just didn’t know that Jake was planning for his own long range.

The opportunity came unexpectedly. Jake hadn’t settled on a star system, hadn’t narrowed down his options. He was still considering a variety of possible candidates, both near and far, and he still needed to determine how far he would have to go before a pursuit would no longer be cost effective.
But then the convoy was attacked. The battle erupted around them. Alone on the bridge, already dreaming of possibilities... before he had time to think, he acted.

He didn’t have time to wake the captain; he popped off the plastic cover and slammed his hand down hard on the red button. The alarms went off all over the ship; crewmembers dived for escape pods; and within three minutes, the evacuation was complete, and Jake was the last man on board.
It took him less than thirty seconds to bring the ship to a new heading, and then he jumped out and away from the combat zone.

In the fury of fighting, barely anyone noticed. Only later, when they checked the various logs in all the surviving vessels, would they realize that one of their colony ships had disappeared—not destroyed, just gone. But that would only happen if there were any survivors. Based on what Jake had seen of the attack, there probably wouldn’t be.

Hundreds of thousands of light years in all directions, which the Dominion has used deep space probes to explore.

On the verge of despair, the Overmind
made an amazing discovery. One of its deepspace
probes had relayed the location and
vital statistics of a race that occupied a series
of nondescript worlds, right under the
shadow of the Protoss.
The new race, called Humanity, was mere
generations away from developing into a
formidable psionic power. But the Overmind
also knew that Humanity was still in its infant
stages, hardly capable of defending itself
against the ravenous Zerg. Although a shortlived
and seemingly frail species, the
Overmind knew that Humanity would be the
final determinant in its victory over the
Protoss. If it could assimilate the psionic
potential of Humanity, the Overmind would
have the ability to combat the Protoss on its
own terms.
Thus, the Zerg swarms slowly made their
way towards the burgeoning worlds of
Humanity. The journey lasted for sixty years,
but eventually the massive, extended Zerg
Swarm reached the outskirts of the Terran
Sector of Koprulu.
----------------------------
The Protoss bore silent witness to the
portentous arrival of Humanity to their edge
of space. Although the Protoss were
uncertain of the vagabond origins of the
Terrans, they knew that these volatile, short
lived humans would prove to be interesting
study. Two centuries passed as the Protoss
watched over the budding Terran colonists.
The Terrans had succeeded in building up
rudimentary colonies on over a dozen worlds
within the Protoss’ borders. Although the
technology of the Terrans was inferior to that
of the Protoss, they adapted to the worlds
upon which they lived and thrived. The
Protoss found the Terrans to be fascinating
in that they constantly fought against one
another, yet still advanced their technologies
and industries by leaps and bounds.

The Protoss were alarmed at how quick
the Terrans were to access and drain the
natural resources from their various worlds.
It seemed to the Protoss that the Terrans had
no respect for the delicate balance of nature,
as they recklessly sped from one world to
the next, leaving nothing but barren
wastelands in their wake. Bidden by the
strict dictates of the Dae’Uhl, the Protoss
were forbidden to directly interfere with the
reckless Terrans, no matter how much they
wished to do so. This disjointed relationship
lasted for many years between the two
races. Yet a routine Protoss scouting mission
found evidence that spelled certain doom
for the hapless Terrans.

The High Templar Tassadar, accompanied
by his renowned Templar expeditionary
force, found a number of small biological
constructs floating near the borders of
Protoss space. Upon close inspection,
Tassadar deduced that the rather
nondescript alien organisms were in fact
deep space probes. Although Tassadar
could not discern their point of origin, it
was clear that they were heading towards
the Koprulu sector of Terran colonies.

And the Zerg and Toss keeping tabs on humanity for years without being detected.

The UED just do it too.

[Turalyon]

Is a Psionic ECM device really a big stretch in terms of what the Terrans can make with years of research?

Yes, it is still a jump in logic when all your evidence for its existence comes after the fact/ due to hindsight bias. The problem with this is that it sets a precedent that other things about their history may not be concrete as well.

Terran psionics infested by Zerg could be made into hive mind rulers like Cerebrates and Brood Mothers. They definitely work on some similar wave length, especially with Kerrigan becoming the new Overmind fill-in.

Being compatible does not mean being part of the same thing or that they were always interchangeable. Terran psionics are only compatible with Zerg psionics because the conceit is that the Zerg force/make foreign things to be a part of them. The thing they force into the Swarm is inherently different, something they lack and potentially has a benefit to them. If it wasn't, they could just tinker with their own psionic genes to produce the psionics they wanted without bothering to assimilate the Terrans. That the Terrans, being only novices in how their own psionic potential works, is able to elucidate higher order Zerg psionics (which is what the Psi Disruptor disruptes) that are totally different from their own without even having a cerebrate (the Zerg main force was yet to reach the K sector at the time of these purported Confederate studies) to study stretches the already thin laws of that universe.

Where does it state that?

In WoL though I didn't make myself clearer enough the first time. The Overmind's plan and all actions leading up to it wasn't to assimilate the Protoss and to absorb their powerful abilities as its end goal but to outright kill them all. This guff about there being two Overminds with the original wanting to assimilate the Protoss and the Directive one wanting to kill the Protoss is an unnecessary complication that just confuses things and turns the entirety of the Overmind character into nothing more but an overwrought plot device.

...Uh, why are you saying this?

You have my cynicism and the tripe the SC2 writers have come up with to thank for that remark.

At this stage, I expect anything is possible in the SC universe up to and including ridiculous notions such as the Terrans being Xel'Naga because flimsy pretenses such as "well, it never said they weren't before" are justification enough apparently.

It was fired at Korhal from Tarsonis. They have to be FTL.

What, so this is your definitive proof that the missiles can't somehow also be only able to fly at under FTL speeds or at light speed itself but somehow definitely faster? It's all assumption. Either way, this is all getting beside the point since I believe the EU has retconned this event into having battlecruisers in orbit firing the missiles on Korhal instead of being directly fired from Tarsonis. Maybe it was due to this particular issue of expecting Terrans to have FTL ballistic weaponry would make them over-powered whilst simultaneously seeing no evidence of their use anywhere else in the game when it should be expected of being so.

When someone expects you to laugh at it, and it is obviously trying to invoke humor or connect to a holiday that is focused on Earth (which we don't even know if Terrans celebrate it) I can safely dismiss it.

So I can safely disregard the news reports and all that they say in WoL because it is obvious that they're really only there to invoke humour? Hawki will disagree with you.

The Cyrus, an old SoK BC that hasn't been updated since the battle above Tarsonis, had a dozen of them and used them on a tactical scale. Presumably, they have variable yields given the detonations we see. (Their blast does go above the cloud cover on an earth like planet, but that's still small fry compared to the petaton of TNT juggernauts used on Korhal)

Nice obscure reference that is next to irrelevant since it's never seen in-game or referenced anywhere else. One would expect widespread use of FTL ballistics if it was capable because of it's huge tactical advantage.

Uh, that assumes that their enemy doesn't use ECM at all and has no idea how to use PD.

Fat lot of use these will do on something flying FTL. At that speed, you'd be better off (and cheaper given the expected exhorbitant cost of crafting an FTL drive for a missile) using a mindless missile rather than create a guidance package that will need to also work at and within FTL speeds. Also there is the expectation that for PD to be effective against such a thing would somehow have to a) fire b) predict the timing of when the FTL missile breaks out of FTL to deliver its payload and c) reach it before the missile hits.

Besides the political ramifications before the Great War, the reason they use Ghosts is so ECM isn't a problem. If your guiding the warhead from some device in real time, either on board the missile or on board the ship sending the sensor coordinates, its very possible that ECM of some type can be used against it.

Huh? The Ghost is guiding the nuke - therefore ECM should be a problem. Also, are we to expect the missiles that Ghost direct are FTL? If not, how come PD is not known in the lore to be effective against such a tactic?

Besides those reasons, bombarding Zerg worlds with Apoc Nukes does no good for the Zerg living under the crust and in the mantle. There is a reason the Protoss punch their way down to the core of worlds to get rid of Zerg.

A FTL nuke could still possibly dig out those Zerg by "phasing" through before detonating.

Its not an excuse for plot devices Blizzard comes up with since they aren't main stream.

Yes, but that's how you're defending their presence. You're saying their justified because of this obscure reference on this map or this one quote in a book. All that is saying to the not-so-hardcore fans is that "if you don't get it, it's your fault for not knowing this mindless minutiae".

...the main outlet of series still needs to flesh out the details to the point that things still make sense.

Blizzard has been doing a terrible job of this so far. That's where all the confusion is coming from.

[FanaticTemplar]

Many arguments.

Many of your arguments do nothing to address the notion that Terrans would be using sensor arrays throughout Terran space to relay information to them. Korhal was a Core World, so why wouldn't Umoja have a spy satellite nearby? Same with the Confederacy spotting Tassadar's fleet in the Sara System. Same with your reference to the Zerg and Protoss watching the Terrans before StarCraft - the Protoss are stated to 'routinely patrol' Terran space, and in one of those patrols they caught a Zerg deep-space probe. In either case, this is evidence that they needed to have someone/something within Terran space to transmit the information back to Aiur/the Overmind.

The issue here is the way sensors work - they are inherently receivers. There is no problem with the notion that the Terrans can transmit information through warp space, or that they can intercept information coming from warp space. The problem is that your hypothetical sensors involve using warp space to "reach out" and gather information from distant places. The closest thing I can think of that would make sense with this is some kind of warp radar. But that would involve sending out something through warp space, to then exit warp space to bounce off something in real space, then go back into warp space to travel back to the point of origin. That sounds patently ridiculous.

Now the notion that the UED sent deep space probes throughout the galaxy and these are what have been transmitting the information from the Koprulu Sector back to Earth is the most reasonable justification I've heard on this issue. However, there are a few problems with it. For one thing, it contradicts what we are told about the UED's source of information, which is that they were recording the Terran's every move since their exile from Earth. For another, they would have known about the Protoss and Zerg long before the Terrans, since Aiur, at least, is also in the galaxy (this entire notion makes the plot point about 'the secret location of Aiur' pretty incomprehensible too, if it were true). Also, why did they have to attack Braxis to 'ascertain the location of the Dylarian Shipyards'?