Exercise 01: Establishing the Status Quo

[Nissa]

Shadow of the Xel'Naga is the single worst book I have ever read, and was clearly written by a person who had very little idea of what Starcraft entailed. It doesn't count as a real source of information.

Was pretty hilarious, though.

Anyway, Duran as Overmind is a fun angle, and I kinda like that idea. It would be as though Duran was helping Kerrigan not only to get access to the Zerg for experiments, but to make sure the infant Overmind is destroyed, because this entity no longer represents the Overmind's being.

Granted, the whole idea is a bit kooky, but it could work.

[ragnarok]

Shadow of the Xel'Naga is the single worst book I have ever read, and was clearly written by a person who had very little idea of what Starcraft entailed. It doesn't count as a real source of information.

I still found it useful as a source of info in learning about the energy creatures though.

Exactly, they had so much hubris that they didn't even bother to reach out.

That's their arrogance problem. Zeratul certainly had grounds to tell Aldaris that he was too blind to see the fall ahead of him

[Visions of Khas]

I wonder if one reason the Overmind landed on Aiur was to lure the Templar into a false sense if security. "Oh look, the leader of our foe has taken up residence just over the hill. Hah, this'll be easy!" And all the while, Templar throw themselves into the meat grinder but never gain ground because they refuse vital military intel because of its dubious DT source.

[ragnarok]

I wonder if one reason the Overmind landed on Aiur was to lure the Templar into a false sense if security. "Oh look, the leader of our foe has taken up residence just over the hill. Hah, this'll be easy!" And all the while, Templar throw themselves into the meat grinder but never gain ground because they refuse vital military intel because of its dubious DT source.

That would have to depend on just how much zerg were actually gathered around the Overmind's nesting site, VoK.

As we saw from Eye of the Storm, even after Zeratul killed the two Cerebrates there were still plenty of Zerg defenders next to the Overmind. That being said however, the Q should be this: did the other Cerebrates gather their forces around the Overmind AFTER they saw Zeratul kill the two Cerebrates in Shadow Hunters? Or were those defenders there from the very beginning?

Because if it's the former, then I can see your point, and those zerg forces were only moved there because the Cerebrates realized now that the Khalai finally accepted the Nerazim's help, the Overmind would be vulnerable, and therefore everyone must be gathered into its nesting ground to defend it.

[GnaReffotsirk]

The cerebrate deaths before the final mission allowed them time and chance to get to the Overmind. I'd imagine, if we were watching a film, the executor's forces and Tassadar would be pushing deeper and deeper into kilometers of infested ground, hive clusters and all, as the Zerg reorganize.

It would then open to that dead barren area where at the heart of it all was the Overmind itself. While the executors forces would, by then, have to retreat, Tassadar does what he's left to do, and channel the energies of the dark templar and cut the overmind into pieces.

[ragnarok]

The cerebrate deaths before the final mission allowed them time and chance to get to the Overmind. I'd imagine, if we were watching a film, the executor's forces and Tassadar would be pushing deeper and deeper into kilometers of infested ground, hive clusters and all, as the Zerg reorganize.

It would then open to that dead barren area where at the heart of it all was the Overmind itself. While the executors forces would, by then, have to retreat, Tassadar does what he's left to do, and channel the energies of the dark templar and cut the overmind into pieces.

Yeah but you have to remember in the zerg campaign after Zeratul killed Zasz, while the Overmind was sent into a temporary comatose state, the Cerebrates weren't affected that way. That's why I'm arguing that if the other Cerebrates on Aiur saw what Zeratul did in "Shadow Hunters," it'd make sense for them to gather all their forces right away and send them to the Overmind's nesting grounds.

[GnaReffotsirk]

I see that happening. I think it was a race against time, as soon as they killed those cerebrates. It bought them some time to get into the eye of the storm, where it would have been impossible if they didn't assassinate those cerebrates.

The cerebrates might have been confident the protoss had no ability to kill them, given Fenix' failure previously. The Overmind might have seen the rift between the protoss and the dark templar, and so assumed, after watching fenix fail, that event on char was a one-off.

[ragnarok]

I see that happening. I think it was a race against time, as soon as they killed those cerebrates. It bought them some time to get into the eye of the storm, where it would have been impossible if they didn't assassinate those cerebrates.

The cerebrates might have been confident the protoss had no ability to kill them, given Fenix' failure previously. The Overmind might have seen the rift between the protoss and the dark templar, and so assumed, after watching fenix fail, that event on char was a one-off.

That's true. After all, Zeratul's mind touch with the Overmind should have given him that info. If that's indeed the case, it's possible that the Overmind nesting ground was largely undefended in the early stages of the Protoss campaign.

If that's the case, then perhaps the 2nd Protoss mission "Into the Flames" to kill the Cerebrate with Khalai forces was basically the Conclave giving a "test run." If the attack is successful, then they would launch an assault on the Overmind itself afterwards.

[GnaReffotsirk]

The region around the overmind might be desolate after the explosion as it crashed and imbeded itself. Imagine how vast that area would have been, and the time it would take for anything to get to the overmind.

Around it would be hive clusters and dark swarm so thick, it would be impossible to penetrate. Approaching from high orbit would meet with the same reaction from the surrounding broods.

It might be impossible to even target where the overmind is from high-orbit, given the dark swarm just blocking visual, maybe even radar, or even thermal would not work. The vast distance of that crater and the amount of guess-work you'll have to do and fire rounds upon rounds would make it almost wasteful.

That and having to deal with defenders.

I picture it as a wall of Zerg, a vast distance in-between, and the overmind somewhere inside the vast area where a thick cloud of orange just makes the entire area almost impossible to navigate..

[ragnarok]

The region around the overmind might be desolate after the explosion as it crashed and imbeded itself. Imagine how vast that area would have been, and the time it would take for anything to get to the overmind.

Around it would be hive clusters and dark swarm so thick, it would be impossible to penetrate. Approaching from high orbit would meet with the same reaction from the surrounding broods.

It might be impossible to even target where the overmind is from high-orbit, given the dark swarm just blocking visual, maybe even radar, or even thermal would not work. The vast distance of that crater and the amount of guess-work you'll have to do and fire rounds upon rounds would make it almost wasteful.

That and having to deal with defenders.

I picture it as a wall of Zerg, a vast distance in-between, and the overmind somewhere inside the vast area where a thick cloud of orange just makes the entire area almost impossible to navigate..

I can easily see that. If that's true it'd mean Zeratul killing the Cerebrates in Shadow Hunters sent the swarm into temporary disarry, allowing him, Tassadar, and Raynor's forces to penetrate to the Overmind's nesting grounds.

If that's the case, then what happened in Shadow Hunters would be very similar to what happened in the BW mission "To Chain the Beast." Recall that usage of the Psi Disruptor allowed the UED to send the swarm forces into disarray and thus allowed them to reach the 2nd Overmind's nesting grounds, but the remaining defenses still proved a problem.