Umoja and Kel Morian Combine

[Nissa]

So I was thinking about these two factions, and how they kinda got shoved aside in the games and basically ignored. For some reason. So what do we know about these factions? I've got the manual pdf, so I know about the Guild Wars, and that the KMC was basically the biggest, most demi-independent part of the Confederacy. And that Umoja apparently wanted to learn from the Protoss (and this is never a plot point?).

I've always seen the Combine as breaking apart from the Confederacy when Mengsk overthrew the latter, but there doesn't seem to be an in-game confirmation of their activities. Like, at all. There's Fenix calling them greedy in that one mission, but that never made sense to me as (1) who doesn't need resources when the Zerg are on the move? and (2) Fenix is literally attacking people who never did anything to him to help the Zerg.

So my question is, what resources are there that really get into what the KMC and UP have been doing since SC? Any novels or websites? I prefer old canon, but I wouldn't mind knowing any tidbits about SC2 era.

[The_Blade]

"Mengsk" and "Heaven's Devils" would probably contain the most snippets of information on both factions during the time of the confederacy and BW.

I feel like both factions were used as namesakes for new ideas they had instead of exploring the old ones for everything SC2, while the novels follow the world building set by the established universe more.

My conservative view on the KelMorian and Umojan is that they are a feudal and a federation society respectively. The KelMorians' leadership was conformed by the two strongest mercenary companies at a prelude of the Guild Wars. So, they started to annex mining companies to their economy through military aid until the Confederacy complained about the money they were diverting. The Umojans, on the other hand, were a more "righteous" about the division of wealth both on core worlds and the fringe; but they were always limited by their galactic location and military strenght during both the Guild Wars and The First Great War. Some years ago I thought it was mostly due to unequal distribution of resources and labor, but some other stories have changed that.

I believe that "The Expanse", the books by Jacey Bedford and other nonidealistic, or even distopic, sci-fi sources have awaken a more acute sense of the struggles of Terrans in space. At a more modern level of interpretation, I believe that all three mayor factions were heavily corrupt before the guild wars. Keeping military resources at the fringe worlds, were most of the conflict happened, committed towards moving the war forward was hard as hell. Opportunistic agents deviated income and supplies for many different reasons this being selfish or for the well being of others. The constant along this actions was a "fuck the core worlds" footnote or moral justification. Therefore, at the height of the Guild Wars pre-escalation neutral territory could be seen all around the mining colonies despite there being a flag post for any of the factions at every moment. During the narrative of Heaven's Devils this is exactly whats happening. Confederates and Kel'Morians are often switching sides if the profit is good. Coronel Vanderspool, the main antagonist of the series, is the best example of the flip flop political character.

Honestly, there needs to be a little more exploration on space stations, asteroid mining and the life conditions on both military and economic fleets. Then, the Protoss experimentation would also be fantastic.

[Turalyon]

And that Umoja apparently wanted to learn from the Protoss (and this is never a plot point?).

This is a curious fact because it doesn't seemingly gel with the Terran History, where it states that "No Terran presence could account for the disturbing presence of not one, but two strange alien races within their colonies". The history suggests that the Terrans were unaware of either the Zerg or the Protoss until Chau Sara (and yes, I am aware that this is false due to retcons and later lore saying the Terrans actually knew a lot more about the Zerg), so it's curious how the Umojans would think the Protoss would even want a truce when their first major contact was the burning of a Terran colony world.

I've always seen the Combine as breaking apart from the Confederacy when Mengsk overthrew the latter, but there doesn't seem to be an in-game confirmation of their activities. Like, at all..

The KMC are apart from the Confeds but when Mengsk's Dominion came about, I think we're supposed to presume that the KMC must have aligned themselves with the new Dominion (as well as most other disparate Terran factions) as part of providing a unified Terran front against the "alien invaders". The KMC we see in BW is after Mengsk's Dominion has been effectively dismantled by the UED, so they are indeed separate/on their own in that moment.

So my question is, what resources are there that really get into what the KMC and UP have been doing since SC? Any novels or websites? I prefer old canon, but I wouldn't mind knowing any tidbits about SC2 era.

Can't help there unfortunately. Can only rely on my own brain fluff. That being said, I'm curious about the "protectorate" part of the Umojan Protectorate, since it implies autonomy and difference from standard Umoja despite being under their rule. This could mean Umojans and the Umojan Protectorate could be two different things each with their own ideology, culture, people and whatnot. I wonder why the major controlling government of Umoja would rely on (and allow) a sovereign but independent state for their military power and what keeps them from not overtaking and becoming Umoja's governing body. I mean, we're talking about Terrans here afterall...

[Mislagnissa]

Aside from the wiki, there’s no other information on them. Starcraft isn’t the kind of IP interested in things like politics and world building. The KMC and Umoja plots were originally written as opponents of the Confederacy. The manual is full of ideas like that which were never explored. Metzen decided to jettison that interesting plot hook in favor of his Kerry fixation. Now Starcraft is about nothing but Kerry and her immediate orbit.

I’ve given up on that nonsense.

If you’re truly interested in genuine military scifi/political thriller/etc, then you’re better off with a different setting. For example, the Fractured Realms mod for OpenRA is SC-inspired. https://youtube.com/watch?v=QNoPFWkrvng

I’m also working on lore for another SC-inspired OpenRA project. PM me for the discord link if you’re interested in discussing it. I’m available on the SCLegacy discord too.

[ragnarok]

It is a shame they decided to drop the two factions. At least the Umojans are briefly touched upon in the SC2 trilogy. The KMC just disappeared.

[Nissa]

"The Umojan Protectorate
Commander:
Minister Jorgensen
Designation:
Neutral Protectorate
Base of Operations:
Umoja
Militia Color:
Aqua
The people of Umoja have chosen to remain separate and autonomous from the Confederate
worlds. The Umojans consider themselves to be an enlightened people, harboring obvious
contempt for their sister colonies that submit to the near-fascist yoke of the Confederacy. The
Umojans have retained a strong military force known as the Protectorate that keeps other
factions from interfering in Umojan affairs. The Protectorate seeks a truce with the Protoss,
believing that the elder race can teach them the mysteries of the greater meaning of life, the
universe, and everything."

That's from page 49 of the manual. So yeah, maybe it was referring to something after the initial attack by Tassadar by Chau Sara, but now that I think about it, that would only have introduced the Aiur Protoss. I've always wondered how the DT and humans got along, as the DT would not have been associated with Khalai Protoss. Absent of involvement with the DTs, the Umojans would maybe be those snob types who think the Confederacy got what it deserved, and thus maybe hold the Protoss somewhat in awe.

I tried to read Heaven's Devils, but it sucked hard. Raynor had legit no personality and everything that happened was really stilted and stiff. That, and it seemed to focus on the Guild Wars, as far as the KMC was concerned. As for I, Mengsk, somewhat same story. Too bland to read, browsed instead of finished. Possibly there's some good details there, but I'd have to sort through a lot of silliness to get them.

[Turalyon]

So yeah, maybe it was referring to something after the initial attack by Tassadar by Chau Sara, but now that I think about it, that would only have introduced the Aiur Protoss.

I know, which is why it's weird. Why would anyone think that a hitherto unknown technologically advanced alien would/could even want a truce with your species when they first announce their presence by burning one of your colony worlds?

Also, were it not for the Zerg invasion, the Khalai Protoss would never have even made their presence known to the Terrans at all due to their principles of the Dae-Uhl.

It's kinda strange how this description implies the Umojan Protectorate somehow know enough about them to classify them as an "elder race" all from just seeing them torching Chau Sara. It'd be like people still somehow considering the aliens in the film Independence Day are wise, benevolent and can be reasoned with even after seeing them wipe out one of our major cities.

I've always wondered how the DT and humans got along, as the DT would not have been associated with Khalai Protoss.

I'd reckon the DT would be even more reclusive than the Khalai Protoss - hence all the stealth/in-the-shadows vibe they've got going for them - and wouldn't risk exposing themselves to the Terrans. Especially when considering that the Khalai Protoss are themselves secretly surveying the Terrans as part of their Dae-Uhl.

[Nissa]

Oh, I don't know. I kind of buy it (although it does need in-game explanation) because there are those people out there with weird psychology -- the types who sympathize with terrorists over their own nation, despite the fact that said terrorists are really quite open about their destructive ideas. I could see someone deciding that this is just revenge over the Confederacy and want to be like the Protoss. That, and combined with the fact that they would probably like to steal some Protoss tech means that getting close to the 'Toss is a plausible idea.

[Mislagnissa]

It's kinda strange how this description implies the Umojan Protectorate somehow know enough about them to classify them as an "elder race" all from just seeing them torching Chau Sara. It'd be like people still somehow considering the aliens in the film Independence Day are wise, benevolent and can be reasoned with even after seeing them wipe out one of our major cities.

The Starcraft website circa 1998 had an in-game document showing that the Terran governments were aware of the protoss and intercepted their border patrol transmissions. Here's an archive of the protoss website preview: http://starcraft98.droppages.com/protoss

The novels explain the zerg were present for at least a decade prior to the Battle of Chau Sara, and considering how easily they took over in SC1 it makes zero sense they didn't take over a long time ago.

The lore isn't consistent on what should be key details.

[The_Blade]

I guess that the best retcon had to be the solitude of the Terrans before the Great War conflicts.

I like the concept of the Protoss and Zerg being active on the Kropulu Sector for a "longer" period before the spark of the conflict. The story sucks at managing power levels at several points of the conflict. If planets like Tarsonis and Aiur fell so hard and fast, why should any of the races have a chance at dealing with the Zerg. Likewise the Terran's would have stood little chance against either of the aliens.

I tried to read Heaven's Devils, but it sucked hard. Raynor had legit no personality and everything that happened was really stilted and stiff. That, and it seemed to focus on the Guild Wars, as far as the KMC was concerned. As for I, Mengsk, somewhat same story. Too bland to read, browsed instead of finished. Possibly there's some good details there, but I'd have to sort through a lot of silliness to get them.

Well, most books and manga are not even coherent with one another as the writers were often hired to write the stories with little plot bullet points rather than a full fleshed universe. Queen of Blades reads like bad fan fiction on top of unit descriptions. Ghost and Spectres is just an acid trip on terrazine mildly sprinkled by romance and friendship rather than plot points. Mengsk was the only good book as a story of a main character. Sure it was soapy, but at least the "villian" is explained at a cognitive level.