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)

Jake Ramsey’s adventure continues on the planet Aiur. Under the instructions of the protoss preserver within his head, Jake explores the shadowy labyrinths beneath the planet’s surface to locate a sacred crystal that might be instrumental in saving the universe.

(StarCraft: Shadow Hunters, book two of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)

Mysteriously some of the Dominion’s highly trained ghosts begin to disappear. Nova Terra, now a graduate of the Ghost Academy, investigates the fate of the missing operatives and discovers a terrible secret.

(StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres by Keith R.A. DeCandido)

Jake Ramsey is separated from his bodyguard, Rosemary Dahl, after they flee Aiur through a xel’naga warp gate. Rosemary ends up alongside other refugee protoss on Shakuras, but Jake is nowhere to be found. Alone and running out of time, Jake searches for a way to separate the protoss preserver from his mind before they both die.

(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)

A team from the Moebius Foundation—a mysterious terran organization interested in alien artifacts—investigates a xel’naga structure in the far reaches of the Koprulu sector. During their research the scientists uncover a dark force lurking in the ancient ruins.

(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 4, “Voice in the Darkness” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)

Kern tries to start his life anew after a career as a Dominion reaper, a highly mobile shock trooper who was chemically altered to make himself more aggressive. But his troubled past proves harder to escape than he thought when a former comrade unexpectedly arrives at Kern’s home.

(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 4, “Fear the Reaper” by David Gerrold and Ruben de Vela)

A nightclub singer named Starry Lace finds herself at the center of diplomatic intrigue between Dominion and Kel-Morian officials.

(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 3, “Last Call” by Grace Randolph and Seung-hui Kye)

2504

A world-weary Jim Raynor returns to Mar Sara and struggles with his own disillusionment.

(StarCraft: Frontline, volume 4, “Homecoming” by Chris Metzen and Hector Sevilla)