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Project Blackstone is a Terran Dominion research project, focused on zerg and protoss research. It was led by Dr. Helek Branamoor.[1]
Overview
Project Blackstone is comprised of scientists that were selected by Dominion Intelligence Section and approved by Arcturus Mengsk himself. Their base installation is located on an asteroid[1] and is classified information.[2] All communications made within the facility are monitored.[3]
History
With the future of the Swarm uncertain, Mengsk seized upon the opportunity to bolster his Dominion forces. He ordered that the best terran minds in the Koprulu Sector be gathered so that the secrets of the zerg and protoss could be unraveled.[2]
Adjutant 33-27_V3.1974 went online and tested the project's systems. Shortly afterward, maintenance personnel came to visit. They went into what would become a forbidden area and were killed by a solitary zergling. The adjutant requested an additional sample, then made a separate request for additional personnel.
Shortly afterward Dr. Helek Branamoor and Major Lee Treicher disembarked at the project. Following a review of the zergling incident, Treicher ordered that the replacement maintenance personnel not go to the containment areas. The adjutant told the replacement personnel that they would be executed if they went to those areas. Major Treicher objected, but Dr. Branamoor believed this was best.
The subordinate scientists arrived. Dr. Vera Langridge was granted a higher security access than the other scientists. At least some of the scientists (such as Talise Cogan and Talen Ayers) had been kidnapped and protested their ill treatment.[3] Ayers lodged a protest at the way he had been "recruited"—forcibly by a ghost, no less. In response, Branamoor restricted personal communication and canceled the barbeque, so they could get straight to studying larvae.[1]
The adjutant detected a security breach, but believed it was simply caused by malfunctioning equipment. It turned out Sherman Jack's image files weren't secured. In addition, something happened to the machine shop, resulting in it taking a hole in the door.[3]
The project later moved on to studying other strains such as zerglings, banelings and mutalisks.[1] After a month of operations, new member Jake Ramsey arrived as an expert on the protoss.[3] Ramsey quickly discovered and revealed to other researchers that live protoss were being experimented on.[1]
Redell Quinton was confined to quarters on suspicion of building a distillery, after he was discovered to have massively overused the project's supply of activated carbon, and Jake Ramsey was discovered collapsed drunk in a hallway. After four days of searching failed to find the distillery, Director Branamoor ordered Major Treicher to release Quinton and conclude her investigation. [3]
However, the operation took a turn for the worse when the station stopped receiving supplies and could not establish contact with the Dominion. Dr. Held, wanting to hoard all of the resources for his own research, then released several captive zerglings into the facility, killing all of the guards and support staff and leaving the main science team trapped. Working together, the team managed to kill the zerglings and reach Dr. Held's lab, only to find that he was killed by one of his own Protoss test subjects. Some time later, the team was rescued by Emperor Valerian Mengsk, who took over and reorganized the project.[1]
Known Members
- Adjutant 33-27 V3.1974 (Twitter link)
- Talen Ayers, Xenobiologist, Senior Zerg Research (Twitter link)
- Helek Branamoor, Chief of Research, Project Director, Omega-level access (Twitter link)
- Talise Cogan, Xenobiologist (Twitter link)
- Warren G. Held, Xenobiologist, Senior Protoss Researcher (Twitter link)
- Pamela D. Foster, Chemical Engineer, Explosives Expert (Twitter link)
- Sherman Jack, Xeno-Imaging Specialist
- Vera Langridge, Xenobotanist, Gamma-level access (Twitter link)
- Leah A. Martine, Xenobiologist (Twitter link)
- Red Quinton, Chief Engineer (Twitter link)
- Jake Ramsey, Xenoarchaeologist, Protoss Specialist (Twitter link)
- Daniel Rothfuss, Astrophysicist (Twitter link)
- Lee Treicher, Head of Security, Major, Gamma-level access (Twitter link)
Notes
In a real-world sense, Project Blackstone has been assumed to be a viral marketing site for Heart of the Swarm. The site originally asked for a password, "Y7_$0>0k_3<$m", but the log-in page was removed when the site officially announced. [1] However, Senior Story Developer Cameron Dayton has revealed that its story was two years in the making. He has stated that Project Blackstone is more than just marketing, without revealing what exactly it is.[4]
Most of the characters have a Twitter account. Links to their accounts and logs of their conversations can now be found at Project Blackstone - Declassified.
Many short stories have been released since the inception of Project Blackstone and correspond with the character's broadcasts.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Blizzard Entertainment. Project Blackstone, accessed on 2013-06-28
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2013-03-01, Project Blackstone. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2013-03-13
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Project Blackstone Tweets. Cameron Dayton's Twitter, accessed on 2013-05-20
- ↑ MedievalDragon. 2013-03-24 Blizzplanet Weekly: Pax East. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2013-03-24.