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"There's been a lot of secret Confederate research surrounding Ghosts and the Zerg. What we stole was a small but critical piece of the puzzle: designs for a Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter. The emitters broadcast the neural imprint of a Ghost, but at a much greater magnitude. These things reach across worlds."

- Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan(src)

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A psi emitter

The Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter, also known as a psi-emitter, is a piece of terran technology.

Overview[]

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A remotely-fired psi emitter

Psi emitters are portable machines that have the uncanny ability to lure zerg to their signals. Those running the Confederate Ghost Program found that the zerg are attuned to the alpha waves of ghosts. The emitters broadcast the neural imprint of a ghost, but at a much greater magnitude.[1] Requiring a ghost[2] or other psychic to be activated,[3] they can reach across worlds,[1] having a maximum range of around 10-25 light years.[4] Numerous psi emitters in the same area appear to amplify the overall effect.[5] Psi-emitters can be attuned to attract particular zerg breeds to a location.[6]

Zerg drawn by psi-emitters lack any form of battle caution or positional awareness, crowding over themselves and through enemy lines to reach the location of the emitter. The Terran Dominion often used emitters to draw zerg attacks away from civilian population centers.[7]

By the Defenders of Man Insurgency, a psi emitter had been designed that could be deployed remotely through atmospheric insertion.[8] This was made possible through Moebius Foundation technology.[9]

History[]

Mar Sara[]

"It was the Confederacy that brought the zerg here! With all their weapons and all their starships and all their soldier boy marines, they wanted more power. So they built that box, not even comprehending the death it would bring with it. They thought they could control them or capture them. They had no idea what they had unleashed. And now they're just 'writing us off' as though we were some cipher on a balance sheet!"

The Terran Confederacy intended to use psi-emitters to lure the zerg into isolated containment areas. Their plan was to use the zerg to put an end to their other rivals and be lauded as heroes for coming in and destroying the zerg.[1] However, when activated, these emitters brought the entire Swarm to the Koprulu Sector rather than the manageable numbers the Confederacy had hoped for.[4]

One such emitter, present on Mar Sara, was acquired by Sons of Korhal engineer Merdith Jernic. She was captured by the 417th Confederate Marine Platoon, which had been abandoned by the Confederacy, and questioned by its commander, Lieutenant L. Z. Breanne. Breanne was suspicious of Jernic's story of how she acquired the device (claiming the Sons of Korhal brought it to her), and Breanne accused her of activating it. Jernic suggested letting the zerg attack the cities, while the platoon would escape with the Sons of Korhal and the emitter. She claimed the atrocities of the Confederacy forced the rebels to use the device "against further Confederate aggression". The platoon eventually activated the emitter in order to lure the zerg towards their prepared position and away from the major cities long enough for the Sons of Korhal to evacuate the citizens of Mar Sara City. The platoon was wiped out.[3]

Before leaving Mar Sara, Captain Jim Raynor, a new recruit to the Sons of Korhal, and a rebel team raided the Jacobs Installation in order to retrieve whatever designs or weapons schematics that they could find in the Confederate networks. They download data discs and fled.[10]

Sons of Korhal affiliate Horace Warfield was rumored to have played a role in collecting the emitter technology.[11]

Antiga Prime[]

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Psi emitter atcivated on Antiga Prime

The rebels fled to the border colony of Antiga Prime. When headquarters completed analysis of the discs, shortly after rescuing and recruiting Alpha Squadron General Edmund Duke, Sons of Korhal leader Arcturus Mengsk called a meeting and had his second in command, ghost Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, explain that they contained designs for a psi emitter. He then had Kerrigan plant an emitter at the base camp of a large Confederate strike force which had arrived on Antiga Prime and established a base camp within their defensive perimeter. The zerg, lured by the psi emitter's signal, descended upon the unsuspecting Confederate forces and annihilated them.[1]

Tarsonis[]

"The use of the psi emitter on Antiga Prime was a watershed event, a Rubicon, a point of no return. It was like the first appearance of ghosts in the Confederacy ranks, or the indiscriminate use of the Apocalypse bombs that leveled Korhal IV. It changed everything. It also changed nothing. For the average citizen caught between the rebels and the Confederates, and the Confederates caught between the Zerg and the Protoss, the war was still as deadly as ever. More planets would vaporize under the Protoss's weapons and more humans would be swallowed by the Zerg hives. Yet after the swarming of Antiga Prime, there was hope for the rebels. Now, at least, we had a weapon. And like the damn fool humans we were, we could not resist using it."
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Emitters draw zerg to Tarsonis

Mengsk's forces traveled to the Confederate capital world of Tarsonis and had Alpha Squadron plant emitters there, over the strong objections of Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan.[12] The combined power of the psi emitters lured billions of zerg to Tarsonis. They overran the Confederacy's defenses and laid waste to Tarsonis' major cities and industrial centers.[5]

The Brood War[]

During the Brood War, Mengsk, now Emperor of the Terran Dominion, was deposed by the United Earth Directorate. The UED later assembled a psi disrupter on the world of Braxis,[13] which severely hampered Kerrigan's control over her zerg forces.[14]

Mengsk was rescued by Raynor and brought to Kerrigan's fortress on Tarsonis. She needed his psi emitters to gather up enough zerg to destroy the psi disrupter and confront the UED. On Braxis, Raynor's Raiders destroyed the disrupter's primary power generator. With the disrupter's power cut, the emitter, carried by one of Mengsk's SCVs, was able to get the attention of renegade zerg near it, allowing Kerrigan to assert direct control over them and destroy the psi disrupter.[15]

The Second Great War[]

Main article: Media Blitz
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This article or section contains information from the optional Rebellion Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
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A psi emitter during the Second Great War

The Terran Dominion launched a salvage operation on Tarsonis, intending to gather lost Confederate technology. Raynor's Raiders attacked this expedition, making off with Adjutant 23-46 with knowledge of the Battle of New Gettysburg.[16] After decrypting the adjutant, Raynor listened to its transmissions—Mengsk giving the order to use the emitters to Duke, over the objections of Raynor and Kerrigan.[17]

Raynor's Raiders eventually took control of the UNN Studios long enough to disperse the information throughout the Dominion, weakening Mengsk's rule.[18][19] Dominion writings would later whitewash Mengsk's role in the use of psi emitters at Tarsonis.[20]

The End War[]

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This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.

During the End War, Alexei Stukov utilized psi emitters as a means of directing infested terran forces under his command.[21]

A New Revolution[]

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The new psi emitter specs

After the End War, a new faction arose known as the Defenders of Man under General Carolina Davis. In an effort to destabilize the regime of Emperor Valerian Mengsk, who they saw as a weak leader, they planted psi emitters on scattered Dominion colonies, which attracted feral zerg to them. The Defenders of Man then would move in to save the colonies.[22] They were able to augment the psi emitters using technology recovered from the Moebius Foundation.[9] Their first strike was on the colony of Antiga Prime, where they used psi-emitters specially attuned to specific specialized zerg breeds. These were planted by Dominion ghosts Nova Terra and Stone, on loan due to Defenders contacts in the Dominion, who were mislead into believing the devices were anti-zerg. However, they soon discovered that the devices were psi-emitters. Nova attempted to warn the Dominion, but was captured and mind wiped.[6]

Nova later investigated their base at Tarsonis City, where the Defenders of Man activated one in their installation in order to scrub the facility and make sure she was killed. However, Nova slipped through them,[23] and discovered that the Defenders of Man planned to plant psi emitters on Tyrador IX, in order to show Valerian was a weak leader. Nova swore that she would prevent this from occurring.[24]

The Defenders of Man released psi emitters on Tyrador IX by an orbital drop launched from a viking, and feral zerg swarmed he planet. Loss of life was extensive. The Defenders of Man fleet arrived to clear out the zerg, as well as Nova's Covert Ops Crew, and between those two and the intervention of the Tal'darim Death Fleet, the feral zerg were destroyed.[25] Nova later returned to Antiga Prime with terrazine, which allowed her to reverse the mind wipes and uncover her role in planting the psi emitters.[6]

The One-Day War[]

Psi-emitters were used once again during the One-Day War on Gystt. Seeking to divert the zerg under the control of the renegade chithas under the control of Abathur from destroying the last point where the adostra were kept, Emperor Valerian Mengsk ordered the deployment of a makeshift psi emitter. This was successful in adverting a mass number of zerg under their control, but unfortunately a survey team sent to save the last point where caught by a flock of mutalisks and pulled toward the emitter. The team was able to break free, and Valerian launched a tactical nuclear missile at the emitter, destroying it and the zerg closest to the emitter.[7]

Game Effect[]

StarCraft[]

Psi-emitters appear as power-ups within StarCraft. They can be carried by SCVs during certain missions.

StarCraft II[]

Psi-emitters can be deployed by Alexei Stukov as a calldown in Co-op Missions. They send all infested infantry to the target location.[26]

Notes[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Trump Card (in English). 1998.
  2. Kenyon, Nate. (September 27, 2011). StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-1439-10938-0.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Hickman, Tracy (May 21, 2002). StarCraft: Speed of Darkness. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04150-9.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Grubb, Jeff (February 27, 2001). StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0671-04148-9.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Big Push (in English). 1998.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Flashpoint (in English). 2016-08-02.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Zahn, Timothy (November 8, 2016). StarCraft: Evolution. Del Rey Books. ISBN 0425284735. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SC:Evolution" defined multiple times with different content
  8. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Heroes (in English). 2016-08-02.
  9. 9.0 9.1 2016-11-05. BlizzCon 2016: Foundations for the Future. Youtube. Accessed 2016-11-05.
  10. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Jacobs Installation (in English). 1998.
  11. Blizzard Entertainment. 2010-11-12. Cast of Characters: Horace Warfield. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-11-13.
  12. Edmund Duke: "This is Duke. The Emitters are secured and on-line."
    Sarah Kerrigan: "Who authorized the use of Psi Emitters?"
    Arcturus Mengsk: "I did, Lieutenant."
    Kerrigan: "What? The Confederates on Antiga were bad enough, but now you're going to use the Zerg against an entire planet? This is insane."
    Jim Raynor: "She's right, man. Think this through."
    Mengsk: "I have thought it through, believe me. You all have your orders. Carry them out." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Level/area: The Big Push (in English). 1998.
  13. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Patriot's Blood (in English). 1998.
  14. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Vile Disruption (in English). 1998.
  15. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Reign of Fire (in English). 1998.
  16. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Great Train Robbery (in English). 2010-07-27.
  17. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Cutthroat (in English). 2010-07-27.
  18. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Media Blitz (in English). 2010-07-27.
  19. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Hearts and Minds. (in English). 2010.
  20. 2015-09-18, NYCC 2015 – James Waugh’s StarCraft Field Manual Signing Schedule. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2015-09-23
  21. 2016-11-05. StarCraft 2: Lead Game Designer Interview At BlizzCon 2016!. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2016-11-065.
  22. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Sudden Strike (in English). 2016-03-29.
  23. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Enemy Intelligence (in English). 2016-03-29.
  24. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Defenders of Man. (in English). 2016.
  25. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Trouble in Paradise (in English). 2016-08-02.
  26. 2016-12-08, Patch 3.9 Preview: New Co-op Commander Stukov. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-12-11
  27. 2014-18-12, StarCraft: Ghost Demo Build. Dropbox.com, accessed on 2020-02-16
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Psionic technology (StarCraft)#Psi emitter

The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Psionic technology (StarCraft)#Psi emitter.

Wikipedia content was licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License prior to June 15, 2009 is. Wikipedia content from June 15, 2009, and StarCraft Wiki content, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported).
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