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The Trial of Tassadar is the eighth protoss mission of Episode III of StarCraft.

History[]

Background[]

Executor Artanis and High Templar Tassadar had returned to Aiur with the dark templar, an act viewed as treason by the Conclave, who considered the dark templar heretics. Judicator Aldaris led the Conclave in an attack on their forces to arrest them, sparking a civil war.[1] Though Tassadar and his allies struck a small victory against the Conclave, the sight of protoss warriors fighting each other was too much for him to bear, and he surrendered to stem the fighting.[2] Fenix and Artanis escaped, and Zeratul and his dark templar vanished.[3]

Alone, Fenix and Artanis planned to strike back against the Conclave. Tassadar was being held prisoner in a stasis cell to await trial, but Fenix was sure the trial would end in Tassadar's execution. With Zeratul and his dark templar gone, Fenix saw Tassadar as their only hope to stop the zerg invasion, and resolved to release him. As the two prepared to move out, they were contacted by Jim Raynor, a terran who befriended Tassadar on Char. Raynor offered his aid in the mission to repay Tassadar for saving his men on Char, and took the field in his command ship, Hyperion.

The three were able to break through the Conclave's defenses and destroy Tassadar's stasis cell, but before they could retrieve him, Aldaris arrived with a large contingent of reinforcements from the Ara Tribe. Aldaris mocked their predictability in staging a rescue attempt and prepared to attack,[4] but was halted by the return of Zeratul with a number of dark templar. Caught by surprise and outnumbered by the dark templar, Aldaris and the Conclave retreated and allowed Fenix and his allies to escape with Tassadar.[5]

Walkthrough[]

The player has a small starting force protected behind a walled-off base. Fenix and Raynor are available as hero units, Raynor commanding the Hyperion battlecruiser. While the Hyperion is powerful, repair is not possible for the entire mission due to the lack of SCVs, so use Hyperion with caution. The Furinax Tribe (purple) has two bases directly south and east of the player's base, and will attack with zealots, dragoons, and reavers. The Ara Tribe (red) harasses the player with air force of scouts and carriers and occasionally sends in templars through airdrop, which can be devastating to carrier groups if left unchecked. The player should initially build several photon cannons at the southern wall of their base to aid in fighting the Ara, and later accompanying their forces with observers.

The player's starting forces, properly microed, will hold off the enemy for a while, allowing the player to build up their economy and then begin to build their army. The Ara Tribe is heavily fortified on high ground with difficult to reach entrances, so an air force should be used. The player should build two stargates and construct a force of four or five carriers, and research their capacity upgrade and air weapons. These carriers can destroy one of the two Furinax bases, which are heavily slanted to ground attackers beyond dragoons and photon cannons. With one base destroyed, the player can expand to its ruins and continue to build their fleet of carriers larger, then destroy the other base. There is also a mineral field on the far eastern edge of the map the player may wish to claim.

The final target is Ara Tribe (red) main base to the south, where Tassadar's stasis cell is. The base is very well defended with a huge fleet of scouts and carriers, aided by arbiters that may provide stealth service for nearby enemy units and freeze/isolate player's carrier fleet; even a dozen of full-equipped carriers aided by scouts is not likely to penetrate the enemy defense in a direct assault. ‘Human wave tactic' may work but would be at great expense. A much more elegant way would be to set up an ambush site with carriers, scout, dragoons and around 4 shield batteries along the riverside, then use simply a scout as a bait to lure the enemy air armada into the trap. The entire enemy airforce could be depleted in several rounds in this manner and without the menace from the air, a fleet of only 5-6 carriers can level the enemy base, including the stasis, with absolute ease.

Starcraft_-_Protoss_Mission_8_The_Trial_of_Tassadar

Starcraft - Protoss Mission 8 The Trial of Tassadar

References[]

  1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Homeland (in English). 1998.
  2. Tassadar: "Executor! Aldaris! This madness must stop! The sight of my brethren slaughtering one another is more than I can stand. Though I fear you would doom us all, Aldaris, I surrender myself to the Conclave. En Taro Adun, Executor. Don't give up the fight!"
    Aldaris: "Tassadar of the Templar, by your actions you have severed yourself from the mercy of your brethren. You refused to destroy the Terran worlds as was commanded. You have questioned time and time again, the sacred will of the Conclave. And you have abandoned your Homeworld in its darkest hour. Most grievous of all is that you have allied yourself with the blasphemous Dark Ones, and learned to utilize their profane powers in tandem with our own! What say you, oh fallen Templar?"
    Tassadar: "Aldaris, I submit myself to the Conclave's judgment. But know this, given the same choices again, I would surely have made them. I have sacrificed all that our world might live. I have sullied my honor, I have discarded my rank and standing, and I have even broken our own most ancient traditions. But never think that I would, for one moment, regret my actions. For I am Templar, and above all else, I have sworn to Protect our Homeworld 'till the end." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Level/area: Homeland (in English). 1998.
  3. Fenix: "Zeratul and his Dark Templar have vanished, leaving us to fend for ourselves. I wonder if Tassadar was mistaken to have put his trust in them." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Level/area: The Trial of Tassadar (in English). 1998.
  4. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Trial of Tassadar (in English). 1998.
  5. Zeratul: "Stay thy hand, Judicator. The stewards of Tassadar shall not fall while the Dark Templar live. Call off your guards and stand aside, and you may yet live to see another moonrise."
    Aldaris: "I will not be addressed so by one so devoid of the Khala's light. You and your vile brethren shall die with these traitors."
    Zeratul: "Are you truly so blinded by your vaunted religion, that you can't see the fall ahead of you? Your Conclave believes that they are winning this war, but all they've succeeded in doing is helping the Overmind to win."
    Aldaris: "What could you possibly know about our designs, blasphemer?"
    Zeratul: "You speak of knowledge, Judicator? You speak of experience? I have journeyed through the darkness between the most distant stars. I have beheld the births of negative-suns and borne witness to the entropy of entire realities... Unto my experience, Aldaris, all that you've built here on Aiur is but a fleeting dream. A dream from which your precious Conclave shall awaken, finding themselves drowned in a greater nightmare." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Level/area: The Trial of Tassadar (in English). 1998.
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