Starcraft: Dark Templar, book one: Firstborn |
I am still reading through page 200 of STARCRAFT: THE DARK TEMPLAR book one: FIRST BORN.
The story goes pretty well up to page 100+ and goes slow thereafter and picks up again on some relevant info.
SPOILER ALERT
You are now warned that what you will read here are straight comments from the novel. Sorta like a summary, although I am not including other info. Just summarize few things so you understand what’s going on as the story progresses. It is easy to grow confused after page 154. (Chapter 12)
Jake Ramsey is an archeologist sent to a backwater world named Gelgaris, with very precarious equipment to perform his archeologic investigations. Out of nowhere, he gets a message showing the Terran Dominion insignia. This feline-face-like young man offers a deal Jake can’t turn down. The young man reveals his identity to Jake, under the terms he will refer to him to others aside from his team as Mr. V —his real name … Valerian Mengsk.
A heir risen at the Umojan Protectorate well guarded, away from enemies of Arcturus. Valerian trained in the arts of ancient 19th century to present weaponry, and chose the path of the archeologist, savoring the finding of knowledge from ancient civilizations. His father thinks of him somewhat affeminated and weakling.
However, he basks in the pleasure of seeing his father one day go whoa! when the revelation of wonders pay fruit for the better of humanity. With that said, he gives full funds and top-tech gear to Jake’s team to relocate his efforts on a planet named Nemaka, where a temple has been sighted arising from the sands.
Jake meets Valerian weeks later, and there he tells most of the plan. However, as Jake reaches Nemaka he is informed he is the fourth team of archeologists setting foot on the place. This enraged the whole team. Everything has been tampered with making investigation further difficult. The goal set by Mr. V is for Jake to decipher how to enter the center of the temple, which none of the previous teams were able to unravel.
Jake used all his expertise and puzzle-solving skills for two months, trying to think like a Protoss. To no avail. Suddenly he looked at the fossil outside the temple. The same fossil found in other planet excavations, and the same back on Earth. I will not say much of this part—the author was very cool explaining how he was able to open the door.
Inside was a dying female Protoss named Zamara. The purple garments and gem in the forehead however tells me it is some sort of High Templar rather than a Dark Templar. However, this protoss is known as a Preserver—collecting the collective memories and thoughts of all protoss who ever existed. Being a female, we know Dark Templar society was led by Matriarch Raszagal—so let’s consider Zamara is a dark templar for now until otherwise said by the book.
As Jake entered the chamber, the dying protoss made physical contact with Jake just to die. Jake went into a coma. His brain was being rewired, changing physically to withstand the memories and the knowledge the dying protoss wished to not be lost.
Jumping forward to not spoil what happened next, Jake can now read minds and when he sleeps he is able to see through the eyes and body of an ancient protoss. He can’t communicate with them in the past, but he can watch and listen. All the mumbo-jumbo talk confused me for a while, and even found it uninteresting, specially with the use of protoss names.
However, I started to understand the lingo better and to figure out what’s going on when Jake sleeps and dreams, joining the collective memories of the Protoss. He is seeing through the eyes of a protoss named Temlaa, who became apprentice of an elder protoss named Savassan.
The strange alien names I couldn’t figure out at the beginning are names of protoss tribes: Aran, Akilae, Furinax and the Shelak. The Shelak is the tribe that protected the Xel’Naga artifacts from the other primitive tribes, and Savassan and Temlaa belong to the Shelak tribe, archeologists if we can call them so. I am telling this so you know what those alien names are. It took me at least 50 pages or longer to figure out what was going on in these mind dream journeys, and that Temlaa was not really Jake, but that he was living as an observer through the body of Temlaa.
Now, as soon as I figured out that all these strange names were tribes, I was able to pinpoint when in history the book is taking us. Fellow starcraft fans … we are witnessing the Aeon of Strife. The Xel’Naga has already abandoned the Protoss, and each tribe has separated, waging war on each other. The Protoss at this point were very primitive using spears. And when we talk of the Aeon of Strife, you know who in Protoss history will be making an appearance soon …
Back to point A, if you haven’t read Starcraft: Shadow of the Xel’Naga, you should be buying it too. This novel is a direct connection of the events in there which means Shadow of the Xel’Naga is very canon.
The Xel’Naga are referred to by the Protoss as the Ihan-rii. Through the study of the artifacts, they wish to know why the Ihan-rii abandoned them, and wish to learn how to become what the Ihan-rii wished them to be before being considered a flawed experiment.
At this point, I would say the book author has handled this novel pretty well. Once you read this spoiler to be prepared for the tribes part, it will be easier to understand. At first, you get very lost each time Jake goes on his dream-journey mode. Zamara is basically in possession of Jake, he can talk to her and she teaches him. However, with his brain still evolving she is still not able to control his body. She will do so if he refused to cooperate, but for now Jake is cooperating. She won’t rest until the knowledge is preserved. A warning needs to be carried forth. What is about to happen will change everything.
Part 3 of spoilers coming soon. I’m around page 220.
For now, I am very excited with reading through this, and a question came to mind. What if Jake—being a Terran, is able to not just be an observer, but be able to send a message back in time through Temlaa. That would be cool, but what changes would it cause in the timeline?—just random thoughts. Nothing I have read thus far has indicated he can communicate with Temlaa beyond just observe.
UPDATE: Finished the book. The energy beings do not show up in book one, but Bhekar Ro and the beings are mentioned often. Basically, Mr. V wanted to learn how to open an empty Xel’Naga temple to learn how to open one not empty. The temples are considered like eggs. When not empty, they are green hued inside, while dark when empty. I will rather keep to myself most of the last 100 pages. However, that figure in Protoss history at the end of the Aeon of Strife, does show up. “He who brings Order”.
And the feeling of that revelation is … Omnious.
What happened next, once Jake awoke from living through the first shockwave of the Khala will jaw drop a lot of Starcraft fans. The impossible. Omnious.
Very few films have ever made my eye release a tear. The finale of this novel and the wholesome of the storyline did. (page 336-339)
Beautiful!
Thanks, Christie and Chris.
P.S. Wish book two was here already.
… World of Starcraft is printed at the end of the book? Hmm …
