This thread contains spoilers for anything related to frontline: volume 2 and the spoilers are not spoilered. If you don't want to know anything related to the book, don't read ahead. No seriously stop it. I see you are still reading. -_- gone? good! wait, you answered, which means you are not gone! Away I say! anyways, I have not read the book myself, but got a lot of information from the wiki. First point is the protoss evolution research. We know that the Xel'naga created the protoss as the apex of evolution. they were made to be an individual species without genetic flaws. Pure of essence. This is what led to the xenofobia within the protoss. But why then did they do research towards hastened evolution? Have the protoss not yet culminated into what the Xel'naga intended? Did the Xel'naga only intend for the protoss and zerg to meet when the protoss had reached the apex of their development? Was Protoss development somehow halted without their knowledge (since the overmind, who had XN knowledge, assumed protoss were the apex) ? I think this could make for interesting plot developments. Duran not yet having reached what the XN intended to be the new XN, and him trying to create neo-protoss. This could easily make it into the game without having to have read the books. Second, there is the mutated creep. It is dangerous and can heavily damage the Khala. At the end the Terrans obtain a sample. I think this could be interesting in combination with psi-emitters, and the combination of these two would give the terrans an advantage to overcome their technical and biological shortcomings. Maybe it could break free and, by infesting protoss, create some sort of corrupted Xel'naga, who are commanded by the Dominion. Third, there is the fact that a protoss facility was located in the koprulu sector and was found by the dominion. A pretty small chance. We know that in Starcraft 2, the Terrans raid several protoss outposts for their artifacts, even though they don't even know the protoss exist in the beginning of starcraft 1. Does this mean that the terrans are actively searching for protoss bases?
This topic has nothing to do with Heaven's Devils. You might be thinking of Aaron Pax. Although the PAX scientists believed in the Khala, they thought differently than other protoss. They were more arrogant, less moral, probably less religious, more open-minded and more willing to take risks than other protoss. Also, I suspect some protoss believe a lot of "stuff" (knowledge, psionics, whatever) was lost during the Aeon of Strife. The Dark Templar claim that the Khala is a "narrow reflection" of the original protoss psionic link. I'm pretty sure most protoss would claim otherwise, but PAX is more likely to actually listen to such a claim. The story took place in 2502 (two years before StarCraft II). We don't know when the Dominion found the sample, but presumably before the war. So I don't think they had a lot of time to work with it. In fact, it seems like a lot of Dominion experiments with the protoss fail. When it comes to raiding protoss stuff, I think Arcturus Mengsk can't tell the difference between protoss and xel'naga relics. Neither could the War Pigs and a "businessman" in the comics. (They assumed a xel'naga relic they had found was, in fact, protoss.) Since the protoss use lots of xel'naga tech (derived and straight-up), no wonder the terrans can't tell the difference.
Aaah, soz, meant frontline volume 2. No idea how that got mixed up On the topic of Xel'naga tech; What happened to the worldships and probes the overmind has access to? Might need to make a thread about that too. I wonder if the average Terran even knows of the XN. The temples on Bhekar Ro were discovered before starcraft 1, but most people probably assumed that they were protoss(they contained shiny crystals, AKA they were protoss). For that matter, does Earth have any knowledge of the Xel'Naga? or the Kel'Morian combine?
The Overmind doesn't use technology. Also, the description of what happened to the worldships suggest they were destroyed. If not, they're orbiting Zerus. There were no xel'naga probes. The zerg have their own probes (scouts, not workers) but that has nothing to do with the xel'naga. No, most terrans know nothing of the xel'naga. In fact, despite Shadow of the Xel'Naga, xel'naga were only referred to as a fringe theory. Valerian Mengsk (and some other archaeologists)* seem to know better. Much later (by 2502) the Dominion began rounding up xel'naga technology (eg the temple they failed to get in Why We Fight, the artifact they failed to get in Last Call) but judging from comments made by those who are neither high-ranking nor archaeologists, that's not common knowledge. StarCraft: Retribution suggested the xel'naga were common knowledge, but that's not really canon. *Archaeologists were digging up alien cities (probably xel'naga) in I, Mengsk, before the Guild Wars even. But since no one had made first contact with live aliens, they weren't pressing.
From what I understood the original sensor probes the overmind had sent were Xel'Naga technology. Not the zerg probes, but others. Oh wait, just checked the wiki. They read the minds of the organic probes to determine that the zerg were a Xel'Naga creation. Still, couldn't the Overmind have evolved some zerg with opposable thumbs so he'd have a fleet of unstoppable warships? I never really got retribution. It doesn't fit in with the story. Seriously, the zerg crusaders?
Thumbs aren't enough. You need training, too. One reason intelligent infested terrans are so valuable. While I hated Queen of Blades, Kerrigan's attempts to steal terran ships was pretty clever. It would have worked if it weren't for the protoss. (In fact, in a way it did work.)
