Protoss Protectorate

"The Protoss Protectorate is what remains of the once glorious Protoss Empire after Aiur fell to the Zerg. The Protoss are a proud people, intolerent of dissidents and heretics when their population is diminished. They seek to reclaim their homeworld at any cost, including their own lives."

-Jargash the Chronicler of the Galaxies

Summary
The protoss, a.k.a. the Firstborn, are a sapient humanoid race native to Aiur. Their advanced technology complements and enhances their psionic mastery.

The main protoss cultural groups are the Khalai, who adhere to the communal Khala, and the Nerazim, who reject the Khala. In addition, another branch of the protoss separate from the Khala called the Tal'darim lives in various places in the galaxy.

Protoss civilization was reunified when the Khalai and Nerazim, sundered since the Discord, were reunited after the devastation of Aiur by the zerg during the Great War.

Physiology
Protoss are about two meters (seven feet) to three meters tall and have two glowing eyes that blink normally, digitigrade legs, semi-permeable skin covered in scales, four digits on their hands (of which two are thumbs) and toes, broad chests and shoulders, and narrow waists with slim midsections. Extending back from the crown of the head, protoss have a bony crest. Beneath it, emerging from the back of the head, are the nerve cords, allowing them to access their racial psionic gestalt. This gestalt is the basis of the Khala.

The xel'naga considered these beings to have purity of form as the protoss are incredibly adaptable to harsh natural conditions and climates, and their strength and speed were unparalleled amongst the other races known to the xel’naga. Protoss even have sharp claws, which can be deadly weapons if a protoss is caught unarmed.

Medical Care
On the battlefield protoss warriors are known to fight with tremendous power and grace, but despite the chaos they inflict on their enemies they are capable of being mortally wounded. When a protoss nears death, their foes often bear witness to a startling flash of bright light as the protoss warrior seemingly disappears. Primitive races are known to quail in superstitious fear upon seeing this, but it is actually another aspect of protoss technology at work rather than any sort of supernatural feat.

Protoss armor is typically equipped with a complex teleportation mechanism that can detect when its wearer is grievously injured and automatically teleports the warrior to the nearest safe haven. This of course is dependent on the mechanism being fully functional, as there is the risk of being damaged during combat.

Those protoss who are too badly injured after the battle but still wish to continue fighting are placed within the shell of a dragoon or immortal, which allows them to serve their brethren on the battlefield. The choice is left to each individual protoss; whether to continue service or join with their ancestors in the Khala.

Protoss that suffer injuries to their psionic appendages (such as the Nerazim) attach clamps to the remnants in order to prevent energy bleed.

Terran understanding of protoss physiology is limited. Their respective biologies are similar enough for substances and drugs, such as Sundrop and a medic's medicine to affect both.

Technology
Protoss technology is a blend of psionics and mundane technology and has shown itself to be far more advanced than many other species of the galaxy, including humanity. They have been referred to as "one of the most technologically advanced race in the universe," and their warriors are "the best trained in the galaxy."

Some protoss technology requires vespene gas as a catalyst. Protoss utilize cybernetic technology to save lives, and bolster their warriors' prowess. Battlefield communications between protoss are efficient. The use of energy for defensive purposes is a standard protoss practice.

Protoss armor contains teleportation technology which whisks the warrior away to safety when they are injured to the point of death. Injured and crippled protoss can be transformed into cybernetic warriors.

Due to their low population, the protoss frequently use robots in their military. Due to their diminished population, the protoss are in a position of not being able to waste resources.

Protoss pilots are an integral part of their ship, and using it drains their energies. Protoss aerospace craft utilize anti-gravity technology to keep them airborne when operating within a planet's atmosphere.

The protoss developed powerful crystal technology and incredibly powerful weapons of war, such as the colossus and the mothership, and could develop more powerful technology if they wished. The protoss limit their use of technology, as they are frightened of what they could do with it and feel they have perfected a slow but steady and methodical system of technological development. The longevity of protoss history has allowed them to develop incredible weapons of war over the course of it.

Despite the Fall of Aiur, the protoss can still produce starships on other planets, and they have also inventories of them in many places.

== Ground Units ==

Archon

"While High Templar and Dark Templar are undoubtedly forces to be reckoned with, there is a truly magnificent warrior that stands, quite literally, above them both. When two Templar of any kind combine, they have the ability to form what is known as an Archon. It should come as no surprise that the source of an Archon's overwhelming power, or the nature of its formation, have been a mystery to the public. Now however, as unbelievable as it might seem, we have quite literally had this information fall from the sky and land into our hands. We now understand that an Archon's physical form shapes and anchors the psionic maelstrom swirling around it, and that without this form, the Archon would burn out like a star immediately after merging. We will tell you all about this and more in the full report which you can find here."

-Colonial radio speaker

Zealots are lower-ranked Templar who have yet to reach the upper levels of the Khala. They form the backbone of the protoss military, and have been utilized since before the Discord. At least some, if not all Khalai zealots are members of the Zealot Order. Zealots can operate in platoons and legions.

Each zealot is trained for decades in hand-to-hand combat, tactics, pain tolerance and martial discipline. Zealots are taught to hate their enemies with a white hot passion and to hunt them down without mercy. Through the path of the Khala, zealots learn to hone their innate battle rage to a fine edge, though they can invoke a near-berserker rage when in battle if need be. Zealots undergo rigorous training and trials before receiving their power suits. Those that distinguish themselves in battle receive complex leg augmentations that enhance their speed, mobility, and endurance.

Stalker

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[spoiler]The fall of Aiur demonstrated to the Dark Templar that more than just stealth and guile were required to defeat the Invaders. Hence, the Dark Templar developed the stalker, a war machine inspired by the Khalai dragoon. While dragoons were piloted by crippled protoss warriors, the stalker is controlled by the shadow-essence of a Dark Templar warrior fused into a metal body. Nerazim who control stalkers undergo this process voluntarily, said process involving a ritual which fuses their shadow essence to the machine. This gives them a preternatural degree of control over their new bodies. The process cannot be reversed.Stalkers are armed with carapace-mounted particle disrupters adept against both ground and aerial targets. These weapons draw upon the power of the Dark Templar’s training and technology to fire lethal blasts of entropic Void energy. Each shot destabilizes matter at a fundamental level, and ultimately tears it apart by disintegrating its atomic composition. The particle disrupters are especially effective against materials with high hardness indexes—like chitinous carapaces or heavy armor plating.Stalkers have been credited with many fantastic powers since their battlefield début. However, only one is witnessed consistently: an ability to instantly teleport, or "blink", from one spot to another. This ability requires augmentation to a stalker, through the implementation of a device called a Void displacer. When enabled, the displacer grants stalkers the ability to fade and materialize instantly at a different location, affording them an unprecedented degree of mobility, perfect for quick strikes against the enemy. The improved mobility allows stalkers to conduct ambushes, catch fleeing foes, and generally engage on their own terms. However, each "blink" generates a flux that taxes the stalker's systems. It must go through a brief recharge period before initiating another displacement.

Immortal

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Immortals stem from dragoons. Their pilots live in a sterile nutrient solution saturated with microscopic machines, which helps preserve their mangled bodies. The machines repair aging tissue, destroy any foreign matter that might penetrate the cockpit (usually due to hull breaches) and regulate the pilot’s heart rate, brain activity, and biological functions. Immortals are outfitted with two twin phase disrupters as their primary attack form; they give critical fire support to legions of zealots against ground targets, usually deployed when the protoss are faced with heavy enemy firepower.These blasts can easily punch large holes in heavy plating, but their limited field of fire prevents Immortals from engaging aerial targets. When deployed, immortals give critical support by eliminating enemy artillery and ranged attackers.

The hardened shields used by immortals are created by intertwining spectrums and wavelengths of varying intensity. Through this, these shields are incredibly dense, able to mitigate powerful impacts such as siege tank rounds or the blades of an ultralisk, through energy dissipation. When the remaining dragoons were turned into immortals, the protoss decided to outfit them with these shields in an attempt to further preserve their most ancient and venerable warriors. However, the shields only activate when struck by powerful attacks, which leaves them more vulnerable to the pinprick attacks of lesser foes.

Dark Templar

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Dark Templar warriors have undergone centuries of discipline and training. Terrans possess a limited number of technologies that are capable of dealing with these warriors. Dark Templar were taught to hide from the Conclave by the powerful Templar Adun. This ability has been described as "bending light" and "merging with shadows". All Nerazim possess a "shadow essence." This essence can be fused into the stalker. Dark Templar wield the energies of the Void. These energies are especially harmful against Invader constructs.

High Templar

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High templar are veteran Templar who forgo the rage and traditional forms of combat common to zealots in order to better develop their psionic powers into potent tools and weapons through the Khala. High templar rely on control and stoicism, as opposed to the battle rage called upon by zealots and archons. Although they are equipped with light armor suits and sometimes through them, psionic blades, use of these weapons is regarded as a last resort for a high templar, as they focus on psionic rather than physical mastery.

High templar use the archives to directly commune with their ancient ancestors and thereby gain knowledge inaccessible to ordinary warriors. They may also wear amulets carved from khaydarin crystals to improve their connection with the Khala and thus channel their psionic abilities with greater efficiency. High templar have been observed to levitate while in battle, and move at great speed across the battlefield.

The training high templar undergo amplifies their psionic powers to such a degree that they are capable of disrupting the physical world around them. Those treading the path of the Khala are taught to close their minds to the outside world. For powerful psychics like the protoss this may produce psychic ripples that are harmful to other life forms. High templar are trained to focus these ripples into terrible storms of psychic energy that can rip the minds, bodies, and machines of their enemies to shreds. High templar have also demonstrated the ability to use their psionic powers in the form of a standard ranged attack, such as psionic bolts, and a short-range lightning-like attack.

High templar also calibrate and infuse the crystal matrices that are attached to power suits.

Sentry

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Used to support zealots in light of the protoss race's diminishing population, sentries are protoss combat drones. Sentries employ a disruption beam to attack their enemies, and offer protection through guardian shields.

Sentries can also project force field barriers to stall or split up opposing forces. This is done by turning bursts of energy into a small, impenetrable barrier to hinder, block, or funnel the advance of enemy troops. While creatures or machines of prodigious size can shatter the cohesion of these translucent force fields, ordinary soldiers and vehicles become fodder to protoss ranged weapons.

Sentries also have the ability to create hallucinatory images through an in-built holo-projector. These holograms can draw enemy fire while a real protoss strike force maneuvers into position to deliver the killing blow. These hallucinations are composed of solid light and are three-dimensional, able to mimic protoss warriors, vehicles, and constructs. Each replica, while limited in duration, is able to withstand some degree of punishment. The purpose of these life-like images is twofold: making the enemies of the protoss believe they’re fighting a much larger force than anticipated, and protecting protoss lives.

Colossus

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The colossus is an antiquated protoss war machine, dating back to the Kalath Intercession. It is a towering construct, striding across the battlefield on four tall, slender legs which give it an extremely high level of mobility. The great height of the machine allows it to step up and down cliffs and other steep elevations with little difficulty, and gives it a dominating field of fire. The colossus's slender legs were designed to carry its massive weight with ease, while allowing for the traversal of rough terrain and steep elevations. Its towering four leg configuration has multiple gyro-stabilizers to keep the Colossus stable while moving and firing, and also denies the enemy the advantage of higher ground. The heavily armored hull of the colossus carries two powerful thermal lances: one mounted on each side of its body. Complex focusing and targeting systems are used to pinpoint the continuous damage output of the thermal lances for optimal efficiency. The targeting system uses an AI, along with gravity-sensitive gyroscopes, to analyze target composition, and predict their movement patterns. This ensures the thermal lances' beams will sear a path of maximum destruction among enemy forces, cutting a fiery swathe of destruction through multiple enemies with each firing cycle. The targeting system is so precise that the colossus can fire its weapons point blank without risk of damaging itself.

Disruptor

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Disruptors are purifier devices controlled by an artificial intelligence that is capable of fluent speech. They generate energy spikes to wreck havoc against swaths of ground forces. By supercharging their power cores, disruptors can become invulnerable, turning its physical form into energy for a short period of time. This allows it to advance unhindered towards their enemies, releasing a destructive blast called a "purification nova." This blast is especially destructive against enemy forces that are tightly clustered together.