United Earth Directorate
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The United Earth Directorate or UED is a fictional government in the StarCraft universe which is descended from the former controlling government, the United Powers League (UPL). The Directorate took a more pro-active role in internal and external galaxy affairs.
The United Earth Directorate is loosely based on the United Citizen Federation of the movie Starship Troopers. This can easily be seen at the end of Episode V, during the UED victory movie.
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[edit] The United Powers League
Following a period of social anarchy and the "fall of Western civilization", a new world-government is re-asserted over Earth: the United Powers League (UPL). A police-state, it encompasses all but a few politically unstable South American countries. Rounding up "undesirables" —cyborgs, genetically "impure" individuals, hackers, political dissidents — psychics and more they were determined to ensure mankind's purity and survival as a species; "Project Purification" was instituted: a campaign of mass genocide in which millions died.
It was during this period when Doran Routhe created a secret project intended to colonize distant planets with human prisoners, using four cold-sleep ships. Onboard the lead ship was ATLAS, a revolutionary artificial intelligence. ATLAS scanned the prisoners, and discovered something unusual about them - a high proportion of them had a mutation leading to psionic potential. While currently weak, it would manifest in only a few generations. This information was logged and sent back to Earth. This may explain how the United Powers League came to know of this experiment. The project went awry, stranding the prisoners in the Koprulu Sector.
As was later revealed, the UPL (consisting of Earth and its sister worlds) was able to observe the Terran breakaway colonies for some time. Their technology and weapons of war were almost exactly identical and very similar to those created by the Confederacy. No explanation of this is given in game. (This could be explained as result of the UPL's keen observation of the various colonies.)
[edit] See also
[edit] The StarCraft: Brood War story
While there were no aliens in the home sector of Earth, there were two alien races exploring the Koprulu Sector. Neither were native to this area but came from the unknown regions of space. The conflicting Terran groups in this area would make first contact with the Protoss and Zerg, not the Directorate.
[edit] Reformation
But the former United Powers League carefully watched the Terran colonies. When the discovery of these two alien races were made, all of Earth was reformed into the United Earth Directorate.
[edit] Taking Action
The new Board of directors took action. An Expeditionary Force led by their greatest military leader, Admiral DuGalle, was assembled. Admiral DuGalle was given three main objectives when he would arrive:
- Conquer all of the rogue Terran colonies and bring them under Directorate control
- Take control of the Zerg Swarm by capturing the newborn Zerg Overmind
- Use the commandeered Zerg Swarm to conquer the Protoss and pacify all Protoss conflict in the sector
[edit] Battle Order
Admiral DuGalle would have Vice Admiral Stukov as his second-in-command. The Fleet itself would be organized into two distinct wings:
- Atlas Wing - ground forces, main color brown
- Cronus Wing - space forces, main color white
There were also several specialized organizations within the whole Fleet:
- UED Blockade
- UED Strike Team
- UED Commando Force
The UED Blockade was formed to blockade newly conquered worlds or help prevent outside interference and escapes with ongoing planetary battles. The UED Strike Team and UED Commando Force were elite ground forces that played a role in some of the Directorate missions during the campaign.
Vice Admiral Stukov himself had an Elite Guard. Stukov would actually defy the Directorate orders, although he did so in the Directorate's best interests. But disinformation by Samir Duran, a former member of Alpha Squadron, would lead to the death of Stukov.
[edit] Koprulu Sector Journey
The journey to the Koprulu Sector was a long and tedious one. The only way a military force could travel far in space was through suspended animation which the Expeditionary Force did. The forces arrived in the Koprulu Sector without incident, and immediately on arrival began to take over the nearby world of Braxis.
[edit] Koprulu Campaign
The UED started their invasion by setting Zerg on a Terran-occupied planet and watching the resulting massacre.
Braxis was the first of many victories for the Directorate forces in the Koprulu Sector, where Vice Admiral Stukov and Admiral DuGalle would meet the mysterious commando Samir Duran. The Expeditionary Fleet would travel to conquer Korhal (throne world of the Terran Dominion), successfully activate the Psi Disruptor (which severely weakened Zerg forces), and capture the second Zerg Overmind on Char.
Infested Kerrigan rallied various Protoss and Terran forces, such as Raynor's Raiders, to help fight the powerful Directorate Fleet. They were able to destroy the Psi Disruptor and the Zerg slowly came back to power. Infested Kerrigan, with the help of the Dark Templar, made a final blow by killing the Overmind. With both the Psi Disruptor and Overmind gone, Kerrigan became the Queen of Blades and leader of the Zerg. Kerrigan's former Protoss and Terran allies quickly became her enemies. The Protoss had to retreat from their homeworld of Aiur to the Dark Templar world of Shakuras. The Terran Dominion forces were left alone, but the UED forces were chased down and destroyed.
[edit] Directorate Continues
The United Earth Directorate suffered a great loss with the defeat of the Expeditionary Fleet, but it is still the only other power that has sufficient force to resist Kerrigan's Zerg, aided by the great distance between UED Earth space and the Koprulu Sector. However, the entire force within the Koprulu Sector was destroyed, so the UED must replenish forces from Earth if it wishes to attack the Koprulu Sector again.
It is unknown how much of its strength the UED put into the military expedition to the Koprulu sector. Many people point to the words 'Expeditionary Force' as proof that it was but part of the UED's full military potential. Others point out that 'Expeditionary Force' merely means a military force operating away from its point of origin. They also point out that in the Brood War campaign fears are raised for the safety of the planet Earth, should the UED fail to neutralize the alien (both Zerg and Protoss) threat. However, many see this as falsified propaganda, as it is highly unlikely that anyone in Koprulu knows exactly where Earth is located—the location was lost by the Terrans before they arrived, and thus neither the Protoss nor the Zerg had any way of finding its location
All the same, it is likely that the United Earth Directorate has maintained some defense at home.
StarCraft by Blizzard Entertainment | |
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StarCraft Universe | Gameplay of StarCraft • Psionic technology |
Species | Terran • Protoss • Zerg • Xel'Naga • Hybrid |
Factions and Organizations | Judicator Caste • Kel-Morian Combine • Khalai Caste • Protoss Conclave • Pirate Militias • Raynor's Raiders • Sons of Korhal • Templar Caste • Terran Confederacy • Umojan Protectorate • United Earth Directorate • Zerg Brood |
Locations | Aiur • Antiga Prime • Braxis • Char • Chau Sara • Korhal • Mar Sara • Moria • Shakuras • Talematros • Tarsonis • Umoja • Zerus |
Characters | Aldaris • Artanis • Gerard DuGalle • Edmund Duke • Samir Duran • Fenix • Sarah Kerrigan • Arcturus Mengsk • Nova • Raszagal • Jim Raynor • Alexei Stukov • Tassadar • Zeratul • Zerg Overmind • Minor Characters |