Chilled to the Soul

File: 20/02x

Subject: Protoss "Soul Hunter"

Archivist: Major Seymour Traxis, Cerberus Program

Collated: July 7, 2505

Codeword: Blizzard

/Begin transcript

Abstract

In regards to theories posed to a new protoss warrior known as the "Soul Hunter," the following data has been collected, specifically on the weapon they use.

Thesis

While the Soul Hunter itself has taken us all by surprise, as the Second Battle of Ehlna a few months back made abundantly clear, I feel that too much focus has been directed on this alien warrior itself rather than the methods said alien uses. The manipulation of gravity, while impressive, is still comparable to our own-a technology that we have had for centuries. However, the Soul Hunter's weapon-some kind of arm mounted "death ray," bears further consideration. Not only is this a rare divergence from what we know about our enemies' battle tactics, what with favouring close quarters with ranged fire for support, but the technology behind this is astounding. Or, at least astounding if one considers draining an organism's life force to be worthy of such an adjective.

As the attached file and schematics show, this...life gun seems to work on a similar principle as gauss weaponry, with intense currents being generated comparable to that of a C-14 rifle. However, while the purposes of these weapons are the same in the sense, namely destruction of the enemy, their methods of doing so differ significantly. While our own gauss weaponry works through magnetic acceleration and consequent propulsion of projectiles towards the enemy, the Soul Hunter's weapon seems to use a similar principle to bring the enemy towards them. However, this technology has its limits as while extremely effective against organic targets, its effectiveness against machines leaves something to be desired. While this may provide some solace in that the protoss have a weapon that's extremely effective against the zerg, we still rely on human beings to a great extent against our alien enemies. Aliens that now have a weapon who can make CMC armour redundant.

What is even more disturbing about this new enemy is that the power of the Soul Hunter's weapon actually seems to become more powerful over time, at least in the sense of hunting down targets. It's as if these protoss are indeed taking the souls of organic beings and grow more powerful from them, negating any loss of power that their weapons possess. Certainly I cannot propose there being any other power source apart from their psionic powers or their...surf boards.

Suffice to say, I feel there must be more research conducted into this matter. Research that is far more subtle than previous attempts. The last team we sent to isolate a group of Soul Hunters reported them disappearing in a blizzard right before their eyes, as if cut from the fabric of reality itself. As of this time of writing, no more Soul Hunters have been sighted and while similar ranged weaponry is utilized by protoss Purifiers and Vindicators, these classes of protoss warrior are also becoming extremely rare. While not superstitious myself, I can't help but wonder if some higher power is teasing us or reacting to our shock by removing these protoss from the fabric of reality. After all, ever since Fredrica Wallis found a huge landform that spelt out BLIZZARD on Braxis all those years ago, the theory that the universe is simply a game simulation played upon the computer of a higher lifeform, I too have occasionally looked at the stars and wondered.

Regardless, we will continue our efforts.

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A/N

So now I've done tributes to three cancelled units from StarCraft II, one from each playable race.

Truth be told, I can't say I hated the Soul Hunter, though I can understand why others did. I just feel that it didn't really fill an ideal niche in the protoss tech tree and that if Blizzard wanted to implement such a unit, they should have used Purifiers or even Vindicators. Templar clad in golden armor certainly look better than Nerazim on hoverboards IMO...