Koprulu Expeditionary Force
Tassadar's fleet in the Koprulu sector
The Koprulu Expeditionary Force was the protoss fleet, commanded by Executor Tassadar, that first answered the zerg invasion of the Koprulu sector and was ordered by the Conclave to burn the infested terran worlds.
The Koprulu Expeditionary Force was a protoss formation active before the Great War, commanded by Executor Tassadar. It alerted the Khalai to the zerg invasion of the Koprulu sector and was charged by the Conclave with removing the zerg infestation from the terran worlds, a mandate that forced Tassadar to choose between his orders and his conscience.
Mandate and early actions#
On the eve of the Great War, the force consisted of over a hundred Templar Caste warships led by Executor Tassadar. It encountered the zerg on the edge of protoss space, and the protoss were shocked to find the new aliens were xel'naga-engineered and intent on assimilating the terrans. After a lengthy debate between the Conclave and the Templar, the force was dispatched to the Koprulu sector to gather intelligence. Arriving in the Sara system, the protoss found the infestation of Chau Sara well advanced. The Conclave ordered the force to eradicate all traces of it, and Tassadar complied, sending fifty of his warships to burn Chau Sara, though he was unsure of the morality of destroying any world merely suspected of infestation.
The conscience of Tassadar#
Setting course for Mar Sara, Tassadar found he could not bring himself to destroy the world or the Confederate forces who came to defend it. Judicator Aldaris relayed the Conclave's orders to destroy any colony that was infested or even at risk, but Tassadar held back, bombarding Mar Sara only after its people had evacuated. A portion of the force, the 7th Fleet under Executor Andraxxus, was tasked with stemming the infestation on Brontes IV, but the scheming of Judicator Syndrea threw its forces into infighting, and a zerg counterattack ultimately destroyed Andraxxus and all of 7th Fleet. As the pursuit moved toward Tarsonis, the fleet's intervention grew bolder; on Antiga Prime it deployed ground troops to aid the terrans and waited for colonists to evacuate before purifying the world.
Tarsonis and the betrayal at New Gettysburg#
When the zerg invaded Tarsonis en masse, Tassadar chose not to enact purification and instead committed the fleet's full strength to fight the zerg conventionally. The Confederate defenders saw only another invading alien force and engaged the protoss rather than ally with them. The political aspirations of the Sons of Korhal compounded the disaster: the rebels, with Sarah Kerrigan at the front, defeated the protoss at the Battle of New Gettysburg to allow the zerg to complete the destruction of the Confederacy. After battling the zerg across the core continent, the main portion of the fleet withdrew, and the zerg forced their way past the remaining protoss and departed for Char.
Defiance and exile at Char#
In the aftermath the Conclave ordered Tassadar back to Aiur for punishment and possible execution, but he refused, his attention drawn by a psionic cry from Char that named him and told him the world was the zerg base of operations. He sent most of the fleet home and retained only the Gantrithor. At Char the force found Raynor's Raiders and Alpha Squadron ships under zerg attack and destroyed them to prevent the infestation from spreading, though both terran flagships escaped. Stranded after the zerg prevailed, the survivors forged a lasting alliance with Zeratul and his Dark Templar and with Jim Raynor's remaining troops. After months on Char the survivors were finally retrieved and absorbed into the Fleet of the Executor under Artanis and Aldaris.
Composition#
The Koprulu Expeditionary Force drew from a number of Templar Caste tribes, including the Akilae and the Sargas. Tassadar served as supreme commander, with Executor Andraxxus leading the 7th Fleet and Praetor Fenix among its ranks. Judicator Aldaris acted as adviser, as did the preserver Zamara, while Judicator Syndrea advised the doomed 7th Fleet.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Koprulu Expeditionary Force?
- The Koprulu Expeditionary Force was a protoss formation of over a hundred Templar Caste warships, active before the Great War and commanded by Executor Tassadar. It was charged by the Conclave with removing the zerg infestation from the terran worlds of the Koprulu sector.
- Who commanded the Koprulu Expeditionary Force?
- Executor Tassadar served as supreme commander of the force. Executor Andraxxus led the 7th Fleet, Praetor Fenix served among its ranks, and Judicator Aldaris acted as adviser, as did the preserver Zamara.
- Why did Tassadar defy the Conclave's orders?
- Tassadar could not bring himself to destroy populated terran worlds merely suspected of infestation. He held back at Mar Sara and bombarded it only after its people had evacuated, waited for colonists to evacuate Antiga Prime before purifying it, and at Tarsonis committed the fleet to fight the zerg conventionally rather than enact purification.
- What happened to the Koprulu Expeditionary Force at Char?
- Defying a recall to Aiur, Tassadar followed a psionic cry to Char with only the Gantrithor. The stranded survivors forged a lasting alliance with Zeratul's Dark Templar and Jim Raynor's troops, and after months on Char they were retrieved and absorbed into the Fleet of the Executor under Artanis and Aldaris.
- What happened at the Battle of New Gettysburg?
- The Sons of Korhal, with Sarah Kerrigan at the front, defeated the protoss at New Gettysburg to allow the zerg to complete the destruction of the Confederacy. The Confederate defenders had also engaged the protoss as another invading alien force rather than ally with them.
Sources
- WikiKoprulu Expeditionary Force — StarCraft Wiki entry
- WikiTassadar — StarCraft Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
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The protoss are an ancient, psionically gifted humanoid species native to Aiur, uplifted by the xel'naga and bound together by the Khala. Among the three dominant species of the galaxy, they are the most technologically advanced, and the most divided by their own history.
Templar Caste
The Templar Caste was the order of protoss warriors who followed the disciplines of the Khala to ever-escalating pinnacles of psionic power. In service first to the Protoss Empire and then to the Daelaam, they produced some of the most powerful individuals in the Koprulu Sector.
Aiur
Aiur was the homeworld of the protoss, a verdant world on the galactic fringe engineered by the Xel'Naga and seat of the Protoss Empire. It was overrun by the zerg in 2500 and reclaimed by the Daelaam after the defeat of Amon.
Aldaris
Aldaris was a Khalai protoss of the Judicator Caste, a fierce believer in the Khala who judged others by a strict reading of its tenets. He served as advisor to the executors during the Great War and died exposing Sarah Kerrigan's corruption of Matriarch Raszagal on Shakuras.
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Aldaris was a Khalai protoss of the Judicator Caste, a fierce believer in the Khala who judged others by a strict reading of its tenets. He served as advisor to the executors during the Great War and died exposing Sarah Kerrigan's corruption of Matriarch Raszagal on Shakuras.
Antiga Prime
Antiga Prime was a terran fringe world in the Antiga system, the site of an open revolt against the Terran Confederacy that the Sons of Korhal turned into a zerg massacre, and a world later repopulated under the Terran Dominion.
Colonial Fleet
The Colonial Fleet was the naval branch of the Terran Confederacy's armed forces, older than the Confederacy itself. It provided air and orbital support from its Tarsonis platforms until the fall of the Confederacy folded its remnants into the Dominion Armada.
Great Fleet
The Great Fleet was the principal military space force of the protoss, the fleet that carried their power across the stars. Built around the carrier and tended by the Auriga Tribe, it was shattered in the fall of Aiur and rebuilt over the wars that followed.
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The Great War was the first open conflict between the protoss and the zerg in the Koprulu Sector, with the terrans caught between two ancient enemies. It saw the fall of the Confederacy, the rise of the Terran Dominion, the infestation of Sarah Kerrigan, and the death of the Overmind over Aiur.
Koprulu Sector
The Koprulu sector was a remote region of space on the galactic fringe, settled by exiled humans and once spanned by the Protoss Empire. It became the battleground of the terrans, protoss, and zerg across the Great War, the Brood War, and beyond.
Mar Sara
Mar Sara was a backwater mining colony and Confederate core world in the Sara system, among the first planets overrun by the zerg and later glassed by the protoss. It was where Jim Raynor's open rebellion against the Terran Dominion began.
Templar Caste
The Templar Caste was the order of protoss warriors who followed the disciplines of the Khala to ever-escalating pinnacles of psionic power. In service first to the Protoss Empire and then to the Daelaam, they produced some of the most powerful individuals in the Koprulu Sector.
Terran Confederacy
The Terran Confederacy, also called the Confederacy of Man, was the dominant human government of the Koprulu sector before the Great War, ruled by the Old Families of Tarsonis and brought down by the zerg invasion and the Sons of Korhal rebellion.
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