Braxis is a small, cold celestial body in the StarCraft universe (it is not yet known whether it is a moon or a planet). It is probably the inhabited planet closest to Earth, since the United Earth Directorate expeditionary force travelled there first. It is the home planet of the Ursadon, a creature similar to the polar bear.

History

Braxis was originally a Protoss colony called Khyrador, but it was abandoned (along with the valuable Uraj crystal) at the end of the Aeon of Strife. The crystal was being studied by Terrans at the time the Brood War started.

A Terran Dominion colony, its strategic and economic significance before the Brood War is unknown, although its capital, Boralis, was heavily defended. A possible reason for that was Samir Duran and his "Confederate Resistance Forces," which were trying to overthrow the local Terran Dominion government.

The Protoss, including their temporary ally, Sarah Kerrigan, arrived on Braxis to acquire the Uraj crystal, incidentally killing many Terrans in the process. The UED tried to blockade the planet but Artanis was able to overcome it.

Braxis next appears in StarCraft when the UED send ground forces to it, leading to a fateful meeting between Samir Duran and Vice Admiral Stukov, Admiral DuGalle's second-in-command, an encounter that would have tragic consequences for the UED's expeditionary force.

The UED abandoned Braxis after acquiring tactical information from the computers in Boralis, but Vice Admiral Stukov returned to rebuild his Psi Disruptor secretly, since Duran had convinced DuGalle that it was dangerous, when in fact it was the most efficient weapon available to the UED against the Zerg. Duran and DuGalle arrived, and Duran killed Stukov. DuGalle then realized the error of his ways almost too late; Duran and the Zerg tried to destroy the Psi Disruptor, but failed.

Unfortunately, putting the Psi Disruptor on Braxis would prove to be a bad idea; Stukov had done it under duress. The UED had to defend it, along with Char and Korhal IV, splitting their forces. Admiral DuGalle left a planetary garrison to defend Braxis, but it was inadequate to protect the Psi Disruptor. A small force consisting of Raynor's Raiders, under the command of Jim Raynor, an SCV working for Arcturus Mengsk, and a small number of semi-dormant Zerg which came under the control of Sarah Kerrigan, were able to defeat the garrison and destroy the Psi Disruptor. It appears that Kerrigan left the planet thereafter.

Braxis makes a final appearance in Resurrection IV when Stukov, now infected and very much alive, returned to lead his own secret Brood. Artanis discovered this, and sent Jim Raynor and Taldarin to find him, inject him with nanoprobes and so free him from the Zerg. Stukov appeared to control large number of Terran and Zerg forces on the planet (the Terrans were probably from the old Terran Confederacy) but many of the Terrans were disloyal to him. After Stukov was returned to normal he was rescued, but the planet was so overrun with Zerg that the Protoss attacked it. One beam was enough to set the small, icy moon ablaze, killing all life on its surface, including any surviving Ursadons.

References

• StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
• Battle.net StarCraft Compendium

External links

• StarCraft Legacy Planets - a fan site with information about every planet mentioned in StarCraft.