They are the Ghosts; elite operatives for the Terran Dominion (The current ruling body of Humanity in the Galaxy) and its ultimate weapon. Capable of telekinetic and telepathic abilities, they fight against the enemies of the Dominion. In Star Craft: Ghost Academy we see just how Ghosts are made and look into some of their pasts. Mainly this volume is following Team Blue of the cadets and in particular we follow Nova Terra, potential star of her own video game before it was put on hold, as she tries to accomplish her dreams of becoming a Ghost.

Highlights

Even with the strength the Ghosts give the Dominion and its regular Human fighting forces against its enemies, ( if one is qualified and properly trained one can use their psionic abilities to augment their natural abilities, effectively making them Super Soldiers), not everyone is happy. When the son of an ex-Senator is taken for training, it requires  the head of the Academy explain that nothing is wrong and that  the ex-Senator is false,  and how Ghost Academies used to be before the Terran Confederacy fell and the Terran Dominion took over, the ex-Senator believing that Ghosts are experimented on and treated poorly. We are then introduced to our heroine Nova and the team that she is a part of. Even with her power, she isn’t much of a team player and is constantly being told this by others around her. Nova is so strong that she is has a PI, or Psi Index, of 10, giving her an advantage over the others in her squad. Most cadets in the Ghost Academies are between a PI of 5 – 8, meaning that they are mainly telepaths, or Teeps. Those who are rank 8 – 10 are extremely rare. While also being telepaths, they may possess telekinesis as well. As she goes about her business, she befriends a young cadet who is having trouble spelling, and we are even given a touching look into how Nova’s powers awaken and how she lived shortly before being found by a Wrangler (One who, while having weak psionic abilities, is used to find cadets for the Academies) and is taken in by the Ghosts.

Along with Nova’s problems, we have the rest of her squad: Gabriel Tosh – he is the by the book team leader; Lio Travsky – a drug addict who is able to use his telepathy to hack computers; Kath Toom – a mouthy daughter of a company’s vice president;  and finally Aal Cistler – an obnoxious playboy, with 3 black belts, who only has PI of 4.5. That not only means he isn’t even able to be a telepath, it also means he shouldn’t be there. The  only reason he is in the academy is because his father wants him to become a man.

Overall

Having never played any of the Star Craft games and being only vaguely aware of the term “Zerg Rush” (It means to send wave after wave of easily produced weak infantry to overwhelm an opposing force) that was created due to the games, I wasn’t quiet sure how this would work. But then I realized that this is based on an immensely popular video game series from  the developers Blizzard, who make a lot of great stories for other immensely popular video games. To think this wouldn’t work would be a mistake on my part. If only I were a fan of the RTS games Blizzard makes as much as a fan of their RPGs, I might have understood more of what was going on in the general ‘verse this story takes place in.  

The writers and artists put a lot of effort into putting you into the Star Craft world, not only with the slang used by the cadets (Teek for telekinetic, Teep for telepath, and other slang used for cursing) and of the Zerg (an alien race that look like demons) that the Dominion is currently at war with. This is definitely worth a buy for any fan of the Star Craft series or anyone who enjoys science fiction.

ComicsOnline gives Star Craft: Ghost Academy 4.5 out of 5 Ghosts