Protoss vs Galactic Empire

[Purple]

Define the term "scanning". Are we talking about realistic scanning that can tell you if there is an open room there or Star Trek scanning that can tell you how many soldiers with e-webs and land mines and light walkers are in there and what color underwear they have on?

[Imperial528]

But The normal Blind teleporters are put on weak one maned robots. would not the teleporters used in space ships be of better quality. But you having to know whats inside wouldn't be a problem, Imperial star destroyers aren't exactly scanning proof.

Blink teleporters are only seen on stalkers, which aren't exactly weak, given that they're practically heavy infantry. They use Dark Templar technology if I remember correctly, since only Dark Templar have ever been observed using them. I don't think the method used has ever been explored for use on starships.

I guess if you managed to sneak an arbiter into an ISD's hangar, but arbiters are rather large ships. Perhaps a phase prism.

[lordofchange13]

But The normal Blind teleporters are put on weak one maned robots. would not the teleporters used in space ships be of better quality. But you having to know whats inside wouldn't be a problem, Imperial star destroyers aren't exactly scanning proof.

Blink teleporters are only seen on stalkers, which aren't exactly weak, given that they're practically heavy infantry. They use Dark Templar technology if I remember correctly, since only Dark Templar have ever been observed using them. I don't think the method used has ever been explored for use on starships.

I guess if you managed to sneak an arbiter into an ISD's hangar, but arbiters are rather large ships. Perhaps a phase prism.

the rule book thing discribses them as:stalkers function like fragile, but more agile dragoons. They serve as excellent economy raiders.
Sorry, thought at one point in one of the novels, the Protoss warped in bombs to a planet using there ships, guess was thinking of some other universe.

[lordofchange13]

Define the term "scanning". Are we talking about realistic scanning that can tell you if there is an open room there or Star Trek scanning that can tell you how many soldiers with e-webs and land mines and light walkers are in there and what color underwear they have on?

I was refuring to the first form of "scanning".

[Balrog]

Question: is installing a teleporter in the refinery actually cheaper than having a few robots carry the stuff to the Nexus in 55-gallon drums?

I should think so. In-game the automated version is not much more expensive than its standard counterpart and provides a good steady flow of gas, so a Protoss version shouldn't be too expensive either. Even in non-combat conditions, having the gas being transported directly from refinery to depot saves not just on the cost of the robots carrying it, but the time spent carrying individual loads between the structures. This means you can have one or a few central buildings receiving gas from any number of Assimilators spread out across an area practically instantly, rather than waiting for robotic workers to transport it manually over that same (potentially hazardous) distance.

Anyways, some people need to read the OP again. There are no Stalkers or Phase Prisms, and even if there were we still don't know how exactly they work, i.e. do you need LOS to teleport? So there aren't going to be any Protoss teleporting directly onto the bridge of an ISD, not unless you somehow snuck a Probe onboard and have him plant a beacon (which only works with buildings as far as I know).

[Imperial528]

The in-game cost I think can be brushed aside as mechanics, because really, who wants to pay 250 for a special refinery they worked hard to get the tech for? Besides, in terms of actual resources (in-universe) probes are cheap and easy to make, and you can always have them do something else when the geyser is no longer producing.

I know that blink teleporters don't require LOS, only knowledge of the terrain being teleported onto. Arbiter recall requires that the arbiter be at the destination, but I doubt one would fit in an ISD hangar, however it would be good for ambushing Imperial starships.

One thing I remember is that Zeratul also can use the blink ability, it's probably how he boarded the Hyperion in the Wings of Liberty campaign, and he's seen using it in a fight against Kerrigan and some hydralisks. It's unknown if other Dark Templar posses the ability, though.

[Balrog]

The point is you can have those robots do something else at the same time instead of having them work the Assimilators, as well as save on travel time immensely.

Plus you're being contradictory. Stalkers do require LOS in-game; you can't blindly blink up a cliff, you need someone to see what's up there. And again, there are no Stalkers! As for an Arbiter, it wouldn't last long enough to spring an ambush once an Imperial ship sights it.

[lordofchange13]

I know that blink teleporters don't require LOS, only knowledge of the terrain being teleported onto. Arbiter recall requires that the arbiter be at the destination, but I doubt one would fit in an ISD hangar, however it would be good for ambushing Imperial starships.

One thing I remember is that Zeratul also can use the blink ability, it's probably how he boarded the Hyperion in the Wings of Liberty campaign, and he's seen using it in a fight against Kerrigan and some hydralisks. It's unknown if other Dark Templar posses the ability, though.

Do you have any references that say the blink technology is restricted to the Dark Templar sects? The Dark Templar's are comparable to space nomad/ninjas, why would they have technology superior technology then the Protoss as a whole how, and even if they did it would be very likely that in the face of a super powerful enemy they would share there tech with each other. Assuming the Empire is the attacker.

[Imperial528]

The blink teleporters are only seen to be employed by the Dark Templar in StarCraft II, even after the Khalai Protoss reunited with the Dark Templar. It doesn't seem much of a stretch to assume that Dark Templar technology and psionics are what the blink teleporters utilize, and DT tech is very different than mainstream Protoss tech.

It would most definitely be possible for the Khalai Protoss to create a device with identical function, but they haven't done so yet, at least to my knowledge.

[lordofchange13]

The blink teleporters are only seen to be employed by the Dark Templar in StarCraft II, even after the Khalai Protoss reunited with the Dark Templar. It doesn't seem much of a stretch to assume that Dark Templar technology and psionics are what the blink teleporters utilize, and DT tech is very different than mainstream Protoss tech.

It would most definitely be possible for the Khalai Protoss to create a device with identical function, but they haven't done so yet, at least to my knowledge.

I was not aware that there tech was based of different things.

[Imperial528]

The entirety of Protoss tech is based on their psionics. The Khalai Protoss use khaydarin crystals to augment their psionics to power everything from buildings to weapons, using the crystals to draw energy from the Khala, an almost entirely species-wide psionic link.

The Dark Templar, however, are not part of the Khala, and due to symbolic severing of their neural cords, can never be. They draw power from an entity called the void, however they also use khaydarin crystals as focuses.

[Simon_Jester]

I should think so. In-game the automated version is not much more expensive than its standard counterpart and provides a good steady flow of gas, so a Protoss version shouldn't be too expensive either. Even in non-combat conditions, having the gas being transported directly from refinery to depot saves not just on the cost of the robots carrying it, but the time spent carrying individual loads between the structures. This means you can have one or a few central buildings receiving gas from any number of Assimilators spread out across an area practically instantly, rather than waiting for robotic workers to transport it manually over that same (potentially hazardous) distance.

Theoretically, but you'd think a working teleporter over relatively short distances would be more expensive than a robo-truck. The Protoss probe units we see in gameplay aren't necessarily the lower bound of what their resource extraction facilities use for automation; they're what's used for combat engineering, which requires considerably more expensive, complex, and versatile hardware. I expect that for Random Vespene Extraction Planet #46, they'd just have robot trucks or their functional equivalent to haul the vespene around to central nodes where it can be teleported to where it's needed.

It just beggars my imagination that short range teleportation is cheaper than a robot cargo hauler.

[Sela]

The automated gas refinery? I don't see where you're going with this, since it's really just a game play thing

I suggest you read the fluff description then, where it talks about how it uses the Protoss' own teleportation tech to do this and, to paraphrase, "we don't know why the Protoss don't do this themselves, maybe they're just stupid?" But yeah, I guess it is better to just build more Probes to harvest the gas rather than have it beamed right into the Nexus and cut out an expensive middle step.

Question: is installing a teleporter in the refinery actually cheaper than having a few robots carry the stuff to the Nexus in 55-gallon drums?

This is not a trivial question- even in-game, building one of those teleporter-containing buildings (warp gates of various types) costs a lot more than building one drone.

Sorry, but while I agree that a teleport-extraction might or might not be cheaper on a galactic scale to re-deploy and may well not be more efficient, you're flat-out wrong on the in-game count.
To harvest gas a protoss executor must build an Assimilator (~100 minerals) and a probe(50 minerals). The way the teleport-extractor works is that, in-game, the Terrans keep sacking/recovering more and more research from the Protoss through various means and then at one point they develop the capability of building their assimilator equivalent (Refinery) with the telports FOR THE SAME COST. The only price is the initial research. And, again, the initial point being made by this was purely that hte Protoss don't know their own tehcnology's strength, not that the teleport-assimilator would be a game-breaker/game-changer.

Secondly, in-game, You can freely upgrade all your Gateways (Protoss barracks) to Warpgates (the warp-in-at-location version) once you've completed the research. A gateway costs 150minerals, and the upgrade (per the old patch I played on, may have gotten cheaper) is 200 minerals. In short, it isn't massively more expensive, it's just a moderately priced one-time-only cost. The conversion process itself takes literally a few seconds.


I think it's important to note, however, that this is all SC2 technology, meaning well past the OP's timeframe. Further, the warpgate is simply a local field-of-battle tool. You can send your zealots wherever you like over the map (maximum 1-5 cities' space based on various campaign levels) upon creation. The far more impressive feat is that ALL Protoss unit creation is not in fact building/troop-training but is both in the manual and in game referred to as "Warping in troops" from the homeworld of Aiur . . . and then later not explained after the total sacking of Aiur where they're being warped in from.
It is not a no-limit technology as there's a set distance you can use it from and it takes a VERY long time for an individual Protoss Zealot to warp into the field of battle than, say, a Barracks to train a marine recruit or an egg to hatch two Zerglings.


*Edited first sentence for clarity*

[Simon_Jester]

I suggest you read the fluff description then, where it talks about how it uses the Protoss' own teleportation tech to do this and, to paraphrase, "we don't know why the Protoss don't do this themselves, maybe they're just stupid?" But yeah, I guess it is better to just build more Probes to harvest the gas rather than have it beamed right into the Nexus and cut out an expensive middle step.

Question: is installing a teleporter in the refinery actually cheaper than having a few robots carry the stuff to the Nexus in 55-gallon drums?

This is not a trivial question- even in-game, building one of those teleporter-containing buildings (warp gates of various types) costs a lot more than building one drone.

Sorry, but while I agree that a teleport-extraction might or might not be cheaper on a galactic scale to re-deploy and may well not be more efficient, you're flat-out wrong on the in-game count.
To harvest gas a protoss executor must build an Assimilator (~100 minerals) and a probe(50 minerals). The way the teleport-extractor works is that, in-game, the Terrans keep sacking/recovering more and more research from the Protoss through various means and then at one point they develop the capability of building their assimilator equivalent (Refinery) with the telports FOR THE SAME COST. The only price is the initial research. And, again, the initial point being made by this was purely that hte Protoss don't know their own tehcnology's strength, not that the teleport-assimilator would be a game-breaker/game-changer.

See, I find this deeply objectionable. It strikes me as very reasonable that the Protoss don't normally do that in their facilities because it wouldn't be cost-effective for civilian applications. Less reasonable that they just happen to be able to build cargo teleporters for less than cargo trucks.

Secondly, in-game, You can freely upgrade all your Gateways (Protoss barracks) to Warpgates (the warp-in-at-location version) once you've completed the research. A gateway costs 150minerals, and the upgrade (per the old patch I played on, may have gotten cheaper) is 200 minerals. In short, it isn't massively more expensive, it's just a moderately priced one-time-only cost. The conversion process itself takes literally a few seconds.

Er... the upgrade costs more than one entire building.

One objection I have to this is that Protoss game mechanics change fairly drastically between SC1 and SC2, and I'm not sure which is a better representation of what they're capable of. In SC1 they make much less use of tactical teleportation (strategic teleportation is still a big deal). In SC2, which I admittedly haven't played, they seem to use tactical teleportation far more extensively, probably to distinguish their gameplay mechanics from the other people.

[wautd]

What would be the result of such a match-up? Note: No Zerg or Terrans getting involved.

Lets see, on one side we have an empire controlling millions of worlds and having the technology to vaporize planets. On the other side we have a race that gets it arses kicked by primitive Terrans and Tyranid wannabees on regular occasions.
Yeah, somehow I doubt the GE would even notice the Protoss when they roll over them.

[Sela]

@Simon_Jester:

Firstly, my memory flagged. The 200-mineral figure I cited was for the cybernetics core where the research is done, the warpgate upgrade is 50/50 (50 mins, 50 gas), so it is in fact MUCH cheaper than a new gateway (150 minerals). Perhaps a better way to think of it is that a stalker (dragoon equivalent) costs 125/50 and is made from the same building. In short: your lowest quality anti-air costs MUCH less than advanced one-time theater-teleport control (warpgates provide no 'warping' once a troop is in the field).
Secondly, it is a one-time expense that then applies to all gateways, not a repeated expense. It should be noted that just like every protoss in SC1 will at some point research Zealot-speed in a sufficiently long game, so will every protoss in SC2 research this cheap upgrade.
Most damingly though, is the actual cost analysis. Say, for argument's sake, the Protoss had discovered the automated assimilator. Say it costs double the research cost of a warpgate, and then (once researched) you could change all assimilators to automated-assimilators. With the current tools at your disposal, to optimally harvest gas you need 3 probes (50x3 = 150 minerals), the assimilator (150mins) and a nearby Nexus (400minerals) for a total of 700 minerals. Further, if an enemy raids and destroys the nexus your rebuild cost is 400minerals [very relevant in-game], and the probes also provide an easily-harassed supply line (40hp each).
Now, let's do the math on the warp-assimilators. You need to build the thing (100mins), and that's it. From there you dont need a nexus as the gas is sent directly to your stockpile. You don't need nearby probes, and if an enemy should manage to find the darn thing, you're only out 100minerals . . . and god only knows ohw much gas you'll have mined in between! The beautiful thing is, tactically speaking, you could literally just drop assimilators randomly - even in places that your enemy might want to expand to in the near-future but hasn't scouted. The mineral cost is trivial, the investment light, and the gas-return enormous. Even if we add the one-time research cost and all the buildings it takes to reach it (150+200+50/50 (or 100/100 if we 2x it) ) It's STILL cheaper than the classic way!

There's three possibilities as I see it. 1.) The protoss are terrible, terrible engineers. This is not supported by the gameplay or story. 2.) The automated-refinery relies on terran tech and principles that the protoss assimilator simply cannot incorporate in addition to the borrowed protoss warp fields. Though the Terran scientist's diary entry seems to explicitly refute this, it's fair to assume a terran scientist doesn't know terribly much about Protoss technical limitations so this is a possibility. 3.) The protoss do not fully utilize the extent of their technology.

I see absolutely no issue with the 3rd statement. Historically, humans have done this all the time. The fact that the concept of invention exists PERIOD means that there are still things we humans are left inventing. The fact that between SC1 and SC2 we see the protoss starting to use theater-level warp-in control means they *ARE* unearthing new uses for their technology. Why shouldn't the automated assimilator be such an undiscovered tech as well? I fail to see your argument beyond "it must be more expensive just because", and knowing you I'm sure you are saying more than that and it's just me that's missing it.

[Simon_Jester]

It strikes me as more reasonable that the technology wasn't developed by the Protoss because for most purposes it was more cost-effective to use robotrucks; I find it much easier to imagine that than "we've had the capability to do this for centuries, it's an obvious cost-cutting measure, and it never occurred to us to use it this way before."

In-game costs are a very difficult metric by which to gauge the practical expense of a piece of technology. Remember Starcraft 1: one battlecruiser costs less than twenty riflemen. That's good game balance perhaps, but it beggars the imagination that such a thing could be realistic, given the relative size and power of the units as presented in the fluff.

Game costs are determined entirely by the need to balance arbitrary unit stats against each other, so I don't trust them as a guide to which systems are expensive and which systems are cheap.

[Balrog]

It strikes me as more reasonable that the technology wasn't developed by the Protoss because for most purposes it was more cost-effective to use robotrucks; I find it much easier to imagine that than "we've had the capability to do this for centuries, it's an obvious cost-cutting measure, and it never occurred to us to use it this way before."

We are talking about the same civilization which, even after taking devastating losses, including the loss of their center of power in Aiur, still retains as their primary foot soldier guys armed only with energy blades. Recall again what the manual says about them:

If the Protoss have a weakness, though, it is their refusal to accept change. The tenets of the Khala form a rigid path, and the Protoss are loathe to deviate from it for fear of once again falling into civil strike

Their whole society has a very conservative bent to it, so it's not really a surprise to find out that they've been underutilizing their technology. "Dammit, if it was good enough for Adun, it's good enough for you, now quit complaining."

[Imperial528]

If it works, it don't need fixin'.

Of course, "under-utilization" may be more resource efficient overall; teleporters require larger power sources than probes, after all, power sources that could be put to good use in the war effort.

[Simon_Jester]

Protoss Zealots armed with energy blades perform quite well in combat against the frontline troops of other species, so I don't think their conservatism really hurts them in that respect.

I suppose it's possible, though, that sheer refusal to innovate plays a major role in the Protoss decision to forgo this technology. I can't rule it out. It just totally beggars my imagination that using teleporters to move such cargoes over short distances would be cheaper and more efficient than using physical vehicles. Safer, yes. Faster, yes. Cheaper... well, maybe I'm just underestimating how cost-effective Protoss teleportation technology is.

[Sela]

@Simon_Jester

Think what you're saying man! If I went to the STvSW forum and said that the Federation can clone human beings as easily as they can transport them, but they don't for ethical reasons. And then my only evidence was "well, it seems likely", we'd call bullshit as there was no proof the Feds have such an ability.

Similarly, the Protoss do not utilize teleport-mining in the manner described period. We see the warpgate tech emerge in SC2 but remain absent in SC1. As such we *KNOW* that there were capabilities that protoss tech had, but had not yet been unearthed in SC1. Why shouldn't we believe their tech can do more than they use it for? Why *MUST* it be that it's just too expensive when all evidence both in and out of game suggests otherwise?


I'll give you another example of "cheap" teleports. Stalkers can use an ability known as "blink" where they can move about 10 paces (or 32 human paces) to any location an ally (or they themselves) can see. This ability costs some form of energy presumably, but requires mere seconds to charge up! I understand why using gameplay mechanics alone can provide difficulty, but in the SC world, they are canon, aren't they? If what we observe in a cutscene contradicts the game, I can see how it'd be higher canon, sure. But from my understanding of the way we use cnaon resources in vs debates, we have to accept the game source unless, of course, there's a higher level contradiction. I don't know how (or if) Protoss warp-field abilities are handled in the books (beyond the first manual) so I can't say anything in that regard.





And this is all, admittedly, somewhat moot to the outcome of a galactic scale war. Teleporting into combat is a wonderful rapid-transit move, but conventional transport still gets the job done quite well. Further, most every in-game cutscene shows that the Protoss prefer to use their shuttles to ferry troops from site-to-site within a combat arena or when making planet-fall, and to use teleport/warp-in technology primarily once a base for further troop production/reinforcement has already been established. In short, all the teleport-tech would actually buy the Protoss in an "evenly-matched" fight with the Empire is a supply line that could evade aerial blockade. They'd sitll be every bit as vulnerable once on the ground and with a minimum of added mobility. Of course, the protoss tech should prove most profitable to the Empire after they're annexed, particularly if the "Psi-field" of pylons and the energy provided from them can be supplied using the demonstrably powerful imperial means instead.

[Simon_Jester]

@Simon_Jester

Think what you're saying man! If I went to the STvSW forum and said that the Federation can clone human beings as easily as they can transport them, but they don't for ethical reasons. And then my only evidence was "well, it seems likely", we'd call bullshit as there was no proof the Feds have such an ability.

Similarly, the Protoss do not utilize teleport-mining in the manner described period. We see the warpgate tech emerge in SC2 but remain absent in SC1. As such we *KNOW* that there were capabilities that protoss tech had, but had not yet been unearthed in SC1. Why shouldn't we believe their tech can do more than they use it for? Why *MUST* it be that it's just too expensive when all evidence both in and out of game suggests otherwise?

Look, I don't want to argue this any more; it just breaks my mind to imagine that teleporters are more cost-effective than trucks over short distances for the Protoss. I'm not going to keep jumping up and down and arguing about this any further because the Starcraft setting is riddled with this kind of stuff- cost scales that make no sense in any reasonable frame of reference (like the relative price of Terran battlecruisers and marines, along with their relative ability to threaten each other). Unit ranges, again, are very wonky: in SC1 a marine's rifle had roughly 1/3 the range of a large-caliber howitzer, and a flamethrower roughly 1/2 the range of a rifle. Should we interpret that as gameplay mechanic or in-universe canon?

I'm reluctant to dispute the evidence, but I'm ambiguous about what it means. And... all questions of evidence aside, can you see why it is naturally difficult for me to accept the idea that teleport-based Vespene refineries are more efficient than trucking the goods back and forth? That is a rather counterintuitive situation.

I'll give you another example of "cheap" teleports. Stalkers can use an ability known as "blink" where they can move about 10 paces (or 32 human paces) to any location an ally (or they themselves) can see. This ability costs some form of energy presumably, but requires mere seconds to charge up!

Yes, I know. But, again, that is military hardware. Mounting a blink displacer on a walking gun platform like a stalker doesn't mean that they are, in any objective sense of the word, cheap compared to the price of the chassis. Military hardware often contains features that are too expensive, high-maintenance, or hazardous to be used in civilian applications.

And this is all, admittedly, somewhat moot to the outcome of a galactic scale war. Teleporting into combat is a wonderful rapid-transit move, but conventional transport still gets the job done quite well. Further, most every in-game cutscene shows that the Protoss prefer to use their shuttles to ferry troops from site-to-site within a combat arena or when making planet-fall, and to use teleport/warp-in technology primarily once a base for further troop production/reinforcement has already been established.

That's mostly because their teleporters require receivers or homing beacons- with, of course, a few exceptions, but you know what I mean. But it's a really substantial advantage in strategic mobility- within their empire they can shuttle forces around practically instantaneously. That would give them a considerable edge against enemies that don't have such rapid transportation.

[Sela]

Look, I don't want to argue this any more; it just breaks my mind to imagine that teleporters are more cost-effective than trucks over short distances for the Protoss. *snip* And... all questions of evidence aside, can you see why it is naturally difficult for me to accept the idea that teleport-based Vespene refineries are more efficient than trucking the goods back and forth? That is a rather counterintuitive situation.

I guess I can see the knee-jerk "that just doesn't add up" side of this. And if you don't want to argue it - I'm not gonna force you to as this *is* sort of a moot point unless we somehow nullify the Imperial production capacity or set it equal to the Protoss. All I would say is that if teleportation is as trivial as shipping trucks, then why not use them in your refineries? The protoss in SC1 used "warp-in" for all units instead of actually using transports, after all. Just as surely as in StarWars "repulsorlift" anti-grav technology seems to be completely trivial.

But it's a really substantial advantage in strategic mobility- within their empire they can shuttle forces around practically instantaneously. That would give them a considerable edge against enemies that don't have such rapid transportation.

Hmm... sounds reasonable; but as of yet we only know that they can send troops from Aiur to wherever with their Gateway/Warpgate/Robotics Facility/Stargate technology. Unless, of course, their's been a new manual entry to explain where their troops have been warping from during the Brood Wars and after the sacking of Aiur.

[Imperial528]

They can warp in from the nearest secured base world, along with buildings. Most did ultimately come from Aiur, since that is where the most industry was, but I presume that now most would come from the major colonies and Shakuras. Likewise, zealots, and possibly vehicle pilots, teleport to the nearest secure base in the event of serious injury.

Stargates and warpgates, after all, were what connected the Protoss Empire together, and they still do.

[Simon_Jester]

Look, I don't want to argue this any more; it just breaks my mind to imagine that teleporters are more cost-effective than trucks over short distances for the Protoss. *snip* And... all questions of evidence aside, can you see why it is naturally difficult for me to accept the idea that teleport-based Vespene refineries are more efficient than trucking the goods back and forth? That is a rather counterintuitive situation.

I guess I can see the knee-jerk "that just doesn't add up" side of this. And if you don't want to argue it - I'm not gonna force you to as this *is* sort of a moot point unless we somehow nullify the Imperial production capacity or set it equal to the Protoss. All I would say is that if teleportation is as trivial as shipping trucks, then why not use them in your refineries? The protoss in SC1 used "warp-in" for all units instead of actually using transports, after all. Just as surely as in StarWars "repulsorlift" anti-grav technology seems to be completely trivial.

Over interstellar distances, the advantage of being able to teleport in reinforcements seems fairly obvious. And being able to teleport in war machines rather than fabricate them on the spot* will generally make it easier to supply your forces with high-quality equipment in a hurry- ship raw materials back home and make the equipment there in facilities that aren't under fire or operating under lava-hell-world conditions, then ship the finished products back for use by your troops.

It's over short distances that the advantages of using teleporters for cargo shipments strike me as being less significant: when it only takes minutes to move the goods from one end of the supply line to the other, rather than taking days or months. Starcraft warp travel does take years to cross galaxy-scale distances, or seems to.

The delay and risk incurred in moving a big can of liquefied Vespene from a refinery to a storage tank a kilometer or two away isn't zero. But it strikes me as probably being smaller than the delay and risk incurred in refining said gas in the first place, or at least that's what my intuitive logistics-sense leads me to expect.

So sure, teleport the Vespene from the Nexus to the factory on Aiur that uses it. But why teleport it from the refinery to the Nexus?

*(as the Zerg do, and as the Terrans supposedly do even if it makes my brain hurt)

But it's a really substantial advantage in strategic mobility- within their empire they can shuttle forces around practically instantaneously. That would give them a considerable edge against enemies that don't have such rapid transportation.

Hmm... sounds reasonable; but as of yet we only know that they can send troops from Aiur to wherever with their Gateway/Warpgate/Robotics Facility/Stargate technology. Unless, of course, their's been a new manual entry to explain where their troops have been warping from during the Brood Wars and after the sacking of Aiur.

Heh.

Honestly, my guess is that they do have the capability to send units out of theater using facilities that simply don't appear very often in games- like the Warp Gates seen in the Brood War expansion, on Aiur and Shakuras.

And we wouldn't expect those facilities to show up in actual games of Starcraft. Missions in the game generally involve hard-fought battles over important strategic objectives. So how often in-game would you want to teleport your army out of the theater of operations that the game covers?

Aside from a few single-player missions where motives to do that are built into the mission objectives (such as the first Protoss mission of Brood War), we don't see facilities that can do so... but that doesn't mean they're especially rare. It just means they aren't constructed by Protoss field forces in the middle of a battle, because they aren't needed.

The Protoss force is on the battlefield in the first place to fight, not to construct interstellar teleporters to send itself somewhere else. You'd expect to see the interstellar-range teleport senders constructed in the Protoss rear areas: military production centers and secure locations, not active battlefields where the Templar are busy fighting the Zerg.