Sons of Korhal
The
Sons of Korhal are a military organization in the fictional
StarCraft universe, founded after the destruction of the colony world of
Korhal.
The roots of the Sons of Korhal was the foundation of colonies by the
Terran Confederacy, based on
Tarsonis.
Korhal IV, one of the colonies, became the "jewel" of the Confederacy.
However, the people of Korhal felt oppressed by the corrupt Confederate Senators, and eventually rioted against the Confederates. Martial law was imposed, but the revolt did not stop.
Korhalian Senator
Angus Mengsk became a leader of the Korhalian revolt, issuing fiery statements declaring that the Confederacy no longer held any claim over the world of Korhal.
The Confederates eventually withdrew from the planet, but sent three
assassins to kill Angus Mengsk in the capital,
Styrling. His head was never found.
Arcturus Mengsk, Angus's son, a former Confederate Colonel and prospector, was embarrassed by his father's actions, and while aware of Confederate corruption, was generally uninterested in
Koprulu Sector politics. However, he was outraged by the death of his family and returned to Korhal to continue the rebellion. With the assistance of Ailin Pasteur, an
Umojan diplomat whose life had been saved by Angus Mengsk and later became a part of the rebellion's Ruling Council, Arcturus Mengsk was put in charge of the rebellion.
He rallied the militant groups that had followed his father and created an army which struck at various Confederate bases and installations. He also struck up an alliance with Umoja, which distrusted the
Terran Confederacy. When a Confederate
battlecruiser crashed in Umojan territory, well out of the range of Confederate hailing frequencies, Mengsk pressed it into the service of his rebellion. Its captain,
Pollock Rimes, and crew also joined the rebellion.
When Mengsk was gone to visit Umoja, an important rival of the
Terran Confederacy, the Confederates fired a thousand Apocalypse-class nuclear missiles at Korhal, wiping out all life on the surface.
The attack on Korhal wiped out the majority of the rebellion, but a small number of outraged recruits from Umoja and even the Fringe Worlds joined
Arcturus Mengsk's organization. Mengsk called his rebellion the
Sons of Korhal. He also renamed the captured battlecruiser the
Hyperion.
One of the rebellion's first missions was to infiltrate a facility on
Vyctor 5, called the
Fujita Facility. It was hidden in a stable and violent weather formation called the
Fujita Pinnacle. Although the planet's security was formidable, Mengsk's
daring tactics enabled the rebels to destroy the facility's defenses and raid it. Within, they discovered a young
psychic named
Sarah Kerrigan, a scientist, Dr. Flanx, and
xenomorphs, the latter slain by
Pollock Rimes. Kerrigan's memory had been wiped, and her psychic abilities restrained like those of most other
Terran Ghosts', but she quickly became a valuable member of Mengsk's team, to the irritation of Rimes.
Mengsk was annoyed at the Confederate coverup of his attack, however. The media reported that terrorists had attacked an "environmental facility", and did not name the attackers.
Mengsk's hidden information sources led him to openly appear in the space of the
Terran Confederacy in the
Hyperion. As he did so, he told Kerrigan that he hadn't retrieved her because of the secrets of Vyctor 5, but because she knew the layout of the Ghost Academy on
Tarsonis. Kerrigan's memory was returning, and soon she would remember how to get through it and perform a special mission for Mengsk.
A
traitor drew the attention of
Edmund Duke, a high-ranking
Terran Confederacy military officer commanding his battlecruiser, the
Norad II. Duke expertly blocked the Hyperion from exiting into warp space and sent a detachment of Terran Marines onto the
Hyperion.
The
Hyperion attempted to escape, and inside Mengsk laid the plans for an ambush of both the Marines and the
Norad II. In the end, the Marines were slain, Dr. Flanx was dead, the
Norad II was heavily damaged and the
Hyperion had escaped.
Duke had sent a
Ghost secretly onto the
Hyperion, however, which started to kill rebels.
Sarah Kerrigan took Mengsk's sidearm and fought the Ghost. She eventually killed them with a large knife. When informing Mengsk of this development, she was able to read some of his thoughts. He believed it was "one of the three", but carefully blanked his mind, preventing Kerrigan from reading anything else.
With the assistance of a mining guild,
Arcturus Mengsk planned an attack on the Ghost Academy on
Tarsonis. He told his rebels the primary purpose of the attack was to draw media attention, hopefully creating support for his group. While many people were opposed to
Terran Confederacy policies, they didn't know of any outlets for their frustrations.
Mengsk privately informed Kerrigan that he wanted her to retrieve a specific
Terran Ghost. Doing so would require her to attack
Major Rumm, a figure from her past whom she bore great hatred for.
The attack was something of a disaster. The group did not have enough force to destroy the Academy and fight their way out, and were hindered by a
traitor. Their most capable soldier was on a separate mission.
Only Kerrigan made it out alive, after the Academy's fusion reactor had been destroyed, with the captive Ghost. She was safely retrieved by Mengsk, who quickly escaped the Confederates. Mengsk revealed his private motivations to Kerrigan, who reaffirmed her loyalty to him.
The actions resulted in media coverage of the Sons of Korhal, which was identified as a dangerous terrorist group.
Late in 2499,
Alpha Squadron returned to
Chau Sara in order to put down a local uprising by the Sons of Korhal. Its first foes, however, were
xenomorphs, which were quickly defeated. Shortly thereafter,
Alpha Squadron made contact with the secretive
Cerberus Recon Squad, whose leader claimed knowledge of these xenomorphs. The squad assisted Alpha Squadron in destroying the Sons of Korhal base. The Sons of Korhal fled from Chau Sara, and it was later attacked by an
unknown alien species under
unusual circumstances.
The next month,
Mar Sara had been invaded by
Zerg, and the populace was put under lockdown. The defense of the world was overseen by
Alpha Squadron, which had escaped the devastation of its home base on
Chau Sara, but the Confederate Squadron made little effort to defend the world against the
Zerg. Indeed, they began to round up local militias that had been attacking the Zerg. One of their highest profile prisoners was former Marshall
Jim Raynor.
The Zerg massed against the core city of Mar Sara, and were about to massacre the civilians. The Confederates made no move to assist, and the Magistrate of Mar Sara could only find one military organization which could hold off the Zerg - the Sons of Korhal.
Mengsk promised to help the colonists evacuate, although they would have to defend themselves until the rebels could arrive. The colonists were up to the task, and were able to escape. The Sons of Korhal planned to leave the planet soon, and so did the Confederates.
Meanwhile,
Jim Raynor had been freed from his prison ship and joined the rebel organization. He was willing to work with the colonists in a raid on the
Jacobs Installation, a well-defended Confederate outpost which contained exotic technologies. The Colonial Magistrate had been fired, pending an investigation, and he was quite willing to help out.
Raynor personally led the raid, defeating the Confederates within. He was surprised by the Zerg, but Mengsk told him that this was not the first time he had seen Zerg in a Confederate facility. He said he believed the Confederates might be breeding them as weapons against their political enemies. Raynor completed the mission, acquiring the technology.
Hours after the final evacuations, the
Protoss attacked the planet, wiping out all life on its surface.
Mengsk's next target were the rebels of
Antiga Prime, which were being suppressed by the
Terran Confederacy's premier military force,
Alpha Squadron.
Jim Raynor and
Sarah Kerrigan, now a lieutenant in the Sons of Korhal, were sent to the surface. They assassinated the Confederate officer in charge of suppressing the rebels and defeated a Confederate strike force which was preparing to take back control of the colony.
Great Gifts
General
Edmund Duke, leader of
Alpha Squadron, was orbiting
Antiga Prime in his battlecruiser, the
Norad II, directing a battle against the
Zerg. The aliens had arrived. The
Norad II was heavily damaged during the fighting, and crashed on the planet. It was quickly ringed with
Zerg, and
Alpha Squadron's ground forces were unable to rescue him.
The Sons of Korhal sent their own forces to assist the General, which greatly surprised Raynor and Kerrigan. Alpha Squadron was willing to temporarily ally with their former enemies to rescue their leader. Despite the success, Duke didn't show any gratitude. Mengsk gave him the choice of joining his cabinet, or a government which was failing as its colonies revolted. Duke grudgingly joined the rebellion, an act which sent shockwaves through the
Terran Confederacy.
Delta Squadron was sent to
Antiga Prime to put down the rebellion for good, and punish Alpha Squadron. The Delta Squadron force was very large, posing a significant threat to the Sons of Korhal, despite the addition of a well-trained military squadron. However, Mengsk had other things on his mind...
The data disk stolen from the
Jacobs Installation had been deciphered. They contained plans for the
psi-emitter, a device which used psionics to attract the attention of the
Zerg. Lieutenant
Sarah Kerrigan was ordered to take the emitter to
Delta Squadron's base and activate it. When Kerrigan did so, waves of Zerg approached the location and destroyed the Confederate army there.
The Sons of Korhal evacuated as many colonists as possible, then fled. The
Protoss arrived and once again sterilized a
Terran world.
The Sons of Korhal prepared to defeat the
Terran Confederacy for good by attacking the capital,
Tarsonis. It was still too small to attack Tarsonis directly, however. General
Edmund Duke had fought in a number of major battles on the orbital space platforms over
Tarsonis and knew its defenses. He masterminded a raid on the central platform against
Delta Squadron and
Omega Squadron, with the expressed purpose of confusing the Confederates long enough to send a small force to the surface. While these surface forces, if any, are subject to
rumor, Sons of Korhal
Ghosts activated a number of
psi-emitters.
No
Zerg had been observed near the planet, but now they arrived in large numbers.
Jim Raynor and
Sarah Kerrigan were alienated by this tactic. Raynor accused
Arcturus Mengsk of "selling out the planet" to the
Zerg, and was more vocal about his objections than Kerrigan.
Meanwhile, the Zerg landed on the space platforms, devastating the
Terran Confederacy. The
Protoss followed, and Kerrigan believed they were going to destroy all life on the planet, including the
Terrans still on the surface.
Arcturus Mengsk ordered her to defend the Zerg from the Protoss. He didn't want any Confederates to escape, and if the Zerg were defeated, that could happen. She was sent with a detachment of the Sons of Korhal to the Zerg-occupied space platform. Jim Raynor complained that she didn't have any backup - both himself and General
Edmund Duke were ordered to remain on Mengsk's command ship. Fending off occasional Zerg attacks, she defeated the Protoss fleet. At this point, the Zerg began a massive attack against her forces. Mengsk ordered the Sons of Korhal to leave the system, however, abandoning Kerrigan to a horrible fate.
Jim Raynor took the
Hyperion and people no longer loyal to Mengsk and remained nearby, however. He wanted to rescue Kerrigan, but it was impossible.
Upon Mengsk's return to the Tarsonis system, he and Raynor sparred, first verbally, then physically. Any attempt to escape would proove futile, since General Duke had taken control of the Ion Cannon, a powerful anti-ship weapon that would prevent Raynor's forces from escaping.
Raynor's forces were forced to fight the Sons of Korhal, cutting a path the to Ion Cannon and destroying it. Shortly thereafter, his forces escaped from
Tarsonis.
The
Terran Dominion was created after the fall of the
Confederacy at the height of the war between the Terrans, the
Zerg and the
Protoss. Headed by
Arcturus Mengsk, the former leader of the Sons of Korhal, the Terran Dominion succeeded in gaining control of much of the
Koprulu Sector, and in particular, older Protoss colonies, such as
Khyrador.
Korhal IV was made the throne world of the Dominion, with
Augustgrad designated as the capital.
Crowning himself "Emperor" of the Terran Dominion,
Arcturus Mengsk, with General
Edmund Duke as his military advisor, claimed control and was unopposed by any legal
Terran faction to his rule. By the time of the
Brood War, all of the
Terran colonies within the Koprulu Sector were united under one sovereign ruler for the first time. With few exceptions, such as an elite commando squad led by one
Samir Duran, the Dominion ruled over the
Koprulu Sector without any human threat to its control. However, despite the forgotten promise that the dictorial rule of the Confederacy would be replaced with the "prosperity" of the Dominion, Mengsk seemed obsessed with power (signs were shown when he abandoned Kerrigan) and the Dominion was just as ruthless as the Confederacy. The Dominion gained its military supremacy by forcefully conscripting the remaining soldiers of the old Confederate armies.
At the time of the
Brood War, the Terran Dominion came under siege from an expeditionary force from the
United Earth Directorate, an invasionary force sent by Earth to pacify the Koprulu Sector. The Dominion lost the worlds
Braxis and
Dylar IV before
Korhal itself was conquered.
The UED had a hidden agenda as well: to take control of the
Zerg Overmind and use the
Zerg to pacify all conflict in the region. The UED's
Admiral DuGalle successfully captured the
Zerg Overmind on
Char and used it to maintain a number of
Zerg on
Korhal.
Due to the backstabbing of
Samir Duran, who had originally joined the UED as an ally, the UED failed in its agenda and was eventually overwhelmed by
Infested Kerrigan,
Jim Raynor,
Fenix and Arcturus Mengsk who were working together to rid themselves of the UED. Mengsk had a more stand-by position in this temporary alliance, as all he wanted was to retake his capital planet,
Korhal. Although Arcturus Mengsk succeeded, he (along with Raynor and Fenix) were betrayed by Kerrigan and he lost his military advisor, General
Edmund Duke. However, Kerrigan left the planet after inflicting heavy defeats on Mengsk and Raynor.
Shortly after the destruction of the second
Overmind by
Infested Kerrigan and the
Dark Templar Zeratul, Kerrigan's enemies found her in a weakened position on a space platform over
Char. Mengsk was among these enemies. Without the time and resources to build a full-sized army and fleet, Mengsk was forced to sign concessions and make deals with
Terran "special interest groups" who wanted Kerrigan dead. There were a lot of them. However, Kerrigan was able to defeat the attacking forces. Mengsk left
Char to rebuild his forces.
Current status
The Dominion, having been driven to the brink of annihilation by various UED, Zerg, and Protoss assaults, has nevertheless survived. Indeed,
four years later, it has to some extent rebuilt its armies and still skirmishes with the
Zerg. It is also involved in battle with the
Koprulu Liberation Front. It uses robotics and even stolen
Protoss technology to support its weakened forces. Mengsk's military has retaken a number of
Terran worlds.
The Dominion is opposed to both the Protoss and the Zerg and is in favor of stopping all warfare between humans in the
Koprulu Sector.
# Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn.
StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.# Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper.
StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.#
StarCraft: Loomings campaign# Neilson, Micky.
StarCraft: Uprising. New York and Toronto, Ontario: Pocket Books, 2000.
ISBN B00005AS12 (eBook only)#
Warboards storyline update*
StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment*
Battle.net StarCraft Compendium
