Mar Sara

Mar Sara was a core Terran Confederacy colony in the Koprulu Sector, founded by a prospector before the start of the Guild Wars. Although mainly covered by hard-baked mud and scrub, irrigation techniques allowed agriculture to develop. Its sky was a dusty orange.

Mar Sara is the setting for the beginning of the game's first campaign; the player's identity is that of the Magistrate of the colony.

Shortly after the Protoss attack on Chau Sara, Mar Sara was thoroughly infested by Zerg, which spread over the planet, killing colonists and Confederate soldiers. The Sons of Korhal helped to evacuate the planet, saving many colonists from the Zerg. Eventually, the Confederacy, which had been holding out on fighting the Zerg, decided to evacuate as well.

During the evacuation, Jim Raynor led a group of Sons of Korhal rebels into an important Confederate insallation on a raid. They managed to steal a data disc, which was later revealed to contain information about psi emitters and Confederate experiments with the Zerg, which explained why they took so little action.

The infestation abruptly came to an end when the Protoss, under the command of Executor Tassadar, arrived and sterilized the planet, killing all life on the surface as part of the Protoss Conclave's campaign to stop the spread of the Zerg. However, unlike its sister planet Chau Sara, Tassadar held out until the Terrans had had enough time to evacuate as well.

Wasteland
The Wasteland was an area on Mar Sara containing almost no life and was very inhospitable to Terran settlers. Areas of the Wasteland were divided up and the people there were led by people called Marshals and they were seperate from the Militia. Jim Raynor was a Marshal. Zerglings lived in the Wasteland in packs.

Backwater Station
The Backwater Station was a isolated station that was attacked by Zerg. General Duke said that the Confederacy would respond but Raynor knew they would take too long and nobody at the station would survive, so he and the colonial militia went and saved the people there and destroyed all Zerg nearby. This got them arrested.

Jacobs Installation
Built into the side of a mountain, on the other side of the planet from Mar Sara's major cities, the Jacobs Installation was a secret base operated by Alpha Squadron. Zerg and critters were confined in it.

In order to get to the sensitive areas, one must use transporter pads to move around.

After the evacuation of the planet and after freeing Jim Raynor from a prison ship, Arcturus Mengsk wanted the former Magistrate's assistance in raiding the Installation. Raynor led the Sons of Korhal team inside where they steal an encrypted disk containing critical data concerning the psi-emitter.

Anthem Base
A mining town of around a dozen wooden buildings that Michael Liberty and Lieutenant Emily Swallow, finding it completely bereft of life, instead featuring the corpses of its citizens, courtesy of the zerg, which were present at the time.

Bunker Complex 3847
Ironicly called "Scenic" by its residents, the complex was an outpost settlement consisting of temporal buildings and a central buisness district which housed a small number of shops. Pumping stations were located northeast of its location, situated in a crater of scrap called "Oasis". Due to the zerg, it had been abandoned one week before the evacuation of Mar Sara. It was the site of a fierce firefight between the zerg and a Confederate platoon trying to retrieve a psi emitter.

The Mysterious Refinery
Four years in the future, Mar Sara has become the property of the Terran Dominion and is the home of a secret terrazine refinery. Unfortunately terrazine attracts the attention of the Protoss and Zerg; the latter swarmed onto the planet when they detected it. A task force of Dominion troops (including a Ghost named Nova) attempted to rescue the refinery.

Turtle Island
A strange planetary anomalies is found on an island just off of the main continent on Mar Sara. Explorers who first saw the island mistook it for a gargantuan turtle -- initially a cause for great alarm. Closer inspection quickly revealed the true nature of the landmass, but to this day nearby residents still call the place "Turtle Island."

Trivia

 * The Blue Terran faction is identified as the Mar Sara Milita. This remains true into Brood War (even when the forces are clearly not from Mar Sara).
 * "Mar Sara" is Spanish for "Sarah Sea" or, in the context of onomastics, "Sarah's Sea".
 * The orbital view of Mar Sara is identical to the orbital view of Moria.