War Pigs

"Ultimately, you and your men are all expendable. You must know that. I mean, why else recruit from the prison herd? The War Pigs program is all about meat. Recycled meat."

- Tamsen Cauley explains the facts of life

The War Pigs are a band of terran outlaws.

History
"Stiletto strike, no fallback position--the usual raw deal."

The War Pigs were a Terran Confederacy military program, used as an alternative to neural resocialization, as they could retain their unique talents and expertise. Convicted criminals serving a life jail term or a death sentence were taken from the general prison population and sent on dangerous missions. They were considered expendable.

For and Against the Confederacy
During the Great War, the War Pigs were dispatched by Terran Confederacy bureaucrat Tamsen Cauley to assassinate Arcturus Mengsk at Atticus Minor. An injured Cole Hickson couldn't take part in the mission. Taking advantage of the Sons of Korhal being distracted by a zerg invasion, the team moved in but the attack was interrupted and they were forced back by the zerg. They fled to the safety of a mine shaft while waiting for the General Lee to rescue them, but the miners refused to let them in. The War Pigs killed the miners and held out until they could be evacuated. As the team fled they were blocked by a Confederate blockade, convincing them that Cauley had turned against them.

Brock Valevoss sent the rest of the team to meet up with Hickson while he personally confronted Cauley, who admitted to "burning" them. Cauley believed Mengsk would defeat the Confederacy and, now that the War Pigs had failed to kill Mengsk, he would switch sides, but to do so safely he needed to tie up "loose ends" such as the War Pigs. Valevoss reacted angrily but Cauley threatened him with soldiers from the new Cerberus Program. Cauley offered Valevoss his freedom if he would lure the rest of the team into an ambush.

Valevoss made contact, but some of the War Pigs were suspicious and reacted cautiously. Cerberus soldiers attacked, killing Valevoss but were surprised by Cole Hickson's sniper skills. The War Pigs killed all the Cerberus soldiers and left Valevoss' body unburied. The scattered afterward.

Loose Ends
In 2502, Tamsen Cauley, now a Terran Dominion official, became worried that Arcturus Mengsk would learn about the previous assassination attempt due to an off-hand comment from Mengsk. Determined to tie up the loose end, Cauley paid a visit to New Folsom Prison, holding a prisoner he was familiar with&mdash;Cole Hickson.

He subjected Hickson to an experimental form of neural resocialization which acted subconsciously, programmed to kill Jim Raynor and possibly others under a pre-programmed prompt. Cauley believed doing so would enhance his power within the Dominion.

Target: Jim Raynor
The War Pigs were brought back together by Hickson for the assassination of Jim Raynor within a specified time frame. As a reward, their records would be expunged by Cauley, who in reality had plans to use Cerberus troops to eliminate them after they have completed their task.

The War Pigs bought information on the whereabouts of Jim Raynor, which indicated he was on Moria, although the information turned out to be at least three months out of date. While there, the War Pigs asked questions about Raynor, only to be attacked and nearly killed by the Kel-Morian Combine. Cole Hickson's tactical planning was hampered by a recent lack of focus. The General Lee was damaged and, while it escaped, needed urgent repairs.

The War Pigs, not knowing they were being shadowed by Cerberus Program troops led by Lars Trakken (who shared a secret history with Hickson), went to the Apollo Shipyard, Grissom IV, seeking expert mechanics. However, the station had been taken over by the Screaming Skulls, who lured the War Pigs in and captured all of them except for Romy Pyrius (who was indulging his stimulants habit aboard the General Lee). Three pirates boarded the War Pigs' vessel. As Hickson and the Skulls leader, Wendell Carver, held a threatening conversation with each other, Pyrius killed the boarding pirates in a stim-induced frenzy and opened fire on the station&mdash;the loss of power freed the War Pigs. The Skulls retreated toward their ship, the Cutlass, releasing cybercats to slow down their attackers. However, the cybercats were defeated (despite Hickson's flashbacks) and Nuura Joss finished the pirates off. The War Pigs freed technicians the pirates had kept captive, telling them to repair the General Lee as thanks for the rescue. Meanwhile, Pyrius boarded the now-empty Cutlass and stole an alien artifact from it.

Turfa Dei sought his "friends" from his terrorist days, pointing the War Pigs to Denny Houston, a fixer who knew where Jim Raynor was. However, Houston wouldn't deal unless the Pigs retrieved his missing wife, Ellen Houston. He did give the Pigs something on account, though&mdash;Jim Raynor had told him that he would hide on zerg-infested worlds, as he knew how to avoid their focus. The atmosphere was tense, as the Pigs were being manipulated by the alien artifact, causing Iggins to suffer nightmares from when he murdered his wife and prompting Dei to attack Denny Houston. Both Dei and Nuura Joss disagreed with Cole Hickson on the morals of kidnapping an innocent person.

The team retrieved Ellen Houston, but their focus was hampered by the artifact. Iggins was especially affected, confusing Ellen with his wife and attacking both her and Denny. In the confusion, Ellen shot Denny, denying the War Pigs Raynor's location, and the General Lee was boarded by three Dark Templar, which retrieved the artifact and warned the Pigs not to harm Raynor.

The team took a break from hunting Raynor when Turfa Dei picked up a distress call from his hometown of Hudderstown Colony, Agria. When the team arrived, they found 36 of the approximately 50 colonists dead. While Dei traveled alone on foot to find the survivors, Cole Hickson wanted to continue the hunt for Raynor by tracing Denny Houston's path so they would make Cauley's timetable. However, the other War Pigs outvoted him, insisting they help Dei instead.

Dei was ambushed by the ghost which had performed the massacre, and from her mental probing learned his former mentor, Castor Mezzo, was her target. She let him live, but followed him to the hideout where she attacked him again. However, the General Lee arrived in time to rescue Dei by killing her. When Dei confirmed that Mezzo had put the colonists in danger, he killed him. Meanwhile, a mysterious Dominion official became aware of the War Pigs and was impressed by their killing of the ghost. He foresaw a time when they would become useful.

Betrayal Revealed
Eventually the War Pigs tracked Raynor to the zerg-infested world of Urona Sigma based on Hickson's analysis of Denny Houston's notes. Nuura Joss, worried by Hickson's strange behavior, contacted an old friend of hers, seeking information on Hickson and Cauley, while the rest of the War Pigs descended to the surface.

Cerberus Program forces led by Lars Trakken secretly watched. Tamsen Cauley ordered Trakken not to attack until he had visual confirmation of Raynor's presence, at which point he was to kill them all. Cauley had become about Trakken's past with Hickson, and warned him not to let this get personal.

The four War Pigs discovered Raynor's secret base but ended up being captured by the Raiders as Joss learned about the subconscious neural resocialization of Hickson from her contact. Raynor had been forewarned by Dark Templar, but didn't take the threat seriously, as he trusted his old friend, Hickson. Raynor revealed that Hickson had helped him at a P.O.W. camp, saving his life and sanity. Hickson, under the control of the resocialization, reached for his gun as Joss tried to warn the War Pigs, but the General Lee came under attack by Trakken's Wraith, cutting her off. Trakken was taking the situation personally.

The War Pigs were stunned when Hickson pointed his gun right in Raynor's face. They didn't understand why he would attack his old friend like that. Raynor believed that Hickson was the victim of neural resocialization; Tamsen Cauley's job was nothing but a scam against them. A zerg attack broke up the confrontation; Hickson fled. Raynor, separated from his team and dropships, fled with the War Pigs to the surface.

Trakken led a team of heavies aboard the General Lee but Joss was able to escape in a pod. She was forced to leave the General Lee floating in space.

Joss located Raynor and the War Pigs as they reached the surface. Hickson ambushed Raynor, again pointing his gun in Raynor's face. Raynor was able to talk him into resisting the resocialization, prompting Hickson's mental breakdown. As Romy Pyrius tended to him, a protoss fleet began a purification operation against the planet, with Raynor and the War Pigs trapped on it. When Trakken alerted Cauley of the situation, the latter was pleased; he believed the War Pigs and Raiders would all be killed by the protoss.

Last Chances
Although the War Pigs survived Urona Sigma, albeit with the loss of one of their own, they were still in a precarious situation. As such, they resolved for a desperate attack against Cauley directly, for as slim as their chances were, it was their only remaining option. They were viewed as a valuable resource by "Ghostmaster General" Leonid Celsus.

Organization
While the War Pigs took orders from Cauley, in-field leaders are given the position nominally rather than being pre-appointed as a leader. This leads to a random, chaotic and somewhat democratic method of carrying out their missions.

Other Appearances
There are plans for a War Pig to appear in an upcoming original StarCraft novel.