StarCraft Episode VI

StarCraft Episode VI: The Queen of Blades covered Infested Kerrigan's attempts to defeat the United Earth Directorate's Psi Disrupter and take control of the zerg. In this campaign, the player took the role of a cerebrate forced to work for Kerrigan.

Vile Disruption

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At this stage of the war, Infested Kerrigan was hiding out on the former-Confederate capital of Tarsonis with her minion, Infested Duran, and a very small Swarm. She had taken control of a cerebrate, a necessary link in the zerg chain of command. Her forces were weak because the United Earth Directorate had activated the Psi Disrupter, interfering with her control of the zerg.

Kerrigan's loyal zerg recaptured her hives, slaying most of the renegades and recruiting others.

Reign of Fire

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Kerrigan secured the cooperation of Jim Raynor, Fenix, and Arcturus Mengsk in the fight against the UED. Despite the mutual animosity, Mengsk was persuaded to lend the use of his psi-emitters by the realization only by assisting Kerrigan could the UED be routed and the Dominion restored. Kerrigan planned to strike the Psi Disrupter and the psi-emitters were needed to gather enough zerg to attack.

The attack on Braxis began with Raynor's Raiders who destroyed the poorly defended primary power generators. With the Disrupter's effects reduced a psi-emitter was deployed to rally zerg on the surface to Kerrigan. The Queen of Blades then used these local zerg to construct a hive with which to assault the UED garrison.

The Psi Disrupter's defenses were overrun. With the device destroyed Kerrigan regained control of her minions.

The Kel-Morian Combine
As the Hyperion, Raynor's command cruiser, hovered in orbit over Moria, Fenix, Jim Raynor and Arcturus Mengsk discussed Infested Kerrigan some more ... Fenix feared that Kerrigan would turn on them since the Psi Disrupter had been destroyed. However, Raynor was sure she was serious about defeating the UED, and vowed to work with her towards that end. Raynor's fear was that, once the UED was destroyed, Kerrigan would have no use for her "allies" and would dispose of them. Mengsk agreed that she was completely untrustworthy, but as long as Kerrigan helped him retake Korhal back from the UED, he would cooperate with her. Raynor, recalling that Mengsk was the reason Kerrigan had turned into the monstrosity she was currently, thought Mengsk was in no position to judge who was untrustworthy.

Kerrigan arrived soon after Raynor's expression of hatred towards the ex-Emperor. After admonishing Raynor and Mengsk to be nice to each other, she discussed their next moves. Kerrigan wasn't prepared to lay siege to Korhal at that moment, due to a lack of resources. However, she recalled that Moria was one of the richest planets in terms of resources in the Koprulu Sector; if her minions raided the planet's supply of resources, Kerrigan would be able to build the Swarm to such an extent that the attack on Korhal would become possible. Unfortunately for Kerrigan, Moria was defended by the Kel-Morian Combine, which had been part of the Terran Dominion until the Dominion was defeated by the UED. Fenix, surprised that the UED hadn't fought with the Combine yet, figured the Combine was bribing the UED to leave them alone. Kerrigan's Swarm had to evade these defenses to succeed.

Fenix was such an enthusiastic supporter of the attack on Moria that he offered to lead the attack himself. In private, Kerrigan discussed the situation with Samir Duran. She believed her temporary allies were too smart to believe her, but they didn't realize the extents of what would be lost by allying with her.

Fenix and the zerg coordinated an attack on a mining center, where a hive cluster was set up. Kerrigan ordered her forces to advance on the Morian mines, defended by the Kel-Morian Combine, and to infest as many command centers as possible to create infested terrans as soldiers.

The Liberation of Korhal
After acquiring enough resources, Kerrigan moved on to the main event on Korhal, taking any infested command centers with her.

Once they reached Korhal, Mengsk impatiently plotted the attack on Augustgrad, capital city of Korhal. Kerrigan was to take on the center of the city, while her allies assaulted the city's outskirts.

Shortly after establishing herself just outside Augustgrad, the UED sent their Slave Broods to attack Kerrigan. Kerrigan defeated them easily, but noted that the Directorate had only sent a small zerg force. She believed that the UED was having trouble controlling the new Overmind.

Despite the zerg and UED defenders, Kerrigan and her allies retook Korhal, dealing a heavy defeat to the UED. Kerrigan told Mengsk that he was free to take possession of the planet with her "blessings," to which Mengsk replied she shouldn't be snide as this was part of their deal. Kerrigan told him she hopes he "makes the most of his reign".

True Colors
Kerrigan discussed her next steps with Samir Duran. With the UED's power broken on this world, only their forces on Char posed a threat to her. She believed the time to eliminate her allies has come. She ordered an immediate attack. Duran replied that the protoss and terrans will be able to respond to an attack in "about six minutes" and so Kerrigan ordered her minions to immediately strike against Mengsk and Fenix's forces. As they recovered, Kerrigan built up her forces and hurled them against her enemies. As she destroyed their bases, Terran Dominion General Edmund Duke and Praetor Fenix make personal appearances on the battlefield. Duke told her she has a lot to answer for, and Fenix admitted he was a fool to trust her.

Kerrigan's forces killed Duke; she said she wanted him dead for a long time, and she felt excited about it. Mengsk called her a murderer, and pointed out they had a deal. Kerrigan asked how he could expect her to keep his word when he practically fed her to the zerg, and he was "directly responsible for the hell I've been through!". Kerrigan said she would leave him among the ashes of his Dominion, letting him see her rise to power. He would remember that he turned her loose in the first place.

The death of Fenix roused Raynor to anger. Condemning Kerrigan for her ruthless pursuit of power, Raynor vowed to kill her in the future for all the innocents who had died as a result.

After defeating her former allies, Kerrigan ordered her Cerebrate to return to Tarsonis to rest, as for the first time since her transfiguration she was weary of slaughter.

Fury of the Swarm
Kerrigan's peace on Tarsonis was short-lived, however, as a huge wave of zerg appeared in orbit over Tarsonis and hundreds of zerg landed on the planet and began to attack her outposts. Duran offered to rally the troops.

Kerrigan lost four of her five primary hive clusters - only the center one survived, and it was nearly surrounded by the UED Slave Broods. As Kerrigan slowly fought back, Duran noticed a UED Science Corps outpost at the rear of the landing zone. There were a number of scientists and genetic engineers there, protected by security guards and pyrotechnic engineers, along with a number of zerg locked up in pens. Kerrigan commented that the UED's control of the Overmind was tenuous and it could not directly control the zerg on Tarsonis. These "scientists" were needed to coordinate the attack.

Duran ordered the Cerebrate to attack the scientists instead of wiping out the attacking zerg. Kerrigan's Swarm slowly fought its way past the UED's zerg and killed the scientists. At this point, the imprisoned zerg fled from their pens...

The aftermath of this battle was not shown.

Drawing of the Web
Infested Kerrigan, having recovered from the attack on Tarsonis, moved forward with her plan. She took Samir Duran and a zerg force to Shakuras, informing Duran that she needed to recover Matriarch Raszagal to advance her plan.

Raszagal was located in the Dark Templar capital, Talematros, which was built on a tall hill with five heavily-defended ramps to get inside. A large number of protoss from Aiur had also moved into the city, augmenting its defenses with troops and technology. Talematros had a defense system consisting of special pylons, which generated a powerful electro-magnetic field, capable of preventing zerg from maneuvering through the air nearby. As a result, Kerrigan could only send ground-based minions, with few exceptions, anywhere near the capital.

She needed a distraction to retrieve the Matriarch, and her servant Samir Duran provided one. He knew quite a bit about protoss technology, enough to spot a vulnerability in the city's defenses. If he could plant explosives on the five special pylon clusters and detonate them simultaneously, he could overload the Pylons, creating a huge distraction. Of course, he still had to lead the zerg up the city's five ramps, which were defended by both the protoss.

Duran was successful in planting the explosives and setting them off. The entire city exploded, as all of its structures were connected to the power grid. In the confusion, Kerrigan was able to spirit away the Matriarch and escape.

The xel'naga temple was not activated during the battle.

To Slay the Beast


Kerrigan traveled to Char with the Matriarch as her prize, with the purpose of finally defeating the United Earth Directorate and slaying the second Overmind with her secret weapon. Duran reminded her that the Overmind could only be killed by Dark Templar attacks, but Kerrigan said her "secret weapon" would arrive on time. Duran said he still did not understand, when he received a transmission from an unidentified protoss carrier.

"That's what I love about the Protoss...they're so punctual." said Kerrigan.

Zeratul was commanding the carrier, and demanded to know why Kerrigan had stolen the Matriarch. Kerrigan was actually more interested in Zeratul. She needed him and his brethren to slay the Overmind for her. In return, she would allow the Matriarch to return to her people. Zeratul was suspicious, but Matriarch Raszagal appeared, telling him that the Overmind is their common enemy, and he must destroy it on behalf of their people. Zeratul reluctantly agreed.

Other protoss had also arrived at Char, including Artanis, but they were not seen until Omega.

Kerrigan's initial forces on Char were accompanied by a small number of Dark Templar and gateways to summon more. A huge battle erupted, as the United Earth Directorate defended itself with the aid of its captive zerg.

Eventually, Kerrigan's forces and the Dark Templar cleared away the Overmind's defense forces, and Zeratul personally slew it. Zeratul then demanded the return of the Matriarch. Kerrigan asked the Matriarch if she wanted to return to Shakuras, but the Matriarch said no.

Zeratul was astounded. Matriarch Raszagal was clearly not herself. Kerrigan admitted that she had enslaved the Matriarch on Shakuras long before she met Zeratul there. The Matriarch had underestimated Kerrigan's psionic powers and fell under her control. She bragged that, by enslaving the Matriarch, she had been able to manipulate the protoss into doing her bidding.

Zeratul said "we shall see" and was transported away by an Arbiter. However, Raszagal was taken away by the recall rift as well.

The Reckoning
Six hours later, Samir Duran gave Kerrigan a report. With the Overmind and its Cerebrates destroyed, virtually all the zerg in the Sector now fell under Kerrigan's control. The United Earth Directorate fleet had fled the planet, and he did not know how many ships they had left. Kerrigan's primary hive clusters were moved to an orbital platform over Char.

Zeratul had somehow bypassed the zerg defenses and spirited the Matriarch away. He and his brethren had collected with a group of protoss survivors and clustered on the surface of Char. They had imprisoned Raszagal in a stasis cell, and would be able to initiate dimensional recall to Shakuras in only half an hour.

Kerrigan then ordered all of her Broods to descend to the surface of Char and capture the Matriarch and Zeratul. The rest of the protoss could die.

Believing the protoss intended to take Raszagal back to Shakuras, Kerrigan said it was a pity that Raszagal could not be redeemed.

The zerg had to quickly concentrate their forces and move them against the protoss. The remnants of the United Earth Directorate stood in their way. Eventually the zerg reached the small protoss base, killing all the protoss and destroying all the structures except for the stasis cell.

Zeratul wasn't there for the attack, but he quickly made an appearance. Cursing Kerrigan, he destroyed the stasis cell and stabbed his own Matriarch with his warp blade.

As Raszagal lay dying, she told Zeratul that he had freed her from Kerrigan's control, and that he must watch over her tribe. "Into your hands I give the future." Then she died.

Kerrigan could scarcely believe what she had just seen. Zeratul said it was better that he killed her, rather than let her live as Kerrigan's slave. Kerrigan, impressed, allowed him to leave without attacking him. Besides, she had "taken his honor" and believed he would never be able to forgive himself.

True to her word, Kerrigan allowed Zeratul and a few of his brethren to escape from Char. These battered protoss set their course for Shakuras, hoping to find Artanis and any other survivors of Kerrigan's attacks.

Dark Origin

 * Main article: Dark Origin

If the Reckoning is beaten in less than 25 minutes, the player can then play the secret bonus map, Dark Origin. In this mission, Zeratul discovers a chilling secret...

Omega
At Char three separate fleets converged on Char Aleph, the infested orbital platform used as a staging area for the zerg. This came at a bad time for Infested Kerrigan. She was aboard but Samir Duran had vanished and most of the broods were on the planet surface. Only a small number of zerg were positioned to defend the platform.

Arcturus Mengsk contacted Kerrigan to gloat. When asked how the Dominion has assembled a force so quickly after its recent defeat, Mengsk revealed he had "called in a few favors" and "made a few concessions" to other parties in the sector interested in seeing Kerrigan defeated. Kerrigan replied that Mengsk's three fleets did not frighten her, but he claimed to have no knowledge of the other two.

Artanis then contacted Kerrigan from his fleet. He was there to avenge the deaths of Fenix, Matriarch Raszagal, and all other protoss who had been killed by her zerg. Kerrigan replied using a human expression: "When it rains, it pours." Mengsk, tuning in to the conversation, laughed at Kerrigan, asking if she could guess which faction directed the third fleet.

Kerrigan guessed it was Admiral DuGalle and the United Earth Directorate fleet, and DuGalle replied that she was correct. He gave her one last chance to surrender to the UED, but Kerrigan said she would rather massacre his troops now and watch DuGalle die in agony. DuGalle gallantly replied that she vastly underestimated him, but Kerrigan's reply was ... impolite.

Only a small number of zerg stood on the space platform surrounded by the three enemy fleets. Mengsk's forces used mainly siege tanks and nuclear missiles, Artanis' forces used the typical protoss psionic attacks, and DuGalle's forces used mainly spacecraft and goliaths. However, all three forces had suffered heavy defeats in the past and were only shadows of their former selves. Kerrigan's zerg defeated each fleet one by one.

When she defeated Mengsk, he "congratulated" her and then warned that he would be waiting for her to slip up, but did not specify what he intended to do if and when that happened.

When she defeated Artanis, he told her the protoss would never forget her treachery and they would be watching her.

When she defeated DuGalle, who had caused her particularly grave trouble after arriving in the Koprulu Sector, DuGalle asked for surrender. Kerrigan said that she didn't take prisoners, and that he should flee towards Earth. She said that it would be interesting sport to see how far away they got before they died.

The Ascension
thumb|300px|The aftermath. The UED fleet fled Char. During the retreat Admiral Gerard DuGalle wrote a letter to his wife, Helena, where he reflected on the expedition's failure and his own culpability in the death of Vice-Admiral Alexei Stukov. The Admiral than killed himself.

Infested Kerrigan was left the undisputed leader of the Swarm though victory had come at a cost. She was willing to allow her enemies to rebuild in the short term in the confidence they would one day bow before her.

Epilogue
The UED fleet was subsequently overrun and destroyed by the zerg. No ships returned to the UED to relate what had truly occurred in the Koprulu Sector. However small pockets of UED soldiers remained scattered through out the sector.

Arcturus Mengsk and Artanis returned to Korhal and Shakuras, respectively, to rebuild their civilizations. Jim Raynor disappeared for a time before returning to terran space to lead Raynor's Raiders against the Terran Dominion. Zeratul left with a handful of followers into self-exile on a prolonged journey to investigate what he had discovered on a dark moon at the end of the war.

Kerrigan was disquieted by the feelings of an approaching threat and the uncertainty this posed for the future.