StarCraft Episode I

StarCraft Episode I: Rebel Yell started in early December, 2499. It started by covering the actions of the terrans of Mar Sara after the fall of the colony Chau Sara. In this campaign, the player takes the role of Mar Sara's magistrate.

Opening
A recovery vessel crewed by Jem and Joeyray explored wrecked terran vessels near Chau Sara. They commented that some of the wreckage appeared alien in origin. Their conversation was cut off by the arrival of an alien ship, which quickly destroyed them.

The Infestation of Mar Sara
The technologically advanced alien fleet that had attacked Chau Sara now moved toward Mar Sara.

The Terran Confederacy staged a desperate and clumsy counterattack in order to protect Mar Sara. The alien leader introduced himself as "Executor Tassadar" and simply withdrew.

Boot Camp and Officer Training
On December 12th, 2499, in the midst of the crisis that befell Chau Sara, a new Colonial Magistrate was named for the nearby world Mar Sara, which had fallen under attack by another intelligent alien species, different from the ones who attacked Chau Sara. The Magistrate was to safeguard the colonists and keep their state of panic from escalating any further.

The PC version of StarCraft features a very simple tutorial mission. The Magistrate's marine forces on the space platform over Mar Sara discovered and killed zerglings while patrolling.

The Nintendo 64 version of StarCraft has a more complicated tutorial, split over two missions (the second called "Officer Training"), both of which take place on the surface of Mar Sara. A single marine was dropped off via dropship and found a few more marines; they fought a number of Sons of Korhal forces scattered in the area. They received an urgent summons to a nearby undefended command center that was under attack by a small Sons of Korhal force; the colonial marines won this encounter, and also fended off a small force of rebels who arrived via dropship. In Officer Training, the Magistrate trained a force of marines and firebats and had them attack a nearby Sons of Korhal base, destroying it.

Wasteland
The Magistrate received orders from Edmund Duke, commander of Alpha Squadron, to relocate the core colonists to the wastelands outlying the Mar Sara Colony. This decision was very unpopular with the colonists. The local marshal, Jim Raynor, met a small group of these colonists and escorted them to the new wasteland site. Along the way, Raynor and the colonists' marine escorts fought off zergling ambushes.

Backwater Station
After the relocation, the Colonial Magistrate received news that Backwater Station was under attack from the zerg. Confederate headquarters on Tarsonis was alerted. Duke told the Magistrate not to interfere, stating he would take care of it. Raynor was unconvinced Duke would arrive in time and volunteered to lead colonial troops in a successful action to rescue the station. In the process of doing so colonial forces destroyed an infested command center. As a result Raynor and his troops were arrested for "destroying a vital Confederate installation."

Wasteland Patrol
A pair of Confederate soldiers in a jeep ran over a zergling. The sergeant explained that zerglings aren't found apart from other zerg unless... only to get interrupted when other zerg unburrowed and attacked. The lower-ranking soldier exclaimed his love for the sergeant, who didn't appreciate it.

Desperate Alliance
General Duke had no patience for the Colonial Magistrate's protests over his treatment of Raynor or his tactics. The Magistrate's adjutant prepared a report on Confederate tactics for the Magistrate, which read as follows: "Sixteen outland stations have reported sightings of the alien invaders identified as Zerg. The Confederates have arrested all standing militia forces and continue to avoid action against the zerg. Three stations have fallen to the Zerg already. We've been unable to locate any source of military relief except... the extremist faction known as The Sons of Korhal."

Arcturus Mengsk, leader of the Sons of Korhal, made the Magistrate an offer; he would send down a number of transports to Mar Sara Colony and evacuate any survivors. Left with little choice, the Magistrate accepted Mengsk's help. He fended off the zerg long enough for Sons of Korhal dropships to rescue the colonists. The Confederacy responded by firing the Magistrate until they could finish an official investigation of his affiliation with the Sons of Korhal. Despite his spirited defense of the colonists against the zerg, he had dared to ally with a terrorist group.

The Jacobs Installation
With Mar Sara almost completely overrun by the zerg, both the Confederates and the Sons of Korhal were planning to evacuate the planet.

However, after freeing Raynor from a prison ship, Mengsk wanted the former Magistrate's assistance in raiding Mar Sara's Confederate outpost for Confederate technology. This base, the Jacobs Installation, was operated by Alpha Squadron. Raynor led the Sons of Korhal team inside where they stole an encrypted disk containing critical data. During the mission, Raynor encountered zerg confined within. Raynor was very surprised, but Mengsk said this was not the first time he had witnessed the Confederacy experimenting with zerg.

The interior of the base was difficult to navigate. In order to get to the sensitive areas, the Sons of Korhal team had to use transporter pads to move around.

Eventually, they make it to the main computer, which was defended by a large number of troops, including a ghost. However, with Raynor's assistance, the "terrorists" won the firefight and retrieved a number of data disks. Raynor asked for transports to await them for when they left the installation.

Revolution
In the chaos of the zerg invasion of Mar Sara, the Sons of Korhal escaped with the data disks. They traveled to a secret staging area on the second moon of Antiga Prime.

Thirteen hours after the Sons of Korhal left Mar Sara, protoss warships took up orbit around it and unleashed a massive planetary bombardment, extinguishing all life.

At the staging area, Jim Raynor spoke to the former Colonial Magistrate of Mar Sara, who had been named a Commander in the Sons of Korhal. Raynor said that headquarters had begun analyzing the data on the disks retrieved from the Jacobs Installation.

Arcturus Mengsk and his second in command, Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, reported, but were not present in the same location as Jim Raynor and the Commander. Mengsk believed the efforts of the Sons of Korhal had weakened the grip of the Terran Confederacy on the fringe worlds.

Kerrigan said that on the planet, the colonists were ready to rebel against the Confederacy. However, the Terran Confederacy had become aware of this and had sent Alpha Squadron, under the command of General Edmund Duke, to stop it. Kerrigan was sent to the surface first, as a scout, and would deal with Duke's officers.

As Raynor traveled towards his objective, he met up with Kerrigan. A telepath, Kerrigan could read his thoughts, calling him a pig.

Getting down to business, Kerrigan led Raynor to the Antiga Prime Colony. It was surrounded by Alpha Squadron troops, and worse, was overseen by a Confederate officer within its command center. The Sons of Korhal fought their way past the Confederates, and Kerrigan slipped into the command center, assassinated the Confederate officer, and turned the base over to the Antigans. With the assistance of the Antigans, Raynor and Kerrigan cleared the area around the Antigan base of Confederate forces.

Unfortunately, the main Alpha Squadron base was across a large body of water, and they were planning an attack. The rebels used Wraith space fighters and dropships in order to launch their own attack. The rebels got the drop on the Confederates, defeating them in battle.

The Downing of Norad II
The Norad II, flagship of General Duke, was badly damaged by zerg scourge (kamikaze air monsters) and other zerg minions, who had arrived at the planet for unknown reasons.

Norad II
The flagship crashed inside a small crater that the zerg had completely surrounded and colonized. Duke made an uncoded priority one distress call, asking for immediate backup. Raynor was quite happy with this turn of events.

Mengsk told Jim Raynor to rescue Duke, a decidedly unpopular idea among Raynor and Kerrigan. Mengsk said that an entire colony should not have to suffer because of Duke's cold-heartedness, and a Confederate general could make a powerful ally. Raynor and Kerrigan still disagreed, but Mengsk's decision still stood, so they reluctantly did as they were told.

The derelict ship was surrounded, preventing Alpha Squadron from rescuing their General. They accepted the offer of help from the Sons of Korhal and teamed up in order to fight their way past the zerg.

The Sons of Korhal reached the ship and spoke to Duke. Raynor insulted Duke, but Mengsk intervened. He told Duke that the Confederacy was falling apart due to internal revolts and attacks from the zerg, and he offered to let Duke join the Sons of Korhal. Duke refused, saying he was a general, but Mengsk retorted that he had no army and that he would give Duke a position in Mengsk's cabinet. Duke accepted the deal.

The Trump Card
The Sons of Korhal decrypted the data disk – it contained the designs for a psi-emitter. This device could amplify the psionic energy produced by a psychic terran (e.g. a ghost operative such as Sarah Kerrigan) and attract the zerg to it. Mengsk suspected that the Confederates had planned to use the zerg to secretly eliminate their rivals.

With the defection of Alpha Squadron, an enormous loss to the Confederacy, a large Delta Squadron strike force was sent to blockade the planet. This force, while not as well-trained as Alpha Squadron, was much larger. The combined Sons of Korhal and Alpha Squadron force could not hope to defeat them. Instead, Mengsk resorted to trickery, ordering Sarah Kerrigan to infiltrate the Confederate base camp and plant a psi-emitter, even though she didn't think anyone deserved to have the zerg unleashed on them. The zerg descended upon the unsuspecting Confederate forces and annihilated them, allowing the Sons of Korhal to escape.

The protoss fleet then arrived and incinerated the planet.

Biting the Bullet
A disabled mission on the StarCraft game CD occurred after these events, in which Raynor and Duke rescued the colonists from a force of zerg and received assistance from Tassadar.

The Sons of Korhal evacuated in time, and the protoss arrived to destroy the infestation (along with all other life on the surface of the planet).

The Big Push
Arcturus Mengsk called a meeting to order aboard his command ship, the Hyperion. The time for the final strike on the Confederates was close at hand, but Tarsonis, the capital world, was heavily defended.

General Edmund Duke said that he had defended Tarsonis in over thirty major battles, and therefore knew its defenses inside and out. There were three major orbital platforms that served as staging areas for the Confederate fleet. By striking the central platform, they could allow a small force to slip through to Tarsonis itself. The platforms were defended by Delta Squadron and Omega Squadron, which Duke claimed were no match for his Alpha Squadron.

Duke helped the Sons of Korhal lay siege to the Confederate homeworld of Tarsonis, defeating the forces defending the platform.

Duke announced that he had planted a psi-emitter, which was kept secret until the last minute from Kerrigan and Raynor. This action led directly to the fall of Tarsonis and, with it, the Confederacy.

Operation Silent Scream
A disabled mission on the StarCraft CD occurred at this time, in which the Sons of Korhal descended to the surface of Tarsonis. At the end, Duke plants the psi emitters. This line was moved to The Big Push.

Open Rebellion
Sons of Korhal Wraith Squadron Bravo attacked a Confederate space platform in high orbit over Tarsonis.

New Gettysburg
The psi-emitters were activated. The zerg were lured to the planet, overran Confederate defenses, and proceeded to lay waste to Tarsonis's major cities and industrial centers. The protoss Koprulu Expeditionary Force arrived in pursuit of the zerg and made to attack the primary zerg hive. Arcturus Mengsk feared protoss interference would prevent the zerg from dealing the fatal blow to the Terran Confederacy. The rebel leader ordered Sarah Kerrigan and a small strike force to New Gettysburg space platform and drive the protoss away from the zerg hives. Jim Raynor had serious misgivings about the mission but could not persuade either Mengsk or Kerrigan to desist.

Kerrigan defeated the protoss but found herself suddenly under attack by overwhelming zerg forces. Instead of dispatching reinforcements to rescue the ghost and her troops, Mengsk abandoned them and ordered the rebel fleet to disengage from Tarsonis. Raynor was outraged by this betrayal and prepared to break with the Sons of Korhal.

The Hammer Falls
As the Sons of Korhal left, breaking contact with the ground forces, protoss and zerg forces battled across the core continent of Tarsonis.

An angry Jim Raynor announced that he was leaving the Sons of Korhal, and that the Commander should come with him. Arcturus Mengsk contacted them, claiming that they still had a job to do, and that they'd sown the seeds of a new Empire. Raynor cut him off, however.

Mengsk replied that it was a mistake to cross him, as he had sacrificed too much to let his plans fall apart. "You mean like you sacrificed Kerrigan?" retorted Raynor. Mengsk began to rave: "I will not be stopped. Not by you, or the Confederates, or the Protoss or anyone! I will rule this sector or see it burnt to ashes around me." Raynor cut off communication with Mengsk again.

General Duke successfully activated the Ion Cannon, Tarsonis's primary defensive weapon, situated on a space platform, which prevented any attempt by Raynor's militia to escape Tarsonis. Raynor and his men launched an attack on the Ion Cannon, fighting both Mengsk's Elite Guard and General Duke's Alpha Squadron in the process. Eventually, Raynor's forces reached the Ion Cannon and destroyed it, allowing the deserters to escape.

The Escape
Raynor realized that he had fallen in love with Kerrigan, so he took his rebel group, Raynor's Raiders, away from Tarsonis, to seek justice on her behalf and on behalf of others who had been sacrificed to satisfy Mengsk's goals. He traveled to the Dylarian Shipyards in order to acquire transport for his crew. There he was attacked by General Edmund Duke in the flagship Hyperion, but won the battle, stealing the flagship. A few weeks later, the former Magistrate left the raiders.

The Inauguration
thumb|300px|Emperor Mengsk's inauguration speech. The victorious Sons of Korhal became the Terran Dominion, and General Mengsk crowned himself Emperor. Moria and Umoja united under Dominion rule. Mengsk's inauguration speech was broadcast on UNN.