Magistrate (Episode I)

"The Magistrate", later referred to as "Commander", was the magistrate of Mar Sara at the time of its fall to the zerg. Later, he would defect to the Sons of Korhal and after that, Raynor's Raiders.

The Magistrate was named Myles Hammond in StarCraft II: Devils' Due.

He is the player character of Episode I.

Biography
Myles Hammond lived in Centerville, Shiloh. He was a family friend of the Raynors&mdash;Karol, Trace and their son Jim.

During the Guild Wars, the Confederacy increased taxes to pay for the war, hampering the economy of Centerville. Meanwhile Jim Raynor joined the Confederate Marine Corps, intending to fight "the good fight". It was not to be. He was betrayed by his commanding officer, Colonel Javier Vanderspool, and forced to flee without leave.

Raynor became a criminal along with his war-buddy Tychus Findlay. He made sure to send some of his earnings to his parents through Hammond. However, they refused them. Instead, Hammond secretly paid off some of their debts and kept the rest safe in hiding. He eventually became the mayor of Centerville.

Trace Raynor died as a result of a harvester accident, and poor supplies given out by the Confederacy after the war resulted in numerous people in Centerville suffering from cancer, including Karol Raynor. In addition, Centerville was falling apart economically, and Hammond believed the people were not "decent" there. However, the Confederacy did have some helpful programs, namely Farm Aid, a system of government-sponsored donations from wealthy patrons, which was being used to assist poor farmers such as those of Centerville. Hammond decided to apply for the position of magistrate of Mar Sara. He wanted to hire Raynor as a marshal, surprising the younger man.

As Karol Raynor grew sicker, he tried to communicate with Jim Raynor. Eventually Jim Raynor heeded his call, being able to Shiloh to see his mother for a day. The two met up, surprising Hammond, who worried that he could have been arrested. Hammond explained that he had kept the tens of thousands of credits that Raynor had sent, and had paid off some of the "liens" on the Raynor farm. Raynor left that night; his mother passed away from cancer in front of him.

Raynor continued his criminal career for awhile, but stopped when Findlay was arrested, and he learned the name of his nemesis for the past year&mdash;Javier Vanderspool, who was still (barely) alive and seeking revenge.

Mar Sara
In early December, 2499, the magistrate was assigned to the Confederate fringe world colony of Mar Sara. With the recent destruction of the Chau Sara colony by the protoss,the immediate task was to safeguard the colonists and keep their state of panic from escalating further. To this end, the magistrate was given live-fire command and control training, and repulsed minor incursions of zerg on Mar Sara's space platform and Sons of Korhal troops on the surface.

Shortly afterwards the magistrate was contacted by General Edmund Duke, commander of Alpha Squadron, and ordered to relocate himself and other core colonists to an evacuation concentration point in the Wasteland. They were joined and escorted en route by Marshal Jim Raynor and the Mar Sara Colonial Militia. In the meantime, Mar Sara's civilian government was practically replaced by Confederate martial law.

The crisis continued to escalate and the relationship between the colonial authorities and the Confederacy deteriorated further when zerg attacked Backwater Station. Despite Duke's assurances, neither the magistrate nor Raynor were convinced that Alpha Squadron would arrive in time to save Backwater. The magistrate authorized the colonial militia to accompany Raynor and mount a rescue. The operation was a success but also resulted in the destruction of a supposedly "vital Confederate installation". The marshal and his men were arrested by the Confederates. The magistrate protested but Duke brusquely refused to reconsider.

Desperate Alliance
"I got your message, Magistrate, and frankly I don't care what you have to say about Confederate regulations. You damn fringe world yokels are all alike, don't know where your loyalties lie. Y'all have a real good day now, y'hear?"

- Edmund Duke

With the zerg spreading unchecked and the Confederacy abandoning the planet and the colonists, the only remaining source of aid was the rebel Sons of Korhal. Arcturus Mengsk, the rebel leader, personally contacted the magistrate, and offered to evacuate the colonists. The magistrate accepted and evacuation was a success. As Mengsk had warned, the magistrate was subsequently branded as an outlaw by the Confederacy for dealing with the Sons of Korhal. This was of little concern given the colony was already lost to the zerg. The magistrate was promoted to "Commander" within the rebel group.

The Commander was reunited with Raynor, whom the rebels had freed from the prison ship Merrimack. The Commander supervised a rebel raid on the Jacobs Installation which recovered Confederate data.

Antiga Prime
"You and Captain Raynor have done well, Commander. I believe our efforts have weakened the Confederacy's grip on the fringe worlds, but our job out here isn't done yet."

- Arcturus Mengsk

For better or worse, the Commander was now part of the Sons of Korhal. The rebels journeyed to Antiga Prime where an anti-Confederate revolt was imminent. Under the Commander's guidance, Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan and now-Captain Raynor incited the rebellion and repulsed Alpha Squadron's initial attempt to suppress it. The Confederacy laid siege to the colony and trapped the rebels. Six months of bitter fighting followed.

The data stolen from Jacobs Installation provided the means to breakout. They contained designs to the psi-emitter - a device that lured zerg to isolated locations. A psi-emitter had originally drawn the zerg to Mar Sara. While the Commander engaged and occupied Delta Squadron, Kerrigan infiltrated the Confederate lines and planted a psi-emitter in the enemy base. The zerg descended on the planet en masse and the rebels escaped in the ensuing catastrophe.

Fall of the Confederacy
"Well, Commander, it looks like we're on our own. It's funny... It seems like yesterday Arcturus was the idealistic rebel crusader. Now he's the law, and we're the criminals. It kills me to know that we helped him achieve his goals of conquest."

- Jim Raynor

The Sons of Korhal launched their attack on Tarsonis, and once again the Commander took an active part in operations. As the battle progressed, Mengsk's brutal ruthlessness became all too apparent; the rebel leader ordered the use of psi-emitters on the heavily populated planet, and finally abandoned Kerrigan to the zerg at the Battle of New Gettysburg. The latter act finally caused Raynor to abandon the Sons of Korhal; the Commander and Raynor's Rangers joined him. Together they destroyed Tarsonis' Ion Cannon and escaped the planet.

Current Status
The Rangers subsequently transformed into Raynor's Raiders, but the Commander did not stay with them long. He left the Raiders within six weeks of the Confederacy's downfall.