Terran Dominion

The Terran Dominion was created after the fall of the Confederacy at the height of the war between the Terrans, the Zerg and the Protoss from the the Sons of Korhal and many other Terran factions. It is an empire headed by former Sons of Korhal leader Arcturus Mengsk. Korhal IV is the throne world of the Dominion.

Formation of the Dominion

 * Main article: Sons of Korhal

The roots of the Terran Dominion spring from the Rebellion of Korhal, a "terrorist" faction which emerged when the Terran Confederacy put down a rebellion against them on the world of Korhal. The Confederate attempts to weaken the Rebellion backfired when they slew its first leader; Arcturus Mengsk became its new leader and was even more effective. When Mengsk forged an alliance with the Umojan Protectorate, the Confederates destroyed the world of Korhal using nuclear weaponry. Mengsk renamed the Rebellion the Sons of Korhal. The rebel movement fought against the Confederacy, eventually destroying it using psionic devices to lure the Zerg to the Confederate homeworld of Tarsonis. This action alienated two good-hearted Sons of Korhal officers, Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor. The former was abandoned to the Zerg on a space platform over Tarsonis while the latter defected with a rebel movement.

The successful destruction of Tarsonis caused the fall of the Confederacy. Most Confederate survivors joined the Sons of Korhal, including the remaining Confederate squadrons, which were forcefully conscripted, giving the Dominion military supremacy. The former rebels saved many Terran lives, but refused to assist worlds that did not welcome their intervention, as Mengsk remarked that the planet's local government had ultimate authority on that planet.

It was during this period that Jim Raynor's Raiders launched a daring raid on the Dylarian Shipyards, hoping to steal enough ships to move far from Mengsk. General Duke had been sent in the flagship, the Hyperion, in order to prevent the assault, but the Raiders prevailed, stealing the flagship and numerous other vessels. Duke was left behind, alive but tied up.

Mengsk announced that a new government, the Terran Dominion, was necessary to keep watch over the Terran worlds asking for help. He promised victory over the aliens.

The Dominion saved many Terran lives, but abandoned worlds that didn't call on them for help. The Dominion claimed it had to establish a new government to protect these worlds.

For the first time, all of the Terran colonies within the Koprulu Sector (including Umoja and Moria) were united under one sovereign ruler. A few exceptions, such as Raynor's Raiders and a elite commando squad led by one Samir Duran remained outside its control.

The Dominion government is based out of Augustgrad, the capital of the throne world of Korhal IV. The Dominion set up a powerful defense grid on Korhal consisting of battlecruisers, nukes and other deterrents.

Battles against Zerg and Terrans
During this period Alpha Squadron was sent to the ash world of Char because of psychic visions Emperor Mengsk received from his former lieutenant, Sarah Kerrigan. Alpha Squadron was heavily defeated by the Zerg, however, and forced to pull back. It remained at Char, and even attempted to fight Protoss visitors on a number of occasions. The force eventually left the planet.

Alpha Squadron was also dispatched to deal with notorious smuggler Alan Schezar and his Scavengers, leading to further mysteries when the Dominion discovered that Schezar could somehow control Zerg.

The Brood War
At the beginning of the Brood War, the Terran Dominion came under siege from an expeditionary force from the United Earth Directorate, an invasion force sent by Earth to pacify the Koprulu Sector. The UED Forces started their invasion with a "test" which consisted of observing Dominion troops being slaughtered by Zerg which the UED released upon an unsuspecting colony.

The Dominion world of Braxis was subjected to an unusual Protoss attack, which weakened the garrison. The world was later attacked by the UED, which invaded in the wake of the Protoss retreat. The UED linked up with Samir Duran, a defector from Alpha Squadron, and his Confederate Resistance Forces. Together they destroyed the main Dominion base at the capital, Boralis, where the UED was able to decrypt the Dominion's datalink and gain access to Mengsk's most guarded files.

The next UED target was The Dylarian Shipyards. There, the UED stole a large number of battlecruisers, then defeated a Dominion counterattack. The UED impressed most of the remaining Dylarian defense forces into their fleet.

Finally, the UED cracked Korhal's powerful defenses and conquered it. Arcturus Mengsk escaped due to the surprising assistance of Jim Raynor. Due to Raynor's alliance with Fenix and the backstabbing of Samir Duran, who had originally joined the UED as an ally, the UED failed in its attempts to recapture Mengsk.

The UED had a hidden agenda as well: to seize the Psi Disrupter (a potent anti-Zerg weapon), take control of the Overmind and use the Zerg to pacify all conflict in the region. The UED's Admiral DuGalle successfully captured the Overmind on Char and used it to maintain a number of Zerg on Korhal. The Psi Disrupter also weakened Infested Kerrigan's control over her own Zerg.

Recovery, and Betrayal
Mengsk woke up to find himself at the mercy of Jim Raynor and Infested Kerrigan, both of whom had very personal reasons to hate him, but both feared the UED more than they feared him. They made a deal: if Mengsk would assist Kerrigan in regaining control over her Zerg forces, she would assist him in retaking Korhal. Kerrigan even convinced Raynor to help her rescue the remains of the Dominion fleet from the UED. The forces struck Braxis, site of the Psi Disrupter. Mengsk's psi-emitter enabled Kerrigan to rebuild her forces and finally destroy the device. The forces eventually moved against Korhal, with Kerrigan's Zerg spear-heading the attack against the UED.

Although Arcturus Mengsk succeeded in regaining his throne world, he (along with Raynor and Fenix) were betrayed by Kerrigan and he lost his chief military adviser, General Edmund Duke to Kerrigan's Zerg forces. Mengsk swore revenge, but Kerrigan left Korhal alone.

Later, Infested Kerrigan found herself in a weakened position on a space platform over Char when the UED, Protoss and Dominion launched a simultaneous (but uncoordinated) attack. The Dominion forces were cobbled together with help from "special interest groups" who wanted to see Kerrigan dead. Kerrigan defeated all three forces; she allowed the Dominion and Protoss to survive, but took gruesome revenge on the UED.

The Dominion had been driven to the brink of annihilation by various UED, Zerg, and Protoss assaults, but it nevertheless survived.

After the Brood War
Four years later, the Dominion has partially rebuilt its armies and is attempting to re-establish its empire by reconquering worlds. It also activated General Horace Warfield's Project Shadow Blade involving Ghosts and terrazine and battles the Koprulu Liberation Front, an anti-Dominion organization. The most significant military development project since the end of the Brood War is Project: Thor, a (formerly) secret superweapon system.

The Dominion is the most powerful Terran force in the Koprulu Sector, having taken over many of the former Confederacy's worlds, but is currently opposed by the Umojan Protectorate and Kel-Morian Combine. It fears Infested Kerrigan and her Zerg, who have been "too quiet" over the past four years.

Recently, Arcturus Mengsk's son, Valerian, was secretly named the "Heir Apparent" to the Dominion. He commands high authority, but this is limited due to the small number of people who know who he really is.

Arcturus Mengsk ordered half of his government's Ghosts eliminated as part of an "overhaul" of the program. He considered the Zerg attacks on Dead Man's Rock, a planet technically outside of Dominion space, as an attack on the Terran Dominion.

Known Branches
Like the Confederacy, the Dominion has many branches of its military;

Major Units

 * Dominion Marine Corps
 * Dominion Armada

Squadrons
A few of the Squadrons of the Terran Confederacy are known to have been absorbed into the Dominion;


 * Alpha Squadron
 * Nova Squadron
 * Omega Squadron

Other Units

 * Dominion Defense Force
 * Dominion Engineering Corps
 * Dominion Navy Medical Corps
 * Executioner's Guild
 * Imperial Guard
 * Reaper Corps