Sons of Korhal

"Let it be known that freedom will not perish; that we will fight until the very last man to topple the Confederacy and that we are responsible for the destruction at the Tarsonis Ghost Academy. We are the Sons of Korhal"

- Arcturus Mengsk's declaration of the rebel group to the media.

The Sons of Korhal (SOK) was a resistance movement dedicated to toppling the Terran Confederacy.

Origins

 * Main article: Rebellion of Korhal

Korhal was colonized by settlers from Tarsonis in the early expansion years and gained recognition for its advanced science and research facilities, contributing to many key military and technological advances of the Terran Confederacy. However, it remained a vassal to the Old Families. Tensions rose over time, and agitators called for outright secession from the Confederacy. The citizenry instigated numerous riots against the local Confederate militia. The Confederates responded by declaring martial law throughout Korhal, but it only agitated the populace even more, and the already rampant civil chaos was escalated.

Senator Angus Mengsk became the voice of the session movement. His efforts culminated in a senate vote to declare war on the Confederacy if Korhal's demands for greater autonomy were not satisfied. The Umojan Ruling Council secretly pledged to aid Mengsk, whom it had close personal ties to. He whipped the Korhalians into a volatile, patriotic frenzy and captured all of the Confederate outposts on Korhal.

Mengsk declared the independence of Korhal at the end of the Guild Wars in 2489 and garnered the respect and admiration of many other struggling colonies. He was then assassinated along with his wife and young daughter by Sarah Kerrigan and two other ghosts, who took his head with them.

Arcturus Mengsk, who in the past had never agreed with his father's fiery anti-Confederate rhetoric, became filled with an unwavering desire for vengeance. With the assistance of Ailin Pasteur, an Umojan diplomat whose life had been saved by Angus Mengsk and later became a part of the rebellion's Ruling Council, Arcturus Mengsk was put in charge of the rebellion.

Mengsk rallied the various militant groups that had followed his father against the Confederacy. They struck at various Confederate bases and installations, costing the Old Families billions of credits in men, machines and equipment. Mengsk formed an alliance with the Umojan Protectorate and went to Umoja to make plans with the separatist factions he had been able to contact. When a Confederate battlecruiser crashed near Umojan territory, well out of the range of Confederate hailing frequencies, Mengsk pressed it into the service of his rebellion. Its captain, Pollock Rimes, and crew also joined the rebellion.

Korhal was obliterated by a salvo of one thousand Apocalypse-class nuclear missiles fired from Tarsonis. Mengsk witnessed the destruction of Korhal from the Spy Deck.

Foundation of the Sons of Korhal
"You men are gathered here today because you share common beliefs and a common desire. Among the beliefs you share is the tenet that no man or body of government should have authority to treat you unjustly; the desire you share is the pursuit of independence. Make no mistake, men-these are the ideals that wars are made of. The least of the troubles that lie ahead of you is a life of forced seclusion, of being branded as a seditionist by the very government that would impose her unfair laws on you. The worst of what you may face-of what we all face-is death."

- Arcturus Mengsk addressing new recruits.

The attack on Korhal wiped out the majority of the rebellion, but a small number of outraged recruits from Umoja and even the Fringe Worlds joined Arcturus Mengsk's organization. Mengsk called his rebellion the Sons of Korhal. He also renamed the captured battlecruiser the Hyperion. Public outrage brought an endless stream of support and volunteers.

The Sons of Korhal quickly became the most wanted fugitives in the sector as they won countless victories over the Confederacy with methods and tactics that ranged from harsh to nefarious. Although most colonies refused to house or provide services to anyone affiliated with the Sons of Korhal, they continued to confound Confederate enforcement agencies.

Within a few months, Horace Warfield was quietly directing Mengsk's attacks. His intimate knowledge of the Confederacy's military strength, position, and movements was invaluable to the success of the rebellion.

Graven Hill and Remy Harris provided mercenaries to the Sons of Korhal until Confederate forces captured a group of mercenary-backed rebels and discovered their source.

A member of the Sons of Korhal visited Tyrador IX and recruited Matt Horner. The Sons of Korhal accepted Horner as a member and encouraged him to go through military training with the Confederate fleet. Horner became first officer on the Cormorant, which enjoyed a lot of success dodging Confederate patrols as it transported supplies and troops between star systems for the Sons of Korhal.

One of the rebellion's first missions was to infiltrate a facility on Vyctor 5, called the Fujita Facility. It was hidden in a stable and violent weather formation called the Fujita Pinnacle. The planet's security was formidable. Nonetheless, Mengsk's daring tactics enabled the rebels to destroy the facility's defenses and raid it. Within, they discovered a young psychic named Sarah Kerrigan, a scientist, Dr. Flanx, and xenomorphs, the latter slain by Pollock Rimes. Kerrigan's memory had been wiped, and her psychic abilities restrained like those of most other ghosts', but she quickly became a valuable member of Mengsk's team, to the irritation of Rimes.

Mengsk was annoyed at the Confederate coverup of his attack, however. The media reported that terrorists had attacked an "environmental facility", and did not name the attackers.

Mengsk's hidden information sources led him to openly appear in the space of the Terran Confederacy in the Hyperion. As he did so, he told Kerrigan that he hadn't retrieved her because of the secrets of Vyctor 5, but because she knew the layout of the Ghost Academy on Tarsonis. Kerrigan's memory was returning, and soon she would remember how to get through it and perform a special mission for Mengsk.

A mole within the Sons of Korhal drew the attention of Edmund Duke, a high-ranking Terran Confederacy military officer commanding his battlecruiser, the Norad II. Duke expertly blocked the Hyperion from exiting into warp space and sent a detachment of marines onto the Hyperion.

The Hyperion attempted to escape, and inside Mengsk laid the plans for an ambush of both the marines and the Norad II. In the end, the marines were slain, Dr. Flanx was dead, the Norad II was heavily damaged and the Hyperion had escaped.

Duke had sent a ghost secretly onto the Hyperion, however, which started to kill rebels. Sarah Kerrigan took Mengsk's sidearm and fought the ghost. She eventually killed them with a large knife. When informing Mengsk of this development, she was able to read some of his thoughts. He believed it was "one of the three", but carefully blanked his mind, preventing Kerrigan from reading anything else.

The Ghost Academy
"Freedom is not free. Fight for our future!"

- Sons of Korhal slogan

With the assistance of a mining guild, Arcturus Mengsk planned an attack on the Ghost Academy on Tarsonis. He told his rebels the primary purpose of the attack was to draw media attention, hopefully creating support for his group. While many people were opposed to Terran Confederacy policies, they didn't know of any outlets for their frustrations.

Mengsk privately informed Kerrigan that he wanted her to retrieve a specific ghost. Doing so would require her to attack Major Rumm, a figure from her past whom she bore great hatred for.

The attack was something of a disaster. The group did not have enough force to destroy the Academy and fight their way out, and were hindered by a mole. Their most capable soldier was on a separate mission.

Only Kerrigan made it out alive, after the Academy's fusion reactor had been destroyed, with the captive ghost. She was safely retrieved by Mengsk, who quickly escaped the Confederates. Mengsk revealed his private motivations to Kerrigan, who reaffirmed her loyalty to him.

The actions resulted in media coverage of the Sons of Korhal, which were identified as a dangerous terrorist group.

Continued Crusade
The Sons of Korhal resorted to increasingly ruthless tactics as they continued their insurgency. By 2497 Mengsk believed the Sons of Korhal could field an army which could match any fielded by the Confederacy.

Late in 2499, Alpha Squadron returned to Chau Sara in order to put down a local uprising by the Sons of Korhal. Its first foes, however, were xenomorphs, which were quickly defeated. Shortly thereafter, Alpha Squadron made contact with the secretive Cerberus Recon Squad, whose leader claimed knowledge of these xenomorphs. The squad assisted Alpha Squadron in destroying the Sons of Korhal base. The Sons of Korhal fled from Chau Sara.

Mar Sara
In December 2499, the Sons of Korhal intervened on Mar Sara, evacuating thousands of colonists which the Confederacy had abandoned to the zerg. They liberated Marshal Jim Raynor and the former militia forces from the Confederate prison ship.

Ironically, the aliens were called to this world (or at least this part of it) by a Sons of Korhal agent, Merdith Jernic, using a top-secret psi emitter. She was captured by a band of Confederate marines, who activated the psi emitter, luring many zerg to their position long enough to give the defenders of Mar Sara City a fighting chance.

Warfield gave Mengsk intel about the Jacobs Installation. Raynor raided the facility and discovered that the Confederates had known about the imminent arrival of the zerg by 2498 and had been experimenting with captured specimens. Raynor accessed the Confederate network and stole secret information on data discs.

The Antigan Revolt
With Mengsk believing their efforts had weakened the Confederacy's grip on the fringe worlds, the Sons of Korhal fled to Antiga Prime, where headquarters began analysis of the disks. Mengsk sent Kerrigan and Raynor to free the colony and show their good intent to the Antigan people. Kerrigan infiltrated the Antigan command center and killed the Confederate officer, stirring up a full-scale revolt against the Alpha Squadron detachment stationed there.

The group's adjutant intercepted a priority one distress call from General Edmund Duke to Confederate headquarters. Learning that the Norad II had crash-landed on Antiga Prime and was under attack by the zerg, Mengsk sent Raynor to save Duke. Alpha Squadron was willing to temporarily ally with their former enemies to rescue their commander. While successful, Duke didn't show any gratitude. Mengsk convinced Duke to join forces with him by playing into his love of power and control and offering him a position in his cabinet.

The stolen data discs were found to hold designs for a psi emitter, and Mengsk called a meeting where he ordered Kerrigan to plant an emitter in the base camp of a large Confederate strike force which had arrived on Antiga Prime two hours earlier. The device attracted the zerg, which broke the Confederate blockade and allowed the Sons of Korhal to make their escape.

Atticus Minor
During, or shortly after the fighting on Antiga Prime, the Sons of Korhal were involved in the Battle of Atticus Minor. The SoK wrested the planet away from Confederate control, but had to deal with a zerg infestation afterwards. The War Pigs, a Confederate unit, made an assassination attempt on Arcturus Mengsk during the battle, but failed and withdrew.

Secret Missions
In the time between Antiga Prime and the assault on Tarsonis, the Sons of Korhal made at least two additional strikes against the Confederacy.

In the first of these, Kerrigan and Raynor were sent to the single moon orbiting G-2275, a gas giant. The moon was one of the Confederacy's greatest technological hubs. The facility housed designs for upgraded goliaths. Kerrigan had been there a year before and so was familiar with it. She had found a way past their security codes. The Sons of Korhal raid was successful; not only did the Confederacy lose the goliath designs, the rebels could upgrade their own goliaths.

Later, Raynor and Kerrigan were sent to raid a science facility on Orna III where the test subjects were experimented on without consent, and were treated horrifically. The Cormorant, captained by Sharyn Moore and Matt Horner, transported them. Kerrigan brought aboard explosives, which she hadn't told Mengsk about, nor did she tell Raynor until well into the trip. She intended to destroy the research rather than hand it over to Mengsk.

Kerrigan, who knew her way around the facility, pretended to be a ghost who had arrested the criminal Raynor. The deception worked. Several scientists and all the test subjects were rescued. The corrupt scientists were killed and the facility destroyed.

The Fall of Tarsonis
"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."

- Arcturus Mengsk

Duke assaulted the central orbital platform over Tarsonis and planted psi emitters there with Mengsk's authorization. When Executor Tassadar deployed ground forces to engage the zerg, Mengsk sent Kerrigan with a strike force to stop Tassadar's interference. Kerrigan neutralized the protoss at New Gettysburg, but a wave of zerg advanced on her position. She called for immediate evac, but Mengsk ordered the fleet to move away from Tarsonis, abandoning her to the zerg.

Jim Raynor took hundreds of people no longer loyal to Mengsk and remained nearby. He wanted to rescue Kerrigan, but it was impossible.

Raynor deserted Mengsk and was joined by Horner and the former Magistrate. Duke activated the Ion Cannon, but Raynor and his troops destroyed it so as to escape Tarsonis.

Political Transformation


With the collapse of the Confederacy, the Sons of Korhal became the primary force opposing the protoss and zerg. Most terran survivors quickly pledged allegiance to them. The group gained further support by continuing to save terrans. They respected local authority and intervened on worlds where they were invited to do so. Promising victory over the aliens, Mengsk formed the Terran Dominion and crowned himself emperor.

By the Second Great War, an elite marine unit called the "Sons of Korhal" was part of the Dominion Armed Forces.

Known Units

 * Alpha Squadron
 * Elite Guard
 * Raynor's Rangers
 * Wraith Squadron Bravo

Command

 * General Arcturus Mengsk (leader of the Sons of Korhal)
 * General Edmund Duke
 * "The Commander" (former magistrate of Mar Sara, abandoned rebel group)
 * Captain Jim Raynor (formerly)
 * Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan (second in command; abandoned on Tarsonis and infested by the zerg)
 * Lieutenant Pollock Rimes (lapsed, actually a spy for the Confederacy)

Soldiers

 * Sergeant Forest Keel (deceased)
 * Sergeant Lisa Mannix (formerly)
 * Private Somo Hung (deceased)
 * Private Saunders (deceased)
 * Private Tibbs (deceased)
 * Chuck Ayers (formerly)

Naval Personnel

 * Lieutenant Sela Brock (Wraith pilot)
 * Lieutenant Matt Horner (formerly)
 * Harley (Wraith pilot)

Other

 * Helek Branamoor (Umojan Protectorate scientist)
 * Merdith Jernic (psychic, deceased)
 * Michael Liberty (temporary affiliate)
 * Ailin Pasteur (Umojan Protectorate ambassador)
 * Horace Warfield (affiliated with, though not technically a member)