StarCraft Episode I

StarCraft Episode 1 starts in early December, 2499 and is entitled "Rebel Yell". It covers 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.

Note: More time passes in between missions than shown in cinematics (for example, Raynor and Kerrigan were said to have been more missions together than shown, before New Gettysburg).

The Infestation of Mar Sara
The technologically advanced alien fleet which 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. This information may have been kept secret from the general Terran Confederacy population.

Boot Camp and Officer Training
In the midst of the crisis which befell Chau Sara, a new Colonial Magistrate is named for the nearby world, Mar Sara on December 12th, 2499, which had fallen under attack by another intelligent alien species, different from the ones who attacked Chau Sara. The Magistrate is 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 discover and kill 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 is dropped off via Dropship and finds a few more Marines; they fight a number of Sons of Korhal forces scattered in the area. They receive an urgent summons to a nearby Command Center which is under attack by a small Sons of Korhal force; the colonial Marines win this encounter, and also fend off a small force of rebels who arrive via Dropship. In Officer Training, the Magistrate trains a force of Marines and Firebats and has them attack a nearby Sons of Korhal base, destroying it.

Wasteland and Backwater Station
The Magistrate receives orders from General Edmund Duke, commander of Alpha Squadron, to relocate his core colonists to the wastelands outlying the Mar Sara Colony, which is unpopular among the colonists. A small group of these colonists is met by the local Marshal, James Raynor, who escorts them to the new wasteland site. After the relocation, the Colonial Magistrate receives news from Backwater Station, which has been besieged by the Zerg. Confederate headquarters on Tarsonis is alerted, and Duke tells the Magistrate not to interfere, as he will take care of it, but Raynor, knows Duke will take too long. Raynor volunteers to lead colonial troops to rescue this station (and is successful at doing so), but after destroying an infested installation he is arrested by Duke.

Desperate Alliance
General Duke has no patience for the Colonial Magistrate's protests over his treatment of Raynor or his tactics. The Magistrate's adjutant has prepared a report on Confederate tactics for the Magistrate. According to the report, "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, makes the Magistrate an offer; he will send down a number of transports to Mar Sara Colony and evacuate any survivors. Left with little choice, the Magistrate accepts Mengsk's help. He fends off the Zerg long enough for Sons of Korhal dropships to rescue the colonists. The Confederacy responds by firing him until they can finish their investigation. Despite his spirited defense of the colonists against the Zerg, he has dared to ally with a terrorist group.

(As a point of note: Blizzard were apparently planning on having a separate storyline branch off from this scenario, depending on the actions of the player. Examining the map data reveals a series of disabled triggers, objectives and voice files, which -- if enabled -- give the player another option of destroying the Zerg hive situated in the center north part of the map. Doing so immediately causes Mengsk's dropships to appear in the northeast corner of the map, ending the scenario in victory regardless of counter time. These actions, if taken, would make the subsequent storyline nonsensical and would require further scenarios and story development to be possible.)

Jacobs Installation
With Mar Sara almost completely overrun by the Zerg, both the Confederates and the Sons of Korhal are planning to evacuate the planet. The former Colonial Magistrate is fired, pending an official investigation of his affiliation with the Sons of Korhal.

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, Jacobs Installation, is operated by Alpha Squadron. Raynor leads the Sons of Korhal team inside where they steal an encrypted disk containing critical data. During the mission, Raynor encountered Zerg confined within. Raynor is very surprised, but Mengsk said this is not the first time he has witnessed the Confederacy experimenting with Zerg.

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

Eventually they make it to the main computer, which is defended by a large number of troops, including a Terran Ghost. However, with Raynor's assistance, the "terrorists" win the firefight and retrieve a number of data disks. Raynor asks for transports to be waiting for them for when they leave the installation.

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

Thirteen hours after the Sons of Korhal leave Mar Sara, Protoss warships take up orbit around it and unleash a massive planetary bombardment. All life on the surface is extinguished.

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

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

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

As Raynor travels towards his objective, he meets up with Kerrigan. A telepath, Kerrigan reads his thoughts and calls him a pig.

Raynor responds with: "What? I haven't even said anything to you yet."

Getting down to business, Kerrigan leads Raynor to the Antiga Prime Colony. It is surrounded by Alpha Squadron troops, and worse, is overseen by a Confederate officer within its command center. The Sons of Korhal fight their way past the Confederates, and Kerrigan slips into the command center, assassinates the Confederate officer, and turns the base over to the Antigans. With the assistance of the Antigans, Raynor and Kerrigan clear the area around the Antigan base of Confederate forces.

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

Norad II
Later, the Norad II, flagship General Duke, is badly damaged from Zerg scourges (kamikaze air monsters) and other Zerg minions, who had arrived at the planet for unknown reasons. The flagship crashes inside a small crater that has been completely surrounded and colonized by the Zerg. Duke makes an uncoded priority one distress call, asking for immediate backup. Mengsk is quite happy at this turn of events.

Mengsk tells Jim Raynor to rescue Duke, a decidedly unpopular idea among Raynor and Kerrigan. Mengsk says 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 disagree, but Mengsk has the authority to order them to do it, so they reluctantly do as they are told.

The derelict ship is surrounded by Zerg, preventing Alpha Squadron from rescuing their General. They accept the offer of help from the Sons of Korhal and team up in order to fight their way past the Zerg.

The Sons of Korhal reach the ship and speak to Duke. Raynor insults Duke, but Mengsk takes over his end of the conversation. He tells Duke that the Confederacy is falling apart due to internal revolts and attacks of the Zerg, and offers to let Duke join the Sons of Korhal as a member of Mengsk's cabinet. Duke refuses, saying he's a general, but Mengsk retorts that he has no army.

"The Confederacy is falling apart, Duke. Its colonies are in open revolt. The Zerg are rampaging unchecked. What would have happened here today if we hadn't shown up?"

Duke says it's a deal, and joins the Sons of Korhal.

The Trump Card
Duke presumably helps Mengsk decrypt that data disk his men have stolen on Mar Sara - it contains the designs for a psi-emitter. This device could amplify the psionic energy produced by a psychic Terran (e.g. a Terran Ghost operative, such as Sarah Kerrigan) and attract the Zerg to it.

With the defection of Alpha Squadron, an enormous loss to the Confederacy, a large Delta Squadron strike force is sent. This force, while not as well-trained as Alpha Squadron, is a lot bigger. The combined Sons of Korhal and Alpha Squadron cannot hope to defeat them. Instead, Mengsk resorts to trickery; he orders Sarah Kerrigan to infiltrate the Confederate base camp and activate the psi-emitter, even though she doesn't think anyone deserves to have the Zerg unleashed on them. The Zerg descend upon the unsuspecting Confederate forces and annihilate them, allowing the Sons of Korhal to escape.

The Protoss fleet then arrives and incinerates the planet.

Biting the Bullet

 * Main article: Biting the Bullet

A disabled mission on the StarCraft game CD occurs after these events, in which Raynor and Duke rescue the colonists from a force of Zerg and receive assistance from Tassadar.

The Sons of Korhal evacuate 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 calls a meeting to order aboard his command ship, the Hyperion. The time for the final strike on the Confederates is close at hand, but Tarsonis, the capital world, is heavily defended.

General Edmund Duke says that he has defended Tarsonis in over thirty major battles, and therefore knows its defenses inside and out. There are three major orbital platforms that serve 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 are defended by Delta Squadron and Omega Squadron, which Duke claims are no match for his Alpha Squadron.

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

Operation Silent Scream

 * Main article: Operation Silent Scream

A mission on the StarCraft CD that has been disabled occurs at this time, in which the Sons of Korhal descend to the surface of Tarsonis. This particular mission has been mentioned in StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade and StarCraft Ghost: Nova.

Duke then announces that they have planted a psi-emitter, which was kept secret until the last minute from Kerrigan and Raynor. (This occurs at the end of the "The Big Push" because "Operation Silent Scream" was removed.)

All Zerg are attracted to the planet and, overrunning the Confederacy's best defenses, proceed to lay waste to Tarsonis' major cities and industrial centers. Meanwhile a Sons of Korhal wraith squadron attacks another Confederate space platform (in a cinematic).

New Gettysburg
The Protoss follow with a fleet of several dozen warships, landing on the New Gettysburg space platform next to the primary Zerg Hive Cluster.

Arcturus Mengsk gives unexpected orders: if the Protoss engage the Zerg, the Confederates may escape. Kerrigan is ordered to take a strike force to engage the Protoss, while Jim Raynor and General Duke will remain on the command ship. Raynor is angered - not only have the Zerg devastated the planet, killing most of its people, but now Kerrigan is being sent to the space platform without any backup. Lt. Kerrigan says that she can't back out now, and that Mengsk knows what he's doing, but Raynor wonders if she's about to become a martyr.

Raynor contacts Kerrigan with his objections as she reaches the platform - he knows that she was involved with experiments with Zerg and that Mengsk rescued her - but Kerrigan says that she's a Ghost, and can tell that the Protoss are here to wipe out everyone on the planet, not just the Zerg. While successful in her task, Kerrigan also questions Mengsk's morals and strategy, but says she believes he will come around.

After Kerrigan defeats the Protoss, the Zerg attack, overwhelming her force. She calls for backup, but Mengsk orders a retreat from Tarsonis. Raynor is outraged.

As the Sons of Korhal left, breaking contact with the ground forces, Protoss and Zerg forces battled across the core continent of Tarsonis.

A Matter of Idealism
An angry Jim Raynor tells the commander that he's leaving the Sons of Korhal, and the commander should come with him. Arcturus Mengsk contacts them, claiming that they've still got a job to do, and that they've sown the seeds of a new Empire. Raynor cuts him off, however.

Mengsk says it's a mistake to cross him, as he has sacrificed too much to let this fall apart. "You mean like you sacrificed Kerrigan?" retorts Raynor. Mengsk begins 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, unimpressed, cuts off communication with Mengsk again.

The Hammer
General Duke has taken a position on a space platform over Tarsonis and has reactivated the Ion Cannon, a powerful Confederate weapon. Any attempt by Raynor to escape must take place after the Ion Cannon is shut down.

Jim Raynor makes an inspirational speech to his troops. He must take on Alpha Squadron and the Sons of Korhal Elite Guard, which attack him with a wide variety of forces. The Ion Cannon is on a nearby platform, but can only be reached by space transports. Raynor can't defeat them, but he is able to cut a path to the Ion Cannon and destroy it.

The Coronation
In the aftermath of his victory over the Terran Confederacy (and his defeat by Raynor), Arcturus Mengsk unites the Terran factions once under the control of the Confederacy, and forms the Terran Dominion, crowning himself "Emperor". Moria, Umoja, and essentially all other legal Terran organizations join the Dominion as well.

His inaugural address is delivered during the ending video.