Guild Wars

The terran Guild Wars were an economic and military conflict between the Kel-Morian Combine based out of Moria and the Terran Confederacy based out of Tarsonis.

Background
When the terrans first arrived in the Koprulu Sector, they landed on three separate worlds -- Moria, Tarsonis and Umoja and were unaware of each other. They had to rebuild their societies and technologies almost from scratch.

The Tarsonian colonists had access to the artificial intelligence ATLAS, giving them a technological edge over the other colonists. It took the Tarsonians sixty years to develop subwarp space technology enough to discover the other colonists, which took all three factions by surprise.

The three planets engagged in trading, but Moria and Umoja rebuffed Tarsonis' attempts to fuse the colonies into a single government. Tarsonis began a program of expansion, creating seven new colonies and creating an interstellar Terran Confederacy.

The Morian colonists, having the system's richest mines in their control, were afraid that the Confederacy would interfere with their business. As a result a military government, the Kel-Morian Combine was founded to protect all Morian mining guilds that came into conflict with the Confederacy. This led to a rise of tensions between Moria and the Terran Confederacy.

Before the Guild Wars officially broke out, the Confederacy would "steal" Kel-Morian mining claims by sending intelligence personnel to scout the claims, then manufacturing excuses (such as claiming one of the miners was a wanted criminal, or that the claim was illegal), then attack "in order to rectify the situation". During the process, the claim would be taken and generally handed over to an Old Family and guarded by marines and other troops. Areas such as the Paladino Belt and the desert world of Sonyan were subjected to such tactics.

War Machines
Space warfare was conducted between large battlecruisers and medium-sized gunships. The latter would eventually evolve into the Wraith fighter.

The Larscorp goliath, which was well-suited to the constant urban warfare, was developed for the Kel-Morians. Corporate information liberators stole the plans for the goliath for the Confederacy, who built them as well.

Battle of Noranda Glacier
The Terran Confederacy confronted the Kel-Morian Combine at the Noranda Glacier vespene refinery at Onuru Sigma. The vespene was contaminated with hydrogen sulfide, rendering it explosive.

By this point, the Confederacy believed the Kel-Morians were planning something big in that area. A detachment of Confederate Alpha Squadron led by Captain Edmund Duke and a detachment of the 33rd Ground Assault Division – Dominion section – led by Captain Arcturus Mengsk advanced on the dilapidated-looking complex, only to fall into an ambush. Many of the "abandoned" structures turned out to be strongpoints.

Duke lost many men recklessly charging the stronghold and had to take shelter in a strongpoint they had captured. Meanwhile Mengsk called on Wraith air support to strafe the complex. As Mengsk's forces approached cautiously, they took fire, and many marines were killed or injured. A Wraith blew up a truck filled with vespene, and eventually the whole complex burst into flame as Mengsk's forces escorted the Alpha Squadron troops to relative safety.

The Confederates retreated, especially when they heard about Kel-Morian brigades and capital ships approaching the area. War was declared, and terms of service increased.

Battles of Char
Char was one of the richest resource nodes in the Sector, and was mined by both Confederate and Morians; the former claimed Char as a "core colony world".

Fierce fighting broke out on Char, and unrestricted usage of nuclear weapons in some areas awoke dormant volcanoes and made the planet even more radioactive and inhospitable to humans than before.

Battles of Mar Sara
During the latter stages of the war, the two sides clashed on Mar Sara. During a scouting mission by the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion Heaven's Devils, rangers Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay went missing for nine months. Findlay returned and was arrested by the Confederacy, whereas Raynor vanished (and would later reappear as a marshal).

Diplomatic Alliances
During the war, Umoja played a role. Volunteers such as Forest Keel saw their own share of "friction" during the conflict. Umoja was also supported the foremen of Pridewater, a Confederate fringe world planet – the foremen had secretly turned against the Confederacy.

The Finale
Impending Confederate victory became obvious long before the war officially ended. In 2489, after four years, the Confederates declared victory after "negotiating" peace with the Kel-Morian Combine. Moria was left independent, but its supporting guilds were annexed. As a response to the defeat of the Kel-Morian Combine, the Umojan government created a new military called the Umojan Protectorate.

Tarsonis enjoyed an economic boom which lasted until war broke out with the Sons of Korhal, protoss and zerg.

Since then, Moria founded new mining colonies and provided the Terran Confederacy with so much money that they became effectively immune to Confederate laws.