Korhal

"As you may know from your research, Captain, Korhal was a hotbed of anti-Confederate sentiment for years. The Confederacy hoped to contain Korhal's civil unrest by decimating it and its population with a massive nuclear barrage. Though the radiation levels on the planet are at an all time low, its surface is now nothing more than a smoldering desert."

- United Earth Directorate Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov before an assault on Korhal IV

Korhal IV (often simply refered to as Korhal) is the fourth planet of the Korhal System in the heart of the Koprulu Sector. Formerly a temperate world with at least two large oceans, it was turned into a nuclear wasteland by a nuclear bombardment.

During the four years since the establishment of the Terran Dominion, a large portion of the planet has developed into an ecumenopolis.

Planetology
Korhal had a dense atmosphere and used to be a lush, temperate and warm world before its destruction, possessing distinct seasons such as autumn, balmy summers and mild winters. The planet orbits a single star.

A Confederate nuclear strike left the formerly verdant surface a radioactive desert with craters visible from space. By the Brood War radiation levels were low enough to allow humans to survive. After the war the Dominion invested significant effort to further decontaminate the planet.

Early History
Settled in the early years of Tarsonian expansion, Korhal was one of the founding worlds upon which the Terran Confederacy was built. A world of affluence and enlightenment, Korhal contributed greatly to the military and technological advancements of the Terran Confederacy. By 2478 it was considered an old colony. Styrling Academy itself had buildings almost a hundred years old by that point. By this stage, there was a degree of idealism and nostalgia as to Korhal's past, namely that of a pastoral world. However, there was little historical substance to this idealistic view. Despite a steady growth of industry, Korhal remained a verdant world, courtesy of investment in renewable energy sources and the enforcement of stringent air quality laws. As a result, Korhal was one of the few Confederate planets that managed to be both a hub of trade and industry and a pleasant place to live.

Over the course of settlement, Korhal's people came to establish many dynastic traditions with inheritance of great wealth.

Despite the planet's near-Eden status, the relationship between Korhal and the Confederacy was not mutually beneficial. The planet's wealth fueled Confederate puppet corporations while local industries withered. This spurred anti-Confederate sentiment.

The Rebellion of Korhal
"When you live here on Korhal, you think it's the center of the world and you believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave and don't come back for a few years. And when you come back, everything's changed. The connection's broken. What you come to find isn't there and what was yours is gone."

- Achton Feld


 * Main article: Rebellion of Korhal

Senator Angus Mengsk was a well-known anti-Confederate political figure. In 2478 he created a secret revolutionary movement against the Confederacy with the assistance of Umoja when the Confederacy tried to murder him. Months after establishing the alliance with Umoja, Mengsk gave an anti-Confederate Close of Session speech at the Senate's Palatine Forum, causing the Confederacy to keep him under surveillance.

The Confederacy was especially worried about a potential loss of Korhal because it was their "crown jewel", used to explain the benefits to their rivals, the Kel-Morian Combine and the Umojans, why they should join the Confederacy. The rebellion would destroy that public image. In addition, the Confederacy made a lot of money from the Korhalian colonists, and many groups tied to both Korhal and the Confederacy stood to lose a great deal of money if Korhal succeeded in declaring independence.

Umoja offered material assistance, eventually including tanks. The underground rebellion would eventually kill hundreds of marines in ambushes and explosions.

At the close of the Guild Wars in 2489 Mengsk publicly declared the independence of Korhal, and the Confederates retaliated by declaring martial law. The planet's populace rose up against the Confederacy, eventually driving away the Confederate military. The Confederates retaliated by assassinating Mengsk, but he was replaced by his more dangerous son, Arcturus. The junior Mengsk led the Rebellion of Korhal against the Confederacy, amassing a huge army on Korhal.

In retaliation for the alliance, the Confederacy launched a massive planetary bombardment of nuclear weaponry aimed at eliminating the dissent, killing millions, transforming the planet into a nuclear desert and causing mutations in surviving organisms, such as scantids.

Many of the survivors of the rebellion called themselves the Sons of Korhal, and some others joined other rebel organizations. This attack hardened the remaining men and women of Korhal into some of the fiercest warriors in the Koprulu Sector. Due to the nuclear devastation of their homeworld, they demonstrated complete willingness to use their own nuclear arsenal against any potential enemy.

The New Order
"Korhal will be great again, I have no doubt, but it will never be what it once was."

- Arcturus Mengsk

By the end of the Confederacy radiation levels were low enough to allow resettlement. With the defeat of the Confederacy, Arcturus Mengsk transformed his rebel movement into the Terran Dominion, the successor to the victorious Sons of Korhal. One of his first decrees was making Korhal IV the throneworld of the Dominion.

Vast amounts of money were spent reestablishing Korhal IV, although some parts of the world were left as desert in honor of those who had died before.

The UED Expeditionary Fleet conquered the planet during the and based captive zerg there.

It was during this period that the Dark Templar terrorist, Ulrezaj, hid warped khaydarin crystals on the planet, protected by Schezar's Scavengers and his enslaved zerg. The Scavengers left the world when they were defeated by protoss forces led by Praetor Mojo.

A joint attack by the Dominion, Praetor Fenix's protoss refugee warriors, Raynor's Raiders and Infested Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm defeated the UED and their enslaved zerg and returned the planet to Dominion control. Kerrigan left the world, but not before unleashing a surprise attack on her former allies.

Mengsk returned to Korhal after being defeated at Char Aleph at the end of the Brood War. Korhal benefited from the post-war reconstruction efforts ; Dominion tax revenues helped fund extensive decontamination, modernization, and beautification.

Return to War
In the years after the Brood War, vast amounts of money were spent bolstering Korhal's defenses, turning it into the most heavily fortified planet within the Koprulu Sector. As the Second Great War approached, Korhal experienced a property boom. Analysts predicted it would be short lived.

During the Second Great War Korhal once again became a site of conflict, Raynor's Raiders used the Odin and attacked the Dominion forces in order to seize the UNN studios and broadcast Arcturus Mengsk's war crimes. The population engaged in rioting against their government, causing widespread damage.

Establishments

 * Golden Library
 * Mengsk Summer Villa

Installations

 * Dominion Internal Security Division
 * Korhal Incarceration Facility
 * Korhal IV Primary Resocialization Center
 * Simonson Munitions Factory

Landforms

 * Martial Field
 * Scorpion Ravine

Regions

 * Broken Mesa
 * Keresh Province

Settlements

 * Augustgrad (capital)
 * Fairstens
 * Korhal City
 * Metalopolis
 * Styrling (former capital, also served as a military base)

Space Platforms

 * Aurora (formerly)
 * Numerous others