Terran Dominion

"I've always felt the best form of government to be benevolent despotism."

- Arcturus Mengsk, emperor of the Dominion.

The Terran Dominion, sometimes simply known as the Dominion, was created shortly after the fall of the Confederacy at the height of the war between the terrans, the zerg and the protoss from 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
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, allying themselves with former Confederacy Alpha Squadron leader General Edmund Duke and 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 Edmund Duke had been sent by Mengsk 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's government suffered a defeat before it could even declare itself. 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.

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 an elite commando squad led by one Samir Duran remained outside its control.

The Dominion government became 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.

Alpha Squadron Missions
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 detachment broke away, disobeying orders in order to assist the protoss in putting an end to Schezar's zerg threat, but Schezar escaped.

After the fall of Aiur, Alpha Squadron was dispatched to aid the colonists of Bhekar Ro. The squadron suffered heavy losses fighting over a xel'naga temple against both the protoss and zerg and was cut off from the Dominion for months afterward.

The UED Invasion
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.

Confederate Resistance Forces officers Samir Duran and Angelina Emillian used this information to plot an assassination attempt on Arcturus Mengsk while he was visiting Umoja. Mengsk was hampered by Umojan distrust; they demanded he keep his capital ships beyond the outer shipping markers, forcing him to descend in an obsolete gun cutter. The Confederates used a Cassandra scrambler to cut Mengsk's communications off from his armada and an EMP net to cut off communications with local Protectorate defense forces. However, the assault was a failure, in part because Dominion Armada leader Edmund Duke disobeyed Umojan instructions to stay away when communications were cut off. Mengsk learned the term "UED" but did not learn what it stood for. Not knowing how the Confederates were able to target him so effectively, Arcturus Mengsk believed the Umojans were complicit in the attack.

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 second 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 enslaved 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.

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
Following the Brood War, the Dominion's military was still weak. It was unable to deal militarily with problems such as the New Trinidad Pirates, eventually resorting to hiring mercenaries to destroy them.

Arcturus Mengsk set about making Jim Raynor into "public enemy number one", accusing him of terrorism and constantly hounding him. However, he refused to kill Raynor, as that could make him a martyr. Dominion official Tamsen Cauley, however, in part of a scheme to increase his own power, recruited a band of outlaws, the War Pigs, to assassinate Raynor. He formed an army which was "not Mengsk's. Not the Dominion's"&mdash;the Cerberus Program, which he would use to kill the War Pigs once they murdered Raynor. (The War Pigs had been a Confederate team which Cauley used in those days to try to kill Arcturus Mengsk.)

The Dominion engaged in combat with the zerg and the protoss over a xel'naga temple at Artika and has also attempted to purchase xel'naga artifacts from the Kel-Morian Combine.

Arcturus Mengsk ordered half of his government's ghosts eliminated as part of an "overhaul" of the Ghost Program.

Four years after the Brood War, the Dominion has partially rebuilt its armies and is attempting to re-establish its empire by reconquering worlds. It ordered the destruction of minor terrorist groups and 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 became 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.

The Dominion also came into conflict with the zerg at Mar Sara (where the Dominion has interests)

Recently, Arcturus Mengsk's son, Valerian, was secretly named the "Heir Apparent" to the Dominion. He commands high authority, but this was limited due to the small number of people who know who he really is. Valerian became interested in an alien artifact on the dead world of Nemaka, and hired an archaeologist, Jake Ramsey, to look in on it. Ramsey discovered a secret there, but, no longer trusting him, fled to the world of Dead Man's Rock, which was outside of Dominion space. The zerg attacked shortly afterward, drawn by Ramsey's discovery. Arcturus Mengsk considered this invasion as an attack on the Terran Dominion. Valerian Mengsk's status later became public.

Wings of Liberty
The Dominion attempted to recover other alien artifacts from planets such as Mar Sara. The Dominion made trading such alien goods illegal, causing problems for organizations like the Möbius Foundation.

A massive zerg attack, personally led by Infested Kerrigan, attacked the Dominion, focusing on the core worlds. The Dominion fleet retreated to protect the primary resource centers, abandoning the Fringe Worlds to their fate. According to numerous media reports, military and civilian casualties alike have already reached the billion mark and live footage showed evidence that Kerrigan is leading the invasion herself.

Government
Despite having been founded in the aftermath of a crusade to disband the Confederacy, the Dominion's government differs little from its predecessor. The Dominion is an absolute monarchy with Arcturus Mengsk currently at its head, though this is a fact that he tries not to reinforce. The Dominion possesses a nobility with great wealth. Like the Confederacy, the Dominion maintains a senate of elected planetary representatives.

Dominion People

 * Emperor Arcturus Mengsk
 * Heir Apparent Valerian Mengsk
 * General Edmund Duke (Alpha Squadron, Dominion Armada, deceased)
 * Chief of Internal Security Tamsen Cauley

Controlled Systems

 * Brontes System
 * Sara System
 * Torus System
 * Tyrador System

Controlled Planets

 * Abaddon
 * Aridas
 * Braxis Alpha
 * Brontes
 * Halcyon
 * Korhal IV (capital world)
 * Maltair IV
 * New Folsom
 * New Sydney
 * Torus
 * Tyrador VIII
 * Tyrador IX
 * Ursa
 * Zenn

Former Planets

 * Agria
 * Braxis
 * Candore
 * Char (briefly claimed during the Great War)
 * Dylar IV
 * Gohbus

Trivia
The Terran Dominion is probably named after Arcturus Mengsk's former unit in the Confederate Marine Corps: Dominion section, part of the 33rd Ground Assault Division. He chose the name because he thought it was "appropriately grand".