Edmund Duke

"Greetings Magistrate. I'm General Edmund Duke of the Confederate Security Forces, Alpha Squadron"

- Duke introduces himself to the magistrate of Mar Sara

General Edmund Duke was the Terran Confederacy general in charge of Alpha Squadron. Duke was 53 years old when warfare with the zerg broke out. Somewhat gung-ho, he despised all non-humans on general principle.

Despite his impressive combat record, Duke's ascension through the ranks was slow; he was a captain in his 40s and was "way overdue for his general's stars" by 2499. The reason for this was most likely known to only Duke and a select few, said reason likely being "loud, messy and deeply buried in the Confederate military files." Despite this leash, it hardly put a damper on Duke's ambitions.

Early History
Serving as a loyal citizen of the Terran Confederacy and as a member of the Old Families, Duke had a long military career, a significant portion spent as the leader of Alpha Squadron. It is known that he had defended Tarsonis "in over thirty major battles" and defeated the Colonial Liberation Army on Tyra Mining Station using "nuked earth tactics."

The Guild Wars
In 2485 Duke, a captain within Alpha Squadron, met with Brantigan Fole, commander of the Confederate 33rd Ground Assault Division, on Onuru Sigma. Fole wanted Duke to attack the Noranda Glacier vespene mining complex, operated by the Kel-Morian Combine. He would work alongside another captain, Arcturus Mengsk, head of the 33rd's Dominion section. Duke would hold command authority and would even evaluate Mengsk's unit. The two captains did not get along.

Duke was a very aggressive attacker and ignored Mengsk's caution, accusing him of cowardice. He was particularly upset that he couldn't use a siege tank in the hazardous conditions. Taking the majority of the forces with him, they moved into the complex, only to discover it was an ambush. He fought into a strongpoint and called Mengsk to rescue him.

Mengsk's forces moved in more cautiously, fighting their own battle until they could create a corridor to escort Duke out. During the fighting, Confederate Wraith strafing set the entire complex ablaze. Massive numbers of Kel-Morian Combine troops and battlecruisers then approached the scene &mdash; the Guild Wars were officially declared. During the Confederate retreat a transport was destroyed; Mengsk was disappointed that Duke survived the rescue.

The Sons of Korhal and the Great War
Not long after the destruction of Korhal, Duke was ordered to be on the lookout for a lost ghost. He came across a rebel ship, and upon its status being clarified, he engaged it with the Norad II. He sent a boarding party into the rebel ship, along with a ghost. As it was, the ship belonged to the rebel group the Sons of Korhal, who, under General Arcturus Mengsk, managed to damage the Norad II enough to escape through warp space. The ghost he sent was killed shortly afterwards. In short, the encounter had been a complete failure, Duke being shaken in the experience and his ambitions of being promoted reduced.

The Sara System
In late 2499, the Norad II was assigned to patrol the space in and around the Sara System.

Colonel Edmund Duke personally joined in the fighting at Chau Sara against the zerg, partaking in the reclamation of Los Andares and the assault against the zerg's primary hive cluster. While these initial efforts were successful, the zerg onslaught quickly intensified. Duke and his forces pulled out before the zerg could conquer the entire planet.

Duke's forces enacted a clumsy counterattack against the protoss fleet after they destroyed Chau Sara. The protoss withdrew.

Duke oversaw Alpha Squadron's efforts to lock down the planet of Mar Sara in the wake of the protoss attack on Chau Sara and the appearance of the zerg on Mar Sara. He was criticized by Mar Sara's Colonial Magistrate for his actions there, including avoiding action with the zerg, failing to rescue troops besieged by the aliens, and even arresting local militias. Duke accused him of being a "damn fringe world yokel".

Another Conflict with Mengsk
During the Great War, Duke clashed with Sons of Korhal leader Arcturus Mengsk at the Battle of Brontes.

The colonists of Antiga Prime were ready to openly revolt against the Terran Confederacy, so Duke and his Alpha Squadron were given the task of suppressing the revolt. The rebels were surrounded by Confederate troops and an officer was put in charge of the rebel command center. The officer was assassinated by an operative of the Sons of Korhal, who just as quickly recruited the rebels to their cause and went on to defeat the Alpha Squadron detachment.

Transfer of Loyalties
The planet was soon beset by the zerg. During a high orbit attack the Norad II was crippled by the zerg and crashed into the planet. General Duke -- having been promoted sometime after confronting the protoss -- survived the crash and sends out a distress signal. While the Alpha Squadron forces stationed nearby attempted to rescue him, they were stymied by the zerg. Arcturus Mengsk's forces arrived, striking an alliance with Alpha Squadron. Together they rescued Duke. Mengsk convinced him to join the Sons of Korhal, signaling a huge victory for them in their war against the Confederates.

Duke was granted a position in Mengsk's cabinet, and assisted the Sons of Korhal in conquering Tarsonis, the capital world of the Terran Confederacy. He had defended Tarsonis in over thirty major battles, so he knew its defenses inside and out. He personally led Alpha Squadron in an attack against the central space platform defended by the Confederate Omega and Delta Squadrons in order to cause enough of a "ruckus" (in Duke's own words) to allow a small force to break through the planetary defenses.

Duke's forces also installed and activated a number of Psi Emitters on the platform, attracting billions of zerg to the planet. This action alienated Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan. Raynor and Duke got into a brawl, with Raynor coming up the winner, having broken Duke's gun arm. Duke sought permission from Mengsk to take an unspecified revenge against Raynor, to no avail.

Arcturus Mengsk sent Sarah Kerrigan on mission to prevent the protoss from attacking the zerg, leaving the zerg free to destroy the population of Tarsonis. Kerrigan defeated the protoss and requested evacuation, but Mengsk did not respond. This action severed the ties between Raynor and Mengsk. Jim Raynor attempted to rescue Kerrigan, but was ambushed by General Duke and a team of neurally resocialized Marines who had activated their StimPacks. Reporter Michael Liberty, who before had felt he could not shoot a human being, injured Duke. The stabilization medicines in Duke's suit caused him to pass out, so he could not give the order to this Marines to attack Raynor. Raynor and Liberty were able to escape.

In order to prevent Jim Raynor from fleeing Tarsonis, Duke activated Tarsonis' primary defensive weapon, the Ion Cannon. Raynor was forced to destroy the cannon in order to escape.

The New Dominion
After Mengsk established the new Terran Dominion, General Duke became his right-hand man. In the opinion of Kerrigan, he was the real tactician in the new empire, despite Mengsk's impressive military resume. With Duke by his side, Mengsk was unopposed by any of the major Terran Militias within the Sector. One of Duke's acts as a Dominion general was to capture Nova Station, which had been abandoned by Nova Squadron, in order to gain valuable information.

After his defection from the Sons of Korhal, Jim Raynor and his militia, the Raynor's Raiders, sought transports. They traveled to the Dylarian Shipyards, where ships are commonly held in dry-dock; General Duke was waiting for them in the Hyperion. Duke's forces were hampered by the close quarters and fear of destroying his own ships, whereas Raynor's Raiders had fewer worries. They used the docking arms to grapple the Hyperion and invaded it, leaving Duke tied up.

While Kerrigan was being infested by the zerg, she psychically called to Mengsk from the planet Char. Duke was sent to retrieve her, later on ordering his troops not to have any more slip-ups like before (eg letting Raynor escape with the Hyperion and failing to defend the Ion Cannon) though the battle went into disaster for him. Duke continued to remain near Char, bringing himself into a battle with the former protoss Executor, Tassadar. His forces lost this battle as well and eventually pulled out of the planet.

Arcturus Mengsk still did not entirely trust the sincerity of Duke's loyalty and used the crisis on Bhekar Ro to send the general away. Duke led Alpha Squadron to secure the planet and the strange artifact from the protoss and zerg. The description of the first human encounter with the artifact led Duke to muse that its research might reveal a new way to disable vehicles. While ultimately victorious much of his forces were destroyed not to mention that he was stranded in the planet for months until Dominion transports arrived.

The Iron Fist
The United Earth Directorate's Expeditionary Force came to the Koprulu Sector, striking an alliance with the Confederate Resistance Forces led by Samir Duran. The two forces quickly captured the city of Boralis, Braxis.

Using the codes, they gained access to Arcturus Mengsk's secret files, including Arcturus Mengsk's schedule.

Mengsk was traveling to Umoja, six months after his inauguration as emperor of the Terran Dominion, and also for personal reasons. He took a fleet of ships commanded by Duke with him. Umojan diplomat Ailin Pasteur wouldn't allow the capital ships to approach beyond the outer shipping markers, and Mengsk had to descend in an obsolete gun cutter.

Confederate forces led by Mengsk's old instructor Angelina Emillian attacked while Mengsk was vulnerable, and they used a Cassandra scrambler to cut off communication between Mengsk and the local Protectorate forces and Duke's fleet. Ignoring Umojan instructions, Duke moved his fleet to Mengsk's location. Mengsk held off the attackers long enough for Duke to make a "heroic rescue".

The Dominion became aware of the UED attacks but didn't know who they were. The UED took over the Dylarian Shipyards, stealing numerous battlecruisers. Duke counterattacked with the Dominion Armada, but was defeated. After that, Duke withdrew his forces from the quadrant, falling back to Korhal. He was presumably present on the Norad III in the aftermath of Augustgrad's fall to the UED, saved from capture at the last moment by Raynor's Raiders and a group of protoss who saved them via dimensional recall to Aiur. This period allowed some relaxation, such as becoming aquainted with the protoss sport of Pro Bowl, but with the UED's pursuit forcing the fugitives to escape Aiur, it wasn't to last.

In order to retake Korhal and free the Koprulu Sector from the UED, Arcturus Mengsk fell into an alliance with Infested Kerrigan, Jim Raynor and the protoss praetor Fenix. Mengsk sent Duke to establish his base of operations in Augustgrad. While his men were resting they were attacked by zerg led by Kerrigan, who had always wanted to have him killed. Duke's last words, before the Norad III was destroyed by Kerrigan's zerg, were "Do your worst then, girl. You ain't takin' Edmund Duke without a fight!"

Game Unit
General Duke appears in the game commanding the Norad II, a battlecruiser with a higher attack damage but lower number of hit points than the Hyperion. He also appears in StarCraft: Loomings and StarCraft Secret Missions operating a siege tank, with 400 health and doing 70 or 150 damage, depending on mode. He later commands the Norad III, an extremely powerful battlecruiser, before his death to Infested Kerrigan's zerg.

Quotes

 * See: Edmund Duke Quotations
 * Duke: "Protoss Commander, this is General Edmund Duke of the Terran Dominion Armada. You are in violation of our air-space and have endangered human lives in your reckless attack against the zerg. I order you to withdraw your ships immediately. If you fail to comply, I will not hesitate to open fire upon your vessels."
 * Tassadar: "General Duke, I am Tassadar, and you are well known to me. Whatever leniency I extended to you and your comrades before, may have been in error. If you persist in halting our course, we will burn your pathetic fleet down to the last man."
 * Duke: "I'm going to have to assume that was a hostile response..."
 * ―Duke faces off against Tassadar on Char; Choosing Sides


 * Adjutant: "Captain, we are being hailed by the Dominion flagship, Norad III."
 * Duke: "Well, now. I don't know which militia you all are from, but I advise ya' to back down... NOW! I'm General Edmund Duke of the Dominion armada. And in the name of Emperor Mengsk, I order you to surrender your forces immediately and unconditionally."
 * Stukov: "Ah, General Duke. I expected your forces to arrive sooner. You should know that we represent not one of your rag-tag peasant Militias, but the combined might of the United Earth Directorate."
 * Duke: "Earth Directorate? You mean to tell me you've come all the way out here from Earth?"
 * Stukov: "That is correct, General. We're here to take control over this sector and its occupants for the betterment of mankind."
 * Duke: "Over my dead body. I don't care where yer' from, son. No one pushes around the Terran Dominion on my watch! All units, fire at will!"
 * ―Duke faces off against the UED Expeditionary Force at the Dylarian Shipyards; Battle of Dylar IV

Trivia

 * General Duke's character seems to be paralleled with real life western and war movie star John Wayne, who was also nicknamed "the Duke". Both have similar mannerisms, speech and hard-boiled personalities, which Wayne tended to display in most of his movies. As well, Edmund's character design bears some resemblance to John Wayne.


 * Duke could also have been based off American General George S. Patton. Both men were known for their professionalism and tough-as-nails approach to running their commands (Patton's 3rd Army and Duke's Alpha Squadron). Patton was also known to be bigoted and devoid of a sense of humor; traits that Duke also possesses.


 * Duke seems to be the Terran equivalent to Lieutenant Samir Duran. He was the commander of Alpha Squadron, which Duran claimed to have served in. While Arcturus Mengsk (the former leader of the Sons of Korhal) ruled the Terran Dominion as an Emperor with Duke by his side, Sarah Kerrigan (the former 2nd in command of the Sons of Korhal) ruled the zerg Swarm as a Queen with Duran by her side.