StarCraft Episode I: Rebel Yell is the opening campaign of StarCraft. It begins in early December, 2499, and ends in mid-February, 2500. Its timeframe extends from the outbreak of the Great War, from the protoss glassing of Chau Sara, and extends to the fall of the Terran Confederacy on Tarsonis. In this campaign, the player takes the role of Mar Sara's magistrate.
Opening[]
A recovery vessel crewed by Jem, Joeyray, and other salvagers explored wrecked terran vessels near Chau Sara. They commented that some of the wreckage appeared alien in origin. Their conversation was cut off by the arrival of a protoss ship, which quickly destroyed them.[1]
The Infestation of Mar Sara[]
The alien fleet that 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 fleet simply withdrew.[2]
Boot Camp and Officer Training[]
On December 12, 2499, in the midst of the crisis that befell Chau Sara, a new colonial magistrate was named for the nearby world Mar Sara, which had fallen under attack by another intelligent alien species, different from the ones who had attacked Chau Sara. The Magistrate was to safeguard the colonists and keep their state of panic from escalating any further.[3] The magistrate carried out an exercise on a space platform over Mar Sara. Marines of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia discovered and killed zerglings while patrolling.[4]
On the surface of Mar Sara, militia forces successfully engaged Sons of Korhal forces. They received an urgent summons to a nearby undefended command center that was under attack by a small Sons of Korhal force; the colonial marines won this encounter, and also fended off a small force of rebels who arrived via dropship.[5] The magistrate then trained a force of marines and firebats and had them attack a nearby Sons of Korhal base, destroying it.[6]
Wasteland[]
The magistrate received orders from Edmund Duke, commander of Alpha Squadron, to relocate the core colonists to the wastelands outlying the Mar Sara Colony. This decision was very unpopular with the colonists. Marshal Jim Raynor met a small group of these colonists and escorted them to the new wasteland site. Along the way, Raynor and the colonists' marine escorts fought off zergling ambushes.[7]
Backwater Station[]
After the relocation, the magistrate received news that Backwater Station was under attack from the zerg. Confederate headquarters on Tarsonis was alerted. Duke told the Magistrate not to interfere, stating he would take care of it. Raynor was unconvinced Duke would arrive in time and volunteered to lead local militia forces in a successful action to rescue the station.[8] In the process of doing so colonial forces destroyed an infested command center. As a result, Raynor and his troops were arrested on the pretext of "destroying a vital Confederate installation."[9]
Wasteland Patrol[]
A pair of Confederate soldiers in a jeep ran over a zergling. The sergeant explained that zerglings aren't found apart from other zerg unless... only to get interrupted when other zerg unburrowed and attacked. The lower-ranking soldier exclaimed his love for the sergeant.[10]
Desperate Alliance[]
Duke had no patience for the magistrate's protests over his treatment of Raynor or his tactics. The magistrate's adjutant prepared a report on Confederate tactics for the Magistrate, which read as follows: "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."[11]
Arcturus Mengsk, leader of the Sons of Korhal, made the magistrate an offer; he would send down a number of transports to Mar Sara and evacuate any survivors. Left with little choice, the magistrate accepted Mengsk's help. He fended off the zerg long enough for Sons of Korhal dropships to rescue the colonists. The line was successfully held, and the colonists were evacuated.[12]
The Jacobs Installation[]
The magistrate's tenure was suspended, pending an official investigation with his affiliation with the Sons of Korhal. With Mar Sara almost completely overrun by the zerg, both the Confederates and the Sons of Korhal were planning to evacuate the planet.
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, the Jacobs Installation, was operated by Alpha Squadron. Raynor led the Sons of Korhal team inside where they stole an encrypted disk containing critical data. During the mission, Raynor encountered zerg confined within a holding pen. Raynor was very surprised, but Mengsk said this was not the first time he had witnessed the Confederacy experimenting with zerg.[13]
The interior of the base was difficult to navigate. In order to get to the sensitive areas, the Sons of Korhal team had to use transporter pads to move around.
Eventually, they made it to the main computer, which was defended by a large number of troops, including a ghost. However, with Raynor's assistance, the "terrorists" won the firefight and retrieved a number of data disks. Raynor asked for transports to await them for when they left the installation.[14]
Antiga Prime[]
Revolution[]
In the chaos of the zerg invasion of Mar Sara, the Sons of Korhal escaped with the data disks. They traveled to a secret staging area on the second moon of Antiga Prime. Thirteen hours after the Sons of Korhal left Mar Sara, protoss warships took up orbit around it and unleashed a massive planetary bombardment, extinguishing all life.
At the staging area on the second moon of Antiga Prime, Raynor spoke to the former magistrate, who had been named a commander in the Sons of Korhal. Raynor said that headquarters had begun analyzing the data on the disks retrieved from the Jacobs Installation.
Mengsk and his second in command, Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, reported, but were not present in the same location as Raynor and the Commander. Mengsk believed the efforts of the Sons of Korhal had weakened the Confederacy's grip on the Fringe Worlds. Kerrigan said that on Antiga Prime, the colonists were ready to rebel against the Confederacy. However, the Confederacy had become aware of this and had stationed a large detachment of Alpha Squadron troops there. Kerrigan was sent to the surface first, as a scout, and would deal with Duke's officers.
As Raynor traveled towards his objective, he met up with Kerrigan. A telepath, Kerrigan could read his thoughts, calling him a pig.[15]
Getting down to business, Kerrigan led Raynor to the Antiga Prime Colony. It was surrounded by Alpha Squadron troops, and worse, was overseen by a Confederate officer within its command center. The Sons of Korhal fought their way past the Confederates, and Kerrigan slipped into the command center, assassinated the Confederate officer, and turned the base over to the Antigans. With the assistance of the Antigans, Raynor and Kerrigan cleared the area around the Antigan base of Confederate forces.
Unfortunately, the main Alpha Squadron base was across a large body of water, and they were planning an attack. The rebels used Wraith space fighters and dropships in order to launch their own attack. The rebels got the drop on the Confederates, defeating them in battle.[16]
The Downing of Norad II[]
Duke's flagship, the Norad II, was badly damaged by zerg scourge and other zerg minions, who had arrived at the planet for unknown reasons.[17]
Norad II[]
The flagship crashed inside a small crater that the zerg had completely surrounded and colonized. Duke made an uncoded priority one distress call, asking for immediate backup. Raynor was quite happy with this turn of events.
However, Mengsk told Raynor to rescue Duke, a decidedly unpopular idea among Raynor and Kerrigan. Mengsk said 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 disagreed, but Mengsk's decision still stood, so they reluctantly did as they were told.
The derelict ship was surrounded, preventing Alpha Squadron from rescuing their general. They accepted the offer of help from the Sons of Korhal and teamed up in order to fight their way past the zerg.
The Sons of Korhal reached the ship and spoke to Duke. Raynor insulted Duke, but Mengsk intervened. He told Duke that the Confederacy was falling apart due to internal revolts and attacks from the zerg, and he offered to let Duke join the Sons of Korhal. Duke refused, saying he was a general, but Mengsk retorted that he had no army and that he would be given a position in Mengsk's cabinet. Duke accepted the deal.[18]
The Trump Card[]
The Sons of Korhal decrypted the data disk – it contained the designs for a psi emitter. This device could amplify the psionic energy produced by a psychic terran (e.g. a ghost operative such as Kerrigan) and attract the zerg to it. Mengsk suspected that the Confederates had planned to use the zerg to secretly eliminate their rivals.
With the Confederacy having discovered the Sons of Korhal base, a large Delta Squadron strike force was sent to blockade the planet. Mengsk resorted to trickery, ordering Sarah Kerrigan to infiltrate the Confederate base camp and plant an emitter, even though she didn't think anyone deserved to have the zerg unleashed on them.[19] The zerg descended upon the unsuspecting Confederate forces and annihilated them, allowing the Sons of Korhal to escape.
As they had with Chau Sara and Mar Sara, the protoss fleet then arrived and incinerated the planet.[20]
Biting the Bullet[]
A disabled mission on the StarCraft game CD occurred after these events, in which Raynor and Duke rescued the colonists from a force of zerg and received assistance from Tassadar.
The Sons of Korhal evacuated in time, and the protoss arrived to destroy the infestation (along with all other life on the surface of the planet).
Downfall of the Confederacy[]
The Big Push[]
Within the Tarsonis system, Mengsk called a meeting to order aboard his command ship, the Hyperion. The time for the final strike on the Confederates was close at hand, but Tarsonis, the capital world, was heavily defended.
Duke said that he had defended Tarsonis in over thirty major battles, and therefore knew its defenses inside and out. There were three major orbital platforms that served as staging areas for the Confederate fleet. By striking the central platform, they could allow a small force to slip through to Tarsonis itself. This plan impressed even Raynor, who never imagined Duke as the "frontal assault type". The platforms were defended by Delta Squadron and Omega Squadron, which Duke claimed were no match for Alpha Squadron. Duke defeated the forces defending the platform.[21] Duke announced that he had planted a psi emitter, which was kept secret until the last minute from Kerrigan and Raynor.[22]
Operation Silent Scream[]
A disabled mission on the StarCraft CD occurred at this time, in which the Sons of Korhal descended to the surface of Tarsonis. At the end, Duke plants the psi emitters. This line was moved to The Big Push.
Open Rebellion[]
Sons of Korhal Wraith Squadron Bravo attacked a Confederate space platform in high orbit over Tarsonis.[23]
New Gettysburg[]
The psi emitters were activated. The zerg were lured to the planet, overran Confederate defenses, and proceeded to lay waste to Tarsonis's major cities and industrial centers. The protoss Koprulu Expeditionary Force arrived in pursuit of the zerg and, in a break from previous tactics, made to attack the primary zerg hive. Mengsk feared protoss interference would allow the Confederates to escape. The rebel leader ordered Kerrigan and a small strike force to New Gettysburg and drive the protoss away from the zerg hives. Raynor had serious misgivings about the mission but could not persuade either Mengsk or Kerrigan to desist.
Kerrigan defeated the protoss but found herself suddenly under attack by overwhelming zerg forces. Instead of dispatching reinforcements to rescue the ghost and her troops, Mengsk abandoned them and ordered the rebel fleet to disengage from Tarsonis. Raynor was outraged by this betrayal and prepared to break with the Sons of Korhal.[24]
The Hammer Falls[]
As the Sons of Korhal left, breaking contact with the ground forces, protoss and zerg forces battled across the core continent of Tarsonis.
An angry Raynor announced that he was leaving the Sons of Korhal, and that the commander should come with him. Mengsk contacted them, claiming that they still had a job to do, and that they'd sown the seeds of a new Empire. Raynor cut him off, however.
Mengsk replied that it was a mistake to cross him, as he had sacrificed too much to let his plans fall apart. "You mean like you sacrificed Kerrigan?" retorted Raynor. Mengsk began 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." (These words would be his undoing four years later[25]) Raynor cut off communication with Mengsk again.
Duke successfully activated the Ion cannon, Tarsonis's primary defensive weapon, situated on a space platform, which prevented any attempt by Raynor to escape Tarsonis. Raynor and his men launched an attack on the Ion cannon, fighting both the Sons of Korhal and Alpha Squadron in the process. Eventually, Raynor's forces reached the Ion cannon and destroyed it, allowing the deserters to escape.[26]
The Inauguration[]
The victorious Sons of Korhal became the Terran Dominion, and Mengsk crowned himself emperor. Korhal became the capital of the Dominion. Mengsk's inauguration speech was broadcast on UNN.[27]
List of Missions[]
References[]
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The next article in this series is StarCraft Episode II. |