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The Battle of Tarsonis was a major ground battle between protoss and zerg forces, the Sons of Korhal and the Terran Confederacy which took place during the Fall of Tarsonis.

Background[]

The Sons of Korhal brought their force to Tarsonis. In order to bring ground troops to the surface of Tarsonis, they first had to secure an orbital platform. General Edmund Duke personally led an assault on one of Tarsonis' three primary platforms, a battle area he was quite familiar with, which would create enough of a "ruckus" to enable a small force to reach the surface.[1]

Battle[]

"This is Mengsk. With the psi emitters, he's bigger than worlds."

- Michael Liberty explains Mengsk's thinking.(src)

The Sons of Korhal invasion penetrated the orbital defenses and reached the ground, surprising the Confederacy. Elite ground forces such as the Annihilators were still conducting unrelated missions on the ground. Confederate General Ledbetter coordinated the Confederate response.[2]

Raynor's Rangers, accompanied by renegade reporter Michael Liberty fought against Confederate forces in Tarsonis City. Sarah Kerrigan arrived on the scene, rescuing them from heavy defenses, but the Confederates jammed their communications with the Hyperion. Liberty proposed using the high-powered communication equipment in the Universe News Network Building. The unit regained contact with the Hyperion, but upon requesting evacuation, they learned that Arcturus Mengsk and General Duke planned to use psi emitters, upsetting Raynor, Kerrigan and Liberty.

The communication had been detected by Confederate forces which rushed to their location, giving Liberty only a little time to scavenge "dirty" records kept by UNN's editor-in-chief Handy Anderson.

The evacuation ship had carried down a ghost with technicians and a psi emitter. Upon bringing the Rangers up, Raynor and Liberty provoked an internal battle within the Sons of Korhal.[3]

ZergTarsonisApproach SCR Game1

The zerg arriving on Tarsonis

Billions of zerg descended upon Tarsonis.[4] Shortly after the Sons of Korhal reached the surface, the zerg reached Tarsonis City itself.[2] The Tarsonis Police Force took action against the zerg.[5] Osborne Port became the flashpoint for evacuation, as it was the only secure shipping point left. The Sons of Korhal rescued some civilians from Tarsonis,[2] such as UNN chief Handy Anderson,[3] and eventually the new organization, the Terran Dominion, would take many to Ursa.[2]

Battle of New Gettysburg[]

The protoss quickly arrived, and Arcturus Mengsk hadn't expected them so soon. He ordered Kerrigan to protect the zerg hive cluster at New Gettysburg from the protoss long enough to prevent the Old Families from escaping.[3] Kerrigan loyally followed her orders[4] but Raynor was upset, not only at the use of psi emitters, but also because Kerrigan was operating without any backup. He proposed a rescue operation, but as he gathered his supporters and moved to a landing bay, Duke personally interrupted, along with a unit of neurally resocialized marines. Duke threatened to have them executed as mutineers. Liberty shot Duke in the shoulder, triggering his marine suit's painkillers, which eventually caused Duke to fall unconscious, then ordered the marines to take Duke to a medical facility.[3]

Meanwhile, Kerrigan had defeated the protoss. The zerg then fell on her position. She asked for evacuation, but Mengsk ordered his fleet to leave orbit, ignoring Raynor's protests.[4] Some of his troops considered these orders unusual, and some were even branded as cowards as a result.[6]

Kerrigan was captured and eventually sealed in a chrysalis for later infestation.[7]

Weapons of mass destruction were deployed on the surface.[8]

Pitched Conflict[]

Protoss, terran and zerg forces continued to fight a pitched three-sided battle across the core continent of Tarsonis.[9] The Confederacy set up containment zones to bottle up the zerg, but these eventually failed.[10] Weapons of mass

Jim Raynor's allied soldiers, along with Liberty, attempted to rescue Kerrigan but didn't make it in time. Instead, they collected stranded soldiers and civilians from all terran factions present and attempted to escape in the former Confederate battlecruiser Thunder Child.[3]

Main article: The Hammer Falls

The Sons of Korhal blocked their path. They had taken control of the Ion cannon, which Raynor's forces had to shut down before they could escape. Raynor was able to cut a path through the Sons of Korhal forces and destroy the weapon, then make their escape.[9]

Mopping Up[]

The zerg guarded their new prize in a small chrysalis in a jungle region of Tarsonis. Protecting it from the remnants of Omega Squadron located there,[11] the zerg moved to the platforms orbiting Tarsonis. There, they confronted the protoss, but defeated them and traveled to Char through warp space.[12]

Notes[]

According to the non-canon hidden map Operation: Silent Scream, a mobile force led by Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor fought in a jungle region of Tarsonis, destroying war factories operated by Nova Squadron, Delta Squadron and Omega Squadron in order to cripple the Confederacy's ability to make war. The Sons received periodic reinforcements from General Edmund Duke. After their victory, the psi emitters were activated.[13]

References[]

  1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Big Push (in English). 1998.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 DeCandido, Keith R. A. (November 28, 2006). StarCraft: Ghost: Nova. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-7434-7134-2.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Grubb, Jeff (February 27, 2001). StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04148-7.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: New Gettysburg (in English). 1998.
  5. Randolph, Grace (w), Seung-hui Kye (p, i). "Last Call." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 3 (paperback binding), pp. 90-131. Tokyopop, July 14, 2009. ISBN 978-1427-80832-5.
  6. Gerrold, David (w), Fernando Heinz Furukawa (p, i). StarCraft: Ghost Academy: Volume 3 (paperback binding). Tokyopop, March 8, 2011. ISBN 978-1427-81614-6.
  7. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Agent of the Swarm (in English). 1998.
  8. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Betrayal. (in English). 2010.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Hammer Falls (in English). 1998.
  10. Gerrold, David (w), Fernando Heinz Furukawa (p, i). StarCraft: Ghost Academy: Volume 2 (paperback binding). Tokyopop, August 10, 2010. ISBN 978-1427-81613-9.
  11. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Among the Ruins (in English). 1998.
  12. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Egression (in English). 1998.
  13. Operation: Silent Scream
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