The Dominion Armed Forces[1] (DAF),[2] also known as the Dominion military, is the military arm of the Terran Dominion. It is administered by the Department of the Military.[2]
History
Early Actions
The basis of the Dominion military were the Sons of Korhal. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk reinforced them by forcefully conscripting the remaining warriors of the defunct Terran Confederacy, then used them to fortify the various worlds under his care.[3]
General Edmund Duke
General Edmund Duke was sent to Char to flush out the zerg there.[4][5] He also engaged the protoss.[6]
The armed forces fought a number of small actions prior to the Brood War such as hunting down Schezar's Scavengers[7] and fighting zerg and protoss forces on the planet of Bhekar Ro.[8]
The Brood War
- Main article: Brood War
The Dominion's defenses guarding the Uraj crystal on Braxis were overcome by a protoss army assisted by Sarah Kerrigan.[9]
Boralis was assaulted by a United Earth Directorate strike force. Although the city was well defended, the command center was destroyed after Lieutenant Samir Duran of the Confederate Resistance Forces showed them an alternate route that led to the rear of Boralis.[10]
Dominion forces defending the Dylarian shipyards failed to prevent UED soldiers from commandeering the bulk of the Dominion's battlecruisers. Duke led a fleet against them, but was defeated by the their newly acquired fleet.[11] Duke withdrew his forces from the quadrant[12] and the remaining defenders of Dylar IV were conscripted by the UED.[13]
When Korhal came under assault,[14] Dominion forces unsuccessfully attempted to defend Augustgrad from the UED.[15]
After the UED forces occupying Augustgrad were overwhelmed by Kerrigan's zerg, Mengsk sent Duke to establish his base of operations in Augustgrad.[16] The next morning, the base was attacked by multitudes of zerg while most were asleep and unaware. The base was destroyed and Duke was killed.[17]
Mengsk scraped together a new fleet[18] and attacked Kerrigan's base of operations on Char Aleph alongside the remainder of the UED fleet and a protoss armada. Facing imminent defeat, Mengsk withdrew early in the battle[19] and retreated to Korhal.[20]
Interbellum
- A pro-enlistment slogan(src)
The Dominion's forces under Arcturus Mengsk
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.[21]
Over the next four years, Dominion forces constantly hunted and harried Raynor's Raiders, denying them any chance to gain a respite and build their strength.[22] Shiloh came under noticeably increased surveillance by Dominion military forces. It was unclear whether they were trying to flush out potential seditionists like Jim Raynor or presenting a show of force to discourage any imitators.[23]
In 2502,[24] the Dominion Armed Forces attempted to secure a xel'naga temple on the world of Artika, but this brought it into open warfare with both the protoss and the zerg and in the end, it lost the battle to the protoss.[25]
Several outposts were established in the Sara system.[26] The Dominion military also came into conflict with the zerg on Mar Sara, attempting to clean up the infestation.[27]
The world of Dead Man's Rock lies outside Dominion space, but the Dominion did have interests there. In 2503,[24] a small Dominion fleet dispatched by Valerian Mengsk to acquire an escaped prisoner reached the planet, only to be destroyed by a massive zerg invasion. In the wake of the attack, Valerian Mengsk dispatched a secret task force to Aiur, where he and his allies had correctly predicted the prisoner would travel to, only to get into a battle against the zerg and eventually the powerful dark archon Ulrezaj.[28] The Dominion followed the combatants to the protoss sanctuary world of Ehlna, attacking with their new technology-advanced vehicles and initially defeating them, stealing a trove of protoss knowledge. However, protoss reinforcements arrived, and the Dominion retreated rather than lose their expensive machines.[29]
Dominion marines stationed on Agria engaged a heavily armed group of pirates to protect its valuable hi-tech scientific equipment, carelessly slaughtering colonists who were caught in the crossfire.[30]
As of four years after the Brood War, the Dominion Armed Forces have been rebuilt.[31] The armed forces now have a better understanding of how to combat the zerg[32] and have replaced much of its arsenal used during Brood War and before that. However, resources are stretched thin, leaving some areas poorly guarded.[28] The Dominion's New Recruit Processing and Acclimation Center is aggressively recruiting new soldiers into the Dominion Armed Forces.[33] Dominion forces returned to Braxis and rebuilt its fortifications. Serving on Braxis was seen as an ill omen among Dominion military ranks.[34]
For months, Dominion engineers excavated a xel'naga artifact at White Rock Base. Dominion troops forcibly shipped citizens there from Backwater Station to dig it up.[35] Dominion forces set up a logistics headquarters in Backwater Station, which become the hub for all operations on Mar Sara. Not long after troops were pulled out of the city, the understrength defenders were defeated by Raynor and the locals. Dominion forces subsequently struggled to maintain control in mines and settlements across Mar Sara.[36] They attacked a rebel base south of the dig site, but were thwarted by the intervention of Raynor's marines, who proceeded to destroy White Rock Base before the artifact could be moved off-world.[35]
Return of the Swarm
A Dominion military research facility came under attack by the zerg as part of a larger invasion.[37] The Dominion military abandoned the fringe worlds,[38][39] including Agria.[40]
General Horace Warfield
Retired General Horace Warfield was reactivated to take command of the Dominion military. He began 'Operation Burnout' to clear the Sara system[41] while the core worlds were fortified.[42]
After enlistment rates rose within the penal system, the Dominion Marine Corps was ready to start pushing the zerg back.[43]
The Second Fleet regrouped at the Dylarian shipyards following Kerrigan's attack on Tyrador VIII.[44]
When the Dominion salvage operation on Tarsonis came under attack by Raynor's Raiders, escorts were sent to protect the supply trains, Raynor's base was attacked and a series of bunkers were constructed to protect the tracks which were patrolled by large groups of marauders. However, they failed to keep Raynor's Raiders from retrieving Adjutant 23-46.[45] Meanwhile, the First and Second Fleets combined to defend the core worlds.[46]
The Odin was commandeered by Tychus Findlay in the testing facility on Valhalla. Communication with Korhal was blocked long enough for all Dominion bases in the area to be taken out by Raynor's Raiders.[47]
The Dominion unveiled the Odin at the UNN Studios and were confused when it fired on the studio guards. Warfield sent strike teams Alpha, Bravo and Charlie after Raynor's Raiders, but they were unable to prevent them from broadcasting proof that Mengsk authorized the use of psi emitters on Tarsonis.[48]
When top Dominion military analysts reported that the main zerg push into Dominion space had slowed, Warfield was credited with a successful zerg strategy.[49]
Dominion armed forces in action on Char
Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk led Warfield and half the Dominion Fleet to Char. They were caught off guard by a zerg spoiler attack[50] and the few battle-groups that made it to the surface scattered all over the place. However, they were able to secure a landing zone when Raynor rallied the survivors. Warfield's ship took terrible, terrible damage and crashed,[51] but he too was rescued.[52]
The xel'naga artifact was assembled[53] and the engineer corps moved it to the base of Kerrigan's primary hive cluster. Raynor and Warfield entrenched the last of their defenses all around it. They held off the zerg long enough for the artifact to charge up[54] and make Kerrigan human again.[55]
Dominion forces attack Research Station EB-103
For the next three weeks, Mengsk's forces carried out a relentless hunt for Kerrigan.[56] Nova Terra led a raid on Research Station EB-103.[57] Dominion insertion teams were held off by Umojan Protectorate marines while the facility was evacuated. Nova's forces captured the security hub and put the facility on lockdown. The Archangel was deployed in the shuttle bay. It was destroyed by Kerrigan, but Nova managed to capture Raynor.[58]
The Dominion Fleet attacked the Hyperion above Phaeton, refusing to cease fire even when Captain Matt Horner told them that Valerian was aboard, as Mengsk was willing to sacrifice anything to kill Kerrigan.[59] A Dominion ground team set up a Drakken pulse cannon on the surface with orders to eliminate any stragglers as they warped in. They found Kerrigan in a zerg hive cluster, but she held them off until Broodmother Naktul arrived. The cannon was destroyed by Kerrigan and Naktul's brood, at which point the Dominion troops fled to their ships.[60]
When Broodmother Zagara attempted to bring her brood through the Bone Trench, Warfield brought in a Gorgon which strafed them repeatedly. However, Warfield's forces retreated when Kerrigan brought down the Gorgons by awakening scourge nests.[61] When Warfield's compound on the Dauntless Plateau came under assault, he activated his nuclear arsenal. Kerrigan survived the blast and proceeded to destroy the fortress.[62] Although Kerrigan killed Warfield, he convinced her to let three shuttles packed with wounded men go.[63]
When the Moros was boarded by Kerrigan, the soldiers aboard attempted unsuccessfully to keep her from rescuing Raynor, including attempting to destroy the coupling to jettison the prison deck. After Mengsk set the ship to self-destruct, a number of them were seen trying to shoot their way through a security gate to avoid the zerg, albeit in vain.[64]
At Skygeirr Station, the garrisons on the platorm were infested and the Dominion responded by venting gas onto the platform to kill the infested terrans. They then attacked the virophages. Once their gas reserves ran out, it required time to synthesize more gas and they came under renewed attack by the zerg. The entrance to the facility was breached[65] and Dominion forces inside failed to prevent Kerrigan from destroying the laboratory.[66]
With zerg leviathans assembling above Korhal, Dominion fleets converged on the planet and troops arrived from all over the sector, but they were held off by a blockade of leviathans under Broodmother Kilysa.[67][68] On the surface, Mengsk sent the Sons of Korhal and the Night Wolves to eliminate Kerrigan, but they were unsuccessful. The zerg also destroyed the city gates, allowing the swarm to flood into the city. The Drakken defense network was destroyed by bile launchers and Dominion forces were driven into Augustgrad.[69]
The Dominion deployed a Psi Destroyer and launched a diversionary assault. However, it was destroyed by Kerrigan and Dehaka while the zerg under Zagara pushed the Dominion into the Imperial sector.[70]
When Raynor's Raiders intervened, Mengsk sent Sky Fury Squadron, Alpha Squadron and the Odin to destroy the Hyperion, but they were unsuccessful. The Dominion's elite attempted to defend Mengsk's palace from the zerg and Raynor's Raiders, but they failed to keep Kerrigan from breaching the palace gates[71] and killing Mengsk.[72]
Reforms
After the conflict, Valerian Mengsk assumed the throne as emperor of the Dominion. He made a series of reforms to the military.[73]
The Wrath of Amon
When the fallen xel'naga Amon returned to the material universe, he sent his hybrid and their terran thralls, Moebius Corps to retrieve the Keystone and destroy Korhal. The Dominion Armed Forces opposed them in orbit commanded by Jim Raynor, but Moebius Corps disabled the atmospheric generators on the platform Sky Shield and sent it plummeting towards Augustgrad. However, the Daelaam under Hierarch Artanis arrived to aid the Dominion Armed Forces, and the two took back the platform before it impacted Korhal.[74]
Remaining Dominion armed forces in the aftermath of Amon's assault on Korhal
During the chaos, a Moebius Corps team moved into the palace and retrieved the Keystone, taking it to Bennet Port. The Dominion Armed Forced under Raynor and Valerian Mengsk pushed into the port with the aid of the Daelaam, pushing Moebius Corps and their hybrid masters off Korhal and retrieving the Keystone for the protoss.[75] However, the assault had cost the Dominion a tremendous loss of life, and Valerian, Raynor and Horner buried their dead and began rebuilding.[76]
Later in the war, the corrupted Golden Armada began engaging the Dominion Fleet, pushing them back at every turn.[77] Salvation came when the Daelaam attacked Aiur, forcing the Golden Armada to disengage from the Dominion.[78]
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This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.
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During the war, a Terran Dominion base on Char under the command of Sergeant Bama Kowalski came under attack by Amon's forces. Void thrashers were summoned to besiege her fortress, but allied commanders interviened and destroyed the thrashers before her fortress could be destroyed.[79]
Amon's forces planted void shards on Korhal outside of Korhal Palace, and attempted to activate them and destroy Korhal. Corporal Faraday of the Korhal Defense Force contacted allied commanders, who fought through Amon's forces and the Kimeran Pirates raiding the city, destroying the shards and preventing Augustgrad's destruction.[80]
Into the Void
The Dominion armed forces entering the Void with the Zerg and the Daelaam
After Amon's defeat, Jim Raynor took a Dominion fleet into the Void in an attempt to defeat Amon once and for all. The force pushed with the Daelaam and Zerg Swarm, and fought through shadows of the Void in order to reach Emil Narud, who was imprisoning benevolent being calling to them. The force slew Narud, and the being revealed itself to be a xel'naga, who wanted to continue the Infinite Cycle by transferring its essence into Kerrigan.[81] The Dominion Armed Forces organized the defense of Kerrigan alongside Zagara and Artanis, and held off void thrashers and void entities long enough for her to ascend into a xel'naga.[82] The Dominion aided in the final assault on Amon, destroying his void crystals and allowing Kerrigan to finish him off.[83]
In the two years following their victory, the Terran Dominion entered a golden age, and the Dominion Armed Forces expressed full support of Valerian's regime.[84] However, rebuilding was difficult, and the Dominion had to deal with a large number of veterans of the armed forces physically and psychologically scarred by the wars of the past decade.[85]
Enemy Within
- Nova Terra(src)
Years after the End War, a schism began in the Dominion Armed Forces. General Carolina Davis, unsatisfied with the rule of Valerian Mengsk, gathered an opposition group known as the Defenders of Man with the purpose of weakening Valerian's rule. They gathered forces from the Dominion Armed Forces, including their Ghost Program, and made use of Agent Nova Terra to plant psi emitters on Antiga Prime, luring feral zerg to the planet. Nova and Stone discovered the plan, but far too late, and were mindwiped. [86]
Soon a stream of feral zerg began attacking Dominion worlds, with the Dominion being too slow to respond. In each scenario, the Defenders of Man would come in and evacuate the planet, defeating the zerg and weakening the people's trust in the Dominion Armed Forces. To top it off, the Dominion's top ghost agents began to vanish, with investigations showing they were located in Defenders of Man facilities. Much of this leaked to the media.[87]
Later, with her memory wiped, Nova Terra and her team of Dominion ghosts broke out of a Defenders of Man base on Sharpsburg,[88] and rendezvoused with Admiral Matt Horner on Borea. Soon after the Dominion Forces were besieged by a large wave of feral zerg, but held out until a Defender of Man force engaged the zerg. The Dominion slipped away in the chaos.[89] Later, Nova and her Covert Ops Crew moved on Tarsonis, and infiltrated a Defenders of Man base. They discovered the Defenders' plan to use psi emitters on Tyrador IX to weaken the people's faith in the Emperor.[90]
Soon the Defenders of Man released psi emitters on Tyrador IX, overwhelming the Dominion forces there and causing high casualties among the civilian population. Nova and her covert ops crew arrived, but too late to stop the emitter. Soon the Defenders of Man fleet arrived to evacuate the civilians, and Nova's forces began to ward away the zerg on the surface. However, soon the Tal'darim Death Fleet under First Ascendant Ji'nara arrived, stating they were sent to destroy the Defenders of Man. However, the Defenders were evacuating a large number of civilians who would be killed in the attack, so Nova and her forces destroyed the Tal'darim mothership of Ji'nara, stopping their assault.[91]
Later, aboard the Griffin, Nova met with Highlord Alarak of the Tal'darim. He made an offer to show her where terrazine was, which would undo her mindwipes, in exchange for the location of the Defenders.[92] Nova agreed, and Alarak lead her and her forces to Jarban Minor. The Dominion forces fought through infested terrans, and allied with Umojan Protectorate miners, allowing them to harvest terrazine from the Jarban gliders before Ji'nara could destroy them all.[93]
Nova used the terrazine in microdoses to recover her memories, and was lead to Antiga Prime. There, her forces fought through the zerg remnants in New Andasar while she discovered the truth behind her involvement with the Defenders, and their leader, General Carolina Davis.[86] Her forces evacuated the surface, and reported to Valerian, who came up with a ploy to avoid bloodshed, announcing to Davis that he would step down as Emperor of the Dominion.[94]
However, Valerian had a plan, and sought to use his "resignation" speech on Vardona as a distraction as Nova infiltrated Davis's compound through the sewers.[95] Along the way she discovered the ghosts loyal to the Defenders were mind wiped, and she found her old squadmates Pierce and Delta locked in holding pens with their memories of her wiped. After disabling the security locked, Nova entered Davis's core chambers, and encountered Stone. She was forced to fight her old squadmate, but refused to kill him, instead incapacitating him and sending for an evacuation team. Nova then entered Davis's chambers and captured her.[96]
The Dominion Armed Forces in action against the Death Fleet
Davis was dragged out before Valerian, where he announced the truth behind the Defenders of Man organizing the attacks on the Terran Dominion, and stated that Davis would undergo a trial at a later date. However, the Tal'darim Death Fleet, seeking revenge on the Defenders of Man, then struck Vardona, killing Dominion soldiers, Defenders of Man and civilians alike. Alarak contacted Nova, saying their bargain was fulfilled, but Nova refused to allow him to kill civilians.[97]
The Dominion ground forces, Nova's Covert Ops Crew, and the Defenders of Man unaware of Davis's agenda mounted a defense against the Tal'darim, and pushed back their attack forces that advanced down the streets of the city. Admiral Matt Horner called in the Dominion Fleet, and Gorgon-class battlecruisers strafed the attack lanes of the Tal'darim as they advanced. Though Ji'nara attempted to use their motherships to break the terran lines, it was to no avail, and the Tal'darim were forced to retreat after suffering heavy casulties. However, in the chaos, General Davis escaped aboard the Medusa.[98]
Nova tracked Davis to the Cerros Shipyards, and was given strict orders to take in Davis alive so she could stand trial.[99] Davis and her last loyal Defenders activated the Xanthos, an experimental Dominion war machine, and sought to use it to destroy the Grogons in the shipyard while they were in drydock. Without his fleet, Valerian could not properly govern the Dominion. Nova's forces were able to disable the weapons on the Xanthos, while Admiral Matt Horner moved forces around the Gorgons and used the Hyperion to attempted to push through the Defenders' lines. Nova and Horner fought their way to the Xanthos, which attempted to use one final transformation mode to defend itself. However, in spite of that and the remainder of the Defenders of Man rallying to defend the machine, it was destroyed. Davis was still alive inside however, and Nova infiltrated the machine, and against her orders killed General Davis.[100]
With the Defenders of Man defeated and Davis dead, popular opinion turned back to Valerian, who released the evidence of the Defenders of Man's conspiracy against him. Meanwhile, Nova and her crew were now fugitives from the Dominion, but sought to protect them in their own way. As such, Nova and her Covert Ops Crew abandoned the Dominion Armed Forces, and sped off into the sector.[101]
The One-Day War
In 2512, the Dominion Armed Forces were deployed to Gystt under Colonel Abram Cruikshank and Admiral Matt Horner to accompany Emperor Valerian Mengsk to peace talks with Overqueen Zagara of the Zerg Swarm and Hierarch Artanis of the Daelaam. The Dominion sent a small survey team to investigate if Zagara's claims of peace were true. Soon however they encountered zerg attacks, and came face to face with a strange new zerg breed named the chitha. As they investigated, they discovered a similar zerg located in a large floral structure, and destroyed them. This angered Zagara, as the creatures there were a mix of zerg and xel'naga named the adostra. The Dominion Armed Forces under Cruikshank were deployed to defend one of the last two nests of adostra, but failed when the zerg overran them and the Daelaam forces there. The Dominion Fleet in orbit deployed a psi emitter to pull the zerg away from the last hive, but were forces to launch a nuclear missile at it when they were unable to deactivate it.
Cruikshank took his forces in a defensive line to ward away the straggling zerg attackers from the final nest, and were successful in holding the line with the aid of Daelaam forces. The survey team arrived at the nest and defended it from the remaining zerg, and uncovered that it was the zerg evolution master Abathur behind the chitha and the attacks. The survey team was sent into Zagara's Leviathan, with a fake C-10 rifle actually being a transmitter that could pierce the communications blackout of the chitha. They discovered Abathur's true plan to destroy the adostra and start a war between the three factions, and thanks to the team's ghost Tanya Caulfield were able to incapacitate Abathur and kill chitha aboard the leviathan. With the One-Day War resolved, the Dominion, Daelaam and Zerg Swarm could truly begin peace talks.[85]
Branches
Female Dominion officer
Male Dominion officer
Command
Air/Space Units
Ground Units
Elite Units
Special Forces
- Annihilators
- Cerberus Program
- Covert Ops Crew
- Ghost Program
- Prometheus Company
- Zerg Compliance Ground-Force Unit
Intelligence/Espionage
Squadrons
Other
- Dominion Engineering Corps (formerly; was a division of the Kel-Morian Combine)
- Dominion Science Corps/Jenson's Raiders
- Executioner's Guild
- Korhal Defense Force
- Raynor's Raiders (post-Second Great War)
- Reserves[85]
- Special Research Operations
- SEC
References
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