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"The old Heaven's Devils...we sure raised hell alright."

- Jim Raynor after seeing a picture of his old squad.(src)

The First Squad was the most famous squad within the Special Tactics and Mission Platoon (aka Heaven's Devils), and was itself nicknamed "Heaven's Devils" by the press.[1]

History[]

"Never send an angel for a devil's job"

- Tychus Findlay(src)

The squad came together during the Guild Wars at the Battle of Turaxis II. They were taken from elements of the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion, who had survived the Breakout at Firebase Zulu and were brought to Fort Howe. There they weathered a Kel-Morian attack, but discovered Confederate forces using it as cover to loot the base and steal truck of supplies. Pushed by Sergeant Tychus Findlay, the squad stole one of the trucks for themselves, returning the other.

This caught the attention of Colonel Javier Vanderspool, who suspected the squad was behind stealing the truck but could not prove it. He gathered them together into the First Squad, and inserted his own spy, medic Lisa Cassidy, so he could keep an eye on them.

The squad tested the newest CMC-230 XE and CMC-230 XF armor developed by Hiram Feek, and was assigned under Lieutenant Marcus Quigby. However, an incident where Cassidy put laxatives in his drink caused him to humiliate himself at a testing of the armor, causing him to be dismissed from command. These tests were in preparation for an attack on KIC-36, a Kel-Morian Internment camp.

The squad sent in Private Jim Raynor into the camp to prepare the prisoners, but he was discovered, captured and interogated. Soon the squad attacked the camp, killing its defenders and rallying the prisoners, but found them cut off from evac due to Kel-Morian Hellhound attacks. They were forced to load the POWs into armored personnel carriers, and fight through squads of rippers in order to reach safety. Through the brutal fighting, the Devils were able to pull through and bring the prisoners back to Confederate lines. In the after party celebration, pilot Clair Hobarth gave First Squad the nickname "Heaven's Devils," and the core group got tattoos to celebrate.

The squad would later participate in the Third Battle of Polk's Pride, crossing over into Kel-Morian territory and flanking their position on the river. They were supported by legions of resocialized marines, who were sent into enemy fire wave after wave. First Squad broke through the Kel-Morian armor, though would lose their commander Lieutenant Samantha Sanchez in the fighting. Eventually the Heaven's Devils won the day, and UNN reporter Max Speer took a famous photo of the squad in the aftermath of their victory.

This victory was short lived however, as Ryk Kydd discovered that Vanderspool had intended to rob a train of ardeon crystals, conspiring with Kel-Morian renegades and the Bennet Family of the Old Families in order to do so. He planned to have those of First Platoon that survived the battle resocialized, and installed kill switches in the squad's armor. This was discovered by Feek, who warned the squad, and they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The squad allied with Second Squad and followed Vanderspool to the extraction site, but was attacked by Kel-Morians who had backed out of the deal with Vanderspool. Findlay revealed to Vanderspool he knew the colonel had tried to kill them, and the squad fought both his resocialized forces and those of the Kel-Morians in order to get their revenge. The squad took heavy casualties, but had managed to kill the Kel-Morians and supposedly killed Vanderspool, though of the force sent into the fight only Raynor, Findlay and Kydd had survived the battle. They took the crystals Vanderspool had attempted to steal for themselves, and went AWOL.[1] Kydd would go his separate way, but Raynor and Tychus became notorious outlaws, keeping the name Heaven's Devils for their duo to ensure the memory of their squad lived on.

Vanderspool was still alive however, though crippled, and years later used the last of his wealth to hire bounty hunter Ezekiel Daun to kill the surviving members of First Squad and anyone who associated with them. He was successful at killing all of them, with the exception of Raynor and Findlay. After his attempt to kill them during a bank heist, Daun was incapacitated and taken into custody, though Findlay was arrested in the process. Raynor would go on to hunt down and kill Vanderspool[2]

The squad's reputation as heroes endured long after the end of the Guild Wars.[3] Raynor and Findlay maintained fond memories of their time as members of the old unit and the ex-convict even expressed joy that they're going Heaven's Devils-style when Raynor decided to take out the nydus worm network.[4]

Known Members[]

"We weren't angels, we were the Heaven's Devils. The best of the worst."

- Jim Raynor(src)

Associated Members[]

Notes[]

  • The concept of the Heaven's Devils appears to go back to development of StarCraft, as concept art for Tychus Findlay during this period sported the namesake.[5] However, the concept did not come to fruition until StarCraft II and relevant EU material.[1]
  • The Heaven's Devils reappear as a new group in Co-op Missions as the army for Tychus Findlay, having gathered a new batch of soldiers to form a new group of outlaws. However, as Tychus died at the end of Wings of Liberty, this is described as a "what if" scenario and strictly not canon.[6]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dietz, William C. (April 6, 2010). StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1416-55084-6.
  2. Golden, Christie (April 12, 2011). StarCraft II: Devils' Due. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1416-55085-3.
  3. 2010-09-10, Galaxy Archives - StarCraft II: Heaven’s Devils. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2010-09-24
  4. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Belly of the Beast (in English). 2010-07-27.
  5. 2011-06-08, Blizzard Museum. StarCraft Legacy, accessed on 2011-06-13
  6. 2018-08-20, Co-op Commander Preview: Tychus. Youtbe.com, accessed on 2018-08-20
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