(StarCraft: Uprising by Micky Neilson)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
2478
Arcturus Mengsk graduates from the Styrling Academy and joins the Confederate Marine Corps against the wishes of his parents.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
2485
In response to the Confederacy’s underhanded appropriation of resources, the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild join forces to create the Kel-Morian Combine. Their goal is to protect their lucrative mining operations and provide military aid to any mining guild oppressed by the Confederacy. Rising tensions between the Combine and the Confederacy lead to the outbreak of open warfare. This conflict comes to be known as the Guild Wars.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
2488–2489
Jim Raynor joins the Confederate Marine Corps and meets Tychus Findlay. In the later battles between the Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine, the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion (whose membership includes Raynor and Findlay) comes to prominence for its expertise and bravado, earning it the nickname “Heaven’s Devils.”
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
Jim Raynor meets fellow Confederate soldier Cole Hickson in a Kel-Morian prison camp. During this encounter, Hickson teaches Raynor how to resist and survive the Kel-Morians’ brutal torture methods.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
(StarCraft monthly comic #6 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
Toward the end of the Guild Wars, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay go AWOL from the Confederate military.
Arcturus Mengsk resigns from the Confederate military after achieving the rank of colonel. He then becomes a successful prospector in the galactic rim.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
After nearly four years of war, the Confederacy “negotiates” peace with the Kel-Morian Combine, annexing almost all of the Combine’s supporting mining guilds. Despite this massive setback, the Kel-Morian Combine is allowed to continue its existence and retain its autonomy.
Arcturus Mengsk’s father, Confederate senator Angus Mengsk, declares the independence of Korhal IV, a core world of the Confederacy that has long been at odds with the government. In response, three Confederate ghosts—covert terran operatives possessing superhuman psionic powers enhanced by cutting-edge technology—assassinate Angus, his wife, and their young daughter. Furious at the murder of his family, Arcturus takes command of the rebellion in Korhal and wages a guerilla war against the Confederacy.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
2491
As a warning to other would-be separatists, the Confederacy unleashes a nuclear holocaust on Korhal IV, killing millions. In retaliation, Arcturus Mengsk names his rebel group the Sons of Korhal and intensifies his struggle against the Confederacy. During this time Arcturus liberates a Confederate ghost named Sarah Kerrigan, who later becomes his second-in-command.
(StarCraft: Uprising by Micky Neilson)
2495
Jim Raynor ends his outlaw years when his partner in crime, Tychus Findlay, is apprehended by authorities. Raynor starts a new life as a Confederate marshal on the planet Mar Sara.
2499–2500
Two alien threats appear in the Koprulu sector: the ruthless, highly adaptable zerg and the enigmatic protoss. In a seemingly unprovoked attack, the protoss incinerate the terran planet Chau Sara, drawing the ire of the Confederacy. Unbeknownst to most terrans, Chau Sara had become infested by the zerg, and the protoss carried out their attack in order to destroy the infestation. Other worlds, including the nearby planet Mar Sara, are also found to be infested by the zerg.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of the Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
On Mar Sara, the Confederacy imprisons Jim Raynor for destroying Backwater Station, a zerg-infested terran outpost. He is liberated soon after by Mengsk’s rebel group, the Sons of Korhal.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
A Confederate marine named Ardo Melnikov finds himself embroiled in the conflict on Mar Sara. He suffers from painful memories of his former life on the planet Bountiful, but he soon discovers that there is a darker truth to his past.
(StarCraft: Speed of Darkness by Tracy Hickman)
Mar Sara suffers the same fate as Chau Sara and is incinerated by the protoss. Jim Raynor, Arcturus Mengsk, the Sons of Korhal, and some of the planet’s residents manage to escape the destruction.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
Feeling betrayed by the Confederacy, Jim Raynor joins the Sons of Korhal and meets Sarah Kerrigan. A Universal News Network (UNN) reporter, Michael Liberty, accompanies the rebel group to report on the chaos and counteract Confederate propaganda.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
A Confederate politician named Tamsen Cauley tasks the War Pigs—a covert military unit created to take on the Confederacy’s dirtiest jobs—to assassinate Arcturus Mengsk. The attempt on Mengsk’s life fails.
(StarCraft monthly comic #1 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
November “Nova” Terra, a daughter of one of the Confederacy’s powerful Old Families on Tarsonis, unleashes her latent psionic abilities after she telepathically feels her parents and brother being murdered. Once her terrifying power becomes known, the Confederacy hunts her down, intending to take advantage of her talents.
(StarCraft: Ghost: Nova by Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Arcturus Mengsk deploys a devastating weapon—the psi emitter—on the Confederate capital of Tarsonis. The device sends out amplified psionic signals and draws large numbers of zerg to the planet. Tarsonis falls soon after, and the loss of the capital proves to be a deathblow to the Confederacy.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
Arcturus Mengsk betrays Sarah Kerrigan and abandons her on Tarsonis as it is being overrun by zerg. Jim Raynor, who had developed a deep bond with Kerrigan, defects from the Sons of Korhal in fury and forms a rebel group that will come to be known as Raynor’s Raiders. He soon discovers Kerrigan’s true fate: instead of being killed by the zerg, she is transformed into a powerful being known as the Queen of Blades.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Michael Liberty leaves the Sons of Korhal along with Raynor after witnessing Mengsk’s ruthlessness. Unwilling to become a propaganda tool, the reporter begins transmitting rogue news broadcasts that expose Mengsk’s oppressive tactics.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Arcturus Mengsk declares himself emperor of the Terran Dominion, a new government that takes power over many of the terran planets in the Koprulu sector.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Dominion senator Corbin Phash discovers that his young son, Colin, can attract hordes of deadly zerg with his psionic abilities— a talent that the Dominion sees as a useful weapon.