StarCraft Chronicles Episode 6: Voices Left on Tarsonis

This is a fan narrative rewritten based on the events of the original game. The characters' emotions, dialogues, and scene atmospheres have been reconstructed, and it contains major spoilers.

Shadows Heading to Tarsonis

The fleet of the Sons of Korhal completed its warp jump and quietly emerged on the outer orbit of Tarsonis. The heart of the Terran Confederacy, a massive planet teeming with billions of lives, glowed blue beneath them. In Mengsk's eyes, a long-harbored desire for vengeance and ambition flashed coldly. Every eye of the rebel forces was fixed upon this colossal target.

On the bridge's holographic table, the defensive grid of Tarsonis was projected in red. Mengsk summoned Raynor and Kerrigan, finally revealing his horrific plan to deploy Psi Emitters onto the planet's surface. His voice was chillingly calm as he explained his intent to lure the Zerg Swarm and completely collapse the Confederacy's defenses from within.

Raynor's face instantly hardened, and he slammed his fist onto the table. "Are you out of your mind? There are billions of innocent civilians down there! This isn't war, it's just a flat-out massacre!" His bloodshot eyes burned with rage and contempt toward Mengsk. Their past camaraderie was already shattering into pieces.

Kerrigan, too, crossed her arms, unable to hide her anxiety. As a powerful telepath, the hungry consciousness of the Zerg that the emitters would summon was already faintly seeping into her mind. "Jim is right, Arcturus. This is no different from us becoming the same horrible monsters as the Confederacy."

Mengsk did not even bat an eye at their fierce opposition. "We are making a necessary sacrifice to save the future of humanity. As long as the Confederacy exists, there will be no true peace in this sector." His resolute tone left no room for compromise, and the air on the bridge grew as heavy as ice.

Raynor let out a hollow sigh and shook his head. Witnessing the revolutionary cause he had believed in and followed degenerate into a mere tyrant's cruel tool was a painful agony. He briefly locked eyes with Kerrigan, but knowing better than anyone her position as a soldier who could not disobey orders, his heart sank even deeper.

In the heavy silence, Mengsk declared the start of the operation. "There is no time to be swayed by emotion. Everyone, return to your stations and prepare for the mission immediately." As his order fell, the officers on the bridge began to move mechanically. Raynor clenched his fists and walked out of the briefing room toward the cold metal corridor without looking back.

In the hangar, dropships prepared for ground descent let out low rumbles as their engines warmed up. Kerrigan packed her ghost hostile environment suit and checked her weapons with a heavy heart. Every time her fingertips brushed the cold barrel of her rifle, the horrific vision of the hell soon to unfold on the surface of Tarsonis swirled in her mind, tormenting her.

The Crumbling Heart of the Confederacy

As Psi Emitters were covertly deployed at key strongholds across Tarsonis, the eerie, space-tearing shrieks of the Zerg echoed far beyond the orbit. Countless spore sacs plunging through the atmosphere blackened the capital's sky like a rain of blood. The formidable defensive lines that were once the pride of the Confederacy instantly turned into utter chaos.

Massive flocks of Mutalisks flew acrobatically between skyscrapers, raining down glave wurms. On the ground, thousands of Zerglings scrambled up defensive walls like beasts, brutally tearing Confederate Marines to shreds. The military bases of Tarsonis, once thought to be impregnable fortresses, crumbled miserably in mere minutes before the overwhelming numbers of the Zerg.

Countless citizens driven into the streets screamed in terror as they rushed toward shelters. However, even the pathways to safety were already melting under the acidic spit of Hydralisks. Merciless claws struck down mothers running with babies in their arms and wounded elderly folk, and the once-splendid city instantly degenerated into a bloody slaughterhouse.

Watching the devastation on the ground from the bridge of the orbiting Hyperion, Raynor shut his eyes tight in sheer misery. The death rattles of civilians echoing through the screens felt like a sharp blade carving out his heart. "This is the work of the monsters we were supposed to stop. And we brought them here ourselves..." His voice trembled slightly with rage.

Mengsk stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes glued to the holographic screens. Even as the sacrifice of billions was broadcast in real-time, not a shred of agitation or guilt could be found on his face. Instead, as he watched the iconic buildings of the Confederacy collapse in flames, a faint, cruel smile played upon his lips.

The moment Raynor saw that smile on Mengsk's face, a chill ran down his spine. He realized with bitter clarity that in his quest to overthrow a tyrant, he was placing another—perhaps even more horrific—tyrant onto the throne. He toyed with the grip of the pistol at his waist, suppressing the urge to put a bullet through Mengsk's head right then and there.

Kerrigan's strike force, not yet deployed to the ground, waited in bated breath inside the drop bay. Kerrigan clutched her head at the horrific screams from the surface filtering through her helmet. The terror and agony of millions transmitted through telepathy scraped sharply against her mind, causing a splitting headache.

Though she had spilled much blood in her past as a Confederate assassin, she found the human guilt unbearable in the face of such indiscriminate, colossal slaughter. Yet, she was not abandoned just yet. Waiting only for Mengsk's next order, she gripped her rifle tightly with trembling hands, sensing the harsh fate that awaited her.

Intrusion of the Golden Fleet

Just as the Zerg were about to completely consume Tarsonis, an immense energy signature was detected on the outer orbital radar. The golden fleet of the Protoss, led by Tassadar, tore through space and appeared in a blinding flash. To purify the Zerg infestation, they immediately charged their primary weapons and began pouring overwhelming firepower onto the planet's surface.

Countless Interceptors pouring from the Carriers tore through the Mutalisk flocks, seizing control of the skies. While the Protoss intervention was a miraculous salvation for the Confederacy, it was a fatal obstacle for Mengsk, who sought to choke the life out of the Confederacy using the Zerg. For the first time, Mengsk's face contorted, and he hastily opened a communication channel to call his commanders.

"If the Protoss destroy the Zerg, the Confederacy will survive. Stop them from intervening immediately!" Anxiety seeped into Mengsk's voice. He had to buy time until the Zerg completely wiped out the remaining Confederate defenses. And the only person suited for this seemingly impossible mission was the Ghost agent, Kerrigan.

Receiving the transmission, Kerrigan doubted her own ears and questioned back. "Are you telling me to protect the Zerg? To fight the Protoss for the sake of those monsters who are brutally slaughtering our people?" Her voice was filled with suppressed rage and confusion. This was an order that completely denied the beliefs she had held as a soldier her entire life.

Mengsk crushed her resistance with his characteristically calm yet overbearing tone. "This is the most important mission for humanity, Sarah. If you do not carry out this order, all the sacrifices we have made will be in vain. Trust me." He subtly exploited Kerrigan's sense of debt and loyalty to him, worming his way into her psychological vulnerabilities.

Raynor broke into the comms network and shouted urgently, "Arcturus, this is madness! Cancel the operation right now! Are you planning to push Sarah into that hellhole?" But Mengsk coldly cut off the transmission. Only Raynor's desperate echo lingered briefly on the bridge before fading, while Mengsk stared solely at the red dots on the tactical display.

Kerrigan let out a deep sigh as she felt the communicator in her helmet go silent. Even though she knew Mengsk was treating her like a pawn on a chessboard, she could not break free from the shackles of the past—the fact that he had rescued her from the Confederacy's horrific laboratories. A tragic sense of duty suppressed her reason, and she finally nodded her heavy head.

"I will follow orders." With a short, dry reply, Kerrigan terminated the transmission. She instructed her squad to prepare for descent and opened the dropship's hatch. Tarsonis, stretching out beneath her feet, was like a massive grave stained with fire and blood. Burying her last hesitation as a human deep within her heart, she threw herself into hell.

Operation Ghost Shadow

Landing amidst the ruins of Tarsonis, Kerrigan pulled back the charging handle of her C-10 Canister Rifle, steadying her racing heart with the touch of the cold metal. The surroundings were covered in Zerg creep, emitting a sickening stench, and the distant roars of beasts grated on her nerves. Activating her cloaking device, she led her small elite squad and quietly melted into the darkness.

Passing under a collapsed overpass, her squad deftly avoided the gaze of the Zerg swarms. Their target was not the Zerg, but the Protoss outpost advancing to purify them. Hiding among the debris, Kerrigan tracked the movements of the Protoss commander through her tactical visor. Her breathing grew as cold and regular as ice.

It was the moment a Protoss High Templar reached out toward the Zerg swarm, preparing a powerful Psionic Storm. Kerrigan aligned the crosshairs of her sniper scope precisely with the Templar's head. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, her fingertip trembled slightly. The guilt that pulling this trigger would doom countless civilians to be torn apart by Zerg claws choked her soul.

But she was a trained Ghost agent. Overcoming her momentary hesitation, Kerrigan pulled the trigger, and with a sharp crack, a specialized armor-piercing round sliced through the air. The bullet penetrated the Protoss plasma shield, striking the Templar's vital spot with precision. Having lost their commander, the Protoss forces instantly broke formation and fell into great disarray.

Kerrigan's squad unleashed EMP rounds and concentrated firepower upon the chaotic Protoss. Under the precise and lethal strike, the Protoss defensive line was breached helplessly, and their plan to purify the Zerg was completely thwarted. Looking at the fallen Protoss warriors, Kerrigan felt a deep, bone-chilling remorse instead of the joy of victory.

At the same time, on the bridge of the orbiting Hyperion, Raynor anxiously tracked Kerrigan's vital signs and location data displayed on the tactical monitor. With every Protoss signal that vanished one by one, his heart beat faster. It meant she was completing her mission, but it also meant she would soon be left entirely alone in the midst of the Zerg.

Raynor glared at Mengsk's back and clenched his fists. He felt physically sickened by Mengsk's cruelty, treating even such a dedicated comrade as a disposable pawn for his own ambition. This operation had been a trap designed from the start to require someone's sacrifice. And the fact that the sacrificial lamb was Kerrigan, who had followed orders most faithfully, drove Raynor mad.

"Mission accomplished. The Protoss forces are retreating." Kerrigan's exhausted voice echoed through the bridge over the communicator. Raynor let out a sigh of relief, thinking they must send a rescue ship immediately. But Mengsk's silence stretched on, and only the cold gaze of a man who had crossed the point of no return remained fixed on the red dots of the tactical screen.

The Isolated Battlefield

With their chain of command shattered, the Protoss forces decided to withdraw to orbit to prevent further unnecessary casualties. Watching the golden warships leave the skies of Tarsonis in flashes of blue light, Kerrigan felt an empty void in her chest. She had accomplished her mission, but at the cost of throwing the entire planet into the jaws of the Zerg.

With the massive threat of the Protoss gone, the Zerg Swarm on the ground immediately turned their hungry gaze to find new prey. And what caught their eyes was Kerrigan's small strike force, left stranded in the middle of enemy territory. Dust kicked up from all directions as the ground began to vibrate, and horrifying screeches erupted simultaneously from the blind spots of the ruins.

"They're closing in from all sides! They're swarming us!" Along with a squad member's urgent cry, a massive pack of Hydralisks poured out through the debris. Kerrigan immediately ordered a defensive formation and fired her rifle rapidly. While the hailing bullets pierced the Zerg hides and splattered green blood, endless new waves kept rushing in, trampling over the corpses of the fallen beasts.

Kerrigan gathered her psionic energy and unleashed it toward the oncoming pack of Zerglings. The powerful shockwave shattered the monsters to pieces, but her physical strength was also rapidly depleting. Her magazines had already been swapped several times, and the screams of her squad members filtered through the radio one by one. The defensive perimeter shrank uncontrollably, tightening around them suffocatingly.

Opening her helmet's comm channel with a blood-stained glove, Kerrigan gasped for air and shouted, "Command, respond! This is Kerrigan. We've neutralized the Protoss, but we are currently completely surrounded by a massive Zerg force." She shoved her pistol into the jaw of a leaping Zergling and pulled the trigger. Sticky fluids stained her visor red.

"We're running out of ammo. Casualties are mounting. Requesting immediate extraction and transport support." Her voice was urgent, but a firm belief that she would be rescued still resided within it. Even though Mengsk had sent her into this hell, a human trust remained that he would never abandon her after she had completed her mission.

Dragging a wounded Marine behind cover, she continued firing at the endlessly swarming enemies. She looked up at the sky, desperately hoping to hear the welcome rumble of a dropship's engines. In her blue eyes, rather than the fear of death, an intense will to survive and return to her comrades burned like a flame.

"Command, do you copy? Send a dropship immediately! We can only hold out for a few minutes at best!" With only static crackling back over the radio, Kerrigan clung to her last shred of human hope and desperately pleaded for rescue. Her earnest cries scattered hollowly into the bloody, red sky of Tarsonis.

The Silence of the Bridge and Betrayal

Kerrigan's desperate plea for rescue from the surface of Tarsonis echoed vividly through the speakers of the Hyperion's bridge. The voice, mixed with gunfire, screams, and ragged breathing, froze the air on the bridge. Raynor bolted upright from his chair and barked at the communications officer, "Scramble the dropships immediately! We have to get her out of there!"

Just as the comm officer reached with trembling hands to operate the console, Mengsk's cold, resolute voice cut through the bridge. "Belay that order. All fleets, prepare to withdraw from Tarsonis orbit immediately." At those words, everyone on the bridge held their breath. Amidst the low hum of machinery, Raynor slowly turned his head toward Mengsk, doubting his own ears.

"What did you just say?" Raynor's voice trembled with suppressed rage. "Sarah is down there! She completed that damn mission you gave her, and she's waiting for rescue! And you're just going to leave her behind?" He strode forward and blocked Mengsk's path, his menacing posture suggesting he might throw a punch at any second.

Even in the face of Raynor's fury, Mengsk calmly kept his hands behind his back, staring only at the tactical monitor. "The mission is complete, Commander. The Protoss have retreated, and the Zerg are destroying the Confederacy. Our objective has been achieved. Now we must preserve our fleet intact and prepare for the next phase." Not a single shred of sympathy for Kerrigan existed in his eyes.

Raynor was utterly appalled. "Objective achieved? You never had any intention of bringing her back alive from the start! She was nothing but a disposable pawn to you!" Raynor's shout thundered through the bridge, but the surrounding officers and armed guards, crushed under Mengsk's ruthless authority, only stared at the floor, none of them daring to speak.

"I am here to save humanity, Jim." Mengsk finally turned his head and looked down coldly at Raynor. "For the greater good, sacrifices are inevitable. I will not jeopardize our great revolution for any emotional reasons. Anyone who stands in my way, whoever they may be, will not be forgiven."

Mengsk's words were not a mere excuse, but a madness born of firm conviction. Only then did Raynor fully realize the truly monstrous nature of the leader he had followed. He had witnessed with his own eyes the moment a man who claimed he would end the Confederacy's tyranny awakened as a tyrant far more ruthless, cold-blooded, and merciless than the Confederacy itself.

"All fleets, prepare for warp jump." As Mengsk's final order fell, the ship's massive engines roared to life. The bridge lights flashed red, signaling the withdrawal. Looking at the atmosphere of Tarsonis receding outside the window, Raynor clenched his fists so hard they bled, consumed by a bitter helplessness and betrayal that seeped into his very bones.

The Severed Transmission

The ruins on the surface of Tarsonis had already turned into a sea of Zerg. Kerrigan's rifle finally spat out its last round and stopped with a cold metallic click. She threw the empty rifle to the ground and drew the pistol from her waist. The roars of Zerglings and Hydralisks pouring from all directions echoed as if to tear her eardrums apart.

"Command... respond... where is the dropship?" Her voice was now cracked with rage and despair. She looked up at the sky, but the allied ships that had dotted the orbit were already receding into the far reaches of space, leaving red trails behind. The moment she witnessed that cruel sight, her heart seemed to stop cold.

Snatching the radio on the bridge, Raynor screamed in desperation, "Sarah! Can you hear me? Just hold on! I'll come get you somehow!" He shook off the guards' restraint and clung to the communications console. But the Hyperion was already leaving Tarsonis orbit, and all he could do was listen to her final moments over the comms network.

Through Raynor's urgent voice filtering through her helmet and the trajectory of the receding fleet, Kerrigan realized the entire situation. The horrific truth that she had been thoroughly used and abandoned struck her mind. She had spent her whole life as a tool of the Confederacy, only to believe she had finally found freedom, yet she was ultimately meeting her end at the hands of another betrayer.

"Arcturus... you bastard..." A bone-deep curse escaped her lips. It was rage toward Mengsk, who had deceived her, and remorse for her own foolish trust. Looking up at the shadow of a massive Ultralisk looming over her, she racked the slide of her pistol. It was her final resistance as a human.

"Jim... take care of yourself." Her final farewell transmitted over the comms was strangely calm. Soon after, the horrific roars of flesh-tearing monsters and gunfire filled the communicator to the bursting point. Pulling the trigger at the countless claws and fangs lunging at her, Kerrigan vanished completely into the thick dust of Tarsonis.

With a sharp screech of static, the transmission cut off completely. No further sound came from the bridge speakers. A terribly heavy silence weighed down upon the bridge of the Hyperion. Kerrigan's vital signal, which had been blinking on the tactical monitor, turned red and then vanished forever into the black screen.

Raynor collapsed, leaning his forehead against the communication console. His shoulders trembled slightly, and red blood seeped from his clenched fists, dripping onto the floor. The guilt of failing to protect his comrade and an uncontrollable hatred toward Mengsk began to gnaw at his soul. Ghost agent Sarah Kerrigan was thus left behind on Tarsonis.

The Birth of the Dominion and the Escape

The abandonment and disappearance of Kerrigan on the cold battlefield shattered the last remaining attachment Raynor had. He could no longer stand to be with this horrific mass murderer for even a single second. Raynor covertly assembled the militia from Mar Sara and his loyal crew members in the hangar. His eyes shone with a cold resolve that transcended sorrow.

"As of today, we are leaving the Sons of Korhal. Mengsk is a monster worse than the Confederacy. We go our own way." At Raynor's firm declaration, the crew silently nodded and gathered their weapons. They quickly boarded the dropships and starfighters, preparing for takeoff. Escaping this hell alive was their sole objective.

As Raynor and his followers staged a daring escape by hijacking the flagship Hyperion and breaking orbit, Mengsk's loyalist forces immediately broadcast warnings and pursued them. "Traitor Jim Raynor, shut down your engines and surrender immediately!" But Raynor fired the hijacked Hyperion's weapons, beginning to blast through the blockade. In the vacuum of space, a tragedy unfolded as yesterday's allies turned their guns on one another.

To escape, they had to break through the massive Ion Cannon defense grid guarding Tarsonis orbit. Using his superb piloting skills and tactics, Raynor slipped into the blind spots of the defense towers and unleashed concentrated fire. With a massive explosion, the Ion Cannon's power generator was destroyed, creating a gap in the orbit, and Raynor's fleet used that opening to push their warp engines to maximum output.

Just before the ship was enveloped in the light of the warp jump, Mengsk's holographic broadcast forcibly seized every communication network across the sector, echoing far and wide. "The Terran Confederacy has fallen. Their corruption and incompetence brought about this horrific alien invasion." His voice, echoing over billions of corpses, was filled with triumph and arrogance.

"But humanity will not perish. Today, from these ashes, I declare the birth of a new empire. The Terran Dominion will protect you!" Mengsk continued his mad speech, crowning himself the savior and Emperor of humanity. Behind him, the black smoke and flames rising from Tarsonis wavered like a colossal halo.

Standing on the bridge of the hijacked Hyperion, Raynor listened silently to the sickening speech before roughly shutting off the communicator. The grim reality of a larger, more horrific tyrant reigning in the place of the overthrown one weighed heavily on his chest. Recalling the final voice of Kerrigan, whom he had left behind alone in the hell of Tarsonis, he sank into a deep, dark agony.

As the ship was sucked into the flash of the warp jump, the devastation of Tarsonis receded from Raynor's sight. Yet, the scars and guilt engraved upon his soul would never be erased. Heading into the endless darkness of space, Raynor's retreating figure was deeply shrouded in the terrible solitude and unwashable sorrow of a man who had lost everything.

Verified Sources

Blizzard Official StarCraft Chronicles

StarCraft and Brood War Official Game Introduction

Official Story Presentation and Reference Images of the Remaster

StarCraft and Brood War Official Download and Remaster Purchase