Episode I Locations


I got this idea from several sites, but mainly from my good buddies over at Armageddon's Call. This section, as you have probably guessed, will give a little info on some of the planets and locations, both old and new, that you will see in Episode I. It is likely to grow in the near future....

 

TERRAN SPACE:
The Terran Sector is the region of the Koprulu Sector that formerly made up the Terran Confederacy, and now is the territory controlled by the Dominion. Key Terran worlds such as Korhal, Tarsonis, Dylaria, and Moria make up this region.

Korhal
The throneworld of the Terran Dominion has seen little Zerg attack since Kerrigan pulled out after driving the UED from the desert planet. But the Zerg have visited its asteroid belt quite often to steal away deposits of the precious metal metzinium, leading Emperor Mengsk to keep a wing of the Dominion Armada in orbit almost constantly.
Unfortunately, with that part of the fleet in orbit and large portions of the rest of the Dominion Armed Forces deployed around the Koprulu Sector to engage and/or defend against the Zerg, the planet itself has been left open to terrorist activities by Crimson Phoenix, who conduct over 70% of their operations on Korhal, right underneath Mengsk's nose. It is rumored that the group's leader, Devlin Ward, has even gone so far as to make Korhal his "throneworld" too, though his main base of operations has yet to be found.

Tarsonis
Formerly the Confederate seat of power in the Koprulu Sector, the planet Tarsonis is now only a shadow of its former glory. It still remains a Terran stronghold, now of the Dominion, but with its orbital defense platforms all but destroyed and most of its cities in ruins, some have wondered why the Dominion hasn't just given up the planet in favor of other worlds. Only a handful of defensive Terran outposts still remain, wondering what the heck they are still defending.
The Zerg still maintain a strong presense on the planet, though fortunately for the Dominion defenders, they seem more interested in protecting a handful of cerebrates that now call the planet home rather than assaulting their Terran enemies. At least for now....

Mirnos II
The smallest of the three planets in the Mirnos system, the jungle world of Mirnos II remains one of the most sparsly populated Dominion planets, and for good reason. The jungles are SO dense that it has taken massive clearing of the foliage just to clear areas large enough for the mining bases that now dot the planet's surface.
The Dominion probably would have ignored Mirnos II entirely had it not been for the largly untapped resource deposits on the surface. While the Confederacy always had plenty of resources to go around, the Dominion has recently run up against shortages due to their past losses of large mining areas, and in some cases entire planets, to the Zerg. Unconfirmed reports of the Zerg scouting the planet led Emperor Mengsk to quickly throw up the aforementioned mining bases before the Zerg could move in and claim the resources.
Though a small number of defensive outposts have been constructed on the planet's surface in recent times, Mirnos II's main defenses are in orbit on an old Dylarian space platform towed to the Mirnos system and put into orbit around the resource-rich world. The Dominion maintains a constant presense on the platform, ready to ward off any attempted enemy landings and, failing that, strike at any successful attack force that reaches the surface. Since the platform's appearance, there have been no problems from the Zerg or terrorists such as Ward's group, but the reports of Zerg scouting continue.

PROTOSS SPACE:
These planets make up the Protoss Empire, consisting mainly of core Protoss worlds such as Aiur, Shakuras, Bakuras, Chibra, Khalaara, and Braxis. Though some, like Braxis, house many Terrans now, and others, like Aiur and Khalaara, are now infested at least somewhat by the Zerg, these worlds are acknowledged as belonging to the elder race, and the Protoss are willing to fight to the death for any of them.

Aiur
Only in recent months have the Protoss fully reclaimed their homeworld, and this only after Kerrigan's Zerg swarms all but gave up the planet entirely and retreated back to Terran Space. The Protoss have moved back into their formerly spectacular cities and provinces to find them in ruins. But they have begun rebuilding in earnest, and many of the larger provinces such as Antioch, Issus, Perganum, Teross, and Romana have retruned to at least a shadowy reflection of their former glory.
One major change from the past is that with the new Protoss/Terran alliance in effect, the Protoss have asked for help from their human comrades in fortifying and rebuilding their homeworld, which means that a small number of Terran colonies (said to only be temporary) have sprung up on the planet in recent times.
Aiur is not the great planet it once was, but it is well on its way to recovery. The Protoss are determined more than ever to protect their homeworld, no matter the cost.

Shakuras
Not much has happened at the "temporary homeworld" of the Protoss since the events leading up to the activation of a long-dormant Xel'Naga temple during the so-called "Brood Wars". But that is exactly what the Protoss have needed: down-time. For over a year, they have rested and rebuilt. Their fleets were once again made great, their warriors once again made firm and ready, and their resolve once again made hard as stone. As soon as the Zerg presense on Aiur began to dwindle, the Protoss were ready, and they quickly moved to retake their homeworld.
But even with Aiur being settled again, the Protoss have not forgotten the dark world, and its inhabitants, that took them in and nursed them back to health. A large number of Protoss, no longer just the dark templar, now call Shakuras home, and several new cities and strongholds are now places where Protoss warriors, no longer seperated by strife and bitterness, stand side-by-side, ready to aid their brethren on Aiur and elsewhere and protect their new home. Though the return of the Zerg to Aiur seemed at one time unlikely, there are rumors that such an occurance has already taken place. Indeed, an increasing number of Protoss warriors have vanished in recent times without a trace, and while no Protoss has yet seen hard and fast evidence of Zerg activity, these disappearances, coupled with supposed "Zerg tracks" in the dark sands and strange psionic disturbances around the areas of the most vanishings, has led many a Protoss to believe that Shakuras' troubles are not over just yet.

New Roanoke Space Platform
While Aiur is once again in Protoss hands, and the rebuilding of the planet's defenses is well underway, there is little doubt that it is ill-prepared to survive another assault by the Zerg. The Protoss quickly realized this, but it was the Terrans, not them, that came up with an idea to solve the potential problem.
Their solution was an orbital defense platform, such as the type that has safeguarded Confederate and Dominion worlds for decades. But unlike other Dominion platforms, this one would be co-run by the Terrans and the Protoss (though still be technically a Dominion platform). Due to its being the first true Terran base of operations in the core Protoss quadrant, the station would be named "New Roanoke", a throwback to the first human settlement in Earth's "New World" of the Americas. The Protoss, wanting some defensive capability even more after Zerg scouts began to reappear on their battered homeworld, quickly accepted the idea...as long as power was indeed shared.
Construction began immediately in Aiur's orbit. But due to supply shortages with the increasing need for supplies for the far-reaching Dominion armed forces, work has been slower than hoped for. By the time SpecOps entered operational status, New Roanoke was only at 60% readiness, though even the limited role it plays now is very useful. Until its full defensive capabilities are online, the station is used as a sort of orbiting outpost at which Terran and Protoss forces can gather and quickly strike from to any part of Aiur that is threatened. Thus far, that has been enough to keep the Zerg away while the Protoss travel the road to recovery.

ZERG SPACE:
The planets that make up "Zerg space" are actually territory where the Zerg are either the dominating force or the only inhabitants. While a relatively small region of the Koprulu Sector, it is also one of the hardest to penetrate due to the vast number of Zerg crowding the planets inside it.

Char
The planet Char, long-called "Koprulu Hell", has more approriately earned that nickname now more than ever. Char remains the stronghold of the Zerg in the Koprulu Sector and Kerrigan's throneworld. Millions of Zerg swarm about on both the planet itself and the space platforms orbiting it, and the Terrans, who used to control the volcanic planet, have long abandoned it completely.
But now, with the Terran Dominion poised to strike back at the Zerg at last, Char has once again been set in their sights. Reclaiming Char would make for a crippling blow against Kerrigan, but it is not an easy task with Zerg colonies virtually covering the planet. And so the Dominion continues to scout the planet, looking for weak spots to strike at...if there any. Until such a location is found, the Zerg are not likely to be leaving the forsaken ball of rock any time soon.

 

© 2001 SpecOps Studios
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J. Ryan Evans (Seawolf) .