Chapter 5

With the Psi Disruptor mission having gone perfectly, Flash was satisfied with the current situation as the UED fleet arrived over Korhal. He was soon called into a meeting to plan the attack on the Dominion capital.

Upon entering, DuGalle spoke to him. "Captain, your performance in the previous mission was excellent. Your exemplary leadership sets a fine example for the rest of my officers. Vice Admiral Stukov has informed me that the Psi Disrupter has been accounted for, so we can now proceed with the next phase of our operation. The time has come to begin our primary invasion of the Dominion throne world of Korhal, and you will be leading it. Alexei, fill the Captain in on the current situation."

Stukov began with a description of Korhal's history. "As you may know from your research, Captain, Korhal was a hotbed of anti-Confederate sentiment for years. The Confederacy hope to contain Kohral's civil unrest by decimating it and its population with a massive nuclear barrage. Though the radiation levels on the planet are at an all time low, its surface is now nothing more than a smoldering desert."

Duran followed up with an analysis of the situation. "The catch, Admiral, is that because this world has already been devastated by nuclear fire, Mengsk has no compunction against using nukes on us. We have detected a large cluster of missile silos on the outskirts of Augustgrad. If those silos were destroyed, we believe that Mengsk would lose his core nuclear capabilities."

However, the nukes were not the only concern as Stukov soon explained. "We also face a different obstacle, Captain. Intelligence has informed us that Mengsk employs multiple battlecruisers for his planetary defense. It is possible to nullify these battlecruisers by taking out strategic physics labs. Without these labs, Mengsk will be unable to power-up his ships' weapons systems."

"Though we know how to compensate for Mengsk's defenses, we don't have enough time to follow through on them both", DuGalle said before turning to Flash. "Therefore, Captain, you must choose to either counter his nuclear capabilities or his battlecruisers. Once you've taken care of this operation, we can begin to plan our final assault against Augustgrad. Which shall it be?"

Flash thought for a few moments before answering. "Both nuclear missiles and battlecruisers will pose a threat to our forces. However, we shall strike at the physics labs because it will have multiple benefits over destroying the nuke silos. If we take out the physics labs, Mensk will be unable to use his battlecruisers, and after he is defeated we will be able to commandeer them for ourselves. As conquering the Dominion is only the first stage of our plans for the sector, it is important that we have as many forces available to us as possible. If Mengsk was able to use his battlecruisers in the coming battle, we would be forced to destroy them which will prevent us from using them."

DuGalle seemed impressed with this reasoning and nodded.

Flash continued with his second point. "Furthermore, if we destroyed the nuke silos, the nuclear weapons would be destroyed. However, if we left the silos intact, we could take the remainder of the nuclear weapons after we defeat Mengsk and use them for ourselves."

"Wouldn't those nuclear weapons be used by Mengsk, leaving none left?", DuGalle asked.

"Mengsk wouldn't use up all of his nukes immediately, that would be foolhardy. He will definitely leave nukes in reserve", Flash replied. "If we defeat Mengsk quickly in a lightning assault, he won't be able to deploy all of his nukes before he is defeated."

"Very well then Captain", DuGalle replied. "Commence with the operation."

The UED army landed on Korhal. A base was set up near some a cluster of resources and they began preparing for the assault. The target would be the physics labs in the north. While they prepared for the assault, some defenses were set up to stop the Dominion attacks. Bunkers and siege tanks were placed to block the approach of enemy units.

There was another cluster of resources to the west, so some SCVs were sent over to establish a command center and begin mining operations. The Dominion began attacking that base as well, so bunkers and siege tanks were strategically placed to stop the attacks.

Soon, a large force was gathered consisting of marines, goliaths, and siege tanks. When they began advancing to the north, they found that there were several siege tanks sieged up. These tanks would blast apart the army if they tried to assault it from the front. While it would be possible to overwhelm the tanks with numbers, there would be heavy casualties from such an assault.

However, there was a vulnerability which could be exploited. The tanks were on their own, so a few dropships were sent to drop marines right next to the tanks. The siege tanks were unable to fire upon the attackers who had gotten too close for the tanks to target. Although the tanks tried to unsiege, the rest of the army moved in and were able to destroy them before they could escape.

Up ahead was a Dominion base guarded by several bunkers and siege tanks. An assault on the bunkers would take heavy casualties from the siege tanks behind the bunkers. However, because of this placement, the UED forces were able to use their tanks to hit the bunkers without being in range of the enemy tanks. The Dominion was forced to exit the base and attack, but with the UED being in a defensive position, the Dominion forces took heavy losses and were forced to retreat.

With the bunkers destroyed, the marines stormed the base and wiped out the remaining defenders. The Dominion began to launch vicious counterattacks against the UED forces, but the siege tanks were able to hold them off.

The tanks began leapfrogging forward, with tanks in the back covering the ones in the front as they sieged up. Soon, the army reached the outskirts of the main Dominion base. The base was surrounded by walls which had some siege tanks on them.

An assault on one side of the base drew the attention of the defenders and served as a diversion while dropships landed marines on the walls. The marines were able to destroy the siege tanks and take control of the entrance to one side of the base. The UED army advanced into the base and the tanks sieged up.

When the Dominion forces rushed back to repel the assault, they were forced to endure barrages of artillery fire from the siege tanks which decimated their forces. Soon, the base was turned to rubble. The physics labs, which were at the back of the base, were destroyed.

With the mission complete, the UED was prepared to assault Augustgrad.