"Hey, man. Headquarters has begun analysis of the discs. They expect to have them decoded shortly. I hope whatever's on those discs is worth it," Raynor informed the commander regarding the data discs.
Meanwhile in the Hyperion, "you have done well, Matthew Turkins, you're promoted chief engineer and your job is to come up with new units and get new schematics ready starting with the Diamondbacks you had stolen from the installation. While you're at it, get the Goliaths and siege tanks ready for our use. Don't forget to research upgrades for our existing forces. I'm looking forward to seeing what you came up with in action," Mengsk appointed Matthew with a new task in the armory instead taking part in combat. Mengsk praised both men, "You and Captain Raynor have done well, Commander. I believe our efforts have weakened the Confederacy's grip on the fringe worlds, but our job out here isn't done yet. Lieutenant Kerrigan, my second in command, will elaborate."
Sarah Kerrigan reported to Mensk and was already in the planet, "I'll get straight to the point. Our sources tell us that Antiga Prime is ready to begin open revolt against the Confederacy. Unfortunately, the Confederates seem to be aware of this as well. They've stationed a large detachment of Alpha Squadron troops there, under the command of General Duke."
"It will be your job, Commander, to free this colony and show our good intent to the Antigan people. Lieutenant Kerrigan will help you deal with Duke's officers. The rest of the Confederates are yours to deal with," Mengsk turned to the commander.
When traveling to Antiga Prime hours ago, Matthew researched the Firebat's armor. He came up with a new infantry unit that wore the modified version of the Firebat's suit and armed with a pair of concussive grenade launchers. At the time the mission began, "I got something new for siege and anti-tank, Marauders," he deployed four to assist Raynor. "I ain't sure if it is the best time for experimenting, Matthew," the commander spoke in a doubtful tone. "Yes time there is, watch the Marauders in action," Matthew spoke confidently.
Raynor in Vulture bike, six marines, three medics, and four Marauders met up with Kerrigan who spoke in an uneasy to tone to the former marshal, "Captain Raynor, I've finished scouting out the area, and you pig!"
"What? I haven't even said anything to you yet!" Raynor was surprised
"Yeah, but you were thinking it," she said while reading his mind.
"Oh yeah, you're a telepath. Look, let's just get on with this, okay?" Raynor guessed that Kerrigan was a psychic.
"Right," she finished as the mission proceeds.
"I hate these things. They can sense me even when I'm cloaked. We should take these out," Kerrigan told the group. It was easy for the group to take out missile turrets. In combat, the Marauder could fire one a gun at a time then ready the next shot with the other gun when it was loading. With the Marauders' help, the group destroyed the enemy bunker and cleared its occupants. When the group destroyed the missile turrets, Kerrigan infiltrated the command center killing the Confederate officer. She later came out along with a marine, "I've taken care of business on this end, Commander. I think the Antigans are ready to back us up, too."
"That's right. We've tolerated these Confederate goons long enough!" the marine followed up.
"Commander, I'm picking up a large Confederate strike force advancing on our position," the adjutant informed the commander.
"Well, they're not wasting any time," Kerrigan commented. The Confederates launched a strike force consisted of marines, medics, Firebats, Vulture bikes, Diamondbacks, Goliath combat walkers, and Wraith fighters.
Raynor and Kerrigan formed an efficient partnership leading the task force in repelling the attackers. Despite a dogfight occurred in the air between the Wraith fighters of the two factions, Matthew had the Goliath schematics uploaded into the factory network as they could counter fighters from the ground. During the assault on the Confederate encampment, the Marauders worked well with the ally Diamondbacks in demolition. They were also lethal against Goliaths, Firebats, and Diamondbacks. The destruction forced the Confederate forces to retreat.
A Battlecruiser, Norad II, used as a flagship for the Alpha Squadron that was a branch of the Confederates arrived in orbit above the planet. A Zerg Scourge, a light-armored blind suicide organism, severely damaged the ship causing it to crash land. "General Edmund Duke calling from Alpha Squadron Flagship Norad II! We've crash-landed and are being hit hard by the Zerg! Request immediate backup from anyone receiving this signal! Repeat, this is a priority one distress call-," the ship's commander called out and at the same time the SCVs got out of the vessel, built bunkers loading them with marines to defend the crash site along with a pair of Goliaths. The distress call reached the command center.
"Zerg? Here? Serves 'em right. 'Bout time they got a taste of what it's like to be in there mixin' it up," Raynor spoke in the tone that the Confederates got what they deserved. In fact, it was that general who ordered the Alpha Squadron to withdraw from Mar Sara and the commander had difficulty putting up with him.
"Jim, I want you to move in and save that base," Mengsk ordered.
"I'm positive. I didn't hear that right," Raynor was reluctant as the general had ordered the arrest on him and his men earlier in Mar Sara.
"Arcturus, have you lost your mind?" Kerrigan questioned.
"Listen, I know Duke's a cold hearted bastard, but an entire colony shouldn't have to suffer for that. Besides, a Confederate general could prove to be a powerful ally. This is an opportunity we cannot miss," Mengsk considered that the general could be an asset to the Sons of Korhal.
"I don't like this at all," Kerrigan commented on the decision.
"I'm not asking you to like it. I'm asking you to do it," Mengsk ordered.
"Yes, sir," she complied.
"Great. Let's get this over with," Raynor went out and led the rescue.
"I manage to come up with Hellions," Matthew deployed four light-armored cars equipped with a flamethrower that could burn lines of enemies and the attack range was longer than the Firebats. "That's impressive, but we must hurry because that ship won't last long against the Zerg," Raynor commented.
The Hellions handled the infested humans and Zerglings better than Vulture bikes. Raynor on the Vulture bike led the task force to wipe out the infested human base as well as the Zerg base. Most importantly they had to destroy the Nydus worms to reach the crash site and he brought two Medivacs along to extract the general and Norad II's crew.
"You're about the last folks I expected to show up. What's your angle here, Mengsk?" Duke spoke as Raynor and the task force arrived.
"Our angle? I'll give you an angle, you slimy Confederate piece of…," Raynor spoke in an angry tone.
"Jim, enough! I'll handle this. The Confederacy is falling apart, Duke. Its colonies are in open revolt. The Zerg are rampaging unchecked. What would have happened here today if we hadn't shown up?" Mengsk cut Raynor off and dealt with the general diplomatically. "Your point?" Duke asked.
"I'm giving you a choice. You can return to the Confederacy and lose, or you can join us and help save our entire race from being overrun by the Zerg. I don't think it's a difficult decision," Mengsk gave him alternatives.
"Join forces? With you? I'm a general, for God's sake!" the general rebuffed.
"A general without an army. I'm offering you a position in my cabinet, not just some backwater post. Don't test my patience, Edmund," Mengsk spoke in an uneasy tone. "All right, Mengsk. You've got a deal," Duke accepted the offer.
"You've made the right choice, General Duke," Mengsk commented on his choice.
"I can't believe you're really going to trust this snake!" Raynor had a bad feeling about it. "Don't worry, Jim. He's our snake now," he reassured.
The general later gave Matthew the schematics to build siege tanks that actually had a special mechanism to switch the tank to long-range immobile artillery in siege mode which could be used for destroying buildings. The mechanism allowed the artillery to be switched back to tank mode. The engineer thought about Duke, "Nobody paid me enough to put up with that asshole." Based on researching the switching mechanism, Matthew enabled Hellions to switch to Hellbats, light-armored durable walkers with flamethrowers having the same range as the Firebats.
Mengsk called in a meeting discussing the next move to take against them, "Greetings. I know you're all concerned about the Confederate strike force, but first we have a grave matter to discuss. It seems our data discs didn't hold weapon designs after all. Lieutenant Kerrigan will explain."
"You all know that the Confederates run a program for psychically gifted humans, training them to be Ghosts. Those running the program found that the Zerg are attuned to the psychic emanations of Ghosts," she revealed about Ghosts.
"So the Zerg are here for you, darlin'? This keeps gettin' better and better," Raynor muttered.
"Shut up. There's been a lot of secret Confederate research surrounding Ghosts and the Zerg. What we stole was a small but critical piece of the puzzle: designs for a Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter. The emitters broadcast the neural imprint of a Ghost, but at a much greater magnitude. These things reach across worlds," she informed from what the data discs contained.
"The Confederacy used these Psi Emitters to lure the Zerg into isolated containment areas. Your colony-Mar Sara-Commander, was one such location," Mengsk revealed the shocking fact. "What are you saying?" Raynor questioned.
Mengsk later told everyone about the Confederates' atrocities, "I'm saying the Zerg are a secret weapon developed by the Confederacy. I'm saying you were all subjects of a Confederate weapons test. Just as they destroyed Korhal with nuclear weapons to establish dominance a generation ago, they would use the Zerg to put an end to their other rivals. Only this time there'd be no outrage; who could suspect the aliens were their creation? No, they'd be lauded as heroes for coming in and destroying the Zerg. It's time the Confederacy paid for its crimes. And I know just the way. Lieutenant Kerrigan is going to plant an emitter at the Confederate base camp. Commander, you will provide her with an escort. When the Zerg arrive, they'll break the blockade for us and we'll make our escape. Now get moving," Mengsk then gave the commander and Kerrigan the mission.
During the mission, Kerrigan was concerned, "I'm having doubts about this, Arcturus. I just don't think anyone deserves to have the Zerg unleashed on them."
"I know you have personal feelings about this, but you can't let your past cloud your judgment. Carry out your orders, lieutenant," Mengsk reminded her to focus.
"Yes, sir," she complied and led the task force escorting the SCV holding the Psi Emitter to be placed in the Confederate encampment. Kerrigan received a transmission from Matthew, "hope you brought your sun screen."
"Is it something important to you?" she asked. "I got something new to help you out, Banshees. Those stealth bombers got cloaking and could blow the snot out of ground forces," Matthew deployed the new medium-armored tactical strike aircrafts based on the research of the Wraith's cloaking armed with chaotic missiles that deal full damage to all armor types. The Banshees were the first solution to the Confederate siege tanks in siege mode; however they were vulnerable to any air unit. Therefore the Banshees relied on Wraith fighters to provide cover for them forming the cloaking air cavalry. However, the Confederates brought in a Raven support vessel used to detect the cloaked air cavalry. The Raven could also launch a Hunter-Seeker Missile, place Point Defense Drone, and Auto-turrets. On ground, the siege tanks handled the bunkers and missile turrets from a distance. Despite the Confederate encampment was guarded by a Battlecruiser, the Wraith fighters could take down that powerful warship easily. The SCV succeeded placing the Psi Emitter in the Confederate base and Kerrigan reported, "Psi-Emitter in place. Just promise me we'll never do anything like this again."
"We will do whatever it takes to save humanity. Our responsibility is too great to do any less," Mengsk spoke in a way that made the listeners seemed appealing.
The Zerg, lured by the Psi Emitter's signal, descended upon the unsuspecting Confederate forces and annihilated them. The Protoss fleet arrived and incinerated the planet.