Battle.net

The Queen of Blades has not grown complacent in the wake of her victory. She continues to keep watch over the Swarm from Char. The Brood War showed her to be more powerful than anyone could have imagined: she is truly the dominant force in the Koprulu sector. However, for the last four years the Swarm’s initial, merciless expansion has been replaced with a foreboding silence.

There is only speculation about what Kerrigan has been doing for the last four years, as no scouting expeditions to zerg-occupied planets have lived to report what they witnessed. Many believe that the zerg are building their strength and engineering new organisms before going on the offensive again. Some contend that Kerrigan is staying her hand due to some lingering shred of humanity, but those who have encountered the savage fury of the Queen of Blades suspect that this is merely wishful thinking.

The Aiur protoss have been struggling to recover from the loss of their homeworld, while attempting to reunify their society with the dark templar living on Shakuras. It has been a difficult transition for both sides, and the name of Raszagal has been invoked more than once to keep the peace. Interacting with the dark templar and the xel’naga technology on Shakuras has also led to many new developments as the protoss prepare themselves for continuing the war with the zerg.

Memories of Raszagal have plagued Zeratul, and he was deeply disturbed by his encounter with Samir Duran. For years he kept to himself, racked with guilt and sorrow, until a valiant terran archaeologist in need of Zeratul’s aid sought him out and convinced him to emerge from his self-imposed exile. Since then, Zeratul has uncovered a revelation somehow related to the xel’naga, creators of both the zerg and the protoss. He has been seeking additional clues to unravel the mystery.

Arcturus Mengsk and his forces initially returned to Korhal to regroup. His first order of business was to rebuild the Terran Dominion. In Kerrigan he has found a new target for revenge. The Dominion has risen once again to become the most powerful force among the terran factions, having taken over almost all of the original Confederate worlds.

The UED expeditionary fleet was shattered during the Brood War and now only a few isolated pockets of survivors remain hidden in the Koprulu sector.

Jim Raynor has led a resistance movement known as Raynor’s Raiders against the spreading power of the Dominion, but over the years it has been a losing battle. Arcturus Mengsk has used his greatest weapons – the media and propaganda – to marginalize Raynor’s efforts. Now Raynor seems to be losing faith, drinking heavily and haunted by the ghosts of his past.

Those who know Jim Raynor best have been saying that there is one part of him that won’t rest until Sarah Kerrigan is dead…

… and another part of him that refuses to let her go.