Augustgrad

Augustgrad, also known as Korhal City, was the capital city of Korhal and the seat of power of the Terran Dominion. It was rebuilt from the ruins left by the Confederate destruction of Korhal and named in honor of Augustus Mengsk, the father of Arcturus Mengsk. Lying on a desert plain with mountains to its north, the city was exceptionally expansive, its core raised on higher ground above the outlying regions on the banks of a river. It became the most heavily fortified city in the Dominion and a showpiece of Dominion wealth, technology, and military power.

Foundation and character#

Augustgrad was established as the capital of the newly formed Terran Dominion a few weeks after the fall of the Terran Confederacy, built as the restored capital of Korhal on the desert plain where the old city had stood before its Confederate destruction. Massive buildings rose from the core of the city, while on the ground bustling streets were intermingled with quiet parks and open spaces. It was a center for technology, research, education, and manufacturing, and the planet's population enjoyed a much higher than average income.

Much of the Dominion's military leadership chose to live with their families in Augustgrad, and the city was the most heavily fortified in the Dominion, an assessment that held true through later conflicts including the Spectre Rebellion. In spite of its wealth, it also contained stretches of great poverty and crime, with members of these communities viewing Dominion leadership as inflicting harm on them from above.

The United Earth Directorate and liberation#

During the United Earth Directorate's invasion of the Koprulu sector, Augustgrad was besieged. The city fell despite a long, drawn-out defense mounted by Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. The UED sent enslaved zerg to reinforce their troops in the city, but their control of the brood was tenuous and few were committed.

The occupation did not last. The UED forces holding Augustgrad were overwhelmed by zerg under Sarah Kerrigan. General Edmund Duke then established his base of operations in the city, only for it to be attacked the next morning by multitudes of zerg while most of his troops slept, unaware. The base was destroyed and Duke was killed.

Interbellum and the Spectre Rebellion#

In the four years that followed, Augustgrad was extensively decontaminated, modernized, and beautified with Dominion tax revenue. It came to feature parks, statues of Arcturus Mengsk, and his imperial palace, though it remained somewhat congested. In 2503 the Spectre Rebellion broke out between the rebel Project Shadowblade and the Dominion. Shadowblade's artificial intelligence, Lio Travski, shut down communications, and Mengsk's palace was attacked by spectres. The assault ended in failure, and Shadowblade withdrew.

Shortly before the Second Great War, Augustgrad was bombarded for at least two days by a pirate radio signal, leaving Dominion officials scrambling to find the source.

The Second Great War#

In 2504 the Dominion unveiled the Odin war machine at the UNN Studios in Augustgrad, not realizing it was piloted by Tychus Findlay. He fired on the studio guards, and in the confusion Raynor's Raiders set up a forward base and moved against the city's broadcast towers. General Horace Warfield attempted to stop them, but the Raiders successfully broadcast proof that Mengsk had used psi emitters to lure the zerg to Tarsonis. The revelation caused rioting in the streets, during which citizens set fire to government buildings.

Later in the war the zerg invaded Korhal directly. While Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk and Captain Matt Horner evacuated civilians, Sarah Kerrigan landed outside the city gates. The zerg drove Dominion forces into Augustgrad after using bile launchers to destroy the Drakken defense network, and Broodmother Zagara pushed them into the imperial sector. There Raynor's Raiders joined the zerg to topple the Dominion's elite troops. Kerrigan entered the palace and killed Arcturus Mengsk with the help of Jim Raynor, after which the zerg departed.

The End War and reconstruction#

During the End War, the Moebius Corps raided Korhal Palace and took the Keystone, entrenching at Bennet Port to transport it off world. Hybrid channeled Void energy into the Keystone, producing a psionic disruption that overwhelmed the terrans, and Hierarch Artanis deployed immortals to protect the Dominion forces until it subsided. The combined forces of Jim Raynor, Valerian Mengsk, and Artanis reclaimed the Keystone, though the Dominion suffered enormous casualties. Amon later sent forces to set up void shards outside Korhal Palace, which were destroyed before they could devastate the city.

To memorialize the third anniversary of the fall of his father's regime, Valerian Mengsk held a monumental celebration in the capital, heralding a new age of peace and prosperity. During the Defenders of Man Insurgency, protests occurred outside Korhal Palace in response to a feral zerg attack on Tyrador IX, with demonstrators calling for Valerian to step down. By 2511 the scars of the city's former conflicts could still be seen, and around that time the Terran Dominion fleet was temporarily moved to Augustgrad.