Chau Sara
first world glassed by the protoss
Chau Sara was a Confederate colony in the Sara system, the smaller sister world of Mar Sara. It was one of the first terran worlds infested by the zerg and the first to be incinerated from orbit by the protoss, marking humanity's first contact with both alien species.
Chau Sara was a planet in the Sara system, the smaller and outlying counterpart of its sister world Mar Sara. Though it featured the wastelands typical of many terran colonies, it also held lush jungles and green rolling plains, and expensive sunwood was sold from it. A prosperous Terran Confederacy colony, Chau Sara became one of the first terran worlds attacked by the zerg and the first to be incinerated from orbit by the protoss, making it the site of humanity's first contact with both species.
Early history#
Chau Sara was first catalogued by freelance prospectors and colonized by an expedition from Tarsonis several years later, growing more prosperous than its sister world Mar Sara. It had been settled as a Confederate penal colony and was subject to occasional unrest, including a riot between 2478 and 2480, and many of its population of roughly 400,000 were still serving hard time in late 2499. These prisoners were frequently harvested for neural resocialization. An important Terran Confederacy colony, partly for its potential for mineral exploitation, Chau Sara served as the base of Alpha Squadron.
The zerg arrive#
The planet was discovered by the zerg and became one of the first terran worlds attacked. The Overmind subtly infested the soil with hive spores before the bulk of the Swarm openly invaded. Alpha Squadron had been recalled to Chau Sara to deal with a Sons of Korhal insurrection, the Colonial Magistrate Collins doubting the local militia could handle it, and during the operation the squadron encountered both a xenomorph outbreak and Cerberus Recon Squad, a Confederate black ops unit. Cerberus assisted in defeating the insurrectionists and then assumed command of the colony under the Colonial Crisis Act, overruling Collins and General Edmund Duke. Working with Alpha Squadron, Cerberus cleared the xenomorph hive clusters, and in the weeks that followed the Confederacy imposed a planet-wide lockdown restricting all travel and communication, hoping to contain knowledge of the zerg's existence behind a barrage of propaganda.
Enter the protoss#
The terran successes had only delayed the inevitable. The zerg enslaved the colonial population and reshaped the surface of the world to better support their hive clusters. On December 8, the protoss fleet under the command of Executor Tassadar incinerated Chau Sara from orbit without warning, leaving a lifeless world hanging in the void. The attack was humanity's first contact with the protoss, and the deaths of so many humans in it became a lasting source of tension.
Legacy#
Though sterilized, Chau Sara was not forgotten. Terran Reconstructionists later visited the world hoping to rebuild its major towns, only to clash with zerg Pillagers who wished to strip it of its treasures. The Kel-Morian Combine staked a claim to mining and salvage rights after prospectors found that minerals on Mar Sara had acquired unique properties from the protoss bombardment, and in 2502 independent and indentured contractors began strip-mining Chau Sara of its resources. The planet remained infamous in the terran cultural mindset more than a decade after it was glassed, as the place where first contact with the protoss was made. By 2511 some life had returned, but only in base moss and lichens.
Frequently asked questions
- What was Chau Sara in StarCraft?
- Chau Sara was a planet in the Sara system, the smaller and outlying counterpart of its sister world Mar Sara. A prosperous Terran Confederacy colony, it was settled as a penal colony from Tarsonis and served as the base of Alpha Squadron.
- Why is Chau Sara important in StarCraft?
- Chau Sara became one of the first terran worlds attacked by the zerg and the first to be incinerated from orbit by the protoss, making it the site of humanity's first contact with both species.
- How did Chau Sara get glassed?
- On December 8, the protoss fleet under the command of Executor Tassadar incinerated Chau Sara from orbit without warning, leaving a lifeless world. The attack came after the zerg had enslaved the colonial population and reshaped the surface to support their hive clusters.
- What did the Confederacy do when the zerg arrived on Chau Sara?
- The Confederacy imposed a planet-wide lockdown restricting all travel and communication, hoping to contain knowledge of the zerg's existence behind a barrage of propaganda. Alpha Squadron and the Confederate black ops unit Cerberus Recon Squad cleared the xenomorph hive clusters during the crisis.
- What happened to Chau Sara after it was sterilized?
- Terran Reconstructionists later visited the world hoping to rebuild its towns and clashed with zerg Pillagers, and in 2502 contractors began strip-mining the planet of its resources. By 2511 some life had returned, but only in base moss and lichens, and the planet remained infamous as the place where first contact with the protoss was made.
Gallery
Images via StarCraft Wiki
Sources
- WikiChau Sara — StarCraft Wiki entry
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Mar Sara
Mar Sara was a backwater mining colony and Confederate core world in the Sara system, among the first planets overrun by the zerg and later glassed by the protoss. It was where Jim Raynor's open rebellion against the Terran Dominion began.
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The Sara system was a star system in the Koprulu sector, unusual for holding two habitable planets, Mar Sara and Chau Sara. It was a Confederate frontier holding whose worlds became the first targets of the protoss purification that opened the Great War.
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The Kel-Morian Combine was a terran business conglomerate that governed Moria and its colonies and controlled the sector's mining guilds. One of the three major terran nations, it fought the Confederacy in the Guild Wars and survived as a corporate power into the Dominion era.
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