Dominion Marine Corps

The Dominion Marine Corps was the ground combat branch of the armed forces of the Terran Dominion and the fundamental part of nearly any Dominion deployment. It functioned somewhat independently of the space-based Dominion Armada, with its officers commanding their own ships, and its headquarters lay in Augustgrad on Korhal. The bald eagle appeared in its heraldry. Modeled on the squadrons of the old Terran Confederacy, the Corps absorbed much of the Confederate Marine Corps during the transition from Confederacy to Dominion. (StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2; StarCraft: Soldiers; StarCraft: Brood War manual; StarCraft Field Manual)

Organization and recruitment#

The Dominion Marine Corps operated somewhat apart from the space-based Dominion Armada, its officers holding command over their own ships in a manner that recalled the squadrons of the old Terran Confederacy. Bald eagle imagery appeared in its heraldry. The Corps was headquartered in Augustgrad on Korhal, and officer postings there often opened the way to political positions in the Dominion government. (StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2; StarCraft: Soldiers)

Like the Confederate Marine Corps before it, the Corps was a mixture of volunteers, criminal conscripts, and individuals who had undergone neural resocialization. Convicts in its ranks were granted no leave. Recruits and conscripts judged too scrawny or weak for service were given steroid and stimulant treatments to increase their muscle mass. The dominant color of the Corps was red, though under Emperor Valerian Mengsk many marines also wore blue armor. In the years before the Second Great War, a Dominion marine's combat life expectancy could be measured in seconds. (A War On; StarCraft: Soldiers; The Cinematic Art of StarCraft)

The Brood War#

The Dominion Marine Corps absorbed elements of the Confederate Marine Corps during the transition from the Confederacy to the Dominion. It saw action throughout the Brood War. In the opening phase neither the Corps nor the rest of the Dominion's forces could check the advance of the United Earth Directorate fleet. With the aid of Raynor's Raiders, the protoss under Fenix, and Sarah Kerrigan's zerg, the Corps returned to liberate Korhal, only to fall victim to Kerrigan's betrayal. Reinforced by a collection of special interest groups, the Corps joined a final push against the zerg at Char, an operation that failed and marked the end of the war. (StarCraft: Brood War manual; StarCraft: Brood War)

In the years that followed, the Corps carried out tasks ranging from supply runs to patrolling colonies for enemies. One force was responsible for the depopulation of Candore Colony, which had been harboring insurgents, and others engaged the protoss and zerg on Artika. Elements of the Corps served as security for Kel-Morian Combine mining camps on Mar Sara while fighting the zerg that invaded the world. By 2503 the Corps had become a viable force again, performing duties across the Dominion and countering the insurgency of Project Shadowblade. (StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2; StarCraft: Frontline Volume 1; StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn; StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres)

The Second Great War#

With the onset of the Second Great War in 2504, the marines helped hold the line against the zerg, and a mass recall of retired soldiers back into active duty began, with many taking steps to dodge it. Alongside the Dominion Fleet, the Corps took part in an invasion of Char and, despite heavy casualties, emerged victorious, though Sarah Kerrigan survived. After a brief civil war between loyalists to Valerian Mengsk and Arcturus Mengsk, the Corps raided the Umojan Protectorate and captured Jim Raynor. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; A War On; StarCraft II: Flashpoint; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)

Kerrigan then returned with the Zerg Swarm, driving the Corps from Char, rescuing Raynor from the prison ship Moros, and destroying the Dominion's hybrid operations at Skygeirr. The best of the Corps defended Korhal when the zerg came for the capital, but they were defeated and Arcturus Mengsk was killed. In his place his son Valerian Mengsk took the throne. (StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)

The End War and after#

Then the End War began. Some marines fell under the control of the hybrids and joined the Moebius Corps, while others rallied to the Dominion's defense when the forces of Amon sought to destroy it. The Corps fought in the defense of Korhal alongside the Daelaam protoss, and together the two forces pushed the Moebius Corps and their hybrid masters out of Bennet Port and recovered the Keystone. The cost was high, with the capital of Augustgrad left in ruins and many marines dead. The Corps then took up the defense against the corrupted Golden Armada but was pushed back. (Sector Six; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)

The Dominion Marine Corps later aided Jim Raynor in his expedition into the Void to defeat Amon. It helped slay Narud, defended Sarah Kerrigan as she ascended into a xel'naga, and helped destroy the void crystals shielding Amon so that Kerrigan could deal the final blow. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)

In the years that followed, the Corps affirmed its support for the new regime under Valerian Mengsk, who instituted reforms such as the abolition of the neural resocialization program. In 2511, during the One-Day War, the 934th Marines accompanied Valerian to a diplomatic meeting on the planet Gystt. When a new zerg breed called the chitha attacked the Dominion's survey teams, the marines engaged them alongside Daelaam forces and helped prevent war breaking out among the three races. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void; StarCraft Field Manual; StarCraft: Evolution)

Rules and regulations#

Under Emperor Valerian Mengsk, the Corps adopted a code of conduct that reshaped its character. Where earlier marines had been schooled to kill non-Dominion creatures on sight, the new rules of engagement stressed restraint, fairness, and respect for local customs and laws. Marines were charged to act as peacekeepers, to avoid the slaughter of civilians, and to support Valerian's aim of building and keeping allies among the different races of the Koprulu Sector. The code also held that there was no such thing as an ex-marine, forbade surrender of one's own free will, and laid down that captives should give only name, rank, and serial number, resisting protoss psionic probing until their neural networks failed. (StarCraft Field Manual)