Kel-Morian Combine

The Kel-Morian Combine was a terran business conglomerate that served as the government of Moria and its colonies and as the center of its various mining guilds. It was one of the three major terran nations of the Koprulu sector, alongside the Terran Confederacy and later the Terran Dominion, and was smaller than either while wielding considerable economic power. The Combine fought the Confederacy in the Guild Wars and persisted as a corporate and military force through the rise of the Dominion and the zerg invasions.

Formation#

The Kel-Morian Combine was formed when the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild merged, out of fear that the Terran Confederacy might use its military strength to regulate their operations. This corporate partnership pledged military aid to any mining guild threatened by Confederate policy, and under the leadership of General Mah Sakai the two groups banded together to drain resources from worlds across the Koprulu sector. The line between corporation and government vanished. Early in its existence the Combine faced and defeated an internal rebellion known as the Kel-Morian Mining Revolts, deploying goliath combat walkers to put it down.

Tensions with the Confederacy rose as Confederate forces repeatedly seized Kel-Morian mining operations at locations such as the Paladino Belt and the world of Sonyan, justifying the thefts on the grounds that the Combine was composed of pirates and criminals. The Combine, intent on controlling the sector's scarce resources, grew increasingly antagonistic in turn.

The Guild Wars#

The war began when the Confederacy attempted to seize the Noranda Glacier vespene operation on Onuru Sigma. Alpha Squadron captain Edmund Duke and section captain Arcturus Mengsk led an attack force into a carefully prepared ambush, and the Confederates destroyed the complex before being driven off, marking the official start of the Guild Wars. For nearly four years the Combine fought the Confederacy on Char, Sonyan, and Turaxis II.

Kel-Morian soldiers, known as rippers, made continual raids on Confederate bases, often more interested in plunder than military victory. The Combine developed the cerberus mine during its siege of New Austin. As the war dragged on, it became clear the Combine could not last, and in 2489 the Guild Wars ended with a skewed peace agreement under which the Combine retained its autonomy but lost nearly all of its affiliated mining guilds to the Confederacy.

Government and military#

The Combine was split into guilds, each led by a democratically elected leader who, once in place, was difficult to dislodge. Every member of Kel-Morian society belonged to an occupational guild, and guild affiliation and specialization were inscribed on uniforms in a tradition dating to Moria's first mining guilds. The Combine's population exceeded that of the Umojan Protectorate.

During the Guild Wars the Combine's military was organized along corporate lines, fielding rippers and outriders who were effectively poorly equipped irregulars, with vehicles scrapped together from various sources and the Kelanis Shipping Guild serving as an irregular naval force. Known ranks included Overseer, Assistant Overseer, Foreman, and Taskmaster. By the Brood War the Combine's forces operated along more conventional lines, stronger than the Umojan Protectorate but far weaker than the Dominion, and it relied heavily on well-equipped mercenaries and hired pirate crews.

The Dominion era#

After the discovery of the zerg and protoss in late 2499, the Combine went to great lengths to stay out of the conflict, but in 2500 Moria came under Dominion rule. The Combine later regained its independence and competed with the Dominion for influence, focusing on building its commercial empire while remaining intent on claiming more worlds for plunder. Economic conflict with the Dominion was frequent, and the Combine sabotaged Dominion mining operations with nuclear weapons; its spies were known to carry nuclear detonators to destroy themselves if captured. Around 2502 the Combine struck a loose alliance with Jim Raynor and continued to cover for him afterward.

During the Second Great War, mounting losses from the zerg invasion forced the Combine to abandon outlying worlds such as Redstone III, slumping markets. During the End War, a Kel-Morian mining colony under Guildmaster Debra Greene came under attack by Amon's forces and called on allied commanders to aid its evacuation. After the wars the Combine was no longer viewed as a viable enemy to the Dominion and was barely holding together, though under the reformed Dominion of Emperor Valerian Mengsk it pursued new trade negotiations and resumed territorial grabs.