Two days later, Joey Ray's Bar.
"This is Mar Sara Central Television. The Revolutionary Army's press secretary, Lieutenant Colonel Boris, has confirmed that Governor Richard Lyon has been executed. The luxury goods hoarded in this infamous lackey of the Terran Confederacy's home, along with other illicit gains, amount to the equivalent of 3 years of tax revenue for the entire Mar Sara colony. These illegal proceeds will now be returned to their original owners."
"Mar Sara is already close to de facto independence. This is yet another milestone in the revolution against the Confederacy's tyranny. The Battle of Mar Sara marks a new turning point— the legendary Alpha Squadron has fallen to the Revolutionary Army."
"Colonel Edmund Duke of Alpha Squadron, a scion of the Duke family of Tarsonis, has announced that he is joining the Revolutionary Army. The following is his address swearing his oath to join—"
"I am Edmund Duke. Joining the glorious Korhal Revolutionary Army is the wisest decision of my life, and I will not regret today's decision for decades to come. Alpha Squadron will accept the leadership of the Revolutionary Army's Marshal Command. We will fight the Confederacy's curs and henchmen to the bitter end."
As the report played, a cheer went up inside the bar. The people of Mar Sara had been oppressed by the Confederate government for too long, and their dissatisfaction with the graft of the decayed governor's administration had only grown.
Beyond emphasizing revolution and freedom, Augustus Mengsk's Revolutionary Army had always styled itself as the army that defended the people. They possessed firm conviction and strict discipline, forbidding the seizure of any property from the people by any means.
The Revolutionary Army assumed responsibility for maintaining order in its garrisons and acting as a temporary police force, expelling and arresting bandits and thugs, and—through labor reform—making them create value for the people. This further enhanced the Revolutionary Army's prestige across many regions of Mar Sara. By comparison, the behavior of the Confederate government and its military was a complete negative example.
"Duke, good thing you surrendered fast—"
Granted a half-day off, Jim Raynor sat alone at a round table in the bar, pouring and drinking for himself, working on his favorite No. 8 whiskey.
"Should've given you a few more hits while you were still a prisoner," Raynor said as he watched Duke on TV—face black-and-blue, nearly unrecognizable.
There was no way back for Duke now. The Terran Confederacy would soon regard him as its greatest traitor and the disgrace of the navy.
Even if Duke returned to Tarsonis to eke out the rest of his life under his family's shelter, a commander who had surrendered to the rebels and pleaded for mercy would never again be given any chance to rise within the military.
It was still morning, so there weren't many people in the bar—mostly miners on leave. As the Revolutionary Army took control of the town where Joey Ray's Bar stood, the local crime rate dropped to its lowest point in history. Having lost their biggest source of patrons, bars, casinos, and such adult-entertainment businesses as strip clubs suffered heavy losses.
Sipping the bitter No. 8 whiskey, Raynor listened to the bar TV's news. Mar Sara's local TV station and the Confederacy-funded newspapers had already fallen under Revolutionary Army control, and in recent days residents across the southern hemisphere could watch the latest reports on the battles between the Revolutionary Army and government forces.
Of course, the locals could still tune in to UNN and other official Confederate channels, but by now the people of Mar Sara treated UNN News as a joke. Even now, UNN Interstellar News was still broadcasting documentaries claiming the Revolutionary Army was massacring local residents.
As Raynor drank, he saw Augustus walk in wearing a dark gray military coat, Kerrigan following close behind, while Corporal Faraday and his men stood guard at the bar's entrance.
"I thought you'd spend what little downtime you had with your girlfriend Elizabeth," Augustus said as he dropped into the seat across from Raynor. Kerrigan sat down beside him.
"If you're that idle, then get back to your Rangers Division headquarters and work. Alpha Squadron was only the first naval squadron to arrive on Mar Sara. There are still countless fleets making their way here through warp jumps."
"Want a drink?" Raynor lifted his head to look at Augustus.
"What's the matter? Still mourning the deaths of those soldiers?" Augustus took the bottle Raynor had been drinking from. Unbothered, he tipped it back and drank straight from it.
"No, I'm feeling much better now… Let me tell you something," Raynor muttered. "But you've got to promise not to tell those punks Harnack hangs with."
"I'll keep it secret." Augustus exchanged a glance with Kerrigan. Seeing her only shrug, he figured it probably wasn't anything serious.
"My mouth's always been tight."
"All right." Raynor took a moment to gather himself.
"Elizabeth's pregnant. Two months along."
Augustus looked at Kerrigan again, showing no surprise on his face.
"I recall I warned you to use protection. Elizabeth probably isn't ready to have a child yet—though I'm not blaming you. Out on the fringe colonies, it's common enough for girls her age to get pregnant." He spoke.
"No wonder it's you, Jimmy," Augustus said with a smile.
"You… you're really not going to curse me out a bit?" Raynor squirmed.
"To be honest, when Liddy first told me about this I was shocked too. I made a mistake, I really should've listened to you."
"If it really came to it, not only would I curse you, I'd beat the hell out of you." Augustus shrugged. "But I don't think I have any reason to do that."
"Jimmy, if you're ready to be a responsible man who can take on what comes with it, then you should bear your responsibility as a father." At this point Augustus put away his smile, speaking seriously, with a grave expression, to his friend and brother Raynor.
"You're already 19, about to turn 20. If you're not ready yet, then I still suggest you discuss it with Elizabeth and think carefully about whether this child should be born."
"Of course, Liddy and I have already decided to have this child," Raynor said after a moment's silence.
"No matter what, this child should have the right to open their eyes and see this world."
"Good!" Augustus's mind raced far faster than Raynor had imagined.
"How about calling him John?"
"John? That's a good name." Raynor hadn't quite caught up, he just went along with Augustus's words. "But that sounds like a boy's name. How do you know it'll be a boy?"
"John Raynor," Augustus mused aloud.
"If it's a boy," Raynor nodded.
"We've talked it over. After the child is born, we hope you can become his—or her—godfather. On Shiloh, people have a customary tradition. They believe every child should have two fathers."
...
February 25, 2490, Mar Sara, Hinterland Region, Echo Town.
The weather was still scorching. The rust-colored desert and the frontier town on its fringe in this colonial world wavered in the rolling heat. The ring of a few fields and small transplanted groves of Joshua trees around the town formed the few patches of green on this barren planet; the searing sun, the orange-gray sky, and the circling Koprulu Gliding Hawks made up Mar Sara's unchanging, aeons-old palette of gloom and desert style.
Looking down from the sky, a highway built by the Revolutionary Army's 1st Engineering Regiment cut through desert and plain, linking Echo Town with Backwater Station tens of kilometers away, like a black straight line. The highway was asphalt-paved, broad, and able to accommodate tanks and heavy trucks.
On this day, many transports and shuttles in reddish-brown camouflage were parked on the highway at Echo Town's entrance. Roughly a battalion of Revolutionary Army soldiers in deep-red powered armor, C-14 Gauss rifles slung across their chests, stood in ranks before the vehicles, fully geared and ready to move. Not far from the ranks, several privates second class, under an officer's direction, were taking down the red banner from the flagpole by the road.
Over the past few months, this gold-and-red banner—and the many freedom-related meanings it stood for—had already sunk deep into people's hearts.
Those watching this scene were not only the standing Revolutionary Army soldiers, but also many local residents. In the past, on an edge-world colony like Mar Sara, locals had little contact with the Confederacy's garrison; only during conscription did they remember those marines who spent much of their time on gambling and leisure.
By contrast, the Revolutionary Army's relationship with the local populace was closer. As their image had gradually aligned, under the leadership of the great leader, Revolutionary Army Marshal Augustus Mengsk, with that of freedom fighters, this disciplined force was often linked to striking at crime and caring for the elderly, women, and children.
Since the Revolutionary Army arrived on Mar Sara, the Terran Confederacy's government apparatus used to tighten control over edge-world colonies and trumpet its tyranny had been toppled at once. People here no longer needed to pay exorbitant taxes to sustain the Confederacy's military and the prosperous capital world of Tarsonis, and the development bottleneck that had kept Mar Sara stagnant began to loosen.
According to Augustus's plan, he intended to build Mar Sara into a heavily industrialized planet with a developed industrial system, a core world primarily producing instruments of war, and, at the same time, to give it fortresses and spaceports capable of stationing legions and fleets.
In the future, Mar Sara would become the Terrans' foremost line in resisting the Zerg Swarm's invasion.
Marshal Augustus and his generals stood among the crowd. The tall and powerfully built Raynor and Tychus stood to either side of him, while General Warfield in the rear issued boarding orders to the Revolutionary Army soldiers in formation. People shouted the names of Augustus and his family; many were even eager to enlist in the Revolutionary Army.
Most of Mar Sara's people did not want the Revolutionary Army to leave. Only after losing and regaining it did they realize just how precious their hard-won freedom was. They hefted wooden placards painted with Augustus's portrait and stirring slogans, waved the Revolutionary Army's and the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party's flags, and their faces were slick with sweat.
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