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The Moebius Factor is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission. Raynor's Raiders helped evacuate the Moebius Foundation on Tyrador VIII from the zerg.[1]

History[]

Background[]

At the onset of the Second Great War, the Moebius Foundation hired Raynor's Raiders to acquire alien artifacts. This put the Raiders in competition with Sarah Kerrigan, who also sought them.[1]

The Terran Dominion was criticized for not adequately defending Tyrador.[2]

Kerrigan eventually discovered the Foundation were the ones providing the Raiders with the location of artifacts. The Queen of Blades attacked Tyrador VIII to raid the Foundation's data cores for that information.

Dr. Emil Narud, the leader of the Foundation, asked the Raiders to destroy the cores before the zerg could capture them.[1]

Race for the Cores[]

Sarah Kerrigan confronted Jim Raynor, but the commander was not intimidated. Narud gave the Raiders control of his medivac dropships so that they could transport their troops around the city, avoiding most of the zerg. The Raiders saved the scattered remaining mercenary troops of the Foundation, and destroyed the data cores before Kerrigan could find the location of the artifacts. Raynor asked Narud why Kerrigan desired the artifacts so much, the scientist told him that she feared the artifacts just as she feared the xel'naga who created them.[1]

Aftermath[]

The Betrayal[]

TheBetrayal_SC2-WoL_VCine1

TheBetrayal SC2-WoL VCine1

Following the mission, Jim Raynor reminisced about Arcturus Mengsk abandoning Sarah Kerrigan on Tarsonis.[3]

...Who We Choose to Be[]

WhoWeChooseToBe_SC2-WoL_VCine1

WhoWeChooseToBe SC2-WoL VCine1

Raynor fell asleep in Hyperion's cantina and was awakened after experiencing a recurring bad dream. Matt Horner attempted, with expected lack of success, to counsel the rebel leader against holding on to the past and gave Raynor his old Confederate marshal badge. Horner departed after reminding Raynor that the Raiders needed his leadership.[4]

Conversations after the Mission[]

Main article: Campaign quotations
The next article in this series is Supernova.

Walkthrough[]

The starting base is on the high ground on an island. Use the medivac dropships (or hercules if unlocked) introduced for the mission to deploy to the rest of the city. Do not neglect base defense while pursuing the mission, use siege tanks to destroy the spine crawlers and keep them stationed with bunkers for defense. Goliaths for anti-air also work well. The main objective is to destroy the data cores before Kerrigan reaches them. Squads of War Pig mercenaries with the occasional Spartan Company goliath and Hammer Securities marauder will appear on the map when the player approaches the data cores and can be rescued. The player should build four and eventually six medivacs, not only to transport troops to battle but to provide extra healing and extra room for any rescued units.

The first two data cores are not very well protected. The first can be destroyed immediately by flying the marines the player receives to the high ground nearby and destroying it from there. The second core requires a larger force but isn't hard to get to. The third data core can be accessed fairly easily as well but has a larger garrison including several spore crawlers that will attack the medivacs, and possibly brood lords. A nydus worm will erupt while the player is attacking each core, focus fire on it when it erupts to stop the zerg from emerging. Nydus worms also periodically appear outside the player's base, wait for the first wave of units to fall then head out and destroy the worm. This is why destroying the spine crawlers early in the mission is important, so the worms are defenseless. Utilize siege tanks, bunkers and turrets to ensure that the primary base is defended before pushing out too hard.

Do not go after the brutalisk immediately. Attack after building momentum by destroying one or two cores, and rescuing some mercenary squads. Irradiation is useful if science vessels are available; it takes more time but reduces the risk of losing units to the brutalisk.

If the player has the Hercules dropship, they may wish to use a Hercules to transport their army - two Hercules should be large enough to transport the player's entire army and any units the player finds along the way, and it can sustain substantial damage from the zerg defenders to drop them off, especially when moving to the final data core which has spore crawlers nearby. If using a Hercules dropship the player can forego medivacs for medics, as medics are cheaper and heal more efficiently with stabilizer medpacks.

Achievement guide[]

To earn the "Alive Inside!" achievement, the player must find all five groups of Moebius survivors. The first two are near the first and second data core. The third group is on the high ground south of the second core, just off the creep of the second zerg base. The fourth and fifth groups are just outside the main entrance to zerg base defending the third core. The fifth group are the War Pigs; they do not appear unless a medivac is flown over the roof of the square building south of group four. To reach groups four and five by air, fly to the north map edge from the second core, then west to the creep-free (broken) bridge. If you do not want to thread the gap in the spore crawler coverage that exists over the southern part of the bridge, destroy the zerg defenses west of the bridge, either way, you can then fly southwest to the building group four is on from there. Group five is across the street south of group four (the building has the gun shop name that group four mentions, it is displayed on the southeast wall) and will, as stated earlier, only appear once a medivac is flown over their building.

Videos[]

Achievements[]

TheMoebiusFactor SC2 Icon1 The Moebius Factor
Points

15 (Artifact Mission) Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete the mission

Edit
AliveInside SC2 Icon1 Alive Inside!
Points

10 (Artifact Mission) Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Locate the five groups of Moebius survivors on Normal difficulty

Notes

The achievement name is a reference to the science fiction movie Alien

Edit
HardCore SC2 Icon1 Hard Core
Points

10 (Artifact Mission) Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete the mission before Kerrigan destroys 6 Abandoned Structures on Hard difficulty

Edit
10tAnniversary SC2Portrait Contract Saviors
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete "The Moebius Factor" mission by training only SCVs, Medivacs, and Mercenaries on Normal difficulty.

Edit

Notes[]

Lines found in Galaxy Map Editor indicate that lurkers were originally slated to appear in the mission.[5]

Easter Eggs[]

  • A night elf hologram can be found at the northeast area.
  • One of the buildings has "Alive Inside" spraypainted on its roof. This is from the zombie film Dawn of the Dead.
  • When rescued, a War Pig will exclaim "Marines, WE ARE LEAVING!" The line and its pronunciation are taken from the film Aliens.
  • Of the companies present, a Blizzard billboard can be seen.
  • In the north-western corner of the map a sword in the stone statue can be seen, a reference to Excalibur.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Moebius Factor (in English). 2010-07-27.
  2. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mengsk Talks: UNN newscast after "Cutthroat." (in English). 2010.
  3. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Betrayal. (in English). 2010.
  4. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: ...Who We Choose To Be. (in English). 2010.
  5. 2014-08-30, Unused HoTS Story Elements. StarCraft Legacy, accessed on 2014-08-31
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