Gates of Hell

Previous	Maw of the Void
Next	Belly of the Beast or Shatter the Sky
Gates of Hell
Conflict	Second Great War
Date	Late 2504
Place	Char
Result	Raynor build an army of 100 units and rescued an injured Warfield
Campaign	Wings of Liberty
Combatants
Raynor's Raiders Terran Dominion
Raynor's Raiders Terran Dominion
Zerg Swarm
Zerg Swarm
Commanders
Jim Raynor Horace Warfield
Jim Raynor Horace Warfield
Infested Kerrigan
Infested Kerrigan
Casualties
Heavy
Heavy
Moderate
Moderate

Client	Valerian Mengsk
Objective(s)	Invade Char

Gates of Hell is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission.

History

Dangerous Game

Valerian Mengsk confronting his father

In preparation for the assault on Char, Prince Valerian Mengsk not only acquired the components to a xel'naga artifact, but also took nearly half of the Dominion fleet as well. The prince was acting parallel to Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and neglected to share all the details with his father. Only upon reaching Char did Valerian reveal his intentions to Arcturus: to defeat the Queen of Blades and prove himself a worthy successor.

The emperor was pleasantly surprised by his son's initiative and daring, but doubted whether Valerian had the experience to succeed. On the other hand, Arcturus was unpleasantly surprised to find Valerian had entered into an alliance with Jim Raynor, and Raynor's Raiders. Nonetheless, it was too late for the emperor to recall the expedition.

The Battle

Gaining a Foothold

The fleet embattled in orbit.

The initial landing was a near disaster. Most battlegroups were destroyed before reaching the surface, and those that survived were badly scattered. The chaos was aggravated by communication difficulties between ground units and higher command.

Jim Raynor took command of his sector and rallied terran forces in reach in order to have a chance to assault the zerg, as terran casualties escalated both in the ground and in orbit. Several Dominion units, continuing to land by drop pod, were rescued by Raynor's Raiders from the zerg and attached themselves to the rebels in the absence of orders.

Card To Play

Helios crash landed on Char.

As Jim Raynor pulled in troops to secure a perimeter, General Horace Warfield crash landed nearby aboard the battlecruiser Helios. The crew dug in as the zerg pressed in.

The Raiders sortied to relieve the beleaguered battlecruiser. They made it just as the zerg were overrunning the survivors. Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay personally rescued a wounded General Warfield.

Aftermath

The terran had their foothold, but at heavy cost. A push on the main hive was urgently needed before their strength was depleted against the numerically superior zerg.

The next article in this series is Belly of the Beast.

The next article in this series is Shatter the Sky.

Gameplay

Supply depots are not required for this mission. Over the course of the mission, drop pod "reinforcements" with increasingly powerful units arrive across the map. They become part of the player's army when player units move to their position. The reinforcements may be destroyed by the zerg if not rescued fast enough. Pods continue dropping after Warfield arrives. The final four pods drop in pairs, each arriving at a different location. When one of the pairs is rescued, the other is automatically attacked, forcing the player to divide the rescue team into two. Rescuing the early pods can help toward reaching the first army-building objective, and bring in production structures.

There are spore cannons scattered around the map. Destroying these yield additional resources.

Destroying the three nydus worms near Warfield's crashed battlecruiser is the final objective.

Achievements

Gates of Hell
Points	15 (Final Mission)
Criteria	Complete the mission

The Big Bang Cannon
Points	10 (Final Mission)
Criteria	Destroy all spore cannons on Normal difficulty
Notes
The spore cannons may be identified by the large green blobs they hurl into the sky and off the screen. Most may be found while picking up the drop pods.

Dominion Roundup
Points	10 (Final Mission)
Criteria	Rescue 10 Drop-Pods of Dominion Troops on Hard difficulty
Notes
The first 6 pods arrive individually and may be picked up. The last 4 drop in pairs. Reaching one pod causes a large zerg force to move in and destroy the other. Thus, both pods must be rescued simultaneously.