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

HistoryEdit

BackgroundEdit

At the onset of the Second Great War, the Möebius 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, summoned the Raiders to destroy the cores before the zerg could capture them.^[1]

Race for the CoresEdit

Infested Kerrigan confronted Jim Raynor, but the commander was not intimidated. Narud gave control to the Raiders of their 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 that much, the scientist telling him that it was because she feared them as she feared the xel'naga who created them.^[1]

AftermathEdit

The BetrayalEdit

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

...Who We Choose to BeEdit

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 MissionEdit

Main article: Campaign quotations

Gameplay & Video WalkthroughEdit

The starting base is on the high ground on an island. Use the medivac dropships 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 Infested Kerrigan reaches them. Squads of War Pig mercenaries with the occasional Spartan Company goliath will appear on the map when the player approaches the data cores and can be resuced. 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.

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 - a single Hercules should be large enough to transport the player's entire army, 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.

The Moebius Factor Starcraft II Brutal Mode Walkthrough (HD - Max Settings)(11:55)
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AchievementsEdit

The Moebius Factor
Points	15 (Artifact Mission)
Criteria	Complete the mission

Alive Inside! Points 10 (Artifact Mission) Criteria Locate the five groups of Moebius survivors on Normal difficulty Notes The first is near the first data core. The second is on a building south of the second core. The third 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 bridge. Destroy the zerg defenses west of the bridge; from the defenses fly south to group four.

Hard Core Points 10 (Artifact Mission) Criteria Complete the mission before Kerrigan destroys 6 Abandoned Structures on Hard difficulty Notes The sixth building is on a line between your base and the brutalisk; Kerrigan's back is to your base when searching it. Train two medivacs of marines, medics, marauders and a siege tank or two. Take two more empty medivacs to pick up Moebius survivors en route to the second core. Once at the second core, destroy it and the zerg hatchery; ignore the rest. Train a force tailored to break through the zerg base at the last core. Vikings may be useful to deal with brood lords. Use the route described in "Alive Inside!" achievement to reach the last survivors. Drop the attack force off the edge of the big building, inside the zerg base. Concentrate on the core; destroy only the enemy units that get in the way.

Easter EggsEdit

• 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.

ReferencesEdit