Gates of Hell

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

Dangerous Game
zX9EOpkFU58  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.

Gaining a Foothold
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.

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

Card to Play
v4_BfuFoYmU 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

 * See also: campaign quotations''

The terrans 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.

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.