Horace Warfield

Horace Warfield was a Terran Dominion military officer and the commander-in-chief of the Dominion Armed Forces during the Second Great War. A longtime friend of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk dating back to their service in the Terran Confederacy, he led the Dominion's war against the zerg, was rescued on Char by Jim Raynor, and was ultimately killed by Sarah Kerrigan while defending the wounded of his command.

Early life and Confederate service#

Horace Warfield was born in Kithrup, Tarsonis, the youngest child of Shae and Henry Warfield. His elder brother and sister followed their parents into medical professions, but Warfield enlisted in the Confederate Marine Corps. He rose through the ranks with surprising speed, earning commendations for valor, tactical brilliance, and decisive leadership.

He first saw combat on Sonyan early in the Guild Wars, where he met Captain Arcturus Mengsk, commander of a company of the 33rd Ground Assault Division, and each recognized the other's superlative qualities. Warfield distinguished himself in the South Kreen Mines, leading a charge into an enemy bunker and taking three bullets in the shoulder while clearing a vital position. He was quickly made first lieutenant under Mengsk, and the two became friends. By the war's end Warfield had been promoted to lieutenant colonel. Mengsk left the Confederate military, but the two men stayed in contact.

Rebellion and the Dominion#

After the war Warfield grew disenchanted with Confederate peacekeeping duties. When Korhal was destroyed he immediately deserted, taking his battlecruiser Iron Justice and its handpicked crew with him, and evaded Confederate pursuit through the Sara system and beyond. Within months he made contact with the newly formed Sons of Korhal under Mengsk. His intimate knowledge of the Confederacy's military strength, positions, and movements was invaluable to the rebellion, though he was never officially a member. During the Great War it was rumored that his assistance helped the rebels recover the psi emitter on Mar Sara and deploy it on Tarsonis. His family went missing and were presumed killed during the Fall of Tarsonis.

As the Terran Dominion took hold, Warfield, now a general, was seen as one of the more trusted advisors to the new emperor, entrusted with crucial tasks and strategies. He was hailed at some point as the Hero of Torus. He was placed in charge of Project Shadowblade, a program to create a new generation of Dominion ghost operatives, but after the terrazine gas used in the process proved to make subjects unstable, Warfield pushed for the program's immediate shutdown. Mengsk obliged, and Warfield was among the few connected to it who were neither imprisoned nor executed. He retired in 2501.

Recall and the Second Great War#

The zerg invasion of the Dominion in 2504 prompted Mengsk to reactivate Warfield. Placed in command of the Dominion Armed Forces, he was immediately sent to execute Operation Burnout to clear the Sara system, and when the main zerg push slowed he was credited with a successful strategy against them. Before the unveiling of the war machine Odin in Augustgrad, he was interviewed by Donny Vermillion and admitted to reporter Kate Lockwell that the Odin's shipping was delayed. When the Odin later attacked Dominion troops, Warfield ordered the supposed rogue pilot to stand down, and upon detecting a security breach at the UNN Studios he sent strike teams after Raynor's Raiders in an unsuccessful attempt to stop them.

The Battle of Char#

Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk requisitioned Warfield and half the Dominion Fleet for a strike on Char, where Valerian was assembling a xel'naga device meant to make Kerrigan human again. The fleet rendezvoused with Raynor's Raiders and allied with the rebels, who had been unwittingly collecting artifact pieces for the prince. By this point Warfield had led five separate invasions against the zerg and was unimpressed with the Raiders' motives. Disregarding Raynor's advice, he launched a frontal assault. The terrans suffered heavy casualties and were nearly repulsed, and Warfield transferred to a battlecruiser that was badly damaged and crash-landed on the surface.

Raynor's Raiders, fighting nearby to establish a foothold, rushed to relieve the embattled crew and arrived just as the zerg began overrunning Warfield's position. Trapped in a trench and attacked by two hydralisks, the general had his right arm impaled by spines but managed to punch out one attacker. Raynor and Tychus Findlay aided him personally while a flight of Banshees destroyed the next wave. Grateful, Warfield promised not to forget that Raynor had saved him and his troops. His arm remained poisoned, leaving him unable to resume command, so he gladly appointed Raynor to replace him, advising him to cripple the zerg air forces at Char Aleph before assaulting the primary hive. The general developed a warm rapport with the rebel and recognized his tactical skill. Warfield's arm was amputated and replaced with a cybernetic one that converted between a hand and a cannon, and he delivered the assembled artifact to Raynor.

Final campaign and death#

When Valerian and Raynor fled Char with Kerrigan to keep her from Arcturus Mengsk's grasp, Warfield remained behind to purge the planet of the remaining zerg. When the zerg under Broodmother Zagara pushed through the Bone Trench, Warfield brought in his Gorgon battlecruisers and badly mauled her brood. His position unraveled, however, when Kerrigan returned to retake Char for the Swarm. Severely wounded by metal beams that penetrated his armor, Warfield ordered the evacuation of the wounded but waved off rescue for himself.

Kerrigan found him alone in the tactical operations center, trying to pull the beams from his chest. He demanded she let the shuttles leave, arguing that the wounded aboard were no threat and reminding her they had families, and when she remained silent he accused her of betraying humanity and causing countless deaths for petty revenge. As he aimed his cybernetic cannon at her, he said Raynor would be disgusted with her. The invocation of Raynor's name struck a nerve, and Kerrigan drove the beams through his torso, killing him. After his death, though, she called off her assault and allowed the shuttles to escape.

Character#

Warfield was a career soldier shaped by decades of command. He carried his disagreements with the Raiders openly, judging their motives self-serving even as he came to respect Raynor's ability, and his final stand was defined by a refusal to abandon the wounded under his command. He appeared to be left-handed, and through most of his recorded service he was seen in a CMC powered combat suit.