StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

6·22

This was the second day after the Revolutionary Army fleet arrived in the Tarsonis system. Like all the soldiers in the fleet, Augustus Mengsk had not slept for forty-two hours.

Augustus' men completely defeated the Federation fleet defending Tarsonis and two other fleets that came to support at different times, a total of twenty-one battlecruisers, destroying eleven and forcing the remaining Federation battleships to Retreat briefly.

But the revolutionary fleet also paid a heavy price. Augustus permanently lost nine of his twenty-six battlecruisers. Three were unable to keep up with the fleet due to heavy damage, and the remaining battleships also suffered varying degrees of damage.

Renault's Hyperion is currently dispatching ships to several immovable battlecruisers whose propellers were damaged to pick up the crews of these battleships.

The Norad II and the other nine Behemoth-class battlecruisers of the Revolutionary Army fired at the main facilities on the Tarsonis Vosing high-altitude orbital platform from both directions above and below the horizontal plane. The one in front of Augustus Under the bridge porthole is the dense torrent of bullets from the automatic turret of the orbital platform.

At this time, the battleship's shield energy has been exhausted, and the Norad II, like other battlecruisers, is using thick armor plates to resist fierce gunfire.

Augustus watched everything in front of him calmly. There had been rumbling in his ears since the forty hours before him. The sound of many people talking on the bridge and the sound of fleet gunfire on the main screen had been ringing all the time. It never stopped.

On a zooming home screen, a Tarsonis high-altitude orbital defense platform was sinking into the planet's atmosphere. According to the calculations of Norad II's intelligent adjutant, the landing of this orbital platform was located on a protruding peninsula of the Tarsonis continental plate, triggering forest fires that swept through ten Tarsonis cities, bringing about unprecedented earthquakes and Tsunami.

"How is the situation with the landing force, Sarah, have the people from Tychus come back?" When the time on the main screen was fixed at 19:30 pm on June 22, Augustus looked at Sarah beside him Kerrigan, his lieutenants, and Umoyan lieutenants are either in the main control room or already on the front lines.

"Thirty-two of the forty-five landing troops have returned successfully." Standing next to Augustus, Kerrigan put on the uniform of the Umoyan Shadow Guards, these super warriors trained by Umoyan psychic mentors They often wear black tight-fitting light-like combat uniforms.

After speaking, even though she already knew what Augustus wanted to ask, Kerrigan still waited quietly for him to ask. This was how they communicated now, otherwise Augustus wouldn't have had to speak at all.

"How many people have returned?" asked Augustus.

"Less than two thousand people." Kerrigan slowed down her speech, and she observed Augustus's expression: "Most people died on the way to and from Tarsonis and the fleet. The Federation troops on the planet's surface The casualties caused were less than 20 percent.”

Augustus just sighed and said nothing. The troops brought out by Takhar were almost depleted, and too many people died in foreign lands and were buried in the stars.

"According to intelligence provided by Umoyan and August Security Council agents, our fighters successfully 'ransacked' five federal scientific research stations and weapons laboratories, and part of the guards there were transferred to protect local officials. ." Kerrigan reported.

"We found many technologies in the database of Tarsonis' command center and scientific research station, including CMC series power armor, vulture vehicles, arc light tanks, Goliath armed robots, Avenger fighter jets, and Kaimorian's Cerberus modifications. Fighter planes, Wraith fighter planes, APOD transport ships," she said.

"The design concepts, prototype data and structural drawings are all complete. As long as they are uploaded to the data network in a standardized heavy factory, the foundry can immediately produce these weapons."

"Data is being uploaded from the data disk to Norad II's terminal network."

The good news made Augustus breathe easier. Every time a battleship was lost and every soldier was lost, his heart was bleeding. He could not help but feel hatred.

"Hey, Mengsk, I have some good things for you." At this time, Tychus walked towards the bridge from a constantly opening and closing air valve. His crimson power armor had a dozen more hole. It seems that he has fought a lot of hard battles since landing in Tarsonis.

"A revolver - Colt Arms Company, ceased production more than a hundred years ago, and there are very few that have been preserved except for private maintenance." Augustus took it from Tychus. He carried a heavy revolver in a reindeer leather holster.

"It's very expensive, but the power is acceptable." He simply commented: "Jim just needs a gun."

"?" Tychus was stunned for a moment, then spread his hands and said, "Okay."

"You came back alive, brother. Where are the others?" Augustus put the pistol on his waist.

"Seven or eight good brothers died. They were all real tough guys. No one was captured." Tychus said angrily: "The people in the Tarsonis Police Department are all cowards, but in the hands of socialized soldiers But they are all real guys.”

"We raided a scientific research station, but there was nothing inside except a few 'fat pigeons' in suits." He continued: "I left a few people to copy documents, and then I went to Tarsonis's suspension The train track base station detects the enemy’s situation.”

"The data has been uploaded, you can see it yourself."

Augustus nodded frequently, and the bridge deck of the Norad II was still shaking violently as he read the information. A scanned and uploaded drawing caught Augustus' attention: it was a heavily armored chariot suspended on the ground, with two symmetrically arranged railguns mounted on the angular body.

This drawing comes from a document bag wrapped in thick leather. On the cover is a curled-up snake-like creature skeleton with intertwined ends. The hole in its skull is ice blue.

"Rattlesnake -" Augustus recognized this. His eyes lit up and he began to read the information: "Rattlesnake chariot, a conceptual chariot that is still in the theoretical stage, uses magnetic levitation technology and is equipped with an executioner electromagnetic track. The Gunferend tank armor plate is initially positioned as a high-speed, suspended tank vehicle that can effectively target heavy armor."

"What a good thing, a new gadget from the Federation." Tychus clicked his tongue in surprise.

"Leave it to Chief Engineer Rory Swann, he knows what to do." Augustus made the final decision: "Maybe we can install the railgun on other vehicles, but the development of batteries is a problem."

"That Kemorien dwarf is going crazy with joy," Tychus complained.

"It's not a problem if you have money," Tychus said.

But after a while, Augustus' expression changed. He looked at the list of items given by Tychus and said angrily: "Arts, antiques, record players from the 1950s after the colony ship crashed, high-purity crystal, Tarsonis Erotic Magazine Collection.”

"The city of Tarsonis is home to all the latest cutting-edge technologies in the Tyranid Federation. Take a look at what you brought back."

"There's nothing we can do about it. There are only a few useless pieces of tissue paper in that scientific research station." Tychus didn't care: "There are at least two army armies and a mechanized division in the central city. It's impossible for us to catch the one from the Tagore family. old woman."

"I experienced nine deaths before landing on the ground. It would be a pity not to get something." Tychus had his own reasons: "There is an old saying on Earth, don't take advantage of it, you bastard."

"It's my fault for not getting back some beautiful noble ladies for you. I forgot to ask you what kind of girl you like, flaxen hair or red, brown skin or fair enough, or maybe you actually like them With a handle.”

"Forget it, I didn't expect you to do anything serious." Augustus felt that there was no need to vent his anger on Tychus.

"Marshal, we have contacted the last landing force that has not returned to the fleet. Their landing point is about a thousand miles away from the intended position and sandwiched between two army brigades. In the last communication, this force The commander, Captain Ireland, declined our offer to send additional reinforcements to the ground."

"I remember that Captain Ireland was the eldest son of the Rondstein family." Augustus said no more.

"Why not just level Tarsonis." Tychus scratched his helmet with the tip of his power-armored index finger.

The Revolutionary Fleet did not attack Tarsonis. Although they were fully capable of forcibly breaking through the blockade of high-altitude and orbital defense platforms at the beginning and conducting indiscriminate orbital bombing of Tarsonis, they only targeted anti-aircraft firepower, military facilities and Some government landmark buildings.

Augustus only sent about 20,000 landing troops to various areas on the planet's surface. The landing troops fought in many places on the main planet of Tarsonis. The purpose was just to create chaos in Tarsonis and seize the federal military base command center and Design drawings of new weapons in the scientific research station.

"Yes, but we can't do this." Augustus glanced at Tychus, his cold gray eyes reflecting the gorgeous deep sky outside the porthole.

"Disregarding the possibility that the Creation Family has already escaped and that they are hiding in an underground shelter that can withstand nuclear strikes, we do have a chance to wipe out the Creation Family in one go." He said calmly:

"Send an apocalypse-level nuclear bomb toward the center of the main city of Tarsonis - it's easy to aim, because the city's plan is a regular and changeable geometry that overlaps with each other, and the Sky Tower of the Creation Family is in the center. .”

"Right, with just one revelation, the Creation Family and their ugly hearts will be finished together. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After today's incident, the Federation fleet will definitely significantly strengthen Tarsonis's defense. Next time It’s not that easy for us to visit here.” Tychus nodded.

"But do you know how many people there are in the densely populated commercial area of ​​Tarsonis and the nearby residential areas?" Augustus said a number: "Nearly 200 million people."

"One billion people will be affected. At that time, the revolutionary army will be called the butcher. We are the revolutionary army, insurrectionists, not terrorists."

"What you did is not much different, isn't it?" Tychus never regarded himself as a member of the revolutionary army.

"The Federation doesn't care how many people die on Korhal, but we can't and don't care about the civilians of Tarsonis. That's the difference between us and the Federation," he said. What the people of Lun know.”

"I would rather let those members of the Creation Family live and let them continue to rot until they are beyond redemption, than have hundreds of millions of innocent Tarsonis buried with them." He said: "I have no choice. "

"Your heart is not dark enough or ruthless enough." Tychus sighed and said: "If it were your brother Arcturus, he would have launched all the nuclear bombs."

"Or you can push the others out and say that your general pressed the red button secretly."

"I understand this." Augustus looked at Tychus: "This is a dark age. If you want to succeed, you must do whatever it takes. Sacrificing a dozen people is a serious humanitarian crisis, and destroying a dozen people is a serious humanitarian crisis." Hundreds of millions of people is just a political issue.”

"Then what are you going to do?" Tychus asked.

"My fleet will wander like a ghost at the border between the Kemerian Federation and the Tyranid Federation." Augustus said: "I am hiding the enemy in the open. As long as the Federation is exhausted, they will be exhausted. Wait until the Federation begins After giving up control of the peripheral world and shrinking the defense of the core world, we achieved initial victory."

"I will spend the rest of my life fighting against the Terran Confederacy until one of us falls forever."

"Don't be ridiculous, you are still only eighteen years old after all." Tychus smiled and lit a cigar, inhaling deeply the smoke in the air and letting it circulate in his lungs: "Can the Tyranid Federation live as long as you?"

"So, you want to use those monsters in Victor V, which are called zerg by federal scientists, to deal with the Federation?" Tychus said, looking at Augustus' profile.

"They are simply the most perfect weapons for genocide. They do not produce any pollution at all and are thrown away after use. They can even be made into canned food after the battle. Even if they are not good enough, they can be used to feed the animals in the Umoyan Beetle Ranch. brute."

"The Federation has a really good idea. No one will doubt them. In the end, they will send troops to eliminate those monsters, and the victims will praise them."

"The truth will be revealed to the world one day." Augustus shook his head: "And the Federation doesn't know how terrifying the zerg are. Their number is much greater than they estimated."

"The Federation is playing with fire. We must control the zerg through other, more reliable means."

At this time, Norad II's sensors detected a large number of transition signals. Although Korhal was not the first planet colonized by Tarsonis, it was located at the core of the Tyranid Federation's territory, and the fleet based on Korhal could reach it in only two days.

However, Edmund Duke's Alpha Squadron was still missing at this time, and Captain Jackson might still be walking him on the edge of the Koprulu sector.

"Notify the fleet and prepare to jump."

"Where are you going?" Tychus asked him.

"Sarah System." Augustus said: "Send the coordinates of this system to the entire fleet."

"What are you going to do there?" Tychus knew clearly: "A remote place in the countryside - I understand what you mean. It is a good place, far away from Tarsonis, and it is one of the main star worlds. It is a good place to dominate. .”

"What do you know?" Augustus ignored him and instead issued an order through the fleet's command channel: "Everyone returns to their positions and straps the wounded to the acceleration seats."

"It's all over," he said.

"But it's not over yet," Tychus added.

Thanks for voting!