StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Chapter 243 Terrador III

Terrador III is the second destination on Augustus's trip to the Terrador system. It is the third planet in the system and one of the three planets that can support life.

The shuttle that Augustus was on was entering the gravitational field of the planet Terrador III and moving around the planet's synchronous orbit, preparing to enter the planet's dense atmosphere.

This butterfly-shaped shuttle painted in bright blue has a pair of symmetrical narrow triangular auxiliary wings. Three sets of plasma thrusters can ensure that the spacecraft has enough power and endurance to shuttle between the surface of the planet and outer space. The miniature warp drive is also capable of supporting several short jumps across galaxies.

This shuttle was manufactured at the famous Tarsonis Bennett Orbital Shipyard. It can carry up to twenty people and the same weight of cargo. It is the most commonly used shuttle by Federation merchants. Augustus this time brought only a squad of elite guardsmen under Corporal Reynaud, Harnack and Faraday.

It was piloted by a Revolutionary Navy captain who was an experienced cargo berthing boat pilot. Like many Kehal youths who join the army with enthusiasm, this docking boat pilot still shines in the field he is best at. His main job is to set up supply ships to and from the planet's supply station-Starport- between fleets.

After the Battle of Tarsonis, this supply pilot was awarded the Silver Medal of Korhal for repeatedly piloting the ship through various dangerous and unusual interstellar battlefields, and was given the honor of piloting the ship for the Marshal.

On the control panel in front of Augustus's seat, a blue and green planet was projected on a screen made of holographic projection.

The natural environment of Terrador III is far removed from the beautiful natural features of the other two sister systems orbiting each other. The ratio of carbon dioxide and methane in the nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere of this planet is higher than that of ordinary planets. This not only allows this atmosphere to well isolate the excessive radiation due to its closer distance to the star, but also creates space for Terrador III. A world that is humid, hot and full of hurricanes emerges.

The origin of life on this planet comes from a comet carrying organic microorganisms. Its life forms have shown vigorous development and vitality in the natural evolution of tens of billions of years.

Millions of years ago, Terrador III was once a beautiful planet with flourishing life. The rapid changes in life forms caused the planet to evolve into terrestrial and marine groups with very different forms.

However, extreme hurricane weather, tsunamis, geological movements or sudden climate changes on Terrador III can destroy an entire epoch of paleontological groups in an instant, and then the few surviving species will be extremely large over several chronological scales. Fast speed returns to rule the land and sea.

Since the city established by the last colonists to colonize Terrador III was destroyed by a terrible tsunami decades ago, officials from the Federal Immigration Service and the Central Security Agency had to reconsider recolonizing the planet. possible. Because the span between super natural disasters that are enough to destroy a civilization can be as long as millions of years at most, but not more than a few years at least.

It’s just that the fossils and living biological races on it have made it a treasure house for studying species evolution and genetic diversity. This makes Terrador’s too extreme and changeable climate unsuitable for a stable and large-scale colonial federation. Territory, but has a large number of biological research stations and federal research facilities.

Today, the colonists of the Federation are still considering completely changing the natural environment of Terrador III to make it more suitable for human survival through the long process of earth terraforming. However, this proposal is considered to destroy more than 95% of the planet. Native life forms, met with strong opposition from the Koprulu Animal Welfare Society.

With the outbreak of the Kailian War, this matter eventually came to an end. After all, the Tyranid Federation did not lack habitable planets, and the Terrador system was extremely rare to have three.

The vast majority of Terrador III's population lives in a huge circular orbital city that can accommodate millions of people. It's just the person Augustus is looking for - Aigon, the chief scientist of the Renault Rangers. Stetman is not on the orbital city, but in a small town on the surface of Terrador III.

"How does it feel to be on a shuttle? I heard you've never been to space." Beside Augustus sat Kerrigan and a young Matt Horner. Sarah Kerrigan's complexion is much better than two years ago, and her fiery red hair bun and rosy face add a bit of mature charm.

Everyone in the Marshal's headquarters knew that Marshal Augustus loved this fifteen-year-old boy very much and cultivated him to the best of his ability.

Matt wore a dark gray sailor's uniform and a revolutionary army cap given to him by Augustus. After generations of Horner family talking and even arguing, they finally decided to send Matt to the Revolutionary Army.

Despite Matt's resolute attitude, the Horner family believed that following a man like August was a bright and smooth path - although this mysterious confidence surprised Augustus. If the Horner family had not had a daughter, Augustus might not have been able to escape so easily.

"I feel great, Marshal Augustus." Matt's expression was quite excited: "I feel great."

"That's good. Most people who grew up in a planet's gravitational field don't adapt well to the space environment for the first time. There are always some unlucky guys who will vomit and have diarrhea." Augustus looked at Matt.

"I can't believe you still came with us. In the eyes of many people, you are still a child after all," he said.

"Because this may be my only chance to get out of Terrador IX." Matt said: "There is always a voice in my heart, which keeps telling me that if I miss this opportunity, then I may still It’s going to be many more years.”

"Very good, as long as you don't regret it, I don't have any problem here." Augustus said to Matt.

"Matt, I originally thought our trip might be in vain. After all, you are still too young." Jim Raynor, sitting in the back row, said.

"Son, I still have to remind you. In our revolutionary army, there are many people who were full of ambitions before joining the army, but regretted it the moment they entered the military camp or stepped onto the battlefield. Maybe some people also think that The revolutionary army is just a ragtag group of peasant rebels, but what awaits these people is the punishment of deserters." He reminded the Terrador young man in front of him with a serious expression, who could only be called a big boy.

"Don't scare Matt, otherwise I will have to rely on Harnak to drive the boat for me." Augustus laughed.

"I've never driven a boat, but I've driven a Vulture." Hanak, who was next to Renault, said immediately when he saw Augustus mentioning him.

"But I don't think it's a big deal, I can do it too."

"Marshal, I will never be a deserter." Matt said in awe: "I come here just to become the most heroic revolutionary soldier, and I am ready to sacrifice for this at any time."

"I don't need your sacrifice, Matt. I never doubt that you will become a general or even a marshal in the future." Augustus said with a smile.

Augustus' words startled Matt, who had obviously never thought of this possibility. In contrast, Matt believes that his greatest achievement in life may be to be a full-time driver for Augustus.

"I never thought I would be a general," Matt said.

"Then now you have to take this as your ideal." Augustus put away his smile and said: "Next, I will arrange for you to serve as a trainee sailor on the Hyperion. After a while, you may be assigned to Captain Reno, learning from his first mate and executive commander about driving and the day-to-day management of a warship."

"Once the time is right, I will send you to Umoyan Capital University. After you complete two to three years of study, I will find you again and let you serve as the commander of one of the battlecruisers in my fleet. captain."

"Yes, sir," Matt said seriously.

Augustus patted Matt on the shoulder from behind, obviously very close to the boy, but Matt still sat upright and acted quite nervous. It still takes a lot of time for Matt to adapt to the change in status. The age and status gap does not allow him to regard Augustus as a close friend or brother. He always respects and awes this great leader of the revolutionary army.

At this time, the shuttle Augustus was on had passed through the atmosphere of Terrador III, and after a period of turbulence, landed on a steel-cast parking platform in the northern hemisphere.

The landing site was located between a low-lying swamp, and beyond were forests and dotted small lakes. A large number of strange and brightly colored creatures thrived in the moist swamp, and the sky was filled with flying creatures similar to small pterosaurs. The footprints of huge creatures can still be vaguely seen on the ground. There are large groups of small and colorful lizards with webbed feet running through the muddy swamp.

This mooring platform was built in the early colonial era and had been abandoned for quite some time. The rusty parking platform still has faded cordons and whitewashed warning signs. There was filth, mud and abandoned machinery everywhere, but no trace of human activity.

Currently, Terrador III is in an extremely warm era. Lush forests cover 70% of the land, and the variety of life is exploding. A considerable part of the local biological communities come from cold-blooded creatures and mammals brought by humans, and their evolution speed on this planet far exceeds that of their origin.

In just over a hundred years, the small lizards that were originally brought as pets by the first colonists increased twenty-fold in size and evolved into hundreds of regional subspecies, which is amazing. This is a paradise for biologists. The most famous universities and scientific research institutions in the Koprulu sector all have research institutions in Terrador.

In addition to the extremely rich and diverse biota and extremely fast evolution speed of Terrador III, which are of great research value, the local ruins of lost civilizations buried in thick geological layers are also one of the reasons why there are so many scientific research stations on this planet. .

A lot of evidence shows that the planets in the Terrador system - even more than three colonizable planets - have a large number of ancient civilization relics. Huge dark green crystal pillars are spread all over the underground caves, used for The huge temple where the gods sing their praises seems to have reached the pinnacle of art and aesthetics that humans can imagine.

A considerable number of alien mystics believe that this place was once the home world of an ancient civilization. This civilization has already developed to the era of interstellar navigation and has colonized most of the planets in this galaxy. They can even transform a dead rocky planet to have a complete atmosphere and biosphere. This may be why the Terrador system has so many habitable planets.

A thousand or more years ago, this ancient civilization abandoned or temporarily left their homeland for unknown reasons, and then humans discovered this galaxy and began to implement a colonial policy.

In addition to the surviving early immigrants and the local residents of the second to third small-scale immigrants, the people who are still aboard Terrador III are elite scientists from various Federation Alliance colonies. There are more scientific research institutions on the planet's surface than there are domes of local residents.

Augustus got off the shuttle with a dozen armed Revolutionary Army guards and ordered Corporal Faraday to take people to confirm the surrounding situation.

Because the oxygen content in the air of Terrador III was higher than that of ordinary Earth-like planets, under the order of Augustus, everyone began to wear auxiliary ventilators. Although it is not impossible to breathe, outsiders who stay in such an environment for a long time are likely to suffer from oxygen intoxication.

"There's not even a soul here." Renault put on the auxiliary ventilator: "But I think we are just here to find dinosaurs. Thanks to the high oxygen content here, there are also many giant insects in Terrador. It's terrible. I heard that the zerg are constantly plundering the genes of other races in the galaxy, and they might like it here."

While Renault was speaking, a foot-long blood-sucking insect was flying in front of them, and in the blink of an eye it was burned to ashes by a marshal's guard using a Umoyan plasma torch. It’s hard to imagine how the local residents survived on a planet filled with poisonous insects and large predators.

"I do not hope that the zerg will ever invade the Terrador system." Augustus said: "What happened to Cha Sara proves that the zerg will only bring destruction."

Augustus recently received a report from the Mar Sara Revolutionary Army. They reported that the Zerg invasion of Cha Sara had not been contained. The number of people was only tens of thousands, and they were obviously outnumbered compared to the huge swarm of insects. At present, the Zerg carpet has covered an entire sub-continent and the vast ocean, but there has been no news of the federal fleet that came to support.

Those who are still resisting the Zerg invasion are Cha Sara's militia and the Planetary Defense Force. If the Federation does not take resolute and decisive measures, then no matter how hard they block the news, it will be useless. Sooner or later, everyone in the Federation will know that What exactly happened in the Sarah Galaxy will cause tens of billions of people to panic and distrust the federal government and the military.

The commander of the Revolutionary Army in Mar Sara named the swarm that invaded the Sara system the Jormungandr Swarm because there were a large number of Hydra Hydralisks among them, and this snake-like creature reminded humans of Come to the big snake in Norse mythology that coils around the world.

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