StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

The northern hemisphere of Char, the landing point of the revolutionary army.

A golden-red shuttle lowered its landing gear on the vast land named Mirror Plain by early colonists and federal officials, and the buffer propeller kicked up a burst of dark gray debris and ash.

This shuttle is just like other spacecraft that travel between the surface and space of various marginal colonies all year round. It has become obsolete due to its long service life and wear and depreciation. People are always worried that it will suddenly fall apart.

Perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, the people of the edge worlds of the Tyranid Federation and the miners of the Kaimorian mining family were using these aircraft. Their history is as old as the rise of certain colonies. Today, this model The shuttle is still a very reliable flying vehicle.

The spaceships of the Revolutionary Army are either new ships built during the Korhal IV period, or they are obsolete products that Angus and Augustus painstakingly bought from other sources, but their performance is fully worthy of renovation and reconstruction. price.

Amidst the squeaking sound of the hydraulic device starting up, a gangway that looked to be quite old was lowered. The lights in the crew cabin where Augustus was located were turned on again, and under the orders of the noncommissioned officers, the soldiers picked up the green rucksacks on the overhead shelf and prepared to leave the cabin.

The female voice's intelligent mechanical adjutant is reporting the humidity, temperature and radioactive material content of the landing site to the Revolutionary Army soldiers. It must be said that these data are quite outrageous.

In Char, the hottest areas can even reach 800 degrees Celsius during the day, and the hot air can even burn the throat of a person who inhales the air without any protective measures. The area that had been bombarded by the nuclear weapons of the Terran Federation and the Kaimorian Alliance fleet was filled with deadly radiation that even power armor protective suits could not protect against.

Corporal Faraday, who was walking on the left hand side of Augustus, took the lead in walking through the long and narrow passage in the shuttle and exiting the shuttle. A team of fully armed elite guard members followed closely behind, their crimson CMC-300 power armor and shining lights above. The golden wolf head badge is the reason why the soldiers feel extremely proud and proud.

After confirming their status on the communication channels of multiple landing forces, Augustus stood up from his seat and followed several Red Magic Firebats from the Revolutionary Army in huge armor to the gangway.

Because Tassadar's protoss expeditionary force contained a large number of zerg in the high-altitude orbit of Char, the human landing force did not suffer serious casualties when entering Char's almost non-existent atmosphere. This is also the case in August. All are expected.

In the cargo compartment at the rear of the shuttle, several squads of Revolutionary Army soldiers and mechanics were untying the fixed chains tied to two arc-light siege tanks and opening the spare hatch.

As soon as he stepped into Char's land, Augustus's legs sank deeply into the extremely thick volcanic ash. The deepest part of the ash layer may have exceeded five feet. The air was distorted by the extremely high temperature. Just being exposed to the light of Char's sub-white dwarf and irregular variable star binary system with extremely strong radiation, the landing gear of the shuttle was hot enough to boil an egg.

The Mirror Plain was once a smooth, mirror-like lowland plain, but its current appearance is far from what it used to be. Rivers of red magma that crisscrossed like spider webs separated the white plains that had become fragmented under the bombardment, like flowing orange flames.

Once a human soldier loses his footing and falls into such a magma lake, there is no chance of survival.

Farther away is a scorching world composed of huge black rocks, craters, volcanoes and lava lakes. Some fiery red flashes rise from the ashes, like sparks in the embers.

In addition to the magma lakes, there are also large and small holes on the ground. These holes emit gray smoke columns, and sometimes spit out a burst of gray smoke like oysters spitting out fine sand in their shells, like smoke rings from a pipe. Most of the cave entrances are quite dangerous, and the heat coming out of them can burn people to death.

Hot and desolate.

Augustus believed that some of the holes were dug by zerg, because in front of those holes there were small mounds of ashes and dug-out soil. To a certain extent, the zerg's habits were like digging in the soil. There is no difference between the prairie dogs.

Observe the surrounding scene in Augustus and use the built-in sensor scanning system inside the power armor to draw a three-dimensional map of the surroundings, marking several pre-selected marching routes on the map.

He breathed deeply into the air inside the armor and felt himself sweating. The condensation device in the power armor is still working, and its cold fusion core can provide inexhaustible power for the armor's life support system, so that the internal temperature and internal circulation air quality can be maintained at a constant level for up to several weeks. stable state.

The ground is shaking, signaling that a horrific volcanic eruption is coming. The flowing lava lake will soon reoccupy the low-lying areas of the Mirror Plain, swallowing everything there.

This is the planet with the harshest environment that Augustus has ever visited in his life. It will be difficult for any planet to surpass Char in the future. Char is completely the opposite extreme from planets like Brysis and Sigma, which are covered with solid glacial plates all year round.

The air in parts of Char is safe to breathe, but does not include the Plain of Mirrors. Augustus must be protected by two layers of helmet visors in order to look directly at the world he lives in, otherwise Char's extreme environment will be enough to kill him before long.

The landing site of Augustus's shuttle was the spacecraft of Renault, Tychus and others. About forty APOD-33 transport ships and shuttles landed nearby.

More high-spirited revolutionary soldiers and Goliath armed robots with red background and gold badges, arc light tanks, sidewinder magnetic levitation tanks, heavy tanks and rail gun heavy artillery were dropped on the ground in an orderly manner, only in a few Within hours, the number of troops landed reached 8,000.

This elite force is enough to defeat any planetary defense force on the edge world of the Tyranid Federation, but it is still not enough to face Char's zerg. Char has evolved into the Zerg stronghold in the Koprulu sector, and the Zerg population here is far greater than any other planet previously invaded by the Zerg.

Half of the engineers from the Revolutionary Army Engineering Corps were driving T-280 space engineering vehicles to build bunkers, advance fortifications and deploy psychic disruptors at the landing site. A simple field hospital tent was quickly set up. Other transport ships brought sufficient supplies and water, which were much more precious on Char than the Adeen crystal.

Augustus looked up into the gray sky of Charles and saw a sun so brilliant that it emitted enough light and heat to kill a man. A planet shining with golden light can be seen from the ground. It should be the companion planet closest to Char.

"Corporal Faraday." Augustus called to the captain of his elite guard over the channel. This young man, who was quite ordinary in appearance and family background, followed him loyally and was a loyal guardian of the Mengsk family.

"Marshal." Corporal Faraday was ordering his guards to switch to shotguns and grenade guns. These equipments are magic weapons for dealing with the Zerg's sturdy carapace.

"The detector did not find any zerg life signals nearby. They may be underground or further away in the main hive area." He said: "This is really strange."

"It has only been a few months since the fall of Char, and the Zerg should not have completely ruled the planet yet." Augustus was not surprised by this: "The environment of Char is also harmful to the current Zerg, so summon My guards, as soon as we discover the underground lair, we will set off."

"Hey, Augustus, guess what we found at the landing site? A few mushrooms are really strange in nature. It looks like we can have mushroom soup tonight." Jim Raynor said from another aircraft Augustus came towards the shuttle, holding several gray-white mushrooms in his hand.

"If we were stranded on the Char because our supply lines were cut off, we might be able to survive on these native fungus mushrooms."

"Well done, Jimmy, Elizabeth is really lucky to have a husband like you." Augustus smiled, and there was no meaning in his words other than praise: "But I hope your crow's mouth won't Get confirmed.”

At that time, although Renault had lost his comrades, his family was still very happy and his parents were still alive. His consistent optimistic spirit and happiness always allowed him to maintain hope for everything in the most critical moments.

With Augustus's help, his wife would not die of depression because of her son's accident in the Terran Federation's ghost project, and his parents would not die of the heavy work and diseased cheap food on the farm.

"There is an old saying in Shiloh, nip it before it happens." Renault shrugged - although this action was not easy for a man wearing alloy power armor.

"It's hard not to support it." Tychus came over from the other side: "If I'm very hungry, I can eat several tons of roasted bugs and use their blood as strong wine."

"Forget it then. Take the Allosaurus as an example. Its blood after death is about the same as sulfuric acid." Augustus shook his head.

"How is it, Tychus, are you satisfied with Char?" Raynor asked Tychus.

"I couldn't be more satisfied." Tychus's voice almost leaked from between clenched teeth: "I have been to many places in my life. The bare moon planet is full of metal and scraps. There are iron outer space habitation stations, desolate desert planets and ocean worlds with only a few pieces of land left, but I have never been to such a place."

"The lava in Char is about to burn my ass. I hope the harvest here will be worth the price. We won't do a loss-making business."

"It's possible that the planet where Zerg creatures were first born was like Char from the beginning," Augustus said.

"If there is a hell, Char is it."

This world, whose surface is covered with orange-red magma rivers and thick volcanic ash, can be called a forbidden zone for life. It is a true lava world. Even the red stone star of the Camorion complex cannot compare to the extremely harsh nature of Char. environment.

At this time, a deafening roar suddenly came from the horizon, and a magnificent super active volcano erupted. The volcanic ash was spewed thousands of feet into the air, and the volcanic ash blocked the sky and even blocked the sun, casting the land beneath it into a complete shadow - this was a time that came close to wiping out the ancient city of Pompeii. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Fortunately, it is still far away from where Augustus is, but volcanic eruptions of this scale are always very common in Char.

"Send out scouts to detect all Zerg main nests, including those hidden underground." Augustus issued an order to his officers.

There is a third-level main nest and three sub-level main nest hatcheries on the Mirror Plain. The large number of mutalisaurus spiers shows that this main nest area mainly hatches the air force of the insect swarm. This was also the main reason why Augustus chose to land here.

The purpose of Augustus's trip is simple and clear. Helping the protoss attack Char as much as possible can greatly relieve the pressure on the worlds on the edge of the Federation, because he always regards those worlds as the basis for his rise.

In addition, Augustus was convinced that he was just a pendant on Tassadar's fleet. The powerful Protoss Empire expeditionary force did not actually expect the weak and backward humans to contribute much.

However, the experience of fighting alongside Protoss Executor Tassadar on Char would undoubtedly serve as some political capital for Augustus in the future. As long as Augustus is different from other humans in the eyes of Tassadar and other protoss, this is enough.

The Protoss Empire is a force worthy of Augustus' unity, but currently it is just a luxury to form an alliance with the El Protoss who are in power in the Supreme Council to jointly fight against the Zerg. The protoss arbiters in the Supreme Council are undoubtedly the most arrogant and stubborn people in this race.

The corrupt and conservative ideas of the Protoss Empire they have been leading for a long time have also spread among the members of the Supreme Council, and the Arbitrators are by no means ignorant of politics. Even with the Kara, political struggles and factional strife persist among the Arbitrator class, whose thoughts are deep and unknown, because hiding one's thoughts is a skill that rulers must learn.

"Use those spider-type detection robots sold to us by the Umoyan people. Now is the time to use them."

Augustus was not completely unprepared. After fighting against the Zerg for more than half a year, a variety of weapons that mainly targeted the Zerg had been released one after another, including the Federation's biochemical virus weapons.

Taking into account the complex habits of the zerg that like to nest underground, Augustus customized a spider-type robot with a certain amount of artificial intelligence for Umoyan natives without the need for remote control through other devices, reducing the chance of being detected.

Just the foreign trade version of AI has surpassed several machine servants of the Terra family, the creation family of Tarsonis. Its unique algorithm and programming can keep it performing most reconnaissance tasks perfectly, even if it is damaged, it can still be used. Reboot the system from the routing loop.

Merely 2 feet wide, these spider-like detection machines use their flexible mechanical limbs to easily network through the zerg's intricate underground tunnels.

Under the redesign of Viktor Kaczynski, the spider booby designer of the Kaimorian Alliance, this spider-type detection machine was equipped with detonating devices and chemical explosives, as well as alloy resonant digging claws. Once captured by a Zerg sentinel, these new devices, made from scraps of metal and titanium blades, are instantly dispatched with their foes.

In other words, these spider-shaped AI mines no longer need to be manually deployed by soldiers or riders driving vultures. They can sneak into the main nest of the Zerg or the military base of the Federation Army on their own, giving the enemy a surprise.

At present, Victor has registered a copyright in the United States of Umoyan. Whether it is the National Guard military, black gold merchants or mercenaries, they are all very interested in this new weapon, but most of them want to use it against their own people. .

At this time, the revolutionary army's camp had begun to take shape. Fortification walls built with alloy protective plates separated the landing point from one position. Orbital satellite base stations and air defense missile towers were erected to provide a defensive fulcrum for subsequent landing troops and defenders.

"Marshal, I received a signal from a protoss ground force." At this time, Corporal Faraday came over carrying a portable projector. The projector is encased in a layer of white protective insulation to withstand the extreme environmental conditions that would be expected of such a device.

"Open it," Augustus said immediately.

When the holographic projection screen opened in front of Augustus, a Celestial Templar wearing a golden crown appeared on the screen. The templar looked much older than Tassadar, and the folds in his skin looked like the surface of the frozen sea.

The protoss templar's head is immersed deeply in the blue nutrient solution, and his shrunken limbs show that he is a dragon knight hero who was thrown into the carapace after being seriously injured.

"En Taro Adun, human commander, I am Archon Taldarin, salute all warriors." The dragon knight said: "My warriors report that your landing site is not far from one of my troops. If you If you encounter danger, you can always seek help from my warriors."

"May Twilight guide you."

Before he finished speaking, Taldarin cut off the communication.

"How cool, damn protoss aliens." Tychus cursed: "Whoever needs your help might ask us to save those idiots whose noses are about to rise to the sky."

"It's indeed quite dragging. Maybe they thought we were here to help and hinder them." Raynor reminded Tychus: "But the protoss doesn't have a nose."

"Come on, at least they are willing to provide us with assistance." Augustus knew the reputation of the dragon knight Taldarin.

It is said that he is a templar who has survived from the time of Adon to the present day, and his name means The One Who Forged in All Thousands. Taldarin was also the first dragon knight in the history of the Protoss Empire.

It is said that this heroic warrior once participated in countless battles with the great Protoss Empire executive Adon. He is the brave among the brave and the warrior among the warriors. After being seriously injured after a battle, Tal'darin's remains were placed in stasis for centuries, avoiding the events of the Fall of Adon. It was not until the advent of the Dragon Knight mecha that he returned to the battlefield.

This templar from the golden age of the Protoss Empire should be so proud. In the era when he was still a fanatic and fought bravely to kill enemies, even Arden respected him immensely.

"Marshal, Taldarin provided us with the coordinates of the protoss forces and the coordinates of several nearby zerg main nests. They also marked the entrances to all the Nydus worms and the patterns of nearby volcanic eruptions." Corporal Faraday reported.

"That's so sweet," Reno said.

"Just like my mother," Tychus said.

The others had never met Tychus' mother, but they might as well think that Tychus was the kind of villain who would sell his mother for wine.

"The Protoss have always been like this," Augustus said to Tychus: "They are arrogant, but they will always give you a hand behind your back. We usually call such people."

"There are bugs!" A cry interrupted Augustus.

It turned out that the initial calm was just a harbinger of an impending tsunami, and large numbers of zerg were pouring out of the holes that Augustus had noticed before. The huge Hydra Hydralisk used its forelimbs with sharp bone scythes at the front to peel away the ashes covering the entrance of the cave and roared out of the ground. Large-scale springtails rushed one after another to pounce on the humans who had just landed.

These zerg are also different from those seen by humans. They have dark brown carapace skin and light golden eyes. It is unknown whether this is a mutation caused by Char's extreme environment.

"The new insect nest." Renault said: "Who knows what they are good at, rolling happily in the magma?"

"My favorite thing is to grill bugs. The Barbatos Grill can't do it without me." Tychus summoned his Stihlling Wolfhunter officers, carrying a heavy machine gun and carrying those with paint on their bodies. The soldiers with the white wolf badge walked away.

In the distance, the reconnaissance force Augustus had just sent out was retreating. Fortunately, they were driving a speeding Vulture car at an astonishing speed. But it seems they can't experiment with new weapons.

"Get ready to fight, boys, bring out all our 'cannons' and fire a big one at the bugs!" Renault said loudly.

Augustus had a serious expression, and he was not without any negative emotions when facing the zerg, but he never exposed them to the surface. A man should have the fear of terrible things, but Augustus never could.

Whether he was leading a Marine recruit class on Turasis II or now commanding a revolutionary army of more than 200,000 people, Augustus must remain calm and act as if he is always confident, otherwise Just a little bit of panic will amplify it a hundred times among his subordinates.

There are a large number of mines laid in front of the fortification walls at the landing site, and it turns out that this weapon always has good results when dealing with Zerg.

The frontline troops of the Revolutionary Army soon exchanged fire with the zerg. The sound of running was gradually covered by the sound of artillery fire. Mutalisks and king worms appeared from the horizon.

However, after a few minutes, these angry insects gave up on the humans in front of them and suddenly turned around and ran in another direction.

At the same time, a psychic scream that resounded through Char passed over the magma and ashes. Even people like Augustus and Renault who did not have much psychic talent clearly heard the scream and felt A moment of dizziness.

"What happened?" Renault, who was beside Augustus, said, "It sounds painful. Like crying."

"Brainworm." Augustus looked towards the direction where the dark brown worms left: "Jimmy, I guess it was attacked."

"Wow, they will be resurrected anyway." Renault raised his eyebrows: "I guess it was the protoss who did it, but it is all in vain. The brainworm will be resurrected in Char soon."

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