StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

"Recruit."

Augustus looked at the departing Zerg and looked sideways.

Before he finished speaking, first a pair of black nanofiber combat boots appeared in the ashes, and then a ghost agent wearing a black refractive combat uniform appeared next to Augustus.

"Marshal, Ghost reports to you."

This is a ghost agent from Alpha Squadron. After Duke declared his allegiance to Augustus, he now became a member of the Marshal's Guard. It has pale skin and sad light blue eyes, and is mostly silent.

Alpha Ghost Agent's ghost number was set aside just like his past experiences, and his name became a trace that was deliberately hidden. Augustus still calls him by his Ghost Squad codename, Recruit.

Ghost agents often choose special nicknames for themselves during operations, such as code names such as Sharp Knife, Bones, Stork, and Rookie, and these code names are related to the agents' abilities or personalities.

The recruit is no longer a recruit and a normal rookie, and most of the people who know all this and his team members are dead.

"What did you sense?" Augustus asked the ghost agent.

After Kerrigan was ordered to stay on Antiga Prime, this ghost agent and four other ghosts from Victor V Base and Alpha Squadron took over the responsibilities originally belonging to Kerrigan.

Umoyan's shadow guards once protected every member of the Mengsk family at the beginning, but now Augustus would rather use the surrendered Terran Federation ghost agents than risk the personal safety of himself and his family. Umoyan people.

The relationship between Korhal and Umoyan was still heating up, but Augustus knew that this was only because the revolutionary army was still obviously weaker than Umoyan. Once the Korhal replaced the Terran Federation, the relationship between these two powerful interstellar political entities was as fragile as a bubble in the sun.

"Pain and sadness." The ghost agent's tone sounded quite sad: "I know this feeling all too well."

Their childhoods are all twisted, and for a powerful psychic, any negative emotions are likely to be amplified.

"It should have come from a Zerg Cerebrate, but its psychic power is not as strong as Sass. When Sass, the Cerebrate of the Gam swarm, died, the psychic scream it made was much louder than this."

Brainworms mainly use their innate psychic voice. When threatened, their psychic roar will spread far and wide across the earth in the form of a psychic waveform like a terrifying scream.

"When Sass died, he was howling for a while. I heard that people on the ground heard Sass's screams and hoped that the guy knew how embarrassing he was." Reno said.

"The location of the brainworm should be not far from us." Augustus said to the ghost agent: "Can you sense where it is?"

To track powerful psychic creatures like the Cerebrates, one must enlist the help of human psykers - although they are far less sensitive to the zerg's psychic abilities than Sarah Kerrigan.

"East." The ghost agent's deep breath came out from the breathing mask on his helmet, and his voice was as distant as an underwater ghost.

"I'm sure of that, Marshal."

"That's..." Renault's brain was spinning rapidly as he listened.

"The Burning Place." Augustus said: "Duke's troops landed there. They may be in trouble."

On the map, Mirror Plains, Burning Land and Death Valley are three areas bordering each other. They are just an artificial geographical division and are not blocked by sinister terrain.

Augustus immediately set out to contact Duke's Alpha Squadron, who knew no more about what was going on than those on this side.

According to Duke, his troops were attacking a Zerg main nest according to the Marshal's orders, and then the Zerg in front of Alpha Squadron suddenly went crazy. Augustus immediately ordered Duke to slow down his advance, search for dark protoss spaceships that might be docked nearby, and at the same time send a force to meet him.

"Jimmy, call on the men. We need the best Vulture motorcycle riders. One battle company is enough." Augustus suspected that the person who killed the brainworm was most likely the Dark Templar, but there was no proof. evidence of.

If nothing else, the person leading these Dark Templar warriors should be their Archon Zeratul. The old Dark Templar left his homeworld of Thagurath for many years before the Zerg invasion. He has been traveling in the universe, looking for relics related to Xel'Naga and exploring forgotten knowledge.

Only the Dark Templar can cut off the spiritual link between the cerebrates and the swarm master using void energy, and completely cut off the connection between the cerebrate and a certain cerebrate, so that the master can no longer resurrect his cerebrates at will. , thus killing the brainworm in a real sense.

"Okay, I'll pull our best vulture cars out of the cargo spaceship right away." Renault suddenly reacted: "You don't think of looking for the body of the brain worm, do you? I guess all the bugs around here are... Going crazy, they must be looking for the murderer."

"What we are looking for is the murderer. After killing the brainworm, they probably haven't gone far yet, but are observing the reaction of the zerg."

Augustus's cold gray eyes flashed with many things in an instant, and he said in his heart that he didn't know when he would wait until next time to find those dark templar warriors who had never seen the dragon: "I need them to deal with the aliens." insect."

"But brainworms can't be killed." Renault sighed.

"But as long as it's your order, I won't object. I hope we can still do it in time."

At this time, the psychic disruptor set up by the Revolutionary Army Engineering Corps at the landing site was already in operation, providing an invisible barrier to isolate the zerg for the nearby camp.

"Tychus." Augustus first announced his order to the officer responsible for defending the landing point, and then found Tychus' line on the communication channel: "Retreat, return to our landing at Char Click and stay put.”

"Come on! What's going on? The heavy machine gun in my hand is still hot, and the accuracy is very stable. I just exploded the heads of several Hydralisk monsters." Tychus did not react to Augustus's order. Any doubt.

When he was in the federal army, he was always sneaky and cunning, trying to take advantage of the federal army's orders. Although he never gave up complaining, he followed the revolutionary army marshal strictly.

"When will the next attack be?"

"Awaiting orders." Augustus said to Tychus: "Now you are the supreme commander of the landing site."

"Where are you going?" Tychus asked.

"It will take some time to explain." When Augustus spoke, Renault had already led people to drag out several modified vulture cars: "Execute your order, Mr. Finley."

"This makes me uncomfortable..."

After saying this, Augustus no longer had the patience to listen to Tychus' nonsense. On the battlefield, he always seemed to have endless things to say. Even the energetic young man Renault couldn't compare with him.

The Vulture car prepared for Augustus looked no different from the others, with a wedge-shaped slender body and propellers with curved jet ducts. The Vulture car is painted in dark red with gold and off-white patterns on the edges.

However, like many Vulture riders' cars, this Vulture has also undergone a series of modifications - of course this is illegal, and the police of the Tarsonis Police Department can judge which ones just by the roar of the Vulture motorcycle engine. The car should pay a fine.

The engine of Augustus' vulture car uses the latest twin-turbocharger design of the Camorians, and the fuel is compressed and refined high-energy gas. If necessary, the speed of this vulture car can even reach 300 miles per hour. .

Like other Vulture vehicles in the Revolutionary Army, the Augustus vehicle still uses a fragmentation grenade launcher as a weapon. In addition to carrying spider mines, its ammunition storage box still contains a weapon previously designed by Viktor Kaczyński. , and named the spider-detecting robot Victor Destroyer.

This exquisitely designed Vulture car was given to Augustus by his brother Arcturus, because the man in his early thirties still remembered his brother's sincere love for drag racing. Arcturus' concern for his family only grew after he learned that his mother and sister were nearly killed by Kerrigan.

When getting on this vulture car, Augustus, who as a revolutionary army marshal rarely drove such a "dangerous vehicle", couldn't help but think of his time in Turasis II Recruit Training Camp.

"Remember that time we drove the Vulture to evade the military police?" Augustus sat firmly on it, and the beautiful motorcycle engine immediately purred like a cat.

A dozen Revolutionary Army Vultures with the same golden and red paint were whizzing past Augustus and parked not far away. On the land of Char, which is covered with ash and black rocks, engineers are measuring the land and driving space engineering vehicles to remove huge rocks.

Bunkers and missile towers rise from the ground. Revolutionary Army officers and political commissars wearing golden wolf head epaulettes are standing on the fortification wall using telescopes to observe the Zerg main nest and flames in the distance. A large number of revolutionary soldiers lined up in three columns were passing behind the officers. Their gold-plated matte masks with fire pandas on them looked dim in the sun.

"Of course, Kurofsky swore that he would never ride in your car in his life." Renault rode his beloved gray-green Vulture car: "He still trembles and vomits when he sees the Vulture car. "

To this day, Colonel Ilya Kurovsky, the Demon of Heaven, still hates vulture vehicles, and the troops he leads will never use hoverbikes as vehicles. This is a curse, and Colonel Kurovsky has been emphasizing that he must never get into Augustus' car.

"I'm sorry." Augustus laughed.

"Come up, agent." He said to the Alpha Ghost agent codenamed Recruit: "Sit tight and fasten your seat belt."

The other party showed a rare hesitation in his life, but in the end his sense of responsibility and his love for the marshal outweighed his fear.

"You are really a demon leader." Renault was convinced that he had discovered the evil side of Augustus. It is said that when he was a student, this guy even took the trembling dean on the dangerous twists and turns of the mountainous road in Korhal IV Stirling. Get on a motorcycle.

When he was in Moria, Augustus once took the boss of a consortium of private operators on a racing trip. In the end, this big businessman with weak legs and feet had no choice but to agree to all Augustus' requests.

"But I have to admit that riding a vulture on the planet in the Koprulu sector is a most romantic thing." Renault said and caught up with Augustus.

Augustus' fleet of vultures raced across the pale ash-covered landscape, past caves and rocky hills that glowed with sparks. The air was thick and filthy, filled with the smell of gray-white ashes and choking smoke, like paper ashes floating in the air after burning foil.

In the distance are continuous volcanoes and volcanic craters that are emitting thick smoke. Thick smoke and hot steam are pouring out from those volcanoes. Over Augustus's head rolled thick clouds of ash, which glowed red with fire in the rays of the sun.

Even after driving for dozens of miles, the surface of Char still looked like it was covered with a thick layer of ash. Perhaps Char once had vegetation and a wide variety of life, but none of that exists now.

Some people report that some primitive rodents still live in some relatively stable areas of Char, and even a hell like Char has signs of life.

The road conditions became much worse after Augustus drove out of the Mirror Plain. They sometimes had to avoid extremely wide lava rivers and huge rocks.

The complex terrain brought great obstacles to Augustus and his men, just like the ice layers that looked solid but were actually fragile, and there was hot magma under some thick ashes.

During the march, one of Renault's rangers accidentally fell into the lava river, and the twenty-year-old Cha Sala man disappeared without even a single groan.

This caused some damage to the morale of Augustus's men, but the soldiers' morale remained high. But by the time Augustus' troops arrived at the junction of the Burning Land and the Plain of Mirrors, they had already lost two brave warriors, and even their bodies could not be recovered.

The Burning Land is a place of death composed of dotted lava lakes and rivers. Its surface radiates bright fire, and the blazing flames even burn the sky red.

Between the magma lakes are rocky islands composed of cooling magma. Zerg organic buildings that seem to be connected to the sky stand among the magma. The magma reflected the zerg main nest, which was composed of dark brown carapace, sharp horns and spikes, into fiery red, as if the firewood was burning red in the fierce flames of the fireplace.

It is unimaginable that the Zerg would choose this area as its main nest area.

In this area where even a single misstep would lead to falling into the lava, it was impossible for humans to survive even for a few minutes, not to mention being able to survive.

Augustus met Edmund Duke and his Alpha Squadron on a solid rocky land in the Burning Lands, an area of ​​solid rock surrounded by volcanoes that was flat and capable of withstanding Silence the roar of heavy tanks and artillery.

Alpha Squadron established an impregnable small fortress on this land based on a command center and engineering station. There are several Goliath armed robots patrolling the fortress, and three flags representing Alpha Squadron, Duke, and the Mengsk family are fluttering in the scorching wind of the Burning Land.

Although no one cared, Duke's allegiance was always to Augustus himself and not to the revolutionary army.

Once the Vulture stopped, Augustus joined the Ghost agents who were following him, as well as Raynor and Alpha Squadron. During this period, the ghost agent recruits highly praised Marshal Augustus' driving skills, but he still vomited all over the floor.

Duke looked pleased with himself. Apparently, while Duke still didn't understand the reason for the chaos the zerg had become, he was happy to attribute it to his wise leadership.

"Marshal, we have just destroyed a secondary main nest. The zerg there are simply vulnerable." Duke did not dare to open his helmet and expose his head to the toxic air in the volcanic area, otherwise Augustus Everyone will definitely see his extremely proud face.

"Are the zerg here still in a state of madness?" Augustus confirmed that more than three hours had passed since he set out. If the Overlord had resurrected the dead cerebrate, the zerg that Alpha Squadron faced there would The Zerg clan should have returned to normal.

"Yes, they are still barking like mad dogs. Is there anything wrong?" Duke asked Augustus.

"Idiot, of course this is wrong." Renault scolded.

"What right do you, a fringe country bumpkin, have to question a general with outstanding merits? When I was fighting bloody battles with Camorion, you were still chewing mud on the stone planet." Duke inevitably had to say something back to Renault, but in Ogu He didn't dare to speak too loudly in front of Stu.

"Have you found any traces of protoss ships?" Augustus asked Duke.

"Our detection equipment has not found even a single protoss spacecraft here." Duke changed the topic: "But..."

"When the monster screamed, my ghost agents confirmed his approximate location." He pointed to a volcano in the distance that was spewing thick smoke.

When Augustus looked towards the discovery, he was shocked to find that there was also a layer of fungi attached to the rugged rock walls of the volcanic mountain. These creeps have undoubtedly adapted to the hot environment of Char. Before this, the most effective way to eradicate the creeps was to use burning fire.

"Near the rock walls of the southern volcano, there are now rabid-like zerg everywhere."

"Have you sent someone to investigate?" Augustus said looking at Duke.

"Sure, I've sent out two resocialization squads and a ghost agent, but they're still searching the ledges of that volcano." Duke replied, "There's not much to gain except a few rotten rocks."

"Speaking of which, the zerg there are absolutely crazy. My people noticed that there are at least three zerg from different nests fighting each other. They are fighting among themselves."

"There are also conflicts between the zerg?" he said sarcastically: "Or are they fighting for territory or something else? This is really funny. This is good news. It seems that the zerg are not monolithic."

"I hope this is true." It was a rare occasion when Leno and Duke agreed.

"It may be that another insect nest is clearing out those zerg that lost control due to the loss of brain worms." Augustus said.

"Why did they do that?" Raynor asked: "If the cerebrate will be resurrected in Char, then there is no need for the zerg to kill those that have lost control."

"Maybe it's because it has no chance to be resurrected." Augustus' voice became more serious.

"Do you think it was the people in the black spaceship who did it?" Renault guessed what Augustus was thinking: "But even so, the probability of us finding them will not be easier than finding a needle in the straw. .”

"Unless we have a magnet."

"Let them come back to us." When Renault understood what Augustus said, Duke on the other side just thought that the two men were playing riddles.

"You must have some good idea."

"Remember the Xel'Naga artifact fragment we found in Mar Sara?" Augustus looked at Renault with sharp eyes.

"Oh" Renault said thoughtfully: "I still remember this. When that black cube was still buried underground in the Purgatory Corridor, it was almost impossible to use electronic equipment in that ghost place."

"So far, Swann and those scientists have not studied anything from that thing. It can even block our own communication methods." Renault said.

"Okay. I can't see how that has anything to do with what we just discussed." He said honestly.

"It will be useful." No one could see the expression under the visor of Augustus's power armor helmet.

"We'll see." Renault patted his helmet: "So you brought that artifact fragment? That thing is very evil."

The soldiers guarding this Xel'Naga artifact fragment would always hear indescribable whispers, and see brilliant lights and shadows fighting each other in nightmares. Some will see it as a reflection of their own ordeal, while others claim to have heard the voices of dead family members and vague prophecies.

"How is that possible?" Augustus waved his hands and said, "I am crazy to carry it with me."

While Augustus was speaking, a black shadow floated across the horizon, which was an APOD-33 transport ship. Swann's research is not without progress. At least the signal interference intensity caused by this Xel'Naga artifact fragment can be controlled within a safe range.

This plan had been laid out by Augustus before he decided to land at Char.

Although Augustus was not sure that the Xel'Naga artifact fragment would definitely fish out Zeratul, he had high hopes for it. If it really didn't work, there was nothing he could do.

"Let's go and have a look." Augustus led Duke, Renault and others towards the landing site of the transport ship.

The APOD-33 transport ship landed on the platform leveled by the Alpha Squadron engineers, and several engineers were walking out carrying boxes containing Xel'Naga artifact fragments.

"What should we do now?" Renault looked at the black box containing the Xel'Naga artifact fragments.

"It's very simple. Use equipment to amplify the signal of the Xel'Naga artifact fragment." Augustus replied: "If they are nearby, they will definitely be interested in this artifact fragment."

"Hopefully this won't attract any other uninvited guests."

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