StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Unknowingly, it was the end of the year 2491, and the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army spent a simple but ceremonial Christmas on a battleship drifting on the edge of the Char galaxy.

It turned out that the supplies brought from Antiga Prime were not enough to make the soldiers far away from their homeland feel the festive atmosphere, but the supply ship of Nova Squadron solved the urgent need. Reno even found a few Christmas trees on six supply ships loaded with boxes of food, medical supplies, tea, wine and cola drinks, much to the delight of the soldiers who missed their families and home.

In addition to nine Behemoth-class battlecruisers and seven destroyers, Augustus' forces also captured more than 200 CF/A-17 Wraith fighters, more than 390 APOD-33 and There are five scientific ships, and nearly a thousand other shuttles, near-Earth spacecraft, and small and medium-sized transport ships.

Three-fifths of the Nova Squadron fleet ships have been integrated into the combat order of the Revolutionary Navy. They once fought for the eternal glory of the Terran Federation, but now they only obey the command of Marshal Augustus.

The coatings of these spaceships are also different from the past. In addition to the Shining Star logo on their bright purple ships, the Revolutionary Army's Ring of Grip emblem is added to their bright purple ships. This means that they are now fighting for an era that is completely different from the past. Fight for lofty goals.

As for the soldiers on it, Augustus kept all the resocialized soldiers intact, but replaced their commanders with officers from the revolutionary army. The number of resocialized soldiers was approximately 35,000, an astonishing proportion.

The remaining 22,000 are regular soldiers who enlisted in various ways. In other words, they are just like Augustus when he joined the Federal Marine Corps. They are the group of soldiers who enlisted for various reasons and have their own personalities and personalities. Conscious ordinary people.

Most of these people did not enlist voluntarily, and their attitude towards the federal government was similar to that of Shiloh farm boys like Reno - they were disappointed with the federal government and hoped that the government and Congress could take effective measures to save the malaise. Sluggish market economies and those on the brink of collapse.

The federal soldiers were more or less affected by the federal's overwhelming smear propaganda against the rebels and the forced ideological education in the army. They did not think that Augustus's revolutionary army was a good person, or believed that they were just a group of displaced rebels. Kazakhstan IV refugees and a militia of unscrupulous businessmen, pirates, private security guards and colonial militias failed to notice why their own army continued to experience defeats.

Out of caution and other considerations, Augustus could only imprison these non-resocialized soldiers in prisons converted from the living quarters of individual battleships, and only those who swore allegiance to him and the revolutionary army could be spared.

The equipment gains were also the largest. More than 40,000 sets of CMC-300 power armor and AGR-14 and C-14 electromagnetic rifles from the Nova Squadron were installed in Augustus' army.

The more than 200 arc-light siege tanks, Goliath robots and vulture vehicles in the arsenal of these battlecruisers are also an unexpected surprise. Augustus will soon be able to fully equip an entire Revolutionary Army armored division with these. , and that would allow the Revolutionary Army to compete with the Zerg or Protoss forces on the frontal battlefield.

Augustus's ranks continued to grow, and this was by no means the end.

On the last day of 2491, Augustus, who did not feel much joy for the arrival of Christmas, gathered his generals on the Hyperion to hold a memorial ceremony for the war dead and prepared to leave before the arrival of the new year. Char galaxy.

Those warriors who died in battle and were brought back were lucky enough, but those who were torn to pieces by the zerg and hastily buried in the deep ash of Char faced an even more tragic fate.

If one day, people who are still alive return to Char again, they will find that their friends and comrades-in-arms who have been forgotten deep in their memories will reappear in front of people with a hateful appearance as part of the Char swarm. .

The previous battles in the Char galaxy caused thousands of brave Revolutionary Army soldiers to lose their lives forever. On this day, Augustus, who was standing on the bridge of the Hyperion, was watching the dispersed Revolutionary Army officer Dark Brown. Or while staring at the orange lava flowing on the screen between the dark gray uniform epaulettes, Char couldn't help but start thinking about this question.

If there are souls in this world, are the people who died in Char and other planets lingering on the battlefield unwilling to leave? There were so many dead people watching Augustus, how could he stop.

At 14:22 on the ship, the senior officers of the Revolutionary Army who participated in the mourning ceremony had dispersed. Only Augustus was left staring at the Koprulu sector on the main screen and even the larger constellations, star fields and the Milky Way. Star map along the entire spiral arm.

On the other side of the Milky Way, the solar system and the Earth on the spiral wall of Orion are just small points of light shining with little gleams.

The areas that humans have explored are still insignificant on the scale of the entire galaxy, but the enemies they have encountered are already so formidable. This young race that thinks it has an outstanding civilization is still clamoring to conquer the vast galaxy, like an insect that has just explored a pile of mounds saying it wants to conquer the world.

Both the zerg and the protoss are enemies on a completely different level than humans, and Koprlu's human civilization is as fragile as a candle in the wind. Augustus had long given up any hope in the Tyranid Federation - even though the Federation was still strong.

At this time last year, Augustus was still working on resettling Korhal IV refugees in the agricultural colony Agria, but now he has come to the other side of the sector, fighting with him in this remote system that is extremely dangerous and full of zerg. The zerg fight to the death.

At this time, Augustus was still standing next to Reno, Corporal Faraday and Jackson Holler. The latter had changed into a gray-blue Revolutionary Navy uniform and wore a shirt with the emblem of the ring, panda and hammer. Military cap and badge.

Augustus also had to admit that Holler was the kind of person who looked upright and majestic as soon as he put on his uniform. No one would have thought that he was a young man who thought about overthrowing the Federation all day long.

At some point, a roster folder popped up on the home screen in front of Augustus.

That's the list of ghost agents in Nova Squadron. As a Federation Navy squadron that is particularly good at special operations and covert infiltration, the number of ghost agents in Nova Squadron is much higher than that of other squadrons, which is why they were dispatched to set up psychic transmitters in Char.

Including those aboard the Nova Terra, the flagship of Nova Squadron, which had been reduced to scrap, there were a total of sixty-four federal ghost agents on the list. This surprised Augustus because he believed that these psykers had more potential than becoming the cold ones. Killer for greater value.

Augustus ran his fingers across the list on the screen, flipping through the names and accompanying photos bit by bit.

They are all young.

The oldest is only twenty-five years old, and the youngest is only seventeen. Each photo is a recent photo updated in real time, wearing a ghost uniform or an officer, but without exception, no one has a smile on their face.

Most of these ghost agents have pale skin and cold or sinister expressions. They are killers and have been told they were born that way.

"Once Dr. Francos proceeds to remove the psychic inhibitors from their brains, these ghost agents will turn to us without hesitation." Holler said as Augustus reviewed the list. "I can confirm that, The Ghost agents all deeply resented the federal government and the Ghost Academy for changing their lives forever."

"How many people among them can bear the resurgence of their lost tragic memories? Beware of the possibility that the high-level psykers among them will lose control after the operation. Moreover, not all psionic agents are willing to believe in a person who has recently been A rebel organization that has just become famous." Augustus only had the most cautious and lowest expectations for everything, and it was enough for him to have two-thirds of the ghost agents join his revolutionary cause. joy.

Fifty-three of the sixty-four Nova Squadron ghost agents have a PSI index between 5 and 6, which means that they have reached the minimum standard to become a ghost agent and possess sensitive telepathic abilities, that is, They can read minds, but that doesn't give them any ability beyond that.

Ten of them were level 7 psykers. They were clearly stronger than most ghost agents, but they were limited. There is only one female ghost agent with long black hair who is a level 8 psyker, which means that she can not only read minds, but also use telekinesis to control objects.

On those planets with progressive ideas, she might be regarded as a person with super powers, but she might also be regarded as a freak and be alienated or persecuted by her fellow humans.

Psykers of level 8 and above also have a certain chance of gaining special abilities, such as Holler's mental control ability that can temporarily distort other people's thoughts. Some unique performances are more like something similar to magic, such as using a Deadly psychic blasts or create fire.

Augustus clicked on and began to read the information about the female ghost. This girl with beautiful dark brown eyes had a tragic childhood as always - she was abandoned by her parents in the slums of Tarsonis due to her weird behavior. It was a butcher in a butcher's shop who fed the child, but disappeared after people from the Ghost Project found her.

The next step is to learn the memory of using weapons and assassination in the Ghost Academy. The students who use them will be divided into two different teams to compete with each other. It's like an army, and only the strongest can win respect.

"The equipment of this female ghost looks better and cooler than the others." Renault was standing on Augustus' right side.

"This proves that she is the strongest among these people." Augustus looked at her information carefully: "There is no special ability, but she once lost control, and forty-five people died in 'that accident' , more than 370 people went crazy or suffered from mental illness."

"This girl looks very exciting." Renault said: "People say you have a soft spot for female ghosts."

"Yes, hot, powerful, dangerous, and capable of killing you at any time." Augustus warned Renault.

"Colonel Holler, do you know this ghost agent?" he asked Holler.

"In the past I always tried to stay as far away from the psykers in the squadron as possible because they would probably be aware that I had psychic powers," Holler said.

"I have learned about her. This person killed two instructors before psychic suppressors and resocialization technology were created. She is extremely dangerous." He said calmly.

"She was considered a madman and a monster until she was implanted with a psychic suppressor."

"In the earliest days, there were a group of psychopaths in the Ghost Academy, big and small, some with obvious symptoms and some with less obvious symptoms." Holler was still reminiscing about the past, but he seemed to be telling another story as a bystander. story.

"Things are better now, at least like a real academy."

"She's dangerous," he added. "Normally, I would advise you to just kill her. But she's a psyker, and I just want everyone with psionic powers to be able to live like normal people." "

"There will never be any further trouble." Renault said, "What a ruthless character."

"You go do this." Augustus left the matter to the newly surrendered Holler without hesitation. This was not a decision he made suddenly, because he always thought about everything. repeatedly.

At this time, Augustus found that he suddenly missed the days when Kerrigan was by his side, and he suddenly couldn't tell who was relying on whom.

"It's great that you can trust me." Holler did not object.

"This is why I follow you, because you are willing to give psychics a chance." He then said: "I join the revolution because I believe that humans should be free to live and choose the life they and their descendants will live. way. People can follow democracy and freely elect every government and leader, and they also have the right to overthrow them."

"It doesn't sound like it's going to be hard to do," Leno said.

"I originally thought that all psykers were trained as ghost agents in the Ghost Academy. How many ghost agents like you are there who are out of federal control?" Augustus asked Holler.

"As far as I know, there are quite a few, and they are all high-level psykers." Holler thought for a while and replied: "Captain Buzan of the Chimera Pirates has several ghost agents under his command, and some have become Mercenaries or professional killers, they can hardly integrate into normal people's lives."

"Chimera pirates? I heard that those pirates are more terrifying than private armies." This is not the first time that Renault has heard the name Chimera pirates. In the Koprulu sector, powerful mercenary organizations and interstellar pirates are even able to confront government forces.

At this moment, the lights of the Hyperion suddenly dimmed, and the Dark Templar Zeratul appeared in a mist.

Augustus and Renault both involuntarily put their hands on the electromagnetic pistols at their waists. Horler did not recognize Zeratul, and he immediately stood in front of Augustus, trying to use his powerful psychic powers to drive away the uninvited guest.

Holler's reaction was by no means an act, he really wanted to protect Augustus. Like those who had met Augustus, Holler also believed that this twenty-three-year-old man could bring fundamental changes to the decadent Terran Federation.

"I am not your marshal's enemy." Zeratul raised one of his hands to indicate that he was not looking for trouble.

"I said, please take the main entrance next time." Renault straightened his forehead.

"The Dark Templar must remain secretive," Zeratul replied. "I am not averse to taking shortcuts if necessary."

"Okay, okay, you have the final say." Renault shrugged.

"You have to believe me, Augustus. When I was in Char, I sensed the movements of the swarm. I heard the Overlord and the Cerebrates whispering under the lava. They sent a swarm of worms to a planet called Haji. Looking for a new agent of the Swarm," Zeratul said, turning to Augustus.

"That world is going to end," he said.

"You don't have time to grieve, we have to move on."

See you in 2022.