StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

It's sunrise at this time, and the sun in Haiji casts beautiful red and orange light along the horizon where water and sky meet, and the valley surrounded by green plants is enveloped in a colorful halo. The hurricane swept across plains and ravines as usual, swirling around the great crater mountains.

Two golden-red Revolutionary Army Wraith fighter planes flew low over the devastated ruins of the Grande slums. All the dilapidated shacks and houses on the ground were covered with countless purple organic tissues and pulsating tendons.

It was once part of the coastline, adjacent to an excellent deep-water port, but now all signs of human civilization no longer exist, and there is no sign of any biological activity. If the tens of thousands of people who lived here in the past had not had time to escape, they would have become part of the creep.

The zerg are not an army of humans, they have no mercy and will not accept any mercy or surrender. It would be a big mistake if human commanders still thought that their wisdom and strategy could surpass these seemingly tyrannical but less intelligent creatures.

Thousands of King Insects floated over Grande City in the distance, and the towers of skyscrapers in the city surrounded by alien dragons were flying like a swarm of bats returning to their nests at dawn. The federal garrison's anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns were trying to shoot down flying creatures over the city, and staggered orange barrages crisscrossed the airspace over the city.

The city's fall is only a matter of time, as the network of insect tunnels is extending underground. Once the fungus carpet begins to spread, the terrible infection of the Kalos tribe of brainworms will come as expected.

The two Wraith fighter planes painted in gold and red had been hovering over the Grande slums for several times before leaving.

Ten minutes later, dozens of revolutionary army APOD transport ships landed on the open ground in the ruins of the slums. Amidst the air waves caused by the plasma of the transport ship's propeller, Augustus walked down the ramp lowered from the Imp.

Entire slums were razed to the ground by hurricanes and zerg onslaughts, the slum dwellers' simple wooden and brick walls crumbling, leaving behind a trail of rubble and construction debris. In the small areas that were not covered by the germ carpet, blood-colored scratches were clearly visible, which were left by the nails of a person who was about to be dragged underground.

In places not covered by the carpet, the zerg will of course eat humans. This may not be because of hunger, but because of the survival instinct mixed in its genetic fragments. The most frightening thing about zerg is that they will kill a person in a cruel and bloody way or eat parts of the person's body while the person is still alive.

Tychus Finlay, who was carrying a heavy machine gun, followed closely and stepped into the sticky zerg carpet: "It's so disgusting, slimy and wet. I can't imagine anything else like this." It's something worse. In the words of that red-haired guy Hank, it's like a piece of shit."

More Revolutionary Guards and Guards Division soldiers in gold-red power armor filed down from the Imp and other transport ships and lined up at the landing point. Several other larger transport ships rumbled down. Tanks, Goliath armed robots, and T-280 space engineering vehicles, these vehicles and mechas that are more than ten feet high are all painted with golden wolf head logos and grip ring emblems on their dark red primers.

Augustus took a few steps in the ruins of the slums filled with creep, and the various environmental values ​​​​of the area immediately popped up on the helmet HUD display of his commander's armor. At Augustus' feet was an alloy wheel stained with dried blood that had once been part of the tire of a Federation heavy armored personnel carrier.

"It doesn't look like there are any survivors here. I never knew the zerg needed prisoners," Tychus said, hands on his hips.

Zeratul also walked down with Augustus. His luminous green eyes swept around the landing site in silence, and then he bent down and searched among the ruins for anything related to the psychic signal he sensed. Clues.

In the strong wind blowing from the sea, the fleshy germs on the carpet twisted and swayed like ears of wheat. Further away, there are many broken glass sparkling in the sun, chopped full-body seats, control panels, and large-caliber machine gun barrels cut into several sections. A blackened Confederate flag covers these wreckage. above.

"The Federation's Goliath walking robots, and there are more than one, must have been torn into pieces by bugs." Tychus smacked his lips and said: "A bunch of wretches, I hope they were not frightened when they were killed. Pee your pants.”

At this time, Augustus took out one of his feet from the muddy carpet and prepared to walk forward, but he stopped as soon as he stepped out. Where he raised his feet, there was a pile of twisted bones stained with rotten flesh and blood.

Augustus and his men soon found themselves standing on a large pile of corpses of the dead. The corpses of at least hundreds of people were buried under a thick carpet of zerg creeping bacteria. Human corpses are becoming food for the insect swarm.

The dead people huddled up, reaching toward the sky amid the squirming carpet of bacteria and pus.

"A 'cemetery.'" Augustus had experienced battlefields attended by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, and had seen hundreds of corpses laid side by side, but he could not feel that such a cruel scene was ordinary.

It was a slaughterhouse, and the zerg captured these people and killed them with the efficiency of a factory machine.

"It's not all the zerg that killed these people." At this time, Zeratul walked around the ruins of the slum a few times and came to Augustus. The purple cloak behind him was shaking in the strong wind of Haji: "It was human bullets and psychic energy that killed these people."

"So, it was the people from the Federation who took action?" Tychus grinned, and he was sure that there was a conflict between the Federation's troops and the people in the slums.

"Human Psychic" Augustus then called in his own ghost agents.

"'Recruit', what did you sense?"

The "recruit", a ghost agent of the Revolutionary Army, appeared on the right side of Augustus in the interweaving light and shadow of the environmental refraction suit: "There is no doubt that a human psyker with a PSI psychic index of at least level 8 has appeared here before. .”

The ghost agent is wrapped in a blue and white close-quarters combat uniform, with a C-10 long-barreled rifle on his shoulder. He wears a precision-designed helmet, and the auxiliary mechanical eyes implanted in the mask allow the wearer to see farther than ordinary people.

"This is just my guess. This psyker is still unable to control his powerful psychic power, or no one has ever taught him how to restrain his psychic power. - This is a required course for high-level students in the Ghost Academy." Ghost. As the agent spoke, he squatted down and wiped away part of the germ carpet on the ground, exposing the head of the deceased below.

"Some people died directly from the damage to brain tissue caused by the psychic impact. Their brains were smashed like smashed garlic cloves, and they bled to death from their seven orifices."

"High-level psykers are more likely to lose control under tremendous mental pressure and other stimuli, triggering a disaster caused by terrible psychic shocks. If you have seen the protoss high-level templar release Psionic storm - basically that." "I saw it once when I was at the Federation Ghost Academy on Tarsonis," he said.

"An unstable level 8 psyker went out of control because his cat died. A sudden burst of psychic shock killed everyone within a two hundred yard diameter except him - I don't know why anyone would allow him. Get a cat.”

"This human psyker is probably the agent of the swarm that the Overlord is looking for. He should not have been captured by the zerg yet." Zeratul added.

"Oh, what on earth did this guy do? He was able to hide for so long when such bugs were looking for him like crazy." Tychus clicked his tongue in surprise.

"The good news is that he's probably still hiding somewhere," Augustus concluded. "The bad news is that he's hiding so well that we may not even be able to find him."

"Maybe I can find the psyker," Zeratul said.

"I can feel his presence. Maybe to humans, psychic signals are as untouchable as sound waves, but in our eyes they are as clear as beams of light in the dark, as if they are the thread connecting fate and the intangible of light.”

"The psyker didn't go far. He learned to shield his psychic signals to avoid being hunted by the zerg. But how should he survive?" His glowing eyes looked at Augustus.

"I learned a lot about humans during my time on the Hyperion, which is that this strange race cannot survive on sunlight and water alone."

"Follow me, Augustus, and I will take you to find him." Zeratul said at last, "I hope we are not too late."

Zeratul left these words and walked forward. He seemed to be following a certain footprint, his pace was slow.

"We will follow you, elder," said Augustus.

"This protos has a really good nose," Tychus muttered.

"Be careful if Zeratul hears you speaking ill of him," Augustus warned him.

"I don't care if people like me or hate me," Tychus replied nonchalantly.

As Tychus spoke, Augustus looked to his right toward the Grande city, where the cannons were still rumbling. This at least shows that the federal defenders in this city still have sufficient weapons and ammunition, and they still firmly believe that a fleet will come to rescue them.

However, according to the part of the intelligence that Augustus learned, there is no Terran Federation naval fleet at least six light years away from Haiji. These fleets are either consolidating the defenses on the edge of the Koprulu sector in the core world. , or near the galaxy invaded by the swarm.

Haiji's position is quite awkward. It is on the interstellar shipping route of the federal world, but it does not belong to the developed core world. The economy is backward, the legal system is chaotic, and its political influence is almost negligible. It is probably only after the full-scale invasion war of the zerg that the Federation is over that it will remember that this corner of the country has been attacked by zerg swarms.

Even if the federal government in Tarsonis receives Haji's distress signal, I'm afraid that by the time the grinding Federation fleet arrives, there won't be many living people left on the planet.

"Move forward." Augustus ordered in the command channel: "Keep a distance between the front and back, and be careful where you step. The zerg will come out of the ground at any time. If you find anything wrong, report it to your superiors immediately to ensure that the officers and The political commissar is where you can see it."

About seven hundred revolutionary soldiers gathered under the orders of Augustus and the officers. They were all veterans who had experienced many battles. They were allowed to use the golden wolf head of the Mengsk family on their power armor. This was both an honor and a honor. The symbol is also a strong evidence of having experienced many battles.

At first, Zeratul walked very slowly, but after more than ten minutes, he confirmed his direction and had a clear goal.

Augustus followed Zeratul for six or seven miles through the wasteland covered with germ carpets, passing many towns and factories that were completely covered by zerg organisms along the way, until they saw an abandoned border checkpoint.

Zeratul stopped half a mile from the border checkpoint, while Augustus ordered his troops to stop.

"Oh gods!" When Augustus observed the unnaturalness and weirdness of the abandoned border checkpoint, Zeratul next to him let out a frightened sigh: "It's too late."

The border checkpoint was originally part of the old city wall of Grande City, used to intercept homeless people, tribesmen and people from the slums who tried to enter the city illegally. It was originally just a few square single-story houses made of clean cement. Next to them was a steam furnace powered by high-energy gas, which was used to provide electricity and heat to the entire building complex.

Normally, it was the Hagyi military that governed the area, but by the time Augustus saw the checkpoint, it had apparently been abandoned.

Not only that, the main part of the checkpoint building was completely covered with a sickly gray-brown membrane, like a fetus wrapped in amniotic membrane. Every part of the building is covered in clusters of fungi, as if covered by a rotting blanket.

Some sharp, ten-foot-tall spikes sprouted from the edges of the infected buildings. They were moving, like tentacles with chitin blades tied to their tips. These tentacles lurking in the creep can release a row of moving spikes from the ground, capable of piercing the entire sole of a human soldier wearing alloy power boots.

If Augustus opened his helmet visor, he would definitely be able to smell the foul smell of corruption in the air. The zerg had already infected this building, even more thoroughly than those in the slums.

Even though Augustus had seen many sights of zerg infestation, he still felt a physical revulsion at it.

"Look at what's there." Augustus glanced at Zeratul and said in the command channel: "Keep moving forward, I need the bravest warriors under my command to serve as the vanguard."

Augustus issued several more orders on the channel, and a vanguard force composed mainly of fire bats took the lead in approaching the infected border checkpoint.

At this moment, the sound of carapace, fangs and claws rubbing against hard objects suddenly came from the previously silent wilderness. Many Hydra Hydralisks and springtails with copper-green carapace appeared from the infected checkpoints. body. Seeing this scene before him, Augustus' heart sank, convinced that the psyker had been captured by the zerg.

More zerg emerged from the interior of the checkpoint and nearby potholes, emitting a low hum, like the hum of countless insects in the summer.

These ferocious-looking monsters roared lowly. They did not immediately launch a violent attack, but wandered in the pipes and creep clusters around the checkpoint. At this point they act more like a nest guardian than a bloodthirsty hunter.

"Go on, run and shoot, that's the only thing you have to do." Augustus ordered loudly: "Kill them!"

Thanks for the tip – I’ll update this before the Chinese New Year!