StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Several weeks have passed since the protoss fleet pursuing Tassadar evacuated the Altera system, and Oasis Town has entered an increasingly hot end of March.

Like this uninteresting, sweltering planet with a sky covered with green mist, Oasis Town was once nothing more than a gray town of modular houses and intertwined alleys. Criminals and pirates thrive here, and nine out of ten people are wanted criminals, drug addicts, parts thieves, smugglers and armed thugs.

Everyone has evil intentions, because innocent and pure people simply cannot survive in this dark world.

The revolutionary army has controlled and managed Oasis Town for nearly a month. Strict and effective administrative measures have gradually brought the town into order. For the people of Oasis Town who are accustomed to crime and fierce armed conflicts, the management of the Revolutionary Army is closer to harsh and high-pressure rule.

Even though Revolutionary Army Marshal Augustus Mengsk announced that he was pardoning those who deserved to be detained for "trivial" crimes, about 20,000 people were arrested for various heinous crimes, about a third of them People were accused of murder, kidnapping, drug smuggling, and violence. Within two weeks, thousands of lawsuits were filed in the Oasis Town Court.

The people of Oasis Town have become accustomed to a life of intrigue and deception. Many sophisticated criminals have even been hiding here for more than ten years or even longer, and the evidence proclaiming their guilt may be far away in federal territory several light years away or has been be destroyed.

Augustus ordered all Revolutionary Army psykers to participate in the detection of criminal cases, so even crimes that had been hidden for many years could not be unearthed even if high-level psykers worked one-on-one for a long time.

After the Nova Squadron, which had many ghost agents, surrendered to Augustus, the number of ghost agents in the Revolutionary Army had reached close to ninety. Sworn to fight for Augustus Mengsk and the New Order, these former Confederate Ghost agents are exceptional assassins and telepathic darlings, an ability that is feared by all Confederate politicians.

Even those drug lords and pirate captains with extraordinary psychological qualities cannot stand the gaze of a human psyker for long, and will always collapse under the pressure of one continuous problem after another. Because the criminal who is hiding his crime does not know how much of his crime the psyker opposite has read, every contradictory statement may expose their flaws.

In addition to the Revolutionary Army, the Terran Federation and the United States of Umoyan will not waste their precious psychics on solving criminal cases, because that is really overkill, and even in those courts that accept political cases, psychics will not be allowed to use them. or intervenes.

The mind-reading abilities of psykers are obviously underestimated, firstly because their numbers are too rare, and secondly because the rulers do not believe in these psykers.

According to the laws of the planet under the rule of the Revolutionary Army, these guilty persons should be immediately sentenced to death or detained in Antiga Prison for decades, but they can choose to redeem their crimes by working in the mines.

At this moment, Augustus was on the top of a ridge in the north of Oasis Town. Directly below him was a rugged rift valley. This rift spans sparse deciduous tree forests and exposed natural crystal veins that sparkle with a faint blue light in the sun, and is finally buried in steep mountains filled with high-energy gas springs.

From Augustus's position, he had a panoramic view of the vast rift valley. The mountains in the distance are dotted with geothermal fountains and high-energy gas springs, shrouded in green mist. The sun seems to be setting, and the rays of light burn out the clouds on the horizon.

"Is the ceremony about to begin?" Augustus, who was wearing a long dark blue coat with a square collar, held a pair of telescopes in his hands and looked at the rift valley below from time to time.

"According to what Tassadar said, it should be at sunset." He continued talking without waiting for the people around him to answer: "Tassadar must pass through this hidden place with more than a hundred people at the turn of day and dusk. The Rift of the Dark Templar Masters, the most powerful Dark Templar among them is the Dark Master Zeratul himself."

"It's unbelievable that as a Templar, Tassadar would accept the trial of the Dark Templar. He really mastered the power of the void in such a short period of time - the last one who mastered the Kalalin at the same time The protoss who can interact with void psychic powers is still the ancient protoss hero Aden."

Since Tassadar became familiar with Augustus and Zeratul, the leaders of the Protoss Empire Templars, the Dark Templars of Sarcoras, and the Human Revolutionary Army would often sit together and discuss their views on the form of warfare. Views, and later even developed into the humanities and history of protoss and humans, talking about everything.

In many ways, Tassadar and Zeratul can definitely be called Augustus's teachers, and a relationship between them gradually formed as both teachers and friends.

Augustus also witnessed Tassadar asking Zeratul for advice on how to master the energy of the void - Tassadar did not think ignorance and asking for advice was shameful and worthy of shame, as long as the power of the void could help his people, He doesn't care about studying humbly like a student.

It was also at this time that Tassadar discovered that combining the pure blue psychic energy in Kara with the green void energy of the Dark Templar could explode into supernova-like infinite power. He also said more than once that using this This might be able to completely kill the Overlord of the Swarm, end the threat of the Zerg forever, and keep the Protoss Empire safe.

Although Augustus followed Tassadar to observe Zeratul's lessons, he also heard them in a fog. Only Kerrigan, who was allowed to come to the Starshuttle with Augustus, could learn from them. Knowledge.

"Sounds amazing." Renault stood on Augustus' right hand: "Shadow Speed, this is like some kind of ancient tribal custom. The technology of the protoss is quite advanced, but the custom is primitive and ancient. "

Shadowrun, the ancient ritual of the Protoss of Thagurath, is the only way for a young Shadow Apprentice to become a Dark Templar. They must go deep into the starless valleys and canyons of Thagurath and accept other Dark Templar warriors. test until he defeats them all or proves his ability to be a warrior.

There is no doubt that such a trial is extremely difficult, and the Dark Templar must practice hard for centuries. Therefore, all Dark Templar without exception are unparalleled warriors.

"The Protoss is a civilization that was forcibly promoted by the Xel'Naga from the tribal era to the interstellar age. This is very common among them." Augustus' understanding of the history of the Protoss was also different from before.

"This is the Protoss. They can blow you to ashes a few miles away, but they still insist on using a knife." Kerrigan was on Augustus' left. She was wearing a ghost tights with dense circuits, but The sharp curve between her small waist and hips is hidden under a gray revolutionary army coat with a long hem.

"Jimmy, where is Tychus." Augustus stared closely at the rift valley below through the telescope in his hand, looking for traces of Tassadar and Zeratul.

This desolate canyon is not deserted. Across the Great Rift Valley is a mine established by the Kaimorians. Rows of factory sheds covered with red dust stand quietly in the wind. In the center of the Rift Valley is a geological survey station of the Revolutionary Army, next to it is a blue crystal tower dozens of feet high.

"'Sheriff Tychus' is busy chasing criminals and rectifying the customs industry in Oasis Town." Renault chuckled and said: "This old boy Tychus is really having fun these days. Never let the devil do it. An angel’s work.”

"Tassadar has appeared," Kerrigan reminded Augustus.

Augustus looked around, and Tassadar and his templars appeared, standing at the foot of the ridge. The Dark Templar warriors in the trial had already retreated into the shadows, waiting for Tassadar to cross this dangerous canyon on foot.

Tassadar is a powerful high templar, so the Dark Templar he faces are many times more powerful than normal Shadowsprint.

"What's going on? Why is Tassadar wearing a blanket? What kind of weird protoss custom is this?" Raynor held up his telescope and said in surprise: "He is almost naked."

"I have to say, this outfit is pretty cool, isn't it?"

In Renault's sight, Tassadar was not really naked, but he was not wearing shiny gold-blue alloy armor like other templars. He was just slung across his right shoulder and crotch. A dark templar-style gray girdle.

Not only that, Tassadar didn't even wear the wrist blades that inspired his psychic blades.

This means that Tassadar will pass the trials of the Dark Templar using only his own strength, rather than weapons or armor.

"." Augustus also noticed this, but he said in his heart that they were not peeping, but observing in advance.

"Tassadar's power is far greater than before. In the past, Zeratul could still have an advantage in competing with him, but now..." Kerrigan said.

"Jimmy, how far do you think you can go if you take part in the Dark Templar's Shadowrun trial?" Augustus said jokingly.

"Do you want me to compete with more than a hundred world-famous swordsmen with bare hands in my crotchless pants? Augustus, then you bastard will definitely see my shiny ass when I run around." Renault laughed loudly. laugh.

At this time, without any order from the leader, the Templars had all retreated to one side of the rift, while Tassadar walked vigorously towards the depths of the rift. In terms of the age of the protoss, Tassadar is not an old man. He is physically strong. Even in terms of combat skills, few among the Templars and Dark Templars can surpass him.

However, in Shadow Rush, the trialist needs both strong strength and wisdom to resolve the crisis. A powerful Dark Templar is not just a fool who only knows how to use brute force, he should be better at outwit.

"Guys, do you want to give it a try?"

Kerrigan shook her long red hair and turned her head to look behind her.

Originally there were only a platoon or so of Marshal's Guard soldiers behind them, including Corporal Faraday, but now more than twenty ghost agents of the Revolutionary Army suddenly appeared.

There were men and women among them, and most of them were wearing helmets or masks, and no one could see their expressions underneath. The one at the front is a black-haired female ghost with a good figure. She wears a black Umoyan matte mask. The mask covers her forehead, eyes and nose, leaving only her purple lips exposed.

Charming, mysterious, and dangerous, she is the only 8th-level psyker in Nova Squadron, a powerful psyker named Lagdamen. She hadn't experienced defeat since graduating from the Ghost Academy on Tarsonis.

Removing the psychic suppressor from Ragdaman's brain is an extremely dangerous task. Once it gets out of control, no one in the operating room will survive. Fortunately, the resection surgery was completed without incident.

Ragdaman, the dark-haired beauty with an Asian face, quickly accepted her new identity—in fact, according to Kerrigan, Ragdaman was almost grateful to Augustus.

For Augustus, this was a dangerous statement. It has to be said that female ghost agents are quite charming and dangerous.

Almost all ghost agents hate the Terran Federation and the Ghost Academy immensely, and this hatred eventually turns into a sense of identification and common hatred towards the Revolutionary Army.

"Dark Priest Zeratul once taught us the fighting methods of the Dark Templar." Ragdaman said lukewarmly: "Including but not limited to disrupting the enemy's vision, using the terrain to sneak around and touch the enemy's back. "

"Then he pulled out a light blade."

"You must learn with humility, Ragdaman." Augustus hoped that his psykers could learn useful knowledge and skills from Zeratul, which would be taught to the new generation of human psykers in the future. , to avoid tragedy.

"Zeratul is the most outstanding shadow master, and he can teach you more than this." Augustus said: "You don't want to know how much I spent asking Zeratul to teach you a lesson. .”

"Yes, Marshal." Ragdaman immediately saluted Augustus and said.

"Maybe we can't use the psychic blades of the protoss yet, but we can equip each of you with two long knives from the ancient earth era." Augustus said: "The best among you will be allowed to wear them. The coat of arms of the Mengsk family is on my left and right."

"There are always 'ghosts' around you." Ragdaman said metaphorically.

As Augustus spoke, the sky gradually darkened. However, even with night vision goggles, Augustus could not actually see what was happening in the canyon.

There were only occasional flashes of green light in the canyon, and there was a burning sound, like two swordsmen clashing their swords in the dark, retreating at the first touch, and the victory or defeat was already decided.

The flash of swords and shadows were getting further and further away, but Tassadar was still moving forward without stopping.

"What can we learn from this?" Augustus asked his loyal followers, looking into the distance.

"We are stronger than ever," Ragdaman replied.

The ghost agents of the Revolutionary Army headed by Ragdaman all wore cloak hoods made of pseudo-light material outside their combat uniforms. Almost everyone carried ancient cold weapons sickles and long knives, and carried C-10 rifles on their shoulders.

Under the guidance of the masters of the Dark Templar, the Ghost Agents of the Revolutionary Army have made great progress in the use of cold weapons in close combat, and the Templars have taught them the art of controlling psychic energy through meditation and temperance, which makes the Austrians The ghost agents under Gusdu are more proficient in psychic control and mind braking.

The most significant change is that nothing they learned could be taught by the Federal Ghost Academy.

The ghosts of Augustus will fight closer to the protoss in their fighting style. Since they can more easily control the spiritual energy in their bodies, they will also be able to release more powerful psychic powers and discover many unknown things with the help of the protoss. New abilities discovered.

Happy New Year