StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

"Among the battleships I have seen, the Hyperion is not a small ship."

It was the first time for Talandar, the Purifier Protoss, to visit the Hyperion. This is a novel experience. Stepping on the reddish-brown carpet of a human battleship is a completely different feeling than walking on the bright white flagship of a protoss battleship.

Even though the Hyperion is already the most luxuriously decorated warship among human flagships, undisguised cables and pipes can be seen in the newly painted corridors. The noise in the engine room also made the sergeant on duty miserable. Compared with it, the hum of the protoss battleship Kedarin's crystal matrix was simply a beautiful and moving melody.

There are many passages leading to other important cabins on the main deck of the Hyperion, which are as intricate as a maze. You must use signs to know the direction. He had just followed Marshal Jim Raynor of the Tyranid Empire from the lower deck. He had seen different areas such as the hydraulic engine room, battery room, damage control workshop, armory, food storage room, operating room, etc., and heard about turbine engines. and the shriek of the engine room vent fan was impressive.

The hull of this battleship cannot be said to be small, but a large number of cumbersome mechanical devices occupy too much of the crew's living space, especially the Yamato cannon main gun and shooting center. Such inefficient use of space is so common in a young race like humans that it should not be surprising.

The space of the protoss warship is bright and spacious, especially for behemoths such as the mothership and the Spear of Adun.

"The Hyperion is an old-fashioned battleship that is somewhat outdated, but we are still proud of her and her achievements." While speaking, Renault also pointed to the imperial emblem on the entrance to the armory of the Hyperion. , the shield-shaped logo made of polished brass is carefully scrubbed by sailors every day to ensure that there is no dust on it.

"Although I can no longer feel your emotions, Commander James Raynor, I can empathize with them." Talandar's wide mechanical walking feet were astonishing as he walked on the deck, and some aisles were even worthy of him. It's narrow.

Now the Hyperion is sailing to a distant planet called Zakuul, precisely to arrest the leader of the Scavenger pirates, Alan Scherzar. Accompanying the humans is the fleet of High Executor Artanis. This is not the first time they have fought together.

Temporarily, Talandar the Purifier, whom the humans had discovered from the Gracius facility, also remained aboard the Hyperion. Before returning to the Durham Star Spirit, it may take some time for him to accept the differences between himself and his people and find the direction of his life.

High-ranking executive Artanis originally planned to directly recycle Purifier Talandar to provide a template for the restarted Purifier project to develop new weapons. But since Artanis' mentor, Archbishop Tassadar, warned him to regard Tarandal as the true protoss and that he was the key to easing the relationship between the protoss and the Purifiers, he decided to respect the Purifier's own decision. .

"The Terran Empire has a well-trained army. They are the most heroic and fearless human warriors I have ever seen." Talandar praised Renault.

"Yeah, we have a great group of guys and girls, and without them, the ship wouldn't be able to run," Leno said.

At this time, the door of the nearby armory suddenly opened, and a young man wearing a work cap walked out. He is Milo Kaczynski, the younger brother of Viktor Kaczynski, and is now the chief engineer on board the Hyperion.

It is said that about ten years ago, Milo was already spotted by Augustus Mengsk when he was still a child. Although this rumor is questionable, it undoubtedly proves that he is a very talented person.

With the power of the Kaimorian Consortium's board of directors collapsing, the people's trust in the government and banks has also collapsed, and the economy is on the verge of collapse. More and more Camorians are seeking a way out of the core world of the prosperous Terran Empire by migrating to make a living, especially capable and skilled craftsmen. This has greatly expanded the empire's talent pool and provided opportunities for the further development of the manufacturing industry. foundation.

For those young people who want to make a career in the Koprulu sector, joining the Tyranid Empire's army is definitely their best choice.

"Hello, Tarandal, I'm Milo." The engineer named Milo Kaczynski looked at Tarandal much more enthusiastically than he looked at Renault, and almost handed him a cup of tea. : "Oh my god, what a sophisticated design, you are definitely the most beautiful I have ever seen."

"You can come in for a visit, and then we can do some small checks on you."

"Oh, I guess that's okay." Talandar was very happy. This was the first time in his "life" that someone had praised him like this.

"I heard that you are working on a project to develop a new chassis for the Thor mecha. Let's do it quickly." Renault pressed Milo's head and pushed him back, which made the young engineer very dissatisfied. This is a young man with a bad temper, but someone can always control him.

"What's wrong?" Talandar asked.

"If those engineers praise you like that, it's like a prostitute praising the prostitute's body." Renault said metaphorically.

The Tyranid Empire unearthed many valuable things from the ruins of the Gracius facility, such as the holographic projection device of the Protoss Mechanical Sentinel. This magical device can create a lifelike holographic image entity, even to the point of being fake and real. degree. Thanks to its research on this technology, the Empire has also made new breakthroughs in holographic imaging research.

And if you want to dismantle and study the Purifier, it seems too greedy.

"Forgive me for not understanding what you are talking about." Talandar felt puzzled. Of course, he could not understand many human living habits. After all, just having a mouth was weird enough.

Next, Renault took Talandar to visit the technical soldier's workshop, the officer's activity room, the quartermaster's cabin, the ordnance officer's workshop and the prison room. When they passed the prison cell, they happened to meet the ashen-faced Tychus Finlay. Who knows what trouble this guy had caused.

Of course, this is a common occurrence on the Hyperion. Tychus is not the only crew member who violates discipline, but he is always sent here. Usually, he either got into a fight with someone else or stole something again.

When the door to the Hyperion's mess room opened, a portion of the crew was dining there, enjoying butter-fried potatoes and sweet soda. The crew members in the restaurant were extremely surprised by the appearance of Talandar. This was the first time they had seen the mechanical protoss.

If someone exclaims loudly and shows that he has never seen the world, it will arouse contempt. After all, the people on the Hyperion have never seen anything.

"This is the central dining hall, which supplies food to most sailors. We have several such dining halls, which are open to everyone throughout the day, and the bakery bakes the required bread five times a day." Reno introduced to Tarandal. explain:

"Once the warship has to enter a long period of hyperspace navigation and cannot replenish supplies, it will be difficult to eat fresh bread."

The central restaurant is large, clean and bright. The tables and chairs are all made of warm white teak. The walls of the restaurant are hung with silver-edged portraits, which show the pastoral scenery of a certain planet or the sword of Emperor Augustus. Immediate oil painting.

"The protoss also has similar places, such as the meditation room in the battleship, where the templars will practice and discuss, and share their insights about Kara." Talandar suddenly realized sadly that he had lost Kara. After restarting There may only be one person in the Purifier project, which means that he has become an increasingly weird being.

Under such circumstances, it is not easy for a single Purifier to integrate into the original society. The fear, confusion and discrimination that the tribesmen can predict are really unbearable.

How will the Supreme Council, which once regarded the Purifier as a dangerous weapon, deal with him? Although Grand Executor Artanis claimed that the Conclave had been expelled and that the Templars were now the leaders of the Durham Protoss, this was really difficult for Talandar to accept for a while.

Talandhar could hear whispers in the central restaurant. This must be the result of Renault telling these people in advance that he would come to visit.

He is not afraid of being slandered by others, but he does not think he deserves such insults. This may also be the reason why the ancient Purifiers rebelled. They risked their lives to protect their people, but what they got in return was slavery and oppression.

The Templars fight for glory, but glory does not belong to a group of the dead who should be forgotten.

"Brother Renault, sometimes I always feel lonely." When walking out of the restaurant, Talandar said to Renault: "I only have unprecedented loneliness in my heart. Without Carla, there is no one to listen to my pain."

"Losing Kara is an unbearable pain for the protoss. Only spiritual connection with other protoss can relieve loneliness. From birth to death, the protoss has never felt lonely."

"Now we know that even mechanical protoss like you have feelings." Raynor said: "I heard that you have electronic karaoke, which is like our network, only much more advanced."

"Yes. The Purifiers don't have Kara, but they have something similar. The data network connects all the Purifiers together and everyone can express their opinion. This is why when the Purifiers decided to rebel against the enslavement of the Supreme Council There will be such unity." Talandhar said:

"When deciding a certain matter, Purifiers always vote to resolve it. The time it takes to count the votes determines their efficiency, and Purifiers are always extremely efficient."

"They have their own forum," Leno said metaphorically: "If someone posts something, everyone else can leave a message."

This is easy to understand. When a Purifier complained about the Supreme Council in the data network, the entire network exploded. This is exactly the same as Kara, except Kara shares emotions and data directly, while the Purifier only shares cold data and information.

The Purifier's technology has also been of great help in the research and development of artificial intelligence in the Tyranid Empire, helping to improve the operational efficiency of drones and intelligent machinery.

When Renault and Talandar arrived at the Hyperion bridge, the battleship had not yet left the hyperspace navigation state. The star map on the bridge projected a planet shrouded in darkness, Zakuul.

Zakuul is the archive world of the protoss, a heavily guarded forbidden area of ​​documentation.

In ancient times, Zakul was a planet belonging to Xel'Naga, with countless magnificent lost temples standing on it. Zakuul is very important to the Protoss Empire, as all documents and artifacts since the Great Aeon have been preserved there.

Three ancient and learned protectors are responsible for the stewardship of this planet. The only ones who can surpass them in status may be the legendary Supreme Protectors. In addition, a powerful army guards the planet and its lore and immortal ruins.

It’s hard to imagine how a group of human pirates found this mysterious forbidden area of ​​literature.

"It seems that Orega's shadow has already invaded this mysterious forbidden land of Star Spirit Documents. When did this happen?" Renault saw Augustus standing silently in front of the star map:

"If Zakuul is heavily guarded as Artanis said, then how could we humans know about the attack on Zakuul before they did?"

"Artanis doesn't understand this either. If Zakuul is attacked, the protoss defenders above will definitely request the support of the Saguras Golden Fleet as soon as possible." Augustus said.

At this time, a brilliant flash of light shone on the bridge of the Hyperion. This majestic battlecruiser flagship was leaving the hyperspace channel, followed by a huge fleet.

"The fleet has arrived at Zakul." Matt Horner's voice came: "We have never set foot in this star field, so we must be careful."

On the star map, Zakuul's holographic image of the planet has also been comprehensively updated, with various data about the planet listed next to it.

"The communication signals on this planet are silent. Normally, the guardians here should have asked us how we dare to break into the forbidden area." Renault felt something was wrong.

"We are here to capture Alan Shezal. Can't we even detect human communication signals?" Augustus stared at Zakul's holographic projection and had a bad premonition in his heart.

"Atanis, what did you find there?" He connected to the communication connection with the Protoss flagship Purification:

"Zakuul, this planet looks like a pool of stagnant water."

"The Templars guarding Zakul's Protector did not respond to us." Artanis looked very anxious, and his hands and feet seemed to be cold.

"Previously, all communications between Zakuul and Sagulas were normal." He said: "Although this is unbelievable, someone must have betrayed the Light and Shadow Parliament and concealed the truth. This is almost the case among our people. It’s an impossible thing to happen.”

"It seems that Orega has finally found our temple of knowledge. We should have known that since this crazy dark archon started hunting precious protectors among the stars, he would find it here sooner or later."

"But what is it about the stars above that makes them so corrupt and depraved?"