StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

"Tassadar is also in a state of distress right now due to internal conflicts, Orega, and the Purifier."

"This is none of our business. If they all die, the universe will be pure."

At the Dominion High Command in Augustgrad, Emperor Augustus summoned all the Imperial generals still on Korhal to discuss the threat of the Purifier Protoss rising on the borders of the Empire today. A military meeting was held.

Even though all the senior generals from the Imperial Navy and Marine Corps headquarters were present, the conference room was very simply decorated, with only a circle of tables and chairs and a holographic projection screen occupying the front wall.

What was projected on the holographic screen was Niflheim's frozen planet shrouded in thick fog and wind and snow. The glorious protoss city sitting on its endless ice fields was already in the midst of a raging war. The huge fleet of Purifier Protoss has occupied the high-altitude orbit of the planet. The ivory-like armor of the Cybros-made warships appears more and more pure and flawless in the flash of the solar matrix. It is releasing golden beams towards the surface, pouring out undisputed power. .

"These Purifier protoss are dangerous. The protoss cannot be trusted, and neither can the robots they create."

General William Wachowski of the Imperial Marine Corps Headquarters dropped what he was doing and hurried to the scene. As the head of the Imperial DMC Combat Development Command, he also has a lot of administrative chores in his hands.

In a bad mood, General Wachowski was originally very impatient when he saw the imperial navy generals, but when the emperor arrived in person, he immediately became as quiet as a chicken.

"According to intelligence, the main gun of the Purifier Protoss mothership can even completely destroy a planet. This shows that they are fully capable of launching a war against the Empire." Chief of Naval Staff Doug Michael Graham (Doug Michael Graham) There is a thick stack of reports on the table in front of him, with the Imperial emblem and the DIS logo of the Imperial Intelligence Department on the cover.

Graham was a standard imperial soldier, well-groomed, resourceful, and cautious in his behavior. He was meticulous about campaign planning and combat plans, and always spent a lot of time perfecting the plan and filling in all the details. He was originally a staff officer under Edmund Duke, but was later kicked back to Augustgrad by the impatient general on the grounds that the battlefield was changing rapidly and his plans could not keep up with the changes.

"Fortunately, the Purifier Protoss has not shown much interest in our planet at present, but it does not mean that war will not break out in the future." He explained: "Since the first batch of Purifier Protoss appeared in Lorcadi Ya, they have destroyed and occupied seven Dallam worlds in less than half a month. The Purifiers' warlike tendencies are worrying, and their attitude towards humans is unclear."

"Not all protoss leaders are as friendly as Tassadar. In fact, protoss like him are in the minority."

"Isn't it just the mechanical protoss? What's there to be afraid of?" Hanak Hank squinted at the senior imperial officers at the table for a long time. After holding back for a long time, he finally said this: " Our plasma flamethrowers can melt even steel."

Seeing all the generals staring at him blankly, Hanak felt a little proud.

"That's just an out-of-control machine made by the protoss. In the final analysis, it's a robot that runs on its own program. What's the big deal?" General Harnak's prejudice against robots came from the console of the cargo truck he drove when he was young. artificial intelligence.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing worth mobilizing troops to do. It won't be long before these mechanical protoss will fend for themselves." He pointed out biasedly:

"Look at what our ship-borne intelligent adjutant looks like now. He can't even place a toaster and has to do it himself."

"You talk too much, Hank." General Jim Raynor was just listening quietly, but now he winked to his old friend frequently: "No one here cares about your opinion!"

Harnack is a straight-talking man who always speaks out when he has something to say, but never gets to the bottom of things. Once, Harnack held a meeting at the division headquarters, and the discussion turned to which engine oil was better.

"Is this why you toasted bread and wet socks on the radiator of the Successor's engine and held a barbecue party on the bridge deck?" Emperor Augustus used to just sit and listen, but now he couldn't sit still. .

"No one stipulates that sailors can't do this during rest time." Harnak said aggrievedly: "And it was Tychus who suggested this. I was just responsible for eating. For God's sake, what I said was truth."

"This rule is now in place." Augustus patted the table, why did I put two sleeping dragons and phoenix chicks on the table: "Stop talking and let someone who understands machines come!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rory Swann, chief engineer of the Imperial Engineering Corps, was invited into the conference room. The stocky, short Mrs. Mainho stomped in, the wooden floor creaking under her feet.

Even though he had just taken a hot bath and put on his palace attire, the smell of engine oil still lingered on Swann's body. But this open-minded engineer was very satisfied with it, but the golden-red uniform looked out of place on him.

"This is not an ordinary machine, absolutely not, I can swear it—guaranteed by my beard." Swann got straight to the point as soon as he came in, obviously feeling that this boring meeting was taking up his work time. Swann preferred parts and tools to comfort and grandeur. Swann had not changed since Augustus fished him out of the mines of Meinhof.

"Captain Hilson's boys found some scattered parts of the Purifier protoss from Niflheim and sent them all the way back to Kohal using 'expedited express'." Swann was carrying a huge box. The box was obviously very heavy, and even he was out of breath carrying it.

"My people and I studied day and night, and finally we got something." He said: "If Talandar hadn't been on the side, it might have taken several years to figure out what these parts were for."

With that said, Swann threw the box heavily on the table, and when the generals looked at him in shock, he picked up a glass of water on the table and drank it.

"Oh, cowboy, how are you doing? How are Liddy and the kids?" After drinking, Swan pulled up a chair and sat down. He turned around and saw Renault next to him. He suddenly smiled, that brush-like smile. The thick eyebrows straightened out immediately.

"Thanks to you, Swan, they are all fine." Renault also said with a smile.

"I haven't seen John's kid for a while, and I heard they are moving to Mar Sara," Swann said.

"My parents are not used to living here in Augustgrad. There are too many people here and too little land for farming." Renault shook his head: "If it is too easy to make money, they will not feel at ease."

"Ma Sara is pretty good too." Swann nodded.

Although it was once destroyed by the protoss, Mar Sara is still habitable, but the environment is still very harsh. To be honest, it is not a paradise or a geomantic treasure.

"Chief Engineer Swann, you can put these things aside and talk about your research on the Purifier." Graham coughed, raised his finger and pointed at the watch on his hand, euphemistically expressing the generals' Time is very tight and I don't have time to listen to his trivial talk.

"Ah, I thought this was an armory." Swann slapped his head: "In this case, I will just pick out the important ones."

"Well, I came to you just to tell you about the research results, Rory." Augustus stretched out his hand to signal Swann to continue.

"This sounds a bit strange, but I have to say that the structure of these machines is incredibly delicate." As he spoke, Swan opened the box and took out a miniature golden luminous crystal, with precise matrix inscription patterns clearly visible on it. At this moment, the Purifier Matrix is ​​still releasing heat and light.

"It's not so much a man-made machine as it is a person like a machine." He groped for the hexagonal matrix core and took out a broken shoulder armor from the box:

"The Purifiers use the technology of the ancient Protoss Empire. Since the Supreme Council ordered the abolition of all research on intelligent machines, the technology they use is beyond the reach of even the current Protoss."

"What does this mean?" asked Augustus.

"This shows that the technology used by the Purifiers is independent of the current Protoss Empire. They use their own energy and technology, and can even develop new technologies by analyzing and imitating existing Duram Protoss weapons." Swann said :

"I suspect that the Purifiers also have their own scientists and weapons developers - or that their data network itself is a collection of countless supercomputers, capable of developing technology with infinite computing power."

He pointed at the damaged Purifier warrior shoulder armor: "Analysis of the age of the material shows that it was forged only recently. In other words, they are still making a steady stream of mechanical armies, and this large-scale There is no limit to its construction. One day, the whole world will be filled with Purifiers."

"This is not a bluff."

"That just sounds alarmist." General Christopher Bloise looked at Swann.

"Can't your wooden fish brain still understand? The Purifiers, their factories can produce tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Mechanical Fanatics, Mechanical Stalkers, Colossi and those guys who will beat us all in a blink of an eye. Things that are burned to ashes." Swann's temper has never been very good, but he has always been right about the situation and the person.

"I", the usually respected imperial general, immediately blushed: "I really don't know much about this, but I don't think their output will be so amazing."

"The robots are never tired and are always working non-stop. While we are napping and farting and drinking beer, the Purifiers are building the foundry." Swan stared into Christopher's eyes like a furious lion:

"They can rule the world if they want to."

"If the Purifiers have ambitions to rule the world." Augustus mused.

"Lori, do you think our intelligent adjutant may also rebel?" Hanak, who had already shut up, suddenly asked.

"Don't worry, our intelligent adjutant is more than just a few screws worse than those mechanical protoss." Rory Swann, the chief engineer of the empire, moved the stool next to Emperor Augustus and whispered into his ear He muttered something.

"Then, you must not ignore the enemy in front of you." Jack Brody listened for a long time. Although he didn't understand it very clearly, he still made a decision with a slap on his thigh: No matter whether these protoss are made of iron or copper, He had long wanted to drive a battleship to fight these aliens.

"I propose that the Dominion Fleet Command form a new expeditionary force fleet with the new flagship White Star and head to Lorcadia, Niflheim and Kayadir." His long The upturned walrus beard trembled excitedly:

"Kill them all in one go and avenge the past."

"I have to admit, even your brain occasionally has a flash of inspiration." Wachowski didn't like the protoss either.

The two men belonged to the Imperial Marines and the Navy respectively, but they hit it off and worked together when it came to dealing with the protoss.

"I don't understand why we have to fight the Purifier protoss." Raynor thought for a long time: "Listen, the resurrection of the Purifier may not be a bad thing for the empire - especially"

"You coward, you pig!" Brody immediately jumped up and angrily called Renault a pig: "What should we do? Are we just waiting for those Purifier protoss to kill us all?"

This man had vulgar manners and a loud voice, and was once despised by Edmund Duke as Mar Sara's shrew. Although everyone who knows them knows that these two generals are actually the same kind of people, they like to suppress opposing voices by raising their voices and yelling, and solve all disputes with a burst of savagery like a bull.

And this thing is very simple. If Emperor Augustus thought that there was no need to dispatch the imperial army on the issue of Purifiers, there would be no need to summon his generals at all.

"You Marines must be scared, I know what's going on. Very good, let us deal with the Purifiers this time!" Brody shouted.

Regardless of the fleet's best efforts in providing fire support, the Marines will always suspect that their Navy colleagues are hiding and not doing enough. This is a common occurrence, and perhaps the role reversal is also the case.

"You cannot actively provoke the Purifiers." Augustus' next sentence determined the next direction of the meeting: "The empire is colonizing the Sigma sector on a large scale, and there are not that many manpower involved at the moment."

"We have two worlds within purifier range, and neither the colonies nor the ships are under attack."

After the Purifier protoss woke up, their brains might still be rusty, so they beat up the surrounding Durham protoss worlds without thinking. However, it currently seems that the scope of the Purifier's activities is limited to this, and there is no intention to attack the first star of Duram, Sagulath.

At this time, following the sound of heavy footsteps, a tall Purifier protoss walked in, and it turned out to be Talandar, Phoenix's Purifier clone.

"I believe that the Purifiers will become friends of mankind. They do not want to start a war, but just for survival and freedom. - The Purifiers must have mistakenly thought that the Protoss Empire still wants to enslave them." Talandar said: "I We must communicate with the executive officers of the Purifiers to stop the unnecessary war between them. The real enemies are not our own compatriots!"

"But the zerg!"