StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

After a while, Al was in low-Earth orbit.

After losing almost all its engines, the Tyranid Empire battleship Iron Fist gradually slowed down and its altitude continued to decrease. It was finally chased by swarms of corrupted flying insects, mutalisks, and flying snakes.

The Iron Fist is a Minotaur-class battlecruiser. The ship's name is inherited from another retired Behemoth-class battleship. The commander of the ship is Colonel Haley, who is irritable and fierce, speaks with a heavy accent, and is known as the aggressive Haley.

Among the large number of new warships that have been put into service since the Imperial Navy entered the new century, the Iron Fist can be said to be extremely young. In fact, she was incorporated into the combined fleet as soon as she sailed out of the Apollo Shipyard, and immediately rushed to Aiur to participate in the battle.

Before entering the war, the Iron Fist was still shiny and new. The new black alloy steel hull had new red paint. Flags were raised on each deck, and the assembled marines on board the ship sang "Glory to the Emperor".

Forty hours later, this warship, which all its crew members were proud of, was riddled with holes and slumped like a broken house with drafts leaking from all directions. The Iron Fist's thick armor fell off the once majestic hull like cracked fish scales, and thick, snake-like cables leaked out of the damaged armor, looking like a pile of blue-black intestines.

The roar inside and outside the battleship continued, and huge balls of flames surged out from under the deck, releasing astonishing light and heat.

Although it was severely damaged, its shields were disabled, and most of its outer laser cannons were lost, the Iron Fist's firepower was still very powerful. It was powered by nuclear energy and anti-matter, and its thick armor and reinforced shells were piled all over the hull. The alloy steel keel and bulwarks make it extremely difficult to destroy.

Even if they often pay an extremely painful price, humanity's warships, which are considered shabby by the protoss, still prove that they can compete with enemies such as the golden fleet and the insect swarm. Each battlecruiser is born out of the ingenuity and extraordinary creativity of the imperial shipbuilding engineers. It is a masterpiece that embodies countless human wisdom.

However, in addition to being strong enough, the reason why the Iron Fist has not crashed yet is just a bit of ironic good luck, and this good luck will soon come to an end.

"Sir, the lower deck reported that bugs have entered the engine room." Signal Sergeant Julian let out an imperceptible groan: "They are all finished!"

A single zerg may not be called despairing, but they always appear in groups, hundreds and thousands. Fighting an entire swarm single-handedly is like trying to put out a raging forest fire with a household hair dryer.

This is in line with a saying from the Raynor Rangers. The most effective way to deal with the zerg is to knock off their heads and let their fangs kill each other.

"Tell Captain Mader of the Marine Corps that I want him to lead people to recapture the engine room immediately." Colonel Harley shouted: "These bugs know where our weak spots are!"

When they first jumped to the El Galaxy, the huge forest of battleships of the Imperial United Fleet were lined up in multiple horizontal lines, like rows of silhouettes under the dark curtain of the universe. Silently demonstrating the unparalleled military deterrence of a multi-galactic empire. The Imperials like to decorate their warships with a tricolor combination of gray, red, and black, so that others can distinguish them from those of Umoyan and Kaimorion at a glance.

At that time, the Iron Fist was surrounded by hundreds of battlecruisers from the Seventh Fleet, nearly half of which had participated in the battles in the Korhal and Sigma sectors, including the USS Tahoe and the USS Medusa Battleships such as the Medusa, Phobos and Palatine have become famous in the last century, and the naval battles they participated in were on a scale that was unimaginable even twenty years ago. .

War not only kills elites, but also tempers elites. Over the years, many outstanding captains and fleet commanders have emerged in the imperial fleet.

From the orbit around the moon (satellite Sharok) to the low-Earth orbit of Aiur, the Iron Fist accompanied the fleet and fought with the Supreme Council Arbitrator fleet, the Aiur swarm and the gold fleet. It was trapped in the enemy's position and broke out of the encirclement eleven times, five of which This time, even Harley and his crew thought they were doomed.

The most dangerous one came from the battle when the Iron Fist followed the flagship White Star into the inner space of the atmosphere. After that, the Golden Fleet suddenly appeared from above and launched an attack.

The Iron Fist was sandwiched between three Protoss aircraft carriers. The densely packed carrier-based interceptors swarmed up like a swarm of angry wasps, followed by a large group of Phoenix fighter jets chasing after it. The battleship was covered with horrific sting marks left by ion weapons.

At the most critical moment, the crazy protoss used powerful firepower to forcibly break up the Iron Fist's shield field, and then they sent about a hundred Templars onto the human battleship. The protoss rarely use such tactics. Normally, the overwhelming firepower and maneuverability advantages of battleships are enough to win victory over humans, but since Amon corrupted Kara, their tactics have become more radical.

Colonel Harley and his soldiers were forced to fight with the "barbarians" holding psychic swords while the battleship was sailing. Some decks are still full of corpses and rivers of blood.

From that moment on, the already chaotic battlefield became increasingly difficult to control. Each fleet and even every warship under its command was unable to protect itself, and had to use frequent short-distance jumps to avoid the enemy's main force or regroup the fleet to launch a counterattack.

In other words, as long as the warships of both sides find each other, they will immediately start fighting. Fighting is breaking out everywhere, and the fighting never stops.

As for now, after escaping from death several times, the Iron Fist has lost all its escort ships, and there are only a dozen Viking fighters in the dock that have been repaired and can barely fight again.

Misfortunes never come singly. Since the last two battlecruisers Titan and Antietam, which had been operating together with the Iron Fist, crashed and disappeared one after another, the Iron Fist can only fight alone.

Although there are currently Imperial warships operating all over Aiur, there are currently no friendly ships on the communication channel that can help the Iron Fist. They are either unable to protect themselves or are too far away.

Unknowingly, the Iron Fist was far away from the spaces where the battles were fierce, so that when its crew was told that the Golden Fleet suddenly changed from an enemy to an ally, their minds were still a little confused.

But what is confirmed is that the Iron Fist is still located near the Protoss Temple area, and is probably the closest Imperial warship to the surface now.

"The sensor detected a Leviathan, repeat, Leviathan found." Someone suddenly shouted on the bridge.

Because it had received most of the Titan's crew, the Iron Fist was not short of manpower. However, excluding those who were injured and unable to continue fighting, the Iron Fist now totaled more than 4,000 people. You can imagine how many soldiers they have lost in the past time.

"Play this footage on an idle screen," Colonel Harley said immediately.

The Iron Fist was falling into a patch of golden sunlight, when a ghastly behemoth appeared on her starboard side, with huge spikes sticking out from its dark back, making it extremely ferocious. There are many long tentacles and hollow tentacles hanging from the shadow of Leviathan, and the burning wreckage of protoss and human warships can be seen above. The scene can't help but remind people of those shrikes who stick their prey in thorn trees. bird.

Leviathan cruised calmly, surrounded by countless swarming insects. The scene was both spectacular and mind-numbing.

"Ask for assistance from all fleet communication channels." Colonel Harley then added: "Including those protoss."

Harley knew that this Leviathan might have set its sights on his battleship a long time ago, and a Minotaur-class battlecruiser alone had to deal with a monster that was at least twenty times its size. However, the giant beast is simply a fantasy.

If you want to deal with or even severely damage a Leviathan, you must at least summon a sufficient number of Gorgons.

"Under attack. From behind the right chord, bearing 90."

Accompanied by a huge earthquake in the hull, the Iron Fist tilted slightly, and people on the bridge suddenly turned upside down and it was a mess.

Leviathan was seen rushing towards the Iron Fist, slamming the scarred battleship to one side. Then, it inserted its huge hollow tentacles into various parts of the Iron Fist, transporting huge numbers of zerg, like a fat flea that had caught its prey and was about to suck its blood.

The Iron Fist has been invaded by zerg before. It won't be long before the battleship will be filled with tens of thousands of zerg until it completely loses power and crashes into the planet's surface.

"Decks 5 and 7 were invaded," someone reported.

On the main and secondary screens of the Iron Fist, zerg covered in metallic chitin carapace were pouring into various cabins like water, killing them along the narrow passages. The Marines tried everything they could to stop the influx of enemies. They had succeeded in the past, but this time it was clear that there was little hope.

As decks and cabins were lost one after another, Harley realized there was nothing he could do to save his ship.

"Can we make another short jump?" Harley asked.

This is always mentioned repeatedly and highlighted in the combat manual, that is, short-distance jumps are not stable and may throw them towards a high-speed rotating pulsar, and the greatest possibility is to jump into nothingness. In a deserted space.

Stars and planets only account for a very small proportion of the universe, and most areas have nothing but cold darkness. They are more likely to starve to death before rescue ships arrive.

That means that emergency short-distance jumps are always the next best thing.

"It can't be done," his deputy Werner replied: "The jump engine is dead. When it exploded, it killed all our technicians."

A large group of screaming alien dragons flew past their eyes, leaving behind hundreds of jumping blade insects. These terrifying living biological bombs immediately made an earth-shattering noise.

"Lay down the escape pod and everyone prepare to evacuate." The colonel ordered: "God bless the empire, I am abandoning ship."

If the captain determines that his side is unable to continue the fight and is convinced that his ship cannot be saved, he is allowed to order the ship to be abandoned.

But abandoning the ship in this case is actually no less than throwing a group of people into the rough North Pacific, not to mention a group of hungry sharks waiting below.

Without the protection of fighter planes, the escape capsule will become a target in the air. Even if it can land on the ground unscathed, the situation there may not be better than that of a ruined ship full of zerg.

"Sir, someone responded to our call for help." The adjutant suddenly shouted.

"How many of them are there?" Harley cheered up. He hoped that the best one to come would be Gorgon. Even if there was only one ship, it would buy them time to evacuate.

"There are more than a dozen APOD transport ships and a Viking squadron." The adjutant's voice turned sharp.

"More than a dozen transport ships?" Colonel Harley thought for a forty-tenth of a second: "Tell them that I am grateful for their support, but I still ask them to go back and forth wherever they want without taking more lives. ”

With that said, Harley straightened his navy hat and determined to continue abandoning ship.

The adjutant was so excited that it took him a long time to say the second half of the sentence: "It's a transport ship of the Royal Guard, your Majesty!"

On the battlefield, where the Royal Guards are, there the Emperor is.

"Next time, remember to find out and report back to Mr. Werner." Harley paused and said, "Tell the correspondent that I want to speak to His Majesty immediately."

At the same time, more transport ships and fighter planes appeared on the Iron Fist's radar scan, including many protoss warp prisms.

"Sir, do you want to revoke the previous order?" Werner asked.

"Tell everyone that we will fight to the end." Harley said: "The time has come to be loyal to His Majesty."

About half an hour later, Augustus and his Royal Guards entered the bridge of the Iron Fist, and they almost recaptured the battleship from the Zerg.

At this time, the Iron Fist had descended to a dangerous height. Below, the earth had turned into a pot of lifeless thick porridge. It took a long time to cool down. Even if the protoss had been destroyed, it would still be extremely spectacular. The ruins of the city are also missing.

By now, the green land has turned into a desert, and the hardest rocks have liquefied and crystallized under high temperatures.

A new assembly coordinate appeared in front of the captains of the empires. Emperor Augustus had taken over the command of all fleet commanders and ordered all warships that could still move to jump to this location.

A few minutes after the order was given, the first battleship appeared about two miles to the port side of the Iron Fist, extremely close. It was a Gorgon-class battleship, Subversion of the Myth. Its magnificent T-shaped bow, wide decks on both sides, and the huge Yamato cannon were enough to make the enemies of the empire tremble and let its firepower cover the area. The imperial warriors inside were all rejoicing.

Then came the second and third ships. Some battleships are still in good condition, and those hideous wounds look like just medals of bravery. Some are seriously injured, and there are even embers of fire left in some places, but even in this Under such circumstances, they can still respond to the emperor's orders.

For a moment, the crazy flashing jump signal was as bright as stars on the sensor.

On the bridge of the Iron Fist, Augustus saw the Leviathan retract its tentacles, hastily abandon the Iron Fist, turn around, and prepare to escape. (End of chapter)