StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Among the corpses and the hordes of hybrids, Valerian was regrouping his troops.

The Imperial Army did not need to search for the enemy. From the moment they entered the temple, countless evil god believers and evil dark creatures emerged from the depths of the temple, like shadows spreading under the setting sun. The terrible void creatures also appeared in this world with the powerful psychic power here.

The temple was amazingly large, almost comparable to the Temple of Urna. Sometimes Valerian's army could easily launch front-line battles in the giant column hall as vast as the sky and earth, and sometimes they had to fight the enemy in close combat in narrow passages.

Some areas were large enough to support steel giants as huge as Odin II, while some areas could not drive in heavy tanks and chariots due to the complex terrain.

The enemy could appear anywhere, and even the rumbling megalithic facilities could swallow up an Imperial army of dozens or hundreds of people.

Amon's tentacles emerged from the shadows through the void catalyst, and the power of the dark god filled the entire temple, causing it to tremble and wail, and it was about to collapse.

The tragic scene on the battlefield was far beyond Valerian's expectations, but this could not shake his determination at all. If he could not put his life and death aside, how could he ask his imperial soldiers to fight bloody battles.

"Follow me!"

Valerian shouted loudly. At this time, the hybrid predator rushing in the front was only within the reach of his sword. The spinning predator punisher grenades flew past him on both sides, bursting with dazzling light.

"All imperial troops, forward!"

The mottled monster was covered in blood, using its hands and feet, just like a giant spider flying on the wall, with a sick and disturbing blue light on its body. He ravaged several Imperial firepower teams along the way, charging and killing repeatedly until he was burned into a pool of boiling plasma by the C-140 flamethrowers of the Stukov Elite Guards guarding Valerian.

At this critical moment, the Imperial troops that were once dispersed by the hybrid were able to regroup towards Valerian. The Hellbats and Wolf Mechs that came from the rear to support them raised a shield wall made of fine steel in front of the Marines and created a large hot cloud of napalm and plasma-charged weapons in front.

This was a merciless killing. Every time the hybrid tore apart a mech, it had to endure the powerful firepower of revenge. In this space of the Augustgrad vault building, there were several-story-high mech wreckage and the battered bodies of the hybrids everywhere.

The number and firepower of the Imperial troops gradually gained the upper hand, and the battle situation began to tilt rapidly in their favor. They also carried a large number of armor-piercing weapons, which were previously used specifically to deal with thunder beasts.

This was originally just an encounter in the narrow space of the temple. With the two sides deadlocked, the encounter inevitably turned into a tactic of constantly sending more troops.

A Reaper Company of the Head of the Death God rushed out from above at this time. They increased the power of their flight backpacks to the maximum, moved close to the magnificent ceiling of the temple, and came to the top of the enemy's head like a surprise attack from the sky.

Then, they bombarded with various D-type high explosives like hovering bombers, setting everything on the ground in a blaze.

Finally, a large number of evil god believers were defeated first. They were crazy, but their equipment was too poor to survive the firepower coverage of the Imperial Army, so they suffered heavy casualties. Then the number of hybrids that could still fight became fewer and fewer, and they were eliminated one by one by the Imperial Army.

But no matter what, they would rather be eliminated than surrender.

If this was just an ordinary human rebel army, their morale would definitely be greatly shaken in this situation. In contrast, even the battle-hardened Imperial soldiers would inevitably panic when facing hybrids.

Valerian was just thankful that he didn't have to bear any psychological burden when he ordered the surrendered cultists to be shot on the spot. There was nothing more stupid than marching with a group of captives in the Dark Temple of Amon.

When the gunshots gradually became sparse, Valerian ordered, reprimanded and dismissed several voices chasing the enemy, and continued to gather the troops to give enough time for the medical soldiers to treat the wounded.

However, these wounded still had to be left here until the troops coming to support from the rear arrived to transfer them to the rear.

Only then did Valerian have time to examine the current situation. They were at a fork in the road, with three wide ramps like the Kingdom Avenue in front of them.

This towering temple was built on a huge platform the size of a city. There were huge and magnificent man-made landscapes everywhere inside, exuding the breath of civilization and power. The gorgeous gold and silver Xel'naga metals sparkled like amethysts.

Sometimes, the alien civilizations that built temples would build them like magnificent palaces, with giant stairs and hill-like terraces as if they were built for giants, but the passages inside were intricately developed like snake caves, and so narrow that they seemed to be prepared for parasites on the giants.

But there is no doubt that these buildings were built from the beginning to wait for someone to open them one day, and they are definitely not the product of symbolic meaning under the collective consciousness of some alien civilization.

At this moment, here, rows of columns support this space, and most of them have collapsed. Everything, whether it is the huge statues that are almost parallel to the ceiling or the Khaydarin crystals embedded in them, has now been razed to the ground.

The corpses of humans and hybrids were piled high together like anthills. Those huge anthills were squirming, as if snake-like creatures were crawling in and out of them.

As the number of troops gathered around him gradually increased, Valerian felt that he had finally gained a firm foothold. Now, after fully assessing the situation, he was no longer in a hurry to advance deeper into the temple.

The purpose of Valerian's entry into the temple was to respond to Stone's ghost team, bring back the rescued hostages, and, if possible, to disable the temple's shield generator as much as possible.

Of course, judging from the current situation, the latter item basically does not need to be considered. Just opening up the passage into the core area of ​​​​the temple will peel off several layers of skin for Valerian's troops.

Soldiers are valuable and quick, but it is hard to say when there are insufficient troops. Disastrous defeats caused by a lone army's rash advance are not uncommon in the history of the imperial army.

The good news is that they are now close enough to Stone's location, close enough that there may only be a wall between them, but crossing this distance is much harder than Valerian expected.

But Stone only has about forty well-trained Ghost agents at his disposal, and his staff now may be less than half that number. They brought a large group of ordinary people with no fighting ability, and they were already suffering so much that they could not walk steadily. To put it bluntly, they were carrying weights across the river.

It's a miracle that Stone can hold on with these people until now, let alone break through the encirclement to find Valerian.

"All Imperial forces, move forward."

After being convinced that his troops were fully prepared, Valerian ordered the advance.

Valerian chose the passage on the far right, which was exactly what Stone had walked. He didn't know yet whether these roads had different meanings, representing death, rebirth or other meanings.

Xel'Naga temples are by no means religious ceremonial buildings. They built them for other more profound purposes rather than to worship a certain god.

He could see many corpses along the way, including several dead Imperial ghost agents.

But from this moment on, all the enemies seemed to disappear in an instant, and not even sporadic resistance could be seen.

This is more unsettling than the overwhelming mixture. The small and medium-sized predators have disappeared without a trace, which only means that something more terrifying is about to appear.

"Stay vigilant." Valerian led the mecha troops in the guard to open the way ahead.

This passage is not wide and can barely accommodate two Wolf Warriors passing side by side. The murals on the walls on both sides are carved with countless inhuman and terrifying creatures, all of which depict heinous atrocities. There is a lack of lighting here and it is very dim. The searchlights scan the bloody murals over and over again, which is eerie.

The soldiers walked in silence, because Valerian had to ensure that the channel was open when necessary, and any unnecessary grumbling could cause their commander to miss important information.

Halfway through, Stone finally appeared, with only one subordinate. When he appeared, he was almost killed as an enemy by the nervous Imperial soldiers.

"The communication signal here is very poor, so I have to report to you personally, Your Highness."

Stone carries a C-10 shotgun on his back and holds a ignited blue monomolecular blade in his hand. He is good with both guns and swords, and can shoot left and right during combat.

"What's the situation?" Valerian asked him immediately.

At a certain moment, Valerian suspected that this stone was just an evil and cunning shape-shifting creature from the void, but after all, they could not simulate a unique thought.

"It's terrible. Almost every hostage was tortured, including whipping, bloodletting, craniotomy, and genetic tailoring. More people went crazy before escaping. The mental oppression of the hybrid is subtle." He led the way. While saying to Valerian:

"In order to gain powerful power, Amon's scientists spliced ​​the protoss and humans together. IMHO, it's no less terrifying than attaching a mouse's head to a cat's body."

"These tortured people are weak and cannot walk very far." Stone continued: "Some people would rather die here than take another step. I can only let them get what they want."

"But that's it, half of the people failed to follow, and half of the remaining people died on the road."

"I thought it was impossible for you to escape." Valerian once again realized how naive and stupid his plan was. He misjudged the number of enemies in the temple, but fortunately it was not too late.

"I thought so too, but when we escaped here, all the pursuers disappeared." Stone said:

"Perhaps Eamon had an order and they didn't dare to come in."

"What kind of place?" Valerian asked.

"Absolutely beyond your imagination," Stone replied.

When Valerian came to the end of the passage, he truly understood the meaning of Stone's words.

This may have been a resting place for the Xel'Naga. The steep walls of the cliff are covered with huge sarcophagi. The breathtaking void crystal shines like lapis lazuli, hanging high above the head like stars. It is said that these sarcophagi were used by the Xel'Naga to house their real-world avatars when they fell into slumber.

What surprised Valerian the most was the stone platforms placed every five or six feet on the ground, perhaps thousands in number, on which some protoss who had been dead for a long time once lay, but are now used to contain them. Bed for the injured.

There are about one or two thousand hostages here. Valerian immediately ordered to take everyone away as much as possible. It is not a problem for the marines to carry one or two people on foot, and all mechas must carry people.

"Amon forbade his servants to enter here? What does he use these facilities for?" When the arrangements were made, Valerian asked Stone.

"We found several living Protoss." Stone paused: "They are performing organ transplants here to re-transplant the severed nerve bundles and reconnect them to Kara."

"This is too evil." Valerian didn't know whether he should use the word evil. This was simply saying that the Kara sect was a heresy.

Ironically, in today's Darram politics, no one dares to mention returning to Kara.

"Did they succeed?" he asked.

"Almost. Although it is far less than the original neural bundles, it is enough for Amon to control them again." Stone said, "And they are all willing."

"Voluntary?" Valerian said, "Incredible."

"This is voluntarily wearing the chains that bind themselves."

"If so, the Protoss has been willing to wear these chains for at least thousands of years." Stone disagreed: "Maybe many Ai'er Protoss think that even being controlled by Amon is better than losing Kara."

They all know the importance of Kara to the Protoss. Kara is an ocean of emotions where all Protoss interact. However, once it is lost, each Protoss becomes an isolated island closed to each other. This loneliness is unacceptable to them. The number of Protoss who commit suicide due to extreme depression has become increasingly high among the Daram Protoss.

"Is Amon trying to control the Golden Fleet again?" Valerian said, "But if so, the efficiency is too low."

"Or maybe this is a spontaneous act of Amon's followers." Stone pointed to a slowly dissipating Protoss corpse in the distance: "He was once a member of the Golden Fleet. In order to return to the arms of Kara, he gave up everything and came here."

"When interrogating him, I had to cut off his nerve bundle again." Stone said, "At that time, he cried like a playboy who just learned that he was castrated."

"Oh, poor guy." Valerian immediately felt ashamed of his unkind laughter. If there were Templars here, it would probably cause a diplomatic conflict.

". But think about what kind of shock this incident will cause among the Daram Protoss. The most terrible thing about this incident is that it first makes people despair and then gives them hope." He said: "Maybe Kara is now ruled by Amon, but it still exists. When Amon is defeated and destroyed one day, it will be possible to return to Kara."

"This will definitely cause new differences in Daram and even shake the rule of the Light and Shadow Council." Valerian thought: "Phoenix Archon will soon arrive in Baishel. Should we hide this from him?"

". But no matter what, my uncle must be the first person to know about this."

A scream suddenly sounded from the crowd, and the communication channel was also in turmoil.

That was one of the three Moebius hybrids, 9E57, a bronze angry beast with red flames shining on it from top to bottom. Hot white steam was pouring out of the heat dissipation chip forged from fine steel on his back. Behind him were the open steel wings, burning like a red-hot blade.

If the Zerg-infected Doomsday Beast is a Thunder Beast further armed with Thor's armor, then he is a hybrid armed with the same armor. He is full of evil and weirdness, much larger and more terrifying than the hybrid Predator under his feet.

"It seems that this is a trap." Valerian immediately ordered: "Retreat!"

"The guards stay, I will cover the rear." (End of this chapter)