StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Chapter 309: Agent of the Swarm

Unknowingly, the time has come to the end of 2491, and the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army spent a simple but ceremonial Christmas on the battleship drifting on the edge of the Char galaxy.

It turned out that the supplies brought from the main star of Antiga were not enough to make the soldiers far away from their homeland feel the festive atmosphere, but the supply ship of the Nova Squadron solved the urgent need.Reynolds even found several Christmas trees on six supply ships full of crates of food, medical supplies, tea, wine and Coke drinks, much to the delight of soldiers missing their families and home.

In addition to nine Behemoth-class battlecruisers and seven destroyers, Augustus' forces also captured more than two hundred CF/A-17 Wraith fighters, more than 390 APOD-33s, and five scientific ships , there are close to a thousand other shuttles, near-Earth spacecraft, and small and medium-sized transport ships.

Three-fifths of the ships of the Nova Squadron fleet have been merged into the combat order of the Revolutionary Army Navy. They all once fought for the eternal glory of the Tyrannian Federation, but now they only obey the command of the Marshal of Augustus.

The painting of these spaceships is also different from the past. In addition to the logo of the Shining Nova, the bright purple ship board has the badge of the Revolutionary Army's Weaving Ring, which means that they are now fighting for a completely different from the past. Fight for lofty goals.

As for the soldiers on it, Augustus kept all the establishments of the resocialized soldiers intact, but replaced their officers with officers from the Revolutionary Army.The number of resocialized soldiers is about 3.5, which is a staggering proportion.

The remaining 2.2 people are regular army soldiers who have been conscripted in various ways, that is to say, they are the same as Augustus when he joined the Federal Marine Corps. Conscious ordinary people.

Most of them are not voluntary soldiers, and their attitude towards the federal government is similar to that of Shiloh farm boys like Reynolds-they are disappointed in the federal government and hope that the government and parliament can take effective measures to save the malaise Ailing market economies and worlds on the brink of collapse.

The federal soldiers were more or less influenced by the federal government's overwhelming slander against the rebels and the compulsory ideological education in the army. They didn't think Augustus's revolutionary army was a good person, or believed that they were just a group of displaced Ke A militia made up of refugees from Harbin as well as unscrupulous businessmen, pirates, private security guards and colonial militias without noticing why their own army kept failing.

Out of prudence and other considerations, Augustus could only put these non-resocialized soldiers in prisons transformed from living quarters on various warships, and only those who swore allegiance to him and the Revolutionary Army could be forgiven.

The harvest of equipment is also the biggest. More than 4 sets of CMC-300 power armor and AGR-14 and C-14 electromagnetic rifles of the Nova Squadron were able to be installed in Augustus' army.

The more than 200 arc siege tanks, Goliath robots, and vulture vehicles in the arsenal of these battlecruisers are also a pleasant surprise. Augustus will soon be able to fully equip an entire armored division of the Revolutionary Army with this, and That would allow the Revolutionary Army to compete head-on with Zerg or Protoss forces.

Augustus' team continues to grow, and it's far from the end.

On the last day of 2491, Augustus, who did not feel much joy for the arrival of Christmas, summoned his generals on the Huberian to hold a mourning ceremony for the war dead and prepare to leave before the arrival of the new year. Char galaxy.

Those warriors who died in battle and were brought back were lucky enough, but those who were torn to pieces by the zerg and buried hastily in the deep ash layers of Char faced a more tragic fate.

One day, when the people who are still alive return to Char, they will find that their friends and comrades who have been forgotten in the depths of memory will reappear in front of people in a hideous appearance, as part of the Char swarm. .

Thousands of brave Revolutionary Army soldiers lost their lives forever in the previous battles in the Char system. On this day, Augustus, who was standing on the bridge of the Hyperion, was dispersing the Revolutionary Army officers dark brown Or staring at Charl with orange lava flowing on the screen between the dark gray uniform epaulettes, he couldn't help thinking about this question.

If there are souls in this world, are the people who died on Char and other planets lingering on the battlefield unwilling to leave?With so many dead people watching Augustus, how could he stop.

At 14:22 onboard time, the senior officers of the Revolutionary Army who participated in the mourning ceremony had dispersed, leaving only Augustus staring at the Koprulu star area and even larger constellations, star fields, and a part of the Milky Way on the main screen. Star map along the entire spiral arm.

On the other side of the Milky Way, the solar system and the earth on the Orion spiral wall are just a small point of light shining with a little bit of light.

The areas explored by humans are still insignificant on the scale of the entire galaxy, but the enemies they encountered have been so terrible.This young race, who thought it had an outstanding civilization, still clamored to conquer the huge galaxy, just like a bug that has just explored a pile of mounds said that it wanted to conquer the world.

Zerg and protoss are enemies that are completely different from humans, and Koplu's human civilization is as fragile as a candle in the wind.Augustus has long given up any hope for the Tyrannian Federation - although the Federation is still strong.

At this time last year, Augustus was still working in the agricultural colony of Agria to resettle Korha IV refugees, but now he has come to the other side of the star area, in this dangerous and unusually remote galaxy full of Zerg. Zerg fight to the death.

At this time, Augustus was still standing beside Renault, Corporal Faraday, and Jackson Hole, who had already changed into a gray-blue Revolutionary Army navy uniform, wearing a badge with a braided ring, a panda, and a hammer emblem. Military caps and badges.

Augustus also had to admit that Holle was the kind of person who looked upright and majestic when he put on his uniform. No one would have thought that he was a [-]-year-old boy who wanted to overthrow the Federation all day long.

At some point, a roster folder popped up on the main screen in front of Augustus.

That's the list of Ghosts in Nova Squadron.As a federal naval squadron that is particularly good at special operations and covert infiltration, the number of ghost agents in Nova Squadron is much larger than other squadrons, which is why they were sent to set up psionic transmitters in Char.

In addition to the Nova Squadron's flagship Nova Terra, which has been reduced to scrap iron, there are a total of 64 federal ghost agents on the list, which surprised Augustus, because he thinks these psykers have more abilities than being cold killers. great value.

Augustus swiped his fingers across the list on the screen, flipping through the names and accompanying photos bit by bit.

They are all young.

The oldest is only 25 years old, and the latest is only 17 years old.Every photo is a recent update, in real-time, of ghostly uniforms or officers, but without exception, no one is smiling.

Most of these ghost agents have pale skin, with indifferent or dark expressions.They're killers, and they've been told they were born that way.

"After Dr. Francos set out to remove the psionic suppressors in their brains, the Ghosts would not hesitate to fall on us." Holler said when reviewing the list in Augustus: "I can confirm that, Ghosts deeply hate the feds and Ghost Academy that changed their lives forever."

"Among them, how many of them can withstand the recovery of the tragic memories that have been lost and beware of the possibility that the high-level psychics among them will lose control after the operation, and not all psychic agents are willing to believe that a person who has been in the past few It is a rebel organization that has only become popular in the past few years." Augustus only had the most cautious and minimum expectations for everything, and it was enough for him to feel that two-thirds of the ghost agents joined his revolutionary cause. joy.

Among the 64 Nova Squadron ghost agents, 53 have a PSI index between 5 and 6, which means that they have reached the minimum standard to become a ghost agent, possessing sensitive telepathic ability, that is, being able to read minds, But that doesn't get them anything more than that.

Ten of them are 7th-level psykers, who are clearly stronger than most Ghosts, but limited.Only one female Ghost with long black hair is a level 8 psyker, which means she can not only read minds, but also use telekinesis to teleport.

On progressive planets, she might be seen as a psychic, but she might also be seen as a freak, alienated or persecuted by her brethren.

Psykers at level 8 and above still have a certain chance of gaining special abilities, such as Holler's mind control ability that can temporarily distort other people's thoughts, and some unique performances are more like something similar to magic, such as using a Deadly psionic blast or create fire.

Augustus clicked on it and began to read the profile of the female ghost, a girl with beautiful dark brown eyes who had a tragic childhood as usual—abandoned by her parents in the slums of Tarsonis for her bizarre behavior.A butcher in a butcher shop who fed the child disappeared after the Ghost program found her.

The next step is to learn the memory of using weapons and assassinations at the Ghost Academy. The students who use them will be divided into two different teams to compete with each other.It's like an army, and only the strongest earn respect.

"The equipment of this female ghost looks better and cooler than other people's." Reynolds was standing on Augustus' right side.

"This proves that she is the strongest among these people." Augustus checked her information carefully: "There is no special ability, but she once lost control, and 45 people died in 'that accident', more than 370 people went insane or mentally ill."

"The girl looks very exciting," Raynor said. "People say you have a soft spot for female ghosts."

"Yes, hot, powerful, dangerous, and ready to kill you," Augustus warned Raynor.

"Colonel Holler, do you know this Ghost agent?" he asked Holler.

"I used to try to stay as far away from the psykers as possible in the squadron, because they were likely to perceive that I had psykers," Holler said.

"I know her. This person killed two instructors before the psychic suppressor and resocialization technology were created. She is extremely dangerous." He said calmly.

"Until she was implanted with a psionic suppressor, she was considered a madman and a monster."

"In the earliest days, there were a group of psychopaths in the ghost academy, big neuropathy and small neuropathy, some symptoms were obvious, and some were not obvious." Holler was still reminiscing about the past, but he seemed to be telling another story from the sidelines. story.

"It's a bit better now, at least like a real academy."

"She's dangerous." He added, "Generally, I'd recommend you just kill her. But she's a psyker, and I just want all psychics to live like normal people. "

"There will never be any future troubles." Reynolds said, "What a ruthless character."

"You do this." Augustus handed over this matter to the newly surrendered Holle without hesitation. This was not a decision he made suddenly, because he always thought about everything. repeatedly.

At this time, Augustus found that he suddenly missed the days when Kerrigan was by his side, and he suddenly couldn't tell who was relying on whom.

"It's great that you can trust me." Holle didn't object.

"That's why I follow you, because you are willing to give psykers a chance." He then said, "I joined the revolution because I believe that human beings should be free to live, to choose the way they and their children will live. way. People can follow democracy and freedom to elect every government and leader, and have the right to overthrow them.”

"It doesn't sound like it's going to be hard to do," Reynolds said.

"I originally thought that all psykers were trained as ghost agents in the ghost academy. How many ghost agents like you are out of the control of the federation?" Augustus asked Holle.

"As far as I know, there are quite a few, and they are all high-level psykers." Holer thought for a while and replied: "Captain Buzan of the Chimera Pirates has several ghost agents under his command, and some of them are going to be ghost agents." Mercenaries or professional killers, they have almost no way to integrate into the lives of normal people."

"Chimera pirates? I heard that those pirates are scarier than a private army." It was not the first time Renault had heard the name Chimera pirates.In the Koprulu Sector, powerful mercenary organizations and interstellar pirates can even confront government forces.

At this moment, the lights of the Hyperion suddenly dimmed, and the Dark Templar Zeratul appeared in a cloud of mist.

Both Augustus and Renault involuntarily put their hands on the electromagnetic pistols at their waists.Höller, who didn't know Zeratul, immediately stood in front of Augustus, trying to use his powerful psychic powers to drive away the intruder.

Holle's reaction was definitely not feigned, he really wanted to protect Augustus.Like those who met Augustus, Holler believed that the 23-year-old man could bring about fundamental change in the decaying Tyranid Federation.

"I am not your marshal's enemy." Zeratul raised one of his hands, indicating that he did not come to find fault.

"I said, please go through the main entrance next time." Renault straightened his forehead.

"The Dark Templar must remain stealthy," Zeratul replied, "I have no objection to taking shortcuts if necessary."

"Okay, okay, you have the final say." Renault shrugged.

"You have to believe me, Augustus, when I was in Char I sensed the swarm's movement, heard the master and the cerebrates whispering under the lava, they sent the swarm to a planet called Haji Find a new agent of the swarm," Zeratul said, turning to Augustus.

"That world is about to end," he said.

"You don't have time to mourn, we have to move on."

　See you in 2022.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)