StarCraft: Tyranid Empire.

Zeratul, my old friend.When we need you, you are always nowhere.

In the command tower on the bridge of the White Star, Augustus was thinking in his heart, with a worried expression on his face.

Counting the time for the coalition forces to integrate forces, determine the command authority, and the order of attack, the huge fleet has been delayed for several days, but it still failed to wait for Zeratul's Ihanli Protoss fleet.According to the agreement, Yihanli should have come earlier, there must be a strong enemy or other unexpected changes that delayed their trip.

Time is long and the universe is vast.Even for fleets equipped with next-generation warp drive engines, such situations are inevitable.

Having said that, this still casts a shadow over the plan to enter Ayr.

At the moment, the coalition fleet has already started to leap towards Ayer, joining forces and launching a general attack.

On the holographic screen in front of the podium, the majestic human and protoss fleets are taking off following the flagship, and the edge of the acceleration force field spreading around each battleship looks like a burning blue flame, which is extremely gorgeous and spectacular.

"For a long time, Zeratul and his dark templars have followed their unknown rules of conduct." Raynor lit a cigarette and leaned against the console embossed with wolf patterns: "They must be delayed by something on the road, otherwise they will never miss the appointment."

Anyone who is familiar with Zeratul knows that if he suddenly drifts outside and loses contact, there is no need to make a fuss. It is just that the critical moment that really requires the appearance of the Dark Master has not yet arrived.

Lei Nuo exhaled a puff of smoke, and seemed much more relaxed: "They argued for a long time just now, and some people suspected that the Ihanli protoss came too late because they took refuge in Amon."

"There is an old saying among the people on Earth that people can see everything after living for a long time. I actually heard a Tadalin accuse the allies of not being loyal enough and being double-faced."

After reaching an agreement on the battle plan for marching into Aiur, the leaders and generals of the protoss and the empire have left, and each returned to the fleet to deploy troops.

There is no one else here except Imperial Marshal Jim Raynor, Matt Horner, and several officers and staff members who serve in the Supreme Command Staff Department.Although they are all new faces, these people are already excellent soldiers honed through many wars.

In the combat meeting just now, the delay in waiting for the Ihanli Protoss fleet naturally attracted dissatisfaction from many people, especially Duke and Alarak's voices were the loudest.

Duke thought that Ihanli's arrival was purely to add to the chaos, and it was also a good thing, so as to demonstrate his bravery as the lion of the empire.

Alarak, the new high lord, accused Augustus of wasting his time, both eager to achieve vengeance on the lies of the Dark God, and lacking trust in his new allies, the Ihanli protoss.

Duke was very happy when he heard that it was rare for someone to cater to him. Seeing that it was Alarak, the high-ranking lord of Tadarim, he held back the words "heroes see the same thing".

"I don't like to talk about allies behind their backs. In my opinion, this kind of talk doesn't stand up to scrutiny."

Matt wears his military uniform at all times, even when he's on a date with Meera - he can see he's reluctant about it.

"If Ihanli really betrayed us, then when the combined empire fleet is waiting in this galaxy, it will not be the people of Artanis and Alarak who came before, but the Aiur swarm." He stood in front of the large tactical hologram:
"Artanis and the others also brought new news. The golden fleet and the bug swarm are still raging in the Koprulu sector. All the evidence shows that Amon knew nothing about our raid."

"I'm not too worried about that." Augustus leaned on the other side of the console.

After all, Augustus couldn't ignore the possibility of his allies defecting before the battle, but he only cared about suspicion before the battle, but he was messing up.

Augustus lured the Ihanli protoss to join the coalition army, which was the result of careful consideration, and he would not easily doubt his own judgment.At the same time, the Ihanli Protoss is guaranteed by Zeratul, and there are reasons for trust.

Ta'darin doesn't trust everyone, and Duke doesn't trust all aliens, and it's reasonable to have such doubts.

As far as Augustus knew about Ihanli's position in the war, he didn't think they would stand on Amon's side. After all, Amon never concealed his slaughter of the gods in Urna, the resting place of the gods.It seemed that he thought this would break the morale of the Protoss and make them feel hopeless.

The Ihanli protoss's extreme admiration for the Naganaga is still higher than other relatives, and the tragic scene of Urna naturally makes them hate the "Godslayer" Amon.Now, even the reason why Ihanli tried so hard to pursue the footprints of Sarnaga in the past thousands of years has been answered.

Even if Emon tells them that he is the Naganaga who came to Ayer back then, your religious worship today is all due to his bragging about his identity as the Creator, and those Naganagas in Urnari have never been to Ayer at all, and Ehanli will only think that he is a blasphemous and deceitful person.

Up to now, under the influence of Zeratul, the Ihanli Protoss still believes that there is a Xel'Naga imprisoned by Amon in the void, and that is the Creator they have been pursuing for generations.

Compared with the threat of the end of the world, Ihanli cared more about how to save their god, which was enough for them to devote themselves to this pilgrimage expedition regardless of sacrifice.

Although the Ihanli protoss was very dissatisfied with the human colonists who "suddenly" appeared on the world of their former empire, they still helped at Zeratul's insistence.

More than one empire territory and fleet reported that they had received the support of the Ihanli pilgrimage fleet. The number of imperial people who survived the rescue was more than millions, and the materials saved were even more unimaginable.

If the Ihanli Protoss was just defrauding the trust of the Tyrannian Empire, their acting skills would be too good.

A look of worry appeared on Augustus's face again: "Compared to this, I am more worried about Zeratul's safety. The magical Zeratul will always save the day, but not every time."

Renault lit another cigarette: "In my opinion, you don't need to worry so much."

"Do you think we can win?" Augustus looked at Renault, then at Matt Horner on the other side.

Matt was silent. In his impression, the emperor would never ask such a question that revealed his weakness.

The emperor will only motivate his subordinates in this way, we have no other way to go except victory.

"Of course, we will win."

"My father taught me that everything depends on human effort." Reynolds acted like a juggler, and he didn't know where to find a bottle of No. [-] whiskey that had been aged for many years: "I also think that if it doesn't work, we can only live our lives. Drink some, there is no harm in drinking."

"Have a drink?"

"Tell this to your wife." Augustus took the bottle and said noncommittally.

This Tarsonis whiskey was favored by soldiers during the Guild Wars, but Arcturus Mengsk has publicly commented that this whiskey is inferior and should be thrown into the trash.

Reynolds and Harnack Hank both liked this wine very much, and even the password of the safe was named after No. [-] whiskey.Imperial generals from the old aristocracy never drank it, as if it would make them inferior.Augustus is the No. [-] Whiskey Pie, and he's a pretty nostalgic guy.

When Augustus drank heavily, he found that Matt was still standing a little nervously, and couldn't help laughing.

People thought that the wise and mighty Emperor Augustus was omnipotent, but only the emperor knew that Augustus, who always won battles, would also lose battles sometimes, and things couldn't always go as he expected.

After all, they were no longer young, and by the time their second daughter Charlotte was born, Augustus' view of the world had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Augustus was also afraid of failure like never before, after all, he was no longer someone who had nothing to lose.

"Matt, do you think we can win?" Augustus sighed.

"No matter what the result is, we will fight against the Empire to the last moment, Your Majesty." Matt's words were indeed sincere.

Augustus laughed suddenly, thinking that it was ridiculous and stupid that he needed to gain confidence from the words of the two of them.

At the same time, he felt that he had already made complete preparations, and no matter how hard he thought and meditated, he couldn't think of anything he missed, so he might as well sleep with his head covered.

So, Augustus patted his butt and left the two of them to go back to sleep, drank Reynolds' wine without the dignity of a monarch, and ran away.

As soon as Augustus returned to his cabin on the White Star, the sleepless fatigue of more than 20 hours surged up, and he fell asleep.This cabin specially prepared for the emperor was not luxurious at all. Although Arcturus insisted that the royal family must be different from the common people, Augustus did not care.

Until Renault's adjutant informed Augustus that the fleet had arrived at its destination, he didn't know how long he had slept.

At this moment, the White Star has arrived in the El galaxy, which is located between the third and fourth planets in the galaxy.

Two astronomical units away from the port side of the White Star, led by the flagship Gorgon Steel Will, the Empire's Seventh Fleet (Second Fleet) is arriving.

All of a sudden, the number of warships that appeared on the radar scanning map can be described as day after day. Battlecruisers, cruisers, frigates, destroyers, troop carriers, supply ships, medical ships, and scientific ships equipped with high-precision detection matrices.

The Seventh Fleet is just one of the Empire's United Fleets. Countless warships have simultaneously entered the warp state, and the space-time vortices generated by this are as many as the eddies swirling in the sea.

The imperial soldiers in each cabin of the White Star took action, and the cabins were full of imperial soldiers and technicians, while the officers shouted to deploy personnel, asking them to perform their duties.Such a scene was being staged on all the warships of the imperial fleet, and even some people with little experience and lack of psychological quality bumped into the bulkhead before the battle.

The revolutionary army of the past has withdrawn from the stage of history. Many of them did not fall under the guns of the federal army, but died in the hands of the Protoss and Zerg.Most of the current imperial army is young soldiers of the new generation, and they have spent more than ten years of adulthood under the rule of the empire.

The protracted war has caused the empire to lose elite troops and experienced veterans. Coupled with the ever-expanding fleet size, it has to send new recruits who have just completed training to the battlefield.

When these soldiers were dissatisfied to learn that they were transferred from the territory of the empire under attack, they were really just stepping from one purgatory to another.

At this time, not to mention the young soldiers, even those veterans full of fighting spirit were shrouded in the oppressive atmosphere before the war.People in many posts on the battleship could not figure out what was happening beyond those bulkheads until the end of the war, and they couldn't even see an enemy, but that didn't mean their work was unimportant.

According to the combat deployment, Artanis' Dharam Protoss Fleet and Alarak's Tadarin Death Fleet served as the vanguard of attacking Aiur.The reason why the latter is willing to be the vanguard is partly out of revenge and anger against Amon, and partly because he is unwilling to hand over his back to others.

When Augustus arrived at the White Star to command the flagship, there were no reports of any imperial fleets engaging the enemy.

On the main screen, today's Al is very different from ten years ago. She used to be a beautiful and lustrous planet, a paradise for life, but now she is a bright red spot on the star map.

The Void has corrupted the planet so deeply that the original green land is full of fragments of the Void towering into the sky, and the appearance of the glorious city of the past can only be discerned in the empty, blackened building skeleton.

This is a ravaged land.

When the enemies on Aiur noticed the sudden appearance of a large-scale fleet, the situation quickly changed. It was conceivable that the hybrids or cerebrates that ruled the Aiur swarm were by no means unresponsive. They immediately mobilized the swarm fleet to attack Aiur before the fleets of Artanis and Alarak approached Aiur. There were also a considerable number of corrupted protoss warships.

The Aiur swarm is like interstellar dust, and the vast space is full of frozen insect corpses and fragments of battleships.

The first Tyrannian fleet to be attacked was the Second Fleet. The commander of this fleet was Lieutenant Admiral Alexander Davidoff. He immediately ordered the huge battlecruisers to form a tight half-moon formation and fire broadsides.

The incoming swarm crashed into a large forest of impenetrable battleships, and was instantly smashed to pieces.

Under the cover of the battleship, the Hercules transport ship full of soldiers and land combat mechs moved quickly towards Aiur, preparing to land from orbit and destroy the warp matrix on its surface.

Everything is staged for real.

Charge into the battle, advance and succeed.

It turns out that those soldiers who can be discarded at will in the game just to win are actually living people with joys, sorrows, sorrows and joys. In this way, it is inevitable to hesitate when making the decision to send them to death. (end of this chapter)