StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Chapter 751 Winter of the World

It had just rained all night in Augustgrad, the wind carried the slightly chilly breath of early winter, and the comet brought news from the far side of Koprulu.

Louise Sarah Mengsk suddenly woke up from her bed. She stood up and opened the window, and a gust of cold wind hit her face. The cold made her think sharply, make her logic clear, and realize where she was.

The height is not cold.

From here, Louis can overlook the prosperous downtown street scene of Augustgrad, including Katherine Square, artificial lake, water park, musical fountain, and holographic cinema.

Louise will be eight years old this year. Since she was born, she has spent her time in Augustgrad. She has only visited the Terrador system, Haven and Hermes when she was on vacation with the royal family. Those planets are different from Korhal, which was filled with radioactive wastelands and deserts in the past. They can be called the paradise of life. But other than that, she hadn't even been to Tarsonis, the former capital of the Tyranid Federation.

The Empire's territory spans multiple galaxies, and there are more than a thousand planets inhabited alone. Counting places like orbital habitation stations, comet farms, and asteroid mining stations, there are even more.

As an imperial princess and a member of the royal family, Louise should have frequently visited the territorial planet with her parents. The zoomed-in lens would magnify every detail of her body, demanding a child according to royal standards. But the emperor and empress would never take Louis to political events. In contrast, her cousin Valerian was the darling of the imperial political circles and the press. After all, he had already grown up.

And except for his golden hair color, Valerian is considered a genuine Mengsk.

When Louise gets older, things will be different whether she wants it or not.

A cold breeze blew Louis' hair. It was about to break, and Augustgrad was brightly lit tonight.

Augustgrad is also known as the city of Korhal, the heart of the empire. This city is so great that just one city can represent a planet.

Her mother told Louise that not long before she was born, Augustgrad was in ruins, and that the city's rise was accompanied by her growth.

Louise doesn't remember things so clearly when she was a child, but as long as she can remember, Augustgrad has been more majestic and prosperous than any city in the Tyranid Empire, even the city of Tarsonis cannot be compared.

No city can compare with Augustgrad, not even Augustgrad in the past.

Over the past five years, Augustgrad has continued to build height, tripling its skyline, effectively building a new city on its original foundation.

At the top of Augustgrad's dense forest-like sky tower complex is a new world. Elevated trams, viaducts, and elevated streets connect Augustgrad's iconic towering spiers. , as if connecting the isolated islands in the sky into land.

Immediately afterwards, huge steel columns rose from the ground between the buildings, supporting large blocks of artificial plateaus. This new world is now called Korhal Sky Island. It is made of steel and glass as its bedrock. There are not many high-rise buildings on it, but a vast green space lined with green trees and lush grass. There are huge lawns and even running water.

Further up, there are small floating island cities maintained by anti-gravity technology, like pearls on a necklace. There is more sunshine and air, and it is a high-end vacation and consumption place.

There used to be many more flying cars and private yachts in the skies over Augustgrad than now, but due to the impact of the imperial government's energy restriction policy during the war, this scene is no longer what it used to be. Most of the aircraft flying in the sky now are military aircraft, because high-energy gas is also the raw material for many engines, reactors and other high-energy technologies. This is currently the most important energy source.

The impact of the war is multifaceted, that is, the lives of most people, especially those in the ordinary class, will become increasingly difficult.

The most affecting point in life is that due to the tilt of industrial and transportation resources to the military industry, the types and quantities of goods on the shelves of various stores in Augustgrad have become less and less. For now, at least, they don't have to go hungry, but there's nothing to put on every household's dinner table.

In stark contrast, the industrial area of ​​Augustgrad roars day and night. Even at night, it is a brightly lit scene, with many workers - many of them young people who have received training. , now wearing protective suits and industrial exoskeleton armor, casting the crystal ore in the furnace into raw materials for spacecraft, vehicles and personal armor, and then building and assembling various weapons and combat mechas.

Most of the factories there belong to the many military industrial giants of the Tyranid Empire, such as Beckett Industries, Wolfe, Procyon Industries, Castillo Industries, Bray Peak, and Bennett Industries. A famous arms manufacturer involved in the research and development and improvement of armored fighter aircraft for the empire's active military services.

The Metis Exotic Research Base (Metis) is also in this area, which is used for research on alien organisms and large-scale biological weapons.

The power armors and giant mechas that have been written into holographic videos, placed on newspaper headlines and recruitment posters came from the Augustgrad New Stirling Industrial Zone. The construction of these war weapons requires a large amount of resources and funds, and the expenditure is astronomical at any time.

Korhal spent every day and night swallowing crystal minerals and high-energy gas from all over the empire, turning them into a complete set of power armor, tanks, mechas, spaceships and even battleships.

At present, many things have come to a standstill, including the construction of cities and new colonies, but military development has never slowed down. Emperor Augustus had taken a large fleet with him, but during his absence the empire's military strength continued to expand, with more manpower added to the marines, navy, and even colonial militias.

For humans, war is a melting pot of metal and life.

When Louis looked at the sky outside the window, an Imperial fleet with 600 battlecruisers was gathering at Korhal's orbiting star port. The huge trail was like a meteor sweeping across the earth-moon route. Seeing this All the people in the empire have long been accustomed to this.

The total tonnage of the warships built by the Tyranids in the past two years is more than all the previous years combined. The little legacy left by the old federation can already be called an antique in the museum.

There are two moons in Korhal, but if you look at them with a telescope now, you will only see rows of factory domes like beetles. You can also see huge buildings with exaggerated sizes, including large physics laboratories and fusion reactors. Power plants and large engines.

A stable transportation route has been maintained between the earth and moon space of Korhal, used to transport a large number of assembly line workers, pipeline repairmen, shipyard workers and other personnel back and forth.

Artificial intelligence and automated machinery are now capable of performing many tasks, but people are still indispensable. There are many people from other planets in Augustgrad. They all come here to make a living. Once some people live there, they will never leave again.

As a result, it is really rare to see huge spaceships launched from the ground every day, and the number of spaceships loaded with crystal ore is countless times greater than before.

It was getting light, or rather it had never really darkened over Augustgrad, and those who Louis' father called my people were getting ready to go out and get to work.

In Louis' eyes, the same group of people walked through the streets every day. Maybe for them, life is the same after all.

In the morning light, there were not only pedestrians on the road, but occasionally Marines with live ammunition could be seen. The huge railgun muzzle of the Wolf Warrior mecha protruded from their heads, ready to attack anyone who would come into view at any time. The enemy fires. Their power armor and mecha shields were painted in the iconic red, which looked majestic and handsome. Some of the tanks that ran along the streets twice a day would also flaunt bright red imperial flags through the streets.

Such a cool outfit naturally attracted many enthusiastic young people to join the Imperial Marines, but they basically regretted it later.

Curfews, martial law, and armed patrols mixed with large land combat mechas. Such things have become more frequent after the Korhal Rift incident. Sometimes groups of mimic hatchlings are found inside Augustgrad, and it is also possible that A riot broke out at a small mining station somewhere in the orbit of Korhar.

Whether externally or internally, the empire today is anything but peaceful. There are more and more people who oppose the imperial government's wartime policies. They are not blind to the imminent threat, but dissatisfied voices are always welcome in a repressive environment.

The sky finally fully lit up, and Augustgrad took on many colors under the sunshine. It was both a city of silver and gold and an eerie dark forest.

Louis closed the window, drew the curtains, and slipped back into bed before the palace maid called her to get up. There was the sound of unlocking from outside, and the sound of gentle footsteps approaching, Louis could hear it clearly.

Louise can even hear the heartbeat of the visitor clearly and understand every spark beating in the cerebral cortex. However, the royal family education does not allow her to read other people's thoughts casually, which may cause her to accept too much that she cannot bear. s things.

But Louise knows that this actually comes from over-protection and unfounded worry, and reading other people's thoughts will not cause her any trouble.

Unlike some of the people at Ghost Academy, she is a gifted mind reader.

"Your Highness, if you want to pretend to be asleep, remember not to hold your breath."

Hearing this, Louis jumped out of the bed angrily, opened the quilt under the teasing gaze of the waitress Rosa Morales, and went to the closet to find her skirt.

Morales turns out to be a medic who has actually been on the battlefield and fought in battles. This kind of character is not that easy to fool. Louis also knew that Morales was from Earth and that she had traveled a long way to get here. On Earth, everyone was not as easy to talk to as she was.

Compared to the palace maid, Moralis actually wanted to go to the battlefield more, but on the one hand, it was difficult for earthlings to get promoted in the imperial army, and on the other hand, the emperor wanted her to stay in the palace.

As the head maid, Morales can be called strict, but she has never used the rules in the palace to control Louis.

"Only the dead sleep like this." Moralis said: "My dear, don't scare me anymore."

"Okay, I'll remember it," Louis said.

The palace was always very cautious about the safety of Louise and her sister Charlotte. Whether it was alien enemies or colonies with disloyal intentions, they were all willing to use their families to blackmail the empire's emperor into making compromises.

Arcturus Mengsk said that the Mengsk family were born in danger, and there were too many people in the world who wanted the Emperor's life.

His father Augustus said that Arcturus had made it up, and Augustus said that he would be born while he was still alive.

"Remember what?" Moralis asked.

"Remember to breathe," Louis replied.

"Don't forget, don't blame me for not reminding you." Morales was in a good mood today:

"Today's morning class is for Master Theromos. He definitely doesn't want you to be late."

Master Selmos is a powerful Dark Templar, an elder of noble character and remarkable wisdom.

Even for the protoss, Master Selmos is too old at his current age. As early as the birth of the Dark Templar, Selmos began to teach and teach, and now many famous Dark Templars are his disciples.

It was not Selmos's duty to provide education for a successor to human imperial power. Augustus personally asked him to come and teach his eldest daughter the swordsmanship, psychic powers, arts, and poetry of the Celestials.

There are many things that the Imperial Princess needs to learn, perhaps including touching the enemy's back like a Dark Templar and giving him two big blows. But what Augustus really wanted Louise to learn was how to coordinate and control her terrifying psychic powers, which were so powerful that even he was afraid of them, so as not to hurt herself.

"Master Selmos will ask you about the content taught in the previous class before each class." Moralis asked: "How much do you remember?"

"Remember everything." Louis grabbed his skirt.

"The Void will not come to our aid," she said. "So you have to beat it and force it to give its power."

"I bet he has never been taught like this." Morales does not have psychic powers, but she still knows a little about psychic learning: "Is this how you treat the void? Are you bullying honest people?"

"That's the truth." Louis snorted.

Selmers's class was not interesting at all for a little girl. Last time he said that the winter and dark ages of the world had come, and that the world would be plunged into fire.

Louis said wasn't that the era of the Dark Templar? It was really rare that this actually made Master Selmos, who had no sense of humor, laugh.

Selmos then explained that it was the time of the warriors, but none of the warriors wanted it to come.

"Focus." Louis continued. "Patience."

"Be consistent, and your mind will be like still water."

At this moment Louise was looking into a mirror, and in the mirror the little girl could see the reflections of her parents.

Grandpa Tychus joked that he looked so much like your father when he was a child, as if he had seen Augustus at that time.

But when she wanted to ask further, the other person was so frightened that he farted meaningfully.

"When will Augustus Mengsk come back?" Louis asked.

"Maybe today." Moralis said: "He is your father, no matter how far away, he will come back to you."

"He never missed an appointment," Lewis said.

"The Emperor of the Tyranids never fails to make promises," Moralis said.

(End of this chapter)