StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

"This day has finally arrived."

The Void Seeker, which was glowing with emerald green light, was as light as a falling frozen leaf when it landed. The dark patriarch Zeratul gently moved the crystal nodes that followed his spiritual instructions, and a picture reflected the infinite starry sky. The holographic image is displayed on the clear and traceless transparent curtain wall.

The holographic image continued to extend with Zeratul's powerful will to understand all things, spanning the vast sea of ​​​​stars and the sun, moon and stars, crossing the rivers and mountains of Chasiton, and arriving at a majestic city in the mountains.

The mountains here are connected to the mountains, and there are forests and shrubs in between. The towering trees hundreds of feet high support the canopy dome that touches the sky.

At this moment, these dense and lush plants are being ignited by tracer bombs, incendiary bombs, and laser weapons, burning in orange-red flames. There are ashes, damaged war machines, and the remains of the dead everywhere.

The giant tree dying in flames reminded Zeratul of the Alavash flower that bloomed among the Happy Trees of Aiur. The nectar of this flower would be used by the Firstborn Sons of God to strengthen their connection with Kara. And those rich animal and plant communities are now withered, just like their hometown is on the verge of fragmentation.

"The doomsday war is coming, and everything in the universe is counting on our victory."

Below the Void Seeker, mountains and plains of infected people marched across the burning forest. The Imperial Army's long-range rockets and laser weapons whizzed past the sky like red-hot swords, and the roar of exploding shells was like Rolling thunder across the earth.

Endless waves of mutated creatures surged toward the crumbling Tyranid battlements, and the bravest human warriors Zeratul had ever seen fought back with unwavering thermal weapons. Thousands of cannons flashed with bright fire at the same time, and the hot shrapnel and the shock wave of the explosion tore everything around like paper.

Huge human warships also descended below the stratosphere, using huge naval guns to provide fire support. These battleships are absolute expressions of power and firepower, like fortress cities bursting into space armed with giant cannons.

The coming of the end has long been predicted, and it has all come true.

"Dark Master, please allow my warriors to join this battle. Augustus Mengsk's army has saved my people from fire and water three times. How can we now sit back and watch his people be slaughtered. "

The most mysterious and legendary dark patriarch in the history of the Nerazim protoss has spent his life studying a Xel'Naga prophecy, hoping to find a way to turn the tide when the ultimate dark moment comes. He is always alone, wandering alone in the universe in a form of self-exile.

When the Doomsday War truly came, Zeratul never gave up his pursuit of Xel'Naga wisdom. Finally, his lifelong pursuit gave him the ability to peer through the void to the essence, which is also known as prophetic vision.

"I must seek the wisdom of the Xel'Naga again. Their ancient structures contain the power that can save us."

Since the God of Darkness announced his return in the universe, this familiar scene has been staged again and again in the Koprulu sector.

This is an architectural projection from an extra-dimensional space, a dreamy creation like a flower in the mirror, projected from a corner of the world, with bursts of bright glare lighting up from it, like silver lightning converging.

Although in name, Zeratul did not have the direct command of this legion, on the other hand, he was also able to make suggestions, and Tebrus admired the Dark Master's foresight and adopted them all.

This high-ranking templar comes from the Origa tribe among the eldest sons of God. He is as brave and fearless as the rest of his tribe, and he is also as proud as he is. He leads a legendary legion of Zealots, including warriors sent by Archbishop Durham to support Zeratul. They are extremely determined and brave, and have been tempered through many battles.

Countless red-hot fireworks burst into the deep darkness, like a grand but deadly fireworks.

Anyone familiar with Zeratul knows that he has always been the one responsible for solving riddles. He always likes to use one riddle to answer another riddle, or throw out the essence of the matter, and then let the audience come up with their own solutions. .

Then there was a terrible hissing explosion, as if someone was lashing the sky with a huge whip, the El Light spurted out, and a huge beam of light fell from the sky. Waves of dark blue ripples spread across the surface, and groups of mutated organisms were ignited and turned into ashes in an instant.

Zeratul closed his radiant eyes, and those gazes that seemed to penetrate reality and the future could see further than everyone present.

Every glass in the city reflected the red firelight of destruction, and the distinctive round towers were burning and collapsing, shrouded in large rising smoke and thick clouds.

When these extradimensional space projections fire, thousands of infected people dissipate in the blink of an eye like morning dew when the sun rises.

After the light gradually dissipated, a city of a thousand towers lined with sarcophagi, obelisks, boulders, and majestic statues of gods appeared above the ashes like a mirage, like a large piece of foam rising from the sea at an unknown time, golden. The sun shines with colorful light.

Telbrus, a high-ranking templar of the eldest son of God, wears golden armor and fluttering sacrificial robes, and is flanked by protoss warriors holding solar axes.

Five parallel Void Glow Ships came to the other side of the Void Seeker. Accompanied by a musical resonance, bright beams of light condensed from the open prism blades.

"Our military strength is limited."

"And the number of enemies is endless." Zeratul further pointed out to the high-ranking Templar Terbrus: "Even if your warriors can be as strong as one thousand, it is not enough. Maybe, we don't have to destroy all of them. Mutated creatures can also save humanity on this planet."

"Infected humans are also part of the swarm." Tebrus followed Zeratul's train of thought and said: "The most effective way to deal with a swarm of worms is to find and kill their leader - often Those human individuals who retain advanced intelligence after being infected.”

It seems that the protoss likes this very much.

Zeratul opened his eyes: "It could also be a young, small brain worm or another powerful worm queen, but if not, those who control these abominable things will be someone else that humans can't imagine. s things."

The holographic screen in front of him began to fade, gradually dimmed, and finally settled on the center of this human city called Chalcedon City. Dozens of beating cursors accurately marked the imperial armory, barracks, heavy factories, Buildings such as engineering stations and gas refineries are marked with detailed data such as the number of garrison troops and firepower.

But if you look carefully, you can pick out many highlighted coordinates. Each coordinate is surrounded by several layers of concentric circles that are constantly shrinking and expanding, which represent some kind of artificial psychic resonance waveform.

"Psychic transmitter." Needless to say, Tebrus knew that Zeratul already had the answer in his mind.

The psychic transmitter was invented by humans, and its function is precisely to attract zerg, and this device is also effective on infected people. This is why the army of infected people continues to flock to the city.

The human race is a combination of contradictions. They always open Pandora's box intentionally or unintentionally and die from the bullet they fired.

The Tyranid Empire government and military on this planet must have tried to search for virophages and infected people on a large scale, and even directly killed the leader of the infected army to eradicate the infection from the source, but obviously they did not succeed.

Tebrus's first reaction was that the human traitor had activated the psychic transmitter. After all, the purpose of this terrible device was to divert trouble from the east. However, at present, psychic transmitters are only controlled by the Tyranid Federation, Tyranid Empire and the former Earth UED Expeditionary Force. As the empire becomes increasingly powerful, the remnants of the old Federation have long since disappeared, and have gradually become second-rate pirates and mercenaries. Even those who publicly accused Augustus Mengsk of being a usurper were treated as a joke by those around him, and even the Imperial Security Bureau did not bother to pay attention to them.

As for within the empire, given that Emperor Augustus believed that it was a weapon capable of subverting the political power, the technology regarding the psychic launcher had long been blocked, and those who had access to it had extremely high authority, so similar things would almost never happen. .

It is more likely that these psychic launchers were created by the infected UED Admiral Gerald Dugar, and perhaps he did not discover the value of this weapon until his death.

As a new branch of the insect swarm, Admiral Infection did not have so many cerebrates and mother insects at his command, so he used psychic emitters to control his insect army.

Of course, Dugal can still control them in detail if he wants to, but the war may be fought on many planets at the same time, and the psychic transmitter is a simpler and more convenient tool.

"Why haven't the humans in this city discovered these psychic emitters yet?" Tebrus was surprised by their slowness.

"These devices are buried in the city's sewer network, and I would not have been able to discover them without the guidance of the prophecy." Zeratul said: "As the saying goes, soldiers have no constant power, and water has no constant shape."

Dark under the lamp.

"Give the order, Dark Priest." Tebrus understood that the root cause of everything lies in those psychic transmitters.

Then, as long as all the devices are destroyed, the infected army will lose its direction, and they will stay in place or wander around aimlessly, just like those feral insect swarms.

"My warriors and I are ready to answer your call."

Just like other eldest sons of gods, Terbrus used to distrust and even dislike Nerazim who volunteered to have their nerve bundles removed like Zeratul. Not only was this heretical act of renunciation from Kara, but he also couldn't stand the Dark Templar. This incomprehensible act of self-mutilation.

Where once they would rather lose their lives than cut off their connection to Kara, now even the most stubborn of Arbiters have to cut off their own nerve bundles or bow to Amon.

However, things are so unpredictable. Terbrus never thought that he would become a "Dark Templar" one day, let alone that he would respect Zeratul so much.

"Calling all warriors!" Zeratul walked across the bridge of the Void Seeker, and a large group of protoss warriors were gathering towards him.

"We must act now, without delay."

Zeratul was often the lone hero who ventured into the Dragon Pond alone, but this time he was no longer going alone.

The Dark Master does not consider himself as great a leader as Tassadar, but now that the Doomsday War has arrived, he needs an army if he wants to defeat Aemon.

The size of this army does not necessarily have to be huge, but it must be elite enough to cope with all challenges.

After so many years of searching, Zeratul decided to gain power from the lost Xel'Naga artifacts and ancient relics, arming his warriors with powerful ancient technology.

Zeratul brought the tidal wave of doom and fought alongside his friends in the war against Amon for the last glimmer of hope.

When Zeratul arrived at the warp deck, a powerful war machine combining Xel'Naga and Protoss weaponry was already ready for battle.

Rows of stalkers, mechanical sentries, and immortals enhanced by Xel'Naga technology shone with emerald green light. Whether it was the armor of organic meteorites or the core of the nested Xel'Naga structure, they were all engraved with gold far greater than that of the protoss. The art of the times also requires gorgeous textures. The rhythm of life is hidden in the leaf-like patterns and shimmering light. The stacked golden spirals can easily connect people to the most beautiful shells in the universe.

The Stalkers are powerful Dark Templar warriors and the nightmare of the enemies of the Nerazim. In the eyes of human marines, a troop of Stalkers that come and go without a trace, like a silver mist, is the embodiment of the god of death.

The Xel'Naga ambushers are a more powerful version, they are more like a group of evil spirits emerging from the void.

The executors of the Xel'Naga technological arm are equipped with anti-air annihilation cannons. This four-legged sarcophagus is a true mobile coffin. It contains the sarcophagus of the protoss hero, which is densely engraved with the ancient prophecies of the Xel'Naga. Armed with the wisdom and power of the ancient xel'naga, this protoss army was far more powerful than their kin among the other protoss.

Zeratul walked among them, slightly stooped, and seemed out of place with these Xel'Naga warriors who followed the path of the void.

The Dark Priest always looked dusty, and even the robe he wore was given to him by Emperor Augustus a long time ago, and now it looked old and wrinkled.

However, this is more in line with Zeratul's mysterious and unpredictable image, as if the dragon's beginning but not its end is what an outsider should be like.

This venerable Nerazim warrior is revered by his followers as the Eternal Wanderer, the loyal voice and prophet of the Xel'Naga. His noble character and outstanding wisdom have won him the Koprulu Sector. respected by many leaders.

Every Dark Master of Nerazim will receive a set of armor called Shadow's Embrace as a status symbol that shows strength and personality, but Zeratul prefers lightweight robes.

Sometimes Zeratul's friends would find him sitting in meditation, wrapped only in a black girdle, like the ascetic he was centuries ago.

Tychus Finlay once thought that Zeratul just wanted to dress cool, so he generously gave him two swimsuits. He said it was only a few dollars, but he didn't care.

Zeratul was deeply puzzled by his confused mental state. The protoss may never understand what it means to be human.

"Activate the invisible force field." Zeratul ordered.

"They can't escape their own shadow."

Zeratul said: "This time, I will reverse the tide of fate." (End of Chapter)