StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Chapter 77 Meinhof (Second update for subscription)
Meinhof is a mining planet in the Kel-Morian Consortium.

Whether seen from geosynchronous orbit or on a holographic star map of the Swan family's dilapidated, oil-stained observatory in the New Apollon community, the dark blue planet is featureless, canyons and ravines Rooted like scars in its dark brown earth, the land is as barren as a bare pebble in the universe.

It orbits a similarly featureless main-sequence star, a young sun that always rises slowly.In this barren land, its light cannot even nourish the crops of Kel-Morian, only the precious crops grow in the nursery.

The young Rory Swan always had inexplicable expectations for the fireball hanging above Mrs. Mainholt's head, thinking that it could bring some beautiful things, such as mountains, rivers and rivers that did not exist on this planet. forest steppe.

But as the old Kel-Morian saying goes, "The uglier you look, the richer you are."

Meinhof is actually a good place. There are gas refineries, mines, processing plants, and oil refineries scattered among the mountains and plains, and between these factories, there are large and small communities where families with the same surname live.

In fact, Swan seldom sees the sun, which is called the "Fire Serpent" by the residents of the New Apollon community. Like other men in the community, he went to work in the mines when he was 16 years old. A skilled and experienced miner.

In Meinhof, all jobs are inseparable from the mining industry, and food, daily necessities and even water resources are largely dependent on imports.Especially today, when the war is sucking the blood of all Kemerian people, Swan, his parents and cousins ​​must work twice as hard as before to earn the bread to support their families.

Before the sun rose, Swan had to put on overalls and boots, take an elevator from the mouth of a bottomless mine shaft into the pit, and drive Kymer through tunnels full of dust and low-quality crystals. Ryan's mining robot uses a power drill to mine the crystals in the mine and send them to the road car in the tunnel.

The workers had to work twelve hours a day until the next worker to replace them went down the well, by which time the sun had already set.Swan rose in the dark of the morning to go down the well and returned home late at night, having not seen the sun for months, and his scarred skin had turned white.

Rory Swan took a rag that was not much cleaner than the only observation platform in his family and wiped the dust on the old machine, then put the insulated lunch box he brought on the flat console, thinking about himself How his uncle Edward would scold him.

But that's okay, let him pull his beard in a hurry, and Swan will apologize to him after eating and drinking enough.

Swann opened the lunch box and lamented its contents—two slices of toasted bread, a small spoonful of butter, and a palm-sized Moria avocado.It's noon, and he's going to have to get through the night with these things.

Although life is very hard and entertainment life is pitiful, Swan does not feel sorry for himself. On the contrary, he always enjoys it.That's not to say that Swann is used to being patient, it's just that he prefers to live with his own family and other clan members.

The Swan family is a united family, just like other families in Kel-Morian, helping each other, and helping each other is their tradition.A few slices of bread felt nothing, and when Swan got up again, his growling stomach and cramped calves were undoubtedly protesting, but he must return to his post immediately.

He packed everything up in a dozen seconds, and was about to walk towards his mining robot parked not far away.The Kel-Morian mining droids were tracked, only twelve feet tall, with two joystick-controlled robotic arms that housed power drills, laser drills, engineering clamps, and plasma torches, fueled by high-energy gas.

Swan's mining robot looks larger than others, with more obvious but unknown parts, and an extra mechanical arm, two propellers and matching parts are added to the back of the robot. engine.

With the help of this robot, Swan can get the job done faster and better. The fuel cost is of course higher, but compared with the improved efficiency, it is worthwhile.

The robot can even be equipped with power hammers and machine guns if necessary. Swan hasn't touched anything other than automatic rifles and electromagnetic guns, but he doesn't think those will be difficult for him.

Although Rory Swann doesn't feel that he is different from others, he is undoubtedly the most gifted genius mechanic and inventor in the entire Swann family and even in New Apollon.

Swan doesn't like dealing with people very much. He is always used to burying his head in doing his own things, and he likes tools that are not interesting to others.

He likes to get his hands dirty, and there's nothing better than the sound of gears turning in machinery.Swan is passionate about dismantling, repairing and reassembling equipment. The hard life forces him to innovate constantly and use various inventions to make life better for himself and his family.

"Lorry, come fix the MRI." A powerful voice echoed in the empty mine.

"I'll come right away, well, I hope that thing can hold up before I come, heh, it's hard to say." In the second half, Swan was almost talking to himself.

Just as Swan was about to walk in the direction where the sound came from, suddenly, the observation platform next to him that hadn't moved for at least 20 years flashed red light as if it jumped up.Swann's short but muscular body immediately threw himself on the console. He didn't know what that meant, but it was not good news.

This observatory has a history as long as the Swan family. It is connected to the earliest artificial satellite in the Meinhof synchronous orbit, and uses a relatively "primitive" radar system to detect the routes in the entire galaxy.

Usually, on certain days of the month, several holographic projection images of Kel Morian galaxy cargo ships would pop up on this observatory. These holographic projections, like scaled-down models, were green representing friendly forces.

During the colonial period, the first generation of Meinhof used this observatory to communicate with the supply fleet responsible for transporting necessary supplies and mining facilities for the colonists.At the same time, this observatory is also responsible for monitoring the enemy fleet in the galaxy, but it has never been used for any purpose. At this time, the Kel Morian pirates are basically "our own people".

Swan hoped that this grandma's machine was just convulsed, but the three slowly moving behemoth-class battlecruisers and the other two leaping battleships on the holographic projection instantly shattered his hopes. The holographic light shadow is a dangerous red.

The Tyranids are coming.

(End of this chapter)