Jim Raynor knelt down on one knee on the hard, black earth, letting the never-ending wind blow the dark brown cowboy hat on his head. This was a piece of land that was melted and then cooled by the blazing psychic beams and plasma hurricanes.
The land, the entire surface is glowing with the gray metallic luster of silicide steel and the sparkle of glass.
A huge crater is located just a dozen miles away, where the backwater base once stood.
About a year ago, the Protoss fleet literally burned down Mar Sara, focusing its attacks on human settlements and the main zerg hive. Most of the refugees on Mar Sara were helped by the Revolutionary Army.
They evacuated in time before the protoss fleet bombed, but their home was destroyed.
Mar Sara's destruction was more complete than that of Korhal IV, which suffered a nuclear strike. If the latter was reduced to a piece of scorched earth, then the former was completely reduced to a cold, dead planet.
Cities were wiped out, mountains were torn down, the vast oceans and rivers were evaporated in the extreme heat, and the earth was burned into glass. The natural landscape of this planet has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the species coefficient has become extinct, leaving only low-level species.
The ground, moss and other life forms.
Half of Mar Sara's atmosphere was stripped away, and the thin air and desolate surface became even more uninhabitable for humans. In the past, Mar Sara's colonists were able to use irrigation systems to water the planet's barren land.
Farmland, but now it is struggling.
"Mar Sara was one of the first planets to be invaded by zerg, and it was also one of the few planets destroyed by the protoss." Augustus, wearing a windshielding army coat, stood next to Renault,
The raging wind and sand are leaving sharp scratches on this weather-beaten coat.
"Everyone thought it was completely lost, but I learned there was still a glimmer of hope for the planet."
Renault stood up and looked in the direction of Augustus. A camp consisting of hundreds of alloy steel and concrete buildings and gray living tents was clearly in sight. That area once had a familiar name, the Corridor of Purgatory.
The Corridor of Purgatory is no longer the huge winding canyon it used to be. It has been completely flattened, and the surface has been shattered and reshaped many times, making it unrecognizable.
Today, the mountains and huge cliffs have turned into plains, and the caves and pits riddled with holes have formed lakes and streams made of accumulated water. However, under the strong star rays of the Sara galaxy, the lifespan of these lakes has been reduced.
Very short-lived.
Mar Sara has become more desolate, and its surface is covered with ugly black scars. Even a lunar surface like Haji can find lush oases. Compared with the many lifeless stone planets in the galaxy, this planet is nothing.
There is no more difference, it has been marked as a tombstone on the human navigation map.
The Marsala melted into ashes is actually beautiful under the harsh sunlight. The silicide layer covering the ground exudes a metallic and crystal-like luster, making the entire plain look like a part of a huge crystal.
Near the camp that Renault was looking at, there were countless crystal veins exposed on the surface, and countless crystal clusters shining with blue light shone in the sun. These were once buried under the corridors of purgatory.
The crystal veins were now completely uncovered by the bombing of the protoss fleet.
Clusters of crystals are scattered everywhere and can be seen everywhere, as if they are at your fingertips. It is almost not difficult to collect such crystals. You only need to use a laser melting gun to collect them. Building a processing plant on site can save the need to transport raw materials.
the cost of.
While Augustus was talking to Renault, the camp was still under construction in full swing. Towers, scaffolding, cranes, bulldozers, etc. were already ready. Airports, supply depots, and machine workshops of heavy factories were also erected.
From time to time, a group of transport ships descended from the sky from high-altitude orbits and landed in the airport of the camp, bringing indispensable supplies and construction materials to the workers and soldiers there.
"When I left Mar Sara, I thought that Elizabeth, John, and I would never return to this sad place for the rest of our lives," Renault said.
"Destiny is really wonderful. It's hard to tell when reality will give you a loud slap in the face and when it will give you a few more pieces of caramel. Marsala is not the best choice for a habitable planet, but the stored
The resources allow people to ignore the harsh natural conditions here.”
"For the original Ma Sara people, maybe their original life would not be much better than it is now."
"Mar Sara can no longer support the population as large as it used to be. It also has to import food and water from other planets, but the output of minerals is enough to make up for this disadvantage." Augustus nodded.
"Our main planet Antiga is not enough. We also need another planet to provide raw materials and military factories." He said: "The agricultural settlement of Agria provides food and medical supplies to these two planets."
The revolutionary army of Augustus not only held Antiga and Agria, but also had seven other colonies established by Korhal IV immigrants, including Hagi, Altera, and Baishel. However, the revolutionary army's status in Hagi was still limited.
It is unstable, while Altera is sparsely populated.
The total population of the other Korhal IV sub-colonies is about 10 million people, but they are scattered on the edge of the Koprulu sector, far apart, and cannot bring much help to the revolutionary army.
"Mar Sara is far away from the core world of Tarsonis, and almost everyone thinks that it has been completely destroyed. There is no hope, and no one will pay attention to the Sara galaxy." Raynor said with a smile.
: "We can just use this to develop Mar Sara's resources."
"The Federation never imagined that we would come back here again." Augustus smiled back at Renault.
"We fought hard and fought bloody battles to get where we are today," Augustus said.
With that said, Augustus and Renault walked towards the camp together, measuring the charred land with their footsteps, and picking up crystal fragments from the ground from time to time. These sparkling crystal fragments were very conspicuous among the ashes. As long as you have patience, they can be easily recovered.
Quickly picking up a large bag of crystal shards is like picking up coal dropped from a train track.
Although there are no large beasts or scorpions in this desolate world, Kerrigan and Faraday's marshal guards are always following Augustus and Raynor. Each of them is fully armed to deal with any threats at any time.
Enemies that may appear.
Not long after, Augustus was walking closer and closer to the camp, and his pockets were filled with blue crystals.
This was impossible to happen in Ma Sara in the past. If humans wanted to collect crystals, they had to use explosives and mining equipment. But now these precious crystal veins have been broken into small pieces that are easy to mine.
Like the birds rummaging for bugs in a plowed field or the children picking up gold on the beach, humans gather minerals with ease and surprise on a completely destroyed planet.
After being bombarded by the main cannon of the Protoss fleet, these crystals underwent some other changes. The other energies contained in them increased the mining value of the crystal mines many times. Crystals with the same load can be refined with a little refinement.
Utilization, which makes the mineral value of Mar Sara generally higher than that of ordinary crystals.
The most obvious change is that the output of the Mar Sara mining area has become much higher than before.
"We are walking on treasures scattered on the ground, but no one has ever discovered them before." Augustus said, holding a broken blue crystal in his hand.
At this time, they were very close to the camp, right under the guard tower with the flag of the Revolutionary Army.
These buildings, which were erected only two weeks ago, are still very densely spaced, with criss-crossing roads in between. The doors of warehouses, engineering stations, armories and military camps are all open, and there are many engineers and engineers wearing safety helmets.
Workers were shuttled back and forth, and a running factory production workshop was still cutting newly excavated crystal ore.
Most of the workers were engineers who followed the revolutionary fleet, and there were also some Ma Sara people among them. They all showed high morale. Even though they only received orders to collect minerals from Ma Sara, the workers regarded this as their own nobility.
duty of.
People in the revolutionary army knew very well how much each crystal and cubic meter of high-energy gas they collected would contribute to the entire revolutionary cause.
The facilities in the camp are all-inclusive. In addition to emergency medical facilities, there are also leisure and exercise facilities. After all, the desolate Mar Sara is as boring as a battleship in deep space.
There are dozens of such mining camps in Ma Sara, and the number of people in each camp ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand. Each mining site under construction will become an important collection point and industry in the future.
Base. In the future, once Augustus is able to carry out large-scale immigration directed towards Mar Sara, cities will also rise.
"Joy Ray has opened a new bar near the original site of the backwater base. It won't be long before everything will be fine." Reno said to Augustus.
As they were talking, construction was still going on outside the camp. Hundreds of Type 280 space engineering vehicles were building the foundations of defense facilities in preparation for building a strong high wall.
Augustus planned to build a strong fortress on the original site of the White Stone Base in the Purgatory Corridor, and the fortress would also be named White Stone.
"The collection of minerals from the Purgatory Corridor will be completed within one to two years, and a new city will be built here by then." Kerrigan's voice rang out.
"The Federation would never have dreamed that Mar Sara would become a serious problem for them again." Augustus nodded.
As Augustus spoke, he raised his head and set his sights on a silver, conical tower in the center of the camp that reached into the sky. At this moment, engineers were climbing up, handling cables and circuits.
Mar Sara was one of the first planets invaded by the Zerg, which made it a forbidden area that human ships could not avoid during the First Total War because it lacked close proximity to the Zerg's front, but the Revolutionary Army
The psychic disruptor in hand can effectively solve this problem.
After many operations by Swann and Kaczynski's Nova Squadron psychic experts, the Revolutionary Army's psychic jammers have become perfect after many updates.
When the silver spiers that emit strong interfering psychic signals to the entire star system at all times stand up in the areas controlled by the revolutionary army, even the most ferocious insect swarm Leviathan cannot avoid it.
The silver spire is thousands of feet (over three hundred meters) high, towering into the clouds like a sword piercing the sky. The powerful psychic jammer equipment it carries can cover the entire galaxy, and it can also serve as a communication base station.
The shape of this spire comes from the Kohal IV Steelling Silver Tower in Augustus' memory. As a landmark building in Steelling, these tall silver spiers are similar to the Mengsk family's Family Sky Tower that reaches into the sky.
Together they form the common understanding of the city of Korhal IV by people from other planets in the Tyranid Federation.
The architectural style of the Revolutionary Army Engineering Corps has many shadows of the mercury-like steel frame and glass buildings of Kohal IV, but it also draws inspiration from other planets.
"Among the workers who signed up to work in Ma Sara, the Ma Sara people account for the majority - of course, it can only be them." Renault said.
"The people who fled to Antiga have just escaped from the Sea of Insects, and they don't dare to return to Mar Sara, which is already closely connected with the zerg."
Now Antiga Prime has undisputedly become the core world within the sphere of influence of the Revolutionary Army. It is still absorbing refugees from various peripheral worlds on a large scale, and its population has rapidly expanded to 25 million people.
Antiga Prime was originally a planet that began to resist the rule of the Tyranid Federation twenty years ago. At this time, it received great attention in places like the edge world of the Federation and the United States of Umojan. Even Murray
I have heard the name Antiga many times for places like Asia.
In addition to the refugees, the Korhal people from the United States of Umoyan also went to Antiga Prime one after another. They always thought that they were foreigners in the territory of Umoyan. Some people with rational minds may simply want to participate in a war.
The Umoyans also rushed to Antiga, no matter what the purpose was, at least they were providing help.
Augustus just smiled at what Reno said: "We have arrested tens of thousands of federal officials in places like Vadona and Helsinki. It is time for them to undergo labor reform."
"That's how it should be," Renault said.
"Marshal...the men of the exploration team discovered a Camorian camp in the Lightning Gorge seventeen miles away." Suddenly, a guard on duty wearing a red armband came to Augustus.
In front of you: "Lieutenant Roland asks you what should be done with these Camorians."
"It seems that the minerals of Mar Sara have also attracted other people. These are the Camorian people. They are found wherever there are crystal mines, even if they know that place will kill them." Raynor said to the Camorian.
The prejudice has never changed: "Money is more important than life."
"What do they do?" Augustus asked the guard.
"It looks like it's just an ordinary mining guild." The guard said, "There is a mercenary organization of about twenty people protecting them."
"Catch them?" Kerrigan looked at Augustus with emerald eyes: "Or tell them to get lost."
"This is not good." Renault said: "They are just a group of miners."
"Show your identity," Augustus said.
"Let their leaders come to me - we can live in harmony, provided they obey our rules."