A freezing rain fell over Lake Eldridge. The cold wind howled outside the window of the command center, and a chill filled Augustus's heart.
Such extreme weather is unheard of even in a province close to the South Pole of Aiur like Antioch, which indicates that the climate of this lush and vibrant green planet like a garden has been changed due to the war between the protoss and the zerg.
drastic change.
The war is destroying Ayr, like the passionate movement of an epic opera, with ups and downs at its climax.
The window is facing the inlet of Lake Eldridge. Looking into the distance, the lake is as wide as the ocean. The huge hull of the iron-gray Revolutionary Army science ship is hanging over the lake, with thousands of blue and white lights.
Shining on the rolling waves of Lake Eldridge, a huge black shadow gradually emerged from the water.
Its streamlined back seems to have been coated with wax, exuding a mysterious blue and green glow under the light.
Thousands of years ago, the Protoss Empire used the last ship left by the Xel'Naga when they left Aiur to exile the renegade ancestors of the Dark Templar, but the ship under Lake Eldridge was obviously not included in the calculation.
Inside.
The Xel'Naga spaceship sleeping under the lake is the source of many of Eldridge's myths and legends. Its characteristics like living creatures have also brought about many magical natural phenomena, which are either regarded as gods or ghosts by the ancient stars.
source of.
When Kerrigan and several guards stood next to Augustus, the back of the huge black shadow in Lake Eldridge was still rising, and a large amount of lake water reflecting the brilliant light rushed from both sides of the ship.
It flowed down loudly.
The graceful and harmonious hull of the spacecraft exudes a twisted and mysterious brilliance, such as the dancing light under the water's surface like jumping arcs or snakes. The breathtaking beauty and mystery from the ancient past come to mind, making people fascinated.
As the black shadow grew larger and larger, Augustus was surprised to find that he had underestimated the size of the Xel'Naga spaceship.
When the Xel'Naga spacecraft completely surfaced, the shores of Eldridge's lake receded a lot due to the sudden drop in water level. It was surprisingly huge, and the surfaced part alone was equivalent to three Star Spirit Mothers.
The ship is equivalent to an island in the center of Lake Eldridge.
According to the report of the surveyors of the Revolutionary Army, the volume of this Xel'Naga spacecraft may exceed ten kilometers, which is larger than any human spacecraft to date. This has made engineers begin to wonder whether this is a Xel'Naga that crashed into the earth.
The human space station, and Eldridge is nothing more than the huge crater left by its impact on the ground.
However, this Xel'Naga spaceship has subverted mankind's understanding of technology and miracles. It is just an ordinary ship abandoned by the Xel'Naga, but it has become a model and blueprint for many protoss technology imitations today.
The protoss have spent many centuries studying the ships left behind by the Xel'Naga, but they still cannot understand the true secrets of the technology within them. The mysteries hidden in the Xel'Naga ships may never be solved.
"Annabella, where is your boss?" Another holographic screen was projected in front of Augustus, who was wearing a black square-collar coat with a golden captain's strap on his shoulders. On the screen was a building built with rapid-setting foam in Eldridge.
The platform on the lake was filled with revolutionary military advisers wearing raincoats.
It can be said that Augustus was the boss who hired Rory Swann to work for him, and Swann was the boss of the engineers in the Revolutionary Army Engineering Corps.
Having said that, the engineering corps of the Revolutionary Army is actually a big and happy family. In a sense, Swann plays the role of the older brother of the young engineers. Because he looks much older than his actual age, young people may even regard him as
He regarded him as a loving father and uncle.
In the center of the picture is a female engineer with long chestnut hair. Her slender figure is wrapped in a thick protective lake. Her hazel eyes are bright and full of youthful vitality. She is very similar to those who can’t wait to answer the call to join the revolutionary army.
Like the Revolutionary Army soldiers, engineer Annabella Thatcher joined the Revolution when a revolutionary army unit came to her hometown.
Annabelle is even younger than Kerrigan, less than twenty years old. She is lively, cheerful, sweet and pleasant, which is very different from her more mature appearance in the future.
"Oh - God, who did I see! Earl... No, sorry, Marshal Augustus Mengsk, can I see you..." Annabelle was just plain.
He glanced at it, but then his face quickly turned red.
"I'm very happy to see you, too. Well, my lovely girl, thank you for your hard work. Where is Swann? Just say that Augustus is looking for him." Augustus showed a friendly smile.
"Yes, sir." Annabelle held her face in her hands and snickered as she left.
"You are so young, smart and cheerful, beautiful, and an engineer." Augustus sighed: "It is soldiers like this in the revolutionary army that can continue to grow and develop."
"She's a little angel."
"But you are not old yet." Kerrigan emphasized: "In fact, you are not even twenty-five years old."
"Yes." Augustus nodded.
"Hi, boss, someone said you were looking for me." Swann's iconic beard appeared in front of the screen: "I have to say, you came at the right time."
"Tell me, how many people can this ship carry?" Augustus got to the point.
"It's hard to say." Since it was raining heavily outside, Swann was wrapping himself in a raincoat, exposing his big nose and eyes.
"It's not common to hear this word from your mouth." Augustus asked: "It seems that you haven't figured out the internal structure of this Xel'Naga spaceship."
"I am transmitting the internal camera of this spacecraft back to Eldridge's command center. You will understand after taking a look." Swann was operating something at a console in front of him.
"Thank God, its engine can still start. I really don't know how those shiny green little crystals sent this behemoth into the sky - I hope I can figure it out before I lie in the grave."
"Well done, Swan, I will definitely treat you to a drink next time." Augustus praised his old friend and said, "But how on earth did you get this Xel'Naga spaceship into the sky?"
"Ah, this is not that difficult." Swann said in a matter-of-fact tone: "My old friends in the Protoss Empire helped me a lot. They provided us with a lot of suggestions and taught us step by step how to use Thrall.
Naga’s spaceship.”
"The builders of the spacecraft did not design complicated and difficult-to-understand driving methods. In fact, the startup procedures of the Xel'Naga spacecraft are very simple and clear-" Swan explained.
"You have absolutely no idea why that crystal can output such a huge amount of energy just by emitting light, but you don't have to work hard to use it."
"You have so many old friends." Augustus sighed: "When did you make friends with the protoss?"
Rice noodles
"Probably last year, when we were killing insects in Char with the protoss of Tassadar." Swann said: "I asked the protoss engineers to see if they could watch our Marshal Augustus.
Please give me some blueprints of the Protoss Explorer on my behalf, so that I can install particle light guns and new drivers on the Revolutionary Army’s space engineering vehicles.”
"You must not have arrived, otherwise our space engineering vehicle would have gone to heaven long ago." Augustus shook his head and said.
"That's because the boss doesn't have enough face." Swann spread his hands: "But after going back and forth for a while, I finally made friends with the Protoss engineers. You will know what happened later. They helped us a lot.
.”
"Well, you have to blame me." Augustus chuckled.
Swann's connections are like Doraemon's pockets, always able to surprise Augustus. In the words of Tychus: Don't worry, there are many friends on the road.
Soon, pictures appeared on the screen in front of Augustus.
Under the towering dome, there are columns marked with green characters, stone statues and a grand hall outlined by hexagonal graphic lines. The seats of the giants are facing the niches flowing with green light. Among those engraved with
There are actually vines with emerald green stems and leaves clinging to the walls with spiral patterns and hollow stairs. A green crystal filled with void energy is suspended in the center of the hall, radiating a thin arc of light outward like a heart.
Its internal structure is very similar to the Xel'Naga temples that Augustus had seen. It is hard to imagine that these races with god-like technology suddenly opened their temples into the sky.
Xel'Naga's spaceship is more like it is gradually cast from some kind of organic metal and celestial bodies scattered in the vast universe, like countless carefully cut rocks.
"It seems that the former owners of these spaceships must have been extremely large." Kerrigan said, pointing to the huge seat on the screen.
"You're right." Swann pointed with a finger, seeming to praise Kerrigan's intelligence: "We found that although this spaceship is very, very big, it can even put down all the revolutionary army's weapons.
cruisers and other small craft, but its internal structure is obviously designed for a creature that is much larger than humans or even protoss."
"Well, if we want to cram enough people into it, we also need to weld new alloy frames to the interior of the spacecraft and add more compartments." Swann continued: "This will allow us to add more cabins to
Accommodate refugees.”
"I've seen the cockpit of Zeratul's Xel'Naga spacecraft, the Void Seeker, and the seats on it don't look so big." Kerrigan shook her long wavy red hair: "Could it be that, Xel'Naga
Ernaga's body shape is not fixed."
"This reminds me of a ballad by Meinhof. The resident shellfish can always stuff his soft body into any shell body." Swann said: "Haha, that guy Kaczynski can actually
He said he thought the Xel'Naga was a giant octopus with a fish tank on its head."
"Victor's fantastic ideas are always impressive." Augustus nodded: "Swan, I need you to complete the modification of this spacecraft as soon as possible, so that as many people as possible can be packed in.
.”
"The Xel'Naga's body structure must be completely different from that of humans. No matter what, you must at least have a toilet." He expressed his entire opinion on this matter.
"Well... I know, including water circulation, air purification systems and reactors, etc., this is almost like rebuilding a super ship." Swann also said: "We can use modular components instead.
Even just pitching a tent will be enough.”
"There is not much time left." Augustus said to Swann: "Even if we can win the battle in the province of Seine, we have to consider the issue of transferring refugees."
"As soon as possible."
"Okay, okay, this shouldn't be difficult." Swan estimated and said: "My people are all outstanding engineers. Don't worry, boss, as long as we talk about how many people we can save by doing this, the boys and girls will win."
Use your endless strength."
"What? Boss, I have good news to tell you now..." Swan paused: "This ship may not only be a Xel'Naga transport ship, but may even be a battleship."
"Battleship?" Augustus raised his eyebrows and glanced at Kerrigan, who also had a surprised expression: "This is great. Tell me, Swann, what else can this spaceship do?"
"The caliber of its main gun is at least twice that of the Hyperion's Yamato gun. In other words, based on this calculation, it can kill a battlecruiser with one shot." Swann continued: "And, according to the
We estimate that the power of this cannon is much greater than that of humans."
"Yes, but what should we use to charge it?" Augustus asked.
"The Protoss have never used these weapons," Swann said, "but they think they are powered by void crystals."
"We have a lot of void crystals in hand, and we can borrow some from Tassadar and Zeratul." Swann said: "It depends on you, boss, only your face is the most valuable to the protoss here.
"
"I understand." Augustus knew that he was inevitably going to sell his ass: "There should be a lot of void crystals in the Xel'Naga ruins on Ayr. Anyway, let's use them first."
"Any other weapons?"
"There is also a distortion field projection device. According to the protoss, that should be able to reduce the speed of time at a distance of about a thousand yards near the spacecraft." Swann said: "Imagine, it can also slow down missiles approaching the spacecraft.
reduce."
"That's it?" Augustus admitted that he was a little disappointed.
"That's all." Swann said: "I don't think Xel'Naga wants to use this spaceship as a battleship, just like we are still assigning machine guns and turrets to those yachts. In their eyes, this kind of ship
The cannon may just be used to clean up meteorites blocking shipping lanes in the universe."
"A small gunboat is already a magnificent ship in the eyes of humans." Augustus sighed: "Make good use of this spaceship."
While Augustus was talking to Swann, the spaceship floating on Lake Eldridge was beginning to take off with unparalleled power. The lake water set off huge waves, and walls of ten-meter-high waves spread out like ripples.
, forming huge whirlpools.
It was a cone-shaped majestic ship, like a Xel'Naga temple rising from the bottom of the lake. A cold freezing rain furiously hit its majestic ship, and in an instant, a layer of ice condensed on its surface.
The crystal clear ice and the huge shadow covered the space, and the bright and shining light illuminated the entire Lake Eldridge.
"Choose a name, boss." Siwang said, "We can't call him that thing from Xel'Naga or a cat or a dog."