Even in the daytime, the sky above the Imperial Fortress located in Cactus Canyon is gray, with gray haze and sky-high dust making visibility extremely low.
From last night to this afternoon, the deafening sound of heavy weapons fire and violent explosions never subsided. Bombs fell from all sides of the fortress, and dense rockets, pulse cannons and railguns intertwined into a jungle of death above.
"Commander, tactical analysis shows that the number of insect swarms far exceeds ours."
"Common food." Augustus glanced at the long list of numbers on the screen and the thrilling units behind it.
The Phaethon system is crowded with zerg, and the swarms in the orbit of the planet can be said to be overwhelming. Their number is so large that when the huge Leviathan swarm took off, Phaethon's
The moon has become dim.
At this moment, an extremely bright white light suddenly flashed outside the window, followed by a violent roar, and even the star chart platform shook.
"The Minotaur-class battlecruiser Eris was destroyed, and the captain and crew have successfully abandoned the ship and escaped." A staff officer reported to Augustus.
"Confirm the location of the lifeboat and we must rescue them." Augustus immediately ordered.
It’s just that Augustus knew in his heart that the chance of these crew members surviving was very slim. There was no chivalry in the Zerg. I was afraid that these lifeboats would have been destroyed before they even landed. Even if someone was lucky enough to land on the surface, considering that except for
The entire area of Cactus Canyon outside the fortress had fallen into the hands of the zerg, who were just jumping from one fire pit to the next.
"Your Majesty, a swarm army is attacking us from the south." Another officer reminded Augustus loudly: "The defensive forces suffered too many losses in the next round of the Jörmungandr swarm's offensive.
Their commander requested reinforcements."
The command center where Augustus is located has been transformed into a planetary fortress equipped with Ibex cannons. Hundreds of anti-aircraft missile towers, sensor towers, communication towers and psychic jammers stand around the planetary fortress.
A few hundred yards away is a fortification wall made of alloy steel, which is actually at the forefront of the war.
Obviously, this insect swarm army is coming towards Augustus, because the Xel'Naga artifact and Dr. Narud have been moved nearby.
"Where are our reserves?" Augustus asked.
"They're all up." The other party replied, "They set off an hour ago."
"Faraday, let the royal guards go up." Augustus said immediately.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Faraday obeyed immediately. If the fortress fell, it would be meaningless to have more royal guards guarding the emperor.
Moreover, Faraday believed that given the density of Dark Templar warriors around the emperor, even a cannonball that landed on his head would automatically bounce off. Those court ministers summoned by the emperor would never have imagined that there were actually people in the palace in Augustgrad.
How many pairs of eyes are staring at me, and except for those with some telepathic talents, they will never find anything wrong in their lives.
Through the use of charisma and diplomatic lobbying, Augustus officially obtained a shadow guard from the Archbishop Durham as a protective force after he ascended the throne. This was unique in the history of the protoss and humanity, and it has continued since then.
There may never be another human being who can win this honor.
If it were other races, the Tyranid Empire would have to worry about these powerful dark masters taking their emperor as a hostage, but the protoss neither bothered to do that, nor did they think it was necessary. Augustus Mengsk has already
His practical actions proved the friendship between him and the protoss. Even if he is no longer alive, the protoss will always remember his great deed of saving hundreds of millions of protoss in Aiur.
Once the protoss' friendship is gained, the bond between them can only be severed by the death of one of them.
"General Ulysses, is there any news from other imperial armies outside Phaethon?" Pharah left first, and there were only a few people left around Augustus, and not long ago he had just killed Aktur
Prince Si and his royal guards were sent out.
General Ulysses Hargrove was responsible for maintaining contact with the imperial armies of other worlds. When the Lord mobilized his army to attack Phaethon, most of the imperial fleet was intercepted on the way to reinforcements.
Of course, this was intentional. Augustus wanted to use the Xel'Naga artifact's Nova Impact to significantly weaken the power of the swarm, but he was reluctant to lose all his possessions.
"Although communication is blocked, they have basically responded." Ulysses replied.
"General Jako Bennett and General Harnak Hank also sent messages from the secret channel, saying that they will arrive at Zerus, the home planet of the original zerg, after completing the next time jump." He continued.
One by one reported to Augustus:
"General Edmund Duke has arrived in Braxis to pay close attention to the war between the primal zerg and the Tal'darim protoss."
Ever since the Tyranid Empire lured the primitive zerg to the territory of the Tal'darin protoss, these two masters who refused to admit defeat have completely come to blows. Let's put it this way, the primitive zerg is a character who will fight if it doesn't accept it, and will fight to the end, while
Tal'darin is also the ultimate villain.
These two ruthless men have been fighting for several months, and it has spread to the nearby imperial world. To weaken Tal'darin is to weaken Amon's power to a certain extent, but Augustus still has to be careful to guard against them coming to
Fight on your own territory.
"Warfield commands a large fleet composed of seventeen naval squadrons to guard the Formica-Lorenzo-Gloria star field between Phaethon and the Imperial Land." General Ulysses continued:
"General Pryor sent troops to Gavir, and within one day he had captured the planet and established a base. He also found three samples of the Tiamat swarm's latent cluster gene on Gavir.
It is being sent to Kehal's Stetman Laboratory. The sample will be used for research related to the upgrade of the Widow Mine's burrowing claw blade."
"Very good." Augustus had forgotten whether he had given Pryor the subsequent task, but that was not important.
"Where is the support promised by the Umoyan people?"
"They said they were still on the way." Ulysses said: "But the Umoyans did send a large number of high-end military products such as Eradicator combat robots and mine-sweeping drones.
"As long as the Umoyang Council is willing to pay." In fact, from Augustus' point of view, Umoyang only needs to give him money.
The Umoyan people provide money and equipment, and the Camorion people provide resources and people. This deal is quite a bargain.
"The infected Gerald Dugar has summoned an army of infected people called the Army of Darkness in Char to invade our border, and General Alexei Stokov is gathering the army." Yuli.
Sith said:
"Many mimic hatchlings were discovered in core worlds such as Korhal and Tarsonis, but they did not cause panic among the people."
The UNN certainly publicized the emperor's personal expedition, but the people of the empire did not yet know that Augustus was in Phaethon. Only after the battle was over would the incident be revealed, and perhaps a documentary would be released.
Of course, Augustus's personal expedition still aroused a lot of opposition in the empire, especially among the officials of the empire and those loyal to the royal family.
The emperor's daughter is only three years old and has not yet been designated as the heir by the emperor. If the emperor and Prince Arcturus are both killed in battle, the empire will inevitably be in chaos. At that time, no matter who succeeds, it will be difficult to stabilize the situation.
.
But by then, the Tyranid Empire had long been devoured by the swarm of insects.
"Gerald was once a supporter of human supremacy, and now he has fallen to this end, which is really sad." Augustus said:
"Of course, the saddest thing should be General Stukov."
"After so many years, the swarm infection has obviously distorted Dugar's mind. Dugar can no longer be called a human. It would be strange if he still thinks from a human standpoint." Ulysses
Si said.
"What is that brainworm doing?" Suddenly, Augustus asked again.
Since the Royal Cerebrate α was sent out, it has indeed made a lot of achievements. Its Cerberus swarm mainly performs the destructive mission of sneaking into the zerg den to destroy the swarm's vital hatchery.
With such a rebellious swarm mingling among the swarm army, it is no wonder that the cerebrates are so angry. In the pyramid of the swarm with strict order, it is impossible for the cerebrates to disobey the order of the master, but apparently there is an exception.
.
This brainworm is pretty good at taking advantage of every possible opportunity.
It's just that it never dares to get close to the Overlord, for fear of being controlled again. And as soon as powerful groups like Jormungandr and Tiamat appear, it will immediately run away.
This guy definitely has some abilities, and they are very powerful, but he is just afraid of death.
"Cerebrate α is on the star Abundance. It has not moved for two weeks." General Ulysses said:
"It seems it's not as loyal as it appears."
"I think it is scared to death." Augustus shook his head: "Fengfeng, I remember that it was just an agricultural world with backward development, and it was not until recently that it joined the empire."
"Fanfeng is rich in fine wine, and the food culture there is also unique in the Tyran Empire." Ulysses said: "Local officials complained that an airborne marshal ordered him to deliver Coke and fried chicken every day. Not only that, it
And he accepted bribes openly."
"Unimaginable corruption has appeared in a brainworm. This really damages the image of the imperial soldiers."
"I know it." Augustus knew that he couldn't expect a brainworm to be a human being: "Tell it, just say that I already know about this matter, and let it figure it out."
"They're coming!" At this time, someone from the headquarters shouted.
Looking down from the towering planetary fortress, thick smoke is filling the air outside the fortifications.
Just like the usual attack method of the Jörmungandr swarm, large numbers of springtails are rushing at the front, while the terrifying Hydra Hydralisks are pressing behind, mixed with a large number of banelings, cockroaches and lurkers.
From a distance it looks like a torrent made of carapace. Jormungand is represented by the luxurious purple color. Just as the name implies, they are world-eating snakes.
Augustus noticed that Jormungandr's insect swarm also included some new monsters--the Destroyer. The Destroyer is a new variant of cockroaches that are violent and irritable.
The creatures are also more powerful and cruel.
This is a creature larger than the Hydra Hydralisk. Its towering back has evolved stronger bone armor and erect hardened bone spurs. By projecting bone plates, the Destroyer can spray terrifying weapons at the enemy.
Acid corrodes bile.
The corrosive bile of the Destroyer is very terrifying. It is not so much bile as a bright orange plasma, which is so powerful that it can penetrate human fortresses and tanks.
The range of corrosive bile is long enough to threaten bunkers and fortresses beyond the range of human weapons, so whenever a saboteur shows up, it means a tough fight for their enemies.
This terrifying monster should be a variant of the zerg that appeared on the eve of the End War. It was first discovered by the empire in 2505. Since the second generation of the Overlord returned from Zerus, the evolution speed of the zerg has also increased.
It's constantly accelerating.
Of course, this is also related to the way the Tyran Empire fights.
Under the leadership of Emperor Augustus Mengsk, the Terran Empire army built fortresses and hoarded supplies wherever they went to war. Unless there was a large-scale mechanized force equipped with powerful tanks and mechas, the Imperial army would
Try to avoid unfavorable field battles as much as possible, turn the war into an offensive and defensive battle, and use fortresses and heavy firepower to consume the power of the Zerg.
Every time the swarms fought against the Empire, they had to face strong cities and armor, so the Cerebrates had to find a weapon that could break the Tyranids' shells.
The Destroyer comes into being. This is a biological mortar that can move and bite, a true biological cannon.
Augustus saw a large ball of numbing orange light ejected from the backbone plates of the saboteurs surrounded by dense bone spurs, and a deadly rain of light immediately fell from the sky. The fortifications immediately rose above
There was a burst of black smoke, explosions and fires one after another.
This was just a prelude to the attack. In the distance, a large number of alien dragons appeared in the sky. Among them would be a giant flying creature like a manta ray, with many smaller creatures lying on it.
"Brood Lord." Ulysses said.
"They don't fly high and can be dealt with with anti-aircraft fire."
Brood Lords are also a variant that only appeared after the Second Total War. They are mutated from mutalisks and are a type of swarm helicarrier that can deliver large numbers of living brood worms from the air to the ground. The brood lords they release
It is a short-lived creature, not much larger than a springtail, but also extremely ferocious.
"Use nuclear bombs." Augustus directly ordered: "Blast them all into glass."
"Ulysses, I'll leave this to you." After saying that, he walked out of the headquarters and came outside the planetary fortress.
Outside is the rotating Xel'Naga artifact, with a faint blue flash of recharging completed, while Dr. Narud next to him is sweating profusely and doing the final adjustments, saying to himself
Saying things like "It'll be better soon, it'll be better soon" and "God bless you".
Maybe Dr. Narud was really sweating. He couldn't figure out why a suspicious human emperor would trust an alien race so much. How could anyone travel with seventy or eighty Dark Templar masters and hundreds of top ghost agents behind him?