Standing on the Hyperion's bridge, Augustus could see these newly arrived Omega Squadron battlecruisers firing at the revolutionary army's warships without any restraint, wanting to avoid the concentrated fire of the Jormungandr Brood's fleet and first eliminate the damaged revolutionary fleet.
It was apparent that, in the view of the commander of this Confederacy fleet, the rebel fleet—also Terran—was a far more threatening enemy than the Zerg, and was the priority target for attack.
But the Zerg would not consider the Confederacy fleet to be friendly or an ally just because it was helping them deal with an enemy. They began launching tidal, violent attacks toward Omega Squadron. Just as the Terran could not distinguish differences among individual Zerg, in the view of the Zerg, all Terran were merely objects to be devoured.
Omega Squadron's attack on the revolutionary army had originally been intended to catch the opponent off guard and throw its formation into chaos, dealing it a heavy blow. But this move instead attracted a considerable portion of the Jormungandr Brood's Zerg, greatly reducing the pressure on the revolutionary fleet that had fallen into the swarm's encirclement.
"We are protecting the people of Chau Sara, and not only does the Confederacy refuse to help us resist the Zerg, it also wants to stab us in the back." Jim Raynor walked into the bridge at this moment with a guard holding a Gauss rifle. He had just been coordinating the landing forces on the Hyperion's lower decks and docking platform.
"I am certain that things like this will happen many more times in the future," Augustus said. "We should not place too much hope on the Confederacy's forces—the Confederacy is not afraid of a hideous alien species… but we are the ones who would truly seize the power in their hands and throw the Confederacy's officials and old aristocrats into the abyss."
"How is the situation on the lower decks?" he said to Raynor.
"Once Tychus and Harnack return, we will leave the Sara star system immediately, and then think of a way to understand the situation on Mar Sara." Augustus said to Kerrigan beside him, "Order Warfield's fleet to prepare to disengage from the battlefield for an emergency short-range tactical jump. The coordinates are the location of the Umojan Long Voyager Fortress in the Z168 star system."
"Yes, sir," Kerrigan replied.
"Their transport ship has already returned. Tychus will be on the bridge shortly," Raynor said. "I just heard from the regrouped Mar Sara guerrilla forces that they also found traces of the Zerg there."
"The colonial police department of Mar Sara received sighting reports about unidentified creatures," he said. "The people there still do not understand what exactly happened on Chau Sara, and only know that the planet experienced an outbreak of plague and riots. Now all kinds of rumors are spreading on Mar Sara."
"Monsters with insect eyes, goats that suck human blood, humanoid aliens that burst out of chests, spiders covered entirely in spikes, coyotes with skin disease, and corpses with half their cheeks chewed off — it all sounds like some horrifying dark horror story, doesn't it? But only we and the Confederacy know those things are real."
"The bugs have come."
"Chau Sara and Mar Sara are too close. If the Jormungandr Brood has already occupied all of Chau Sara, they have no reason not to set their sights on Mar Sara." Augustus let out a sigh. He looked at another screen showing Chau Sara, which had already completely turned a deep brown, knowing that the Zerg creep had already covered all land and oceans.
Chau Sara was finished.
Augustus understood better than anyone the nightmare the Zerg could bring to planets and other species. Any Terran planet, even if it was touched by a tiny bit of Zerg, would be plagued by those hideous monsters, the creep, and terrifying infections like an incurable disease that the planet could never shake off.
Only burning all the Zerg and the primary hive to ashes could completely eliminate a Zerg infestation and prevent them from rising from the dead again. Otherwise, Terran territory would fall sooner or later.
"What is the situation on Mar Sara now?" Augustus said to Raynor. "Who is the highest administrative official there now? I remember that after we left, the Confederacy government on Tarsonis appointed a new Mar Sara governor."
"A complete mess," Raynor said. "Much worse than when we were stirring up the revolution on Mar Sara."
"The newly appointed Mar Sara governor was removed again, and Omega Squadron initiated Ordinance No. 1602 of the Colonial Crisis Act more than two months ago and announced that they would temporarily take over Mar Sara."
He said, "Before the new governor takes office, Mar Sara will remain in a rather long period of chaos. Nobody has told the people of Mar Sara what exactly happened. Meanwhile, the Goliath armed robots on the streets and the fully armed Confederacy Marines are only increasing."
"This only fuels chaos and panic."
"All too common," Augustus said. "If they were capable of handling everything neatly and competently, I should be lying wasted in my mansion on Korhal IV right now, enjoying the unrestrained and debauched life of an aristocratic youth, without needing to resist the Confederacy at all."
"After I retire, I might go back to Shiloh to farm," Raynor imagined a good life that did not require courage to resist tyranny.
As he was speaking, a fleet composed of hundreds of transport ships and shuttles, under the cover of four revolutionary battlecruisers and a large number of fighters, grew larger and larger in Augustus's view. They were filled with the people who had survived Los Andares. All these transport ships were equipped with warp engines and could follow the leading revolutionary flagship to complete a synchronous jump.
"Order the fleet to prepare for warp," Augustus said immediately.
"Alert. Deck Five and Deck Seven of the Hyperion have been breached. Zerg are pouring into the compartments." At the same time, the red lights of the alarms suddenly flickered on the bridge. The Hyperion's mechanical adjutant spoke in an absolutely calm electronic synthesized voice.
The Hyperion had already fought a bitter battle with the Zerg for a long time. Even though it was a Behemoth-class battlecruiser that had been constantly modified, expanded, and enhanced, it was now already approaching complete exhaustion.
"I'll go drive those bugs out," Raynor's thick eyebrows twitched. "Those alien monsters can't run wild on my precious ship!"
"Call Swann and Kachinsky. They will repair the damage," Augustus said with a frown. "Damage like this is still within the range we can endure. It can barely complete the jump."
"Lieutenant General Warfield sent a signal saying they are caught between the Jormungandr Brood and Omega Squadron, unable to break free." Kerrigan brought yet another piece of bad news.
"I knew this wouldn't go smoothly," Augustus said. "Tell them to disengage from the battlefield as much as possible. What about the losses?"
"Norad and Napoleon have been severely damaged. Their captains report they can still follow the fleet to complete the jump, but they cannot hold out for long." Kerrigan's eyes were locked tightly on the control panel, her fingers constantly sliding over the screen.
"Wait… Brigadier General Duke's Norad III reports that seven Omega Squadron Behemoth-class battlecruisers and more than twenty Confederacy gunblade frigates are turning their bows and heading toward us," she continued to report.
"Prepare to engage the enemy," Augustus said immediately.
On the screen, Augustus could see dozens of Confederacy warships with deep-black paint breaking away from the battlefield and heading toward the Hyperion. The speed of this fleet was extremely fast, followed closely by large numbers of dragon-like Zerg.
"Truly endless." As Augustus gave the order, Tychus and Hank walked into the bridge together.
The burly Tychus walked into the bridge carrying a massive Hydralisk head. When he reached Augustus's side, he casually dropped the Hydralisk head at his feet. The Jormungandr Brood also had elite individuals far larger than this Hydralisk, and moving their heads would even require cranes.
"Have my bridge deck cleaned before today ends." Augustus glanced sideways at the just-about-to-boast Tychus, cutting off his talk about how he had slaughtered his way through the swarm.
"Marshal, everyone has boarded." Tychus looked at the tense deck and said to Augustus, "I confirmed it three times. Some scum tried to cut ahead of women and children, so I threw them back in Los Andares."
"You don't blame me, right?"
Before Augustus could answer, several laser beams from Omega Squadron battlecruisers had already fallen above the Hyperion's bridge. Even Augustus staggered for a moment. A few miles to the right side of the Hyperion, the deep-black paint and inverted-U emblem of the leading Omega Squadron battlecruiser were already clearly visible.
Suddenly, the light from a ship's explosion almost lit up the Hyperion's entire bridge. Augustus, who had just regained his footing, clenched his fists in anger.
Several transport ships carrying the people of Los Andares were hit by Omega Squadron's space torpedoes and missiles and exploded with thunderous force. At least eight thousand people died at the hands of Omega Squadron.
"Damn it, their target isn't us. The Confederacy wants to kill the people who went through all that hardship to escape from Chau Sara." Kerrigan slammed her fist on the control console in front of her, and the sound of shattering glass rang through the bridge.
"Why is this? Just because these people have seen the true face of the Zerg?"
"They're insane," Tychus said. "This is a world where people eat people."
"Stupidity is incurable."
"Have the transport fleet jump immediately. We will follow right after," Augustus continued.
"When it comes to anything that has to do with people, the Confederacy won't do a damn thing."
As they spoke, more transport ships were struck by Omega Squadron's fire. The people inside those transports never imagined that after fighting the Zerg on Chau Sara for so long, they would in the end die at the hands of their own kind.
"Synchronize this order to all ships," Augustus said firmly. "Then execute it."
"Little girl, we can't worry about that much right now," Tychus said in his deep, magnetic voice. "Plans never keep up with changes."
"Hm?" As Tychus was speaking, he suddenly turned his head to look at the radar display beside him.
"What's going on?" He pointed at the green radar schematic.
"The bugs have retreated."
"Verify this with Lieutenant General Warfield." Augustus had of course also seen this. The signal points marked in red as Zerg indicators were rapidly leaving the battlefield and completely disappearing from the radar map. This meant the swarm had already retreated to the edge of the Sara star system.
"What is going on?" Tychus was confused. "Did the bugs get tired of fighting carbon-based monkeys, or did they get scared?"
"Maybe they're rushing back to eat," Harnack said tentatively.
"No. The Zerg never give up prey already in their grasp, unless their leader orders them to do so," Augustus said after thinking for a moment. "Something must have happened that forced them to withdraw from the battlefield."
"Maybe someone stole the butts of those bugs, so they had to go back and defend them," Tychus guessed.
"There is another possibility." Augustus looked at the radar display where the red dots were gradually thinning.
"And that is that an enemy even stronger than us has appeared."
"The Confederacy reinforced the Sara system?" Kerrigan said.
"I did receive intelligence that the Confederacy Navy's Crimson Squadron and Delta Squadron may be on their way."
"Mm." Augustus shook his head.
Once the Jormungandr Brood withdrew from the battlefield, the revolutionary fleet's pressure dropped sharply, and Omega Squadron could not stop the former from forcibly warping away.
"Let's leave here first," he said.
"This matter cannot simply be brushed aside. We and Omega Squadron, and the Confederacy—sooner or later we will settle this account."
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