StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

Chapter 170 Chimera Pirates

On September 2489.9.20, 40, about [-] miles into the Purgatory Corridor, the galloping Augustus convoy.

The Corridor of Purgatory is a wide canyon with rock walls more than a thousand feet high, the air inside is dry, and the ground is as solid as hardened stone.The gravel mixed with yellow bone fragments and metal fragments and the tree-shaped thorns more than ten feet high are the only sights that make up this monotonous world. Even the wind is hot, as if it can sweep away the moisture in the human body.

The Ridge Plains-Purgatory Corridor-Grey Spotted Moors vast area has not seen rain for many standard orbital years, and only the most hardy native species linger underground.

Even the most adaptable Mar Sara settlers will not establish a home in this utterly desolate region, and it takes unnecessary effort to establish roots and feed a family in this dead land, and only a sudden A dust storm or a raid by bandits can wipe out a settler's savings.

The Condors of Augustus and Renault drove in the front, followed by a large group of Condors.In Augustus's eyes, the forty miles had seen almost no change in the scene, except for sand, thorns, and sedimentary rock formations exposed on the floor, he saw nothing else.

Along the way, they passed three or four outposts of the Revolutionary Army. Each of the outposts was welded by space engineering vehicles with glass and mine steel plates. They were separated by a few miles, and the internal reserves contained enough food and ammunition for a month's consumption. supply.

Since all radio wave communication equipment will fail or be inaccurate once entering the Purgatory Corridor, all outposts, forward bases and camps have laid light guide cables for communication.

Sixty miles later, Augustus' convoy came to a halt at a marked sheer wall in the Corridor of Purgatory.

Compared with other sections of the Purgatory Corridor, the rock wall here is no different. The angle between the rock wall and the ground is close to vertical, and there is a lack of climbing points and grip points.Upward about a hundred feet from the ground grows the agave-like barnacles of Mar sala, a rare medicinal herb whose fruit contains a small amount of water and is the main food source for the Koprulu gliding eagle.

But when Augustus approached the rock wall, the rock wall suddenly disappeared as he approached, and a steel gate made of fine steel appeared between Augustus and the rock wall. Amidst the roar of rotation, a frontline base of the Revolutionary Army dug between the rock walls appeared in front of Augustus, Renault and others.

Fick, the former Magic Power Armor Technician of Heaven, is waiting for Augustus with two revolutionary soldiers wearing Gauss rifles on his shoulders and wearing brown denim: "Sir, this base has three reserves that can be consumed by a full revolutionary army camp." Monthly supplies. We have controlled the canyon entrance from the Purgatory Corridor to the Ridge Plain, and these supplies are brought in by transport planes and trucks."

"Good job, Fick, have you ever encountered pirates or people from other organizations?" Renault bent down and patted Fick on the shoulder.Fick's dwarf-like figure was immediately exposed by the comparison of many tall and burly Revolutionary Army soldiers around him.

"The ghost agent responsible for providing us with cover captured two members of the Chimera pirates. Through mind reading, we easily obtained the location of the Chimera pirates' scientific research base, and they obviously sensed our invasion." Due to the legs It is two full lengths shorter than the others, and Fick needs to walk a few more steps to reach Augustus.

Now Fick is the person in charge of this frontline base. Although he is not a digging expert like the Kelmorians, he is also good at building bases and bunkers in various dangerous terrains.And because Fick is a member of the Devil of Heaven and deeply trusted by Augustus, he also got the position of leader.

Just after Fick finished speaking, a female ghost agent in a light blue tight-fitting combat uniform appeared in front of Augustus.This ghost agent was one of the seven ghosts captured by Augustus from the federal scientific research station on Victor V, and these ghosts turned to the Korha Revolutionary Army without any accident after removing the psionic suppressors.

The Ghost's right forearm has been replaced by a prosthetic, and his left eye has been replaced by a Umoyan mechanical eye that glows red.The mechanical prosthetic eye was still spinning as she spoke, radiating a breathtaking light.

"Oh my god, I like that thing." Standing behind Renault, Mira Han, the captain of the Guards of the Revolutionary Army, pointed at the ghost agent's mechanical prosthetic eye and said very impolitely.

At present, Augustus's army is divided into three main systems, the elite squad, the marshal's guards, and the regular army of the revolutionary army. The regular army is divided into the backbone of the Keha soldiers and the recruit brigade from the Port of the Dead.It is worth mentioning that the fighting will of the army from the Port of the Dead is not inferior to that of veterans who have experienced several wars.

"No, you don't like this." Augustus said sternly to Mira, who was three years younger than him, "If you are still this crazy, then I will let you stay in the army to practice shooting next time."

"Please forgive this child's ignorance, she is not malicious." Augustus said to the ghost agent apologetically.

All the ghost agents who survived the Battle of Victor V had more or less physical disabilities, and the best one also had a broken index finger.

"She is a fast-talking person." The voice hidden under the mask of the ghost agent was unexpectedly very pleasant and rhythmic, as if Huang Ying was singing: "But I can see that she has something to hide. A kind heart used to protect itself beneath the shell."

"You're right." Mira replied proudly.

"Tell me about the Chimera pirates, Natasha." Augustus had been referring to the Ghosts by their pre-Ghost names, not their numbers, after removing their psionic suppressors.This means that the Ghosts of the Revolutionary Army have their own personalities, and they choose to fight for the Revolutionary Army because of their hatred of the Tyranid Federation and their personality cult of Augustus himself.

"Chimera pirates store a lot of sophisticated weapons, ship parts and equipment components in their scientific research bases. They operate large or small black trading markets on dozens of colonial planets in the Tyrann Federation. Through Take a large amount of commission for the transaction guarantee and obtain ship parts through many channels." Ghost Agent Natasha replied.

"To put it simply, Chimera pirates are a group of profit-seeking technology dealers. They not only use the advanced technology products and precision parts obtained through robbery, purchase and theft, but also sell them to others for huge profits. These pirates not only rob They are still attacking or trying to seize sophisticated high-tech weapons from the scientific research stations of the Tyrann Federation, the Kelmorian Federation, and the Umoyan United States, and at the same time steal military intelligence that can be sold at high prices," she said. .

"There are rumors that the Chimera pirates came from the United States of Umoyan. They used to be a scientific research fleet of the Umoyan National Defense Army, and finally defected from the Umoyan National Defense Army for some reason. Jun categorically denies it, but the founders of the Chimera were indeed the Umoyans."

"One of the leaders of the Chimera Pirates is a psyker, and the Chimera Pirates generally believe that their current leader is a former Federation Ghost."

"It sounds like Chimeras are uncontrollable chaotic elements in the Koprulu sector. As long as the opponent has high-tech parts, there is nothing they dare not do. They are the most brutal thugs and technology madmen in the Koprulu sector." Taikai Si has also heard some rumors about Chimera pirates, and they can be found in many black markets in the Tyrannian Federation.These pirates are likely second only to the Kel-Morians in the Koprulu Sector in infamy.

After listening to Augustus, he nodded and concluded: "Just like Captain Jackson's people, the pirates are mercenary, but the preferences of the Chimera pirates are different."

"Maybe, we should have a good negotiation with these pirates." Corporal Faraday said: "Chimera pirates also accept mercenary business, just like many pirates, sometimes they are pirates who kill at sight, and sometimes they talk about the spirit of contract. mercenaries."

"Just like what we did with the Jackson Avenger, turning enemies into friends and paying them to work for us."

"How to talk?" Tychus laughed: "My suggestion is to kill them first, and then negotiate with the dead."

"To be honest, those Chimera pirates will never calm down and negotiate with us unless they are all hurt." Augustus spoke at this time: "If they are willing to provide some technology for the Revolutionary Army, then Everything is easy to talk about. We can buy it with money, and the revolutionary army never takes it by force."

"The attack on the Chimera pirate scientific research base will be launched in the early morning of tomorrow, that is, after fifteen standard earth time. This is only the first step for us to fully control the purgatory corridor." Augustus took a few steps forward , Fick and others standing in front of him immediately made way for him.

"The key is to solve the riddle of the corridors of purgatory."

The interior space of the Revolutionary Army base built inside the rock wall is supported by solid cylindrical alloy columns, and the pointed conical dome is hung with LED lighting that emits pure white light.Augustus went straight to the airlock door marked with the laboratory phrase. As the airlock door slammed open, he found an old acquaintance in the laboratory that could only accommodate a few tables and a few glass containers: Victor V Federal Research Station Dr. Francois.

Dr. Francois is one of the few scientists under Augustus. Although he specializes in dissection of zerg and has never participated in the research on rare crystals, Augustus, who is unavailable, is not available for the time being. I can only catch him.

"Doctor, how is the research going?" Augustus, dressed in denim, walked towards Dr. Francois.

At the same time, Sarah Kerrigan, the ghost agent who has been secretly protecting him, revealed her figure in the invisible state. While twisting her buttocks under the black tight-fitting pseudo-light combat uniform, she twirled a fist in her hand and flashed in the light. Hanmang's butterfly knife, that rose-colored butterfly knife was flipped in the beautiful and dexterous fingers, spinning out gorgeous knife flowers.

Immediately afterwards, Kerrigan didn't speak, but sat on a test bench with one hand propped up, her red lips tightly pursed, and her light green eyes looked at Augustus instead of the panicked doctor.

Inseparable from Augustus, it is said that she never leaves her side for a second, and the former federal ghost agent Sarah Kerrigan will only appear in a few specific situations.Kerrigan's presence at this point could only mean one thing: she thought Dr. Francos might be a threat to Augustus' safety, so it was a warning.

However, Kerrigan was really just bored and wanted to show her face.Maybe Kerrigan just wanted to brush up on his presence.

"Some progress has been made." But Dr. Francois, who was weighing a rare crystal mine excavated from the corridors of purgatory, trembled, and the appearance of the red-haired female ghost naturally gave him a jump.

"Most scientists in the Federation believe that the anomaly in the Purgatory Corridor is caused by the abundant crystal ore deposits in the geological layer. But in fact, there is no scientific basis for this speculation. At least the crystal ore metal samples we obtained are the same as those of ordinary Ardion Crystals don't make any difference."

Only after taking a few deep breaths did Dr. Francos shake off the psychological pressure of Sarah Kerrigan's appearance.

"Marshal." Dr. Francois connected his personal terminal to the only holographic projection screen in the laboratory through a data cable.

When Augustus looked over, he found that Francis was showing a flat map of the purgatory corridor.

"The high-intensity electrical pulses of wave-band disturbance spread throughout the purgatory corridor, and the signal sources are buried underground, and the strongest signal sources are even buried hundreds of miles underground." Frankos talked eloquently, becoming more confident as he spoke.In fact, the study of crystal mines is not difficult. As long as the experimental observation is carried out through analytical equipment, discoveries can be made through sorting out and comparing.

"This fits with the prevailing speculation that the source of the disturbance is a rare crystal ore vein, however, the true cause is unknown."

"So you still don't know why." Kerrigan glanced at Dr. Francos.

A few drops of sweat flowed from Francois' bald head: "I think the source of interference is likely to come from an old federal device with a strong source of interference, or some mysterious alien relic."

"I have consulted some documents. Several Kemerian explorers once discovered mysterious pyramids and temples of giant creatures on planets outside the Koprulu star sector. Through the analysis of those mysterious building materials, we can know these Architecture may have existed from the time between the Big Bang and the birth of the stars, at least 140 billion years ago."

"The associated clusters of crystal mines outside those temples also had a strong impact on electronic devices that use radio waves to communicate."

"You're just guessing." Augustus pretended to show impatience: "What made you have such an association?"

"I have a fragment of the same material as the outer wall of the mysterious temple." Dr. Francois took out a triangular dark green fragment from the pocket of his white coat-this is an isosceles triangle that perfectly follows the golden ratio. The bottom angle is 72°, the top angle is 36°, and the ratio of the bottom to the length of the waist is the golden ratio.There are some cracks on the triangle, and the corners are regular as if they were cut by a machine tool.

Aside from the possibility of infinite coincidences in the universe, this obviously comes from an alien civilization.

"This should be a fragment of a certain container. I observed that this fragment is slowly absorbing energy on a scale of ten years or longer to replenish the damaged part."

The doctor said confidently: "I swear, this place must be related to the mysterious ruins of aliens. Maybe there is a temple of a mysterious race much older than human beings under our feet."

　Got home.

　　Thanks for the rewards and votes, I can see everyone's name, but I really don't have the energy to type them out one by one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)