StarCraft: Tyranid Empire.

Chapter 398 The Missing Protoss

late April.

Across the southern border of the province of Antioch, through the Land of the Elders and the rolling Shreka hills with ruins and Qaedarin ruins, you can see a beautiful sandy beach scattered with countless white shells and colorful crystals.

The Ark Harbor of the Olga Tribe in Antarctica was built on the only deep-water port in the region. According to legend, many arks that once carried the protoss to challenge the vast ocean of Aiur were built there, and it was also the place where the large fleet of the Protoss Empire set sail. starting point.

The incomparable ark giant ship in the Protoss Empire fleet also originated from this amazing super ship. They once cleave the waves on the sea of ​​Aiur containing terrifying storms, and they remained motionless in super hurricanes and tsunamis. With another look, sail to the starry sky and fight the galaxy.

In the ancient times when the Protoss had not yet received the enlightenment of the Naganaga, starting from here, one could reach the sacred Protector Temple along the coastline.

It is a vast and mysterious virgin land, a dreamlike paradise.The primeval rainforest and verdant ferns can't be seen at a glance, and the ancient ruins and creations of the age of the gods are hidden in the lush vegetation.

The wind blew through spore-forming ferns and glades covered with reddish-brown leaves, and the air was filled with the peculiar smell of plantains.The leaves fluttering in the wind brought the neighing of the zerg, and the uneasy atmosphere made the soldiers tense up, concentrating on the guns in their hands.

"Brace yourself, gallant gentlemen, get your asses out of the grass, there are at least three dozen hungry worms ready to nibble on some fresh human flesh." Colonel Tychus Finley's huge gold-red The power armor doesn't look very eye-catching in the bright red leaves on the branches, and his heavy alloy spiked boots have been deeply buried in the fallen leaves on the ground.

"It's nothing new, these bastards always get hungry very quickly away from the creep."

As soon as Tychus finished speaking, a hydralisk with a huge bone scythe stretched out suddenly jumped up from under the fallen leaves, swimming like a snake among the trees.Its dark brown skin with red patterns is an excellent camouflage color. Without the heat source detection device, the Revolutionary Army soldiers would have no way of discovering this terrifying monster waiting for a rabbit.

The terrifying monster more than ten feet long arched its back and shot a series of sharp spines at the marching Revolutionary Army soldiers. The ear-piercing screams were creepy.The dagger-like ridges cut the fallen leaves into pieces, and they were firmly nailed to the riot shields and the frame-reinforced power armor of the revolutionary soldiers, making a series of clanging sounds.

This Ayr Ranger troop is a troop of experienced veterans who are often ordered to perform the most dangerous missions on the Ayr battlefield. Each of them can be called a veteran of many battles. It is also not comparable to the guild war between humans.

Compared with ordinary power armor, their helmets also adopt a more advanced double-layer structure. The outermost electroplated alloy steel mask is enough to resist the spines of the Hydra Hydralisk and the deadly poisonous mist of the scorpion.

They are well-trained and outstanding fighters, brave and powerful, capable of surviving in treacherous environments and advancing in rugged and varied terrain.

Immediately afterwards, with a thunderous gunshot, the Hydra Hydralisk was shot and killed by a Mark II rail gun, and the bullet with a caliber comparable to a machine gun almost cut its entire head.

"Well done, Peel." There was a burst of applause from the team's communication channel, and the revolutionary soldier holding a heavy rail gun just pointed at his mask with two fingers as a signal.

This soldier is a level 4 psyker with a talent for shooting that ordinary people don't have.Before joining the Revolutionary Army from a nomadic tribe in Haji, the son of the local chieftain had no idea he possessed certain psychic gifts, for he only used his keen senses to herd and hunt.

"Two times, I have to admit that there are some tough guys in Ward's people." Tychus is an unpleasant troublemaker, but he knows how to not easily offend the soldiers under his command, especially when the opponent is standing with a dangerous weapon in his hand. when behind him.

Among Tychus' crimes in the Confederacy was attacking his officer in anger.

Before Tychus could celebrate, more zerg appeared as Tychus spoke, hundreds of zerglings and hydralisks of the same color as the Hydralisk just now, and Tychus was sure he Just saw the fleeting figure of a cunning scorpion.

"Okay, bad boys. Fire!" Tychus was the first to pull the Whispering Persuader's heavy machine gun, and more than 30 Revolutionary Army soldiers behind him also fired.

There's only one thing that trumps all cunning in a head-to-head firefight with a swarm, and that's firing as many bullets as you can and killing those squawking monsters before they kill you.

The dense A-12 grenades, P-30 pistol bullets, C-14 spike gun bullets, and rockets leveled the surrounding forests in a blink of an eye, and the Hydra Hydralisk also used spines to fight back.

The Zerg that escaped the first round of shooting alternately jumped and ran in the rainforest and pounced on their prey, their eyes emitting dangerous red light no longer had any sense at all—this is another batch of brain worms who have lost control The zerg, their masters have all disappeared or left Aiur, and the wisdom of the king and queen cannot control a large number of members of the group.

Tychus mowed down seven or eight zerglings and watched as more of their kind were blown to pieces by grenades and electromagnetic grenades.A snarling Hydralisk was wounded by an anti-tank rocket and went on a rampage among its pack members in a rage.

Even so, some springtails came to the soldiers through the hail of bullets.

These screaming little monsters may not have the hard chitin armor of Hydralisks and Ultralisks, but they are superior in numbers and speed, and their velociraptor-sharp claws are also viciously attacked by human soldiers. Called a can opener.

The soldiers of the El Rangers have long been accustomed to the scene of grinning monsters rushing towards them, even when the zerglings were about to pounce on their faces, they still kept firing with firm and resolute eyes.Fleeing doesn't make any sense when you're facing the zerg.

Following a few blue phantoms, these zerglings had just crossed the firepower of the human warriors before colliding with the hot and unstoppable psionic blades of the protoss templar.Each Templar is an elite warrior with hundreds of years of combat experience, and their sword swings are nimble and graceful like the zerg themselves crashing into the sharp psionic light blades.

The Templars stood right in front of the Revolutionary soldiers, forming an impenetrable wall.For these elite fighters, it is not the first time that they have cooperated with each other in such a tacit manner. The time when humans and protoss fought side by side can be traced back to the worst moment of the Battle of Aiur.

A few minutes later, the Zergs who lost the command of the brain worms hurriedly retreated after dropping many corpses. Compared with those Zergs still under the will of the main nest, they are closer to following the instinct to seek advantages and avoid Harmful beast.

"Good job buddy, I'm starting to think you're more loyal than the Tal'darin protoss now." After killing the last zerg, Tychus extended a hand to a nearby templar for a high-five , but the other party's blue eyes hidden under the golden mask just stared at him indifferently.

Tychus felt no embarrassment at being left behind, and he ordered his men to move on without hesitation.

As Tychus strode forward, he was sure the icy protoss couldn't take their eyes off the scantily clad protoss woman on his shoulder armor, despite the anger in that gaze.Based on this, Tychus became "famous" among the protoss, and even Tassadar, the protoss executive who had seen Tychus, had to call him a wonderful person.

If Tychus was fighting the protoss, his armor would be enough to attract hatred.

"The protoss always have their uses," Tychus said over the comm channel, not caring a bit about the protoss who could easily read the minds of humans.

"The destination is ahead." He pointed to the depths of the dense forest. At the end of a trickling and sparkling vast river is the Asari Hunting Grounds of the protoss (Asari Hunting Grounds StarCraft I map).

During the protracted war, this was one of the few areas that remained unoccupied without support.

"Be careful, there may be protoss refugees waiting to be fed, or there may be protoss forces from the Supreme Council." Tychus reminded his subordinates on the communication channel.

"Remember, Marshal Augustus asked us to avoid conflicts as much as possible when we meet people in the Supreme Council." He absently recited the orders from above, complaining in his heart about Augustus' nostalgia.As Augustus' right-hand man, Tychus did a lot of thankless work.

In the past, Tychus would probably have held a grudge, but he was also a person who cared about his kindness. Augustus cared about Tychus no less than Kerrigan.Just the fact that Augustus rescued Tychus from the slums in Tarsonis and saved his organs is worth Tychus's heart.

Of course, Tychus had been sent here purely at his own expense, for as a commander he was an impatient fellow who would wander off on the battlefield from time to time.That made Augustus almost push Tychus to the end. In the end, he had to admit that Tychus was not suitable to be a high-ranking general who commanded thousands of troops. He was proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. Not falling, but unwilling to take responsibility.

Augustus had to hand over the wolfhunter force originally commanded by Tychus to Pryor, and let Tychus lead the special warfare team.

"Don't wait for me to call for action if there is a situation, and shoot directly. This is also the order of the marshal-be careful, we have no friendship with those guys from the Supreme Council."

The Protector Temple where the Asari Hunting Ground is located is equivalent to a huge province of the Protoss Empire. It is geographically located to the east of the provinces of Valari and Koshaka, and to the southwest of Antioch , but not strictly an administrative district.

The ascetic monks who follow the teachings of the Kara and the Xel'Naga scholars of the Xilak tribe regard this place as a holy place, and it is precisely because of this that the protoss in this area are desperate to protect the Protector Temple.As a result, several small clans were lost forever in the battle against the swarm.

It is also due to the geographical location of the Temple of the Protector close to the provinces of Koshaka and Antioch, the combined forces of Augustus and Tassadar, as well as the Supreme Council, may help the Protoss survivors in the area.

At this time, nearly a month had passed since the final battle that killed the Overlord, and the zerg's retaliatory attack had already subsided, and a large number of Zerg retreated to the vicinity of the psionic storm formed on the Overlord's corpse.

Although the constant thunderstorms and hurricanes had made the area as dangerous as Char, the zerg stayed there, following their instincts.

At the same time, many nameless brain worms, including the cerebrate worm Yake of the Yemengard swarm, still stay in Ayr, occupying the vast land of Ayr.Relying on Aiur's resources and the biomass provided by countless native creatures, the Zerg are still multiplying, which also makes it difficult for the Protoss to launch a counterattack against the Zerg Swarm to regain lost ground while holding the territory in their hands.

Even with the continued return of the protoss colony fleet to Aiur, this stalemate still hasn't improved much.

"Move on," Tychus then ordered over the channel.

Under the leadership of Tychus, the team continued to advance along a small stream heading north. After passing through a collapsed protoss outpost, a magnificent Xel'Naga temple standing under the blue sky and white clouds was already in sight.

The beautiful domed buildings and domed towers of the Aiur Protoss stand out, but most of them have been burned to blackened ruins.The crystal tower suspended in mid-air fell into a huge puddle of filth and mud.

"Tychus Finley's team called the command center. We have arrived at our destination. Wait, don't rush to call that Naganaga transport ship." Tychus looked at the several Revolutionary Army soldiers on his left and right : "We have to say hello to the locals first."

Suddenly Tychus saw several protoss with spears, clearly not templars, wearing scholar's robes instead of shining armor.

"En Taro Tassadar!" Tychus greeted the locals in the Protoss way.And Tychus got Tassadar and Adun's status wrong. For him, being able to remember a few protoss names is to give these damn aliens a little face.

Without Tychus saying anything else, the protoss templars in the team greeted their people. These protoss immediately celebrated their reunion with body language that Tychus couldn't understand. This kind of avoiding physical contact as much as possible The way he hugs looks like a frog laying eggs.

Since the protoss were using the kara for direct spiritual communication, Tychus had no way of making sense of what they were talking about, but one of the templars was quick to bring the bad news: "Tychus Finley, the guards of the Supreme Council have come here one step ahead of us."

"I don't need you to tell me what happened." Tychus pointed to several Protoss warriors in crimson robes who suddenly appeared from the ruins, and bad memories flooded his mind: "It seems that they are here to chase people away of."

"Followers of Tassadar are not welcome here, and I can feel the stain in your minds, all because of your association with the Dark Templar," their leader said.

"More and more dark templars are wandering among the ruins, and the council also suspects that the recently disappeared clansmen are related to them. You have been listed as persona non grata, before the spears of our council use force—leave .”

(End of this chapter)