StarCraft: Tyranid Empire.

Amid the corpses and hordes of hybrids, Valerian was regrouping his troops.

The Imperial Army did not need to search for the enemy at all. From the moment they stepped into the temple, countless evil believers and evil dark creatures emerged from the depths of the temple like shadows spreading under the setting sun. The terrible void creatures also appeared in this world with the help of the powerful psychic power here.

The temple was so large that it was almost comparable to the Temple of Urna. Sometimes Valerian's army could easily fight in the huge column hall that was as vast as the sky and earth, and sometimes they had to fight the enemy hand to hand in the narrow passages.

Some areas are large enough to support a steel giant as huge as the Odin II, while other areas are unable to accommodate heavy tanks and combat vehicles due to their overly complex terrain.

The enemy could appear anywhere, and even a rumbling monolith could swallow up an Imperial force of dozens or hundreds of men.

Amon's tentacles emerged from the shadows through the void catalyst, and the power of the Dark God filled the entire temple, causing it to tremble and wail, and totter.

The tragic scene on the battlefield was far beyond Valerian's expectations, but it did not shake his determination at all. If he could not put his life and death aside, how could he ask the imperial soldiers under his command to fight to the death?

"Follow me!"

Valerian shouted the order, and the hybrid plunderer in the front was only within the reach of his sword. The spinning plunderer punisher grenades flew past him on both sides, emitting a dazzling light.

"All Imperial forces, forward!"

The mottled monster, bloodied and wielding arms and legs like a giant spider scuttling the walls, glowed with a sickly, disturbing blue light, and ravaged several Imperial fire teams along the way, charging and killing them again and again until the C-140 flamethrowers of the Stukov Elite Guards escorting Valerian burned him into a pool of boiling plasma.

At this critical moment, the Imperial troops that were once dispersed by the hybrid were able to regroup towards Valerian. The support from the Hellbats and Wolf Mechs coming from the rear raised a shield wall made of fine steel in front of the Marines and created a large hot cloud of napalm and plasma-charged weapons in front.

This was a merciless massacre. Every time the hybrid tore a mecha apart, it had to endure the powerful firepower of revenge. In the space of the Augustgrad vault building, there were several-story-high mecha wreckage and the hybrid's riddled bodies everywhere.

The Imperial forces gradually gained the upper hand in numbers and firepower, and the situation began to tilt rapidly in their favor. They also carried a large number of armor-piercing weapons, which had previously been used specifically to deal with thunder beasts.

This was originally just a skirmish in the small space of the temple, but as the two sides were deadlocked, the skirmish inevitably turned into a tactic of continuously sending in additional troops.

At this moment, a company of Death's Head Reapers rushed out from above. They increased the power of their flight backpacks to the maximum, moved forward close to the magnificent ceiling of the temple, and arrived above the enemy's heads like a surprise force dropped from the sky.

Then, like hovering bombers, they bombarded the ground with all kinds of D-type high explosives, setting everything on the ground in flames.

Finally, a large number of evil god believers were defeated first. They were crazy, but their equipment was too poor to survive the firepower coverage of the imperial army, so they suffered heavy casualties. Then the number of hybrids that could still fight became fewer and fewer, and they were eliminated one by one by the imperial army.

But no matter what, they would rather be destroyed than surrender.

If this was just an ordinary human rebel army, their morale would definitely be greatly shaken in this situation. On the other hand, even the battle-hardened imperial soldiers would inevitably panic when facing the hybrids.

Valerian was just thankful that he didn't have to worry about ordering the surrendering cultists to be shot on the spot. There was nothing more stupid than marching into Amon's Black Temple with a group of captives.

When the gunfire gradually became sparse, Valerian gave orders, reprimanded and dismissed the few voices pursuing the enemy, and continued to gather the troops to give enough time for the medics to treat the wounded.

However, these wounded still had to be left here until the supporting troops arrived from the rear and they could be transferred to the rear.

Only then did Valerian have time to take stock of his current situation. They were at a fork in the road, with three ramps ahead of them, each as wide as a kingdom's avenue.

This towering temple was built on a huge platform the size of a city. Inside, there were huge and magnificent man-made landscapes everywhere, exuding the breath of civilization and power. The gorgeous Xel'naga metals like gold and silver shone like amethyst.

Sometimes, alien civilizations that build temples will build them like magnificent palaces, with giant stairs and hill-like terraces inside as if they were built for giants. However, the internal passages are as intricate as snake caves, and so narrow that they seem to be prepared for parasites on the giants' bodies.

But there is no doubt that these buildings were built from the beginning with the intention of waiting for someone to open them one day, and they are by no means the product of symbolic meaning in the collective consciousness of some alien civilization.

And at this moment, here, rows of pillars supported this space, and most of them had collapsed. Everything, whether it was the huge statues almost parallel to the ceiling or the Khaydarin crystals embedded in them, had now been razed to the ground.

The bodies of humans and hybrids were piled up like anthills. The huge anthills were wriggling, as if snake-like creatures were moving in and out of them.

As the troops gathered around him gradually increased, Valerian thought he had finally gained a firm foothold. Now, after fully assessing the situation, he was no longer in a hurry to advance deeper into the temple.

Valerian's purpose in entering the temple was to meet Stone's Ghost Squad, bring back the rescued hostages, and if possible, disable the temple's shield generator as much as possible.

Of course, judging from the current situation, the latter item basically does not need to be considered. Valerian's troops were exhausted just to open up the passage into the core area of ​​the temple.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, but it is hard to say when the troops are insufficient. Disastrous defeats caused by reckless advances are not uncommon in the history of the imperial army.

The good news was that they were now close enough to Stone's location, close enough that there might only be a wall between them, but crossing the distance was much more difficult than Valerian had expected.

But Stone only had more than 40 well-trained Ghost agents, and now his number of subordinates was probably less than half of the original number. They led a large group of ordinary people who had no combat ability and were already tortured and could not even walk steadily. To put it bluntly, it was like carrying a weight across the river.

It was a miracle that Stone had managed to hold on until now with these people, not to mention that he was able to break through the siege and find Valerian.

"All Imperial forces, continue forward."

Only after he was sure that his troops were fully prepared did Valerian order his troops to continue advancing.

Valerian chose the passage on the far right, which was the one Stone had walked through. He was not sure whether these roads had different meanings, representing death, rebirth or something else.

The Xel'Naga temples are by no means religious ritual buildings; they were built for other more profound purposes rather than to worship a particular god.

He could see a lot of corpses along the way, including several dead Imperial Ghost agents.

But from this moment on, all the enemies seemed to disappear in an instant, and not even sporadic resistance could be seen.

This is more disturbing than the overwhelming mixture, and when small and medium-sized predators disappear without a trace, it only means that something more terrifying is about to appear.

"Stay alert." Valerian led the mecha troops in the guard to clear the way. The passage was not wide, barely enough for two Warwolves to pass side by side. The murals on the walls on both sides were carved with countless inhuman horrific creatures, all depicting heinous atrocities. There was a lack of lighting here, and it was very dim. The searchlights swept over the bloody murals again and again, which was horrifying.

The soldiers moved in silence, as Valerian had to ensure the channel was unobstructed when necessary, and any unnecessary complaints might cause their commander to miss important information.

Halfway through the journey, Stone finally showed up, bringing only one subordinate with him. When he showed up, he was almost killed by the nervous imperial soldiers, who mistook him for an enemy.

"Communications are poor here, so I have to report to you in person, Your Highness."

Stone carried a C-10 shotgun on his back and held a ignited blue monomolecular blade in his hand. He was a master with both guns and swords and could use both arms in combat.

"What's the situation?" Valerian asked him immediately.

For a moment, Valerian suspected that the Stone was nothing more than an evil and cunning void-shaped creature, but they could not simulate a unique mind after all.

  "It's terrible. Almost every hostage was tortured. They were whipped, bled, had their skulls opened, and had their genes cut. Many of them had gone crazy before they escaped. The oppression of the hybrid on the mind is subtle." He said to Valerian as he led the way:

"In order to gain powerful strength, Amon's scientists spliced ​​the Protoss and humans together. If I may be frank, this is as terrifying as putting a mouse's head on a cat's body."

"These tortured people are too weak to walk far." Stone continued, "Some would rather die here than take another step. I can only make their wish come true."

"But that's how it was. Half of the people didn't make it, and half of the remaining people died on the way."

"I thought you could not escape." Valerian realized once again how naive and stupid his plan was. He misjudged the number of enemies in the temple, but fortunately it was not too late.

"I thought so too, but when we escaped here, all the pursuers disappeared." Stone said:

"Perhaps Eamon has given orders that they dare not come in."

"What kind of place?" asked Valerian.

"Absolutely beyond your imagination," Stone replied.

When Valerian reached the end of the passage, he finally understood the meaning of Stone's words.

This may have been the resting place of the Xel'Naga. The steep walls of the cliffs are hung with huge sarcophagi, and the breathtaking void crystals shine like lapis lazuli, hanging high above the head like stars. It is said that when the Xel'Naga fell into sleep, they would use these sarcophagi as a place to contain their real-world incarnations.

What surprised Valerian most was the stone platforms that were spaced every five or six feet on the ground. There might be thousands of them, on which once lay some long-dead Protoss, but now they were used as beds for the wounded.

There were about one or two thousand hostages here, and Valerian immediately ordered to take as many people as possible away. It was no problem for the Marines to carry one or two people on foot, but all the mechas had to carry people.

"Amon forbade his servants to enter here? What did he use these facilities for?" Valerian asked Stone after everything was arranged.

"We found several living Protoss." Stone paused: "They are performing organ transplant surgery here to re-transplant the severed nerve bundles and reconnect them to Kara."

"This is too evil." Valerian didn't know whether he should use the word evil. It was tantamount to saying that the Kara sect was a heresy.

Ironically, in today’s Durham politics, no one dares to mention returning to Kara.

"Did they succeed?" he asked.

"Almost. Although it is far less than the original neural bundles, it is enough for Amon to control them again." Stone said, "And they are all willing."

"Voluntary?" Valerian said. "Incredible."

"It is a voluntary wearing of chains that bind oneself."

"If that's the case, the Protoss have been willing to wear these chains for at least thousands of years." Stone disagreed: "Perhaps many Aiur Protoss think that even being controlled by Amon is better than losing Kara."

They all know the importance of Kara to the Protoss. Kara is a vast ocean of emotions where all Protoss interact. However, once it is lost, each Protoss will become an isolated island closed off from each other. This loneliness is unacceptable to them. The number of Protoss who commit suicide due to extreme depression has been increasing among the Protoss of Durram.

"Is Amon trying to regain control of the Golden Fleet?" Valerian said, "But if that's the case, the efficiency is too low."

"Or maybe this is a spontaneous act of Amon's followers." Stone pointed to a slowly disappearing Protoss corpse in the distance: "He was once a member of the Golden Fleet. In order to return to Kara's arms, he gave up everything and came here."

"I had to cut his nerve bundle again while interrogating him," Stone said. "He cried like a playboy who just learned he was castrated."

"Oh, poor guy." Valerian was immediately ashamed of his unkind laughter. If there were Templars here, it would probably cause a diplomatic conflict.

". But think about the shock this incident will cause among the Darram Protoss. The most terrible thing about this incident is that it makes people despair first and then gives them hope." He said: "Maybe Kara is now ruled by Amon, but it still exists. When Amon is defeated and destroyed one day, it will be possible to return to Kara."

"This will definitely cause new divisions in Durham, and even shake the rule of the Light and Shadow Council." Valerian thought: "Phoenix Archon will soon arrive in Baysher. Should we hide this from him?"

".But no matter what, my uncle must be the first one to know about it."

A scream suddenly rang out from the crowd, and the communication channel became chaotic.

It was one of the three Moebius hybrids, 9E57, a bronze beast with red flames shining on it. Hot white steam was pouring out of the heat sink chip forged from fine steel on its back. Behind it were open steel wings, blazing like red-hot blades.

If the Zerg-infected Doomsday Beast was a Thunder Beast further armed with Thor's armor, then he was a hybrid armed with the same armor. He was full of evil and weirdness, and was much larger and more terrifying than the hybrid Predator under his feet.

"It seems like this is a trap." Valerian immediately ordered: "Retreat!"

"The guards stay here, I will cover the rear." (End of this chapter)