Tychus's Spanking Battalion
Lower deck of the Norad II, launch port, shipboard time 4:03.
"Execute your orders, Tychus. Don't cause me any trouble." As Tychus strode towards the Little Devil, the personal APOD transport of the Heaven's Devils, the voice of Augustus issuing orders from the bridge could still be heard within his Power Armor: "Hyperion, assemble! Fire on port!"
"No problem, sir. Where do you want me to fire?" Raynor replied softly, "Ah—I see that guy, Captain Jim, prepare to engage."
Tychus's old friend, Captain Jim Raynor, is an energetic young man whom all the Heaven's Devils find funny and easy to get along with. Raynor has inexhaustible energy and a strong sense of justice. Among Augustus's former subordinates, he has integrated into his new role most successfully after leaving the Confederate Marine Corps.
At this point, no one would associate Raynor with the image of a decadent and defeated man. He was a capable lieutenant and right-hand man under the Revolutionary Army Marshal, and was deeply trusted by him. At a young age, Raynor had already become the captain of a Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, commanding a Fleets of over 20,000 Fleets, and he did not treat others with arrogance because of his youthful vigor.
Everyone knows that it's only a matter of time before Raynor is promoted to general.
Raynor seemed born to be a revolutionary. Coming from an ordinary Shiloh, he understood the suffering of the people of the Confederacy. Moreover, Raynor was undoubtedly a man of action; he almost never spoke of justice and freedom.
Without a doubt, Raynor is a lance of justice in Augustus's hands, aimed wherever he is pointed.
At this very moment, on the lower deck helipad of Norad II, hundreds of transport ships are taking off, and ground crew are busy sending near-ground shuttles onto the runway.
Behind Tychus, at least three APOD transport planes slowly rose, their downward-spraying plasma jets creating swirling gusts of wind. The voices of the pilots, ground crew, bus drivers, and soldiers and officers lined up for departure mingled together, making them difficult to distinguish.
Amidst the roar of the magnetically accelerated tracks, wedge-shaped shuttles with three layers of thickened, molded ceramic shells vanished into the distance in an instant, while transport ships receded further and further away amidst the orange-red flames of their plasma thrusters.
The silent Revolutionary Army soldiers marched forward under the bluish deck lights, their Power Armor bathed in a cold glow. Several Goliath walked among the soldiers heading towards the transport planes and shuttles, their mech servo systems humming softly.
If there is any difference between these warriors and Confederacy soldiers, it is that they are all Korhal IV people who have lost their homeland, and they all share a common belief and a common pursuit—to overthrow the rule of the Terran Confederacy and establish a free and equal nation.
Just as the Revolutionary Army's propaganda department claimed, the Revolutionary Army took it upon itself to save all the Terrans.
The Korhal Dominion remains a distant dream, while the new generation of Korhal people pursues an even more distant fantasy—a great republic.
Tychus chewed on his cigar, smoke filling his helmet, the internal air circulation system working laboriously like a coughing old man. The small turbine fan in his CMC-300 Power Armor hummed softly, and thirty-two Sterling Wolf Hunters in crimson Power Armor followed him.
These warriors, who were said to be able to dance with wolves, wore armor with long-handled battle axes and the emblem of the Sterling Wolf. The Wolf Hunters ' emblem differed from that of the Mengsk Family in that the Sterling Wolf on their armor was pure white, with mane on its back and neck resembling cloud patterns.
The Wolf Hunters are one of the few elite units in the Revolutionary Army, second only to Augustus's personal guard, the Faraday Guard, the Warfield Steel Battalion, Raynor's Raynor's Raiders, and the anti- Psionics unit Sterling Strikers.
Augustus considered having Tychus Findlay reorganize the Heaven's Devils and form a special tactical unit under that name. But Tychus refused without hesitation. Augustus then offered another name, Tychus Finley's Outlaws, but that was also rejected as unpleasant.
After much deliberation, Tychus decided to call his troops the "Spanking Battalion," but this was immediately rejected by Augustus. Since Tychus lacked ambition and enthusiasm for building his own army, the matter quickly fizzled out.
However, Tychus still privately refers to his battalion as the Spanking Battalion "—that's what he originally called his recruit training camp. Tychus also declares that his battalion does not welcome any recruits and does not accept any greenhorns or young girls.
At first, his men tolerated this absurd term, but when Finley used it in an official setting, the captains united in strong opposition.
Compared to Raynor, who is already a captain, Tychus seems to be the worst off among Augustus's old subordinates. To this day, his rank is only that of a staff sergeant, and his position is only to command a platoon. In fact, Tychus only has the Sterling Wolf Hunters battalion under his command.
One reason is that Tychus can't command that many troops right now. It's not that he lacks the ability, he's just too lazy to manage so many people.
Currently, only Augustus in the Revolutionary Army can firmly hold the upper hand over Tychus. As for the others, even Warfield's words have no effect.
Augustus knew exactly what kind of person Tychus was. In every sense, he was not the kind of man who could endure loneliness. His moral standards were questionable, and his bottom line was shockingly low—so low that it was in the dust, so small that it was invisible.
Augustus dared not place Tychus in a position too high, or keep him out of his sight. Otherwise, given Tychus's nature, it was almost certain that he would abuse his power and act arrogantly.
However, Tychus's status was not much different from that of his old friends; Augustus still needed him to fight tough battles.
As Tychus climbed the gangway into the passenger cabin of the Little Devil transport ship, Norad II continued to tremble intermittently, as if someone were shaking this huge and magnificent steel coffin with a heavy hammer.
If these were the greenhorns recruited from the Deadman's Port, they'd probably have wet their pants already. But old Tychus's men are all elite warriors, each one capable of fighting wolves bare-handed.
Once Tychus and his troops were seated, the Little Devil transport ship began to take off. Through the Power Armor HUD display connected to the transport ship's cameras, the Revolutionary Army soldiers could clearly see the horrific battlefield outside the Norad II.
The planetary orbital defense platform, which was just a blurry black dot five minutes ago, is now right in front of you. Countless warship wrecks float in space, and alloy fragments heading towards Tarsonis disappear in the shimmering reflection.
The Wolf Hunters of Sterling remained silent, offering neither gasps of surprise nor any comment on the war or their own mission.
Whether they were elite troops, regular soldiers, or militia reservists of the Korhal Revolutionary Army, they all possessed a chilling solemnity. The loss of their homeland filled these soldiers with deep sorrow and grief. At this moment, no one would consider a weeping soldier a coward, and anyone laughing heartily would seem out of place and incomprehensible.