Swann's New Research

From the moment the Taldarim ground forces appeared in the warp field to the time Alpha Squadron opened fire, only a few seconds elapsed—no longer than the time it takes for a Marine to draw and load his weapon or for Taldarim warrior to ignite his Psionics blade.

Bhekar has become a battlefield between humans and Tal'darim amidst withered jungles and dead trees. The electromagnetic guns and magnetic nail guns of the Alpha Squadron infantry rattle and clatter, while the Firebat at the forefront unleash scorching smoke walls at the very front of the battle line using plasma flamethrowers.

The Goliath Combat Robot and the Arclite Siege Tank with deployed scaffolds were positioned within the Alpha Squadron's lines, between combat battalions, providing fire support to their infantry comrades.

Meanwhile, the Taldarim warriors advanced through a hail of bullets. Their padded, reinforced mechanical greaves allowed these ferocious Protoss warriors to charge with phantom speed, crashing into the enemy ranks with overwhelming force.

Edmond Duke's Alpha Squadron more than 20,000 soldiers was deployed along a front about 15 miles wide, with a dozen artillery battalions and more than 6,000 elite mercenaries from Kel-Morian Hammer Security Company behind them.

Compared to Alpha Squadron's bright white Power Armor and gold eagle insignia, Hammer Security Company's armor has a much more understated color scheme, primarily black with silver-gray right-angled lines.

These mercenaries had all signed confidentiality agreements, promising not to reveal what they had seen or heard that day for five years. But even so, news of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations beyond the Koprulu Sector would inevitably spread sooner or later, and even the most knowledgeable people would be curious about mysterious extraterrestrial civilizations—especially when they harbored ill intentions towards humanity.

In fact, the Terran Confederacy and other human governments discovered and named these alien races much earlier than the publicly known year 2497.

After the first calibration, the Revolutionary Army's artillery opened fire on the location where the Taldarim troops had been initially reported to have appeared. The intense barrage immediately covered the area of several square miles in front of the Alpha Squadron, and huge columns of mud, composed of soil, withered plants, and shrapnel, rose from the ground, tearing off a layer of the earth.

However, just as the artillery commander was preparing for the second round of bombardment, he received a report that the Tal'darim had engaged in close combat with the Alpha Infantry. The artillery then turned its attention to the rear of the Taldarim to avoid friendly fire.

The Taldarim warriors emerged from the thick smoke billowing from the artillery fire, drawing even closer to the Alpha Squadron soldiers who were firing. Such intense firepower was enough to tear apart the Power Armor of human soldiers and destroy any known human ground force, yet the Protoss forces appeared to have suffered few casualties, or even be completely unscathed.

Their plasma shields still gleamed with a chilling, eerie light, appearing like solid ice in the dappled sunlight of Bhekar. The Protoss's fighting style differed from that of humans, who were accustomed to using guns and cannons; they almost never used ballistic kinetic weapons, preferring instead beam-based Psionics weapons.

Even so, the Protoss warriors still adhere to the traditions of the tribal era, fighting with swords and spears, only replacing their stone weapons with Psionic Blade. Perhaps they believe that close combat with swords better demonstrates a warrior's value, but that doesn't mean the Protoss, especially their ruthless branch Tal'darim, won't use powerful firepower to destroy their enemies.

Behind the Taldarim front, nearly a thousand Taldarim Dragoon, piloting flat, four-legged armor, advanced through the shell craters like giant deep-sea crabs, their long, multi-jointed mechanical legs moving with ease through the craters and trenches created by the shells.

The crimson energy projectiles from the Phase Disruptor launched by the Dragoon instantly melted or cracked like shattered jelly whenever they landed in the middle of Alpha Squadron's lines, whether they were Marines or Firebat in their thicker armor.

These incredibly powerful walking mechs originated from the Tal'darim's close relatives on Aiur 'Protoss birthplace. The Dragoon were originally intended for Protoss warriors who were wounded or disabled but still wanted to continue fighting.

After the Tal'darim unjustly acquired the Dragoon from their own kind, they threw the remains and even the brains of the warriors who lost in the infighting into nutrient solutions, making these losers an eternal part of these cold mechs.

The Taldarim warriors run with the agility of strong springbok, their indestructible plasma shields blocking all bullets, shrapnel, and even lasers. Their Psionics blades trail crimson arcs of light, like leaping flames.

Wielding crimson blood blades, Taldarim warriors charged into the enemy ranks under the intense fire of the Alpha Squadron. In the blink of an eye, the human battle lines were torn apart by blood and flesh. The Tal'darim's Psionics blades could slice through Power Armor with just a few swings.

The roar of cannons and the glint of swords filled the air.

Even the Tal'darim were astonished by the seemingly indomitable and unwavering morale of the Alpha Squadron. These resocialized soldiers would not break down even if only one remained in the final battle; their combat awareness was almost equivalent to that of robots. Never retreat, fight to the death.

The Taldarim's first charge inflicted heavy casualties on Alpha Squadron, not to mention the Taldarim leaders who, hovering in mid-air, were able to unleash crimson Psionics chains that swept across the battlefield using their powerful Psionics.

The Protoss have reached the pinnacle of Psionics; their individual Psionics strength far surpasses that of any human Psionics except for Sarah Kerrigan. While the entire Koprulu Sector contains only a thousand to ten thousand human Psionics, the Tal'darim have Psionics everywhere. If Psionics potential is a product of a species' advanced evolution, then the Protoss have undoubtedly evolved to a remarkably high level.

The terrifying Psionics arcs could easily tear through Power Armor, and the human soldiers at the center of the Psionics chain were dried up like crabs in an oven, dying in an extremely gruesome manner.

Duke's Alpha Squadron was undoubtedly an elite force; they quickly withstood the Protoss charge and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy using EMP and anti- Psionics weapons.

The Taldarim warriors were able to wreak havoc on human warriors with their advanced plasma shield technology and Psionics blades, but their numbers were still too few. Including the Dragoon deployed in the rear, the number of Tal'darim participating in the battle was less than five thousand.

Meanwhile, the Warfield Marine Corps reinforced and strengthened the flank defenses of the Alpha Squadron, while Raynor's Raynor's Raiders outflanked the left flank of the Taldarim front, putting immense pressure on the Dragoon forces behind them.

After the Revolutionary Army sniper shot and killed a Tal'darim commander, the Taldarim ground forces began to retreat. They used some kind of warp technology to instantly recall their troops, seemingly just a probing move by the Taldarim.

Augustus, in the command center, was watching everything through the monitors of his own satellites and Scout. Dozens of different windows on the main screen of the command center displayed images of the battlefield. At the control console in the command center, a group of people were talking, reporting casualty figures or data on the Fleets in synchronous orbit.

The Alpha Squadron suffered relatively heavy losses, but since they were all Resocialized Soldier of the Confederacy, Augustus was not too heartbroken. In contrast, the losses of the Taldarim forces were difficult to quantify. Their soldiers almost never left any bodies after being killed or seriously wounded; only a very small number of bodies remained on the spot.

Augustus's desire to capture a Taldarim Ascendant became a pipe dream. The Protoss deployed their ground forces far more flexibly and quickly than the humans, and they could choose at will where to start a battle and when to retreat.

At this point, Augustus even more certain that there were not many Tal'darim in Bhekar. In his mind, the Taldarim here were only a part of the Taldarim Expeditionary Force, which was originally a lone force far away from the Taldarim Taldarim of Slayn.

Within minutes of the Tal'darim retreat, Augustus received a communication from Edmond Duke, commander of Alpha Squadron.

"Alpha Squadron lived up to expectations. It was a glorious victory. We easily flattened the Tal'darim's pointed heads and burned them to ashes, as easily as burning a bunch of Roach." The pointed heads in Duke's helmet were completely bald, their shiny surfaces reflecting light like mirrors.

Duke had a bad reputation both within the Terran Confederacy and the Revolutionary Army. Tychus, Raynor, and Harnack all called him a treacherous Viper, while aristocratic officers Londerstein had received aristocratic educations, poetically referred to Duke as a silverback gorilla kept in King Arthur's court. Of course, he was undoubtedly Augustus Arthur of the Earth era.

"Duke, I order you to continue the advance and provide cover for our engineering contingent—we're not only going to bury the Taldarim's Terrazine vents, but also smash their shrines. The Protoss artifacts are among the most valuable possessions in all of Koprulu, and they're quite worthwhile if the right buyer is found."

Augustus ignored Duke's smug boasting. All the generals in the Confederacy Naval Command knew that Colonel Duke's reports could only be believed halfway. Even if they had defeated a small Laborer Auxiliary Corps unit from Kel-Morian, it would be considered a great victory for Alpha Squadron against an entire Ripper Heavy Brigade.

But for now, it still appears to be a victory. If the Taldarim had the power to crush the human army, they wouldn't have just sent a handful of troops to tickle the enemy; they would have cleanly and decisively destroyed all of the human forces.

The Taldarim don't need to deploy many troops in Bhekar; they encounter almost no other enemies in this universe.

"That shouldn't sound too difficult," Duke said. "But I think it would probably take several months if we wanted to clear out all the shrines from these Taldarim spikes."

"It will be even harder to eliminate all the sharp heads of the Bhekar. They have an invisible force field, and we are completely clueless." As he said this, he suddenly turned his head to the other side, as if someone was talking to him.

"Marshal Augustus, I have good news to tell you." At this moment, Duke revealed his signature smug smile and said in an almost boastful tone.

"If you keep playing coy with me, you'll never get any medals or promotions." Augustus knew Duke was a master of changing his tune. Back in the Confederacy, Duke didn't like to curry favor with his superiors because he had the Duke Family, the Old Families, backing him up, but things were different now.

"The Taldarim left some fighters behind during their retreat, and we found several spider-type mechs—I think that's what they're called—damaged by artillery fire," Duke said. "In one of the destroyed mechs, we found a dying Taldarim horn. If we can revive him..."

"Arrange a special plane to send this Taldarim to the command center. Directly to the field hospital. Also, send all the captured Tal'darim equipment over with it," Augustus said immediately. Then, Augustus beckoned to Kerrigan and Faraday who were standing nearby.

"Call Swann and Kaczynski over and see how these things can help us." He said, walking towards the elevator leading to the ground from the command center Command Island: "Have Lisa Cassidy prepare an operating room and arrange our best attending physician."

"Yes, Marshal." Faraday immediately gave a standard military salute.

Outside the command center, the scene was still the usual scene of martial law. Augustus's guards patrolled back and forth. The hospital and armory were just outside the iron fence separating the command center and the hospital. So Augustus, who was standing in the open space, soon met Swann and his assistant, who had arrived looking travel-worn.

"Boss Mengsk, we're not too late, are we? But I don't know what's got you in such a hurry to see us. These past few days, my men and I have been dealing with machinery and Screws." Swann was wearing an orange-gray overalls, his clothes covered in black oil stains.

Meanwhile, a command vehicle that would take Augustus to the hospital was already parked nearby. As usual, either Kerrigan or Corporal Faraday would be driving Augustus.

"I need you to handle a batch of Tal'darim weapons." Augustus chuckled, telling Swann not to be too nervous.

"Let's get in the car and talk as we drive."

"How's the research on those Protoss weapons going?" Augustus sat in the back of the command vehicle, not minding at all that he was sitting with Swann and Kaczynski, who were covered in oil, while the latter seemed a little reserved.

Swann was the one who felt it the most. A year ago in Meinhoff, Augustus just a second lieutenant with only a few dozen men under his command. Yet he was already the supreme leader of the Korhal rebels, commanding hundreds of thousands of people.

Even so, Augustus seemed no different from before, except that one always felt that the burden on his shoulders was too heavy, so much so that he was more often frowning than in the past.

Throughout Augustus's life, he lost more friends and soldiers than in the previous year.

"Progress is practically nonexistent. I don't like to brag... that's basically it," Swann said. "Remember those Void Crystals we found in Mar- Sara? They're similar to what power the Tal'darim weapons, but with much more violent energy."

"The Protoss plasma shields have given me some inspiration. Perhaps we can use them as a reference to improve the defensive shields of the Hyperion and other warships—if we can acquire more Tal'darim weapons or structures, the results will be much greater."

Thanks to Corporal Kerry on Patrol, Blackwatch Senior Commander, Agent Rongrong, and Jason1326 for the donations!