Taradorn
Tyrador III was the second destination on the Augustus Taradorn System journey. It was the third planet in the system and one of three habitable planets.
The shuttle carrying Augustus was entering the gravitational field of planet Tyrador III, orbiting synchronously with the planet, preparing to enter its dense atmosphere.
This bright blue, butterfly-shaped shuttle has a pair of symmetrical, narrow triangular auxiliary wings. Three sets of plasma thrusters ensure that the spacecraft has enough power and endurance to travel between the planet's surface and outer space. Its micro-warp engines can also support several short-distance jumps across star systems.
This shuttle, manufactured by the renowned Tarsonis Bennett Orbital Shipyard, could carry up to twenty people and their equivalent weight of cargo, making it the most commonly used shuttle for Confederacy merchants. Augustus accompanied this time only by a squad of elite guards led by Raynor, Harnack, and Faraday.
Piloting it was a Revolutionary Army Navy captain who had been a seasoned cargo ship pilot. Like many Korhal youths who joined the army with great enthusiasm, this pilot continued to shine in his area of expertise, his main job being to set up supply ships to travel between planetary supply stations, starports, and Fleets.
After the Battle of Tarsonis, this supply pilot was awarded a Korhal Silver Knight Medal for his numerous successful voyages through various perilous interstellar battlefields and was granted the honor of piloting a ship for a Marshal.
On the control panel in front of Augustus's seat, a blue-green planet is projected onto a Holographic Projection screen.
The natural environment of Tyrador III is quite different from the beautiful natural landscapes of its two sister star systems that orbit each other. The planet's atmosphere has a higher proportion of nitrogen and oxygen than that of ordinary planets, with carbon dioxide and methane. This atmosphere not only effectively shields Tyrador III from excessive radiation due to its proximity to its star, but also creates a humid, hot, and Hurricane world for it.
The origin of life on this planet comes from a comet carrying organic microorganisms, whose life forms have shown a surging development and vibrant vitality over billions of years of natural evolution.
Millions of years ago, Tyrador III was a beautiful planet teeming with life. The rapid evolution of life forms led to the development of distinct terrestrial and marine life groups.
However, extreme Tyrador III Hurricane, tsunamis, geological movements, or sudden climate changes can destroy an entire age of ancient organisms in an instant, and then the few surviving species will regain dominance of land and sea at an extremely rapid pace across several chronological scales.
Because the city established by the previous settlers of Tyrador III was destroyed by a terrible tsunami decades ago, officials from the Confederacy Immigration Bureau and the Central Security Bureau had to reconsider the possibility of recolonizing this planet. This is because the intervals between super-natural disasters capable of destroying a civilization on this planet can range from millions of years to no more than a few years.
However, the fossils and extant biological species found there make it a treasure trove for studying species evolution and genetic diversity. This makes Taradorn, despite its extreme and changeable climate, unsuitable as a stable, large-scale Confederacy territory, a place with numerous biological research stations and Confederacy research facilities.
Today, the Confederacy's colonists are still considering a long process of terraforming to completely alter the natural environment of Tyrador III to make it more suitable for human habitation. However, this proposal is considered to destroy more than 95% of the planet's native life forms and has been strongly opposed by the Koprulu Animal Protection Society.
With the outbreak of the Guild Wars, the matter was eventually dropped, since the Terran Confederacy was not lacking in habitable planets, and the Taradorn System was extremely rare to have three.
The vast majority of the population of Tyrador III lives in a massive orbital city that can accommodate millions of people. However, the person Augustus is looking for— Egon Stetmann, the chief scientist of the Raynor Raynor's Raiders— is not in the orbital city, but in a small town on the surface of Tyrador III.
"How does it feel to be on the shuttle? I heard you've never been to space." Augustus sat next to Kerrigan and a young Matt Horner Matt Horner. Sarah Kerrigan looked much better than she had two years ago, and her high-piled red hair and rosy face added to her mature charm.
Everyone in the Marshal's headquarters knew that Augustus adored this fifteen-year-old boy and spared no effort in nurturing him.
Matt Horner was wearing a dark gray sailor uniform and the Revolutionary Army cap that Augustus had given him. After generations of discussion and even arguments within the Horner Family, they finally decided to send Matt Horner into the Revolutionary Army.
Aside from Matt Horner's unwavering stance, the Horner Family believed that following someone like Augustus was undoubtedly a bright and promising path—though this inexplicable confidence greatly surprised Augustus. If the Horner Family hadn't been without daughters, Augustus might not have been able to extricate himself so easily.
"I feel great, Augustus." Matt Horner's expression was quite excited. "I feel fantastic."
"That's good. Most people who grow up in a planet's gravitational field don't adapt well to the space environment the first time they enter it. There are always some unlucky guys who will vomit and have diarrhea." Augustus looked at Matt Horner.
"I can't believe you still came with us. In many people's eyes, you're still just a child," he said.
"Because this might be my only chance to get out of Tyrador IX," Matt Horner said. "There's always been a voice inside me telling me that if I miss this opportunity, I might have to wait many more years."
"Very good, as long as you don't regret it, I have no problem with you," Augustus said to Matt Horner.
"Matt Horner, I thought we might have made a wasted trip, after all, you're still too young," said Jim Raynor, sitting in the back.
"My child, I must still remind you. In our Revolutionary Army, many people joined with great ambitions, but regretted it the moment they stepped into the barracks or onto the battlefield. Perhaps some still think that the Revolutionary Army is nothing more than a rabble of peasant uprisings, but what awaits these people is the punishment of deserters." He solemnly reminded the young man in front of him, Taradorn, who could still only be called a big boy.
"Don't scare Matt Horner, or I'll have to rely on Harnack to steer the boat for me," Augustus laughed heartily.
"I've never driven a boat, but I have driven Vulture," Harnack, who was next to Raynor, said immediately when Augustus mentioned him.
"But I don't think it's a big deal. I can do it myself."
"Marshal, I will never desert." Matt Horner said with utmost respect, "I came here because I want to become the bravest Revolutionary Army, ready to sacrifice myself for it at any time."
"I don't need you to sacrifice yourself, Matt Horner. I have no doubt that you will become a general or even a marshal in the future," Augustus a smile.
Augustus's words surprised Matt Horner; he had clearly never considered this possibility. In comparison, Matt Horner felt that his greatest achievement in life was probably being Augustus's personal driver.
"I never imagined I would become a general," Matt Horner said.
"Then you must now make this your ideal." Augustus said, his smile fading. "Next, I will arrange for you to serve as a trainee sailor on the Hyperion. After some time, you may be assigned to Captain Raynor ' side, to learn navigation and the daily management of the warship from his first mate and the executive officer."
"Once the time is right, I will send you to the Umojan Capital University. After you have completed two to three years of study, I will bring you back and appoint you as the captain of one of the battlecruisers in my Fleets."
"Yes, sir," Matt Horner said seriously.
Augustus patted Matt Horner on the shoulder from behind, clearly showing his affection for the boy, but Matt Horner remained upright, appearing quite nervous. Matt Horner still needed considerable time to adjust to his new status; the age and position difference prevented him from treating Augustus close friend or elder brother. He always held this great Revolutionary Army leader in high esteem and awe.
By this time, the shuttle that Augustus was riding had passed through the atmosphere of the Tyrador III and, after a period of turbulence, landed on a steel-cast docking platform in the Northern Hemisphere.
The landing site was located in a low-lying swamp, beyond which lay forests and numerous small lakes. A multitude of strange and brightly colored creatures thrived in the damp swamp, and the sky was filled with flying creatures resembling small pterosaurs. On the ground, the faint footprints of enormous creatures could still be seen, and large groups of small, webbed, brightly colored lizards scurried across the muddy swamp.
This mooring platform was built in the early Colonial Era and has been abandoned for quite some time. The rusty platform still bears faded warning tape and painted warning signs. Everywhere is filth, mud, and abandoned machinery, but there is no trace of human activity.
Tyrador III is currently in an extremely warm era, with lush forests covering 70% of the land, and life species are exploding. A significant portion of the local biomes are derived from cold-blooded creatures and mammals brought by humans, and their evolutionary rate on this planet far exceeds that of their native habitats.
In just over a hundred years, the small lizards that were originally brought as pets by the earliest colonists have grown twentyfold in size and evolved into hundreds of regional subspecies, which is truly amazing. This is a paradise for biologists, and the most famous universities and research institutions in the Koprulu Sector have established research facilities in Taradorn.
Besides the extremely rich and diverse biota and rapid evolutionary speed of Tyrador III, which are of great research value, the lost civilization relics buried in the thick geological layers are also one of the reasons why there are so many research stations on this planet.
Numerous pieces of evidence suggest that the planets in the Taradorn System —and more than three colonyable planets at that—possess a wealth of ancient civilization relics. Colossal, deep green crystal pillars are found throughout the underground caverns, and the enormous temples used to praise their gods represent the pinnacle of art and aesthetics that humans can imagine.
A significant number of extraterrestrial occultists believe that this was once the home world of an ancient civilization that had advanced to the age of interstellar travel and colonized most of the planets in this star system. They were even able to terraform a barren, rocky planet into one with a complete atmosphere and biosphere, which may explain why the Taradorn System has so many habitable planets.
A thousand years or even longer ago, this ancient civilization abandoned or temporarily left their home for unknown reasons, and only then did humanity discover this star system and begin to implement a colonization policy.
The people still on Tyrador III are either surviving early settlers, native residents from the second and third small-scale migrations, or elite scientists from various Confederacy colonies. On the planet's surface, there are even more research institutions than the number of the local residents' semi-domed huts.
Augustus stepped off the shuttle with a dozen or so armed Revolutionary Army guards and ordered Faraday to take his men to assess the situation.
Because the oxygen content in the atmosphere of Tyrador III is higher than that of most Earth-like planets, everyone was put on ventilators on Augustus's orders. Although they wouldn't be unable to breathe, outsiders staying in such an environment for an extended period of time were likely to experience oxygen toxicity.
"There's not a soul in sight." Raynor put on his respirator. "But I think we're just here to find dinosaurs. Thanks to the incredibly high oxygen levels, Taradorn is teeming with giant insects. I've heard the Zerg are constantly plundering the genes of other races in the Milky Way Galaxy; they might like it here."
As Raynor spoke, a foot-long bloodsucking insect flew past them and was instantly incinerated by a marshal's guard using a Umojan plasma blaster. It was hard to imagine how the local inhabitants survived on a planet teeming with venomous insects and large Predator.
"I don't want the Zerg to ever invade the Taradorn System," Augustus. "The fate of Cha Sara proves that the Zerg only bring destruction."
Augustus recently received a report from the Mar- Sara Revolutionary Army, who stated that the Zerg invasion in Cha- Sara had not been contained. The Zerg forces numbered only tens of thousands, clearly outnumbered by the vast Swarm. Currently, the Zerg Creep had covered an entire subcontinent and the vast ocean, while the Confederacy Fleets sent to provide support remained nowhere to be found.
Currently, the militia and planetary defense forces of Sara are still resisting the Zerg invasion. If the Confederacy does not take decisive and resolute measures, then no matter how much they try to block the news, it will be to no avail. Sooner or later, the entire Confederacy will know what happened in the Sara System, which will cause panic and distrust of the Confederacy and military among billions of people.
The Revolutionary Army's commander in Mar- Sara named the invading Swarm the Sara System Jormungand Brood because of the large number of Hydralisk among them, serpentine creatures that reminded humans of the great serpent from Norse mythology that coiled around and ruled the mortal world.
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