Never Underestimate Humanity

"Waaaaah"

The eerie silence of the bridge of the Norad III was broken by sobs. A naval officer of the Alpha Squadron, a lieutenant commander, suddenly began to sob, tears streaming down his face through the gaps between his fingers.

This was a trusted officer sent by Augustus to take over part of the command of the Alpha Squadron and, to some extent, to sideline and restrain Edmond Duke.

Like the most loyal and courageous fighter in the Revolutionary Army, this Revolutionary Army major is a member of the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party Korhal origin, fighting to overthrow the Terran Confederacy and seek the well-being of all Terrans.

This major had also served as a Revolutionary Army sergeant in the Battle of Korhal, witnessing firsthand the destruction of Korhal IV. The scene left a profound and painful impression on this resilient soldier's mind. Such psychological trauma is common among the Korhal people, and now this phenomenon may well reappear among the Cha Sara people.

"Drag that coward out! Back to his cabin! Get him out of here!" Duke roared, furious like a lion whose tail had been stepped on. He wasn't grieving for Cha Sara, but simply raging with his own powerless anger.

Of course, the weeping Revolutionary Army officer was not treated roughly; he was simply helped off the bridge by two sergeants.

"Turn right, activate the main thrusters, move to 5, 4, 2," Duke shouted.

Under Duke's orders Norad III moved closer to Sara, but still maintained a considerable distance from the golden Protoss Fleets that was regrouping near the moon as it moved away from Sara's high-altitude orbit.

"General." The communication link between Norad III and the Revolutionary Army base's central command center had remained intact, Augustus immediately spoke up, "That wasn't his fault."

"Try sending a communication request to that Protoss Fleets and see if you can establish a communication connection with them," Augustus said to Duke as the Norad III slowly sailed toward Cha Sara.

"We've been trying," Duke took a deep breath. "We've even used deciphered Tal'darim language, but we haven't received any response."

"These warships look like Tal'darim," Augustus, "But they are actually quite different."

Those who had fought against the Taldarim could find many striking similarities between these magnificent gold and blue warships and the Taldarim Protoss warships in their appearance. However, if the former's warships were a combination of war and art, then the latter were the pinnacle of the aesthetics of slaughter.

"Are these recolored Tal'darim, or are they their distant relatives who love gold?" Duke hated all Protoss, just as he hated all inhuman alien creatures.

"They don't take us seriously." Augustus stated calmly what he considered a self-evident fact. "The Protoss don't even care how many cannons our warships have; in their eyes, humanity is just a pathetic, weak race."

They then waited a few more minutes, trying to get a response from the Protoss Fleets, but there was still silence in that direction.

"Not a single response. They've ignored all communication signals." Duke slammed his fist on the current control panel. "Maybe in their eyes we're just a bunch of squeaking mice."

"I'm worried their next target will be Ma Sara," Augustus said with some unease.

"Are there still our Fleets around? Where is the Omega Squadron?"

"No, Marshal, only us," Duke said. "Omega Squadron has been docked at its orbital base on the other side of the Sara System; they're still on 'vacation.'"

The Revolutionary Army currently only has Duke's battlecruiser and some accompanying ships in the Sara System. This was only because Augustus ordered Duke to stay behind to monitor the situation in the Sara System when he led the Revolutionary Army Fleets away.

At this moment, Norad III, during a short jump, moved between the outermost planet of the Sara System and Cha Sara, and was less than one astronomical unit away from another human colony planet in the Sara System, Ma Sara. Suddenly, Norad III was much closer to the magnificent golden Protoss Fleets and Cha Sara, which was melting in flames.

"Scan Cha Sara, see what's happening there." Augustus then gave the order to Norad III.

"Reporting to the Marshal, preliminary scans indicate that there are no signs of life on the surface of Cha Sara." The order was immediately answered by a technical officer.

"Tens of millions of Zerg on Cha- Sara were wiped out; the Jormungand Brood was reduced to ashes."

"What about the Behemoth?" Augustus.

"No such massive Zerg warships were found," the technical officer replied. "We detected residual warp traces."

"The Zerg's Behemoth can warp like our spaceships? How is that possible?" Duke didn't believe it. "How do they enter the hyperspace passage? With their tentacles, wings, or those ugly pus-filled tubes?"

"Psionics," Augustus.

"It can only be Psionics."

"Closely monitor the movements of this Protoss Fleets," Augustus. "If the Protoss Fleets responds to our communication requests, immediately switch to my channel."

"Yes, sir."

"General, the Protoss Fleets has moved again. Good heavens, they're heading for the Mar- Sara System!" Just then, a technician at the bridge control console suddenly shouted.

"There are still millions of people on Mar- Sara!" a female officer on the Norad III screamed.

"Summon my Fleets!" Augustus declared decisively. "We can't let them do that!"

Suddenly, the Protoss Fleets, having regrouped, moved once more. Amidst illusory golden-blue flashes, the Protoss Fleets writhed in a vast spatial distortion and vortex of light to align with Mar- Sara's synchronized orbit, seemingly intending to repeat what they had done to Cha- Sara before.

Dozens of Terran Confederacy military transport barges and space debris recovery ships still remain in Mar- Sara's geosynchronous orbit, but these ships have lost their original luster, their surfaces covered with ugly purplish-black veins, granulation tissue, and pulsating blood vessels. Clearly, these ships have been corrupted and infected by the Jormungand Brood, and the possibility of anyone surviving inside is extremely slim.

The human ships that were positioned between the Protoss Fleets and the planet were instantly reduced to molten black slag by the Protoss warships' firepower. However, to the crew of the Norad III, who were farther away from Mar Sara, it was clear that the Protoss were slaughtering their own people.

"It's just us now." General Duke paced back and forth, repeating what he had just said, "Only we are left to stop them."

There was only silence; all the crew members on the bridge awaited Duke's orders.

"This is General Duke. All ships, accelerate forward!" About ten seconds later, Duke gritted his teeth and ordered through the command channel to the captains and crew, "Once we are within the catapult range of the dock, launch all of our Wraith! All cannons, prepare to fire!"

"These alien bastards, how dare they do that in front of me?"

The crew of the Norad III carried out this order without hesitation—an order that seemed utterly insane from any perspective—and the dark red steel behemoth silently sailed toward Mar- Sara and the Protoss Fleets.

"Don't look down on humans, you alien bastards!" Duke said.

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