I Have the Great General Duke

"What are you doing, Duke!"

Given Augustus's cautious nature—planning carefully and deliberating thoroughly before acting—he would never have rushed forward so recklessly if he had been commanding Norad III.

The Protoss Fleets held an absolute advantage in both firepower and numbers. Apart from Duke, it was probably impossible to find another commander among the humans who was as always ready to charge into battle as he was.

Duke is rough and domineering; once he sets his mind on something, he'll never turn back. If the Alpha Squadron is facing a block of tofu, they can certainly crush everything in their path; but if it's a steel plate with Steel Nail, Duke will fight to the death.

This ill-tempered old nobleman from Tarsonis seemed to have no concept of fear.

As Duke's commander, one must have the ability to steer a wild horse and guide it in the right direction.

"Just as you see, Marshal, we must stop them!" The man whom Raynor and the others called Viper had a resolute expression and piercing eyes. Whether he was foolish or ignorant, he truly possessed a fearless courage.

Duke, this despicable old nobleman, didn't care much about whether there were actually millions of lives waiting for him to save on Mar- Sara; he only fought for merit and other things related to personal gain.

Like Raynor, who genuinely loves the people he wants to protect, Duke only loves himself and only cares about himself.

"These Protoss warships have just destroyed a planet; their ships must be exhausted and incapable of engaging us," Duke calmly analyzed and concluded.

"No ship would challenge a large Fleets alone without support. They would assume our support Fleets is on its way, at which point they would have no choice but to retreat."

"Have you ever considered that they don't care whether we have a support Fleets or not, or that they haven't even considered it at all?" Augustus roared in fury, "You idiot!"

If Augustus wasn't mistaken, the Protoss executive commanding this Protoss Fleets was very likely the future Protoss hero Tassadar, and this executive at least didn't harbor any ill will towards humanity and wouldn't indiscriminately slaughter humans, but Augustus gamble on something uncertain.

While Augustus berating Duke, Norad III was heading at top speed toward the Protoss Fleets in orbit around Mar- Sara. Even after Augustus ordered Duke to retreat, Norad III still plunged headlong into the Protoss Fleets's attack range.

Augustus could say much more about Duke, a technician's shout rang out from the bridge of the Norad III.

"General, the Protoss Fleets has vanished."

"Take over the footage immediately," Augustus.

The Norad III was now very close to the Protoss Protoss Fleets, which resembled a magnificent golden Fleets floating in the dark depths of space. It was an incredibly breathtaking scene, as if humanity were heading towards a lost floating city.

As the technician spoke, one Protoss Fleets ship after another disappeared in the distorted light and shadow on the screen.

"The Protoss have retreated." Augustus was taken aback at first, but quickly smiled. "They've done us a great favor."

The situation in the Sara System was already quite chaotic. Neither the Jormungand Brood nor the Confederacy Navy's Omega Squadron could be easily defeated by the Revolutionary Army, making a large-scale evacuation of Ma Sara refugees between the two virtually impossible.

Now that the Jormungand Brood has suffered heavy losses under the Protoss Fleets's attack, Augustus's pressure has lessened considerably. However, the Protoss Fleets remains a threat, because Augustus know when they might suddenly jump into the Sara System and burn Ma Sara again; after all, the Protoss are truly unpredictable.

"Hahaha, they're scared." Duke reacted in a very short time and accepted the reality of the Protoss's panicked retreat. He laughed loudly, "Pathetic, whether they are golden Protoss or Tal'darim, they are all the same."

"As long as they face an enemy they can fight back, the Protoss will immediately run away with their tails between their legs." He said smugly, laughing uncontrollably, as if he had never been so proud in his life.

"Well done, Duke. It proves your decision was right." Augustus first praised Duke a few times, "I will award you a medal."

"Yes, a completely new design, a new badge and a new name, still gleaming gold, absolutely unlike your hundreds of medals. Furthermore, I will consider awarding you the rank of Major General after this battle. The people of Ma Sara were saved entirely because of you; I never imagined you were the one who saved Ma Sara."

"General, Protoss still not responded to our calls?"

Augustus's joy didn't last long; his sharp mind quickly turned to more important matters.

"No." Duke had expected Augustus to praise him more to satisfy his vanity, but he didn't care. What mattered was that his power had increased, which was what Duke was most obsessed with.

"In my opinion, those arrogant, pointy-headed people wouldn't even bother talking to us. In their eyes, we're just monkeys and savages," Duke said. "But that doesn't matter. In my eyes, they're not even as good as monkeys; they're just a pile of dung."

"We don't know if they will come back, or if they will destroy Mar- Sara if they do." Augustus paced back and forth in the central command room of the Revolutionary Army fortress.

"General Duke, you are the only warship still in the Sara System," he said after pausing to think for a moment.

"I need the Alpha Squadron to land immediately in Ma Sara to complete preparations for the evacuation of refugees—our guerrillas left there will meet you," Augustus.

"Then you must contact the refugees throughout Mar- Sara and direct them to the transport ships' intended landing sites to prepare for evacuation. Simultaneously, you must deal with the Jormungand Brood forces that have already invaded Mar- Sara, as well as the Omega Squadron Marines controlling the area, and protect the refugees who follow us."

"Why do we have to do this? I don't understand how saving so many people will help us overthrow the Confederacy." Duke frowned, but did not want to disobey Augustus's orders. "The Confederacy never allocates funds to save refugees, let alone the entire planet. Usually, these things rely on donations from civilian organizations."

"I know all too well what kind of people are in the Confederacy; of course, I'm no more noble than them."

Duke is not a person with a long-term vision; most of the time, his attention is focused on what he sees.

"It is precisely because the Confederacy is not doing it that we must do it," Augustus.

"We never called ourselves saviors or messiahs, but no one else would have done so. And the people of the Terran Confederacy will remember everything we did, and remember that the Revolutionary Army was a righteous force."