Confederacy's Daily Incompetence

Before Zeratul could finish speaking, the two Dark Templar behind him vanished without a trace in the billowing black smoke. Just as they had arrived, these Protoss had used some kind of phase warp technology to leave this place and go to find their other brothers and sisters.

Dark Templar never use the main entrance.

"This is the forward base of the Mirror Plains landing site. I am Tychus Finley." Tychus Findlay's menacing face flashed across the main screen.

"The Zerg have launched an attack on us. This is no small matter; at least tens of thousands of Zerg are swarming here. I can almost feel the insects crawling under my crotch; there are damn Nydus Worm everywhere," he said.

"The worst part is, the Psi Disrupter isn't working! I think it's completely broken, and Swann's engineers can't fix it either."

"It's broken. Trouble always seems to keep piling up." Augustus held his breath, pacing back and forth without realizing it.

"Tychus, hold the Mirror Plains base. I will have Captain Komoran on orbit send reinforcements." He ordered, "I grant you this authority: once you believe the war is beyond saving, immediately withdraw all troops."

"That's exactly what I was waiting for. These bugs don't know pain unless you're ruthless." Tychus turned his head, seemingly unaware of fear.

"Tonight we'll have fried insects, oh, they're so cute." Behind him stood several equally burly Revolutionary Army.

The officer and a group of soldiers standing ready for battle were clearly at the front lines rather than in the command center.

This was Tychus's command style. Although he was very happy to stay in the safe rear and slack off or do some petty thievery when he was in the mood, if the war concerned Tychus's own life or death, he would rather shoot his foolish superior and take command of the army himself than entrust his fate to someone else.

"Finley's tough guys, we're in a huge mess—everyone can eat half-grown worms raw with lava sauce." He laughed heartily, and before the call ended, a similarly loud echo came from beside him.

Tychus isn't always surrounded by the worst villains. The people Tychus might trust are intelligent individuals who won't drag others down, virtuous people, and most importantly, those who would never abandon him in battle.

"Captain Komoran." Augustus then contacted the commander of the Revolutionary Army, Fleets was in high orbit.

The other party was a middle-aged man with a thick beard. He was a New Sydney from the Confederacy's fringe planet. His beard was reddish, which is why many people in the Revolutionary Army Fleets called him "Redbeard of New Sydney".

Komoran was originally the captain of a commercial-converted assault ship of the Revolutionary Army. Later, due to the lack of available personnel, Augustus to captain of the Leviathan -class battlecruiser Sons of Korhal Thunder Child.

The Thunder Child one of only three Leviathan -class battleships remaining in the Revolutionary Army Fleets. The other four Leviathan -class battlecruisers seized from the Dylarian Shipyards have been destroyed or scrapped because they could not keep up with the war between the Behemoth-class Battlecruiser.

The Thunderborn remains a heroic-class warship, its illustrious service deserving a glorious retirement or a place in the scrapyard to continue serving humanity. However, the Revolutionary Army is desperately short of warships; they lack the interstellar shipyards to build large spaceships, thus forcing them to continue using a warship that should have been phased out.

Nevertheless, after being upgraded by the Swann Engineering Corps, this surviving warship still possesses the firepower of a capital ship, and its aging engines have been replaced. It is believed that this Leviathan -class battlecruiser will continue to serve the Revolutionary Army for a considerable period of time, until it is no longer able to escape the planet's gravity or Augustus deems it deserving of a proper rest.

"Connecting, Marshal." Captain Komoran, dressed in a dark gray Revolutionary Army captain's uniform and wearing a wide-brimmed hat with gold trim, stood tall and straight like a pine tree. "What are your orders?"

"The Fleets must reinforce the front lines immediately; we need support from orbital bombardment and the Wraith squadron."

"Yes, sir," the captain replied sternly.

Augustus then ordered the Hyperion and Norad III to support the landing forces.

That wasn't all. At this critical juncture, Augustus's first thought was of the Tassadar Expeditionary Force's landing troops. There was no time for pretense. "Lieutenant, contact the nearest Protoss ground forces. Considering we share a common enemy, we need their support, the sooner the better."

After issuing a series of orders, Augustus prepared to leave the command room to personally lead his army. But at this moment, Augustus noticed that Zeratul was standing quietly to the side, looking thoughtful.

"Psi Disrupter —it's those weapons that disrupted the Psionics links between the Zerg, making them unable to move an inch." Zeratul slowly looked at Augustus: "I think I understand. This was a long-planned attack."

"The Overmind have been watching you since the moment humans landed, but your enemies may not be just them."

"Other enemies?" Augustus immediately considered a possibility, followed by a flash of cold anger. "Nova Squadron, what have they done?"

"No"

Duke had reported to Augustus that they had received a distress signal from the Confederacy Nova Squadron, but the reason for the Nova Squadron's landing on Char was still a mystery, and Augustus believed that they certainly did not come to this infernal planet to soak in hot springs.

"Before this, my Dark Templar had been keeping a close watch on every army on the surface of Char— the Zerg, the Templar Knights, you, and those humans in purple armor."

Zeratul stood beside Augustus, his voice sounding like that of a calm old man. "Your fellow humans have deployed a special weapon in this area."

He continued, "This weapon is amplifying the Psionics signal of one of the human Psionics."

Upon hearing Zeratul's words, Augustus immediately understood what the Nova Squadron was doing. "Psi Emitter!"

Alpha Squadron received a distress signal from the Nova Squadron landing force—but it was probably not originally intended for them, or perhaps the Nova Squadron, which was deployed to the ground, did not know the consequences of their mission.

The Psi Emitter naturally attracted Swarm, which was the real reason why Nova Squadron was surrounded.

Augustus also knew that the Psi Disrupter was a powerful weapon against the Zerg, but another human weapon, the Psi Emitter, could counteract that effect. If there were enough Psi Emitter, the Revolutionary Army's Psi Disrupter would be rendered ineffective.

"At first we didn't know why they were doing that, but such a dangerous move alerted me." Zeratul's voice echoed in Augustus's mind once more.

"That signal strengthens the Psionics link between the Overmind and the Cerebrate and their races. When the signal from that weapon is strong enough to completely overwhelm the strange interference waves in your camp, the powerful Overmind and Cerebrate will be able to regain control of their races."

The eyes of this Dark Templar master flickered with green Psionics fire, seemingly reflecting his wise soul.

"I don't know if this is a common trait among humans, but you always try to proclaim your existence to the universe without caring whether there are enemies in deep space, attempting to master powers that even you cannot comprehend. When the Kakuru Pteranodon of Shakuras ate too much food, all that awaited it was the fate of dying from overeating."

"These scoundrels." Augustus was already well aware of the corruption, depravity, and selfishness of the Confederacy. When the Confederate Congress decided to nuke Korhal IV, there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between them.

While the Revolutionary Army fought for the survival of the Terrans, the Terran Confederacy only thought about their deaths.

"Tychus, retreat. There's no need to continue this war." Augustus re-established contact with Tychus, who was preparing for a major offensive, and changed his orders without hesitation.

The Psi Emitter deployed by Nova Squadron will also have another terrible effect: all the Zerg on Char will swarm in. This means that the Revolutionary Army's landing point on Char will immediately become the most dangerous place on the planet.

This would eliminate the need to defend the landing point, as it would be impossible to hold it, even if all the expedition members were lost.

"What? I'm getting really into it." Tychus paused for a moment. "But if you want me to leave this godforsaken place, I won't object."

"Faraday, send the most loyal and courageous guards to protect that Xel'Naga Artifact Fragment." At this moment, Augustus still hadn't forgotten the importance of that artifact fragment.

Augustus also rescinded the orders given to the Fleets. Now they only had one task: to send enough transport ships and fighters to cover the retreat of the landing forces. Augustus would want to fight the entire Zerg of Char to the death; that was something only the Protoss Expeditionary Force could do.

After saying this, Augustus walked out of the command center, with Faraday following closely behind. Zeratul glanced at the human command center and then followed.

Typically, neither Templar Knights nor Dark Templar interact with humans, much less consider them as equals or friends.

When Zeratul spoke with Augustus, he discovered that the latter was a rare human being who truly ruled his people with benevolence and authority, a type of person who was not common even among his own people.

A human commander who dares to lead his army to face the expeditionary force Char the Swarm directly is worthy of Zeratul's attention, and this is also the source of his patience with Augustus.

As Augustus stepped out of the command room, four members of the Marshal's Elite Guard immediately lowered their Gauss Rifle and followed closely behind him. Several civilian staff members responsible for collecting and processing intelligence hurried past Augustus, clutching documents and electromagnetic pistols—their only weapons for protection.

As Augustus out of the command center, the green rectangular marching tents, towering radar towers, and artillery positions of the Alpha Squadron landing base immediately came into view.

These large-caliber electromagnetic cannons are the key to Alpha Squadron's firepower suppression, and their power against Zerg is no less than that of the Arclite Siege Tank Thor's Hammer Siege Cannon.

Clad in white Power Armor, with black and gold eagles and wolf heads adorning their right breastplates and shoulder armor Alpha Squadron soldiers, under Raynor's command, are charging spiritedly towards various bunkers and heavy firing positions.

Some of these Alpha Squadron soldiers were former Resocialized Soldier on the Warfield Steel Justice, and still believe they are fighting for the Terran Confederacy because their modified minds cannot clearly distinguish between government forces and rebels.

During the neuromodification surgery, the doctors did not add any related memories or skills. When fighting against the Confederacy Army with Alpha Squadron, they still referred to the enemy as rebels.

Such incidents will no longer occur, as all Confederacy resocialization programs have undergone further modifications. Simultaneously, continuously advancing resocialization techniques are working to minimize the defects in modified soldiers while preserving their individuality as much as possible.

The base was guarded by two battalions of the 1st Marine Division, Alpha Squadron. Due to a lack of sufficient Resocialized Soldier, the number of these battalions was always kept at a barely maintained level.

These troops were led by high-ranking officers from the Revolutionary Army, and their loyalty was the key to Augustus's ability to keep the Alpha Squadron firmly under his control.

"Your warriors are all brave and have lofty ideals." Zeratul's figure was somewhat hunched, but his body was still strong. His strong and broad feet stomped on the ground silently, each step equivalent to two steps for Augustus, and he quickly caught up with his opponent.

Even though aging will irreversibly weaken the Protoss's power, Dark Prelate Zeratul remains one of the most powerful Dark Templar today.

"They are the most selfless human warriors I have ever met." He offered his opinion as if he were an elder of Augustus rather than a stranger he had only met a few times.

"But the Zerg you are facing is the oldest and most terrifying of all. The Zerg of Daggoth are more powerful than any enemy humanity has ever encountered. Among them are the tribes of Sath and Nagar."

"Do you think we are doomed to defeat?" Augustus walked toward Jim Raynor, who was directing the defenses at the southern fortification wall of the base, the direction of which was directly facing the Tiamat Brood.

"The bravery you have displayed is beyond your years." Zeratul did not answer Augustus's question.

Augustus didn't perceive any humor in the voice Zeratul projected into his mind, at least that's what the other person truly thought, "Such praise pleases me, elder. Perhaps it's just because my mental age is older than my actual age."

As he spoke, Augustus already reached Raynor's side, while the latter was ordering the engineers of the Alpha Squadron to reinforce the defenses with 15mm electroplated protective plates.

They were very close to the vanguard of the Tiamat Brood. The leading Zergling were less than 500 yards from an abandoned Alpha Squadron outpost, Augustus could even smell the blood emanating from the Swarm.

"How's it going, Jim?" Augustus asked Raynor.

"This isn't good," Raynor said frankly. "Even if the Duke people come back, they'll only be feeding the bugs a few more pieces of meat. Perhaps we can ask the Protoss for help."

"The Protoss." Augustus thought of how he had once sent a distress signal to the Protoss. If they had had the Protoss's support, they wouldn't be in such despair.

As they were talking, with a hum in the wind, several gleaming Protoss gold and blue fighters leaped in, followed closely by a large number of transport ships and Protoss assault craft. All the Zerg in the vicinity were heading this way; even without human requests for help, the Protoss ground forces commander had long since noticed something was wrong.

"They arrived just in time." Raynor laughed. "We were just talking about them when they showed up, as always."

"Alright. It seems we don't need to run away for now." Augustus shook his head, thinking about what he should do to turn the tide of the battle.

Since most of the Zerg Char drawn here by the Psi Emitter, and even the Tiamat Brood that Overmind the Overmind for years has come, it means that the defenses of the core Zerg hive area where the Overmind is located must be weakened.

Thinking of this, Augustus looked at Zeratul.

"I am ready to fight alongside human warriors," Zeratul replied to Augustus.

No six thousand today. I was careless.