Altera
Augustus get to spend a few days in Antiga to enjoy life away from the war. He had just finished inspecting the industrial area and was preparing to head to the Stykoler Forest, where Antiga's most important mines were located, when an urgent report from Warfield pulled him back to the governor's office.
Immediately afterwards, Tassadar and Zeratul's Fleets also made direct contact with Augustus's Marshal's headquarters. On February 3, 2492 (Standard Time), the Jormungand Brood launched a full-scale invasion of Altera, located approximately 140 light-years from Antiga Prime.
Five Jormungand Behemoth jumped into the synchronous orbit of Altera, which means that the Cerebrate Yack of this Swarm may also have appeared in the Altera system.
In any case, Augustus's army is the only military force currently capable of rescuing Altera, and Tassadar and Zeratul hope to use this opportunity to deliver a devastating blow to the massive Jormungand Brood, forcing them to retreat to the star system near Char.
When Augustus arrived at the Ansadar Spaceport, where the Hyperion was undergoing maintenance and repairs, via shuttle from the Antiga Shipyards, the Revolutionary Army Fleets was already ready to depart under his orders.
"Jim, how many men do we have on Altera?" Augustus asked Raynor, who was standing in front of the central main screen, as soon as he stepped through the bridge gate of the Hyperion. Kerrigan and Faraday followed closely behind him, and Tychus Finley and others, who had been chatting and joking with Harnack Hank and Rick Kydd in the bar, also came running after hearing the question.
"More than two weeks ago, Warfield sent some people there to investigate the situation, but now we can hardly contact them." Raynor turned to look at Augustus, his expression grim.
"Trouble keeps piling up," he said. "After our successful raid on Char, the Zerg's large-scale invasion of Koprulu was effectively contained, but that doesn't mean they'll give up the meat they've got in their mouths."
"Summon the First Fleets and prepare to depart." Augustus walked to Raynor's side, placing his hands behind his back. Antiga Prime had enough power for defense; Warfield and Holt's Fleets, along with the Antiga system's defense system, were sufficient to withstand attacks from three Confederacy naval squadrons.
With Tassadar and Zeratul's Great Fleet "protecting" him, Augustus didn't need to worry about losing the war against the Swarm because he didn't have enough Fleets.
The Revolutionary Army Fleets's organization has been reorganized several times to incorporate newly added battlecruisers and battleships procured from the Kel-Morian Combine. The First Fleets now has a total of ten capital ships, including the Hyperion, the Norad III, three other Alpha Squadron ships, and the newly completed battlecruisers acquired from the Dylarian Shipyards.
Warfield's Fleets, after incorporating two Kel-Morian Hercules-class Battleship, comprised eleven ships, with the flagship being Steel Justice. Jack Haller commanded the Third Fleets, primarily composed of nine Nova Squadron, but the captains of his battlecruisers were all personally appointed by Augustus, and each captain was accompanied by a Revolutionary Army Ghost operative.
It is worth mentioning that after the Zerg invasion, the Kel-Morian Combine, like the Umojan Republic, began to strengthen its homeland defenses and focused on rebuilding its military forces, which had been almost completely destroyed by the Terran Confederacy.
Although the board members of the Kel-Morian Combine Mining Company still planned to profit from large-scale arms sales to the Revolutionary Army, they had to reduce exports, otherwise the Moria would turn the place upside down before the Zerg raid even began. This once powerful regime, which could rival the Terran Confederacy, had now declined into a third-rate force dependent on the Confederacy, and many Kel-Morian adventurers had turned into pirates.
"Oh my god, I love working for a bunch of farmers without getting paid, and my favorite thing to do is be a babysitter." Tychus pouted.
"We've just pulled ourselves out of that quagmire of Haj. If I were working for mercenaries or someone else instead of you, this 'traitor leader,' I'd be asking for more money."
"Stop complaining, Tychus. If you don't want to go, you can apply for a leave of absence." Augustus's words silenced Tychus.
"Everyone back to your posts. The Antiga Dead Sea vacation is canceled; it's all the Zerg's fault," Raynor ordered his crew.
Under the navigator's guidance, the Hyperion sailed out of the massive dry dock of the Antiga Shipyards. The bright white lights shining through the bridge windows immediately transformed into dazzling starlight in the universe. Beside each vortex of spacetime channels, hundreds of feet in diameter, stood a magnificent and splendid Protoss warship.
After the Hyperion entered the dark hyperspace passage, Augustus pulled up a satellite map of Altera and discussed with Raynor and others when and where they should enter the system where the planet was located.
Two days later, in the captain's cabin of the USS Hyperion. It was 4:00 AM shiptime.
When Augustus awoke from a jolt, Sarah Kerrigan was already dressed and waiting for him by the bedside. Kerrigan's long red hair shone like flames in the bright light, and she held Augustus's dark gray cloak in one hand and a hot towel soaked in water in the other.
"We've arrived." Augustus rose as quickly as possible and put on his shirt, taking his black square-collared coat and cloak from Kerrigan's hands.
"To be honest, I've gotten used to life on the Hyperion. I've spent most of the past year on board, traveling around."
"But you seem to enjoy it," Kerrigan said with a smile.
"I find joy in it. Yes, especially when I learn that many people have been saved because of my efforts." Augustus returned the same smile, "What else can we hope for? If we do nothing, things will only get worse."
After a quick wash, he took the hat from Kerrigan, opened the door to the captain's cabin, and walked through the Hyperion's winding, narrow corridors to the bridge. A small team of engineers was entering the lower deck from a side corridor; they smelled of strong coffee, canned fruit, and sweet pies, and their words carried an anticipation and a hint of nervousness for the upcoming battle.
Because Augustus's numerous wars against the Zerg or the Confederacy forces had resulted in victories or forced the enemy to retreat, the Revolutionary Army soldiers, despite knowing the enemy's strength, remained steadfast in their belief that they would ultimately achieve victory. This stemmed from both their unwavering faith in themselves and their absolute trust in their leader.
"Gentlemen, have a pleasant day," Augustus walked past the engineers.
"Greetings, Marshal." The engineers immediately stopped smiling and saluted Augustus, a necessary show of respect, no matter how kind and approachable the marshal usually appeared.
"You've worked hard," Augustus said to them, and the deck beneath their feet shook again.
"Looks like we're under attack?" He nodded to the engineers again and continued toward the bridge of the Hyperion.
"Reinforce the lower deck frame, we're under attack." At that moment, Raynor ' voice blared through the ship's public address system: "Swann, Deck 7, the ships there need repairs. Men, this is nothing compared to the storms we've weathered before."
"Cheer up! We've stood together through thick and thin, and we'll get through this today too."
"I sensed a large number of Mutalisk, Scourge, and Devourer (Mutalisk variants, an expansion unit from Brood War Hyperion, but they have already appeared in the official novel <Queen of Blades> in the second chapter of the original campaign timeline. The author has confirmed this in the original English text. James Raynor also mentioned them in this chapter.)" Kerrigan said, pressing her temple lightly.
"There aren't many Zerg flying creatures in the Jormungand Brood, which is unusual this time."
Augustus walked, he said, "We came prepared, but the Zerg are not unprepared either. Our enemies are not just ferocious, unintelligent beasts; they will reflect, learn from their mistakes, and make changes. This is another dangerous civilization."
As Augustus stepped through the open bridge gates, flashing lights immediately came into view.
Directly beneath the bridge of the Hyperion lies a mottled red planet, its synchronous orbit covered by a thick layer of interstellar dust. Directly in front of the bridge is an enormous Swarm Behemoth, with millions of Mutalisk pouring out from the folds and vesicles on their bodies.
The attack came from below the Hyperion, with numerous Mutalisk and Devourer attempting to launch terrifying Raptor and highly corrosive acid spores at the human warship.
At that moment, the Hyperion's indicator lights suddenly turned flashing red, and thousands of Scourge were attacking it.
The Hyperion roared to life, a barrage of bright orange bullets sweeping across the swarm of Scourge, blasting these bat-like, eyeless monsters into pieces. A single Scourge could destroy an APOD transport ship, while hundreds or thousands of Scourge were enough to threaten a battlecruiser.
"It's probably more than just the Jormungand Brood; there are likely quite a few Leviathan Swarm Sky Hive mixed in." Augustus on the swaying bridge.
At that moment, the Tassadar Fleets's flagship, the Star Shuttle, appeared outside the starboard window of the Hyperion's bridge. The magnificent gold and blue warship was also under attack from the Zerg. A large number of small, fast Carrier -based interceptors were rolling out of the Star Shuttle's dock, like a swarm of enraged, frenzied wasps.
More Carrier appeared around the Star Shuttle, from which a rapid stream of unmanned carrier-based aircraft surged forth, converging into a golden-blue torrent. These interceptors, with two plasma tails, formed a dense attack formation like a ferocious swarm of bees, rampaging through the Swarm, their azure plasma beams sweeping across the gathered Zerg.
Suddenly, a space war broke out in Altera's geosynchronous orbit.
The Hyperion was intermittently illuminated by the flashes of its weapons, Augustus watched as a dozen or so Scourge, having escaped the warship's gunfire, crashed into the bridge. Cracks immediately appeared in the ship's sturdy armor, and leaks began to appear.
Because the shields require a large amount of energy, the Hyperion will, in regular combat, rely on firepower and its own armor to withstand enemy attacks, just like a regular Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, unless absolutely necessary.
The war in Altera's synchronous orbit was extremely dangerous, but as more Revolutionary Army and Protoss warships joined the battle, the Jormungand Brood was surprised to find that their enemy was not simply the humans who had come to their rescue because their colonies were besieged.
The Protoss have arrived too.
Moreover, their number of warships is four to five times that of humans.
"Our Protoss allies have also joined the battle," Raynor Augustus.
As Raynor spoke, the Star Shuttle opened fire, its main cannon beam striking and piercing the massive head of a Jormungand Behemoth.
The space whale-like creature let out a Psionics scream that carried for light-years, yet it still did not die. Despite having more than a third of its brain removed, it still managed to open a hyperspace portal to escape.
The main guns of another Carrier opened fire, striking the Behemoth's spine and burning a horrifying hole in its spiked and wrinkled body.
Even with such a terrible, fatal wound, this tenacious and enormous creature continued to move at high speed. Only such an attack could truly harm it, allowing its miles-long network of pain receptors to quickly transmit the excruciating pain to its brain.
Normally, a human battlecruiser would be unable to approach a Behemoth under the protection of an endless Mutalisk, Scourge, Brood Guardian, and Swarm Devourer. Even if it were possible, and even if the Behemoth were isolated and helpless, it would likely take several hours, or even longer, for a human warship to penetrate its chitin, which is thicker and harder than the warship's armor, and completely kill it.
If only Augustus's Revolutionary Army arrives, they will undoubtedly suffer heavy losses in the space battle phase, and in the end, they will not only fail to provide assistance but also very likely end up getting themselves killed.
Another beam of light from the Protoss main cannon struck the Behemoth Swarm, this time completely erasing its tail tentacles and fin-like gliding wings. A large number of the Mutalisk that were hit were instantly reduced to ashes.
"What are the scan results for Altera?" With the Protoss Fleets nearby, Augustus's Revolutionary Army Fleets was able to take a backseat.
"There are at least three hundred million Zerg on Altera," Raynor said, pointing to the ugly red planet spinning on the main screen of the bridge.
"This planet has a harsh environment and is sparsely populated, but its abundant resources are precisely why the Zerg are attacking it. Altera has astonishing reserves of both Ardien Crystal and high-energy gas, but there is almost no complete mining and processing industry chain there," he said.
"If we can take this place and establish our mineral extraction sites and high-energy gas refineries here, we will have more resources and funds to support our military."
"That means we can count money while lying in bed." Tychus walked over and overheard Raynor's words.
Before the Zerg invasion, the Revolutionary Army couldn't control an entire planet because the Terran Confederacy Fleets would immediately swarm in; the Mar- Sara uprising served as a lesson in this.
The Terran Confederacy is currently overwhelmed with its own problems, while the Revolutionary Army possesses a powerful weapon against the Zerg: the Psi Disrupter.