Oasis Town

Oasis Town.

It's an ironic term; an oasis represents hope in the desert and barrenness, but actual oasis towns have absolutely no connection to this word.

It was lifeless, with neither babbling Watering Hole nor lush green vegetation.

Oasis Town is a town built among gray-brown mountains and boulders. Whirlwinds in the mountains churn up rust-colored dust, like red clouds. Green high-energy gas continuously spews from the volcano's crater and fissures between the mountains, making the sky look like a three-color palette, a mixture of the red of the dust, the green of the high-energy gas, and the blue of the sky.

The air was constantly filled with the metallic stench of high-energy gas and the foul smell of sulfur, like the odor of countless rotten eggs. Oasis Town was sweltering, the air thick with sweat, urine, and the acrid smell of sulfur. A network of crisscrossing roads paved with stones and rotten planks divided the town into block after block.

In the town center stand a dozen skyscrapers, the kind of skyscrapers you'd only see in a city, resembling solitary Giant against the crimson wind.

It was dark and oppressive, with an atmosphere of decay permeating everywhere.

The vast majority of people spontaneously took up arms to defend their homes, so houses were locked and people carrying weapons could be seen hurrying along the roads. These people kept their distance from Augustus's Revolutionary Army soldiers, rather than rejoicing like the other colonists besieged by the Zerg.

Leading the Revolutionary Army column advancing from west to east along the bumpy road was Tychus Finley piloting the War Wolf I Mech, and two other gold-red walking mechs armed with Hellfire missile launchers mounted on their shoulders, made of alloy steel and large-caliber heavy cannons and machine guns, creating a striking visual impact.

The soldiers of the Revolutionary Army's 011th Guard Division, clad in Power Armor, marched in perfect unison, displaying discipline far superior to gangsters and pirates; only the regular army of the Terran Confederacy could match them.

However, in the eyes of the locals, there was no real difference between the Revolutionary Army and the Confederacy Army, and the Revolutionary Army's revolutionary propositions seemed incredibly vague and unattainable to them, just like the empty campaign speeches of Confederacy Colonial Congress members.

"How many people are here?" Augustus asked Horace, the former Confederacy colonel who was leading the way, as they marched quickly to the other side of Oasis Town.

Along the way, Augustus saw many residents of the Oasis Town who were heading to the front lines with weapons, as well as drug addicts lying on the ground like rag dolls and thugs trying to take advantage of the chaos. Most people scattered like birds and beasts as soon as they saw the fully armed Revolutionary Army soldiers, keeping their distance.

"About a hundred thousand people?" Horace asked hesitantly, wary of Augustus's question, and only answered after much deliberation.

"There are some settlements around the oasis, but the number of residents is not fixed. There are far more settlements in Altera than recorded on paper, but I have no idea what kind of people live there."

Horace was a colonel in the Terran Confederacy army. He himself was a fugitive who fled here after being wanted for embezzlement, bribery, and arms theft. He knew all too well the extent of corruption within the Confederacy army. Generally speaking, the army is not lacking in truly capable and tough men, but it is also rife with scoundrels.

Given the nature of the Confederacy's leaders and noble generals, they are unlikely to send troops to rescue a chaotic planet like Altera. Even if they did, it wouldn't be to save people.

In Horace's eyes, the Mengsk Family, who rose to power through rebellion, were no different from bandits and pirates; at best, they were a rabble of peasant uprising.

It appears the Revolutionary Army has received substantial financial support from the Umojan and Kel-Morian peoples, and possesses a large arsenal of Power Armor and electromagnetic weapons. However, a rabble is still a rabble; how could an army composed of farmers, workers, and unemployed individuals possibly be as valiant and skilled as systematically trained Confederacy soldiers?

Military discipline and regulations were practically nonexistent; if the people of Oasis Town didn't have so little to rob, they would have already started looting everywhere.

Horace did not believe that there were any truly brilliant people in the world.

The Revolutionary Army risked enormous danger to come to this planet overrun by Zerg, not to save the scum of Oasis Town, but surely for Altera's resources or something else of value.

Just to save lives.

How could it be for such a stupid and ridiculous reason?

"The sky is swarming with Overlord, Mutalisk, and Scourge." Raynor Augustus after hearing Horace's words, "There's no airport here; evacuating so many people in a short time won't be easy."

"Then let's try a different approach, a different angle," Augustus. "We must defeat the Zerg at Oasis Town and win a decisive victory."

"I like this plan," Raynor agreed.

"Jimmy, immediately organize a defense. We must hold all the crossroads," Augustus ordered. "The 6th to 9th Divisions and the 1st Armored Division have already landed near Oasis Town. As long as we withstand the first wave of the Swarm's attack, we can launch a counterattack."

Raynor immediately left with a few of his Raynor's Raiders. If they wanted to establish a defensive line in Oasis Town, then the direction they needed to defend would not be as simple as just the front.

Oasis Town is situated on a flat area within a rift in the Altera Canyon, but it offers almost no natural defenses. While the surrounding area is not entirely flat, the scattered rocks and mounds provide cover for the enemy, and the rugged terrain is advantageous to the agile and ferocious Zerg.

"Marshal Augustus, the Zerg are not some second- or third-rate local armies in the Edge World." Horace's eyelid twitched.

"Heh, I've killed more bugs than you've seen bitches." Tychus, who was in the Warhound I mech, heard Horace's words. "Watch how your Revolutionary Army grandfather kills bugs."

"Watch carefully and learn carefully."

"So, what are your thoughts, Mr. Horace, former Colonel of the Confederacy?" Augustus looked at Horace, opened his helmet visor to reveal his cold, gray eyes and handsome, thick eyebrows.

"My opinion is to wait to die. If I had any ideas, I wouldn't be here." Horace shrugged. "I've heard from friends about what the Zerg are like when they invade planets. The man-eating monsters are endless, and once someone falls, they are torn to shreds. Bullets are completely ineffective against the Zerg because there are simply too many of them to kill."

"Perhaps after this day, you will change your mind." Raynor changed the magazine on his Gauss Rifle with a crisp click.

Just then, a little girl wearing a blue plaid shirt peeked out from the alleyway by the roadside. Her clothes, hair, and face were filthy, and she was sallow and thin, with hardly any flesh on her body.

She was only slightly taller Augustus's calves, and looked all alone, small and fragile, amidst the swirling red dust of Oasis Town.

Only those black eyes continued to shine.

"Is that your daughter?" Augustus looked at Horace, taking a bag of biscuits from the storage unit of his Power Armor. The little girl with messy reddish-brown hair hesitated before taking the biscuits, but did not eat them immediately—even though she was so hungry.

"No, I don't know her. If she were my daughter, I would never let her live in a doghouse," Horace said without hesitation.

"She's a child bought by the smuggler Mark. Ever since Mark died in a prostitute's bed a few days ago, no one has taken care of the child," he said. "I've heard that this child named Servilia is the child of some noble family in the core world."

"After her family died in a terrorist attack, she somehow ended up in the hands of human traffickers," Horace said softly at the end. "Terrorists, people like you."

Kerrigan had been waiting nearby, knelt down beside the little girl, her expression showing deep empathy as she sensed the tragic memories swirling in her mind.

"So, you're still a noble lady." Augustus saw tears welling up in the little girl's eyes. "Don't worry, child, we will surely bring about change to this planet on the edge of the sector."

"What is change?" The little girl's messy bangs were all stuck together.

"..." Augustus suddenly realized he had a habit of saying these things all the time. He paused for a moment and said, "So that you can have enough to eat."

Hearing Augustus's words, the little girl's eyes seemed to light up.

After saying this, Augustus picked up the bewildered child and handed her to a sergeant from the Marshal Guard who was standing guard nearby. "Give her to our doctor and tell Li that this child needs care."

"Yes, sir!" The sergeant immediately picked up the girl and walked towards the back of the column.

"It wasn't our people who killed her family," Kerrigan said in a low voice. "They died in a political assassination to eliminate dissidents."

"The Sons of Korhal cannot harm nobles other than the Old Families." Augustus looked back toward the street, and a man who had been watching him intently from the side of the street immediately shrank back into the shadows of a house.

Horace shook his head, unmoved by the situation. "It's no use in being kind; you'll just go hungry after you leave. The nobles of the Confederacy used to do the same thing, shedding a few crocodile tears and stuffing a few large bills into the hands of homeless children before turning away, completely disregarding whether such young children could even hold onto that much money."

"In the end, what have you changed?"

Augustus stared into Horace's eyes. "The Revolutionary Army will raise this child and send her to a school that only accepts war orphans. This has always been part of the Republic's government expenditure."

"Everything I've done, and the sacrifices my soldiers have made, is for the sake of changing this rotten Confederacy."

"Perhaps?" Horace, now displaying the arrogance of Confederacy soldier, said as he faced the Revolutionary Army: "I'll wait and see."

"The Revolutionary Army doesn't need to prove anything to you; this is what we've always been doing," Kerrigan said coldly.

At this moment, the vanguard of the 011th Battalion of the Guard Division stopped at the end of the road that ran through Oasis Town. Beyond the outermost row of houses lay lowlands riddled with ravines, pits, and huge rocks. To the north of Oasis Town were sturdy wooden and stone buildings, and beyond that stretched low hills and ravines.

Augustus noticed that many residents of Oasis Town, armed with various weapons, were nervously hiding behind houses and debris blocking the roads. He then cautiously looked back at the approaching Tychus and Goliath Combat Robot.

These people were dressed in all sorts of different ways. Some wore plaid shirts and bandanas with gang badges, while others were still wrapped up in hoodies and trench coats in the sweltering heat. Looking up, one could see colorful mohawks and Matt Horner hairstyles, and tattoos, lip piercings, and earrings were all too common among them.

"Residents of Oasis Town, we are the Revolutionary Army!" Augustus shouted to the wary Oasis Town residents. "We will establish a defensive line here—come behind us!"

This immediately caused an uproar among the residents of Oasis Town, but before they could say anything, the soldiers of the Guard Division had already swiftly carried Gauss Rifle, electromagnetic cannons, and rockets into the bunkers built by the residents themselves outside the town.

The Revolutionary Army engineers, piloting T-280 SCV, unloaded the steel plates they carried on their backs and quickly built defensive fortifications outside Oasis Town. The Revolutionary Army's engineering corps gathered the best metallurgists and engineers from all of Korhal IV, the Sara System, and Antiga. They were able to steadily build defensive facilities or airports amidst tens of thousands of Zerg or a hail of bullets.

Several Revolutionary Army engineers carrying Psi Disrupter immediately prepared to assemble Swann's latest modified "Brainwave Bill" Psi Disrupter. This model of jammer had a larger range and greater power compared to the earlier prototypes, but correspondingly, it would take more time to assemble more components and start it up.

Augustus once praised the Revolutionary Army's engineering corps for their loyalty, bravery, and superb skills, saying they were just as important as the soldiers on the front lines.

The leader of the Oasis Town residents stepped forward, seemingly wanting to ask something, but a hiss from Hydralisk immediately drew everyone's attention back.

Amidst the whirlwind carrying red dust, the moving Swarm drew ever closer, their low hisses and stench terrifying the residents of Oasis Town.

"These bastards." Horace spat at the ground, took an old AGR Rifle from his back, which was probably a stockpile he had brought from the Confederacy armory.

At this moment, entire companies of the Revolutionary Army Guard Division soldiers had drawn their guns and loaded them, and Wraith and bombers occasionally flew overhead.

"Something's wrong, Augustus. Those Zerg are chasing civilians." At that moment, Kerrigan, who possessed powerful telepathic abilities, suddenly reminded Augustus.

"What did you say?" Augustus looked in the direction from which the Zerg were attacking.

Immediately afterward, Augustus received a report from the front-line troops that approximately three hundred Altera were running towards the Oasis Town, followed by tens of thousands of Jormungand Zerg.

"They must be workers from the nearby oil refinery. It's said they're hired by the Kel-Morian people and don't usually associate with the people of Oasis Town," Horace told Augustus.

The townspeople of Oasis Town sighed or laughed gleefully; at their speed, it was only a matter of time before they were caught up and devoured by the Zerg.

"Advance!" Augustus immediately ordered. "Move the defensive line forward and protect the civilians."