You Shall Build Your Great Cause

Augustus's orders were carried out with the utmost speed and determination.

Led by officers of the 011th Battalion of the Revolutionary Army's Guard Division and the political commissar of the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party, more than one hundred soldiers of the 2nd Company stepped out of their bunkers and Bunker complexes and advanced rapidly in units of each combat platoon and fire support group. Goliath Combat Robot between the platoons used 30mm autocannons to create crossfire above and in front of the soldiers.

Tychus, piloting the Warwolf I Mech, led the charge, followed by officers and political commissars. An artillery battery equipped with Kel-Morian KMC mortars opened fire on the incoming Swarm ground forces under the guidance of observers and officers, and a large number of pulse grenades falling on the ground provided powerful fire support for the advancing Revolutionary Army infantry.

By this time, those who had fled to Oasis Town had already crossed the abandoned outpost on the outermost edge of the town.

Due to the rugged terrain of Altera, vehicles are hardly useful. Without spaceships and walking robots, these people would have to rely solely on their own legs.

They were already exhausted, and every now and then someone would be pounced on and dragged away by the leaping Zergling, and torn to pieces as soon as they fell.

Seeing a fully armed army running towards them, the remaining men saw hope. The fear of death and the hope of survival overwhelmed all their exhaustion, driving them to run with all their might towards the battle line composed of gold and red Power Armor in the distance.

"Get behind us, faster! The bugs are about to bite your butts!" Tychus Findlay, at the front, shouted at the group using the megaphone of his Warwolf I Mech.

The new paint on this massive red mech had long been scratched by the whirlwind of sand and gravel that swept across Altera, but the golden wolf emblem on its right shoulder still gleamed. Below the cockpit, a line of words was painted in white: Guns speak the truth.

Tychus's company deployed outside Oasis Town, beginning to fire long-range rockets to avoid a ceasefire. To prevent fleeing crowds from breaking the lines, the Revolutionary Army soldiers, under the command of their officers, dispersed, leaving several passageways for people to pass through.

Finally, the first person ran past the massive walking legs of the Warhound I mech of Tychus, followed by more people with terrified expressions. A dark-skinned, black-haired girl stumbled as she ran toward a Revolutionary Army soldier, almost falling to the ground, but a pair of sturdy alloy gloves steadied her.

A bespectacled gas refinery engineer was caught by a Jormungand Zergling while stumbling along, letting out a painful scream as he was about to be dragged away.

Two Revolutionary Army soldiers charged toward the screaming engineer with lightning speed. One dragged his Gauss Rifle and plunged the sharp bayonet into the chest of the Jormungand Zergling, forcing it to retract its forelimbs to fight back. The other soldier drew his P-660 electromagnetic pistol from his waist and steadily fired at the Zergling's head. The large-caliber depleted uranium bullet blew the ugly skull apart with a single shot.

As the last man walked past two Revolutionary Army soldiers who were about to raise their guns to fire, Tychus reached into the exoskeleton system with its built-in sensitive sensors and operated the Flames of Destruction Flamethrower on the right arm of the mech to unleash a stream of scorching plasma several feet wide, burning the three Zergling that swarmed at him to ashes in a matter of seconds.

Tychus and the Revolutionary Army Guard Division soldiers behind him continued forward, forming a high wall of steel behind the people. To those who had been saved by them and the residents of Oasis Town, this wall seemed indestructible and unyielding.

Augustus gazed at the battlefield ahead. "The Seventh and Ninth Divisions are converging on me; we must encircle them at Oasis Town."

"Calling the Fleets, I need more fire support and air strikes."

Just then, two streaks of icy blue lightning flashed across the mottled sky of Altera, tearing through the heavens—the light emanating from the Protoss Fleets's main cannons. Dozens of fighter jets from a Revolutionary Army air wing swept over Oasis Town, dropping a bright barrage of rockets and incendiary bombs.

Augustus walked toward the front lines, he issued combat orders to the more than 20,000 Revolutionary Army soldiers who had landed on Altera through the command system. Amid deafening explosions and artillery fire, Augustus passed through the artillery positions, with Kerrigan and the Marshal Guard following closely behind him.

The forgotten former Confederacy Colonel Horace hesitated for a moment before following Augustus. Only then did he notice that Augustus had a very strong presence, even comparable to those highly prestigious old Confederacy generals. When Augustus loudly issued orders, Horace even had the illusion that he was his subordinate.

At the same time, Horace was also surprised that Augustus gave the order to rescue the people without hesitation, as if it were the only right thing to do. More importantly, Augustus's soldiers carried out the order without any hesitation.

At this time, the Revolutionary Army had taken over the positions north of Oasis Town, but the residents of Oasis Town who had gathered here to defend against the Zerg attack did not leave or retreat, but chose to fight alongside the Revolutionary Army.

At first, they were still suspicious of Augustus and his Revolutionary Army, but after witnessing what had just happened, they were convinced that the Revolutionary Army had indeed come to their aid.

The Revolutionary Army soldiers who had rushed out to rescue people were now surrounded by the Swarm while covering the civilians' retreat. This was unbelievable to the residents of Oasis Town, including Horace, who were mostly selfish and had very little altruism or spirit of dedication.

Augustus climbed a guard tower via a safety ladder and peered through binoculars at the soldiers of the 2nd Company of the 011th Battalion ahead, seeing the dense, dark Swarm about to engulf his brave men. The residents of the Oasis Town behind the trenches and bunkers sighed, and even the rats and flies in the gutter of Altera considered these men true heroes.

"You don't need to rescue those people. They are just miners and lumberjacks. Compared to your soldiers, they are worthless," Horace said to Augustus when he saw that the guards of Augustus ' soldiers did not stop him.

Horace Moben, a former Confederacy Navy captain and wanted criminal, witnessed these soldiers selflessly rescue those people and realized that Augustus's Revolutionary Army was incomparable to the regular Confederacy army or the resistance forces in the outer sector that he had seen in the past. They seemed to truly take protecting civilians as their mission, rather than being Confederacy soldiers who were just going through the motions or peasant uprisings who were taking advantage of the chaos to steal property.

Horace had seen the ugliness of the world and human nature, and he had met honest and brave people, but he had never seen so many. The army of the Terran Confederacy was once a gathering place for elite nobles and brave warriors, but now it was overstaffed, corrupt, and had become a den of iniquity for politicians and the descendants of noble families to gild their resumes and make money.

More than a decade ago, when Horace graduated from the Tarsonis Confederacy Military Academy, he was an ambitious young man with lofty aspirations, determined to safeguard the order of the Confederacy.

However, upon graduation, Horace's teachers and friends advised him to stay in the Tarsonis military forces and take an easy clerical job, which would allow him to advance quickly without having to deal with the dangerous Kel-Morian and Umojan people.

Even so, the young Lieutenant Horace still requested a transfer to a place where he was needed. However, when he arrived at the military base in Toros, the level of corruption there exceeded his expectations.

The Old Families Blueback, had long since taken control of the military factories and all industries there. All the senior officers were merely puppets of the Blueback Family. Everyone advised him not to think of going against the Old Families, but to just lie around and collect money.

Augustus did not answer Horace's question, but simply stared at the time on the HUD display on his helmet visor.

A dozen seconds later, the Psi Disrupter in Oasis Town was activated. An invisible disruptive force field Jormungand Brood near Oasis Town into chaos, causing them to begin killing each other. The 2nd Company, which was about to be besieged, fought and retreated under Tychus's leadership, withdrawing their defensive line.

The "Brainwave Bill" Psi Disrupter has an extremely wide coverage area and can even affect underground Zerg.

The Zerg have yet to find an effective way to bypass the Psi Disrupter. Creatures with extremely powerful Psionics, such as the Cerebrate and the elite Overlord Yggdrasill Leviathan, can ignore the jammer to some extent, provided they are close enough to their own swarm members.

Considering the Zerg have already suffered considerable losses against the Revolutionary Army's Psi Disrupter, they will surely eliminate this flaw through continuous evolution and genetic modification. Augustus hopes that Swann's research progress can maintain an advantage in the war against the Zerg —although this is almost impossible to achieve.

"Don't linger, Tychus. Let these Zerg continue to kill each other. We'll clean up the mess when they're almost all dead."

After confirming that his soldiers were withdrawing to Oasis Town in an orderly manner, Augustus began to answer Horace's question, "I don't think so, Mr. Horace."

Augustus did not explain to Horace in detail why he did so, because he believed it was his duty to save those people and there was no need to explain the reasons for doing so.

In the Sara System and on the Antiga Prime, millions were saved by Augustus's Revolutionary Army, and people, especially those with talent, are the most precious.

"Even these criminals of Altera?" Horace asked again.

"Altera holds not only criminals, but also many political prisoners or revolutionaries who have been persecuted by the Confederacy. And not everyone here is a criminal who deserves to be tried by law," Augustus said calmly.

"Of course, once Altera is recaptured, I will certainly rebuild law and order on this planet." He continued, "You may think I am a merciful man, but I will certainly use an iron fist to eliminate the destabilizing elements in Altera and ensure that law-abiding and hardworking people are not threatened by vicious individuals."

"Altera is a planet rich in resources, where people can reap rich rewards even without committing crimes."

"I have to admit, although I initially thought you were just a brat who got cocky because of your family background, you have indeed proven yourself to be a competent leader," Horace said.

"Marshal Augustus is more than just a competent leader; he is absolutely the best you've ever met," Kerrigan reminded Horace from the side.

"Perhaps you are right." Horace gazed at the two men and women before him, who seemed far too young to him, and said nothing more. "You are indeed different from the Confederacy generals, CEOs of Kel-Morian, or leaders of the Rebel Alliance I have met. At least you are truly keeping your promises."

Even Horace, who had weathered many storms, had to admit that he had misjudged the situation at first. As a Revolutionary Army leader who had already gained considerable influence, Augustus certainly not someone to be underestimated.

If you were to speak with Augustus face to face, you would find that his demeanor and every word and action exuded confidence and persuasiveness. Augustus an extremely charismatic man, and anyone who met him was convinced of this.

"Perhaps you really can overthrow the Old Families of the Confederacy and establish a new republic," Horace said. "If you can really do it, then you will become the ruler of the new regime."

"I've heard an old saying, 'The task is arduous and the journey is long,'" Augustus said as he stepped down from his post and met the group of Altera people who had been rescued by the Revolutionary Army.

Augustus noticed that most of these people were dressed in proper worker's clothes rather than the strange attire of the Oasis Town residents; they were all strong and capable laborers, and they did not appear to be locals.

As soon as these people entered the Oasis Town, they collapsed on the road. Some of them fainted, while others wore expressions of joy at surviving a disaster.

"I've heard these men work for Kel-Morian's gas refinery in Altera," Horace Augustus. "That's why the people of Oasis Town don't like them."

"Where do you come from?" Augustus found a miner who still had the strength to speak. Judging from his clothing, he should be an overseer. Augustus had seen similar insignia on his clothes in Moria.

"Thank you for your help; we almost lost our lives. Many people died." The man was a bald, middle-aged man with a handsome beard. He hesitated before saying, "We are miners from around here."

"There's no point in hiding it; we're from Kel-Morian. A few years ago, the Moria Mining Association built many high-energy gas refining plants near Oasis Town to extract Altera's abundant gas resources and transport them back to the Kel-Morian Combine."

"This is theft," Horace said angrily.

"We discovered this planet first! You Terrans are the latecomers and thieves who stole it by force!" the bald man immediately retorted angrily.

Both sides have their own version of events.

I've been busy with the Lunar New Year holiday, and a lot of upsetting things have happened lately. I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally. Sigh...