Vardona is Under Our Protection
The capital city of Vardona was shrouded in gloomy clouds and fear of the Zerg, with hideous Mutalisk circling overhead like flocks of crows returning to their nests.
The majestic skyscrapers of the city center trembled at the arrival of the Swarm, all the LEDs and holographic screens flickered due to the disruption of the power supply hub, and the entire city seemed to scream in terror at the impending disaster.
Accompanied by the family butler Carolina Davis left the floor where the banquet hall was located and headed to the rooftop helipad. The elevators were already overcrowded and constantly overloaded, so they had to take the stairs via the emergency exit.
Since its completion, this city center building, known as the Vadona Gate, has been open to Vardona's social elite. Its comprehensive security facilities and strict guard have always made it considered the safest place on the entire planet.
Never before had a wanted criminal or robber made the celebrities in this building so nervous, simply because someone told them that the two forces they feared most—terrifying aliens and rebels—had arrived.
As Davis walked through the long corridor, people passed by her from time to time. These people were either employees of the skyscraper or powerful and influential individuals. Regardless of their different attire, they were all terrified.
When disaster strikes, not everyone is brave enough to take up arms to defend their homeland.
As Davis ascended the top-floor helipad, the roar of the anti-aircraft guns intensified, and some of the more violent explosions came from the secondary explosions of the Confederacy arsenal in the main city of Vardona.
The Defensive Matrix force field, designed by the Kel-Morian giant Lars Technology Company, effectively shielded the area from the outside wind and rain, but it could not block sound.
Standing on the edge of the parking platform, Davis could see the grey dome above the main city of Vardona through the transparent energy shield. Lead-grey clouds gathered above the city, blocking the sunlight from falling from the dome, shrouding the entire city in gloom. The city buildings below the helipad still flickered with colorful lights, flashing on and off.
"Rebels. How many of them are there?" Unlike the other dignitaries who were allowed onto the tarmac, Davis did not rush to board his own armed airship. Instead, he looked at his butler with concern.
"I don't know." The white-haired butler remained unfazed by the tense atmosphere. "The Vardona radar station has detected at least twelve battlecruisers. If they are all rebels, then the Confederacy's spokesperson must be lying."
"So it seems the Confederacy Navy didn't cripple the rebels as they claimed. On the contrary, their strength has multiplied compared to a few years ago. The rebels are already a force to be reckoned with." Davis said, while retying her long, light blonde hair, which was piled high in a bun.
"Hurry, Carolina," the butler said. "Vardona's central airport is already overcrowded. If we're any later, we might miss the large transport ships evacuating Vardona."
"Vardona is my home. And today I will witness its fall." Davis turned to leave.
Faced with the threat of the Swarm, Davis experienced humanity for the first time and realized the insignificance of his own power.
A scream of "Trikri!" came from the clouds, tearing a crack in the dark sky. A dozen screaming Jormungand Mutalisk pierced through the clouds, rushing towards the helipad on the top floor of the skyscraper below. Their carapaces shimmered a bright purple in the dim light.
The automatic anti-aircraft turrets on the rooftop spun and fired at the serpentine flying creatures with skin-like wings, roaring as they unleashed a barrage of golden bullets. Several agile Mutalisk that darted and weaved through the air were reduced to blood mist by the dense barrage, but the rest managed to evade the intense anti-aircraft fire.
A luxury yacht that had just taken off was seized by two powerfully flapping Mutalisk. Davis watched as the yacht, worth tens of millions of Confederacy credits, was torn to pieces, the screams from the crowd pounding in her ears.
People have never seen such grotesque and terrifying alien creatures outside of holographic films and zoos, and the Zerg are far more ferocious than the most ferocious beasts in the universe.
The Mutalisk's serpentine body was covered with sharp spikes, resembling a barbed file. Davis had never seen any other animal in the universe with so many exaggerated fangs and spikes as the Mutalisk; every pair of its orange-red eyes, every pair of sharp fangs and spikes seemed to be born for slaughter.
From the moment they hatched from their eggs in the hatchery and spires, these Mutalisk were destined for a life of slaughter for the Swarm, or to die protecting Swarm.
"We can't stay here." Davis was a strong woman, but she couldn't help feeling genuine fear when she saw the Mutalisk.
Taking off in a sky dominated by Mutalisk was extremely dangerous; the limited armor of the armed airship was simply no match for the potent acid of the Mutalisk's Glaive Wurm. One Mutalisk, like a bomber, flapped its wings and dropped several bright green Glaive Wurm onto the tarmac, the explosion shaking the seemingly fragile protective shield.
Lars Technology Company had claimed that their products could easily withstand the broadside guns of battlecruisers, but no one had ever actually verified it. This was despite Kel-Morian's technology being as simple and reliable as their KMC armor-piercing projectiles.
"Get out of here!" As Davis turned back, he saw several yachts belonging to wealthy businessmen or nobles still recklessly taking off, and people hysterically shouting that the defensive force field was indestructible.
Those yachts that still chose to take to the air immediately became the new targets of the Mutalisk. Although the pilots of these yachts were all highly paid aces, the Mutalisk were definitely efficient and deadly aerial hunters.
Davis followed the security personnel back the way they came without looking back, but just then a surprised shout came from behind her. A jumble of thoughts and an overwhelming sense of despair filled Davis's anxious heart, and she couldn't help but feel utterly disappointed in the Terran Confederacy, which had once promised to protect Vardona.
"Battlecruiser!"
"It's Fleets!"
Hearing the gasps of the crowd, Davis turned around instantly. He saw an unparalleled steel behemoth emerging from the dense clouds, its rows of cannons gleaming with a chilling light, and its wide bridge constantly lit.
The silver-gray steel behemoth advanced through the storm, resembling a mobile steel fortress. Hundreds of fighter jets, trailing ice-blue and orange-red flames, emerged from both sides of the warship, chasing the Mutalisk they had driven there, swooping overhead.
The battlecruiser hovered above the city, no more than a thousand feet above Davis. She could vaguely make out the red whip-ring insignia on its bow. The battlecruiser also bore a silver Z-shaped lightning bolt, perhaps its Fleets emblem or derived from its name.
Only by standing beneath a battlecruiser can one truly appreciate the magnificence of such a steel behemoth. Every chilling cannon muzzle beneath its steel hull embodies humanity's strength in the cosmos and demonstrates humanity's boundless determination and courage to challenge the stars.
This scene was deeply imprinted in Carolina Davis's eyes, and from then on she was convinced that the source of humanity's power to conquer the galaxy came from powerful ships and cannons.
"We are the Korhal Revolutionary Army. The Zerg that invaded Vardona have been utterly defeated by the Revolutionary Army's offensive. I am Augustus Mengsk, and I assure you that Vardona is now safe." An image of a Revolutionary Army soldier wearing a wide-brimmed military cap and a dark gray cloak appeared on the screens of the skyscrapers in the city center.
"The Korhal Revolutionary Army will do everything in its power to protect every colony we encounter that has been forced into the Confederacy political system under the pressure of the Terran Confederacy, and to protect the people of these colonies from the threat of the Zerg."
"Vardona is now under our protection. All anti-aircraft fire must cease immediately; we are here for peaceful purposes."
"Augustus Mengsk." In front of Davis was a screen on a slightly shorter skyscraper, displaying the image of the young and charismatic leader of the Korhal Revolutionary Army.
Augustus Mengsk, along with his Mengsk Family and the Korhal IV rebels, have always been a major threat to the Terran Confederacy Terran Confederacy, considered a source of unrest within its territory. After all, every colony the Korhal Revolutionary Army has reached has been on the verge of destruction by the Zerg and Protoss.
"Korhal's demon, a lackey of the Zerg and Protoss, a traitor who betrayed humanity." Davis read out several titles that Augustus had recently acquired, and suddenly felt that life was truly wondrous.
Several years ago, on Tarsonis, Augustus Mengsk from Korhal IV attended a banquet with only a few soldiers from the Heaven's Devils. At that time, no one realized that the handsome young nobleman, who always greeted people with a smile, would become the rebel leader who now commands a Great Fleet.
In the eyes of the Tarsonis nobles, no matter how much prestige and status Augustus's family enjoyed in Korhal IV, he was always just a minor nobleman from a small place.
"The Confederate Congress and the Old Families will ultimately pay the price for their foolish decisions," Davis lamented. "They destroyed Korhal, but they also created a Avenger filled with rage."
Davis did not believe that the Revolutionary Army was the bloodthirsty demons and butchers portrayed in the Confederacy's propaganda, because Vardona had taken in some refugees who had fled from the Edge World. Some of those people had witnessed the Revolutionary Army's Fleets descending from the sky, like death angels summoned by God.
She had also learned in detail about the Revolutionary Army's political policies and propositions, which were mostly based on the enlightened and development-oriented policies that Angus Mengsk used to manage the Korhal IV. In any case, this at least proved that they were not entirely a peasant uprising army advocating for justice for the people.
Within the territory of the Terran Confederacy, books and materials about the Korhal Revolutionary Army are illegal, but the ever-present Sons of Korhal always manage to deliver detailed information to those who have long harbored resentment towards the Confederacy at the opportune moment.
Davis possessed a considerable collection—though most of it consisted of portraits of Augustus. Possessing such dangerous contraband might have attracted late-night visits from the Confederacy secret police, but a nobleman like Davis would not have aroused such suspicion.
"Augustus, the Wolf of Korhal."
"Rebels."
"How come you see rebels wherever there are Zerg and Protoss? Isn't it because they're connected to these alien creatures?"
The people around, upon hearing Augustus's words, reacted in a completely different manner than Davis. Some cursed Augustus and his Revolutionary Army with malice, while others feared that their property might be damaged by the arrival of the Revolutionary Army.
It is said that wherever the Revolutionary Army went, the people who welcomed them the most were the lower classes and the blue-collar workers who hoped to improve their status. As for those who were already content with their lives, they did not welcome the arrival of the Revolutionary Army, because it might change their lives.
However, in this era, those who live a fulfilling life are always a minority. Years of war and long-standing government corruption are sucking the blood out of the Terran Confederacy, while the rulers are always looking to exploit them to the bone.
The anti-aircraft fire in the heart of Vardona's main city did not cease due to the arrival of the Revolutionary Army warships; instead, it was redirected towards a new enemy. The threat of the Zerg had not yet completely subsided when the Confederacy forces and the rebels immediately began fighting.
For the Confederacy forces stationed in Vardona, the rebels and the Zerg are equal enemies. In most cases, the rebels are even a higher priority enemy.
"It's dangerous here, Carolina," the butler warned Davis was staring intently at the battlecruiser in the sky.
"The Revolutionary Army will not harm civilians," Davis suddenly said to the butler.
"But you are a nobleman of status, child, not a commoner. The rebels are a bunch of starving peasants and miners from the Edge World," the butler replied to Davis. "Augustus Mengsk brought them here with him; can you expect his rabble not to run rampant in the bustling city of Vardona?"
At that moment, two gold and red transport planes approached the tarmac with the roar of their engines. Davis immediately realized that their target was not him, but the nearby city government building, a commercial skyscraper that was undoubtedly the best place to land.
The automated turrets on the parking platform locked onto the Revolutionary Army transport planes and fired incessantly. They immediately damaged one of them and forced it to circle and land in the city center, while the other headed straight for the parking platform.
The people on the platform were terrified and scattered like birds and beasts. After a while, only Davis and her butler and security personnel, who were still loyally protecting the young lady of the family, remained.
As the transport plane flew over the protective shield of the docking platform, the pilot continued to maneuver the ship to dodge the missile belts. Inside the transport ship's open cargo door, a Ghost operative wearing goggles aimed precisely at the automated turret on the platform and fired.
He used a Confederacy Ghost operative standard-issue locking round, capable of locking onto and disabling machinery. Currently, this new weapon is the preferred choice for Ghost operative in Nova Squadron.
This locking projectile also disabled the shield force field generator on the platform, causing the rain that was originally blocked by the shield to fall down suddenly, wetting Davis's hair and evening dress.