Char's Psionic Shriek

Ma Sara, White Rock Fortress Command Center.

Augustus leaned over the long operations table in the command room, occasionally rising to take a stack of reports from the mining area and the Fleets from Kerrigan, who was walking back and forth.

The command center is high enough to overlook the entire fortress under construction. The island-style command room at the top has bright glass walls on all four sides. Augustus needs to look up to see the barracks, warehouses, and symmetrical anti-aircraft missile towers.

On the battle map composed of Holographic Projection, hundreds of Confederacy colony worlds, shimmering with faint light, are clearly visible. Billions of planets appear as dust particles made of light, with numerous planets distributed linearly from the center of Tarsonis towards the edge of the Koprulu Sector.

As Augustus manipulated the star map composed of light and shadow, some planets shimmered gently: Adena, Atticus, Toros, Pontus Blesis Alpha, Pontefu, and the Sigmaris Prime were all marked with the red and blue flag of the Terran Confederacy, while Antiga and Ma Sara were marked with the red symbol of the Revolutionary Army.

Other distant planets, such as Luria IV and Aeneas, are designated as a mining colony of the Kel-Morian Combine and a member world of the Umojan Republic, respectively.

The Kel-Morian Combine once possessed a vast territory and countless mining worlds, but now it has shrunk to a corner of Moria. The Umojan Republic's ambitions for expansion are far less than those of its two brothers in the Koprulu Sector, so its sphere of influence has remained limited.

The Revolutionary Army's planet on the Edge World almost overlaps with the Zerg's Broodworld, which has inadvertently deterred the Confederacy Fleets from venturing deeper. Meanwhile, the Protoss's planets remain shrouded in mystery; Augustus knows that the Protoss Empire possessed numerous colonies during its Golden Age.

The Fleets of the Revolutionary Army and the Protoss Expeditionary Force are still anchored on Mar- Sara's three-dimensional Holographic Projection, while Zeratul's forces remain shrouded in shadow.

"Where are the Kel-Morian people? Lieutenant Roland should have brought their mining consul by now." At this moment, Augustus suddenly remembered something and looked up to ask Kerrigan.

"What happened?"

Kerrigan looked at Augustus: "We're confirming with the lieutenant's unit."

"We just received an urgent report; it's from Roland's platoon."

"Something must have gone wrong," Augustus. "Bring him in."

"Roland Orom calling command center, we need reinforcements!" As Lieutenant Roland's voice came through the communication channel in the command room, Augustus and Kerrigan both heard the rattling of Gauss Rifle.

Upon hearing the familiar, sharp insect chirping, their expressions immediately turned serious. -- Ma Sara has Zerg.

"Who are the enemies? How many of them (insects)?" Augustus's voice remained calm, showing no sign of panic.

"Infected Kel-Morian mutated Zerg!" Lieutenant Roland's voice trailed off. "They're pouring out of the mines in droves, and we're about to be overwhelmed."

Several screams could be heard over the Revolutionary Army lieutenant's channel, but they were not from him.

"Call Jim over. How many troops do we have available right now?" Augustus frowned. "Mar- Sara has Psi Disrupter. Where did these Zerg come from? Could it be that the Protoss Fleets's bombing didn't completely wipe out the Zerg on the planet?"

"White Stone Base is garrisoned by two full-strength battalions of the Guard Division and two Red Devils Firebat platoons. The fastest mobile support force to arrive is the Reaper's Reaper Company," Kerrigan said.

"The Reaper are the elite of the elite. Order Captain Shaw to proceed immediately to the location where Lieutenant Roland last uploaded the information," Augustus ordered immediately.

"Discard a Guards battalion, have the Firebat prepare fuel canisters, and clear out those Zerg first so we can figure out what's going on," he said. "Get the command vehicle ready."

"Tell my officers that I expect to hear reports that they have taken care of everything when I arrive at the scene."

"Yes, sir," Kerrigan said.

Augustus picked up his gloves from the war table, walked out of the command room into a wide passageway formed by a ramp, and bumped right into Jim Raynor, who was rushing over.

"You've come at the right time," Augustus said to Raynor. "Jimmy, we might have to take command of the troops."

The entire White Rock Fortress sprang into action at Augustus's command, with warplanes roaring overhead. Workers stopped to ask passing soldiers what was happening, and everyone mentioned the war.

The flow of people in the military camp was rapid. Soldiers quickly donned Power Armor and weapons, and tanks and Goliath Combat Robot drove out of the garage, a steel torrent rolling forward. Two fully-equipped squadrons of Wraith from the Air Force also rushed to Augustus to provide support. Everyone's nerves were on high alert whenever the Zerg were involved.

When Augustus' armored command vehicle arrived at the tunnel entrance of the Kel-Morian mine, the air was filled with the smell of burnt protein and blood.

This is a mining complex consisting of alloy buildings and shacks, with a wide road running through the entire miners' quarters and leading directly to the mine. Now, this road is littered with various tools and personal belongings of Kel-Morian miners, and everywhere there are foul-smelling, red bloodstains.

Some brownish-gray chitinous material from the Zerg covered the surface of these structures, but it was not obvious. Tender buds, like ivy, stretched across these structures, slowly enveloping everything within them.

Bizarre and twisted Infested Terran corpses are everywhere. These monsters, covered in protruding spikes and deformed bodies, lie scattered on the road, either riddled with bullets or burned to ashes by Firebat.

Just a few hundred yards away was the entrance to a tunnel leading directly underground, where Firebat soldiers stood guard, their armor adorned with gold and red demonic symbols. Even now, they blocked the tunnel entrance, using their flamethrowers to incinerate the monsters pouring out, the crackling sounds of burning filling the air.

"Lieutenant Roland, can you tell me what happened?" Augustus picked up a fragment of a flag bearing the KM logo from the ground. The letters representing a family guild in Moria had long been erased by blood and fire.

"Marshal, I have not completed your mission." Lieutenant Roland was a short woman named Meinhoff, an exception among the generally burly family members. However, Meinhoff's creativity and perseverance were also evident in Roland.

"This is not your fault." Augustus waved his hand to signal him to calm down. "On the contrary, I want to commend your bravery in this encounter."

"Fighting is our duty," Roland said, saluting Augustus.

Then, Roland began to recount the events to Augustus: "At first, we did receive a signal from Kel-Morian, repeatedly indicating that they belonged to the Vito Mining Guild."

"But when we entered their camp, we found it had already been infected by the Zerg. Everywhere there were hideous infected creatures, and not a single living person spoke to us. The mercenaries guarding the place were also long dead; their bodies were torn to pieces and covered in pustules."

He said, "Those creatures infected with the Zerg virus are slow-moving, but once they die or get close to my soldiers, they will self-destruct, with a power exceeding that of our best pulse grenades."

"Most of the casualties in my unit were caused by Infested Terran self-destructing."

"So, it's impossible for anyone in this area to send you signals anymore. Then who was the first person to contact you?" Raynor, standing next to Augustus, stared intently at the mine where mutated creatures were still emerging.

"We don't understand, General." Lieutenant Roland looked embarrassed. "But machines can't just talk on their own."

"Judging from the current situation, it's unlikely there are any survivors here," Kerrigan said.

"Lieutenant, we found his belongings—and a strange corpse—in the private room of the leader of this Kel-Morian mining squad," a Revolutionary Army soldier reported to Roland and Augustus as he ran up.

"Go and take a look," Augustus instructed the soldier to lead the way.

"We have to figure out whether these monsters escaped the Protoss fire or just came from somewhere else," he said.

Augustus gone far before arriving at the location of the company's quarters that the soldier had mentioned. It was a relatively upscale house with glass windows and wooden floors, used to distinguish the company from members of other mining squads.

In this small house, overturned cabinets and piles of clothes were mixed together with bloodstains. A man slumped over a table, staring at the still-lit laptop screen in a grotesque posture. His blue-green uniform had been pierced by protruding, muscular muscles, spikes, armor, and teeth.

What sent chills down Augustus's and his companions' spines was that a scythe-shaped, dark brown spike from a piece of Zerg tissue was deeply embedded in the man's spine.

"What's that?" Raynor, always bold, took a framed photo from the table; it was a picture of the man with his family.

The back of the photo bears a proverb from the Moria satellite, written in beautiful handwriting and style. The gist of it is. "Like a shooting star longing for the moon, I will wait for you to return."

"The Swarm has taken control of him." Kerrigan nose. "They've preserved his brain and are controlling how he sends messages out—but it seems there's more to it than that."

"I read some sad news from this still-living brain." Kerrigan walked a few steps around the man's chair.

"They discovered Mar- Sara long before us; this was just a exploratory mining operation. Despite being in dangerous Zerg- occupied territory, the Vitor Guild's CEO offered a generous reward, and where there's a good reward, there's bound to be a brave soul," Kerrigan said.

"So the bravest people in the guild came with a 'let's give it a shot' mentality, while the rest of the mining team were indentured laborers bound by debt and illegal contracts," she said.

"Kel-Morian's mining squads quickly discovered an underground mine that had survived the Protoss Fleets's bombardment, extending thousands of feet underground. Inside lay an extremely valuable deposit of a special crystal, which shone with a golden luster, and was worth twice the price of ordinary Ardien Crystal per standard load unit."

"Is it dark gold? Or gold ore?" Augustus asked in a barely audible voice.

"Regardless of the circumstances, clear this mining area immediately."

"I heard you all. Tell Hank's bad-boy arsonists that we need to keep pushing," Raynor ordered. "Immediately draw men from the Reaper, Firebat, and Raynor's Raiders to form an elite force. I'll lead it myself."

"Deep within this mine lies a bottomless lair, teeming with cave-dwelling bats infected and assimilated by the Zerg, and a vast number of infected humans," Kerrigan said. "The first people to venture into the mine brought terrifying monsters back to their midst, and before they could even understand what was happening, they were torn to shreds by these nocturnal creatures."

"I suspect that at least one Zerg Broodmother is lurking in this mine. This creature possesses some kind of obvious intelligence that allows her to use simple strategies, such as luring or ambushing her prey instead of attacking head-on."

"Deep underground." Augustus looked at Kerrigan: "We all know that the Protoss's attack on Mar- Sara wasn't as thorough as we thought, and not all the main cannon beams penetrated the earth's crust."

"If an underground insect nest is lucky enough, it may escape annihilation. This is a warning that Ma Sara is not as safe and far from insect infestations as we imagine. The Zerg may very well be hiding underground, waiting for a chance to rise again," he said after a moment of thought.

"Dispatch sweeping forces throughout Mar- Sara to search for any surviving Zerg nests, focusing on areas where Zerg have previously inhabited."

"Let Pulaier Prier and Harnack's forces handle this. The soldiers from the Sara System are constantly yearning for revenge against these Zerg who once invaded their homeland."

"Bury these Kel-Morian people." Augustus looked at the photo album in Raynor's hand, which contained a picture of the Kel-Morian leader and his fiancée.

"Try to find his family as much as possible and return his belongings."

"I'll send someone right away, uh..." Kerrigan suddenly covered her forehead as she spoke, and Augustus immediately caught her as she swayed.

"Scream!"

"What? I didn't hear anything." Augustus certain he hadn't heard anything.

"That came from... damn it..."

"Perhaps you need to rest, dear." Augustus helped Kerrigan.

Not long after, another dark figure appeared before Augustus, and Zeratul emerged from it.

"Augustus, my brother, the prophecy has confirmed my fears. The human Psionics who escaped from Haj has been reborn in Char, the Zerg's hive world." Zeratul, the Dark Prelate, appeared like a sudden gust of wind, dressed in purple robes and black armor.

"Just now, what we heard was the first scream of that creature born from the sinful amnion, a scream that resounded through the stars and echoed through the void."

"I have heard a warning," Zeratul Augustus.

"The paths of the stars are but pebbles thrown by the Xel'Naga; the fog will eventually dissipate, and in the darkness, all the truth will be revealed."

"This doesn't sound good. What happened?" Raynor looked over as Zeratul appeared.

"Enough with the nonsense, Zeratul. You'd better tell me in one sentence what this weird thing is all about," he said.

"I'd almost forgotten about what happened on the Haj. Can't you bring some good news, my friend?"