Eldritch

A freezing rain began to fall over Eldritch Lake, and a chill swept through Augustus as the wind howled outside the command center window.

Such extreme weather is unheard of even in a province as close to Aiur as Antioch, indicating that the climate of this lush and vibrant green planet has been drastically altered by the protracted war.

War is destroying Aiur, like the stirring melody of an epic drama, where the climax is always followed by dramatic ups and downs.

The window faces the bay of Eldritch Lake, and looking into the distance, the lake is as vast as an ocean.

The massive, iron-gray Revolutionary Army science ship hovered above the lake, its hundreds of blue and white lights illuminating the rolling waves of Eldritch Lake. A huge black shadow gradually emerged from the water. Its streamlined back seemed to be coated with wax, radiating a mysterious blue and green glow under the lights.

A thousand years ago, the Protoss Empire used the last ship left behind by the Xel'Naga when they left Aiur to exile the rebellious ancestors of the Dark Templar, but this ship beneath Eldritch Lake was obviously not included in that count.

The Xel'Naga ships, slumbering beneath the lake, are the source of many of Eldritch's myths and legends. Their almost living-like characteristics have also brought about many wondrous natural phenomena, which were either regarded as gods or as the source of monsters by the ancient Protoss.

As Kerrigan and several guards stood beside Augustus, the massive, dark silhouette in Eldritch Lake was still rising, and copious amounts of water, reflecting brilliant light, cascaded down its sides.

The spaceship's graceful and harmonious hull radiated a twisted and mysterious glow, like shimmering light beneath the water's surface, like leaping arcs of electricity or serpents. A breathtaking beauty and an ancient mystery overwhelmed the senses, captivating the heart and soul.

As the shadowy figure grew larger, Augustus surprised to find that he had greatly underestimated the size of the Xel'Naga ship.

When the Xel'Naga ship fully emerged from the water, the shores of Eldritch receded significantly due to the sudden drop in water level. It was remarkably large; the portion above water alone was equivalent to three Protoss Mothership, or the size of an island in the center of Eldritch Lake.

According to the Revolutionary Army surveyors, the Xel'Naga spacecraft may be over ten kilometers long, making it larger than any spacecraft ever built by humankind. This has led engineers to suspect that it was a Xel'Naga space station that crashed into the Earth, and that Eldritch was merely the crater left by its impact.

However, this Xel'Naga ship overturned humanity's understanding of technology and wonders. It was just an ordinary ship abandoned by the Xel'Naga, yet it has become a model and blueprint for many Protoss technologies to be imitated today.

The Protoss have spent centuries studying the Xel'Naga ships, yet they still cannot comprehend the true secrets of their technology. The many mysteries hidden within the Xel'Naga ships may never be solved.

"Annabella, where's your boss?" Augustus, wearing a black square-necked coat with a gold captain's belt, had another holographic screen projected in front of him. The screen showed a platform built on the Eldritch Lake using quick-setting foam, and standing on it were Revolutionary Army wearing raincoats.

It could be said that Augustus the boss who hired Rory Swann to work for him, while Swann was the boss of the engineers in the Revolutionary Army's engineering corps.

That being said, the Revolutionary Army's engineering corps was actually a harmonious family, and Swann played the role of an older brother to the young engineers in a sense. Because he looked much older than his actual age, the young people even regarded him as a kind father and uncle.

At the center of the image is a female engineer with long chestnut hair. Her slender figure is wrapped in a thick protective suit, and her light brown eyes are bright and full of youthful vitality.

Like the Revolutionary Army soldiers who eagerly answered the call to join the Revolutionary Army, engineer Annabella Thatcher also joined the revolution when an army of the Revolutionary Army came to her hometown.

Annabella is even younger Kerrigan, not yet twenty years old. She is lively, cheerful, and sweet, quite different from her more mature self in the future.

"Oh my God, who did I see! Earl. No, I'm sorry, Marshal Augustus Mengsk, it's great to see you." Annabella had only glanced at him indifferently at first, but then her face quickly turned red.

"I'm also very happy to see you. Well, my lovely girl, you've had a long journey. Where's Swann? Tell them Augustus looking for him." Augustus smiled warmly.

"Yes, sir." Annabella cupped her face and chuckled as she left.

"So young, intelligent, cheerful, and beautiful, and an engineer at that!" Augustus exclaimed. "It is precisely these kinds of soldiers that allow the Revolutionary Army to continuously grow and prosper."

"She's a little angel."

"But you're not old yet," Kerrigan emphasized. "In fact, you're not even twenty-five."

"Yes," Augustus nodded.

"Hey boss, someone said you were looking for me." Swann's signature beard appeared on the screen. "I have to say, you've come at just the right time."

"Tell me, how many people can this ship carry?" Augustus cut straight to the point.

"It's hard to say." Because it was raining heavily outside, Swann was wrapped in a raincoat, with only his large nose and eyes showing.

"It's not often I hear that word from you," Augustus asked.

"I'm transmitting the internal footage of this spaceship back to Eldritch's command center. You'll understand once you see it." Swann was operating something at a control panel in front of him.

"Thank goodness, its engine can still start. I really don't know how those glittering little green crystals managed to send this behemoth into the sky—I hope I can figure it out before I'm in my grave."

"Well done, Swann, I'll definitely buy you a drink next time," Augustus praised his old friend. "But how exactly did you manage to get that Xel'Naga airship up in the air?"

"Ah, that's not difficult at all," Swann said matter-of-factly. "My old friends in the Protoss Empire helped me a lot. They offered a lot of advice and even taught us how to use the Xel'Naga ships."

"The ship's builders didn't design a complicated or difficult-to-understand piloting system. In fact, the Xel'Naga's startup procedure is very simple and straightforward," Swann explained.

"You'd never understand why that crystal can output such a huge amount of energy just by emitting light, yet it's so convenient to use."

"You have so many old friends," Augustus exclaimed. "When did you become friends with the Protoss?"

"It was probably last year, back when we were killing bugs together with the Protoss in Char and Tassadar," Swann said. "I asked the Protoss engineers if they could give me some Protoss probe blueprints because of our Marshal Augustus, so I could equip the Revolutionary Army's SCV with particle beam guns and new types of drives."

"You must have failed to get it, otherwise our SCV would have been up in the air long ago," Augustus said, shaking his head.

"That's because the boss didn't have enough influence," Swann shrugged. "But after a while, I finally became friends with the Protoss engineers, and you know what happened next—they helped us a lot."

"Well, it's my fault." Augustus chuckled.

Swann's network of connections was like Doraemon's pocket, always providing Augustus a surprise. In Tychus's words. "Don't worry about it, I have plenty of connections in the underworld."

Soon, a series of pictures appeared on the screen in front of Augustus.

Beneath the towering dome, pillars and statues marked with green characters and hexagonal lines define the magnificent hall, with the Giant ' seats facing niches that emanate flowing green light. In a bizarre twist, vines with emerald green stems and leaves cling to the walls engraved with spiral patterns and openwork staircases. A green crystal, brimming with ethereal energy, floats in the very center of the hall, radiating thin arcs of light outwards like a heart.

Its internal structure is very similar to those Xel'Naga Temple that Augustus had seen. It's hard to imagine whether these races with godlike technology simply built their temples into the sky.

The Xel'Naga's spaceships seem to have been gradually forged from some kind of organic metal and celestial bodies scattered throughout the vast universe, much like countless meticulously cut rocks.

"It looks like the former owners of these ships were very large," Kerrigan said, pointing to the enormous seats on the screen.

"You're right." Swann pointed a finger, seemingly praising Kerrigan's intelligence. "We discovered that although this ship is extremely large, capable of holding all of the Revolutionary Army's battlecruisers and other smaller ships, its internal structure is clearly designed for a being much larger than humans or even Protoss."

"This is terrible..."

"Well, if we want to cram in enough people, we'll need to weld new alloy frames inside the spaceship and add more compartments," Swann continued. "That way we can add more cabins to accommodate the refugees."

"I've seen the cockpit of Zeratul's Xel'Naga ship, the Void Seeker, and the seats there didn't look this big." Kerrigan tossed her long, wavy red hair. "Could it be that the Xel'Naga's size isn't fixed?"

"This reminds me of a song by Meinhoff, about how the parasitic mollusk can always squeeze its soft body into any shell," Swann said. "Ha, Kaczynski actually said he thinks the Xel'Naga is a giant octopus with a fishbowl on its head."

"How is that possible? Even Earthlings wouldn't believe this joke."

"Viktor's ingenious ideas are always impressive." Augustus nodded. "Swann, I need you to complete the modification of this ship as soon as possible, to cramm as many people as possible into it."

"The Xel'Naga's physical structure must be very different from that of humans; in any case, you'd at least need to install a toilet." He then expressed his most crucial opinion on this matter.

"Yes, I know. It includes water circulation, air purification systems, and reactors, which is almost like rebuilding a super-giant ship," Swann said. "We can use modular components instead, or even just set up a tent."

"We don't have much time left," Augustus said to Swann. "Even if we win the battle in the Sain Province, we will have to consider the issue of relocating the refugees."

"Complete it as soon as possible."

"Alright, alright, this shouldn't be too difficult," Swann said tentatively. "My people are all outstanding engineers, don't worry, boss. As long as we talk about how many people we can save by doing this, the young men and women will have inexhaustible energy."

"What? Boss, I have some good news for you." Swann paused. "This ship might be more than just Xel'Naga transport... to put it bluntly, it could be a warship."

"A warship?" Augustus raised an eyebrow, glancing at Kerrigan, who also wore a surprised expression. "That's wonderful! Tell me, Swann, what else can this ship do?"

"Its main gun has a caliber at least twice that of the Hyperion's Yamato Cannon; in other words, by that calculation, one shot could take down a battlecruiser," Swann continued. "Moreover, we estimate that this gun is far more powerful than any human cannon."

"That's good, but what should we use to power it?" Augustus asked.

"The Protoss have never used these weapons," Swann said. "But they believe they must be powered by Void Crystals."

"We have quite a few Void Crystals, and we can borrow some from Tassadar and Zeratul," Swann said. "That depends on you, boss. Your face is the only thing the Protoss are really worth."

"I understand." Augustus knew he was inevitably going to have to sell his body. "There should be quite a few Void Crystals in the Xel'Naga ruins on Aiur. Let's use them anyway."

"Any other weapons?"

"There's also a Warp Field Projector, which the Protoss say should reduce the rate of time decay within a thousand yards of the ship," Swann gestured as he spoke. "Imagine it can also slow down missiles that get close to the ship."

"That's all?" Augustus admitted he was somewhat disappointed.

"That's all," Swann said. "I don't think the Xel'Naga are planning to use this spaceship as a warship. It's like we're still installing machine guns and turrets on those yachts. In their eyes, these naval guns are probably just for clearing away meteorites that are blocking their way in space."

"A small gunboat, yet it is already a magnificent warship in the eyes of mankind." Augustus sighed, "Make good use of this spaceship."

As Augustus spoke with Swann, the spaceship floating on Eldritch Lake began to ascend with unparalleled power, causing the lake water to surge with enormous waves. Ten-meter-high walls of waves spread out like ripples, forming huge whirlpools.

It was a conical, indigo-colored behemoth, like a Xel'Naga temple rising from the bottom of the lake. A fierce, freezing rain lashed its magnificent hull, instantly freezing a layer of crystal-clear ice on its surface. A huge shadow obscured the sky, and a bright, shimmering green light illuminated the entire Eldritch Lake.

"Let's give it a name, boss," Swann said. "We can't just call it that Xel'Naga thing or some random cat or dog."

"Let's name it Eldritch," Augustus.

"After all, we dug him out of this lake."

"That's fine then. I thought you were going to come up with something new." Swann left the screen for a few seconds.

"You've always been a naming genius... If we ever find the Xel'Naga, maybe we can get our hands on their shipbuilding blueprints."

"See, I was just saying."