Breaking Through the Midrin Peaks

At 4:00 AM on January 17, 2493, the 4th Infantry Division of the Revolutionary Army entered the battle at the foot of the Midrin Peaks Mountains. Approximately 25,000 Revolutionary Army soldiers, tanks, and armored vehicles crossed the border of the Antioch Province and, together with the 137th Raynor's Raiders Airborne Brigade, completed the encirclement of the Jormungand tribe on the east bank of the upper Midrin River.

This was an epic battle of great scale. Even though the 4th Infantry Division consisted mostly of veterans who had followed Augustus for many years, and were well-equipped and highly motivated, they still found themselves in a bitter struggle.

The Air Force's Grizzly Bomber relentlessly bombed the highlands at the foot of the mountain, forcing the Zerg in the area to avoid the artillery fire and preventing them from gathering on the riverbank. Such intense firepower would be enough to terrify any enemy of the Revolutionary Army, but not the Zerg.

The Protoss ' firepower far surpasses that of humans. Neither the Colossus that walk on the ground nor the warships with their main cannons capable of leveling Zerg can instill fear in the Zerg. The Swarm only fears the authority of the Overmind and the Cerebrate, while any other enemy only awakens the bloodlust deep within their genes.

By the early morning of January 19, the main force of the 4th Infantry Division was still advancing, approaching the only pass in the Midrin Peaks.

The morning sun of the 19th shone through the treacherous chasm, falling on the scorched earth below, littered with corpses. The land, already barren and desolate due to the encroachment of Zerg Creep, was littered with horrifying remains of dismembered bodies and the wreckage of chariots.

A crimson sun rose from the summit of the Midrin Peaks, dispelling the chill of death. As the sun climbed higher, the shadows beneath the mountains receded, and more sunlight fell upon the ravaged land. But those eyes, whether wide open or tightly shut, would never see this sight again.

On the desolate and empty land, only a few sporadic gunshots could still be heard, and the sounds of automatic cannons and explosions had not been heard for several hours.

Colonel Ilya Kulovsky of the 4th Infantry Division walked through a trench dug by a SCV and a concrete bunker complex toward a higher Bunker cluster.

Along the way, Kulovsky and the few soldiers following him would stop from time to time, stopping beside the fallen Revolutionary Army soldiers, trying to find some signs that the warriors were still alive under their Power Armor and helmets, which were riddled with ten-inch Hydralisk Spikes.

But that only brings deep disappointment and heartache.

Most of the corpses were incomplete; many warriors had their hands or feet torn off by grotesque Zerg or shredded by sharp chitinous bone blades, resulting in an exceptionally bloody and even nauseating scene.

Colonel Kulovsky walked past a still-bleeding Zergling corpse, suddenly pulled out a Demolisher Pistol, and fired a shot at the leaping monster. The shot was precise and deadly, severing half of the Zergling's head with a single bullet.

The Zergling, having lost its entire cervical vertebrae, struggled and collapsed to the ground, crimson blood continuously flowing down its neck covered in hard chitinous plates. The Demolisher Pistol was an upgraded version of the current electromagnetic pistols used by humans; its power was commensurate with its astonishing caliber, enough to blow a person's head off with a single shot.

In contrast, the P-series electromagnetic pistols are ineffective against Hydralisk or even larger Overlord.

Stepping over two more lifeless Hydralisk corpses, Kulovsky came to a soldier lying face up on the ground. The soldier's Power Armor was almost undamaged, except for a black hole in the dark orange matte visor.

The soldier's Power Armor also bears a striking emblem on the right chest: a giant white tree, a symbol of Sterling, the former capital of Korhal IV, where the people believed the city was built atop the white tree.

He knelt on one knee before it, and after unlocking the Power Armor servo system, silently made a gesture of mourning with strong religious significance.

Nearby, several Revolutionary Army soldiers clad in gold and red armor were using bayonets attached to their Gauss Rifle to violently stab the hearts of the Zerg corpses on the ground.

To the north of this trench lies a desolate wasteland nestled against the Midrin Peaks. The wasteland is empty, littered with massive craters dozens of feet in diameter and mountains of Zerg, including the wreckage of large human and Protoss combat mechs.

The strong winds blowing from the direction of the Midrin Peaks in the early morning carried with them the stench of burnt protein, and the unpleasant smell hit us in the face.

The war beneath the Midrin Peaks is nearing its end; all the Zerg in the region have been wiped out by the combined forces of humans and Protoss.

The 1st Armored Division's Arclite Siege Tank and Diamondback, along with the 7th and 8th Infantry Divisions, launched a fierce attack on the Zerg nests on the north bank. They joined Fenix's Zealot Legion in crushing the Swarm's advance and pushed the front line to the foot of the southern slopes of the Midrin Peaks.

Compared to humanity, the Protoss deployed a far larger army, with even the extremely rare High Templar rushing to the front lines. In the past, humans would consider a few hundred Protoss warriors a formidable force. But on the battlefield of Derin, aside from the incredibly powerful mechs and magnificent fighters, the number of Templar Knights alone exceeded one million.

Including other units, the number of human soldiers deployed to the front lines in Derin exceeded 200,000. As for the Protoss, this gave the Revolutionary Army almost certain that nearly all Protoss warriors in Aiur had come.

By this time, the situation on the Derin battlefield had become clear. Originally, the number of Zerg here exceeded 20 million or even more, but now only scattered groups of them wandered on the gloomy battlefield.

The allied forces are currently launching their final assault on the Bellwood Pass in the Midrin Peaks, the exit of this natural fortress. But even if they capture it, it will only be the prelude to a much larger and more brutal war.

Crossing the Midrin Peaks, the allied forces will face the Overmind and its most bloodthirsty and ruthless minions in the final battle.

"Colonel, the Protoss have started their attack again," a soldier said as he walked by.

"They may never have stopped." Kulovsky opened his mask and nodded. The oxygen content in the air in Aiur was a little too high for humans, but not enough to make it impossible to breathe.

Due to the hot climate and low oxygen levels of Aiur, the planet is home to a rich variety of giant insects. But now, those colorful and beautiful creatures have become part of the Swarm, and perhaps because of this, the Zerg that invaded Aiur have also undergone a change in appearance, no longer resembling a grotesque, skeletal monster as they once were.

Colonel Kulovsky removed a nameplate from the dead soldier, pondering the question: How old was he, and how many people were waiting for him to come home?

Moroco Merry West.

From Korhal.

The plaque bears the following inscription. "A government should not treat its people in such a way that they will fight for their duties, for their loyalty, or for their patriotism, but not for the beatings and commands of slave owners."

The Revolutionary Army aims to bring more peace, not war, to humanity. Warriors, we will lead the people of Koprulu towards the light.

This was written by the soldier himself on a piece of paper and attached to the back of his nameplate. Many others did the same, reminding themselves of why they were fighting. There were many such people in the Revolutionary Army; their spirit was noble and precious, for a greater ideal rather than for personal gain.

"Take him away." Kulovsky placed the nameplate back on the soldier. "As long as we have a breath left, he should never be buried here."

The first ten divisions of the Army's operational order of battle were all formed in Korhal IV. They were mostly composed of Korhal militiamen, former Confederacy planetary defense forces, and other eligible young men from various industries. After the Revolutionary Army Fleets left Korhal, these earliest formed divisions rarely accepted recruits from other planets.

In these divisions, everyone wrote a will. The contents of the wills were different, but the endings were all the same: Return to Korhal, wait for us to return to our homeland. Comrades, even if you bury me in the Radiated Wastes and desert.

Under the orders of Marshal Augustus Mengsk, the Revolutionary Army never abandoned the bodies of its soldiers.

"He was a brave soldier, and his sacrifice was not in vain," said a Revolutionary Army political commissar with distinctive shoulder insignia as he walked over.

"You say that to everyone." Kulovsky. In the Revolutionary Army, the political commissar at the division level was responsible for the ideological work of the entire division. The political commissar had to ensure that revolutionary ideas in the army were not arbitrarily distorted and to prevent soldiers and officers from going down the path of extreme revenge.

Augustus valued his army and kept this powerful armed force, which instilled fear in the Terran Confederacy, firmly in his grasp.

"I will say the same thing when you die in battle," the division-level political commissar said calmly.

"Damn it, you really don't know how to be flexible, Xidel." Kulovsky sighed, stood in the morning light for a few seconds, and the heavy dark circles under his eyes from two days without sleep became even more obvious.

Xidel was also a veteran of Korhal descent. He had joined a civilian revolutionary group long before Augustus's father, Angus, was advocating for Korhal independence in the political circles of Korhal IV.

He is a descendant of the Korhal noble family, which has been passed down to this day. More than a century ago, Xidel's family was a follower of the Mengsk Family. By Xidel's generation, the family had long since declined. His mother died of illness, and his father became an alcoholic and eventually a drug addict.

Now, Xidel has become an undeniable figure in the Pan-Tyran Revolutionary Army. He is both an outstanding fighter and a staunch supporter of Augustus. Xidel firmly believes that he is following the most outstanding leader and great man in the Koprulu Sector in two hundred years, and he is constantly conveying this idea to other Revolutionary Army soldiers.

"Nobody knows who'll be collecting whose corpses in the end," he continued. "This godforsaken place is no place for a human to live."

"Perhaps my hometown, Blesis, is hell on earth in another sense, but at least there aren't as many bugs there."

"You think we shouldn't have come to Aiur to fight this war?" Commissar Xidel's entire face was hidden under the helmet visor of his Power Armor, and no one could see his expression.

Ilya Kulovsky was a member of the infamous Heaven's Devils, a legendary force that had been featured in major Tarsonis media outlets and was intentionally portrayed by the Confederacy as combat heroes during the Guild Wars. But no one could have predicted that these combat heroes would become the Confederacy's future dreaded rebels, and their leader was none other than the Wolf of Korhal, Augustus Mengsk.

"Of course not. If we don't come to fight in Aiur, the next time it will be in Antiga, in Tarsonis, in Umojan. At that time, humanity will really have nowhere to retreat," Colonel Kulovsky said.

"I understand. If the Protoss are finished, we won't be far behind."

"Yes, but many in the army don't understand, or rather, they're only here because of Marshal Mengsk's orders," Xidel said. "When the casualties weren't so heavy, they didn't complain much, but now that so many people are sleeping in foreign lands, some people can't help but ask why."

"The meaning of the battle remains the same: we fight for the hope of humanity, we fight for our homes and families, and we would rather fight the enemy on the battlefield."

"Fight on and on, until the day the world no longer needs us," Kulovsky said. "Augustus always said that."

"But the era of peace was long gone after the Guild Wars began; one brutal war always leads to another."

"He's right." Kulovsky was silent for a moment.

"The Marshal never makes a mistake," said Political Commissar Xidel.

"No, he wasn't a perfect person," Kulovsky corrected Xidel's statement in a declarative tone. "He never was."

"Augustus Mengsk makes mistakes too, at least when he tried to give people a ride in his Vulture. That bastard only thinks about himself when he's driving and never cares about the people in the back seat, do you understand?"

"Even if he becomes the Confederacy prime minister, he'll still be thinking about speeding."

"You think Augustus was born a revolutionary leader? No, Augustus just wanted a peaceful life, but the Confederacy wouldn't let him go."

"Of course, no one is perfect." Xidel said with lingering fear, "The Marshal's driving skills are unmatched, but I will never ride in his car again in my life."

"Another victim," Kulovsky laughed, "But we're all strapped tightly to his car."

As they spoke, several magnificent and dazzling Protoss gold-blue fighters streaked across the sky above the 4th Army Division. These were aircraft from a Protoss Empire, resembling the giant manta rays found there.

To this day, a portion of the Protoss Fleets from the Protoss Empire's external colonies has arrived in Aiur. These Protoss colonies, which regard Aiur as their sacred home, are even mobilizing all their resources to support Aiur. Every moment, massive Protoss Fleets set sail to aid Aiur, and the warp signals are as conspicuous in the once vast territory of the Protoss Empire as a dense blue film on the surface of a lake.

"The Protoss have gone mad," Kulovsky said. "They're going to fight to the death."

"If we catch up with the Protoss, we still have a tough battle ahead."

As he spoke, an incredibly dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, shattering the entire Medlin Peak. In an instant, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, and countless Zerg were reduced to ashes.

That comes from the Protoss Mothership currently anchored in high orbit above Aiur, a ship that once served as a graveyard for Protoss heroes, but has now been unearthed by the Protoss and humans, shining once more among the stars.