New Folsom

If Char is a living hell, then New Folsom is no less so.

The surface of New Folsom, filled with craters, is extremely unstable. Moving continental plates are constantly colliding, creating new volcanic mountains and lava lakes, or erasing old landforms.

The planet's peak temperature can reach 800 degrees Celsius, and the scorching air is hot enough to burn a human's trachea. Dry and scorching whirlwinds ravage the ever-changing surface of New Folsom, and the few remaining volcanic rocks are baked to a red-hot hue.

In the Koprulu Sector, the number of harsh planets far exceeds those suitable for life, but the abundant geological resources of New Folsom are enough to tempt brave adventurers from the Terran Confederacy to risk establishing new colonies.

Despite the fact that there was hardly any space left in New Folsom, the Terran Confederacy still hired the most daring, meticulous, and technically skilled experts, materials professionals, and terrain modification engineers to build a vast, deformable, mobile steel platform on the churning lava lake of New Folsom.

Mobile platforms can create a minimally invasive environment for workers, which led to the creation of New Folsom United Mining Company.

"The gravitational field of New Folsom is unpredictable. To get close to it, one must travel on a heavily armed military starship, traversing two major planetary force fields via a constantly shifting trajectory." The Hyperion's first mate's steel-forged lips moved swiftly.

"New Folsom now exists as one of the most brutal prisons, used to hold the most heinous political prisoners, terrorists, anti-government activists, arrested revolutionaries, and rebel officers in the Terran Confederacy." The Adjutant's cold, synthesized voice was devoid of any warmth.

"The remote location and daunting terrain of New Folsom Prison, within the world ruled by the Terran Confederacy, make an escape a perilous adventure with no chance of survival."

"It's a living hell." Augustus crossed the bridge of the Hyperion and looked out the porthole at New Folsom: "Unless the prisoners inside can sprout wings and fly, even if they escape, they'll only be baked dry by the scorching lava of New Folsom."

Outside the porthole, New Folsom seemed almost within reach. Several Confederacy space stations and dock weapon systems were continuously firing at the rapidly approaching Revolutionary Army Wraith. A flash of light that eclipsed the sun streaked across the sky, and a Confederacy communications relay station built on an asteroid was struck head-on by the Yamato Cannon of the Revolutionary Army battlecruiser Ragnarok, instantly shattering into pieces amidst sparks and fire.

As more images and data were transmitted back from the Hyperion's onboard sensor array, the debris from the communications relay station became almost clearly visible, and the Confederacy flag standing on the relay station was torn to shreds like a rag.

Most of the communications sent by the relay station to the core world of the Terran Confederacy were intercepted by the Revolutionary Army Fleets. The scattered data was uploaded to the Hyperion's supercomputer. With the help of Protoss spacetime acceleration technology, the computing power of human supercomputers was now incomparable to what it used to be.

All the low-level encrypted communications were quickly cracked and displayed on the main screen of the Hyperion's bridge. The most frequently mentioned words in these messages were Augustus Mengsk, the Revolutionary Army, and requests for reinforcements.

Behind the Confederacy Space Station lies New Folsom, a planet whose surface is filled with volcanoes and oceans of lava, shimmering with angry orange-red flames. The gray mobile platform atop the lava is so enormous that it can be seen from high orbit, like a peeled coconut shell floating in a crimson ocean.

"To this day, New Folsom Prison is known for its vicious and cruel reputation. In comparison, the prisons of Cha Sara and Ma Sara are as comfortable as a nursery," said Revolutionary Army Logistics Tychus Finley, looking out of the porthole at New Folsom.

"For decades, I have never heard of anyone escaping from New Folsom Prison, or returning home in triumph with a clean slate still intact?"

"If your knowledge in this area can rival your knowledge of military regulations, then you'll be doing me a great favor. The notoriety of New Folsom Prison is enough to terrify even the most vicious thugs in the Terran Confederacy —but the vast majority of them are not even qualified to serve their sentences at New Folsom Prison," Augustus said, looking out at the red planet through the porthole.

"Behind these high walls are many of our comrades-in-arms, most of whom were arrested by the Confederacy while conducting underground espionage activities in the core world of the Terran Confederacy. The others are soldiers who got lost or were captured on various battlefields," he said.

"The majority of New Folsom Prison's inmates are former high-ranking Confederacy officials and highly respected speakers and agitators, all arrested on charges of attempting to subvert the government or steal Confederacy secrets. Of course, we would have to storm New Folsom to find out the specific list of charges."

This was only one of the reasons Augustus decided to attack New Folsom; the planet's abundant resources were also a key factor in his decision to take it over.

Within the Confederacy's territory, New Folsom is the largest source of catalysts needed to forge high-quality steel. Although New Folsom became a useless resource after the discovery of equally abundant and much easier-to-mine catalyst resources in the Sara System, it New Folsom once again become an important source of raw materials since the Sara System was completely destroyed by the Protoss.

It's important to understand that the Sara System is actually under the control of Augustus's Revolutionary Army —only they dare to approach the Sara System, which is within the range of the Protoss Fleets's attack.

If Augustus to take over New Folsom, the Terran Confederacy would have to obtain catalysts from other production areas or from resource tycoons within the Kel-Morian Combine, which would significantly limit steel production capacity and consequently affect the production of weapons such as warships and vehicles.

In other words, Augustus would then be able to use these resources to build his own Fleets.

"Taking in New Folsom is no easy feat; it's heavily guarded, not even a fly could get out." Tychus crossed his arms, his expression full of disdain for the New Folsom Prison he spoke of.

"Commander, for unknown reasons, the Terran Confederacy has repeatedly dispatched troops to strengthen the defenses of New Folsom Prison since the First Total War, and has also sent more prisoners into the prison," the Adjutant said at this moment.

"At least an entire Confederate Marine Corps division is stationed at New Folsom Prison, nearly half the number of prisoners."

"One division is still not enough," Augustus chuckled.

"If I had twenty divisions, I would give the garrison here time to surrender."

As he spoke, Augustus walked past the Hyperion's wide bridge porthole to the Holographic Projection screen, where images of commanders of several Revolutionary Army warships flashed simultaneously.

"Norad III, clear a landing zone immediately. Duke, get your landing forces ready," Augustus.

"I repeat the Marshal's command's order one last time: minimize casualties among the prisoners. As for whether they are revolutionary heroes who have been imprisoned here and tortured, politicians and righteous men who once spoke out for the people, or truly deserving thugs, that is for the telepaths to decide," he said.

"A swift victory is crucial. After that, we must launch an attack on the Edge World near Antiga Prime that are still under Confederacy control, connecting our scattered points on this star map into a unified whole."

"My Alpha Squadron is more than enough to deal with the New Folsom jailers who wear open-crotch pants. If these lowly bastards dare to ambush us, we'll wipe them all out!" Duke lacked any of the elegance of a Tarsonis nobleman, preferring to call it the straightforwardness and boldness of a soldier.

Duke narrowed his Viper- like, triangular eyes slightly and roared his orders at the proudly standing officers of the Alpha Squadron: "Alpha Squadron, listen up! All hands on deck! Blood Eagles, sharpen your bayonets! This time, they will draw blood!"

"The first shot of the revolution will be fired by Alpha Squadron. Norad III, immediately search the defenses of New Folsom Prison. Bring the armor; I will personally command the landing force!" General Duke declared.

"To be loyal to the Revolutionary Army, to be loyal to Marshal Augustus Mengsk."

"That Duke guy's gotten smarter, hasn't he? If he wants a promotion, he'll have to flatter you a lot." Tychus wanted to light a cigarette, but stopped himself when he remembered that Augustus standing right next to him.

"At least he knows how to flatter." Augustus stood still.

On the main screen of the Hyperion, the flagship of Edmond Duke Alpha Squadron, Norad II III, was seen heading towards New Folsom in the orange-red wake left by its thrusters as it accelerated. More than 120 laser cannons fired simultaneously, and space torpedoes were ejected from the hull.

Duke's battlecruisers never conserved ammunition or weapon system energy; they were accustomed to eliminating the enemy head-on as quickly as possible and returning in triumph. Apart from Augustus's Revolutionary Army, few enemies could withstand the fierce offensive and overwhelming artillery fire of the Alpha Squadron.

Meanwhile, another Revolutionary Army Fleets, led by the Horace Warfield flagship Steel Justice, intensified its siege of the New Folsom satellite "Su" and the largest space station. Hundreds of Warfield Steel Legion soldiers landed on APOD transport ships. The Confederacy garrison was routed and quickly surrendered.

New Folsom Prison is indeed one of the most heavily guarded prisons in the Terran Confederacy, but it is still just a prison and cannot withstand the artillery fire of more than forty Revolutionary Army battlecruisers.

There was no need to send special forces to infiltrate New Folsom Prison. Even though the New Folsom Prison's defenses and guards had been reinforced repeatedly since the Korhal uprising, Augustus's Revolutionary Army still had enough troops to capture it.

If Augustus hadn't wanted to rescue the prisoners from New Folsom Prison, the Revolutionary Army Fleets wouldn't have even needed to send troops into the prison. They could have simply launched an orbital strike from New Folsom's high orbit, detonating the planet's already extremely unstable continental plates, and everyone in the prison would have perished.

The Revolutionary Army Fleets is now far stronger than before. With the help of starship experts and technicians dispatched by the Umojan Republic, Antiga Starport and Altera Orbital Shipyard provided Augustus with ten brand-new Behemoth-class Battlecruiser.

At the same time, the Umojan Republic also provided Augustus with six decommissioned Umojan- class battlecruisers free of charge—but, in Tychus's words, these decommissioned warships looked like they had just come out of the shipyard.

Now, with the conflict between the Umojan Republic and the Terran Confederacy escalating, the Confederate Congress and the Umojan Council have broken off relations. There have even been instances of organized Umojan Protectorate attacking Confederacy planets while wearing Korhal Revolutionary Army uniforms.

With the First Total War just ended and the Earth United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet invading, the Terran Confederacy could no longer afford to attend to Umojan. Even the Kel-Morian Combine, which had been completely destroyed by the Confederacy in the Guild Wars, was considering whether it was time to revive their mining empire.

The continuous wars led the Terran Confederacy to intensify its oppression and exploitation of the people in order to build their massive naval Fleets, but this also further ignited internal conflicts.

The Edge World went bankrupt due to tax payments, while the Confederacy Fleets only guarded the main planet!

The corrupt bureaucratic system of the Terran Confederacy is now powerless to control such a vast territory and has had to retreat to the core world.

A tremor came from the bridge of the Hyperion, a signal that it was accelerating through the New Folsom gravitational field. The New Folsom field below the bridge magnified rapidly until Augustus could see the column of magma rising from the explosion.

"Augustus, next we should march on Onuru Sigma, where my old 33rd Assault Confederacy troops are still stationed." Augustus's Arcturus Mengsk, walked onto the bridge at this moment, wearing Power Armor that he had somehow acquired.

Arcturus's Power Armor was handcrafted by Hiram Fick, the armor technician of the Heaven's Devils, and Rory Swann, the chief engineer. The former was the inventor of the Firebat Power Armor, while the latter led the team to develop the even more robust Marauder Power Armor.

This deep red Power Armor, with its gold trim and emblems of the golden wolf and the Sons of Korhal's whip ring, is made far more ornate by its exquisite craftsmanship, comparable to the ceremonial armor worn by the Kel-Morian Combine in ancestral worship ceremonies.

"Because of me, many of them are not doing well. Even those who have repeatedly distinguished themselves in the military have not been promoted, and some have even been persecuted by Confederacy secret police and agents," Arcturus said.

"But as soon as I return to Onuru Sigma, they will surely rise up in rebellion. The people there have long had enough of the brutal rule of the Terran Confederacy."

"Of course, this planet is also on my battle map." Augustus looked at Arcturus and said, "Since the start of the Guild Wars, Onuru Sigma has been a focal point of contention between the Terran Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine. It is a crucial strategic location, offering both offensive and defensive advantages."

"The full-scale counter-offensive is about to begin, and the Confederacy will once again remember the fear the Mengsk Family once instilled in them!"

"Let them tremble," Arcturus said, walking up to Augustus and asking him:

"After this, what are your plans for dealing with New Folsom Prison?"

"Of course, we should completely raze this heinous prison. Since the Antiga Rebellion, the New Folsom Prison has tortured and killed so many righteous people," Augustus said after a moment of thought.

"No, you should keep it," Arcturus said. "Keeping New Folsom Prison is the best option."

"Why? I don't need this prison," Augustus.

"In the future, the prisons of New Folsom will make your enemies and opponents tremble. If you want to be the ruler on the throne, you must keep your promises, be a man of your word, and, if anyone disobeys you, punish them ruthlessly if necessary those who might betray you or attempt to overthrow you."

"You must instill fear in them to secure your position!" Arcturus looked at Tychus Finley beside him as Augustus's expression gradually changed, stopping at the sergeant's rank insignia on his shoulder.

"Finley, the last time I saw you, you were a major. Now, I must say, I have never seen anyone rise so quickly."

"I made a minor, insignificant mistake," Tychus chuckled.

"I just had a few drinks and sparred with Swann's group. Yes, a whole engineering corps."