UED Fleets Jump In

Char landing point, the Bone Trench.

This is a real-life purgatory, a nightmare in reality.

In Char, the white sun visible to humans was larger than that on planets in the habitable zone; it was undoubtedly a blazing giant sun. Its rays were enough to sting a person's eyes, scald their delicate skin, and dry it out.

If that's already quite alarming, remember that it's just one star in the Char binary system.

The radiation emitted by that white dwarf star in its twilight years is also deadly to humans; it can easily destroy the human genetic chain, crushing and pulverizing it.

Also affected by the irregular variable star designated M8 and its elliptical orbit, the intense radiation Char experiences during its orbital period is not always uniform.

When Char reaches its perihelion, the sunlit side will be melted into a sea of magma, with surface temperatures reaching up to 2700 degrees Celsius. The evaporated lava will fall from the scorching atmosphere, creating a terrifying rain of fire.

Unfortunately, the Bone Trench, marked as the landing point, is in such a horrific state.

The solidified black rocks are melting into churning lava, and the vast, boundless Mirror Plains has become a boiling ocean. For any life that accidentally falls into it, death is only a matter of an instant.

As Jim Raynor pulled his alloy steel power boots, deeply embedded in the ash, he suspected the surface was hot enough to fry a steak. He was situated between Bone Trench and Death Valley, near the terminator. To the south lay a vast plain of solidified black rock, shrouded in perpetual night; to the other, a sunlit ocean of lava. One side was the pitch-black, frigid night, the other the surface of a star.

The blazing sun in the sky wouldn't set for another 16 hours, and until then, it would continue to scorch the land beneath Raynor's feet.

The Power Armor worn by the Revolutionary Army soldiers effectively insulates against heat and locks in moisture from the body. In just a few minutes, this terrifying sun can evaporate 4 liters of water from an unprotected human body.

In such an environment, survival is already difficult enough, let alone engaging in a life-or-death battle with ferocious Zerg.

The Revolutionary Army's Char Expeditionary Force's Wraith and Grizzly Heavy Bomber had cleared a relatively safe landing zone in the Bone Trench, and soon the first Revolutionary Army airborne battalion set foot on the land littered with insect corpses.

Raynor' brave engineering regiment and corpsmen quickly erected a cluster of Bunker and defensive walls on the spark- and ash-smoking ground, and poured concrete for a temporary airfield. Most of these loyal and courageous Revolutionary Army soldiers were not setting foot in Char for the first time; some were even entering for the third or fourth time.

On the battlefield against the Zerg, it is these people who uphold the backbone of the human world. If you see a human flag deep within Zerg territory, it must belong to the Revolutionary Army.

These people were just ordinary people; they knew fear and could back down, but they knew that in the safe territory of the Revolutionary Army, there would always be a light left on for them.

"Build fortifications, set up Arclite Siege Tank. With Siege Tank in front and Bunker behind, our defenses will be secure." As Raynor spoke in the command channel, the APOD transport ship behind him took off once again.

"Assemble the generators, lay the cables, those damn satellite base stations and signal towers have to get to work immediately!" he continued.

"All units move into their designated positions as planned. The 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions will advance eastward across Lava Lake 76 towards Dreadnought Heights. The 16th Motorized Brigade will be responsible for armed reconnaissance. The railgun units and the Protoss Fleets will provide you with all available fire support."

Several Revolutionary Army soldiers in blue Power Armor stood beside Raynor. Further away, numerous transport ships and shuttles were parked. Vulture, Arclite Siege Tank, and Rattlesnake Tank rumbled off the ships from their cargo holds, and the soldiers filed out as far as the eye could see.

"Earl, when will our jammers be able to come in handy?" Raynor walked past several T-280 SCV and found a Revolutionary Army engineer wearing old-fashioned CMC-200 Power Armor.

The Revolutionary Army was much wealthier than when the uprising had just begun, and the armor it had acquired from the Confederacy arsenals in the occupied territories was more than enough to equip its engineers. Although the T-280 SCV could also provide the necessary protection, one can never have too much protection.

"Uh, sir, the Psi Disrupter will be operational in 3 minutes, and its range will be sufficient to cover the entire Bone Trench, Death Valley, and Dreadnought Heights." Earl was a Revolutionary Army engineer with short hair. He was still young, but he was completely at ease in front of Raynor.

"About what percentage of Zerg are the current Psi Disrupter Zerg against?" Raynor asked. "If we can disrupt the Psionics link between the Cerebrate and other Zerg, then dealing with its uncontrolled minions will be much more efficient."

"Less than 30%." Earl carried a tool bag and a huge laser pliers on his back. "As you know, General, our technology is advancing by leaps and bounds with the war, Zerg are evolving at a frenzied pace—the rate at which new variants emerge has even shortened to one or two life cycles."

"We are using what we've learned from the Zerg's carapace structure to improve the steel plate casting process, while they are also eliminating genes and traits that have already proven to be outdated in the war against us by accelerating mutation and evolution."

"Since we started using Psi Disrupter on the battlefield and in cities, this weapon, which is effective in countering Zerg hive minds, has been upgraded many times. Compared to the prototype, the jamming effect and coverage are incomparable," he said.

"But the Zerg are evolving faster than our technology is advancing. Their solution is simple and brutal: by transplanting ancient Overlord genes and increasing the number of Yggdrasill Leviathan (elite Overlord), the Psionics link between the Cerebrate and their swarm members is now many times stronger than it used to be."

"Even a fifth-generation Psi Disrupter is only working intermittently in Char's hands; adding more Psi Disrupter would be a drop in the ocean."

"Even a small mosquito is still meat," Raynor said.

At this time, more of Char Expeditionary Force landed in the Death Valley trenches.

The Bone Trench is a vast, long canyon fissure with flat, semi-cooled lava flows between rock walls thousands of feet high on both sides, surrounded by giant lava lakes above sea level. At this time, the volcanic cluster is erupting on a large scale, and low-lying areas are easily submerged by the surging lava. In any case, marching through such a region is extremely risky.

However, according to radar detection and sensor analysis, the Zerg were able to incubate their twisted and abnormal organic structures in such a treacherous area. Deep within the Bone Trench, hundreds of Mutalisk Spire and Scourge Nest continued to extend into the sky.

These terrifying flying creatures are veritable living bombs; swarms of Scourge, Mutalisk, and their new variants specifically designed to target warships are enough to destroy a massive Protoss Fleets.

A total of 25,000 Revolutionary Army landed on a stretch of land spanning several miles at the junction of Bone Trench and Death Valley, on the western cliff face of Bone Trench. Of the expeditionary force that successfully landed, some were lucky enough to have the Zerg cleared from their landing sites, while others were immediately surrounded by swarms of Zerg.

The Char Swarm reacts with incredible speed; hundreds of millions of Swarm are navigating through an intricate network of underground wormholes, thriving even in such a harsh environment.

A rustling sound rose from the north of the landing point, and a roar filled with destructive desire drifted slowly on the hot wind sweeping across the land.

"Fire!" Raynor ran past Earl and climbed a newly erected anti-aircraft missile turret with his Chief of Staff Charles Matt Horner.

At Raynor's command, the Revolutionary Army's heavy artillery opened fire first. Large-caliber shells, boosted by rockets and accelerated by magnetic rails, first covered the vanguard of the charging Swarm. This was followed by another round of saturation bombing from the bomber formations that streaked across the sky, making the ground seem to tremble.

Vast numbers of Zerg fell to the Revolutionary Army's fierce firepower, their screams echoing everywhere. Some soldiers were greatly encouraged, but the veterans who had truly experienced the First Total War knew that it was merely the prelude to the Swarm's attack.

"This firepower is still no match for the Protoss. Look at those insects—their tougher carapaces and more agile movements, and those new variants appearing in the large hives. Augustus doesn't give us some real big fish soon, how can we fight this war?" Raynor glanced at General Charles Matt Horner beside him and asked:

When will the Protoss arrive?

"Should be." Charles looked at the report on his helmet HUD panel and said, "The Protoss said they'll be here soon. These aliens may look strange, but they're usually very punctual."

"The Protoss have always been straightforward, and no matter what, they have never let their allies down." Raynor searched the air for Protoss fighters that might appear.

As soon as the words were spoken, an extremely thick beam of Carrier main cannon shot down from the sky, sweeping across the center of the Bone Trench. The rock walls along the way melted and collapsed, and the collapsing lava lake instantly swallowed tens of thousands of Zerg in the trench.

Soon, magnificent Protoss buildings, resplendent in gold, were warped onto the Revolutionary Army's front lines. The massive warp signals caused the numbers on Raynor's helmet display to jump wildly.

Raynor could recognize the works of art that were the Protoss architecture: a Nexus, Cybernetics Core, an unknown number of Robotics Facility, Forge, and hundreds of towering Gateway. This was the Protoss ' way of fighting; they deployed their fortifications and troops directly on the front lines.

Whole legions of Zealot emerged from the warp field of the Pylon, led by incredibly powerful High Templar. Behind them, massive numbers of Dragoon formed an unbreakable line, while the Reaver rushed to the most critical location.

The Dark Templar also joined the battle, embarking on their solitary path of heroism in the Zerg's dark and deep hive tunnels, striving to eliminate as many of the Swarm's elite members and commanding members as possible.

The Protoss outnumber the humans far and are the main force fighting the Swarm.

After a flash of white light, Tassadar, dressed in the armor and robes of a high-ranking Daelaam, appeared before Raynor. He then bowed and saluted Raynor and the Revolutionary Army soldiers behind him with human courtesy.

"I have always considered it an honor to fight alongside the warriors of Augustus Mengsk," Tassadar said.

"The Raynor brothers."

"Hey there, buddy," Raynor waved.

"We will clash swords and fight side by side, just like before."

Raynor's view of the Protoss differs from others, likely influenced by Augustus, Augustus saw Protoss as large, grey-skinned cats, both elegant and dangerous.

"It looks like we're facing the Jormungand Brood of the Cerebrate Yack," Raynor said to Tassadar. "This Cerebrate isn't the most difficult to deal with, but its swarm is definitely the largest."

The Cerebrate Yack believes in only one truth: sheer numbers can overcome anything. There is no position that Swarm cannot breach; it's just a matter of not having enough of them.

"Besides the Cerebrate Yack, there's also the Sath swarm. The number of Zerg here far exceeds our warriors." As Tassadar was speaking, Raynor suddenly shouted because of the static noise coming from the communication channel.

"Charles, what's going on?" Raynor asked his chief of staff.

"Our communication systems are being interfered with by strong electromagnetic pulse signals. Previously, only the Xel'Naga Artifact Fragment unearthed from Mar-Sa had been able to produce such an effect," Charles said.

"This means our troops have become blind, deaf, and mute."

"What? This was done by the Zerg? I thought that guy Egon was just fooling the Cerebrate when he said the Zerg might evolve alternating current and televisions," Raynor said.

"High Executor, the Observer have detected a human Fleets that suddenly appeared on the other side of Char, heading towards the main swarm of the Char Swarm." A High Templar appeared around Tassadar.

The Protoss do not use such primitive technology to communicate; their communication devices are a completely different kind of technology.

"They're not one of ours." When Tassadar looked at Raynor, the latter immediately shook his head and said.

"Is it the Confederacy or those Earthlings?"

"That's the UED Expeditionary Fleet's Fleets, and it's huge," said the High Templar.

The United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet had already invaded the Koprulu Sector more than a month ago. Augustus had given Tassadar the data on the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet long ago, reminding him to be extremely cautious when dealing with the humans.

If it were any other Protoss executive, they would probably just laugh off Augustus's warning; after all, Earthlings are still a branch of humanity, nothing to be ashamed of. But Tassadar was different; he never underestimated his opponents.

Moreover, Augustus and his human army had already demonstrated the bravery and strength of their race during the Battle of Aiur.

"Immediately deploy Grand Consul Fenix's forces. We need to advance towards the main hive area and see what those Earth humans are up to," Tassadar immediately ordered.

Fenix is the most valiant and unparalleled Templar Knights among the Protoss; Tassadar could simply say that deploying Fenix immediately would be enough to handle the situation.

"My men will follow you too." Raynor said after a moment's thought, "Augustus told me we must keep a close eye on the Earthlings; their target should be that newly born Overmind."

"What made Augustus such a judgment?" Tassadar's eyes truly lit up.

"I didn't ask any more questions, and he didn't say much either," Raynor speculated. "In short, Augustus's judgment has always been the most accurate. In any case, we guys follow his orders."

"If you've ever played chess, you'll know we're just pawns in Augustus's hands. We only appear where he needs us, doing what we're supposed to do," he told Charles.

"Immediately inform Augustus of the appearance of a large-scale Earthling Fleets in Char. Use the fastest routes and the best equipment to inform all the technical personnel who have learned of this. This matter is more important than all of our lives!"

"Indeed. Augustus must have made this judgment after much deliberation." Tassadar pondered for a long time, "I am a dull apprentice, and I have never learned a shred of wisdom or insightful foresight from him."

"The Protoss all know that he is right without exception."

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