Augustus Mengsk Approaches the Throne Planet

"The monsters from Korhal have landed in Tartarus (the underworld in Greek mythology)."

"An unspeakable cannibalistic demon is approaching the Brontes Prime."

"A despicable and shameless thief has entered the Nidhogg System."

"The infamous murderer Mengsk has shamelessly torn up the Redstone Treaty, and his executioners and butchers are rampaging across the lands of the United Earth Directorate. This makes one wonder if Lieutenant General Alexei Stukov has chosen the wrong ally—uh, you ask what I'm talking about? I'm reading from a script!"

"I don't usually include personal opinions in my reporting, but I must say, Augustus Mengsk was at least a Terrans."

"Who is this person?" Augustus stood with his hands behind his back in front of the Hyperion's bridge, looking quite interested in a holographic screen flashing in front of him.

"Donnie Mili, the UNN's newest reporter, he must have offended someone to be assigned to a local station." Kerrigan immediately replied, "Our revolutionary comrade Mike Liberty at UNN headquarters mentioned him; this Donnie Mili is currently gathering intelligence for us."

"You really don't hold back," Augustus said with a smile. "You gave me quite a fright, Doni."

"Speaking of which, Mike hasn't been doing too well lately. The Terra Family and Holt Family can't help him much anymore, and our underground party members in Tarsonis are also in danger."

"In fact, Mike and Donnie have secured a foothold in the UNN universe news website, now controlled by the UED, thanks to their intelligence and opportunism," Kerrigan told Augustus. "It's just that they can't provide us with much useful information right now."

"After capturing Tarsonis, Alexei Stukov replaced key political figures in the Terran Confederacy in a very short time and streamlined the bloated and corrupt government system on a large scale, establishing a military government headed by the Expeditionary Force Command, modeled after the United Earth Directorate." Arcturus walked up the steps on the other side of the bridge, followed by Chief of Staff of the Marshal Guard, Tychus Finley.

It must be said that this was a rather strange combination in Augustus's eyes. Arcturus knew how to make a villain like Tychus obey him, and those who knew him both respected and feared him, so they got along fairly well.

"Of course, Alexei Stukov also reduced the number of people we had infiltrated into the Confederacy. Moreover, the security level of the UED command, control, and communications intelligence systems is very high; the Terrans, with their current technological level, simply cannot reverse-engineer them. On the contrary, we should be keeping a close watch on ourselves," Arcturus continued.

"Attacks originating from computer networks are always difficult to defend against. During the attack on Tarsannis, the UED only took a dozen minutes or less to infiltrate the command and control network of the Terran Federation's Tarsannis fleet and take control of the planetary orbital defense weapons," he said.

"Fortunately Umojans can help us upgrade the security level of our computer network, but I have never trusted them. Who knows if that will become a tool for the Umojan Republic to hinder us in the future?"

"After all, Earth is the origin of human civilization, so it's understandable that it lags behind them," Augustus, shaking his head. "But however much technology Earthlings bring, we consume it all."

"Attention all Hyperion crew! The warship is about to exit the spacetime tunnel and is entering the countdown: 10, 9!" At this moment, the voice of the new captain, Ain, came over the Hyperion's broadcast channel. Ain West was known as Iron Skull, possessing a chin and right cheek made of steel, which he lost in a war against the Aiur Zerg.

Every captain of the Hyperion has been exceptionally talented and accomplished, and unless they are killed in some future war, they will surely rise to the rank of general in the Revolutionary Army Navy.

The first two captains have been transferred to the newly independent Revolutionary Army Navy Headquarters as commander and chief of staff, respectively, and the next captain is likely to be Matt Horner Matt Horner, who has only recently emerged as a prominent figure.

A dozen seconds later, the magnificent deck of the Hyperion, coated with an alloy plating, was once again bathed in the starlight of the Tarsonis system, with the light of billions of stars shimmering outside the bridge windows opposite the Augustus.

"Attention all Fleets, immediately enter combat readiness and maintain high alert. Any negligence or carelessness could cost you and your comrades your lives." Augustus's words were directly transmitted to the entire Fleets's communication channel.

"I know that some in the army have begun to slack off, thinking that victory is already within their grasp and that the trip to Tarsonis is nothing more than a comfortable interstellar journey," he said sternly.

"The most critical situation has arisen between us. Pride comes before a fall, and Earthlings remain a formidable adversary."

At this moment, outside the wide, parallel portholes of the Hyperion, the Revolutionary Army warships, which had just jumped out of the subdimensional spaceway like it, were lined up, as magnificent and spectacular as a mountain range with straight lines. Thousands of support ships, frigates, and destroyers (all ship types mentioned in the battlefield manual and short stories) were cruising, leaving blue and red plasma trails.

It's no wonder that some members of the Revolutionary Army have become arrogant and conceited. Four years ago, their only capital ship was the Hyperion, which was donated and refitted by the Umojans. Now, this Fleets is large enough to sweep across the Koprulu Sector.

Before entering Tarsonis, there was even a small Fleets, mainly composed of Protoss Scout and shuttles, following the Revolutionary Army Fleets, with Protoss Executive Artanis on one of the Scout.

Now, this small Protoss Fleets has broken away from the Revolutionary Army Fleets and is observing the war between humans from another part of the Tarsonis system. It is a small but elite force that only launches a fatal blow when Hybrid appears.

"Where is the UED Fleets?" Arcturus frowned.

"If they want to stop us from going any further into the Tarsonis system, now is the time."

"I think it should be soon," Kerrigan's sexy red lips stopped at this moment.

The Holographic Projection screen on the bridge of the Hyperion went dark, and then the star chart and radar scans turned into static or jumbled text. The main control consoles around the bridge were either damaged or malfunctioning, and some of the displays even emitted clearly visible plasma streams and sparks, started to catch fire, and exploded.

The electromagnetic field generated by the intense electromagnetic pulse radiation caused currents to overflow from the metal surface of the Hyperion, spreading across its deck. These currents entered delicate equipment through conduits and tiny cracks, burning out electronic components, creating a large amount of garbled code, and even directly interrupting data transmission.

In a vacuum, electromagnetic pulse waves can propagate indefinitely. The electromagnetic pulse that struck the Hyperion was so strong that it damaged millions of electronic components that make up the computer and electronic equipment. Not only were weapon and defense systems disrupted, but even internal ship communications were severely compromised.

In this scenario, both the ship's hatches and gun emplacements would have to be manually controlled by soldiers. This isn't the worst of it; if the power of the electromagnetic pulse beam were further increased, it could directly become a weapon, triggering uncontrolled ignition and catastrophic explosions in missiles and space torpedoes. The resulting current and voltage would also disrupt sensors, rendering the ship unable to distinguish friend from foe.

In an instant, sparks flew everywhere from the Hyperion, and the other Revolutionary Army warships were facing the same crisis. If the electromagnetic pulse power density was high enough, it could even burn people and cook them like food in a microwave oven.

And it is clear that the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Force does not yet possess such a powerful electromagnetic pulse weapon.

"If it were anyone else, he might have already fled Tarsonis, but this is Alexei Stukov." Augustus didn't show too much surprise. "He won't become a stray dog; he will fight us to the death here."

"Alexei Stukov is a rare talent, but it's a pity he's unwilling to surrender." Arcturus also felt a sense of appreciation for talent. This Lieutenant General Alexei Stukov was a rare talent, but he refused to pledge allegiance to any force outside of Earth.

Before arriving in Tarsonis, Augustus had spoken with Alexei Stukov multiple times, urging him to surrender in order to save billions of lives in Tarsonis, but Stokkov refused each time.

It seems that someone like Alexei Stukov, who grew up and was educated within the borders of the Earth Federation, would ultimately be unable to surrender to people from such Outer Colonies.

But since the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet was doomed to failure, even if Alexei Stukov returned to Earth, he would face a life of disgrace. While a high-ranking general like him might not be overly concerned with his reputation, he would still find such an ending difficult to accept.

"The UED must have deployed a considerable number of electromagnetic field generators on the edge of Tarsonis —no, they must have calculated our jump coordinates and laid an ambush beforehand," Augustus said calmly.

"Indeed, unless we're using Protoss warships, we currently have no effective way to counter this weapon."

Compared to the panicked crew, Augustus and Arcturus remained calm and composed; they had both experienced far larger situations.

The next moment, more than twenty silver-gray or dark brown UED battlecruisers appeared in front of the Revolutionary Army Fleets, and even more magnificent warships were leaping out.

Once it appears, UED warships can unleash firepower on the nearly paralyzed Revolutionary Army Fleets, with laser beams spanning tens of thousands of miles illuminating each other in the depths of space.

As the flagship of the Revolutionary Army, the Hyperion suffered the most damage, with alarms blaring and crew screams echoing throughout. Even Kerrigan couldn't help but feel tense, fearing that Augustus have met with misfortune.

"It's time for our secret weapon to be used." Augustus activated the triangular crystal on one side of the star chart platform, and the image that rose up was completely undisturbed.

Although Augustus had the forces of the Protoss executive officer Artanis as allies, they were not a secret weapon. Influenced by the Dae'uhl Doctrine and the bloody lessons deeply etched in the Protoss ' memories, the Protoss would never easily intervene in the internal conflicts of lower races unless they made contact with the Zerg or the dark side of the universe.

Behind the holographic image was a giant, plump, white worm. Its bloated and sluggish body was clearly a full size larger than when Augustus first saw it. This was a normal growth phenomenon for a young Cerebrate, and certainly not due to its excessive intake of protein and sugar.

"Wuhu, Egon, my dear friend, let's rub it again."

In the pristine laboratory on the lower deck of the Hyperion, within a space constructed of multiple large glass panels, a Cerebrate comfortably rests on a warm, moist purple Creep.

Wearing rubber boots and a white lab coat, researcher Egon Stetmann was brushing his fleshy back with a huge, long-handled bristle brush, as if kneading a giant ball of white jelly.

Given the important role of this Cerebrate in the alien laboratory, its privileged upbringing was within the bounds of Augustus's approval.

Although the Cerebrate is a creature completely different from humans in terms of thought, ideas, and body, excessive exploitation is not a long-term solution. -- Even though Augustus didn't need to talk to a worm about human rights and working conditions.

"Today, you are merely serving a young Cerebrate, but tomorrow, you will be glorified for having been a servant of a great Overmind. Just hold on for another hour, Egon, and I will bestow upon you a precious piece of tail tip as research material—but you must not eat it." The Cerebrate purred contentedly, as smug as a cat having its chin scratched by a human.

"Hahahaha!" Its voice was so high-pitched, like a child's, that it was impossible to tell if it was a boy's or a girl's voice.

"Ah, none of my many servants are as good as you, Egon, my dearest friend!"

Clearly, this Cerebrate's understanding of the word "best friend" is completely different from that of humans. Moreover, its interpretations of many other words are nothing short of imaginative, wildly imaginative, and utterly unbelievable.

"Alpha, just as we agreed." Augustus didn't have time to talk to the Cerebrate any longer. "Gather your clan members and destroy this Fleets in front of you immediately."

"Oh, of course. Of course, as long as you do as agreed. Augustus, you are a smart human." The Cerebrate Alpha tried to turn over, but failed after only managing to lift its head with all its might.

As the highest level of the Zerg's intelligence, the Cerebrate ' only duty is to command their colony to defend the hive, hunt for new genes, or completely destroy enemies. Like the queen bee in a bee colony, they need to be carefully cared for, are fragile, and have limited mobility.

"The Swarm will devour everything, and then evolve--"

Arcturus has been conducting experiments using the Cerebrate Alpha and the main nests and eggs obtained by the Revolutionary Army from Aiur and Char. These experiments have been carried out secretly with Augustus's tacit approval, and under strict limits and close monitoring.

The Cerebrate Alpha can control massive numbers of Zerg, far exceeding any current hive mind. This proved useful against Alexei Stukov's electromagnetic pulse weapons, as the Zerg Zerg electronic equipment.

In response to the UED's electromagnetic pulse weapons, a large number of transport ships in the Revolutionary Army Fleets carried Zerg hatched in the laboratory, rather than Revolutionary Army soldiers.

However, this move was extremely dangerous. To prevent the Cerebrate Alpha from going out of control or turning against them, Augustus specifically hired several Dark Templar as caretakers. Augustus would never use the Alpha Swarm as a conventional weapon unless absolutely necessary.

Once this arrogant Cerebrate gains control of too many Zerg, it's hard to guarantee it won't harbor rebellious intentions—that's almost inevitable.

"I'm worried the Protoss might have a different opinion on this," Kerrigan Augustus.

Kerrigan can also control Zerg like the Cerebrate, but in much smaller numbers; this is a secret known only to a very few.

"Protoss Executive Artanis has already seen the Cerebrate; he only said he would take necessary measures before things get out of control." Arcturus was unconvinced. In his view, weapons don't care where they come from; use whatever is powerful and easy to control.

"The necessary measure is to burn everything to the ground." Augustus also held a very cautious attitude towards this. "I hope this is the last time I use this weapon."

"Open the hatch," he said.

"Release the Zerg; there's no need to show mercy to our enemies!"

It's back to Throne update time again, damn it.