What is an Imperial Flagship

"We are currently engaged in firefight with the enemy!"

"Attack formation."

"Attack altitude 12,000."

The 12th and 14th Imperial Air Wraiths, numbering approximately 130 CF/A-17G Wraith, participated in the siege of the Aleksander, at an altitude above the clouds, where the sun appeared as a halo above.

Hundreds of golden-red Wraith rose from beneath the clouds, their approach fierce. The enemy, in turn, launched over sixty Wraith covered in tendons, tentacles, and tumor-like growths—equivalent to a full-strength United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet fighter squadron.

The Imperial fleet was in stealth mode, but they were still exposed to the Aleksander's detection system. The battle reached its climax as soon as they engaged the enemy, with both sides suffering casualties almost within the first minute.

A squadron of Imperial Wraith approached the Aleksander's port side with breathtaking aerobatic skills, flying almost right next to it. The squadron commander first launched two TwinStar missiles into the Aleksander's exposed bridge, then pulled up the nose to gain altitude, and bombarded the wide upper deck sampans with the laser cannons mounted on the fighters.

The Wraith that followed followed suit, leaving numerous wounds on the rusty hull of the Aleksander.

In response to these attacks, numerous flesh-colored tentacles emerged from the cracked armor and shattered portholes of the Aleksander, swaying like spider silk in the wind. One tentacle lashed out like a whip, whipping at the lead Wraith with a whistling wind, but it dodged with astonishing speed and maneuverability. However, it struck the one behind it, shattering it into bright sparks.

Another Wraith had its canopy pierced, pinning the pilot to the speeding fighter jet. Then, the jet was dragged along by the tentacle, like a puppet of Alexander the Great.

"All Fleets, heed my command. Lock onto targets and open fire at will."

Below the Terran Empire flagship, the Hyperion, Augustus had a clear view of the fierce battle. As several unparalleled steel behemoths approached Megaton, the radio channels immediately became denser.

The valiant Imperial Wraith squadron immediately received powerful fire support from the Fleets; large fireballs rose from the Fleets and struck their targets with pinpoint accuracy. More fighters took off from the hangars of the battlecruisers, and the shipyards were prepared to repair damaged aircraft.

The Imperial Fleets swiftly surrounded the now-disappeared Aleksander and launched a fierce attack. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the past, this former UED flagship had vanished like a ghost into the vast universe, spreading plague and disaster in regions beyond the reach of the Empire.

The Aleksander must be found and destroyed, or the Terran Empire will be in constant turmoil.

Augustus gazed at the Aleksander through the bridge porthole and couldn't help but sigh, realizing that he could no longer see the majestic UED flagship in its former form. However, in retrospect, its current appearance was far more familiar to him.

"She wasn't this big originally. Our fighter jets are far inferior in comparison. Only heavier and more powerful missiles can damage this steel behemoth," he said.

Augustus his elder brother, Prince Arcturus, to oversee the imperial palace in Korhal, entrusting him with all state affairs and instructing him to govern the empire in his absence, while he himself led the Fleets to resist the enemy.

Prince Arcturus was well-versed in politics, and he quickly figured out what to do. His methods might not have been as mild as Augustus's, but in this particular time, they were just what was needed to quell the unrest among the newly formed empire.

It would be difficult for Augustus's subordinates to find another politician who was both capable and absolutely loyal like Arcturus. Making Raynor prime minister would be worse than letting him die.

"The Aleksander was once DuGalle's flagship, a large warship to begin with. Your Majesty, it is clear that Carlos's organic modification has transformed it into Zerg life form, meaning that the Alexander is now 'alive.'" As Emperor Augustus's increasingly favored royal Xenomorph biologist and Xel'Naga research expert, Dr. Narud was recently riding high.

Narud had no intention of frequenting Augustus, but only by doing so could he dispel the suspicious emperor's doubts. It must be said that this young emperor was one of the most troublesome humans Narud had ever encountered.

"Take a look at Lieutenant General Alexander Alexei Stukov now, take a look." Augustus turned his head to look behind him, his gaze passing over the serious-looking Kerrigan and Tychus, who was scratching his butt out of boredom, and landing on Alexei Stukov, the former commander of the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet.

The Aleksander's air-to-air guns were covered by exoskeletons, wriggling organs, and insect eyes, but that didn't mean her close-range firepower was weak and unable to repel the agile Wraith. At the same time, this warship, completely corrupted by the Zerg, possessed weapons it didn't have before.

Instead of metal ammunition and lasers, the rusty cannons ejected Explosive Infested filled with deadly acid and giant tentacles capable of breaking fighter jets.

Millions of mutated humans were ejected from the Aleksander, and these mutated humans were repeatedly thrown at incoming Imperial warplanes. If they missed their target, they would fall from tens of thousands of feet in the sky. Once these living bombs fell, they would cause terrible damage and pollution to the environment and Watering Hole on the ground, and both the military and facilities would suffer devastating blows.

Countless tentacles swayed, like stinging anemones or my own octopus. It was a bizarre creation, a mixture of steel decks, cannons, and biological tissue, a scene that even the most absurd supernatural tale writer could not describe, a scene that sent chills down one's spine.

Alexei Stukov's already thin face looked even more gaunt, his cheeks bulging as if he were holding something in his mouth. He was a man of strong will who had not felt the slightest fear even when the Ghost operative of Nova Squadron threatened to knock out all his thoughts.

But now, Alexei Stukov looked like he was about to cry.

When it departed from Tarsonis, the Aleksander carried approximately eight thousand men from various Earth colonies, all of whom believed they were fighting for humanity. Perhaps the United Earth Directorate's claim to defend Earth and humanity was merely an excuse for achieving their hegemonic ambitions, but undeniably, these soldiers held noble ideals.

However, by the time Alexei Stukov saw them, these soldiers had become twisted and deformed monsters, retaining only their humanity deep within their minds, enslaved by the Swarm's mind.

So many people died, becoming part of the Zerg. That's how the Swarm works: either be devoured and become part of them, or perish.

"It was my fault. My plan led to this tragic defeat. For DuGalle and those soldiers, death may only be the beginning of a tragedy." Alexei Stukov was still wearing his dark brown military overcoat, but his hands and feet were not bound.

Under the watchful eye of the Royal Guard, even if Alexei Stukov were incredibly capable, he couldn't harm the Emperor or turn tail and run away.

Alexei Stukov's unwillingness to submit to Augustus is only a small part of the reason he remains imprisoned. In fact, Augustus respected principled enemy officers and commanders, but Alexei Stukov deliberately provoked conflict between the Taldarim and the Terrans and activated the Psi Emitter.

This means that even if Alexei Stukov finds compelling evidence and justification to exonerate himself, he will still be held responsible for the destruction of those planets.

He was a hero to Earthlings, but also a war criminal of the Terrans.

Of course, Alexei Stukov didn't care at all. In the end, he had no choice but to fight to the death: sacrifice some of the Terrans to save Earth and the wider world that followed. He had to choose one of these two options. It was indeed a difficult decision, after all, he wasn't a cold-blooded person.

Alexei Stukov never imagined that a powerful Terrans regime could become a shield for Earth.

"This is karma, you know?" The beautiful, gold-embroidered uniform of the Royal Guard deputy captain looked completely out of place on Tychus, making him look like a bear in a dress and a greenbottle fly.

"What goes around comes around."

However, in Tychus's own eyes, he certainly looked dashing and debonair. He had been doing quite well lately, driving around in his big cars every day, and things like the Warhound and Draken Laser Tank were just exhibits in Tychus's garage.

Augustus had also casually mentioned that Tychus might be able to drive an even bigger vehicle in the future. In any case, Tychus was looking forward to it.

"Can we establish a communication link with the Aleksander?" Augustus asked his adjutant.

"Your Majesty, the ship's reactor may have stopped working a long time ago. Now, it's no longer powered by electricity, but by the bio-energy of the Zerg organisms." The adjutant was a young man with blond hair. Those who could work on the Hyperion were among the best in the Imperial Navy, and they wouldn't bow down to Augustus like some commoners would.

"That's right. The Zerg can also communicate with us directly through Psionics translation of electronic signals, just like the Protoss. I think Admiral DuGalle probably isn't in the mood to be questioned by you right now." Dr. Narud chuckled, revealing a subtle, perceptible pity for his former superior.

"If DuGalle had remained rational, he wouldn't have allowed this planet to be so devastated." Alexei Stukov shook his head.

"Further research is needed. If Marshal DuGalle were willing to visit my laboratory, things would be much easier, wouldn't they?" Narud's words infuriated Alexei Stukov.

Alexei Stukov shouted angrily at Narud, "Traitor, don't you feel ashamed of what you've done?"

"Yes, if Narud can betray you today, he can betray us tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, he can betray all of humanity." Tychus scoffed, his two irritable blue eyes refusing to even look at anyone.

Tychus knew he was an uncultured, rough man, a mere warrior, but he still held a certain amount of respect for people with doctorates or scholars.

But Tychus doesn't like Dr. Narud.

This poor wretch, he has no money to conduct experiments, so he comes to the Empire to beg for food.

"Fish will follow their instincts and leap into deeper waters, otherwise they will be baked to death by the sun on the increasingly dry shallows." Narud chuckled, the cunning old fox complimenting Augustus, saying he was simply born at the wrong time and had not met a wise ruler, his heart still that of Tyrell:

"I once thought the UED could overthrow the tyranny of the Terran Confederacy, but I later learned that they were just another group of tyrants."

At this moment, the assembled Imperial Fleets had replaced the Wraith squadron and was carrying out the main attack mission. Amidst the roar, bright orange barrages pierced through the clouds, tearing enemy ships to pieces and leaving them mangled.

With three consecutive Yamato Cannon, a giant fireball tore through the clouds like a rising sun, and the nuclear explosions, bound by magnetic fields, simultaneously bombarded the Aleksander and the other two ships.

A battlecruiser to the lower left of the Aleksander was hit by the first fatal salvo. The side hit head-on was thrown downwards at a large angle by the impact of the explosion and lost its balance. Large pieces of severed tentacles and metal fragments splattered like blood, like a torn stomach.

A single shot from the Hyperion's magnetically confined particle main gun sealed the fate of the infected battlecruiser. With a deafening roar, the battlecruiser was cleaved in two, burning steel fragments fluttering like willow catkins in the wind, clearly visible even amidst the fierce gale.

Augustus could see that the interior of the shattered battlecruiser was riddled with holes, like a lung ravaged by nicotine for centuries. Thousands of compartments of varying sizes were filled with all sorts of twisted organs and rows of eggs, while the corpses of the dead lay scattered in the engine room and warehouses, now burned to ashes along with the destruction of the warship.

It's more like a slain giant Zerg than a human steel warship, with its crew meeting a tragic end.

Meanwhile, within the enemy Fleets's lines, the Aleksander, having withstood multiple Yamato Cannon from the Yamato guns, remained impregnable and unmoved.

But Alexander seemed to be retreating; she had arrived without any warning, and no one knew the reason for her departure.

"Alexander is running away, and I bet some bigger monster is waiting to pick him up," Tychus said.

"Adjutant, activate the Hyperion's overload protection." Augustus's eyes gleamed. "We must catch up with Alexander."

Perhaps future historians of the Terran Empire who chronicle this battle will describe this scene in epic terms, but they could never guess what Augustus Great was thinking at that moment.

"Whose instructions came from?"

"Augustus Mengsk," Augustus.

"Supreme authority." The Adjutant's voice was icy, then changed tone, a rough voice emanating from his beautiful mechanical face, like a thousand Swann roaring in Augustus's ear at once:

"You bad thing, think it over again."

"20% overload," Augustus changed his tune.

"It's just a little overloaded."

The massive and magnificent hull of the Hyperion was bathed in the radiance of its solar core, like Apollo holding up the sun's golden chariot, radiating golden energy and heat, with its brightness and abundant shield force field rising steadily.

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