Taming the Zerg, Flattening the Protoss

"We will advance in battle and pledge our loyalty to the Naeon's Blade!"

Amidst the terrifying psychic screams of the Tal'darim warriors in the ruins of the temple, they launched their final, desperate charge, their powerful ungulate legs unleashing lightning speed with the aid of their energy devices.

This was the most desperate counterattack, a desperate battle fought in a fit of rage. Only a dozen or so of the Taldarim's chosen ones remained, facing hundreds of Imperial Marine Corps and 120mm plasma cannons behind them.

The spiritual roar contained in the Taldarim's battle cry was enough to terrify the spiritually weak human race, but the response to them was not emotional fluctuations and screams of fear, but bullets and explosions.

First came tracer rounds soaring into the air, then a barrage of artillery fire pulverized everything in its path, sending flames soaring into the sky and debris flying everywhere. The crackling of Gauss Rifle echoed as Spike Bullet, depleted uranium rounds, and rifle grenades poured out like chains of light.

The Imperial army's dense barrage first shattered the leading Tal'darim into pieces. The latter immediately retaliated, using their equipped ray guns, phase weapons, and plasma weapons to turn several Imperial Marine Corps into molten metallic flesh and blood compounds and molecular states, melting them like red candles.

This caused a palpable ripple of emotion within the human army, demonstrating that they were not unaware of fear, but their unwavering resolve and hatred for the Protoss prevailed.

Then came even fiercer firepower; the earth trembled under the barrage, and scorching shrapnel instantly reddened the air. The Protoss possessed powerful shields, but they were not indestructible.

The dying Tal'darim were quickly reduced to few remaining. The last powerful Taldarim High Ascended unleashed a terrifying chain of Psionics lightning from between his four gray fingers, clearing a huge gap in the advancing Imperial soldiers. But he was immediately struck by Punisher Grenade from the Marauder and fell to the ground.

The fallen Taldarim high-ranking Ascendant was not yet dead. Amidst the uncontrolled crimson Psionics surging from his body, he still tried to stand up again.

An Imperial Marauder strode toward him, his Giant steel body moving with the force of an earthquake. He wore iron-black alloy armor adorned with conspicuous gold badges.

"Those who blaspheme the altar will be punished by the gods. You will not get away with this for long." This high-ranking Taldarim cultivator, still struggling in his death throes, never imagined that he would die at the hands of humans, who were nothing more than insects in his eyes not long ago.

"I was not only going to smash this junk to pieces, but I was also going to stand on it and pee. And yet I'm still standing here perfectly fine. Where is your god?"

The Imperial Marauder strode forward, placing a foot on the chest of the Taldarim Ascended, and aimed the Punisher Grenade at his thin, elongated gray face:

"KABOOM~"

The forty-pound grenade severed the Ascended's head, and his fallen body vanished into the rising red light.

"Damn it! For God's sake, these bald heads are the vermin of the Milky Way Galaxy. Command, this is Sergeant Major Isaac White. The Taldarim in the temple have been completely wiped out." Sergeant Major White looked at the crumbling ruins around him, which had collapsed under the bombardment, and reported to his commander.

Isaac White is a veteran who served the Confederacy as a bomb disposal expert during the Guild Wars. Due to some accidents he would never like to talk about, White had to retire from the military early.

After the fall of the Confederacy, White joined Emperor Augustus Mengsk's Imperial Army, undergoing rigorous selection to become a Marauder. He received double the salary, but also faced double the danger.

From then on, White followed the newly formed Warfield Legion on its campaigns, visiting eight planets in just a few months.

It's important to understand that becoming Marauder isn't easy, let alone for White, who is also a member of a prestigious kill team. Most of the time, this is an honor reserved for veterans of the Revolutionary Army.

White, however, had his own strengths that set him apart. He was an expert in explosives and fuses, possessing a thorough knowledge of explosives. At the same time, Emperor Augustus treated veterans of the Guild Wars with great favor, probably because he himself had personally experienced this largest human civil war in history.

"Roger that, Sergeant White. Halt advance and clear the battlefield. This is Field Marshal Warfield's order," came his superior, Zach Turner, over the comms.

Zach is a commander of good character and credibility who has helped White a great deal in the past; otherwise, the stain on his resume would not be so easily erased.

"Yes, sir." As White spoke, two Reaper equipped with turbine thrusters flew overhead, and he immediately saluted them.

Then White moved his heavy body aside and waited quietly for the Marines to pass behind him. The medics in white Power Armor came to the wounded soldiers and treated the injured as quickly as possible.

The Taldarim's particle weapons are extremely powerful; even a slight glancing blow can take away half a life. Some remains are reduced to mere limbs, and the luckiest surviving soldiers still face amputation.

Most of White's best comrades-in-arms were no longer alive, and he only hoped that the souls of these heroic soldiers who sacrificed their lives could return to their hometowns.

Like their distant relatives in Aiur and Shakuras, the Tal'darim possess extremely powerful technology and magical Psionics, and their warcraft should be among the best of the three Protoss races.

Generally speaking, the Tal'darim can destroy everything with their Psionics, but they do not reject the use of powerful weapons and will never care about using any means to win, even if it has nothing to do with honor.

The Tal'darim are undoubtedly the most bloodthirsty and warlike of the Protoss. They are extremely powerful and tenacious, inflicting considerable losses on the Imperial Army.

Even so, the Taldarim must accept their defeat on this planet. They are extremely powerful, but far outnumbered and lack Fleets support. As more Imperial troops land on Shil, the planet will soon fall to them.

This is not the first planet the Tal'darim have lost in the Imperial's retaliatory strikes, nor will it be the last.

A little over a month ago, the Tal'darim destroyed three human worlds, and now they are suffering the same retribution. Two Taldarim planets outside the Koprulu Sector have been destroyed by the Imperial Fleets led by Marshal Horace Warfield.

Driven by their desire for revenge, the soldiers of the Empire fought bravely, eager to take on a hundred men and avenge their grievances. This was also the cry of the common people in the Empire's world.

During the Confederacy era, whenever the Protoss destroyed human worlds, the Confederacy Fleets could only slink back to the core world. In contrast, the Empire, since its founding, has never retreated in the face of external wars.

This empire, born of war, is neither afraid of war nor concerned with losses; they are the saviors and Preservers of all ravaged humanity.

Thinking of this, White felt an overwhelming sense of pride. He had initially joined the army not to fight aliens or the Confederacy, but simply to have a war to fight.

Yet, even this warmonger was proud of his identity as an Imperial soldier. More than once, White, as an Imperial sergeant major, received a warm welcome in the colonies he visited, because they came as saviors, not oppressors.

When we were in the Confederacy army, all we got was rotten eggs and shit.

The Imperial Army is no longer as pure as it was during the Revolutionary Army era. Most of its soldiers are former Confederacy soldiers, but their combat effectiveness is many times greater than before.

At this moment, the distant artillery fire gradually subsided, and Arclite Siege Tank and Rattlesnake Tank rumbled through the ruins that had been almost completely leveled.

Before the war, this place was a lost alien city, surrounded by a Xel'Naga Temple. The people who built the Xel'Naga Temple and the people who built the city were probably not the same species. Countless tall and straight megastructures formed a giant labyrinth that stretched for two hundred miles.

The Xel'Naga are an extremely ancient civilization, possibly existing billions of years ago, and wandering throughout the universe.

Not far away stands the magnificent Xel'Naga Temple, resembling a towering, cone-shaped mountain rising to the horizon. The Tal'darim seem to revere the Xel'Naga as gods, and consequently, they hold these temples in the highest esteem.

This city belonged to an ancient civilization that may have perished millions of years ago—if they hadn't advanced to the interstellar age. The entire planet and its inhabitants seemed to have fallen into a deathly silence overnight, and the truth of Shil's destruction had long been buried in the distant past.

In any case, Shil has now become a desolate desert world with many mountains, covered with magnificent temples and abandoned mega-cities, with only scattered surface waters nourishing the precious oases.

Countless ancient civilization relics await discovery by human archaeologists. Perhaps the truth behind the destruction of the Shil civilization can offer some insights into the future of the Terrans, and the lost technologies, if properly utilized, will greatly benefit the development of science and technology.

However, this is all the work of archaeologists and experts. As an imperial soldier who carries a gun and receives a government salary, White is not interested in these so-called alien civilizations, nor does he care to completely sweep these relics into the dustbin of history.

As the gunfire subsided, more fraternal units passed by, some on foot, others in various Armored Vehicle and maglev tanks, their flags fluttering in the wind.

The convoy contained many Tal'darim prisoners, filling several trucks. White didn't know what fate awaited these dejected aliens, but he couldn't help but laugh whenever he saw such a sight. Other trucks carried Tal'darim weapons—weapons that humans could neither manufacture nor use, though not entirely.

"New order, Sergeant Major, protect the engineers and clear a landing zone." The next order came through White's communication channel, but it didn't come from Commander Zack; it came from a woman's voice.

Carolina Davis, White's superior's superior. She was a dashing female commander who had already reached the rank of major at a young age. Major Davis came from a noble family, but she rarely mentioned it.

"Yes, Commander."

White didn't think much of it. As a soldier, he never needed to delve into the reasons behind every order; all he had to do was execute it flawlessly. If he had to ask "why" every time, it wouldn't be an army, it would be kindergarten.

But White soon realized that there were far too many troops gathered there. Even Warfield's personal guard, the Imperial Shield Guard, was present—a rare sight indeed.

A dozen minutes later, a transport ship, protected by multiple fighter jets, landed in the landing area. The figure that emerged from it left White speechless: Augustus Great, the people's hero.

Just two years ago, he was the most wanted criminal in the sector.

The emperor was surrounded by high-ranking military officers, and the famous Red Queen Sarah Kerrigan also by his side. The queen had beautiful fiery red curly hair and sensual lips, and her jade-green eyes shone like jewels.

She was a benevolent queen who led by example, often accompanying the emperor on his travels to various places to show compassion for the people. Emperor Augustus's marriage to a commoner may have been an attempt to break the tradition of aristocratic power in the old Confederacy system, or it may have been to gain the support of Psionics.

Augustus no longer needed to gain the support of the Confederacy nobles through marriage alliances, as they had essentially all been eliminated.

White didn't have time to think about why the Emperor had come to Shil; not long ago, the Emperor was still fighting the Zerg in the Agria Province.

As the Emperor passed by White, he immediately saluted like the other soldiers. Had it not been for the military prohibition against kneeling before the Emperor, and the fact that the Marauder armor's servo system wasn't responsive enough to allow White to do so, White believed he would have already knelt on one knee.

"Sergeant Isaac White greets you, Your Majesty," White announced his name.

White was not a fanatical follower of Emperor Augustus, but it was impossible not to feel a surge of emotion when such a figure stood before you. The emperor possessed a unique personal charisma that no one could match.

Taming the Zerg, annihilating the Protoss; a mighty empire, its achievements will last for millennia.

"Salute to you, sir," Emperor Augustus said as he passed White.

The emperor nodded to Huai, then stopped a short distance away, and together with his entourage, looked towards the distant Xel'Naga Temple.

"Since there's Xel'Naga Temple, there might also be a Xel'Naga Gateway here," the Emperor said.

"If we can find this Gateway, we can connect the world of Shil with other Imperial worlds. The Protoss also used these Gateway to connect their vast Protoss Empire, but in our time they have retreated back to Aiur."

"Your Majesty, activating the Xel'Naga Gateway has both advantages and disadvantages. If we use the Gateway to attack the Empire, it will be utterly annihilated." The speaker was an elderly man with a white beard wearing work clothes.

"Only the Protoss and my engineers know how to use this Gateway." Augustus's gaze remained fixed on the Xel'Naga Temple.

"If the Protoss don't betray the Empire, then that's certainly true," Dr. Narud said.

"The Protoss will never betray the Empire," the Emperor said firmly.

Then he asked, "How is the excavation of the Xel'Naga Artifact Fragment in the temple progressing?"

"It will be soon, Your Majesty," replied one of Warfield's naval captains.

"So, including the one from Monlyth, we now have three Xel'Naga Artifact Fragment," Dr. Narud suggested to the Emperor.

"Although I don't know exactly how many more fragments there are, based on my research, once all the fragments are collected and reassembled, it might have unexpected effects."

"It could be an extremely powerful weapon."

"Is that really so?" The emperor, of course, was unaware of the true value of the Xel'Naga Artifact, but still expressed absolute trust in Dr. Narud:

"In that case, the work of collecting artifact fragments cannot be neglected. The Xel'Naga Artifact might be useful in dealing with the Zerg."