Artanis, Take Them Away

"General, Fortresses 47 and 56 on Tepperus have fallen. The Zerg have blockaded the skies. They can't withdraw."

"Fortress 12 has fallen too. Fewer than twenty fortresses are still holding out. The other legions have all been scattered by the Zerg as well. The enemy is splitting up and picking apart our forces!"

"Damn it, there are too many bugs. We can't kill them all."

On the flagship Steel Justice of Imperial Marshal Horace Warfield, sharply uniformed officers and staff circled restlessly around the star map table before the bridge. The grim situation before them and the unceasing stream of bad news left even these battle-hardened officers dry-mouthed and grave-faced.

The ground war on Tepperus was not the only deadlock; space was locked in battle as well. Majestic steel warships poured barrages of fire into countless Zerg flying creatures swarming toward them like demons, dazzling lasers flashing again and again across the darkened void.

This Terran Empire fleet possessed an immense number of warships. As far as the eye could see were ranks of battlecruisers, Valkyrie frigates, Liberator frigates, Hercules transports, science vessels, and other large ships—a truly imposing force.

As the flagship of Warfield's fleet, the Steel Justice naturally bore the brunt of the assault. Swarms upon swarms of Zerg surrounded it, stinging its rising green shield field like a disturbed nest of hornets. Zerg were periodically burned to ash by the roaring laser batteries. Several Imperial capital ships flanking the Steel Justice moved closer to the flagship while trying their utmost to shake off the Mutalisks, Corruptors, and Vipers entangling them. Naval guns howled, and lights flickered.

The Steel Justice was a decorated warship from the same era as the Hyperion. Its capabilities had gradually fallen behind the times, but after multiple refits and upgrades, it had reached