The Strongest SCV in History

"Communication code α4-4-7-6, Galaxy Jumper No. 77, please dock at Pier 11, Port A. All personnel have been evacuated. This is Turaxis II New Babylon Space Station. Salute to the soldiers."

A small spaceship landed at the slowly rotating top-level port of the space station. As the spaceship's gangway opened, Augustus, dressed in a brown officer's uniform, stepped out, followed only by Jim Raynor, who was wearing a soldier's uniform.

The circulating air inside the space station was unusually dry, and the artificial gravity, equivalent to 0.95 times standard gravity, held Augustus firmly in place. Several small to medium-sized interstellar spaceships were parked on the empty docking platform of Port A. The streamlined curves and obvious signs of private modification of these spaceships indicated the status of their owners.

A port bus, suspended above the ground, picked up Augustus and Raynor and drove them to another dock.

Along the way, Augustus saw many staff members and patrolling soldiers. Everyone was so busy that they didn't even have time to stop and greet each other. Looking out, Augustus could see the deep black starry sky and a satellite in the distance. He was curious about the technology that prevented air from getting out of the air and maintained stable air pressure under such conditions.

When Augustus met his Arcturus Mengsk, who had already announced his retirement, the latter was lying under the belly of a medium-sized Galaxy Jumper, wearing thick, coarse cloth insulating gloves and tidying up the tangled mess of colorful wires.

Arcturus no longer wore his crisp officer's uniform with its large bronze epaulets; instead, he wore a standard miner's uniform—thick textile trousers, a multi-pocketed orange jacket, and a pair of sturdy, reliable boots, with a huge power wrench strapped to his waist.

Several men dressed like Arcturus were busy driving a sixteen-foot-tall space construction vehicle into the cargo bay of the Galaxy Jumper.

"Augustus, it's good to see you before I leave." Arcturus heard Augustus talking to Raynor and was about to get up when he bumped his head on the metal base of the spaceship.

Augustus and Raynor grabbed Arcturus by the feet and dragged him out from under the ship. He sat down next to his brother and said, "Why are you doing this kind of work? A professional mechanic could do it much better than you."

"That will cost a lot of money." Arcturus sat up, wiped the oil stains off his clothes, and tried to hug his brother—but Augustus pushed him away, and a sad expression immediately appeared on his brother's face.

"Purchasing equipment and spaceships, hiring technical experts, workers, and even security forces to deal with the Kel-Morian pirates—that's going to cost a lot of money. I've been saving for over a decade to be able to make a big splash in the mines," Arcturus said. "Everything has to be carefully planned to ensure that every penny is spent wisely."

"You will succeed. My Arcturus Mengsk will become a great man," Augustus.

Arcturus couldn't help but laugh. He didn't care much about the praise from most people in the world, because he believed he deserved it. Only the praise from his parents and the admiration from his younger siblings could make Arcturus proud. The blood ties between his family always warmed this lonely man.

Arcturus was now twenty-eight, Augustus could see some gray hairs on his head, though far fewer than on their father Angus. Arcturus was becoming more and more like Angus; he had long since grown into a mature man, and that was perhaps what Augustus would look like ten years from now.

However, Augustus didn't think that way. He was still young and had never imagined what he would look like in the future. Compared to Arcturus, Augustus looked more like his mother and was more handsome. He might not necessarily become a bearded old man in the future.

"Do you really think I can succeed?" Arcturus said with a smile, "Nobody understands me except for a few old men who have been with me since I was a sergeant. So I told them I'm disgusted with war and no longer believe in the meaning of what we fought for."

"I can invest in your team. In the future, if you ever discover Ardien Crystal mine so vast that you could never spend all the money in your lifetime, just give me a tiny bit," Augustus.

"Haha, although I have great confidence in my surveying skills and intuition, such mineral deposits are rare and hard to come by. My luck will never be that good." Arcturus laughed even louder, "I know you're just trying to find an excuse to share the burden for me, but I've watched you grow up. Don't you know you have no habit of saving money?"

"Every time you buy a ceramic piggy bank that costs a dozen or so credits, you swear you'll save it for a year before opening it, but as soon as you put a few dollars in, you smash the piggy bank the next day. I don't know what you're trying to achieve."

"I currently have approximately twenty million credits," Augustus. "I know your account number; don't refuse, because I won't listen."

"What trouble have you gotten yourself into? Where did you get so much money?" Arcturus suddenly grabbed Augustus by the chest and shook him back and forth. "A crime? Don't hide it from me, I'll take care of it if the sky falls."

"Could it be that my mother gave it to me? That's possible, but my mother stopped giving me money after I became an adult."

"Not counting what Mom gave me, this is all I have." Augustus, who was being shaken around by his brother, had a look of utter despair on his face. "You know, my Heaven's Devils are actually practically an independent unit. Compared to other regular army units, we are more free and flexible. My troops have taken over many Kel-Morian bases and made a lot of money."

"Not bad. If I weren't already a division commander, I'd also like to lead the frontline troops to reap the spoils. Many people are rolling in money. Take what you can, there's no need to leave any for those in the military system to embezzle," Arcturus said. "But it's risky, you have to be careful. If something goes wrong, Warfield and others will help you out. More than half the officers of the entire 33rd Ground Assault Division are on your back."

"During the war, there were many loopholes in the military's systems. I studied them carefully, and one of the loopholes was that only spoils of war that were entered into the database were considered absolutely forbidden items for the military to steal. So, we could just report less. But they would eventually realize it," Augustus.

"But I won't be in the army for long. Let those misers rage on after I'm gone."

"Is Angus forcing you to go home? Ignore him, he's a selfish bastard." Arcturus's thick eyebrows furrowed.

"It seems you have no idea what's going to happen on Korhal IV. Angus said that an independence referendum will be held next April, declaring the entire planet's secession from the Confederacy." Augustus said seriously, "Do you know what that means?"

Arcturus practically spat out the word through gritted teeth.

"War."

"At that time, I will definitely return to Korhal, because Mother and Dorothy need me, you..." Augustus hesitated.

"No, I swore to break free from Angus's control, and I despise this pointless and doomed revolution," Arcturus said. "Thousands will die because of Angus's revolution, and the patriarch of that despotic family will only say it is a necessary sacrifice."

"No, I won't go back."

"No way."

"If, one day, I need your help," Augustus asked softly, his eyes lowered.

"My brother, will you come back to me?"

The next two chapters are still being written.