Augustus's squad was at full strength, with twelve men in all. In wartime, a full-strength Terran Confederacy Marine Corps squad had three four-man fire teams. More elite units were equipped with man-portable rocket launchers and plasma flamethrowers to provide necessary heavy fire support, serving as a strong anchor on the battlefield.
When manpower and medical personnel were plentiful, Federal Interstellar Marine Corps Command believed that a standard Federal fire-support squad should have an additional medic or medical specialist. However, during the Guild Wars, that was quite rare.
"I'm Augustus Mengsk, and my home is Korhal IV, a garden paradise straight out of a dream." Augustus held out his hand, and Raynor's calloused one clasped it.
"Welcome to my home on Korhal."
Unlike the rebel commander Jim Raynor in Augustus's memories, this Raynor was brimming with youthful energy and drive. That was why Augustus hadn't recognized him at first.
The Raynor in the Game had a neatly trimmed mustache and beard, and a forehead lined with deep furrows. He had weathered many hardships, his face creased with age. By then, Jim Raynor was the heart of Raynor's Raiders.
Most of the time, Raynor was upbeat. But sometimes, despondency and frustration took hold of him.
Augustus memorized each squad member's name, appearance, and place of birth.
Four of the eleven were Korhal natives. Two had played cards with Augustus aboard the Peace Dove, while the other two had been his high school classmates. That was surely thanks to Augustus's "good luck" all along. A prominent family background was undoubtedly crucial for a Transmigrator.
"You don't need to pick a fight with me. A recruit sergeant isn't a dorm supervisor, and I'm not going to use military rules and discipline to restrict your freedom." Augustus then looked at Harnack Hank, who had been spoiling for a fight earlier.
"I'm Augustus Mengsk. For the next twelve weeks at recruit training, my job is to lead Second Platoon, First Squad to victory in every training exercise. If necessary, I'll lead you in kicking the instructors' asses."
Everyone looked at Augustus despite themselves, cowed by his confidence. It was obvious that this Mengsk knew exactly what he wanted and what he needed to do—and wouldn't hesitate to act on it.
Then, under the recruits' awed gazes, Augustus deftly pulled several decks of cards from his backpack.
"It's still early. Anyone up for cards?"
To everyone's surprise, Harnack Hank, who'd been spoiling for a fight, completely forgot what he'd said and sprang to his feet first.
"Hell yeah! I love cards!"
"..."
The card game went on until nearly midnight. Harnack had lost everything, even his clothes, and was now down to his third pair of underwear. He clutched his last pair in his hand. Raynor and Augustus each had a pair of frilly underpants in front of them.
The young men from the Confederacy's core worlds and colonies sat on beds and chairs playing cards. Second Platoon, First Squad's dorm was filled with cheers, catcalls, and Harnack's wails.
It wasn't that Augustus and Raynor were especially good at cards. Harnack just had a ridiculously bad hand every time. He was the unluckiest bastard alive.
Soon, Harnack lost his last pair of underwear, so he undid his belt and prepared to take off the pair he was wearing.
For the first time, Raynor looked horrified. Augustus's expression turned more grave than ever as he immediately stood up to stop the red-haired recruit from taking off his pants.
Just then, the seemingly impenetrable Plasteel wall behind him suddenly burst apart. A group of human soldiers in dark armor stormed in, Electromagnetic Rifles in hand, and aimed at the bewildered recruits.
"Eek!" Harnack frantically yanked up his underwear, though half his ass was still exposed.
"What are you looking at? You freaks!"
Everyone else reacted more normally than Harnack. Most of them either slumped to the floor in terror or stood stock-still like frozen hairtail. The rest instinctively hit the deck and looked for cover.
Though he was certainly startled, Augustus remained seated, his expression unchanged. He recognized the guild insignia on the black-armored soldiers immediately: Tovi Industries, a dark green ring with a six-pointed star engraved at its center.
These were Kel-Morian Rippers, made up of the guild's strongest and bravest warriors. On the battlefield, they were the equivalent of the most common Interstellar Marine Corps trooper—the bedrock of each guild army group.
Their appearance at the recruit training camp at this hour was absurd. As far as Augustus knew, the Turaxis-Prime Base he was stationed at was one of the Terran Confederacy's most heavily fortified military installations, with the largest known underground airfield on the planet.
Besides the recruits and the Engineer Corps, two main-force battalions and a Goliath combat robot company were stationed inside the fortress. More than ten thousand engineers, mechanics, and other logistics personnel kept the massive installation running.
For the Kel-Morians to capture the fortress, they would have to send in at least a division's worth of main-force troops, along with large numbers of supporting artillery, armored brigades, and air units. A troop movement on that scale couldn't happen without anyone noticing.
Even if the Kel-Morian commander somehow managed to sneak his forces past orbital detectors, thermal imaging sensors, ground-vibration sensors, scouts, and outposts, they would still be fighting the Confederacy's main forces on the outer perimeter of the fortress—not the recruits in the training camp at its very center.
The biggest giveaway was how they had appeared. There was no way a handheld Electromagnetic Rifle could blast through a Plasteel wall. What was more, the other side of the wall was actually right up against Second Squad's dorm. Yet when Augustus looked through the breach, all he saw outside was a vivid red wasteland.
"This is a Holographic Projection, guys." Almost as soon as the Kel-Morian Rippers appeared, Augustus calmly addressed the panicked recruits.
Ultra-realistic Holographic Projections were an expensive luxury for ordinary people. In the Mengsk Family, they were just an unremarkable part of everyday life.
Augustus's instincts told him that when something was so absurd it completely contradicted reality, he needed to piece together the truth from the clues he already had.
"Sit down. We're going back to cards."
Those two sentences immediately calmed the recruits. Most of them still hadn't quite processed what was happening, but at that moment, they had the strange feeling that Augustus couldn't possibly be wrong.
As soon as he finished speaking, icy blue fire flashed from the muzzles of the Kel-Morian soldiers' standard-issue Electromagnetic Rifles. Augustus could almost feel the bullets tearing through his chest, but it was obviously not real.
The recruit Tom Omo dropped hard onto his ass in fright. Harnack turned to look at him, as if checking whether he'd wet himself.
The Kel-Morian soldiers didn't fire again. Instead, they suddenly disintegrated into black data points, which gathered together to form an officer in uniform. His face might have been deliberately generated by artificial intelligence. It was plain and utterly unremarkable.
"I'm Sergeant Travis. Starting today, I'll be helping you with your training. Remember, the enemy can appear in front of you at any time, anywhere. Even at a rear base, you must stay alert at all times," the Holographic Projection said.
"Just you wait, you piece of shit!" Harnack looked at him and made an unmistakably contemptuous gesture. Then, as if that weren't enough, he flipped him the bird—a "cultural heritage" passed down since Earth's time.
"Recruit Harnack Hank, your name has been recorded by the Central Security Bureau. This is your first warning. You should show your superior the respect he deserves." The Holographic Projection spoke with a face that was expressionless in every sense.
"Careful, Raynor. They've probably installed these advanced projectors in every corner." Augustus glanced at Jim Raynor, who was sitting nearby as Harnack muttered under his breath. "This must have cost the taxpayers a lot."
"I bet my family's farm chipped in, too," Raynor said with a chuckle.
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