Phoenix Plan

"There are 214 servants and 156 security personnel in the White Castle, Shadow Guard. I need you to find out which of them are loyal to the Mengsk Family."

It was seven o'clock on Christmas Eve. Augustus, dressed in casual clothes, led his shadow guard Marcus and Ambassador Erin Pasteur of Yumoyan to the banquet hall of the family villa.

They walked through a domed corridor with carved railings on the outside. In the center of the hall below the railings stood a giant Christmas tree decorated with gifts; these giant fir trees were native to the fringe planet Blesis.

"That's hard to say. Some people might just be looking to make a living, and they may not be loyal," Ailin said.

"Apart from the loyal, there are the disloyal who need to be eliminated immediately," Augustus. "Spies will be tortured, and the others will be replaced; only those who are absolutely loyal to the Mengsk Family will remain."

"What do you plan to do with the traitor?" Ailin asked.

"Interrogate them, then throw them into the sea," Augustus.

"You are truly merciful." Shadow Guard Marcus was a man of few words most of the time, only occasionally offering his insightful critique on certain matters.

"Should we start purging the internal staff now?" Ailin asked.

"The sooner the better." Augustus descended a flight of mahogany stairs and asked the Shadow Guard, "How long will this take? Should I gather everyone together?"

"No need for all that trouble." The Shadow Guard, clad only in combat gear, blended into his surroundings after a distorted interplay of light and shadow. "I'll give you a list later. I'll also test the defense level here."

"I won't disturb those who are laughing; it's a beautiful night. I can see those laughing souls."

"Marcus was always very gentle and poetic," Ailin Augustus. "In the words of the ancients, he was a Umojan bard."

"I'm going to prepare a Christmas present for him." Augustus shrugged. "I'm a little curious, Marcus doesn't seem to have a helmet, so how does his head become invisible?"

"Umojan's holographic cloaking suit can create an invisibility field that covers the head. Our Psionics warriors will rely more on technology to fight than on Psionics and their bodies," Ailin explained. "At the same time, we must also use devices to suppress their Psionics to reduce the possibility of them going out of control."

"Many people believe that Psionics are born super soldiers. Psionics of level eight and above can easily turn an ordinary person's brain into mush from dozens of yards away with their telekinesis, or crush the grenades hanging from the waist of enemy soldiers," he said.

"But the more powerful Psionics is, the heavier the psychological pressure they have to bear, a pressure we cannot comprehend. It is said that every time Psionics kills someone, a portion of that person's memories and thoughts are imprinted in their mind, and unless these memories are erased periodically, they will quickly collapse."

"They shouldn't be murderers," Augustus.

"Psionics are born extraordinary. They either become the subjects of scientists' experiments or gods or saints worshipped on ignorant and backward planets." Ailin shook his head. "They are different from birth and cannot become the kind of person they want to be."

"Psionics are innate; whether this is a gift or a curse of fate is hard to say."

"Psionics should be protected by the government; they should be guardians of order, not killers used by rulers to eliminate dissidents," Augustus.

"Be careful, young Mengsk," Ailin said. "If Psionics are left unchecked, they will inevitably become a new ruling class in the distant future. The power Psionics possesses comes from innate talent, but has absolutely nothing to do with their mind or whether they are good or evil."

"A powerful Psionics can even control the minds of others, and those with ulterior motives can use this to establish cults and create evil gods. Rulers need to be wary of such figures, but they also crave this terrifying power," he said.

"This is one of the reasons why the Confederacy trains Psionics to become Ghost operative. Controlling Psionics and training them to be weapons is always better than letting them become a destabilizing factor."

"Our outstanding agents who worked in Tarsonis in their early years investigated their Ghost Academy. The first Psionics to enter the Ghost Academy became experimental subjects, locked in electrified cages like wild animals, turning into madmen or psychopaths. Those who survived became the original Ghost operative."

"But the fate of Umojan Psionics is entirely different. Psionics are neither superhumans nor gods; they also have their own emotions and pursuits. In other words, even the most ruthless Confederacy Psionics agents might still think about saving others."

"Perhaps we can turn some of the Confederacy Ghost operative against us?" Augustus said, as he descended the stairs and entered the hall with the enormous Christmas tree.

"Unless we raid the Ghost Academy in Tarsonis, we won't even see Confederacy Ghost operative." Ailin's dry humor was hardly funny. "But you know that's suicide."

"You seem certain that Psionics agents will assassinate Angus, but why would they do that? Killing him will only enrage the people of Korhal even more."

"Because the Confederate Congress and the Old Families behind them have become accustomed to ruling their people with ruthlessness, the high-ranking nobles believe that as long as they kill the leaders of the rebels, they can eliminate all budding rebellions. If the mob loses its leader, it is nothing but a disorganized mess." Augustus walked past a laughing maid toward his family.

"How arrogant," Ailin chuckled.

Augustus's father, Angus, finally put down his work and spent time with his family to prepare for Christmas.

In recent days, Angus and Augustus had talked many times, sometimes until late at night. Only then did Augustus understand his father's true thoughts.

As early as twenty years ago, Angus's revolutionaries had begun operating on various planets within the sector. From this, he learned that on many primary worlds and peripheral planets, billions of people were dissatisfied with the oppressive rule of the Confederacy.

During the Guild Wars, this discontent gradually escalated into hatred and resentment, leading to a series of rebellions. This year, no matter how much the Confederacy tries to whitewash the situation using news media such as UNN, it cannot conceal the fact that rebellions are taking place everywhere.

The Terran Confederacy's colonies far outnumber those of the Kel-Morian Combine and the Umojan, and its increasingly corrupt government can only maintain its rule through repressive policies. The seemingly powerful Terran Confederacy is actually riddled with internal contradictions.

Angus believed that the Terran Confederacy had expanded too quickly, like a pressure cooker that could explode at the slightest touch or a tower made of playing cards; if just a few cards were pulled out in the right place, the tower would collapse very quickly.

On the surface, the victory in the Guild Wars would undoubtedly expand the Confederacy's territory further, but the Kel-Morian planet would only make the Confederacy's rule more unstable. However, in just a few years, the Confederacy would drive the Kel-Morian back to Moria and consolidate their rule. And at this point in time, right after the war ended, the Confederacy's rule was at its weakest.

Therefore, Angus believed that this was the best time to launch a revolution. Once Korhal took the lead in declaring independence, those planets that were already dissatisfied would revolt under the instigation of the revolutionaries, and eventually the revolutionary fervor would sweep across the entire Terran Confederacy.

But once the Terran Confederacy consolidates its rule on Kel-Morian and completely absorbs the Kel-Morian Combine's mining guilds, the Confederacy will become an even more terrifying behemoth.

Angus didn't want to wait any longer; he was getting old. And his influence in Korhal was at its greatest in over a decade, so he believed now was the best time to declare independence. By the time the Confederacy could free up its resources to suppress the Korhal revolutionaries and station more troops, the planet would never recover.

Old Mengsk felt his body growing old, and neither of his two sons wanted to take over his cause. Angus didn't know how much longer he had to live, just as Augustus feared. His enemies had hired professional assassins and retired soldiers to kill him more than a dozen times, and he didn't know when he would die.

A family that is out of step with the class that gives it wealth and power will inevitably be marginalized. The Confederacy only needs to dissolve Senator Korhal, and Angus will lose power. Perhaps in five or ten years, the Mengsk Family will have already disappeared.

He also knew that revolutions had always required countless lives lost and sacrifices. But if no one dared to stand up and speak out for the revolution, the entire Koprulu Sector would forever live in the shadow of the Terran Confederacy.

Angus believed that the revolution would not last long. Once the entire sector knew that a planet had seceded from the Confederacy and become independent, other planets would follow suit, plunging the entire Terran Confederacy into chaos. At that time, Kel-Morian would inevitably tear up the peace treaty in order to reclaim lost territory, and Umojan had already sided with Korhal.

Augustus knew that the actual situation was not much different from what Angus had said. Uprisings on various planets of the Confederacy had never stopped since Korhal gained independence, and the rebellions kept the government forces busy.

However, Angus did not have the opportunity to realize his plan. According to the original storyline, after Angus declared Korhal's independence in 2489, his fanatical supporters and army swept through Korhal. But only two weeks later, the Ghost operative of the Terran Confederacy brutally beheaded Angus.

After that, the Confederacy assumed that the rebellion in Korhal would be extinguished with the death of its leader, and therefore did not rush to reclaim the planet. However, the revolutionaries in Korhal, under the leadership of Angus's son Arcturus, regrouped, and it was not until nearly a year later, in 2491, that the Confederate Congress ordered the use of nuclear weapons to destroy Korhal.

Although Augustus agreed with some of his father's views, he did not believe that the Korhal IV could withstand the Confederacy army's offensive for three months.

Augustus used a star map showing the population, garrison size, and Fleets size to demonstrate to Angus that even in terms of sheer military strength, the Korhal would have a very difficult time winning, and their army would be far inferior in quality to the Confederacy's elite forces.

Building a loyal Revolutionary Army is merely a transition; Korhal must possess his own Fleets.

In Augustus's plan, the Korhal War of Independence was roughly divided into three steps. The first step was to capture Korhal IV and immediately declare the planet into a state of war and a wartime supply system, utilizing the powerful manufacturing capabilities of this industrial planet to provide supplies and weapons for the war.

By this time, Augustus had acquired a small Fleets had been converted into assault ships, light cruisers, and even suicide airships, while Umojan would also provide some warships as aid.

The second step, after declaring independence, is for Augustus to personally lead this hastily assembled Fleets to raid the Terran Confederacy's Dylarian and Bennett Shipyard and seize the battlecruisers within.

During this period, the Korhal IV will serve as bait to draw the attention of the Confederacy Fleets, a casualty.

Korhal IV aims to establish an orbital defense platform in the shortest possible time, constructing city-like anti-aircraft missile turrets and missile interceptor arrays on the far side of the two moons to delay the enemy Fleets's attack.

The Korhal Revolutionary Army needs to build strong fortresses and defensive positions on the ground, turning Korhal into a fortress planet and a cruel meat grinder to wear down the Confederacy's landing forces in order to barely hold Korhal.

Third, Augustus's Fleets will head straight for Tarsonis, forcing the enemy Fleets to return to its aid. Afterward, the Korhal Revolutionary Army will abandon the devastated Korhal, and the remaining Korhal will be gradually sent in batches to Umojan or to establish colonies in areas far beyond the control of the Confederacy.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the fact that Confederacy Confederacy has not nuclearized Korhal. Augustus only vaguely mentioned this possibility to Angus and tried to convince his father through rigorous logical analysis.

Augustus knew that the decision to use nuclear weapons to destroy a planet with tens of millions of people could not have been made by the Fleets commander alone; it must have been the result of a vote by the Confederate Congress.

Therefore, while launching the war, he had to use political and propaganda means to force Parliament to ultimately fail to pass the resolution or to rescind the order.

In that case, he would have to control every single person eligible to vote. This was virtually impossible, because every member of the Tarsonis Old Families, in addition to members of parliament, had a vote, and the oldest families, like Tagore's, had even more votes.

But Augustus vowed he would stop at nothing.

After fully considering the cruelty of the Confederacy, Angus agreed to the plan, which Augustus named Phoenix Plan, two days later. The plan was still quite crude, and the latter was spending a lot of time refining and modifying it.

Implementing this plan means that millions, or even more, of people will likely die in the Korhal IV conflict, and their beautiful homeland will be destroyed by the war.

At this moment, old Mengsk, standing beside his wife and daughter, was looking at Augustus. His dark hair was tied into a ponytail that reached his shoulders, and his thick eyebrows were relaxed over his cold gray eyes. Angus Mengsk had a resolute face and handsome appearance, almost exactly what Augustus look like in the future.

Seeing Lisa, the Heaven's Devils, and others in the spacious hall, Augustus remembered that he would be returning to his camp in a few days.

He couldn't help but wonder how many Heaven's Devils would continue to follow him after his retirement...

I'm too tired to type anymore... time to practice my Husky reputation...

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