StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

"Come on. The show is about to begin."

Half-Imperial hero, the star of Joey Ray's Bar, the mercenary train robber, Mr. Tychus Finlay.

This arrogant man was wearing tailor-made crimson power armor and walking firmly on the wide deck of the Zeus lander's drop pod. On both sides were Imperial Marines lining up waiting to enter the rows of drop pods. team members.

The deck of the drop pod is very long, and the queue in front of the drop pod is also very long. There is a Marine battalion with hundreds of people in this area alone. These soldiers from the Empire's 1st Airborne Division wore the same CMC power armor as Tychus, and held C-14 Gauss rifles in their hands. However, the pattern on the matte mask was different, it was a white wolf head badge.

Even in Tychus's critical eyes, these young men were not bad at all. They had been trained for a long time and were ready for battle at any time. Anyone who has actually fought against the Zerg and survived is considered a veteran.

During this period, soldiers saluted Tychus from time to time, and occasionally he would respond and wish good luck to these young men who were about to be sent to the battlefield.

This feeling of being respected always made Tychus Finlay uncomfortable, like a fly or a mouse strutting about the city in broad daylight but being widely praised by the citizens, because he knew exactly what he was. But Tychus quite enjoyed this feeling. People are so complicated sometimes.

"Hey, Sergeant Finley! Look over here!"

"Don't always think about medals, Jones. If you really want them, Admiral Edmund Duke's safe is full of cheap knockoffs." Tychus was very satisfied with his joke. The surrounding soldiers were also amused and laughed, and the depression and tension before the airborne were swept away.

Although the history of the 1st Airborne Division can be traced back to the Revolutionary Army, many of the soldiers in it were participating in actual airborne combat for the first time. They will be dropped to the ground from the air thirty miles above the ground. If it were not supported by the servo system of the power armor, some of their legs would have gone weak.

Some units allow soldiers to be injected with stimulants before airborne, but this rarely happens. Abuse of stimulants can lead to very serious consequences. Marines never know how many strange ingredients there are in stimulants, but no matter how many side effects they have, they are always something that can save your life.

But airdrops are nothing to worry about. It's the job of the captain and naval crew to deliver the drop pod to the planet's surface at the right angle. The airborne process is much more thrilling than riding a roller coaster, but the occupants in the airdrop cabin will not have much intuitive experience.

The technology of airdrop pods has been mature since the first year of the Tyranid Empire. There are small airdrop pods for use by ghost agents and special operations teams, as well as larger models that can carry companies and siege tanks.

Their world is dead before entering the atmosphere, and then begins to jolt, when the force exerted on the power armor may increase to ten G's. Before landing, the airdrop pod will automatically adjust the landing trajectory through the braking device and decelerate multiple times until it lands after a burst of impact, after which the airdrop pod will automatically pop open.

Tychus knew that veterans who had airborne many times called the airdrop pods yellow pods, because once the plant pods from the earth mature and are dried and crispy by the sun, they will fall to the ground, and the contents inside will fall to the ground. The fruits are also scattered in all directions.

Dropping is always an adventure, and if something goes wrong with the drop pod, most of the time the people inside will die a quick death.

Moreover, the airdrop pod is only a one-way delivery vehicle. There is no room for regret on this matter. If some idiot captain throws you into a crazy pile of bugs, then you can only accept your fate.

Everyone in the Imperial Marines knows this. Finding a sober person in the Navy is as difficult as finding a sailor who takes a shower regularly. Tychus was convinced of this statement. After all, he had never seen those slender female pilots take a shower.

The Zeus landing ship suddenly trembled. It was not easy to shake such a huge interstellar ship. Tychus, like the Imperial soldiers around him, couldn't figure out what was going on outside, but usually, it was definitely not good news.

It's possible that bugs are coming to your door, and they always arrive in swarms.

The Imperial Navy fleet where the landing ship is currently located is in the high-altitude orbit of Thalon VII. There are at least 10 billion Jörmungandr Zerg on the ground, and countless more in the sky and orbit. .

Tychus was not nervous at all. He was someone who had truly seen big winds and waves. He had played cards with Cerebrates, drank with protoss, and had seen the emperor's little skirt. He was only thirty-three, and he had seen things that many people could never even imagine in their lifetimes.

Another huge tremor came along with the roar, and those who were setting foot on the battlefield for the first time had pale faces. Tychus guessed that the spacecraft might have just hit a swarm of blast mosquitoes. This happens often, but this ship has its own shield force field and is escorted by a large number of Ice Dragon fighters and Viking fighters. It is not so easy to be attacked. Destroyed.

Now, this giant bear-like man looked so tall, reliable, and indestructible to the other soldiers. Tychus calmly took out a box of cigars, took out a gold-plated laser lighter, lit it, and blew out a puff of smoke: "Don't worry, Tychus will protect you guys."

After saying that, Tychus walked into the next cabin through the airlock door, leaving the back of the Imperial hero to the people behind him.

For Tychus, these young sailors are indeed treasures. After all, there is nothing more boring in the world than the Marines in the landing ship. The young guys have a lot of money issued by the Empire in their pockets. But he had nowhere to spend it, so he had no choice but to lose to old Tychus willingly at the card table.

Tychus was a good player at the poker table ten years ago. He could win a lot of chips from these young boys even if he didn't spend a thousand dollars. Thanks to these unlucky people, I have made a little fortune recently, but this time is different, it is definitely a legitimate business.

Many people think of Tychus as a big, reckless man, but he is actually very smart. He knew how to read people's expressions and was good at it.

Thanks to this skill, Tychus was always able to obtain the forgiveness of Emperor Augustus when he got into trouble - although this did not always work. Ever since he ascended the throne, Augustus Mengsk's expression has become increasingly difficult to guess.

"Gunnery Sergeant Tychus Finley, you have violated the smoking ban." At this time, a cold mechanical female voice made Tychus raise his eyebrows. This is the intelligent AI program that comes with the Zeus landing ship, and it always jumps out at the most disappointing time.

"Guess what, I think Emperor Augustus wants me to smoke here." Tychus ignored the warning.

Normally no one would dare to violate this prohibition, but as the pilot of the Odin mecha, Tychus also has many privileges. Other than that, no one dares to mess with him here, not even fleet commander Matt Horner can do anything to him here.

If the salary was deducted from being locked up in a dark room, the shameless Tychus would have gotten used to it by now.

"Hi, Miss Sanger, you look very feminine today." Tychus turned into a narrower aisle and met a young navy lieutenant who was also an excellent pilot. . This is the Navy crew cabin. They are sailors wearing tight-fitting uniforms and living in cabins that are completely different from the Marines. In the past, those young and energetic Marines who had not seen the opposite sex for at least half a year would lick their faces and get closer to take a look.

"Hello, Sergeant Major Finley." The Navy lieutenant just saluted and hurriedly left. It seemed that the situation outside the spacecraft was quite bad.

This is a graduate of the Royal Naval Academy in Augustgrad. I heard that he is distantly related to the long-declined founding family of Tarsonis. He is elegant in manner and outstanding in appearance. An old gangster like Tychus naturally glanced twice, and the filthy thoughts in his mind were even more unsightly.

But Tychus only glanced at it twice without any bad intentions. He could see the other person's attitude and knew that his charm didn't always work. Military regulations are strict, and Tychus must always keep his distance from female soldiers, otherwise the emperor will personally chop off his dog's head.

In fact, Tychus prefers beautiful prostitutes, because at least they are loyal to money and use money to do things.

"We ran into a swarm?" Tychus asked her.

"I'm afraid so, Sergeant Major," the ensign finally replied.

Tychus nodded and headed straight to the next cabin. Unless the landing order was canceled above, they could not stop preparations for other reasons.

A few minutes later Tychus arrived at another drop pod, which was smaller than the previous one and had fewer personnel, and they were all mechanics and ground crew. There is an in-ship elevator that leads to the lower cabin, which is Odin's cockpit.

Odin is driven by a single person, but usually requires a large team for maintenance.

"Fick, is my big baby ready?" Tychus looked around until he came across an engineer who was less than five feet tall. That was Hiram Fike, the former armor technician of the Heavenly Demon Team.

Now, with the head of the demon ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor, the name of Emperor Augustus is resounding everywhere, and the once-little technician has also prospered.

Now Fike is the soul of the Empire's Second Engineering Group. He also has a false title in the Empire's Ministry of Transportation and has more than 10,000 people under his command. The group of people back then were either generals or marshals. Only he, Tychus Finlay, was still working as a dog for Emperor Augustus on the front line.

"Of course, I asked people to use the best engine oil." Fick looked short and lean, inconspicuous, and not handsome, but the emperor only valued his kindness and righteousness.

Hiram Fick and Rory Swann were an ace team in the Imperial Engineering Corps. Tychus called them goblins and dwarves.

"Hey, I wonder if the command will allow me to use the red button today." Tychus is a character who has a hard time trusting other people, and has almost no altruistic spirit, but he gets along well with the old Demon of Heaven. good.

"I think we have to use nuclear bombs." Fick looked very worried:

"The fighting is very fierce down there. I heard that several major insect nests have appeared. I don't understand what is there about Talon that deserves the Lord's attention."

Talon No. 7 is not a geomantic treasure. This planet has a climate called an acid rain storm, which makes it extremely difficult for ordinary crops to survive. There are no precious mineral deposits on it, nothing special about it.

"It's worth guessing what the beast's thoughts are. It just wants to do three things: kick the human's ass hard, kick the human's ass hard, or kick the human's ass fucking hard." Taikai Si lifted his pants and prepared to enter Odin's cockpit through the elevator:

"At the end of the day, fighting is about who has the tougher ass."

"I beg to differ." Fick was used to Tychus's wonderful metaphor.

"Good luck to you, Finley. I've got a cold beer and porn magazines for you, maybe you can use them when you doze off."

"I really want to kiss you, damn it. I'll see you on the ground." Tychus got into the elevator, and then entered a brief period of darkness.

A few minutes later, Tychus arrived in Odin's cockpit.

"Identity confirmed, Sergeant Tychus Finley, permissions have been unlocked, main control center has been connected, and the security channel has been opened." Tychus calmed down, and the control screen in front of him lit up.

From the glass of Odin's cockpit, you can see the world outside the landing ship, which is a hazy world shrouded in clouds and mist. This unparalleled land-based mecha is so huge that even the Zeus landing ship cannot accommodate it and can only be mounted underneath the spacecraft. Odin's armor is as strong as a battleship, so there's no need to worry about enemy attacks.

The situation on the Zeus landing ship is indeed not good. It is surrounded by mutalisks and corrupted flying insects, and the brave Imperial Viking pilots are heroically driving away these terrible monsters.

At this moment, airdrop pods were ejected from both sides of the Zeus landing ship from time to time. Judging from Tychus' position, some of the airdrop pods disappeared in the blink of an eye, while others were unfortunately shot down.

When the clouds and fog completely disappeared, Tychus could already see the vague shadow of the earth and the special buildings of the residents of Talon VII.

The Talon people use giant circular buildings as greenhouses to cultivate their crops. These semi-circular steel-frame buildings are covered with hexagonal insulation plastic sheets, shining in the sun, just like those on the beach. A large jellyfish.

This stunning complex is nestled among towering wind turbines.

On the ground, the imperial troops who had landed were fighting with the black swarm of insects. Black smoke was everywhere. Thousands of aircraft flew across the sky from time to time. There were traces of fierce battles everywhere.

The Imperial fleet has acquired the ability to destroy Talon VII from orbit, turning a planet into a dead end filled with radioactive waste. However, the Zerg don't care about the gain or loss of a planet at all, but humans cannot bomb every one of their colonies at will.

"I'm Matt Horner." The fleet commander's voice came from Odin's channel:

"Prepare to deploy Odin."

There was a brief feeling of weightlessness, and Odin had been thrown into the Zeus landing ship. With a shock wave sent through the mecha, Tychus knew that he had hit the ground hard. In the violent roar, large swaths of zerg were smashed into pulp, sticky flesh and blood splashed, and blood rained from the sky.

"I knew I should have asked Fick to install a windshield wiper." Tychus glanced at the flesh and blood tissue outside the cockpit glass, and pushed Odin forward:

"The big guy is out of control."

This is located in front of an Imperial Airborne Division position, with bright red flags fluttering in the wind. The moment Odin appeared, the division's communication channel was abuzz.