StarCraft: Tyranid Empire

At this moment, the palace.

When Arcturus walked into the war room, the emperor's chief engineer, Rory Swan, was rushing out. Mrs. Mainho, who was as hard and stubborn as a Kemorian prospecting drill, wore a well-tailored suit, but still looked like a butcher who had just slaughtered a pig. Arcturus bet that Swan was definitely washed clean by his men just before going to the palace.

Any cabinet official who had dealt with Swan admitted that the chief engineer was even busier than the emperor of the Terran Empire, and he would rather spend all his free time outside of work drinking beer and chatting.

The heavy fighter production lines of Nafu II and Norris VI would produce a Viking every few minutes on average, and they would need at least half a month to do so in peacetime, and these newly built fighters were definitely not created out of thin air.

Unless necessary, Swan would never step into the palace, even if the mansion awarded by the emperor was right at the foot of the palace. Given Swan's outstanding contribution to the Empire, no one would question that he should not receive such special treatment.

Rory Swan has the most outstanding designers, engineers, and metal technicians in the Empire. Other teams of the Imperial Engineering Corps are also manufacturing tanks and large mechas. Construction is only a small part of their work. As the war between the Empire and Amon continues to escalate, repairing damaged machinery and dealing with space wrecks that must be scrapped are the most troublesome things.

These people are also real supermen. Under extremely harsh conditions, those dispatched engineering corps sent to various battlefields can even rub aviation parts by hand or build a planetary fortress from scratch.

An Imperial engineer from Char once drove a space engineering vehicle to kill four Zerglings in extreme anger, and used exploration explosives to collapse the underground lava tunnel and buried hundreds of Zerglings. Although he fell in the mining area in the end and did not live to go to Augustgrad to be awarded.

Geniuses are always unusual. Based on this, Arcturus can tolerate some of their quirks, such as when Swan slipped away from his nose like a gust of wind, he didn't notice that the second-in-command of the Empire was greeting him.

Arcturus glanced at Swan holding a large stack of equipment drawings in his hand, all of which were the latest fighters and mechas of the Empire.

The speed of weapon replacement in the Terran Empire can be said to be very fast, so it is not outdated as soon as it is installed. Although many armies are still using weapons before the Battle of the Brood, their fleets are very different from the past.

The enemies of the Empire are mainly Amon's hybrid forces and his vassal armies in the three tribes, and the Dark God will not make an effort to upgrade the weapons for his cannon fodder, so the existing weapons are fully sufficient to deal with them.

However, considering the complex and changing battlefield environment, the Empire's Equipment Department still needs to upgrade existing equipment or directly develop new ones. There are more than a dozen models of power armor alone.

In addition, Arcturus also knew that the emperor needed a protective measure that could effectively fight against the corruption of the void these days, so that the imperial ships could travel unimpeded in the void. This was probably the reason why Augustus specifically asked Swan to rush to the palace in person.

". In addition, immediately allocate government funds to Andra, Arcadia, Ross, Michael, Angus, Olivia, and Boyla, and use them for special purposes." As soon as Arcturus entered the door, he heard his brother giving orders in an unquestionable tone: "Listen."

The emperor handed a clerk or private secretary in the war room another pile of bills that were waiting to be signed and implemented, and said: "Let the new prime minister convene an imperial meeting immediately and vote, the sooner the better."

Standing opposite the emperor was the current Minister of Finance Aldeo Cistler, who entered the imperial political circle through votes rather than direct promotion, which means that this person has considerable reputation among the people and accumulates political capital by speaking for the people or political shows to attract attention.

Of course, it is unlikely that Sistler would have been able to hold his current position in his lifetime. Undoubtedly, the Ministry of Finance is one of the most powerful departments in the Empire, and the head of this department is naturally the most sought-after person in the Empire.

In any case, if Sistler wants to make progress in the Empire's political circles, he must be appreciated by the emperor, no matter whether he was a supporter or an opponent of the emperor.

Ironically, before his sudden rise to power, Sistler was a staunch opponent of Augustus's new policies, and he always fantasized about returning to the good old days of the old federation, but now he is eager to bow down at the feet of the emperor.

Every seat in the parliament is elected, and every member represents the interests of all classes, but the people who really hold important positions are either old faces or retreat behind the scenes. After all, all imperial officials and planetary governors must be appointed by the emperor.

Emperor Augustus never bothered to silence his opponents, because he thought it was unnecessary to shut up the "censors". There are many parties in the Empire's political circles, but they are basically not very influential. There are many people who oppose Augustus and his policies, but usually they just do it as their own political proposition. In fact, even they themselves don't know who will be elected when Augustus is really overthrown.

If there is really a group of people who are ready to let the emperor abdicate in the parliament, I am afraid that others will first suspect that they are either mentally ill or corrupted by the void. Who knows that the current imperial parliament is worse than a vegetable market, at least there are people who listen to bargaining.

"But the most important thing is medicine, clean food and water. Most of them are new colonies established after the Day of Ascension. They lack everything. The interruption of trade routes and the invasion of insect swarms almost defeated them." Sister He is a standard imperial politician, wearing a suit and leather shoes, and has an extraordinary imposing manner.

In general, the further one travels from Korhal, the harder it is to maintain order, a statement Arcturus couldn't agree more with.

Just maintaining stable prices in the core world during the war years is enough to make a series of imperial financial and monetary experts hang themselves, so they must not act rashly just because of the slightest disturbance.

As for the more distant new colonies and frontier worlds, the situation is much more difficult, but most of the difficulties on these worlds do not stem from a lack of money.

The empire's new colonies basically belong to the resource world. The most indispensable thing there is minerals, but it is difficult to buy industrial products and agricultural products in the core world, so rapid prices have become the norm.

Additionally, smaller colonies were more vulnerable to war and disease. A terrible plague struck St. Patrick not long ago. Hundreds of thousands died in the first two weeks of the outbreak. It was an unheard-of intestinal infection, accompanied by fatal diarrhea and dehydration. When rescue from neighboring worlds arrived, there were not even a few living people on the entire planet.

This is undoubtedly another masterpiece of the insect swarm.

When the routes were clear, this problem was not obvious, but since Amon's army began to bypass the imperial convoys in a targeted manner and directly attack their trade routes with the outer colonies, the situation began to take a turn for the worse.

".That's it." Seeing Arcturus walking in, Augustus waved to Sister, as if to get rid of annoying trouble.

Sister Sister was obviously not a favorite of Augustus, but the advantage of the emperor was that even if he didn't like a person very much, he would still reuse him as long as he was capable enough.

In contrast, Arcturus valued ability more, while Augustus believed that character was equally important, but the reality was that it was difficult for them to find people with both qualities.

Although Tychus is of low quality, he fights hard.

Jim Raynor is a "farmer". He never went to a military school, and has never received systematic training, but it turns out that he is a natural military genius. He relies on talent and intuition to fight, as well as his character. Recognized for acting with integrity.

But if you let Reynold engage in politics, it is better to let Tychus cook. The latter learned two tricks from Augustus when he was young. At least he can still cook something sweet and not starve himself.

When leaving the war room, Sister was much more discerning than Swann, and he quickly greeted the Imperial Prince. After all, he was personally recommended by Arcturus. "This Sister is indeed very capable. I don't know what his colleagues think of him." Augustus raised his head and looked at Arcturus.

"A clown, a two-faced man, a greasy-headed and naughty man." Arcturus said: "My evaluation is similar."

"I thought you liked him very much," said Augustus.

"So you don't like him." Arcturus asked, "What did he say to you?"

"He proposed that I allow local governments to increase taxes on their own to increase revenue, otherwise they would have to borrow from the banks of Umoyan." Augustus commented: "Absurd."

In fact, the current empire is not very short of money. Even with so many resources invested in the military, the income from other sectors of Koprulu and the Sigma sector can even make them profitable.

This was exactly the result of Augustus' colonial policy. He wanted more than just territory, but also the most important resources. In other words, he wanted to open mines everywhere and cast a wide net to catch more fish.

Crystal minerals and high-energy gas are the most undisputed hard currencies in the Koprulu sector. Since the war began, countless people in the Augustgrad Stock Exchange have made a fortune and lost all their money. An invasion by Emon's army or a victory by the imperial army may bring huge changes to the stock market, but I'm afraid Only the most well-informed can learn of the Dark God's movements.

However, those who invested in the imperial state-owned mining companies in the early days without exception made a fortune, almost always making a sure profit.

Years ago, perhaps a long time ago, Arcturus would have been ecstatic about a huge and rich vein of crystal minerals, but now wealth means little to him, even though he has long been the richest man in the empire. one of the people.

With the discovery of new worlds and the development of new colonies, a large number of high-quality minerals have been discovered by imperial exploration ships scattered in the universe. Traces of crystal mines have even been found in the void, and their reserves are at least enough for an interstellar empire-level force. Hundreds of years of excavation are far beyond what it can be compared to in the past. In the end, all that has to be considered is the cost of mining, smelting and transportation.

Just like the best iron ores are always accompanied by high-quality coal mines, the best crystal mines are also accompanied by high-energy gas springs. The current empire does not lack such good ores. What it lacks is the manpower and time for mining, and how they can transport these minerals to the manufacturing plants in the core world when Amon launches a large-scale attack.

"This is impossible. In a few years, they will be able to list a bunch of tax items that neither you nor I know about." Arcturus said: "Sistler is not a brainless person."

"He is testing me to see if I will delegate power to the localities." Augustus snorted and stopped discussing the topic. A Sister can't make many waves.

"Tell me the news you brought."

"The fleet bound for Baishel has already set off." Arcturus didn't even have time to find a place to sit down: "One Xel'Naga world ship, thirty Gorgons, and eight hundred Minotaurs. The two squadrons of Warfield and Horner are also on their way to join."

"Aiur has sent the Spear of Adun and several expeditionary fleets. The High Lord Tal'darin said he is considering sending a death fleet to help, but I guess he only verbally supports it as usual."

"Where are the enemies? How many are there?" Augustus nodded.

Arcturus noticed that the emperor's desk was piled with various reports, assessments, and copies of bills. He worked from morning to night, but the pile of things never diminished. signs. In fact, Augustus' officials were reliable enough, but he was still used to interfering in everything.

In fact, the war room has not held many combat meetings these days, and only a few lackluster galaxies are still flickering on the holographic picture. On the one hand, these are the emperor's most outstanding generals and military talents. On the other hand, the general strategic direction has already been set, and Augustus has no intention of dictating the front line.

Moreover, fighting is only a small part of war, important enough, but not the whole story.

"Two Doomsday Arks, and countless other types of ships. There are now so many Byshel's zerg that they can submerge the planet."

"Two ships?" Augustus was a little surprised: "The Protoss said there would be one ship. Then we must re-evaluate this number, and there may be a third ship."

"They made a mistake." Arcturus said: "But the result was not bad. Executive Phoenix boarded one of the doomsday arks and turned it directly into a battlefield, which was equivalent to directly paralyzing an ark."

"If they had known there were two arks, maybe they wouldn't have done this."

"No." Augustus understood his old friend: "Then Phoenix will land on two arks at the same time, and then rush into the cab, forcing them to collide head-on."

"It's just like what is written in heroic stories, but it's unrealistic." Arcturus continued: "No matter what, at least one thing is certain, Beisher's importance to Eamon must be higher than we expected. ”

"It's always Beisher." Augustus said to himself: "Hopefully we will get the answer soon, why he insists on getting along with this unobtrusive planet."

However, despite spending most of his time with Arcturus endlessly discussing politics and military affairs, today Augustus decided to talk about something else.

"Okay, let's not talk about it. It will be a week at the earliest before we get the latest news from Baishel."

"How is it?" When Arcturus sat down, Augustus immediately realized that the other person was asking about his work status.

"As usual, the bottomless pit of expenditure, the unbearable huge losses, the shocking casualty figures, and our annoying neighbors, there is nothing to make people happy." Augustus wailed. : "The worst is non-combat attrition, human factors, swarm virus, and void corruption."

"There are also all kinds of ridiculous reasons. You just can't believe that someone would be left alone on an undeveloped planet because he misremembered the assembly time, so that he had to live a Robinson Crusoe style while waiting for rescue. life." He said as he took out a bottle of brandy from the wine cabinet next to him, poured a glass and handed it to Arcturus:

"The doctor said I should drink less alcohol, but he didn't say I couldn't live with my addiction."

"Do you have any news about Valerian? He is also in Byshel." He asked Arcturus again.

"He never writes to me, and I don't receive any information in my personal communication." Arcturus said this like an empty nester, but he didn't seem too worried about his son, he was just stating the facts. .

"What's going on?" the emperor asked with ostentatious knowledge, which made him look like a child: "And I receive letters from him almost every week." (End of Chapter)