"This is not your fate, Ma Sara."
Jim Raynor knelt down on one knee on the hard, black earth, letting the strong wind that never stopped blowing the dark brown cowboy hat on his head. This is a land melted and then cooled by fiery psychic beams and plasma hurricanes. The entire surface is glowing with the gray metallic luster of silicide steel and the glint of glass.
A huge crater was located just over a dozen miles away, where the backwater base once stood.
About a year ago, the Protoss fleet literally burned Mar Sara to the ground, focusing mainly on human settlements and the zerg main hive. Most of the refugees from Mar Sara evacuated with the help of the Revolutionary Army in time before the protoss fleet bombed them, but their homes were destroyed.
Mar Sara's destruction was more complete than that of Korhal IV, which suffered a nuclear strike. If the latter was reduced to scorched earth, the former was completely reduced to a cold, dead planet.
Cities were wiped out, mountains were torn down, vast oceans and rivers were evaporated in the extreme heat, and the earth was burned into glass. The natural landscape of this planet has undergone earth-shaking changes. The species coefficient has become extinct, leaving only low-grade earth, moss and other life forms.
Half of Mar Sara's atmosphere was stripped away, and the thin air and desolate surface became even more inhospitable for human habitation. In the past, Mar Sara's colonists were able to use irrigation systems to irrigate the planet's barren soil to some extent, but now they are struggling.
"Mar Sara was one of the first planets to be invaded by zerg, and it was also one of the few planets destroyed by the protoss." Augustus, wearing a windshielding army coat, stood next to Renault. The raging wind and sand are leaving sharp scratches on this weather-beaten coat.
"Everyone thought it was completely lost, but I learned there was still a glimmer of hope for the planet."
Renault stood up and looked in the direction of Augustus. A camp consisting of hundreds of alloy steel and concrete buildings and gray living tents was clearly visible. That area once had a familiar name, the Corridor of Purgatory.
The Purgatory Corridor is no longer the huge winding canyon it used to be. It has been completely flattened, and the surface has been shattered and reshaped many times, making it beyond recognition.
Today, the mountains and huge cliffs have turned into plains, and the caves and pits riddled with holes have formed lakes and streams made of accumulated water. However, under the strong star rays of the Sara galaxy, the lifespan of these lakes has been reduced. Very short.
Mar Sara has become more desolate, its surface covered with ugly black scars, while even lunar surfaces like Haji can find lush oases. This planet is no more different from the many lifeless stone planets in the galaxy. It has been marked as a tombstone on human navigation charts.
Ma Sara, which was melted into ashes, was actually very beautiful under the harsh sunlight. The siliconized layer covering the ground exuded a metallic and crystal-like luster, making the entire plain look like a part of a huge crystal.
Near the camp that Renault was looking at, there were countless crystal veins exposed on the surface, and countless clusters of blue-gleaming crystals sparkled in the sunlight. These are all crystal veins that were once buried under the corridors of Purgatory, but now they have been completely uncovered by the bombing of the protoss fleet.
Clusters of crystals are scattered everywhere, as if they are easily accessible. There is almost no difficulty in collecting such crystals. You only need to use a laser melting gun to collect them. Building a processing plant on site can save the cost of transporting raw materials.
When Augustus was talking to Renault, the camp was still under construction in full swing. Towers, scaffolding, cranes, bulldozers, etc. were already ready. Airports, supply depots, and machinery workshops of heavy factories were also erected.
From time to time, a group of transport ships descended from the sky from high-altitude orbits and landed in the airport of the camp, bringing supplies and construction materials indispensable to the workers and soldiers there.
"When I left Mar Sara, I thought that Elizabeth, John, and I would never return to this sad place for the rest of our lives," Renault said.
"Destiny is really wonderful. It's hard to tell when reality will give you a loud slap in the face, and when it will give you a few more pieces of caramel. Marsala is not the best choice for a habitable planet, but the stored The resources allow people to ignore the harsh natural conditions here.”
"For the original Ma Sara people, maybe their original life would not be much better than it is now."
"Ma Sara can no longer support as many people as it used to. It also has to import food and water from other planets, but the output of minerals is enough to make up for this disadvantage." Augustus nodded.
"Our main planet Antiga is not enough. We also need another planet to provide raw materials and military factories." He said: "The agricultural settlement of Agria provides food and medical supplies to these two planets."
Augustus's revolutionary army not only held Antiga and Agria, but also had seven other colonies established by Korhal IV immigrants, including Hagi, Altera, and Baishel. However, the revolutionary army's status in Hagi was still limited. Unstable, while Altera is sparsely populated.
The total population of the other Korhal IV sub-colonies is about 10 million people, but they are scattered on the edge of the Koprulu sector, far apart, and cannot bring much help to the revolutionary army.
"Mar Sara is far away from the core world of Tarsonis, and almost everyone thinks that it has been completely destroyed. There is no hope, and no one will pay attention to the Sara galaxy." Raynor said with a smile. : "We can just use this to develop the resources of Ma Sara."
"The Federation never imagined that we would come back here again." Augustus smiled back at Renault.
"We fought hard and fought bloody battles to get where we are today." Augustus said.
With that said, Augustus and Renault walked towards the camp together, measuring the charred land with their footsteps, and picking up crystal fragments from the ground from time to time. These sparkling crystal fragments are very conspicuous in the ashes. As long as you are patient, you can quickly pick up a large bag of crystal fragments, just like picking up coal that fell on the train tracks.
Although there are not even large beasts or scorpions in this desolate world, Kerrigan and Faraday's marshal guards are always following Augustus and Raynor. Each of them is fully armed to deal with enemies that may appear at any time.
Not long after, Augustus was walking closer and closer to the camp, and his pockets were filled with blue crystals.
This was impossible to happen in Ma Sara in the past. If humans wanted to collect crystals, they had to use explosives and mining equipment. But now these precious crystal veins have been broken into small pieces that are easy to mine.
Like the birds rummaging for bugs in a plowed field or the children picking up gold on the beach, humans gather minerals with ease and surprise on a completely destroyed planet.
After being bombarded by the main cannon of the Protoss fleet, these crystals underwent some other changes. The other energies contained in them increased the mining value of the crystal mines many times. Crystals with the same load can be refined with a little refinement. Utilization, which makes the mineral value of Mar Sara generally higher than that of ordinary crystals.
The most obvious change is that the output of the Ma Sara mining area has become much higher than before.
"We are walking on treasures scattered on the ground, but no one has ever discovered them before." Augustus said, holding a broken blue crystal in his hand.
At this time, they were very close to the camp, just below the guard tower with the flag of the Revolutionary Army.
The buildings, which had been erected only two weeks ago, were still closely spaced, with criss-crossing roads in between. The doors of warehouses, engineering stations, armories and military camps are all open. Many engineers and workers wearing safety helmets are shuttled back and forth. A running factory production workshop is still cutting newly excavated crystal ore. .
Most of the workers were engineers who followed the revolutionary fleet, and there were also some Ma Sara people among them, and they all showed high morale. Although they only received orders from Rama Sara to collect minerals, the workers regarded this as their noble mission.
People in the revolutionary army knew very well how much each crystal and every cubic meter of high-energy gas they collected would contribute to the entire revolutionary cause.
The facilities in the camp are all available. In addition to emergency medical facilities, there are also leisure and exercise facilities. After all, the desolate Ma Sara is as boring as a battleship in deep space.
There are dozens of such mining camps in Ma Sara, with the number of people in each camp ranging from hundreds to thousands. Each mining site under construction will become an important collection point and industry in the future. base. In the future, once Augustus is able to direct large-scale immigration to Mar Sara, cities will also rise.
"Joy Ray has opened a new bar near the original site of the backwater base. Everything will be fine soon." Renault said to Augustus.
As they spoke, construction was still going on outside the camp. Hundreds of Type 280 space engineering vehicles were building the foundations of defense facilities in preparation for building a strong high wall.
Augustus planned to build a strong fortress on the original site of the White Stone base in the Purgatory Corridor, and the fortress would also be named White Stone.
"The collection of minerals from the Purgatory Corridor will be completed within one to two years, and a new city will be built here by then." Kerrigan's voice rang out.
"The Federation would never have dreamed that Mar Sara would become their thorn in the side again." Augustus nodded.
As Augustus spoke, he raised his head and focused his gaze on a silver, cone-shaped tower that reached into the sky in the center of the camp. At this moment there are engineers climbing up, working on cables and circuits.
Mar Sara was one of the first planets invaded by the Zerg, which made it a no-go zone for human ships during the First Total War because it lacked close proximity to the Zerg's frontline, but the Revolutionary Army The psychic disruptor in hand can effectively solve this problem.
After many operations by Swann and Kaczynski's Nova Squadron psychic experts, the Revolutionary Army's psychic jammers have become perfect after many updates.
When the silver spiers that emit strong interference psychic signals to the entire star system at all times stand up in the areas controlled by the Revolutionary Army, even the most vicious insect swarm Leviathan can't avoid it.
The silver spire is thousands of feet high (more than three hundred meters), towering into the clouds like a sword piercing the sky. The powerful psychic jammer equipment it carries can cover the entire galaxy and can also serve as a communication base station.
The shape of this spire comes from the Kohal IV Steelling Silver Tower in Augustus' memory. As the landmark building of Steelling, these tall silver spiers are similar to the Mengsk family's Family Sky Tower that reaches into the sky. Together, they form the common understanding of the city of Korhal IV by people from other planets in the Tyranid Federation.
The architectural style of the Revolutionary Army Engineering Corps has many shadows of the mercury-like steel frame and glass buildings of Korhal IV, but it also draws on elements from other planets.
"Among the workers who signed up to work in Ma Sara, the Ma Sara people account for the majority - of course, it can only be them." Renault said.
"The people who fled to Antiga have just escaped from the Sea of Insects, and they don't dare to return to Mar Sara, who is already closely connected with the zerg."
Now Antiga Prime has undisputedly become the core world within the sphere of influence of the Revolutionary Army. It is still absorbing refugees from various peripheral worlds on a large scale, and its population has rapidly expanded to 25 million people.
Antiga Prime was originally a planet that began to resist the rule of the Tyranid Federation twenty years ago. At this time, it received great attention in places like the edge world of the Federation and the United States of Umojan. Even Murray I have heard the name Antiga many times in places like Asia.
In addition to the refugees, the Korhal people from the United States of Umoyan also went to Antiga Prime one after another. They always thought that they were foreigners in the territory of Umoyan. Some rational people or Umoyans who simply wanted to participate in a war also rushed to Antiga, no matter what the purpose, at least they were helping others.
Augustus just smiled at what Reno said: "We have arrested tens of thousands of federal officials in places like Vadona and Helsinki. It is time for them to undergo labor reform."
"That's how it should be," Renault said.
"Marshal...the men of the exploration team discovered a Camorian camp in the Lightning Gorge seventeen miles away." Suddenly, a guard on duty wearing a red armband came to Augustus' In front of you: "Lieutenant Roland asks you what should be done with these Camorians."
"It seems that the minerals of Mar Sara have also attracted other people. These are the Kaimorians. They are found wherever there are crystal mines, even if they know that place will kill them." Raynor said to the Kaimorians The prejudice has never changed: "Money is more important than life."
"What do they do?" Augustus asked the guard.
"It looks like an ordinary mining guild." The guard said, "There is a mercenary organization of about twenty people protecting them."
"Catch them?" Kerrigan's emerald eyes looked at Augustus: "Or let them go."
"This is not good." Renault said: "They are just a group of miners."
"Show your identity," Augustus said.
"Let their leaders come to me - we can live in harmony, provided they abide by our rules."
