The first gunshot rang out at 00:56 local time, followed instantly by a blaze that lit up the sky ahead of Augustus—gunfire and explosions cracking like thunder.
Behind him, the Arclite tanks opened fire. Though his powered armor muffled most of the sound, the rumble of artillery still pounded in Augustus's ears. Brief flashes streaked into the distance several kilometers ahead, erupting into blinding bursts of flame.
With all communication systems disabled, Augustus had no way of knowing what was happening up front. But he knew exactly what needed to be done—advance swiftly and without hesitation.
The Chimera research base wasn't some impregnable fortress. The pirates inside couldn't possibly stand up to Tychus's battalion. Even if Tychus hit resistance, Raynor's Raiders were right behind, ready to bring overwhelming firepower.
"Full speed ahead! Charge!" Augustus's order was relayed down the line by communications officers. Every Revolutionary soldier in crimson-powered armor surged forward into a sprint.
Most of the troops still bore insignias from the Mar Sara Hinterland Autonomous District Civil Defense Force (the local militia) and the Echo Town Police Department. To the Chimera Pirates, the attack likely appeared to be a public operation by the Terran Confederacy rather than an assault from any external force.
Augustus had already reported the mission to the Hinterland Region Magistrate's Office and secured official authorization. This was, on paper, a sanctioned military operation—though the firepower of this "militia" rivaled that of the Tarsonis Army.
As Augustus's forces pushed ahead at full speed, the flashes of surface combat quickly died down. Within a minute, Tychus and his troops had broken into the underground structures of the Chimera Pirates' research base.
By 01:16—just twenty minutes after Tychus's first engagement—Raynor's Raiders had followed into the subterranean facility.
Augustus had no idea what was going on inside, but by the time he arrived at the ruined mining outpost, Tychus was already dragging a Chimera pirate leader into his presence.
The main structure of the mining station had been blown apart by Arclite tank fire. Beneath the shattered remains of its walls was a circular entrance, just 6 meters in diameter. Bloodied corpses of Chimera pirates were being hauled out by Revolutionary soldiers, one after another.
None of the dead pirates wore a full suit of powered armor—at most, they had stitched-on plates of energy shielding sewn into their clothes.
Fewer than ten corpses had been retrieved when a line of Chimera pirates emerged from the base, wearing purple bandanas and tricorn hats. Unlike the Kel-Morian troops Augustus had faced before, these pirates had little will to fight. They collapsed at the first show of force.
"These pirates sure have a reputation," Augustus scoffed. "But in reality, they're softer than the Kel-Morian grunts. Pathetic."
"Like I said—barely worth staying awake for," Tychus grinned, hauling the pirate leader forward by the collar. He grabbed the man by the forehead and forced him to lock eyes with Augustus.
The Chimera pirate wore a dark purple longcoat over a white shirt, with a silk dining scarf around his neck. A tattoo of the Chimera beast—a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail—adorned his right cheek. His long golden hair and prominent nose gave him a haughty look, and when he shouted in fury, his accent betrayed unmistakable Umojan roots.
"What were you researching here?" Augustus waved his hand casually. "Don't be so rough, Tychus. Try to be a bit more civil with our pirate friend."
"Captain Zambu's fleet will arrive at Mar Sara soon—you'll find out just how much trouble you've stirred up!" the pirate spat at Tychus before turning to threaten Augustus. "The Ghosts of Chimera will come for you."
"But you couldn't even send a distress signal," Augustus replied calmly, his visor still lowered. "Even if they figure out what happened here in a few months, they're not coming to Mar Sara just for the likes of you."
Kerrigan might have been able to extract his memories psionically, but Augustus had judged that the leader of this research base still had some value alive.
"You and I both know empty threats like that are meaningless. If you know something, speak up."
"Otherwise I'll string you up like the dog you are, let the Mar Sara sun roast you alive, whip you until your back splits open, and rub salt in the wounds."
Tychus stepped in close, glowering at the pirate who had dared spit at him.
"You think you're getting out of this alive? Give it a day under that sun—you'll be jerky."
"...We were researching the anomalies here."
The pirate finally broke, realizing he was out of options. "I don't know whether to call you Commander or Officer. All we were doing was scientific research."
"While the Terran Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine were locked in war, we were the only ones contributing to the progress of all humanity."
"Did you discover anything?" Augustus asked, smiling slightly.
"Yes. Actually, we were starting to form a theory about the source of the signal interference."
The Chimera pirate leader didn't act like a prisoner at all.
"I'll tell you everything I know. But you have to promise to let me go."
"That depends on how much truth you're telling," Augustus said, gesturing to Kerrigan beside him.
"She's a psionic. I'll know if you're lying."
"And if you don't cooperate," he added, "I'll hand you over to the Umojan Republic."
"Relax. They don't do executions in Umoja."
"Going home sounds... almost pleasant," the pirate muttered, eyeing the Civil Defense Force emblem on Augustus's armor.
"I thought you'd either shoot me or throw me into a Confederacy prison—I didn't know the government would extradite Chimera pirates to Umoja."
"Now you know," Augustus replied.
...
The Chimera Pirates' research base extended mostly underground—four-fifths of its total volume buried beneath the surface. About 18 meters below was a network of laboratories and residential quarters.
The architecture resembled standard Umojan designs: clean, smooth paneling in blue and white alloys, with hallways wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The base was fully equipped with living quarters, entertainment areas, and workspaces. It looked more like a legitimate Umojan scientific outpost than a pirate hideout—and the people living inside were mostly researchers.
Augustus led the way through a corridor toward the main laboratory, followed by the Chimera leader Typhon and Sarah Kerrigan.
Behind them came Dr. Flanx, the Revolutionary Army's chief expert on xeno-biological research, clad in a CMC-200 suit. A double-file column of Revolutionary soldiers marched closely at their rear.
"We discovered ruins here—remnants of a mysterious alien civilization," said the Chimera pirate leader, Typhon, fully aware now of his situation.
"Frankly, with our pitiful brains, there's no way we could comprehend the civilization of an intelligent species that conquered the galaxy ten billion years ago. In the end, we still have no idea where those fragments even came from."
"Ruins," Augustus murmured as he stepped out of the corridor and into one of the Chimera Pirates' large laboratories.
Suspended from the ceiling was a prismatic crystal several feet long, glowing with a distinct pale green light. It was clearly not an ordinary Ardeon crystal.
"I've seen crystals like this before," said Dr. Flanx, pointing at it. "There's a small amount of green crystal embedded in the strata around Perdition's Crossing. I suspect it can resonate with psionic energy."
"It can regenerate. It absorbs energy."
"It's definitely a peculiar crystal, containing some strange kind of power," Typhon added.
"But for now, it's basically just a decorative item. We also found a stone tablet inscribed with patterns and symbolic script, discovered alongside the crystal."
As he spoke, Typhon handed Augustus a pendant made of the glowing green crystal.
Augustus ran his fingers across it, feeling a chill from the Void emanating through it.
In his mind, he thought: This must be a Xel'Naga crystal.
"What can we do with it?"
"We can't extract energy from it yet," Typhon replied, shaking his head.
"But it has excellent cooling properties."
"Fine. How's the translation work coming along?"
Augustus looked around the lab's structure but saw nothing particularly unusual.
"Obvious answer—no progress at all," Kerrigan said, arms folded, finishing the sentence that Typhon had started hesitantly.
Augustus walked up to a glass case holding the stone tablet and studied the spiral patterns and perfectly symmetrical hexagonal engravings. The script resembled Protoss or Xel'Naga writing—but to his knowledge, the Protoss had no meaningful connection to this world, aside from obliterating Mar Sara with an orbital purifier beam.
"Store it. Maybe it's a prophecy left behind for a future species."
He couldn't make sense of it, but he believed someone eventually would.
"Is this all you found?" Augustus asked as two Revolutionary soldiers carefully lifted the stone tablet out of the glass enclosure.
"Just this," Typhon replied.
"Whoever left that tablet didn't build a city here. It's like they just dropped it and left."
"The stone tablet isn't what's causing the anomalous signal at Perdition's Crossing," he said, pointing at the ground beneath them.
"I believe the source is a construct from another ancient race—and the signal is coming from directly beneath us."
"Dig down. Keep going until you hit the emitter that's sending out the strong electrical pulses."
"Start excavating," Augustus said to Kerrigan beside him.
"Notify the Revolutionary Army's engineering corps and construction team. I want a mining outpost built at this location within one week."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---