"Speak in detail." As Augustus spoke, Kerrigan and Corporal Faraday at his side had already ordered the soldiers of the guard platoon to form a horseshoe-shaped defensive perimeter around them.
"The First Colonist Fleet, as I recall, was led by Ryk Kydd. The fleet consisted of transport ships and a small number of escort vessels, carrying over 3.5 million immigrants—almost all civilians."
Victor Kachinsky, who had been conversing pleasantly with Augustus earlier, consciously stepped aside, thinking it improper to overhear too much before earning his place among the Revolutionary Army's officers.
"About two weeks ago," Raynor said, "the fleet's scientific survey ship discovered a planet not marked on any official Terran Confederacy star chart. The planet had a stable ammonia–nitrogen atmosphere, over seventy percent jungle coverage, and geological activity and extreme weather all within stable ranges. Its average temperature remained under 24 °C, and they found only a few arthropod-like creatures—no large predators."
"A green world with a pleasant climate," Augustus mused, "its lowlands rich with pure water sources among dense forests. An ideal colony. They must have thought they'd found another Korhal."
"After the colony was established, they were attacked?" Augustus immediately grasped the core of the problem. "Were the attackers Confederacy troops or pirates?"
"Ryk's forces numbered four divisions—eighty thousand men—with about two hundred twenty thousand reservists and militia. Although they only had around two thousand CMC-200 powered armor suits, that was more than enough to handle any pirate force."
"Yet they had no idea what was attacking them. The enemy emerged from the shadows and vanished just as quickly. No one ever saw what they looked like. These are the images and recordings they sent back—God, who could possibly make sense of what they encountered?" Raynor transmitted a series of data packets to Augustus.
Augustus moved his finger across the holographic projection on his wristwatch, and a sequence of images appeared before him—each seemingly stained with blood.
Chests torn open, bodies cleaved cleanly in half by some deadly blade, the wounds covered in blackened scorch marks as if seared by fire. All the dead were able-bodied Revolutionary soldiers—no elders, no children. Their corpses had been stacked neatly before the prefabricated houses built by the Korhal colonists, row after row, packed tightly together, stretching endlessly into the distance.
The brutality of several of the corpses made Augustus avert his eyes. Their chests and abdomens had been split open, bodies completely dismembered, flesh torn from bone; skulls and other bones were missing. The attackers seemed to have been using these people for dissection practice—until their methods of cutting into human bodies became more precise.
An indescribable mix of grief and rage surged through Augustus's chest. He realized that the ones who had done this might not be human.
The only alien races Augustus knew were the Protoss and the Zerg, yet those charred wounds could only have come from a Protoss psi blade or Zerg acid. Still, the method of attack was entirely unlike the Zerg's usual behavior.
If it was the Protoss, then among all their factions, only the Tal'darim would have slaughtered humans.
"They were hunted—over ten thousand dead, all Revolutionary soldiers and officers. The killers seemed particularly fond of targeting our commanders," Raynor continued. "The hunters came from the jungle. They killed everyone who ventured inside."
"Cancel all leaves. Tell the sailors vacationing on Moria that we're moving out immediately."
Augustus said, "We're the only ones who can help them. Until then, all we can do is pray that Ryk's men hold out."
At that time, the first batch of weapons Augustus had purchased on Moria had already been delivered to the Revolutionary Army and was being gradually equipped. They were all stockpiled arms; the remaining ones would still require months—perhaps longer—of overtime production.
"Wait." Augustus suddenly thought of something. "Victor, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us for a run through Jacob City."
"To the Moria mercenary market. We'll need some elite squads who can handle emergencies."
...
The mercenary market of Jacob's main city was located in the lower levels of the city's vertical architecture—far from the bustling city center and the cluster of commercial buildings, wedged between dark towers and industrial complexes made of metal transport pipes and chimneys.
The market itself was housed within a massive commercial plaza. Most mercenary companies kept their small, out-of-the-way headquarters adjacent to shops selling cheap industrial goods. Even the larger mercenary organizations wouldn't waste extra funds renting an entire floor for headquarters—they preferred to spend that money on their training bases instead.
The mercenary market of Jacob was far quieter than Augustus had imagined. The place was deserted; even the stores with neon signs hanging above their doors had more foot traffic, with lower-level residents browsing and shopping.
Augustus was now on the first floor of the plaza. The colossal building covered an area equal to a hundred football fields—the lowest floor served as the commercial district, with offices and sports facilities above it.
The first floor's ceiling arched high overhead, lined with a grid-like array of shops. Moving between them, Augustus searched for the mercenary organizations hidden among the stores. He noticed that in Moria's commercial center, products such as industrially synthesized food, desalinated water, and plastic goods were much cheaper than in Tarsonis.
The synthetic food produced by Moria's factories was enough to feed the planet's four billion inhabitants. A single day's work at a factory production line or at a starport unloading dock could support a family of five—but even so, countless people still starved to death.
The decline of the Kel-Morian mercenary market was inseparable from the end of the Guild Wars. The Combine had lost control over most of its colonies and mining worlds. Its sphere of influence had contracted sharply. Since the trade routes between Moria and its subordinate colony worlds had ceased to exist, mercenary work had temporarily become scarce.
Many mercenaries had switched to being space pirates during this period, planning to return to Moria when business improved.
Yet within the Combine—where most of the population was controlled under a guild-corporate and trade-fleet system—those with power and influence were not only willing but eager to hire well-trained mercenary forces in addition to maintaining their own private security units.
"The Combine's Iron Hammer Security Company is the largest mercenary organization here. At the same time, Umoja's Hill & Harris Company also has a permanent office in this area," Kerrigan reported as Augustus walked through the desolate market. She had already conducted prior reconnaissance.
"After the Guild Wars ended, the original Kel-Morian legions disbanded and re-formed into various mercenary or pirate groups. For instance, several Hellhound fighter wings of the Combine formed the Cerberus Security Company, escorting interstellar trade fleets, while another branch—suspected to have come from the same Hellhound units—became a pirate organization known as the Hell Angels."
"They dismantled their own legions. The guild guards who once fought for glory were abandoned by the very Combine they had served. Within twenty years, the Kel-Morian Combine will have no chance of recovery." Augustus dropped the words coldly and, hands clasped behind his back, walked deeper into the mercenary market.
After arriving in Moria and coming into contact with the various upper echelons and elites of the Combine, Augustus felt increasingly disillusioned. The Kel-Morian Combine had once initiated war against the Terran Confederacy. In the early stages of that war, they held every advantage—the Combine's fleets blockaded Confederate borders, and the frontlines advanced to encompass nearly one-third of the Koprulu sector.
The guild guards of the Combine had been hailed as the most unbreakable warriors. The many formidable legions formed by guilds and Old Families had crushed one Confederate world after another.
Now, that powerful Combine had become nothing more than a passing shadow. Its rulers could no longer even muster the courage to face the Confederacy head-on.
Since the Combine's territories had been reduced to Moria and a few nearby systems, the Kel-Morian people had lost all qualification to stand as equals to the Confederacy—and had even begun showing signs of becoming its vassals.
Beyond their weapons and their factories still running at full capacity, it was highly unlikely the Kel-Morian Combine would offer Augustus any further support.
"Iron Hammer Security Company is the best choice for now. Their personnel have abundant combat experience and a reliable reputation. After the Guild Wars ended, the company absorbed many retired guild guards and veterans from the Kel-Morian auxiliary forces," Kerrigan said.
"They're the only option left."
Along the way, Augustus had seen numerous small and mid-sized mercenary groups, but the smaller ones usually consisted of no more than one or two combat squads of fewer than ten men each, while even mid-sized organizations rarely exceeded a hundred members.
Mercenaries were generally elites—their numbers few—and only those who had survived countless battles and possessed enough luck were still alive today. Compared to the mass-produced power armor of regular armies, they often customized their own suits with more reliable components and specialized weapons, adapting them to the complex environments of space and the myriad enemies they encountered during their ventures.
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