The incessant torrent of Zerg troops rushed into Protoss territory, and a fierce tug of war between the two sides began. The military strength of both sides was being depleted at an alarming rate. The frontline was simply a tragic flesh grinder!
Finally, something shocking occurred. The remaining Photon Cannon exploded too, but the momentum of the Zerg troops had obviously waned because their numbers had severely depleted. As the saying goes, an arrow at the end of its flight could not even pierce through the thinnest of silk. The last of the Zerg died cras.h.i.+ng into the defensive wall created by the Protoss.
The Protoss only had a few Dragoons and a crippled Zealot left, but the final result was, they had successfully defended their base.
The territory right now naturally made for a tragic sight. It was reminiscent of the battlefields of old where corpses strewn across the land together with broken arrows and blades, but the flag that was smoked black still flew high, and the general who seemingly would not die supported his wounded body with his sword, welcoming the bitter victory.
"The Protoss seem to have found a hidden mineral vein! Otherwise, they would not have enough crystal to support the battle," remarked Snake.
The two of them slowly moved to the right side of the battlefield. There, they saw a large number of Protoss Probes surging forward, densely covering the area.
The Probes were the Protoss worker units responsible for mining and construction, like the Drones of the Zerg and the SCVs of the humans (Terrans). These floating units were currently sweeping through the battlefield diligently, moving aside the corpses that were blocking the way and placing down spots of light in selected places.
(TL note: Some Protoss early game rush strategies feature Probes constructing Pylons and Photon Cannons near or in an enemy base, known as cannon rus.h.i.+ng. https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Probe )
This was the advantage in Protoss construction. The Probes themselves did not need to perform the construction. Instead, they only needed to lay down micro-beacons to provide an anchor and entry point for fully functioning structures to be directly "warped in" over interstellar distances to a certain destination.
Of course, the buildings could only be warped in within the scope of coverage of Pylons. The Pylons were the ones providing energy for the warping in process.
The reason Snake judged that the Protoss had discovered a mineral resource was because the layout of the Protoss buildings was clearly meant to defend and wait for reinforcement.
But this was not a good defensive area at all. Yes, it was on a slope, but the Zerg forces could come from all sides, fully demonstrating their superiority in numbers. In addition, the Zerg might send aerial troops like the Devourers, launching a coordinated attack from both air and ground. If the battlefield was too large, the situation would become extremely complex, thus making it more difficult for the defensive side.
So the only reason the Protoss would employ a defensive strategy would be to guard something that must be guarded, like a mineral vein, or... the Dark Temple?
It did not take long for the Protoss base to expand to an astonis.h.i.+ng size. There were only two Photon Cannons before, but now, it spread densely over the entire area, covering almost the entire hillside.
These Photon Cannons were skillfully laid down, leaving enough room for Zealots and Dragoons to move between them. This way, the Zealots and Dragoons could charge forward without a hitch, and when they were seriously injured, they could quickly retreat under the cover fire of the Photon Cannons.
Something strange happened after that. Three Probes came together and started summoning a building at the same time! Warped in this building seemed to require a large amount of energy supply, because as many as twelve Pylons were built around them!
After that, a large number of Zealots fearlessly marched into the warping light with a solemn and pious expression on their faces. As soon as they came into contact with the light in the middle, they would melt into it. They looked like ants that queued up to march into a juicer, like they were sacrificing themselves!
The light was gradually dyed red as more and more Zealots sacrificed themselves into it. It was initially pale red in colour, then turned scarlet, then crimson, and finally became a shocking dark red, like a beating heart that was stripped from the body.
Finally, after sacrificing nearly a hundred Zealots, the building gradually took form. It had the appearance of a giant palm that stood over ten meters high. Although the finer details were still slowly forming, the intimidating feeling it gave off could barely be contained!
"What kind of Protoss building is this? Why have I never seen it before?" Sheyan could not help asking.
"This is an non-standard Protoss strategic building," answered Snake. "It can only be built by powerful heroes among the Protoss. Neither the Zerg race nor the Protoss were rigid and self-conceited enough to be satisfied with staying at their current level. While striving to develop their own potential, they'll also try to achieve breakthroughs by studying other races. The Zerg are in the forefront in this field. The Queen of Blades, the product of an integration between a Cerebrate and a human, is the most successful example."
( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Sarah_Kerrigan ; https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Cerebrate )
"The Zerg didn't stop there. They've also deciphered the secrets of our Terran command center. That's why Zerg Queens can leave their physical bodies to infest our command centers and produce those crazy suicide bombers. These are all facts that we've been able to confirm. They're also examples of how the Zerg make use of other races to evolve. There are rumours that they've already started the research on an non-standard strategic building – a building to ma.s.s produce the Queen of Blades..."
Snake's explanation stirred up a storm in Sheyan's mind. He had to admit, although the old man was very sneaky, he had a lot of knowledge. Sheyan listened attentively.
Snake continued, "In the battle in which my son died, we suffered heavy casualties. Even Lang West, known as the King of the Ghosts, died in that fight. He told me something before his death. The Protoss were researching their own non-standard buildings, inspired by the Zerg technology which uses flesh and blood to construct a stable warping wormhole!"
"You must have seen how crazy those things are, Brigadier General! A Zerg mine that looks empty and defenseless can suddenly be overrun by a shocking number of troops in just a few minutes with the use of a wormhole!"
Sheyan smiled and did not say anything. Of course he knew about the Zerg's powerful technology. It was thanks to this technology that he could let the Blackthorn Zerg cross countless galaxies and dimensions to descend upon planet Pandora.
Snake raised his body a little to observe the situation below. He had a contemplative look on his face.
"If I'm guessing correctly, they're still missing a very important thing before they can complete this fearsome building."
Before Sheyan could ask what it was, he suddenly detected a familiar odour. The odour was faint, but it cut through his perception like a sharp knife.
"The Zerg are attacking again!" said Sheyan.
Snake listened carefully. He then looked at Sheyan in surprise.
"You're right. I can hear the sound of the Hydralisks spewing acid!"
A black Zerg tide was rus.h.i.+ng over with indomitable momentum from the horizon, looking as if they were about to sweep across the world!
In no time at all, the Zerg tide crashed into the seemingly fragile embankment newly-constructed by the Protoss!
Even watching from the distance, Sheyan could not help holding his breath in excitement! Such fearless courage, such tragic bravery! It reminded him of a famous line from an ancient literature:
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"The terrifying waves slapped on the rocky sh.o.r.e, stirring up a thousand snow."
The defensive line of the Protoss was the rocky sh.o.r.e, while the unceasing Zerg troops were the terrifying waves. When the two sides collided together, flesh and blood flew up to thirty meters high!
Snake, the old veteran, had obviously seen his share of large-scale wars. After watching for a while, he could already predict the outcome.
"The Protoss won't be able to hold them off."
That's right! The crazy Zerg tide had indeed suffered a shocking number of casualties. The fatality rate of the Zerg troops that rushed at the very front was close to 100%. But countless more Zerg units came from behind to fill their place. In just an instant, the neverending Zerg swarm had already invaded one third of the Protoss territory!
Not only were the Protoss in an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, they also lacked various facilities such as s.h.i.+eld Batteries to rapidly recharge their plasma s.h.i.+elds. The only fate awaiting the Protoss was to become nutrients for the Zerg. Even the non-standard strategic building being constructed was about to fall!
But at that moment, a Protoss strategic unit entered the battlefield.
It was a type of unit that was so weak that it almost had no direct attacking power, but it had the ability to instantly turn defeat into victory! It was the powerful creature which controlled the ionization energy in the universe, the High Templar!
( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/High_templar )
Psionic Storms instantly covered the entire battlefield. Only the buildings and the creatures inside them could escape from being damaged by this powerful force!
