The Ultimate Evolution

The plain ahead gradually narrowed as the hills on both sides rose steeply. Rugged blue rocks hug on the cliffs. Perhaps because of the strong wind on the high grounds, only stubborn moss grew on the ridges on both sides, adding a touch of life to this bleak, primitive distant planet.

Sheyan dipped his finger in the blue liquid and rubbed it on his fingertips. The liquid felt rough but not greasy. It smelled like a mixture of mechanical oil and body fluids.

Kyrgyzna’s face turned pale. She told Sheyan softly, “It’s the body fluid left behind by a Dragoon’s wound, Brigadier General. The situation is more dangerous than I thought… With our current strength, we won’t be able to escape if we encounter three or more Dragoons at once. So, for the sake of your safety, I suggest we retreat.”

( TL: The Dragoon is a type of Protoss unit: https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Dragoon )

The Dragoons were the main force of the Protoss in Starcraft. They had nothing to do at all with the human warriors who ride fire-spewing dragons in medieval fantasy stories.

Legend has it that when the veterans of the Protoss race were fatally injured or disabled, they would be given the choice to become a Dragoon. Their soul would be transplanted into a large mechanical spider. After the process, they would be able to control the large mechanical spider as if they were born inside the body.

The Dragoons provided important fire support for the Zealots. Their phase disruptor could launch bolts of anti-particles sheathed in psychically charged fields. These disruptive anti-particle bolts were equally effective against air and ground targets, but they were prone to missing against smaller units, only causing 50% damage in most cases.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Zealot )

Kyrgyzna’s concern was this: the way she saw it, Sheyan, herself and Old Charlie would at most count as three Marines (Terran unit). Together with the two maintenance SCVs, they might stand a chance if they fought against a single Dragoon.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Marine )

But against two Dragoons, there would surely be casualties, and against three Dragoons, they would not even be able to flee… That’s because the Dragoons were known for their toughness. They had 100 HP and 80 shields points, while a Marine, in the absence of a Medic, only had 40 HP. A Marine also had only 5 points of attack power, which was pretty pathetic. The two sides were not on the same level at all.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Medic )

Sheyan smiled. He could guess what Kyrgyzna was thinking, but did not plan to correct her misconception.

If Sheyan were to objectively assesses his own combat power, there was no way he would just be a Marine! He was probably comparable to an elite Ultralisk that had enhanced genes all around – an ordinary Ultralisk had 400 HP, 6 points of defence and 25 points of attack, while an elite Ultralisk had at least 600 points of HP, 10 points of defence and 30 points of attack!

(TL: I can’t for the life of me figure out what unit this “elite Ultralisk” is. A Gigalisk? )

Therefore, if there were no more than 12 Dragoons, don’t expect Sheyan to give up so easily!

After climbing to the top of the slope, they instantly met with a strong shockwave! The others were blown back by the explosive wave and staggered five or six steps back, but it only managed to make Sheyan shield his eyes with his hand. His hair and clothes were swept back. Something wet splashed onto his face. He wiped it with his hand and found that it was the pale blue body fluid of a Dragoon.

It turned out that less than 5 meters away uphill from their position was a Dragoon that had just been destroyed.

A Dragoon walked with six metallic arthropodic appendages and an advanced hydraulic-psionic mobility system, so it had great mobility in even in unstable terrains. It looked just like a big mechanical spider with a low center of gravity.

But the Dragoon in front of them had already exploded. There were red sparks on its three appendages in the front. Its head and chest had melted like candle wax. A large amount of blue liquid was flowing out, as well as some substances that looked like organic plastics.

There was a deep, low echo in the air. It was the voice of the soul in the Dragoon praying to its god before its annihilation.

Thirty meters to the right of this Dragoon was another Dragoon. It had a round, greyish-white shell made of light around it. Greyish-white electricity jumped violently around the light shell. Although this Dragoon frantically tried to move its six metallic feet, its effort was in vain – after a few unsteady steps, it completely paralysed in place.

Those were signs of being struck by a Ghost’s lockdown shot! The lockdown shot worked wonderfully against mechanical units. It was said that some of the more powerful Ghosts could even paralyse Battlecruisers and Carriers with this ability!

(TL: Carriers, as mentioned before, are Protoss units. Battlecruisers are the toughest Terran aerial units. )

There were four Dragoons on the battlefield. Two of them were locked down. The Dragoon which exploded in front of them before were destroyed by the Ghost’s long-range bombardment.

The Ghost’s conventional equipment was a 25 mm C-10 canister rifle, but it was clear from the way the Dragoon was destroyed that the shot was no less powerful than the strongest infantry equipment, the electromagnetic guided long-range suppression tactical gun!

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/C-10_rifle )

But there was still another Dragoon two hundred meters away. It quickly pursued after the assailant. In front of the Dragoon were two Zealots, a basic soldier type of the Protoss race, advancing together with it.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Zealot )

The Zealots were thin and lanky, about two meters tall. Although their actual bodies were fragile, the power suit they wore provided them with 100 points of HP and 60 points of shield. They were encased in light blue plasma shields and equipped with extremely sharp psi-blades on their forearms, which could easily tear apart any creature or armour!

A Ghost wearing a light grey hostile environment suit was running away from them. He would turn around and pull the trigger from time to time. His shots would make ripples on the power suit of the nearest Zealot.

Suddenly, a revolving connecting rod was raised from the centre of the Dragoon. A showerhead-like muzzle at the end of the rod aimed ahead, and a snow white, elliptical photon projectile shot out from it and hit the ground beneath the Ghost, resulting in a violent explosion. Wet earth splattered everywhere and fell down like rain, leaving behind a deep pit about the size of a tub. But after that, the pursuing Dragoon and Zealots suddenly froze in place…

They froze not because they had been hit by any weird abilities, but because the target they were pursuing had eerily vanished from sight!

The most basic ability of a Ghost was invisibility. To be a qualified Ghost, the first thing you have to learn was to use your psionic power to activate the cloaking device!

Kyrgyzna, Old Charlie and the two SCVs had already started launching a fierce attack on the locked down Dragoon. The SCV’s fusion cutter could also cause great damage to the unit, albeit with extremely low attacking frequency.

Fortunately, both Kyrgyzna and Old Charlie were using the standard issue weapon of the Marines, a 10mm C-14 gauss rifle. Under the attack of these two weapons, the Dragoon’s shield was faltering at an alarming rate.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/C-14_rifle )

But while they were attacking in a frenzy, there was an abnormal distortion in the air about eight meters ahead of them. A burly figure blackened by smoke gradually emerged from the empty space. He had a square face that was covered with stubble, and his eyes were exceptionally sharp.

He shouted angrily in a suppressed voice, “Why are you attacking? Run away! I’ve already run out of MP! We’ll be in big trouble if those guys catch up to us!”

“Why do we have to run?” replied Sheyan, smirking.

The man was visibly stunned when he saw Sheyan. He immediately straightened up.

“Lieutenant Colonel Snake reporting, sir! Why have a legend like you appear on this planet?”

(TL: I’m not sure if he’s THAT Snake. He probably is.)

The Dragoon and Zealots in the distance, who lost their target a moment ago, had obviously noticed the commotion on this side. They immediately rushed fiercely in this direction. Snake instantly pulled the bolt of his gun and said anxiously, “You guys escort Brigadier General Seaman away. I’ll hold them off.”

But a mysterious smile appeared on Sheyan face.

“Lt. Colonel Snake!”

“Sir?” Snake was puzzled.

“Cover me.” Right after Sheyan said that, he grabbed the alloy ballistic battle shield nearby and dashed forward with his body tilted, like an arrow leaving a bow! Because both sides were charging at each other, it only took them slightly more than three seconds to cover the hundred or so meters of distance separating them.

The one who reached Sheyan first was the Zealot whose power suit had almost been exhausted by Snake. His psi-blade immediately struck the alloy ballistic battle shield, producing a sharp noise and a brutal scratch.

Sheyan’s calm eyes met with the Zealot’s cold gaze amidst flying sparks. Sheyan lowered his shoulder and rammed into the Zealot hard, making him stumble back.

Sheyan’s fist quickly followed, punching the Zealot’s abdomen ruthlessly. Under the terrifying impact force, the armour made from tough and elastic material was first stretched to the limit, then burst apart! Sheyan’s fist continued deep into the internal life support device within the armour. Pale blue body fluid was forced out of the Zealot’s facial orifices by the punch, making for a horrifying sight!