Chapter 1310: Re-encountering the Tanker Bugs
Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
Under the Psionic Storms coverage, the densely packed Hydralisks and Zerglings first froze, then burst into bloody pieces one after another. The Devourers screamed in agony and flapped their wings hard, trying to flee, but only a few managed to do so, and they were left seriously injured.
In this instant, the Protoss territory had actually emptied, as if a giant invisible broom had swept past, brutally crushing all the bugs.
And the Ultralisks, which could withstand a few Psionic Storms with their high HP and defence, could not escape the fate of being destroyed either. After they lost the protection of their allies, they were instantly surrounded and attacked from all sides.
Sheyan let out a long breath. But when he turned towards Snake, he found that the man was looking at the Psionic Storms with eyes that were full of hatred and rage! It suddenly hit Sheyan that the Psionic Storm was not just a nightmare for low-level Zerg soldiers, it was also a nightmare for all non-mechanical human troops!!
Be it the SCVs, Marines, Firebats or Ghosts, they all had the common weakness of having low HP. The Ghosts’ invisibility could not save them from large area of effect spells which performed continuous damage like the Psionic Storm. At most, they would last a few seconds longer than the other infantry forces.
Those few seconds may not be enough for the Ghosts to run to safety, because speed was never their specialty.
So, although Snake did not say so himself, Sheyan was certain that his son was most likely killed by a Psionic Storm!
In the battlefield in the distance, after suffering the heavy blow of the Psionic Storms, the Zerg forces completely pulled back. That truly caught Sheyan by surprise because it was unlike the Zerg’s normal bloody and crazed fighting style.
While Sheyan was trying to guess about what the Overmind on the other side was trying to do, the ground suddenly shook for reasons unknown.
The tremor rapidly intensified. The rumbling of the ground echoed throughout the whole battlefield. When Sheyan saw the rocks that were rolling down the hillside nearby, he suddenly remembered something.
“Are those things joining the fight? But those are special forces, not mass produced troops. A Queen that can produce those units must have been to Planet P before (the planet in Starship Troopers’ plot). If that’s the case, the commander of this battle may very well be my old opponent.”
With a loud bang, the ground in front of the Protoss defensive base exploded violently, as if over eighty tons of TNT explosives were detonated there! The exploding soil soared more than fifty meters into the sky!
A Photon Cannon suddenly tilted to the side and collapsed because the ground beneath it had suddenly caved inwards! Out came a giant beetle from the giant pit that was made!
Yes, the giant beetle was a Tanker Bug of the Starship Trooper universe (https://starshiptroopers.fandom.com/wiki/Tanker_Bug)! The Tanker Bug had obviously been enhanced by the Zerg’s war genes. It was a little smaller than usual, about three meters tall and five meters long, and it was covered in a greyish-white, tough, and rubber-like skin membrane. Respiratory holes grew symmetrically on both sides of its body, as well as 3 pairs of symmetrical long legs. The carapace at the vital joints on its body bulged, seemingly full of destructive force.
After the Tanker Bug made the Photon Cannon collapse, it sprayed acid at the two Zealots at the side with its mouth. An emerald green flame instantly burned all over the Zealots’ bodies. They were already injured to begin with; now that they had received another attack, they quickly fell dead.
When the Dragoons and Photon Cannons nearby tried to tried to focus fire on the Tanker Bug, it immediately twisted its plump body and returned to the ground at an astonishing speed. Most of the photon shots could do nothing but blast the soil in anger.
At the same time, at least 30 Tanker Bugs had unknowingly burrowed their way to the bottom of various Photon Cannons and immediately went to work. They dug various ground fissures and pits, causing chaos among the Protoss defensive system.
But even crazier was the fact that they also seemed to possess some formidable special powers. The earth they raised when they dug out could form a temporary ground shield that protected them. Therefore, when they occasionally appeared above the ground, it was still hard to cause too much damage to them.
Obviously, the Psionic Storms of the High Templars would be useless when the Protoss defensive system had been completely destroyed by the Tanker Bugs.
Without the defensive system, the Protoss could only let the Dragoons and Zealots tank at the frontline. However, the Psionic Storm caused indiscriminate damages, so if the Protoss keep using Psionic Storms, they would be hurting themselves too! The number of forces between the two sides were heavily in the Zerg’s favour to begin with, so doing that would be akin to quenching thirst by drinking poison! Furthermore, the Psionic Storm was not something that could be cast non-stop. It was limited by the High Templars’ MP….
And right when the Protoss side fell into a great crisis, so did Sheyan!
Despite his vigilance, he still fell for a trap during a momentary lapse in concentration.
Whose trap?
Snake’s, of course!
There was no proof that Snake’s action of tapping the rocks with his fingers was deliberate, but nevertheless, it had successfully attracted the attention of a Tanker Bug.
In fact, many people have little habits like that when they are deep in thought. The only accusation that could be made against Snake was that he was too careless. Snake could even argue that he had no understanding of non-standard units like the Tanker Bugs. But, the fact remained that a Tanker Bug had been attracted over, and…Snake had vanished after activating his cloaking device.
Of course, he could also explain this behaviour with numerous excuses. For example, he was clearly a gunman. Of course he had to distance himself from the enemy.
And why didn’t he show himself and attack after pulling away?
Snake could say that he was being targeted by the Overlord who had natural anti-stealth capability. He could also say that he suddenly had to go to the toilet, or his period had come and he forgot to bring a tampon….it’s not like a dead man could accuse him of lying.
Yup, in Snake’s eyes, Sheyan was already a dead man the moment the Zerg noticed his presence.
It did not matter if he was a Brigadier General or a legend.
It was not the first time Snake had done something like this. He was very experienced.
But Snake was similarly in quite a pinch himself because the moment Sheyan noticed Snake’s abnormal behaviour, he had immediately smashed a bottle of gene-mix on the ground!
The smoke cloud immediately acted upon Snake’s body, strengthening him, but this bottle of gene-mix was specially prepared by Sheyan. It smelled especially putrid!
The Zerg had a very sensitive sense of smell. Even though Snake had turned invisible and ran a few hundred metres away, with that smell sticking to him, he would still attract the attention of the Zerg, especially the Overlord drifting in the sky! In fact, there were already a few Zerglings trying to sniff him out. His predicament was no less dire!
And if both of them survived and met each other again, Sheyan could just shamelessly defend himself in a voice filled with deep regret, “I was obviously just trying to buff you up! I didn’t expect that kind of side effect…”
Yup, the only effective way to deal with a bitch was to be even bitch-ier than him! Sheyan understood this well.
***
A Tanker Bug had emerged in front of Sheyan, drilling its way out from the soil. Its thick carapace shell seemed no different from armour and helmet. It’s eyes shone blood red. Its complex looking mouthpiece wriggled non-stop, probably because it was continuously mixing various chemical compounds, ready to shoot a deadly acid at a moment’s notice.
It was likely the first time the Tanker Bugs had made an appearance in front of the Protoss, so the Protoss were caught completely off guard. But little did the Zerg know, Sheyan was very familiar with the Tanker Bugs.
A long time ago, he had checked the detailed information of the Tanker Bugs through the Mother of the Blackthorn. The Tanker Bugs must have undergone various optimizations and modifications by now, but most of their nature and physiological structure would not change, just like how rice would always be short and grow in water no matter how much it was improved and optimized. It would never grow to three meters tall or be able to grow in the desert.
So, when Sheyan, who was very familiar with the Tanker Bugs, saw the ferocious bug in front of him, the first thing he did was, of course, to run away.
In the Zerg’s opinion, discovering a stray puny human was no big deal. As for the human running away, was that not normal? Do you expect the puny human to engage in direct combat with a powerful Zerg warrior?
Evidently, in their simple minds, the powerful Tanker Bug would definitely catch up to the human and eat it for dessert.
What? Send another unit to help? Are you insulting the strength of our great Tanker Bugs? Or is this puny human more important than conquering the sacred ground of the Protoss?
Hence, Sheyan led the pursuing Tanker Bug away, retreating while he fought. Sheyan’s movement speed was not as fast as the Tanker Bug who had six long legs, but he only needed to be vigilant of the Tanker Bug’s acid flame. Its other attacks, such as trampling with its long foot or crashing with its body, were tolerable. Therefore, although Sheyan seemed to be in a dire predicament, looking like he would be stomped or bumped to death at any moment, he still successfully escaped to the edge of the main battlefield.