Chapter 765: A Successful Rescue
"Alright," Raynor made a decision, his voice breaking the brief silence. "The Hyperion will remain in orbit and provide scanning support."
"Organize three Marine squads, equipped with Medics and Firebats. Tychus and I will each lead a squad and clear the primary Swarm signal zones from the north and south."
"Matt, coordinate the evacuation preparations with the space station. As soon as the surface is clear, begin transferring civilians immediately."
He looked at Valerie and Dr. Hanson: "Doctor, you stay on the ship to assist with analyzing Swarm data and guiding the biological decontamination protocols."
"Miss Valerie, your security squad can participate in the ground clearing to accumulate more combat data, but ensure you prioritize safety."
"Understood," Valerie nodded. This arrangement aligned with her expectations.
Ground operations would allow them to gather practical Swarm combat data while further demonstrating the capabilities of the "Far Star United" team to Raynor and Tychus.
"My assistants can help with the preliminary processing and analysis of samples," Dr. Hanson added, her eyes holding the characteristic anticipation of a researcher. "If conditions permit, I hope to obtain some fresh Swarm tissue samples, particularly from different individuals and body parts. This will aid in studying their physiological changes and potential individual variances during the early invasion stages."
"We'll try," Raynor said, then glanced around the room. "Alright then. Ground forces roll out in one hour. Dismissed. Prep your gear."
The crowd began to disperse.
The officers filed out of the briefing room to notify their respective squads.
Matt remained behind, quietly discussing the logistical details of the evacuation ships with Raynor.
As Valerie walked toward the door, her gaze inadvertently swept across the other side of the room.
Tychus hadn't left immediately. Instead, he walked over to Raynor, fiddling with a small data storage device in his hand, looking somewhat agitated.
He muttered something in a low voice. Raynor shook his head and patted him on the pauldron, seemingly placating him.
That data storage device... Valerie remembered seeing Tychus toying with something similar before.
Could it be a communication device to contact the Artifact buyer?
Or did it store the coordinates of the next excavation site?
She discreetly withdrew her gaze and walked out of the briefing room toward the hangar.
Her five "Security Consultants" should have completed their routine maintenance and be on standby.
The corridors were brightly lit, her clear reflection showing on the metal bulkheads.
Dr. Hanson's eager reaction to the technical data earlier, the mysterious data storage device in Tychus's hand, the tension between the humanitarian rescue pressure faced by the Raynor team and their potential Artifact-hunting mission... these fragmented pieces of information swirled and combined in her mind.
Perhaps the opportunity lay hidden within these details.
She needed to get closer to this core circle, and Dr. Hanson—an outstanding scientist progressively showing interest in her and "Earth Sphere technology"—might be an excellent key.
The ground operation on Tal'Deria proceeded as smoothly as anticipated.
The Swarm presence, true to the orbital scans, consisted of small-scale, dispersed vanguard units.
The total number did not exceed two hundred, primarily Zerglings with a few Hydralisks. No Roaches or heavier units were encountered, let alone Hatcheries or any significant creep spread.
The Marine squads led by Raynor and Tychus cleared the areas from two directions. Coordinated with real-time positioning from orbital scans, the operation was highly efficient and rapid.
Valerie's "Security Consultant" squad was assigned flank-clearing duties. Their silent and precise execution once again deeply impressed the Raiders. When ambushed by scattered Zerglings, they consistently neutralized the targets before they could close within ten meters, their formation remaining airtight throughout.
The entire purge took less than four hours.
The Swarm units were entirely eradicated. Under strict protective protocols, Dr. Hanson's assistants collected a small number of fresh tissue samples and guided the Marines in spraying a broad-spectrum biocide over the engagement zones.
With the surface threat neutralized, the evacuation of civilians from the Tal'Deria space station and major farms commenced.
As Matt's preliminary intelligence had indicated, this agricultural world severely lacked space transport capabilities.
The entire planet possessed only four aging, medium-sized transport ships—each with a passenger capacity of under a hundred—and a dozen smaller, short-range shuttles.
Evacuating nearly fifty thousand civilians became a logistical nightmare.
The space station's capacity was limited, forcing the vast majority of civilians to wait on the surface.
The transport ships shuttled back and forth between the space station and several main rallying points, packing people in like sardines on every trip.
The cabins were overcrowded, the air grew stale, and only the most basic life support systems were functioning.
The Hyperion's hangar and several expanded cargo holds also began receiving civilians.
Initially, they tried to maintain basic order and hygiene standards, but as numbers swelled, space quickly became critically tight.
Temporary cots were laid out side-by-side. The corridors filled with exhausted, terrified crowds, and long lines formed at the washrooms and sanitation facilities.
When Valerie and her "Security Consultants" returned to the ship, this was the sight that greeted them.
The interior of the once relatively orderly warship was now filled with oppressive clamor, the cries of children, and the suppressed groans of the wounded.
The air was a pungent mix of sweat, dust, and the faint stench of human waste.
"The situation is worse than expected," Matt Horner found Raynor, who was helping maintain order on the hangar deck. His expression was incredibly grave. "Jim, we've taken on over two thousand people; this severely exceeds the Hyperion's design capacity. Life support is already running on overload, and food and medical supplies are being consumed at eight times the normal rate. And this is only a small fraction of Tal'Deria's population."
He pulled up a manifest on his data-slate: "The other three transport ships have loaded about eight thousand people in total. There are still nearly forty thousand stranded on the surface. We cannot take everyone."
Raynor looked at the densely packed crowd in the hangar, his face ashen. "What about the other colonies? Distress signals are still pouring in."
"Yes," Matt nodded. "Just now, we received two more. The Swarm's advance hasn't slowed down. We helped Tal'Deria, but other worlds are falling."
Tychus walked over, his power armor still stained with green Zerg blood.
He flipped open his visor and cast an irritated glance at the surrounding crowd.
"Jimmy, we've become a damn floating hotel. With a ship full of dead weight like this, forget fighting, even normal navigation is a chore. Next time we run into bugs, these whining folks are just gonna block the corridors and get in the way."
"We can't just leave them to die, Tychus," Raynor's voice was exhausted but resolute.
"I didn't say leave them to die!" Tychus raised his voice. "We saved them, so what now? Where do we put 'em? Toss 'em out the airlock? We need to find a place to offload this dead weight!"