"All right." Raynor made his decision, his voice breaking the brief silence. "The Hyperion will remain in orbit to provide scanning support. Organize three marine squads equipped with medics and firebats. Tychus and I will each lead a squad to clear the primary Swarm signal zones from the north and south. Matt, coordinate the evacuation preparations with the space station. Once the ground is cleared, begin transferring the civilians immediately."
He looked toward Valerie and Dr. Hanson. "Doctor, you remain on the ship to assist with analyzing the Swarm data and guiding the bio-decontamination protocols. Miss Valerie, your security team can participate in the ground sweep to accumulate more field data, but make absolutely sure to stay safe."
"Understood," Valerie nodded. This arrangement perfectly aligned with her expectations. Ground operations would allow them to gather practical combat data on the Swarm, while further showcasing the capabilities of the "Far Star Alliance" team in front of Raynor and Tychus.
"My assistants can help with preliminary sample processing and analysis," Dr. Hanson added, an expectation unique to researchers gleaming in her eyes. "If conditions permit, I would like to acquire some fresh Swarm tissue samples, particularly from different organisms and anatomical locations. This will help study their physiological changes during the early invasion stage and any potential individual variations."
"We'll do our best," Raynor said, then scanned the room. "Then ground forces depart in one hour. Dismissed, make your preparations."
The crowd began to disperse. The officers left the briefing room one after another to notify their respective squads. Matt stayed behind, discussing the deployment details of the evacuation vessels with Raynor in low tones.
Valerie walked toward the exit, her gaze casually sweeping across the other side of the room.
Tychus had not left immediately; instead, he stepped up to Raynor's side, fiddling with a small data storage drive in his hand, a look of agitation on his face. He lowered his voice to say something, but Raynor shook his head, patting Tychus's shoulder guard as if offering reassurance.
That data storage drive... Valerie recalled seeing Tychus messing around with a similar object previously. Could it be a communication tool to contact the artifact buyer? Or did it store the coordinates for the next excavation site?
She withdrew her gaze imperceptibly and stepped out of the briefing room, heading toward the hangar. Her five "security consultants" should have finished their routine maintenance by now and would be standing by.
The lighting in the corridor was bright, casting a clear reflection of her silhouette against the metal walls. Dr. Hanson's eager reaction to the technical data just now, the mysterious data storage drive in Tychus's hand, and the tension between the humanitarian rescue pressure faced by Raynor's team and their underlying artifact-hunting mission—these fragments of information swirled and combined in her mind.
Perhaps the opportunity lay hidden within the details. She needed to get closer to this inner circle, and Dr. Hanson—this brilliant scientist who was gradually developing an interest in her and "Earth sphere technology"—might just be an excellent key.
The surface operation on Tarsonis Doria proceeded as smoothly as anticipated.
The Swarm's presence was exactly as the scans had indicated: small-scale, scattered vanguard units. The total population did not exceed two hundred, consisting primarily of Zerglings and a small number of Hydralisks. No Roaches or heavier units were detected, and there was no sight of hatcheries or developed creep.
The marine squads led by Raynor and Tychus carried out the sweep from two directions. Paired with real-time positioning provided by orbital scans, the operation was efficient and swift.
Valerie's team of "security consultants" was assigned flank-sweeping duties. Their silent and precise execution once again left a deep impression on the Raiders—when facing sudden ambushes from scattered Zerglings, they consistently gunned them down before the targets could get within ten meters, their formation remaining strictly tight throughout.
The entire purging process took less than four hours. The Swarm units were utterly eradicated. Dr. Hanson's assistants, operating under strict containment protocols, collected a small number of fresh tissue samples and guided the marines in spraying broad-spectrum biocide across the combat zones.
Once the surface threat was neutralized, the evacuation of civilians from the Tarsonis Doria space station and the primary farms commenced immediately.
Just as the preliminary information Matt possessed had suggested, this agricultural world severely lacked space transport capabilities. The entire planet possessed only four ancient, medium-sized transport ships designed to hold no more than a hundred passengers each, alongside a dozen smaller short-range shuttles.
Evacuating nearly fifty thousand civilians became a grueling organizational task.
The space station itself had limited capacity, leaving the majority of civilians with no choice but to wait on the ground. The transport ships shuttled back and forth between the space station and several primary staging points, crammed to absolute capacity on every single run. The holds were stiflingly crowded and the air was foul, with only the most basic life-support systems operational.
The Hyperion's hangar and some of its expanded compartments also began receiving civilians. Initially, there were attempts to maintain basic order and sanitation standards, but as the numbers continuously swelled, space rapidly became strained. Temporarily laid out simple mattresses sat side by side, corridors were packed with exhausted, terrified crowds, and long lines formed at the washing and sanitation facilities.
When Valerie returned aboard with her "security consultants," this was the scene that met her eyes. The once relatively orderly interior of the warship was now filled with oppressive noise, the crying of children, and the suppressed groans of the wounded. The air was a mixture of sweat, dust, and a faint odor of waste.
"The situation is worse than anticipated." Matt Horner found Raynor on the hangar deck, who was currently helping maintain order, his expression exceptionally grave. "Jim, we've taken in over two thousand people, which has severely exceeded the Hyperion's design capacity. The life-support systems are already operating under an overload, and food and medical supplies are being consumed at eight times the normal rate. Moreover, this is only a tiny fraction of the population from Tarsonis Doria."
He pulled up the checklist on his data pad: "The other three transport ships carried away roughly eight thousand people in total, leaving nearly forty thousand civilians stranded on the planet's surface. We cannot possibly carry everyone away."
Raynor looked at the densely packed crowds in the hangar, his face grim. "What about the other colonies? The distress signals are still flooding in."
"Yes," Matt nodded. "Just now, we received two more. The Swarm's advance speed isn't slowing down. We managed to help Tarsonis Doria, but there are other worlds falling."
Tychus walked over from the side, his power armor still stained with green Swarm blood. He flipped up his visor, casting an agitated glance at the surrounding crowds.
"Jimmy, we've turned into a goddamn floating hotel. Carting a ship full of deadweight like this makes normal navigation a chore, let alone fighting a war. Next time we run into the bugs, these crying bastards 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 'em to die!" Tychus raised his volume. "We saved 'em, so what's next? Where do we put 'em? Dump 'em in space? We gotta find a place to unload this crowd of deadweight!"