On-screen was a UNN news studio. The host was Mike Liberty, a secret sympathizer and member of the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party. Sitting beside him was a silver-haired but sharp-eyed elder—still full of vigor.
"We are honored today to be joined by Federal Senator Ander Elt. Thank you, Senator, for taking the time to appear on our program. Earlier today, during your press conference, you mentioned Augustus, son of Angus, and his rebel forces. You also claimed that the so-called 'Sons of Korhal' were, in fact, a terrorist organization under his command."
"It's my pleasure, Mr. Liberty. And as I said—who else could it be? When we speak of terrorism, assassination, bloodshed, and cruelty, one name should immediately come to mind: the savage wolf of Korhal IV, a man from that vile Mengsk family."
"Senator Elt, how do you respond to the recent assassination of Frank Tygore, heir to the Tygore family? Some allege the incident is linked to a sex scandal deliberately covered up by the Tarsonis Police Department. A journalist from the Martet IV Press stationed in Tarsonis has written that the event is tied to illicit aristocratic orgies, and that he personally witnessed several senators entering and leaving those premises prior to the incident."
"Oh—this matter is still under investigation," said the senator. "But officers from the Tarsonis Police Department have ample evidence that the now-deceased female agent was from Korhal. I deeply regret the young man's death. It's a loss not just for Tarsonis, but for the entire Terran Confederacy. He should have been a rising star in politics, someone who would have served his people."
"That's truly unfortunate. Hopefully, the police will bring the perpetrators to justice soon. Our viewers have another question: is it true that the nuclear warheads deployed by the Confederate Fleet completely destroyed Korhal's ecosystem, causing its total collapse?"
"That's outside the scope of this interview. Any slander directed at the central government of Tarsonis is baseless. The nuclear deployment on Korhal caused virtually zero environmental pollution. The accusations made by the interstellar environmental groups are utterly unfounded."
"So, do you believe protecting the environment is more important than protecting people? Should the Confederacy be held accountable for the deaths of those Korhal citizens?"
"No comment."
Worried that Mike Liberty might ask more unscripted questions, the senator immediately launched into his closing statement, cutting the interview short: "Korhal IV is no longer the jewel of the Terran Confederacy. Those scheming traitors and bloodthirsty terrorists calling themselves the Sons of Korhal should learn from the planet's destruction! The rebels and the Sons of Korhal are butchers of the elderly, women, and children—soulless monsters. They seek to overthrow our government and replace liberty and democracy with tyranny and violence. Their existence is a desecration of human rights, a mockery of the rule of law. But justice will not be denied—the remnants of the Korhal insurgents will be brought to justice!"
Kerrigan furrowed her brow.
"They actually believe you were the one who founded the Sons of Korhal?"
"That's a good thing," Augustus replied, surprisingly calm. "I'll take the blame. That way, little Val and his mother won't be targeted because my brother is the true leader of the Sons of Korhal."
Just as Augustus was speaking, the atmosphere inside Janine's Bar suddenly grew more heated. When he turned his ear to the right, he could clearly hear someone shouting loudly, rousing the crowd.
Turning his head, Augustus saw a cowboy standing on top of a table—clad in a dusty tan denim outfit and a wide-brimmed hat. Two sidearms hung at his waist. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and exuded brute strength.
"Utter nonsense!" the man roared.
"These Confederate senators think they represent the will of the people? The Old Families on Tarsonis have hoarded wealth for generations by bleeding the frontier worlds dry! Gold and silver flow endlessly from the colonies into the Core Worlds, and they still expect us to bear more of the burden!"
"Is he one of ours?" Augustus called over Corporal Faraday, who simply shook his head in confusion.
"No, not one of ours. He… he definitely isn't a probationary member of the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party. None of my people have ever seen him before—you know how they are, they never forget a face that passes through Echo Town. I suspect he came from elsewhere," Faraday said, his sharp gaze fixed on the cowboy.
"He's wearing an emblem of the Cossack scimitar on his coat—that marks him as someone from New Babylon. That's even farther from us than the Capital District."
Discontent toward the Confederate government had long simmered on Mar Sara. Though officially one of the thirteen core worlds of the Terran Confederacy, the planet's development had all but stagnated. Compared to its sister world Chau Sara, which thrived in science and economics, Mar Sara remained impoverished and backward.
Yet the spirit of rebellion on Mar Sara wasn't merely born of hardship. It was rooted deep in the local character—gritty, defiant, proud. That hatred for the Confederacy had only grown worse over the past four years of the Guild Wars, as punishing taxes and forced levies burdened the people more and more. The Confederacy's vast wealth was hoarded by a handful of elite families who, despite already owning everything, only escalated their exploitation.
Korhal, by contrast, was different. Its conflict with the Confederacy had begun with frustration over its economic power far exceeding its political voice. But as revolutionary ideals took hold and the lower classes demanded freedom, it was Angus Mengsk's rallying cry that finally lit the fuse of open revolution.
"Let us unite under the banner of revolution! Let Mar Sara gain independence!"
The cowboy from New Babylon roared passionately—earning loud support from many in the bar.
"This is a good sign," Augustus said quietly, "but make sure not to stir their fervor too far. We must avoid a tragedy. We can't let Mar Sara suffer the same fate as Korhal."
There was no joy on his face—only a heavy seriousness.
"From now on, we need to watch out for Confederate police, militia, and military forces. They're bound to launch operations to wipe out the revolutionaries."
"I've already received word from the Hinterland Region Magistrate," Faraday added. "We've been ordered to assist the Hinterland militia in purging the Revolutionary Party and any remaining rebel forces. We also need to relocate the alien-tech research lab on the surface—and get that alien artifact aboard the fleet immediately."
...
"Judge Ida, I've already confiscated nearly three thousand copies of the rebels' pamphlets and leaflets, and I've banned the citizens of Echo Town from publicly printing or reading these illegally distributed publications. The Echo Town Immigration Police Department is taking every effective measure to prevent this ideological poison from contaminating the minds of Federal citizens, and to safeguard their right to read correct, law-abiding literature."
Inside the office of the Echo Town Immigration Police's chief officer, Augustus was still speaking on the phone with the town's sole judge. Clad in the brown uniform of a Federal officer, Augustus sat upright and proper in his solid-wood office chair, his expression stern and resolute.
It was now February 2490, and the Hinterland region had entered a brief rainy season that could last anywhere from a few hours to several days. Heavy raindrops splattered against the slatted blinds of Augustus's office, while orange-gray clouds loomed thick in the sky. Rain poured down like an inverted waterfall, a torrential deluge engulfing everything outside.
The modest office—just over a dozen square meters in size—was packed with bookshelves. They held numerous volumes on Terran Confederacy legislation and politics, alongside a large collection of works related to the crystal mining industry. Behind Augustus's desk stood three flags: the red-blue Cross-Star Stripes of the Confederacy, the banner of the Mar Sara colony, and Echo Town's conch-emblazoned flag.
This upright and loyal peace officer had also hung a portrait of the current Confederacy Prime Minister, Marius Tygore, on his wall—a personal expression of reverence and admiration.
"I will deploy officers to prevent those rioters from storming the town hall and the colonial court. No—I must do so. As the chief peacekeeper, it's my duty to protect every government worker under my jurisdiction."
"You have my word: my officers will not obstruct your communication with the citizens involved in litigation. However, I believe you shouldn't venture too far anymore. From Hinterland to the capital sector and even as far as Elron, we're talking about millions of square kilometers of territory—populated by people who genuinely believe they no longer need the Confederacy. It sounds sensational, but it's the truth."
"Very well. I'll follow the governor's directive: arrest every last rebel and throw them in prison."
After setting down the old-fashioned landline phone on his desk, Augustus clasped his hands together and looked toward Sarah Kerrigan, who stood nearby. "Tell my strategists and military advisors to draft a plan to assault the Planetary Defense Force outposts in the Mar Sara capital district and sabotage the Federal railway lines. We must force the Governor's Office to recall both the Planetary Defense Force and the militia stationed at the outer rim back to the capital."
By February of 2490, the Mar Sara Governor's Office had finally begun to realize that the surging revolutionary wave was threatening its rule over the planet. In several autonomous states and directly governed districts, over hundreds of thousands of people were growing restless.
Though under the leadership of the revolutionaries, these citizens—newly awakened to revolutionary ideology—had not yet stormed government buildings as the Korhalans once did, the Confederacy could not afford to ignore this. Especially since so many people, aside from paying the age-old base taxes, were now refusing to pay what they considered utterly "incomprehensible" levies. With tax revenues drying up, the tax collectors, outraged, vented furiously to their superiors.
But in truth, all of this was secondary. The Mar Sara governor—who indulged daily in vice and luxury—never personally concerned himself with such matters, always delegating them to subordinates.
However, after the Korhal Rebellion, just the words "revolutionaries" and "rebels" were enough to make the Confederacy treat the situation with the utmost seriousness—even if it meant mobilizing overwhelming force.
To that end, in early February, a sweeping crackdown led by the Mar Sara Civil Defense Force and a small contingent of Confederate Marine Corps was launched against the revolutionaries.
Augustus's task now was to both deal with this military sweep and begin preparing for the next phase of their plan.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---