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SCL Chapter 4: Augustus Among the Commoners
🕑 Added 2025-04-07 03:26:02 +0000 UTCFrom the perspective of the noble Augustus, the passenger cabin of this transport ship could only be described as simple. The not-so-wide cabin was packed with recruits from all over Korhal.
The young people in the capital, Styrling City, always carried an indescribable sense of superiority in their every move. The recruits from the ocean city of Aurora had an indelible salty smell. Wolf was an industrial city that had risen up relying on mines. The men who came from there were all big and strong...
Although he was the son of a senator, Augustus did not receive any special treatment in the army. Although Angus Mengsk had powerful influence in the political circles of Korhal, the federal government would never let him interfere in military affairs. After all, Angus could be said to have single-handedly provoked the enthusiasm of the Korhal people for rebellion and independence.
In this way, Augustus should worry about whether he would be targeted in the army. As for naked persecution or taking the opportunity to kill Augustus, the federal government would not do so for the time being.
Nowadays, people talked about Angus Mengsk's hypocrisy on major social platforms, at gatherings of old nobles and famous entrepreneurs, and in salons of noble ladies.
In public and in speeches, Angus denounced the corruption of the Terran Federation and called on the Korhal people to resist brutal rule and exploitation, yet he secretly sent both of his sons to the Federation Marine Corps.
People thought that Angus was obviously making preparations for both situations—inciting the emotions of the people while promoting his company's products to make enormous profits, all while expressing loyalty to the Federation and leaving a way out for himself.
This was also the reason why Angus was furious about Augustus joining the army. His two sons, instead of wanting to be his successors, not only failed to support his career but did rebellious things that made his blood pressure soar.
It could be seen from the fact that Arcturus Mengsk, as the eldest son and heir of the Mengsk family, was not excluded but rather rose step by step in the army that the Terran Federation was happy to use this as material to attack his father.
After everyone boarded the transport ship, a recruiting sergeant walked into the cabin and climbed the gangway.
"Boys, in the recruit training camp of Turaxis II, you will become the bravest warriors in the entire galaxy."
The recruiting sergeant grinned and looked at the excited recruits and reservists.
"The glorious and great military camp is waiting for you!"
"Turaxis II? Isn't that a war zone? The recruit training camp should be on an unaffected planet," a recruit dressed decently screamed.
"Shut up, you piece of shit..." The recruiting sergeant's face changed, and a bunch of vulgar words that Augustus thought were extremely crude and uncultivated popped out of his mouth, including many marginal world slang terms that he couldn't understand at all.
"Listen, girls." The sergeant pointed at the recruit's freckled nose and said, "The generals in the command system unanimously agreed that actual combat should also be part of the training of recruits."
"When you live to retire, run to your mother's arms and cry. The army wants real warriors, not fucking losers!"
It seemed that the situation on the front line had become so urgent, with serious casualties and insufficient manpower, that the army was forced to send untrained recruits to the war zone in advance to maintain their control and force deterrence in the area.
When the spacecraft's engine made a deafening roar, Augustus thought about it and, like the other nervous recruits, tied himself to the uncomfortable acceleration seat with a seat belt to prevent himself from hitting the bulkhead and breaking his neck when the spacecraft made an interstellar jump.
The last to board were two jump engine technicians. The Peace Dove transport ship retracted its spiral staircase, cargo hold, and landing gear. The four giant downward-facing air jets on the side and tail of the ship gushed out hot and bright light, sending the Peace Dove to an altitude of 4,000 feet.
The jets then folded and rotated further, facing directly behind, and the transport ship carrying Augustus quickly turned into a light spot deep in space.
This transport ship, capable of deep space travel, was built by the interstellar port of the Bennett Group. It could carry about 3,000 soldiers and matching weapons and supplies. Now Augustus speculated that at least 5,000 people were crammed into it, as some unlucky guys were tied to the aisle at his feet.
After a dizzying feeling of weightlessness, the Peace Dove entered a stable sub-jump orbital operation state. After confirming that there were no officers around, Augustus chatted with the recruits around him.
During this period, Augustus concealed his noble identity very well. The clothes he wore were only the cheapest ones in his wardrobe, but others could still judge that his family was either rich or noble. Just the pair of brand-name shoes alone was worth at least 200 credit coins, and this was only the price in the Styrling black market. After being repackaged and redesigned in a slum store, the price would be several times higher.
This money was enough for an ordinary slum family to buy food for two weeks. If Augustus walked on the streets of the slums or even ordinary residential areas wearing this, some desperate people would knock him out and drag him into a dark alley, not even leaving him with his underwear.
Augustus, who had never come into contact with the civilian class, was not aware of all this, but he still convinced the recruits around him with a fabricated and lifelike identity. They all believed that Augustus was the child of a merchant family that once had a small fortune but was on the verge of bankruptcy due to war and asset taxes.
Augustus' handsome appearance and gentle, humorous conversation quickly established him as the center of this temporary small circle. He only briefly mentioned the opportunity of joining the army, and everyone told him everything about their experiences of enlisting.
Some of them were attracted by recruitment advertisements and documentary propaganda and yearned for military life. Some were children of miners on marginal planets, whose parents had died at the hands of the Kel-Morians. This year, they had just passed the minimum age for joining the army.
Some were gangsters who had lived in the Victoria Street of Styrling, making a living by smuggling and selling before joining the army. One of them enlisted simply because his daughter was seriously ill and he wanted to receive the federal enlistment bonus of 5,000, the monthly salary, and the soldiers' allowances.
Before joining the army, this street gang leader had already written a suicide note.
Since then, Augustus had roughly understood what kind of life the civilian class of the Terran Federation lived. It could not be said that people were living in poverty, but at least most people's lives were barely secured. However, as the war continued, the federal government increased various taxes, raising consumption tax, income tax, and other basic tax rates.
Corrupt officials, old families, and big chaebols who secretly controlled the federal world exploited and made fortunes in the name of war, while more and more parents could only work hard to earn enough bread to fill their children's stomachs.
As for the generous enlistment bonus and the temptation of fame and fortune offered by the Federal Marine Corps, more desperate people chose to join the army.
Then Augustus played a game of poker with the other recruits and won a lot of money from these unfortunate men.
Time passed quietly amidst Augustus' hearty laughter and the frustrated curses of others. The Peace Dove exited hyperspace at 4 a.m. local time and entered the double orbit of a dark green gas giant, landing at the federal interstellar supply station on its seventh satellite.
Before the maintenance technicians refueled the Peace Dove and repainted its wings, the 'caring' captain and sergeant major allowed the recruits to visit the bars and restaurants of the supply port, hoping they would spend all their salaries before even receiving them.
Augustus returned all the money he had won and used part of the 60,000 credit coins given by his mother before leaving to treat all the recruits in his cabin to a big meal.
