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Chapter 322: Tyranids and Zerg
🕑 Added 2025-09-26 10:34:06 +0000 UTCChapter 322: Tyranids and Zerg
After the Imperial and Gorgon fleets withdrew, the main force of Leviathan began to split up, heading for the different planets within the Cryptus System. The largest of these fleets was heading for Asphodel; a planet with a population of tens of billions and rich resources represented an unparalleled amount of biomass.
The second-largest fleet was heading for Laesos. This planet was home to three hundred million nomads who harvested the planet's algae to produce protein blocks, providing sufficient food for the Cryptus System. The humans and the algae were also rich in biomass. Besides the defensive forces formed by the nomads themselves, there were also ten thousand Battle Sisters from the Order of the Sacred Rose.
Lucan had no extra manpower or supplies to defend this planet, and it was impossible to evacuate three hundred million people in a few days. With just the local population and the soldiers on the planet, it was impossible to hold off a Tyranid attack. Although Lucan desperately wanted to save these three hundred million people, if he tried, the number of casualties would only be greater. He had to temporarily abandon them. The tens of billions of people on Asphodel were clearly more important than Laesos.
Although the Zerg's world, Iphix, was right next to Laesos, Lucan still did not order Abathur to deploy Zerg forces there. The Zerg also needed time to build up their forces. The vast distance between Char and the Cryptus System also put a great strain on the Nydus Worms; there was a limit to how many troops they could transport. Four or five days was too short. The disadvantage of a "farming" civilization was that it needed sufficient time to develop. To ensure the Zerg had the greatest possible advantage in the ground war, splitting their forces was absolutely not a wise move.
The most rational course of action would be to issue an Exterminatus on Laesos, killing all the humans and other life on the planet, thus denying the Tyranids the opportunity to feed. But the scales of victory had not yet tipped to such a desperate point. Both morally and rationally, Lucan was not prepared to do such a thing. Furthermore, issuing an Exterminatus under these circumstances would be a devastating blow to morale. If Lucan could so casually abandon everyone on Laesos, then he could just as easily abandon Asphodel. The morale he had just built up would collapse again. It wasn't just the conscripted PDF; even the Cadians would inevitably have second thoughts.
Lucan also knew that Dante and his Blood Angels would be arriving in a few days. If the people on Laesos could hold out until then, there might still be a chance of rescue. The nomadic people of Laesos did not have sufficient ground-based firepower to destroy the landing spore-pods. They could only watch as the Tyranids landed on the planet's surface.
The Tyranids began to absorb the algae from the oceans and convert it into biomass. The Canoness of the Order of the Sacred Rose, Magda Grace, rallied all the Imperial citizens and prepared for battle. She had originally come to this planet to use slaughter to convert the populace, who had their own unique beliefs and did not follow the Imperial Creed. Now, she had become their protector.
Another part of the Tyranid fleet was heading for Iphix. The mission of this tendril was originally simple: to drive off or destroy the human warships. The Hive Mind knew that it needed to destroy the human fleet first before it could properly plunder the planet's biomass.
But as the Hive Fleet, drawn by the warships, approached Iphix, it sensed that the richness of the biomass on this supposedly barren planet had reached an incredible level. The Creep that the Zerg had laid down was also a part of that biomass. In the Tyranids' senses, the planet, now more than half-covered in Creep, was like an entire world made of flesh and blood. The temptation was too great.
And on the planet's surface, they could not observe any other living creatures. This information was immediately transmitted back to the Hive Mind.
The scattered Tyranid bio-ships that had been heading for Tartarus and Aelous began to abandon their invasion of those planets and head for Iphix instead. Those two planets only had a population of a few hundred thousand. The biomass was negligible, and the Hive Mind chose to abandon them. The time it would take to scrape up that insignificant biomass was better spent on a hearty buffet on Iphix.
The Hive Mind had never encountered intelligence on the Zerg in its battles with humanity. This meant that it had no suspicion or guard up against this planet. If the enemy had been the forces of Chaos, the moment they observed the Creep, they would have absolutely not landed. They would have chosen to destroy the planet with orbital bombardment. Of the countless different planets in the galaxy, the Hive Mind just thought this one was a bit special.
On Iphix, Abathur was hiding deep within the planet. Before him lay the body of Tiberius. The Genestealer Patriarch's corpse was being slowly broken down in a spawning pool. Abathur had already extracted the necessary genetic sequences from Tiberius's body. The Genestealer's genes were being fused into the genes of the Zerg Infestor.
The Infestor, which had originally controlled enemy units through neural parasites, now possessed an even more powerful ability. Previously, a creature parasitized by an Infestor would just become a witless, shambling, disposable piece of cannon fodder. But now, a creature parasitized by this new strain would, over time, be completely altered in its way of thinking, and would then become a servant that completely obeyed Kerrigan's commands.
Abathur was clearly pleased to have collected a new, useful gene. But faced with the impending arrival of the Tyranids, he temporarily put his work aside. All the Zerg forces were also lying dormant underground. The biological signal of the Creep on the surface completely concealed them.
Abathur shared the vision of the hidden Overlords. When he knew the Tyranids were about to land, he awakened all the dormant Zerg units.
"New enemy. Commence combat... testing. Mission from Queen, must be achieved. Swarm, eternal. Will fight, will endure. Zagara, ground combat, yours. Collect genetic sequences of creatures. Will bring greater strength... to Swarm."
At that moment, there were not just three Brutalisks by Abathur's side. In the vast underground cavern, dozens of Brutalisks were also lying dormant.
Zagara, too, was looking at the sky. Even from the ground, she could see the Tyranid bio-ships drawing closer in the void. Justus and a portion of the Gorgon fleet were still engaging them, trying to wear down the Tyranids' numbers as much as possible, but most of the bio-ships were still heading for the planet's orbit. Leviathan was willing to suffer some losses to land on Iphix as quickly as possible. In the Hive Mind's priorities, devouring Iphix was now second only to devouring Asphodel.
"Enemy detected, Abathur," Zagara hissed, eager for the coming battle. "I will show them who is boss!"
At her side was a countless sea of Banelings.
The Tyranid bio-ships had already entered Iphix's orbit. The sky-blotting fleet dropped innumerable spore-pods, which rained down on all corners of the planet.
