Reflected by the stars in the distance, countless sharp shapes cut across the ocean of stars, reflecting the coming bloody battle.
The bridge of the Eternal Loyalty was bustling with people, but Soshyan turned a blind eye to anything at this time. His left elbow rested on the armrest of the command throne, and his right hand held a huge golden wine glass, although his eyes were staring at it with twinkling eyes.
star map, but actually staring into the distance that others cannot see.
He could already feel the actual malice of Tyron, and he could even see a vague outline, like a black mist full of tentacles, gradually covering the stars and bringing everything into darkness.
But what I felt most deeply was not the hunger, but the hatred.
He felt an overwhelming hatred.
Where does this come from? Who is it directed at?
Is it yourself?
Can Tyron's consciousness recognize him?
Or is this malice aimed at a broader existence, all life?
"Legion Commander, the enemy's vanguard has passed through the asteroid belt at the edge of the galaxy."
Lothar's voice interrupted Soshyan's gaze. He coughed lightly and sat up straight.
Looking at the tactical observer in the star map, it displays all the ship icons and runes in the fleet, and indicates the position of the Hive Fleet with dense light points. If you want to compare the two, it is a scarlet wave and
Some sporadic green.
It only takes one glance to tell that this wave can easily swallow up this little light.
The first people in the fleet to feel Tyranid's malice, besides Soshyan, were the astropaths and navigators who bore the brunt.
"They are coming! The Great Devourer is coming!!!!"
The sensitive psychic nerves of the astropaths were almost vulnerable to that malicious force. They let out painful and crazy roars. Fortunately, they already had a response plan. A large amount of tranquilizers were injected, and then all the astropaths
was sent into a cryogenic protection cabin, but this also meant that the fleet temporarily lost its ability to communicate over long distances.
The navigators were asleep from the beginning and were not harmed.
"Is this the Tyranid...Zerg?"
Compared with Soshyan's calmness, the company commanders in the battle group saw the real Tyranid Hive Fleet for the first time, and they were all shocked by their scale.
This is also the first time in their lives that they have seen a scene that can "fill up" the void. Even the largest imperial fleet cannot do this, but Tyranid has indeed done it. The edge of the entire galaxy can be seen at a glance
, even the starlight disappeared, leaving only countless monsters covered with thick carapace and twisting tentacles, like migrating fish schools in the ocean.
"This amount...what kind of creatures are they?"
On the bridge of another battle barge, the Soulbringer, Bahram was also staring at the horrific scene in the observation mirror and was shocked by it.
"In other words, are they really living things?"
"What kind of horror exists outside the galaxy that could give birth to something like this?"
Jacob on the side looked away from the observation mirror with a look of disbelief on his face.
"How many is this? Is there one million?"
"I'm afraid it's more than that, it's estimated to be hundreds of millions..."
"Looking at their size, the big ones are probably similar to cruisers. With this number, does our fleet have any chance of winning?"
"You have to trust the legion commander."
While the soldiers were talking about each other, Bahram couldn't help but take a breath. The pressure brought by this dense group of creatures is really much more terrifying than a huge fleet. Even if the Astartes' perseverance is strong,
He will inevitably be shaken when faced directly, and another pressure comes from the fact that he knows more.
The Tyranid force in front of us is not the entire strength of the Hive Fleet. It is already one of three parts, although it is the largest one.
If it were the Tyranid fleet at full strength...
Even though Bahram had unconditional trust in Soshyan, he still had doubts among the soldiers.
Do their warships really have a chance of winning?
But he would never doubt Soshyan. Besides, this battle was not to defeat the Tyranid fleet. Soshyan made it very clear at the tactical meeting that the purpose of this naval battle was only to delay the Tyranids' digestion of the galaxy.
"... Whenever a biological ship is killed, the Tyranid fleet will give priority to recovering those biological remains and transforming them. This sounds scary, but it will also delay their time to conduct ground operations. Nothing is absolute.
Perfect, even for Tyranids."
When Soshyan said this with a smile, the fleet had already approached a planet at the edge of the galaxy.
"So we only need to kill enough Tyranid ships within five hours to achieve the tactical goal."
When the Imperial fleet approached, the Tyranid Hive Fleet also responded immediately. Whether it was the aggregation of a large amount of organic life or the heat wave generated by the combustion of the engine, it attracted the attention of the Thirsty Devourer, and judged that this was a dangerous attack.
Then the huge fleet began to change its formation with an incredible degree of coordination, forming a semicircle like a giant hand to surround the imperial fleet and the nearby icy planets.
It wanted to swallow this "little snack" in one bite, but it didn't know that it was a poisonous fruit covered with thorns.
"All ships enter combat position."
Soshyan's voice was transmitted to the surrounding warships through the ship's internal communication network. Knowing that Tyranid Will had the ability to interfere with communications, he specifically asked the Adeptus Mechanicus to improve the fleet's communication network, using a shorter-range but very special
Stable technology.
Soon, this huge fleet with more than 150 ships began to change its formation and turned into a three-line formation usually used for defense. The advantage of this formation is that it is easy to change the formation, but the disadvantage is that it lacks offensiveness.
But now is not the time to attack.
As the sound of the broadcast echoed on the artillery deck, the turrets opened along the sides of the huge battleship. At the same time, the torpedo tubes on the armored bow also opened one after another. The gunners began to shout the shooting plan and drew the projectiles on the display screen.
movement route and enemy trajectory.
But what really accomplishes this huge task is something else.
In a room of the Eternal Loyalty that no one can discover, the All-Changing Conceit stands tightly, surrounded by countless cables and thinkers, and its body is also covered with wires.
It is not only directly connected to the scanning device on the ship, but also connected to the data receiver. Scanning data from the entire fleet is gathered here. All firepower and projectiles are precisely quantified into standard values by it, and compared with
Compare the number of Tyranid creatures and analyze all the tactical data Soshyan needs.
"Third Cruise Squadron, torpedoes are ready!"
"First Viper Squadron, missiles ready!"
"Second Viper Squadron, missiles ready!"
According to the empire's standard naval battle procedures, the first wave of strikes was naturally launched by torpedoes. Soshyan did not choose any ingenious tactics this time because it was not necessary.
But he has an ingenious weapon specially prepared for Tyranids——