49: Chapter 49: The Empire and the Swarm, for the first time, sat in the same briefing room.

The briefing room of the Wrath of the Emperor fell into an extremely abnormal silence after Nephilak finished his last sentence. It wasn't the dead silence of being terrified, nor the hush before morale collapses, but the simultaneous realization by over a dozen battle-hardened veterans of the same thing—all the battles they had fought before, combined, might not be as significant as the one coming next. Marcus Aurelian braced his hands against the edge of the conference table, the fracture in his right arm throbbing with a dull pain. He didn't look at Nephilak, nor at Bern; instead, he stared at the dark purple silhouette in the holographic projection that was distorting the starlight at the edge of the galaxy. A Tyranid Hive Fleet—Leviathan. Not a splinter fleet, not a scouting tendril, but the main fleet. He had read the standard tactical simulations for a Tyranid main fleet in the Inquisition's archives: Phase one, the Shadow in the Warp of the Hive Fleet would cover the target sector months in advance, paralyzing all psychic communication and Warp travel; Phase two, millions of Mycetic Spores would planetfall simultaneously, each containing a bio-weapon specialized for the local ecology; Phase three, the planetary surface would be covered in creep, all organic matter sucked into capillary towers, and even the atmosphere would be digested. The last time the Imperium faced a Tyranid invasion of this scale was the Battle of Macragge on the edge of the Ultima Segmentum. In that battle, the Ultramarines' parent Chapter nearly lost half its strength just to barely push the Tyranid vanguard fleet out of the sector's borders. And now, the Swarm War Council was not facing a vanguard fleet, but the entire main force of the Tyranids in this galaxy—they had crossed the void, specifically targeting the Zerg Swarm that had just established a foothold on the Blackstone Defense Line.

Bern was the first to break the silence. He took off his helmet, set it on the conference table, and the psychic talisman at his fingertips remained dim: "We have two choices now. First, strike preemptively with the Blackstone Defense Line and all remaining Imperial orbital firepower before the Tyranid main force is fully within range. Second, let The Swarm finish incubating the Titan-Eater, then we hide behind the Blackstone Defense Line and watch as two Tyranid-like swarms turn us into the meat in the middle of a sandwich." Ortron spoke up from the other end of the holographic projection. On the star map of the Griffin IV command center behind him, the cold green dome of the Blackstone Defense Line and the dark purple shadow of the Tyranid Hive Fleet formed two parallel arcs at the edge of the Ultima Segmentum, with the remaining Imperial defensive nodes caught right in the middle: "Regardless of which we choose, one thing must be clarified—is the Blackstone Defense Line currently blocking us or the Tyranids? The line was built by The Swarm, and The Swarm built it for its own territory; the Imperium just happens to be left in a buffer zone. Marcus, you have to ask him."

Marcus turned to Nephilak. Nephilak didn't answer the question but instead projected a stream of quantum-state data directly above the holographic projection. It was real-time monitoring footage of the Titan-Eater's incubation pool—Adamantium-chitin carapace already covered the thorax and major limb joints, the synchronization runes of the void-grade blackstone engine were being calibrated, and the piercing bone blades at the ends of its limbs were undergoing the first round of micro-movement tests. A line of cold green countdown numbers pulsed beside it. "The countdown to the behemoth's hatching is less than a day. The Hive Mind shows that all Swarm nodes have entered a state of combat readiness. All engines of the Blackstone Defense Line have completed full-power preheating. Your Emperor doesn't need to guess what The Swarm Overmind intends to do—he's already doing it."

The briefing room door slid open at that moment. Sebastian walked in, his power armor still stained with blackstone dust from the Talasta Tomb. He glanced at the Titan-Eater in the holographic projection, then at the Tyranid main fleet scan provided by Nephilak, and placed his helmet on the conference table. "I stood face-to-face with the Blackstone Cerebrate in the Talasta Tomb. She could have crushed me at the lowest level of the tomb with the quantum resonance of the blackstone engine, but she didn't. She just had the blast doors push me out and told me through the Hive Mind: Go back and tell Marcus that The Swarm does not kill messengers who are still useful." He sat down by the conference table, laying his Power Sword across his knees. "I'm not speaking for The Swarm. I'm saying that if we choose to backstab The Swarm now before the Titan-Eater finishes hatching, the Blackstone Defense Line will instantly turn all its firepower from the Tyranids to us. Then, when the Tyranid main force tears a hole in the Blackstone Defense Line, we'll be caught in a pincer attack by two swarms. But if we temporarily upgrade the buffer zone agreement to a temporary coordinated defense—letting the Blackstone Defense Line stand between the Tyranids and us—at least before this sector is completely burned to ash, the Imperium and The Swarm have a common goal."

Marcus remained silent for a long time before making a decision that silenced the entire War Council. He sent a brief message directly to the Overmind via the quantum-state link, encapsulated in standard Imperial military format, with the recipient marked as the Zerg Swarm Overmind. The content was: "We suggest convening an expanded session of the War Council. Location: Briefing Room of the Wrath of the Emperor. Agenda: Coordinated defense plan against the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan. This ship's coordinates are attached to the end of this message in unencrypted format. If both sides can set aside current disputes, the Imperial Fleet will maintain a ceasefire during the meeting. Marcus Aurelian, Chairman of the Swarm War Council." After sending it, he turned to the communications officer, "Broadcast it in the clear. Let the Overmind know this isn't a trap."

The main screen of the briefing room was taken over by cold green quantum-state text three minutes later. The Overmind's reply was equally brief: "Marcus, this is the first time you've proactively sent a message to me instead of cursing at a hijacked main screen. I will send someone. A Brood Queen will come with the coordinated defense proposal. Tell your people not to scan her with psychic powers—her carapace is embedded with Blackstone Resonance Chamber; if you dare to scan, she'll dare to detonate. As a side note, the Titan-Eater's hatching countdown won't pause for the meeting. You'd better not be late."

Forty minutes later, the hydraulic doors of the Wrath of the Emperor's hangar deck slid open. A Brood Queen walked into the hangar alone, her Adamantium-chitin carapace embedded with Blackstone Resonance Chamber that were only permitted for installation after being activated in the Talasta Tomb. Each chamber breathed slowly in a cold green light pattern. At the base of her front-left limb was still the scar from the old wound Sebastian had carved with his Power Sword, repeatedly repaired with chitin gel, but her steps across the hatch were without hesitation. The Imperial Navy ratings on the hangar deck instinctively gripped their lasguns, but Marcus was already waiting in the center of the hangar, his right arm in a sling and his left hand hanging empty at his side. He carried no weapon.

"You are the only representative for your Swarm meeting," Marcus said.

The Brood Queen's forelimbs gestured on the hangar deck. The quantum-state translator added by Nephilak translated the symbols in real-time into Imperial Standard Gothic, projecting them into the air above the deck: "The Overmind believes one is enough. The vanguard tendrils of the Tyranid main fleet have already entered the outskirts of the Ultima Segmentum. The Titan-Eater will break its shell before the war begins. I have spoken. Take me to the briefing room."

Marcus looked at her for a moment, then turned and made a gesture. When the briefing room hatch slid open before the Brood Queen, all the Imperial officers at the conference table stood up. Bern stood in the corner, psychic talisman in hand but not activated. Sebastian stood at the end of the table, his Power Sword still across his knees; he merely nodded when he saw the Brood Queen enter. Ortron watched this scene from the holographic projection, the orbital platforms of Griffin IV ready behind him. Captain Oldenburg stood by the star map, holding the freshly printed scan data of the Tyranid main fleet.

The Brood Queen walked to the other end of the conference table and stood opposite the head seat, her orange eyes scanning everyone present. She traced out the first line of text for today's expanded meeting: "The Tyranid Hive Mind has already marked me as a priority target. The Blackstone Defense Line does not need human gratitude, but it needs the human fleet to temporarily stop stabbing it in the back."