77: Tyranids

The 'northern darkness' has completed its final 'Reality Fold' jump calibration and arrived at the 'Pioneer Front-7' outpost. The captain's steady voice echoed through the command channel of the 'Kunpeng-class' carrier, carrying a calmness honed by countless secret voyages. 'Shadow' Squadrons 3 and 5 have moved forward to the designated reconnaissance sectors, the 'Swarm' drone clusters have completed tactical deployment, and alert mode is active.

Han Zhe—who, despite his advanced age, remained vigorous and presided over the northern darkness's command center thanks to several rounds of genetic optimization and deep maintenance in the 'nirvana' pod—fixed his gaze on the holographic star map. Most of the map remained an unsettling void of darkness, with only the controlled areas of the 'Forgotten Frontier' barely outlined by the faint, dense points of light representing Zero-Point Energy Beacons and hidden outposts. On the 'inner' edge of the controlled zone—stretching toward the main body of the Milky Way's spiral arms—a sparse but steady chain of light points extended forward like cautious tentacles. This was the 'Pioneer Front', a path composed of hidden scouting posts, resource collection points, and camouflaged monitoring stations, slowly but resolutely pushing into the interior of the Galaxy.

The resources of the 'Forgotten Frontier' were ultimately limited, and the resonance points for Zero-Point Energy were not infinite. More crucially, remaining huddled in the most desolate edges of the Galaxy for the long term meant technological stagnation, a shrinking gene pool, and the inability to ever truly escape the shadow of being 'exiles'. Moving toward the inner Galaxy to obtain richer resources, broader space, and perhaps... potential 'gaps' not fully controlled by the Empire or Chaos, was an inevitable choice for the survival and growth of the 'Human Federation'. However, this was equivalent to walking beside a sleeping dragon; every step had to be taken with extreme caution.

“providence, analyze the reconnaissance data from the last three cycles of the 'Pioneer Front' and assess the safety windows and potential risks for pushing inward,” Han Zhe ordered. The core array of the ancient AI had long been repaired, and nourished by Zero-Point Energy and 'Reality Weaving' technology, its computational and logical capabilities had reached new heights, though its cold essence remained unchanged.

【Analyzing data...】 providence's data stream surged silently. 【In the direction of the 'Pioneer Front' extension, there is still a buffer zone of over eight hundred light-years to the nearest known Imperial territory (based on ancient star maps and recent passive monitoring). Historically, this region has been a low-colonization density zone, filled with ancient battlefield wreckage, interstellar dust clouds, and underdeveloped resource systems. Recent monitoring has found no signs of large-scale conventional Imperial Navy patrols, and the Warp background disturbance is in a 'silent period'.】

【Risk Warning: 1. Unrecorded Xenos civilizations, lost worlds, or hidden nests of Chaos corruption may exist within the buffer zone. 2. There is an extremely low probability that exploration fleets from the Inquisition or the Adeptus Mechanicus may randomly cruise into this area. 3. Any large-scale activity (such as establishing permanent bases or large-scale mining) may still attract attention.】

【Recommendation: Maintain the current 'tentacle-style' advancement mode, using small, highly concealed outposts as units to slowly infiltrate. Prioritize establishing intelligence networks and resource supply chains, and avoid actions that may generate significant energy or 'conceptual' disturbances.】

“Recommendation approved. Order all outposts of the 'Pioneer Front' to maintain the highest level of concealment. The reconnaissance range may be cautiously expanded to the next layer of the sparse stellar zone,” Han Zhe instructed. He knew well that a full-scale conflict with the Empire would be suicidal; what they needed was time and space, to spread quietly like mycelium through the gaps in the roots of the Empire's giant tree.

However, the laws of the Galaxy always dictate that accidents precede plans.

Just as the 'Pioneer Front-7' outpost completed its deployment and its reconnaissance units began a routine scan of the next target system—an elderly red giant and its two frozen planets—an anomaly occurred.

“Outpost report! Detected unknown biomass signals! Source: The Kuiper belt region on the outskirts of the target system! Signal characteristics... extremely anomalous! Non-mechanical, non-natural organisms, possessing... devouring and assimilative energy readings!” The scout's voice was distorted by shock. “Visual confirmation... something is moving! A lot of things! Like... like insects?! But the size...”

The holographic image was transmitted back. In the frame, illuminated by the dim light of the red giant, countless hideous biological constructs of varying sizes—seemingly a fusion of chitin, flesh, and strange metal—were swarming over cold asteroids and comets like a hungry locust plague! They used sharp appendages to cut, acid to dissolve, and some kind of bio-energy field to directly devour all matter in their path—rock, ice, metal wreckage—transforming it into part of themselves or a viscous, pulsating organic 'pavement'! Some larger individuals, shaped like giant deep-sea worms with countless tentacles and maws, were 'guarding' several even more massive shadows that looked like living nests or biological starships!

“keystone! Match the database immediately! What the hell is that?!” Han Zhe asked sharply. This existence that devoured everything, seemingly born only for destruction and proliferation, made him feel an instinctive chill, one far more pure and cold than when facing Chaos.

【Emergency matching... Characteristic comparison... Matched to the highest threat level Xenos invasion file—Tyranids.】 keystone's voice carried an unprecedented gravity. 【Confirmation: Tyranid Vanguard Organism / Splinter Fleet. Scale: Small to medium. Behavioral pattern: Devours all biomass and non-biological usable matter for self-replication and evolution, and feeds information back to the Hive Mind. Threat level: Extinction-level.】

Tyranids! The public enemy of all intelligent life in the Galaxy! They had actually infiltrated such a remote star sector?!

“All-front alert! Confirmed encounter with Tyranids! Immediately activate the highest-level biohazard isolation and purification protocols!” Han Zhe's heart sank. In a war with the Tyranids, there was no room for compromise; it was kill or be killed. Moreover, the appearance of the Tyranids usually meant a larger fleet was following close behind! “The northern darkness and its escort fleet, proceed to Pioneer Front-7 immediately! Order all nearby outposts to enter combat readiness and send a maximum warning to the core of the controlled area!”

【Analyzing Tyranid Swarm composition and behavioral patterns.】 providence's cold voice cut in. 【The current Swarm consists of typical vanguard devouring units, lacking heavy bio-ships (such as Hive Ships), but their numbers are vast, and their devouring and assimilation speeds are extremely high. Their target appears to be the material resources of this star system, especially the water and minerals within the ice. Their very existence poses a serious threat to our hidden advancement plan, and they may detect traces of our activities through biomass sensing or pheromone diffusion.】

They had to be eliminated! And it had to be fast and thorough; no information or biomass samples could be allowed to escape!

“northern darkness Battlegroup, tactical objective: Annihilate this Tyranid vanguard Swarm and ensure the complete purification of the area, leaving no biomass wreckage or information traces,” Han Zhe's voice was like cold iron. “All units take note: Tyranid carapaces have high resistance to energy weapons. Prioritize the use of physical munitions (railguns, missiles), 'Zero-Point Fluctuation Cannons' (to trigger internal resonance), and... 'Concept Disintegration Cannons' (targeting their bio-energy fields and potential hive mind links). Carrier air groups, execute saturated precision strikes, focusing on clearing large units and suspected command nodes!”

The Kunpeng-class carrier northern darkness and its escorting 'Shadow' cruisers and 'Sentinel' frigates emerged from the void like ghosts, quickly reaching the edge of the battlefield. In the next moment, the battle erupted!

“Falcon” fighters roared from the northern darkness's flight deck like raptors leaving their nest, launching miniature zero-point fluctuation missiles that exploded within the Swarm in bursts of eerie blue ripples that produced no fire but caused the targets' internal structures to instantly disintegrate. The 'Swarm' drones, like a lethal metal storm, covered smaller Tyranid units with dense railgun rounds and miniature shaped-charge explosives.

The fleet's gunfire was even more ferocious. The main Zero-Point Fluctuation Cannons of the 'Shadow' cruisers fired deep blue beams; wherever they passed, even massive 'Ravager-class' bio-beasts were torn into fragments by internal resonance. The milky-white pulses of the 'Concept Disintegration Cannons' effectively disrupted the psychic links between the Swarm, causing some Tyranid units to fall into Chaos and turn on their own kind.

The Tyranid counterattack was equally fierce. Clouds of acid spores poured toward the fleet like a green rain of death, being deflected or corroded by shields with difficulty; bio-plasma spat from the maws of large units, clashing violently with the fleet's energy shields; and countless small 'Gargoyles' or 'Hormagaunts' attempted to close in for suicidal impacts or to rend the hulls.

The battle was intense and brutal. The Tyranids had no fear and no concept of retreat, only an endless desire to devour and attack. The Human Federation fleet, relying on more advanced technology, exquisite tactical coordination (aided by providence's real-time command), and the nearly infinite sustained firepower provided by Zero-Point Energy (as long as the arrays remained intact), gradually gained the upper hand.

But Han Zhe was focused on more than just victory. He kept a close eye on the battlefield cleanup progress. “All destroyed Tyranid wreckage must be completely vaporized using 'Purification Beams' (a combination of high-energy lasers and specific-frequency information jamming)! No organic residue larger than a cell is allowed to remain! Collection ships, prepare to recover raw materials (ice, ore) that were devoured by the Tyranids but not yet assimilated! Remember, all matter is a resource! Areas devoured by Tyranids are often zones where matter is highly concentrated!”

This was the survival philosophy forged by the Human Federation in desperate circumstances: never waste any potentially usable matter. The Tyranids' devouring behavior objectively 'filtered' and 'concentrated' resources; as long as they could be seized before full assimilation or recovered from the wreckage after destruction, it was a 'windfall'. Of course, the prerequisite was the most thorough biological purification to prevent any Tyranid genes or microbial contamination.

The battle lasted for over a dozen standard hours. When the last massive 'Tyrant-class' organism was turned to ash under the concentrated fire of several 'Shadow' cruisers, the entire Kuiper belt on the outskirts of the red giant was a mess, floating with countless dust particles of thoroughly purified Tyranid wreckage and the ice-rich ore and asteroids that had been encased by the Tyranids but were now exposed.

“Pioneer Front-7 area, Tyranid vanguard Swarm confirmed annihilated. Bio-contamination purification level... 99.97%, reaching safety standards,” Alpha-01 reported (via remote command). “Collection ships have begun operations. Preliminary assessment indicates that the total amount of recoverable water resources and rare minerals is equivalent to three cycles of total mining output in our controlled area. Additionally... some chitin-metal complexes with special structures have been isolated from the wreckage of some large Tyranid units, along with... crystalline residues suspected to be Tyranid bio-energy catalysts. The research department believes they have extremely high analytical value.”

An unexpected encounter had turned into a pyrrhic victory, but it also brought an unexpected 'resource dividend'. More importantly, they had validated the combat effectiveness of the new fleet against one of the Galaxy's top threats and obtained valuable first-hand data from engaging the Tyranids.

“Very good. But we must not slacken,” Han Zhe did not let the gains go to his head. “The appearance of a Tyranid vanguard means their main fleet could be nearby, or this path is an extension of one of their tentacles. All units of the 'Pioneer Front' are to enter a higher level of alert, expand the reconnaissance range, and look for traces of the Tyranids' potential main shipping lanes or nests. Meanwhile, input all data from this battle—especially Tyranid resistance to various weapons, their behavioral patterns, and energy signatures—into providence's tactical models to update the response plans for all fleets.”

He paused and looked at the area on the star map that had just experienced a bloody battle and was now being 'cleaned' by the Human Federation's collection ships, his eyes deep with thought.

“Expanding into the inner Galaxy is destined to be anything but peaceful. Empire, Chaos, Xenos... threats are everywhere. But similarly, opportunities coexist. The wreckage devoured by Tyranids is a resource, and the rich star systems they haven't reached are even greater resources. We must be like the most cautious scavengers and the most patient hunters, seizing everything we need for survival and development amidst the struggles and oversights of the giants.”

“Designate this event as the 'First Tyranid Contact Campaign'. Credit all personnel involved. As for the fallen... bury them with honors.” Han Zhe's voice lowered, then regained its firmness. “Fleet, maintain alert and continue the 'Pioneer Front' infiltration mission. Remember, we must not only survive but also reclaim a future belonging to human resurgence from this hostile sea of stars.”

The northern darkness's engines emitted a low hum once more, leading the fleet as it slid silently back into the darkness of deep space like a dagger wiped clean of blood. Behind them was a battlefield being efficiently swept clean, and that path extending into the depths of the Galaxy—destined to be strewn with thorns and bones, yet also shimmering with the faint light of resources and opportunity... the path of survival.