Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monsters

Chapter 496 Extermination Order, Another Battle Against the Tyranids
The mortal defenders of the planet, having been saved, embraced each other in excitement, cheering for their hard-won victory and survival.

These ordinary mortal soldiers of the empire are the most tragic. They fight on the front lines of the empire, ready to die for it at any moment, but until the moment of their death, do they truly return to the Golden Throne? Who remembers them?
Rhodes's appearance saved them, sparing these mortal warriors from a miserable death on this planet, where they would be devoured by these vile beetle-men.

After successfully capturing the planet, Rhodes, as was customary, first purged the evil forces on the planet to ensure its safety before leading the large fleet away.

On one occasion, Rhodes did not take away the mortal army fighting on this planet. Instead, he gave them a very special order: starting today.

They will officially leave their status as members of the Imperial Army, marry and have children on this planet, and become the planet's garrison.

Upon receiving this news, countless ordinary soldiers cheered with joy, for this was something unimaginable, something they had never thought possible since joining the army.

The reason Rhodes didn't include them in his grand expedition was that he didn't lack mortal support troops for the time being, and more importantly, this planet had been ravaged by war and did indeed need some population replenishment. However, he couldn't temporarily transfer a group of residents from other places to the capital, so he simply left these people behind.

These people can not only live as residents, but also have a certain combat capability, and can serve as the planet's defense force, which can be said to be the best of both worlds.

A few days later, Rhodes received two messages. The first was that the homeworld of the Black Beetlemen had been confirmed, and according to the report, it was an extremely disgusting planet.

It was filled with disgusting, filthy, and evil alien creatures.

The second piece of news was that the reconnaissance team discovered that a Tyranid Zerg hive fleet would arrive in a few days, almost simultaneously with Rhodes' fleet.

This news was not good for Rhodes. The reason he wanted to eliminate the black beetle alien as soon as possible was because he wanted to prevent its genes from falling into the hands of the Tyranids.

It's important to understand that the basic units of the Terran Zerg are now being completely outclassed by the basic units of the Empire, thanks to the use of the Superhuman Potion brought by Rhodes.

Therefore, the mortal soldiers have reached the level of the original Space Marines, and can kill ordinary Terran Gun Bugs, or even Terran Warrior Bugs, which are mortal auxiliary forces.

Only entities like the Tyranid Executioners and Hive Tyrants require Space Marines and Astartes to deal with, or can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers of mortal troops, using human lives to kill them.

Therefore, every enhancement the Tyranids receive is not good news for the Empire or Rhodes himself.

These insects are incredibly adept at utilizing genes. Rhode only had to send biological monsters to fight them a few times before Red King's genes were obtained.

Therefore, Rhodes was very wary of these insects and absolutely could not allow them to obtain any useful resources. These creatures could create more advantageous conquest units by absorbing biomass.

The Tyranids, the first adversary Rhodes encountered after his transmigration, once again clashed with him.

However, a problem now lies before Rhodes: if they simply travel through the normal warp, they will arrive at almost the same time as the Tyranid swarm's fleet.

A fight is inevitable, but the problem is that the beetle people on that planet will also fall into the hands of the Tyranids, because if even one beetle's genes are leaked, the Tyranids will obtain those special genes.

Therefore, Rhodes changed his operational strategy and decided to exterminate these black beetle people before the Tyranids could!

"Pass on my order: all fleets, continue on the predetermined route. My flagship will activate its faster-than-light engine to warp to the target system," Rhodes said.

To prevent the Tyranids from obtaining the genes of these black beetle-men, their fleet must first go there and wipe out these black beetle-men.

So now the only option facing Rhodes is to act alone. Fortunately, his mothership is large enough to carry an army of hundreds of thousands, so destroying these black beetle people should not be a problem.

Rhodes could be even more aggressive and send the Destroyer Angel Zog or Tartarus over to have them use their ultimate abilities to wipe out the planet.

“Great War Commander, I disagree with this plan. It’s too dangerous. How can we let you risk your life alone?” a mortal naval commander said.

What a joke! Even if an extermination order were to be issued and a vanguard operation were to be launched, it would be the Imperial Navy that would be at the forefront. How could the Primarchs be allowed to be at the forefront?
“If I don’t rush to the front, who will? I am the Primarch, I am responsible to you, I have to lead you.”

"And only my spaceship has a faster-than-light engine; your ships don't have one," Rhodes said.

"Lord Rhodes, please prioritize your safety. You are the war marshal of the Empire, the commander of this expedition, and you are just a bunch of Tyranids."

"We'll get there as fast as we can, wipe out those wretched aliens, and then start the war against the Tyranids," several Imperial Navy admirals said.

"Great Imperial Warmaster, let us charge ahead!" all the Imperial Navy commanders said almost in unison. "Rhodes! Have Tartarus open a giant portal and teleport a portion of the fleet there," Elena, standing beside Rhodes, said.

However, they use an encrypted method of communication, which ordinary mortals cannot hear. This is a special way of communication between owners of cosmic mythical beasts.

Anyway, Tartarus's abilities are no secret within the Empire. His teleportation ability is incredibly useful, almost the fastest way to move in the entire universe, faster than any other method.

Rhodes fell into deep thought upon hearing this. Tartarus's ability was indeed very useful, but the problem was that this ability had only been shown to the Emperor and the Primarchs; ordinary people were unaware of it.

However, this expeditionary force would be with him for decades, or even centuries, and Rhodes felt he should have some trust in them.

There might be some emergencies in the future that would require Tartarus's abilities to be used multiple times.

"I understand. Your loyalty is especially commendable. At this critical moment, you dare to stand up and fight for the empire."

"In that case, I agree to your request. I will use a special method to take you directly to the target location, but this special method can only take 10 ships at a time," Rhodes said.

The number of fungi was so large that it was impossible to teleport them all, so Rhodes only planned to take 10 ships, while the rest of the fleet would advance at full speed behind.

In any case, 10 Imperial battle barges are enough to issue an extermination order and completely flatten the surface of a planet.

"As you command, great Primarch," the naval commanders said, placing their hands on their chests.

Rhodes nodded, immediately summoned Tartarus, and then selected 10 massive battle barges equipped with the most advanced weapons of the human empire.

A golden portal opened, and Rhodes' mothership, carrying 10 human Empire battle barges, entered an unfamiliar star system—the homeland of the Black Beetlemen.

A planet twice the size of Holy Terra, with gravity more than five times that of Holy Terra.

No wonder these black beetle-like monsters can be born here; the gravity here is so immense that they would be superhuman beings on other planets.

Rhodes planned to secretly collect some of the genes of these special beetle-like beings and then hand them over to his chief scientist, Abel, and the Baltan aliens to see if they could create some new super beasts.

During the previous raid, the ground forces had collected some samples of the black beetle people for Rhodes, and some live specimens were even imprisoned and are currently being looked after by some genetic offspring.

"Lord Rhodes, we have jumped to an unfamiliar star system. This should be the home planet of the target alien," said an Imperial Navy commander.

"This is indeed their home planet. Notify everyone to prepare to carry out the extermination order. In the noble name of the Emperor, I grant you the right to carry out this extermination order for the sake of the human empire." Rhodes solemnly issued this extermination order in his capacity as the Imperial War Marshal.

Upon receiving Rhodes's order, all the machine spirits on the human combat barges began to read the sacred instructions.

All the technical sergeants and all the mechanical priests began preparations, adjusting all the macro cannons, light spears, and Pedanium rays.

In the name of the Emperor, in the name of the Empire! Ten battle barges lined up in the sky above the planet, covering the entire landmass, while Rhodes' ships remained near the central continent of the planet.

Golden beams of light descended from the sky, and all the ships unleashed their full firepower, illuminating the entire planet with their fierce firepower.

Countless rays of light were projected onto the land, causing a violent bombardment that tore countless beetle-men to shreds in an instant.

This time, Rhodes showed no mercy, utterly destroying these alien life forms and completely annihilating them.

Three days later, the extermination order was completed, and the entire planet had been blasted into ruins.

"Commander Rhodes! The extermination order has been completed."

"I understand. Instruct all naval and army personnel, and the Space Marines to prepare for battle and engage the Tyranids."

(End of this chapter)