I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 220 An Easy Victory
At the edge of the Plantim galaxy, the veil of reality was mercilessly torn open, leaving a massive, irregular wound. Eerie warp light erupted from it, and then colossal vessels pierced through the Mandeville Point, like mythical beasts breaking free of their cages and returning to the material universe.

Leading the way was the legendary battleship, the "Radiance of Macragge." Its hull was so magnificent that the attack cruisers following behind looked like escorting sharks. Then, a continuous stream of warships, cruisers, and frigates emerged from the warp rift, forming a disciplined and deadly formation under the cold starlight.

Hundreds of warships, each representing the pinnacle of human empire's industrial and military artistry, together formed a steel Great Wall stretching across the void, their cannons gleaming with a cold, chilling light, their engines spewing blue flames powerful enough to light up the stars.

Faced with this fleet representing the fury of the entire Altrama star system, the Tyranid fleet that had been entrenched on the outer edge of the star system—those living warships made of twisted carapaces, tendons, and biomass—appeared rather dwarfed.

Yes, the Terran fleet paled in comparison to the human fleet. What should have been an exhilarating scene instead cast a somber mood on the bridge of the "Radiance of Macragge".

“Strange,” Ruan Wenbo said, standing in front of the holographic star map, his brow furrowed. “Why is Tyrannosaurus’s fleet so small?”

The chapter commander, Calgar, standing to the side, wearing his heavy Terminator power armor, spoke in a voice as steady as a mountain: "Perhaps, just as you predicted, the Tyranids have hidden a portion of their fleet in places we cannot find, hiding in the shadows of asteroid belts or gas giants, looking for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

“But even if Tyranny detached a portion of its fleet, its main fleet should still be larger than ours,” Ruan Wenbo said, pointing to the red dots representing enemy ships on the star map.

"I'm afraid you're overestimating the threat posed by Tyrannosaurus, Governor Ruan Wenbo," Dylan, dressed in the magnificent uniform of an Imperial Navy admiral, said, a hint of barely perceptible pride in his voice. "Aside from the forces maintaining basic stability, the entire fleet of the five hundred worlds of Alteramar has been mobilized and assembled here. A fleet operation of this scale is unlikely to occur again for the next thousand years. How can any random alien compare?"

Ruan Wenbo knew perfectly well that, less than a thousand years from now, when Guilliman awoke and launched the "Indomitable Expedition," its scale would far exceed this by several times. However, there was clearly no need to say such things to discourage others.

“Perhaps,” Nguyen Van Bo responded vaguely, “but we’d better stick to the original plan and not make rash changes just because of our current advantages.”

“Of course, of course,” Admiral Dylan nodded immediately and said seriously, “Changing the original battle plan at the last minute is a very low-level military mistake. Not to mention our navy, even a PDF would be the worst of the worst if it made such a mistake!”

Thus, despite seemingly holding an absolute advantage, this massive imperial fleet did not attempt a swift and overwhelming assault to crush the enemy. Instead, it cautiously dispatched several reconnaissance fleets composed of fast escort ships and destroyers to explore every corner of the star system.

Prior to this operation, many captains had reservations about the strategy proposed by Nguyen Van Bo. They considered it too conservative and an insult to the Imperial Navy's formidable strength. In their view, since the human fleet held an absolute advantage in both quantity and quality, they should directly seek out the enemy's main force for a decisive battle, which would save several times the time and relieve Plantim as quickly as possible.

However, these doubts vanished completely after one of the reconnaissance fleets actually discovered a stealthy Tyrannical squadron hiding on the far side of a barren planet. The alien living ships, realizing they had been exposed, immediately abandoned any thought of resistance, scattering and fleeing into deep space without a fight.

But Ruan Wenbo's doubts remained unresolved, growing even stronger. Even including the Tyranids who fled in disarray after being discovered, their fleet was still far too small.

The amount is unusually small.

After several hours of meticulously ensuring the safety of the surrounding space, the scattered reconnaissance fleet regrouped. The massive Imperial fleet assembled once more, engines at full power, and began its unstoppable advance towards the long-besieged planet—Plendium.

When the vanguard of the Imperial fleet reached the effective engagement range of Plantim, the main Tyrannical fleet, which had been lurking in the shadow of the planet's orbit, finally revealed its ferocious full form.

Thousands of living ships emerged from behind the planetary rings' debris field, forming a biological ocean of carapaces, claws, and twisted flesh. They had no portholes, no engines, only constantly writhing tendons and eerily glowing sensory organs. The leading giant nest ships, their size comparable to Imperial Navy battlecruisers, were brimming with destructive bio-energy from their weapon ports.

From the bows of the Imperial fleet, hundreds upon hundreds of massive cannons roared with thunderous fury, unleashing a dense barrage of giant shells that rained down upon the Terran fleet. Immediately following, blinding beams of energy ripped through the dark void, like the daggers of judgment wielded by an emperor himself, precisely striking the largest Terran nest ships.

The Terran fleet immediately retaliated. They unleashed a massive cloud of spores, these tiny organisms rapidly spreading through the void in an attempt to disrupt the Imperial fleet's sensors and fire control systems. Simultaneously, countless flying aliens, each the size of a fighter jet, detached from the motherships, coalescing into a swarm of locusts that crashed down upon the Imperial warships.

But thanks to the advance warning from those going to their deaths, the fleet had already prepared several countermeasures. A more robust anti-jamming targeting system was activated, and the ships shared clear battlefield images via encrypted data links. The interference effect of the spore cloud was minimized. Just then, on the bow of the largest Terran nest ship, a massive bio-cannon suddenly opened, its interior gathering a chilling, eerie blue energy that seemed capable of sucking in even the light of a star.

The dozen or so Hunter-class destroyers and several Gladiator-class frigates that had been waiting for a long time immediately turned their guns around, and all their light lances and macro cannons fired at the same instant. Dozens of destructive energy and physical projectiles, traversing a vast distance, landed precisely on the giant bio-cannon that was charging.

A violent explosion erupted at the bow of the hive ship, the eerie blue energy, now unrestrained, collapsed violently inward. The massive bio-plasma cannon, powerful enough to vaporize a lunar cruiser with a single salvo, didn't even have time to unleash its first roar before being blasted into an ever-expanding mass of flesh and flames by its own terrifying energy.

The fact that the Tyranids' various tactics were so easily neutralized greatly boosted the morale of the entire fleet.

The ensuing battle turned into a one-sided massacre. The Terran's tactics were completely ineffective against the well-prepared human fleet. In this positional warfare where both sides laid out their forces, the bio-based ships ultimately could not withstand the formidable steel fortresses.

Light spears tore through armor, macro cannons shattered bodies, and torpedoes detonated inside enemy ships, blasting them into clumps of organic fragments floating in space.

Ultimately, after suffering minor losses of several frigates being severely damaged and one destroyer being sunk, the Terran fleet entrenched in the orbit of Plantim was completely defeated.

"We won!"

"For the Emperor! For Macurag!"

Cheers of victory echoed across the bridges of every warship, and the communication channels were filled with joy and pride. Admiral Dylan's face beamed with a radiant smile; he was incredibly proud of the perfect performance of his fleet.

However, beside the command throne, Nguyen Van Bo remained frowning. He did not participate in the celebration, but stared intently at the red dots on the holographic star map that represented the collapsing enemy ships.

Many of the wrecked Terran ships were scattering and fleeing, trying to escape the battlefield—a normal biological reaction. But many more bio-ships… instead of fleeing, they turned and plummeted towards Plantim below!

“Something’s not right…” Ruan Wenbo said softly.

His voice wasn't loud, but it stood out starkly in the celebratory atmosphere of the bridge. Calga and Dylan both turned their attention to him.

“Look,” Ruan Wenbo pointed to the star map and zoomed in on Plantim’s orbit, “those insect ships, they’re crashing into the planet. It’s not out of control, it’s a purposeful descent.”

Only then did everyone notice this bizarre scene. Hundreds of burning streaks of fire tore through Plantim's atmosphere; these were the sparks produced by the friction between the wreckage of the Terran warship and the air.

This clearly contradicts the fundamental characteristic of the Tyranids, who consider biomass everything. A warship, even its wreckage, contains a massive amount of biomass and genetic information, a precious asset of the Hive's will. To simply crash it into a planet from which there is no escape is an utterly incomprehensible waste.

Moreover, according to the Empire's data, Plantim is just an ordinary agricultural planet, and there is nothing on it that would make the Tyranids willing to sacrifice their precious warships for it.

The enemies in space have been eliminated, but the real threat may have just arrived on the ground.

(End of this chapter)