Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The Tyranid swarm is not a parasite hiding in the sewers.

They are a biomass ocean that stretches across the horizon.

They were fearless and fought madly, with all their chitin, muscles, bone plates, synapses, and bio-cannons laid out on the battlefield, under Lawson's blade.

As long as you kill fast enough, you'll reap the rewards fast enough.

Lawson stood in the Pacific Starfield forward command post, watching the battlefield projection of Karian-17 and the constantly scrolling data stream in the swarm's backend.

Biomass reserves are rising.

Chitin reserves are rising.

More importantly, the number of chitinous cores is increasing at a rate that was unimaginable in the past.

In the past, this thing was extremely rare.

Only pure-blooded patriarchs in large gene-stealer lairs have an extremely low probability of condensing a high-density chitin core deep within their spines.

Several years ago, the Loop system kept prompting that there were not enough cores to resolve high-order schemes.

Later, through continuous crackdowns on chitin thieves, billions of gene thieves were dug out and burned in batches from hives, mining areas, sewers, suburban settlements, and abandoned colonies. Hundreds of patriarch-level individuals were killed before the stockpile of chitin cores was barely increased to thirty, triggering the level 2 chitin inner armor.

But now, the Terran swarm is sending this rare resource directly to the battlefield.

Chitin cores of varying purities can be extracted from the bodies of warrior bugs, synaptic beasts, burrowing nodes, aerial coordinating nodes, the guardian subspecies of the hive tyrant, and even some bio-cannon beasts.

They are not the deformed branches that slowly grow out of the gutter like gene stealers.

They are combat organs created by the Hive Will for direct warfare.

This means that they contain more and more stable higher-order chitinous structures, which are also easier for the system to analyze and utilize.

The number of chitinous cores has reached 300.

The requirements for upgrading to Level 3 chitinous inner armor have been met.

Should it be promoted?

What is there to hesitate about?

"promote."

The swarm's backend went silent for a moment.

Then, a brand-new model of the inner armor structure was unveiled in front of Lawson.

The primary chitinous endoscopy is a unidirectional stacked structure.

Secondary chitinous inner layer is a cross-spiral lattice.

The third-level chitinous inner carapace, on top of the cross-spiral structure, is further reinforced with a layer of high-level Zerg core coding.

The original elastic nodes no longer passively withstand impacts, but instead form a dense, multi-layered honeycomb buffer structure.

Each bundle of chitin fibers is rewoven into a more complex micro-support chain, with the outer layer responsible for dispersing the impact, the middle layer responsible for trapping the penetrating object, and the inner layer responsible for guiding the remaining pressure laterally along the body surface.

It's a little thick.

However, it wasn't thick enough to affect movement.

The combat sequence still allows running, rolling, crawling through pipes, melee sprinting, and jumping in, and there is no sluggish reflexes due to the increased weight of the inner armor.

The real change is resilience.

If the Level 2 inner armor is like a spider web woven to its fullest extent, then the Level 3 inner armor is like pressing that web into a living ceramic steel body, and stuffing a self-adjusting elastic skeleton into every micro-node.

The same explosive round can be used to stop the bullet and prevent it from penetrating.

The level 3 internal armor allows the projectile to be deflected by the multi-layered honeycomb structure the moment it embeds into the surface, while the surrounding fibers actively contract, dispersing the shock wave into a ring of outward-spreading ripples.

The bullet will still cause damage, but it can no longer easily create deep dents.

Its protective capabilities are double those of Level 2.

It has surpassed the Void Armor of the Solar Auxiliary Army during the Great Crusade by one level, and is close to the actual impact resistance level of light power armor.

More importantly, it's inside the body.

The power armor will be shattered, melted through, and torn apart.

However, the chitinous inner armor grows along the bones, muscles, and vital organs, and is an integral part of the warrior's body.

Even if the outer power armor is burned through by insectic acid, even if explosive fragments pass through the gaps in the armor, even if the blade insect's scythe strikes the joints at close range, the level 3 chitinous inner armor will become the second, and most insidious, line of defense.

After reviewing the parameters, a hint of satisfaction finally appeared in Lawson's eyes.

"All combat sequences should prioritize synchronizing with Level 3 chitinous inner armor."

Implement swarm intelligence immediately.

On the battlefield of Karian-17, amidst a group of Flying Bear motorcycles making a low-altitude assault, a Bear Guard had just cleaved open the head of a Synaptic Warrior Insect with a giant axe.

Before the insect could fall to the ground, his body suddenly shuddered.

He felt a brief burning sensation simultaneously on both sides of his spine, inside his ribs, below his shoulder blades, on the outer wall of his abdomen, and deep in the muscles of his limbs.

The original secondary chitinous endoscopy began to rapidly reorganize, and the cross-helical fibers were disassembled, multiplied, and rewoven within seconds, with the new tertiary honeycomb lattice rapidly spreading along the old structure.

He didn't stop fighting, and he didn't even look down at himself.

The Flying Bear Motorcycle skimmed along the ground in an arc, dodging a barrage of acid projectiles from a spore cannon beast.

The next second, three blade insects pounced on the motorcycle from the side, their scythes slashing at the joints of his power armor legs. The first cut through the outer armor, and the second pierced through the gap.

In the past, this blow would have at least torn a deep wound on the inside of the joint.

But now, after the scythe of the knife-like insect pierced in half an inch, it felt as if it had penetrated a layer of exceptionally tough black leather. The fibers of the level-three chitinous inner armor tightened instantly, jamming the scythe in the shallow layer.

Xiong Wei raised his hand, grabbed the knife worm's head, ripped it off the side of the motorcycle, and crushed it with a casual squeeze.

With the completion of the three-tier inner armor, the Flying Bear Squad's entry angles are significantly more aggressive.

Several motorcycles cut directly into the area with the densest Zerg firepower. Heavy explosive cannons shattered the Zerg guards in front, and the Bear Guards endured several biological bullets and scythe-like grazor strikes, charging towards the synaptic node amidst Zerg blood and acid.

The giant axe fell, and the synaptic core cracked open.

Almost simultaneously, Lawson gave another order.

"Frontier Cornerstone Sequence Synchronized Tier 3 Internal Armor, Priority Hurricane Motorcycle Driving Units."

Compared to the combat sequence, the foundation sequence has a physical strength that is five or six levels lower, and relies on equipment, reaction training, and swarm network coordination when riding the Hurricane motorcycle.

The Hurricane Motorcycles are numerous and heavily armed, but once the rider is approached by a swarm of flying insects or hit by a biological bomb, they do not have the same margin for error as the Flying Bear Guard.

The addition of the level 3 chitinous inner armor directly made up for this shortcoming by a large margin.

In the Million Hurricane Motorcycle Squadron, a cornerstone driver is skimming low over the swarm.

Just as his motorcycle tilted to avoid the impact of the swarm of flying insects, a bullet from below hit him, piercing the side of the motorcycle and exploding, with fragments penetrating the pilot's side armor.

He thought he would be ripped open in the abdomen.

But the next moment, the fragments were caught by the newly formed chitinous inner armor in his body, and the impact was dispersed throughout his lower back area, leaving only a dull pain.

The Hurricane Motorcycle lowered its altitude again, its belly-mounted rapid-fire cannon locking onto the swarm of insects below. A dense barrage of fire swept across, turning dozens of Blade Bugs into mincemeat.

More Cornerstone Drivers have completed their upgrades.

Their maneuvers became bolder.

They dared to fly even lower, dared to fly close to the top of the swarm, dared to pull up only half a second before the flying swarm attacked them, and dared to weave through the biological barrage, unleashing their firepower where it was most needed.

Severus stood on the ruined wall, watching the battle unfold in the sky, his heart trembling with growing shock.

The Fifth Company of Ultra Warriors had stabilized the central defense line, but he did not relax.

He knew that the most terrifying thing about the swarm was never the first wave of attack, but the relentless follow-up.

They can die, they can be blown to pieces, they can fall in large numbers, but as long as the corpses are still there, as long as the biomass is still there, as long as the Zerg hive fleet can eventually recover those wreckages, then the loss of the Zerg swarm is not a true loss.

Tyranny's war logic is simple.

Eat the enemy, and reclaim yourself.

Every corpse, every drop of blood, every piece of flesh on the battlefield is merely material for the swarm's next attack.

Therefore, a sense of despair often arises when the Empire fights against the Terrans.

You killed 100,000 knife insects; they fell, but their flesh remained.

Once the swarm has taken control of the battlefield, the digesters are deployed, biomass is recycled, and new swarms will hatch from the fleet's biofactory.

The corpses of Imperial soldiers will turn into insects, the corpses of Imperial war beasts will turn into insects, and even the shattered corpses of Tyranids will return to the swarm cycle.

The swarm may lose local battles, but it can continue to profit on a material level.

As long as the planet is eventually swallowed, it doesn't matter how many insects die beforehand.

This is precisely why Severus was worried.

The Hurricane Motorcycle's firepower is terrifying; a fire net spread out by millions of units can indeed shred the Zerg swarm into pieces.

However, the denser the firepower, the more exaggerated the ammunition consumption.

According to conventional warfare logic, it is impossible for such low-altitude, high-speed units to maintain such an intensity of fire for an extended period of time.

Ammunition magazines will eventually run out, fuel levels will eventually drop, weapons will eventually overheat, and pilots will eventually have to return to resupply points.

Even the Ultramarines' Stormhawk, Thunderhawk gunships, and armored assault boats cannot ignore these basic limitations.

Severus originally thought that the black storm would last for at most ten minutes.

A dozen minutes later, the Hurricane Motorcycles will climb higher and return in batches to resupply, while the Flying Bear Motorcycles will leave the low-altitude assault line to restock ammunition and fuel. The swarm will seize this opportunity to press forward again.

But twenty minutes passed.

Thirty minutes have passed.

The net of fire in the sky did not thin.

The hurricane motorcycles were still crisscrossing at low altitude, raining down bombs, pulse missiles, micro-missiles, and incendiary bombs from every line of attack as if they were never empty.

Their formation was even more stable than when they first arrived, their firepower switching was faster, and their suppression range was greater.

Servilus watched as a squadron of hurricane motorcycles swept past from the east, having just emptied a round of micro-missiles, and as they dove again, the underbelly launchers lit up with the reloading signal.

His eyepiece captured this scene.