Warhammer: Empire Reboot

It tore open the armor with its claws and stuffed the sac filled with knife bugs and gene stealers directly into the rift.

The Marines inside the ship were still resisting in the corridors, while the swarm of insects outside had already crawled up the hull toward the reactor.

The cruiser captain activated the reactor overload.

A few minutes later, the warship exploded along with the swarm of insects attached to its hull.

The white light expanded in the darkness, engulfing several small biological ships nearby.

All 80,000 men on that cruiser were killed in action.

Lord Leontus of the Sun issued a decree.

The three battleships simultaneously changed their bow angles, unleashing a barrage of beam spears at the Zerg mothership, which had just lost its cover.

A blinding beam of light pierced through the void.

The mothership's armor, several kilometers thick, was burned through, and blood, flesh, and steam spewed from the wound.

The surrounding biological frigates immediately rushed forward, using their own bodies to block the subsequent attacks.

The cannons then roared to life.

Hundreds of macro shells traversed the void and crashed into the biological fleet blocking the mothership's path.

Several insect ships were destroyed on the spot, and more insect ships continued to fill the gap.

As long as the mothership remains, all surrounding bio-ships can become armor.

The Imperial fleet is also using warships to fill in the gaps.

When the void shield of a battleship collapsed, it was replaced by a cruiser from behind. The cruiser was surrounded by the swarm of Zerg, so the frigate rushed into the space between the bio-ships and tore open a passage with close-range torpedoes.

Space warfare lacks the clear front lines found on the ground.

A warship that was just minutes ago at the rear of the fleet could crash directly into the biological fleet after turning around.

They might have just gained a firing angle, only to be pierced by a plasma cannon hidden behind the swarm's corpses the next second.

Guilliman watched as an Imperial battleship was surrounded by three colossal biological ships.

Its broadside cannons were still firing, and its bow ram had already penetrated the belly of an insectoid ship.

The two ships became entangled, with Zerg tentacles crawling along the hull of the Imperial warships and into their gun barrels, while Imperial crews shoved torpedoes into the Zerg's wounds at close range.

The battleship ultimately failed to break free.

At the last moment, the captain changed course, dragging three bio-ships into the center of the swarm.

When the reactor exploded, the surrounding area for hundreds of kilometers was illuminated in a ghastly white light.

Another imperial eagle emblem has disappeared from the star map.

This death has been going on for many days.

But in the last few standard days, Guilliman noticed a change.

The impact of the swarm has weakened.

Initially, this change was not obvious.

The bio-ships continued their attack, spore mines continued to pave the shipping lanes, and hordes of boarding creatures continued to crash into the Imperial warships.

However, the swarm no longer pressed on the Imperial fleet with the same reckless abandon as before.

The number of small bio-ships on the outermost perimeter is decreasing.

Many of the heavy insect ships that were originally tasked with charging the battle lines began to retreat back to the vicinity of the mothership.

The injured bio-ship stopped ramming forward and instead turned and entered the fleet, where it was dragged away by the tentacles of other insect ships.

This is not in line with their previous fighting style.

Further away, several motherships responsible for incubation and transportation had changed direction.

They are turning their bows outwards from the star system.

Guilliman retrieved all the swarm's course changes over the past twelve hours and then overlaid the bio-ship attack frequency, spore deployment volume, and mothership position together.

The purplish-black icon is shrinking inward.

The Sun Lord saw the same result: "They are shortening their battle lines."

Guilliman stared at the star map: "They might be preparing for a new attack."

"If it's an offensive, they shouldn't be recalling the outer escort ships."

Neither of them voiced the seemingly absurd judgment.

…………

The battlefield where the other main tentacle is located.

The Lion King's fleet is battling the Zerg swarm amidst a shattered star ring.

The wreckage of the destroyed moon floats in the void, rocks mixed with the remains of warships.

The Zerg bio-ships surged out from behind the debris field, while the Imperial warships flew close to the star ring, using the celestial debris to shield themselves from the bio-plasma.

Dante's flagship has just completed a close-range volley.

The light spear swept along the back of an insectoid ship, slicing through its armor, which stretched for kilometers.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Blood Angels warship launched torpedoes, the warheads penetrating the wounds and exploding continuously inside the insect ship.

The bio-ship writhed wildly, its dozens of tentacles sweeping towards nearby Imperial frigates.

One of the frigates was unable to dodge in time and was entangled in the middle by the tentacles.

The ship's armor emitted a piercing cracking sound, and the crew on the bridge could even see the darkness outside seeping in along the cracks.

The frigate still fired one last salvo of torpedoes.

The explosion tore it apart along with the insectoid ship.

The Lion King's attention remained deep within the Zerg swarm's lines.

There were originally three heavy biological fleets there, responsible for taking turns attacking the center of the empire.

Now, one of them has retreated behind the mothership, and the other two have also slowed down significantly.

Dante also noticed something amiss.

The pressure on the Holy Blood Angels fleet is easing.

This should have been a good thing, but in the midst of battle with the Tyranid swarm, a sudden good thing often means a more dangerous change.

Lion King ordered the reconnaissance ship to continue forward.

Several small ships approached the edge of the swarm using the shadow of the star ring and soon transmitted new images back.

A large number of biological ships are devouring their own wreckage.

Instead of pursuing the Imperial fleet, they moved along the battlefield, retrieving the Zerg flesh, broken carapaces, and dead bio-ships floating in the void.

Even the escort ships that were supposed to continue fighting began to help drag the corpses.

"They want to leave the battlefield."

Meanwhile, Guilliman also obtained new reconnaissance results on the battlefield of Nautilus.

The mothership is gathering the damaged bio-ship and the remaining sporangia into its core.

The frequency of attacks is still decreasing.

On the star map, the purplish-black main tentacle that once pierced straight towards the heart of the Pacific Star Region has a very slight bend at its tip; it is turning!

As Guilliman looked at the arc, a guess that even he found unbelievable came to mind.

Is the swarm of insects about to flee?

While Guilliman was still trying to determine the swarm's true intentions, the communications officer strode into the strategic command area.

Connect a highest priority command to the tactical console in front of the Primarch.

Sender: Lord Lawson, the Sealholder of the Empire.

[Take advantage of the Zerg fleet's retreat and immediately launch a boarding action.]

[Penetrate the core area of ​​the main tentacle and continue penetrating deeper.]

Minimum objective: Reach the location of a Norn Queen.

The bridge fell silent.

Lord Leontus of the Sun was shocked.

Guilliman stared at the attack route that cut through the Zerg fleet, remaining motionless for a long time.

At the same moment, in the same battle zone where Prometheus's tentacles were located, almost the same order appeared before the Lion King.

Dante stood on the other side of the star map, looking at a massive mothership at the deepest part of the fleet.

The size of that thing could not be measured by ordinary warships. Its shell stretched for tens of kilometers, and its abdomen was covered with countless incubation sacs and recovery organs. It was also surrounded by a large number of heavy biological ships for protection.

Even if the Imperial fleet were to get close, it would be difficult to open a safe passage to the interior amidst the intense firepower.

Lawson's order was for them to bring people in.

Lion King and Guilliman, though separated by several war zones, fell silent at the same time.

There is no precedent for boarding the Terran mothership.

The Imperial Navy, the Astartes Chapter, and even the Deathwatch have all attempted to deploy assault forces to the Zerg Hive's bio-ships.

Some have successfully destroyed synaptic organs inside ships, some have blown up the reaction chambers of biological ships, and some have even sent nuclear bombs into the interior of motherships.

But such operations rarely involve retreat.

A typical warship has at least a corridor, hatches, a power area, and other identifiable structures.

Inside the Terran bio-ship, however, was a monster that was still alive.

The so-called passage could be a breathing tube, blood vessel, or digestive cavity, or it could suddenly contract after a few minutes, crushing the Terminator inside along with their power armor.

With each step the boarding force takes, the entire biological ship generates an immune response.

Access is easy.