Warhammer [494-495] (Patreon)

Chapter 494: Beating the Tyranid Fleet Bloody, Birdon Returns, Boarding, A Trap?

"By your command, great Warmaster. We'll begin setting up the defenses at once." The officers of the Imperium Navy and Army from the mortal forces saluted Rhodes.

Rhodes's gene-sons also took their own drop pods and small Pedan craft to moons on the fringes of certain systems to establish outposts there, where they would intercept the Tyranids.

This Exterminatus order had two aims. First, to turn this star system into a death world: all biomass on the planet had already been annihilated by Rhodes, so the Tyranids would find no supplies here.

Second, to prevent the Tyranids from obtaining suitable gene sequences to strengthen their broods.

Once everyone had departed to begin deploying defenses, Rhodes finally had time to observe, from the ship's main control room, the Tyranid hive fleet approaching the system.

According to the auspex, the Tyranids were still a few light-years out. Barring surprises, they would arrive at the battlefield in a few days—and so would Rhodes's fleet that was transiting the Warp.

The Tyranids were the first enemy Rhodes had encountered upon descending into this world, and so far the most troublesome.

Even against the forces of Chaos, Rhodes hadn't been so constrained—because the Tyranids' mastery of genetic adaptation was simply too formidable.

The special kaiju from the Ultra Series universe are inscrutable without the right samples and decades of study—even a master genetic analyst can fail to fully parse their biology. And yet the Tyranids can streamline them and create hive behemoths suited to themselves.

When he first fought the Tyranids, Rhodes only had a single Red King at his disposal, so he had no choice but to send that big lug in.

Thereafter, in his engagements with the Tyranids, Rhodes mostly relied on his gene-sons, mechanical kaiju, and cosmic phantom beasts.

In the last battle with the Tyranids in the Baal system, the special monster Birdon—which Rhodes had summoned—possessed the trait "Bane of the Bugs," and after Rhodes's enhancements,

it became very special indeed: through a certain sonic frequency it could instantly kill nearby bugs, even paralyze the surrounding Tyranid hive ships.

Even a Norn-Queen—beings of terrifying psychic power—couldn't fully resist that peculiar sonic attack. It was practically the Pleiades Star Lord of the Warhammer universe.

Previously, in the Octarius region, Rhodes had refrained from using that power to avoid drawing the Tyranids' attention. But now he could.

So Rhodes summoned a new Birdon and pushed it to its limits. This Birdon would lurk behind a planet.

When the hive ships appeared, it would unleash its special sonic attack, then Rhodes's gene-sons would carry special thermite bombs to straightforwardly blow the hive ships to pieces.

From the auspex returns, the hive fleet was vast: over a hundred Tyranid hive ships twenty kilometers long, plus several hundred bio-ship escorts.

For this grand offensive, the Emperor and Guilliman had made extensive preparations, and the number of Rhodes's mainline warships was terrifying.

Not to mention the Mechanical Ultra Six Brothers and all manner of mechanical kaiju. The primary task this time was to intercept the hive fleet at the system's edge,

then, when his main fleet arrived, to form up, unleash overwhelming firepower, and annihilate the Tyranids.

"Rhodes! The Tyranids really bring back memories. I remember when we first met, we were besieged by Tyranids. I thought I was dead for sure!" Elena slipped into the control room at some point and sat down beside Rhodes.

"Yeah! Back then you even wanted to obtain my gene-seed," Rhodes said with a playful look.

"Hahaha! That idea wasn't mine—it was Sister Atoria. But in the end the one who took your gene-seed was me. Why didn't you give her some gene-seed?" Elena said, amused.

How naive she'd been back then! 

At eighteen, she had boarded Rhodes's ship in a daze, and that very night received the gene-seed.

She'd been just a little Hospitaller, thinking she would be tending to Rhodes's daily needs; she hadn't expected that kind of care.

With age, and with their son, she was no longer that innocent little sister.

"Hahaha! I've always liked your personality. When I left, I really was reluctant to part with you—and who knew you were hiding on my ship," Rhodes said, pulling Elena into his arms.

Though a certain Aeldari goddess and two ladies had borne him children, his true wife in this world was Elena.

"Hehe! When shall we have another child? Stark always seems a little lonely," Elena murmured, curled in Rhodes's arms.

"Worried that the kids of the Aeldari will bully our son?" Rhodes asked.

In the first phase of the Indomitus Crusade, he had chosen to bring his five-year-old son aboard. The boy would grow up with his parents, rather than be left on Holy Terra as Emperor suggested.

As a super lifeform, space was no different from a planet to him, and being by their side made for better tutelage.

"That's exactly it. You know my concerns—now you and those Aeldari women have three children each. They're not born yet, but on my side I have only one," Elena said.

"Wanting one doesn't mean you can just have one. Tell me, on what night have we not tried?

For super lifeforms, reproduction is extremely difficult. Sometimes having a single child is already quite good," Rhodes said.

"We can ask the Aeldari goddess of life to help! She let you cross reproductive barriers with Sister Yvraine and Lelith. It shouldn't be too hard for us, right?" Elena said.

She'd long since thought of this—they had a goddess of life aboard; it'd be a waste not to ask.

"Since you put it that way, how could I refuse? I'll speak with the goddess of life," Rhodes said with a smile.

It was indeed necessary. More human offspring would benefit the Imperium's future—after all, humans would feel stronger kinship with their own species.

"Hehe! You're the best. I'll put my Hospitaller habit back on tonight," Elena said.

"I like the sound of that! We'll send Stark to train with the Sisters of Battle," Rhodes said.

Nominally, Stark was a Primarch—but in terms of seniority, he stood alongside the Sisters and even Astartes. Who knew how awkward his gene-sons would be when he formed his Astartes Legion someday.

…

In the following days, Rhodes asked the Aeldari goddess of life for help. Using her life energy, Elena successfully conceived a second time.

Five days later, the Astartes units watching the system's edge reported to Rhodes that the Tyranid vanguard had arrived.

Without hesitation, Rhodes first dispatched the cosmic volcanic monster Birdon, which had been lurking on the periphery, to deliver the opening strike.

His gene-sons followed close behind, ready to use their teleportation bracelets to launch boarding actions and plant large thermite charges and Pedanium bombs on the hive ships.

When the massive bio-ships entered visual range, the cosmic Birdon let out a joyful cry and swept in on enormous wings.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" 

A sound like a rooster's crow rang through the hive fleet. Tyranids that heard it felt their bodies go weak and limp; higher forms immediately lost motor function. Even Norn-Queens and brain-bugs were affected.

Lesser Tyranids dropped dead on the spot, one-shot wiped.

Once, the Tyranids might have been caught off guard by this. Not anymore.

In the Battle of Baal, the Great Devourer had tasted that attack. The instant the enemy struck, the Great Devourer's consciousness extended, and the Norn-Queens within the hive ships sensed it.

Though they raised psychic shields, this special attack targeted the soul—psychic power couldn't stop it.

As Birdon attacked, Rhodes's gene-sons burst forth as well.

Piloting Pedan craft, they flew to the hive ships, then made boarding teleports at knife-fight range.

In a flash of blue light, they appeared aboard the bio-ships. With practiced ease, they used bolt weapons to finish any surviving high-tier Tyranid organisms, then tossed their charges and blinked out.

A moment later, brilliant fireworks blossomed across the void!

After Birdon's opening salvo, Rhodes recalled it at once—lesson learned: he remembered vividly how the first Birdon had been psychically slain by the Tyranids.

Damn bugs—don't think you're the only ones who can adjust your tactics. Humanity is a warlike species too!

After the first wave of boarding, Rhodes's gene-sons immediately jumped back into their FTL craft and returned to their lines.

Then the human battle-barges, destroyers, and cruisers presented their broadsides. Macro-cannons, Pedanium beam cannons, and lance batteries trained on the hive fleet.

Rhodes also launched the Mechanical Ultra Six Brothers. Metallium Rays, Specium Rays, Emerium Rays, Strium Rays, and the M78 Ray blasted into the hive fleet.

The hive fleet reeled from Birdon's sudden strike and suffered grievous losses.

But the Great Devourer reacted with speed. The Norn-Queens aboard the hive ships rapidly adjusted their tactics, ordering the remaining bio-ships to mass fire and attempt to break the Imperium line.

Rhodes's fleet was ready. The broadsides of battle-barges, destroyers, and cruisers thundered; the roar of macro-cannons rolled through the void. Pedanium beams and lances carved the darkness and lanced into the bio-ships.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Under the dense fire, bio-ships exploded one after another, blossoming into bouquets of stellar fireworks.

Yet the Tyranids did not retreat. They know no fear. In swarms, the bio-ships punched into the teeth of the guns.

The hive ships spewed spore mines and bio-missiles, seeking to smother the human fleet with sheer numbers.

Spore mines spread rapidly through space, forming lethal spore-clouds, while bio-missiles swarmed like locusts toward human hulls.

Rhodes's Mechanical Ultra Six Brothers raced to intercept. Ultra Seven's head-mounted flying blade and Ice Axe precisely cut down swathes of spore mines.

The original Ultraman's Specium Ray swept a swath of bio-missiles. Mechanical Ace's Metallium Ray and Mechanical Taro's Strium Ray hammered directly into hive ships, inflicting massive damage.

Struck Tyranid vessels burst into stellar fireworks. The beams of these Mechanical Brothers were absolute nemeses of the bugs.

Meanwhile, Rhodes's gene-sons launched another boarding wave, piloting Pedan craft and using their teleportation bracelets to appear inside the hive ships.

But as time passed, psychic shielding within the hive fleet rose, beginning to block the human guns.

On Rhodes's side, the Imperium's main battlefleet had also arrived. The two sides arrayed themselves across the unknown system.

With a thunderous detonation, a hive ship's interior blew out, tearing the behemoth in half. Wreckage drifted through the void. battle-barges, destroyers, cruisers, and escorts were also relentlessly shot down by the Tyranid hives.

The carnage was extreme on both sides.

["We meet again, human. You didn't expect it, did you? Those beetle-men were my gift to you—something I created specifically.

This is my trap for you, not yours for me."] 

A psychic transmission sounded in Rhodes's mind.

"Great Devourer, how much do you really know of my power now? Do you think I'm still who I was?

'This is my trap for you, not yours for me'—let me return those words to you," Rhodes sent back, mind to hive mind.

Great Devourer, Great Devourer—who's truly the prey? You still haven't figured it out.

Everything you can think of, I've already thought of one step ahead.

Chapter 495: Summon the Alien Empera!

The Great Devourer did not answer at once. It was a little surprised—how did this tiny lifeform dare speak to it like that?

["Just putting on a show of calm. You have no idea who you're facing. Last time in the Octarius region I let you win once. But do you think that was a true win?"] the Great Devourer said.

"I know you're up to tricks. Yet I'm still slaughtering your broods. You keep sending hive fleets to fight my Orks,

trying to conceal something. But I don't care. Do you know why?" Rhodes said.

As long as he kept killing Tyranids, he'd get a steady stream of system coins. Whatever schemes the Devourer had, as long as the monsters he summoned were absolute enough, strong enough, there'd be no comeback.

With Tartarus and Zog in his corner, Rhodes was brimming with confidence. The Indomitus Crusade had already gone on three years by now.

He had amassed another large stack of system coins, and after exterminating those beetle-men he'd gotten a lot more.

He could fire off Advanced Shop ten-million-coin draws at any time—and not just once.

He'd summon boss-tier monsters of the highest class. Why should he be afraid? What was there to fear?

However strong the Great Devourer was, it still crawled within this universe. Could it step outside it?

["What makes you so confident? We've been apart such a short time—blink-of-an-eye short to me,"] the Great Devourer asked.

It was intrigued. This lifeform was indeed more perfect than the last time—his flesh had reached the peak of this universe.

Still far beneath the Devourer, but in realspace he was second only to those beings called Star Gods.

"If you want to know my trump card, come and find out for yourself. Didn't you say this was a trap set for me? If you're so sure, then by all means, spring it," Rhodes sneered.

At the same time, he spent ten million system coins on a 100-pull in the Advanced Shop.

You should belittle your opponent in words and spirit, but Rhodes wouldn't underestimate the Great Devourer—he'd be fully prepared.

This time he chose random, not specifying—he'd pull a random monster to test the Devourer.

Light flashed through the Shop. Shards dropped one after another: Dark Giants, Abnormal Beasts,

other movie bosses and TV final bosses. Unfortunately, none of them reached ten shards, and there were no mysterious bonus drops either, which disappointed Rhodes a little.

Without a word, Rhodes spent another ten million coins for a second 100-pull.

The Shop erupted in light again. This time a monster from the Advanced Shop was finally completed.

Another monster reached nine shards—he'd only need to trade ten other Advanced shards to complete it.

Twenty million coins down, and finally two Advanced monsters were ready to be summoned.

The first: Alien Empera—the famed Black Emperor, the madman who dared invade the Land of Light alone.

When Rhodes first crossed over, he'd gotten Empera Sword. 

Rhodes had used that sword long ago. Now, in his gigantic form, he could wield it again—though its dark nature didn't really suit him.

With Steel-Breaking Bull Fist and Ultra Shockwave, Rhodes hadn't yet met an opponent that demanded the Empera blade.

Summoning the Emperor himself this time did stir him. In the Ultra Series universe, the Alien Empera is top-tier.

In the Advanced Shop, he's among the pinnacle bosses, just below those bug-tier monsters—the Top Shop types, who are basically multiversal.

Rhodes even felt that once the Emperor was out on the field, unless the Black King or one of the four Chaos Powers of the Warp descended into realspace, he'd be basically unbeatable.

As for the other monster, he wasn't as famous as the Emperor, but he was a true regular:

No need to belabor his power—he's the combination of five top monsters and appears frequently.

Not the brightest, but in raw combat strength, aside from Tartarus, a maxed-out Alien Mefilas,

and Zog, the Angel of Ultimate Annihilation, he might be the strongest. Even Daram in ultranized form might not beat him.

Rhodes chose not to summon this one yet. He needed ten more shards; there was no rush, and this battlefield wasn't ideal.

In the Shop, Rhodes fused the Alien Empera.

Ten shards merged, black mist welled up, and a black-cloaked figure 56 meters tall and 49,000 tons in mass took shape.

The Alien Empera wielded absolute darkness. His black energy could blanket an entire star and snuff it out.

His kit was lavish in the extreme: his cloak could block Ultraman beams; his dark energy wave could one-shot elite Ultras or ordinary kaiju.

His left hand could fire Black Rock fireballs and unleash supreme telekinesis—no weaker than a maxed-out Alien Mefilas.

His combat power was tremendous. He also possessed sealing arts and myriad uses of dark energy—his mastery exceeded even the Dark Giants.

All right then, Great Devourer—let's see what you use to play with my Alien Empera, Tartarus, and Zog.

["I used the biomass of Orks in the Octarius region and elsewhere in the galaxy to craft an avatar.

It holds a tenth of my true power. If you can defeat it, I may take you a little more seriously,"] the Great Devourer said.

Rhodes snorted and summoned the Alien Empera from the Shop.

A cloud of black smoke billowed out, and the 56-meter-tall Alien Empera materialized aboard the starship.

A terrifying surge of darkness erupted from him. Tartarus hastily raised both hands and cast a golden ward,

to keep the dark energy from spilling out—otherwise the mortal troops outside wouldn't even need the Tyranids; they'd be devoured in an instant.

"I am the Alien Empera!" the newly arrived Emperor proclaimed.

His aura was domineering to the extreme. The darkness he exuded surpassed even a fully enhanced Daram; to Rhodes it felt like the Emperor of Darkness incarnate.

The energy rolling off him was the absolute, ultimate night—the pitch-black of the material cosmos.

"Glory to you, my great master. Alien Empera will fight for you," the Emperor said, dropping to one knee before Rhodes after his declaration.

"Rise. This is your weapon—I'm returning it to you," Rhodes nodded, handing over a stashed Empera Blade.

"My great master, I have no need. I already have a weapon," Empera said, drawing another Alien Empera's Sword from beneath his cloak.

"…" 

Rhodes.

So the sword was part of the set. The blade he'd drawn before didn't count—the summoned Empera came with his own weapon,

and his resplendent cloak, and even his personal craft, the Dark Terror—a fifty-meter-diameter fireball with a vast subspace within,

large enough to store an entire planet, and boasting terrifying defenses. Ordinary attacks would be absorbed by the gigantic fireball.

"Empera, a worthy opponent awaits you the moment you enter this world: the Great Devourer's avatar. You'll take him," Rhodes said.

Tartarus and Zog would hold the line. In sheer power the Emperor should be just beneath Tartarus.

In fact, if it came down to it, the little golden man might not beat the Dark Emperor.

The Emperor could not currently be enhanced. To power up Advanced-Shop summons, Rhodes would have to upgrade the Enhancement Shop—cost: twenty million coins.

"Master, I've just arrived in this world. I'd like to stretch my limbs," the Alien Empera said.