The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 2830: A Trial of Strength

“What kind of evolution allows a living organism to become a warship?”

Back on the bridge of the temporary flagship, Sorkar immediately took command of the naval battle and looked out into the void at the Tyranid fleet once more, unable to suppress his amazement.

The images transmitted from the bridge's wide-area scanning devices provided a rough outline of the entire hive fleet. It resembled a dense teardrop extending from afar, with countless fangs, claws, and tentacled warships crammed together around the planet. The initial attack by the Eldar fleet had left a layer of organic debris orbiting the planet, yet the swarm was endless, and more hive ships continued to pour into the system.

The Eldar fleet's surprise attack had indeed caught the Tyranids off guard, inflicting heavy casualties. According to statistics, at least nine thousand Tyranid bio-ships were destroyed in the first hour of contact. The attacking Eldar fleet consisted of only 32 ships, primarily eight Void Stalkers.

It must be said that the Void Stalker was truly an impressive warship. Even Sorkar, a veteran who had seen warships of various races, was amazed by its performance.

Its 'main gun' could concentrate fire with power rivaling that of any human capital ship, including the Abyss-class, or disperse it into a barrage, turning the ship into a firing hedgehog. A single weapon could target individual points or engage entire formations, offering both offense and defense while significantly reducing the ship's burden. It was a testament to the Eldar's sixty million years of technological foundation, which, even after the devastating Fall, provided them with a substantial legacy in basic materials science and energy control.

In contrast, humanity had been attempting to develop pure lance-based warships for ten thousand years, but progress remained halting. From the 'Cataclysm' class to the later 'Victory' and 'Lord' classes, all suffered from various significant flaws. Perhaps only the 'Netherworld' class, which incorporated some Eldar technology, could be considered a relatively complete design, but it was politically doomed.

However, after the initial surprise attack, the Tyranid fleet quickly reacted. It seemed to quickly assess that the attackers were few in number and, while possessing fierce firepower, were not capable of inflicting crippling or devastating damage. Therefore, it immediately responded.

First, the valuable large bio-ships retreated and began to recover the wreckage of the destroyed bio-ships. At the same time, a large number of small bio-ships began to gather, forming a terrifying living barrier, and started to outflank the Eldar ships from multiple directions.

Initially, Sorkar had assumed that Tyranid warships, like void-whales, were slow-moving creatures. But he quickly discovered that these Tyranid bio-ships were no less swift than Imperial warships in the void.

They might not be able to truly threaten the Eldar warships, which possessed overwhelming advantages in speed and firepower, but they were sufficient to drive them away from the main Tyranid hive fleet, allowing the hive to accelerate its consumption of the world.

Even if the Eldar destroyed a few thousand more in the process, it wouldn't matter. After all, this was an agricultural world, and the abundant biomass was enough to directly double the size of the Tyranid fleet. These losses wouldn't even be a scratch, and the slain bio-ships could be recycled.

“Are they truly creations of nature?”

Perhaps because he knew too many ancient secrets, Sorkar's view of the Tyranid swarm was not so simple. In a sense, they were somewhat similar to the Orks. Organisms evolved in the general sense would at least consider their own existence and the value of their actions, but the Tyranids' goal was too simple, more like a tool. This was also why they resembled the Orks.

The Orks existed to fight and kill, while the Tyranids existed to devour and destroy. This was understandable for beings from the Warp, as they were collections of insane thoughts, but how could natural creations be like this?

Moreover, the Orks were clearly related to the Old Ones, most likely war weapons created during the War in Heaven. So, what about the Tyranids?

Even while on the battlefield, Sorkar did not neglect to observe the situation. A large group of armored tadpole-like bio-ships rapidly approached from the side of the planet, numbering as many as two hundred. He said calmly:

“'Eternal Night' and 'Silent Poet', intercept the Tyranid bio-swarm in the third quadrant.”

“Understood.”

The exquisitely crafted Eldar warships turned nimbly. The front of the two Void Stalkers' circular hulls began to glow. The golden energy spheres contained within expanded, and endless webway energy was drawn into them. Crystal spires extending from the inner side of the circular structure emitted beams of red laser light into the golden energy spheres.

Two seconds later, the golden energy spheres transformed into destructive suns projecting rays of death. The scene could be described as magnificent. It seemed that all Eldar weapons were like this, incorporating their art and elegance, allowing their enemies to perish amidst beauty.

Dozens of laser beams swept through the densely packed Tyranid bio-ships. The pure webway energy rays directly shattered those small Tyranid bio-ships, sending large patches of biomass liquid splashing out, instantly freezing in the cold void or evaporating into gaseous clouds.

These small bio-ships were designated as Drones by the Rangers of Iyanden, and were among the few Tyranid warships recorded. They were generally 100-300 meters in size, belonging to the smallest class of Tyranid warships. Their appearance was also very simple, consisting of a large body and a tail composed of slender tentacles. The body was covered in carapace, and the front was a large mouth, which could usually fire acid and plasma, but the range was very short, posing almost no threat – unless there were too many of them, human destroyers could easily deal with them.

However, when hundreds of millions of these things gathered together, the situation was completely different. Its positioning was similar to the Hormagaunts and Termagants in the Tyranid ground forces.

As long as there were enough of them, there was little they couldn't kill.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded. Sorkar looked at the tactical map, which showed a patch of 'extremely small' targets approaching.

He then turned the camera to the Tyranid ships launching these micro bio-torpedoes.

“Are those... Harpies?”

Appearing on the screen were a group of Tyranid warships similar to the Drones, but larger. However, their appearance was more unique, with a larger abdomen and a honeycomb-like shell.

As the second type of Tyranid bio-ship recorded by the Iyanden Rangers, Harpies were more common. Their positioning was more like Imperial destroyers.

“It seems the Tyranid hive quickly came up with a countermeasure.”

Seeing the unique Tyranid Harpies in the picture constantly launching a unique, extremely fast biological ammunition from their honeycomb-like shells, Sorkar became even more curious about the origins of these xenos.

(The picture below shows Tyranid bio-ships, size order from left to right, but not guaranteed to be completely correct)

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