It had come.
Ultimately, it had finally arrived.
The suffocating military might of the Imperium of Man never arrived in silence; it was always preceded by unmistakable omens. The most blatant and irrefutable of these was the presence of massive, towering warship clusters in the void, followed by an endless orbital bombardment that tore at the planet's crust. Lance arrays pierced the darkness, and the roar of macro-cannon volleys vibrated through the vacuum. This was a "spectacle" that only occurred during military operations that the Imperium valued most—actions born of a determination to utterly erase an enemy. It was a declaration written in absolute violence.
The state of this war was slowly advancing along the trajectory Yuki had predicted, like a cumbersome yet unstoppable giant machine. The Imperium's war potential was being constantly bled and weakened by the Tau's flexible and tenacious resistance, yet it relied on the near-terrifying inertia bestowed by its vast empire. Carrying an unimaginable mass, it pressed down slowly and firmly. It was not an agile assassin, but a collapsing mountain range.
Lately, Osh and Fal rarely visited Yuki and Yuno's residence for idle chatter or shared meals. The tension in the air grew thicker by the day. The Fire Caste warriors were almost entirely in a state of maximum combat readiness, with the intensity of patrols and defensive deployments increasing several times over. Imperial scout ships and fast-strike fleets had already skirted the edges of this star sector several times.
However, out of some form of caution or strategic prioritization, they had not launched a substantive attack on these planets. Yuki privately guessed that on the Imperium's ancient star charts—which might not have been updated for centuries—this sector was likely still marked as a cluster of worthless Dead Worlds. It was precisely this "outdated" intelligence that provided a precious and incredible breathing space for this location.
After several years of continuous management and "assistance," this planet had changed drastically. Beneath the surface lay crisscrossing defensive fortifications and missile silos; in orbit, Tau space stations and defensive platforms hovered. Millions of Tau colonists and soldiers had taken root here. According to the information Yuki had pieced together from various channels, the Tau intended to turn the entire sector into a formidable war fortress—a giant trap designed to exhaust and delay the main Imperial offensive.
The Water Caste diplomat visited once more, his face more solemn than ever before. He formally and earnestly proposed that Yuki and Yuno evacuate this sector, which was about to turn into scorched earth, along with the non-combatants.
The two refused without a moment's hesitation.
"According to the Imperial calendar, it should be 952.M41 this year, right?"
"Has it actually been thirty years since we left Ender?"
Yuki was momentarily stunned. Ender...
"I almost forgot about it."
"That's going a bit far. Eleven is still sleeping in the underground cave right now."
"Then, our carefully played game of 'allies' should probably come to an end, shouldn't it?" Yuki's voice was very soft. His pupils constricted in the dim light as he looked at the planets on the star chart marked as "Terraformed."
Yuno leaned in with a giggle, her cool fingers brushing against Yuki's arm. "I see." Her tone was as relaxed as if they were discussing what to have for dinner, rather than a catastrophe that was about to sweep away billions of lives.
This was not just the betrayal of a single sector. Aside from the sector they were currently in, there were dozens of other "habitable planets" on other frontiers of the Tau Empire that had been terraformed using the core technology of the Tyranids. Prosperous colonies had been established on every single one of them, with proud Tau cities and defensive works standing tall. Fire Caste warriors patrolled, Earth Caste engineers built, and Water Caste diplomats and Ethereals performed their duties in management.
In total, billions of Tau, along with the fruits of the civilization they had built, were resting peacefully atop an incredibly massive trap woven by the Tyranids, completely oblivious to the truth.
The irony was that the astronomical amount of biomass the Tau had handed over to Yuki for these "terraforming projects" had undergone a secret conversion, becoming reserve resources for the Tyranid fleets and underground lurking units. The Tau Empire had used its own flesh and blood to feed the monster that was about to devour it.
Once Yuki sent that signal and initiated the final transformation, the Tyranids would instantly pour all stored resources into the ultimate conversion and outbreak of biomass. For the Tau on those planets, it would be an unimaginable, irresistible disaster. The ground would come alive to swallow them, the sky would be obscured by spore clouds, and their former "allies" would swarm out from the depths of the planet and from the shadows, utterly erasing them along with all their hopes.
"When do we start?" Yuno asked, the light of a predator flickering in her eyes.
"Fifteen days from now." Yuki calmly decided the death date for billions of lives, as if scheduling an ordinary trip. "We can start now, gradually awakening the children sleeping deep within the crust. When the Tyranid warship clusters from each sector emerge from their camouflage and assemble in space, that will be the moment we strike directly into the soft underbelly of the Tau Empire."
"Truly sinister," Yuno commented, though her tone was full of admiration.
Yuki turned his head, a smile that was warm as sunlight yet devoid of temperature blooming on his face. "That's what makes it interesting."
Yuki continued to explain, "If we can take down the Tau Empire, the scale of our fleet will directly surpass Hive Fleet Behemoth—it might even be larger than the fleets of the second and third Tyrannic Wars combined. At that point, we can strike directly at the Imperium, which has already been exhausted by its long struggle with the Tau. We might even give the Ultramarines a little surprise."
"If that's the case, what we bring to the Ultramarines might be more than just a 'little' surprise," Yuno remarked, quite enjoying the feeling. She looked out at the Tau outside. They had come to a new home and were working tirelessly, hoping to create a world of the Greater Good through their own efforts. They had absolutely no idea that they might be swallowed by the planet itself.
"Do you think the Tau have ever encountered this kind of betrayal before?"
"They have preparations, as you and I both know. However, they certainly didn't expect a scale this massive."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
"Let them all wake up."
In the night sky, Imperial forces had already unleashed their might upon adjacent sectors, and large numbers of Tau troops were being committed to the fray. The Tau Empire hoped to conduct a major battle here and severely cripple the Imperial forces. To this end, they had even dispatched countless Fire Caste warriors and a massive number of auxiliary troops.