Leaving Ajali's tragic tale aside for now.
Simultaneously, across several "terraformed" colony worlds within the Tau Empire, similar scenes of horror were unfolding in synchronization. Settlements that were once peaceful and prosperous turned into blood-soaked hells within a few Terran hours. Tyranid organisms swarmed from beneath the ground, from the forests, and even from within buildings, efficiently harvesting all organic matter—whether they were Tau, Human Auxiliaries, or the very flora that had been grown specifically to feed them.
On the Tau warships stationed in orbit around these planets, internal communication channels were instantly flooded with panic and confusion.
"What is happening? Life sign readings for Colony Seven are shifting drastically! A massive number of signals have suddenly vanished! What have they encountered?"
"Is it a sensor malfunction caused by nearby solar flares or gravitational anomalies? Other planets are reporting similar situations!" another voice responded urgently, trying to find a logical explanation.
"Negative! All environmental monitoring data shows exceptionally stable stellar activity, and space is perfectly calm. It must be an unknown, extremely severe issue within the colony itself!"
The Earth Caste quickly ruled out natural interference, but this conclusion made the situation seem even more eerie and dangerous.
"Attempt to contact the colonial administrative center! Reach out to the stationed Fire Caste command! Any channel that can get through!"
"Apology, Commander! All communication attempts are unresponsive! Regular channels, encrypted links, emergency backups—all are... dead silent."
"Immediately dispatch all available recon squads to land and investigate! We need to know exactly what is happening on the ground!"
"Already done, Commander. Three recon squads are entering the atmosphere of Colony Seven from different vectors—"
Several standard Terran days passed in anxious waiting.
"Report! Signal from Recon One has vanished! The last transmitted imagery showed—monsters everywhere!"
"Recon Two lost contact!"
"Recon Three—wiped out!"
A deathly silence enveloped everyone on the bridge. The holographic projectors played blurred footage captured in the final moments: twisted organisms tearing through advanced XV battlesuits, acid corroding metal, and the surface of the entire city losing vitality at a visible rate, covered by a layer of grey, hardened matter.
"What on earth is happening down there?" the commander muttered to himself, almost unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
"Unknown, Commander. But according to remote spectral and geological scans, the surface environments of these planets are deteriorating rapidly. Vegetation is wilting and dying instantly; soil and city ruins are—they are rapidly disappearing, as if the entire planet's vitality is being drained in a single moment!"
A terrifying thought formed in the commander's mind, and he almost roared his next command: "Could it be—the 'terraforming' technology of those serpent-folk? Immediately broadcast a maximum-level alert and all data to the Ethereal Council and the Empire's Emergency Response Force! We ne—"
Before he could finish, a sharper, more piercing alarm echoed through the bridge.
"Attention! High-energy reactions detected on the planetary surface! Massive—massive numbers of unidentified bio-signals are breaking free from the planet's gravity! They are entering space!"
On the viewports and sensors of the Tau warships, a sight appeared that made their skin crawl. Like a meteor shower in reverse, countless Tyranid organisms of varying forms and sizes were rising densely from the planet's surface, boldly intruding into the void.
After breaking through the atmosphere, they did not scatter in disorder. Instead, as if pulled by an invisible hand, they began to converge, combine, and splice together in several predetermined zones of space.
Within a few hours, under the horrified gaze of the Tau fleet, several massive Hive Fleets of unprecedented scale—composed entirely of living warships—materialized in the sea of stars like behemoths conjured from a nightmare. Their bodies were twisted and hideous, their mass and various data points instantly crushing all Tau Empire warships stationed there.
Their objective was unmistakably clear: to deal with the buzzing "flies" in orbit that might disturb their "digestion" of the planetary feast.
The battle—or rather, the slaughter—began.
The Tau fleet fired first, attempting to seize the initiative. Pulse beams and ion bursts rained down on the nearest Tyranid bio-ships like a violent storm, blowing chunks of disgusting organic tissue off their thick carapaces. Several smaller Tyranid vessels disintegrated under the concentrated fire, turning into space debris.
However, this only served to enrage the swarm. The Hive Fleet responded; without complex formation changes, they simply surged forward like a tide. Biological void shields blocked the missiles and pulses fired by the Tau. Dense clusters of acid-sludge cannons and boarding pods were launched like swarms of bees, ignoring the Tau warships' point-defense systems. With staggering numbers and suicidal impacts, they slammed into the void shields, triggering violent ripples.
Acid spore sacs exploded on the hull plating like lethal pustules, and highly corrosive slime began to hiss as it devoured the metal. The void shields of a Tau escort collapsed under the overload, and it was instantly ensnared by the massive biological tentacles of several battleship-class beasts. The tentacles tightened like giant pythons; the ship's structure groaned audibly before snapping silently into two pieces in the vacuum, throwing the internal gases and crew into the cold void.
"Port shields failing! Structural integrity down to thirty percent!"
"We've been boarded! Repeat, small organisms have breached the airlocks, they are entering—AAUGH!!"
The communication channels were filled with chaotic reports and death rattles.
Even the battleship housing the Tau fleet commander did not escape. A massive bio-plasma burst punched through its engine array, causing the warship to lose power and drift across the battlefield like a dead fish. Through the observation window, the commander could see countless smaller harvester ships clinging to the hull like leeches, using their strong acidic mouthparts and drilling tentacles to frantically tear open the armor and bore into the ship's interior.
He knew exactly what kind of hell the crew inside was experiencing.
"For the—Greater Good..."
The commander sent out one last blurred message in despair. Moments later, his bridge was completely pulverized by a giant, scythe-like limb that smashed through the wall.
Dozens of planets modified by Yuki and Yuno's Tyranid technology had provided the Hive Fleet with a massive amount of organic matter. Compared to when they first arrived, the scale of the Aether Fleet had already doubled—and that was before they had even finished eating. Once these planets, treated as granaries, were stripped clean, the number of Tyranid ships would reach a terrifying level.