A massive fleet consisting of dozens of gargantuan Leviathans, surrounded by tens of thousands of Zerg aerial escort units, was in full pursuit of a Tyranid Hive Fleet fleeing in panic.
In the gloom of the starry void, the shrieks of the Zerg Swarm and the dull thrumming of Tyranid bio-ship engines intertwined into a symphony of death.
This fleeing Tyranid Hive Fleet was not particularly large; its main bio-ships numbered only about a dozen, and their physical size could not compare to the primary Leviathans of the Zerg Swarm. In the previous battle for the Hive World, they had been caught off guard by the Overmind's Leviathan fleet and suffered heavy losses.
Bio-plasmic cannons from the Leviathans tore through the sea of stars, shredding the trailing small Tyranid bio-ships into fragments. Sprays of biomass erupted into the vacuum, only to be greedily pulled back into the digestive chambers of the Zerg Leviathans by trailing boarding tentacles.
The Corruptors moved like a swarm of mosquitoes; their collective attacks made it difficult even for Tyranid bio-ships over several kilometers long to hold out.
"Think you can run?"
In the eyes of the Overmind, these Tyranid fleets were already nothing more than biomass waiting to be slaughtered.
However, as the pursuit continued, the Overmind realized he had overextended himself.
A planet appeared ahead. The outskirts of this world were also surrounded by a staggering number of Tyranid Hive ships. The planet itself had turned a sickly purple-black; clearly, it was in the final stages of being consumed by the Tyranids.
This newly encountered fleet possessed a cold, alternating purple and white luster. The morphology of their bio-ships differed slightly from those encountered previously, featuring more sinister and prominent battering rams.
"Holy crap, is this really going to be 'aliens guarding the gate' now?"
What appeared in the Overmind's field of vision was a Tyranid bio-fleet of immense proportions—its scale far exceeding that of a standard splinter fleet. It was even larger than the non-assembled state of the Tiamet Hive Fleet the Overmind had encountered before.
In the galaxy, only one branch of the Tyranid Hive Mind possessed a scale this massive.
Don't tell me I've run into a primary splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan.
The very Hive Fleet that had devoured a large portion of the Ultima Segmentum and nearly consumed Baal, the homeworld of the Blood Angels, was now right before the Overmind's eyes.
The number of newly appeared silver-white bio-ships exceeded a thousand. Among them, there were no fewer than fifty vessels comparable to or larger than a battleship, with body lengths exceeding twenty kilometers—enough to rival the Imperial Gloriana-class battleships.
Even more heart-stopping were the several behemoths in the center of the fleet. Their lengths were conservatively estimated to be over a hundred kilometers, causing even the Overmind's heart to shudder.
"Are you kidding me?! Ancient Ships? And multiple individuals at that."
A single Ancient Ship was lethal enough; the one encountered at the Eldar Craftworld previously had given the Overmind quite a hard time. This time, there were several.
Did I just stumble into the main force of Hive Fleet Leviathan?
In a sense, yes. This was indeed the Tyranid Leviathan fleet that would cause massive trouble for the Ultima Segmentum in the future.
At that moment, the Overmind noticed that the fleeing Tyranid fleet was being attacked by this massive host. Indeed, Tyranids attacking each other was part of their nature. However, the power gap between the two sides was too great. It didn't even require the effort of the majority of the bio-ships; only a dozen or so moved out to crush the routed Tyranid vessels.
These Tyranid ships, known as "Narvhals," thrust their tentacles deep into the corpses of the bio-ships and began dissolving the flesh into an easily absorbable nutrient solution. These nutrients were drawn into the bio-ships for storage. Even the Norn Queen of the defeated fleet was devoured. Her memories, her gene bank, and her everything were absorbed by the new Tyranid fleet.
"This is starting to look a bit like the Primal Zerg..."
The Overmind knew he was in trouble. Previously, he had never let a Tyranid bio-fleet escape, which prevented their gene bank from being improved. But now, this massive fleet had absorbed a Norn Queen. It was foreseeable that the Tyranids would likely evolve units specifically designed to counter the Zerg Swarm.
"To fight or to withdraw?"
Overlords scanned the void, trying to discern exactly how many bio-ships the enemy had, but there were too many; they couldn't even see the end of the formation. Furthermore, the Tyranids had already detected the Zerg fleet and were moving toward the Leviathans.
"No, I can't fight this!"
The Overmind immediately ordered the Zerg fleet to retreat. You had to be joking—he had no intention of "guarding the gate" for the Emperor.
This fleet was undoubtedly one of significant historical importance in the Warhammer 40K timeline. If the Zerg Swarm wiped them out, the Imperium would have the spare capacity to turn around and fight the Zerg. Not only would he have to fight a high-difficulty campaign, but he'd also have to do it twice. He wasn't stupid.
He could fight these numbers, but like the encounter with Hive Fleet Tiamet, it would turn into a war of attrition with no guarantee of victory. Only a fool would engage.
Norn Queens could do the math, and the Overmind could too. The battle against Tiamet was worth it because of the Tiamet system; capturing it provided stable colony planets. With the Zerg's resource collection speed, he could recoup his losses quickly. But this time, there were no stable colony planets as a reward. It would be a total loss.
"Why the hell would I fight a losing battle? Retreat!!!"
However, retreating wasn't going to be easy. While Leviathans could travel at FTL speeds and perform short-range warps, acceleration took time. That window gave the Tyranid fleet an opening. Charging at the front were not the one-kilometer-long bio-ships, but one of the Ancient Ships. Its acceleration seemed at odds with its massive size.
"So fast!"
A thick, massive tentacle suddenly erupted from the Ancient Ship, crossing a distance of potentially thousands of kilometers and slamming into a Leviathan. The Leviathan's psionic shield was actually pierced in a single strike, which caught the Overmind off guard. Then again, the Leviathan's psionic strength was only Level 10, so a breach wasn't entirely unexpected.
The biological armor didn't hold either? This thing's attack power is insane.
There was no helping it; the size difference was too vast. The Leviathan's stats didn't overpower Tyranid bio-ships by an overwhelming margin, and given that this Ancient Ship was larger than the Spear of Adun, its immense combat power wasn't surprising. Even the Spear of Adun wouldn't be able to escape if it were snagged—well, unless its power went out.
The Overmind felt a headache coming on.
"Tsk... how obnoxious."
It was indeed obnoxious. This fleet would soon be capable of thrashing both the Human Imperium and the Orks in the Ultima Segmentum. With the Overmind's current forces, he could win, but he refused to fight an unprofitable war.
Time to go.
After losing one Leviathan, the remaining Leviathans accelerated and successfully disengaged from the battlefield.