"Mmm-phm... mmm..."
"Swallow your food before you try to speak."
Yuno struggled to gulp down the morsel of meat in her mouth; this particular physical form of hers was poorly suited for the act of eating. Yuki pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, then reached into the corpse of an Iron Warrior lying on the ground to extract its Gene-seed.
He had already dispatched seven Iron Warriors and countless Chaos cultists. The heap of bodies on the ground had begun to rot and stench, though as long as they were tossed into a reclamation pool, they remained usable organic matter. For months, they had been surviving in the wilderness, scouting for the ideal landing zones and funneling intelligence to the Krieg regiments. After all, the harder the Imperium and Chaos fought each other, the more profit they could reap from the middle.
"It's here."
"I feel it too," Yuki said, looking up at the sky. "I can even control the other body now."
As he spoke, the massive silhouettes of the Hive Fleet appeared in the upper atmosphere.
"To be honest, the earthquakes over these past few months have been quite a nuisance."
"Necessary growing pains," Yuki remarked.
High above, countless Mycetic Spores were piercing the atmosphere. Compared to the Imperial Navy and Chaos forces scattered across multiple objectives, the concentrated Tyranid swarm held a crushing numerical advantage.
"How much time do we have?"
Yuno did a quick mental tally. "The Shadow in the Warp has already crippled communication across the entire sector. News of what's happening here could take months to reach the outside, or it might never arrive at all. Theoretically, we have all the time we need."
"Once we're done eating here, we'll see if we can find an opportunity to consume other planets."
"Yuki, you might not realize this, but once I appear, the Chaos Space Marines and the Loyalists usually call a ceasefire to deal with us first. This has happened many times in the past."
"That is..." Yuki was momentarily speechless.
Thump!
A heavy impact shook the earth as a humanoid figure slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater. The bio-organic armor, resembling a Guyver suit, retracted into its body, revealing a face identical to Yuki's.
"Then let's speed things up a little."
...
The biological warships of the swarm systematically destroyed and devoured the remnants of the Imperial and Chaos fleets left over from their prior engagements. On the ground, the sudden emergence of the Hive Mind threw the Imperium's defensive plans into total disarray.
Through the Hive Mind, Yuki grasped the current state of the battlefield. In the open country, the swarm's offensive was relentless; the Krieg regiments and Planetary Defense Forces were being rapidly submerged. The only real resistance remained in a few major cities. These cities served as the agri-world's warehouses, tax hubs, administrative centers, and military strongholds. If the swarm wanted to fully harvest Hylia's resources, it had to take these bastions.
Yuki knew this well, but the defenses of these cities were formidable; several previous Iron Warrior assaults had failed to breach them. The only silver lining was that this planet lacked the presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus, meaning no Titans would suddenly appear to contest them.
Yuki stood atop a nascent Capillary Tower, gazing at the distant, sprawling city. This planet had developed for thousands of years, only to be utterly ruined by war in less than one. War—that was the fundamental logic of the Warhammer universe.
The trench where Yuki and Yuno had previously stayed had been destroyed in the fighting against Chaos. Reclamation pools were being established, and the true battle was about to begin. The Tyranids were ready.
Yuno stood beside Yuki as the swarm surged past beneath their feet. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "Interested in giving me some extra incentive for the coming fight?"
"It would be my pleasure."
With a flirtatious air, Yuno climbed onto Yuki's body. "Hehe."
...
Enos had received reinforcements: thirty Exorcists. Including those already on the planet, there were now fifty of them in total.
"Trying to stop a Tyranid invasion with just us is going to be more than just difficult," said the sergeant who had arrived with the reinforcements.
Enos worked hard to keep his emotions in check. He told the sergeant, "Communications are currently blocked by the Shadow in the Warp. Our only hope is that the Chapter notices our silence and sends a task force to investigate."
The sergeant looked at Enos. He wasn't a member of the same Orison as Enos; perhaps the man indeed possessed knowledge beyond his own. The Orisons were sub-organizations within the Exorcists Chapter—secret societies of Astartes who shared specific interests.
"So be it. My orders were to purge traitors, but since Xenos have appeared, I will purge them as well."
"Do not underestimate them."
"I understand, Brother Enos."
"We need to hold the entrance to the tunnels leading out. If holding it becomes impossible, we blow it."
"Issuing orders already, Enos? You'll make an excellent Chapter Master one day."
"Don't waste time, Sergeant."
The tunnel entrance was a primary gateway to the city, with hundreds of tracks capable of handling massive grain shipments. The sergeant commanded the remaining mortal soldiers and his own Exorcists to plant military-grade explosives on several key support pillars. He simply disliked Enos as a person, but he accepted the tactical validity of the plan.
"If we are on the verge of being overwhelmed and I cannot trigger the charges, the task falls to you," the sergeant said, handing the final detonator to a mortal officer before leading his Exorcists to the front.
"Come then, Xenos."
At the edge of his vision, countless grotesque creatures were sprinting forward. The sergeant made a decision almost instantly.
They had to blow it now. There was no way to hold against such numbers. He pressed the detonator without hesitation. He didn't care about traffic blockages or being trapped in a city cut off from the outside; those were acceptable costs.
The mortal soldiers and the other Astartes hadn't expected the explosives to be the opening move rather than a last resort. The deafening blast threw several soldiers who hadn't cleared the area back into the air. After a period of chaos, the debris and dust gradually settled.
Gazing at the now completely blocked passage, the sergeant believed he had made the correct choice. He chose not to fight a meaningless battle.
Until he saw a massive boulder being heaved aside. A colossal hive creature forced a path open, and countless Tyranids charged again, trampling over the corpses of their own kind.
"Open fire! Take down that big one!"
In the end, combat was unavoidable.