In the morning, Li Feng stretched and walked out of his tent. He was wearing armor and a helmet today, fully armed, and the unfamiliar rifle on his back drew the attention of many Soldiers.
As soon as Li Feng emerged from the tent, he saw Commissar Cain already waiting at the entrance. He was sitting on a folding chair, holding a tanna tea, and had been there for a while.
Li Feng looked around at the many anti-aircraft guns and defensive weapons that had been set up and nodded. Commissar Cain also stood up and walked over to Li Feng.
"How did you sleep last night?"
"Pretty good, it's just the desert has a huge temperature difference between day and night, I almost caught a cold."
Hearing Li Feng's words, Cain chuckled twice, then said: "We were originally supposed to break camp and leave this planet today, but as you can see, there might be some unexpected situations."
Li Feng nodded, then said: "It's fine, I don't mind staying a few more days."
Then Cain's tone shifted, and he said: "What you said yesterday... do you know something?"
"Know what?"
"About danger possibly approaching."
Li Feng pondered for a moment. He couldn't very well say, 'I read about it in a novel centered around you, could he?' Li Feng just nodded, then said something ambiguous:
"A man's intuition? But, I see you've already started preparing."
Li Feng's words clearly didn't sway Cain. Cain continued to ask: "Why tell me? I am an Imperial Commissar, and even though I'm a new Commissar, I could still execute you on the spot for such suspicious behavior."
"Because you're a good person."
Li Feng's answer made Cain laugh outright. A good person? Cain grinned, shook his head, and put his hands on his hips, saying: "It seems your understanding of me is rather one-sided... Don't think that just because I brought you back, arranged accommodation for you, and had someone contact Terra, I am..."
Li Feng interrupted Cain's speech at this point, an act completely impossible for an Imperial citizen to interrupt a Commissar... "A gentleman judges by actions, not by intentions; if judged by intentions, no one is perfect. Although I don't know how you see yourself, in my impression, Caiaphas Cain, Imperial Commissar... you are a good person."
Cain knew the conversation couldn't continue, so he chuckled and said: "Alright then, this 'good person' Commissar might need to charge you some 'room fees.' We need to go near the landing pad; a transport ship has arrived, and we're short on hands for moving things. You come and help too."
...At the landing pad,
Li Feng, Yugen, and several Soldiers were moving boxes. Commissar Cain and the officer corps were talking to the transport ship's captain when Cain's greatest fear still came true.
The captain looked very well, was rather stout, and clearly uncomfortable talking to a group of Imperial Army officers.
"We're the only ship in orbit, and we weren't supposed to arrive until next week."
The captain shrugged and continued: "We're lucky. The Warp currents aren't as strong as usual."
"Or something massive is affecting it," Cain immediately replied instinctively, but then instantly felt foolish for saying it.
The captain was no fool: "Commissar?"
"A large naval formation is approaching to pick us up."
Cain could only brush it off with a vague excuse. Just as the captain was about to say something, his navigator cut in.
"We've detected Warp entries. A whole bunch of them!"
"A naval fleet?"
Adjutant Divas said hopefully at this moment.
"The augur readings are all wrong. They don't look like ships at all..."
"Bio-ships!"
Colonel Lao Mo's face turned ashen: "Tyranids?"
At this moment, everyone knew that not many things could cast such a huge shadow in the Warp, and coupled with the Genestealers constantly spreading in nearby star systems, it didn't take the legendary Inquisitor Kryptman to help these Imperial Army gentlemen confirm what was happening.
(Kryptman was an Inquisitor of the Inquisition who discovered and named the Tyranids. During the Third Tyranid invasion, he cleverly diverted the Tyranid fleet into Ork territory, saving the entire Imperium of Man.)
Cain immediately said to the captain: "Your ship has now been requisitioned by the Department of Military Affairs. You are not to leave this orbit unless you receive further instructions! Understand?!"
The captain nodded gloomily, then turned to issue commands to his crew.
"But what do you need a cargo ship for?"
The captain stared at Cain: "Are you planning to abandon us, Commissar?"
Although that was what Cain was thinking, he merely smiled faintly, pretending to take his words as a little joke:
"Don't think I haven't considered doing that, but I'm afraid we're stuck here."
Cain then activated his tactical display. Amidst a continuous series of clicks, the search systems of the Hydra anti-aircraft guns outside were activated, searching for the first spores entering the atmosphere. Red dots began to appear on the screen, showing the landing points of the first wave.
Then, the entire sky above them rained down a continuous swarm of Tyranids, and the flashes of gunfire constantly intercepted the seemingly endless spores.
The only thing that comforted Cain was that the creatures were gathering in the areas with the most biomass, which was where the Legion's main forces were huddled.
Let others die, not me! This should buy them some time.
"From what direction will they appear! What should we do!" Adjutant Divas asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
Cain immediately adopted the calm demeanor of an authority figure, drawing his chainsword with his right hand and holding his bolter with his left, fully assuming the posture of a Commissar.
Move aside! I'm about to show off!
Cain thought so, but Li Feng's words interrupted his grandstanding. Li Feng had somehow gotten close to the tactical panel and, looking at the data, said:
"Tyranids, bloody and brutal, their purpose is to eat. They will go where there are many people, so the large mass up there should be suffering now. And looking at the sky, there are about a hundred Tyranid ships, which can pretty much eat this planet clean. However, they are nothing to fear, just treat them as the bug version of Greenskins."
Colonel Lao Mo and several officers were about to say, "Where did this kid come from?" but Cain added: "He's right. We need the transport ship to evacuate the nearly 250,000 people in the nearby mining colony, otherwise, this place will become a buffet."
"Is one ship enough?" several officers asked, to which Cain replied:
"Although the holds will be terribly crowded, it's better than being eaten by creatures."
At this point, Adjutant Divas immediately took his men and rushed towards the vicinity of the mine to evacuate the civilians. Divas's gaze towards Cain also became filled with admiration, and Cain patted his back, offering encouragement.
Shortly after Divas left, Cain explained to Lao Mo:
"We don't have enough time. Even if they use all the shuttles they can find, it will take a full day for everyone to board the cargo ship." Cain said, pointing to the Tyranid main force.
"Right now, these creatures are here, engaging our main forces. But if they notice the colony..."
"Or wipe out our main regiment."
"They will head west. Then we need to hold them off for as long as possible."
...As earthshaker cannons roared from the positions, the 12th Valhalla Field Artillery Regiment tried to tip the scales as much as possible.
To everyone's surprise, Lao Mo reached out, clasped Cain's hands tightly, and shook them vigorously.
"You're a good man, Commissar."
Upon hearing this, Cain's expression froze. Why did that sound so familiar?
Li Feng, who was nearby studying the structure of the heavy bolter in Yugen's hand, shrugged, making an expression that said:
"See, what did I tell you?"
Cain sighed. He had done everything he could. Now, the only thing left to do was wait, watching the continuous red dots appear in the eastern desert, amazed by the tenacity of those troops.
Even Colonel Lao Mo had thought they would be completely annihilated within a few hours, but in fact, they were stubbornly defending their positions, even recapturing several lost areas. Nevertheless, the continuous rain of spores from the sky brought an endless stream of reinforcements; they were merely delaying their inevitable demise.