†This is the Imperium I remember—the Imperium that sacrifices everything for victory.†
Sacrifice is the Imperium's cornerstone. Imperial officers don't dream of 'victory without sacrificing a single soldier.' Such dreams only exist in the whispers of Warp entities.
War always brings casualties. Those who sacrifice for the Imperium never die in vain.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!!"
After the brief chaos, an Imperial Commissar raised his chainsword high, leading soldiers in another charge.
Such fearless spirit.
However...
This was merely cover for the real attack. Deep beneath the planet's surface, massive worm-like creatures were rapidly burrowing, their destination—the Imperial ground force command post.
This command post was heavily defended. Various armored vehicles, tanks, and artillery were positioned, ready to unleash Imperial firepower on any enemy attempting to breach.
But the Zerg Swarm had faced Terran Dominion sieged positions countless times in the Koprulu Sector.
Urbanization?
The best counter was naturally the Nydus Worm.
But before the Nydus Worm surfaced, the Imperial fleet in near orbit was already under attack by Mutalisks, Scourge, and Devourers.
This time, the Overmind was prepared—unlike the previous Tyranid fleet encounter. It had amassed a sky-blotting swarm of Scourge, aiming to cripple this fleet in one wave.
Aside from that Emperor-class battleship, the Overmind was confident it could overload the other four ships instantly.
"Here they come!"
Frank had been waiting since returning to the command bridge. He knew those bugs weren't as simple as they appeared. Now, his suspicion was confirmed.
On the auspex array before him, countless Zerg units appeared. But the enemy lacked large capital ships. The largest were Guardians and Devourers—flying creatures around a hundred meters long, tiny compared to Imperial ships.
No matter. The main assault force was the Scourge anyway.
"Activate Void Shields! All hands, battle stations!"
"Macro-cannons, lance batteries—ready to load!"
"Torpedoes loaded!"
"Void Shields active. Machine Spirit functions stable."
"By the Emperor! Let these bugs, who dare defy Imperial might, feel the Emperor's wrath!!!"
The longest-range weapons, the lance batteries, fired first. These immensely powerful beam weapons could overload small Void Shields in an instant and possessed formidable armor penetration.
Golden beams lanced out, targeting the largest Zerg aerial units—the Guardians. A massive beam engulfed an unfortunate Guardian, completely vaporizing it.
The beam's mere residual energy evaporated every Zerg unit along its path.
Numerous Scourge were prematurely detonated, wasted.
And this was just the lance strike. As the Zerg swarm closed in, torpedoes launched, streaking into their midst before erupting in violent plasma explosions—brilliant blue fire blooming in the void.
Incidentally, torpedoes carried various warheads. Frank's fleet employed plasma warheads.
Another wave of Mutalisks and Scourge were destroyed prematurely, but some successfully closed on the ships.
Then came the most terrifying part.
The Imperial ships' macro-cannons and weapon batteries opened fire simultaneously, unleashing an unprecedentedly dense fire net. The broadside macro-cannon arrays, especially, fired like shotguns—each salvo a breathtaking burst of shrapnel.
Just the combined broadsides of the Lunar-class cruisers and Emperor-class battleship made Scourge approach nearly impossible. Hundreds of Scourge might be lost for every successful hit.
But the Overmind remained utterly calm.
Even if one Scourge in hundreds—or thousands—successfully struck an Imperial ship, it was still a net gain.
Scourge were simply too cheap. No loss was mourned.
And a single Scourge could destroy one macro-cannon. Given enough Scourge, all turrets would eventually fall silent. The rest was just opening a can.
†My Scourge are endless. Your turrets are dying every moment. What can you fight me with?†
Incidentally, despite their power, Scourge were fragile. In the original StarCraft setting, many were shot down approaching Terran ships. Achieving kills with just a few Scourge was unrealistic.
Unless those Scourge were cheating—invincible, 100% evasion, ignoring point-defense. Then the Overmind might claim millions of Scourge could destroy the Phalanx.
Realistically, engaging an Imperial fortress like the Phalanx would require Scourge in the trillions.
That thing not only had shields; when fully armed, it laid down fire from every angle. Whether Scourge could even approach was questionable.
"Has the Machine Spirit analyzed these creatures' characteristics?"
"Analysis complete!"
Before Frank, data on several Zerg aerial units appeared—the ship's Machine Spirit core inferring enemy unit traits based on combat data.
Mutalisks seemed unremarkable, high-speed flight aside.
Devourers' long-range corrosive spore spit posed some threat but were too few; Frank assessed low risk.
Guardians' acid globs were high-threat, capable of destroying macro-cannons in one hit. Priority target.
Then the most numerous, most fragile, yet most damaging—Scourge. These swift, powerful kamikaze weapons ranked highest in Frank's threat assessment, above Devourers and Guardians.
"So many! How can there be so many?!"
This was the advantage of two Scourge per Larva—not just cheap, but unparalleled production volume.
"Upper deck macro-cannon 13 is jammed! Send a team to clear it!"
"Lunar-class Veritas—Void Shield nearing overload! Adjust formation! Avoid overload!"
"Strike group 7 returning! Heavy damage! Repairs needed!"
Despite bringing five ships, the current engagement far exceeded Frank's expectations. These bug-like creatures seemed to have specifically targeted their fleet.
But the situation was still containable.
"What's the status of ground forces?"
"Confirming. They're also under massive attack. Unlike before, numerous variants have appeared. And..."
"And what?"
"And they're attacking from underground! They've breached the ground command post's defenses! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!"