The news of the Tyranid Swarm invasion quickly put Zeke on high alert; although the main Tyranid Swarm forces had not yet arrived, their vanguard had already reached.
A command from Zeke on Terra was transmitted to the Dominion fleet in the Segmentum Obscurus.
Although the main Tyranid Swarm forces had not yet arrived, the appearance of their splinter fleets did require attention.
A small patrol fleet, consisting of one battleship, four cruisers, and eight destroyers, began to move towards the edge of the Segmentum Obscurus.
They activated their jump drives, and in four days, the fleet would arrive at the location needing support to assist the Imperium of Man's worlds.
Accompanying them was a newly constructed colossus, a colossal weapon designed for planetary use, of which 14 had now been built.
These colossus weapons were specifically built to counter the Tyranid Swarm; they would be responsible for purifying planets colonized by the Tyranid Swarm, with neutron floods cleansing them.
No one could guarantee that Keltaros would not be overrun by the Tyranid Swarm within four days; if that planet were indeed taken by the Tyranid Swarm, then a neutron flood would thoroughly scour it.
In addition, an Imperial Army combat unit also began its jump alongside this fleet.
If that planet could still be saved, then the Dominion Imperial Army would conduct an orbital drop to provide support.
Zeke, who was rapidly developing, had his attention drawn back to the Tyranid Swarm; his first Ecumenopolis world had already been completed, and he was now constructing a megastructure.
Ecumenopolis!
An Ecumenopolis comes with a Star Gate and includes four Hive Cities.
It also produces large quantities of energy alloys and research points.
This was far better than a single Ecumenopolis; Zeke typically wouldn't terraform planets into Hive Cities, preferring to directly construct these megastructures.
Ecumenopolis, if an Ecumenopolis means we merge the world into one city to become a world, then an Ecumenopolis is entirely different.
With four Hive Cities and abundant output, it absolutely qualifies as a farming artifact.
The Terran Dominion's response speed was very fast, but before that, the local Imperial Army needed to hold out.
When the Tyranid Swarm fleet arrived, the local Imperium of Man Deathwatch had already detected these bugs.
The Deathwatch is a highly specialized Space Marines unit, subordinate to the Xenos Inquisition, specifically designed to counter deadly threats from alien races.
While the Terran Dominion's fleet and House Yaeger's fleet had not yet fully assumed control and defense of the Segmentum Obscurus, the Deathwatch became the best guardians of the frontier planets.
These were special operations squads specifically for combating Xenos and solar Tyranid Swarm.
As soon as the Tyranid Swarm appeared, the Deathwatch detected them and immediately dispatched a combat squad, and among these Space Marines was a powerful presence.
Titus!
An Ultramarines of the Imperium of Man, this guy was absolutely a household name; even Zeke had heard of him.
With such a person present, it was possible that this planet could indeed be saved.
Before the bugs arrived, Titus had already led his squad to the planet's surface and detonated a virus bomb, thereby delaying the Tyranid Swarm's advance.
The direct assault of the Tyranid Swarm was curbed, while the local Astra Militarum and planetary Defence Force began to defend with all their might.
Cadia's troops were stationed here; these glorious Cadia forces, not having participated in battles on Cadia, maintained their organizational integrity relatively well.
The Tyranid Swarm, like a tide, crashed against these Astra Militarum, launching a furious assault.
Keltaros's sky was shrouded by the shadows of the Tyranid Swarm fleet, spore clouds obscured the light of the star, dyeing the ground a sickly dark green.
Titus and his Deathwatch squad had already landed on the planet's surface.
The virus bomb they detonated tore a gap in the Tyranid Swarm vanguard, but everyone knew this was only a temporary reprieve.
The Cadia Astra Militarum defense line relied on the colossal fortress of the planet's capital; towering plasma gun turrets and laser defense arrays continuously poured firepower into the sky, attempting to shoot down the spore sacs descending from orbit.
However, the Tyranid Swarm's bio-cannons had already exploded on the surface, and countless blade and gun Tyranid Swarm surged forth like a tide, devouring all living things.
Of course, this was merely the vanguard and a small-scale force of the Tyranid Swarm, but for the Imperial Army stationed here, it was not so.
Because Zeke's side had too much food, the Tyranid Swarm sensed this abundance.
To show respect for the food, the small-scale vanguard they dispatched was not weak at all.
This Tyranid Swarm invasion was just the beginning, already equivalent to a full-scale Tyranid Swarm invasion of the past.
The virus bomb detonated by Titus and his companions only delayed these bugs for less than 30 minutes; they had already fully adapted, then dropped even more spores.
"Hold the line! For the Emperor!"
— The roar of the Cadia officer was quickly drowned out by the screams of the Tyranid Swarm.
Titus stood at the forefront of the defense line, his bolter accurately shattering the heads of one Tyranid Swarm warrior after another.
Behind him, the Deathwatch warriors each employed their Chapters' unique tactics:
A Space Wolf Warrior wielded a power axe, carving a bloody path through the Tyranid Swarm;
A Raven Guard stealthily moved in the shadows, precisely picking off the Tyranid Swarm's neural nodes with a sniper rifle;
An Iron Hand's mechanical arm was equipped with a heavy flamer, incinerating swathes of the Tyranid Swarm.
But the sheer number of the Tyranid Swarm was too great, and the defense line was gradually being eroded.
What could four Space Marines do?
They were indeed powerful. But in the face of large-scale warfare, the special operations of the Deathwatch could not achieve much.
To truly stop the Tyranid Swarm invasion, there was only one thing to rely on, and that was powerful firepower.
Powerful firepower needed to rely on powerful firepower, but the Imperium of Man's forces clearly no longer had powerful firepower to rely on at this moment.
This was merely a frontier planet; if the Imperium of Man had not detected the imminent Tyranid Swarm invasion here, there might not even have been Cadia troops present.
The local planetary Defence Force was pitifully poor; many of their units didn't even have plasma guns, some still used auto-guns.
This was the true face of this dark universe; this universe had always remained dark.
People in this universe could only struggle to survive.
They had virtually no future; merely staying alive required all their strength, and ordinary gunpowder weapons and automatic weapons were largely ineffective against the Tyranid Swarm.
The front lines on the planet were continuously collapsing.
The Tyranid Swarm's attack was powerful, even terrifying.
Titus's four-man squad had done everything Space Marines could, doing their best to stop the tyranid attack on Kaeltharos.
Four Space Marines went on a rampage amidst the swarm, their bolters and chainswords constantly tearing the tyranids in front of them into pieces.
Wherever Space Marines arrived, the tyranid assault was often halted.
However, the hive fleet's hive ships were not so easily dealt with.
Kaeltharos was the outermost planet in the Imperium's Murky Sector, a world not only disregarded by the Imperium.
Furthermore, this planet was not an original colony of the Murky Sector during the period when the Yaeger family governed the sector.
This resulted in the planet's defenses being extremely weak.
Normally, Imperial worlds in the Murky Sector were equipped with numerous orbital cannons capable of attacking hive ships, but this planet was different; it only had one orbital cannon complex.
The total number of orbital cannons was a mere eight, and these eight orbital cannons had already fallen.
If Titus's squad wanted to hold out, their best option would be to reclaim the orbital cannons.
But this was not Titus's squad from the 40k space marine game, where Titus's squad received aid from the Ultramarines Chapter's Second Company. Here, however... here he had no such aid. He only had his few Deathwatch comrades by his side.
They did not have a full company of a Chapter backing them up.
Nor did they have a battle barge.
When they arrived on this planet, when the Emperor's Angels came to save the Emperor's people, they had no reinforcements.
"Titus, this area can't be held any longer. Cover the retreat!"
"I'm afraid we won't last until Imperial reinforcements arrive!"
One of the Deathwatch Space Marines, a Space Wolf, couldn't help but feel pessimistic.
In this short time, more than half of the planet had fallen. Soon, following the planetary governor's orders, they would retreat to the last hive city at the planet's northernmost pole to make their final stand.
Normally, if such an event occurred, the planet would essentially be lost, and the planetary governor's actions could only be described as a desperate struggle.
But even though this was the very edge of the galaxy, they had also seen the live broadcast from Terra.
They had also witnessed the Imperium launching another crusade, broadcast live. All of this gave the Imperial forces on this planet the morale to continue fighting.
Yet, the Space Marines knew the Imperium's efficiency. Even if the Imperium sent a crusade, what then?
Would a crusade come to such an ordinary planet, one without strategic significance and with only 18 billion people?
They were all Imperial soldiers; they were the best of the Imperial military.
Therefore, they clearly understood that the crusade would not prioritize coming to their aid. This crusade's primary objective was to defeat chaos first.
Only then would there be time to deal with the tyranid threat.
As a former captain of the Ultramarines Second Company, Titus naturally understood this point.
Though somewhat reluctant, he still spoke, "If that's the case, then we retreat. But this will ultimately lead to failure unless we can retake the orbital cannons!"
"Otherwise, we have no way to deal with those hive ships above us."
Titus's voice on the comms was exceptionally heavy.
He looked up at the sky, obscured by spore clouds, where the colossal hive ships hung like rotting fruit in orbit, constantly dropping more spore pods and bio-cannons.
"The orbital cannon emplacements have fallen, but if we can retake them, we can at least buy some time."
Titus adjusted the power output of his plasma pistol.
His gaze swept over his comrades. "The Imperial crusade may not prioritize supporting us here, but defending this place is our duty and responsibility.
As long as we can hold out for one more day, there's one more day for Imperial forces to potentially arrive here for support."
This was why Zeke had chosen to broadcast directly across the entire galaxy, so that all Imperial worlds would clearly know that the Imperial armies had already set out.
As long as they could hold on, hold on steadfastly, there would be a way.
Even if they only held out for one more day, they would have one more day of hope for survival, because the true power to solve the problem was already on its way.
"For the Emperor!" The Iron Hand warrior's bionic arm whirred with hydraulic sounds. "At least this time, as long as we can hold on, there is hope."
Who could pour cold water on them at such a time? Even if they knew that, given the administrative efficiency of the Imperial Administratum, what they might receive might not necessarily be hope.
The crusade fleet had indeed departed, but their planet was on the edge of the Murky Sector, a valueless world. The Administratum bureaucrats would probably still be bickering over this matter.
However—
Bickering was the Administratum's business, not theirs as Space Marines. If there was hope, they would persevere.
Not only for themselves but also for the Imperial citizens on this planet.
"Colonel Akkar, this is Titus of the Deathwatch. I need your Cadian 16th Regiment to organize troops to prepare to retake the orbital cannons."
"To stop these tyranids, we must retake the orbital cannons!"
Titus's comms crackled with static, then Colonel Akkar's hoarse voice, commander of the Cadian 16th, responded.
"Received, Lord Titus. But I only have three companies of troops left that can be mobilized to assist your attack.
And—" A booming explosion sounded from the other end of the comms. "—the swarm has breached the eastern defensive line!"
"These three companies must be diverted to the east to withstand these swarming attacks. We need to buy time for the troops to retreat; there's no way to launch a counterattack."
"Hold on, Colonel." Titus chambered a round in his bolter and turned to give orders to the Deathwatch squad.
"We'll split up.
Kartula, you're from the Raven Guard. You're responsible for going ahead and clearing the tyranid nodes in the orbital cannon control center.
Diacalis, you're from the Iron Hands. You'll go with Kartula, entering the orbital cannon structure first to see if you can attempt to repair the turret systems.
Tokbo, I know you're from the Space Wolves. You'll come with me to support the Cadians."
As Titus issued his commands, his comrades listened. Having served together for over 100 years, they naturally knew which Chapter each of their companions came from.
The squad members quickly dispersed. Titus and the Space Wolf warrior moved through the burning ruins, killing hundreds of Rippers attempting to intercept them along the way.
When they reached the eastern defensive line, the sight was suffocating.
Cadian soldiers were engaged in close-quarters combat with the swarm using bayonets and entrenching tools, the positions piled high with human and tyranid corpses.
The sheer number of tyranids was so great that the Cadian soldiers' power cells were completely depleted.
"For Cadia!" Colonel Akkar swung his power sword, splitting open the head of a Termagant, but his left arm was already a bloody mess, corroded by tyranid acid.
Titus wasted no words and leaped directly into the fray.
His plasma pistol precisely pierced the heads of several tyranid warriors, and the roar of his bolter erupted in bursts of blood mist within the swarm.
The Space Wolf warrior, meanwhile, roared as he charged into the enemy ranks, his power axe unleashing a storm of blood and gore among the tyranids.
"Colonel, I need you to organize your remaining forces and prepare to counterattack the orbital cannon emplacements."
Titus shouted as he fought, "Although we don't know if the crusade fleet will support us, we must buy time for ourselves."
"Right now, only we can save ourselves. If we can't retake the orbital cannons, then even if the crusade fleet arrives, they'll only be able to use Exterminatus."