Inside an orbital command post in the Upper Hive, which had once been a fortress of the Schneider family, a basic Aiur garrison base had already been established in just two short days. Alexei stood inside the command post, surrounded by commanders moving about busily.
He looked at the holographic screen before him. Now that the Chaos cultists in the Upper Hive had been entirely dealt with and the riots in the Lower Hive had been quelled, only one problem remained: the plague in the Underhive.
The massive Underhive of Leopes spanned nearly the entire continent. In Heinrich's eyes, the completely corrupted Underhive was the greatest threat; if left unresolved, they could be consumed at any moment by an endless horde of Plague Zombies and Nurgle's demonic legions.
He had proposed that the Lower Hive PDF assist the Aiur Guards in sweeping the Underhive sector by sector and batch by batch. While this would not cure the root of the problem, it could slow down the critical situation down there.
Alexei merely smiled and shook his head, indicating he had his own methods, and that all Leopes needed to do now was wait and cooperate.
At this moment, Heinrich stood behind Alexei. He didn't understand why the man in front of him wasn't taking action yet. Were they going to wait until Nurgle's followers launched an active offensive?
While he was buried in thought, Alexei said calmly, "They're here."
"What?" Heinrich looked up at Alexei, bewildered.
"Dinner time." Alexei grinned and pointed at the holographic screen before them. Heinrich's breathing stopped instantly, his eyes filled with sheer terror. Even though he had connected to the Zerg's psionic network, this was his first time seeing the Zerg's sky-blotting Leviathan fleet in a literal sense.
Equally terrified were the residents in the Upper Hive who could see the sky. Just as they were walking the streets, rejoicing that the war in the Upper Hive was over and that they could finally return to a peaceful life, everyone noticed that the sunlight had vanished.
A massive shadow cloaked the entire Upper Hive. They looked up in confusion, only to plunge into endless panic and chaos. Even the elite PDF were not immune; only the Aiur Guards remained calm as they maintained order throughout the Upper Hive.
One massive Leviathan after another appeared above Leopes until half of the hive city was completely covered, marking the full assembly of the Zerg fleet.
Next, a sky-blotting rain of Sacs plunged toward the edges of the hive city. They cut through the thick clouds of acid rain like a downpour and slammed heavily into the ground. The rupture of every single Sac signaled the rushing torrent of countless Zerg. Carrying a purple, ocean-like creep, they began pushing toward the Underhive.
The scrapyards and large sewage pipes at the edges of the hive city were now packed tight with dense swarms of Zerg. At the same time, following Alexei's command, the alloy gates along the main corridors leading to the Underhive were opened one by one. The Zerg swarmed into the Underhive from all directions, beginning their feeding frenzy.
Mutated creatures tainted with countless viruses and bacteria, along with the terrifying legions of Nurgle, lunged at the swarm. The numbers on both sides were staggering: one side was a plague army converted from nearly the entire mortal population of the Leopes Underhive, while the other was a Zerg swarm supplied with biomass from a vast number of planets.
But what the Zerg feared least was a war of attrition in numbers. Wave after wave of Plague Zombies and whirlwind-like green bottle flies meant only one thing to the swarm—a grand feast. They could indulge themselves once again, for the Zerg were the only ones standing at the absolute apex of the food chain.
"Roar, truly terrifying." Kaedel stood on high ground, watching the purple and green crash into each other as fluids splattered everywhere. Flipping a metal coin he had picked up from who-knows-where, he said, "Let's guess how many days it'll take the boss's swarm to chew these disgusting guys clean. I bet five days." He nudged the tall, silent figure beside him with his elbow.
Ator did not speak, merely observing the combat of the swarm intently through his crimson eye lenses. This was also his first time seeing how these Zerg actually fought. He had fought the Tyranid swarms before, but this particular swarm gave him a slightly different impression, though Ator couldn't quite put his finger on what the difference was.
Seeing that the Fallen Angel beside him remained silent, Kaedel shrugged helplessly. He put away his coin, picked up his heavy sniper rifle, and aimed at the disgusting creatures within the enemy ranks. Accompanied by muffled cracks of gunfire, numerous Plaguebearers had their heads shattered by bullets, collapsing one after another.
As time passed, the purple ocean gradually covered the once-disgusting ground. The creep greedily sucked up the pathogens rich in vital energy. Transitioning from being rotted at the very beginning to now being completely adapted, this was a feast for the Zerg creep.
The frontline had pushed from the distance all the way past Kaedel's feet. Sensing that things were going poorly, the enemy immediately opened a warp gate using a profane ritual. Instantly, giggling Nurgle Daemons swarmed out and joined the fray.
On the battlefield, a massive figure caught the attention of the two onlookers from afar. Kaedel frowned at the daemon laughing maniacally; its colossal body was practically on par with an Ultralisk. The pus secreted from its body dissolved any Zerg that came near into liquid, and a massive number of white maggots surged from its flesh to attack the swarm.
The thick, rotting wooden club in its hands swept continuously through the swarm. "A Great Unclean One," Ator said from the side. The appearance of the Greater Daemon of Nurgle gradually halted the Zerg's overwhelming momentum. A massive swarm of Nurglings surrounding it began clashing with the Zerg in the air. Seeing this, Ator drew the power sword from his back and turned to walk down.
"Hold on." Kaedel grabbed the Fallen Angel. Seriously, was this guy always this brave, trying to solo a Great Unclean One? "Don't be in such a rush."
Just as Ator turned around to speak, a massive roar suddenly echoed, causing everything in the surroundings to tremble continuously. The two men hurriedly turned their heads to look. It was an incredibly terrifying behemoth, its body far larger than that of a standard Ultralisk.
It erupted violently from underground and crashed heavily into the Great Unclean One. The colossal body of the Nurgle Greater Daemon was actually sent flying straight back, its collapsing mass crushing countless Plague Zombies and Nurgle Daemons to death.
"...What is that?" Ator asked Kaedel.
"...I've never seen it either," Kaedel shook his head blankly. He was at a loss for words as he watched the terrifying beast charge at the Great Unclean One. The pus on the Greater Daemon could not corrode that ultra-high-density bone plating at all, and the clubs slamming against it did nothing but produce deafening thuds.
The behemoth used its two pairs of massive, monomolecular scythe-like forelimbs—equipped with disruption fields—to clamp directly onto the Greater Daemon. Accompanied by a horrific tearing sound, the Great Unclean One's already ruptured belly was sliced completely in two. With a roar of unwilling fury, it was banished back to the Warp.
The behemoth let out a victorious roar and charged forward once more. This time, no living thing on the battlefield could stop it.