Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 729 The Arrival of the Swarm
After listening to Anlaqir's "optimization" plan, which treated humans as mere expendable resources, Chen Xi showed no surprise, only a cold sneer.

He took another step forward, his gaze sharp as a knife, piercing straight into Anraqir's eerie green optical sensor.

“Enough, traveler.” Chen Xi’s voice was not loud, but it carried a resolute force and echoed clearly in the communication channel. “If your ‘sincerity’ is limited to this, then this conversation can end here.”

You are still viewing the Milky Way with outdated thinking from ten thousand years ago, regarding humanity as ants and stepping stones to be sacrificed at will.

He bluntly interrupted any possible explanations, his tone becoming increasingly forceful: "But the reality is, we don't need to beg for your 'favor.' It is your Morpheus dynasty, it is you metal undead who have just struggled to awaken from your long slumber, who are pleading with humanity to give you a chance to live."

Chen Xi spread his palms, pointing to the invisible starry sky: "The human empire spans millions of worlds, a behemoth beyond your imagination. Yes, we cannot mobilize the entire power of the empire here in a short time, but even the power we can currently gather is enough to deal with this tentacle of Leviathan!"

It would simply mean paying a far greater price, turning the Bar system and even the surrounding star systems into scorched earth. We can afford that price. The Empire has suffered far greater losses, yet humanity has still stood strong!

His voice carried an almost cruel calm as his gaze swept over Anraqir and the immortals behind him: "We could even use the Hades system as a vast graveyard to bury the swarm and... anything that gets in our way, if we so choose."

Treating you and the Zerg swarm as enemies simply adds another target to our list of targets to eliminate. It will be more difficult, but not impossible. Don't forget, in Rostov, we destroyed more than just the Xenomorph fleet.

Finally, Chen Xi's words fell heavily like a cold gavel: "Therefore, it is you who need to find your place. It is your Murphylit Dynasty, not the Human Empire, that is left with only one core tomb world and is still rife with internal strife."

If there is to be cooperation, it must be equal cooperation, based on mutual respect. If you still harbor that foolish idea of ​​being superior and viewing us as cannon fodder, then…

He paused, leaving a threatening silence.

"...We'd be happy to let your Morphlett dynasty become just another footnote in history books before we deal with the Zerg. Now, make your choice: will you sit down and truly negotiate with your meager possessions, or prepare to face the combined wrath of humanity and the Zerg?"

Chen Xi's words were like peeling away all pretense, laying bare the bloody reality before the space undead.

For the first time, Anlaqir's usually steady stream of consciousness froze noticeably and for a long time. The eerie green light from the optical sensors flickered violently a few times, as if the internal logic circuits were experiencing an unprecedented storm.

Although Lion King Leon and Leona did not speak, the imposing aura and tacit approval emanating from them undoubtedly provided the strongest backing for Chen Xi's tough stance.

At this moment, Chen Xi forcefully reversed the balance of the negotiations in an almost brutal manner.

Chen Xi's uncompromising declaration shattered the superior posture that Anlaqir was trying to maintain.

The traveler's eerie green optical sensors stared at Chen Xi, its internal logic core instantly weighing countless possibilities and consequences.

A long silence spread through the damaged observatory, broken only by the faint hum of energy flow.

Finally, Anlaqir's streamlined metal head lowered slightly, in an ancient and complex gesture—a ritual originating from the era of the Fearful Ones, a way for nobles to express recognition and engage in equal dialogue.

This action itself carries more weight than any words.

“Judge Chen Xi,” Anlaqir’s stream of consciousness no longer carried the condescending indifference of before, but rather a touch of caution and… perhaps an extremely rare recognition of equal status, “your… steadfastness has shown me certain qualities that the human race can exhibit.”

I admit that my previous considerations failed to fully assess the current...realistic situation.

He raised his head again, the eerie green light stabilizing: "So, based on the reality that both of us need to survive this crisis, I propose a revised cooperation plan."

"The Mephistopheles dynasty will send its most outstanding tomb engineers," he began, "who will perform the final calibration and energy focusing optimization of the stellar refractive lens array."

This is the core of our technology, under our control, to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the 'purification' operation. This is non-negotiable.

"And humanity needs to provide support in two ways." His stream of consciousness pointed to the star map. "First, your main fleet must construct a solid defensive line in space during the critical phase before the lens array is activated, preventing the Zerg hive fleet from directly attacking the area where the array is located or interfering with the technicians' work. This is the military guarantee to ensure the success of the plan."

“Second,” Anlaqir’s gaze swept across the dots representing human colonies on the star map, “you need to coordinate the solar energy receiving arrays you have built on each planet. Although they are crude, as secondary nodes in the energy guiding network, they can help stabilize the energy flow and expand the purification range at certain times.”

Just then, Leona's clear and calm voice rang out, interrupting Anlaqir: "The release of energy will be indiscriminate." She took a step forward, her dark green power armor shimmering in the dim light. "Before activating the purification protocol, we must evacuate all civilians from the main colonies."

Her tone was as if stating a given fact, leaving no room for negotiation, her gaze fixed on Anlaqir's eerie green optical sensor: "The Human Empire can bear the necessary sacrifices, but unnecessary casualties must be avoided. This is the premise of cooperation, not a request."

Anlaqir's stream of consciousness paused for an extremely brief moment, as if he were performing rapid calculations. He quickly responded, his tone carrying a hint of cold logic, almost appreciative: "...A reasonable addition. Unnecessary biomass depletion will indeed affect the post-war recovery efficiency of the star system. This proposal conforms to the principle of optimal solution and can be implemented."

This new plan, while still assigning the most dangerous space interception missions to humans, no longer treats human fleets as mere cannon fodder and decoys, but rather as an indispensable defensive barrier in the plan.

Meanwhile, the proposal to evacuate civilians was explicitly put forward by Leona and accepted by the necromancer based on its cold logic, which made the basis of cooperation seem more equal and pragmatic.

“It is a division of labor based on our respective strengths,” Anlakir concluded. “We provide the technology to end the threat and the final execution, while you provide the force and necessary support to ensure the implementation of the technology.”

Neither side is a pure victim; survival is our common goal. Doesn't this bring us closer to the basis of what you call… 'equal cooperation'?

Chen Xi did not answer immediately. He looked at Lion King Leon and Leona, exchanging glances.

The Lion King nodded slightly, and Leona nodded almost imperceptibly as well.

This plan, while far from perfect, at least puts both sides on a relatively equal footing in negotiations and does indeed take into account minimizing civilian casualties. "We can use this as a basis for further planning," Chen Xi finally responded, his tone still cautious, "but specific details, especially the strength of the fleet's defenses, the safety of technicians' operations, and the precise control and early warning time for energy release, need to be further clarified."

We will not accept any ambiguous terms, especially on issues concerning the safety of our military and civilians.

After nearly breaking down, the negotiations finally shifted to more practical and technical details.
-
With the fragile and dangerous cooperation agreement reached with the Necromancers of the cosmos, human forces within the Hades system began to operate at full speed like a sophisticated war machine.

In the frigid void, the massive "Metallic" fortress adjusted its posture, and together with its Dark Angel fleet, it moved slowly forward to the outer defensive position of the star system, like a moving steel mountain.

Their mission is clear and arduous: to build an insurmountable defensive line and, at all costs, keep the main force of the Hive fleet out of the effective kill range of the lens array before the Necrons activate their devastating stellar weapons.

On the Dark Angels' ships, the light spear arrays began charging, the macro cannons were reloaded, and the Ravenwing rapid attack fleet unfolded like unsheathed blades on the flanks of the capital ships, ready to use speed and firepower to tear apart any Zerg bio-ships attempting to break through.

Meanwhile, the ships of the Holy Blood Angels and their sub-groups transformed into arks of salvation, dispersing to various planets within the Hades system where human colonies existed.

Crimson drop pods and transport ships rained down on the planet's surface, and the descendants of Saint Gilles organized the planetary defense forces and panicked civilians with remarkable efficiency, guiding them onto the massive transport ships.

Time is of the essence; every second counts in determining whether millions of lives can escape the impending devastating storm.

Soldiers used megaphones to deliver brief instructions, their figures in power armor standing like steadfast rocks amidst the crowded flow of people, maintaining basic order and ensuring the evacuation routes remained clear.

Meanwhile, on the surfaces of these planets that are about to be evacuated, another battle is also taking place simultaneously.

The soldiers of the Astral Army are reinforcing their last defensive positions, laser gun arrays are set up among the ruins, and tanks roar as they advance to their designated blocking positions.

Their orders were to buy as much time as possible for the evacuation operation until they received the final order to retreat.

The battle nuns, clad in silver armor, moved between the lines, chanting sacred words, arming each stronghold with their fervent faith and bolt-action rifles.

They knew that they would likely be among the last to leave the ground, and might even remain there forever, paving the way for their compatriots' escape with their lives.

The most crucial and dangerous task fell to the elite squad jointly drawn from the Holy Blood Angels and the Dark Angels.

They consist of experienced sergeants, technical experts, and the bravest warriors, including elites in Terminator armor.

At this moment, they are meeting up with several taciturn space necromancer tomb technicians who exude a cold energy.

There was no communication between the two sides, only a cold consensus based on the goals of the agreement.

Their common destination is the crucial focusing lens control station that orbits the binary stars.

The human warriors' mission is to eliminate any potential interference around the control station—whether it's an unexpectedly awakened necromantic defense system or swarm creatures that may have infiltrated ahead of time—and ensure that the tomb technicians can safely enter to complete the final calibration and activation control of the lens array.

This is a delicate operation performed on the countdown to destruction, where any mistake could lead to total failure.

The entire Hades galaxy was like a bowstring stretched to its limit.

Evacuation, defense, interception, and the struggle for key technological nodes... every step must be seamlessly coordinated in order to secure a glimmer of hope for humanity and the ancient alien dynasty amidst the impending swarm of insectoids and the ensuing stellar fury.
-
Just as the cooperation between humans and the undead was beginning and the evacuation and defense operations were in full swing, a suffocating sense of oppression suddenly descended upon the cold, desolate edge of the Hades Galaxy.

The vanguard of the Leviathan swarm, like a pack of sharks that have smelled blood, has finally arrived at this star system that is about to become a purgatory.

There were no warnings, no communications, only a pure, primal desire to devour.

The first to detect them were the Dark Angel reconnaissance ships and monitoring probes deployed on the outermost perimeter.

On the sensor screen, the originally empty star field was instantly flooded with countless twisted and writhing biological signals, so numerous that they almost overloaded the advanced detection system.

They were not a well-organized fleet, but rather a murky, physically inescapable torrent, surging unsettlingly into the galaxy's interior with an unsettling coordination.

"Contact! The Zerg vanguard has reached the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt! The numbers... are impossible to count precisely, far exceeding our estimates!" Urgent alarms and reports blared on the bridges of the Unyielding Truth and all Imperial ships.

Almost simultaneously, the swarm launched its attack.

Instead of engaging in a traditional fleet battle with the well-prepared Dark Angels main fleet, they adopted the Zerg swarm's most typical and troublesome tactic—ignoring them.

Numerous sporangia and microscopic biological constructs, like splashes of ink, separated from the massive swarm of insectoid bio-ships. Using the asteroid belt and gravitational shadows as cover, they bypassed the Imperial fleet's carefully laid frontal defenses with astonishing speed and unpredictable trajectories, heading straight for the planets with atmospheres within the system.

The next moment, a chilling scene appeared above the atmospheres of several planets in the Hades Galaxy.

Countless live human drop capsules, trailing sticky green or purple contrails, crashed into the atmosphere like a deadly meteor shower. The intense heat from friction turned their surfaces crimson, as if the sky were dripping pus and blood.

They ignored the ground-based anti-aircraft fire defenses—although lasers and artillery shells constantly blasted some spores into burning organic debris in mid-air—they were simply too numerous and too dense.

(End of this chapter)