Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [260]

This impromptu raid brought Rhodes another couple hundred thousand system coins, just enough to reinforce Baton.

Once the raid was over, Rod recalled his army of robots and began to wait quietly.

After three days, the Sanguinary Angels' Librarian, Mephiston, woke up and personally came to thank Rhodes.

Commander Dante of the Sanguinary Angels and many sub-chapter leaders also gathered all the mortal regiments' war barges, combining them with Rhodes' fleet. Altogether, 120 war barges assembled by Rhodes' side.

Rhodes had already prepped two small motherships. His legion would field 20,000 Space Marines, while the Sanguinary Angels and their sub-chapters would send out 2,000 Primaris Marines.

The command would be handled by Rhodes' legion commander, Titus, who had experience with this boarding jump tactic against the Tyranids previously, making him ideal for the role.

Even the Sanguinary Angels' Commander Dante and another chapter master, Avarrich, were joining this boarding operation.

"This will be a glorious battle!

The mighty Emperor watches over you!

You will perform an unprecedented boarding jump tactic, using this new teleportation technology to bring these bombs right onto the Tyranid Hive Ships!"

Rhodes addressed all the assembled Space Marines.

Truthfully, Rhodes had only wanted his gene-sons to execute the mission, but the Sanguinary Angels insisted on participating, so Rhodes relented and let their entire chapter join.

"Great Gene-Father, we swear loyalty unto death to the Emperor! We guarantee the success of this boarding operation. Even if we die, we will deliver this bomb to the face of the Norn Queen!"

A Primaris Captain pounded his chest and vowed to Rhodes.

"To defend our mother, Baal, we will gladly die! We will complete the mission!"

Other Sanguinary Angels and sub-chapter members echoed.

Standing among the Primaris, the original Marines looked a bit small and thin.

"Very good! You have all been training with the teleportation bracelets these past days.

Remember, two silver bracelets together can teleport a squad of about 50.

You will divide into 200+ teams, each targeting a Hive Ship.

The task is simple: plant the special bomb inside the Tyranid Hive Ship and retreat immediately. No hesitation. Understood?"

Rhodes instructed.

All the Space Marines snapped to attention and saluted.

"We will complete the mission!"

"Go forth, warriors! The fate of this war rests with you.

I will join the remaining human ships in a frontal assault against the Tyranid fleet."

Rhodes declared.

"Don't worry, Lord Rhodes. We'll get it done, and blow up every Hive Ship behind the main Tyranid fleet."

Titus, Dante, and Avarrich nodded to Rhodes, boarded the small Pedan motherships Rhodes provided, activated stealth, and left the main fleet.

Once they departed, Rhodes began arranging the battlefield. This was to be a solid defense: all human garrisons on Baal would man the heavy cannons.

They'd aim at the Tyranid bio-fleet in orbit, with Baal's moons providing fire support.

All Space Marine forces were on standby on Baal's surface. When the Hive Fleet landed with its bio-pods, they'd be responsible for annihilating any Tyranid ground forces.

Except for the two motherships that had left, the other six small motherships, two medium motherships, and two large space fortress motherships sat side-by-side in Baal's orbit.

The human fleet hovered over Rhodes' flagship, activating the void array to form a void shield barrier.

When the battle started, the void shields of the war barges would absorb the first salvo. Once they reached their limit, Rhodes' flagship would restart the void array to bring up fresh shields.

When the second shield layer broke, the mothership's energy shields would activate. The three layers of shields would rotate, ensuring constant protection.

At the front of the formation stood the six mechanical Ultra Brothers, two max-level King Joe robots, the cosmic robot Iron, and a maxed-out, over 100-meter-tall, peerless Iron God Inpelaizer, along with the gigantic Imperial Guard and the Emperor's avatar, all lined up on the field.

All mortal troops could see the giant Titans floating in front of the ships, especially the imposing Ultraman and the Emperor's avatar, which greatly boosted morale.

Everyone cheered excitedly, as if victory was already assured.

"All ships ready, pray to the machine spirit, let it rejoice! We go to war!"

As Supreme Commander, Rhodes gave the final order to engage.

At that moment, the front of the fleet was overwhelmed by swarms of Tyranid bio-ships. The seven Ultramen unleashed ranged attacks, seven beams instantly destroying dozens of Hive Ships.

Emerium Rays, Specium Rays, M78 Rays, Metallium Rays, and Strium Rays bombarded the Tyranid fleet in waves.

The Ultra Brothers were especially deadly, capable of dealing the most damage to Tyranids.

Unfortunately, although all six brothers were present, they were mechanical versions, so Taro couldn't transform into Super Taro and unleash the Miracle Beam. If they could, Rhodes figured the rest of the army wouldn't even be needed—one Miracle Beam and the Tyranids would be history.

The two King Joe robots split and fired Pedanium Beams. Ultraman used his power weapons and special beams provided by the Yapool.

The Emperor's avatar, wielding powerful psychic energy, gathered it into his sword and unleashed a kilometer-long sword wave. On a planet's surface, that would be apocalyptic, but in space, it could only slice apart the Hive Ships ahead.

The two motherships charged their rainbow-colored Pedanium cannons and unleashed a terrifying web of fire upon the Tyranid swarm.

Under Rhodes' intense barrage, the Tyranids charged recklessly. The Pedanium beams, robot division, and Ultra Brothers' attacks covered a wide area.

So much so that sometimes the Tyranids couldn't even reach Rhodes' lines before being pummeled, losing hundreds of bio-ships before closing in.

They entered the firing range of the human ground troops. The war barges fired first.

All lined up side by side, they rotated their heavy cannons to bear on the Tyranids.

"Warriors of the Imperium! Show these foul bugs our might! All macro cannons, fire!"

Over a hundred war barges of all sizes, with over a thousand macro cannons firing at once—enough firepower to Exterminatus several planets.

A terrifying barrage smashed the oncoming Tyranid fleet, but unlike Rhodes' beam weapons, the macro cannons were stopped by the Tyranid psychic shields.

The first salvo couldn't break the Hive Fleet's psychic defenses. The Tyranid bio-fleet was highly maneuverable.

Rhodes' mechanical units and mothership Pedanium beams, however, the Tyranids didn't bother shielding—they knew even with shields, those beams would punch through.

But human macro cannons, the Tyranids could block.

Rhodes' new mothership fielded 100 King Joe units, thrown into battle to blunt the Tyranid onslaught.

This bought the human fleet time to reload and launch a second wave, finally shattering the Hive Fleet's psychic shield.

When the Tyranid fleet got in range, they began firing, pounding the void shield arrays.

Baal's surface and the satellites' defenses targeted the Hive Fleet too.

Both sides clashed fiercely. Ultraman, the Emperor's avatar, and Rhodes' mechanical Ultra Brothers darted through the battlefield, bombarding the Hive Fleet with their beams.

As Rhodes engaged the main body of the Tyranid fleet, the two small motherships successfully circled behind, reaching the rear Hive Ship formation.

Rhodes released Baton, the volcanic monster bird, 62 meters tall with a wingspan nearing 100 meters. As soon as Baton appeared, it flapped its wings, eyes glowing, and lunged at the Hive Fleet.

So much food! Endless food!

Baton opened its massive beak and let out a terrifying shriek.

Sound waves rippled out.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

The rooster-like cries echoed across the starry universe.

All the Norn Queens in the Hive Ships guarding the rear suddenly felt a soul-shaking tremor. Their bodies went limp, even felt a sense of dread.

The Hive Tyrants, Hive Guards, Norn Apostles, and Brain Bugs beside them instantly collapsed.

Countless lesser Tyranids died the moment they heard that dreadful cry, throwing the Hive Ship formation into chaos.