Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [262]

"Titus, it seems the Norn Queens have recovered. Contact Lord Rhodes and see if we can launch a second wave."

Dante said to Titus.

Titus immediately opened communications with Rhodes.

"Lord Rhodes, we just began our third wave and suffered casualties—the supposedly paralyzed Norn Queens recovered and instantly killed over a dozen original Marines."

Titus reported succinctly.

Truthfully, Titus feared the Tyranids would develop immunity to this paralysis attack—it had happened before.

The Tyranids are terrifyingly adaptable. The Imperium once tried using viral bombs against them.

Since Tyranids are all organic, the idea was that they'd be vulnerable to toxins and viruses.

The Inquisition quickly drew up a viral strike plan. At first, it worked—huge swathes of Tyranids died.

But then, unexpectedly, the Tyranids rapidly evolved immunity and shrugged off the poison.

Dead Tyranids were quickly recycled into biomass and reborn in another form.

To truly kill a Tyranid, you had to burn it—including the corpse—otherwise the biomass would be reclaimed and the Tyranids would return.

Would this special attack also be adapted against?

"I understand. I'll launch another attack soon and notify you when it succeeds."

Rhodes replied.

Upon learning the Norn Queens had recovered, Rhodes spent 1,000 system coins to further upgrade Baton, then ordered it to unleash another screech.

Rhodes had considered this possibility before the battle, which is why he saved the upgrade for Baton—so it could perform multiple screeches.

Upon receiving the order, Baton stopped eating and glowed gold as its energy and soul were restored.

Baton spread its wings and unleashed another terrifying screech.

Caw-caw-caw!

The sonic waves once more paralyzed the nearby Hive Fleet, dropping the Norn Queens and their guards.

By Rhodes' estimate, every screech from Barton could paralyze the Hive Fleet in range for over 30 minutes.

Enough for two boarding operations, after which Baton would need to screech again.

"Dante! Titus! Avarrich! After two boarding runs, rest for two minutes, and reassign tasks. I'll launch the next strike. Each paralysis lasts about 30 minutes—make every minute count."

Rhodes sent via remote comms.

"Understood, Lord Rhodes!

Brothers, resume the mission! The Tyranids are paralyzed again—hurry, we have two more chances. Then pause."

Dante ordered.

The Marines went back into action, grabbed new bombs, activated their bracelets, and teleported into the Hive Ships.

Once again, almost all Tyranids inside were paralyzed—no resistance.

Quickly planting the bombs, the Marines teleported back.

"Unit 376, mission complete, requesting detonation."

"Unit 376, confirm detonation."

"Unit 472, bomb planted, requesting detonation."

Fifteen minutes later, over a hundred more Hive Ships were destroyed.

"This time, I'll lead a team myself!"

Mephiston told Dante.

"Be careful!"

Dante nodded.

Mephiston wanted to protect his Marines.

The Norn Queens, with the Brain Bugs and Apostles, were too powerful psychically—ordinary Marines stood no chance.

Even sending a Librarian only helped a little; their shields were nearly useless.

The Marines organized again, teleported to their targets, and more explosions followed—countless Hive Ships destroyed.

This time, the Hive Mind realized something was wrong and began searching for the source of the screech, analyzing the sonic frequency that paralyzed the Norn Queens and killed lesser Tyranids.

They quickly identified Baton, the volcanic monster bird feasting on an asteroid—a giant red bird, just like the one that had previously fought Rhodes.

Having found the culprit, the Hive Mind dispatched several hundred-meter-long bio-ships to attack.

Baton opened its beak and unleashed a kilometer-long stream of fire, incinerating several bio-ships.

"Goo! Caw-caw!"

Baton flapped its wings and shrieked excitedly.

The upgraded Baton wasn't so easy to kill. Decapitating it wouldn't be simple!

Though just an ordinary Earth kaiju, its combat power rivaled super-beasts.

When the bio-ships failed to kill Baton, the Hive Mind changed tactics.

All Hive Ships near Baton began to scatter and flee, as the Tyranids deduced the sonic attack had a limited range.

So, leaving the area was the simplest counter.

"Trying to run? Not so easy!

Baton, give chase and screech again!"

Rhodes ordered.

Baton eagerly shrieked and gave chase.

But now the Hive Ships weren't so clustered, making boarding tactics harder.

As they fled, the Tyranids counterattacked. Several Norn Queens outside Baton's range launched psychic assaults on Baton, trying to fry its brain.

Though Baton was strong, its soul was not.

A dozen Norn Queens unleashed their full psychic might at close range—Rhodes didn't even have time to react before Baton's brain was blown out. Its soul was no stronger than a human's.

In the system space, Baton's icon dimmed—Rhodes didn't even get a chance to reinforce it.

For the first time, one of Rhodes' summoned monsters had died. The Tyranid Hive Mind's psychic attack was far more terrifying than he'd imagined.

Previously, the Tyranids had tried this on Rhodes himself, but the Emperor's psychic might shield him.

But Baton had no such protection. The system could heal monsters, but not guarantee their survival.

And bio-ships quickly moved in on Baton's corpse.

Rhodes quickly grabbed the comms and contacted Dante and Titus.

"Titus, Commander Dante, abort the mission! All warriors, teleport back immediately—no more runs. Withdraw. We've already taken out a third of the Hive Ships, gained 4 million system coins, and can go toe-to-toe with the Tyranids now."

Rhodes ordered.

"Lord Rhodes! I'll order the withdrawal. What happened?"

Dante asked.

"A dozen Norn Queens teamed up and killed my special monster with a psychic attack."

Rhodes explained.

Next time he summoned a Baton, he'd need to assign a strong psychic bodyguard—these monsters had weak psychic defense!

Rhodes wasn't the only one surprised—the Tyranids hadn't expected their psychic assault to instantly kill such a terrifying foe, either.

"Lord Rhodes, in that case, we must recover the body or destroy it—don't let the Tyranids have it."

Dante said.

The Tyranids are masters of biomodification. They'd used Space Marine genes and other creatures to enhance themselves before.

A monster so deadly to Tyranids would surely be used again and again—its body could not fall into their hands.

"You're right. Send a team—recover it if possible, else destroy it."

Rhodes agreed.