106: Chapter 106: Devouring all the remnants of the Tyranid army at the edge of the Milky Way.

Shortly after the conclusion of the Imperial Military Reconstruction Committee meeting, the psionic early warning array at the Griffin IV Anchorage captured signals of a massive movement by The Swarm fleet.

It was not an attack, nor was it an exercise; it was the Leviathan Battle Group ascending en masse from low orbit over Metallis, the Void-class core of the Titan-Eater detaching from the base of the Talasta Void Gate, and all engines of the Blackstone Defense Line switching from silent standby to full-power operation.

The Brood Queen left a brief movement notification in the read-only backup of the coalition shared database—The Swarm would head to the edge of the galaxy for a massive decisive battle against the Tyranids, and the Empire must maintain the defense of the Ultima Segmentum on its own during this period.

Marcus Aurelian stood in the briefing room of the Emperors Hammer, while three data streams scrolled simultaneously across the main screen: the real-time flight path of The Swarm fleet sent by Bern from the psionic early warning array, the Imperial Fleet defense assessment sent by Heinrich from the Shield of the Emperor, and the Tyranid Remnants assembly signal intercepted by the Iyanden Farseer from the Web of Prophecy.

The three data streams converged on the star map, drawing a straight, cold green route from Metallis to the edge of the galaxy.

The target of The Swarm was not an Imperial Anchorage, not the residual rifts of the Chaos Hulk Fleets, and not even any deep-space anomaly that the coalition had once jointly marked.

The target was the final assembly area of the Tyranid Remnants at the edge of the galaxy.

"The command neural layer of the Tyranid Remnants was destroyed by the Void Throat during the Star of Judgment campaign, and the remaining hive ships scattered and fled to the edge of the galaxy.

The scan data at the time was recorded by the quantum state monitoring array of Canoptek-7, and the conclusion was that the remnants had lost the ability to reorganize a large-scale fleet."

Marcus projected the battle report from that time onto the main screen, his finger tapping on the cold data assessment in the conclusion column, "The Swarm does not think so.

During the period when coalition observer status was still active, the Overmind used passive monitoring data from the Psionic Void Network to continuously track the gene samples of the Tyranid Remnants.

The assessment results were contrary to the coalition's conclusion at the time—the Tyranid Remnants had not only failed to completely collapse but were reorganizing themselves in a dark matter nebula at the edge of the galaxy.

The Hive Mind is piecing together a new main fleet using the surviving sheath-ships and Spore Cysts; the scale is smaller than during the Star of Judgment campaign, but the gene templates have completed a new round of directed evolution after analyzing the combat loss data of the Tyranid Remnants during the Ultima Segmentum campaign."

Heinrich's holographic image lit up on the other side of the conference table.

The old naval officer had just finished a comprehensive check of the independent fire control system of the Shield of the Emperor; the coalition emblem at the bow was still hanging in its original place, but the Void Shield charging frequency was now entirely at the Empire's own rhythm.

He said that The Swarm going to fight the Tyranids was not a bad thing for the Empire—the Tyranids were a common enemy of both the Empire and The Swarm, and if The Swarm devoured the Tyranid Remnants, the direct pressure on the Empire in the Ultima Segmentum would be reduced by at least half.

But he also warned that if The Swarm won, all the gene samples of the Tyranid Remnants and the command layer data of the Hive Mind would be incorporated into the Hive Mind by the Overmind, and by then, the evolutionary speed of The Swarm would take another leap forward.

"It is not just a matter of winning."

Bern placed the Holy Hammer on the conference table, the Psychic Talisman resting securely against the inside of his breastplate.

He called up a set of data from the analysis report of the Librarian: the Web of Prophecy of the Iyanden Farseer had confirmed that the assembly area of the Tyranid Remnants at the edge of the galaxy was a dark matter nebula that had not been surveyed by the coalition, with extremely high nebula density that conventional scanning could not penetrate.

The Swarm chose this moment to launch the decisive battle, which meant it confirmed that the reorganization process of the Tyranid Remnants had entered a critical stage—The Swarm was waiting for exactly this moment, to fully claim the new round of evolutionary results of the Tyranids and use them as nutrients for its own Gene-phage sequence.

The Brood Queen's movement notification flickered on the screen, and the cold green text unfolded line by line: "The Swarm fleet has entered the periphery of the dark matter nebula.

The Titan-Eater will conduct a decapitation strike against the Tyranid command neural layer after breaking through the nebula barrier.

The Leviathan Battle Group is responsible for the perimeter blockade.

Additional reminder—coalition observer status has been revoked, and the Imperial Fleet cannot receive The Swarm fire control data.

However, the read-only backup of the coalition shared database retains the complete tactical analysis report of the Tyranid Remnants, and the Empire can independently assess the potential threat of the Tyranid Remnants to the Ultima Segmentum.

It is suggested that you consolidate your defensive lines while The Swarm is away.

The Overmind says this is not an ally's suggestion, but a competitor's reminder."

Marcus stared at the text for a moment in silence, then pressed the fleet channel: "Heinrich, while The Swarm is away, reinforce the defensive platforms of all Imperial Anchorages in the Ultima Segmentum once more.

Regardless of whether the Tyranid Remnants are devoured by The Swarm or scattered, the Empire cannot have a situation like the Griffin IV Anchorage where someone took advantage of a weakness.

Bern, continue to monitor the Tyranid movements on the Web of Prophecy.

If the Tyranid Remnants attempt to flee toward the Imperial defense zone, intercept them immediately.

The last lesson the Empire learned during the coalition period is—never wait for the enemy to knock on your door before reacting."

Marcus saved the order into the combat readiness log of the Imperial Military Reconstruction Committee.

The Swarm had gone to devour the Tyranids, and the Empire was taking advantage of this window to reinforce the anchorages—this was not a continuation of the coalition agreement, but a necessary means for the Empire to survive in the Ultima Segmentum on its own.

He finished annotating the log cover and pressed the fleet channel, reminding all ships that now was not the time to watch who would win between The Swarm and the Tyranids, but that the Empire must ensure it could hold the Ultima Segmentum regardless of who won.