Chapter 325: The Battle for Phodia
Lucan watched the scene before him with satisfaction.
Those two Gorgons couldn't repeat that maneuver indefinitely, but he had plenty of them. Although gravity prevented them from making tactical jumps deep within the planet, and subsequent jumps would be anticipated by the Tyranid fleet—after all, the acid cannons of those giant bio-ships were not just for show—it was worth the loss of a few warships. Paired with the ground-based anti-air facilities, although they could not kill every flying Tyranid, they could ensure that the swarm could not use its numerical advantage to achieve complete air supremacy.
Now, all they had to face were the Tyranid ground forces dropping directly into Phodia.
Realizing they could not break through the artillery positions, the Tyranids began a more direct assault. Countless spore-pods rained down on all parts of Phodia, intending to break the human defenses from the ground up. In the city, the Thors and Siege Tanks were also limited in their effectiveness; they could not bombard urban areas that contained friendly troops.
However, a large number of the Tyranid spores, in an attempt to avoid the anti-air fire, were funneled towards the very killzones that Lucan and Mellen had prepared for them. These areas, where the anti-air coverage had been deliberately left sparse, were like open pockets, waiting for the Tyranids to enter on their own. And these zones were now surrounded by one sturdy bunker and defensive position after another.
In the past, Mellen would never have dared to do this. Their defensive lines would not have been able to hold back the bugs, and the plan would have backfired. But Lucan had given him confidence. He was no longer on the complete defensive; his strategy had become more aggressive. He was now aiming to eliminate as many Tyranids as possible. What looked like a defense had, in fact, turned into a proactive offense.
However, as soon as the drop forces landed, the Hive Mind would quickly realize the problem. There was no biomass to greet them, only metal, fire, and incredibly angry humans.
Protoss Observers floated, cloaked, in various parts of Phodia, providing real-time intelligence to Lucan on the positions of the newly landed Tyranids.
The Cadian soldiers, now equipped with powersuits, and the even better-equipped Raiders were waiting for the enemy in the streets, buildings, and even the sublevels of Phodia. One company after another, guided by the intelligence, began to encircle and destroy the Tyranids in these areas.
Although the powersuit-equipment rate in a typical company was only about twenty percent, the increase in combat effectiveness was far greater. The distribution of powersuits in each squad was scientifically balanced and complementary: Marines, Marauders, and Medics. This allowed each squad to handle various situations, balancing firepower with recovery.
And then there were the crucial Firebats. They not only used their flames to halt the Tyranids' advance, but more importantly, they could incinerate the Tyranid corpses—and even the bodies of their own fallen comrades—during the battle, to minimize the biomass the Tyranids could acquire.
Even if the soldiers ran out of ammunition, they could still rely on the defense and strength bonuses provided by the powersuits to engage the Tyranid creatures in close-quarters combat in the streets. These already-elite Cadian soldiers, when wearing powersuits and gathered in sufficient numbers, even had a chance to get in close and kill the Tyranid Warriors that served as synapse creatures, which were on par with human Astartes.
The most intense fighting was in the designated killzones. The surrounded Tyranids tried everything to break out, while the Cadians fought desperately to hold them back. A large number of Widow Mines had been buried in these areas, and the countless bunkers that had been built meant that every step the Tyranids took came at an extremely tragic price.
The two sides were locked in a bloody war of attrition. A single, strategically important position could change hands several times.
The Ghosts and the Dark Templar continuously assassinated the synapse creatures within the swarm. Without the command of these node-beasts, the Tyranids fell into chaos, and the threat they posed was greatly reduced.
As the Tyranid invasion was stymied, the Hive Mind began to deploy special units along with the spore-pods, sneaking them into Phodia. The pressure on the fixed defensive positions increased dramatically.
Tyranid Zoanthropes, unleashing destructive psychic powers, began to roam the battlefield. Their psychic powers were strong enough to kill Astartes Librarians. Melta and plasma were blocked, bolts were deflected, and las-beams could not penetrate their shields. Desperate suicide charges were easily nullified. Regardless of whether a soldier was in a powersuit or hiding in a sturdy fortification, when a Zoanthrope unleashed its psychic blast, an entire position of a hundred men could be killed instantly. And there were several such enemies, all of them tearing through the encirclement.
But what worried Lucan the most were not these obvious enemies. Even a Hive Tyrant could not be effective under a sufficient barrage of firepower. With the Tyranids unable to gain complete air supremacy, the moment these giant creatures appeared, they would be hit by an air strike. The Zoanthropes would be dealt with by the Blood Ravens' Astartes. If one Librarian can be killed by your psychic power, what about five? Or ten? And these Librarians were not acting alone.
The most fatal threat was the enemy hidden in the shadows.
Based on the battlefield situation, there was more than one. In fact, multiple Lictors had appeared on the battlefield. The Observers could detect cloaked targets, but the hive city was too complex to monitor every corner. These creatures, which could upload their memories like a Hive Tyrant, had already recorded the memories of who knows how many generations. They were, in a sense, immortal. Their terrifying combat skills, combined with their ability to turn invisible, made them the deadliest of assassins. Who knew how much combat experience they had accumulated.
And these Lictors were not just simple killing machines. Although they focused on killing high-value targets, they were also capable of using strategy. They would choose the most appropriate course of action from countless options.
These hidden enemies were the most lethal. Reports had already begun to come in from the front lines of commanders and officers being killed, their brains missing. Lucan knew it was the Lictors, devouring their memories to learn the Imperials' strategic deployments, and perhaps even to find the location of him and Mellen.
After these Lictors began their work, the Tyranids' movements became noticeably more planned. They were no longer mindlessly charging the defensive positions. The memories they had acquired allowed them to successfully find the weak points in the defenders' lines and launch fatal attacks.
Realizing the appearance of these creatures, Lucan began to reassign the missions of the Dark Templar and the Ghosts. He needed them to find and kill the Lictors. A hunt between the galaxy's top assassins had begun in the city.
Lucan and Mellen's command post had also been moved. The Governor's Palace was no longer safe; its high spire was a prime target for the Tyranids. The new command post had been set up in the Melos Starport in Phodia. Its defenses were the most complete. Countless bunkers, trenches, and heavy artillery pieces had been set up in three-layer-deep defenses. Promethium had been poured into excavated trenches; when needed, the ignited flames could turn any unit that crossed the fire-wall to ash.
This was an important site for subsequent troop landings and reinforcements, and it was also their last resort for evacuating the survivors if the worst were to happen. It could be said that this was the final defensive position in Phodia.
Although Lucan believed that such a situation would no longer occur.
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