Chapter 129: The Hounds vs. the Tyranids
"Aroooooo—"
Hearing the howls from the distance, the pack of mechanical hounds, who had been scanning the ground for pheromones, instantly bolted in the direction of the sound. At the same time, hounds within a ten-kilometer radius were all rushing towards the center of the disturbance.
Near this center, a group of mechanical hounds was skirmishing with a Tyranid swarm. Outnumbered, the hounds did not choose to fight head-on. The moment they were spotted by the Tyranids, they began to howl for reinforcements while splitting into four groups and fleeing in different directions.
Such a clean and decisive "retreat" threw the swarm into brief confusion. The Tyranid Warrior commanding them had intelligence, which meant it could also be troubled by it. Smart people and smart bugs share a common flaw: they think too much. Just like this smart Tyranid Warrior now, wondering: Should I chase them? Which one should I chase?
After a brief judgment, the Tyranid Warrior decided to pursue. These mechanical hounds running around in the forest were getting closer and closer to the digestion pool it was guarding. It could not let these exploding threats near it.
But splitting up to chase them meant that the Hormagaunts and Termagants without its direct command would soon lose their targets. Reluctantly, the Tyranid Warrior had to send most of the swarm back to guard the digestion pool, while it led a small group to track one of the hound groups. Through the information uploaded by other synapse creatures in the Hive Mind, it knew that these metal creatures had obvious pack animal characteristics. As long as it followed one group, it could find the others.
But after tracking them for a while, the Tyranid Warrior discovered something wrong. The fleeing metal creatures did not rendezvous with the others. Instead, they were leisurely leading it in circles.
They know I'm behind them. Realizing this, the Tyranid Warrior stopped hiding and urged the swarm to chase at full speed. The hounds, upon discovering the pursuing swarm, immediately accelerated and began to flee with all their might.
After repeating this a few times, the Tyranid Warrior realized something was wrong. A pack of hounds had appeared behind it. This forced it to give up the chase. It wasn't that it couldn't kill these hounds, but the moment it tried to use its speed and strength advantage to close in, these hounds would change their fleeing posture, turn around, and try to take it down with them.
Even the fastest Hormagaunts were slower than these mechanical hounds. The Hormagaunts, which could serve as cannon fodder and meat shields, were useless here. This meant that the Tyranid Warrior's powerful strength could not be brought to bear.
With the appearance of new hound packs, the Tyranid Warrior felt threatened. It did not fear death, but the Hive Mind's mission to protect the newly formed digestion pool came first. It decided to retreat. As long as the hounds did not approach the digestion pool, the Tyranid Warrior had no interest in these metal scraps.
But what happened next exceeded the Tyranid Warrior's calculations. As it commanded the swarm to retreat, the positions of the swarm and the hound pack were reversed. The Tyranid went from pursuer to pursued.
The hound pack did not attack. They just kept a safe distance from the Tyranid swarm, trailing far behind, as if they wanted to follow the swarm back to the bug's nest. The Tyranid Warrior tried commanding the Termagants to fire at the hounds, but at the slightest movement from the Tyranids, the hounds would scatter like frightened birds, turn and run, watch from a distance for a while, and then follow again.
If the Tyranid Warrior possessed human emotions and language, it would surely be cursing: "I have never seen such shameless creatures!"
This time, it was the swarm leading the mechanical hounds in circles through the forest. The Tyranid Warrior dared not lead them back to the nest. It knew that these mechanical hounds were human creations. Once they discovered the location of the digestion pool, the humans would immediately level the place.
It sent a signal through the Hive Mind network to other Tyranids, requesting support, but the response was that the same situation was happening elsewhere. Forced into a corner, the Tyranid Warrior had to stop and confront the hounds. This standoff lasted for several days. During this time, mechanical hounds from other places arrived to relieve the ones in the standoff, allowing them to go back and recharge.
Without a single battle, Termagant after Termagant collapsed. Lacking digestive organs, they were the first to starve to death. The dead Tyranids became food for the other living ones. Similar situations were playing out all over the twisted forest.
Tireless bodies of steel, sleepless golden Machine Spirits, hunting instincts that used teamwork to exhaust and distract prey, the absolute numbers Omega had given them, and the self-destruct capability that tied the hands of the Tyranid synapse creatures. Accidental ideas, clever coincidences, and magical combinations made the performance of the "hound pack" composed of mechanical hounds far exceed everyone's expectations, including Omega, their creator.
After discovering the situation here, the Hive Mind of Gorgon also tried to find a solution to the "hound pack," but to no avail. Even if it destroyed a portion of the mechanical hounds, these numbers had no effect on the massive pack.
It tried to use air superiority to attack from above, deploying flying units like Gargoyles to deal with the mechanical hounds. The toxic acid spit by the Gargoyles could indeed threaten the hounds' metal bodies, but the dense forest was the first obstacle these flying bats had to overcome. The trees hindered the Gargoyles' movement and shooting, but provided cover and leverage for the hounds. The switch between hunter and prey often happened in an instant.
After finding that Gargoyles could not effectively destroy and stop the hounds, the Hive Mind tried bombing the hound packs with Biovores. But the twisted forest, originally used to cover the digestion pools, once again became an obstacle. Before the Spore Mines launched by the Biovores could hit the ground, they had to pass through the branches and canopies that had grown excessively by desperately absorbing nutrients. Few hounds were killed, but patches of the forest were blown clear, exposing the hidden digestion pools.
Deploying specialized units like Lictors was not something the Hive Mind hadn't tried. But the result was that a Lictor would strike, lose half its life in the explosion, and then be sent off by another hound's suicide charge.
Using Raveners and Mawlocs to attack from underground was effective, but the key was that once a hound was close to a high-level Tyranid unit, it would self-destruct. After the explosion, other hound packs would come to pack up and take away the spoils.
No matter how the Hive Mind calculated, it felt like a loss. Killing a hound yielded not a gram of biomass, and losing meant paying a heavy price. Using low-cost Hormagaunts or Termagants to crush the hounds with absolute numbers didn't work either. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, the hounds would turn and run towards the human defensive line. Once their masters had dealt with all the bugs trying to bully them, they would wag their tails and swagger back into the forest to continue "wandering," displaying the concept of "a dog threatening others on the strength of its master" to the fullest.
When they encountered a lone Tyranid, they would swarm it. When they encountered a group of Tyranids, they would "call for friends." When they encountered a horde of Tyranids, they would "retreat when the enemy advances, advance when the enemy retreats, and harass when the enemy is tired." Just wear them down. The metal-bodied hounds wouldn't get tired anyway.
"Err—"
Ventris didn't know what to say. It had been a while since he had received news of a Tyranid attack on the front lines. The others looked at each other. They didn't understand why it was like this either. It shouldn't be! Shouldn't it be a Tyranid swarm versus exploding hounds? How did it turn into this situation that no one could understand?
"Inquisitor Fenni, why don't you say something?"
"Fine, I'll say it. What are the current losses of the 'hound pack'?" Ventris asked.
"According to the statistics from the front-line Tech-Priests, the number of hounds destroyed by the Tyranids daily is slightly lower than our daily production capacity."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Ventris asked again, "What are the results so far?"
"Thirty-six digestion pools have been discovered. All of them have been destroyed by our long-range firepower. The number of Tyranid creatures killed is unknown, but based on the observed results, Gorgon seems to have temporarily given up on us and thrown its strength towards the Greenskins and the T'au. We have observed that the intensity of the war in those two directions is higher than before."
"..."
At this point, a commander spoke up. "Is it possible that the Tyranids are using diversionary tactics again?"
After speaking, the commander added, "I'm just worried, I haven't found anything—"
"Hmm, I understand. The current situation is indeed a little beyond all our expectations."
Ventris nodded with a smile, indicating that it was fine. Not to mention the other party, even he was feeling uneasy. After thinking about it for a while, the Ultramarine finally cast a pleading look at the Inquisitor.
Seeing the plea and thirst for knowledge in Ventris's eyes, Fenni felt a wave of helplessness. She found that anything related to Omega was unexpectedly weird. But as the chief of staff, she had to provide advice to Ventris at a time like this.
"Ahem!"
The young Inquisitor, biting the bullet, coughed loudly to attract everyone's attention, and then said, "I think everyone should know that the Machine Spirit of the mechanical hound is a technological crystallization of humanity's Golden Age. Its degree of simulation is far beyond our understanding. Although we are all a little incredulous about the current situation, it doesn't stop us from putting ourselves in the Tyranids' shoes. If we were the Tyranids, facing an opponent like the hound legion, what would we do?"
The Inquisitor's words made the commanders on the scene fall into thought. If they were the Hive Mind, facing a shameless, fearless, and tireless opponent, what would they do?
"Hiss! Just imitating animals can achieve this level. How terrifying must the Men of Iron have been!" a well-read officer muttered to himself.
His words resonated with the others. Just then, someone suddenly asked Ventris, "Lord Ventris, I don't mean anything by it, just—"
"You want to ask if the mechanical hounds are safe, right?" Ventris said, looking at him.
The officer did not answer, only remaining silent. This question directly involved the Magos Omega who had made huge contributions. Asking such a question was a bit treacherous, but his worry was greater. Once these mechanical hounds went out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable!
"I don't blame you. But rest assured. There is no shortage of extremely conservative Tech-Priests in the fleet. If there were problems with the hounds' Machine Spirits, we wouldn't have heard nothing. At the same time, Magos Omega has added safety measures to the mechanical hounds. I have a method to instantly destroy all the hounds. Our worries have already been considered by their creator, Magos Omega."
Hearing Ventris say this, the commanders secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Their feelings could only be described as mixed, both happy and worried. The excellence of the hounds made them happy, but too much excellence made them afraid.
The Ultramarine looked at the changing expressions of the commanders, his thoughts returning to when Omega had given him the trump card to destroy the hounds before he left.
"Why are you so worried about your own creation?"
"Ventris, do you know, there is only one thing in this world that is absolute, and that is that 'there are no absolute things'."