At the instant the tactical nuclear bomb detonated, a white light hotter than a stellar core consumed everything. This was immediately followed by a destructive shockwave powerful enough to tear reality apart, and a deafening roar.
The already dilapidated fortress further collapsed amidst the violent tremors. Huge concrete blocks peeled off the ceiling, twisted metal frameworks groaned under the strain, and the entire stronghold, like a giant beast with a broken spine, sank helplessly downwards.
At the epicenter of the blast, the command post, along with all structures above it, had completely vaporized. A massive, smooth, and glass-like crater replaced its original location. The air was filled with the pungent smell of ozone and radioactive dust.
Just in the center of this deathly silence, accompanied by a shriek, an invisible hurricane suddenly erupted. The rock and metal of the crater walls, melted by super high temperatures, instantly cooled and solidified into grotesque black crystals under the shockwave. The smoke and steam entrenched in the deep crater of the blast were violently dispersed by this psychic power, revealing the figure that should have been completely annihilated.
The Norn Emissary was still standing, but its condition could only be described as severe.
Its thick carapace, which heavy artillery couldn't even scratch, had now completely melted, covering its body like wax, revealing charred flesh beneath. The originally full and explosively powerful muscle tissue had severely atrophied under the scorching nuclear flames, making its entire physique appear to have shrunk by a size.
Most critically, the hypertrophied brain tissue on its back, once the perfect terminal of the hive mind, now glowed dimly, its vibrant blue light completely gone, even somewhat shriveled, like a dehydrated organ.
Clearly, the tactical nuclear bomb explosion had inflicted absolutely severe injuries upon it.
However, on the battlefield where the dispersed smoke had yet to settle, a resounding war cry pierced the post-nuclear silence.
"For the Emperor!!!"
That was not the voice of one person, but an iron torrent formed by thousands of voices. Outside the ruins of the fortress, thousands of superhuman warriors in heavy armor were roaring and charging with the force of thunder. In the sky, a dozen thunderhawk gunships advanced alongside the ground forces.
The ogryns, clad in simple but incredibly heavy power-feedback power armor tailored for them, held a massive iron bar capable of smashing tanks in one hand and a tower shield in the other. They charged shoulder-to-shoulder, like a moving wall, pressing towards the heavily wounded Norn Emissary with an aura that crushed everything.
The hive mind instantly concluded: These guys absolutely cannot be allowed to get close to the Norn Emissary! Even many ants can bite an elephant to death, let alone thousands of subhuman giants equipped with power armor!
An urgent psychic message emanated from the Norn Emissary's shriveled brain tissue, ordering all Tyranid units scattered inside and outside the fortress to immediately abandon their current objectives, return to defense at all costs, block the ogryn assault, and buy it precious time to recover.
The Tyranids, receiving the command, faithfully executed it. In a narrow corridor inside the fortress, a Tyranid Warrior had just torn open the chest of a Helldivers with its claws, preparing to savor the fruits of victory. But the command from the Norn Emissary made it immediately abandon its readily available prey, turning to lead the Ripper Swarms behind it in retreat.
However, the moment it turned, a bayonet glinting with cold light suddenly thrust out from behind a nearby cover, precisely piercing its head. A Helldivers player, having recovered from the nuclear blast's impact, saw the enemy's back and naturally charged out without hesitation, stabbing with all his might and vigorously twisting twice to ensure this elite monster was thoroughly dead.
"Die, insect!"
The nearby Ripper Swarms immediately swarmed it, their sharp claws tearing the adventurous Helldivers into pieces of flesh within half a second. Unwilling to linger in battle, they intended to quickly retreat after dealing with this minor nuisance, but more Helldivers, bayonets fixed, rushed out from behind various covers.
"They're trying to run! Hold them! Don't let a single one escape!"
The tide of battle instantly reversed. The moment the Tyranid swarm attempted to disengage and retreat, the Helldivers, who had been passively defending, immediately launched a counterattack. They clung desperately to these retreating Tyranids. Most of the Tyranid units were deeply entangled in the fortress's complex maze of passages, held fast by the Helldivers, unable to break free.
Ultimately, only a scattered few managed to break out of the fortress to guard the Norn Emissary.
Receiving all of this through the Norn Emissary's damaged senses, the hive mind fell into a state of considerable confusion.
It silently upgraded the threat level of the species "human" in its information database, defining them as: a biological entity capable of immediately launching large-scale, high-intensity counterattacks even after enduring a major psychic strike and a close-range tactical nuclear blast.
And as the charging ogryns and astartes drew near, their efficient and deadly tactical formation was fully revealed to the hive mind's perception.
The astartes and ogryns did not charge haphazardly together. On the contrary, they formed tightly coordinated combat teams. Each battle-hardened Space Marine guided two to three ogryns like a shepherd.
The astartes, relying on their superhuman reaction speed and tactical acumen, constantly issued concise and clear commands, while their boltguns spat fire, providing precise suppressive fire for the giants ahead. The ogryns, meanwhile, focused intently, maximizing their terrifying weight and strength, raising their tower shields to form an unstoppable wall of steel, pushing forward.
The Ripper Swarms rushing to protect shrieked and met them, but in front of the high-speed charging tower shields, their fragile bodies were like rotten wood struck by a battering ram, instantly breaking bones and being sent flying. A massive Tyranid Warrior tried to cleave open the shield wall with its bone blade, but it was met by a massive iron bar whistling through the air. With a dull thud, this elite creature, along with its hard carapace, was directly smashed into a pulp.
Dealing with these basic tyranid units was as easy and pleasant for this specially configured assault legion as kicking a stray dog by the roadside.
An Exterminator, a beast the size of a small armored vehicle, roared, attempting to tear open a breach with a savage charge, relying on its powerful strength and hard carapace. However, it was instantly locked on by three or four combat teams as a target for a coordinated hunt.
"Left flank! Suppress its joints!" an astartes roared.
Several ogryns simultaneously exerted force in a practiced manner, their iron bars whistling through the air as they slammed fiercely into the Exterminator's limb joints from different angles. Accompanied by bone-shattering sounds that set teeth on edge, the Exterminator's massive body staggered, its flesh torn and bones broken. The moment it lost its balance, a precise bolt round whistled in, accurately striking its eye.
"Boom!"
The Exterminator's head exploded like a rotten watermelon.
In the shadows, several lictors attempted to harass with their extraordinary agility and near-perfect optical camouflage. A lictor pounced on an ogryn from an unexpected angle, its sharp claws tearing through a seam in the power armor. However, the injured ogryn let out an excited roar, and, disregarding its own life, used its massive body to tightly embrace the assassin.
The lictor's struggles were so futile against the ogryn's brute strength. What awaited it was a powerful blow from another ogryn nearby, and a follow-up bolt round from an astartes.
Another lictor, at the moment of attack, was violently struck by a quick-reacting ogryn with a tower shield, the immense force throwing its body off balance in mid-air. And this minor error was enough for the Space Marines on the battlefield. A bolt round precisely pierced its head, ending its sneak attack.
Behind the chaotic battlefield, a surviving synapse creature finally recovered from the nuclear blast's impact. It sensed the collapse of the front line and immediately unleashed a powerful psychic shockwave, attempting to curb these relentless madmen.
An invisible wave of psychic energy instantly swept across the battlefield, and the hundreds of ogryns and a dozen astartes at the forefront suddenly froze, as if pinned in place by invisible shackles, unable to move.
This method was very effective!
However, before the synapse creature could expand its advantage, the subsequent ogryns let out even more fervent roars, vying to rush into its psychic suppression range. They were like a flood surge crashing against a dam, using their bodies to fill and deplete the synapse creature's psychic energy.
Simultaneously, the unaffected astartes immediately unleashed all their boltgun fire upon the exposed synapse creature. This arrogant unit naturally also attracted the attention of the thunderhawk gunships circling overhead; the Helldivers's air force was worried they wouldn't find targets, as the ground forces were hogging them all.
"Target psychic unit! Concentrate fire!"
Facing the continuous stream of enemies rushing into its psychic range and the overwhelming barrage of bolter fire, the synapse creature had no choice but to frantically expend more psychic energy to suppress them. Its brain tissue visibly swelled and contracted, the veins on its surface bulging. Finally, under an output far exceeding its capacity, with a muffled "thump," its entire brain exploded, gray-white brain matter and bodily fluids splattering everywhere.
These small portions of tyranids, hastily recalled, were utterly powerless to stop this mudslide-like offensive. Amidst the earth-shattering war cries of "For the Emperor," they were completely overwhelmed and trampled by the iron torrent led by the ogryns, ultimately ground into a fleshy paste mixed with dirt.