The Swarm's forces quickly surrounded the Imperial vessel. Judging by its model, it appeared to be a Gothic-class cruiser. It hadn't been maintained in a long time; the hull was covered in scars left by war, making it hard to tell how many battles the ship had endured.
The crew inside the ship were all members of a Genestealer Cult known as the "Claws of the God-Emperor." Furthermore, they weren't just ordinary members, but pilgrims meticulously handpicked from an entire Hive World.
As they were pilgrims, the leader of this Genestealer Cult was naturally present on board.
"The God-Emperor is guiding us!!!"
Like other hybrid Genestealers, the female cult leader's bald head shone in the dim cabin like the light of the Emperor himself.
"We are the chosen ones, the lucky few among the countless children of God! We have arrived here to meet the Holy Savior!!!"
Unlike other Genestealers, this time it wasn't the Genestealers attracting a Hive Fleet to their planet. Instead, a presence within the Tiamat System was attracting them, driving them to embark on this pilgrimage.
"The God-Emperor will lead us to ascend into the Heavens! In Heaven, there are endless wine and delicacies; we shall never hunger again, and there shall be no more pain or death!!!"
The female leader delivered her speech with fervor, and the hybrid cult members below were equally ecstatic. This form of religious propaganda, which seemed foolish to a transmigrator, was highly effective for the people of Warhammer 40K.
After all, if one were pitching to a transmigrator, they'd at least have to mention "seventy-two virgins serving you" to make it even slightly appealing.
The female leader was so engrossed in her speech that she failed to notice the organisms near the ship. She could feel that her vessel was getting closer and closer to the God-Emperor.
An adjutant approached the female leader and whispered something.
The leader frowned and immediately headed toward the command hall. As soon as the heavy doors opened, she saw swarms of Mutalisks flying past the exterior of the ship.
"What are those?!"
"I don't know, milady, but we have detected a large number of these creatures in the surrounding space, and super-large biological signatures are approaching us."
"Hmm..."
The female leader pondered. Logically, she should have felt uneasy at the arrival of these Mutalisks, but the psionic fluctuations of the Tiamat System soothed her emotions, as if whispering to her:
[This is normal. These are the messengers sent by the God-Emperor to receive you.]
This sensation was originally meant to prevent hybrid Genestealers from panicking when they saw a Tyranid Hive Fleet, allowing them to jump into the reclamation pools peacefully.
But this time, it unexpectedly aided the Zerg Swarm.
Genestealers are Tyranids with independent minds; they couldn't distinguish the difference between the Zerg Swarm and the Tyranid Swarm. The female leader instantly mistook the Mutalisks for the God-Emperor's messengers.
"They are the messengers sent by the God-Emperor to guide us! Our loyalty has been affirmed by Him!"
Upon hearing this, the crew in the command hall immediately felt at ease.
"So they are the Emperor's messengers."
"No wonder I felt a sense of peace looking at them."
"Praise the God-Emperor!!!"
For this reason, the Gothic-class cruiser did not open fire. Even when the Machine Spirit tried to force-start the automated turrets, the crew manually overrode the command.
The fact that the ship didn't attack the Mutalisks surprised the Queen of Blades within the distant Leviathan fleet.
"Strange. Normally, given the temperament of those monkeys, they should have attacked long ago. Is this a space hulk? No, that's not right; the engines are still functioning normally."
The Queen of Blades was puzzled, but there was only one thing to do now.
"Bring the ship alongside!!!"
A Leviathan performed a short-range warp jump, appearing directly in front of the Gothic-class cruiser. It plunged its tentacles into the cruiser's armor, and a massive number of Swarm units flooded into the ship's interior through the conduits.
The Queen of Blades did not order the Swarm to attack; she only ordered reconnaissance, with instructions to fight back only if provoked.
The Genestealer Cult members who were the first to see the Zerg did not fire either. They had already received orders and knew these were the "God-Emperor's" messengers.
And so, through a series of misunderstandings, neither side made the first move. The Zerg, unattacked, stared at the cultists, while the cultists looked at the Swarm with eyes full of reverence.
"What's going on?"
The Queen of Blades saw that the "monkeys" weren't attacking and thought they had gone mad.
But upon closer inspection, something was wrong with these "monkeys." Some of them actually had three arms, and their obviously non-human purple heads and the chitinous plating on their skulls indicated that these "monkeys" were not normal humans.
The Queen of Blades thought for a moment and realized what they were in less than a second.
"Genestealers... and so many of them?!"
It was too many. The quantity was staggering. An entire ship filled with Genestealer Cultists was not a situation a normal human vessel should be in.
The female leader soon arrived before the Swarm and praised loudly: "Praise the God-Emperor! We have finally met His messengers; this pilgrimage has not been in vain!"
The Queen of Blades finally guessed it: these cultists were on a "pilgrimage."
What she saw and heard was transmitted to the Overmind through her eyes. After seeing this, the Overmind almost wanted to laugh.
†Honestly, it's one thing for these Genestealers to worship the wrong 'God-Emperor,' but to worship the wrong Swarm as well? †
You couldn't blame the cultists for the mistake. Since they weren't connected to the Hive Mind of the Great Devourer, they had no information regarding the Zerg Swarm. Furthermore, when they saw the Zerg, having seen many pure-strain Genestealers, they felt a sense of familiarity toward the purple Swarm units, leading them to mistake the Zerg for Tyranids.
"Overmind, should we keep them?"
† Although I don't need them alive, this is quite interesting. Leave a batch of Changelings on the ship; I want to see what these creatures will do. †
"As you command."
Since the Overmind said not to kill them, the Queen of Blades naturally had no objections. While the Genestealers were distracted by the Swarm, a dozen or so Changelings quietly slipped into the cultist crowd.
The Swarm also left a significant number of Zerglings behind, while all other units returned to the Leviathans. The female Genestealer leader accepted this batch of Zerglings as well.
"We are very close to the God-Emperor's location. Soon, we shall see the Savior we have long yearned for. Praise the God-Emperor once again!!!"
"Praise the God-Emperor!!!"
The devout prayers of the Genestealers gave the Overmind a sense of watching a comedy.
†These prayers should actually be able to reach the Emperor, right?†
In the Genestealers' perception, they were worshipping the Emperor, so most likely the prayers would be transmitted.
† I bet the Emperor will treat it like a DDoS attack from an outside force, hahaha. I wonder if he'll accept them all or block them at the gate. †