The Great Devourer, which usually only cared about eating, actually had the foresight to actively spread Genestealer Cults?
And looking at those Genestealers, they seemed to have been reverse-buffed by the Hive Mind itself. Heavens, not only did the Tyranids refrain from eating them, but they even provided a psionic boost as feedback!
Is this even still the Tyranids?
Quick, peel off that skin; you must be some Warp Chaos God in disguise!
The unscientific behavior of Hive Fleet Tiamat was genuinely alarming. Originally, the brainless Great Devourer just consumed everything, but now it had started practicing "sustainable development." This shift in strategy might seem to weaken the Great Devourer's primal style, but it sent a clear message to the Overmind:
You treat me like a fool, so I'll play you like a monkey.
The Zerg Swarm, already smaller in scale than the Tyranids, would lose its primary advantage if the Tyranids mastered "farming." The mere thought of Tiamat-controlled planets turning into "farmlands" providing a steady stream of biomass was enough to put the Overmind on high alert.
He had to eliminate Hive Fleet Tiamat early. Wiping them out would signal to the Hive Mind's will that this farming method was non-viable.
The Overmind began channeling biomass primarily into the production of Leviathans, preparing to send more fleets to the front line to handle Tiamat once and for all. Meanwhile, on a planet at the absolute edge of the Tiamat system, a Zerg Hive had already gestated, intended to serve as a major aerial resupply base.
Huge Spire structures were erected across the planet, churning out flying units in massive quantities.
However, the Tyranids were not stupid. Whether through the reconnaissance of that massive flesh-construct or a general sensitivity to biological life, another Tiamat patrol fleet arrived at the planet.
A new battle began.
Countless Mycetic Spores began raining down toward the planet's surface. But the Zerg had anticipated an orbital assault. Numerous Spore Crawlers opened fire before the pods could land, shattering them one by one in mid-air.
Even larger Bile Launchers engaged the Tyranid bio-ships in low orbit. These ground defense facilities were so massive and their firepower so fierce that the first volley resulted in the loss of two Tiamat Escorts.
Tyranid Hive Fleets do not perform traditional orbital bombardments, so there was no need to worry about strikes from outside the atmosphere. However, some of the persistent rain of Mycetic Spores managed to breach the Spore Crawlers' firewall and crash onto the surface.
Hordes of Termagants and Hormagaunts, led by Tyranid Warriors, surged out of the pods to begin the ground war.
The Zerg responded immediately. Units buried underground launched their ambush, but this time, things were different. To command such a vast number of units, the Zerg Overlords were indispensable. However, once the Tyranid aerial units entered the atmosphere, they began to actively target the Overlords.
Although the Overlords had been enhanced with basic psionic offensive capabilities, the Tyranid air force was simply too numerous. Gargoyles blotted out the sun; individually they were weak, but their sheer numbers swarmed the Overlords. After taking down a portion of the Gargoyle swarm with psionic blasts, the Overlords were brought down, their massive bodies crashing to the earth.
The death of the first Overlord was just the beginning. The Tyranid aerial units completely ignored the ground forces, focusing solely on the Overlords.
† Tsk, looks like they know the Overlords are the command units. †
The death of a few Overlords wouldn't affect the overall situation; the Zerg always maintained a surplus of control capacity. Losing one didn't matter. But if the casualties continued, the Swarm would eventually exceed its control limit. A single Cerebrate and a few Queens could not manage a Swarm of this fleet-level magnitude alone.
† Air force, prioritize handling the enemy's air force. †
The newly born Cerebrate, Ak, quickly commanded the Mutalisks to engage the Gargoyles. A Mutalisk was far larger than a Gargoyle; fighting them was as simple as a father discipline a son. However, the sheer volume of Gargoyles was overwhelming, and as larger Harpies and Hive Crones joined the fray, the Mutalisks began to lose their edge.
† Ak, use Scourges to blow up the Gargoyles, use Mutalisks against the Harpies, and let the Devourers handle the Hive Crones. †
"As you command, Overmind."
The Overmind corrected the tactical error of the newborn Cerebrate. Gargoyles were swarming Tyranid organisms; they were so densely packed that a single Scourge diving in could often kill over a hundred of them.
Meanwhile, the larger Harpies were positioned more like fighters, though they weren't as large as Mutalisks. The Mutalisks quickly engaged them in a dogfight. Both sides were winged biological war-beasts, but the Mutalisks were more agile, while the Harpies had better acceleration. Both sides took losses, but for the Mutalisks, this attrition rate was acceptable.
Because Mutalisks were incredibly cheap! As an aerial unit, they were cheaper than many ground units. Even a 1:1 trade with a Harpy was a massive profit for the Zerg.
As for the battle between the Hive Crones and the Devourers, it was a complete slaughter.
The Devourers practically bullied the Hive Crones. As a heavyweight Tyranid air-superiority weapon, the Hive Crone possessed living missiles, acid sprayers, and bladed wings, with impressive flight speed. But their size was much smaller than a Devourer's. A Devourer's hundred-meter-long frame practically chased the Hive Crones around. The Crones had to dodge the ground-based Spore Crawlers' anti-air fire while simultaneously evading the Devourer's lethal spores.
It was impossible for them; the size difference was too great. Even a Titan-tier elite Hive Crone was like a younger brother in front of a Devourer.
Under the Overmind's guidance, the Tyranid aerial units suffered defeat after defeat. The Gargoyle swarm that once blotted out the sun was blown apart by Scourges until only a quarter remained—and half of those were just lucky survivors caught in the blast radius.
The Scourges began chasing the Gargoyles, scaring the Tyranid synapse nodes into performing intense micro-management. The Gargoyles immediately scattered, forcing a Scourge to only hit two or three individuals at a time.
The Tyranids also tried deploying Spore Mines. These large, floating biological mines would rush toward Zerg flyers on sight, but the Mutalisks weren't afraid; they simply flung Glave Wurms to detonate the mines prematurely. Compared to the acceleration of a Scourge, a Spore Mine was like a bicycle racing a motorcycle—they weren't even in the same league.
The failure of their air force soon cost the Tyranids control over the ground. Losing both air and ground superiority, Hive Fleet Tiamat's expedition was a total disaster. During this time, another Escort was downed by Bile Launchers, and a Cruiser was heavily damaged.
This tactical approach had truly made Hive Fleet Tiamat suffer.