Custodian-class Aircraft Carrier, Hangar.
"Before the combat mission begins, let's confirm one last time—the enemy we are about to face is unprecedented, even for the entire Tau Empire."
Surveying the pilots before him, all of whom he had personally trained, the Air Caste Commander spoke with a solemn expression. "This mission is extremely dangerous. Does anyone wish to withdraw now?"
No one responded.
Every Air Caste pilot's eyes were burning with intensity, their gazes sharp and unwavering. Their silence spoke volumes: Commander, give the order!
"Very well."
He raised his slender arms to don his helmet, and the others followed in unison, their faces disappearing behind their visors.
Half an hour later, accompanied by the hum of magnetic rail catapults, Tau starfighters were launched like paper planes propelled by an invisible force, gliding gracefully out of the carrier's hangar and into the vacuum of space.
Relying on extensive combat experience and AI assistance, they adjusted their attitudes in the vastness of space and rapidly formed battle wings.
A massive swarm of Barracuda fighters led the way to clear a path, simultaneously screening the Tiger Shark bombers performing the primary strike mission. In the center of the formation, a large Manta flew as the command and control hub, flanked closely by a formation of Orca transports.
This was the full complement of the Custodian-class carrier's air wing. Under Adam's command, every single craft was released at once, pouncing toward the enemy in an all-out "Full Deck Strike" tactic!
The Gorgon Hive Fleet did not sit idly by. Through various detection methods, including psychic resonance, the Hive Mind clearly captured the trajectories of the incoming enemy craft and began analyzing their intent.
However, due to a lack of specific intelligence, the Hive Mind could not have known there was a "player" on the other side waiting to pull a fast one. It eventually reached a conclusion: These prey items intend to use carrier-based harassment to delay the biological ships, buying time for the hidden capital ships to launch more volleys.
But these "tasty prey" had clearly miscalculated. Against space-borne carrier combat, the Tyranids' response was always simple and direct.
Gulp—
A sound like swallowing saliva seemed to echo in the Manta's cockpit. The Air Caste Commander stared at the radar array, where the enemy targets were so dense they overlapped into shifting black clouds. His face turned grim. He could almost hear the enemy's silent, mocking laughter.
In this galaxy, who would dare challenge the Tyranids in a contest of carrier-based numbers?
Compared to the agility of the Aeldari, the brutality of the Orks, the raw power of the Humans, or the technological supremacy of the Necrons, the advantage of Tyranid hive flight units was brutally straightforward: Quantity.
An inexhaustible, endless quantity—so great that even if every shot from the incoming fighters hit with perfect precision, they could never be fully eradicated.
Fortunately, Adam had expected this.
Inside the bridge, the Morning Wood lit up its holographic screens. Using sensors mounted on the starfighters, it marked the specific coordinates of the Tyranid biological flight units—including Harpy and Hive Crones—as they swarmed in like a suffocating shroud.
Seeing the scene exactly as predicted, Adam immediately ordered: "Target positions imported. All fleets, fire at will!"
As the Tau flight wings charged toward the vast dark clouds of Tyranids, brilliant light suddenly flooded the dead silence of space, even coating the starfighters in a shimmering blue glow. These were heavy ion cannon beams, screaming across astronomical units and flashing past the Tau flight formations!
As the signature directed-energy weapons of the Tau fleet, the ion cannons had supported their naval expansion since they first left their home world. Their power was not to be underestimated.
Seconds later, the blinding light dissipated. A massive number of Tyranid organisms that had intended to intercept the fighters were silently reduced to free-floating particles in the million-degree heat of the plasma. The once-impenetrable interception net was torn wide open.
The Air Caste Commander seized the opportunity, ordering all engines to full thrust. The starfighters streaked into the gap like falling stars.
The Hive Mind was confused. Something was wrong.
Even during the fighter engagement, the distance between the two fleets continued to shrink as the Tyranid bio-ships advanced. While the Tau's move had decimated the intercepting organisms, it also meant they had sacrificed a full volley against the main fleet.
Surely they don't expect those small craft to destroy massive bio-ships?
But the Tau starfighters had already pierced the interception and were closing in. Using the massive gaps between the Tyranid bio-ships in the void, they began to weave through the fleet with incredible flexibility, dodging the biological plasma fire that rained down like needles.
The Tyranids were unwilling to give them further chances. A frigate-class Kraken adjusted its course, while a nearby Devourer-class Cruiser suddenly shot out thick, spiked tentacles—brutally impaling its own frigate companion.
Before the Air Caste pilots could wonder why the enemy had performed such a shocking act, they watched as the Devourer Cruiser swung its tentacles violently. The impaled frigate was hurled like a tossed mountain toward the flight group! During its drift, the frigate's bio-plasma point defenses continued to roar, weaving a lethal web.
The fire was devastating at such close range. Caught off guard, over a dozen Barracudas were hit instantly, turning into brilliant fireworks in the dark.
"Another unexpected situation," Adam muttered, frowning, but he quickly regained his composure. He always had a backup plan.
The Manta responded instantly. Its massive hull adjusted slightly, and a gargantuan missile was dropped into the void. Anyone with basic knowledge would recognize it immediately: A Deathstrike Missile.
In the previous fighting, this Manta had not fired a single shot nor released its drones. It had been specially modified to carry this lethal payload. The missile's tail erupted in a long plume of flame, vanishing from sight in seconds.
The next moment, a point of light exploded! Like a burgeoning supernova at point-blank range, terrifying plasma expanded across the surface of the bio-frigate under a thermonuclear effect.
If this type of missile could heavily damage Abaddon the Despoiler's Gloriana-class battleship, the "Vengeful Spirit," a small bio-frigate stood no chance.
The Air Caste pilots pulled their craft upward, soaring through the searing sea of plasma and over the silent wreckage of the frigate, heading straight for the Devourer Cruiser.
Their original mission was to find a Battleship-class target like a Hive Ship, but that was no longer feasible. They had to settle for the next best thing.
Like moths to a flame, the starfighters accelerated. Even as the Cruiser's anti-air fire claimed them one by one, they pushed faster.
Toward the target! Toward death!
Finally, the first unit broke through the defensive net.
"Revenge for Commander Farwind!" a roar of fury erupted over the comms. An Orca transport slammed hard into the chitinous carapace of the Cruiser.
A specially modified melta-device instantly burned a path through the hull. The transport plowed through the organic, beast-like interior of the ship before grinding to a halt.
Clang, clang, clang—
Amidst the screeches of the Tyranid swarm echoing inside the bio-ship, the hatch slowly opened. Members of the Core-Hunter Team, dressed in full combat gear, stepped out calmly.
Boarding. It was boarding once again.
In this universe, only war, death, and boarding actions are inevitable.