Viridian

Beyond Milky Way, at the end of the sea of stars, there is a forgotten star field.

The stars here are arranged in a spiral shape, slowly rotating in the sky, like a blooming flower.

The color of the nebula is pale gold, with a gentle shimmer like twilight.

Deep in this nebula, an emerald green planet is turning quietly.

Its name is Viridian.

In the local ancient language, it means "eternal green".

The civilization of Viridian calls itself "Sons of the Sky".

They are not human, not Eldar, or any offshoot of the known Milky Way race.

They are an independent, ancient, highly technologically advanced life form.

Their appearance is somewhat similar to humans, but they are more slender, and their skin is light green, with a warm luster like jade.

Their eyes have no pupils, are a uniform amber color, and can perceive electromagnetic waves far beyond the visible spectrum.

There are two slender, tentacle-like bone horns on their heads, which are used to receive and transmit Psionic Energy signals.

Their technological level is far above Imperium of Man.

Their warships can glide silently in the Warp, unnoticed by any Chaos presence.

Their weapons can break down the atomic structure of matter, and can turn Titans-level Bio-ship into nothingness with one shot.

Their medical technology can regenerate severed limbs, reconstruct organs, and even restore consciousness through Psionic Energy backup after the brain is destroyed.

They are in charge of 1,200 planets, each of which is a carefully crafted work of art.

The city is suspended in the clouds, held up by anti-gravity crystals, and sparkles in the sunlight.

The streets are not paved with asphalt, but with shiny, soft Psionic Energy carpets that feel like stepping on moss.

The buildings have no edges and corners, but are all rounded arcs, like shells, petals, and curled-up fingers of a baby.

They love peace.

Not because they are weak, but because they have passed the stage of needing to prove themselves.

Expansion? Conquest? Those are all things that backward civilizations are passionate about.

They only need to guard their 1,200 planets and quietly watch the stars, clouds, and those shining silver aircraft that shuttle between cities.

That's enough.

For tens of thousands of years, no foreign enemy has ever been able to break through their border defenses.

The interstellar debris that accidentally drifted here, the wandering cosmic behemoths, and the overconfident predators were all smashed into pieces in front of the Psionic Energy barrier that covered the entire boundary of the star field.

Until today.

Tyranids is here.

It is not the sporadic remnants of defeated troops who fled here after being defeated by other civilizations, but a real, complete main fleet carrying the full power of Hive Mind.

Their number was incalculable, like locusts passing by, overwhelming the sky, and dyeing the pale golden nebula into dark green.

The size of Hive Ship is ten times, twenty times or thirty times that of the largest battleship Sons of the Sky.

Their surface is covered with thick chitinous carapace, and countless small, eye-like sensory organs grow in the gaps of the carapace.

Their abdomens have huge, split mouthparts, from which Tyranids warriors—Termagant, Hormagaunt, Tyranid Warrior, tyrants, executioners, you name it—come out continuously.

Sons of the Sky's Archon stood at the highest point of the command tower, looking at the approaching insect fleet, and was silent for a long time.

Her name is Astria and she has lived for twelve thousand years.

Her face is old but not haggard, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes are like tree rings, each recording a long period of time.

She stretched out her hand, and a silver-white Psionic Energy shot out from her fingertips, penetrating the dome of the command tower and connecting with the Psionic Energy barrier that covered the entire boundary of the star field.

The barrier lights up.

The light was more dazzling than the sun, instantly evaporating the Tyranids battleship in the front row.

Those huge, tumor-like creatures twisted, expanded, and exploded in the light, turning into dark green mist that filled the sky.

But the warships behind did not stop. They stepped on the wreckage of the former and continued to move forward.

The Psionic Energy barrier began to tremble under the continuous impact, and fine cracks began to appear in the silvery white light.

"Archon, the barrier energy has dropped by 30%." The voice of a young Sons of the Sky officer sounded in the communication channel.

"Fifty percent. Seventy percent. One hundred percent--"

The signal is cut off.

Astria watched the dark green mist seep in from the cracks, watched the mist condense, condense, and turn into entities in the starry sky.

She saw countless Tyranids pouring out of the mist, like a heavy rain, pouring on her twelve hundred planets.

Her lips pursed into a straight line, and her fingers tapped lightly on the podium twice.

"All fleets, meet the enemy. All planets, activate ground defenses. All civilians, enter shelters."

Her voice was as calm as water.

The battle lasted seven days.

This is the longest and most brutal battle in the history of Sons of the Sky.

On the first day, the border defense collapsed.

Three hundred planets were overrun by insect swarms.

Sons of the Sky's fleet launched a desperate struggle with the insect swarm in the starry sky. Each salvo of their warships could clear out a large area of the insect swarm, but the number of the insect swarm was too great to kill them all, so much that their energy was exhausted, and the insect swarm continued to receive reinforcements.

The next day, another 150 planets lost contact.

Sons of the Sky's warriors began to retreat, shrinking from the periphery to the core.

Those soldiers who stood on the defense platform for three days and three nights detonated their own Psionic Energy core before being overwhelmed by the swarm of insects, and died together with Tyranids.

The light of the explosion rose and fell one after another in the starry sky, like a silent firework.

On the third day, Astria ordered to abandon all outer planets and shrink all troops to the mother planet Viridian.

Advisors objected, saying that this would lead the swarm to the home planet.

Astria only said one sentence, "They originally came for the mother star."

On the fourth day, the sky at Viridian changed color.

From emerald green to dark green.

It is not the color of the clouds, but the color of a curtain made up of the bodies of the insects that cover the sky and the sun.

Those Tyranidss were hovering outside the atmosphere of Viridians, and their screams penetrated the atmosphere and echoed in the streets of the city.

The civilians of Sons of the Sky huddled in the shelter, listening to the scalp-numbing sound waves, holding hands tightly together.