How to Defeat Them

Swarm Prince swallowed it.

A lump bulged out of its throat and slowly slid into its chest.

Its body trembled slightly, and a glimmer of satisfaction flashed through the slits of its blue-white eyes.

"It tastes good," it said.

It raised its head, and its eyes glanced at the Planetary Self-Defense Force soldiers who were still resisting, at the Orks who were being slaughtered by the swarm of insects, and at the Duval who was slumped on the ruins with his eyes blank.

"Leave no one behind."

The screams of the insect swarm sounded again, more harsh, denser, and more suffocating than before.

The dark green wave swallowed up the sand, swallowed up the rusty armored shacks, and swallowed up the Aquila flag with only one head left.

Duval watched the flag fall in the wave of insects, being torn into pieces, trampled into the sand, and drowned by the screams of Tyranids.

His lips moved, but there was no sound.

His eyes were closed.

His body disappeared in the dark green tide.

This Death World ushered in real death when the insect swarm descended.

Swarm Prince walked up to Duval.

Those blue-white eyes looked down at the old man lying in the ruins.

Duval's body was incomplete, his left leg was empty from the knee down, and his right arm was torn open by the blast of air with a bone-deep wound. Blood mixed with sand and dust formed a layer of dark red scab on the wound.

His face was covered with dust, but his eyes were still clean.

There was no fear or pleading in those eyes, there was only one kind of stubbornness.

Swarm Prince lowered its head, and dark green light seeped out from the slits of its eyes, casting two cold light spots on Duval's face.

Its voice was unhurried and slow, with the calmness of a scholar examining specimens.

"It's such an embarrassing posture."

It tilted its head, and its pupil-less eyes seemed to be looking at every wound, every crack, and every drop of coagulating blood on Duval's body.

"Although Great Devourer doesn't care about our gestures and shapes. In its eyes, biomass is just biomass, and form is just a tool to achieve its purpose. But-" it paused, and there was a strange texture in its voice that did not belong to Tyranids, "I have inherited a lot of your human wisdom, and I still have a lot to comment on this."

It straightened up and put its hands behind its back. Its posture was somewhat human-like.

"Your current posture is extremely embarrassing."

Duval did not answer.

His throat is moving, which is the movement of swallowing.

His lips were chapped and his gums were covered in blood, but he did not utter a word for mercy.

He just stared at Swarm Prince with his cloudy, bloodshot eyes for a long time.

Then, the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

That's a laugh.

That "I have nothing to lose" smile.

Swarm Prince looked at the arc at the corner of his mouth and was silent for a moment.

Its fingers tapped lightly on the hilt of the biological sword twice, the rhythm was slow and steady.

"I can give you a chance."

Its voice suddenly changed, no longer that cold, mechanical tone, but with a tone of discussion, "Because I want to know more about human culture. Your culture. You people who are forgotten on the edge of Imperium have a completely different lifestyle from the Terra nobles. I want to know."

It squatted down, its huge body casting a thick shadow in front of Duval.

It stretched out its hand, the five fingers covered with dark green carapace spread out, palm facing up, as if to invite.

"Submit to me. I can transform you as much as I can, at least let you survive. Your legs, your hands, your eyes - all can be restored. Even better than before. Next, you can serve as a bridge between the insect swarm and humans, helping us to completely understand humans and completely rule them."

It tilted its head, and a curious light flashed through the slits of its blue-white eyes.

"What do you humans call this kind of position? It seems to be--"

"Spy."

Duval said the word for it.

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed against glass, but those two words were bitten so hard that spittle shot out.

Swarm Prince nodded.

There was no anger in those eyes, only a kind of satisfaction that "you understood quickly".

"Yes, spy."

Duval looked at him, at the hand that was stretched out and covered with carapace.

The arc at the corner of his mouth became wider.

It's not a laugh, it's a mockery.

He opened his mouth, and there was blood and broken teeth in it, and there was a sense of joy that had been suppressed for fifty years and could finally be released.

"What you defeated was just a remote planet. A garbage dump that was forgotten by Imperium and that even the tax collector was unwilling to come to."

His voice suddenly became loud and loud, so loud that the twenty creatures behind Swarm Prince couldn't help but take a step forward.

"Emperor's glory will always shine on us. Not on those gold-plated domes, not on those nobles wearing gold and silver, but on here."

He pointed to his chest with his only remaining hand.

"Shine in the heart of every warrior who is willing to die for humanity."

He took a deep breath, and the breath smelled of sand, blood, and death.

But there was no fear in his eyes.

"When the angel of Emperor comes, what you will receive will be the wrath of God-Emperor."

Before he finished speaking, Duval's hand had already reached to his waist.

There was an old Bolt Pistol pinned there. The barrel was rusty and there was only the last bullet left in the magazine.

That's what he kept for himself.

Fifty years, he has been on this planet for fifty years, checking the gun every day to make sure that the last bullet is still there.

It is not used to kill the enemy, but used to kill yourself.

Swarm Prince's hand stretched out so fast that the air didn't even have time to shake.

Its five fingers are less than a punch away from Duval's wrist.

But it stopped.

Because when it saw Duval's eyes, there was no fear or hesitation, only one kind - expectation.

Gunshots were fired.

The sound was not loud and was mostly drowned out by the sandstorm, but Swarm Prince could hear it clearly.

It was the crisp sound of metal hitting metal, the low sound of gunpowder exploding in the barrel of the gun, and the muffled sound of the bullet penetrating the skull and shattering the brain tissue.

Duval's body leaned back, and the back of his head hit the sand, splashing up a small piece of dust.

His eyes were still open, and the mocking smile was still hanging on the corner of his mouth.

Swarm Prince took back his hand and stood up.

It lowered its head and looked at the slowly cooling body lying in the ruins, and remained silent for a long time.

"Will."

It said softly, with a strange solemnity in its voice, like appreciating a work of art, "Respectable."

It turned around and was about to leave.

A figure rushed out from behind it. It was a creature four meters tall, slender, and covered with a dark green carapace.

There are two bone blades on its arms, and dark green energy flows on the blades.

There is no blue-white light in its eyes, only a naked and undisguised greed.

It pounced on Duval's body, and its lipless mouth opened, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

It wants to eat the head, devour the remains, and read the last memory remaining in the brain.

Swarm Prince's manual.

There was no warning, no starting gesture, just the five fingers covered with carapace opening and then closing.

It grabbed the creature's head and tore it out of mid-air.

The creature's body hit the sand, splashing dust all over the sky.

Its arms and legs were struggling, and the bone blades carved deep grooves in the sand, but Swarm Prince's hands did not move at all.

"Respect a warrior."

Swarm Prince's voice was as cold as iron, "This is what we must do."

It let go of its hand, and the creature's head slipped from its palm.

It didn't look at the creation again, but turned around and looked at the dark green sky.

"Now that we have obtained human wisdom and human genes, we should do something. Otherwise--"

It paused, and a glimmer of light flashed through the slits of its blue-white eyes, "We will never fully understand our opponents."