"Run! The bugs are coming!"
"Help! Big Boss, save us!"
"My leg! They bit my leg off! Somebody give me a hand!"
Behind the remnants of the T'au Empire's forces, a textbook rout unfolded along the Gretchin lines.
Tens of millions of newly "liberated" Gretchin recruits broke completely at the sight of the endless tide of bugs pouring toward them. They threw down their weapons, screamed in terror, and turned to flee. The crowd surged like floodwater through a breached dam, shoving and trampling one another. The chaos was even worse than during their earlier charge.
The Tyranid Swarm pursued without mercy, reaping those terrified lives like an enormous scythe.
Aboard the Dawn Messenger, Qingliu and Suisxing both witnessed the scene through footage transmitted by the few remaining high-altitude drones.
The sorrow on Qingliu's face deepened. He closed his eyes in anguish, unable to bear watching any longer. To him, these newly freed Gretchin had fought bravely and made tragic sacrifices, only to revert to their cowardly nature in the face of overwhelming terror. But that could not erase their earlier achievements. If anything, it filled him with an even deeper pity.
Suisxing analyzed the situation calmly. He watched the chaotic green mass effectively draw the Tyranid Swarm's main force into pursuit, buying precious time and space for his own troops to withdraw.
"They're... using their own chaos to provide our final cover," Suisxing said quietly. He had come to regard even the Gretchin's disorder as a "primitive but effective tactic."
Yet within the chaotic crowd, beyond what the drones could make out, an entirely different scene was unfolding.
"Squad C, fall back three hundred meters and provide cross-cover! No automatic fire! Use your weapons to pick off those bigger bugs! Aim for the joints! Aim for the eyes!"
**"Squad