Though he was anxious, Lynn did not dare go looking for Rena near her nest.
He could only return home, to an apartment midway through District Seven that was considerably roomier than his old kennel and had its own bathroom.
Lynn locked the door behind him and activated the rudimentary security system.
Following his usual routine, he checked the window latches and inspected the vent filters for signs of damage.
Then he changed into his home clothes, sat in the reasonably comfortable synthetic chair, and opened his Dataslate.
He began reading some inconsequential tax policy updates and Hive City news.
He even opened a cheap entertainment show, "Terra's Gratitude Theater: Grandpa Dihuang Brings Down the Void Dragon with Pebbles."
He stared at the screen, but his eyes were not focused on the images. Instead, he kept refreshing the system to check Rena's condition.
And so he stayed home, waiting for a message from Rena, just like you waiting in front of a screen for your crush to text back.
Outside the window, the neon lights gradually shifted from a sickly purplish red to a stagnant deep blue, marking the arrival of the Hive City's "night."
Lynn fought back the urge to go looking for Rena himself.
He kept telling himself, Staying put is the safest thing to do!
He also believed Rena would understand the current level of danger and remain silent.
However, just as Lynn was getting ready to wash up and go to bed, something did happen.
In the system, Rena's condition began to decline, clearly indicating that she was under attack.
At first, Lynn still clung to the hope that Rena might merely have clashed with other Tyranids.
This had been common before, with other swarms frequently intruding on Rena's territory.
They sought to eliminate this anomalous node on behalf of the Hive Mind.
After taking office as an inspector, Lynn had wiped out practically every threatening Tyranid nest near Rena's lair.
Normally, Lynn did not worry at all when Rena came under Tyranid attack.
Today, however, he kept having a bad feeling.
He tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
"Beep!"
At the same time, near Lynn's apartment, the sensors inside the helmet of Scout A, hidden behind the framework of an abandoned billboard across the street, sounded a clear alert.
"Reporting activity from the target."
Almost simultaneously, a stream of data flooded onto the screen.
The Tech-Priest was remotely monitoring the vital-signs detector inside Lynn's apartment.
The data showed that one minute after the Sons of Medusa squad made contact with the Tyranids' special node.
Lynn's heart rate had abruptly risen from 68 beats per minute to 119.
His skin resistance showed slight but discernible fluctuations.
The beta-band activity in his brainwave readings, representing alertness and emotional fluctuations, showed a brief spike.
Although Lynn appeared to be resting normally, his most instinctive physiological reactions had betrayed him.
Scout A immediately compressed and encrypted the anomalous data packet and transmitted it back to the base.
The Tech-Priest's Cogitator array completed a preliminary correlation analysis within seconds.
A labeled briefing appeared on the data screen before Cassius.
Cassius studied the text and data curves on the screen, his white helmet reflecting an inorganic sheen beneath the dim command lights.
He remained silent for a moment, then ordered the squad members and Tech-Priest on standby to continue monitoring in a completely level voice.
Elsewhere, the three-man squad had already reached Rena's nest.
Rena's nest was not a primary combat hive.
Its role leaned more toward concealment, development, and serving as a command node than toward being a fortress for head-on resistance.
Although, with [Devouring Enhancement] and continued feeding, she herself had grown to a level comparable to a Tyranids Prime Tyranid Warrior.
Her carapace was thicker and sturdier, her four bone blades gleamed with the cold light of biometal, and her reaction speed and strength far exceeded those of an ordinary Tyranid Warrior.
But without production units, the number of swarm creatures she could command directly was limited.
Faced with the Sons of Medusa squad's precise and ferocious assault, the nest's limited defensive forces were quickly torn apart.
The Heavy Bolter roared in the narrow passages, blasting the oncoming swarm into flying chunks of flesh; beams from the Meltagun flashed, instantly vaporizing sturdy organic growths or Tyranid units attempting to block the passages.
A veteran warrior charged at the front, every swing of his Thunder Hammer sending up great sprays of green fluid and carapace fragments.
Pinned down by heavy firepower, Rena finally managed to charge into reach of the Space Marines.
Only to be driven back by another warrior wearing Terminator Armour, wielding a Power Fist and a heavy flamer.
Rena realized the extent of the danger.
She let out a piercing shriek filled with anger and unwillingness, but her actions were exceptionally decisive.
Without hesitation, she sacrificed nearly all the nest's guard creatures, ordering them to launch a suicidal charge at the Sons of Medusa.
Large numbers of Hormagaunts and Rippers swarmed toward the Sons of Medusa, no different from moths flying into a flame.
Only a single Haruspex, its massive body ten meters long, absorbed a considerable amount of damage for the swarm.
Even the mighty Space Marines had to avoid the barbed hook spat from its mouth.
The Haruspex, together with a dozen or so Neurogaunts capable of psychic attacks, were the only Tyranids able to impede the Sons of Medusa.
Given a moment to breathe, Rena did not hesitate in the slightest.
She detonated the "alchemical explosives" planted in advance throughout the nest, made from a mixture of unstable biomass and chemicals.
This was one of the fallback measures Lynn had instructed her to prepare.
"Boom!!!"
The violent explosion was not intended to kill, but to create chaos.
Collapsing rocks, jets of acidic bodily fluids, wild air currents, and billowing smoke and dust instantly filled the core area.
At the very instant the chaos reached its peak, Rena's enormous body, with agility and speed at odds with her size.
Slipped into a prepared "emergency escape passage," extremely narrow and winding down toward a deeper geological fault.
This passage had been excavated over a long period by Raveners and was barely wide enough for her to squeeze through. Its inner walls were coated with mucus that absorbed sound waves and weakened energy detection.
When the veteran carrying the Thunder Hammer smashed the last Tyranid unit blocking his way.
And charged into the devastated nest core, which was still collapsing.
He saw only the passage entrance rapidly being buried by falling rocks, and the potent pheromones of a powerful Tyranid individual lingering in the air.
"The target escaped." The veteran slammed his fist into the wall in anger.
But Cassius did not blame him, because the operation had already achieved its objective.