More than a dozen separate command stations sit around the central holosphere in the tactical center, each responsible for monitoring every aspect of the White Hart system's defenses.

Around the projection, there are many famous heroes. Many are considered the epitome of imperial virtues, but even these great warriors are waiting for orders from Commander Karni.

Karney stood on a high platform, his eyes and the eyes of others staring at the holosphere.

The sphere depicts the White Deer Galaxy, a massive star and the world around it.

The Interception Fleet has now returned to the White Hart system and returned to its intended combat position, and they have successfully drawn the Zerg fleet to the defensive line established by the Imperial forces.

Although the Blocking Fleet did not cause much damage to the Hive Fleet, the battle between them and the Hive Fleet provided Karni and the Empire with a lot of information related to the Zerg.

This information may not be of much value, but perhaps, the Empire's xenomorphists, biologists, and members of the Alien Inquisition will soon be able to discover some of the Zerg's weaknesses from this information, and even have the means to destroy these insects with an endless desire to devour.

"Expand the viewing range," said Karni, who was standing in front of the holographic projection installation. "Let me see where the Zerg have arrived."

The hum of the camera draws the eye away.

The stars in the White Hart galaxy have become the size of a bomb, and the rest of the galaxy is tiny and barely visible, except for a gas giant at the edge of the galaxy large enough to see it as a point of light.

In the vicinity of these planets, the combined fleet, with its large number of ships, is divided into several battle groups, defending in all directions in the system.

Even planets are so tiny on a hologram, not to mention warships that are only a few kilometers or tens of kilometers away from human beings.

On a human scale, the Empire's ships are behemoths, chunks of metal large enough to hold millions of people, almost as large as some cities.

But in the vastness of space, on the hologram in front of you, they are just pixels, and only by relying on those moving data labels can you know where they are.

When the range of the hologram was expanded to a certain extent, the red dot representing the Zerg warship began to appear on the edge of the holosphere.

The first red dot was only lonely for a moment. Hundreds, thousands of red dots began to flicker in the vast expanse at the edge of the White Hart Galaxy.

Many of them are reconnaissance ships, eyes that act alone in the swarm. They are the tips of the hive fleet's attacking tendrils. Behind them are long, sinuous ribbons of other red dots.

Unlike the Imperial fleets in the White Hart System, even if the hive fleet is not prominently marked on the hologram with red dots, the hive fleet's massive shadow of countless biological warships is striking enough.

The number of hive fleets is not an exaggeration.

The endless swarm is enough to block out the light emitted by the stars.

And now, these endless devourers, they are searching for their prey.

"Order all troops to be combat-ready and ready to fire at any time!"

Karni ordered the liaison officer beside him. The liaison officer who received the order immediately conveyed Karni's order to his own communications team.

Through these communication groups, as if they were at Karni's side, the commanders of those units received Karni's instructions in an instant.

Faster-than-light communication equipment deployed on various warships and on the planet's surface makes complete communication instantaneous within the galaxy. Far safer and more reliable than the Star Whisperers.

At this time, Karni was extremely glad that the empire had now moved away from its dependence on subspace. Whether it's communication or faster-than-light movement, the Empire is completely independent of subspace.

These technologies are essential to the war against the Empire and the Zerg.

Because when Tyran entered the galaxy to devour the alien races of those fringing galaxies, the reconnaissance ships sent by the Empire's alien inquisition had already collected a lot of information about them, and numerous outposts and detectors had already contacted these zergs one step ahead.

And some fleets of the Empire have been in contact with some small Zerg fleets, and the Empire has a simple understanding of the Tyranid Zerg.

Although the Tyranids cannot move through subspace, they are creatures that also have their own projections, or shadows, in subspace.

As a special being, the projections of all Tyranid beings in the subspace are linked together, forming a behemoth in the subspace.

Currently, the Empire considers the Tyranids to be a collection of creatures connected together by a psychic network, and they are a swarm creature.

And the subspace shadows they form when they gather are so powerful that it emanates from the Tyranids like a flood.

This tremendous psychic power that permeated the subspace affected all subspaces within a few light-years of the Zerg, preventing the Imperial Starlingers from sending or receiving psionic messages.

The subspace shadows are the embodiment of the Tyranid psionic power. It acts as if the Tyranids have severed the connection between other creatures and the subspace.

When covered in the Zerg's subspace shadows, psionic abilities will be very difficult to cast. At the same time, navigation in subspace will become extremely dangerous and complex.

If the current empire still relies on subspace for communication and movement, Karni really doesn't know how to fight the countless Tyranid Zerg.

According to the Empire's speculation, this subspace shadow should have the most serious impact on psionic races, such as the Spirit race. At the same time, hive shadows may have another effect, which is to keep subspace creatures in the subspace.

In addition, the Alien Inquisition provided Karni with more unconfirmed information.

For example, this intrusive subspace shadow can also sow fear and chaos in the target world, which will infiltrate the minds of creatures on the planet.

If a creature has psionic potential, the fear they feel will be magnified. When the hive fleet approaches the target planet, the entire world's population descends into madness and despair.

The average person will feel unwell and will have bad nightmares. Psykers or subspace sensitives suffer from severe headaches, uncontrollable screams, bleeding eyes, and even loss of consciousness.

Even if humanity is free from its dependence on subspace for communication and movement, the subspace shadows formed by the Tyranids can still influence humans.

"How's the hive shadow? How does it affect us? ”

Karni asked as he turned to the Legion think tank beside him.

"As the hive fleet approached, the shadows intensified. But with the emperor's blessing, we were minimally affected. ”

Fortunately, mankind also has the blessing of the emperor.

The psionic beacons that the empire has built in various star fields are able to ensure that the projection of humanity in subspace is protected from the shadows of subspace.

The Emperor's psionic energy is like a dazzling star, "illuminating" humanity obscured by the shadows of subspace.

The number of hive fleets is enough to obscure the light of the stars in the real universe, but in subspace, the light emitted by the "stars" that shine on the human soul cannot be covered by the Zerg no matter what.

"Praise the Emperor!"

Karney nodded, refocusing his attention on the holosphere.

Although a very complete plan had been made in advance, the war was about to begin, and as a commander, he had to keep an eye on the battlefield at all times.

......

......

When the hive fleet advanced towards the White Deer system, and the imperial fleet was in full swing, the operation of the universe was not affected in the slightest.

Stars still shine, and planets still orbit stars.

The outermost gaseous planet of the White Deer Galaxy, Cato Star, is also orbiting the light source in the galaxy for an unknown number of times.

It is a gaseous planet that has been divided into the mining world by the Empire. Composed mainly of hydrogen, with small amounts of helium and small amounts of elements, the inner core consists of rock and ice, and the outer perimeter is covered by several layers of metallic hydrogen and gas.

Numerous giant orbital collectors have been built along the planet's equator, where promethium extraction work is carried out for the Empire.

There are no inhabitants of the Empire, and only a few of the engineers have long since been evacuated, and this is a planet with little conservation value.

This kind of planet of low value should have been zoned out of the defense area, after all, the fleet strength of the White Deer System was not sufficient in the face of the Zerg.

But near this planet, there is a fleet of hundreds of imperial ships.

Standing at the edge of the ship's command bay, Qajar stared intently at the hologram in front of him showing the full picture of the battlefield, and kept an eye on the communications facilities around him.

All the ships in the fleet waited, and in the starlight of the distant stars, their hordes of weapons cast a dark shadow on the star Cato at their flank.

"They arrived at the ring," said Qajar, who was staring at the hologram. "All ships, ready for battle!"

And not long after Khazar gave the order, the communicator next to him rang, it was a communication from Karni.

"Khazar, the target location has been sent. Offensive! ”

"Attack!"

Qajar roared. Communications gave orders between hundreds of ships.

The ship sped up as its thrusters were in full force, heading towards the swarm.

......

......

When the swarm entered the White Deer system, the space fleet began to move and counterattack.

The weapons on the ship launched a fierce attack on the hive fleet. But the sheer number of hive fleets allowed them to keep moving forward against the fleet's fire.

In order to avoid contact with the staggering number of hive fleets, the Imperial fleet had to retreat under the pressure of the Zerg.

However, as the Hive fleet was passing through an asteroid belt in the White Hart Galaxy, the situation suddenly reversed, and the Imperial fleet turned around and launched a new attack on the Hive fleet behind it.

At this time, the vanguard of the hive fleet had already crossed the asteroid belt.

Although the number of these vanguard forces is also more than the Imperial fleet that is attacking them. However, there is already the possibility of a battle between the two.

But the follow-up forces of the hive fleet are still approaching, and in less than half a day, they will be able to catch up with the vanguard team.

If they were to be entangled in the Empire's fleet, then with their sheer numbers, the Empire's fleet would eventually be devoured by them.

Therefore, it is necessary to hold back the pace of these hive fleets.

While the vanguard of the hive fleet crossed the asteroid belt, more hive fleets were still in the asteroid belt. And the key to holding back the hive fleet lies in these asteroid belts.

As a result of years of over-collection, many asteroids have formed hollow hive structures. And the holes in these overexploited asteroids were put to good use by the Empire's engineers.

A large number of large artillery batteries and small fortresses of light spear arrays filled the abandoned ore deposits, which were even more numerous than the ships of the Empire. And between these asteroids are also stuffed with deadly fire platforms and floating minefields.

Karni ordered the garrisons to take cover and wait for the first wave of hive fleets to rush through the asteroid belt before firing to cut off their backups.

And these soldiers obeyed Karni's orders with absolute discipline.

They are discreetly hidden in the hollows of the asteroid. It wasn't until the first bio-warships passed through the ring that the garrison artillery commander ordered them to open fire.

Minefields, Spear Stations, and Artillery Batteries, a Killing Ground for the Empire's Hive Fleet.

After receiving Karni's order, the weapon platforms hidden in the asteroid immediately launched an attack on the biological ships of the Zerg around them.

At the same time, the torpedoes that had already been laid out were activated remotely, and any biological ship that came close to these torpedoes would detonate it. The torpedo then inflicts terrifying damage on all enemies within its own damage radius.

The Empire also laid out numerous torpedo balls in the asteroid belt. They are about two kilometers in diameter. Hidden among the numerous asteroids, it is almost impossible to find.

Each torpedo ball is equipped with hundreds of individual clusters of proton torpedo tubes. When Zerg creature ships are detected to be within attack range, they are able to quickly fire proton torpedoes.

These energy torpedoes are constructed of tightly compressed protons, and they are capable of completely penetrating reflective shield barriers or shield systems, which can cause a lot of damage to hive fleets.

When these numerous weapons of destruction hidden in the asteroid belt attacked the hive fleet, and at the same time a massive minefield began to work, the hive fleet's progress finally slowed down.

The vanguard of the Hive Fleet, located outside the asteroid belt, could only face the attack from the Imperial fleet alone.

No one knew how long the asteroid belt would be able to hold back the Zerg army, so in order to eliminate this Zerg vanguard as soon as possible, the Imperial fleet did not retreat back.

And due to the closer distance, more smaller Imperial warships, as well as more weapon arrays on Imperial ships, can attack the Zerg biological ships.

This increased the firepower of the Imperial fleet several times over, causing massive damage to the bugs that rushed towards them.