Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde

To avoid navigating through the perilous Warp, the Emperor made countless efforts and created the Navigator Houses during the Great Crusade.

The fate of the Navigator Houses should have been similar to that of the Thunder Warriors. If the Emperor's Webway Project had been completed, they would have been disposed of just like the Thunder Warriors.

In the entire Warhammer universe, the only entities capable of faster-than-light (FTL) travel in real space are the ships of the Necrons and the Tyranid hive fleets.

The reason Necron ships can achieve FTL travel is not only due to their highly advanced technology but also because they possess shards of the C'tan, which provide immense energy for their vessels.

As for the Tyranids, their bio-ships, known as Narvhal organisms, enable them to travel at FTL speeds through space.

The most likely explanation is that the Tyranids, before entering the galaxy, encountered other lifeforms capable of FTL travel in realspace, captured them, and assimilated their genetic sequences.

Now, Rhodes possesses both capabilities—Bemstar is a cosmic lifeform, and the Birdon can also travel faster than light.

However, what truly interests the Emperor is the FTL engine of the Pedan spaceship that Rhodes controls.

"By the Emperor, Lord Rhodes, are you saying that this spaceship is equipped not with a Warp drive... but with an FTL engine? We can travel at faster-than-light speeds within realspace?"

Elena's eyes widened, and her body even trembled slightly as she looked at Rhodes.

Even as a mere Hospitaller Sister, she understood the immense value of an FTL engine.

"That's right," Rhodes nodded slightly.

"Lord Rhodes! The Emperor protects! This technology is crucial for humanity and the Imperium!" Elena was visibly excited.

However, Rhodes' next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over her enthusiasm.

"I know, but now is not the time. There are too many complications involved! The true value of this spaceship has yet to be realized. I am waiting for a great event to unfold in the universe—the resurrection of a Son of God."

The Emperor had granted him benefits, and Rhodes would not take them for free. He was willing to share the FTL engine, but not yet.

"I understand. This... this must all be the will of the great Emperor!" Elena nodded.

She knew there must be monumental events at play here. The less she knew, the better. As a loyal citizen of the Imperium, she deeply understood the importance of secrecy.

Her duty was simply to stay by Lord Rhodes' side. Whatever else happened was none of her concern, nor should she ask too many questions.

"So hurry up and change out of that gear. Put on something more comfortable and relaxed," Rhodes said.

Elena nodded, returned to her quarters, removed her battle armor, and changed into her white robe.

For the next period, Rhodes familiarized her with the Pedan spaceship, as she would be living aboard it for a long time.

Honestly, having Elena's company was quite nice. Traveling alone through the vastness of space would indeed be lonely.

Three days later, Rhods piloted the ship at FTL speeds and arrived in orbit above the planet where the Deathwatch forces were stationed.

During these past few days, whenever he had spare time, Rhodes would focus his mind on the Astronomican. It was then that he noticed something terrifying.

For some reason, the psychic signal of the Deathwatch Chaplain had been completely blocked.

Rhodes could not send any messages to him, nor could the Chaplain transmit any messages out.

Now that he had arrived at the planet, Rhodes finally understood why.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

What lay before him was a massive swarm of Hive Ships.

Just on the visible side of the planet, there were already over a hundred Tyranid Hive Ships.

On the far side of the planet and in other regions, the Pedan ship's radar detected countless more Hive Ships converging toward the planet.

Rhodes was at a loss for words. This wasn't just fifty Hive Ships—this was several hundred! And their numbers were still rapidly increasing.

From the depths of space, countless more Tyranid fleets were heading toward this location.

The planet below was enormous, significantly larger than the agri-world Rhodes had previously visited, and its hive cities were densely populated with an estimated 20 to 30 billion inhabitants.

More than half of the planet's land had already fallen. Many of the Hive Ships' tendrils were actively extracting biomass from the surface.

It was clear that this was not just a small, scattered Tyranid splinter fleet. This was a major invasion—an actual tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan.

The sheer psychic shadow cast by hundreds of Tyranid Hive Ships was so overwhelming that even Rhodes could hear the eerie howls within the Warp.

Terrifying, shrill screams echoed in his mind.

Without hesitation, Rhodes activated his Golden Flash mode. As the Emperor's psychic protection enveloped him, the Warp howls immediately vanished.

"Strike first for the advantage; hesitate and suffer the consequences."

Since he was already here, he might as well make the first move.

Without a moment's delay, Rhodes deployed all four sections of the King Joe battleform.

Simultaneously, the ship's main weapons—the five Pedanium cannons—locked onto the nearest Hive Ship and launched a surprise attack.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A thunderous explosion shook the void.

The targeted Hive Ship was instantly blasted apart.

The psychic shielding of the Tyranid Hive Ship was completely ineffective against the Pedanium cannons.

Immediately afterward, the four sections of King Joe combined in mid-air. A massive Pedanium cannon emerged from its chest, locking onto another Hive Ship.

After a few seconds of charging, a terrifying blue energy beam pierced through the second Hive Ship.

In less than a minute, Rhodes had destroyed two Hive Ships.

However, his actions had drawn the attention of at least a dozen more Tyranid Hive Ships.

These Hive Ships turned toward him, unleashing a barrage of long-range bio-weapons.

But the Pedan spaceship was highly agile in space, and Rhodes' ship was a small target. The Tyranid attacks failed to hit him.

Sometimes, being small was an advantage.

After successfully ambushing and destroying two Hive Ships, Rhodes saw that the Tyranids had begun forming a battle formation.

If he charged in recklessly now, he might end up ship destroyed, pilot dead.

Although both the King Joe battleform and the Pedan ship had energy shields, Rhodes had no intention of testing their resilience against the main cannons of a Tyranid Hive Ship.