It took me a couple of minutes to process the whole fight.

"That was exhausting…"

I got up and moved far from the door that keeps being struck and hit. With occasional hisses and threads being thrown at this side. 

“Well, I survived! That was good. I just had to lose my tail… Darwin, what did you said before? I was too stressed to listen.” 

* "You severed a biomorph, that will take some hours to heal unless you pump a large amount of biomass to repair the damage. 3 times the cost to repair it and regrow the biomorph.."

“I will wait for it to heal and then reconstruct the biomorph.” 

That would render me almost defenseless for a while, but I didn't have enough biomass right now. 

I turned myself to look at the new area, and it was indeed beautiful. Full of life, green plants, with a waterfall, a river, and a lake. Part of the biome was a forest and part, a green meadow with some vines, flowers, and a huge tree. 

It looked like a buffet to me right now. 

But, first things first. I had to go hiding and rest. After that, it was crucial growing familiar with the biome. 

I sent a couple of mites with enhanced senses to explore and ten collectors to begin the Tyranid formation process. From a vibrant forest to dead rocks without even minerals or metals.  

A few minutes after resting, I move to the river area, finding a nice burrow and hiding there. “Hmmm.. Norn, could you work on some units to filter water? That could speed up the gathering process.”

* "I’m on it." 

“Hey Darwin, what can we really eat, and what can we not? Could we just go to a huge gas planet that has the right amount of elements and just drying it up of everything?"

* "You could try, but as you know, Tyranid thrive on biomass and DNA, the whole race is fighting to push further the boundaries of evolution." 

“That sounds quite simple-minded to me. Is there any reason behind that apart from the animal instincts? I mean, that sounds just like a locust plague somewhat.” 

* “Yes, there is a reason. Our whole race's history is written into our DNA code, so every Norn queen and specific key units or biomorphs know that story.” 

“Do you know it? Norn, can you explain it to us? We have some time until I recover so…” 

* "Sure, but I don't want. Darwin, entertain Kai while I'm working." 

I frowned as much as my chitinous face allowed me and sighed. Norn could be a nuisance to work with sometimes. 

* "Yes, my Queen. Millions of years ago, we were living on a planet not so different from this biome, it was a jungle that covered nearly the whole continent. But a weird mechanical race invaded us and forced us into hiding. We went near extinct. We had to hide in the oceans, constantly evolving to defend against predators and the deep pressure." 

I listened to Darwin explain their story, trying to pay my utmost attention. I was probably the first human being to ever know of this information. I felt honored, somehow. Like I was part of that story.  

* "After centuries, the mechanical race was no more. They had devastated the planet's surface to gather a rare mineral for themselves and left shortly after. We, on the other hand, returned to the surface as a united race. Lead by Norn Queens, in charge of breeding the troops and controlling the evolution, our race conquered the surface in a few years. The mechanical race left the planet, but some of their technology remained. We used part of their forgotten technology, learned from it, replicated it, and began to travel the stars. As conquerors."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

As Darwin talked about their past, I started to see echoes of such fights.  

I saw it as a small unit flying, as a Norn queen working, as a huge fighter killing; I saw it as part of their race.  

The wars and their desperation when hiding on the ocean. The centuries of forced changes and adaptation, and finally, the conquering of the surface with teeth and claws. 

* "Once we conquered our homeworld’s system, we traveled further. We then began to change again, as in space the distances were huge and there we had no way of communication through voice or pheromones we managed to unlock a psychic link. 

Again, I saw rudimentary organisms take off from the worlds, merge into hive ships and travel from planet to planet, their moons, and asteroids, expanding, building. 

I frowned as that was not what I expected from the Tyranids. 

"You had an empire? I thought Tyranids only devastated."

* "There was a time when we were more than just a nomad race. We grew and multiplied through our galaxy for hundreds of thousands of years, conquering world after world, building massive cities, unnumbered hive fleets. A whole flourishing empire at the stars, but it was for nothing. As they came back."

"They? You mean that mechanical race?"

* "Yes. They were different too. They traveled to mysterious ruins at the core of our galaxy and found energy sources like no other. It appeared limitless, but it wasn't without a cost. They morphed into slaves from those same energies they tried to enslave."

"Corruption…"

* "Ironic, isn't it? Time had allowed us to grow stronger than ever, but once they arrived, we saw that we were still like that desperate race back into our homeworld. They had new weapons that burned whole worlds and powers we had never seen before. We tried to fight them, to adapt, evolve, but we only stalled them."

"What were they? From what you describe, they were probably some sort of robots or AI."

* "We're not sure, but their race was like a curse, spreading death and destruction wherever they went. They destroyed our fleets, planets, and even whole stars. After a few centuries, we were lost and dying. Again. The collective hive mind that ruled the Tyranid Empire, known as the Great Devourer, gave a desperate order. Flee from our galaxy and find a new one to start anew. We spread like spores all over the cosmos, in every direction. And so, we traveled in silence through the void for millennia." 

I kept listening to Darwin, as my mites came back regularly to give me some biomass they could collect and DNA samples from the plants and vegetation from the forest. I was totally thrilled by this history. 

* "After millennia in space, we found a light in the darkness. And we followed it towards this galaxy. Most hive fleets got lost and divided, and as the Great Devourer ordered us, if we ever find another fleet, we must compete for survival. The survivor will get all the biomass and knowledge from the loser and turn stronger. But our main focus is to fly far away, as we are still running from those machines that butchered our whole galaxy eons ago…" 

“Wow, that was, quite sad. But why did the AI said that in this galaxy, every race was our enemy?” 

* "We tend to gather all the food we can then leave the planet dry, and as you may understand, it doesn't get along well with the natives from here. They see us as monsters from nightmares. We're just refugees and hopeless." 

“Huh, that certainly depends on the point of view. What is good for a spider sure is hell for a fly.” I said while pondering about all the information Darwin shared with me. 

Meanwhile, Norn was still busy trying to unlock further biomorphs, allow me to level up, and create new units. A busy Queen.

After a few hours in this biome, I had a better understanding of its structure and the areas in it. Most of the forest was brimming with life. 

I saw small rodents, reptiles, and birds. So that was an excellent place to increase our biomass fast. 

I turned towards the door and saw how damaged it was. But at least, it was holding in its place. 

After our fight, the new spider leading that nest tried to burst through the door by attacking it. It lasted only a few minutes, but I was relieved once it stopped. 

I had a couple of bomb units throwing acid at the door's breach to avoid any small spiders from crossing. I did not want them to create a new silk nest on this side of the door. 

"We will start gathering resources from the forest. But what worries me are the lake and the meadows." 

I saw some significant movement on the waters, and I wasn't sure how to face any aquatic enemies yet. 

And the seemingly quiet meadows were simply... eerie. No birds or insects were flying around. I just saw a few rabbit-like creatures in the area near the river. And flowers. Lots of them grew on the further wall near the big tree. There had to be a reason for this weird phenomenon. 

I was really interested in the area and sent a mite to explore, but it was too far to pick up anything weird, so I should go myself to see what is happening there. 

I decided to mark it for exploration after gaining back my tail. I felt kind of defenseless without it right now. 

I sent a pack of fighters with pincers, venomous tails, and reinforced chitin to break into the forest. They started hunting and killing every animal that they found. Only a few small or nimble creatures escaped the sweep. We detected a few openings that looked like cenotes too. I disregarded them as most of them were inundated and lead to water caves.

I got there and started to gather the biomass. "Kill, eat, and grow. Right,Norn?” 

She doesn't respond, though. 

After getting our stomach full of new DNA, I sent the mites again to the nearest trees. 

I approached the river and picked some readings, but barely anything useful. There seemed to be quite a lot of living organisms down there, and I wanted to explore that area to gain a better understanding of the biome and its inhabitants. 

Now, I could either keep cleaning this side of the forest or pick one of two paths. 

Either go to the meadows, with its weird flower zone, or jump at the river, which has unknown threats. "Decisions, decisions." 

I summoned a unit and threw it into the air.

"Ok, heads the flower zone, tails the river." 

The poor mite kept flying for a couple of seconds before going down, and when it fell makes itself a ball. 

"Damn, I didn't see that coming." 

But, when it opened, it was heads. I looked at it and sighed. "To the green fields, it is..."

I looked at the greenfield and its inhabitants. A group of rabbits was eating in it, somewhat agitated by the fights at the forest, but they were entirely passive otherwise.