Rhodes didn't expect the Tyranids to be able to copy part of Red King's genes and thus create an upgraded titan unit.
Although it's only 20 meters tall and weighs a few thousand tons, for the Imperium this is still pretty terrifying.
The monster's defenses are extremely strong, and with the chitinous carapace unique to the swarm, its armor is even more over-the-top.
The Tyranid titan units modified with Red King's genes are stronger defensively than the originals.
Plus, with the monster's huge size, the Tyranid war potential is truly endless—thankfully, they didn't get their hands on the complete Red King.
Otherwise, those bastards might have been able to fully copy Red King.
But! The Tyranids can only copy monsters like Red King Gomora and Guigass, who originated on Earth and have cell types.
Some negative energy monsters, super beasts, cosmic monsters, and Xenos species can't be copied at all, and even Red King can't be fully replicated.
So, in the upcoming battles with the Tyranids, Earth monsters can't take the field anymore. Bioweapons like Zetton can still be used, as can the super beasts.
Rhodes had already asked Yapool in detail. His super beasts were all made using the super beast synthesis machine. Except for the first sample, which was special, all the subsequent ones were made by fusing interdimensional energy.
Though they have a biological form, in essence, they're not much different from daemons. The swarm can't even extract biomass from them, let alone cells.
"So, Guilliman, how many troops do you plan to send to support Baal? This is a serious matter," Rhodes asked.
"Rhodes! How many troops do you have under your command right now?" Guilliman looked at Rhodes and asked.
"I've recently converted another batch of Cadian soldiers, so now I have over 600,000 Space Marines," Rhodes replied.
Most of the regular soldiers Rhodes can convert have already been converted.
The remaining Cadian soldiers have basically all been relocated to the new Cadian world—you can't just keep squeezing them for manpower, and 600,000 troops is plenty.
If he converts any more, there won't be room on Rhodes' ship, and the Cadians need time to repopulate.
"How about the Sisters of Battle under Sister Elena?" Guilliman nodded, then asked.
He needed to get a clear sense of Rhodes' army size since Rhodes' forces were a secret army, not publicly known.
"She only has a few thousand converted Sisters. You know, although she has the gene-seed of a female Primarch, it hasn't been made public yet, so she can't recruit on a large scale. She can only recruit from your Ultramarines and the Sisters who withdrew from the Cadian front," Rhodes said.
"I have about 150,000 sub-chapters here, over 1,500 Ultramarines, and more than 200,000 hidden Ultramarines. Altogether, we can muster nearly a million superhuman soldiers," said Guilliman.
Overall, the number of supporting troops for Baal is enough—these armies practically match the total Space Marine strength of the entire Imperium!
Guilliman felt a bit emotional—it's terrifying! Unconsciously, he and Rhodes' forces have reached this scale.
"But are you sure we should send all our forces? Guilliman, think carefully—these troops are meant to pacify the Terra upheaval," Rhodes said.
The reason for hiding these armies, and Rhodes and Elena's identities, was for something bigger.
Guilliman's 200,000+ Primaris Space Marines and Rhodes' 600,000 troops—all are to stabilize Holy Terra.
If they show up on the Baal battlefield too soon, Terra might notice something is off.
The news of the Primarch's awakening has already spread, and many Imperial factions are sending envoys, on their way to Ultramar.
"Baal is in the Imperium's shadow, with all psychic channels blocked. No one can contact Baal, so if we go to support them, nobody will notice," Guilliman said.
He had of course considered secrecy. Until the new Codex Astartes is issued and the old one revoked, this army must remain hidden. Otherwise, he and Rhodes would be branded traitors.
The army must be legal. Only after he returns to Terra and changes the law can he reveal it.
But he cannot ignore Sanguinius's situation—after all, that proud Archangel wouldn't ask for help unless desperate.
With so many Imperial high officials, nobles, Mechanicus, Ecclesiarchy, and other Space Marine Chapters coming to see him in Ultramar if Guilliman suddenly leaves with a great army, people would notice, Rhodes pointed out.
Hearing this, Guilliman frowned. It was a tough problem. This expedition would take at least twenty days each way, so a round trip plus the war would take two months, after which they'd have to head to Terra non-stop!
And not all his sub-chapters have been converted—only the main Ultramarines have. Some Space Marines still maintain their original look to receive outside guests.
Seeing Guilliman hesitating, Rhodes offered a solution.
"I have an idea. Why don't I go support Baal, and you stay in the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, on Macragge?"
"You mean, I leave you in command?"
"Exactly. No one pays attention to my legion anyway—they were hidden from the start. And with 600,000 men, I can handle the Tyranids without your army," Rhodes said.
He said this mainly to reassure Guilliman. This time, his gene-sons were just going to clean up Tyranids on planetary battlefields.
Realspace combat—Imperial battle barges have no advantage against Tyranid bio-ships.
His own Pedan mothership and robot monster army are much more useful. He's got Mecha Seven, Mecha Ace, the invincible Iron God Inpelaizer, 100 King Joe robots, the cosmic robot Daitetsujin, an upgradable King Joe, and a maxed-out 120-meter King Joe.
Mecha Seven hasn't even been enhanced yet—Rhodes deliberately kept it back for a surprise attack on the Tyranids.
He'd wanted to find a sizeable Tyranid force to test his hand against anyway, and since Hive Fleet Leviathan has shown up, he'll use them as target practice.
"That works. I'll give you some human troops and a few Ultramarines as support!"
"Give me two companies—enough to coordinate with the Blood Angels. As for human troops, a few hundred thousand is plenty. Their main job is to clean up the battlefield," Rhodes said.
Moving human troops doesn't matter—no need to worry about the Imperium noticing, since not even the High Lords know exactly how many human troops the Imperium has.
"Alright, I'll prepare a million human soldiers, 25 battle barges, and two companies of Ultramarines. I'll leave Baal in your hands, Rhodes. Please save Baal," Guilliman finally agreed to Rhodes' solo support plan.
"Leave it to me. I'll contact the Harlequins now and set out tomorrow," Rhodes said.
"No, Rhodes—this time, you don't need to use the Webway. With me and Sanguinius guiding you in the Warp, it'll be faster," Guilliman said.
Normally, traveling from the Five Hundred Worlds to Baal would take four to five months, even half a year. But with two lesser gods navigating, Rhodes' fleet could traverse the Warp safely in just 20 days. The Webway would take over a month.
"Uh, are you sure I should go through the Warp?" Rhodes had avoided it before, fearing the four Chaos Gods, but now he knows he's not on their radar at all.
Besides, now that Guilliman has ascended to a lesser god, he'll attract even more attention from Chaos, making Rhodes safer.
And Tech Priest had equipped Rhodes' ship with Warp engines and a Gellar Field.
So, traveling the Warp was fine; the only thing missing was a Navigator, but Rhodes could substitute for one himself.
"Trust me, no problem at all!" Guilliman said.
"Alright! I'll take the Warp route this time. Once your troops are ready, I'll set out," Rhodes said.