A.N.: Thank you all for the kind reviews last chapters! I'm glad you're excited for the second arc, I know I am! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I apologise if these take a little longer to come out in the near future, I've got some problems IRL that make writing a little more complicated, though I have no intention of stopping no worries on that! I'm hoping to keep a pace of a chapter a week at least, or basically as much as I enjoy putting out.
Harrison knocked at Vela's door.
"Come on in!" The answer prompted him to push through, entering a room that seemed just as spartan as his own had been. Vela was stripped of her Arbites armour, instead wearing more casual military clothing. "Oh, Harrison! Good to see you up and awake."
"Yeah, people keep saying that..." He gestured to the nearby chair, and upon her nodding, took a seat. "How you holding up?"
"Terrible." She said bluntly. "I keep having nightmares about down there. All my friends and family are dead." She stopped for a moment, letting out a deep, weary sigh. "But I've had a few days to grieve and...move on. Not that it's worked, but well. There's not really room for much empathy here."
"...I see." He said. "I'm sorry for your loss." She looked at him, her expression softening.
"Thanks."
"Occ said he was going to take me work for an Inquisitor." Harrison said. He didn't want to dwell on the subject and make Vela feel worse. "It...there aren't a lot of people more powerful than an Inquisitor in the Imperium. We could do some real change at the side of one. Actually have an impact." He clenched his hand. "Make things better for people."
"...Harrison." She said softly. "The Inquisition doesn't exactly make things better for people."
"I know." Harrison nodded. "But being in it, we can climb the ranks. Get into a position of power." His eyes burned with determination. "Maybe even become inquisitors ourselves. And then...then we can do some change." He shook his head. "I'm not talking about reforming the Imperium as a whole or anything of that scale, but if we can start something, improve the lives of even a single world...wouldn't that be worth it?" She stayed silent.
"I don't think it will work." She said softly. "But what else am I going to do? Join the guard? Between one suicide mission and the other...yours at least sounds entertaining." She smiled at him. "Alright. I'll follow you Harrison."
"Thank you Vela." He said sincerely. "It's good knowing I'm not going there alone." He froze for a moment, then groaned.
"What is it?"
"I need to go talk to Ashley."
"Oh. Good luck."
"I don't think it would help much, sadly."
The sister of battle was already waiting for him. Unlike Vela, she was still in full battle armour, cleaning her weapon when he entered.
"Lord Harrison!" She said, a bright smile on her face. He took an involuntary step back. The way she was looking at him...there was something worshipful in her eyes. Awe and passion that he found himself deeply uncomfortable with. She had the same eyes he'd seen when she had set the refugee centre on fire. When she had burned Isshin alive. The rapturous look of a zealot.
"Ashley." He struggled to find what to say. "What...why did you call me Lord?"
"Oh My Lord, surely you know! You have been chosen by the Emperor Himself! His golden guardian came to you, to elevate you above us mere mortals!" She spoke in a rapid pace, dropping her weapon on her bed before walking closer to him, her eyes wide and expression twisted in a rapturous smile. He took another step back. "I cannot merely call..." She shivered. "No, to do so would be heresy my Lord!"
"I...I see..." He said. He didn't think Ashley could make him more uncomfortable than when she'd been enjoying burning someone alive. He was wrong.
This didn't beat the building full of children though.
"What is it you require of me my Lord? I will do anything!" She said, and it was almost desperate, reaching out to him with her hands pleading. "Anything!"
"Okay, enough!" He snapped, making her flinch back. "If..." His mind went back to the burning building. To Isshin burning alive. He looked at the woman staring at him rapturously, and found himself surprised to feel he felt more hatred for her than he did for the tyranids that had rampaged through his world. "If I were to tell you...to kill yourself..." He said in a whisper, a half admitted venomous request that he regretted as soon as the woman immediately grabbed her side arm and pointed it at her head. "Wait wait wait! Stop!"
"My Lord?" She asked.
"Just...put the gun down. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that." And he really hated himself for doing so. He didn't want to become that kind of person, the one that would abuse his power in such a horrific way. If he did...what was the point of even trying to reach those lofty heights he now aspires to? Just to become yet another one of the Imperium's horrific executioners? Emperor knew the Imperium had enough butchers already.
"You need not apologize my Lord!" She was trembling slightly. The realization she'd been scared of doing as he said, but still willing to do so, shook him deeply. "It is your right to..."
"Stop. Please." He whispered. She closed her mouth. "Occ is going to bring me to an Inquisitor. Become part of their retinue, if I had to guess. I wanted to know if you wanted to join along."
"It...it would be an honour my Lord!" He sighed.
"Call me Harrison. And there are going to be a few ground rules if you follow me along."
"Anything!"
"You can't just burn people like you did with Isshin."
"...almost anything?" He glared at her and she relented. "Fine. Fine. Sorry. I...very well. But if it is in self defense or to protect others?"
"Within reason, sure."
"Neat!"
"And Ashley?" She looked at him with wide eyes as his tone grew cold as ice. "If you ever do something like the refugee centre again, or Emperor forbid the protests...I will kill you myself."
"...understood my Lord." For the first time in his life, she looked like she was slightly intimidated by him. He didn't like the feeling, but this needed to be very clear. He was being entirely serious.
"Good. We're leaving in an hour."
"Lord Commander Marques." The woman tested the words. A pleasant name, agreeable to say. A noble name. Hopefully that meant the man wasn't too stuck up his own ass. She'd dealt with enough of that from Earia Secundus' own governor... and many more. "A pleasure to speak with you, though I wish it wasn't under such dire circumstances." Her cogitators sent her a constant stream of information. Some of it was on her interlocutor, sending her whatever was available on the Lord Commander. A hard but fair man, with a few victories under his belt already. Useful for what was to come. Details about the latest harvest and the loss of productivity due to the shift into prioritizing defenses. Aggravating, but necessary if the world was to weather the storm to come.
"Governor Danarea. It's good to hear from you." The voice was jerky, static. The shadow in the warp had started to spread over her world. It made communication with anything related to astropaths inadvisable, but extreme circumstances required extreme measures. The astropath allowing her to receive the message was currently bleeding from his eyes and nose. She felt a pang of pity at the sight, but if they could not communicate properly many more would suffer an even more terrible fate. "How are the preparations going?"
"As well as can be expected. We had always based our defensive capabilities on the assumption that should an invasion be suffered, we could count on relief from Earia Secundus. As it is, we have retrofitted processing plants into bunkers and artillery positions, accumulated as much of our harvest into secure storage units to weather the inevitable siege of our world and burned what could not be harvested." Her voice was a mechanical drone; an inefficient means of communication compared to the mechanicus' binary choir, but necessary for the sake of communicating with those outside of the order. "We estimate the arrival of the tyranid bio-ship to be within the next week."
"That fits with our own estimates" The Lord Commander said. "Good. We're arriving within the next six hours, and will start immediately deploying our ground forces. I will invite you aboard my ship to help coordinate things from above."
"With all due respect Lord Commander, I prefer to remain on the ground." She answered. "This is my world. Here we have tamed biological life. This is a world ruled by iron, machinery and industry. I will not leave it to be devoured by some glorified locusts." Her voice, despite being entirely artificially produced, still managed to convey the contempt she held for the xenos approaching her world by the hour. "Besides. With the potential communication risks caused by the Shadow in the Warp, it will be good to have someone high ranked on the ground in case the astropathic links to the fleet are cut."
"...your courage is commendable, Magos." She tilted her head in acknowledgement at his use of her title. She'd always been more attached to her rank in the mechanicus than that of the planetary governor. "Very well. We will be here soon. Together, we shall hold the line. For the Imperium."
"For the Imperium. For Mars."
The next few days were a flurry of activity on the world. Hundreds of thousands of men were deployed on the very first day, taking the task of preparing positions and logistical networks for the arrival of the bulk of the army. Multiple regiments of the guard were under the command of Lord Commander Marques, and the logistical regiment was one of his most treasured. The thirty ships that composed his fleet had joined with the other seven of Admiral Jane, themselves joined by the hundreds of smaller merchant and transport ships hastily retrofitted for war. These would do poorly in a fight, but would add numbers desperately needed in the face of the storm to come.
On the second day, with forts, camps and many more accommodations necessary for the logistical function of such a large scale operation as the deployment of the Imperial Guard on a world having been put into place, the legions of the Guard started descending on the world. They were not greeted by cheering crows, but by rows upon rows of Servitors; the masses of cybernetically enhanced slaves working in the great fields of the agri-world, repurposed for combat. Their equipment was subpar, their cybernetics poor. But they would be obedient, fearless.
The guard on the other hand, had come in force.
Millions upon millions of troops poured onto the world, from the numberless masses of regular infantry men to heavy weapons teams, to the feared kasrkin squads, and even entire battalions of ogryn troops. Commissars kept a vigilant eye on the deployment, ensuring all remained in line. Banners flowed in the air as the army spread throughout the various defensive positions in the world, arming installations, staying in reserve and even operating some of the ground to air defenses. In addition to the numerous masses of infantry, came the just as numerous masses of vehicles the guard brought with them.
Thousands of tanks treaded the ground of the world, crushing the roads into easily traveled dirt; the most common one of those being the leman russ, with multiple of its variants deployed to the world. Hellhounds, inciendiary tanks, joined this parade, as well as entire battalions of chimeras, armoured transports that would help transport the troops safely. Or at least, safer than they would otherwise be.
Peak of this armoured war machine was the spear head of Lord Marques' army; his ace in the hole when all other things failed. A cohort of ten baneblades, a privilege few had access to; overwhelming machines of war that could face almost any opponent on the battlefield; eleven barrels of hell ready to greet the tyranids as was due.
Basilisk artillery was deployed in vast numbers. Hydra anti-air batteries installed in any keypoint, creating grids of overlapping fires.
It was an impressive display, and he could tell amongst the troops that morale was high. For the most veteran of his troops however, the mood was more somber. For the entirety of the ground forces to be deployed could only mean one thing.
Whatever it was that they were preparing themselves to fight was expected to give them absolute hell.
Marques glanced at the ligne of hundreds of basilisk artillery pieces, arranged for his inspection before they went down to join the ground forces. His eyes narrowed. The Xenos wanted to eat?
Let them come.
He would make them taste lead.
Anya hummed as she stared into the pool of biological soup, her hand dipped in it, having split into a variety of tubes and strange organic connections. Such a display would have made her vomit back when she was still fully human, but now it was almost comforting in a way. In the centre of the pool, something large lay in the middle, squirming and shifting. As it did, Anya cooed out gentle words of comfort, her eyes shining a gentle yellow light. She heard a noise behind her, snapping her out of her concentration, looking behind her. She'd expected to have her sister there, but instead found herself staring at a tyranid warrior. She blinked at it.
"Oh. Hello." The creature walked closed, standing next to her, staring into the pool. "Ah, you've felt it then?" She raised her other hand, the warrior gently nuzzling it. "Yes, I'm making something new. Trying stuff out. There's...so much knowledge, so much genetic possibility...so much room for growth, for change, for mutation. For evolution. It's all a balancing act though at the end of the day." She gestured to the lump at the centre of the pool. "Sure, I could make a warrior like you thats twice as smart, but then I could only make a quarter as many. I could make every one of you have a heavy venom cannon, but then which one would fight if the enemy closes in?" She sighed. "It's easy to imagine all the creatures that could win a battle easily, and another entirely to deal with the reality of balancing biomass consumption, cost efficiency and ensuring we don't leave any glaring weaknesses for our enemies to exploit." The creature let out a warble, nuzzling further against her. She giggled. "Aw, you're sweet. Your trust in me is admirable." She rubbed her hand against a his armour, finding many a crack and crevasse. "Huh. You're one of those that fought with me back there, aren't you? One of the very first." She smiled softly. "It's hard you know. Getting so attached to you all. You're all my family after all. Knowing you will all die, or throw yourselves to be converted to biomass...it hurts." The creature seemed to catch her distress, its nostrils flaring as it looked around, almost seeking what was causing her grief. She chuckled, pulling at the synaptic web and calming the warrior down. "But then again, you never really die, do you? Your memories go into the hive, preserved forever. It's not like Ayna, who comes back whole and entirely herself, but...it's something." She let go of the warrior, turning back to the pool. "Still. If I can make your life easier, I will. This time, they know we're coming. And we've only got one ship to fight them in space. We're big, but the progenitor class isn't really well suited for fighting. It's more of a seeding ship." She hummed, playing some more with the lump in the pool. "I've got some ideas. You're welcome to keep me company as I work." The creature sat next to her, looking as the energies of the pool infused the lumb, pulled and pushed on some traits, discarding others, as the tyranid experiment experimented in turn.
She stayed there for hours before her sister finally came to drag her out; Literally in this case, dragging her by the skin of her neck. Anya let her do so, not resisting, amused by her little sister's displays.
"Fight me."
"Okay."
And so it was that Anya found herself once more battling against her sisters; pitting their psychic might against each other. Anya was the stronger of the two in that regard, but Ayna leveraged her superior physical prowess in her tyranid body to compensate and enhance herself to insane levels of speed and strength.
"TYRANIC BOMBARDMENT!" Anya screamed, opening her hand and sending a barrage of psychic power, focused into deadly spears of energy, at her sister. The bolts slammed into the floor of the ship as her sister adeptly dodged the attacks, a single spear managing to hit its target and carbonize the arm of the tyranid sister. She snarled, charging at Anya and closing the distance in a matter of a single second; sixty metres crossed with speeds that should not be possible, even for a tyranid organisms.
"STOP SCREAMING YOUR ATTACK NAMES!" Ayna yelled at her as she slammed the bonesword she'd made for herself into Anya's psychic shield, who replied with a cheeky grin:
"NEVER!" She held out both of her hands before her. "TYRANIC..."
"Oh no." Ayna said, her eyes widening. "Don't you da..."
"TORRENT!" A burst of pure power surged from her hands, shattering her shield and blasting into her sister, enveloping in pure power instantly. The tyranid was sent flying backwards, her body smoking from the intense energy, carapace melted off and much of her body carbonized. Anya winced at the sight, but she knew her sister was tough enough to take such attacks and survive. Even if she died, well. She wouldn't. Her sister groaned as lied on the floor, already regenerating the damage. That was another advantage she had over Anya; she regenerated damage much, much faster, to a frankly terrifying degree. Anya had seen regenerate an entire limb in a matter of seconds. Tarrasque indeed.
"What did I tell you about using that attack? It hurts like hell." Anya sheepishly smiled.
"I mean, it works, right?"
"Uuuuugh I hate you so much." Ayna shook her head, testing the pieces of body she'd had to regenerate. "That's going to itch so much later. Anyways, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't yell out your attack names."
"But it's so cool!"
"It's a tactical disadvantage!"
"They won't know what the names mean!"
"They can figure it out after seeing you use it on other people!"
"Well...but it feels so wrong to use attacks without giving them names!"
"The Hive Mind give me strength Anya, I want to punch you so hard right now."
"You have to actually land a hit first." Ayna pointed an accusing finger at her.
"Hey! I'm the younger sister here, how come you behave more like a brat than me?!"
"Because you're the one connected directly with trillions of tyranid minds, making you more mature and experienced technically?" Anya replied, an innocent look on her face.
"No. Bad. You can't fool me with the puppy eyes. I know the kind of evil behind them." Anya rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, fine. I'm not stopping though."
"Dammit." Ayna didn't insist. She knew a lost battle with her older sister when she saw one. "Anyways, let's talk about your tyranid body. I know you've been using the human one a lot last invasion, but this one will require a lot more direct fight. This won't be some disorganized PDF, chaotic hive-city. This will be the Imperial Guard. Infiltration and disruption tactics will have their place, but you will likely find yourself in direct combat a lot more." She squinted at her sister. "You need to train more with it. To get it to be more efficient, stronger, faster. And..." Ayna crossed her arms. "The claws aren't going to cut it." She held up her bonesword, the weapon humming with subtle power. "You need a weapon."
"Hm..." Anya tilted her head. "Good point. Alright, I'll go to the pool and change form. At least there it won't hurt. As for weapons...Hm." She thought to herself. What weapon could be useful? She could get a bonesword, but this was a weapon commonly used by tyranid elite organisms. It would be devastating against regular enemies, but if she faced an opponent with experience facing against creatures like warriors or even hive tyrants? They would know how to fight against it. She needed something more unconventional. Something that fit better with her nature.
She thought back to the fight against that custodes, Occ. The peerless warrior that had laid her low, despite all her psychic might, through sheer martial prowess and physical power. If she found herself in a situation where her powers were useless...she needed to be like him. As strong as him. As fast as him. No. Stronger. Faster. Better.
She couldn't be. Not yet.
But she could at least take inspiration.
"Say...do you think it would be possible to make something like a bonesword, but in a different shape?" Ayna frowned.
"I...I don't see why not. What do you have in mind?"
"Something like a spear, but more vicious. Harder hitting." She grinned. "What do you think of a bone halberd?"
On the third day, the cadians arrived. Their numbers bolstered the Imperial Guard already present, bringing some much needed fire support in the form of heavy weaponry on the ground. More vehicles were brought in, including of the super heavy kind.
Defenses were dug. Trenches, defensive positions, bunkers, improvised forts.
Just as crucially, they brought a further fifteen warships, including three battleships. With all of this naval power combined, there was serious consideration of taking down the colossal ship in a straight up fight. Its capacities were unknown, but many of the members of the cadian regiment were veterans from the Fall of Cadia. To them, such an abomination was certainly something, but they had seen worse when their world had fallen to the predations of Chaos. Of all the defenders, the purple eyed soldiers were the most tranquil ones at a first look, but there was a strange tension to them one would notice if only one paid closer attention. It was in the twitching at a sudden sound, the sharp eyes glancing around when entering a new room. Things that were not uncommon among veterans of the guard, but were particularly strong in those of the fall. In addition to this, there was something else. A quiet determination. A silent understanding, words that did not need be spoken between those who knes. Those who had seen it.
They'd lived through the fall of one world, and refused to stand idly whilst another suffered a similar fate.
With each day that passed and news of further reinforcements in approach, Lord Commander Marques felt himself grow more confident. Still, he reminded himself harshly, overconfidence was the demise of men far greater than himself. He would do well to not underestimate his foe.
Earia Secundus had not fallen to brute force alone. Trickery, deception and infiltration tactics had been rife.
And above all else, there was that creature, indicated by the custodian guard. This new form of tyranid organism. According to the custodian, who had been doing his own investigation, this was the creature leading the swarm; having used another similar organism to attract attention away from itself whilst it infiltrated the hive and caused untold destruction through many different means. A being capable of changing their appearance, both to that of a human and that of a tyranid. What was believed to be their base form however was what troubled him the most. He had heard the description of the child-like creature that had managed to wound the custodian.
And as the Shadow in the Warp started to grow stronger and stronger over the world, many soldiers found themselves trapped in nightmares where they sat at the foot of a throne of living flesh, a white haired girl staring down at them with a hungry smile.
"This is madness! Have you seen the size of that thing?! Attack it and we are all dead!" Jane glared at the Lord Commander.
"I am aware of how large our foe is, yes." Marques said calmly. "However, we have managed to gather enough ships to counterbalance this initial disadvantage. In addition, the magos biologis of the fleet has agreed that this ship is likely meant to be a seeding ship of sorts; not one armed with a wide variety of weaponry." He shook his head. "Admiral, we will have to engage the ship at some point. We cannot simply ignore it once it enters orbit. Might as well attempt to do some damage before it can start raining hell on our troops."
"Your troops. For which you wish to expose my own to this...this thing!" She growled. "This is a suicide mission. You're going to risk our orbital support capacity for the sake of taking potshots for the sake of your blasted pride!" His narrowed at her.
"What orbital support can we provide if this thing contests supremacy and we find ourselves unwilling to even fight it!" He slammed his hand on the desk. "We do not have any ground to space fire, fighting it over the world will do no difference save that it will be busy sending millions of xenos monstrosities to tear our troops apart!" Jane looked away. She didn't like it, but he was right. They were going to have to fight it, one way or another. The truth was, she was scared. Scared of this...this thing. This behemoth of flesh and chitin. Something that big had no right to exist. Nothing alive should ever grow so large. And this constant pressure in the back of her skull, this...Shadow in the Warp, it was making it harder to think rationally. Made animal instincts harder to ignore.
"You're right." She would not cave in to it. Refused to let it win. She was an admiral of the Imperial Navy damnit, not some scared chi... She gulped, shaking her head as the image of a grinning white haired child appeared in her mind. No, no she wasn't scared. She was not! Was it her fault that the shadows felt deeper these days? Besides, she wasn't the only one nervous. She could see it on the general's face. He hadn't slept well recently. The same nightmare that plagued them all. "You're right, Emperor damn you but you are right. Fine. You can count on us. However, if we are doing this, I am taking the lead. No offense general, but your expertise is in ground pounding." She tried to smile. "Space is my territory." The general sighed, relieved.
"No issues there Admiral, I defer to your expertise."
"Good. If we're all in agreement..." She nodded to herself. "Man the battle stations. We're taking the fight to them."
As Admiral Jane stood at the bridge of her ship, she tapped the audio receptor in front of her. It had been some time since she'd used it; Astropaths being far more useful when properly trained. But it would do for this. And the Astropath...well. The Shadow in the Warp had been worse for him. He kept mewling and crying, begging to be saved from the "Hungry Child". It was an unsettling sight at the best of times, and so he had been confined under guard with strict orders to execute him at the first sign of trouble.
"Soldiers of the Imperium. Before us stands a monument to all the horror the Xenos are capable of; a heresy of flesh and chitin, an abomination that should never have been born. It is our task to see this wrong put to right! Our task to see this insult to the God Emperor taken out of this world!" She tried to push as righteous fury into her voice as possible, tried to disguise the fear she felt behind blind fanaticism. "WE WILL REND IT APART! PURGE IT FROM THIS WORLD! TEAR IT OPEN AND SPREAD ITS ENTRAILS TO BE BURNED BY THE SOLAR WINDS! FOR THE EMPEROR!"
"FOR THE EMPEROR!" The clamor was picked up in every ship; by every human soul that heard the words. "FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EMPEROR!" The fleet took off, sixty warships and their numerous escord sailing through the starry void towards the colossus that threatened their world. "FOR THE EMPEROR!"
"They are coming for us." Ayna's voice pierced through the veil of Anya's concentration. The various creatures she had been levitating around her fell down softly, gently lowered to the ground.
"So they are. How brave."
"We can fight back, but this ship is not well suited to the sort of fighting imperial ships are capable of." Ayna warned. "We cannot face them head on in broadside combat."
"No. We cannot" Anya agreed. A giant this ship was, its combat capabilities for its size were lacking. That was not its purpose after all. "However, it has a variety of things it is very good at that can help us with our foe."
"And that is?" Anya's smile grew, showing far too many teeth, even for her tyranid form. She gripped the weapon in her hands, newly made just for her.
"Boarding."
"Ma'am!" She looked at the officer who called out to her. The battleships had gotten within firing range now and were taking aim at the colossus. "Smaller vessels are exiting the larger creature!" The words sent a shiver of cold down her spine.
"Number and scale?"
"They're not very big, but...Emperor protect us, there is a lot of them. Thousands, ma'am, if not more." Another officer pipped up.
"They seem very dispersed too. It's a bit strange really, they seem to be aiming at every ship at once. Our shields should be able to prevent any serious damage though." She frowned. This seemed...her eyes widened.
"Battleships focus fire on the big one, every other ship fire on the incoming projectiles! Call the boarding defense teams!" She gritted her teeth. "Tell them they're about to get busy." Faces paled as the ship shook, the massive cannons opening fire along with much of the rest of the fleet. For a moment, it seemed the space around them was filled with streaking stars as hundreds of projectiles surged forth, a constant barrage of smaller projectiles followed by the immense ammo used by the battleships. The incoming organic boarding ships were destroyed by the dozens by the initial volley, but it was a small number compared to the amount that was still approaching. "Fire at will!" She ordered, the volleys growing less coordinated but increasing in intensity.
From the massive ship suddenly spiked a surge of energy. She could see it from the way every single reading in the ship lit up in red. The thing was getting hit by the battleship shots, and whilst its armour was doing a good job protecting it from taking any serious damage, it was clear it would not sustain a barrage like this forever. A maw opened at the front of the creature, a surge of bioplasma as large as a miniature sun blasting forth, passing by the boarding ships; swallowing some of the projectiles fired at them and burning them instantly. She watched in horror as it got closer and closer to the fleet, engulfing and destroying four of the smaller vessels accompanying the fleet before slamming into a battleship, too slow to dodge the attack. The shields were destroyed instantly, the ball of plasma hitting the ship dead centre before detonating in a ball of burning matter; the battleship finding itself severed in half, a derelict ruin floating in a cloud of melted debris. She heard the screams of the crew as the ship lost its atmosphere, thousands perishing instantly. More would die within the next minute, she knew. And yet she could not lose focus. There were dozens more relying on her leadership. She barked out orders, the line separating and growing more dispersed, focusing fire on the incoming boarding ships. It could not have an infinite supply of them; in fact, after the initial incoming wave, it had not sent anymore. She suspected they had hoped to saturate the counter fire enough that some would pass through. From the way it was going, she feared this would come true.
Her worst fears came to life as the shower of boarding craft, greatly diminished but still numbering in the hundreds, finally reached the line of Imperial ships.
Three hit her own vessel; one in the engines, burning instantly from the shields, but overloading them for an instant using some strange electrical network coursing through it. It only made the shields flicker for a moment, but it was enough for the other two to slam into the battleship. A second later, she heard a cry coming through from the defense crews.
"WE'VE GOT CARNIFEXES IN THE LOADING BAY!" The shout was followed by the sound of intense gunfire followed by a powerful roar, cut out suddenly. Jane gulped.
"Alright…that's one. What about the other?"
"Ma'am…" She glanced at the security cameras. The activity on them was frantic; people running around, gathering weapons and converging to where she could see was a pack of a dozen carnifexes rampaging through the loading dock, slaughtering any in sight. The creatures were large and well armoured, but nothing the crew of an entire battleship like her own couldn't handle.
It was the sight on the other set of cameras that made her blood turn to ice.
A tall, humanoid creature, of chitin and flesh and horrible white, keratinous hair like filaments running around her head. She knew what she was looking at even as it looked at the camera with a vicious smile and yellow glowing eyes.
The creature had taken her tyranid form.
In its hands, she wielded a strange weapon, a halberd-like weapon made out of organic material; bone and flesh enthused with strange crystal substances creating a blade shape. It seemed to be linked to the creature itself through strange tubing, thrumming with unseen power.
"Marques." A moment of pause as the connection was established.
"Yes?" The static voice came through.
"She's on my ship." Silence.
"Fuck."
The blade cut through the armoured soldier like butter. Anya laughed at the wonderful feeling of her weapon singing in harmony with her, the hungry blade drinking the blood that had soaked onto it through a million tiny pores dotted through it; a second passed and she had slashed her way through the rest of the man's squad, standing in the midst of a corridor full of torn apart bodies. Anya sighed in contentment at the ease with which she had slaughtered them, and yet…she wasn't satisfied. She grabbed one of the bodies, chewing on it; Satisfying her hunger. So why did she still feel…her psychic shield absorbed the powerful shot of a lascannon, turning her attention to the end of the corridor. A group of guards had managed to install a heavy weapons module as she made her way towards the command bridge. She opened her hand, lifting the ones operating it, screams echoing as she closed her hand and crushed them to pulp.
She rushed through, her halberd swinging at a speed only surpassed by that of Occ; cleaving through imperial guard after guard, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake until she reached a large hangar-like room. Over a hundred soldiers were aiming at her and fired the moment she stepped through, her shield shining with red light. Anya laughed, laughed as she opened her arms wide.
"TYRANIC…" She watched the guards startle as she spoke perfect gothic, her eyes glowing a sickly yellow. "BOMBARDMENT!"
The mass of psychic projectiles tore through the guards as metal darts through paper, leaving large, bleeding holes through their bodies. More guards ran into the room, only to be lifted up by her powers and sent flying into the metal beams supporting the various catwalks in the place, crunching noises filling the air as their skeletons were crushed against them.
"COME ON!" She screamed out, raising her halberd towards the camera. "IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE?!" She stabbed at one of the few surviving men crawling away from her, cutting his throat in a single motion. "YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!" With that, she dashed through, blasting through a poor guard who'd peeked out of the door opposite her and turning his head to paste as she did, sending a wave of psychic power to pulverize the guards waiting in ambush on the other side.
She reached a staircase. She could feel it had been mined; explosives ready to detonate if only she got close. She giggled.
Jane watched in horror as the tyranid creature ran up the stairs, jumping from wall to wall, the mines they had planted exploding on her and getting deflected off her psychic shield. It was a nightmare. They'd sent wave after wave of guards after her, and she'd turned them to minced meat. All the heavy weaponry they'd had was for naught, and the few places tanks could operate were currently being used to funnel the carnifexes, of which only four remained by now.
And yet this thing, this…Anya, Occ had called her, was getting closer and closer.
They weren't going to be able to stop her, she realized. She could kill hundreds in minutes, thousands if she used her powers.
"Marques. What is the status of the enemy ship?"
"It's taken some damage, but it seems to be getting closer and closer. Reason unknown. It hasn't fired that attack again either. We're pulling away, but over half of the fleet is dealing with boardings as well. We've lost about a quarter of our ships so far." The report was grim.
"I see. What about yours?"
"Safe for now."
"Understood. Marques, I will try and hold the girl here. I'll give you a signal. When you get it…or if you no longer hear from me…blast us."
"...Only in death does duty end." He replied solemnly.
"Indeed." She grabbed her side arm; a plasma pistol she'd only had to use twice in her life.
It didn't bring the comfort she'd hoped for.
"Leman Russ responding, ready to…wow wow wow!" The synthesized voice of the operator squealed as the tank started to levitate, firing blindly as Anya laughed, holding it up with a hand gleaming with psychic energy. Soldiers surrounded her, firing into her shields, only for her to slam the tank into a group of them.
"TYRANIC BLAST!" An explosion of psychic power slammed into the tank, detonating it and taking out the rest of the surviving guards. She grinned, brushing her hands. That was the last of the guards before the bridge. She reached out, ripping the metallic doors with her bare hands, a wide grin on her face as she peaked inside.
And promptly had her shield peppered with all manners of small arms fire.
"DIE XENOS SCUM!" A woman in a beautiful uniform shouted out. "FOR THE EMPEROR!"
"FOR THE EMPERO…" The hundreds of other members of the bridge shouted out, Anya raising a single hand.
"No." Their voices were robbed as their minds were suddenly crushed on all sides, screaming in silent pain as they collapsed to the ground. Blood poured out of their noses and mouths as she pressed harder. "Enough." She closed her hand and like puppers whose strings were cut, the various people went limp, their eyes rolled back. The woman stared at her in horror, taking a step back.
"You…you killed them. You didn't…you didn't even touch them!" Anya tilted her head.
"Of course not. Their minds were unprotected. Like, I couldn't even give Occ a nosebleed like that." The woman's eyes narrowed.
"Then…you are Anya?" Anya squinted.
"Wow, you really want to kill me huh." The woman startled. "Why aren't you pulling the trigger?"
"Would it do any good?" She asked, her voice trembling.
"No, not really. I mean if there were more of you…that looks like it hurts a lot more than the lasguns the guards have." Anya glanced out of the window, looking for something. "Anyways, how do you know my name?"
"Occ." Anya clapped her hands.
"Aw, he talked about me! How is he? Is he taking care of himself? He needs to be in good shape when we have our rematch!" The woman stared at her. "Oh, how rude! What's your name?"
"...he is alright. And the name is Jane." The woman gritted her teeth. "So why haven't you killed me yet?"
"Curiosity really. I mean, you're scared, but you're still threatening me even though we both know it won't do you any good." Anya smiled. "Say. What do you think of fighting?"
"Fighting?"
"Yes, like…fighting someone. Either in a war, or just one on one. What do you think of it?"
"That's…that's a pretty strange question." Anya pouted.
"I thought it was pretty straight forward."
"Well…I suppose I…" Jane grabbed the microphone. "MARQUES, NOW!" No answer came, only the sizzling static of the speakers. "Marques?! Marques!" Anya giggled.
"Oh he can't hear you. Look behind you." Jane turned around, her eyes widening as she screamed at the sight of a colossal maw open, blacking out the stars, about to engulf the ship they were on whole. "I mean, I wasn't going to just throw myself at your ship without an escape plan you know. I broke your communication thingie when I arrived in the bridge. He's been trying to warn you about it the whole time."
"You…you idiot!" Jane snarled, firing her plasma pistol at Anya. The shot sizzled against the psychic shielding. "You're going to die too!" Anya laughed.
"Me? Die? Of course not! They would never eat me!" She grinned as she walked closer to Jane. "And neither will they you." Jane seemed to understand her words, bringing the pistol to her forehead instantly. The shot never came as her body froze up, an invisible force keeping her in place as the maw of the creature started to close, a shot from the nearest battleship trying to shoot at the bridge stopped by a gigantic tooth. "You and I…we're going to become very good friends."
Anya: Wanna be my friend?
PDF: Blows themselves up.
Anya: Wanna be my friend?
Jane: Tries shooting herself.
Anya: No! Not this time!