A.N.: Chapter 21! That one took a little longer to write due to IRL stuff getting in the way and keeping me busy, but here we are, and I can say I had a lot of fun writing this one! Thank you all for the kind reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
But first:
To Guest: The main difference between Genestealers Cults and the Hybrids are both in the process of creation and the actual final effects. Genestealer cults start by infecting a human with genestealer DNA, and over multiple generations integrate better in society until a generation bursts into pure strain genestealers.
Hybrids are instead fully converted to tyranid DNA; The only human thing left is their mind, and even that is somewhat warped by their constant exposure to the Hive Mind. They have much more control over their genetics and are capable of rapidly changing their abilities and weaponry and are constantly pumped full of hormones and other enhancements that turn them into living, moving blenders. When in war mode however, they usually only last a few hours before dropping dead. The process to turn a human into a hybrid (or produce a new hybrid body for a dead hybrid's mind to inhabit) is also more expensive in biomass than a genestealer.
With all that said, onto the story!
"All elements of the fleet, report!" The vox cast echoed through the halls of the ship. She stood at her post, silently listening as the other commanding officers answered one by one.
"Admiral Roseras, in charge of the Imperial Contingent transporting and escorting the Sororitas contingent, reporting for duty! All ships operational and ready for engagement!" Her eyes glanced out the window at her left, watching the hundreds of warships bearing the emblems of the sisters of battle flying forth; Weapons primed and standing menacingly, ready to unleash their payload at the press of a button. The sisters had come in force; They clearly hadn't appreciated the fate that had befallen their force on Secundus.
"Admiral Petersfield, commanding the combined forces of the Imperial Navy attached to regiments twelfth, fourteenth, seventh, thirty-fifth, one hundred eleventh and fourty eight of the Imperial Guard. All ships ready for battle."
"Chapter Master Varagian, of the Azur Shields. Commanding the combined forces of the Broken Spears, the Flagellants, the Dornian Hopeful and the Azul Shields space marine chapters. Our ships are functional and ready for combat, however some of the vessels of the broken spears suffered a gellar field flicker on the way here and are not yet at full operational capacity."
"They'll have to tough it out I'm afraid. Our foe does not seem interested in waiting for repairs." The first voice acknowledged with grim amusement. She glanced at the various radars and scanners. Indeed, the massive swarm of bioships had turned and was now headed their way. "Continue report, everyone get into battle formation!" As the combined forces of the Imperium deployed themselves, thousands of ships arranging themselves into a complex formation decided in advance during various strategic meetings, the roll call continued.
"Admiral Deneras, in charge of the escort contingent of the Adeptus Mechanicus, including various elements of the military branch from diverse forge-worlds, brought in for the sake of containment of the Tyranid threat. Including various knight orders and the Godly Fury titanic legio." The words sent a shiver down her spine. This was by far the largest deployment she had ever been a part of. It was insane for her to hear of all these legendary warriors and weapons of war whilst here she stood, captain of some repurposed civilian ship made into a frigate for the sake of avenging her homeworld of Secundus. She was nothing in the grand scale of the combined fleet brought here.
The radars lit in a frenzy as the immense swarms of bioships drew closer. She could see them in the distance, their bioluminescence lighting their sides and shining onto each other. It was a cloud of flesh and chitin, a nightmarish amalgamation of biology and hunger.
It was the Enemy.
"And this is Admiral Al'Vasar, assigned commander of this combined Imperial force. All ships functional and ready for battle I will leave ecclesiarch Decimus to speak now." The voice paused, before another came to replace it. It spoke with a subtle tremble of rage, zealous fanaticism transpiring through its every word.
"CHILDREN OF THE EMPEROR! TODAY YOU FIGHT FOR MORE THAN YOUR LIVES, BUT FOR YOUR VERY SOULS! THE FOE BEFORE US REPRESENTS ALL THAT OUR EMPEROR DESPISES! THE VILE XENOS, THE RAMPANT VILE ABOMINATIONS THAT WOULD DENY MANKIND ITS GLORIOUS DOMINION OVER THE STARS!" Her hands tightened around her instruments as she watched the cloud of red overload her radar. There were simply too many enemy ships for her systems to handle. She could see the nervous agitation of the crew around her as their own systems struggled to keep up with the amount of targets detected. "IT IS OUR TASK TODAY TO SEE THEM WIPED OUT! TO CLEANSE THE VERY STARS FROM THEIR PRESENCE! ABHOR THE XENOS, FOR HE IS YOUR ENEMY!"
"Abhor the xenos." She whispered softly, trying to find strength in the words. "...does the xenos abhor us?" She could not help but ask. Did the millions of ships heading their way hate them? Would it be better or worse if they did?
"THE EMPEROR IS WATCHING YOU TODAY! DO NOT BE FOUND WANTING!"
The empty darkness of space was lit up as tens of thousands of weapons opened fire all at once, macro-cannons bombarding the approaching tyranid fleet as missiles the size of buildings surged forth, smashing small tyranid fighter organisms in their path. Her hands trembled on her console.
It had begun.
Ylsen's first thought upon seeing the girl was that she did not look nearly as scary as she should.
The tyranid creature called Anya was currently being held within an extremely complex room utterly smothered with runic protections and psychic leaching wards; to the point that, for a psychically powerful creature like an eldar, it was uncomfortable just standing near the room. He could not imagine what it would be like being stuck inside. The room itself was relatively sparse, having only a bed, a toilet and a table with a chair. The walls were made of a transparent material to allow observation inside the room itself, giving the child no place to hide or escape sight. Twelve wraithguard and two wraithlord kept a stringent vigil over the chamber, whilst a contingent of no less than two hundred aspect warriors guarded the outer perimeter of the building she was being kept in. This building was itself in a much larger military complex where many aspect shrines could be found along with thousands of the most elite units of the craftworld.
Looking at the small white haired child currently laying on the bed in the room, it would have been easy to think this completely ridiculous. Even a single wraithguard could have appeared overkill, let alone twelve, two wraithlords, two hundred warriors and putting her containment cell within a military base.
Ylsen knew better.
"How is she?" He asked a smartly dressed asuryani standing next to him. The woman glanced at the holographic slate in her hands before nodding at him.
"Stable. Her wounds were grievous, but her regenerative capacities are...quite frankly, insane. And despite cutting off her connection to the Hive mind, along with her psychic abilities, she still retains all her physiological modifications." She put away the slate. "She will live."
"Good. The last thing we want is for her to die on us. And the other measures?"
"Paralytic implants put in all over her body. If she tries to kill herself, they'll stun her long enough for us to intervene. Nerve agent is ready to be pumped in as well; Normally I would be worried this would be enough to end her life, but with her body being as it is...it'll knock her out at best." She shrugged. "If her body tries to reject the implants, we'll get an alarm and be able to do something about it."
"Excellent." He took the time to examine the child. Even with his enhanced senses, he could not distinguish her from any other human child. "How long until she wakes up?"
"Well her body is constantly adapting itself to counteract any sedative we apply to her, and we can't use psychic means to subdue her due to the very nature of the cell. So...in all likelihood, within the hour if we stop switching our sedatives."
"Do it. I would like to talk with her." She glanced at him.
"You're not thinking of going in there are you?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"Can she hear me from in there?" She shook her head. "Can I hear her?" Another shake. "Well unless you plan to let her out, then I'm afraid there isn't much of a choice." She let out a deep sigh.
"I suppose we did install the sas for a reason...you realize that if she manages to get into the sas, we'll have to leave you stuck in there with her to avoid her escape, yes?" He nodded.
"I am aware."
"Well, it is your call sir."
In the end, four aspect warriors volunteered to enter the room with him. He at first refused the escort, but was then told quite bluntly that it was either that or he would not be allowed in. Ylsen eventually relented and entered the room with his escort while the child was still knocked out, patiently waiting for them to wake up.
It took another hour before they started to emerge from their slumber, shifting a little before slowly rising to a sitting position in the bed, making a mess of their sheets. Their face was set in a drowsy expression, yawning as they stretched with a small grunt of satisfaction. The gestuelle was entirely too human for Ylsen's comfort. Slowly they blinked their eyes open, half lidded as they glanced around with increasing confusion.
"Wha..." The child whispered. "Am I dreaming?"
"I'm afraid not." Ylsen answered, watching the child freeze. They suddenly seemed much more awake, sitting ramrod straight as their head swiveled to face Ylsen. Yellow eyes stared into him, and for a moment a fluttering of nervousness coursed through him that he might see light start to appear in them. Thankfully, no such thing happened; The wards were doing their job it seemed.
"Eldar." The child stated. "Right. You lot came during my fight...you know, that was super rude. I was having fun." The child sighed, closing their eyes. Ylsen watched confusion spread once more on their expression, before her eyes snapped wide, full of panic. "What...what did you do?" She asked, horrified.
"You'll have to elaborate a bit more than that." Ylsen said. He had expected a strong reaction from them, and was willing to take the time until the tyranid child was calm enough to have an actual conversation.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" The child screamed, jumping out of the bed, eyes blazing with rage and fear. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl, sharp pointed teeth threateningly bared. Vicious claws made of bone had grown out of her fingers in the blink of an eye, the aspect warriors behind him pointing their weapons at her. She jumped at them, but Ylsen was prepared. She was fast, incredibly so, but moved in a manner he was familiar with. The way those who had grown accustomed to using their psychic powers passively as an enhancement to their physical capabilities did.
He used this slight difference between what the child's muscle memory expected to happen and what was actually happening to his advantage, the ever so slight stumbling or hesitation to strike with his staff, slamming the blunt end into her throat. She choked out a gasp as she was pinned to the wall, clawing at the staff.
"I would be more careful if I was you. We've been removing biomass while you were under the medical coma, letting you regenerate the portions of your body before taking more away. End result is you are still intact and fully functional, but forced to make your body function much closer to that of a human in terms of muscle capacity and the like." He shrugged. "It seems your body prioritized speed over strength. It won't be enough to overpower me." She snarled, screaming hysterically.
"WHY CAN'T I FEEL IT?! WHERE IS IT! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME! WHY CAN'T I FEEL MY HIVE!" Tears began running down her cheeks. "WHAT DID YOU TO ME!"
"We cut you off from the Hive mind." The blunt answer froze the child in her movements, her eyes wide and full of tears looking at him with fear and incomprehension. He felt a twinge of pity at the sight; Harshly reminding himself he was looking down at a monster and not some scared child. "Your powers will not work here. You will not be able to contact other members of your species. You are alone." She started shaking. Better to be blunt and to the point and get the emotional breakdown out now than to try and sugarcoat it had been his thought process. He removed his staff from her neck, watching as she fell to the ground and immediately curled up into a fetal position. She began sobbing hysterically, before loudly wailing. He winced at the ear piercing sound, his empathy pulled by the sheer distress and pain that it expressed. He could see the aspect warriors standing still behind him, unperturbed. The advantages of wearing the mask... he was unable to tell how they were feeling at this moment. The wards affected him just as readily as the child.
It was another half an hour until the child's unending scream finally petered out, curled up in a ball on the ground. He hesitantly kneeled down, keeping a wary eye on her.
"...give them back." She whispered.
"Elaborate, if you wouldn't mind."
"The hive. The Tarrasque. Ayna. Give them back." She asked. No, demanded.
"No." She stayed silent, before slowly uncurling, looking at him with a dead expression. Her eyes were red from all the crying.
"Give them back, or I will kill everyone here." She said softly. He shook his head.
"And you won't if we do? Try pulling the other leg. You're stuck here. Might as well accept that." She stared at him, her eyes stuck on him. They flickered to the other four guards. Calculating. Estimating. He refused to let her get to him, no matter how unnerving that blank expression and calculating light in her eyes was. Then, he watched as she took in the wraithguards and wraithlords standing guard around her cell. The reality of her situation seemed to finally dawn on her as she visibly sagged, falling backwards.
"...why haven't you killed me yet?" She asked. She sounded defeated.
"We are aware of your rebirthing abilities." He answered honestly. "We are unsure if you would be reborn if we were to kill you whilst disconnected from the Hive, and would rather avoid finding out." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"And what is stopping me from killing myself right now?"
"The fact you have no idea what would happen either, else you'd have already done so by now." She glared at him, but he could tell he was right by how she still didn't attempt anything. He chose to keep the other methods in place unmentioned. No need to reveal more aces than he needed to hopefully get her to somewhat cooperate.
"So what now? You just...keep me here, in this glass room, forever?" She asked, a small giggle escaping her. She didn't sound very amused.
"Pretty much."
"You can't think I'm going to just...sit here and accept that right?" She said, cocking her head to the side.
"Your opinion isn't exactly a factor." He bluntly replied. "Although, I might be able to make your life a little more comfortable if you agree to answer some questions." She looked at him with a pensive expression.
"...what do you even want to know." He fought down a grin. It wasn't a yes, but her asking was admittance enough she was considering it.
"How you became like this would be a good start." She seemed surprised.
"Really? That's what you want to know?" She shook her head. "It's...I guess I can tell you that much. Not like I have much else to do." She added with a slightly bitter tone. "It's a bit of a long story though."
"I've got time." He said, taking a seat at the table provided to her. The other aspect warriors remained perfectly still, their weapons aimed at her.
"Well then. Once upon a time, on a fringe Imperial world, there was a young girl called Anya..."
Flames poured down the metal corridor, screeches of agony following soon as the promethium burned the swarm of gaunts charging towards his weapons team. Pierre grunted, turning off the flamer as his sergeant gave the signal to move forth. He and the rest of the boarding repelling team took their heavy weaponry and ran down the corridor. The suit he was wearing was bulky and heavy, making him sweat bullets, panting as he felt the lasgun on his back bounce up and down with every hurried step. His vision was limited by his protective visor, but it was enough to allow him to see as they passed a corner, arriving at the point of impact. They could see where the tyranid ship had breached them, a boarding vessel having slammed into the side of their battleship after the shields had been taken down by a repeated barrage of bio-plasma. A warrior was in the process of climbing down, hitting the floor of the ship with a dull thunk and the scraping of claws against metal. The team did not pause, immediately jumping into action. Pierre took a few steps forward, holding his flamer up before unleashing a stream of burning fire onto the creature as his teammates aimed their rocket launcher at the boarding pod, detonating it as the warrior collapsed to the ground, its charred carcasse twitching. Lasguns fired into the small creatures that managed to escape the boarding pod before a second rocket dislodged it from the ship, sending its broken remains flying through space.
"Alright, that was the last of the boarding pods on this level." The leader of the squad announced to their relief. "We're going to group up with squads beta and delta to go sweep the hangar, and..." A massive impact shook the ship, sending them flying backwards and falling to the ground with pained grunts.
"FUCK! THINK I BROKE MY ANKLE!" One of them swore, Pierre frantically checking his equipment. No leaks. Thank the Emperor for that. An equipment leak on a flamer could be catastrophic.
"Did we get hit?!" The squad leader grunted, shaking his head.
"Nah, don't think so...lemme che..." A loud groaning of metal came from above them, making them turn their heads upwards.
Something burst through the ceiling, making them jump aside to avoid it. An amalgamation of steel and junk, hastily cobbled together; the tip of a massive ship having apparently carved its way through the Imperial battleship. It stopped moving, its momentum finally dead, their eyes wide as they took in the tip of what must have been a very large ship.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" The screams sent alarms through each and every one of them.
"ORKS!" Pierre screamed, turning on his flamer as the first greenskins jumped down onto them. There were too many for them to handle, and all too soon a stray bullet hit the promethium container behind him.
The explosion killed him instantly.
Ayna's mind was racing as she lifted the ork looted tank, throwing it into the side of the rampaging squiggoth hard enough to actually damage the beast. It roared but was distracted enough for the Hierophant it had been dueling to plan both of its front legs into its thick hide, cannons aimed point blank at the underbelly and unleashing a torrent of bio-acid. Its maw opened and fired a bio plasma shot straight into the Squiggoth's face. The combination of attacks was enough to finally kill off the monstrous beast, its body immediately swarmed by hungry rippers. The ork assault was relentless, but even more so was the implacable rage with which Ayna guided the Hive in crushing them. Slowly but surely the orks on this battlefront were getting grinded down, their numbers becoming fewer and fewer, their warmachines ever less common as she guided her heavy hitters to swarm and take them down. Not every front was going so well, but here at least the tyranid supremacy was unquestioned. Her mind however was on different things.
The kidnapping of her sister.
The arrival of Imperial forces in the system; This time, in strength such that she was unsure of success even with the reinforcements from Leviathan...and that was before taking into account the fact that much of their forces were still tied down fighting the orks.
She grabbed an ork boy by the face as he swung his choppa at her. She took her frustration out on the poor ork, crushing his head into pulp with a single squeeze, feeling the gore drip off her hand. It did little to calm her down.
They'd taken Anya.
They'd taken her sister.
She would kill them all.
She would find that craftworld, burn it down, scatter the ashes to the stars. She would grind them down until nothing was left, not even the memory of their existence.
She would...
"OIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" She winced at the powerful bellow. Her eyes sharply narrowed, taking in the sight of the ork that had just made its presence known. The massive ork grunted, smacking a tyranid warrior aside as he charged down towards her. She raised a hand, preparing a psychic attack to kill the impertinent creature that dared disturb her murderous mood. "PARLAY!" She froze. The swarm around her faltered, buckled.
"...parlay?" She asked, confusion and stupor raging between her.
"Parlay. Iz what da 'umies call it, yea? Youz lot talk 'umie, iz da best word I kud fink of." She stared at the ork for a long, long moment. The battle around them had come to a stop as the troops on both sides stared at their leaders.
"...what."
"Look, I'z waz 'avin a bloody good foight. A real rousing battle!" The ork shouted. "And den, some rude git decided to interrupt. Pointy eared gits, the lot of 'em! Now, I was promised a foight, but see doez gits took da weirdgirl away." The ork warboss growled deeply, eyes looking at her with a cunning light. "Now, ya seem pretty pissed off. If I wuz a betting git, I'd say you'z pretty up-set 'bout dat az well, yea?" She walked a little closer to the ork, her eyes narrowed staring straight into his.
"You could say that, yes." The ork nodded.
"Thought so. Now da way I see'z it, we'z got a...wat do 'umies call it...comon ground?" He nodded to himself. "Yea, dat'z it. Comon ground. We'z both want da weirdgirl back; You cuz she'z...wot, ya buddy?"
"Sister." She answered, scowling. The ork shrugged.
"Whateva. And I want'em back so I can keep punchin' em and get punched back." He grinned, giving her his power clawed hand. "So, 'ow bout a truce, ey? We'z help each other out till we find ya sista, and then we'z get back to ripping each other's guts out like propa orks." She stared at the hand like it was a venomous snake.
"...are you seriously telling me that you, an ork, are going to hold off a fight...for any amount of time...and you want me to trust that?" She said, her tone expressing just how much doubt she had about that particular idea.
"Now, lez' not get a'ead of ourzelves. I'z holding back from bashin yer skull in so I get to get a better foight lata. Iz simple foight aritmetics." The ork responded condescendingly. It was almost enough to convince Ayna to crush his head like a pimple.
"...Let's say I believe you. Let's say I want to go along with what you say. We still have a massive imperial fleet here preventing us from going on the hunt."
"See, I'z wuz just thinkin' of a cunnin plan to fix dat..."
"So let me get this straight." Jane said out loud, knowing Ayna would be able to hear it through the synaptic web anyways. "The orks and us now have a truce."
"Yes."
"The warboss has a plan to deal with the Imperials so we can go look for Anya."
"Yes."
"His plan is to, instead of ramming his ships into ours, ram them into the Imperials. While we shoot the Imperial ships. With the orks boarding inside them."
"Yes."
"...And the orks aren't going to mind the fact that we're blasting them to bits along with the Imperials?" She asked tentatively.
"Nope."
"...Fuck it. Let's do it."
"...And then you guys showed up." Anya finished. Ylsen stared at her for a long time, his mind racing at the implications. A new form of existence, a new hybrid creature between humanity and tyranid...this was insane. And yet, not out of the realm of what they had theorized possible to explain this thing's existence.
"I see. That was...most enlightening." He glanced at the guards behind him. No movement save for a very subtle tilt of the head indicating all was well. Good. "My next question would be..." She held up a hand, interrupting him.
"Hey now. I answered a big question there. You said I would get stuff if I answered. I'm not answering another one until you prove that's true." Ylsen's eyes narrowed at her.
"You realize we could always just get the answers out of you." She giggled, before looking at him with wide eyes, and far too much intelligence for his taste.
"No you can't." She smiled. "You can't look into my head unless you get me out of here. And I can't feel pain. You can't risk killing me. Besides locking me in a box, you have nothing." He stared at her. She was bluffing, he could tell. After all, they could always leave her in the box with no interaction until she grew desperate enough to answer what they wanted for the sake of any interaction. But perhaps playing ball was a better idea here. Better she underestimate how ruthless they were willing to be.
"Alright. I'll arrange to have some more books brought here." She rolled her eyes at him.
"I don't want books. I want food." She grinned at him. "Meat if possible, but I'll adapt to what you give me I suppose." Ylsen stared at her, before shaking his head.
"Yeah, no."
"Oh come on!" She whined. "I'm a tyranid! We're literally meant to eat, like, all the time! I'll starve if I don't get something!" She glared at him. "Killing me through starvation isn't what either of us want, right?" She had a point there, he supposed. He sighed.
"Alright. I'll arrange for small quantities of food. Enough to keep you from starving." She grinned.
"That's better."
"Now, will you answer?"
"Not until the first bit of food is here and eaten." He rolled his eyes. Now she was behaving how she looked. He couldn't say he was a big fan. He gestured to one of the aspect warriors to relay the message outside, using a holographic slate that they then pressed against the window with the orders. Some time later, an aspect warrior arrived in front of the cell with a small meal, cycling through the sas with extreme precaution. They all watched the child carefully as he did, but no movement was done. She took the food without issue, quickly gobbling it up before handing back the container to the warrior who proceeded to leave the chamber without incident. It only made Ylsen more tense. He'd expected a desperate attempt at escape, or at least trying to assault one of them. But there was none of that.
It put him on edge.
She licked her lips, before letting a satisfied sigh.
"Aaaah...that's better. So. What was your next question?" He glanced at the guards, then did a subtle sign of the hand. Double vigilance.
"What is it you want?" She tilted her head at his question. "You're clearly not a normal tyranid. You seem to have kept most of your human mind transitioning into this...hybrid existence of yours. Some of your actions show you're not following the mindless hunger of your kin. So what is it you want?" Anya stared at him.
"That's easy. I want to win." He frowned.
"Win?"
"Yes. Win." She plopped down on her bed. "This galaxy has been in a state of perpetual warfare for, what...thousands of years? Tens of thousands of years?" She started mimicking a fist hitting someone. "Just endless fighting, over and over, with everyone piling on again and again. Species die, people die, but the war never really ends." She closed her fist. "I want to evolve beyond that. To live. Not just survive. Live. Fighting is fun, but everything that comes with war isn't. The hypocrisy is suffocating." She glanced up at him. "Aren't you tired of it as well, eldar?"
"...The galaxy certainly used to be a better place, but I fail to see how you consuming everyone solves this." She smiled at him.
"Look at me. Do I look consumed? There are many more amongst my rank. Millions. Those are the ones who chose to follow willingly, who decided to become one. A single people, united with a single common mind. No infighting beyond mild squabbling, no risk of civil war or endless conflict. Only what we allow. Peace amongst our own." She opened her arms. "Isn't that a nice thought?"
"And you kill everyone who disagrees." He replied flatly. She nodded.
"Yes. There is a human saying that states: 'So long as there are two men left on Earth there will be war.'" She chuckled. "It applies to the galactic scale, and beyond humanity. So long as there are two separate minds, there will be war. I wish to end that. Bring about a single mind. Unite all under the Hive Mind." She giggled. "It beats the other options by a wide margin."
"...There are better options than omnicide. What you are suggesting is the end of all life that is not tyranid."
"Yes." She acknowledged. "But that does not mean it has to go through death. I am here. So could you be." She smiled softly. "I can see in your eyes you think this is some trick, some manipulation. But I would have made that offer had we met on the battlefield." He stared at her, before turning away.
"We did meet on the battlefield. You were a bit too defeated to do the offer then I suppose." He caught her glare then, and it brought a smidgen of satisfaction to him. "We will talk again later."
"Come visit soon." She answered. There wasn't nearly as much vitriol as he expected in her voice. They left without trouble, leaving the hybrid alone within the glass chamber. She stayed still before turning to the windowed wall. "I don't suppose you're up for conversation?" The wraithguard did not answer. "Figures."
"An opportunity has come to us." The words, whispered in the winds of the warp, caught the ear of the demon. "The Prince's minions will aid us. We shall grant them access to a buffet of eldar souls."
"A difficult task. Craftworlds are no easy target." The demon murmured back. "What prize could motivate this move?"
"The Child is isolated from the Hunger." Silence as the winds stilled, before returning, howling with excitement.
"Very well. I assume you have a way of access?"
"Something long in the preparation. A trap, first, and then...we employ some more, mortal servants of the Schemer."
"I see." The Demon rose to its full, incredibly malleable height, wings of blue feathers opening behind it. "War it is."
In the materium, a gateway opened on the maiden world of Vedansa, unleashing a horde of demons onto the peaceful, untouched lands.
Far away, the closest craftworld received a call for aid, and of course agreed to come to the aid of the exodites.
And once again, the cogs of machination grinded against each other.
"This reeks of a trap." The farseer council remained silent after the words were pronounced. "Right after we neutralized the tyranid threat, the Great Enemy chooses to act? This cannot be a coincidence."
"The ways of the Great Enemy are mysterious and not always within reason." Another farseer argued back. "Though I have to agree this seems too well timed to not be linked."
"What could the Great Enemy gain from this?" A snort.
"Besides our souls? From what I understand, THEIR servants are present." A ripple of unease coursed through the room. All knew which of the Four he was referring to.
"Still, this seems..." Hesitation for a moment. "Too direct. The Butcher is not exactly subtle, but this is clearly not his work. The Changer perhaps?"
"If that is the case, spending hours speculating will do us no good. The Changer is not an entity we can hope to predict." Ylsen listened in silence as the farseers debated. Despite his extensive service to the Craftworld and the immense respect he evoked among his fellow asuryanis, he was still a junior when it came to the duties of a Farseer and had yet to complete his training. Likely, he would not complete it for many decades if not centuries. "Direct action is more likely to obtain good results."
"Or send us straight into doing exactly what they wish for us to do. I advise caution."
"What else can be done? To leave Vedansa to the predations of the Great Enemy?" The thunderous question shamed those who spoke in caution. "The Exodites are strong, but they cannot hope to face this threat alone. They would not have called us if it were not so."
"I agree." The final voice brought the debate to an end as the most ancient of the farseers spoke in a soft, melodious tone. "We must march to war. However, this has all the traits of manipulation behind it. We must act with caution lest we stumble blindly into the foe's trap."
"What should be done?" The farseers looked at each other pensively.
"Scouting is an obvious one. Ensure no other factions are present that could be dragged into the conflict against us."
"Yes, I concur. Deploying the fleet seems another obvious one, as well as informing other craftworlds of our actions so as to not be completely isolated should something go wrong." One of the farseers turned to him. "What of you Ylsen? Matters of war are something you are more comfortable with than many of us. Would you care to share your opinion?" Ylsen blinked, surprised.
"Well...this does seem highly suspicious. It could be a coincidence, but best run under the assumption it isn't. I believe we should be careful in approaching the situation and leave large military contingents on the craftworld itself; Do not send all our forces down on the Maiden World." He insisted on that last sentence. "Leaving ourselves so exposed is practically begging for the enemy to attack the craftworld while the bulk of the army is gone."
"He is right. We should prepare special forces specifically to defend the craftworld should it come to this. Deploying the fleet with the priority of establishing void supremacy around us will help in that." The farseer agreed. "We shall use the Esa'nasa gateway to travel to the maiden world with the craftworld in order for our forces to not find themselves cut off."
"Understood. We move at dawn."
Ayna's eyes squinted in annoyance at the sight of thousands of imperial transports vessels streaking across the sky above her, hundreds of thousands of aircrafts engaging the enormous volumes of flying tyranids to distract them from the troops landing on the planet. She had hoped that the Imperials could be stopped dead in their tracks in space, but the sheer amount of troops they had brought in the system had proven to be enough to break through the tyranid and ork combined fleet. The orbital battle still raged on with neither side taking a decisive advantage, but now the battle seemed to be extending to the ground as well.
"HAHA! NOW'Z DAT SHOULD BE A GUD WARM'UP!" The ork guffawed next to her, flexing his muscles. "LEZ GO GET'EM!"
"You remind me of my sister. Not in a good way." Ayna groaned, extending her will to the swarm accross the planet. "Fuck me that's a lot of guardsmen."
"DAT JUST MEANS A LOT OF SCRAPPING!" The warboss started jogging forth, a happy step to it. "COME ON YA BIG BUG, ERE WE GO!"
"My name's Anya you green fuck, best use it."
"AND DA NAME'S RAVMASHA. NOW SHUT YER TRAP AND GET TO FIGHTIN'! WE'Z GOT 'UMIES TO KILL AND A FOIGHT TO SAVE!"
"You mean we need to save my sister."
"DATS WOT I SAID."
"No, you...ugh, forget it." A missile flew above them. Then another. And another. Then a hundred more. Distantly, powerful detonations engulfed entire hordes of orks and tyranids, annihilating them in blinding flashes of light; Thunderous explosions crushing tanks and carnifexes alike as the Guard's artillery began bombarding the battlefield. Ayna's eyes narrowed. "Alright, well if that's how they want to play it..." In response to that, thousands of exocrines and biovores began a bombardment back, spores and bioplasma colliding midair with missiles and shells, creating a thick fog of dust and spore clouds that coated the battlefield, blocking the vision of all. She let out a frustrated grunt as she used the senses of the various tyranid creatures on the battlefield to guide herself, a wartruk charging past her with excited hootings.
The ground shook. She gritted her teeth, commanding her swarms of creatures to surge forth as the guard continued to bombard them relentlessly, hoping to close the distance. She could tell their own counter barrage was having some effect, but whatever the guard had managed to deploy in their initial landing zones was proving to be having a devastating effect. Two hierophants thankfully arrived, along with four stompas and a gargant, able to take the punishing artillery strikes and allow some measure of reprieve to the lesser creatures below them as they entered the fog of war. They strode forth, loud screeches and colossal metallic grinding noises mixing forth to a deafening cacophony.
Only for an impossibly loud horn to blare it all into silence. The battlefield stood stunned at the sheer volume, orks having fallen to their knees whimpering, holding their ears with burst eardrums, tyranid creatures screeching on the ground as their sensory organs were forced to undergo rapid regeneration. Ayna's own senses had been sent into complete overdrive at the sound, her head swimming as she tried to regain her balance.
She was given no such chance, as a voice of steel and power echoed through the air; shattering the glass panels of ork vehicles, crushing any other sound into submission. Annihilating thought so overpowering it was, overtaking any sense of hearing as the ground shook once more.
"+++I WAS BORN IN THE FORGES OF MARS.+++" Boyz fell to the ground, unable to stand under the sheer tremors sent with each impact. Killa kans stumbled and faltered. Raveners and mawlocs fled the ground below the battlefield, instincts triggered by the vibrations they could feel. "+++I HAVE FOUGHT ON A THOUSAND BATTLEFIELDS.+++" A shape appeared in the cloud of dust, illuminated by bright lights emerging from its form. It was immense in scale; Towering over the hierophants and gargant. "+++I HAVE CRUSHED THE ENEMIES OF MAN.+++" A steel mountain slammed next to Ayna, sending her flying backwards from the shockwave of the impact as it crushed an ork looted tank that failed to get out of the way in time. She barely managed to secure herself, her wide eyes looking up as the cloud started to dissipate from the wind pressure the the thing was generating by simply moving. Realization struck her as she stared at what had almost killed her. This was no mountain of steel, no great pillar fallen from the sky.
It was a foot.
"+++PURGED THEIR FILTH FROM OUR WORLDS. I AM THE OMNISSIAH'S WILL. IT'S HOLY WRATH. IT'S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT. MANKIND'S SALVATION. YOUR DAMNATION.+++" The metal foot rose, coming down a hundred metres further, crushing all in its path. She could see now that the light illuminating the form of the colossus was coming from barrels large enough to fit multiple tanks inside of them. Her eyes were wide, her mind racing at the realization of what she was witnessing.
"You can't be serious...They can't have seriously brought one of those here..." She mumbled, half in disbelief, half in sheer dejection. One of the hierophant titans roared defiantly, firing both of its cannons at the new arrival. The bio-plasma shots splattered against powerful void shields. The cannon of the entity rose upwards, aiming at the hierophant titan, a roar of burning thunder surging forth as a lance of pure power surged forth; Shattering the titan's psychic shields in a single attack, pulverizing the body of the hierophant as if it were made out of paper, continuing forth until it hit the ground in such a colossal explosion it lifted the ground in a wave of dirt and debris. The shockwave was enough to send tanks and any creature smaller than a tyrannofex flying.
"+++BEHOLD YOUR ANNIHILATION.+++" The Emperor-class Titan lowered its volcano cannon, the barrel slowly cooling from the previous shot; It's two hundred metres tall frame casting a shadow over the entire battlefield. "+++IT SHALL BE THE LAST THING YOU WITNESS.+++"
: KNOCK KNOCK.
Ayna: "Fuck off."
: HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT OUR LORD AND SAVIOR THE EMPEROR?
Ayna: "I said fuck off."
Imperator titan, demolishing the front door, the building, and the street: +++I ASK YOU RECONSIDER YOUR STANCE.+++
