A/N: Hey all! Both of us apologize for not updating recently. It's been an insanely busy time. From the author: "writer's block is a bitch, and school makes updating annoyingly difficult, but I won't give up on the story."
We hope everyone's having a good 2019 so far :) In the interim, we've been keeping track of how the story's performing, and thank you to everyone who's been reading! We've both found that this story hit 1,000 views, alongside the already great amount of people following and faving the story. Both of us deeply appreciate the support.
Onward with the chapter!
Chapter 5: Ultramar
Fulgrim grins, as he takes in the massive form of the xenos' leader.
As he and his Phoenix Guard ripped and tore their way through hordes of warriors and workers tied to the hivemind, the Primarch had spotted a large, strange creature, which could be described as some sort of massive crocodilian covered in an exoskeleton. Fulgrim's eyes widened upon realizing it was roughly the same size as him. When he charged towards it, the smaller warriors began circling it as if to protect it. It wasn't as if they were doing very well themselves, but Fulgrim concluded that this was the hivemind's central authority.
The creature raises its gargantuan arms and launches forth from them bursts of green-coloured energy in a rapid fire. Fulgrim smacks another drone out of his way, launching its bloody carcass into a small formation of its fellows, who are sent flying. As he jumps into the air over their bursts, he feels a series of explosions rock the space around him. When he lands, he turns around to see large craters and the scattered remains of enemy drones and his Phoenix Guard alike, along with several of his men raising from the ground and returning to battle. Fulgrim looks ahead of him and suddenly feels a sharp pain against the side of his face as the titanic creature backhands him into a pile of the deceased.
Fulgrim curses and swiftly rises again to face the beast, finding it charging him, a metal blade quickly extending from its wrist. He ducks under its swing and attempts to charge into its torso to take it down, being met by its armoured knee colliding violently with his chin as it slams its fist into his back. He grunts and shrinks away from its reach, shrugging off the surprising amount of pain dealt to him. The thing moves towards Fulgrim at a disturbingly fast pace, before being distracted by bolter rounds hitting it in the face, eliciting a roar and the swing of a tail against an unfortunate Astartes. Fulgrim growls in contempt and takes a swing with his great Fireblade, aiming for the creature's head. As it dodges with great speed, Fulgrim feels himself thrown back by the xenos ramming into his body, its exoskeleton making an already painful impact into a painful slam of a hammer.
"Lord Fulgrim!," screams a voice from afar. Fulgrim blinks and looks around before realizing the source of the voice. It is Flavius Alkenex, a renowned soldier in his elite Phoenix Guard.
"Stay back Flavius! This beast is unreasonably powerful! I can handle this myself!" Fulgrim responds, before feeling a sharp pain in his chest as the hive lord thrusts its blade into his ribcage. He screams savagely into its face and grabs its arm roughly, squeezing it with all his strength and attempting to spin around, trying to put it on the ground. This fails, as the creature instead refuses to budge and picks Fulgrim up off the ground with amazing strength, pushing the sword-like bodily protrusion further into his chest.
The thing then makes a yelping sound as it stumbled around slightly, turning to face the form of Flavius Alkenex, determination and anger plastered on his face as he yanks a blade out of a small gap in the xenos armour. Fulgrim is then flung aside, with his foe then lunging at Flavius, who barely dodges its assault unharmed, firing at the back of its head with his bolter. Several of Flavius' comrades flock to him, laying down suppressing fire as he jumps on its back, continuing to thrust his blade into visible weak spots. The hive leader stands up, roaring and grabbing Flavius, throwing him into his fellow Phoenix Guard, prompting Fulgrim to charge towards it, again swinging Fireblade. The blade cracks the armour on his enemy's back, burning the scales underneath. Fulgrim laughs, pleased by his long overdue success, before being silenced by a tail wrapping around his neck.
He begins to cough and choke, grasping at the foul alien's tail, as it tightens its grip. He is again lifted off the ground, feet kicking at air. Fulgrim, in his head, becomes consumed by disbelief, refusing to believe he'll die at the hands of a xenos creature, refusing to believe he'd fall so easily. His denial is interrupted by him falling to the ground, and the creature hissing as it turns to reveal a massive hole in its armour. Fulgrim looks around it and smiles widely upon seeing his saviour.
"I suppose I arrived just in time brother? I'd hate for this lizard to be the end of you."
Roboute Guilliman grins back at Fulgrim as said ultramarine-clad Primarch grips the alien forcefully by the throat and lifts it up, then slamming its face into the ground. He stands on top of it, and stomps its exposed back, sending a copper-coloured liquid that must be its blood flying, particularly into Fulgrim's face and all across Guilliman's leg. The thing twitches and lashes out for a few seconds, before succumbing to death and becoming still.
Fulgrim rises as all around him, the enemy drones drop to the ground in unison, followed shortly by the sounds of war both far and near descending into silence. He wipes the blood off his face and approaches Guilliman with a smile still stuck on his face.
"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you!" Fulgrim exclaims to Roboute in a friendly fashion.
"Happy? To see me? I think that's a first for anybody, " Guilliman responds, returning his brother's smile.
Fulgrim embraces his brother, before looking back at the deceased hive lord.
"I could've handled that one myself you know."
Guilliman rolls his eyes, face returning to his default deadpan.
"Mmm, yes, it appeared as such. Well, I'll just say I felt like being helpful then."
Fulgrim laughs, but soon assumes a questioning expression, and looks Guilliman in the eyes.
"What brought you here?"
Guilliman cocks his eyebrows and responds with confusion.
"I thought you sent out a distress beacon? I was responding to a call for help from your legion on this exact world."
Fulgrim hums as he comes to the conclusion that his Lord Commanders must've gotten desperate and called for assistance.
"Well, it doesn't really matter I suppose. Thank you brother, for your help. I suppose we could stay on this world for a short time, to see what we've lost and celebrate another victory?"
Roboute looks off to the side of Fulgrim, answers after a brief silence.
"Actually… I'd… like for you to… come back to Macragge with me. Something… strange is going on, and I require assurance it won't befall you as well."
Fulgrim again looks confused, and shifts slightly.
"What do you mean strange? Has something happened to our brothers?"
Guilliman clears his throat and likewise shifts uncomfortably.
"We've… lost contact with six entire legions, and all in the same place. Russ, Magnus, Corax, Perturabo, Curze and Horus have all gone completely silent in the space of the Akum-Sothos Sector. We haven't heard anything out of either them or their legions, or anything in that area even."
Fulgrim's eyes widen and he grips Roboute's shoulder.
"I shall return to Macragge with you brother, we shall leave as soon as possible. This is indeed worrying, and I think it's wise for our legions to accompany one-another in preparation for a worst case scenario."
The Ultramarines' Primarch nods and sighs, putting his hand on Fulgrim's.
"Thank you Fulgrim… I do not wish to be alone now…"
The Phoenician gives him a weak, but reassuring smile.
"You shall not be alone. We are brothers, we shall stand together always."
Guilliman closes his eyes and tightens his grip on Fulgrim's hand.
"Let us make haste then. To the safety of Ultramar."
Solomon Demeter and Saul Tarvitz stand back to back, firing bolter rounds into the surrounding hordes of warrior drones who rained hell down upon their companies. A bolt of energy strikes Demeter in the shoulder and he screams and falls to his knees as steam comes from his scorched skin. Tarvitz turns and faces the source of the attack, his eyes widening upon seeing a massive armoured reptilian creature roughly the size of a Custodes, stalking ominously towards them, steam coming off a wrist-mounted gun.
Their assault had failed. Upon reaching the aliens, the Astartes found themselves dominated in melee combat by creatures who were both faster and equipped with tougher armour. Still under sniper fire, the three attacking companies had attempted to fall back, but found themselves cut off and surrounded by their enemy. For roughly an hour they'd been engaged in a hopeless firefight, hiding in makeshift foxholes, and the cover of destroyed vehicles and the bodies of the dead.
Solomon grunts and raises his bolter to the creature, pulling the trigger and spraying the creature with fiery rounds. The attack does little damage against its exoskeleton and it merely begins walking faster. A green glow began to emanate from its gun, seemingly charging up. Saul looked down at his fellow Astartes.
"Captain Demeter! We must return to cover! This thing will destroy us!"
Solomon grunts and attempts to stand, continuing to fire his bolter at it. Saul picks him up from under his arm, pulling him behind a destroyed alien fighter craft, the creature still following them.
"What… the hell is that…?," Demeter says wearily, sounding somewhat defeated.
"I do not know, but whatever it is, it's strong, impervious to our bolters. We need something heavier."
Demeter struggles to his feet, and grasps onto a stray piece of metal.
"We need-"
He is cut off as an explosion sends both Captains flying, the ship's remains reduced to airborne chunks of metal and scorched scrap. As they glide through the air, Demeter spots the large creature, its arm aimed at what was once their cover.
The two men land beside a force of enemy combatants, who turn and begin firing on them. Tarvitz shakes his head and spits out blood, looking over at an unconscious Captain Demeter. He groans and stands up, firing at the alien troops, killing many before being sent to the ground by a wave of energy-based projectiles. He grinds his teeth as he attempts to ignore the pain from a new scar on his face. He weakly stands again, screaming war cries and pledges to his Primarch and the Emperor as he continues to fire, preparing for death.
Suddenly, all is quiet as all around him, the enemy forces pushing against his troops fall dead in unison, simply slumping over without noise or extra movement. He pants, out of breath, as he looks around in confusion before coming to understand what is happening; the hive has been extinguished and the mind at the center killed. Saul drops his bolter to his side and runs to check on Solomon. Upon discovering that he was alive, Saul smiles and slumps down on the ground next to him, laying down and looking up at the sky. Both witness the xenos' spacecraft and airships plummeting to the ground, some exploding as they are shot down by Imperial forces under the assumption they're still active. He also sees the ships of the Ultramarines Legion entering the world's atmosphere, sending drop pods and supporting Stormbirds and Thunderhawks down to the planet.
Solomon moans in pain and agitation as he wakes up, looking over at Saul and the dead alien corpses behind him.
"...I... see you had all the fun without me, huh?"
Saul laughs, and looks back at him.
"Unfortunately, this wasn't my doing. I think we've won the day, sir."
Solomon chuckles and spits out blood.
"'Bout damn time. That was getting a little repetitive wasn't it, losing all the time?"
The two Captains then merely share a smile, looking up at the sky as in the distance they hear the joyous cries of their men.
A/N: And that's the end of chapter 5! Feel free to leave a fav, review, or follow.
UPDATE: To anyone that's been reading, I have an announcement here. Both of us running this account have been busy with RL and the author has told me to let you know that this story is on hold as of right now. It's been a stressful time due to RL. This story will hopefully resume being written at the end of May or at the beginning of June. This is why no update has been made to the story so far. Rest assured he hasn't forgotten about this story or all of you.