A.N.: The time draws near. Raise the barricades. Hold your weapons close.
They Come.
They Come.
They Come.
Thank you all for your time and for reading this story! As we enter the final arc of this story, I want to give a special thanks to all the people who take the time to review, favorite and follow this story. It means a lot to see people enjoying this little fun experiment of mine!
To Guest: I can't lie, that mental image of a swarm of space marines hitting the griddy whilst sweeping through the galaxy made me giggle. Thanks for the laugh.
To Pathfinder: I'd completely forgotten about Scylla and Charybdis somehow. Thanks for the reminder!
Harrison stared at the burned wreckage crashed into the pavement of the shoddy alleyway. A smuggler ship they said. One that had been of the many ships fleeing the catastrophic chain reaction of destruction that had taken place a few hours ago as ships began spontaneously experiencing catastrophic failures of components. Sabotage, it had soon been concluded.
The unusual path this ship had taken was suspicious enough; The flight controller should not have sent them here. The sudden nose-dive was even worse. Was the goal to just...kill a few people? It made no sense. All around him were a few hundred imperial guards along with a squad of space marines and even two custodes. Occ insisted he take this escort with him everywhere.
"Harrison." He glanced back at Ashley as she dragged someone behind her by the arm; A frightened man who would not have been able to escape her grasp if he had tried. "I found a witness." Harrison sighed internally as she brutally shoved him forward, almost sending him to the ground.
"Thank you Ashley." He tried giving the man a kind smile. "Sorry for the trouble sir. You've seen what's happened here?" The man stuttered, nervously grabbing the small leather cap he seemed to wear as a hat.
"Y...yes m'lord. Great big ball of fire it did when it came a crash'in down!" He shivered. "They were...they were waiting for'em. A bunch of em. Helped one of the passengers out and left the rest to burn inside." He took a deep breath.
"A passenger?" Harrison's eyes narrowed. "Could you describe them?"
"Of course m'lord!" The man frantically nodded. "They be a child I think, small as they were. A girl too. White hair, very easy to remember. I didn't see much else." Harrison wasn't listening anymore. His ears were ringing, eyes wide as panic began raising inside of him. Ashley was giving him a concerned look as he turned on his communicator.
"Occ. We have a problem."
Jonas grunted as he tightened the screws on the broken down boiler. Damnit, this was the third time this week. And still no sign of anyone coming to repair the damn thing. Didn't they understand this was a ticking time bomb?!
Ugh. He would be lucky if anyone came within the month. Some people he knew were still waiting for their application to be filled for over a year now.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of numerous stomping boots rapidly coming closer. Fear gripped him as he heard the distant front door of the habblock get smashed right open, angry shouts streaming from the entrance as dozens of heavily armed men entered the building. He cautiously peaked from inside of the boiler closet, watching with barely repressed fear as multiple members of the Imperial Guard started knocking down the doors of the various apartments contained within the habblock. Screams started echoing through the building as people were bodily dragged out, some people trying to claw their way out of the guard's grasp only to get themselves knocked out by a solid hit of lasgun cross to the head.
"Found'em!" One of the guardsmen growled, pulling out a young girl not older than sixteen by the hair. "That's the daughter of the bastard."
"Get her into the chimera. I'm sure Lord Harrison will have plenty of questions for her." The girl snarled, fighting in the man's grasp.
"You bastards! Sickos! Let me go, you sick freaks!" She angrily spat out, the guard punching her hard in the gut.
"Silence traitor!" He angrily said as she spat blood on the ground. "Your father let a fucking xenos leader onto the throneworld! You are lucky we aren't putting you down right then and there!" Jonas gasped. He knew the girl. He knew her father. He was just some traffic controller, working in some space station. How had he gotten himself caught up in such a dangerous situation? "Bloody bastard killed himself before we could ask any questions of em, so you're going to kindly tell the Inquisitor everything you know."
"Fuck you corpse-lover!" She cried out, before biting down on something. A loud click was heard by all. The guard lieutenant, who had been observing the scene, gasped.
"You fracking idiots! Did no one properly sear..." The explosion that burst from the girl's body incinerated the two nearest guardsmen, sending the rest of the people around to the ground. Immediately, those that had started being pulled away started making a run for it only to get quickly caught up by the far more athletic guards. The lieutenant snarled as he approached the pile of burned flesh and ashes. "For frack's sake! This is why we search people and restrain them properly! Another lead burned!" The lieutenant sighed. "Gather everyone in the building. Let's see if any of these people know anything."
Jonas squealed in terror as someone smashed down the door to his cabinet and dragged him out.
Occ grunted as the genestealer slammed its heavy mace against his guardian spear. The creature had incredible strength, and its weapon only served to enhance it. But he had speed and superior reflexes on his side, stepping away from the blow and letting the clumsy attempt carry the creature forward as he brought his blade up, severing the head of the beast. He did not pause to consider his kill, whirling around to cut down another cultist screaming as they ran towards him. A shower of lead and other projectiles rained upon him, paltry attempts to damage him as his armor protected him from harm. A loud sharp crack echoed, a cultist being turned to pulp as another custodes fired their guardian spear at them. He was knee deep in gore.
There were twenty of them accompanied by thousands of imperial guards as they carved their way through the genestealer cult nest, cleaving through cultist and xenos alike. They had lost a fair few guardsmen to ambushes and traps, but the fight was turning. Nothing the cult had could harm the custodes and they served as an invincible speartip. The tunnels had grown narrow enough that vehicles were unable to reach here unfortunately, which slowed their progress drastically.
"Occ." The communicator crackled. "We have a problem."
"Speak." Occ said as he casually split a cultist apart, killing another three in a single blow.
"That crashed ship. A white haired girl was spotted being evacuated by cultists, most likely to the lower levels."
"Anya?" Occ asked as he brought his foot down on a crawling thing, crushing it to a pulp.
"I doubt it...but it wouldn't be the first time she tries to pull off something sneaky like that. It could be her. It could be a red herring. Or it could be some kind of body double there to impersonate her towards the cult. I have no idea, but we can't ignore this."
"Agreed." Occ side stepped a lascannon shot. They must have smuggled it away during a supply requisition. The corruption dug deep still. "Do you have a plan of action?"
"I think so. You said you had some contacts with the Assassinorum?"
"Correct."
"I think we've found a proper use for them."
Secundus opened her eyes.
Another productive day of guiding the various leaders of cults and organizations sympathetic to their cause through psychic linkage. It was the safest option really. If they were to gather, the Imperium would be able to do a decapitation strike with impunity.
She stretched, feeling her muscles loosen before getting up from the cold metallic floor of the manufactorum.
"Herald." She turned to face the cultist that had called to her. "The leaders of the red claws are here to discuss terms with you." She smiled gratefully.
"Excellent. I'll go see them now then." With that, she walked past the cultist, down to the lower levels of the manufactorum. As she did, those she came across gave her deep bows, which she returned with a nod of the head and a gentle smile.
The meeting room chosen was spacious enough for all seven leaders of the gang to stand with some distance to each other. They gave her cautious looks as she walked into the room.
"So. You're that Herald we've heard so much about." What she assumed to be the boss of them asked. She glanced at him, giving him a kind smile.
"Yes. That is correct. I am Amica's Herald." She put some power behind her words, watching in satisfaction as they flinched. Good. They knew what psykers were. Of course they did. You didn't survive as head of one of Terra's most infamous gangs without knowing a thing or two.
"Aye. We've heard of your offer." The leader nervously licked his lips. "And well...we've given it some thought. See, whilst there's definitely a profit to be made...from what you've been spouting, it seems there's going to be some kind of invasion soon."
"Correct." She agreed easily. Inwardly though, she was frowning. She had a mild headache all of a sudden. "Amica comes with her legions to liberate this world. You and your operations have nothing to fear from her."
"Even if we believe that, war isn't good for business. Specially not war with the golden boys." The leader licked his lips. "What can you offer that makes the risk so worth it?" She tilted her head.
"Well for one, once the enemy is beaten and defeated, I can give you some of the weapons and arms of those 'golden boys' as you call them."
"Nah. I mean right now." The leader glared at her. "I don't want none of this future bullshit. I want something in the now, you feel me?" She wanted to rip his head off. Why was he being so difficult? Why was she having such a headache? She frowned outwardly now. No, why was she having such a hard time controlling her own rising temper? She wasn't usually so easily bothered by things. This was expected negotiation. So why...
Her eyes turned to one of the leaders. A bald man with tattoos all over, staring at her quietly. She felt a shiver crawl down her spine at the sight of him. The more she looked at him in fact, the stronger that headache grew. He felt uncomfortable. Disquieting to be near.
"That one..." She pointed to the man as she took a step back. "That one isn't one of you." She noted. She'd done her research. He looked very similar, but there were key differences tyranid sensory organs would pick up. The leader froze.
Then, in a burst of speed unexpected from normal humans, six of the gang members rushed towards her, the seventh following closely behind. Her eyes widened as a blade burst from the now melting flesh of the first one, the poison blade brushing against her cheek as she jumped back. That pounding in her head was still there, distracting her. She felt her flesh start to melt as the poison began taking effect, only for her tyranid genetics to quickly purge the poison from her veins and regrow the damage.
"TARGET CONFIRMED AND ENGAGED!" One of the gang members called out, their flesh also melting. In fact, all of the flesh was melting save for the one in the back. Instead of facing seven gang leaders, she found herself facing six tight blue suit wearing warriors, rushing her all at once as the seventh continued glaring her down. She bit her teeth in fury and pain.
Assassins.
She should have expected. Should have checked. Damnit!
Distantly, she heard the sounds of explosions and laser fire begin, cries of panic and battle soon erupting afterwards. Were they under attack? No time to think as she was forced to dodge the numerous attacks from the assassins, dodging and weaving using her own enhanced physical abilities. She tried to bring to bear her psychic powers, only to hit a strange void in her mind. A cold shiver went down her spine as a poison dagger slammed into her chest right as she managed to kick at one of the assassins with enough strength to snap their spines. What. Her powers. Where were her powers?!
Another blade buried itself into her eye as she screamed. She tried to push them away psychically.
The headache that came from that was sudden, painful and horribly clear.
Instead, she morphed her arm into a heavy venom cannon within a matter of milliseconds.
"FUC..." The assassins didn't have the time to dodge as she fired the cannon point blank, blasting both herself and them in a shower of vicious acid. She herself was mostly immune to it, only having superficial skin and flesh burned away as the assassins screamed in pain. Three of them had either been killed or hurt beyond fighting ability by the attack. Two remained standing, but Secundus was already panting. She didn't have a lot of biomass reserves in this form, and without her powers she was forced to rely on them excessively. That little stunt had burned through what little she still had, and now only her enhanced physical abilities remained. No more fancy tricks for her, she supposed.
The two assassins didn't hesitate. They both raised a strange weapon towards her, a green light softly shining from it. She screamed as they blasted her with the neural shredders, feeling her mind strain and twist under the weaponry's esoteric effects. The final member of the group took their chance then, rushing towards her and pulling out a plasma pistol, aiming it squarely at her. The effects of her headache were so much stronger now, and she felt a loathing for the human far beyond what she should have felt even under the circumstances. A deep disgust and revulsion, wanting nothing more than to tear him apart and throw him away. And yet she could do nothing but convulse on the floor as he pressed the trigger.
Suddenly, the building was rocked by a tremendous impact, sending them all tumbling to the ground as the earth shook. The plasma bolt missed her head, burning away her left arm instead.
She was the first back up, running away without turning back as she heard the assassins nipping at her heels. She was fast, faster than them, but every so often one of them would manage to shoot her with those blasted weapons and make her slow down. It was infuriating, and worst of all these blasted things seemed to be able to go through walls! Whatever cultist she came across that tried to jump the assassins would be torn to shreds without pause, not even serving to slow them down. As she ran over a catwalk, she saw the outside of the factory had turned into a massive battleground. Thousands of cultists with ramshackle weaponry and vehicles faced a flood of imperial guard as they pushed through the immense gates, having carved a hole into them through sheer firepower. She struggled to comprehend what she was watching. How did they even get here?! There was no path that should have allowed them to get here! They even had some tanks with them, carving a bloody swathe through the genestealer cultists. Worst even was the set of thirty custodes at the head of the throng. These alone would be enough to wipe out the entire manufactorum and herself. Without her powers it would be no contest. And with what seemed to be an entire guard regiment behind them... She cursed as she grabbed one of the cultists she passed by, not even speaking as she tore his head off and began devouring pieces of him as she ran. She stumbled as a shot of neural shredder hit her from behind. The first assassin was already on her, poison blade at the ready.
The venom cannon on her arm fired again, turning the assassin to a pile of melted mush. The second assassin didn't flinch, blasting her with the neural shredder before pouncing, stabbing her in the neck. She shrieked, kicking with all her might at the assassin, failing to hit as they nimbly avoided the blow. A second stab in her now regenerated eye made her wince as she lost depth perception once again, cursing the assassin with all her might. She morphed the heavy venom cannon into a less biomass intensive deathspitter, allowing her to fire a shot into the assassin point blank. The corrosive maggots instantly melted the assassin's thoracic cage, allowing her to crawl from under the assassin.
The headache returned with a vengeance, so strong she was forced to her knees, clutching her head as she screamed. A kick to the face sent her sprawling on the ground as the last of the assassins loomed over her, contempt etched on their face.
Pushing through the pain, she lunged at him to his surprise, only for an explosion down below to rock the unstable catwalk to the side, making her miss her blow entirely. He tried to shoot her with his plasma pistol again but he was slower, so much slower than the assassins had been. She ignored the blood pooling at her eyes and out of her ears, the searing pain that made her feel like her brain was melting and tore out his throat with her teeth. Instantly, the headache went to a far more tolerable level.
It also made her able to notice the sound of heavy footsteps behind her.
She whirled back to her feet, her regeneration slowed by her lack of biomass as she jumped back to avoid the swing of the guardian spear. Her heart started beating faster as she found herself staring down a custodes. The golden giant pointed its spear towards her. For a moment, she felt fear. Then, a crackle filled the air as she smiled, a giggle escaping her as her powers started focusing.
Only for such a searing pain to burn her mind that she fell to the floor, passing out.
The last thing she saw was a grinning skeletal helmet looking down at her.
Anya's eyes snapped open. A shimmer of pure rage echoed through the Synaptic Web, sending the nearby tyranid organisms into a berserker frenzy, almost tearing each other apart. Ayna, who had been watching her sister practice but a moment ago, let out a small shudder.
"What is it?"
"I lost contact with Secundus." Anya snapped. "Something happened to her. She has been isolated from the Hive Mind." Anya frowned. "Not enough to prevent her rebirth should she die, but enough that I cannot feel her or communicate with her."
"Well, she knew the risks when we sent her there." Ayna shrugged. "This is Terra after all. It was never going to be an easy win."
"I don't like it." Anya grumbled, standing up and pacing in a circle. "I've pulled as many hive-fleets as I could from nearby. Leviathan. Scylla. Hydra. Even some of Kronos. Sent the rest into a frenzy to try and force the Imperium to keep as many forces as we can away before the fight begins. Ravmasha is gathering warbands as we speak and is most likely already on his way. We have an entire craftworld to play artillery platform for us. The whole of hive-fleet Tarrasque mobilized." She glanced at her sister. "Three full strength hive fleets and an entire tendril of Leviathan. An ork waaagh. A craftworld. A full sabotage and insurrection operation from cults and a disgruntled population."
"Don't forget the psyker who brought said craftworld to its knees." Ayna commented.
"And do you think it will be enough?" Anya asked. Her little sister frowned.
"...I think it will be a close fight that could go either way."
"I was afraid you'd say that." Anya sighed deeply, before looking upwards. "No use in delaying. We're at the best we're going to be, and we're close to reaching the point where they will be reinforced faster than we will. Time to move."
"I'll pass the order." Ayna offered.
"No need." Anya closed her eyes, raising her voice over the choir of the Hive Mind. "It's Time."
The echo of her will carried over the stars, awakening the countless tyranid bio-ships awaiting the fateful order. As one, they began moving towards their target. The great feast.
Terra.
"Gah!" The sound of a heavy body hitting the metallic ground echoed throughout the space hulk, silencing the jeering from the thousands of orks watching.
"There. Waz dat so 'ard to get?" Ravmasha said, tapping the fallen warboss' face. "I'z da biggest 'ere. I'z handed yer ass to ya, so yer gonna listen now. Yea?" The other warboss growled, but eventually nodded. "Good. Now, like I was sayin' before being rudely interrupted 'ere, I'z got a fight for ya and ya bois. And I need as many boyz as I can get. Iz gonna be a real propa scrap."
"You'z said we'd be fighting with dem bugz." The warboss growled. "We'z orks. We don't foight with no one but orkz."
"And dat kind of limited thinkin' iz why you'z on da ground and ma foot iz on yer face." There was some chuckling from the orks. They always did enjoy seeing the weak humiliated by the strong. No matter how cruel or unjustified. "See, da bugz have a real propa scrap. It'll make em tougher. And it'll make us tougher too. We'z teamin' up so we'z can krump the humies homeworld, the bestest fight they could give, and den...den we foight da bugz with both of us being stronga."
"...I'z dont get a choice ere, do I." The warboss reluctantly grumbled.
"Nah, you'z really don't."
"Alroight den. You'z da boss." Ravmasha grinned wildly.
"See? I knew you'z could be reasonable."
"Wake up."
She didn't want to wake up. Everything hurt. Everything burned.
"Wake up. I know you can hear me."
So what if she could. That didn't mean she would listen.
"Wake up or I'm telling him to increase the intensity."
She wasn't sure who they were talking about or the intensity of what, but she didn't like the sound of it. The uncomfortable feeling increased, a now familiar headache rising to the front. She groaned in pain. It frustrated her how often she was forced to feel pain despite having removed the pain receptors in her body. She had done so for a reason!
"I won't repeat myself. Wake up." To her eternal regret, she did so. Emerging from her not quite sleep to a horrible headache, she looked up, her eyes squinting at the bright light being shone straight into her. "Good. Now. What is your name?"
"Where..." She mumbled, slowly looking around. She tried to move, but her entire body was restrained in some strange mechanical jacket, strapping her to a table covered in complex systems.
"Answer the question." She couldn't see the origin of the voice. She saw that there were many needles and other injection systems connected to her body, though none actually were pumping fluids within her. Were they worried she would adapt if they used them too much? Well then.
"Aw come on, I just escaped the eldar glass bo..." The pain that throbbed through her brain was greater than any she had felt before. She screamed; Or at least she thinks she did. It was hard to tell with the ringing and bleeding from her ears as the skeleton mask stared down at her, grinning.
She heard a muffled voice in the distance and the skeleton mask pulled away, once more replaced by the brilliant light.
"Answer. The. Question." Oh, she was getting them annoyed. Good. That was good. A reaction meant a person. Not some emotionless drone.
"Buy me a drink first at least." Silence for a moment. "Bit weird that you're into children though." More silence. Then, an excruciating amount of pain as the skeleton face came back into sight, making her writhe in her restraints.
"Your. Name." She panted in exertion, chuckling painfully.
"Oh wow, you do not take a joke well..." The skeleton face came back into view. "Wait wait! Secundus!" The skeleton left. "It's Secundus."
"You are not Anya." She tried cocking her head to the side. Even that much movement was impossible.
"Huh. You actually know her name?" She said, somewhat surprised.
"We do. Secundus, then." A moment of pause. "What is your purpose here."
"I mean, it's pretty obvious isn't it?" She asked, a smile on her face.
"Elaborate." She rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, seriously? What, do you need my confession to trial me?" Her smile twisted into an ugly grin. "I thought innocence was a crime in and of itself."
"You seem to like playing smart." The voice calmly answered. "Let me put it in simpler terms. Every time you dodge the question, answer with mocking or ridicule or just straight up refuse to answer, I'm going to have my friend here double the time he puts you under his effect. We'll start at thirty seconds. Then a minute. Then two. And so on." Despite herself, she gulped. "So again. Why are you here."
"...How about this. I'll answer your questions, no trick, no deception." No one stopped her, and no skeleton mask. So far so good. "And in exchange, for every question, you answer one of my own."
"You think yourself in a position to negotiate?" The voice asked.
"I went through the process of converting into a tyranid over a few days. I broke an entire world through sheer survival instinct. If you think I can't make torturing the answers out of me a long, annoying process, you do not know me very well." She chuckled. "If you had the time, sure. But if there's one thing you don't have a lot of, it's time and you know it." Silence greeted her.
"...Very well. But my question first."
"Seems fair." She nodded. "Well I was sent here to give the various cults and elements some...coordination you could say. Give the poor and miserable a rallying cause to gather to." She tried to shrug and failed. "Help soften the target for the invasion."
"So sabotage and infiltration." The voice said.
"Pretty much." She grinned. "My turn now?" Silence for a moment. She started to get nervous. Were they going to go back on their deal? Was she about to see a skeletal mask eerily grinning down at her, sapping her powers away and burning her mind?
"Alright. One question." She did her best not to sigh in relief.
"Cool. So who are you?"
"Harrison. Inquisitorial aide." The voice answered.
"Harrison huh? I'd say it's nice to meet you, but well. I don't think this counts as meeting you."
"Next question." The voice, or Harrison she assumed, didn't seem interested in banter. Ah well. "Why do you look so similar to her. Was your intention to make us believe she was here?"
"What?" She went to shake her head, but again, frustratingly, was unable to do so. "No. Well I mean, originally, but it was to deceive other people..." She sighed. "Look, in the big lines, I'm a clone, became my own person, and now I'm...I guess a sister to her?" Her words were greeted with complete and utter silence, save for the clunky whirring of the machines.
"What."
"Okay before you send the skeleton dude I am being a hundred percent serious."
"...Ask your question."
"Cool. Cool. So how did you find out about me? I mean I'm assuming this was all planned. You had the assassins, the imperial guard, the custodes...and people that can specifically counter psychic powers." She frowned. "I'm sure there's a name for it, but without access to the Hive Mind I can't just ask it."
"Interrogation of many, many people. It wasn't easy. Replaced the gang leaders with some of our assassins and prepare the operation to catch you and crush the heart of the cults."
"Huh." She clicked her tongue. "Pretty smart way of going about it. Still if that was your goal, it's a bit late for that."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not the heart. I gave them goals, I gave them a dream." She smiled. "I'm not afraid of telling you, because I know there is nothing you can do about it."
"...Elaborate."
"You already lost. You can't even see it, can you?" She sighed. "Ever wonder why it's so easy for cults, insurrections and rebellions to just... start? To recruit millions if not billions to try and overthrow the imperial yoke? I mean by the warp, I barely had to do one passionate speech and half of the population of Terra was cheering for me." She chuckled. "But that won't change. It would require the Imperium to change, and it won't." She noted the silence. "And something tells me you might already know that."
"Anya. What is her plan? How does she intend to invade Terra?" Secundus pulled her tongue out.
"Bzzzt! That's out of bounds! I'm afraid we're out of time friends!" With that, she turned off all of her natural defenses, and converted her entire bloodstream into acid. She was melting in a matter of milliseconds.
"I TOLD YOU TO KEEP HER DRUGGED UP! WHO THE HELL DISCONNECTED THE INJECTION PUM..." She didn't hear the rest as her mind blinked out, pulled away by a force far far away.
"SECUNDUS!" The girl blinked as she emerged from the green goop of the spawning chambers, not even having the time to take in her surroundings before she was dragged into a bone crushing hug. "Oh sis, I was so worried when I lost contact!" Secundus blinked again, slowly getting her wits as she processed what just happened. Right, she just killed herself to avoid giving actually useful answers to Harrison. That had been a relief compared to dealing with the skull masked individual.
It was a shame, and getting back on Terra would be a near impossible task. But she had laid the seeds, and she didn't need to go back. She had created the connections. Made the links. She could make them listen to her, even from across the stars.
"I'm sorry. They had something strange."
"Blanks." Ayna declared as she strode in the room, following in Anya's path. "Abominations that create null zones in the warp. It also affects our synaptic web and makes small…holes in them. For someone as psychically powerful as we are, it is an incredibly painful and horrible experience." Anya growled as she clutched her sister closer.
"Problematic."
"If the Imperium is deploying blanks, you cannot afford to go around in a child's body anymore." Ayna bluntly said. "You need your full war form. Otherwise, you will be defenseless as long as one of those is close enough."
"I was able to kill one." Secundus snarled, memories of the event flooding back in. "They die easily. Just a pain in the ass."
"And you were still captured. They could have easily killed you if they were not looking for information." Anya clutched Secundus tighter to herself.
"You are right. But we do not need to fully leave these forms." She looked up with raging eyes, anger strong enough to make Ayna take a cautious step back as Secundus cowered slightly in her grasp. "Accumulate reserves of biomass. I will experiment with how to ensure we do not run out as easily as Secundus did."
"...Understood Anya."
"How long until we arrive in the Solar System?"
"Three days. We've yet to encounter any imperial raiding party of forefront attack." Anya hummed thoughtfully at Ayna's words.
"They must be weary of giving us more biomass to work with. After all, any losses must be accompanied by denying us the ability to simply consume these losses after all. Not an easy task to do without dividing their forces. Better to let us break ourselves on their bulwark." Anya rose to her feet, patting Secundus on the head. "I have some work to do. You two prepare yourselves."
"Yes Sister." Both answered, watching in silence as she walked away.
"...You alright?" Secundus blinked in surprise as Ayna spoke.
"Um…yes? You know me." She grinned, testing her shoulder. "I'm tougher than I look. It'll take more than a bit of torture to break me."
"Hm." Ayna hesitated for a moment, then slowly lowered a clawed hand on Secundus' head, brushing her hair. "You did good." Then, after a pause. "It's good to see you alright." Secundus stared up at Ayna, before growing a mischievous grin.
"Aw, I love you too Ayna." The tyranid rolled her eyes, turning away. "Hey Ayna."
"Yeah?"
"How many people do you think we're going to kill during this invasion?" Ayna paused in her steps.
"...All of them I suppose."
"Do you think we could…like." Secundus gulped. "Spare the civilians?" Ayna glanced at her.
"Why? So much biomass, wasted? That is the antithesis of what we are Secundus."
"I know, I know. I just…" Secundus sighed in frustration. "Look. These people…they just want to fight for their freedoms. Their lives. Ring a bell to you?" Ayna stayed silent. "I promised them that. An escape from the yoke of the Imperium. It doesn't feel right to just…kill them all when all is said and done."
"Nothing about what we do is right." Ayna reminded her. "We are monsters. We accepted that a long time ago."
"...That doesn't mean we can't show some mercy." Secundus softly said.
"...Bring it up with Anya. See what she has to say." Ayna eventually answered in the silence of the endless flesh room. "In the end, this is all for her."
"Thank you sister."
"Don't thank me." Ayna tested the weight on her crystalline sword. "I haven't agreed to anything."
Harrison banged his fist against the glass panel in frustration as he watched his prisoner dissolve into a pile of goop. The pariah assassin was focusing all of their ability on it, but there was nothing to be done. This was no psychic ability, not warp spawned power. Nothing but incredibly complex biology.
Damn it all. Damn it all! Finally, a proper lead, and just like that it was gone.
They'd invested a lot of time, intel and effort into capturing her. At least they'd wiped the central point of coordination for the saboteurs he supposed. That was something.
"Fucking xenos" Ashley spat behind him. "Can't even die right."
"That doesn't help." He muttered. "Alright people. Let's get back to work. No use crying over spilled eggs."
"Aye. What are we doing?" Ashley asked, preparing her flamer.
"We're going to interrogate the rest of the cultists arrested. See if we can get some better info from their lot." He sighed. "What's the status of our reinforcements?"
"The flow is still steady. Space marine chapters from nearby star systems have been streaming in alongside masses of Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, only our immediate neighbors seem to be able to provide reinforcements. The galaxy has entered a frenzy of activity." The report was dutifully read by Vela. "Leviathan seems to be striking everywhere, all at once. There is an entire ring of star systems around Terra that have gone completely silent." She paused. "It seems they're surrounding us and cutting us off."
"Of course they are." He sighed deeply. "Any good news?"
"Well, it seems people are taking the threat more seriously now that the noose is closing in on their necks." She shrugged. "Less infighting amongst officers, less burning of competent officers because one disagreed on a minor point of doctrine, and only three cases of honor duels recently."
"And all it took was the literal apocalypse." He grunted. "And the fuckers still can't help but fight each other. This is pathetic."
"You focus too much on the ones infighting." Ashley noted. "For every officer shooting their subordinates and fighting over petty squabbles, there are five that do not." He didn't want to answer that. There was too much he could point to going wrong for him to want to. The very thought depressed him. The endless masses still suffering for little to no reason other than the obscene wealth of the few, which was now coming back to bite them very literally. The corruption. The dogmatic claims. The cult of the machine spirit.
There was so much that would need fixing. They would need centuries. Millenia.
They didn't even have a week to prepare.
"...Harrison?" Vela softly asked, slipping to his side. "Are you alright?"
"No." Harrison softly admitted. "No, I'm pretty far from alright."
Scratch.
Domiclus, annoyed, once more passed his nails through what little hair he still had left. What had once been a luscious set of locks that had made him the envy of his numerous brothers and sisters had been shed over the years by stress and a lack of proper care. One hardly had time to take care of the more fine point of body health when they served as one of the numerous psykers aboard the observation post Watchful Gaze near the Mandeville point. The constant traffic of vessels required ever present observation to ensure nothing wrong passed through their sensors. The recent embarrassment of the mass sabotage of hundreds of vessels had caused them to be under increased scrutiny. He would be the first to admit standards had slipped, but even then this seems excessive. Let alone the sheer amount of war vessels that had been entering the solar system in the past week.
He sighed as he brought a cup of coffee to his lips. Well, there were a few benefits to working here. The coffee was one.
Tick.
He frowned as his mind registered something. Something distant. So, so far away, and yet…
Tick.
Almost like the sound of something pointy hitting a stone floor.
Scrape.
A claw dragged against a wall. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the intrusive thought. Warp predators perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time he dealt with them. Wouldn't be the first time he cast aside their temptations.
Scratch.
He hardly noticed as his hand went back into his hair, scratching softly against his scalp as he focused on those strange sounds.
Scratch.
Scrape.
He focused. No, it wasn't…it wasn't metal scraping against stone.
That was the sound of gnashing teeth.
A cold shiver went down his spine. But he had to focus. Had to maintain his concentration.
A picture began to come to mind. He was getting closer. The sounds were getting louder. The screech of a hungry animal. The skittering of a billion creatures.
Maws wide enough to swallow the stars.
He screamed. Screamed at the sight of the fathomless horrors.
He knew they were aware of him. He could feel their hunger. Their desire to strip the flesh from his bones and consume what remained, to assimilate him into little more than nutrition. He screamed as he felt the sheer scale of the horror. He screamed as he felt the trillions of eyes turned as one towards a single bright light, flickering defiantly against the dark. A brilliant soothing light that had been a constant reassurance throughout his life; But right now, with the horrors beyond the stars using it is a guiding beacon, he could not help the heretical desire to smother it, hide it, conceal it. Cower in the dark and hope the monsters would not see him.
Oh Emperor, they were coming. He could see them move as one. Endless expanses of chitin and flesh, moving in unison towards him.
He screamed.
And screamed.
His handler was wrestling with him, trying to stop him from clawing his eyes out. Did he not understand? He had to stop seeing them, had to stop feeling them in his head, in his mind, oh God Emperor they were coming they were coming they were coming…
Screams echoed across the numerous star forts and vessels of the Solar Fleet as a Shadow was cast over the Solar System.
Guardsmen shuddered as a cold wave washed over them. Citizens hurried home, shuffling nervously as they went about their business feeling as if something was wrong. Space marines checked their weaponry, their hands falling on chainswords and bolters.
Occ stood before the Eternity Gate, his discussion with the custodes guarding it interrupted by the dreadful feeling of wrongness permeating Terra. His hand clenched on the Guardian Spear.
They were coming.
Anya, standing before the throne of the Emperor: "The time has come, false god! I hope you wrote a will!"
The Emperor: "...I..."
Anya: "The corpse speaks, a miracle! Go on, say your last words!"
The Emperor, triggering the Talisman of Seven Hammers: "I'm about to do what's called a Pro-Gamer move."
Anya: "What the fuck is a gam..." Gets consumed in explosion large enough to burn Luna to a crisp.