Fame Cimex Chapter 15
The Tyranids came on like a tidal wave of ravenous flesh, their chipped and pitted hides shimmering in the distant starlight. Their claws were sharp and their tentacles grasped at the vacuum, eager to rend and tear and shred all they came in contact with. Orifices dilated to reveal shards the size of gunships, just waiting to be hurled at the prey, while maws seethed with Bio-Plasma. Standing against them was a thin line of Imperial resistance, a wall of Plasteel trying to hold back a flood of chitin. The odds against them were staggering, the number of Xenos beyond counting, but they would stand and fight regardless. They had drawn a line in the vancuum and were determined to hold it, to turn back the Tyranids at any cost.
On the bridge of the Averof Captain Mandas gazed into the Hololithic display, watching the icons crawl ever closer. He muttered under his breath, "This is going to be bloody."
From behind him Kaath-Dousmanis said softly so the crew wouldn't hear, "The Imperial Navy has faced steeper odds before and emerged victorious."
Mandas spared him a second's glance and said, "Care to name a few instances?"
Kaath-Dousmanis answered, "Well… none come to mind."
Mandas said, "Keep that to yourself, we don't want to panic the crew."
Suddenly Commander Grenfeld called, "Sir, signal from the Flag. All ships to maintain Line Astern formation as the enemy closes into range, fire as targets present themselves."
Mandas nodded and called, "Steady as she goes men, let's show them how this is done!"
On the Hololith the first whispers of the swarm were crossing into weapons range, the outriders spilling over a theoretical line in space. The first ship to greet them was the Hyperion, the battleship's superior range and firepower allowing her to strike the Tyranids before they could hope to reply. A cascade of fire and lance beams shot out to rip into the horde, gouging hides and burning wriggling creatures to ash. Mandas saw it was but a pinprick to the swarm but for his crew's sake he cried, "First blood to the Imperium!"
The bridge officers cheered as the ships' choir began a triumphant declaration, it was a trifle premature but a confident spirit could make all the difference in the fight to come. Then Grenfeld called, "Sir, the Hektor is firing!"
Mandas looked back at the Hololith and saw that the old Grandcruiser was indeed unleashing her broadsides, the weight of firepower exceedingly potent for any ship classed below Battleship displacement. The torrent flooded out from the ship and met the Tyranids head-on, blasting apart bio-ships with ruthless precision. Kaath-Dousmanis sounded surprised as he commented, "I thought the Grandcruiser design was obsolete, but that was rather impressive."
Mandas replied, "They are outmoded, not obsolete, they don't really fit current naval doctrine, but if used right they can still be a potent weapon of war."
The pair of them watched as the Tyranids hurtled onwards, the Averof lacked the range of some of its kin but what she lacked in reach she more than made up for in close ranged destruction. Mandas felt a bead of sweat crawling down the back of his neck but he refused to shiver, the crew needed to see his confidence that they could overcome this enemy. The Tyranids barrelled on in a heaving mass of chitin, blotting out the starts with their bulk. Then they finally came into range and Mandas yelled, "Open Fire!"
The whole cruiser shuddered as the starboard flank lit up, flinging shells, grav, rockets, las and plasma into the void, this was followed by a pair of lance blasts that stitched bright flares across the dark as they stabbed deeply into the swarm. The salvo ripped into the oncoming mass of Chitin and blew protective spore clouds to dust before carrying on. A pair of Vanguard escorts were gutted by the onslaught, spilling entrails into the pitiless waste of space, where they flash froze in seconds. Against any other foe such a broadside would have been a punishing opening move, but the Tyranids were not even given pause. The massive onslaught of Bio-ships swept over the remains of their kin, with total disregard for the losses, in their frenzy to reach the Imperials. Then the Bio-ships undulated and spasmed, spitting out a hail of chitinous shards at the Imperial vessels, puncturing the void with razor-sharp barbs.
The onslaught fell upon the Imperial's shields, making them flare and spark as they struggled to shunt away the deadly force. The torrent was so thick it seemed like a thunderstorm, one that would make a man gasp in shock merely to witness. The shields held for few seconds and then collapsed, spreading an electromagnetic blast in all directions as they did so. Now unopposed chitin shards tore into the exposed Imperial hulls, blowing out compartments, severing power feeds and life support, condemning hundreds to die from suffocation or hypothermia.
On the Averof's bridge Mandas was clinging to the rail of the dais as the ship shook around him, the crew desperately trying to keep their stations functioning in the midst of horrific violence. The lower-grade Commissars marched to and fro to instil order while the Clergy led prayers begging salvation from on high. Through the tumult Commander Grenfeld was shouting, "Impacts, impacts on all decks! We're taking heavy damage!"
Mandas gritted his teeth and barked, "Get those gun batteries firing again!"
Grenfeld yelled back, "Sir, gun crews are panicking!"
Mandas furiously barked, "Tell the Petty Officers to not spare their whips. I don't care what it takes, get those guns firing now!"
As the ship shook once more to the reassuring noise of the weapon batteries discharging Mandas roared, "Where the hell are my lances?!"
Grenfeld said, "Captain, Lances are haemorrhaging power, the Tech-Priests report they must perform a Sacramental Mass before attempting a bypass."
Mandas yelled, "Tell them to forget the bloody Mass, just run the damned shunt now!"
Grenfeld relayed the message and then had to hold the vox horn away from her ear, so profane was the response. She waited for it to subside and then said, "Captain, the Tech-Priests are expressing… concern at that notion, they say it risks offending the Machine Spirits and may burn out the capacitors."
Mandas stared into the Hololith, which was full of heaving Tyranid forms, surrounding the Imperial fleet on all sides. The Captain gritted his teeth and said, "Then burn them out."
As the crew bent to their task Mandas rubbed the rail and whispered softly, "Come on Averof, I know you've got it in you. After everything we've been through together, are you really going to let some damned bugs have their way with you now? I know you're scared, but you're my girl, nothing and nobody messes with you."
Suddenly a gunnery officer stood up and yelled, "Sir, Lances are charged!"
"I knew Averof could do it," shouted Mandas joyfully as he thumped the rail, "Let the Xenos taste our fury!"
Once more the mighty lances fired, blasting outwards into the swarm. At this range it was impossible to miss and the beams tore into beast after beast. They convulsed and juddered under the killing power of the beams, thrashing futilely as they died in agony. For a single second the Averof managed to clear space around herself and the ship was surrounded by a cloud of sundered flesh and broken bodies. With a second to think Mandas looked into the Hololith and saw the rest of the fleet being similarly engaged, each vessel fighting to hold back hordes of ravenous horrors.
In the midst of the swirling nightmares the Agamemnon was embattled on all sides, her crew struggling to deny the foe even as her own fighters cartwheeled in dizzying swirls around her. Everywhere flocks of lesser beasts sought to clamp on and release fanged monstrosities into the bilges of Imperial ships. The fighters met them with their weapons blazing, destroying as many boarding pods as they could. The Kilkis however was sailing through the clouds like a queen of the void, destroying everything within reach. At short ranges her gun batteries rivalled a Battleship's and she gutted drone after drone, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. Sheltering in her shadow Proteus squadron clung together in tight formation, firing at stragglers trying to sneak around the rear.
Pandora squadron however was not having as much success, flocks of winged tentacle mouthed nightmares inundating them from all directions. The ships moved closer together for protection, combing their point defence turrets in an effort to hold back the foe. It didn't work, for the Tyranids were relentless, ignoring their casualties to dive upon the escorts and latch on, releasing hordes of clawed beasts into their hulls.
Elsewhere the Spetsai and the Cadmus fought side by side, combining their broadsides and tearing the foe apart. A Razorfiend cut across their bows, its mouth gaping wide in preparation to unleash a frothing scum of Bio-plasma. Before it could fire Triton squadron intervened, climbing vertically from below the plane of battle, guns filling space with torrents of fire to blast the Tyranid cruiser in the rear. The twin light cruisers added their own fire, sending out spears of coherent light that plunged into the beast's hearts. The Razorfiend quivered and rolled over, then it finally died.
At the rear of the formation the Aetos was beset by a shelled mollusc like Bio-ship, it was wrapping the carrier with thick tentacles that emerged from its shell, searching for a way inside. The questing tentacles found the open hanger bays, plunging within to fill the spaces with tendrils the size of bombers. Fuel lines and ammunition hoists were severed, setting raging fires racing through the ship and killing thousands of crewmen. The Aetos rolled over, flames licking from every airlock and hatch as her crew fought to survive and put out the fires.
On the Averof's bridge Mandas was directing the ship's efforts in the battle, trying to keep the Tyranids at arm's length. The battle was bloody and ferocious and casualties were already mounting, but the Imperials were holding firm. Despite their prodigious numbers the Tyranids could not break up the fleet's defence and were suffering greatly for it. Mandas took a breath and saw the Imperials were holding the line; there was yet a remote chance that they could break this onslaught of enemies. This was the ultimate test, discipline against bestiality, the coordinated battle line against sheer, overwhelming numbers. Courage and human pride set against bottomless Xenos hunger, and only one of them could prove superior.
Suddenly Mandas heard a gasp from behind and he saw out of the corner of his eye Kaath-Dousmanis pointing at the Hololith in horror. The Captain looked up and gasped in turn, for the display was filled with a sheer white mass of contacts closing in, a Tsunami of chitin pouring into sensor range. The heaving mass of flesh totally eclipsed the swarm already engaging the Imperials, surpassing it in every way imaginable and at its heart were the unmistakable icons of a pair of Hive Ships.
Kaath-Dousmanis was going pale in horror and said in a small voice, "How is this possible?"
Mandas was equally aghast and said in a disbelieving tone, "It was merely a probe; we've only been fighting a scouting party... That is the true Hive Fleet."