Fame Cimex Chapter 22
The Tyranids came on in a heaving tide of claws and chitin, maws wide and claws held high in readiness to feast. They were an avalanche of flesh, a living natural disaster come to level all before them. In the heart of the swarm was the Hive Tyrant, towering over the lesser monsters and driving them forwards, the living link to the Hive Mind urging them to obliterate all that stood before them.
Against this tide of horror stood a thin line of resistance, the Transhuman Astartes laying down torrents of firepower. They hosed the oncoming horde with deadly salvos of rounds, they were preternaturally accurate and their weapons slew all they targeted. They exploded Gaunts, blasted Warriors and even took down Carnifexs with concentrated volleys of shooting.
It didn't matter.
The Tyranids came on regardless, ignoring their casualties and racing over their dead, trampling the wounded under their hooves. Their maws chomped in anticipation and their claws extended in eagerness to rend and tear as they raced into the teeth of overwhelming firepower. The Hive mind was in the heads of each and every one and it held the life of its own spawn as less than nothing.
Standing in the line Captain Toran could see the oncoming swarm and the inescapable truth that the Astartes could not hold them back for much longer. He spied the Hive Tyrant, a hideous creature with a pair of scything talons, a bone sword and a fleshy whip in its alien hands. Toran realised that this being was the reason for the Tyranid's insane courage, that as long as it lived then this battle could not be won. There was only one option left: the Hive Tyrant must fall. Toran looked out upon the swarm and saw hundreds of beasts between the Astartes and the Synapse creature, too many to charge through. Instantly he made a decision and cried, "All squads, target the area before the Tyrant, clear out the throng!"
A torrent of firepower shifted to hit the swarm right at the front, a horizontal hail of rounds that decimated all before it. Like a threshing machine moving through a ripe crop the storm scythed down everything before it, leaving a corridor of dead beasts aiming towards the Hive Tyrant. Toran saw they had a few seconds before the swarm surged back to fill the gap and cried, "Tactical and Devastator squads hold this line, Assault Squad follow my Command Squad into the heart of the foe!"
As he issued his order Toran was already leaping the barricades, drawing his Relic blade as he did so. His squad followed him without hesitation, Furion, Novak, Bylan, Jediah and Persion all hot on his heels. They charged into the gap, as lines of bolt rounds passed either side of them, holding back the lesser beasts with walls of destruction. The squad raced forwards, unwavering in their quest to cut out the heart of the swarm but the Tyranids were equally determined to meet them. A surge of flesh heralded the swarm pushing hundreds of Gaunts forwards, losing scores of beasts to the blazing volleys still raining down on their heads. Yet with sheer numbers the tide broke through, racing to intercept the few warriors forging a path into the heart of the Tyranids, their numbers were stunning and this fight would be short indeed.
Yet a second before the first Gaunt could reach them a shadow flashed over the blood-red sky and a roar of thrusters announced the descent of the Assault squad. They fell from the heavens with chainswords racing and bolt pistols blazing, hitting the ground like meteor strikes that threw showers of dirt up into the air and crushed Gaunts underfoot. With a righteous cry, the Space Marines hurled themselves into battle, rending and tearing with roaring weapons that swiftly became coated in ichor. Claws scrapped at their armour and fangs broke on their vambraces yet the Astartes were resolute and fought on, holding back the tide with the strength and fortitude worthy of true heroes.
Toran saw their battle and a part of him longed to stand with them, though he knew little more than their names they were stalwart champions of the Chapter. Yet a cold, detached part of his mind told him he could not do so, this was not the true battle and unless he reached the Hive Tyrant this fight was meaningless. He cried, "Push on Brothers, we must cut out the heart of the swarm!"
The command squad pressed on and swiftly they approached the towering monstrosity that was the Tyrant. This close the true hideousness of the creature was obvious, its hide mottled and pitted by countless wars and its fangs as long as man's arms. It was surrounded by a shimmering aura of psychic power, a haze that lent in an indescribable horror that would stop a man's heart just to look upon it. Yet the Astartes were made to be immune to such paltry terrors, to them dread and horror were but the rush of adrenaline that made them sharper and quicker. Fear did not slow them down, it only made them deadlier.
They gripped their weapons tighter and Persion growled, "That thing so needs to die!"
Toran raised his sword high and cried, "With me Brothers, For Terra and the memory of Roboute Guilliman!"
The squad charged forth with weapons held ready but the Hive Tyrant did not rush to greet them, instead it stepped back and a pair of lesser but still bulky creatures raced forwards. Furion shouted, "Tyrant Guards!" as the looming forms leapt to intercept them. With a terrible screech the battle was joined, chitin claws set against shining steel, carapace hides against ceramite armour. The battle descended into a frenzy of hacking, slashing blows and the Marines could not see more than a few feet in any direction. The Tyrant Guards were brutal beasts, built to give and receive damage in extraordinary amounts, but the squad fought back with all they had. Furion ejected his bolter's magazine and slipped in a special one, the rare Hellfire rounds which were specially designed for Tyranid foes. He blazed at the nearest guard and the impacts scored its hide, unleashing thousands of microscopic needles laced with mutagenic acids.
The guard quivered and shook as the acid ate into its hide and raised an arm to block the rounds. In that moment Persion leapt in, wielding a red-hot Friction Axe and smashed it into the Guard's side. Vile ichor ran freely and Persion drew back his axe once more, then he swung his arm and caved in the guard's skull.
Meanwhile Bylan was fending off the second guard, using the Adamantium haft of the banner like a quarterstaff, blocking and parrying the onslaught of claws. The Guard growled and brought down its claws, Bylan blocked horizontally but the force of the blow forced him to his knees. The Guard hissed in anticipation of the kill but at that moment Jediah intervened, diving in from behind to attack its exposed rear. His Fractal edged blade flashed and in two swift strokes, he had hamstrung the Guard, severing alien tendons and sinews with perfect precision.
The Guard sprawled in the dirt as it tried to understand what had happened and before it could react Novak leapt high to land upon its back. He rode the bucking beast like a circus performer standing on an equine back and held his sword high. Then in one swift move he plunged his sword down, penetrating right under the base of the skull and severing the spinal cord to leave the Tyranid dying in the dust.
While all this had been occurring Toran was confronted by the Hive Tyrant itself, the mighty creature looming over him and blocking out the sun. The Tyrant's strength was obvious but its speed was equally potent and before the Captain could strike it was lashing forward, attacking from left and right with its bonesword and whip. Toran desperately fended off the sword but felt the whip smash into his side, breaking a rib within his enhanced chest, had he been mortal his heart would have been caved in at the first blow. The Tyrant attacked again, using its scything claws to stab down and attacking with its weapons simultaneously. Toran fell back, desperately parrying the attacks, trying to stay alive in the face of overwhelming fury. The creature was swift and skilled, presenting no pattern of attacks and keeping the Captain off balance at all times. Toran was under attack from four directions at once, he was only thankful that the bulk of the Tyrant kept its tail out of the equation.
He parried and dodged as best he was able, but was incapable of striking back, totally on the defensive. He fended off a swing from the bonesword with his relic blade but then both scything claws stuck, plunging down from above right at his head. Toran saw the attack coming but one second before they hit there was a flash of light and the attack was deflected as it met his Iron Halo's energy field. The Tyrant staggered back, momentarily off balance and in that moment Toran struck. He stabbed out with his sword and cut the Tyrant across the gut, letting vile ichor spill from a gash in its belly. Any other foe would have been put on the back foot by such a blow but the Tyrant was no ordinary opponent. In an instant the whip hurtled forward and wrapped itself around and around the Captain, crushing him in its embrace. Toran gasped for air as his broken ribs ground into his lungs and he felt himself being lifted high, the whip raising him head first towards the Tyrant's maw. The mouth opened wide in readiness to bite his head off and Toran stared into the abyss of death, but he wasn't finished yet.
Toran's arms were trapped, but what the Tyrant had failed to realise was that his bolter was still attached to its strap and the grip was but an inch from the Captain's hand. Toran snarled in fury and heaved with all his might to move his arm one inch and grab the weapon in his hand. There was a moment's pause and then a single bolt round exploded at point-blank range, cracking the bolter's barrel but also breaking the whip's grip. The pressure on Toran eased for an instant and he roared as his other arm broke free, bringing his sword up right at the open maw of the Tyrant. He bellowed, "This is for Captain Laryen!" then thrust upwards, driving the Sword of Thiel into the open maw, right into the Tyrant's braincase and out the other side. All fell silent for a single moment, the Captain and the monster locked in a deadly embrace and then the Hive Tyrant sagged and toppled backwards, falling limp in death.
The Captain found himself shaken loose and he hit the ground hard, flexing his knees to absorb the impact even as the Tyrant sprawled limply with a puddle of gore spreading from its skull. Toran staggered back and gasped for breath, holding one arm to his side where he could feel something moving within his chest. His Transhuman body burned hot where his implants struggled to repair the damage and the oxygen debt was making his vision blacken around the edges.
Toran spared a second to glance about and saw that with the death of the Tyrant the swarm had lost its connection to the Hive Mind. They were milling around in confusion, acting in a bestial manner, leaping at each other in a feeding frenzy or fleeing instinctively from the guns on the line. It was an epic victory, one that against any other foe would have utterly broken them, but he knew that the Tyranids would reform in minutes and return.
Toran's vox bead tickled and he heard a voice saying, "Hear me… By the Cog, Captain can you hear me?"
Toran opened his link and called, "This is Captain Toran, Hevostan is that you?"
The voice came back, "Finally… Captain preparations are complete, we have to evacuate now!"
Toran wasted not a second to call, "All squads fall back immediately and prepare to withdraw, Persion raise the Silent Hunter, tell her we need immediate Teleport Extraction!"