A.N.: Thank you everyone for the positive comments! I read every one of them and they really make my day! I've also decided I might put a little interaction like last note's at the end of each chapter, see if people like it! With that said, onto the chapter!
"Isha be merciful, what happened here?" The words were whispered in a hushed horror, the group of eldar gazing down from the hill they stood on to the burned down remains of the Imperial city. Thousands of square kilometres of buildings destroyed, doubtlessly killing millions. "Did the tyranids do this?"
"No." Ylsen shook his head sadly. "This does not bear characteristics of one of their attacks. The type of ammunition and weaponry they use would leave different traces. This..." He sighed. "This is all the work of the Imperials, I am afraid."
"Barbarians..." One of the aspect warriors muttered. This time, Ylsen did not reprimand him. It was hard to disagree when witnessing such a sight. "To inflict this on your own people..."
"We do not have all the facts. We have just arrived." Ylsen reminded them. "This could have been an accident." His tone made it clear he did not believe it was.
"Thank Asuryan that the webway gate was left intact." One of the rangers mentioned. "It seems the defensive fields are still functional after all this time."
"Along with the stealth fields" Another pipped up. Ylsen nodded.
"Indeed. Now, let's move in. Keep out of sight, discreet. The last thing we want is for the Imperials to figure out there are more 'Xenos' on their world." Their gazes descended on the charred city as he spoke. A cold silence hung over the group as they started making their way to the ruined city.
"What were you thinking?!" The general loudly asked, bearing down on the Canoness. The other members of the war cabinet looked awkwardly between the two of them, sisters of battle calmly looking on with their weapons at the ready. "What, in the Emperor's name, were you thinking when you gave the order?!"
"It was precisely in the Emperor's name that the order was given." She rose to her full height, reminding the general that she was taller than he was, especially wearing her full powered armour. "Blasphemy...no, Heresy." The word sent whispers through the advisors. "To think such words could be pronounced on this world...perhaps our inspection is focusing on the wrong foe." The general stared at her, before slowly speaking.
"Are you...are you serious? One fool. One! Spoke those words, and for that yes, they should have been punished!" His lips pulled back, his teeth were bared as he continued on. "And now, after you burned down the entire third level, crippled the population and war effort, destroyed much of the logistics network fuelling our troops on the lower levels and killed almost as many people as the tyranids have...you are suggesting we should hunt for heretics instead of fighting the Xenos invaders?!" He was screaming by the end, his face red and his eyes bulging in sheer fury. She gazed at him cooly, before slowly answering:
"General. I believe you are tired. Perhaps you should go take some rest." He laughed bitterly at that as two sisters grabbed him under the arms and dragged him away.
"Ha! Yeah, yeah I'll go take a nap! Let's hope you don't make it perma..." The door slammed onto him. The canoness looked at the assembled advisors, watching their terror as she gazed upon them.
"Now. Is there any other issues with how the Ecclesiarchy acted?" No answers. "Good. Praise the Emperor." Immediately they all spoke the words, doing the symbol of the Aquila. "Now. The general does have a point that our focus for now should be on the immediate threat of the Tyranids. However, the heretics in our midst cannot be ignored. The purge of level three was hopefully enough to quell the worst of it, but thorough investigations will be taken."
"INCOMING!" Earl jumped into the improvised fox hole as a powerful blast rocked the ground, concrete and pavement being turned to melted goop as powerful bioplasma smashed into it. His hands were still shaking as he held his gun, glancing out of the hole only to find himself quickly bringing his weapon to bare and firing on the approaching wave of tyranid bio-organisms. He wasn't alone in doing so; hundreds of shots slammed into the wave, cutting swathes of hormagaunts as they rushed forth. An explosion slammed into the horde as one of the PDF tanks fired into them, its side guns overheating with how many shots it unleashed into the mass of gaunts. Another bioplasma shot turned the tank into molten slag. "WHERE THE HELL IS ARTILLERY SUPPORT?!" Screamed their sergeant. "WE'RE GOING TO GET OVERRUN!"
"Artillery ran out of shells sir! Something happened on the Third Level and they can't send more! Fourth level is rung dry!" Cried out a communications technician in response, holding the radio to his ear as his subordinate fired on a hormagaunt that had been climbing the building they were in.
"WHAT?!" The sergeant seemed pale with fear, before the building shook and collapsed, cutting their cries short. Earl watched in horror at the sight. It was over. No artillery, the last tank at their disposal dead, their last officer gone. This section of the city was lost. He scrambled out of the fox hole and ran. Ran faster than he'd ever ran. He could see others around him do much the same, a few of them getting unlucky as bioplasma turned them into melted goop from yet another enemy bombardment wave.
They had been the last line of defense to the gate leading into the fourth level. There was a heavy garrison there, but it wouldn't be enough. Already he could see globes of bioplasma sailing through the air above them slamming directly into the far away gates, creating dents and melting defenders. Those new creatures the tyranids had started spawning had been raining hell upon them, and the sudden drying up of supplies had led to all but a complete collapse of the front.
There was no one left to fight. It was as simple as that. Most of the PDF and Arbites had been on the fifth level fighting back the swarm, but now what was left was beating a desperate retreat to the fourth level, the enemy hot on their tail.
The ground shook under him. But it wasn't a bombardment this time. He turned back and shrieked in fear at the sight of over a dozen trampling beasts of massive size; Carnifexes, an entire pack of them, charging after the fleeing defenders, followed by a veritable horde of hormagaunts. The fast moving creatures caught up in a matter of seconds to him, tearing him into pieces as the carnifexes stomped past him and towards the massive gates; millions of tyranids converging on the various gates leading to the fourth level. Bioplasma rained, hulking beasts of muscle and chitin slammed into them; No matter how many the defenders cut down with their paltry weaponry and depleted ammo, more would take their place.
By the end of the day, the gates were breached, and the fourth level was swept by a wave of chattering teeth and hungry maws.
And at their head, was a yellow eyed, humanoid creature.
Anya had never imagined her attempt at sowing chaos and discord would be so successful. It had been brutal, indiscriminate; an absolute massacre of the population. Eating ashes was much harder to do, but the tyranid hive could still do it. The atmosphere itself would be consumed; Nothing would be lost. It had crippled the defenders.
It had been the perfect distraction.
And as she danced across the beautiful roofs of the very highest levels of the Hive, followed by groups formed of dozens of Lictors, dispersing through the various castles and great spires of the nobles to deliver slaughter upon them. She knew that the fourth level had fallen; That her swarm was devouring all that it came across. The third level's defenses were stripped bare, and if she was lucky some of it would be dragged into the upper levels as she started massacring the nobles. They had their own means of defending themselves of course; private armies, advanced gadgets, secretive weapons and even more horrific things, such as combat servitors.
Little of it was useful when faced with the assassins that were the Lictors. In order to kill them, one had to know they were there in the first place.
She hummed as she landed on the tallest spire of the tallest tower on the tallest building. The planetary palace. Home of the Planetary Governor.
She jumped down onto a balcony. She was still in her child-like human form, but had found an interesting characteristic of it. Whilst there was a limit to how much she could enhance this body's physical abilities before it started visibling changing, there was no such issue with psychic powers. The only limit was her own abilities and training. And well, if she had been eating recently. If she was starving, she wasn't quite as strong as she could be full.
And the past few days had been a veritable feast.
She found herself standing before a window that was larger than her entire hab-block had been; on a balcony large enough for her entire congregation to gather in. She found a smile slipping on her face, her eyes burning with power as she walked forward. The windows shivered as she got closer. A woman in a maid outfit, standing not too far in the corridors further inside seemed to notice this, turning from her task of cleaning a large decorative vase to face the window. Her eyes widened at the sight of the young girl on the balcony, walking towards Anya with a thunderous expression before slowing down as the windows started vibrating. Then, as Anya stood but a metre away from it, the window shattered into a thousand glass shards, blowing outwards and slamming into Anya's psychic shield, leaving her unharmed. She smiled as she stepped through the window, towards the trembling maid.
"Hello there. I would like to see the governor please." The maid stared at her, her eyes wide with shock. Anya's grin widened, showing sharp teeth. Her eyes started to glow, and the furniture of the room, tables and paintings decorating the rich hallway, started to shake. "Pretty please?" The maid stammered in approval, before jerkily turning away and walking towards one of the massive golden doors at one of the extremities of the corridor. Each of them was large enough to let a tank pass through with some room left. She could feel the fear radiating from the maid as she walked through the empty palace. It was strange seeing absolutely no one as they walked for a quarter of an hour in complete silence, but Anya did not question it. She'd stretched her psychic powers and had found that people seemed to be actively avoiding them. Perhaps the maid had a way to inform the rest of the staff something was wrong. She was surprised no security had come their way yet if that was the case.
They stood at the edge of a colossal set of staircase, made out of a pure white stone polished to a degree that seemed almost impossible. She could not resist reaching down and feeling the edges of the stairs; Perfectly smooth to the touch. The maid's breath hitched as she moved unexpectedly, but let out a sigh of relief at the sight. Anya tilted her head.
"Where are all the guards? I know you've been telling people that I am here." The maid's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to defend herself. "Don't worry. I can feel people. There's a lot ahead of us, isn't there? They've been gathering." The maid seemed to be having a panic attack. "I'm guessing he's behind these doors." She pointed to the massive set of doors at the top of the stairs. "Anyways. Thank you for bringing me here. You can stay or leave. It won't matter." She smiled softly at the maid. "You will die by the swarm or by me. I promise to make it fast if it's me." The maid broke into a sprint, running away from her. Anya shrugged. Ah well. She'd offered. With that, she walked up the stairs, up, up all the way to the great doors. She could feel hundreds of people behind there. The room must be massive. Not all of the ones inside felt fully human either. She'd learned to make the distinction.
She tried to push the doors with her own arms at first. Even with her enhanced strength, they did not move an inch. She grunted, exerting herself, before sliding on the ground, face planting on the floor. She cursed. Damn the perfectly polished floor! It was a tripping hazard. Grumbling, she got back up, pointed a hand at the doors, and *pushed*.
The doors slammed open, a groaning sound following as they almost tore themselves out of the wall. Anya grinned, her eyes dancing with yellow light as she stepped in the room. Facing her were over two hundred soldiers in uniform; their armour and weapons seemed to be of a higher quality than the PDF. She could feel their hesitation however; these were not battle hardened troops. Already, the licks of fear at facing something they didn't really understand were gnawing at their courage. Along with them were two much larger...things. Amalgamates of flesh and machine, strapped with a multitude of weapons all pointed squarely at her. Combat servitors...or something stranger. It wouldn't matter. And at the centre of the room, standing tall above a group of hundreds of courtiers and other nobles, on a throne made of silver, was a fierce looking man in sharp, military style clothing.
"Who dares." He spoke with strength; Confidence thrumming in his voice. This was a man who had spent his life navigating politics with the rigidity of a general, who had become an expert at radiating an aura of confidence and strength. But she could feel his thoughts, knew not even he was left unphased by the display of power she'd just done. Only the servitors were unbothered, and she didn't think those even had the brain power to feel fear.
"Just a concerned citizen!" She chirped, walking forth with a skip to her step. Immediately, every single soldier was aiming at her. She did not stop. "Here to bring some grievances to your attention Governor!"
"Is that so?" He didn't believe her. He'd have to be quite thick to do so. He was hesitating to order her shot. Afraid of provoking her. Afraid of leaving her unchecked if she was plotting something.
"Indeed!" She had reached the edge of the crowd of courtiers now, who had all scattered to leave her a wide empty path towards the governor's throne. "You see, I have noticed quite a few issues in the Hive!"
"And what may these be?" He asked, untensing ever so slightly as she stopped at the bottom of his throne.
"Well you see...I come from the Underhive." He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she noticed the reaction from the courtiers. That instinctive repulsion. That expression of disgust that they only sought to repress due to their fear of her. They knew not who she was, nor what she really was. But they had witnessed her power. And so they stayed quiet. "And well...it seems you decided to lock us in. Leave us all to starve." Her grin grew sharper, her eyes glinting maliciously. "To die."
"That was my predecessor." The man was quick to argue. "I never endorsed this plan of his. Foolish at best, burying a problem as if it isn't here." To her surprise, she felt he was sincere. Not that his reasoning was much kinder.
He would have simply sent his troops down to murder them all.
"I see. But now...well. You seem to have a bit of an infestation going on." She glanced at the soldiers around her. "You have all these soldiers. All the nobility does. Why aren't they fighting along with the rest?"
"Someone has to ensure the leadership is not assassinated." He argued back. He seemed more comfortable now that it looked like she was intent on using her words. "Without coordination, the troops would collapse into anarchy and disorder. I..." He glanced away. "I do not particularly enjoy indulging some of the preferences of my fellow nobility. However, such is the privilege of birth." He shook his head. "There is nothing to be done about it."
"...is that so?" She said, her grin slowly dropping until her face was entirely neutral. The governor looked wary, his hand doing a subtle movement on his throne. She did not need to turn around to know every single guard was preparing to fire at her at the first sign of trouble. "Well Governor. I believe there is a solution to your problems with the nobility." The Governor looked down at her.
"Is that so?" He gave a nod. That was the signal for them to fire soon. He had a shield generator in his throne that would activate the moment he said a key phrase.
"Yes." Her eyes started to glow yellow. She dipped into her psychic powers.
She'd always wondered what would happen if she just...let go. Ignored all the lessons on control, all the lessons on precision hits. On restraint. And just...unleashed her full power. What she had developed so far at least. And right now...she was having a hard time keeping control.
She was angry. So, so angry. The rage, bitterness and despair of her human life came to the full front, overwhelming her every other thought and every other instinct. She saw him open his mouth, and willed him to be silent. His mouth snapped shut. "All you need...is a little push." She opened her arms. The guards didn't wait for the order. They opened fire, the gun servitors unleashing their full arsenal of rockets, lasers and other projectiles on her.
As she pulled on her powers, the world felt as if it crawled to a standstill. She stared at the throne of the governor. The man who had ruled her. It did not matter who sat on the throne. It was always the same. She remembered her father, ripped from their family to go fight in a war on a far away world, never receiving news of what happened to him. Her hands clenched. She remembered her mother, who died for nothing trying to help her daughter survive. Her teeth clenched, her lips pulled back in a snarl. Every day she had to crawl in the muck, surviving on scraps, because a single man had decided it was easier to let them all starve to death than to try and fix even a single issue with the Underhive. Letting crime grow wild, the desperate preying on the weak. Her desperate frustration as she linked to the Hive Mind and realized that this was not just on her world; That this was not some exceptional case of injustice. This was just the way the Imperium worked.
A world where the strong crushed the weak, where empathy was ruthlessly squashed and understanding considered a flaw.
She took all her frustrations, all her rage, her sorrow. Every pain, every starving night, every terrified day. Every ounce of suffering, every silently shed tear. All her quiet anger.
And she gave it a Voice.
A shockwave of psychic energy emerged from her, slamming every single attack aimed at her away, batted away like a fly on an adamantium boot. It slammed into the soldiers, the courtiers, the governor; All instantly pulverized at the impact, their slurry of remains crushed against the walls of the room; Only for those very walls to be shattered in turn, the pillars holding the room collapsing along with the roof only to be pushed outwards from the bubble of ever expanding psychic power. Only one sound could be heard. A single, piercing, childlike whail, as the Governor's palace shattered, a perfect sphere of power visibly creating a perfect hole in the structure. As the psychic bubble finally disappeared, the palace was nothing but ruin, much of it falling down onto the lower buildings.
In the middle of the devastation, floating midair with faintly glowing yellow eyes and tears streaming down her eyes, was Anya. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, now nothing but a devastated pile of rubble. She sank to her knees, bringing her hands to her eyes.
In the ruins of the palace, she cried.
"Did you feel that?" A ranger called out to the rest of the group.
"Yes. That was some pretty intense psychic energy." Another one spoke. "Ylsen, what do you..." The ranger stopped speaking as he turned to Ylsen. The man was staring in the direction they'd felt the energy. He had felt it so keenly, so strongly. The rage...the grief. It had flashed in his mind with the intensity of a burning star. Gods protect him, what was it they were going to do in this world. "Ylsen." He looked at the ranger. "You're crying." He brought his gauntleted hand to his face, delicately collecting a few tears that had started to run down his cheeks.
"...oh. So I am." He shook his head. "I will have to ask the farseers for some training when we go home. I think this is sympathetic backlash. Anyways, report."
"It's as you said Ylsen. The Great Devourer is here. The mon...human city is divided into seven levels. The minions of the Devourer's are currently overwhelming the fourth level, and will arrive to the third soon." The ranger hesitated. "I will be blunt. The city is lost. It's just a matter of hours."
"I see. Anything unusual?"
"One organism stands out. A humanoid creature." A holographic representation was projected from the ranger's wrist. Anya's tyranid form was reflected back at them, ripping the turret off of a tank. "This thing has been seen at the forefront of the fight. It was killed once or twice, but it keeps returning. I believe it is the organism leading the swarm." Ylsen froze. A tyranid creature that could return from the dead, over and over...
"Do you think it's..." A banshee said, her voice showing a hint of fear.
"No." Ylsen replied dryly. "No. The Swarmlord, despite showing differences between forms, always has a set of characteristics which do not change. And it has a definite psychic mark. We would feel it from here." He frowned. "We are dealing with something new."
"I cannot say I like that idea." One of the banshees mentioned. Ylsen rubbed his eyes, trying to tune out the headache that had been gripping him since arriving on this world. As the Shadow in the Warp grew stronger, it was getting worse.
"Damn it all. This...this is beyond our means." Ylsen's eyes grew sharp, determined. "Alright. First, we investigate this psychic phenomenon at the top of the hive. I'll be taking the aspect warriors and the banshees with me. Rangers, I want you to figure out just what in the warp happened here and how a tyranid invasion, with no genestealers as far as we can say, started without a hive fleet."
"Understood Ylsen." The rangers saluted. "We will gather as much information as we can."
"Stay safe above all else. There is no use in the information obtained if you cannot relay it back." Hr grimaced. "I do not like sending you out like this, but..." His eyes widened a fraction as he turned, his hand grabbing his shuriken pistol with inhuman speed before firing on the thing that had creeped up on them. The creature shrieked as the projectile hit it, shredding its carapace and flesh with ease before a banshee finished it off with a single well placed strike. One of the rangers cursed.
"Lictors! Of course." They looked around. "Keep on your toes everyone."
"What a pain...Ylsen, we'll follow your lead. How do we get to the top of the Hive?" Ylsen frowned, closing his eyes. When he opened them, there was a faint shimmer to them.
"There is a gate. This entire sector is littered with them. Follow me." He walked back towards the webway gate, the banshees and aspect warriors stepping in his path. Meanwhile, the rangers divided themselves into two teams, before heading out further into the third level.
Harrison snarled as he pressed the trigger to hotshot his lasgun. The weapon unleashed a furious stream of focused photons, enough to burn a hole through the tyranid warrior's thick armour and destroy its brain, killing the creature. Around him, the last remains of the PDF were fighting a desperate battle to hold the gates to the third level, knowing it was a futile effort. They no longer had the men or ammo to hold back the tide, and the ever increasing numbers of the tyranids along with the presence of more and more larger, more capable organisms were proving too much for the defenders. Their defensive positions were the only reason they weren't being overwhelmed instantly, and even then it was but a temporary reprieve.
Flames descended down the walls as Ashley unleashed another burst of fire upon the climbing hordes of hormagaunts, sending dozens of their charred corpses down into the sea of bodies below. Her eyes were wild, a manic smile on her face. Another sister next to her threw a grenade down, the detonation killing another twenty or so creatures, only for an explosion from a venom cannon to send her flying down into that very sea of monsters, getting torn to pieces in seconds as she screamed. The sight still horrified Harrison, no matter how many times he saw it, but he had learned to tune out that part of his brain and focus on the fighting. His gun was overheated, and so he pulled out his side arm and started firing into the ever encroaching horde. He knew they were going to get overwhelmed soon. It was only a question of when. It...
A sudden pain in his head as he screamed, falling to his knees and clutching his head. A curse from Ashley as she fell to one knee, managing to hold on better than him. He barely noticed how Haze and Occ, unlike Vela and him, were nearly completely unaffected.
"FUCK! IT'S THAT THING AGAIN!" He screamed, trying to drown out the searing pain he was feeling. Occ grabbed something from his pouch, slapping it on his and Vela's heads. The horrible pressure suddenly vanished and he gasped, getting back to his knees and palming his forehead. Whatever it was Occ had placed on him, it was cool to the touch and metallic. His eyes flickered to the tyranid horde, fear gripping him tight as he found himself staring at the humanoid creature floating mid air, a couple hundred metres from the gate. Its eyes were glowing yellow, and from the way the other PDF were screaming, it was very much still mentally attacking them.
"Haze!" Occ called out to the smaller woman. "We're getting them out of here. There is no saving this situation." Harrison was confused at first as Haze nodded, picking up Vela with surprising ease as the Arbites woman squeaked in surprise before running down the stairs. Occ immediately picked Harrison in much the same way, to the ever growing confusion of the PDF soldier.
"What are you..."
"Occ." Ashley said menacingly, through gritted teeth, struggling to stand. "What...what do you think you're doing?" The massive man stared down at her, before pulling something from his pouch and flickering it towards her. She gasped, her face growing pale as she fell down to her knees.
"The Emperor's Will. And so will you." With that, he grabbed something from his pouch before placing it on the woman's head. Harrison saw now that it was some sort of metallic tiara. "This will not hold long. We need to move."
"Your Word is His." She said rapturously, not a trace of her previous anger in her words. They fled the walls, Harrison protesting.
"Wait...wait! What of the others!" Occ shook his head.
"I have an escape ship. But there will not be room for all. You are more important."
"The hell does that even mean?!" Harrison angrily said, trying to squirm out of the grasp of Occ, to no success. The man's grip was iron. It was impossible to escape it. "You're being even more cryptic than usual, you big bastard!"
"I will explain in time. But not here. Not now." Occ glanced back. "Not with that possibly hearing us."
"I am not letting you do this, I have to go he..." Haze snuck up next to him, something held in her hand. She was holding a passed out Vela over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Harrison barely had time to register what was happening before something pricked his skin, his eyes closing as his entire body was struck by a sudden and overpowering wave of torpor.
Occ gave a reproachful look to the woman.
"That was unnecessary. He was not escaping me."
"He was being loud and attracting unnecessary attention." She argued back, her expression tight. "We've got lictors scattered all the way forward to the ship. Got a plan for those?"
"Yes. We just need to pass by the cache to grab our equipment." Her eyes widened.
"Wait. You're going in full gear Occ?" He nodded.
"The time for observation has passed. We have our quarries. Now, we need to ensure they make it offworld alive." The man's eyes narrowed. "He Willed It Be So."
"Alright then." The woman's skin shifted slightly, pulling a strange weapon from it. "Let's do this."
Anya wasn't sure where she was going.
She'd started walking, a few minutes ago, simply...going. She felt empty. Drained. Walking through the abandoned streets of the first level, having left the rubble of the section she destroyed behind.
No one was left. Those who had been able to had left. Those who hadn't were either dead at the claws of her Lictors, or hiding in bunkers, waiting for her hordes to come drag them out.
She wasn't sure what to do really. The plan was for her to rejoin the assault, stand at the side of her little sister and finish the last of human resistance. But she could feel it through the network; they had already lost. It was over for them. Her sister was overwhelmed at this very moment. And well, it wasn't like she could die, was it. So there was no need for her to be there. No threat strong enough to justify her direct intervention.
She watched as another ship took off towards the stars. Was this what came next for her? After this world was consumed, move on to the next? There was nothing left for her here once all was devoured after all. No fight. No evolution. No growth. She'd had her revenge.
It was time to move on.
Her eyes narrowed as one of Lictors was killed, then another. Something was tearing its way through them like paper tissue. Her lips twitched upwards.
Perhaps there was still something interesting on this world.
She closed her eyes, plunging further into the synaptic web. She pushed her intentions through it, knowing her sister would know what she was up to. A vague feeling of caution answered her, and she knew that her sister would now be belining towards her. That was fine. If things went wrong, she could rely on back-up showing up.
But first. She needed to eat something to get back in shape before confronting whatever it was slaughtering her Lictors. They were currently on the second level, so she had some time. She could keep track of where they were using the trail of death they were leaving as Lictor after Lictor died.
She pulled at her powers, finding the nearest bunker, and started making her way towards it.
She wondered how nobles tasted.
By the time she was full, whatever was making its way up the Hive had reached the first level. She closed her eyes, feeling the location of the nearest Lictor to engage them. And...ah. There they were. Her eyes roamed to where she had felt her Lictor die. Her eyes then moved to the distant spaceport from where she'd been seeing ships fly off since arriving on the first level. From the way they were moving, this must be their destination. Well then.
She knew their position, and their destination.
Now, to intercept.
It took almost half an hour for them to arrive where she was waiting. When they did, she was surprised by the strange group. The sister of battle was not an unexpected sight, nor were the PDF and Arbites. No, what really caught her attention was the tall, golden clad figure carrying the PDF soldier.
Immediately, her every instinct screamed in warning. It was such a sudden, visceral feeling that she nearly fell from her perched position on the roof of a building above the group.
This wasn't her human instincts. This was her tyranid instincts freaking out so much. No, not instincts. Knowledge. The network was screaming in warning. This was a foe beyond anything she had faced here. A foe that she should not face alone.
It was a terrifying experience. It was a horrible feeling.
The thought of facing them was exhilarating.
She jumped down in front of them, bringing the group to a standstill. Somehow, she felt the golden giant already knew she was here, showing no signs of surprise at her sudden appearance. The other one seemed just as unsurprised, but frowned and drew a strange pistol-like weapon towards her. Anya smiled.
"Hello."
"You!" The sister raged, her flamer pointed towards her. "You dare stand in the way of the Emperor's Hand!" The golden giant merely raised a hand, silencing the sister.
"Xenos." Anya's grin grew wider. Of course he could tell. The sister gasped, looking at her, but remained silent. "Do not impede our path."
"Oh? I'm a little surprised." She giggled. "Usually, your lot kind of just...goes to killing without questions or warning, when they find out I'm not human." Her smile grew more childlike as her eyes glinted darkly. "Or well. Not as much as I used to be at least."
"You have won." The sister sputtered at the words. "The world is yours. Killing you will result in nothing but risking both of us. However." The giant lowered a glowing spear towards her. She could the thrumming energy coursing through it from here. "Should you stand in our way, I will cut you down as I have thousands of your kind." She nodded, seeming to surprise the sister of battle.
"I believe you. You're strong. Really, really strong." Her eyes fluttered with excitement. "I want to feel that. To taste that power. I want to feel my life hanging on the edge...and survive. I don't care about winning or losing." She took a step forward. "I just want to fight you." The giant stayed silent, before handing over the PDF to the sister of battle.
"My...my lord?"
"Go." The other woman glanced at him.
"You sure about this one Occ? This one's not normal. It might be troublesome, even for you."
"More are coming. She is stalling us. By the time we kill her, they will have reached us and overwhelm even me." The giant's words unnerved the other two, who suddenly seemed much more nervous. The arbites and PDF seemed unconscious. She felt she recognized the PDF. "Xenos. I will grant you your fight. If I win, you and your hive will let me leave unharmed. If you win..." The Giant slammed his spear into the ground, a small shockwave of air blowing past her. "You may devour me as you wish."
"My Lord!" The sister exclaimed, outraged.
"I accept!" Anya said eagerly. "Honestly...eating you is the second thing I'm looking forward to most."
"Are you sure you are a tyranid and not an ork?" He said as he lowered his spear. There was a dark amusement in his gravelly voice.
"I don't know what an ork is." Her eyes started glowing. "But I feel we'd get along. My name is Anya." He tilted his head.
"I am Occhultus of the Adeptus Custodes. My full name would be too long to state." She laughed as she felt her power coursing through her. The other two were already running away, carrying the passed out humans with them. But she had only eyes for the golden giant. "May I ask you a question before we start?" She nodded eagerly.
"Of course!"
"You said you used to be more human. Care to elaborate?" She blinked, then sighed.
"Not sure why you care. But well... I used to be more human, yes. Fully human in fact."
"What happened?" She smiled, a sad look in her eyes.
"I was hungry." She opened her hand, unleashing a bolt of psychic energy towards the custodes. Her eyes widened as he moved faster than anything his size should be able to; easily dodging out of the way of the attack and charging towards her with incredible speed. He was faster than she was in her tyranid form! Thankfully her psychic shield slammed into place right as the spear of the golden giant made contact with it. Instantly, she felt the sheer power and strength behind the blow; her shield, which had managed to protect her from artillery shells, from barrages of bolt pistols...cracked. She used her powers to grab the custodes and tried forcing him back; only for him to dig his heels into the ground, managing to maintain himself in place. He was ridiculously heavy! And could still move this fast?! A mixture of fear and excitement rose within her as she forced more power through, managing to finally lift the custodes up and throw him back, slamming him into a nearby building in shower of debris as the walls gave in at the impact. She let out a whoop of excitement at that, her smile only growing wide when she saw him emerge from the cloud of dust arising from her attack, staring down at her from twenty metres away.
"Not even a scratch..." She marveled. "You're really, really strong!"
"The armour helps." The Custodes said.
"It's real shiny too! I like it!" She sighed. "I have a feeling it wouldn't work if I wore it though."
"Thankfully not." The custodes said, testing the weight of his spear. Then, without another word, he was once again upon her. She laughed as he attacked her, a relentless onslaught of blows that would crack her shield only for her to summon another one. It was draining on her powers, but she was managing it. Observing his fighting style, trying to discern a pattern. She started to notice subtle things. Tiny openings. They were brief, ever so subtle, but...she took her chance. As he thrust his spear at her she let her shield go down, dodging from a fraction of a hair's length as she opened her hands towards him. Then...
...She got hit by a back handed blow that sent her flying a solid twenty feet back. Her breath was knocked out of her; her ribs cracking at the impact. Her psychic powers, almost by reflex, had cushioned the blow as much as possible, and yet she had still been almost instantly killed by a single punch. And that was with her enhanced tyranid internal biology! Even in her tyranid form, this would have hurt like hell. She choked out a laugh as she got up. He'd baited her. Of course he did. And she fell for it!
But the custodes was relentless. He had rushed in after her, pointing his spear at her. She raised her shield to prepare for the blow, only for him to press a trigger on the spear. Her eyes widened. Wait...
The bolter started hammering at her shield. Each rocket propelled shot slamming into them and exploding, sending cracks in the shield. This was a gun as well?! Her lips pulled out in a snarl as she focused her power, using one of her shields as a concentration point. Then, she unleashed the power, turning the shield into a powerful shockwave that successfully unbalanced the Custodes. She took her chance, using the fraction of a second to send a wave of power towards him, lifting him up. It was a struggle to hold him up, but at least he couldn't bum rush her like that. It seemed Custodes were incredible fighters, but even they couldn't fly without the equipment for it. Far from being flustered being held up in the air by her powers however, the custodes simply pointed his spear at her. Her eyes widened. The effort to hold him up was great enough; she couldn't either freeze him or use a shield at the same time! She let go of him, only to hit him with the hardest amount of force she could mid air, sending him flying back and slamming him into a building. This time, she knew not to give him even a moment of pause, relentlessly sending wave after wave of power on him, the building caving from the repeated application of force before collapsing on top of the custodes. She panted with exertion, her arms trembling as she held them up, pointed towards where the custodes had been. Had this done the job?
The sound of shifting debris brought a wave of dread in her. Surely, this should have damaged him. Surely he was at least hurt...
The Golden Giant emerged unharmed. His armour had not a trace of dirt on it, gleaming in the light of the world's star, a monument of unshakeable strength. She stared in a mixture of awe and fear. He was still standing. After all that, he did not even have a scratch.
"Impressive." The custodes said. "You are certainly a powerful psyker. However, this will not be enough." The custodes started making his way towards her. She knew he could be faster than that, but he was being slow. Careful. She noticed how his heels would dig into the ground, his other hand ready to grab anything to anchor him. He was preparing himself for her to throw him around some more with her mind. But that clearly wasn't working. At least he wasn't shooting at her anymore. Had he run out of ammo?
It didn't matter. He didn't need ammo. If she couldn't damage her, he would just continue over and over until she grew too weak to keep him away; Too weak to shield herself from his blows. And if that spear connected with him...she knew she was done for. If a single punch could do so much damage to her, the spear would no doubt devastate her. She was afraid. Terrified, even, at the realization of the monster she'd chosen to fight.
So why was she smiling so wildly?
His armour was too tough. She couldn't hurt him like she did with the others, with wide bursts of power. She needed something that would crack the armour, pierce it. Something stronger, more focused. An attack that would bring an immense amount of power concentrated in a single point. As her mind raced to find an idea, he got closer and closer, the sound of metallic boots hitting the ground sending shivers of animal fear through her.
Her eyes started to glow an intense yellow light, and she saw him almost tense. Good. He was taking her seriously. It was...gratifying. She opened a hand towards him, watching him dig his heels into the ground, only for nothing to happen as she continued focusing her power. He must have realized what she was doing, as he took off in a sprint towards him, astounding her once again with his speed. She wouldn't be able to stop him, she realized, as he descended upon her with his spear ready to thrust. And so, she used a part of the focused power to throw her to the side, allowing her to only get hit on the side of her body rather than fully impaled. It still inflicted a horrifying amount of damage to her, cutting her flank open, a massive gash at her side that had she been fully human would have killed her outright. Blood and gore splattered around her at the hit. This was a terrible blow. One that would likely spell the end of her. But if she was going down...she would go down with her teeth sunk into his neck. Fighting to the last breath, the last twitch of her body. And now, her attack was ready.
She yelled out as she opened her hand, the golden giant bracing himself as she unleashed the attack. The piercing bolt of psychic energy was so focused it took on the appearance of a lightning bolt, striking out with impossible speed and power at the golden giant with a blinding flash of light; The sound of crackling energy and groaning metal put under pressure filling the air as it hit him. The impact forced him back, sending him sprawling on his back.
Anya gasped as she fell to her knees, utterly drained. She'd put everything she'd had, everything last drop of her power into that attack. If that didn't do it, if that hadn't killed him...
Her stomach dropped as he slowly got up. The golden giant was injured; his armour was cracked. There was a hole in it, right where her attack had struck, and a small wound of burned flesh. A wound, but not enough to take him down. Not nearly enough. She let out a disbelieving laugh.
"You...you're a monster." Despite that, she found herself strangely at peace with the fact she was likely going to die. So long as she went down knowing she'd done everything, *everything* in her power to live, to fight back...she would be content with that.
Everything, except begging.
The giant walked closer to him. There was a wariness to him now, as if he was expecting her to suddenly lash out with another such attack. There was no chance of that. She could not even send so much as a light gust of wind at him. But if she was going to die, she refused to do so on her knees. With every ounce of strength left in her boy she forced herself to stand, facing the golden giant on both feet. Without her powers, he seemed to tower even more now; A nine foot tall warrior, clad in armour that resisted all but the strongest of her attacks, wielding a weapon that could kill her in an instant; And here she was, wearing the body of a ten year old child. The contrast was overwhelming. As he raised his weapon, she smiled at him, taking a fighting stance. Distantly, she heard the sound of approaching, stomping steps. Her sister was close then. She hoped little Ayna wouldn't have to see her older sister be executed.
"Thank you." He seemed to pause as she spoke. "For making me feel alive." As he swung the blade and she braced herself, she swore she saw him give an imperceptible nod. The blade came in, ready to take her head.
Only to be stopped by an iridescent shield of psychic power.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" The desperate scream, full of rage and fear, was accompanied by a powerful psychic push, forcing the Custodes a few feet back, Ayna in her full tyranid form landing in between the two of them. She was snarling, her eyes glowing a powerful yellow, and Anya could feel the waves of fury radiating from her. She was trembling, Anya noticed. Terrified at having almost seen her sister die right before her eyes. She glanced back. There were dozens of warriors coming from the side alleys. They were quiet, their organic weapons pointed at the custodes. None of them fired.
"Is this how it will be then?" The custodes asked. He sounded calm. Was there anything that could break his composure? "Very well. A last stand it is." He sounded at peace with that. She wasn't sure if even with her sister in her tyranid form, dozens of tyranid warriors and the injury she'd managed to inflict on him it would be enough to take him down. But it wasn't just them, was it? There were millions of tyranids here. A carnifex alone would be dangerous for him, surpassing the custodes in strength, though likely the custodes could kill one without too much trouble. Ten though? A hundred? Bombarded by exocrines? With thousands of tyranids warriors firing upon him, millions of hormagaunts to grind him down?
Eventually, inevitably, he would die. He was alone against the swarm. He knew that, no doubt. And yet still he stood, ready to fight. No fear. No hesitation.
"Ayna." Her sister froze. "Let him go." The golden giant tilted his head almost imperceptibly.
"...Big sister?" Her sister asked hesitantly. "But...he's...he hurt you! He's the enemy!" She growled. "He's nothing but food." Anya walked up, hugging her sister, ignoring the way it only served to make her wounds worse. Her sister tensed at first, then melted into the hug.
"I gave my word. You have to let him go. For me." Ayna stayed silent.
"You are going to have a lot to explain." Ayna mumbled. She glared at the custodes. "Fine. You heard my sister. You're free to go." The custodes did not move however. Instead, he asked:
"I thought you wanted to eat me. You are going to just let me go? If you ordered your army to attack me, I would inevitably fall. You know this." He seemed curious. A little confused perhaps. She smiled at him, her lips stretching into a toothy grin.
"I promised to let you and your friends go if you won." She gestured to her massive wound, then to his own. "Of the two of us, I'm clearly the worst one off. Without my sister, you would have killed me." She paused as her vision blurred for a moment. Hm. Blood loss was getting to her. "So, you won. Go on, leave. But know this." Her grin grew wider, hunger filling her eyes. "One day, I will find you. And that day, I want a rematch." The custodes stayed silent. Then, he turned, walking away.
"Should you survive so long, I will grant it." With those final words, he was gone, taking off in the direction of the spaceport. She saw her sister's eyes narrow; Felt her consider ordering the swarm to disregard her sister's orders and devour him anyway. Honor had no meaning to the Tyranids.
But Anya's words did to Ayna. And so, she held them back. Instead, she gripped her sister tight, lifting her up.
"Come on. Let's get you healed up." Her younger sister said softly. "You reckless fool."
"Love you too." Anya mumbled as her eyes closed softly. As soon as she passed out, Ayna snapped her head to the nearest warrior.
"No touching the golden one or those he escorted. Let them leave the planet unharmed." She snarled. "Kill everyone else. Devour them. It is time to prepare for the arrival of the Leviathan." Across the world, as the last of the ships that could fled the planet, the last bunkers and pockets of survivors were soon overwhelmed and devoured. By the end of the day, not a soul was left alive. Swarms of tyranids scoured every last bit of human and animal life, before soon turning to what little vegetation was left, the lichen, the moss the underground pockets of biomass. Anything that could be devoured was.
The process had begun.
The World had fallen.
Consumed.
Harrison: Who...who are you?
Anya: I...am Alpharius.