A.N.: And with this chapter, we start Arc 2! A bit of a shorter one than the previous ones, since we're starting to set the scene for now! I'm glad people liked the way the custodes was handled, I was a little worried about that part! Thank you all for the positive comments, and onto the show!
"The last ship has departed from the planet Admiral. Should I order the bombardment to begin?" The woman looked back at her subordinate with weary eyes.
"No. We're retreating." The officer seemed confused.
"With all due respect admiral, we hold orbital supremacy, and there is nothing to prevent us from firing upon them."
"You mean besides the fact they'll just hunker down into the lower levels of the Hive, which is built to endure specifically that sort of bombardment? It would take us some time to start doing some solid damage on the tyranid swarm. And..." Her eyes drifted back to the world. "I have received very concerning news. A tendril of Leviathan is on its way here. Has been for some days now. They'll be here soon. Very soon." The man grew extremely pale.
"O...oh. Perhaps departing is best."
"Indeed." She looked down to the interactive galactic map in front of her. "We've got an Imperial Fleet coming here soon. We'll regroup with them. Pull us away towards one of the moons; Hopefully we can stay concealed until we can get in communication with the Guard."
"Yes ma'am!" The officer saluted, exiting the war room. She stood in silence for a moment, staring at the galactic map. Then, inevitably, as it had so many times in the past few days, her eyes turned back to the planet.
"...you always had to rush in by yourself, didn't you?" She said softly. "Except this time, it didn't work out. And as usual, I'm left to pick up the pieces." She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Still got to call...ugh. Fuck me." She shook her head as she turned off the map, heading out of the war room. "Do Xenos have any idea how much paperwork invading a world causes? Inconsiderate bugs..." She muttered as she walked out, the planet gently rotating in the background as if nothing had changed since mankind had first settled it.
Harrison was having a nightmare.
He was standing before a burning church. Inside, he could hear the scream of children. He could hear preaching from behind him, some priest ranting about sacrifices for the Imperium. But all he could focus on were the burning children. He tried to run, tried to go inside and save them, tried to do something.
And yet, he could not. He was rooted in place. Kept still by his own feeling of powerlessness and impotence. He raged at himself, screamed to do something, anything!
But he stood still and let the church burn. Let the children he knew were inside cry out for help, for anyone to come save them. No one did anything. No one reached out. Until eventually, only one voice was left screaming. A young girl. The voice grew strangled, weaker and weaker, until eventually, it fell silent, replaced by silent sobbing, then quiet. A loud groaning sound came as the flames finally burned away the strength of the pillars and the church collapsed in crackling of consumed wood and breaking stone, until all that remained was a smoldering ruin.
Something stood up in the ruins.
A single, white haired girl with glowing yellow eyes and tear streaks on her face.
She turned to him. And smiled.
He gasped as he jerked awake, his heart beating so fast it hurt his chest, his body covered in cold sweats. He panted for a moment, looking around in a panic, only to realize he was in some kind of bed, in an otherwise relatively metallic room. He let out a sigh of relief, his limbs still shaking. He wasn't sure why the nightmare had terrified him so; It had been unsettling, certainly, but he'd seen and experienced worse down in the Hive.
"Awake at last." He startled, reaching for his weapon only to find he wasn't armed. "Come on. You, waking up in an unfamiliar place after a series of traumatic experiences? We're not leaving you with a weapon." He shifted in his sheets, facing the person sitting at the right of his bed, a few metres away.
"Haze..." He whispered. "I...what happened?"
"I knocked you out." She said bluntly. "You were being too much trouble. Sorry about that." She didn't sound very sorry.
"...I see. What about the others?" She shrugged.
"Vela, Occ and Ashley are all fine, though Occ had to get treated for an injury. Everyone else is dead." He felt his head swimming as the world around him started to almost wobble.
"E...everyone?" He asked, his voice trembling.
"Well, not everyone. Some of the nobility escaped the planet. But everyone else died." She shrugged. "To be expected when facing a tyranid invasion. You win, you run or you die. There's no other option."
"Oh God."
"I'm afraid even He cannot stop all such tragedies." A gravelly voice spoke gently. Harrison looked to the door, finding the massive figure of Occ standing in the doorway. "May I come in?"
"Knock yourself out. I kept an eye on him like you asked." Haze said, getting up from her chair.
"I was asking Harrison." Occ corrected gently. Haze shrugged, and walked past him. Harrison nodded softly at the giant, Occ walking inside of the room and sitting on the same chair Hazy had, giving it a slightly concerned look as it let out a metallic groan of strain. "Harrison. It is good to see you are finally awake."
"...Occ." Harrison thought for a moment of what to say. Should he thank Occ for saving him? Curse him for having prevented Harrison from dying with his comrades, with the people of his world? Ask about his apparent injury? "Let's not beat around the bush. I'm..." He gripped his sheets tight. "I'm sick and tired of being just thrown around, not understanding anything about what's going on. Ashley tells me I don't understand how the Imperium works, you and Haze clearly know more than you're letting on..." He caught his breath as Harrison continued looking at him, expression impassive. "I didn't know what the hell a tyranid even was even after fighting them until a sororitas could be bothered to tell me, and now everyone is...everyone is..." His body shook. "Occ...please." Harrison looked Occ straight in the eyes. "What, in the God Emperor's name, is going on?" Occ stayed silent, before sighing, lowering his head.
"I cannot tell you everything." As Harrison started to protest, Occ raised a hand, silencing him. "There are many reasons. First, there is simply too much you do not know. We could be here for decades if I were to tell you all I know, if not longer. In addition to this, whilst there are...circumstances around you that I will come to later, officially you are still a member of the Planetary Defence Force. Much of what I will tell you is far beyond what your rank is allowed to know, and so I must be careful. Third...you are not ready to hear all of it. You would not understand, and it would cause undue stress for you." Occ gave a small smile. "What I can tell you however will hopefully make a bit more sense of the events that took place on your world...and our respective places in them."
"I guess." Harisson took a deep breath. "I guess it'll have to do. Alright. I'm listening."
"Very well. My name is Occhultus. There, I did not lie. I am a member of the ten thousand; The Adeptus Custodes, guardians of the Emperor of Mankind." Harrison's eyes widened and his mouth hung in shock, staring at the giant of a man in utter disbelief. "The Imperium is in a much worse shape than you might have been led to believe by the news on your world. For indeed, whilst some parts of it are at peace, and some worlds will likely not see war for many more years..." Occ's expression grew dark. "For the Imperium as a whole, it is the forty-first millenium. And There Is Only War."
"You reckless, foolish, battle crazed..." Anya could not help but be impressed by her sister's rant. It had been going on for quite some time now, and showed no sign of stopping. "...arrogant, blisteringly suicidal..." Anya finally decided to interrupt her sister.
"Hey, that last one is unfair." Ayna whirled towards her, the few tyranid warriors still hanging around in the fleshy room they were in taking a step back.
"Oh, so you admit the others are not?!" Anya winced.
"Um...I mean...it was a bit of a...bit of a reckless decision, I'll admit..."
"A BIT?!" Ayna screamed. "You faced off against a CUSTODIAN GUARD!" She walked up to Anya, looking down at her childlike sister whilst she herself remained in her tyranid form. "I did my best to tell you through the synaptic web not to do that, and you still did!"
"Ooooh so that was what those weird feelings of terror were." Ayna nodded.
"Yes! And you should have listened! These are not opponents that can be faced easily! If I could, I would have thrown a bio-titan at it! At least then I'd be sure it can kill the bloody golden bastard!" Ayna paused. "Most of the time at least. There was that one time...but that was just...weird." Anya had stars in her eyes as she grabbed her sister's wrist.
"Bio what now?"
"Oh no, we are not getting distracted!" Ayna sighed. "Come on big sister, we JUST had a conversation about that a few days ago. You can't just...throw yourself in situations where you might die just because it'll be fun! Not until the Leviathan has arrived and we can upload you in the network like I am!" Anya sighed.
"Look, I am sorry I scared you. But...I couldn't just, not. It's..." Her eyes grew distant as she recalled her battle against the golden giant. The adrenaline. The fear. The desperate struggle to live. To survive. To cling onto every shred of life. "It's things like that that make me feel alive."
"...Sometimes I think we might have pushed the whole 'struggle results in growth' angle a bit too hard." Ayna sighed. "Fine. Fine! But I want one promise out of you. An actual promise this time." Anya winced at that, a feeling of guilt in her.
"And that is?"
"Until Leviathan arrives, you are not fighting. At all." Seeing Anya about to protest, Ayna shook her head. "No. Listen. Remember what we used to be before all of this? Remember what we were." Anya looked at her body. Small. Fragile. "We were starving. So close to death. So close to having it all...end. Had we had a reckless day, an act of defiance at the wrong time...we would have died. Now we are strong. We are more powerful. We do not have to kneel, we do not have to go to bed. Never again." On that at least they agreed. "But we did all of this to survive. To live. You want to grow? Evolve? Consume? That's fine by me. That is what we are after all. But if you throw yourself at anything big or strong enough to be dangerous to you, one day you won't make it. There will be no growth, no evolution. There will be nothing." Anya stayed silent for a moment. Then, she heaved a deep sigh.
"I fucked up."
"You did. But that's okay, as long as you're more careful going forth." Ayna grinned slowly. "After all. Today is a day of celebration." Anya looked up with a small smile.
"Do tyranids celebrate?"
"No." Ayna's grin widened. "But we do." She took a few steps back, her eyes glowing yellow. "If you like fighting so much…bring it." Anya's smile widened, her eyes burning with power.
"With pleasure."
"Council" Ylsen spoke, looking to the assembled farseers before him. "I return to you on this day bringing news of my mission."
"Speak, Ylsen." One of the masked farseers asked. "What news do you bring to us?"
"As we had expected, the Great Devourer was present on the world." He gulped. "However...things were different. Most of it fit the usual pattern of behavior for the minions of the Devourer, however...some things were off. No bio ships, yet no genestealers either. A full range of bio organisms without a hive fleet to spawn them. And a new, abnormal psychic creature bearing human shape." He sighed. "We considered engaging, but the presence of one of the Ten Thousand of Terra and the arrival of more organisms made retreat a far more favorable option."
"And we are glad you made this decision Ylsen." One spoke softly. "It is good you have all returned alive."
"Thank you councillor." He bowed his head. "My conclusion...is that we are witnessing the birth of a new hive fleet." Silence struck the room.
"The birth of a new hive fleet? Such a thing... has happened before, but it is a rare event."
"No." Ylsen retorted. "We have seen hive-fleets splinter, then regrow. We have seen them shrink and expand. This...this is different. There were no hive ships, and our analysis of the human information about their world reveals that none have been near in the history of the world. A genestealer cult was present, but these do not have the capacity to birth new creatures." Ylsen did his best to keep the frustration from his voice at his next admittance. "Most of this is conjecture, I will grant you, but something is pushing me to believe it."
"Prescience." One of the farseers murmured. "Perhaps those concerns of yours are worth considering, Ylsen. The council will debate this matter." Ylsen nodded, relief puring through him. If they were debating it, it meant they thought something had to be done.
"Thank you. That is all I can ask."
"Another thing." He looked up, curious. "We believe your psychic powers have sufficiently awakened. It is time to begin your farseer training." He startled, his eyes wide.
"...Truly?"
"Yes. Prepare yourself, Ylsen. Abandon your current path. You walk that of the farseer from this day on."
"Admiral. Do you receive me?" Jane sighed in relief, almost collapsing in her chair at crackling message coming through her communication array. The astropath near her had his eyes wide open, purple light shining from them. It had been a nerve wracking set of days since arriving in the orbit of the moon, trying to observe what the tyranids were up to down on that world of theirs whilst constantly fearing that the hive fleet would arrive at the worse possible time if they took the risk to approach the world for an orbital strike.
"I receive loud and clear Lord Commander. You have no idea how good it is to hear you." The shadow in the warp had expanded to encompass the whole world since it had fallen, and now started to stretch out to the space in the system as tendril of Leviathan grew ever closer; communication out of system had been impossible.
"Glad to hear you're still alive and kicking Admiral. We've just emerged from the Warp at the edge of the system, should be getting to your position in a few hours. We've met some refugees from the world whilst refuelling a couple systems away, so we have some idea of what happened, but I'd like to hear it from you."
"Of course. To put it quite bluntly, it was a shit show. We had reports of a tyranid assault on the lower levels of the hive, and well the PDF and Arbites, whilst effective, were under equipped and too dispersed to properly repel the attack. Combined with innefective if not outright incompetent leadership from all but the sororitas, and the tyranids snowballed their way into going further and further in the hive. There was some back and forth at some point, but eventually...the Hive fell. We've pulled back after news of a tendril of Leviathan was on approach, and have informed the nearby agri-world to start preparring their defenses; Though there isn't much they can do by themselves if the Tyranids land on their world. The hive-world has since been consumed, and...we think they're growing something there."
"Growing something?" Marques asked, sounding confused. "Like what, capillary towers?"
"No. No, not...that would make sense. We think they're growing a bio ship."
"...I can't say I know much about tyranid bio ship creation, but I thought you needed other bio ships for that. And that it happened in orbit, not...on the world itself."
"Correct." The admiral confirmed. She'd been reading up on all available information since the invasion had started to spiral out of control. "However, hive fleets must have started with an initial ship. In order to create the others, there must have been one original. And it's possible that, being unable to go into space as of yet, this one might be instead made on the planet itself. I believe this is what we are witnessing here."
"...and where is this growth happening?"
"Near the Hive City."
"If it is exposed, why haven't you bombed it to kingdom come?" The Lord Commander asked.
"Well...we have been informed that a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan is on its way. There have been...concerns, that if we were to expose ourselves and the tendril arrived at that time, we would be annihilated."
"I see. Well, we have arrived now, and with sufficient firepower to keep the hive fleet at bay whilst this operation is under way. Now, all we need to do is..."
The astropath screamed in pain, collapsing to his knees as his eyes began to bleed. The transmission was cut instantly, turning into an indistinct static sound, one of the nearby guards immediately pulling his side arm out and firing on the astropath. The frail man died instantly from the lasgun shot to his head. Jane looked with a mixture of fear and dread at the corpse of the Astropath.
"Possession?" She asked. One of her nearby officers shook his head.
"No, that looked more like psychic feedback."
"What could have..." A member of the bridge crew burst into the war room, only taking a quick glance at the corpse before speaking in frantic voice.
"Ma'am! The thing on the planet...it's moving!"
Since Nornie had first been born and started converting portions of the world around her into fleshy tunnels and tubes, Anya had been wondering why. Why use this biomass to create these structures, when the tyranids were perfectly capable of functionning without them. Certainly they made the place more comfortable and suited for tyranid life, but there was a war to be won. Surely the biomass could be put to better use.
She knew better now. They had been preparring something. Laying down the ground work for when the invasion was done, in order to reduce the time needed to create it. As soon as the invasion was done, almost every single tyranid organism on the planet that wasn't tasked with consuming the remaining biomass threw themselves into the digestion pools, turned into biomass rich slurry that was then converted by the strange flesh structures to allow it to grow, expand and take on form. Minerals and metals were devoured from buildings, allowing to create a hard, resistant structure and exoskeleton to protect the thing from harm. The amount of biomass made available to it allowed it to grow to immense proportions, so vast it boggled the mind. The biomass of an entire world used to create a single, colossal organism. A type of hive ship that was entirely unknown to the Imperium, one they had never encountered before but was at the origin of each true Hive Fleet. The one that started it all, the first tyranid of the hive fleet to go into orbit and create new ships that would then reproduce and create a whole fleet. A ship that eclipsed the others in sheer size and scale, being given so much original biomass.
It didn't have a name, or a classification, as tyranids had no need for such things. They knew the purpose of each organism instinctually, and so had little use in organising things for clarity. But Anya found a certain fun in doing so. She assumed it was the human in her.
And so it was that on this day, the gigantic organism finished growing and took to the sky, creating storms and hurricanes as it rose in the sky so massive was it in size.
The Progenitor-class Super Organism was born.
It was a little unusual for a progenitor hive ship. There were parts that Anya had requested that would never be present in ther others of its kind. She stood in one such modification as the ship took off into the sky, sat down and staring up. The room she was in was made of semi-inorganic material, a black chamber of obsidian-like stone with a transparent ceiling made from a silica structure.
Ayna had been confused when Anya had made the request, but she'd done it anyway. It was one of the many reasons she loved her sister. Though they did not always understand each other, they still helped each other.
The wall behind her opened, fleshy substance pulling at the rocks to allow her younger sister to come in. Anya was still in her human form. She found she was more comfortable in it than her tyranid form, whilst Ayna seemed more at ease in her tyranid form.
"Everything is in place big sister. I have termagaunts and tervigons patrolling the corridors and organs. Nornie and her sisters are nice and snug in the central chamber." Anya continued staring upwards, her eyes starting to glow a little yellow. Ayna squeaked in surprise as she was lifted up by some invisible force, brought up next to Anya and dropped next to her.
"Come on little sister. Lay down with me." She laid down on the floor, Ayna hesitating at first but eventually doing much the same. The window started to glow in red and yellow tinges.
"Um..." Ayna started, but Anya simply laid a finger on her mouth.
"Shhhh. Just watch." As the organism passed the athmosphere layer, the ship began to heat up drastically. Thankfully, this did little to bother the tyranids inside, as the heat was only on the outer layer, the ship being perfectly adapted for entry and exit of a planet's athmosphere. They did not have the means of consuming athmosphere yet, though once they had spawned ships able to do so Anya had swore herself she would return to this planet and suck it dry. But right now, she was too focused on the sight that greeted her as they exited the athmosphere, Ayna gasping next to her.
Stars. An endless, infinite sea of stars, as far as the eye could see and further still, stretching in every possible direction. An ocean of darkness dotted with shimmering lights, radiant beauty on a backdrop of breath taking emptiness. Anya found herself staring out, a hand reaching up to the infinite beyond, a single tear running down her face.
Space.
Ayna took a shaking breath, a voice trembling.
"It's...beautiful. So beautiful. I..." She took another deep breath, her voice cracking. "I knew what it would look like. The network told me. Showed me. So why...why am I crying?"
"Because you're me. And we never thought we'd escape this cursed dirt ball." Anya felt a smile grow on her face. Any who would look at her in that moment would have no doubt they were looking at a child in awe, crying gently as she stared at the heavens. "We always dreamed of the stars. Of escaping to space. And now...here we are." Ayna stayed silent, before her hand snaked into her sisters, clutching it tight.
"Here we are." They stayed there in silence as the behemoth of flesh and chitin started lazily orbiting around the world, contemplating the beautiful vastness of space.
For the first time in a long, long time, Anya felt at peace.
"What next?" Ayna asked softly. Anya blinked.
"Next?" She considered. Stopping was not an option. They had to keep going, keep growing, keep evolving and become more numerous. It was what they were. It was in their nature. It was what it meant to be Tyranid.
But she was also human. And so she could be cautious about it.
"Next, we go to the agri world that used to serve this hive world. Lots of biomass, we can use it to stat growing a fleet." She grinned wide. "And then, who knows?"
"Understood." Ayna said, getting up. "I'll get us moving then."
"You can do that from here."
"That I can." Ayna agreed, sitting back down. "Leviathan will be here soon."
"Then we will have to give them a warm welcome." Anya grinned. "They're family after all."
Harrison stared at the image before him. It had been taken an hour or so ago by one of the ships of the small fleet that had taken them in; The very one that had escorted the sororitas on his homeworld. The picture showed some kind of strange alien, biological organism floating in orbit around what had once been the world of Earia Secundus. It was hard to get a sense of scale from the picture; who knew how close or far it was from the planet. But according to the readings Occ had told him they'd been getting, it was utterly massive. Gargantuan, even, at two hundred kilometres in length. A nightmare of impossible scale, that dwarfed any of the ships they had available. Such a behemoth would be impossible to damage with conventional weaponry, and even the powerful cannons of an emperor class battleship would struggle to inflict sufficient damage to cripple the beast. There was no records of such a monstrosity in any data banks available even to Occ, and if the Custodes did not know what it was...suffice to say no one in the Imperium did.
The scale of it was inconceivable. Worse, however, was the news that it had started to move. Floating through space using unknown means, it had started getting closer to the agri-world of Earia Quintus. If the tyranids could invade the world unopposed, it would represent a worst case scenario; an immense amount of biomass for them, as well as reducing the amount of food available for the worlds that imported from it. Earia Secundus was far from the only one to use the food from Quintus, though it was by far the biggest importer. Had been, he corrected himself, feeling a pang of pain and loss as he did.
"Imposing, isn't it." Occ said. "It is quite the large beast."
"That's...one way to put it." Things felt a little awkward with Occ now. He hadn't been exactly close to the man before, but they had been comrades, fighting side by side. Squadmates. Equals. Now...the gap between them felt as vast and deep as a chasm.
"Thankfully, we will not have to face such a creature. We are leaving." Harrison looked to Occ.
"Leaving? I thought we were waiting for the Imperial Guard to bring the fight to this thing." Occ shook his head.
"Indeed. However, your death here is an unacceptable possibility. The Emperor gave me a simple task. A single vision." Harrison gulped.
"The Emperor?" Harrison whispered in awe and fear. The Emperor was a God. Ruler of a million worlds, conqueror of the stars. What could such a being ever want with him?
"Yes. I am unsure what it is the Emperor saw in you. I can see potential. I can see a good man, who can do great if given the right tools. But there are thousands such men in the Imperium, who will never be granted such a chance. I know now why it was you, of all of them, that I was tasked with finding and protecting. But I trust His Judgement." Occ looked down at Harrison. "I am to bring you to an inquisitor." Harrison felt his face grow pale as his blood went cold.
He would be the first to admit he didn't know much about the galaxy he lived in. Almost everything Occ had revealed to him had been entirely unknown to him.
The Inquisition, however, he knew of. Everyone did. No one knew much about it, save for one thing.
If the Inquisition came for you, killing yourself was preferable to anything they would do to you.
"W...why?"
"I am unsure. I believe the Emperor wishes for you to work under her. Have no fear. I am sworn to protect you. I will not let harm come your way."
"Oh." Well, he supposed even the Inquisition couldn't oppose one of the Emperor's very own companions...surely. "So, we're leaving?"
"Along with your entourage, yes."
"Entourage?"
"Vela and Ashley. They have nowhere else to go. I thought it better they come with you."
"I... Maybe I should talk with them about it first. Get their opinion." Occ tilted his head.
"Very well. I will await you at the hangar. We leave in three hours."
"Are we ready?" The astropath nodded. "Good. Let us get started then." The room around him was illuminated by a gentle purple glow as the astropath's eyes glowed purple, already wincing as the pain of having to pass through the veil of the Shadow In the Warp already settling over the system took its toll. "This is Lord Commander Marques, transmitting from the Earia system. We have encountered a newly emerged tyranid hive-fleet; In addition to this, a tendril of hive-fleet Leviathan has been confirmed to be on the way to joining this newly emerged fleet. The effectives here will not be enough to face these threats alone. We request aid, both in the hopes of crushing the newly emerged fleet before Leviathan can arrive, and hopefully even crush this tendril of Leviathan before it can threaten the rest of the sector." Lord Marques saluted. "In the name of the God Emperor. In the name of the Imperium. Purge the Xenos!"
"What say you captain?"
"The answer is clear. We are close enough to arrive in time for the initial assault. The enemies of mankind are gathering, and so shall His forces."
"Understood. I shall give the order to prepare for battle."
"Good." The power armoured giant looked through the windows of the battle barge. "The Black Templars shall join the defense of Earia Quintus."
"Tyranids he said?" The man grunted in affirmation, rubbing at the scar at his side.
"Aye. I know Marques. He wouldn't call for help if this wasn't serious. What's the status of our forces?"
"Seventy percent ready to take into orbit sir."
"The rest will remain here to hold the planet. We shall march with our brothers and sisters in arms. Let it be known that the Cadian Thirty-Third answered the call of battle!"
The chapel was silent. Deserted save for a single white haired woman, kneeling before a statue of a larger than life golden armoured figure, a halo of light around his head casting a brilliant light accentuated by the radiance of his flaming sword. She whispered prayers under her breath, stopping as she felt the presence of someone else enter the room.
"Sister."
"Canoness. We have received confirmation. Our sisters on Earia Secundus perished from the tyranid horde." She closed her eyes, whispering a prayer to the Emperor to keep their souls safe.
"This cannot go unanswered." She spoke softly, rising to her feet. "Gather the sisterhood. The order marches to war."
"We shall not arrive in time for the initial battle."
"But arrive we shall. And we shall come with fury and flame."
"M...master." The words were said in a trembling voice. "I have done...as you asked. The...the cultists are preparing a portal."
"Good." The sorcerer caressed the jewel of his staff, gazing into the thousands of ever changing reflections looking back at him.
"If..." The slumped over cultist gathered his courage, asking. "If I may...why are we...sooner than planned?"
"Our...benevolent leader is unhappy. Very unhappy. He was promised a prize from this world. One that could have caught the favor of his betters. And instead, the loathsome tyranid Xenos took the child for themselves." The sorcerer's hands clutched the staff tighter, cracks appearing in it. "We are merely going to collect what is rightfully ours."
"H...his, you mean?" The sorcerer paused, before nodding.
"Of course. His."
"It has been decided." The farseer began, speaking out to the crowd of onlookers. There were millions of Asuryanis gathered here, only a portion of the population. The rest would be watching hyper-realistic projectors. It wasn't every day such an announcement was made after all. "After consulting the council, that the Craftworld must take action in the matters uncovered by Yslen, of the path of Farseers. As such, a battle group will be formed to take the fight to the forces of the Devourer and decapitate the snake before it can grow into a dragon." The announcement was met with solemn silence. War was never a topic that brought much passion to the civilian population of the craftworld. War meant death. It meant dwindling their already fleeting numbers even more. "We have seen that should the Devourer's forces be left alone, they would strike a bloody path through the galaxy, through which more than just our craftworld would find themselves engulfed. Brace yourselves, Asuryani. We march to war!"
"TO WAR!" Came the clamor. Eager they were not. But they follow nonetheless. They knew the price of inaction all too well.
The farseer clenched the balcony and stood tightly. He dearly hoped this was not a mistake. The visions of fate had been troubled as of late.
And at the centre of the maelstrom stood that human child.
It needed to die.
At any cost.
"Khaine guide our hand." He whispered to himself. "Where is Biel-Tan when you need them."
"We're going to need to come up with a name." Anya mentioned. Ayna raised an eyebrow at that.
"Okay, but why."
"I mean, come on. The Imperium named all the other ones. Behemoth, Kraken, Leviathan, Gorgon...we have to give ours one too." Ayna shook her head.
"That's the human in you." Anya rolled her eyes at that.
"You're human too. Just not as much as me." Ayna pouted at that, but did not disagree. Anya took on a thoughtful expression.
"Oh, I know! Hive fleet Chimera! Get it, cuz we're a chimera of human and tyranid?"
"The Imperium already named a hive fleet Chimera."
"Aw." She paused, thinking. "Damn it, why did they take all the cool monster names."
"We could always..."
"We are not calling ourselves hive fleet Anya."
"Aw." A pause. "What about..."
"Hive fleet Ayna is also a no."
"Dammit." Ayna started thinking. "Well...there was that ancient legend that old terrans used to have...a creature that would slumber for some time only to awaken and devour all in its path, its relentless hunger only quenched by its death. But it would never truly die, for it had the ability to regenerate and constantly return. The ultimate survivor, the endless hunger." Anya grinned, clapping her hands.
"That sounds promising! What was it called?"
"It was called...the Tarrasque."
Anya: I will fight this big golden guy, what's the worse that could happen?
Occ: I'm about to end this xenos' entire career.