Captain Harrick L. Zhang arrived on the bridge of the Miriam Celeste, his uniform freshly pressed and a cup of hot recaf in his hand. The pneumatic door creaked slightly as it opened, hissing slightly as the worn seals failed to keep the compressed air inside. He scratched at his recently shaved face, using his thumb to press down his bushy mustache. He took a sip from his dented metal mug bearing the Imperial Aquila and took a seat at his captain's chair.
"Status report, Chief Officer Daniels." Captain Zhang said.
"All systems appear unchanged and fully functional since yesterday, Captain, excluding minor and expected fluctuations in the Gellar Field generator. The 1st outermost layer was briefly weakened, but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th layers remained steadfast, and no leakages were detected in the time it took to restore it to normal levels." Chief Officer Daniels said.
"Good. I heard some commotion coming from the brig last night, any idea what that was about?" Zhang said.
"Ah yes, we found a stowaway in the storage compartment." Daniels said. Zhang raised an eyebrow.
"A stowaway? I trust the matter was dealt with, considering I wasn't told of it." Zhang said.
"Well, you see… we discovered her unconscious in the wine cellar with an empty bottle of Rynnian Merlot. We carried her to the brig soon after, and considering you had already retired to your quarters we thought it unnecessary to wake you." Daniels said.
"Rynnian Merlot? Thank the Emperor she decided to steal the cheap stuff." Zhang said, taking another sip of recaf. He looked down at his watch, checking the time and date synchronized to the beginning of their journey. Time flowed mysteriously in the warp compared to realspace, but at the very least it flowed consistently enough within a Gellar Field. "Looks like we've successfully hit the 32-day mark, is everything ready to disembark and recalibrate our bearings?" Zhang said.
"Aye, Captain. We should be approaching the star cluster's gravity well in approximately 2 hours, there our Navigators can recalibrate our warp trajectory and continue our journey to Sepheris Secundus." Daniels said.
"Warp navigation without the Astronomican is quite a hassle, isn't it?" Zhang said.
"Aye, you can say that again, sir." Daniels said.
"Alright, I'll make an announcement to the passengers. We're exiting the warp in 2 hours." Zhang said.
Leman sat hunched at the end of his bed, staring at the polished, opaque wall of his quarters. He could feel the slight vibrations of the hull as the tides of the Immaterium battered against the Gellar Fields of the ship. For some reason he felt… vulnerable, knowing that there was only a layer of thick metal and a psionic barrier between where he sat and the tumultuous currents of the Warp. He admitted to himself that it was a preposterous feeling, seeing as he had spent millennia bathed in the loathsome torrent of chaotic energies with nothing more than his armor and the sword in his hand. Yet now, he felt different. somehow. He felt as he imagined the numerous other mortal passengers on this vessel felt, just one fatal rupture away from damnation. He rubbed his face, having to remind himself that he was a Primarch. A superhuman, designed and raised to annihilate the enemies of mankind. Though, at the moment, he didn't feel like one. He felt vulnerable and alone in a galaxy that he no longer understood. Though, perhaps, not entirely alone. A knock on his door interrupted his brooding, and he answered.
"Good morning! At least… I think it's morning…" Admu said. "I'm not used to telling time without the sun… or the sky, for that matter." She bore two steaming cups in her hands and a beaming smile on her face. Leman's expression relaxed subtly.
"Good morning. What's that?" Leman said, looking down at the two cups. The steam emanating from them filled his nostrils with a pleasant herbal aroma, carrying hints of floral sweetness. It was a scent that he vaguely recognized, one that filled him with an energetic buzz merely through smell alone.
"I used some of the ingredients we bought on Vigilus to try and make some of my special herbal tea! I had to gauge most of the ingredients by smell so it's not exactly the same… but I did my best." Admu said.
"That tea?" Leman said with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure a stimulant of that caliber is really appropriate for a time like this?" He remembered full well just how powerful the concoction was, seeing as it likely saved his life multiple times in one day back in Khorne's colosseum.
"I watered it down, silly. I just wanted to help wake you up, not prepare you to fight my uncle again. Here, take a sip!" Admu said, offering the cup.
Leman picked up the drink and brought it to his lips, feeling the hot liquid pour into his mouth and down his throat. Immediately his entire body was filled with a warm, electrifying sensation that spread out from his core and into his extremities. Rather than being shocked or jarred, the sensation was pleasant and paradoxically relaxing. It was as if all the worry, doubt, and darkness balled up inside him was burned away by a lukewarm flame that smoldered in his chest, filling him with a renewed sense of ardor and ebullience. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fanning the fire that grew in his chest.
"You could probably sell bottles of this on the black market for more than the cost of this entire ship." Leman said.
"I can't just sell it, it's a family recipe!" Admu said, winking. "By the way, did you notice anything different about me?" She said, turning around slightly. Leman looked at her, his brow furrowed as he studied her appearance. He couldn't spot any notable differences from previous occasions, aside from minor superficial changes.
"I'm afraid I don't. Should I?" Leman said.
"I made a new dress! I used the materials I bought from the market before we left, what do you think of it?" Admu said. Now that Leman knew what he was looking for, he did recognize her change of wardrobe. It still wasn't very notable, as it was similarly casual yet stylish like her other outfits albeit with a slightly more ornate appearance and expensive-looking materials.
"Ah, I see now." Leman said.
"You do?" Admu said, her face lighting up.
"Smart thinking, a more expensive wardrobe could help us blend into more affluent crowds such as among the nobility of Sepheris Secundus." Leman said. Admu gave him a disappointed pout.
"That's not exactly what I meant… oh, whatever. A compliment is a compliment." She said, sighing heavily. "Say, did you hear what the man on the speaker said earlier?"
"...you mean the captain?" Leman said.
"Yeah, him! He said that they're going to stop soon. You know what that means?" Admu said.
"...no, not exactly." Leman said.
"It means they're going to open the shutters on the observation deck!" Admu said, bouncing with excitement.
"And?" Leman said.
"Well… don't you want to go down and see it?" Admu said.
"See what? It's just space. You can see it everywhere." Leman said. Admu huffed in annoyance, her face visibly upset.
Well, the void isn't all that spectacular to me… but it's still only her second time being off-world. Leman thought. Besides, given the quite obvious signs of displeasure Admu was giving off, Leman could tell he had made more than one misstep… and a part of him didn't want to make another.
"Alright, alright. I'll be ready in a few minutes." Leman said. Admu's expression instantly reverted to her default state of exuberant joy.
In their disguised forms the other passengers seemed to pay Leman and Admu little mind, perhaps casting a curious glance in their direction before continuing on their way. Leman wasn't sure if it was due to the magical enchantment cast upon them or simply the natural incuriosity of the average Imperial citizen. They made their way to the observation deck, a small enclosure near the aft end of the ship with an array of tall viewing ports arranged in a semicircle. A voice over the comms system announced that the ship would be exiting the warp. Soon after, the entire vessel jerked slightly as it was grabbed by the laws of physics that now applied to it, eliciting faint groans and creaks from the ship's superstructure. Electric engines whirred as they retracted the heavy metal shutters from the viewports, filling the observation deck with the bright multi-colored rays of distant stars and vast nebulae. The ship was perched near the crest of a vast purplish-brown dust cloud, surrounded by vast chunks of broken rock that drifted lazily through space in long wayward trails. Two lights dominated their view, one from below and one from afar.
"What are those two lights? Are they suns?" Admu asked.
"Many suns, actually. Star clusters. Huge, spherical agglomerations of stars, gas, and dust. Like miniature galaxies." Leman said. Admu gaped wordlessly in astonishment. "In fact, that one in the distance is no ordinary star cluster. It's the core of the galaxy."
"What's it like there? Have you ever been?" Admu said.
"Well, no. From what we can tell, it's a harsh maze of crushing gravity, superheated gas, and rogue black holes all traveling in erratic and unpredictable orbits." Leman said.
"Does anyone live there?" Admu said.
"Perhaps some primitive or exotic xenos species could have evolved in such a place… or just Orks. I suppose some early human colonists from the Dark Age could have tried to make their homes in such hostile conditions, in search of the rich mineral wealth accumulated in the deep core. If any of them survived, we never managed to make contact with them. Now that I remember it, my father planned an expedition to the deep core. He intended to explore the region after the Crusade." Leman said, sounding wistful. "It's a shame he never got the chance."
"Maybe we can go there together!" Admu said, smiling.
"Maybe someday." Leman said, staring off into space. "Though I was never much of the exploring type." He turned to Admu, and his eyes widened as he saw her doubled over in pain. "Are you alright? What's the matter?" He said, leaning down to help her. Her face was twisted with anguish, and she was clutching the sides of her head tightly.
"The voices… It's them… again…" Admu said, struggling to her feet and shaking her head. She looked shaken and slightly sore, but no longer incapacitated with pain. "I can hear them out there in the void… thousands of starving, animalistic howls… It's the things I fought underneath Vigilus, I know it."
"The… cave lobsters?" Leman said. "Here? ...in space?" Admu grabbed Leman by the shoulders and looked at him with a deathly serious expression.
"This ship and everyone on it are in grave danger. We have to get them to safety… we have to get out of here!" Admu said.
"Be calm, try not to cause a commotion." Leman said, looking around to make sure no one was around. "We have to be rational about this. Are these… things already on the ship? If not, where are they coming from?"
"I'm… I'm not sure. I can hear them, like buzzing insects or… or intrusive thoughts. They're hunting, prowling the darkness. They-" Admu's eyes shot open. "They found us." Alarms rang out all across the ship as the room was bathed in flashing red lights. Leman turned back to Admu.
"I'll go get armed." Leman said.
"We've got about a dozen unidentified craft emerging from the debris fields, approaching fast." One of the ship's radar operators said.
"Raiders?" Captain Zhang said.
"Unclear… their radio profiles don't match any renegade ship types, nor Orks or Dark Eldar for that matter. Wait… I'm getting a match… No, that's… that's impossible." The radar operator said.
"Ensign, spit it out!" Captain Zhang said.
"They're Tyranids!" The panicked radar operator said.
"What the hell is a hive fleet doing out here!?" Captain Zhang said.
"It doesn't look like a full fleet… just a couple of escorts and boarding worms." Another radar operator said.
"I'm not going to try and fathom why these things are here or what they're doing. Chief Officer Daniels, go and ensure that the passengers are all evacuated into the shelters at the ship's core. Then muster whatever forces you can to repel a boarding party." Captain Zhang said.
"I don't know what munitions we have that can repel a Tyranid invasion force… but I'll do what I can, sir." Daniels said, before rushing off to the lower decks with a handful of other navy men.
"Gunnery Officer, what kind of batteries do we have on this ship?" Captain Zhang said.
"1 Macrocannon and a standard battery of Lascannons, sir." the Gunnery Officer said.
"Target the main force with the Macrocannon and try to scatter the boarding vessels with the Lascannons. The longer we can delay them from reaching the ship, the better." Zhang said. He pressed a button on his console to bring up the voxcaster. "Engineering, how long until we can make an emergency Warp ju-"
Suddenly the entire ship lurched, and a shockwave rocketed through the hull. The lights overhead flickered briefly.
"What the hell was that?" Zhang said.
"This is Engineering, Bridge come in!" A voice said over the voxcast.
"This is Captain Zhang on the Bridge, we read you. What the hell just happened?" The Captain said.
"Something big just hit the thrusters… knocked out the warp drives too. We're still assessing the damage, but it's bad. We're dead in the void, Captain." The Chief Engineer said.
The Bridge fell silent for a moment, as the weight of the situation fell upon everyone present.
"Comms, send out an immediate distress signal on all official Imperial channels." Zhang said. "Buckle in, everyone… and pray to the Emperor for a miracle."
First Mate Daniels herded the crowds of panicked and distressed passengers into the panic rooms, heavily reinforced and hermetically sealed sections of the ship designed to act as shelter during times like this. He held his Imperial Navy-issued laspistol in his right hand, using his left to corral and nudge the frantic civilians in the right direction. He wasn't sure it would do anything to a Tyranid, but the sight of it certainly helped keep the crowds in line.
"Was that the last one?" Daniels said to another armed officer, who nodded affirmatively. "Good, take positions at these posi-" Daniels was interrupted by a loud bang, punctuated by a series of blood curdling screams. The navy men raised their laspistols, trained on the far end of the hallway. A hulking, grotesque figure shambled into view, a horrifying amalgamation of keratinous flesh and chitin twisted into a living weapon. Menacing cleaver-like bone blades were grafted onto its upper forelimbs, while the three-fingered claws beneath it carried the dismembered torso of one of the naval officers. It turned to face the squad of armed men, bearing its drool-soaked teeth like a mocking, skeletal smile. The officers opened fire, peppering the giant insect with bright-red beams that did little more than leave superficial scorch marks on its thick carapace. The Tyranid walked slowly and deliberately towards them, their munitions having little to no effect on its steady advance. Daniels fired shot after shot until eventually his finger was frantically pulling the trigger, but nothing would come out. Cornered, out of ammunition, and stranded in space with an extragalactic super-predator, the officers could do nothing but freeze in absolute terror. The looming abomination raised its chitinous blades, its elongated tongue lapping against its jagged teeth in anticipation of its next kill…
Until a streak of blinding light severed its bulbous head from its body. The Tyranid's skull landed on the metal floor with a wet squelch, rolling towards the petrified officers until it came to a stop against the First Mate's boot. Leman, fully armored and masked by his enchanted cloak, kicked the decapitated Tyranid body to the ground and sheathed his flaming sword. He turned to the stunned navy men.
"Are all the passengers safe?" Leman said. Daniels, unable to speak, simply nodded slowly. "Good. Make sure the captain and crew are secure. We'll handle the rest."
A large, rugged shuttle drifted quietly through space, its advanced pulse engine thrumming faintly as it approached the stranded Imperial vessel known as the Miriam Celeste.
"Engines'r busted." A gruff voice said. "She ain't goin' nowhere anytime soon. Ykkhí, look for a way in so we can crack 'er open and see what's inside"
"Aye, Dóri." Ykkhí said.
The shuttle activated its high-powered floodlights, illuminating the scarred hull of the ship and searching for an entrance. The lights danced across the ship's surface before landing upon a maintenance hatch large enough for them to enter through. The shuttle hovered closer, extending a long proboscis-like tube that attached itself to the ship. Three helmeted figures trudged through the tube, one larger and two smaller. The two smaller figures carried heavy mining and demolition equipment, while the larger carried a multi-barreled las cannon. One of the two smaller figures, named Ykkhí, stepped forward and opened the maintenance shaft with a laser cutter. Air rushed through the opened porthole, filling the tube with air from within the ship. The three figures entered a long corridor, red warning lights still flashing.
"Backup generators and life support systems are still online… poor Imps. Better to die instantly in the vacuum of space than let the Niðhögr get t'ya alive." Dóri said. "Vêlyma, I'll take point. Keep on overwatch while Ykkhí covers your flank."
"Aye." the tall one named Vêlyma said.
The three proceeded down the hallway in the assigned formation, their heavy footsteps echoing through the empty corridor. They rounded a corner, freezing for a moment when they spotted the corpse of a Tyranid Gaunt. Dóri approached with caution, tapping the motionless creature with his lascutter.
"Dead. Seems like the Imps put up a fight." Dóri said. "Don't see any bullet holes though…"
"Concussion weaponry?" Vêlyma said.
"Imp grunts don't usually have tech like that… no matter, let's get moving. We need to figure out if this hunk of scrap is worth dismantlin', and it ain't goin' to prospect itself." Dóri said.
The three continued deeper into the ship, stepping over increasing numbers of dismembered and pulverized Tyranid corpses. They were used to wading through puddles of blood and gore on these salvaging missions, but it was quite unusual for it to be Tyranid blood.
"Nine hells, what kinda security did they have on this ship?" Ykkhí said.
"Shipping manifest indicates it was a converted passenger liner. Light security detail equipped with small arms, primarily to fend off pirates." Vêlyma said.
"Light security my arse." Ykkhí said.
"Hold it… I'm picking up life signs up ahead." Dóri said.
"I thought the Niðhögr were gone?" Ykkhí said. "It's not like them to linger."
"Could be some stragglers that got left behind. Vêlyma, keep that las-cannon at the ready." Dóri said.
"Aye." She said.
The three cautiously stepped through the increasingly large towers of dead Tyranids that lined the hallway, approaching the entrance of a large atrium near the spinal section of the ship. As they entered the cavernous interior, they stared in disbelief at what they saw within. Mountains of dismembered Tyranid corpses littered the floor, dissolving into a sea of magenta blood that was splattered several meters up the walls. Hundreds of Termagaunts and Hermagaunts as well as a number of sizable Tyranid Warriors all lay dead in great heaps, surrounding a lone figure that stood nonchalantly in the center of the grand panorama of unimaginable violence. Beneath the heavy coating of Tyranid blood and gore, she had the appearance of an ordinary, albeit abnormally tall, Imperial female. Her presence here, on the other hand, was anything but ordinary. Dóri and Ykkhí could scarcely believe their eyes, and wondered if they were suffering some kind of hallucination brought on by void-sickness. Vêlyma's visual sensors were functioning adequately, though her programming struggled to identify what her sensors were actually recording.
"I think I got all of them!" Admu shouted, taking a seat on the body of a dead Tyranid Warrior. She yawned and stretched her arms out, apparently tired from the massacre she had inflicted upon the Tyranid horde. She looked down at the crumpled body of a Termagaunt, picking up the smaller bioform. With what appeared to be little to no effort, she snapped the dead Tyranid's carapace open like a can of rations and began to nibble on the thick white flesh within. She bore a strange look on her face as she analyzed the taste. "Hmmm… I'm not sure about cave lobsters, but they do taste a bit like the little crawfish papa would catch in the river."
The three observers were so baffled by the sight of Admu taste-testing the dead Tyranid that they failed to notice the sound of heavy boots growing louder and louder behind them.
"Le- I mean, Mister Enoch, what do you think they taste like?" Admu said, turning towards the three onlookers. A chill ran down Dóri's spine. He quickly spun around to see a giant, cloaked warrior adorned in strange armor looming over them, a flaming black sword in one of his hands and the severed head of a Tyranid Warrior in the other. He looked down on them with a look of suspicion and intrigue painted across his scarred and weathered face.
"Who the hell are you?" Leman said.