Chapter 3
The automatic alarms of the Imperial Guard base began to reverberate throughout the planet's city as the sky was covered in mycetic spores that rained down. The reactive anti-air turrets opened fire on them, but their powerful projectiles did little damage to the Tyranid lifeforms. In the base, Jenkins was trying to recover from the shock of witnessing a Tyranid attack, while the other scientists and guards watched with surprise and nervousness.
"It's better to leave!" Jenkins shouted to everyone else who was watching.
"Yes, it's best. Everyone back to the transport ship," Lilith ordered as everyone began to run toward the transport ship.
Just as they were about to arrive, one of these mycetic spores fell right on top of the ship. Jenkins stepped back, taking the Bolter pistol from his side and aimed it at what appeared, and it left him almost pale. Two huge Carnifex, accompanied by a massive horde of Hormagaunts, appeared in front of her. The defense team's weapons were activated.
"We're dead... we're dead," Jenkins commented as he saw the Tyranids.
"Prepare to fight. Take care of the small ones; the two big ones are mine," Lilith took a step forward as she observed those creatures.
"Don't attack head-on! Those huge ones are Carnifex; even Space Marines can't face those things without taking a lot of damage!" Jenkins shouted.
"I'll tell you now, girl, don't compare us to those who scavenge our ruins for barely functional scrap. We have the real weapons. Now, take care of the scientists; let us handle this." Jenkins swore he saw the chief scientist's eyes change to a violet hue.
"That's... offensive."
The Hormagaunts launched a powerful assault against the few defenders, but they took only a few steps before their bodies were turned to dust by the weapons of the Scientific Division Guards. However, the Carnifex were ready to make a powerful charge when a concentrated plasma shot exploded one of their heads. Jenkins couldn't believe it. He looked to the side and saw that Lilith was holding what looked like an energy shotgun, unlike the ones used by the Imperium.
"Stay focused!" Lilith yelled.
Although one Carnifex had fallen, there was still one alive, and it roared, charging at their formation. Lilith was about to fire, but the creature covered its head with its claws. She made a gesture, and she waited. As it was about to strike them, a yellow energy barrier stopped its attack abruptly. The Carnifex began to attack with its claws, trying to pierce the energy barrier without success. For every blow, a wave of energy surrounded the dome that protected them.
"Will this hold?" Jenkins asked while firing his Bolter at the surviving Hormagaunts.
"It will, but this creature won't live to destroy it." When a final blow from the Carnifex generated a shockwave, all the energy collected went into the Guard's weapons and Lilith's arm. She fired what Jenkins could swear was a golden beam of light that exploded the last living Carnifex, while the shockwave caused severe damage to the Hormagaunts.
"Sir, your arm," a guard commented.
Lilith observed, and indeed, her robotic arm had burned the artificial skin above the elbow, and the skin was now very pale.
"Stop staring," the soldier looked up at Lilith's face, and for a moment, he could swear her voice sounded like that of a Tech-Priest before returning to her normal voice.
"Sorry, ma'am," Jenkins said as he holstered his Bolter.
"Did you bring only that for fighting?" one of the scientists asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. I thought about using some of the arsenal, but with what you said, I think my Bolter is more reliable," she commented.
No one said anything. Instead, one of the guards approached the crater where their crushed ship was. He managed to open a compartment and pulled out a gray rifle with what looked like a revolver drum and some ammunition. He approached Jenkins and handed it to him.
"Use this; it's a higher-quality Laser rifle," the soldier commented. Jenkins took it in his hands and examined it for a few long seconds before flicking the safety, and the weapon turned green in some areas.
"Now what do we do?" a scientist asked.
Lilith activated her communicator to speak with the fleet, but the sounds that came through were the gunfire from outside the ship.
"What's happening?" Tiamath's voice could be heard since the hologram hadn't been activated.
"We've lost the transport vehicle, and we're stranded… and purple bugs keep dropping nearby. What do we do now?" Lilith asked as she watched a mycetic spore fall not far from the location.
"We can't send ships to help; the orbital space is compromised by the battle. We'll move you to the cathedral at the center where the base was established for defense. Be prepared. You'll be teleported in three minutes. Over," came the message.
After that message, Lilith looked at those present and took a small device from one of her pockets, which she threw to Jenkins. It looked almost like an earring.
"It's a transmitter. It will allow the ship to teleport you from here to the base in the cathedral we saw," Lilith commented.
Just as they were about to be teleported, a Hormagaunt jumped out of nowhere onto Jenkins, who, thanks to his reflexes, managed to avoid being stabbed by its claws. However, one of the claws crushed the transmitter in his ear. The soldier tried to reach for her combat knife while struggling with the Tyranid, but a shot turned the creature into ashes, and she looked at Lilith with her weapon in hand.
…
The cathedral, which was once a place for praying to the God-Emperor, had now become a fortress. The decorative stained glass had been covered with plates of an unknown metal. The front garden had been turned into a landing area for some ships, and anti-aircraft weapons were installed on the surrounding towers, along with an Ionic shield to prevent Tyranids from entering. The interior had also been heavily affected, with benches rearranged to form makeshift beds for the wounded. Every few seconds, more and more soldiers appeared in the church, some healthy and newly out of stasis and the ships, others wounded from the battles in the city.
Lilith and her team appeared, and she quickly ordered her scientific team to tend to the wounded, while the guards assisted in defense. In the area where the priest used to give mass, the officers were looking at a map of the city. The holographic image was very clear, with red dots representing the Tyranids and yellow dots representing the Federation troops.
"What do we have so far?" Lilith asked as she approached the officers.
"We're in trouble. These things are strong and well-coordinated. We've barely arrived, and we already have several casualties. For every soldier killed, thousands of those things are coming down," a sergeant said.
"The problem is that we'll be overwhelmed in a short time. We need to go on the offensive against these creatures," another officer suggested.
"Are you suggesting we send rookies as nothing more than bait? Most of them were barely cadets when we escaped," the sergeant replied.
"Enough, don't start fighting. Sergeant, how many Heavy Mech units and IVs do we have?" Lilith asked.
"We have around 120 Heavy Mech units and 300 Medium ones, with 700 IVs in combat right now," the sergeant said, pointing out some points on the map.
"Move a quarter to the port, and send a team of IVs to this area. It's an Adeptus Mechanicus laboratory, and from what I saw, they have at least thirty Castellan robots. Maybe we can activate them and use them," Lilith suggested.
"Castellan robots? My God, those things are relics even for us," one officer commented.
"It's our best option while the space battle lasts. We can't move many troops at the same time," Lilith said.
"I thought we could teleport armies to the surface without problems," the officer said.
"In theory, we can, but we'll be easy targets. Besides, the fact that the ships are outnumbered in the battle prevents them from bringing a significant number of reinforcements," Lilith replied.
"So, are we on our own then?" the sergeant asked.
"Until the space battle is over. Now, we start with this," Lilith said.
"By the way, ma'am, you should go to the infirmary; there are people you need to see," the sergeant told Lilith. It seemed strange to her, but she decided to go and see.
In the makeshift beds, she found two more survivors, a woman in battle armor and a bald man with curious clothes and a third eye on his forehead.
"How long have they been unconscious?" Lilith asked while checking the man's pulse.
"The bald one has been out for about two hours; he was complaining of a headache and then passed out. We were going to sedate him; he kept interfering with us moving the religious figures to a safe place, claiming we were desecrating sacred objects, damn heretic. Then he passed out. The woman has been unconscious for six hours; she's badly injured but alive," a field medic commented.
"Do we have any information on them?" Lilith asked.
"According to the information gathered, the woman is a Sister of Battle. We don't know which order she belongs to. The man is an astropath from the church," the medic replied.
…
"Damn my luck," Jenkins muttered aloud as she picked up a Federation weapon, luckily, she still had it. Taking advantage of the brief respite, she approached the destroyed vehicle to see that there was still a box of supplies. She opened it and found several food packets and medical supplies, which she stored in the pockets of her uniform. When she left the crater, she heard noises coming from the entrance. When she turned, she saw a large number of Hormagaunts and some Tyranid Warriors. These creatures, upon seeing the soldier, charged at her.
In reflex, Jenkins aimed her weapon and fired. The shot from the Laser rifle was like a green line, instantly turning the affected Tyranids into dust. Without time to say or think anything, she moved the weapon while still firing, doing the same to more Tyranids.
"With this, it's easy!" she shouted before a Tyranid Warrior made a cut on her face that almost tore it off, leaving only a scar that ran from her forehead to her right cheek.
"Dammit!" Jenkins shot the Tyranid Warrior with the laser rifle, but when it tried to block the shot, it simply broke both the sword and the creature's chest, disintegrating it.
After the adrenaline had passed, she let out a scream of pain due to the wound on her face. The weapon fell to the ground as she, in almost desperation, pulled some bandages from a pocket of her armor to cover the wound a bit.
Determined not to stay outside any longer, she decided to go to the area where the Guard's vehicles were, hoping to find a Salamander at least. But what she found was unexpected.
"A Leman Russ? What's it doing here?" Jenkins thought as she saw almost 30 Leman Russ tanks tightly packed.
Deciding to save her questions for later, she climbed into the first one she found and started it. However, she had to go out again to open the garage door. When she did, she came face to face with four Lictors. Seeing them, she took a step back, narrowly avoiding an attack from one. Stumbling back, she barely dodged the attacks from these Tyranids. When she reached the Leman Russ, knowing she Wouldn't have time to climb inside, she took advantage of an attack from one and rolled away, pointing the weapon. She didn't get to fire as she had to block another attack from the Lictor, but this time, the creature was hit directly by the weapon's shot, which made a strange noise. When Jenkins managed to shoot, the laser rifle shot was like a shotgun blast, and it disintegrated the Lictor, causing it to be thrown backward As it turned to ashes in the air, another one attacked her from behind, and she barely noticed it, blocking it with the weapon, believing it would break. But to her surprise, a green plasma blade cut the Lictor's claw in half.
"Lucky!" Jenkins exclaimed while stepping back and bumping into another tank, using it for support to give herself a slight jump, landing on top of it. Another Lictor jumped to attack, but she cut off its head with the plasma blade when she switched the weapon to its firing form, reducing the plasma blade to the size of a bayonet. Jenkins opened fire, riddling the two remaining Lictors, reducing them to ashes.
"This rifle is amazing! Why didn't the Tech-Priests invest five more minutes searching and replicate this instead of that damn flashlight? Ugh!" Jenkins complained about her face wound as she started driving the tank towards the city, as it was the only thing she could do, needing more people for the tank to fire.
…
Things on the ground were dire, just like in space. They didn't know how much time had passed, but the ships kept pouring out and began to outnumber them. Some ships had been moved to the rear due to the constant onslaught of the bio-ships, and there were countless wrecks floating near the planet. The worst part was the ships attached to the atmosphere.
"Great Admiral, if we keep this up, we'll be overwhelmed in no time!" In their last hope, McMillan discussed with Tiamath what they should do.
"Clear the battlefield, and put me in contact with the Sovereign," ordered Tiamath with a heavy sigh.
The Sovereign was the Regent's battleship, her capital ship in Imperial terms, just slightly larger than an Imperial Gloriana-class cruiser. When communications were established, the hologram of the ship's captain appeared.
"Order, Regent."
"Put me in contact with Quarter A7 and instruct the troops inside the ship not to be alarmed," ordered the general.
McMillan didn't understand what was happening, but when she gave the go-ahead to speak to whatever was in that room, everything would change.
"Iron Men of model XB389, prepare for combat," ordered Tiamath.
In the images, one could see large combat droids marching toward the ship's hangar, their synchronized steps causing fear by the sound.
"Iron Men? Are they still loyal to you? What models are these?" McMillan asked.
"Yes, my 30,000 Iron Men are still loyal to me. These are the latest generation, made of a very resistant material that hasn't even had its name changed yet, but it was planned to call them Copper Men," Tiamath commented.
"Latest generation? How long are we talking about?" McMillan asked.
"Just two weeks before the rebellion. I was the first to receive the generational change for the Iron Men," Tiamath said.
Soon, the images of the ship went dark, while from the windows of the great ship, thousands of yellow dots began to emerge. They started to separate into different groups, even as the weapons kept firing. An accidental shot from one ship's cannon hit one of these AI units, but it didn't do any harm; the shot was blocked. The robot was unharmed.
"Grand Admiral, an unknown ship has entered the battle," Galileo said, and the Ultramarines' ship appeared as a hologram.
"Imperials?" McMillan looked at Tiamath.
"It's the most likely possibility; watch them at all times," Tiamath commented while turning her attention back to the space battle, though she seemed very uneasy.
"If you allow me, Regent, right now, we don't need a politician. The troops on the ground must be exhausted and demoralized. Going from one war to another, what they need now is for Tiamath to go and give them that morale boost," McMillan said while lighting a cigarette.
"Can you handle it alone?" The Regent looked at her.
"As Grand Admiral Thach used to say, 'Space is my element.' He was one of our best admirals; it's a pity our best elements disappeared, the Pretorian Metatron," McMillan said, laughing and sighing.
"To be from a Xenos race, Admiral Thach was very respected…" Tiamath commented, trying to ignore something.
"I shouldn't have mentioned Metatron; I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Losing a son in the Warp is a painful thing, but I must be strong. Very well, I will go to Earth. I entrust you with the space battle," Tiamath said as she left the command room.
…
It was night on Apolion, and Jenkins was still far from reaching the cathedral, mostly due to the long distance she had to cover and the large number of Tyranids she encountered. Thanks to the tank, she avoided becoming
A live meal until she reached a street she remembered.
"I'm close to the cathedral, but due to the debris, it's impossible to advance," she thought as she changed the tank's route.
Reaching a highway, the path was blocked this time by the huge carcass of a Carnifex, along with several dead Tyranids, all killed by a shot to the head. She stopped the tank, sighing heavily.
"I think it's better to rest for today." Taking the rifle, which had recharged its power cells, she left the tank and headed towards a nearby building. On seeing it, she realized it was the Adeptus Arbites headquarters. Upon entering, she quickly cleared the area and found a spot where she could rest for a while.
From one of her pockets, she took out what appeared to be a circular cereal bar wrapped in metallic paper with a stamped logo. The logo depicted Terra, accompanied by different stars and a golden laurel wreath surrounding it. She gazed at the logo for a moment before opening the bar and eating it. To her surprise, it tasted quite good, and with just one bite, she already felt satisfied, so she saved the rest.
"To be honest, even in military rations, they outdo us," Jenkins thought as she was being illuminated only by the faint glow of the rifle lying next to her. She realized there was enough light for her to pull a notebook and a somewhat worn-out pencil from her pants, using her combat knife to sharpen the pencil before she started writing."
Field diary day 10 apolion
I'd be lying if I said that today wasn't the strangest day of my life since I arrived on this planet. I'm not sure where to start, perhaps with the fact that I can now mark Genestealers as a threat that I've m'raculously survived. I'm only missing surviving the Chaos, which the God-Emperor forbid.
But the most important thing today, not just of my life, is that I made contact with a fleet from the same dark age of technology. So far, I've seen their Iron Men in action, but they've told me not to say anything about them since these are virtual intelligences. Their food is much better than what the Empire provides, and their weaponry… by the Emperor! Their weaponry is so powerful that I bet even the Necrons would think twice. What I've seen so far has left me speechless. They have weapons for common soldiers so powerful that they can eliminate large Tyranid threats without issue, even preventing them from acquiring biomass from the corpses. They have barriers that recharge powerful shots for every hit received. They even mentioned how with the right plan, they could turn a planet into a ring of black holes. I bet I haven't seen everything yet, but with what little I've seen, I can say they surpass us by a great deal. They even said that our weaponry is a joke. It's offensive, but even if it's true, it can't be denied. Now, what's important is that if I can get these remnants from the dark age to have a conversation with someone who understands their importance, like Belisarius Cawl or even the Primarch Guilliman, we might have a better chance of surviving all these threats. I don't want to sound egocentric, as Master Cain used to say, but maybe I've survived everything in my life because the God-Emperor had a task for me, and that task is to make these remnants from the dark age speak with Primarch Roboute Guilliman. If everything goes well, maybe my bravery in this matter will be recorded in the history books. Could I become as famous as Master Cain? I doubt it; he was the great hero of the Empire, while I now serve as a messenger.
Jenkins finished writing and put her notebook back into a pocket of her pants. She leaned against the building's wall, trying to close her eyes, but her training always kept her alert to the slightest noise.
When she finally got some rest, the sound of gunfire closer to her awakened her. Opening her eyes, she saw that the sky was turning orange as dawn approached. However, the landscape became secondary as she heard the shots getting closer. Taking her rifle, she approached the entrance and felt a gun barrel against the back of her neck.
"Don't move," a voice ordered her as she raised her hands.
"I'm not your enemy," Jenkins commented.
"I can't be sure. Right now, you might not be my enemy, but you could also be one of those things that change shape. Your name and rank," the stranger ordered.
"My name is Jenkins. I don't have a last name since it's just for identifying my corpse. I'm an Astra Militarum from the Imperium of Man," Jenkins said.
"Okay, move, or you'll be eliminated."
From the ceiling, a sniper was hanging upside down, holding a rifle she had never seen before. His armor blended in with the wall's color. Jenkins turned to see a hologram, but when she tried to touch it, it pushed her, revealing that it was a solid light projection.
"Who are you?" Jenkins asked the soldier.
"Are there more like you here?" the sniper threw a small sphere at a window, which flashed twice rapidly.
"No, I'm alone, but who are you?" Jenkins asked, looking at the sniper.
"What is this place?" the newcomer asked.
"It's an Adeptus Arbites building. They're responsible for enforcing civil laws," Jenkins continued to watch the sniper.
"Ah, it's a police station," the sniper put his hand to his ear, but Jenkins couldn't hear what he said until some noises made her look at the entrance.
The door swung wide open, and a group of soldiers entered, along with a dark-skinned girl with black hair and red eyes. She seemed exhausted and short of breath, as did the others.
"Medic!" one of them yelled. His arm was missing, and blood kept gushing out. The local medic approached to help, and Jenkins could only watch in silence, apart from the sniper; the others seemed to ignore her.
The medic took what looked like a metal ring the size of the soldier's arm from a kit and placed it on the stump. The soldier let out a scream of pain as the ring attached itself. As the ring attached, the medic turned to Jenkins to examine the wound on her ear and face.
"You've taken care of your wounds quite rudimentarily. Unfortunately, I've run out of supplies to help you with those injuries. You'll have to be seen when we get to the church," The medic commented as he returned his attention to the soldier who was still writhing.
"I curse you, Klaus!" the wounded soldier yelled, with an accent that made Jenkins remember hearing it elsewhere, though she couldn't recall where until something clicked in her head.
"Are you from Valhalla?" Jenkins asked with curiosity.
"Are you asking that right now?!" the soldier yelled.
"Ignore Dimitri. The idiot lost his arm to one of those things that had two giant swords," the woman from Nocturne commented as she opened a hatch on her mecha to insert what looked like a floppy disk. As it was inserted, the mecha began repairing itself until it was whole again.
"Well, you're lucky because the Hormagaunts attack in groups, and you're very lucky if you only lost an arm," Jenkins commented, looking at him.
"Who are you?" Dimitri asked, as it seemed that, thanks to the bracelet, his arm was regenerating at a rapid pace.
"From the Astra Militarum, a soldier of the Imperium of Man. It's amazing that she's still alive," the previous sniper commented as he positioned himself high, looking outside.
"Well, the average lifespan in the Astra Militarum is 15 hours," Jenkins shrugged.
"Enough chit-chat; enemies are approaching, and this is a new one," the sniper commented as he descended from his position.
"What do they look like?" Jenkins approached the sniper, who showed an image of the approaching enemies from his arm.
"These are Tyranids from the Hive Fleet. This is bad news; the Tyranid fleet has started to send their best forces. That means they might be winning," Jenkins analyzed the situation.
"Do you mean 'winning' rather than 'gaining,' right? Because that's what it looks like, isn't it?" the mecha pilot asked.
"One thing we've learned is that you don't defeat the Tyranids; you survive them, something your troops are doing excellently," Jenkins tried to boost the morale of these discouraged soldiers, but it didn't seem to be working.
While she gave her less-than-stellar motivational speech, the sniper climbed back to his vantage point to monitor what was happening. What he saw surprised him greatly.
"How much do you know about these creatures?" the sniper asked.
"What's happening, Hazan?" Klaus questioned the sniper.
Hazan deactivated his solid light projection to continue monitoring while descending to where everyone was. He then showed a video taken from the perspective of his hologram. Alongside the Tyranids from the Hive Fleet, there were at least two Zoanthropes and a Neurothrope heading towards the church's area. This alarmed the people present because they knew that the provisional base was in that area.
"How much damage can your sniper rifle and her mecha do?" Jenkins asked as she looked at the people present, focusing on Hazan and the mecha pilot.
"My rifle has enough power to blow up a fully armored Ork Warboss," Hazan said as he retrieved his rifle from his back to check the thermal ammunition.
"What about your mecha?" Jenkins looked at the mecha pilot.
"I can sweep an Eldar army with its cannon, and its sturdy armor will protect me from everything. What do you need?" the pilot asked.
"Hazan, I want you to go up to the top floor and shoot the Neurothrope. This will disorient or kill the Tyranids. Although it might attract the swarm, it will divert them enough to give the church a warning about the impending attack and time to prepare," Jenkins commented to those present.
"You mean to the one?" Dimitri asked, to which Jenkins nodded.
"Isn't that a suicide mission? There are very few of us," Dimitri commented.
"I think it's a fair sacrifice. We'll buy them time, and they'll prepare for the attack," Jenkins said with a heavy sigh.
"Okay, at least I'll try to take as many of these things with me as I can. By the way, my name is Kamala," the mecha pilot commented.
"Jenkins," Jenkins replied. After the greeting, everyone started taking their positions.
The entrance area was blocked, creating a bottleneck zone in preparation for the imminent Tyranid entry. Once everything was ready, Jenkins went up to where Hazan was, who continued aiming at what looked like an endless line of Tyranids.
"Have the big ones moved?" Jenkins asked.
"Only two of them. One has stayed still," Hazan prepared his rifle, feeling his heart rate drop for a better shot.
"Fire." Hazan's shot was so powerful that the recoil shook Jenkins. The thermal round traveled at great speed until it reached the Neurothrope, which exploded into a thousand pieces. The psychic shockwave from the event was so strong that many lower-ranking Tyranids could be seen falling, most of them dead.
However, as expected, an enormous swarm began to move toward their position. On the lower floor, Kamala with her mecha opened fire.
The shots were so powerful that they caused the approaching Orkans and Hive Tyrants to explode. From the mecha's shoulder, a small missile pod appeared, firing hundreds of missiles. While they were small, the explosions expanded into domes at the impact zones, causing the Tyranids to momentarily slow their advance. The domes then exploded with such force that, for Jenkins, it was almost as powerful as the heaviest Imperial Titan cannons.
While the battle raged on, Klaus was in the rear with Dimitri, trying to contact the church to warn them of what was happening in their area. They finally managed to make contact.
"Here's the provisional HQ, over," came the response from the other end of the communicator.
"This is Medical Officer Klaus Romell, from the Ninth Medical Division of Krieg. We're creating a distraction; the Tyranids are advancing toward the church," Klaus explained while still hearing the gunfire.
"We've detected your coordinates and the hostiles. Who's in charge?" Klaus was going to mention Dimitri, but he gestured to those who were currently in combat.
"Imperial Guard soldier Jenkins said that's her name," Klaus replied.
"Is she still alive? She deserves a medal. Well, tell her she has orders to get to the top floor where there's a landing platform. Get up there and wait for reinforcements. Estimated time of arrival is three minutes, but it could be longer due to the fighting. Over." The transmission ended.
Klaus ran toward where Jenkins and Hazan were. Jenkins was still firing her rifle at Tyranids when she heard footsteps and turned to see Klaus, who had just arrived.
"Have you managed to make contact?" Jenkins asked.
"Yes, they asked for the one in charge, so I said it was you. So, you're in command, and the top priority is making sure you don't die," Klaus explained as he kept hearing the shots.
"Leader? I'm not even part of their army," Jenkins remarked.
"Maybe not, but you know more about these things than anyone here. So, you're in charge, and the first priority is ensuring your survival," Hazan said while reloading his rifle. When he fired it, a huge energy wall rose, nearly four meters high.
"That will buy us some time," Hazan commented as he changed the cartridge.
"Thanks, Hazan. I was running low on ammo," Kamala said through her communicator.
"Okay, everyone, it's time to head up to the platform. How long until the reinforcements arrive?" Jenkins asked.
"They said three minutes, but it could be longer due to the fighting," Klaus replied.
As they were going up, they encountered Dimitri, who still had his arm mostly regenerated, so he wasn't in great fighting shape, unlike his comrades.
"Which is your dominant hand?" Jenkins asked Dimitri.
"The one they didn't cut off, luckily, but I can't lift my rifle with one hand," Dimitri replied. Jenkins silently took out her Bolt Pistol and handed it to Dimitri. Both of them nodded, and they continued going up the elevator to the floor with the landing platform.
"How long will the barrier last?" Jenkins asked as the elevator moved.
"The indicator shows it's down to 20%, so it won't last much longer," Hazan replied.
While they were talking, they heard a roar followed by a minor tremor. This meant the door had been breached, and the Tyranids were starting to enter the building.
"Doesn't this supposed dystopian police station have any defense systems?" Dimitri questioned.
"I don't know; I've never been in one," Jenkins replied.
Soon, they reached the platform. It was large enough for them to take defensive positions, and the narrow hallway formed an ideal bottleneck for defense.
"Don't have any more barriers?" Jenkins asked.
"I'm out of barriers. Kamala?" Hazan looked at the mecha pilot, who was reloading her turret.
"I can't use my missiles unless you want to fall into the void. Klaus?" Kamala asked.
"I only have two lower shield generators; they won't last long," Klaus replied.
"How long will they last?" Jenkins asked.
"At most, five minutes, less if they take too much punishment," Klaus said.
"It's more than enough. Activate them when we start seeing Tyranids," Jenkins said as they all prepared for the defense.
While the space battle was taking place, a radar responsible for monitoring the Imperial ship activated. McMillan was informed about this and turned his attention to the Imperials.
"What do we have?" the Grand Admiral asked.
"The Imperial ship has ejected at least four capsules to the ground, a bit away from the epicenter of the battle," an officer reported as he checked the reports.
"We need an image of what they're going for."
"We're working on it; some probes were sent behind the capsules." In a few minutes, they had images of what they were observing.
"But what the hell…" McMillan, along with the human officers, looked in astonishment at an enormous black structure bristling with thousands of spines, and thousands of Tyranids emerging from it.
"Sir, the probe indicates the capsules fell about two kilometers from that area," the officer broke free from his stupor to give his report.
"Has Regent Tiamath landed yet?" the admiral inquired.
"Not yet, sir. Do you want me to put you in contact with her?" McMillan nodded.
Shortly, the regent appeared before him, wearing her battle armor and wielding a more modern rifle.
"What's going on?" the hologram asked.
"We've detected a strange structure from which these larger creatures are emerging, as well as capsules from the Imperials fell near the area," the admiral reported.
"I see, this takes priority. Contact the Sovereign and have them send at least four Copper men to my position, along with a special forces team," Tiamath ordered.
"Right away, over." McMillan ended the communication to issue those orders.
Tiamath was in the ship's armory, finishing her preparations alongside several batches of soldiers. When they were ready, they gave the signal, and they were teleported to the church. Once she finished inspecting her weapons, which included her new rifle, more like a heavy machine gun with greater firepower than a Bolter, she approved and was then teleported to what appeared to be a semi-rocky area. In the distance, they could see the formation she had been informed about. Behind her, two more lights appeared, revealing her Copper men, and alongside them, a special forces team. These soldiers wore armor similar to the Terminator armor of the Space Marines, but with camouflage and more tactical accessories. The Bolter they carried was much longer and equipped with a stock. These special forces soldiers had an image of a serpent encircling a planet on their shoulders, along with the Federation symbol on their chests.
"First and second team of the Jormungandr Serpents at your service," the captain, whose helmet bore the image of a serpent, said.
"You're from Fenrir, aren't you?" Tiamath asked.
"That's correct, Regent. We were born on Fenrir and served the Praetorian Thor until his demise," the captain replied.
"I hope you'll remain as loyal as you were to Thor," Tiamath commented. They performed a military salute, and she nodded in return.
As they were about to start moving, the Copper men examined the special forces soldiers carefully. Although their expressions were hidden, it was evident that they didn't trust these machines. The journey continued in silence and calm until they were almost near the area. However, the Copper men suddenly moved ahead.
"I knew we couldn't trust them!" one of the soldiers shouted, but the AIs deployed a shield when several projectiles hit them, causing no harm.
"Ambush!" Tiamath cried out, and indeed, Ultramarines emerged from various locations.
Tiamath thought they would attack her and her forces specifically, but they focused their fire on the Copper men. However, raising her weapon, she began firing at the Ultramarines. They sought cover quickly when they saw the power of her shots, while Tiamath and her troops did the same. In the air, four Space Marines with what looked like jetpacks landed near the Copper men. As they attempted to attack, the Copper men reacted, and one of them thrust a blade from their arm, resembling a copper knife, through an Astarte's armor. This took the Space Marines by surprise. Tiamath took advantage of their momentary shock and shot two of them dead, her bullets penetrating their armor.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" The Space Marines stopped shooting, and Tiamath's troops did the same. The Copper men positioned themselves beside her troops, weapons ready. Some of the Copper men had heavy guns, while others had plasma weapons. The Ultramarines stared at them. An Astarte in adorned armor approached.
"Are you the commissar of this regiment?" the Space Marine asked Tiamath.
"Excuse me?" she replied.
"Do you know that your soldiers are violating the Imperial edict, which states that no ordinary human can wear armor similar to that of the Astartes, and that they are using Abominable Intelligence? What do you have to say in your defense?" the Space Marine inquired.
"I'll just say that you're insane, Big Guy," one of the soldiers pointed his gun at him, but Tiamath silenced him with a gesture.
"I don't know what crazy idea is crossing your mind, but it's pretty obvious that we're not part of the Imperium; we're from the Terran Federation," Tiamath stated.
"So, not only are you violating the laws, but you're also lying to an Astarte. There's no choice; your verdict is death," the Space Marine said as he prepared to raise his Bolter. However, an attack came from nowhere, and the Space Marine was cut into four pieces with ease.
No one had seen the attack occur, but they realized that Tiamath was now holding a handle emanating a black Onyx plasma blade. The Space Marines opened fire, but one by one, the soldiers of the Federation tossed a grenade that created a miniature black hole, attracting all the Imperial troops to one point. Tiamath then threw another grenade, which generated a black domed field around them. The Space Marines inside moved in slow motion, as if they were in a time warp.
"Is this who they sent?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Perhaps, they might have been just an exploration party. Let's keep moving. Regain your ammunition; we'll leave the signal range before they return to normal," Tiamath ordered.
While they left, Ultramarines watched from a distance. Some of them had observed the event and overheard the conversation due to their enhanced hearing.
"Activate the servo-skulls; this is something our father might be interested in," the Ultramarines with the red helmet commented.
I hope you enjoyed the third chapter, I want to apologize again if you saw any errors in the writing or in some words, it is more than anything because I use an AI to translate it into English, but if anyone would like to help me with the translation please send me a PM thank you very much