Chapter 6: Tarsis Ultra

"More Tyranids incoming!" An Ultramarine Intercessor shouted as he took up his boltgun and fired upon the swarm.

"Hold them back!" A Deathwatch member shouted as he was fighting off a Hormagant with his chainsword amidst the gunfire and hordes of enemies. The Termagants were suppressing them with their weapon fire. More 'gants were coming from the hallways.

"There's too many! Leapers are coming!" A Fireborn Marine shouted before lighting the hallway of the hive ship up with flame with his heavy flamer. "Retreat!"

It was chaos aboard the hive ship. That was to be expected when you infiltrated it to kill the last Norn Queen. It had been quite a fight for Maladictus and his squad. They were ordered to aid the Ultramarines and the Mortifactors against the hive ships. They had success in the campaign, but due to the versatility of the Hive Fleet and the stupidity of some men, they were eventually forced into a fight like this. They only needed to wait for the others to kill the last Norn queen. But as they were being backed into a corner, it seemed that they were doomed to die.

"Any information on Captain Ventris?" A Mortifactor sergeant asked before being pierced by a limb from a leaper that appeared in a blur. That leaper then met a hundred Bolter rounds. They were losing men faster than they could count. 

"The horde seems to be thinning." A Fireborn Marine spoke as he saw lesser and lesser 'gants arrive. Then it stopped. The tyranids stopped coming at them. A few seconds ago, the place was filled with bolter fire, but now it was silent.

"Is it over?" Another Deathwatch member asked as he crept closer to the bodies on the ground, bolter still ready to fire. Then, as swift as a custodian's reaction speed, his head got torn off by a large foe that now showed itself.

Everyone quickly fired their weapons at the beast. The beasts slew many of them with great speeds as well as dodging the bullets. The large beast killed them with its large and sharp talons. One of the Ultramarines charged at it with his chainsword but it dodged as the blade almost reached its carapace, and it proceeded to bite off the marine's head. The crunch echoed throughout the halls as the marine limped. Then, the body fell.

"Full auto!" An Ultramarine shouted as he set his bolter to full auto. And within a second, tons of bolter rounds exited the gun as fast as they could hear them. The Ultramarine was using both his arms to keep a steady aim at the beast, despite the overwhelming force of the recoil. However, it wasn't enough, as the beast used its psychic powers to blast the bolter away from him and destroy his head by making it explode into pieces.

"It's killing us all one by one!" A Mortifactor shouted before joining his brothers in death as one of the talons slashed his armor and pierced it to reach his two hearts before retracting within a second to attack the others.

"Everyone go! I'll hold it off!" Maladictus turned his head away from the beast and stared at his captain in disagreement. Captain Aderius volunteered to fight it and for the others to leave. He had with him his heavy flamer and power sword.

"Yes, sir." An Ultramarine shouted before telling the others to leave. "Let's go!"

Maladictus was torn between helping his captain or joining his brothers. To face the beast one-on-one would mean certain death. But both of them knew this, and he wasn't doing it to kill it but to stall for time. On the other hand, he did not want to see the captain die.

"What are you waiting for, Lieutenant?!" Captain Aderius shouted as he blasted the beast with his heavy flamer, getting Maladictus' attention. "Go with the others!"

"But what about you?"

"Leave me! Go! Time is wasting!" With that, Maladictus was forced to leave his captain in the hands of the beast. 

As Aderius blasted the beast with his heavy flamer, it roared at him. Its vicious teeth showed itself to Aderius. The captain remained steadfast as the stream continued to meet the carapace of the beast. But it was like stopping an unstoppable force, and eventually, it used its psychic powers to destroy the flamer, rendering it useless in the fight. As soon as it stopped, Aderius rolled forward to avoid the incoming talon headed straight for his head.

He then grabbed his power sword from his waist and went to attack its chest from behind, as it was larger than him. But it was a mere scratch to it, and it quickly turned to stab him with its talons and stuck him to the wall, his power sword getting discarded. It hit his left shoulder, and it quickly retracted its talon. The beast then tried to kill him with one final attack, but he was able to dodge, and the wall got destroyed rather than Aderius.

He grabbed a bolt pistol on the ground and shot at the beast, but it was useless as it ricocheted off of it. Seeing that it was a good distraction, he just went and shot it just to stall for time. He dodged and attacked the beast after it went to strike him.

He managed to hold up against the beast's terrifying speed. But that ended when he heard more tyranids coming, and within a millisecond of him being distracted, his chest was pierced by a talon. Then another part of his chest was stabbed. And before long, the beast tore him into two.

Maladictus saw all of it happen. They were far away, but with his eyesight, he saw it all happen. And before the beast could attack them, it attacked the other Tyranids. Then it was a slaughter as Tyranid fought Tyranid. Did they do it?

"They did it." An Ultramarine told them. The others looked at him as if he were saying something heretical. "Captain Ventris did it. The Norn Queen is dead."

All of them breathed a sigh of relief and a smile of victory. But not all of them were grateful. Maladictus watched as the body of his captain was lost in the swarm of Tyranids in front of them. Is it really all over?

Maladictus fell to the ground of the hive ship as the exhaustion was too great. It had all been a blur. From one situation to another. All too fast. All too quick to comprehend. Many of them died in this fight. Only so few remained. Many brothers sacrificed their lives for this victory. And the feeling of victory left once they had to leave the ship now.

"Brother-Captain, are you okay?" A Fireborn marine that was staring at Maladictus asked. He had the realization that, by rank, he was the new captain now. He was now captain of the 1st Company of the Fireborn Destroyers. 

 "Yes, Brother Gur'a. I am okay. Now, we need to leave this place and meet up with the Captain." Maladictus hid his true thoughts and lied. Again, all too fast.

The memory stuck to him and kept playing on repeat in his mind. Every day and every night, it stuck to him and never disappeared. How many cycles had it been since Captain Aderius died? Who knew? But he remembered everything like it was yesterday.

Now was not the time to think of this, though. Maladictus still had a job to do.

He looked up, the sands of Baal flowing through the place like a breeze of air, and saw the last batch of Valkyries and Thunderhawks arrive. One of those ships was their Chapter Master, Odarius. And by the looks of it, a ceremony was going to begin and a probable War Council meeting.