'I can't get rid of it!' swore Morten as the beast matched his wild manoeuvrings.
'It's firing!' shouted Pelaur.
'Breaking left!' answered Morten, rolling hard and kicking in the afterburner. He felt his flight suit expand and his heartbeat race.
A bolt of crackling energy spat below him and he spun the plane round in a screaming, tight turn, chopping the throttle and almost stalling the engine.
The creature tried to match his turn, but was too slow.
Morten rolled inverted and pulled in behind the pulsing organism, lining it up in his sights and firing.
Bolts from the lascannon shredded the creature and it exploded in a bloody spray.
Listening to the vox-chatter, he heard screams and imprecations from the rest of the aircraft. The tyranids were slaughtering them, but he couldn't think about that just now. Not while there was a battle still to be fought. But as he scanned the space before him, he could see they'd blown a gap. The Thunderhawk was streaking through it, the blue glare of its plasma engines bright against the darkness of the massive hive ship's stony carapace.
Then he saw a giant, winged creature with spitting, electrical mandibles powering after the Space Marine gunship. Arcs of crackling energies lashed the Thunderhawk again and again, and Morten could see it wouldn't survive much longer.
His flight suit was soaked with perspiration and he knew he was at the edge of exhaustion, but he pushed out the engines to follow the Thunderhawk.
Uriel felt the gunship lurch, and leaping streaks of blue energy sparked from the fuselage. The pilot threw them in a series of wild turns, but Thunderhawks had never been designed for dogfights and Uriel knew it was only a matter of time before whatever was pursuing them was able to destroy them. Weapons and ammo packs tumbled from the lockers above him.
He pushed clear of the restraint harness and rose to his feet, turning to retrieve the weapon Inquisitor Kryptman had given him. To lose it now would end their mission before it had begun. He staggered as another impact smashed into the gunship. Flames erupted from a shattered fuel line and warning klaxons screamed.
Yet another hammer-blow struck the rear quarter of the Thunderhawk and one of the vision ports blew out with a decompressive boom.
Rushing air howled from the gunship, and Uriel felt his rage growing. They could not fail. Not after coming so close.
But as further impacts rocked the Thunderhawk, he knew they could not survive another.
Captain Owen Morten pushed the Fury as fast as it could go. His fighter streaked past the tyranid organism pummelling the Thunderhawk as he armed the last of his missiles.
A flickering blue glow illuminated the interior of the Fury as bolts of lightning lashed from the mandibles of the creature. Fully six times the size of the Fury, Morten knew that only a direct hit on its most vulnerable location would destroy it.
'Captain!' shouted Pelaur, 'ease back on the throttle or we won't have enough fuel to get back to the planet.'
'We're not going back.' said Morten calmly as he neatly slotted the Fury between the giant tyranid beast and the Thunderhawk.
'What the hell are you doing?' screamed Pelaur.
'What needs to be done.' answered Morten, cutting the engines and spinning the Fury on its axis until it had turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
The crackling maw of the tyranid beast filled his canopy. Giant arcs of lighting enveloped the Fury. Sparks and flames filled the cockpit.
Captain Morten pulled the trigger, sending his last missile straight down the monster's throat.
Uriel felt a huge detonation behind the gunship, and awaited the inevitable destruction of the Thunderhawk. But the fatal blow never landed and the Thunderhawk levelled out, weaving through the hail of spores that gathered around the monstrous hive ship.
He made his way up the central aisle of the gunship towards the cockpit. All he could see ahead was the craggy cliff of the hive ship's hide. Inquisitor Kryptman had shown them the most likely locations of possible entry points, and he scanned the grey moonscape before him for one.
The aerial armada had got them through and now it was time to make good on that sacrifice.
'There!' he said, pointing to a rippling, fleshy orifice on the side of the gargantuan creature, organic waste venting through it into space by peristaltic motion of flesh. A ribbed sphincter muscle expanded as more waste was expelled and Uriel knew they had found what they had come for.
'Hurry! If what Inquisitor Kryptman says is true, it will close in seconds!'
The pilot deftly guided the gunship forward, increasing power to the engines as the fleshy orifice began to contract.
Only as they approached did Uriel realise how vast it was, fully sixty metres in diameter.
Before it could close completely, the Thunderhawk sped into the ribbed, fleshy tunnel beyond.
Truly they were in the belly of the beast, thought Uriel as the sphincter vent closed and the faint light of the stars was snuffed out.
Learchus swept his chainsword through the neck of yet another tyranid creature, his blade clogged with alien meat and gristle. His bolter had long since run out of shells and he fought two-handed with his blade.
Clotted blood caked his shoulder where a screeching monster twice the height of a man had gained the walls and torn through his armour. The wall was a charnel house of alien and human dead. Cracked pillars and columns clustered at the wall's edge were hung with gory spatters of blood and entrails that spilled over the icy ground, making it treacherous underfoot. Learchus fought for balance with every step he took.
Major Satria fought alongside him, stabbing with his bayonet and firing with his lasgun whenever he had the chance to reload. Beside him, Fabricator Montante fought with desperation and courage, if not skill. Learchus had already saved his life on numerous occasions and though it was foolish of Montante to be here, he was forced to admire his bravery.
'Warriors of Ultramar hold fast!' bellowed Learchus.
Drifting spores exploded amongst the battling warriors, but they refused to give way. He kicked out at a screeching hormagaunt as it scrabbled over the lip of the wall, sending its shattered skull spinning to the heaving mass of aliens below.
Over the deafening clash of battle at the wall, Learchus heard the roar of guns behind him and risked a glance over his shoulder to see who was shooting. The few remaining Hydra flak tanks were firing eastwards and his hearts skipped a beat as he saw the impenetrable black cloud of gargoyles sweeping down the length of the valley.
'Guilliman save us...' whispered Learchus as he took in the numbers of enemy now closing on their rear.
'Astador!' he yelled over the vox.
'I see them!' replied the Chaplain.
The Hydras punched holes in the swarm, but Learchus could see the sheer scale of the attack would defeat them.
Sebastien Montante fought with a strength and courage he never knew he possessed. His arms ached from the fighting, but he was filled with elation at finally having proven himself worthy of the mantle of leadership of this world. He ducked behind a fluted pillar as he reached for a fresh energy cell for his lasgun. A Space Marine fell beside him, a smoking crater blasted in his armour where his chest had been.
Sebastien hastily reloaded and spun around the pillar, opening up on a swarm of scuttling creatures with wide, webbed hands circling behind Learchus and Major Satria.
He felled three with a single burst of full auto and crippled a fourth as a giant shadow reared over him.
Sebastien spun and raised his rifle. A lashing, spined whip hacked his gun in two and spun him from his feet. He scrambled upright, using the pillar for support and fumbled for his sabre as the huge warrior organism towered above him. Its bony carapace was brightly patterned with crimson streaks and its hissing jaws seemed to leer at him as the writhing whips on the end of its upper limb lashed out again.
Sebastien screamed as the razor-edged tendril gouged his flesh, binding him to the pillar as it ti
ghtened. The monster's claws reached out towards him...
Then Learchus was there, hacking through the fleshy lash with his sword and spinning inside the monster's guard. Its claws closed around his body as he stabbed his blade through its hard, chitinous plates. It screamed and gouged great holes in Learchus's armour.
Sebastien struggled to free himself, but gave up as the talons embedded in the whip's length continued to bite deep into his flesh.
Learchus roared as he finally drove his sword through the beast's throat and Major Satria rushed over to help.
A black shadow passed overhead and Sebastien saw a teeming multitude of creatures descend on the defenders at the wall. The carnage was terrible as men were lifted up and clawed to death by this new foe. As the resistance at the wall began to disintegrate, Major Satria unsheathed his knife.
'Soon have you free, my lord.' he said, moving around the back of the pillar.
Sebastien nodded, in too much pain to reply.
Then he saw a massive set of ridged claws hammer into the rampart and a vast, gurgling beast haul its incredible bulk over the wall. A flock of creatures, red and black, with the same webbed fists as those he'd killed, scuttled from the folds of its flesh and raced towards them.
'Major...' he croaked, too quietly to be heard.
The beasts paused, raising their bizarre looking hands, as though they were waving at him and the ridiculousness of the thought almost made him want to laugh.
Their fists expanded, as though filling with air and suddenly dozens of sharp spines blasted from their hands and slashed towards him.
He screamed as he felt them penetrate his flesh. How many he didn't know, all he could feel was pain and fire racing around his body. He sagged against the barbed alien cord binding him to the pillar, his body pierced by dozens of long organic spines. His head sagged on his neck and he saw a spreading pool of blood expanding around his boots.
He heard someone shout his name, but everything was growing dim and he couldn't make out who.
Then everything went black and consciousness slipped away.
Uriel climbed down from the battered Thunderhawk and stepped onto the soft, spongy flesh of the hive ship's interior. Inquisitor Kryptman's weapon was stored in a holster at his hip. It didn't fit exactly, but was close enough not to matter.
A diffuse green light lit up the ribbed chamber they found themselves in, its vastness filled with pungent fumes and knee-deep organic effluent. The stench was indescribable and Uriel turned down his olfactory auto-senses before his disgust overwhelmed him.
He waved forward the rest of his warriors, Pasanius taking the lead with the blue flame of his flamer burning brightly in the rich atmosphere of the hive ship. Uriel felt motion around his boots and saw grotesque, beetle-like creatures scuttling across the ribbed walls of the chamber, feasting on the waste embedded there.
They were no threat and he ignored them as they pushed deeper into the chamber. A pulsing rumble thumped from the walls like a gigantic heartbeat, or a series of heartbeats. Kryptman had said that a hive ship was a massive agglomeration of creatures blended into one gestalt beast that formed the over-mind.
'This place is cursed.' said Brother Pelantar, moving up to take a flanking position, his heavy bolter slung low and ready to fire. Alvarax took up the same position on the opposite flank.
'You might be right.' agreed Uriel, remembering the depths of Pavonis where he had fought the Bringer of Darkness and how evil echoes of past horrors could saturate a place with their power.
Brother Damias moved to the centre of the group, reading from a specially modified auspex Inquisitor Kryptman had furnished him with. Its blue light reflected from the base of his helm, its soft chiming loud in the warm chamber.
Hissing gusts of steam vented from slitted orifices and a tremor ran through the floor of the chamber as the walls rippled with motion. Uriel saw the scurrying organisms speed into fleshy caverns set in the depths of the wall and said, 'Come on, let us be about our business. I do not believe we should linger in this place.'
With Pasanius leading the way, the Deathwatch moved off into the depths of the hive ship.
Snowdog sprinted down the stone stairs of the medicae building as the sound of alarm bells rang throughout the facility. Sisters of the Order Hospitaller hurried through the building, directing those wounded men who could walk towards the upper levels. Others carried stretchers or boxes of medical equipment.
He skidded to the bottom level, finding the vestibule thronged with nurses as they guided those without their sight through the armoured door at the base of the stairs. Snowdog could almost taste the panic in the air.
'What's going on?' he demanded.
No one answered him, too wrapped up in their own fear to reply. He pushed his way through the crowds towards the main wards, finding many more wounded men being chivvied to their feet by tearful sisters. Straight away he could see that there were far too many wounded for them to cope with.
As he realised this, he saw Sister Joaniel marching towards him.
'You!' she yelled, 'come here!'
He made his way along the ward, dodging wounded men as they limped towards the main doors.
'What's going on?' he asked again.
'We've received the evacuation order.' said Joaniel desperately. 'You need to get these men out to safety. The front line is about to fall.'
'What? But it's less than half a kilometre from here!'
'I know, that's why we can't waste any time. I need your help.'
'My help? What do you think I can do?'
Joaniel gripped Snowdog's arms and said, 'The medicae facility is built against the rock face of the valley's southern wall. There is an entrance to the caves on the upper levels that lead further up the valley.'
'And?'
'And I want you to lead these people out of here to safety.' explained Joaniel.
'What? I just got them here!'
'I don't care, just do it.' snapped Joaniel.
'Okay, okay.' said Snowdog. What about you? What are you gonna be doing?'
'I'm going to be making sure that my patients get out of this building alive.'
Oozing slime dripped from the ceiling, hissing as droplets pattered against the shoulder guards of the Deathwatch. The fleshy passageways of the hive ship were a cornucopia of biological horrors, fleshy folds of muscle and grisde lining every wall and suppurating pools of digestive juices filling every footprint they left. Tiny slave organisms hurried along every passageway, ignoring the Space Marines as they pushed deeper into the body of the beast.
The omnipresent rumble drifted from every orifice and the noise of biological processes was thick in the air.
Uriel could feel a nascent claustrophobia as the walls of the ribbed passage contracted in time with the ramble, expanding
again as though they were in some great breathing organ. Steaming jets of liquid sprayed them as they passed from the passageway into a wide, necrotic chamber of crackling gristle and pulped meat.
Row upon row of ruptured egg sacs and niches with cancerous organic pipes hanging inert within them lined the walls of the chamber from floor to ceiling.
'What is this place?' asked Henghast.
'They slept here.' said Damias, sweeping his softly chiming auspex around. 'They slept away the years while they travelled to Tarsis Ultra from wherever they came from.'
Uriel saw Damias was right as he spotted a tyranid warrior organism in one of the niches, its flesh withered and dead. Its four arms hung limply at is side, its bony head slumped over its shoulder.
A sudden hissing motion rippled through the walls, a greenish glow building from the smoke that drifted at ankle height. At the far end of the chamber, a fleshy fold of bone lifted aside and a wash of stinking chemicals spilled into the chamber carrying a tide of screeching tyranid creatures.
'Captain!' yelled Pasanius as he bathed them in flames.
Alvarax and Pelantar braced themselves and sprayed the creatur
es with shells from their heavy bolters. Uriel fired into the mass of aliens as a host of the ventricle valve doors rippled open and yet more beasts poured into the chamber.
A giant beast bounded towards them, its armoured carapace low and armoured like a scorpion. It bounded towards Jagatun, who ducked and slashed its soft underbelly with his razor-edged tulwar. Looping organs spilled from the wound.
Henghast howled and slashed his power sword through its body, dragging Jagatun to his feet while firing his bolter with his free hand. Pasanius fell back, each step accompanied by a spray of liquid fire into knots of screeching aliens.
Uriel blazed away at the creatures as they poured from the walls to assail them. He didn't know how many beasts the hive ship had at its disposal, but he knew they could not afford to find out.
'Deathwatch, fall back!' he ordered.
Alvarax and Pelantar backed away, firing as they went and closing on Uriel.
'Brother Damias!' yelled Uriel. 'Which way?'
Damias was blood-streaked, his power fist coated in alien gore. He consulted the auspex and said, This way.'
He set off through an oval hole in the wall as Uriel called, 'Everyone through here!'
Henghast dived through the hole, followed by Jagatun. The roar of heavy bolters covered them before Pelantar ducked into the gap. Uriel pushed Pasanius through and shouted, 'Alvarax! Come on, we are leaving!'
Alvarax raked his fire over the attacking beasts, his aim sure. Dozens of aliens fell, blown apart by his sanctified shells.
Then the ground opened up beneath him and he was gone, sucked into the depths of the ship.
Uriel shouted, 'Alvarax!' and moved to go to his battle-brother's aid, but a strong hand gripped him and hauled him back.
'He's gone.' yelled Pasanius, 'Come on!'
Uriel nodded and pushed into the close confines of the new passageway, feeling his way by touch rather than sight. He heard an oozing sound behind him as muscular contractions pulled the passage way wider to allow more of their pursuers to chase them. Pasanius pushed him ahead and turned to fill the passageway with flames. Screeching howls followed them as aliens burned. The fleshy passage shuddered in sympathy with their pain and Uriel was suddenly reminded of something Kryptman had told him before they left Tarsis Ultra: 'As you penetrate deeper into the ship, its nervous system will become more sophisticated. It will feel pain the closer you get to its centre.'
Warhammer - Ultramarines 02 - Warriors Of Ultramar (McNeill, Graham) Page 31