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banshee-king · 7 years ago

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The Siege of Brazen Pinnacle:

Hive Fleet Tatzelwurm has struck Bleakshore, homeworld of the Brazen Krakens. While the chapter fleet engages the Tyranid ships in orbit, the majority of the Space Marines fight the xenos on the planet’s surface. They cannot possibly hope to defend every island on the ocean world, yet the Brazen Pinnacle, their mighty fortress-monastery, provides a chance of survival. The Tyranids are cunning however, and the Space Marines do not know the extent of the threat of which they face.

“Squad Vidos, focus fire on the Carnifexes, Squad Akkon, find those Venomthropes” barked Marro Sollund over the vox-comm.

From his elevated position on the inner wall, Chapter Master Sollund could see the entire battle unfolding. Hundreds of Tyranids assaulted the battlements of the Brazen Pinnacle, the fortress-monastery of the Brazen Krakens. The Tyranids were mainly comprised of Hormagaunts and Termagants, relatively little beasts, but amidst their numbers were other far deadlier creatures. The swarm was hidden under a thick green cloud produced by Venomthropes, worse however were the Carnifexes fast approaching under the cover of the gas cloud.

“Squads Gelux and Omak, move to reinforce the eastern flank” ordered Sollund to the assault marines.

A wall of Chimera transporters, lined up tip to tail, formed the first barricade against the Tyranids, and behind them were the Aegis defence lines. Both hastily constructed barricades were maned by the Bleakshore Marines, the planetary defence force. The Bleakshore Marines had done themselves proud against the Tyranids so far. Yet despite their exemplary performance, a single Carnifex could easily break through both lines, so it was imperative that the larger creatures be brought down before reaching the Chimeras.

Behind these barricade were the inner and outer walls of the Brazen Pinnacle. The outer wall stood 20 metres tall, whilst the inner wall stood 30 metres above that. Both were carved into the mountain side, and were wide enough for tank convoys to drive left and right along its length. Sollund had once thought Brazen Pinnacle was unassailable, yet the speed and ease at which the Tyranids had cleared the surrounding mine fields now led him to wonder if they even had enough ammunition to last forever.

“Chapter Master, a large Gargoyle swarm is approaching from the west” informed one of Sollund’s Honour Guard. Sollund looked over to the western flank and indeed there were Gargoyles flanking around, their wings could be seen flapping in and out of the gas cloud as they failed to remain hidden.

“Squad Torrin, deal with Gargoyles to west” instructed Sollund to the tactical marines.

Gargoyles were just gaunts with wings, they were a minor threat at best, yet left unchecked they could kill the serfs and servitors who were carrying ammunition to wherever it was needed. Sollund knew such pests would be unable to take out the fortified weapons batteries, or the Basilisk and Whirlwind artillery tanks on the western flank. Yet if the guns ran out of ammunition, then the Tyranids would quickly overwhelm them.

Sollund surveyed the battlefield and listened to the vox-comm came in of the Tyranids movements. For some unknown reason, they had decided to primarily strike form the north, with minor measures taken to flank the Space Marines from the east and west. Perhaps the mountains really did limit mobility as had been hoped, but Sollund had expected something… more from the Tyranids. Were they really just dumb animals? They were a threat so large in size and scale, yet so far, they had shown very little tactical skill beyond throwing countless hordes of gaunts at the walls. Yet just as Sollund thought that, the situation took a turn for the worse.

The void shields above the fortress-monastery flickered and vanished, followed by silence from the entrenched guns of the weapons batteries all along in inner and outer walls. Sollund started in disbelief as the thunderous sound of battle seemed to dim and grow quiet. The missile silos had stopped firing, the laser cannons had stopped shooting. The fortress-monastery’s power had been utterly cut.

“Techmarines, what is the meaning of this power failure?” demanded Sollund over the vox-comm. He waited a moment for a response, and when it came, Sollund could hear gunshots and alien screeching over the vox.

“The Generatorum has fallen” said Techmarine Invillo. “Genestealers have entered the monastery, they’ve broken through security! The lower tunnels are infested, there are hundreds of them!”

“What happened to the Master of the Forge?” asked Sollund.

“Unknown. He was in the Generatorum when it was lost” said Invillo. Sollund heard the sound of explosions through the vox-comm. “I have awakened the dreadnoughts and we are moving to retake the Generatorum.”

“See that it is done, we need the void shields back online immediately.”

As the Chapter Master said those words he looked upwards and saw the consequences of the loss of the Generatorum. The sky was filled with falling comets, or to be more precise, falling spore pods. Without the void shields or the automated defence systems, the spore pods began to rain upon the battlements of the Brazen Pinnacle. Some pods exploded in a shower of acid and bile. Others began to disgorge multitudes of Tyranid organisms.

“Assault squads, intercept the Tyranids form the spore pods” ordered Sollund.

Sollund was about to issue another order but he noticed the ground shaking beneath him. It wasn’t the trembling from the artillery, or any other weapons firing, he’d been used to that for the last couple hours. Sollund stood cautiously, wondering if the entire fortress-monastery was about to explode under his feet.

Abruptly the floor cracked underneath him, and Sollund leapt back as the ceramite floor gave way and metal and rock burst into the air. Sollund crawled backwards as a monstrous creature wormed its way out of the ground before him. The beast was like nothing he’d ever seen, it was neither a Trygon nor a Hive Tyrant, it was something… different.

“Defend the Chapter Master” shouted one of the honour guard, and five gold helmed Space Marines charged forth, power weapons drawn and ready.

The honour guard of the Brazen Krakens were their greatest soldiers, the most veteran and skilled of their members, and in the time it took the Tyranid monster to cut them down, Marro Sollund managed to stand up and take a glimpse of the unfolding battlefield. It was horrific to watch so many battle brothers fall to the foul xenos, honourable souls cut down by mindless animals. Yet in only a few seconds, the Tyranid ambusher had dealt with the honour guard and was now upon Sollund. The creature was definitely no mere Hive Tyrant. Each of its four arms ended in three bladed claws, and its feet ended with four talons each, rather than the usual hooves that all other Tyranids possessed. The monster’s tail was tipped with a scythe-like blade that it whipped at Sollund, whilst the monster also used its mouth to snap and bite.

Standing three times taller than a Space Marines, and with eight limbs capable of attacking, Sollund felt like he was battling a tornado of blades and claws. The Chapter Master had only his sword to defend himself, and while the Kraken Blade was a revered relic of the Chapter, Sollund felt woefully outmatched. Yet as he fought off the monster, Sollund could only think of what was happening to his brothers and citizens. A living tide of chitin and claws was falling upon the Bleakshore Marines, Carnifexes crashed through their ranks as Hormagaunts cut down all in their path. The Chimera barricade had been toughly breached, and the Aegis defence lines were being swarmed. The Tyranids had timed their attack with perfect precision, and Sollund knew he did not have enough time to issue enough orders to save any of the Bleakshore Marines whilst simultaneously fighting off the monster currently assailing him.

With a flick of its tail, the Tyranid aberration gouged a chunk out of Sollund’s armour, leaving a scar across his chest plate that almost cut through to his flesh. Unsatisfied with the blow, the Tyranid redoubled its attacks.

On the western flank Gargoyles swooped and shot their living weapons in the hundreds. Amongst their numbers Sollund had been shocked to see a flying Hive Tyrant leading the lesser fiends and taking out tank after tank with its monstrous bladed limbs. Sollund could only imagine that the Hive Tyrant’s body had been hidden behind by the swarm of smaller Gargoyles, if he had known that such a powerful beast was leading the flanking force, he’d have sent more to deal with the threat. But it was too late now, the flying beasts were reinforced by more warrior organisms dropped from spore pods, and as one unified force they overwhelmed the western defenders. Sollund could only listen over the vox-comm as Squad Torrin was slaughtered one by one, and the Chapter Master realised he had sent those men to their deaths.

A whirlwind of blows chipped away at the Kraken Blade, the Tyranid’s claws were coated in a psychic layer that ripped through Adamantium like paper. Sollund wanted to be helping his brothers, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from his assailant for a moment.

At the back of his mind, he knew to the east that several Trygons had burst from the ground and were running havoc behind the inner wall. The tunnels they created allowed yet more Tyranids to pour forth and bring battle to the Space Marines on every level. What had once been a tactical defence had been turned into a desperate fight for survival by the Tyranids’ perfectly synchronised attack, but then again, Sollund should not have expected anything less from an alien hive mind. They had struck from every angle simultaneously, and Sollund was pained that he did not physically have enough time to say enough words to command all his marines. They relied upon him, yet Sollund was too busy trying to save himself.

Sollund could only deflect his attacker’s blows for so long, the paint of his armour was being shredded, pipes and power cables were being cut. His backpack suffered a glancing hit, he had minutes at most before his armour ran out of power. After that he would be dead, yet Sollund could not stop thinking of his brothers.

Whilst the 6th and 9th Companies held the northern inner and outer walls, the 8th Company had been held back in a flexible position to counter any threats. Meanwhile the 3rd Company held the western outer wall, and the 5th Company held the eastern outer wall against Tyranid invaders. It was a solid plan against Orks, or the forces of Chaos, but those enemies could not control hordes with the precision of the single-minded Tyranids. Over the vox-comms came a flood of reports and cries for help. The Tyranids had suddenly unleashed a massive attack from both the western and eastern approaches. The 3rd Company might have been able to hold the western outer wall, if not for the Gargoyles and other creatures that were attacking their rear. Same for the 5th Company, whilst they were distracted by the Trygons, the Tyranids arriving from the east had taken minimal casualties and were climbing up the outer wall with negligible opposition.

As Sollund tried to dodge an attack from the creature’s razor-sharp maw, the monster whipped its tail around and caught his ankle. Cutting through the armour, the scythe-like blade severed Sollund’s left foot form his leg, and the Chapter Master fell backwards to the floor. This is it, Sollund thought, he was going to die. He had gotten over half his chapter killed, lost their homeworld, lost their fortress-monastery, his legacy was to be one of failure. The Tyranid beast jumped atop Sollund who tried in a futile attempt to wrestle with the monster. Sollund grabbed two of the fiend’s arms, but the alien had two more with which to strike. With what could only be described as spiteful satisfaction, the Tyranid grabbed Sollund’s arms at the shoulder, and ripped them from their sockets.

Sollund cried out in pain, he was utterly defenceless, but the Tyranid wasn’t done. The monster came back down again, this time with the intent to utterly tear Sollund into shreds. The first clawed hand cut deep into the Chapter Master’s left leg, the second severed his right. Yet before the Tyranid could decapitate the Chapter Master and rip the guts form his body, a missile blasted into the Tyranid’s head. Though only catching the chitin plates that protected the monster, it momentarily tore the creature’s attention away from Sollund. The Chapter Master could not see what was happening from where he lay, but he did see a lascannon blast hit the monster’s chest. Next plasma shots and boltgun rounds began to rain down upon the creature’s body, yet that was what they were exactly like. Droplets of rain hitting hard earth.

Sollund watched as the plasma bolts dispersed mere inches away from the monster’s actual body, and the boltgun rounds exploded before actually making contact. Just like how the creature’s claws were wrapped in some kind of psychic field, its entire body was also protected by an invisible force. A second missile hit the monster, followed by a second lascannon blast, both failing to cause any damage. The Tyranid did not move from its position however. It neither finished Sollund off nor did it charge the enemies attacking it. Instead the monster just stood there, weathering the barrage of fire it was taking. Sollund looked upon the creature’s face, he stared at its eyes, and somehow he read that the monster’s mind was elsewhere. A Tyranid’s mind being preoccupied could only mean one thing however, the monster was not just a deadly combatant, it was directing the swarm.

Before Sollund saw what the leader-beast had done however, a dozen Space Marines with jump packs slammed into it. The Chapter Master wanted to see what happened next, but two powerful hands grabbed the back of his armour and began to pull him away. Sollund’s wounds were beginning to close due to his Space Marine implants, but he had lost a lot of blood. The adrenaline that had kept him alive was now making him exhausted, yet the Chapter Master fought to stay awake. He had to watch the final moments of his world. The assault marines keeping the leader-beast occupied were being slaughtered, and Sollund did not feel worthy of their deaths. As he watched them die, Sollund was dragged into the rear of some kind of flying transport. His vision was becoming more blurred with every second, but Sollund watched the last Brazen Kraken fall, a sight he would never ever forget.

“Chief Librarian, I have the Chapter Master” said the Space Marine who dragged Sollund into the transport. To his shame, Sollund could not recognise the voice.

“Good. All ships, take off. We have saved all that we can” said Chief Librarian Koden as he moved over to heal Sollund’s wounds. “Stormravens, cover the Thunderhawk gunships as we escape, and watch out for the flying Hive Tyrant, I have seen that it will try to intervene.”

Sollund wondered how many brothers Koden had saved. To his knowledge, the Chief Librarian had been in space, combating the Hive Fleet itself. He had not heard over the vox-comm of Koden’s arrival. Sollund also wondered what had happened to Invillo and the dreadnoughts who tried to retake the Generatorum. Given that the power had not returned, Sollund guessed that they failed, their bodies were probably lying somewhere deep in the fortress-monastery. How many of his battle brother laid face down in the ground, defeated, and shamed? The day had been a disgrace to the Emperor’s name, and the Primarch’s.

“I am sorry my friend” said Koden to Sollund, “but your wounds are too deep for cybernetics, you will have to be placed inside a dreadnought.”

The Chapter Master wanted to respond, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t think of anything to say, and unconsciousness was fast upon him. Only a third of the chapter remained, most of their relics and weapons had been lost. Yet between the Chapter Master and the Chief Librarian, at least their history would be preserved. Though defeated, Sollund took the small comfort that at least all his knowledge of their traditions and legends had been saved. That, at the very least, was something that the Tyranids had not taken from them. Bleakshore was lost, the Tyranids would consume the planet before any reinforcements arrived, but the chapter had survived, and while they lived, the Brazen Krakens would be able to take revenge on the foul xenos.

#warhammer #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #tyranids #space marines #2700 words

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