The xenos that threaten the Imperium are not limited to the green-skinned orks; they are but one of humanity's disasters. Besides these greenskin monsters, there are other alien lifeforms invading the Imperium. On one world, for example, Rhodes's armies encountered a kind of beetle-man.
They stood between 2.5 and 3 meters tall, their bodies sheathed in thick exoskeletons. Their physical prowess was extraordinarily strong—comparable to that of the original Space Marines. Their hardened chitin could even withstand the fire of bolters; ordinary las-weapons were virtually useless against them. These terrifying aliens were invading three Imperial worlds.
By the time Rhodes's Unyielding Crusade Fleet arrived, the local garrisons were locked in bitter combat. They had sent pleas for help to the Imperium years ago, but due to the Imperium's abysmal communications, even now their cries had not been received.
"Lord Rhodes, these wicked xenos look like savage insects, yet they've developed something akin to a fleet," Titus said.
He had served in the Deathwatch for many years and had never seen such a peculiar lifeform. In terms of individual combat capability, they were no weaker than original Space Marines, and their chitinous shells could offer protection comparable to power armor. They made him think of one of the Imperium's old foes—the Tyranids—but these beetle-men possessed only a few black colossal warships.
Compared with the Tyranids' diverse bioforms, their terrifying hive ships, and their gargantuan bioships, these beetle-men were vastly inferior.
"You should count yourself lucky, Titus—lucky that we encountered them first and not the Tyranids," Rhodes said from the ship's command deck.
These beetle-men had tremendous innate physical strength, and their exoskeletons could shrug off human bolters.
How monstrous was that?
Fortunately, his army had arrived in time; otherwise the garrison on the planet would already have been annihilated.
If such creatures fell into the Tyranids' clutches, their chitin would be exactly what the bugs favored most. Once that hard carapace was incorporated into Tyranid strains, then aside from our Pedanium-based weaponry and melta weapons, other artillery and lasguns would be little more than a tickle.
"Damn these xenos—Primarch, we should destroy them quickly," Tyberos said.
By the Forty-Second Millennium the Imperium would deal with some xenos, having revised its strictly human-supremacist doctrine. Certain sapient species, provided they were peace-loving and posed no threat to humanity's homeworlds, could coexist with humans.
But these ferocious beetle-men were clearly not among them, for these vicious creatures had even begun to devour the corpses of the human soldiers they defeated.
How cruel and evil is that? Humanity has roamed the galaxy for so many years and has encountered countless strange species, yet cannibalistic ones are few—the Tyranids, and now these xenos before them!
"Of course we'll exterminate them. We cannot allow the Tyranids to obtain their biological DNA. Send out the fleet to annihilate them—but let a few escape. We'll track them to their homeworld," Rhodes said.
These beetle-men were far too easy for the Tyranids to absorb genetically, so every precaution had to be taken.
With the exception of humans and the Necrons, virtually all other species could not perform true faster-than-light travel. Travel across the void required the Warp, and humanity were masters at plying the Warp—after all, humans are a psychic species.
"I understand! Genefather, I'll have all battle-brothers prepare to attack and completely eliminate these vile xenos," said Avares, another of Rhodes's deputy legion commanders.
"Fight with composure. I'll be watching you from the ship. Remember: exterminating xenos is your secondary objective; safeguarding your own lives and your brothers' lives is the first principle," Rhodes said.
"Thank you for your care, Genefather!" The legion commanders bowed to Rhodes, then departed together to deploy the forces and prepare for a planetary assault.
This time, aside from the Cadian deputy legion commander, Castellan Creed, Rhodes had brought practically all his other deputy legion commanders.
Former Space Sharks Chapter Master Tyberos had followed Rhodes for many years and rendered great service. Rhodes had granted him super-beast augmentation and bestowed upon him a mass-produced small Zoiger. He also elevated him to deputy legion commander, putting him in command of a 100,000-strong Space Marine force.
Countless massive drop pods were launched from Rhodes's flagship. The accompanying Gloriana–class warships also deployed large numbers of Space Marine drop pods.
At the same time, innumerable Imperial destroyers, battle barges, and cruisers formed up, training their Pedanium beam cannons on the enemy vessels.
On this expedition, some Imperial battle barges and cruisers had been equipped with Rhodes's Pedanium beam weaponry. Its power was no less than that of lances, with an astonishing reload speed—far superior to macro-cannons.
Boom!
Boom!
Imperial ships opened fire first on the beetle-men's fleet. In addition to Pedanium beam cannons there were lance weapons and macro-cannons from smaller escorts.
The beetle-men's battleships could not compare with Imperial battle barges in defensive capability. Although they could travel in the Warp, it was mostly shallow blind jumps, with not even the most basic plotted routes. Their Gellar fields were rudimentary at best, and they had nothing like void shields. Once hit, their ships erupted in violent explosions. They quickly turned their guns and launched acidic bio-cannon bombs.
But their bio-bombs were immediately blocked by Imperial void shields, the impacts bled off into the Warp.
To destroy an Imperial ship, you had to completely overload or disable its void shield arrays; otherwise you would never land a hit.
Of course, you could attempt a boarding action, but it was obvious these beetle-men lacked advanced psychic teleportation or technological phase teleporters. They merely sent small bioships charging at Rhodes's fleet, and these isolated landing craft were reduced to cosmic dust in moments under Imperial fire.
Under Rhodes's command, the Imperial fleet displayed overwhelming superiority.
Though the beetle-men's fleet was vast, they were far behind the Imperium in technology and tactics. Their bioships, while sturdy, were blasted to cinders one after another by the Imperium's advanced Pedanium beams and lances.
Imperial cruisers and battle barges, under Rhodes's direction, slowly encircled the enemy, forming a tight web of fire. Any beetle-men vessel that tried to approach was mercilessly destroyed.
The beetle-men's acidic bio-bombs, despite their corrosiveness, were useless against Imperial void shields; all their attacks were effectively vented into the Warp.
Now, some of the Imperium's main battleships were not only fitted with void shields but also with Rhodes's energy shields—double insurance. Those energy shields hadn't even been activated yet.
"Lord Rhodes, ninety percent of the enemy fleet has been destroyed. Only remnants remain," reported the Imperial Navy commander overseeing the fleet action.
It was a great victory. The new Primarch had brought the Imperium a monumental triumph, and these mortals were honored to have joined this great war.
"Order the fleets to continue destroying the enemy—but let one ship escape. We'll use it to track their homeworld and wipe these hateful xenos out completely," Rhodes said.
"By your command, great Warmaster of the Imperium! Your order is our will."
…
Meanwhile, Rhodes's Space Marines landed successfully on the beetle-men–controlled planet via drop pods. Outfitted with the most advanced weapons and armor, they displayed incomparable combat strength against the enemy ground forces. Though the beetle-men's chitinous carapace was tough, it afforded insufficient protection against melta weapons and Pedanium munitions, and they were blasted to pieces.
The fighting on the planet's surface was fierce. The Space Marines advanced like a tide of steel, and the beetle-men's resistance gradually collapsed under the onslaught.
"For the great Genefather—fight, warriors!" Titus enlarged himself into a 60-meter-tall giant, brandished his power sword, charged into the throng of beetle-men, and began his slaughter.
"Carry out Lord Rhodes's will—exterminate these damned xenos," Tyberos roared, cleaving a beetle-man in half with his massive power axe.
The battle on the planet became one-sided. As large numbers of Imperial troops made planetfall, the outcome was no longer in doubt. The beetle-men began to rout.
From the ship's command deck, Rhodes monitored every development on the battlefield closely. Under his command, the Imperial forces ran like a well-oiled machine, every order executed with precision.
At Rhodes's order, a lone beetle-men ship fled in disarray. Pursuing it, a small Pedan craft flown by several of Rhodes's gene-sons tucked in close behind.
These warriors would locate the beetle-men's homeworld and transmit the coordinates to Rhodes's fleet to ensure these xenos were utterly exterminated.