Marcus's expression hardened the moment he realized who his enemies were—Tyranids.
Known across the galaxy as the Great Devourer, the Tyranids were a nightmare made flesh. Guided by the terrifying unity of the Hive Mind, these predators from beyond the stars consumed every scrap of biomass in their path. Worlds targeted by them almost invariably fell, drowned beneath endless swarms.
Only a handful of planets—like Baal, home of the Blood Angels; Macragge, the bastion of the Ultramarines; or certain vital Adeptus Mechanicus forge worlds—had ever managed to hold out against them. And even then, only with the might of the Imperium's vast armies and at staggering cost.
Kadaku, a jungle world in the Recidious System, was not so fortunate. It held no such importance in the grand designs of the Imperium. Marcus knew that, even with Roboute Guilliman—the Avenging Son and Lord of the Ultramarines—leading the Indomitus Crusade, the fate of the system boiled down to two grim options: be overrun after a token resistance, or be deliberately abandoned by the Imperium in order to conserve resources. Either way, the end result was the same—consumption by the Tyranids.
He remembered the events of the game Astartes 2. Even after the protagonist Titus thwarted the Thousand Sons sorcerer Imura, the Tyranids in the Recidious System never retreated. Instead, they planted colossal Capillary Towers on Kadaku, draining the planet of all life, with even Bio-Titans entering the fray. That marked the height of the invasion.
The thought made Marcus's head pound. "Why," he grumbled inwardly, "do other people transmigrate into easier worlds like Resident Evil, while I get thrown straight into a Warhammer hell-difficulty nightmare? Hell I'd take even Worm over this" Worse still, he faced the Tyranids—the species most likely to win in a galactic free-for-all.
Shaking his head, he forced his thoughts back to the present and glanced at his system panel. At the bottom was a gift-box icon marked with a red dot.
"Must be the 'newbie items,'" he thought.
Opening it, a flash of white light revealed a vial of glowing blue serum.
Super-Soldier Serum (Impure Version, No Side Effects)
Source: Marvel Universe
Effect 1: Enhances the user's physical abilities to the peak of human potential without altering their biology.
Effect 2: Grants the passive skill Combat Instinct.
"Use it?" the system prompted.
Marcus didn't hesitate. On a battlefield like this, hesitation meant death. He selected "Yes." The serum dissolved into a white light that sank into his body.
Without the pain typical of transformation, Marcus could clearly feel the changes. His bones lengthened, pushing his height from 1.7 meters to nearly 1.9. Muscles thickened, reshaping his physique into a perfectly balanced, powerful frame. The Cadian carapace armor he'd scavenged now strained at the seams.
But the real treasure was Combat Instinct. The system explained that it allowed him to react instinctively in battle, avoid danger before it struck, and fight with the skill of a hardened veteran—despite having no prior combat experience. With his new physique, he was still no match for an Astartes, but he now rivaled the Imperium's elite mortal Kasrkin.
His thoughts were cut short by a bellow from an Astra Militarum officer in the trench, plasma pistol in hand:
"Incoming Tyranids! Prepare for close combat! No retreat—Cadia stands!"
"Sir yes, sir!" the others roared, firing their lasguns without pause.
Snapping back to reality, Marcus cautiously peeked above the muddy trench, wary of the Fleshborer beetles and spore mines that could strike at any moment.
Fifty meters ahead, the swarm surged—Hormagaunts and Termagants at the front, with Tyranid Warriors interspersed as command nodes. Behind them, Spore Beasts launched corrosive explosives into the air, drifting toward Imperial lines.
Even with his newfound strength, Marcus knew one thing: in this battle, a single mistake meant being torn apart and fed to the Great Devourer.