It was the sixth day of the Tyranid invasion of the Recidious System.
In orbit around Hive World Avarax, a thunderhawk gunship detached from the massive Imperial Fleet and flew down towards the Central Hive. Inside the thunderhawk's cabin, Lieutenant Marcus Aurelius and Sergeant Titus, along with his two companions, were already geared up and ready.
A dozen minutes later, the thunderhawk gunship broke through the atmosphere, slowed down slightly, and then flew towards the upper regions of the Hive City. Looking out through the porthole, Marcus could see the upper levels of the Hive City already embroiled in war, and Night Lords swarming the sky. The Tyranid were accelerating their assault on all areas of the Hive City.
Lowering his head, Marcus once again checked his weapons and equipment. Although he had been through several life-or-death battles, this mission required passing through dangerous enemy-occupied territory, so Marcus was still a bit nervous.
Just as the thunderhawk had passed over the Hive City's spires and was descending towards the upper regions below, a piercing red alarm suddenly blared through the cabin and cockpit.
"Sergeant, what's going on!" Sergeant Titus immediately asked over the comms channel.
The urgent voice of the Tech Sergeant sounded in the comms channel. "Auspex detected strong biological signals! It's Biovore! They're rushing towards us!"
Upon hearing the Tech Sergeant's voice, everyone in the cabin's expressions changed, and they immediately looked out through the porthole. With their superhuman vision, everyone could clearly see three Biovore, surrounded by a large swarm of Night Lords, rapidly approaching the thunderhawk thousands of meters away in the sky.
Biovore are a type of aerial combat unit specifically hatched by the Tyranid to establish air superiority, predators specialized in hunting down enemy aircraft. As soon as the Tech Sergeant finished speaking, missiles from beneath the thunderhawk gunship's wings launched under the control of the weapon operator, whistling towards the Biovore. However, all the missiles were detonated prematurely by the Night Lords around the Biovore using their flesh and blood, failing to harm the Biovore at the center of the Tyranid.
At the same time, the heavy bolter gun turrets and laser cannon arrays located throughout the thunderhawk's fuselage also began to fire fiercely. Large numbers of Night Lords were torn apart by the bolter and lasers, their Tyranid blood falling from the sky.
But everyone in the cabin still had grave expressions. Because of the self-sacrificing protection of these cannon fodder units, the Biovore in the center of the Tyranid remained completely unharmed, continuing to rush towards the thunderhawk gunship.
"Fasten yourselves! Be ready for an emergency landing at any moment!" Sergeant Titus immediately ordered.
Everyone in the cabin then used the nearby brackets to firmly secure themselves to their seats.
The next second, several symbiotic tendril electric worms, live weapons from the Biovore, struck the thunderhawk's fuselage at a tricky angle, avoiding its fierce firepower. With the explosion of the electric worms, a strong bio-electric pulse immediately swept through various parts of the thunderhawk gunship's fuselage.
After stubbornly operating for another dozen seconds, the thunderhawk's engine assembly finally succumbed to the impact of the electric pulse and stalled. The entire thunderhawk lost power and could only glide through the air. And those Night Lords hovering around the thunderhawk, seeing that it had lost power, immediately swarmed it like piranhas.
In just a few breaths, dozens of Night Lords covered the thunderhawk's external armor. They continuously attacked the thunderhawk with their sharp fangs and claws, as well as corrosive weapons.
"Sergeant, prepare for an emergency landing!" The Tech Sergeant's voice came through the comms channel.
Then, under the Tech Sergeant's control, the thunderhawk began to laboriously turn its fuselage and flew towards a towering spire.
"Boom!"
As the thunderhawk directly shattered the spire with its sturdy fuselage, more than half of the Night Lords clinging to its fuselage were cleared off. Seizing this opportunity, the thunderhawk began to dive rapidly, attempting to shake off the Tyranid behind it.
But at a location unseen by those on the thunderhawk, a Biovore had quietly arrived in the shadow beneath the thunderhawk. Since the auspex had been temporarily paralyzed by the bio-electric pulse, no one had noticed this Biovore that had already drawn close.
The next second, the Biovore opened its hideous maw, extending its symbiotic weapon from within. Immediately, a large amount of corrosive acid liquid surged out, impacting the thunderhawk's belly in one go. The acid, evolved by the Tyranid over billions of years, immediately corroded a large section of the thunderhawk's armor.
Following that, the Biovore's back immediately ejected a large number of spikes, piercing into the corroded and weakened armor, further tearing the thunderhawk's tough armor. Combined with the scythe-like bone spikes on the Biovore's tail, a gap was immediately torn open in the thunderhawk's belly armor.
Unfortunately, this gap was directly beneath Marcus's seat...
As a large amount of air rushed in, the securing device of Marcus's seat was rapidly corroded by the acid sprayed by the Biovore. Before Marcus could react, accompanied by the sound of metal breaking, Marcus, along with the seat beneath him, fell out of the gap.
"Shit!" Marcus, in freefall from tens of thousands of meters in the sky, couldn't help but curse.
The Biovore below the thunderhawk did not attack Marcus; from the Hive Mind's perspective, there was no need for it to act, as the target would simply splat on its own.
During the rapid descent, Marcus first quickly unfastened his restraints with mind power, then adjusted his posture. Next, Marcus, disregarding the possibility of being discovered, quickly opened his system panel and summoned a Night Lords using the illustration interface.
At Marcus's command, this Night Lords spread its wing membranes, carried Marcus on its back, then quickly moved away from the thunderhawk and Biovore above, disappearing into the surrounding spires.
Ordering the Night Lords to stop behind a hidden spire, Marcus quickly recalled the Night Lords. Standing on the spire, Marcus leaned out and looked towards the sky in the distance. In just these short dozen seconds, the thunderhawk and that Biovore had disappeared, leaving only the sky full of Night Lords.
After silently cursing, Marcus pulled back, lest he be discovered by the Night Lords and the other two Biovore. Kicking open the heavy iron door in front of him, Marcus began to quickly descend along the long staircase. From now on, Marcus would have to fight alone in the dangerous Hive City.
While rapidly descending, Marcus opened his communicator. "This is Lieutenant Marcus Aurelius, calling Sergeant Titus, calling Sergeant Titus!"
After several calls, there was only dead silence from the communicator. Seeing that he couldn't contact Sergeant Titus and his two companions for the time being, Marcus had no choice but to keep the communicator on, ready to receive a call at any time.
Next, Marcus opened his auspex and checked the map of the Central Hive.