"Command, this is Hawkeye Squadron," the Captain relayed the recent encounter and the horrifying sight he had witnessed in a concise report. A brief silence followed on the comms channel.
After a moment, a new command came through the communicator: "Command acknowledged. Given the severity of the situation, the Fleet has decided to proceed with an orbital strike. One member is to remain behind to guide the strike. The rest of the squadron is to withdraw immediately. Repeat, withdraw immediately!"
"Affirmative!" the Captain agreed without hesitation. However, a flicker of doubt immediately crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but ask, "Didn't we establish that Ultramarines cannot conduct orbital bombardment on the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar?"
"Mass indiscriminate orbital bombardment and a targeted orbital strike are two different things. The former is an Exterminatus Order; the latter is a reasonable tactical action," the superior officer's voice stated over the comms. "Are you taking the assignment? If not, I'll pass the mission to another squadron."
"Executing! Executing! Hawkeye Squadron, standby!" the Captain quickly affirmed, unwilling to let this merit-earning mission go to anyone else.
Cutting communications with Command, the Captain took a deep breath and switched to the internal channel: "We have orders. The rest of you continue to withdraw. I'm heading back to guide the Fleet's orbital strike. Over."
This announcement immediately caused an uproar within the team.
"Captain, there's no way! Let me take your place!" Viper's voice was the first to shout.
"Yes, Captain, you can't be the one to do something this dangerous!" another team member urgently seconded.
"Enough, enough with the melodrama! Do you think I don't know this is all for the merit points?" the Captain snapped back good-naturedly. "If you really want to see me, fly back fast. You'll see me in a bit. Over."
But then Viper raised a very pointed suspicion: "Captain, did they really name you specifically for this mission?"
The implication was clear: he suspected the Captain was trying to hog the merit points.
"Get back, all of you! That's an order!"
With that, he ignored the chaos in the channel and violently shoved the joystick to the left. His fighter jet, like an arrow released from the bow, carved a graceful arc in the sky, bidding farewell to his retreating teammates. Alone and resolute, he flew back toward the all-consuming abyss.
As he closed the distance, the sight inside the giant pit became clearer. He had only seen a glimpse before, but now he saw it clearly. It was not a fully formed creature, but a monstrous entity growing at an alarming rate. Countless Tyranid biomass, debris, and even entire Tyranid creatures were being sucked into the chasm, where they were aggregating and being reshaped in a twisted and terrifying fashion into an unimaginable colossal form.
"So what the hell is that?" the Captain muttered to himself, looking at the gradually defined outline on his screen. "A Brood Saint?"
Only a Tyranid Titan-class unit, perhaps a Hive Colossus, could achieve such size and possess such terrifying power.
"Hawkeye Squadron, respond if you receive. Continue to monitor the target's movements and report its growth rate and any anomalies. The precise orbital strike will arrive in one hour. Repeat, one hour," Command's voice returned over the communicator just then.
"Received, Command. Hawkeye understands." the Captain responded.
He flew his jet, maintaining a relatively safe distance, circling the giant pit while his onboard sensors frantically gathered every available piece of information. On the screen, the outline of the massive creature became clearer, its size visibly expanding by the second.
Half an hour passed. The Captain was focused on the data streams when he suddenly noticed several tiny black dots appearing on the horizon nearby. At first, he thought more Tyranids were coming, but as they got closer, he realized something was wrong.
The black dots grew larger, revealing their true nature: various Imperial-standard vehicles, including Chimera APCs, half-track armored cars, and even wheeled assault vehicles. Even more astonishingly, these vehicles were absolutely covered with Helldivers, who were brandishing their weapons as if heading to a grand celebration.
Hawkeye Captain: ???
He quickly reported to Command: "Command, I'm seeing a large number of friendly forces approaching the pit area, the quantity is massive. Respond, please."
"Command acknowledged," the slightly helpless voice of the Command post replied over the channel. "Ignore them. They are here to act as Orbital Bombardment Close-Range Observers. Over."
The Captain was stunned. Orbital Bombardment Close-Range Observers?
Meanwhile, the Helldiver players on the ground erupted in deafening cheers.
"Woohoo, we're here! That pit ahead must be the destination, right?" one player excitedly pointed at the giant chasm in the distance.
"Alright, everyone stop!" The only non-player in the team, a grim-faced middle-aged Commissar, tried hard to raise his voice to stop them. "You cannot advance any further! If you get hit by the shockwave and high heat from the orbital bombardment, you will die!"
The Commissar himself felt that the phrase "you will die" held absolutely no deterrent effect on these fanatical Helldivers. But as a Commissar, it was his duty to say it.
To his surprise, the Helldivers actually stopped! The sound of the vehicle engines gradually subsided, and they did not continue charging toward the pit. The Commissar was bewildered. Why did his words suddenly work?
Had these men finally realized the value of life?
One of them jumped off the roof of a vehicle and waved his hand: "Ah, relax, Commissar. We definitely won't get too close. What if we mess up the orbital strike? We haven't tallied our merit points yet!"
The Commissar's mouth twitched. Well, his words hadn't worked at all. They stopped not because they feared death, but because they feared disrupting the orbital strike and causing the mission to fail. These men were truly—unbelievable.
As the Captain high in the sky and the Helldiver players on the ground waited with tense excitement, time crawled by. The air was thick with nervous energy.
Finally, a tiny pinprick of light suddenly flared in the heavens above, then expanded with incredible speed, turning into a blinding white column of light! The beam tore through the atmosphere, descending from the sky with irresistible power, like an act of divine punishment!
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—!
The deafening roar instantly drowned out everything. The ground shook violently, as if seized by an invisible giant hand. The white column of light struck the center of the deep pit with pinpoint accuracy. In an instant, the entire world seemed swallowed by the sheer energy.
The light was so blinding that everyone had to squint, and some were temporarily blinded. Immediately following, a terrifying shockwave expanded at light speed, leveling everything around it. A massive wave of heat swept over them, blurring the air into an indistinct haze.
Everyone present, from the Hawkeye Captain high above to the Helldivers on the ground, was rendered speechless. They stared blankly at the scene before them, which resembled both creation and destruction.
In the deepest heart of the light, they could almost see the nascent Hive Colossus twisting and disintegrating in agony. Against such pure energy, even the most massive biological entity was utterly powerless.