The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The 28th Dance (Part 2)

Bahram dodged the moment the Warrior Bug raised its weapon arm to fire. The bullets slammed into the ground with the force of live rounds. One of the bugs struck an unlucky Guardsman nearby, instantly corroding his entire upper body, leaving only a skeleton. He didn't even have time to scream.

Firing as he advanced, Bahram charged towards the creature. The Warrior Bug swung its two weapon arms forward with lightning speed. Bahram spun around on his back foot, letting the weapons pass by his side. He could even see hundreds of tooth-like triangular bone plates arranged on the sharp bone blades, each one serrated and incredibly sharp.

Regaining his footing, he fired at the monster's eyes. The bolt rounds struck the bone armor, sparking. The Warrior Bug angrily spat out its foul maw and swung its curved arm forward again, then quickly back, trying to hook Bahram.

Bahram nimbly twisted away from the blade once more, and after a brief crouch, he slashed at the monster's leg with his sword.

The plasma weapon, Doomcleaver, instantly tore through the thick chitinous armor plate, cutting into the muscle beneath, forcing the Warrior Bug to stomp heavily to one side, its ankle claws digging deep into the ground.

Time slowed down. Bahram's mind was utterly calm. He tucked his knees under himself, sprang up, jumped onto the monster's back, slammed down hard, and quickly plunged his sword into the creature's braincase. Then, with a sweeping motion, he fired several shots from his pistol into the unprotected areas.

The Warrior Bug collapsed like a splayed-out tree. Its chitinous carapace cracked open, bright blood spilling from the fissures. Its roar faded, and it died.

Just then, the heavy clang of metal echoed from the entrance. The towering forms of Fortress Battle-Servitors appeared, forming a wall of steel and crushing the Tyranids swarming out of the spore cysts.

"Rikas!"

Hearing Bahram call his name, Rikas, who was using a flamer to burn the Tyranid spore cyst remnants on the bulkhead, turned and ran over.

"Yes, Captain!"

"You and your squad check out sector G6. See if there are any survivors. Report immediately if you find any!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Sir, the Soul Seeker reports that the breach has been contained."

"Good. Tell Bahram to stick close to the Serpent King. It will provide covering fire for the Soul Seeker."

"Yes, sir!"

The advantage of the human ships' rapid linear acceleration quickly became apparent. In less than half an hour, they had moved out of the Tyranids' attack range. But Sorshyan didn't stop there. He executed a sharp turn, and the fleet turned its bows towards the Tyranid hive fleet's outflanking tendril that was trying to encircle their right flank.

Of course, the Tyranid bio-ships were also very agile. With a collective turn, the ships that had been facing away from the Imperial vessels were now facing the enemy again, except for the large Devourer bio-ships with their three-lobed maws, which were moving too fast and aggressively to turn in time.

But the Imperial fleet made a subtle course correction, cutting across their flank at full speed.

The two sides exchanged intense fire once again, but since the outflanking tendril consisted mainly of smaller ships, it was blasted to pieces in less than twenty minutes.

This "peeling the eggshell" tactic was an idea Sorshyan had developed while commanding the Eldar fleet. However, human ships were not as maneuverable as Eldar ships, so they could only "peel" halfway. If they continued to engage, they would likely be entangled by the Tyranid ships and face a desperate, grueling battle.

"All ships, maintain course, accelerate to escape velocity, and release all void mines."

The human fleet passed straight through the wreckage of the Tyranid bio-ships at maximum speed. As they did so, launch bays opened, and black, urchin-like spheres were ejected, their indicator lights flashing a dangerous red.

The pursuing Tyranid bio-ships followed the human ships closely, but when they plunged into the minefield sown by the humans, bursts of fiery red instantly tore them apart or engulfed them.

"The overall speed of the Tyranid hive fleet has decreased by 9%, achieving the intended target. Rough estimates indicate a loss of 4.2 billion units of biomass, with only about 1.2 billion units recoverable. This will force it to prioritize consuming the nearest planet."

Listening to the Omnissiah's report, Sorshyan looked at the battle damage report. Although he didn't know what the Omnissiah's unit of measurement specifically referred to, he only needed to know that the Tyranids had suffered a "loss."

In the images from the long-range auspex, he could see the Tyranid bio-ships with their three-lobed maws already devouring the wreckage of their fallen brethren.

In total, 16 destroyers and frigates were lost in the operation. Two capital ships sustained some damage, but it did not affect their combat effectiveness. Overall, it was an acceptable outcome.

"It's a pity we didn't damage the Tyranid hive ship."

Sorshyan sighed and shook his head. By this time, the fleet had arrived at its destination, the garden world of Venosi III. The ships began to approach the spaceport, and numerous tractor ships began to guide them into port. At the same time, the forge ships that accompanied them extended connecting corridors to replenish ammunition and deliver repair materials to the warships.

After spending an hour arranging follow-up tasks, Sorshyan left the bridge and traveled via rapid transit to the flight deck, where he boarded his personal Stormbird and flew towards the planet's surface.

After passing through the atmosphere, a picturesque world appeared in the observation window. This world was even more pristine, or rather, cleaner, than a cardinal world. The entire planet consisted of a single continent, and the center of the continent was a small ocean. This "basin" structure showed obvious signs of artificial modification. According to the Administratum, the construction of this world was specially commissioned by the diocese to the Zhao-Akad continent-level construction team from the nearest forge world, and it took a lot of money and time to complete. Many large families and merchants had invested heavily in it, which is why the higher-ups reacted so strongly when Malakin proposed carrying out the exterminatus.

It was precisely because of this artificially sculpted terrain that the climate of the entire continent was almost entirely benign. Only at the northernmost end of the continent was there a mountain range stretching for more than four thousand kilometers, called the Holy Crown Mountains, with an average altitude of about six thousand meters. The climate there was relatively harsh, but it also had beautiful snow scenery. In the coastal area of the mountain range, there were also large bays and fjords, and many manors and sanatoriums were built on the mountains, relying on advanced technology to keep the interior warm while still being able to enjoy the snow scenery at any time.

Sorshyan's Stormbird was heading straight for the Holy Crown Mountains. At the highest point of the mountains, surrounding the peak at an altitude of more than nine thousand meters, was a series of magnificent buildings. At first glance, they looked a bit similar to the Imperial Palace of Terra, but upon closer inspection, they were much smaller in scale, and the architectural types and styles were also very different.

This complex of buildings was called the Snow Palace. According to the Administratum, it was indeed a "copy" of the Imperial Palace of Terra, but the people who drew up the design drawings had never actually been to distant Terra. Their only reference was an "ancient painting" that had been passed down countless times, and they made some modifications based on the shape of the palace in the painting, finally arriving at this thing.