The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"They're here!!!!!"

Upon receiving Bahram's command, Jacob, already prepared, activated the Incinerating Disintegration Gun. Instantly, the focused thermal ray pierced through the Executioner's head, then expanded into a blazing red giant, the intense heat causing the defensive wall to show signs of melting.

Slaying a behemoth greatly boosted the morale of the warriors on the wall, who erupted in excited roars.

However, bad news always comes in succession. Just as everyone was cheering, the sky above them suddenly began to flicker, followed by a dimming of the light.

This meant one thing—

"Company Commander, the void shield is overloaded!"

At that moment, a screaming, sulfurous-hot bio-plasma projectile accurately struck the defensive wall, instantly detonating like a newborn star on the battlefield, tearing a large hole in the middle of the steel wall and annihilating hundreds of soldiers on and around it.

As the intense light gradually faded from everyone's retinas, the silhouette of a massive beast was illuminated in the poisonous fog. It was larger than ordinary Executioners, with four enormous scythe-like arms and a short, deformed tail. The exoskeleton on its shoulders protruded forward, and its head seemed fused with its body between its shoulders. Its mouth, filled with long teeth, was wide open in a continuous roar, and within its maw, a deadly projectile enveloped in a bio-electrical field was gradually taking shape, accompanied by the dim light of sulfurous fire.

"Screamer-Killer!!!"

Bahram immediately recognized this as the most lethal variant of the Tyranid Executioner, which had caused significant casualties to the Ultramarines during the Battle of Macragge, leading to its high-priority marking by the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Ordo Xenos.

These Screamer-Killers differed slightly from those encountered by the Imperium. They bore the distinct characteristics of this unique hive fleet, namely the sulfurous, foul-smelling bio-fire, making them even more deadly.

"Take it down!"

A distinct, sharp sound rang out as two railgun sniper shots precisely fired two Dragonfire rounds into the Screamer-Killer's open mouth.

The next second, the monster's neck exploded, and a hole was blown out of the side of its head. The Dragonfire rounds contained a pocket of superheated, high-pressure gas that, upon detonation, formed a thermal flow that not only caused massive damage but also disrupted the flow and operation of energy such as plasma.

Under everyone's gaze, the Screamer-Killer's neck twisted, its head hanging almost ninety degrees against its chest, before it slowly collapsed.

However, the breach it created remained, and due to the void shield's overload, the terrifying silhouettes of gargoyles began to appear in the sky. They numbered in the hundreds, disregarding everything as they swooped down on Outpost Seven while the human air force struggled to deal with the Harridans and Crone.

Whizz, whizz, whizz—

Barrages of airburst rockets were fired into the sky. This time, the firepower was extremely dense, and soon, entire swathes of Tyranid biological remains began to fall.

But such firepower was not sustainable, as the Biovores fired off all their airburst rockets at once, and then began to move into the Ghost's cockpit to await evacuation.

"Hold the line!"

Hayes was currently controlling a heavy bolter set up. It had been blown off the defensive wall, and he had specifically asked the soldiers to check it. Discovering it was still usable, several men had carried it up.

The bolter ammunition was borrowed from a nearby company; they wouldn't be able to use it all anyway.

"Kill!!!!"

Hayes pulled the trigger, and bolter rounds spat out, first turning a Warrior into minced meat, then blasting apart a group of Hormagaunts. The violent vibrations traveled along his arms to his shoulders, but he felt an unprecedented sense of excitement. No wonder the soldiers especially liked heavy machine guns; the feedback from this kind of shooting was indeed different from that of rifles.

But suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder. Hayes even twisted a little.

"Wait—"

"Hayes, it's me."

Hearing this voice, Hayes immediately released the trigger. It was the regiment's adjutant.

"Sir, what are you—"

"Orders from above have come down. It's time for you to withdraw."

"Withdraw? Are we really withdrawing?"

"This place can't be defended anymore. Look at this poisonous smoke; it's about to engulf us."

Hayes turned his head and saw that the yellowish poisonous smoke had indeed risen to within fifty meters of the defensive wall without him realizing it.

"What about the others in the regiment?"

"You're the only ones left. Let's go. I brought two sets of Tarantula sentry guns; they should be able to hold out for a while."

Receiving this reply, Hayes quickly blew his whistle.

"Assemble! Assemble!"

The men in the company quickly gathered, and then he ordered a dozen men to assist in deploying the Tarantula sentry guns on the wall, while the others received the news of the retreat with unease. Visibly, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the entire company left the position they had defended for nearly twenty days. Upon arriving behind the wall, there were running soldiers everywhere. Hayes arranged for the company to take some water and food to replenish their strength on the way while contacting the regimental headquarters to inquire about the transportation and timing. When he received the news that they would be evacuated by the Space Marines' Stormbird in half an hour, even Hayes was taken aback, then felt somewhat moved. Obviously, in the commander's mind, the status of the mortal soldiers was no lower than that of the Astartes.

Just as Hayes was leading his men towards the landing zone, the sounds of battle from the defensive wall attracted his attention again, and his position and height allowed him to see the battle there.

The Star Knights' tenth company formed a long wall of silver-gray, blocking the Tyranids trying to surge out of the defensive wall, while the squad centered around Bahram stubbornly blocked the breach blown open by the Screamer-Killer. They faced a completely frenzied Tyranid swarm, with a group of Warriors at the front, their deathspitters and devourers covering their advance.

He personally saw a Space Marine on the defensive wall kick over a Warrior climbing the wall using a corpse ladder, only for a Winged Warrior to swoop down from the sky and sever the warrior's sword arm from the side with a bone blade. But even so, the warrior retaliated with a swift reaction, blasting the attacker's head with three bolter rounds.

But as the Space Marine turned around, he was bisected at the waist by the claws of an Executioner, spraying a fountain of blood.

"So... they are the rearguard."

Hayes muttered to himself as he watched the distance. Suddenly, a memory that had been dormant in his mind for a long time resurfaced—

During training, he also yearned to become a Space Marine. He once firmly believed that they were the bravest, most fearless, and most powerful of all, but the cruel war gradually blurred his former aspirations.

But also in the war, he recalled all of this.

"Maybe we should fight alongside them, instead of..."

A strong wind, accompanied by an air current, swept over Hayes's head. He looked up and saw an unfamiliar warplane, painted entirely black, streaking past with markings he didn't recognize. Then, the warplane rushed towards the defensive wall and began to fiercely fire at the breach, lowering its altitude.