The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“Their equipment standards even exceed those of the founding chapter.”

The Space Wolf spoke, his gaze sweeping over the nearby squads of Tenth Company warriors, before settling on Ricas and the melta disintegrator he was holding.

“There are also many things here that, at a glance, you can tell don't fall within the scope of legitimate Imperial weaponry. Some things are hard to explain.”

Nurus said calmly:

“Chapter Master Sorshyan has already given the okay. They purchased some special equipment from the squats.”

“Squats? You mean that group of short, stocky people who are always doing business and mining, those suspected xenos?”

“The Imperium has no definitive conclusion regarding the nature of the squats. The Ordo Xenos also has disagreements. They can't be called xenos, at least not yet.”

“But a Chapter buying weapons not approved by the Adeptus Mechanicus from a controversial, non-Imperial power... it doesn't seem normal no matter how you look at it. The person who dared to make such a decision has a lot of nerve.”

“That's not something we should be considering. We only do what's within our purview.”

Suddenly, the eyes behind Nurus's helmet narrowed slightly. The Space Wolf Uleson hissed:

“It seems the Tyranids have also found a way to deal with phosphor weapons.”

At this time, Bakhram also noticed the abnormality. Logically, the first target of the phosphor weapons should be the Hive Tyrant, but even as the entire wall was being melted, it remained standing in the surging phosphor live-fire, as did its guards.

Then, Bakhram discovered the situation. The Tyrant Guards were surrounded by visible psychic auras, and the armor on their backs was slightly open, revealing pulsing brain tissue.

Twelve Tyrant Guards formed a solid psychic barrier, blocking the live-fire that could burn almost all solid matter. This was also the only weakness of phosphor weapons: they had almost no effect on non-physical energy.

“Specialized psychic guards, huh.”

Immediately afterward, the Tyrant raised its head and let out a provocative roar. Four Neurothropes emerged from the spreading poison mist, their swollen brains immediately glowing, with intense psychic auras surrounding their floating bodies.

With a crack, the surging psychic energy first gathered together in the form of lightning, becoming a shockwave upon landing. The tide from the Warp quickly engulfed the rolling live-fire, opening a safe path.

Amidst the Hive Tyrant's roar, a massive number of Warrior bugs led smaller creatures into the gap.

But the next second, the leading Warrior bugs were blasted to pieces by a storm of las-fire, plasma, and heavy bolter rounds.

“Concentrate fire on the Warrior bugs first! Plasma cannons, take out those Neurothropes!”

Bakhram directed the company to use concentrated fire for suppressive fire, while also mobilizing heavy weapons to attack the Neurothropes first. However, relying on the psychic barrier opened by the Tyrant Guards on the ground, they were not afraid of long-range fire at all, and instead accelerated the speed of extinguishing the phosphor fire.

“If the Deathwatch weren't here, I could use grey髓 to slay the Tyrant.”

Looking at the Neurotropes standing still under long-range fire, Bakhram subconsciously glanced at Nurus and the others, who were also trying to shoot at the Tyranids.

“With outsiders present, it's true that nothing is easy.”

Just then, an unexpected scene appeared. The Tyranid Tyrant slightly raised its head, seeming to see something, then let out a low roar. Immediately afterward, it actually retreated, along with the Tyrant Guards and the Neurotropes in mid-air.

Before long, they had all disappeared into the rolling poison mist.

“Hmm?”

Without the Tyrant's command, the front-line swarm suddenly became somewhat chaotic, and the live-fire, which had been extinguished a lot, began to rage again, rapidly expanding with the “combustion aid” of Tyranid biomass.

But Bakhram was somewhat puzzled, then he raised his head and saw the silhouette of an aircraft vaguely passing through the dense clouds in the sky. It looked like a Storm Eagle.

“Could it be the Chapter Master?”

“You're pretty smart, knowing I'm here.”

Standing behind the open hatch of the Storm Eagle, Sorshyan looked down at the rolling poison mist. The thick fog made it difficult for even him to see clearly what was below, but he could clearly feel the psychic agitation belonging to the Tyranid swarm.

As the Storm Eagle's engines roared, the sky was also filled with the screeching of Tyranid flying creatures.

“Alright, I won't continue playing with you.”

Closing the hatch, Sorshyan returned to the cabin. Only Amnak was here now, sitting in his seat, gently wiping the sword in his hand with yellow silk.

“Amnak, in the past, did you, or rather, did any of you, ever learn about anything outside the galaxy?”

Hearing Sorshyan's question, Amnak raised his head, tilted his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

“Your question is a bit beyond the scope.”

“How so? I've always been curious, does the Warp only belong to this side of the galaxy, or does it cover a wider area?”

“I have no way to answer you this question.”

“Why?”

“Let me put it this way, I'm like a fish in the sea. Every time I surface, I see the same continent, maybe just in a different direction. But if you ask me how big the sea is, or how many rivers it intersects with, I can't answer, because I didn't have that concept at the time. And now that I'm on land, I can only know how big the land boundary is, and to know how big the sea is, I might have to fly into the sky.”

“Then how do you view creatures like the Tyranids? I can sense that they are related to the Warp. Even their gestalt consciousness is essentially a psychic structure, just more special and more powerful. If there are life forms outside the galaxy that can use psychic powers, does that mean the scope of the Warp is by no means limited to the galaxy?”

“Perhaps that's possible.”

Amnak paused, looked at Sorshyan, and suddenly revealed a knowing expression.

“It seems you once had the idea of leaving the galaxy?”

Sorshyan neither admitted nor denied it.

“But the Tyranids' performance made you realize that outside the galaxy is by no means a pure land, and may even be a more dangerous area, and you can't truly escape the gaze and manipulation of those gods.”

“I'm just asking you about your opinion on the Tyranids. What's the point of saying all this extra stuff?”

Amnak raised an eyebrow with a smile.

“Their origins are by no means simple. The logic of normal life is to proliferate, and eating and reproduction are just processes. But the Tyranids' seemingly simple life structure violates this logic. Their life logic is eating, and proliferation is a process. This shows that they are essentially not life, but a group of organic machines with a fixed degree of setting. Behind these bugs, I suspect there is something more dangerous hidden.”