The Imperium's Frontier: Section Forty-Four-Hunter and Prey

The Lasguns' scorching red light cut across the street. Countless beams flashed through the black streets of the Lower Hive, crimson bolts pouring continuously from Lasgun muzzles as the retreating Planetary Defense Force soldiers stumbled backward, wildly pulling their triggers.

They fled toward the giant archway at the end of the enclosed street. Some crawled and rolled in their desperate attempt to escape. Behind them, Lasgun beams and Tyranid bio-projectiles shot toward the fleeing soldiers. Those struck tumbled to the ground, where Flesh-Eater Beetles devoured them amid their screams. At the other end of the street, Genestealer cultists armed with Imperial weapons advanced alongside their filthy blood kin. Roaring Tyranid creatures charged from the far side of the street, pouring out of tunnel arches as carapace-clad Tyranid Warbeasts led the charge, trampling fleeing Guardsmen beneath their feet.

A monstrosity burst from beneath the archway at the end of the street. At a position in the underground hall near the rail elevator, two Guardsmen scrambled out from behind the sandbags, shouldered a rocket launcher, and fired at the beast.

The howling rocket struck the creature, but the Tyranid Monstrosity charged on through the explosion. Countless Lasgun beams and plasma blasts hammered into it, dissolving and puncturing its black carapace beneath the withering barrage until its body became a gigantic beehive.

With the last of its strength, the monstrosity crashed into a support pillar. The towering stone column came thundering down, smashing a Twin-linked Lascannon that was still roaring away.

Thick smoke billowed out in an instant. As the dust began to spread, countless Tyranid soldiers surged out of it, rolling forward through the smoke. Their immense numbers instantly overwhelmed the frontline position before its defenders could react.

The sandbags were knocked aside, and the soldiers were slaughtered in an instant. The survivors fled, but they were no match for the specialized Tyranid creatures.

At the final defensive line before the rail elevator, Heavy Bolters roared, shredding a large swath of Tyranid soldiers. But a massive monstrosity burst from the cloud of dust that had yet to settle.

The beast charged, roaring through its swirling, gaping maw as the great beak on its lower jaw clacked. The Guardsmen desperately turned every weapon they had on it, but its specialized, heavily armored head was more than tough enough to withstand Bolter and plasma fire.

The beast charged toward the position. Everyone stared in despair at the approaching maw, but just as the machine gunner ducked his head, bracing for death, a soul-rending roar sounded before them.

The Guardsmen looked up from behind the sandbags at the beast. It roared in pain, blue flames burning behind the carapace on its crest. Another Plasma Cannon shot struck its back, plasma fire burning through its flesh and leaving the creature shrieking in agony.

The soldiers looked toward a service ladder on the side wall. On the circular platform high above, Planetary Defense Force soldiers came charging out. These militiamen showed tremendous courage as they stormed forward with Plasma Weapons and Melta Weapons that might explode at any moment.

Without hesitation, they quickly set up the weapons and opened fire. The fierce barrage swept across the entire hall from above. Tyranid beasts fell like leaves under the high-angle fire, plasma and Melta fireballs blossoming among them as rockets howled overhead, trailing thick smoke.

The elevator carrying the Astra Militarum Guardsmen rumbled. The rail elevator settled firmly on the ground, and its doors opened amid flashing red warning lights. But before they could open all the way, Lasgun beams shot out from within.

The platoon leader watched a large group of Planetary Defense Force soldiers file out. They quickly spread out, aimed at the charging Tyranids, and opened fire. Lasgun beams streaked overhead like a rainstorm, hammering into the Tyranid Swarm and its shameful kin.

The platoon leader stood up, Lasgun in hand, and watched Planetary Defense Force soldiers leap down from the platform. They advanced in groups, firing as they went. The Guardsmen stared in amazement at the local militiamen, who had suddenly become so fearless.

Their battle cries rang out one after another, even drowning out the roars of the Tyranid beasts. Among them, a man in a red cloak stepped out of the elevator.

The platoon leader stared at him in shock, then immediately snapped to attention and saluted. "Inquisitor! I didn't expect the regiment to send you to support us."

"Your regiment has other things to deal with. These bastards have broken into the entire Lower Hive. I need to find out where their brain is." Vito stepped down from the platform and came to the platoon leader's side. He looked toward the machine gunner and pointed at the tunnel exit ahead.

The machine gunner jumped, then immediately raised his weapon and opened fire. Bolts rained into the tunnel, intercepting the Tyranids and disrupting their charge. Soon, every Tyranid beast in the hall had been wiped out.

Vito tilted his head slightly, then waved. The platoon leader stared in astonishment as a Guardsman carrying a rocket launcher appeared beside him at once. The rocket howled through the battlefield's dust and flew straight into the tunnel. An explosion followed, and then everything fell silent.

The soldiers stopped firing. The beasts that had poured from the dim tunnel were no more; no more came charging out. But everyone knew the Tyranids were regrouping, not defeated. Could anyone really believe the Tyranids had all been wiped out? Saying so would be like talking after a bottle of bad liquor.

Vito looked at the Tyranid remains littering the hall. Corpses and fragments of carapace covered the floor, the filthy creatures scattered everywhere by the devastating barrage.

Vito shrugged slightly and drew his Bolter. He swung his arm forward, gesturing for everyone to follow. The Guardsmen fell in behind him. Before long, the rail elevator finished another run and its doors opened. The platoon leader watched in surprise as another full squad of Guardsmen emerged, including some in civilian clothes who were carrying guns.

"Inquisitor, how many reinforcements did you bring?" the platoon leader asked in astonishment. Vito headed for the tunnel entrance, followed by a large group of Guardsmen. "Everyone who fell back—now it's time to counterattack."

"Coming with us?" Vito asked, giving his Bolter a little shake.

Silver-plated boots stepped over one Tyranid corpse after another. These terrifying creatures were now nothing but cold bodies.

A silver boot stepped over a dead Tyranid whose head had been blown apart by a large-caliber shotgun. It moved forward again, then stopped. Its owner pulled back his foot and paused beside a Tyranid corpse. Well, it wasn't really a corpse; it was still moving. But now it was.

The Bolter flashed, and a large-caliber bolt blew away half of the Termagant's body. Blood sprayed across the trouser leg, and the owner of the boots irritably brushed at the stain.

Vito stood amid a field of corpses with his gun in hand. Around him, the Guardsmen following him were checking the bodies one by one. Tyranids were resilient, and nearly all of them had remarkable regenerative abilities. So you had to make sure they were dead—completely dead.

"Inquisitor, the whole regiment and the Planetary Defense Force reinforcements are counterattacking along the entire front. Third Company has retaken the Lower Hive Corridor and blown up the stairs." The platoon leader switched off the earpiece of his vox, stepped over the corpses, and came to Vito's side. On Vito's other side, another Tyranid burst into a spray of bloody remains.

Vito glanced at the platoon leader and raised an eyebrow. "That fast?" "Yes, sir. Our forces are counterattacking quickly. I'd guess the Tyranids decided to retreat because they thought the assault was hopeless. Based on our experience on Gravalax, the Tyranids retreat when the biomass they lose in an attack exceeds the biomass they gain."

Vito stopped and looked at the Tyranid corpse lying beside the underground street. The Hormagaunt had several enormous bloody holes in its body. It had died horribly.

Vito turned and looked at the empty tunnel. The Inquisitor rubbed his chin with the butt of his Bolter, then took an exquisite Silver Snake pocket watch from his coat. He opened it and looked at the mechanical dial ticking inside.

The Inquisitor shrugged and put the watch back in his pocket. He raised his Bolter, changed the magazine, and yanked the trigger. "Faster than I expected. I hope they're on time."

Before Vito had finished speaking, screams rang out. The platoon leader immediately raised his gun and aimed behind them. Several hulking bipedal beasts suddenly rose from the pile of Tyranid corpses. Wielding Bone Swords, they slaughtered the nearby Guardsmen in a flurry.

The ventilation fan above the underground street crashed to the ground. A beast leaped down from it, crushing the fan blades beneath its feet, then rapidly swept its claws around, reaping the Guardsmen who tried to fight back.

In just a few seconds, every Guardsman following Vito had been killed. Only the platoon leader remained. He frantically raised his Lasgun and fired, but the beasts didn't even bother to dodge. The Lasgun beams struck their black-purple carapaces as if polishing them.

"Inquisitor! We've been ambushed!" the platoon leader cried. Vito shrugged calmly. "Yes, I know it's an ambush. Honestly, I'm surprised I made it this far before getting ambushed."

"What?" the platoon leader asked. Vito gave his Bolter a little shake, looking unconcerned. "You see, I was ambushed up there by a Lictor. The beast failed. It came straight for me, which means the Tyranid fleet is planning to decapitate the local Imperial leadership and break the core of the Imperium's defenses."

"And after the Lictor failed, they were bound to try again. Next time, they might choose somewhere I'd rather they didn't show up—like the Governor's Palace bedroom, for example. I'm not used to killing bugs naked in front of a lovely lady, so I decided to give them a chance to try somewhere I'd be happy to meet them."

"Right here." Vito closed his eyes as he spoke. He had to: the young platoon leader's head had exploded, splattering half of Vito's face with brain matter.

Vito sighed and wiped the gore from his face. "Could you at least let me finish?"

Vito sighed, then looked helplessly toward the colossal creature drifting out of the tunnel. It had severely degenerated limbs but a long tail, and its enormous brain drooped over its shoulders, making it look almost grotesque.

But don't underestimate it just because it looked deformed. Arcs of electricity danced over its body. It was the one that had blown up the platoon leader's head.

Vito whistled, eyeing the creature with interest while ignoring the several Tyranid Warriors around him, poised to attack. He watched the deformed creature floating toward him.

"A Zoanthrope. You really think highly of me. Looks like the Norn Queen in your fleet knows I've got psychic powers, huh? I like how well you share information. If having a Pariah near me didn't give me a headache, I'd want to bring one along."

As Vito spoke, he slid his Bolter back into its holster. Before he could make another comment, a Warrior behind him lunged like lightning. Its Bone Sword slashed toward his head, then abruptly stopped, hanging motionless just a few inches above him.

The Inquisitor sighed and rubbed his neck. "This is why I like fighting enemies who can think normally. At least they let me finish talking. Well, maybe they do. The Aeldari do, at least, though I don't like listening to them finish their riddles."

Vito raised a finger and flicked it slightly. The Bone Sword tore itself from the Warrior's grasp. The Warrior stared in shock as the blade turned and stabbed into its abdomen.

Held by an unseen hand, the Bone Sword moved on its own, slicing the Warrior in half. After it crashed to the ground, the blade smashed its entire face. It repeatedly battered the Warrior's face until it was a bloody pulp, then finally dropped to the ground.

Several Tyranid Warriors exchanged glances. They all stepped back and raised their Bone Swords, roaring in fury. The Zoanthrope let out a low shriek and fired a crackling arc of electricity from its head.

The lightning shot toward Vito, but suddenly struck a shield two steps away. The arc exploded, and crackling current spread in every direction, enveloping the space around him.

The flash swallowed everything in sight. In that instant of blinding light, a claw shot out of the glare. Vito looked at it and used his psychic power to twist the bone claw apart. The Warrior shrieked in pain, but another suddenly appeared from the opposite side, swinging two Bone Swords at Vito's neck from either direction.

Vito merely glanced at the Warrior. An invisible fist slammed into it, denting and shattering its hard carapace. The beast was sent flying and embedded itself in the wall.

Several Warriors attacked at once, launching a whirlwind assault with blades and claws. But every razor-sharp strike stopped perfectly a few inches from Vito.

Vito drew his Chainsword. The instant its blade flashed, Tyranid heads fell to the ground, and one towering corpse after another collapsed.

"Do you know how hard it is to wash out the smell of blood? Do you know I have a date tonight, even during wartime?" Vito said as he walked toward the Zoanthrope, Chainsword in hand. He stepped over the corpses along the way.

The Zoanthrope let out a piercing shriek, but Vito just smiled and folded his arms. "Surprised? Fair enough. I only use my psychic powers when I'm alone and need to kill a particularly strong enemy. So take it as a compliment."

As he spoke, Vito's eyes glowed gold. A psychic shockwave slammed into the Zoanthrope's psychic shield, covering it in light. The Zoanthrope waved its tiny, almost useless forelimbs and shrieked.

White lightning bolts shot at Vito, but he continued walking calmly toward the Zoanthrope. The bolts struck the Chaos before him and were torn apart one by one. The ground in front of him disintegrated, and a shockwave plowed across the floor, instantly smashing every corpse in its path—Tyranid and human alike—into chunks of flesh.

But the shield instantly shattered that power as well. The impact was broken apart and scattered, sending the corpses around Vito flying. The Zoanthrope shrieked and attacked him with every kind of psychic power, but none of it worked.

He reached the Zoanthrope's shield and traced a small sigil in the air with his finger. Then Vito curled his finger, shaping the thin, snake-like sigil, and tapped the shield's surface. In an instant, the entire shield burst apart.

The Zoanthrope shrieked like a baby. Its horrifying cry was enough to terrify anyone, but Vito merely rubbed his ears in annoyance, then raised his hand and flicked it downward. The Zoanthrope slammed into the ground like a meteor.

The Zoanthrope shrieked, but Vito raised his Chainsword and drove it hard into the tip of its tail. Blood gushed out, and its screams echoed through the tunnel like a nightmare.

Vito grabbed the Zoanthrope's enormous head and slammed it against the ground. He smiled at the creature in front of him as its little eyes turned to look at him.

"You see, I used myself as bait and caught a fish. The quality of the bait determines what kind of fish I get to eat tonight. I think my bait should land me some pretty good prey."

"Ah, of course, not you. Don't get excited. I mean the Norn Queen watching all this through your brain." Vito smiled as he took a purple crystal from his coat. It was a brilliant amethyst that glimmered with a dazzling light, with strange motes of dust that shone inside it like tiny stars.

Or maybe they were stars.

"Oh, dear Lily, I hope your sister—fuck, is she your sister or just you? Ah, whatever. I hope you meant it when you promised me this thing would work."

Vito crushed the crystal. The stardust quickly burrowed in through his ears and nostrils. His eyes suddenly lit up, and the Zoanthrope's eyes began glowing the same gold as it shrieked.

Vito's consciousness plunged into the network of the Tyranid Will, a vast, twisted, and eternally hungry presence as immense as the entire galaxy.

But amid the endless consciousness, the roars of countless beasts, and the torment of boundless hunger, Vito broke through the crimson Veil. He tore a tiny opening in the surface of the immense presence.

And he saw what lay beyond the opening: a unique, pure-white Tyranid. A massive egg sac hung from its lower body, and countless arms trembled as it shrieked at Vito from the other side of the Veil.

"Found you," he whispered. Then the Veil snapped shut, and countless tendrils of the immense Tyranid consciousness surged at Vito from every direction. Just as the first tendril was about to touch him, a mass of glittering stardust suddenly erupted from his body, enclosing him like a diamond-shaped mirror.

A moment later, the mirror shattered. Vito had vanished among the countless fragments, and all the tendrils missed. In that boundless, immense presence, the roars of the beasts echoed through the sea of minds—roars of inconceivable fury.

Vito's eyes closed again. When they opened, a flash of light passed through them, and they returned to normal.

The Tyranid Zoanthrope shrieked as its head exploded, spraying out like a bomb of flesh. Its blood drenched Vito, turning him completely red.

"Fuck!" Vito swore, backing away a few steps as he looked at himself. "How long is this going to take to wash off?"

He cursed loudly and kicked the Zoanthrope's corpse hard. Then a fierce headache swept over him, and Vito instinctively pressed his fingers to his temples. "Fuck, that hurts. This thing doesn't even stop pain? What a piece of junk. At least I got something out of it."

He pulled out his Chainsword and slid it back onto his belt. Turning toward the end of the tunnel, he had only gone halfway when a claw grabbed him. He looked down at the half-bodied Tyranid Warrior. It weakly opened its mouth and let out a low groan. Its stubbornness even earned a little respect from Vito.

He crouched and smiled into the Tyranid Warrior's eyes. "Don't worry. Oh, right—tell your Norn Queen I know where she is. I'll be coming to take her on a date soon."

The Tyranid shrieked. Vito stood, drew his Bolter, and blew its head apart with a single shot.