The Imperium Frontier: Boarding Battle

Bell watched the red flash illuminate the cockpit. The melta gun ignited a light like a miniature sun ahead, and the scorching radiance poured out from both sides of the Aquila, lighting up the surrounding tunnels of flesh and the Thunderhawk itself.

"Inquisitor, this is truly insane." Ragnar's voice came over the comms—the internal tactical channel of the Deathwatch squad. Its encryption bypassed the Inquisitor's override codes, making it the perfect place for squad members to vent about Vito or simply curse him out.

"Indeed. He led us headlong into the belly of a Tyranid bio-ship. Is this what one calls... a miraculous boarding action?" Lancelot's voice chimed in. "Ha, this is our first time boarding the inside of a monster! Right, Old Wolf? What's with that look on your face?"

"The psychic interference here is intense. I am certain the Norn Queen is here, but I have no idea how the Inquisitor knew." "Didn't he say? He used a Lobotomy Reader to fry the brain of a node-beast." "I am not certain that construct can be used in such a manner, Ragnar, my brother. I believe the Inquisitor used another method to complete the task." "Another method? What method?"

Bell watched the beam of fire ahead suddenly extinguish. Dark red light shone into the cockpit from the front; the Aquila had already surged into the end of the flesh tunnel ahead.

"We're in! Prepare for combat at any moment!" Bell pulled back on the control stick. The Thunderhawk followed the Aquila, banking beneath the massive, fleshy dome of the Tyranid vessel.

The vector nozzles of both aircraft spat scorching flames as they flew through the organs and blood vessels within the bio-ship. The sheer scale of the organism meant its organs were beyond imagination; its veins were as wide as the main thoroughfares of a Hive City, with countless capillaries crisscrossing to weave a dense network of flesh.

The Thunderhawk and the Aquila maneuvered nimbly through this jungle of meat, flying between gaps in organs, bronchial terminals, and massive muscular structures.

Bell shook the stick, weaving between the writhing biological components. The Inquisitor's ship flew in the lead, constantly blasting through dense capillary networks with its lascannon and autocannon, carving out a tunnel for them to pass through.

They flew past dense bronchial passages and over the giant, pulsing heart of the behemoth. Below them, black blood surged and churned, flowing into the body from massive pump hubs like a torrential underground river.

The Aquila fired a missile, blasting a hole in the wall of flesh. Both aircraft flew inside, heading deeper into the bio-ship. They passed countless skeletons, muscles, and strange, beating organs. The entire world was surrounded by writhing flesh and crimson biological components.

It felt as if Bell had arrived on a planet corrupted by Nurgle. Bell still remembered those worlds they had visited, where the entire planet had turned into some horrific living organism, with writhing flesh and rotting skin filling every inch of space.

It was a nightmarish experience, and unfortunately, Bell found himself in the same situation again. The last time they had entered such a place, their goal was to slay The Profane at the heart of the planet and detonate the core to cause it to wither and explode. This plan seemed just as insane.

The Aquila's speed slowed, and Vito found a patch of fleshy ground to land on. Bell steered the Thunderhawk down onto the same platform.

The hatch of the silver, droplet-shaped Aquila lowered slowly. Vito stepped out wearing a rebreather mask, looking at the four Astartes who had also disembarked from the Thunderhawk, all wearing their sealed helmets.

The four giants met Vito between the ship and the aircraft. Bell looked at the readings inside his helmet and raised his head. "The air here is filled with toxic gases, Inquisitor. We would perish instantly if we took a single breath."

"That is why we have our rebreathers, isn't it? And I dare say this must be the first time in history that humanity has invaded the interior of a Tyranid bio-ship!" Vito said proudly, gesturing to the walls of flesh surrounding them.

"Ooh, looks like I've set another record." "I don't think that's a good thing, Inquisitor. We are isolated and helpless inside a Tyranid, and we have no idea where the Norn Queen is."

Vito wagged his finger and pointed at Olaf. All three warriors looked at the Old Wolf. The Chaplain, a head taller than the others, stood silently; he did not seem to be doing well.

"Old Wolf, my readings show your brain activity is spiking, especially in the left hemisphere," Bell said. Olaf sighed and patted his brother's shoulder. "It is nothing, Bell. I sense the power of a Warp shadow. If I am not mistaken, the Norn Queen is nearby."

"Correct. She is here, not far from us. Come, let us pay her a visit." Vito waved his hand, signaling them to follow. Ragnar and Lancelot immediately moved out. "Did any of you bring melta bombs?" "I did!" "That's my good old wolf pup! That's the spirit."

Bell looked at Olaf, but the Old Wolf only shook his head slightly before stepping forward to follow.

They walked across the landscape of flesh, entering through a massive cave at the end of a hall of meat. The writhing walls moved actively around them, with muscles and blood vessels intertwined everywhere, pumping immense biological power into the body of this void-beast.

Lancelot struck the wall hard with his sword. The muscular barrier twitched immediately, and severed muscle sprayed blood, staining the giant's feet.

"Ugh," Lancelot muttered in disgust, stepping over the pool of blood. They followed the fleshy corridor to the end, arriving before a bridge made of unknown muscular structures. Calling it a bridge was a stretch; it seemed more like a connection between organs.

Objectively, however, it served as a bridge. The group stepped onto it, crossing over a writhing chasm. Bell leaned over to look into the abyss below, where meat-clamp-like muscles were pulsing repeatedly, seemingly providing motive power for some large organ.

Bell could not determine what that organ was; after all, no one had ever entered the interior of a bio-ship before. They had indeed made history in every sense of the word. Perhaps he could write a codex to record and study what he had seen, passing it down to future generations to help them study and combat these nightmarish creatures from outside the galaxy.

Bell stopped and activated his helmet's recording function. But the moment he did, he looked up. He heard a thunderous sound from the muscular structure.

They all turned to see parts of the fleshy wall at the end of the bridge rupture, with vascular-like sections hanging down from the corners.

Something covered in blood slid out. It stood up slowly, dripping with crimson gore, its clicking, vortex-like mouth filled with meat-grinder teeth.

More of these pure-white monsters were expelled from the vessels. They hit the ground, stood up covered in blood, and slowly raised their long blades and claws toward the group on the bridge.

"Damn it," Vito remarked. A chorus of shrill shrieks answered him as the monsters swarmed from both sides of the bridge toward the center.

"What are those?!" Lancelot shouted, raising his Power Sword. Vito didn't hesitate, pulling his Bolter and blowing the head off one of the monsters. "White blood cells? Who cares! Kill the bastards!"

Bell raised his Bolter and immediately opened fire toward the left side of the bridge. The monsters charged along the bridge, exposed, and were blasted off into the writhing meat-clamps below.

But their numbers were so vast that they surged forward like wild beasts, ignoring the fierce Bolter fire. "Push forward! Ragnar! Lancelot! Clear a path!"

Ragnar howled and took the lead, his Chainsword carving a crimson path through the monsters on the bridge. Lancelot followed with his Power Sword, the two giants pushing forward rapidly.

The group charged along the bridge, their blades and chain-weapons swinging rapidly, knocking all enemies off the edge. They jumped down, the boarding party charging along the fleshy cliffs and rock steps.

Bolter fire roared, turning all enemies attempting to block their path into shreds of meat. Vito watched as more of these pure-white monsters climbed up from the fleshy abyss on the other side, swarming like apes and crawling up the rock steps to intercept them.

But any monster that climbed up was immediately hacked into pieces by roaring Chainaxes and Power Swords, or had their bodies blown apart by Bolter fire. Amidst the explosions of flesh and gore, the group fought their way forward like heroes of ancient legends.

Lancelot jumped down the uneven steps and quickly stepped forward, slicing through a protruding synaptic vessel. The thick vessel wall collapsed, falling from the air and slamming into the ground, forming a bridge across the chasm.

The group jumped across, and as they reached the end, Ragnar didn't forget to kick the vessel-bridge into the abyss, sending a pile of white-cell creatures down with it.

They continued their rapid assault until they reached the end of the path. A massive cliff of flesh blocked their way—it was a dead end!

"Inquisitor, I think we've hit a dead end!" Lancelot said, pointing his Bolter at the monsters climbing the cliff. They were swarming from all directions toward the trapped boarding party. The Space Marines turned their Bolters in all directions, firing wildly and creating a spray of gore among the pale enemies.

The hideous foes fell, shattered, but their numbers remained endless.

Amidst the Bolter fire, Vito pulled out his Plasma Gun and fired at the end of the fleshy wall. The plasma melted through the barrier, exposing a thick vascular pipe.

"Jump in!" Vito shouted. "What?!" Ragnar exclaimed. Vito pointed his gun at the vessel entrance and yelled, "Get in! Now!"

The four giants did not hesitate. They jumped in one after another, and finally, Vito followed. He plunged into the blood, flowing downward through the vessel.

Vito pulled a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it upward. A moment later, the explosion occurred nearby. Due to the pressure, the blast expanded and then violently contracted, severing the middle of the vessel.

Vito was propelled by the shockwave, shooting out of the vessel at high speed. He was spat out like sewage and landed on the ground, covered in blood, looking at the circle of Astartes around him.

The giants cursed as they stood up one by one. Vito also cursed as he climbed to his feet. "Next time, we are definitely taking the stairs. This is absolutely ridiculous. By the way, how much further to the monster's brain?"

"We have arrived, Inquisitor." Bell's voice spoke. Vito stood up and looked in the direction the four giants were facing. Beneath this massive dome of flesh, at the far end of the immense space, lay a brain—a brain connected to countless cables of flesh, one of which was attached to a colossal, pale creature.

It was a creature of gargantuan proportions, its hideously oversized lower body coiled beneath the brain, while its comparatively diminutive torso grew from above, countless arms and elongated, razor-sharp claws curling and swaying before it.

Vito watched the eyeless creature as it flicked a curved tongue, observing the intruders, while two Tyrants stood guard in its immediate vicinity.

"It seems we have arrived," Vito said with a smile, aiming his weapon at the monster in the distance.

"In the name of The Emperor, prepare to die."