The Imperium's Frontier: Boarding Action

Bell watched the red flash that lit up the entire cockpit. The Melta's jets flared ahead like a miniature sun, its scorching light gushing from both sides of the Aquila and illuminating the surrounding corridors of flesh and the Thunderhawk itself.

"Now this is one hell of a stunt, Inquisitor," Ragnar said over the comms. This was the Deathwatch squad's internal tactical channel, whose permissions bypassed the Inquisitor's override codes. If the squad members wanted to complain about Vito or just curse him out, this was the place to do it.

"Indeed. He's brought us charging straight into the belly of a Tyranid creature. Is that some kind of... very unusual boarding action?" Lancelot said. "Ha! This is our first time boarding a monster from the inside! Right, Old Wolf? What's with that look?"

"The psychic interference here is extremely strong. I'm certain the Norn Queen is here, but I don't know how the Inquisitor knew."

"Didn't he say? He burned the head of a Synapse Creature with the Lobotomy Reader."

"I'm not sure that device can be used that way, Ragnar, my brother. I think the Inquisitor used another method to get the job done."

"Another method? What method?"

Bell watched the flames abruptly die away. Dark red light spilled into the cockpit from ahead. The Aquila had already burst into the end of the fleshy tunnel.

"We're in! Prepare to engage at any moment!" Bell said, yanking the controls. The Thunderhawk banked after the Aquila, flying beneath the Tyranid's enormous dome of flesh.

The fighters' vector thrusters spat scorching flames as they flew through the Bio-ship's organs and blood vessels. The creature's immense size meant its organs were far larger than anything imaginable. Its blood vessels were nearly as wide as the main roads of a Hive City, and countless capillaries crisscrossed the area, weaving a dense network of flesh.

The Thunderhawk and the Aquila darted nimbly through this fleshy jungle, flying between organs, the ends of bronchial tubes, and massive muscle structures.

Bell worked the controls, weaving between the writhing biological structures. The Inquisitor's ship flew ahead, continually blasting through the dense capillary networks with its Lascannon and Autocannon, clearing passage after passage.

They passed through a dense network of bronchi and flew above the giant, throbbing heart of the beast. Below them, torrents of black blood churned as they flowed from one pumping hub to the next, like a mighty underground river.

The Aquila fired a missile, blasting a huge hole in the fleshy wall. The two fighters flew through it and deeper into the Bio-ship. They passed countless bones, muscles, and strange, pulsating organs. The entire world was surrounded by writhing flesh and crimson biological structures.

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

It had been a nightmarish experience, and now, unfortunately, Bell found himself in the same kind of place again. The last time they had entered such a place, their goal had been to kill The Profane at the heart of a world that had taken shape as a body, then destroy its heart and make the planet collapse in an explosion. This time, their plan seemed just as insane.

The Aquila slowed, and Vito landed on a patch of fleshy ground. Bell brought the Thunderhawk down onto the same platform.

The Aquila's smooth, silver-droplet-shaped hatch slowly lowered. Vito stepped out wearing a respirator and looked at the four Astartes climbing down from the Thunderhawk. All of them wore sealed helmets.

The four giants met up with Vito between the ship and the fighter. Bell checked the readings on his helmet display and looked up. "This place is full of toxic gas, Inquisitor. One breath and we'd be dead in no time."

"That's why we brought respirators. Besides, I'd wager this is the first time in history that humans have fought their way inside a Tyranid creature!" Vito said proudly, looking around at the surrounding walls of flesh.

"Whoa, looks like I've set a new record." "I don't think that's something to be proud of, Inquisitor. We're isolated and unsupported inside a Tyranid, and we have no idea where the Norn Queen is."

Vito wagged a finger, then pointed at Olaf. The three warriors all looked toward the Old Wolf. The Chaplain, a head taller than the others, stood silently in place. He didn't seem to be doing too well.

"Old Wolf, my readings show intense activity in your brain, especially on the left side," Bell said.

Olaf sighed and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "It's nothing, Bell. I can feel the power of the Shadow in the Warp. If I'm right, the Norn Queen should be nearby."

"That's right. She's here, not far from us. Come on, let's pay her a visit." Vito gestured for them to follow. Ragnar and Lancelot immediately fell in behind him. "Did any of you bring a Melta Bomb?"

"Me!"

"That's my good Old Wolf pup! That's the spirit!"

Bell looked at Olaf. The Old Wolf gave a slight shake of his head, then stepped after the others.

They walked across the fleshy ground, entering from the end of a fleshy hall into a huge cavern. The walls writhed actively around them. Muscle and blood vessels intertwined wherever they looked, pumping the power of a mighty creature into the body of this void beast.

Lancelot swung his sword hard against the wall. The muscle barrier immediately twitched, and blood gushed from the severed muscle, staining the giant's feet.

"Ugh." Lancelot grimaced in disgust and stepped over the pool of blood. They followed the fleshy corridor to its end and came to a bridge made of some unknown muscle structure. Calling it a bridge was a stretch; it seemed more like a connection between organs.

Still, it provided a passage. The group crossed it, walking over a writhing chasm. Bell leaned out to look down into the abyss. At the far end, a mass of muscle folded in on itself, contracting again and again, as if powering some enormous organ.

Bell couldn't tell what the organ was. After all, no one had ever entered the inside of a Bio-ship before. They really had made history in every sense of the word. Perhaps he could write a record to document and study what he had seen, preserving it for future generations to use in their research and fight against these nightmares from beyond the galaxy.

Bell stopped and activated the recording function on his helmet. But the moment the recording started, he raised his head. He had heard a booming sound from the muscle structure.

The others turned and saw several blood-vessel-like structures burst and snap along the fleshy wall at the end of the bridge. Their broken ends dangled down from various points.

A blood-covered thing slid out from one of them and slowly rose to its feet, crimson blood dripping from its body. Its clicking, spiraling mouth was packed with teeth like those of a meat grinder.

More of these pure-white monsters were expelled from the blood vessels. They crashed to the ground and rose, drenched in blood, then slowly raised their long blades and claws toward the group on the bridge.

"Holy shit," Vito said. A chorus of piercing screeches answered him as the monsters surged from both sides of the bridge toward its center.

"What are those things?!" Lancelot shouted, raising his knightly sword. Vito didn't hesitate. He drew his Bolter and blew a monster's head apart with a single shot. "White blood cells? Who cares! Kill the bastards!"

Bell raised his Bolter and immediately opened fire on the left side of the bridge. The monsters charged across it with nowhere to hide, and the concentrated barrage hurled them off into the writhing muscle below.

But there were so many of them that, despite the furious Bolter fire, they surged forward like mad beasts. "Push ahead! Ragnar! Lancelot! Clear the way!"

Ragnar roared and charged in first, his Chainsword carving a crimson path through the monsters on the bridge. Lancelot followed close behind with his knightly sword. The two giants fought their way forward, advancing rapidly.

The group charged along the bridge, their blades and Chainswords swinging and chopping at furious speed, knocking every enemy off the bridge. The creatures fell from its surface as the boarding party raced and fought along the rocky steps of the fleshy cliff.

Their Bolters fired relentlessly, blasting every enemy that tried to block their path into chunks of flesh. Vito saw swarms of the same pure-white monsters climbing up from the fleshy abyss on the other side. They surged upward like apes, clambering onto the rock steps and trying to stop the group.

But the monsters that climbed up were immediately hacked apart by roaring Chainaxes and Power Swords, or had half their bodies blown away by Bolter fire. Amid the bursts and splatters of flesh, the group fought their way onward like heroes from an ancient tale of a dungeon.

Lancelot jumped down the uneven steps and rushed forward, cutting through an upright vessel of synapse tissue with a single blow. The thick vessel crashed down from above and struck the ground, forming a bridge across the ravine.

The group leaped onto it and crossed the ravine. As they reached the other side, Ragnar even kicked the fleshy bridge down into the chasm, sending a mass of white blood cell creatures plunging into the abyss.

They fought their way onward at full speed and reached the end of the path, where a huge fleshy cliff blocked their way. It was a dead end!

"Inquisitor, I think we've reached a dead end!" Lancelot said, drawing his Bolter and aiming at the monsters climbing the cliff. They surged toward the trapped boarding party from every direction. The Space Marines aimed their Bolters in all directions and opened fire, blasting a swath of splattering flesh through the pale enemies.

The monstrous enemies fell apart and hit the ground, but their numbers kept surging forward without end.

Amid the flashes of Bolter fire, Vito drew his Plasma Gun and fired at the end of the fleshy wall. The plasma instantly melted through the barrier, exposing a thick blood vessel.

"Jump in!" Vito shouted.

"What?!" Ragnar exclaimed.

But Vito pointed his gun at the vessel's opening and yelled, "Get in! Now!"

The four giants didn't hesitate. They jumped in one after another. Finally, Vito jumped in too, plunging into the bloodstream and rushing down the vessel.

Vito pulled a grenade from his belt, yanked the pin, and tossed it upward. A moment later, it exploded nearby. The blast expanded outward, then abruptly contracted under the same principle as water pressure, severing the blood vessel in the middle.

The blast wave drove Vito at even greater speed out of the vessel. He shot out as if flushed from a sewer and crashed onto the ground. Covered in blood, he lay there, looking around at the Astartes surrounding him.

The giants cursed as they got to their feet. Vito cursed as he pushed himself up too. "Next time, we're taking the stairs. That was completely ridiculous. Anyway, how far are we from this beast's brain—"

"We're here, Inquisitor," Bell said.

Vito stood and looked in the direction the four giants were facing. Beneath the enormous dome of flesh, at the far end of the vast chamber, was a brain connected to countless fleshy cables. One of those cables connected to a huge pale creature.

It was a gigantic creature. Its enormous, deformed lower body sat beneath the brain, while its comparatively tiny upper body grew above it. Countless arms and long, sharp claws curled and swayed in front of it.

Vito looked at the eyeless creature. It flicked out its curved tongue and stared at the intruders. Two Tyrants stood beside it.

"Looks like we made it," Vito said with a smile, pointing his gun at the distant monsters.

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