The Sphere of Flesh

The attack came without warning, without even triggering the airflow or vibration sensors. Several enormous Tentacles, previously identical in colour and texture to the surrounding fleshy walls, shot out from the "rock walls" overhead, underfoot, and to either side like vipers poised to strike!

These Tentacles were over half a metre thick, their tips sharp as spears, their speed beyond the limits of biology!

Bang!!

A heavy, muffled crash of metal striking flesh!

Talous had not even managed to turn fully to block before the thickest tentacle slammed squarely into his breastplate with thunderous force.

The tremendous impact hurled him off his feet like a stone launched from a catapult, smashing him backward into the slick wall of flesh.

Clang!

Ceramite armour struck resilient biomass with a teeth-grating sound.

Worse still, the tentacle's tip split open in an instant, releasing countless tiny, rootlike tendrils that wound tightly around Talous's limbs and torso, pinning him to the fleshy wall like an insect on a specimen board.

He struggled furiously, his Power Armour's Servo System shrieking under the overload, but those biological fibres were unimaginably tough.

"Emperor preserve us!"

Talous drew his combat Dagger and stabbed hard at the tentacle, but to little effect.

Almost at the same moment, the entire passage came "alive"!

Everywhere they looked, the once-motionless "walls" and "floor" burst open, and countless Tentacles of varying thickness filled every inch of space like a frenzied swarm of snakes.

They lashed, coiled, and stabbed wildly, completely sealing off the squad's path forward.

The Tentacles coordinated their attacks, some providing suppression while others struck by surprise—a unified predatory network possessed of formidable tactical intelligence.

Kran reacted with astonishing speed. The instant Talous was hit, his Chainsword swept out, severing a tentacle trying to coil around his ankle at its base. Thick,