Bannon marched towards Gossin as another impact slammed into the main door.
'Do you hear that?' he demanded. 'We have minutes at best before the tyranids are upon us. Fire these guns now or they will not fire at all. Do you understand me?'
A tortured metallic screech echoed through the bunker. Gossin stared fearfully along the corridor and nodded.
'Deathwatch, with me!' shouted Bannon, heading back towards the door.
The viewing bay of the Vae Victus lit up with the destruction of the Kharloss Vincennes, reflected light from the explosion flaring from the glossy carapaces of the tyranid bio-ships.
'Emperor watch over thee,' whispered Tiberius as another impact rocked his vessel. Deathly red light bathed the command bridge as more and more tyranid weapons scored hits. Their defensive capabilities had been degraded comprehensively by hundreds of drifting spores and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The Sword of Retribution still fought, her captain performing brilliantly in evading the tyranid creatures and hammering the hive ship's escorts.
'He's fighting to reach the second hive ship,' said Philotas.
But Tiberius could see he wouldn't make it. Already organisms were swarming over her hull and suffocating her firepower.
They had come so close! The first hive ship was right in front of them. The Vae Victus and the Mortis Probati had stripped away a huge portion of its defences, diverting much of the defences previously protecting it from attack from the planet's surface.
But there was no attack from the planet and Tiberius felt his heart sink at the thought that they had failed.
'All ships, prepare to disengage,' he said.
The door blew inwards, ripped in two by a massive pair of claws. Rain and wind howled inside the bunker as a dozen hormagaunts fought to squeeze past the screaming carnifex that smashed its claws into the rockcrete around the door in fn attempt to squeeze its massive bulk inside. A volley of disciplined bolter fire brought down the first and second waves.
A giant crack split the ceiling, the carnifex bludgeoning its way forwards.
Screeching howls and deafening blasts of gunfire filled the narrow corridor.
Uriel aimed at the carnifex's head, its blunt features expressionless as it hammered its way inside. His shot put out its eye, blasting a chunk of skull clear. The beast flinched, but simply lowered its bony head and slammed harder on the bunker's structure.
Leaping hormagaunts filled the corridor, screeching with alien fury as the Space Marines slowly fell back before them. Glow-globes shattered and the ceiling split apart with a booming crack. Huge chunks of rock dropped into the corridor. Uriel hurled himself clear as tonnes of rock collapsed and billowing clouds of dust filled the air.
He dragged himself to his feet, scrabbling for his fallen bolter as a mud-covered warrior organism leapt atop the steel-laced rubble. Its fangs spread wide and a secondary set of jaws lashed out, biting deep into Uriel's helm. His visor shattered and he felt blood on his face as the jaws withdrew. He dropped to his knees against the wall, disengaging the vacuum sockets on his gorget and tearing the helmet loose.
The tyranid warrior pounced and a hail of bolter shells stitched across its thorax, exploding wetly within and spraying Uriel with its blood. Bannon hauled him to his feet as the tyranids clambered over the rubble and the Deathwatch hammered them with more shells.
Without the protection of his helmet's auto-senses, the noise was deafening. Gunfire and thunder combined with the lightning to form a cacophonous backdrop to the battle. Dimly Uriel heard Bannon calling the Thunderhawk down as they fell back towards the control chamber.
As the Space Marines withdrew, Uriel was suddenly aware of a bitter, metallic taste on the air as a powerful static charge built around him. His scalp tingled and even over the noise of battle he could hear a deep, bass thrumming build beneath him.
He looked up through the shattered ceiling in time to see an incandescent streak of light spear skywards, looking like the manifest wrath of the Emperor
Once again the viewing bay lit up, and it took Tiberius a moment to realise why. Another streak of light slashed past the Vae Victus blasting clean through the body of the hive ship. Another shot fired, followed closely by another and he surged from his command pulpit and punched the air.
'Damn you, Uriel. I knew you could do it!' he yelled over the ringing of alarm bells.
With atmospheric conditions more or less stable in the region selected by Uriel and Sebastien Montante, the beams from the defence laser silo were unaffected by the thermal blooming that had so hamstrung the defences in the opening stages of the invasion.
In low orbit, and with its planetward defences engaged in protecting it from the Imperial fleet, the hive ship was horribly vulnerable and was now paying the price. Explosions of flesh rippled across the hive ship's body as blasts from the defence lasers destroyed it.
'All ships, belay my last order!' he shouted. 'Target everything you can at that hive ship! We've got it, by the Emperor, we've got it!'
Uriel climbed the ladder in the centre of the control chamber, hauling on the rusted opening lever and pulling aside the hatch. The static hum was even stronger here and a soft blue glow illuminated the dome above the control chamber. Then a dazzling light flared and Uriel blinked away blistering afterimages as the flash of the defence laser's fire filled the interior of the dome. The guns were firing automatically now and would continue to do so until the capacitors they had brought ran dry.
'All clear!' he yelled.
The sounds of bolter fire intensified as the tyranids, perhaps sensing their prey was escaping, intensified their attack.
Uriel hauled himself up into the dome, reaching back and pulling up the tech-priests as they scrambled up the ladder. Outside the dome he could hear the roar of the Thunderhawk's engines as it hovered overhead.
One by one, the Deathwatch climbed to the dome, until only Bannon remained. He fired a last burst from his bolter before dropping it and leaping for the ladder. He climbed fast as the tyranids flooded the chamber below. Uriel and another Space Marine pulled Bannon through the hatch and slammed it shut.
'Time to get out of here, wouldn't you say?' said Bannon breathlessly.
'Way past time,' agreed Uriel, as the guns fired again.
With Uriel leading the way, the exhausted group made their way onto the roof of the bunker. The wind and rain had diminished and the scale of the swarm surrounding the bunker now became apparent. Howling jetwash from the hovering Thunderhawk's engines threatened to hurl them from the roof. Hormagaunts frenziedly tried to climb to the roof of the bunker as the carnifexes battered its walls. They had seconds at best.
Thick, rappelling cables hung from the crew ramp of the gunship and Uriel quickly grabbed them, distributing a cable to each of the Deathwatch as he saw swarms of gargoyles hurtling through the air towards the gunship.
'Look,' he said, pointing.
'I see them,' nodded Bannon, grasping a cable.
The Deathwatch gathered up the tech-priests and Magos Gossin as Harkus activated the winch to pull them up. Uriel wondered how the fleet had fared as he swung through the air below the gunship and the ramp above drew nearer. The flocks of gargoyles were closing rapidly and he silently urged the winch to haul them faster.
Deciding that he couldn't wait any longer, Harkus spun the gunship, feathering the engines to gain altitude. Uriel didn't blame him. The ground slid below him, thousands of aliens hissing with malevolence towards the sky as their prey escaped.
Then the world turned upside down.
Something huge buffeted him, smashing into his back and spinning him crazily.
He heard a screech of rage and a grunt of pain. Flapping wings spun him around. His vision swum, but he could see the giant, winged monster thrashing in the cables below the Thunderhawk's open crew ramp.
Its wings spurted blood, slashed to ribbons by the cable as it mauled a black-armoured figure who fought it with equal feroci
ty. As the combatants fought spinning on the cable, Uriel caught a flash of the yellow Imperial Fists insignia.
Captain Bannon stabbed the creature with his power knife, plunging it again and again into its hard, bony carapace. In return the monster's claws tore at his armour, ripping ceramite plates free and gouging bloody chunks from his body.
Swarms of gargoyles swooped down, closing to attack.
The Thunderhawk swayed in the air, unable to make its escape.
Hands reached down to grip Uriel's armour and pull him aboard. He collapsed exhausted onto the armoured deck, breath coming in great heaving gulps as he rolled over to the edge of the ramp.
Below him, man and monster fought in a battle the likes of which Uriel had never seen. The gunship altered course, attempting to put as much distance between it and the hundreds of approaching gargoyles. But with its crew ramp open, it could not accelerate fast enough.
Uriel could see the realisation of this pass through the Deathwatch captain.
He saw what Bannon intended and shouted, 'No!'
But it was too late. Bannon reached up and slashed his power knife through the cable.
He and his monstrous opponent plummeted to the mountainside below, landing amid the swarming creatures.
Cursing the tyranids with all his heart, Uriel pulled himself up the Thunderhawk's fuselage and hammered the ramp's closing mechanism. Now able to achieve escape velocity, Harkus spun the gunship on its axis, punching the engines and kicking in the afterburners. Flocks of gargoyles snapped at the gunship's wings, but he was able to break clear and the aircraft banked around, heading back towards Erebus with hundreds of flying monsters in hot pursuit.
Uriel stared through the vision port.
Below him, Captain Bannon fought his last battle against thousands of screeching killers.
PHASE IV – SUBDUAL
FOURTEEN
The Thunderhawk streaked through the lightening sky, vaporous contrails streaming from the trailing edges of its wings. The flight from the gargoyles had burned much of their precious fuel and Harkus was forced to climb to where the air was thinner and every kilometre of range could be squeezed from what little fuel the gunship's tanks still contained.
Should that not prove sufficient, then there was no way they would survive to reach Erebus.
The interior of the gunship was eerily empty, the five members of the Deathwatch, the tech-priests and Uriel all that filled its now spacious storage bays. Without the heavy capacitors, the Thunderhawk could fly much faster and had quickly outdistanced the pursuing gargoyles, concealing itself among the cloud layer.
The howl of the wind was deafening, but even over the tremendous noise, Uriel could hear the valedictions of the Deathwatch and though he too felt Captain Bannon's loss keenly, he respected their need to say their farewell privately.
Uriel closed his eyes and offered a short prayer for the departed captain of the Deathwatch. It was the least he could do to honour his memory.
Heavy blast doors slid smoothly aside, the freezing chill of an Erebus morning rushing in to fill the wide hangar as the Magnificence lifted from her moorings in a haze of screaming jets, heavy blast deflectors venting her exhaust fumes into the cold air.
The vessel ponderously nosed out of the hangar, its pilot proceeding with extra care since the owner of the starship was seated directly behind him and with the hold filled with such a vast array of wealth, she handled less deftly than usual. Hardwired into the controls of the ship, he was aware of every aspect of the Magnificence, but with a master as volatile as Simon van Gelder it never paid to take chances.
Simon watched the rocky interior of the hangar slide past through the viewing bay, to be replaced by the pristine white of the sky. He smiled as he saw his mountain estates below the ship, still guarded by his privately funded army. Though he expected Erebus to fall any day, there was no reason to leave his property unprotected. If he did return, he would require to reside in prestigious lodgings once again.
The ground slowly fell away as the pilot gained altitude. Simon could see tiny figures lower down the valley pointing at his ship and felt a smug glow of satisfaction as he pictured their dismay at his escape.
A buzzing warning sounded from the speakers, drawing his attention away from the rapidly diminishing landmarks of Erebus.
'The valley defence guns are interrogating us,' said the pilot, with a nervous edge to his voice.
Simon nodded, looking up through the viewing bay to see the massive defence guns rotating in their housings to acquire his ship. He smiled and removed a plain, metallic box from his long coat, unwinding an insulated cable from one end and plugging it into the pilot's console. He pressed a black button on its side and said, 'Broadcast this signal on all frequencies. It will shut down the protocols controlling the guns.'
'We shall be quite safe,' said Simon, deciding to retire to his sumptuous quarters in the upper levels of the ship.
'Hang on to something,' shouted Harkus as the Thunderhawk banked sharply around the highest peak to the east of Erebus. 'We have incoming hostiles!'
Uriel strode through the crew compartment to join the pilot in the cockpit. Ahead he could see the gouge in the mountains that was Erebus. Rising from mountain roosts, black flocks of gargoyles and other, more lethal, flying beasts clustered around the highest peaks.
They sped through the air towards the Thunderhawk and Uriel saw it would be a close run thing whether they reached the covering fire of the city's guns before they were caught.
'How are we for fuel?' he asked.
'The reserve tanks are virtually dry. We're flying on fumes and prayers now,' answered Harkus testily.
'Not enough to use the afterburners?'
'Barely even enough to land safely.'
Uriel nodded, watching as the valley of Erebus grew in the windshield. So too did the growing flock of flying monsters that raced to intercept them.
The Thunderhawk s speed increased as Harkus dipped the nose and the mountainside raced up to meet them. Snow-covered rocks flashed beneath them. What he wouldn't have given for some of the gunship's weapon systems right now.
Suddenly the ground dropped away and Harkus hauled back on the controls, deploying the air brakes and pulling the gunship into a screaming turn. Daylight speared inside as bio-weapons fire punched through the thin sheets of lightweight metal welded to its side. Uriel heard one of Gossin's tech-priests screaming as alien organisms ate away his flesh. He gripped onto the empty co-pilot's chair as the gunship swayed violently in the air and a warning light flashed on the controls.
'We're under the cover of the guns, but they're not firing!' yelled Harkus.
Uriel let out the breath he'd been holding, watching as flying aliens closed in around them. Dozens of impacts perforated the thin hull of the gunship. Fresh screaming echoed.
'Emperor's blood!' shouted the Techmarine, and Uriel looked up in time to see a silver behemoth with heraldic crests emblazoned along the length of its hull rising through the air directly in front of them.
Simon heard his pilot's shout of alarm and turned, ready to rebuke him, but the words died in his throat as he saw the roaring Thunderhawk hurtling towards them and the thousands of black, winged monsters that pursued it.
His legs sagged and he dropped to his knees.
'No,' he moaned, 'not like this…'
The Thunderhawk broke left and dived, Harkus pushing the weakened airframe beyond the limits of its endurance. The pressure tore the thin sides free and hurricane-force winds roared through its interior. Uriel saw the reflective silver hull of the vessel before them streak past, so close he could have reached out and touched it. The Deathwatch managed to grip onto the bars and struts of the frame, but the three tech-priests were swept screaming to their deaths.
Uriel slammed into a thick stanchion, grabbing onto it as he slid along the violently heaving deck. Over the howling air he heard Harkus swearing and invoking the name of the machine god in equal measures.
>
The deck lurched again and Uriel saw the ground terrifyingly close through the gaps in the Thunderhawk's flanks. It raced past then vanished from sight as Harkus brought them level again. Uriel pulled himself upright, still clutching the stanchion tightly.
The noise of rushing air diminished, Harkus easing back on the thrusters and bringing the gunship level.
'Imperator, that was close!' breathed Uriel.
'Brace yourselves!' yelled Harkus. 'We're coming into land and it's going to be a rough one!'
Thousands of gargoyles swarmed across the Magnificence, clogging air intakes and smashing into control surfaces. Larger creatures skidded across its hull, tearing and biting through her metal hide with acidic saliva and diamond-hard teeth.
Scores of creatures attached themselves to the underside of the hull, clawing and biting open access panels and climbing through the open undercarriage ports. Within seconds, tonnes of extra weight had been added and the already overburdened craft began to list drunkenly to starboard.
Simon's pilot pushed the engines out in an attempt to dislodge the creatures, but with so much of the craft overbalanced and clogged with alien flesh, one simply flamed out, causing the vessel to yaw uncontrollably.
The ship's windshield blew out. Screeching creatures swarmed in and Simon screamed as they tore the flesh from his bones.
A sweeping silver wing struck the rock face and sheared from the hull.
The Magnificence tumbled from the skies, gaining speed as she fell until she crashed in a spectacular fireball amid the buildings of District Secundus.
Streaking black shapes spun in the sky above Snowdog as he made his way through the ruins of the destroyed warehouse. Smoking rubble tumbled from the shattered walls and the baleful orange glow from the twisted piles of blazing wreckage more than resembled his vision of hell.
Ultramarines Omnibus (warhammer 40000: ultramarines) Page 63
