Planetfall

Two Days, Two days the Orks had been in orbit and no landings. They’d appeared out of nowhere, dozens of Roks, ships and hulks had appeared practically on top of the orbital defences. They’d done their best and sold their lives dearly but once they were gone the bombardment started until all the ground based defences were silenced. This Warboss wasn’t stupid he was softening the planet up first and with our eyes in the sky gone all we can do is wait... ... Then the bombardment stopped, but this was not the first war Colonel Carlin had seen it meant they were finally coming. “Mount up men! Here they come!” The men under his command rushed to their vehicles, holding this facility with an armoured group wasn’t ideal but it would have to do, guardsmen scattered across the bay when suddenly there was a sound, like silenced thunder and a flash of light. When his vision cleared he found himself staring down the barrel of a long slender weapon, it’s owner clad in tight fitting blue armour, Eldar! There were perhaps a dozen of them in the bay all with weapons trained on his men, but they hadn’t fired, what in the Emperor’s name was going on! Two figures stood at the heart of the group of invaders, he recognised one as a Witch, one of the Eldars battle psychers, small stone runes hovered about them. The others armour was just as intricate but they seemed more like the warriors that surrounded them. This one was bare headed, female, her hair bound up in an ornate clasp. She should have been beautiful, delicate curves and features but those eyes. Looking into her eyes it was clear they were no less alien than Orks or Tyranids. They all didn’t so much move as flow like quicksilver, this situation was delicate, they hadn’t fired so they wanted something but he didn’t doubt if necessary they would kill them all where they stood. The female seemed to try starting to speak, words catching in her throat, like a note from a song, then with a pained expression she tried again. “We are not here to wage war on you this day... human” “Those guns seem to say different” “A necessary precaution, your kind only seem willing to see reason when it is the only option. We offer to stand alongside you here, alone you cannot possibly triumph. Ulthwe’s guardians become yours. There is no time for deliberation, either accept or we shall take our leave” Carlin knew the alien was right, dropping from orbit the Orks would be on top of them before they even knew what was going on, he needed good old fashioned ground pounders to keep them off his armour, and he’d seen what the Eldar’s warrior class could do first hand. Worst case, it meant fewer of them to deal with later, best case it was just one of those Eldar things and they would disappear as suddenly as they arrived afterwards. “Done, we’ll sort this out proper afterwards, right now we’ve got greenskins to deal with, to your vehicles you lazy buggers!” Even as the alien warriors lowered their weapons more Eldar began to appear in the bay, this time he saw the faint shimmer of a portal or gate in the air, tricky buggers, he’d be sure to watch for that in future. The pilot keyed the ignition even as he stepped about his command vessel, the Vendetta “Hammer of the Emperor”... ... Autarch Niala had orchestrated the battle from the bunker, the humans could not be allowed to understand their true goals, nor likely could the primitives. Seer Midorna’s loss would be lamented for cycles to come, his Avenger wards had reported seeing his body twist and deform as the old Orks power had borne down on him. The same Ork who had simply vanished in a blast of light as the harlequins bore down on him for the killing blow. It seemed as if the Orks had been trying to plant a banner, perhaps trying to win favour with their leader, they had shrugged off blows that should have even felled their kind to plant it. Them throwing themselves into the crucible of battle without concern like that was the only thing that had saved us. The humans artillery had done a fine job thinning their numbers but so many still reached the fortifications. The entirety of the “Stalking Shadow” had been wiped out trying to hold them back. Had it not been for the arrival of the harlequins this day would still have been lost. The countercharge they delivered was a fearsome sight, even her time in the Shrieking Doom shrine had not prepared her for the skill in battle they displayed. As the leaders of the assault planted their grisly banner they had leapt over the ruins of the bunker and with a splash of gore the Orks all lay dead at their feet. The Mon-Keigh’s leader had been slain but it seemed like they had held at other sites around the world, many seemed angry that this facility was now essentially under Eldar rule but others knew that waiting for help from their own Imperium would see the world burned and infested before it arrived. With the rites now complete the portal had been opened properly and heavier ordinance could be brought to bear. Soon they would be ready for their true objective...

Hive Fleet Tarrasque

Ordos Xenos Report – Omega Grade clearance requested...
DNA and password accepted – May the Emperor’s Light shine on you...
...............

This report comes from our observers in Segmentum Pacificus, already a smelting pot of issues with Imperial forces already engaged in running battles with Eldar and Orks as well as the arrival of a small hive fleet all within the last century. The Ipsos sector quietened when Eldar forces seemed to break off engagement with our forces going almost unseen before it became apparent that they had launched raids on the Tyranid “Synapse” network and driven the swarm to ground with no leadership. For a decade now the combined forces of the Cadian 27th, Knights of Marconia, Emperor’s Shadows and Angels Reticent Astartes chapters have been able to wage their war on the Orks unchallenged and had begun driving them back.
In 999.M41 however a single ship was detected in the Ipsos sector, without warning it had appeared in the middle of the system. Our tracking implements marked it as a single Leviathan class Hiveship and it was on a collision course for Davion, one of worlds marked for ground cleansing due to minor infestation and a major staging ground for the Emperor’s Shadows. An Astropathic message was sent to them, but a single Hiveship should have been no match for several battle companies of Astartes. From that day on Shadows battle activity dropped sharply and within 30 solar days all contact with them had been lost. An battlegroup from the in system naval detachment was sent to investigate and was destroyed in orbit, but not before they were able to transmit 7 seconds of visual.
Davion was largely obscured, thick clouds of spores and tyranid vessels hung in space around the planet, tendrils of organisms stretching out to encompass it’s three moons. Through the gaps in the spores the true horror was revealed. Gone was the agri-world of Davion, instead was a world of fire and madness. It writhed with stage 3 Tyranid biology but was going unharvested, volcanic vents had been torn open across the planet and at the equator like a cancer on the world sat a creature, Tyranid like in design but the size of a continent what once was a mere hiveship.
My Magos attendants suggest that in it’s crippled state the hiveship could not leave and so has begun assimilation of the world but unlike the travelling fleets chose not to drain the world but instead farms it, using the energy of the molten core to breed biomass for itself and it’s progeny. It has been suggested that what we are seeing was the evolution of their race played out again. A single world that spawned the first of their kind and began their spread into space.
All attempts to assault this fortress world have failed and I request the full might of the Pacificus Battlegroup be brought to bear. This Hive Fleet is perhaps the greatest threat the Tyranids have presented, they appear to be a mutant strain or splinter of Leviathan, their skin colouration a reversal of the established norm but their behaviour is so aberrant. Synapse Creatures are protected but to an nth degree, in engagement Tyrant class organisms are never seen without guard creatures and the Hive has a tendency to favour monstrous sized leader beasts such as the Alpha Trygon and Tervigon class organisms. Even when Gladius class beasts are spotted they are often hidden within the seething swarms safe from all but the most accomplished of snipers.
This ability to generate a fortress world concerns me greatly, if we cannot keep them isolated and this strain is allowed to reintegrate with the other fleets the Tyranid race would become virtually impossible to burn them from our galaxy and it would likely spell the end for us all as these fortress factories sprung up across the Imperium like a cancer.
As such I have designated this new strain Tarrasque to highlight the danger this swarm that refuses to stay dead represents.
May the Emperor’s light protect us all.