"In the name of the Storm."
The Chapter Master of the Storm Falcons, Barattiel, led his Chapter's warriors, charging onto the battlefield like wild beasts.
They surged past the rumbling super-heavy tanks in a frenzy.
The bolters in their hands spat bolts fueled by furious will, seeking vengeance for their comrades lost in the void.
Several captains of the Storm Falcons Chapter were tasked with defending the void campaign.
Their tactics were very similar to those of the Imperium's first Chapter, the White Scars, favoring maneuver and mobility.
To fully utilize the mobile advantage of the void defense line, Calgar entrusted command of the void battlefield to the Storm Falcons.
Less than a thousand capital ships facing the tyranid biological tide was undoubtedly like a mantis trying to stop a chariot – a suicidal act.
However, the Storm Falcons Chapter knew no fear.
The entire Chapter gladly accepted the mission.
Over half of the Chapter's members were deployed on the void battlefield.
Every flash of light represented another comrade returning to the Emperor's Throne.
Barattiel understood that this battle would inflict heavy casualties on the Storm Falcons, but for Guilliman's great cause, for the renewed resurgence of the Imperium of Man.
The Storm Falcons would not retreat in the slightest.
If they died in this battle, they only wished for their souls to return to the Throne.
Barattiel led a small squad charging through the panicked Astra Militarum, joining the fight with bolters and chainswords.
The Storm Falcons Chapter had already undergone Primaris upgrade.
An endless flow of power surged from the Heart of Guilliman, making them fight with increasing ferocity.
Barattiel led his squad to attack a tyranid monstrous creature that had destroyed four tanks.
Using their jump packs, they leaped onto its back.
Swinging their weapons, they hacked at the massive body.
The tyranid monstrous creature let out a painful shriek, but it did not fall.
It wasn't until the Barattiel struck its chest from the side and tore out a tumor-like organ from its massive body that it finally crashed to the ground.
More primaris space marines surged past the Storm Falcons, shouting their own battle cries.
Those terrifying tyranid monstrous creatures also charged towards them, attempting to push forward and crush humanity.
Symbiotic weapons twitched, spitting bio-plasma and potent acidic venom at everything.
The primaris space marines temporarily held back the enemy, alleviating the Imperial forces' rout.
Hark ordered his subordinates to reorganize.
The panicked soldiers were trembling all over, death was so close to them.
They dug out the lucky few from the piles of corpses, re-established control of the positions, and set up artillery.
They also abandoned their damaged power armor.
Some living soldiers salvaged intact power armor suits from their deceased comrades.
Or dismantled usable parts to replace components on their own power armor.
Hark jumped into a heavy weapon emplacement fortified with sandbags and found that all the gunners inside were dead.
Their bodies had been melted by corrosive venom.
Two of them were nothing more than a pile of viscous internal organs.
The venom had completely consumed their bodies.
There were a few other bodies that were barely recognizable, but their faces or hands had been corroded, revealing stark white bone.
Hark observed three seconds of silence for these fallen comrades, then disregarded them.
He continuously pulled the trigger, emptying his energy clip, then threw a frag grenade at the tyranids, blowing away those that approached.
Amidst the explosions, he cleared the bodies from the heavy twin-linked autocannon, aimed at the enemy, and continued firing.
The arrival of the primaris space marines turned the tide of the battle.
The 502nd Regiment launched a counter-charge, reclaiming their positions.
Several Hellhound tanks also rumbled over the corpses of the tyranids.
Engines vibrated, spewing thick smoke from their exhausts.
The Hellhound tanks' turrets continuously bombarded the tyranids, supporting the 502nd Regiment's charge.
A massive tyranid creature fell, then was crushed by the tank formation, becoming a mangled corpse.
Soldiers surged back to their positions, manning the heavy weapons.
Artillery and lasers once again saturated the battlefield.
Realizing they could not win, the tyranids abandoned their attack.
The massive node creatures were the first to withdraw from the battlefield, followed by the countless smaller tyranid creatures, which also turned and retreated.
Just like the receding tide, they withdrew with a rushing sound.
The tyranid attack was repelled, and the soldiers cheered, doubling their fire on the backs of the retreating tyranids.
After the cheering, the brutal casualty rate forced everyone to become somber.
The surviving soldiers carried the bodies from the positions.
Commanders reorganized the front lines.
Adeptus Mechanicus servitors and priests dragged the damaged vehicles and equipment back to the repair factories for maintenance.
Knights and primaris space marines also gave up the pursuit, withdrew from the battlefield, and regrouped.
Large numbers of men and women who had been left behind began to be sent to the front.
The equipment of the dead was handed over to these newcomers, arming them to fight for the Emperor.
This continued for a long time.
The tyranids attacked, suffered losses, and were repelled again.
Calgar, relying on his strategy and tactics, repeatedly shattered the tyranid assaults, making them pay a heavy price without gaining an inch.
The Imperial Navy was still fighting in the void, using its mobility to constantly slice through the tyranid fleet.
Repelling the tyranids again and again gave the defenders an absurd idea.
The tyranids were nothing special; they could easily hold them off until the Primarch arrived.
However, there was a reason the Hive Mind could rampage across the galaxy.
It was intelligent and possessed unparalleled learning ability.
As it focused more attention on the Vitoria system, a sinister plan was born.
It would shorten the duration of the war, keeping the ratio of gains to losses within an acceptable range.
Calgar had purged the cults formed by genestealers several times.
But these beasts were like cockroaches in a sewer; each purge only made them hide deeper.
Deep underground, a massive Trygon was diligently digging a tunnel.
Soon, the rock walls were corroded by the Trygon's bodily fluids.
A dusty tunnel appeared before the Trygon.
This tunnel had collapsed and been forgotten by humans.
Surviving genestealers were waiting here.
These genestealers had long collected a wealth of information on the human defenders and had left countless contingencies during years of infiltration.
Numerous strategic objectives appeared in the Hive Mind, and after deliberation, they were assigned to various individuals.
These hidden tyranid units scurried along the dark tunnels.
They could see without light.
The ground rumbled; countless tyranids were still assaulting the human positions, covering their infiltration.
Even the Adeptus Mechanicus priests could not pinpoint the exact location of these life signals.
They could only attribute it to data calculation errors caused by energy overflow on the battlefield.
The infiltrators quickly cleared a passable route, corroding the gates along the way into molten metal.
Then, the infiltrators split into several groups and rushed towards their strategic objectives.
On the surface, Calgar also joined the fight.
The battlefield was littered with burning wreckage, and a dozen expensive war machines lay around him, billowing thick black smoke.
He had personally smashed the head of a Hormagaunt, scattering its bodily fluids and remains across the ground.
Calgar was full of fighting spirit and confidence.
He would not fail the Primarch's expectations.
The tyranid assaults were repelled time and time again.
Artillery roared day and night, and the sky was filled with the traces of constantly firing anti-aircraft guns and lasers.
To defend Vitoria, they had brought countless rounds of ammunition.
Therefore, Calgar was not stingy with ammunition.
Bombarding the enemy day and night, suppressing them with firepower.
Countless tyranids suffered heavy casualties, but they still could not advance.
Optimized plasma reactors continuously powered the void shields, artillery arrays, and plasma turrets, ensuring an endless stream of tyranids were annihilated here.
After months of renovation and reconstruction, this hive city had become a gigantic fortress.
Coupled with over ten thousand primaris space marines and countless mortals.
For the tyranids to make this fortress fall was absolutely impossible.
It was a dam to curb the tyranid tide.
The tyranids attacked without regard for casualties; their ranged fire was blocked by the void shields, deflected elsewhere, or cast into the warp.
tyranids that were too fast could not pass through the void shields.
But if they were too slow, the moment they entered the void shields, they would be targeted and shattered by the anti-aircraft fire of the lascannons and autocannons.
Countless tyranid creatures were reduced to fragments falling from the sky.
They quickly piled up.
Their attacks were useless against the void shields.
This would be a meat grinder for the tyranids; they would pay an unparalleled price.
And the surviving Imperial fleet in the void was still fighting, weakening and dissecting the tyranids, finally making them crash headfirst into the surface fortress, completely shattering their assault.
As long as the void shields were not destroyed, the tyranids would continuously crash into them, being ground down little by little.
Calgar and the others could hold out here, waiting for the Primarch's arrival to launch a counter-attack together.
As long as the tyranids kept launching these meaningless attacks that could not breach the void shields, they could continuously wear down the enemy and eventually achieve victory.
"Wipe them all out, don't let the bodies pile up, let's—" Before Calgar could finish, a voice of pain came over the vox.
"The area storing the void shield generators is under xeno attack, there are genestealers, they've gotten in."
Calgar's face grew grim, "What about the troops I stationed there?"
"We are in a tough fight, sir, there are many of them, they must have received support from outside," the voice on the other end said.
Calgar let out a curse.
He guessed the enemy had likely climbed in from the lower levels of the hive city.
That area was complex and easily exploited by the enemy.
Calgar smashed the head of a tyranid creature, looked at the surging tide of tyranids again, let out a roar, then turned and left, his honor guard close behind.
A gunship carried them away, taking them to the attacked shield generator.
Fierce fighting erupted at the shield generator; the most elite tyranid warriors had been deployed there, attempting to destroy the void shield generator.
Calgar led his honor guard to reinforce and quickly killed them all.
But before they could celebrate.
A low explosion sounded, and the entire hive city shook violently.
The void shields flickered a few times, then went out.
"What's going on?" Calgar's voice was filled with shock and anger.
"They destroyed the energy conduits, sir," a panicked voice came over the vox. "The energy buildup overloaded the power core, the void shields and anti-aircraft fire power supply are destroyed."