The Destruction of Halathel
In the aftermath of Hive Fleet Behemoth, many small Hive Fleets were spotted by the Imperium, among them Hive Fleet Naga. It was assumed by the members of the Ordo Xenos and the Imperium in general to be a small splinter fleet, only lightly brushing against the surface of their empire. However, the race of the Eldar, as well as the poor souls of the Ybaric Cluster, knew otherwise, that Hive Fleet Naga was a far greater foe. Single handedly, the small fleet managed to complety destroy two maiden worlds, seven exodite worlds, and the craftworld of Malen'ti. But that is a story for another day. This one concerns the Tyranid forces at Halathel, but from an entirely different perspective...
Day One
Our eyes, our lictors, examine the strange thinking building in front of us, small prey-things scuttling across its spires like termagants in one of our ships. The time is now, our Tyrant half-thinks from his spore, the adrenal fluids inside of it convulsing his body. It is, we agree wordlessly, and as one our Tyrant releases the multitude of termagants and Hormagaunts unto the secured drop zone, followed by Venomthropes to begin the preparation of the prey, and the Tyrant to hold them waiting at our call. The fortress swirms, as it feels the first touch of our presence, as the phage cells grab hold of the plant life, silencing their little warp-cries. We begin the process of spawning factories under the ground to prepare for our next attack, but first we send Tergivons, surrounded by hordes of gaunts and gants, to test the fortress. Our eyes look away as their microsopic sentience is snipped out by the thousands, only to return to us, waiting for a new form. Soon, the last Tergivon returns to us, and we begin to make preparations for the next wave.
Day Two
All of the biomass lost during the test has been regained. We are pepared to launch our first true assault. Gargoyles and Harpies flutter through the air, propelled along by shrikes and Harridans. Carnifex clamer out from our hive nodes at almost the speed of the Termagants underneath their feet. Our Tyrant oversees this process, and with a roar. The attack has been launched. For an entire day our forces pound against the fortress walls, and the weaker-minded among us called for retreat. But they were disiplined, and at the thought of new biomass our forces surged forth. As night just began to set on, their outer defences collapsed, and we poared in reinforcements to slaughter those inside. What! No! Our synaptic link has been destroyed, out forces scatter! With our smallest link remaining, we push the hormagaunts forward in a mad rush. All the biomass we lost! Our tyrant shall pay, he was a fool to rely only on his synaptic link to his troops. But we have not lost. More spores thunder down, and we unload trygons and raveners to use in our final assault. This isn't over...
- Note: for future readings on Hive Fleet Naga, and another account of the assault on Halathel, please observe pages 16-17 in the Tyranid Codex.
- Story written by klawz.
