Invasion!

John Hossk was sitting down in his house on a Saturday morning that was quiet, and almost peaceful. It was the middle of a very cold winter, with a strong wind outside that produced a low whistling sound. The world outside the city was experiencing one of the storms that Gehenna Prime was famous for, when the winds blew so strongly that everything that wasn’t nailed down, and often was nailed down, was ripped from the ground and violently thrown about. The people of Gehenna Prime were generally safe from the storms, as long as their storm barrier held out. The sky outside was eerily dark, because no sunlight penetrated the barrier. John’s room, though, was brightly lit. He sat in his room, looking over a copy of The Art of War, but it reminded him, along with the storm, of a time years ago that was devastating for him: the Ork invasion that was titled “The Fires of Gehenna” in all references to it.

Through John’s many years of service, he had fought many strong foes, but none as tough and determined as the Orks. The Ork Warlord Hargluk had invaded Gehenna Prime and nearly destroyed Kravaster. The Warlord was driven back, though, but the Legio Metalica had suffered many losses. Too many. The main loss that brought grief was the loss of the mighty Cassus Belli Emperor-class Imperator Titan. It had been lost during a storm like the one that was happening now. The only survivor was the Reaver Clavigera.

John quickly shook himself back into reality. He set his book down on a table and lowered his head. He suddenly noticed a small lump in his rug, moving rapidly across the room. He was puzzled by it. He got out of his chair investigate, but the lump disappeared. He shrugged, and went to get himself a drink.

* * *

Two weeks later, it happened again. This time, the lump did not disappear so quickly. As John moved closer, he noticed something odd. A short, chitinous scythe-like protrusion tore through the top of the rug, and was just sticking there, in the rug. The “scythe” tore a length of about two inches out of the rug before it went down underneath the rug again. He pondered this new discovery: Was this a clue as to what was under his carpet? He thought through all of his memories, but could not find a creature with any description that included “purple chitinous scythe-like protrusion.” He made a mental note to check the data-banks of the Adeptus Mechanicus for any information he could find.

* * *

As he searched through the downloaded files from the High Altar of Knowledge on Mars (a rather odd name for a supercomputer, but who knows what goes through the Adepts’ minds?), and saw many familiar races: Eldar, Orks, and the most terrifying of all, the Traitor Marines.

Thousands of years ago, the great Warmaster Horus started a huge civil war, with nearly half of the Space Marine Chapters and over half of the Titan Legions joining him. The war was titled “The Horus Heresy,” and it largely devastated the Imperium. Many chapters were destroyed on both sides before the Emperor finally slew Horus, getting grievously wounded himself. Even today, the marines fight each other, Brother versus Brother.

John went through the list of alien races, getting more and more intent on finding out what the thing under his rug was. He came to the Tyranids, the only race he hadn’t encountered. He was comparing the images on the computer with those in his mind. He soon came to the Hormagaunt. This was a terrifying creature to look at. It had four long scythe-like limbs, and two muscular legs. Its tail had a blade on it, and the head of the creature was elongated.

Suddenly, John heard a hissing sound from behind him. He turned around, and fought down the urge to scream. The creature in front of him was the same as the one on the computer monitor. John got out of his chair and leapt backward, onto his desk. He jumped behind his desk, pulling out drawers rapidly to fling them at the creature. The Hormagaunt tore the drawers apart.

John stopped when he reached the fourth drawer. Inside was his most trustworthy “friend,” his bolter.

He pulled out his bolter quickly. The creature leapt at him. He fired. The bullet flew through the air, impacting on the wall at the side of the room which a tremendous explosion.

“Darn it! Missed!” he shouted.

The creature came closer. He aimed, holding the bolter steady. He pulled the trigger. A bullet flew through the air. It impacted the chest of the Hormagaunt, exploding. The creature screamed, and fell forward, narrowly missing John. He got up and looked at the creature laying on the floor. He shivered with the realization of the what the creature’s presence meant.

The Tyranid Hive Fleet was coming. The invasion of the Gehenna system was going to be there soon. All that the the Gehennans could do was wait, and see if they could repel the invaders. If not, the whole Gehenna system would be turned into lifeless, barren planets...

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