Warhammer 40,000 - The Exodus

Chapter 2 - The Ultramarines

One of the Chaos ships arced around the starboard side of the Swift Hunter. Another ship did the same on the opposite side, and both vessels began launching their boarding torpedos. These cylindrical missiles were not filled with explosives but instead filled with bloodthirsty warriors of the Black Legion. The torpedos fired straight into the hull of the Swift Hunter and burrowed their ways through the many layers of steel. Once the torpedos opened, the legionnaires of Chaos began pouring out, seeking for their prey.'Sergeant, you and your men will hold the hangar, protect the transports at all costs' Aberec ordered Tius. 'Adonato, accompany the others down into the lower levels and begin sweeping each floor. Leave none of the heretics standing' All of the Ultramarines began piling out of the bridge. Before Tius replaced his helm, Adonato stepped towards him. 'It seems you won your vote, Sergeant' he sneered as he walked off once again towards the other squads. Tius swiftly gave a salute to the Lieutenant and marched his way off the bridge, making way to the rest of his squad. Aberec remained behind aboard the bridge. He wished to continue his tactical role of the Demi Company before charging recklessly into combat. But his time would come. So he hoped.

Bolter fire peppered the makeshift barricade which protected Tius' Squad. Intercessor Arlowe took his chance and leaned out of cover. He trained his bolt rifle into the nearest enemy and fired. Several bolt rounds thudded through the air and smacked into his target. Ceramite armor plating shattered under the impact, and a pink mist of blood and guts erupted from the victim's chest as the bolt rounds detonated. Where one heretic fell, two more took its place, and they fought with even greater ferocity. The forces of Chaos returned the storm of bolt rounds and claimed the shoulder of another Intercessor. The Ultramarine cried out in pain, but it would not stop him from fighting. The wounded warrior raised his bolt pistol with his functioning arm and fired off rounds into the immediate threat. None of the shots hit home, but it prevented another volley from the opposing side. Sergeant Tius finally arrived at his squad. He assessed the situation and began barking orders. 'Squad! Concentrate fire on these abominations before us!' In unison, the four Intercessors began spewing bolt rounds into the other end of the corridor. The sheer number of rounds caused the Chaos Marines to falter. Once the hostiles were forced from their cover, they were brutally gunned down in one large volley of gunfire. None survived. 'Are you stable?' Tius asked the wounded Ultramarine. 'I'm fit for combat, sir' Tius nodded, grabbed his forearm and lifted the soldier to his feet. 'Now my brothers, we only have a few more floors before we reach the hangar' smirked Tius to his men.

Garrus Adonato was out of ammo. He tossed aside his bolter and whipped out his much smaller bolt pistol. With his newly drawn weapon, Adonato began firing into the Chaos Marines sprinting across the hangar bay. From what he could tell, the heretics were planting melta bombs onto the hull of each transport docked in the bay, preventing the Ultramarines of any escape. Positioned upon a high railing, a squad of Black Legion Havocs primed their plasma cannons and took aim at a Stormraven gunship. From such a close range, the gunship went up in flames immediately, and the Havocs began searching for another target. This time, they placed their reticules upon the decorated veteran.Adonato clumsily rolled to the side of the first plasma volley. He quickly readjusted himself and spotted the merciless heavy weapons team that was raining hell down onto him. Before the Havocs could fire again, the Hell Blasters of the demi company let loose with their own plasma weaponry. The Ultramarine's weapons also fired pure blasts of searing hot energy, but at a much more murderous rate. The first few shots were enough to decimate the Havocs; the rest was extreme overkill. Nothing remained of the Chaos Havocs on the upper walkways, and now the Ultramarines had to desperately gain a foothold in the traitor infested hangar. Further up the war-torn hangar, a squad of Ultramarines stood in a defensive formation around a huddle of crewmen. The mortal beings were useless against the horrors that the Imperium faced, and could only reel in terror as the Emperor's finest fought back against Chaos. However, even the might of a Space marine was not enough to vanquish the trio of Obliterators. These abominations were huge beings of flesh and steel, armed with various different weapons each fused within the beast's skin. The Obliterators burned and smashed their way through the Ultramarines, and claimed the puny crewmen as their prey. The thunderous shaking of the Swift Hunter had finally stopped. Aberec still stood at the command bridge, biding his time to strike. Thankfully, the Black Legion ships had ceased fire and stayed astray. A plan had finally been formulated by the Lieutenant. Whether the Ultramarines liked it or not; they were headed for the surface. 'Ship Master!' Aberec called out 'Prepare all hands for departure, we shall utilize what we have left in the hangar to make our way down to Madrinal.' Aberec had already begun marching out of the bridge when the Ship Master suddenly spoke up 'No, my lord that shall not happen' The Ultramarine froze mid-stride and turned his head to the Ship Master. 'I beg your pardon?' Aberec asked gruffly. 'I said no my lord. My crew and I shall remain aboard and draw the enemy's fire away from the transports. That way, you may have enough men to save this planet after all.' Aberec smiled and turned back to the exit. 'Thank you, my friend. May the Emperor smile upon you.' As he left, the surviving crew members of the Swift Hunter began preparing the catastrophic overload of the remaining power cores.