It seems that during the time the Swift Hunter had spent encased in the warp, several days had passed, meaning that the Ultramarines were several days too late. Even at a glance, from the orbit of the planet, the total destruction of the world was visible. Entire continents were in flames. Oceans poisoned to crimson. Even the very air itself had turned grey from the continuous conflict. On the bridge of the Swift Hunter, Raduriel Aberec stood frozen, staring into the fractured world. Aberec continued this pointless mourn until Sergeant Tius called out to him. 'Brother?' He asked 'What are your orders?' Aberec had to ask himself that question before he could answer his Sergeant. Also present on the ship's bridge were several Tech Priests and engineers, the ones responsible for maintaining primary functions of the vessel. Then there were Aberec's battle-brothers. His proud warriors, clad in the armor of Maccrage. Each Space Marine stood under the same banner and wore the same blue plate. The Sergeants of his company were standing at attention, their red helms tucked beneath their arms. Although not of rank, Veteran Garrus Adonato was privileged with the honor of being aboard the bridge. Adonato remained in his bright white, beaked helmet to soothe the pain of his mutilated facial features which he had suffered during his centuries of service in the Emperor's name. That was why Adonato disliked the entirety of the Ultramarines aboard the Swift Hunter. They were not veterans. Other than Adonato, the Space Marines aboard the ship were all newly forged Primaris Space Marines. These soldiers were larger, faster, stronger and deadlier and arguably saved the Imperium from total defeat. But the veteran cared not of the specifications of these soldiers. They were granted full control of the mission despite the lack of experience of doing so. As much as Adonato wanted to shout out and assert his dominance; he knew he couldn't. All he could do was continue serving his Emperor, no matter who ordered him to do so.'Lieutenant, what are your orders?' Sargent Tius asked again. Aberec murmured under him breathe and finally answered his men. 'I mean not to state the obvious, but the planet is lost' There was a long silence after the Lieutenant spoke. 'I suggest we leave the system immediately, there is nothing more we can do here' It pained Aberec to say this, it went against every oath that he stood for. Another one of the Sargents from the Demi Company interjected 'I agree, we are at overwhelming odds trying to fight this battle.' Several of the Ultramarines nodded to this statement. 'Besides; even if anyone is alive down there, who says they are worth saving?' Adonato asked, rhetorically. That angered Tius greatly. 'Who are you to declare who is worthy or not!' shouted back Tius. Adonato was set back by this sudden outroar. Even Aberec turned from his viewing port to stare down the Sergeant. 'You would waste your brother's precious lives to save these futile beings?' snapped back Adonato.Tius barked back 'Saving the Emperor's Imperium is no waste of our lives. Perhaps you have been falsely informed in the ways of the Indomimus Crusade' Adonato instinctively reached for the bolt pistol holstered by his side. 'Both of you enough!' Commanded the Lieutenant. His voice was strong enough to paralyze the two Marines. Every head in the room was aimed at Aberec, cautiously waiting for what he will shout next. But before he continued, the onboard vox systems crackled to life.
The garbled message came through the built-in speakers, barely audible over the static also being emitted. 'This is Officer Keller of the Loki Regiment, Madrinal, we are under siege does anybody read me?' There was a brief pause that was interrupted by a furious explosion that sounded too close for comfort. 'We have thousands of innocents guarded in the Captial city but we can't hold them off for much longer. Please in the Emperor's name someone help us!' All of a sudden the signal went silent. Every soul on the bridge stood frozen. 'Lieutenant, if those civilians are still surviving down in that hell, we can't leave them' Tius said softly.'You are right Sergeant however there is no more we can do. Perhaps with the full force of the Crusade will we be able to defend this planet. But not on our own.' Aberec said back. Adonato almost seemed pleased with the news. ' Shipmaster, begin recycling the engines and get us the away from this damned world.' Ordered Aberec. 'All hands prepare for immediate warp transit, we are returning to Maccrage.' Bodies started shuffling and speeding away to various different computers and consoles. Aberec turned back to his viewing port as the ship began shaking and awakening. The lifeless black void that surrounded the planet seemed empty; until Aberec caught a glimpse of terror. Black and gold daggers of war sped towards the Silent Hunter. Multiple cannons of various size and strength lined the hull of each vessel. Aberec counted four escort ships and a much larger battleship in the center of the formation. 'Ultramarines! The enemy is upon us!' Aberec shouted over the ship-wide vox. His voice rung through each room and corridor within the Swift Hunter and every crewman onboard heard the Lieutenant's words. 'Our engines are still cycling to full power my Lord' Whined one of the tech-priests stationed on the bridge. 'How long until they are ready?' Aberec asked calmly, despite the battle beginning to unfold. Before the tech-priest could answer, the Swift Hunter violently shook to its core. Beams of pure light pierced through the skin of the Ultramarine's vessel. The Swift Hunter then shook again, accompanied by the sound of alarms ringing through the bridge. Several lights across the tech priest's command console shifted from green to red, signifying the destruction of the Swift Hunter's power core. Aberec and his crew now stood in darkness and the alarms abruptly stopped chiming. 'Do we still have vox?' Questioned Aberec. 'Negative my lord, but we shall begin rerouting secondary power to the engine'- The tech-priest was suddenly cut off once again by another blast into the Swift Hunter. 'Ship Master I want us out of here!' ordered Aberec. 'Engines are completely lost my lord, lower engine decks have been compromised and are currently being sealed.' Replied the Ship Master from the other side of the bridge. Sergeant Tius felt futile in the midst of void combat, all he wanted to do was fight. And the fight was surely coming.
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.