CHAPTER 103 — IT WATCHES ONLY GAIUS
The gate slammed shut behind them with a metallic boom that echoed deep into the chamber. The sound rolled through the massive space like distant thunder, slowly fading until only a low hum remained, the heavy vibration of dormant reactors buried beneath the metal floor.
Outside, muffled screeches and dull impacts shook the walls, but here inside, it felt like they had stepped into another world.
A world of steel, faith, and silence.
The Titan hangar was enormous, far larger than anything they had entered before. The ceiling rose so high it disappeared into darkness, crisscrossed with scaffolding, chains, and hanging cranes. Red lumen-strips flickered weakly along the walls as the Tech-Priest walked deeper inside, their dim glow stretching into long streaks of crimson across the metal surfaces.
Servo-skulls drifted overhead, each carrying small parchment rolls and tiny incense burners. Thin trails of scented smoke followed them as they moved, circling the hangar in slow, steady patterns.
Mindy watched the floating servo-skulls and shivered. She knew they weren't ghosts, but real skulls augmented with machines. Even someone like her, who fought and killed gangsters, couldn't help getting goosebumbs.
The Skitarii followed the Tech-Priest, then moved aside to join the other Skitarii already on standby inside the hangar.
The Tech-Priest leading Gaius and the others turned to him. "Captain Gaius, I will now remove myself and attend to my duties."
Gaius nodded in acknowledgment. The Tech-Priest then moved on, leaving them to continue.
The other Tech-Priests inside the hangar were numerous, but all busy, muttering diagnostics, updating internal cogitators, and inspecting the holy seals of the facility.
Only one Tech-Priest appeared to rank higher than the others. Most of his flesh was gone, replaced entirely by machinery, marking him as something far more augmented, and authoritative, than the rest.
He approached Gaius slowly, his footsteps metallic and uneven, like gears grinding inside his legs. His voice crackled through a vox grille mounted on his throat.
"Identify… designation. Ultramarines… State your purpose in this sanctum." The word Ultramarines came out with a hint of hesitation, his optics lingering on Gaius's auramite armor. Only the insignia on his pauldron confirmed his identity.
Gaius stepped forward, reached up, and removed his helm with a soft hiss of decompressed air.
"My name is Captain Gaius of the Ultramarines," he answered calmly. "We are here to guard the Titan and secure this hangar until the Princeps arrives with reinforcements."
The Tech-Priest paused.
His optical lenses rotated three times, click-click-click, processing the statement. Then his head dipped slightly.
"Then… you are here to stay. The Titan resides deeper within the inner sanctum. It is stable and sealed, and maintenance has been completed. No xeno lifeform has breached this far."
Gaius nodded once.
"I see. Then we hold here."
Their primary objective had always been the Titan. Everything else was secondary.
Even if the Forge World outside was falling apart, even if the Tyranids devoured everything they could reach, none of that mattered more than keeping the Titan from being lost.
Naruto floated a bit higher, his projection shimmering slightly as he gazed around with childlike wonder. "This place is huge… like a temple made of metals."
Mindy drifted beside him. "And creepy… but cool. Mostly creepy though."
Tony rotated in mid-air, arms crossed, watching servo-skulls drift above them. "This tech… it's advanced, but also old. High-tech but primitive at the same time. How does that even work?"
Saeko stayed close to Gaius, her voice quiet and observant. "It feels… religious. Like a place of worship, but for machines." She glanced at the countless parchments, the drifting incense, and the Tech-Priests who seem praying.
Diana nodded. "That is a fair description."
They could not stray more than ten meters from Gaius, but even within that range they marveled at their surroundings.
The hangar felt sacred.
And heavy.
And alive.
But the moment of calm didn't last.
Outside the massive gate, the Tyranids continued their assault. The metal buckled slightly under constant blows. Acid hissed where it struck the reinforced plating. Ripper swarms tried to squeeze through gaps that didn't exist. Larger creatures slammed their bodies against the wall, testing its strength.
But the gate held.
an hour passed outside, though inside only minutes seemed to move. The assault outside didn't stop, not for a breath. The Tyranids battered the metal relentlessly.
Yet the Hive Mind was not foolish.
After trying the same pattern over and over, the swarm shifted.
The thundering impacts stopped.
Everything grew quiet.
Too quiet.
And then the smaller creatures below moved aside in an organized retreat, leaving space.
Two enormous shapes stepped forward.
A Pyrovore.
A Carnifex.
These were not part of the initial push.
This was a test.
A probe.
A measurement.
The Hive Mind was studying the gate… calculating… deciding how to break it. It knew the Titan lay inside. It knew that if a Titan rose against the swarm, the loss of biomass would be far beyond the value gained.
This fleet may have been a splinter of Kraken, but it was still intelligent.
And now it calculated
The Titan must not be allowed to awaken.
Inside the hangar, a sudden alarm blared, loud, shrill, urgent.
"WARNING. IMPACT STRESS LEVEL RISING. BREACH RISK ELEVATED."
Servo-skulls scattered like startled birds.
A Tech-Priest turned sharply, his vox crackling with shock.
"Gate integrity, compromised!? Impossible!"
Another Tech-Priest rushed across the platform, robes whipping like torn banners. "The primary gate should withstand orbital bombardment! How, how can this be!?"
The one who spoke with Gaius earlier spun toward him, mechadendrites twitching frantically.
"Captain Gaius," he said, his voice glitching from sudden data overload, "it appears your… assistance… is required sooner than this unit had calculated."
Gaius didn't look surprised.
He had fought the Tyranids many times.
If you faced the Tyranids for the first time, they might seem mindless, creatures that overwhelm with sheer numbers, leaving behind only a consumed planet, stripped of all life, organisms, and resources. But they are not truly mindless. They adapt, evolve, and even strategize.
He turned to Titus, Metaurus, and the Bladeguard.
"Prepare for battle."
Titus pressed his fist to his chestplate. "For the Emperor!"
Metaurus followed, as did the Bladeguard.
Naruto copied them with excitement and seriousness mixed together.
"For the Emperor!"
Mindy copied him. "For the, uh Emperor!"
Tony hesitated, then shrugged. "Well, when in Rome…"
He placed a hand on his chest. "For the Emperor."
Diana and Saeko exchanged glances, small smiles forming. They stepped forward and joined in the gesture.
"For the Emperor," they said together.
Only Gaius truly heard their voices. Only he saw them.
The Tech-Priests stepped back, giving space. Skitarii filled the front line by the gate, raising their weapons.
"Captain."
The leading Tech-Priest pointed upward.
"The automated bolters… I will activate them. Their holy machine-spirits shall aid us."
Above, in the ceiling supports, Gaius saw the mounted bolter turrets, massive, ancient, and still blessed with active targeting lenses.
The Tech-Priest continued:
"You and your squad must move deeper, toward the heart of the hangar. There the corridors are narrower. We can thin the xenos here while you engage the stronger forms inside the choke points. If we fail to stop them at the gate… the Titan is your last line."
Gaius nodded.
"That is sound. And yes, we need to get closer to the Titan. The Tyranids already know it is here. They may breach from another direction."
The Tech-Priest froze for a moment.
"Another… direction?"
Gaius raised a hand and pointed upward toward the ceiling.
"They can dig through the ceiling."
The Tech-Priest's lenses clicked in alarm.
"Dig… through THIS ceiling!?"
"Yes. If they can melt a gate meant for orbital defense, they can carve a path from above."
The Tech-Priest said nothing for several seconds.
Then he bowed his head slightly.
"I see. Then we will prepare accordingly."
He turned and activated a console. Red lights flared to life, and the sound of heavy weapons arming echoed through the chamber.
Gaius placed his helmet back on, sealing it with a hiss.
As the bolters overhead came online, something small shifted in the shadows near the corner of the chamber.
Unseen.
Unheard.
A tiny creature the size of a grain of sand.
So small no human eye could detect it.
Its body barely visible, skin refracting light around it.
Two tiny green lenses focused on Gaius.
It didn't watch the Tech-Priests.
It didn't watch the Skitarii.
It didn't watch the Titan.
It watched only Gaius.
Silently. Patiently.
Studying him.
Evaluating him.
Reporting to something far beyond the swarm.
Something ancient.
Something mechanical.
But for now, it simply watched.
The gate behind them shook again, harder this time.
A roar sounded from outside, deep and primal.
The battle was coming.
Gaius tightened his grip on his warhammer.
"Form up," he said, calm as ever. "We hold."
END OF CHAPTER 103
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