Typhon's Vault

[Direach]

I hope you enjoy the story of my homegrown Chapter's first major mission after their founding.

 

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The earliest known action undertaken by the Void Hunters dates from 211.M40. The Chapter responded in full strength to the appearance of a particularly massive space hulk (codenamed “Typhon’s Vault") in the Anza system, Bellus sector. The space hulk was nearly the size of a moon, and was infested with colossal spacegoing xenoforms of unknown origin (later comparative analysis confirmed that they were not Tyrannic in nature). The xenoforms were dormant, but began to stir as the space hulk drifted in-system, toward the agri-worlds of Anza Primaris and Anza Secundus.

 

When it became clear that not only would Typhon’s Vault pass close to both inhabited worlds, but that the xenoforms seemed capable of void flight, an astropathic distress call was broadcast out by both worlds. It was answered by the Void Hunters. Although their fleet was still modest in size at the time, the Chapter was at full fighting strength, and eager to prove itself. The Void Hunters entered Anza when Typhon’s Vault was less than two weeks out from Anza Secundus.

 

Initial engagement by the Void Hunters’ fleet against the space hulk and its cyclopean inhabitants proved fruitless: the space hulk was too large for the fleet to reduce, and the xenoforms, while vast from a human perspective, were too small to accurately attack with ship-mounted weaponry. Chapter Master Garn Moray, himself an ancient veteran of the esteemed Novamarines Chapter, determined that the Chapter would have to take the fight to the abominable xenos upon and within Typhon’s Vault itself.

 

The Void Hunters deployed en masse to the surface of the Vault, homing in on their first target. The titanic size of the xenoforms, along with their gelatinous flesh, made destroying them difficult; bolter rounds exploded harmlessly a few metres in, while heavier weapons like lascannons seemed to penetrate much more deeply, but to no significant effect. It took the combined firepower of three companies to bring one down (by focusing all their fire on its right leg, then unleashing a firestorm of plasma and krak missiles into its tentacled head), and that undertaking took the better part of six hours.

 

Once Moray realized that killing the monstrous xenos (now designated “Abhorrents”) one by one would take far too long, a new plan had to be devised. Deep auspex scans indicated vast pockets of frozen hydrogen were trapped within Typhon’s Vault, in the shattered planetoid that formed the oblong core of the space hulk. Moray and the First Company’s two terminator squads, laden with fusion warheads from the fleet’s arsenal, teleported down to the surface of the Vault and began a harrowing descent deep into the interior.

 

The Abhorrents, somehow sensing the threat, began to slowly converge on the site of the terminators’ descent. The rest of the Void Hunters took the fight to the ponderous but nearly unstoppable xenos, harrying them with Thunderhawks and speeders, trying to draw them away. Two more of the behemoths were slain (along with a great number of armoured vehicles and battle brothers) before the terminators were judged to be deep enough to evade pursuit.

 

However, Moray and the First Company terminators soon found that the depths of Typhon’s Vault were just as laden with horror as its surface. More gelatinous horrors, suggestive of both the Abhorrents above and of shambling mockeries of the terminators themselves, swarmed from the dark recesses of the space hulk to besiege the Void Hunters. Hampered by the massive warheads, the terminators were at a serious disadvantage in both mobility and numbers, but they pressed on, burning their way down to the frozen heart of the space hulk.

 

Despite the grievous loss of three battle brothers, Moray’s terminators broke through the onslaught of the xenos, and after several days of relentless marching they reached the frozen hydrogen. Acting with precision and alacrity, Moray’s terminators deployed the fusion warheads across the glacier of hydrogen.

 

On the surface, the Abhorrents were tearing away huge chunks of the space hulk, digging and tearing their way toward the terminators they could apparently sense far below. The Void Hunters’ fleet fired on them again and again, destroying many of them, but there were thousands more to replace those that were lost. Worse, the Abhorrents had now seen that Anza Secundus was near, and many unfurled their vast, membranous void-wings and launched themselves out into space towards the planet. The Void Hunters fleet, led by the battle-barge Emperor's Light, engaged the creatures with all the firepower at their disposal. Far more vulnerable in flight than on the surface, the Abhorrents were slowly whittled down as they flapped ponderously towards their prey.

 

Having set and armed the warheads, Moray and his surviving terminators battled their way back towards the surface. They encountered more of the miniature Abhorrents, armies of them… but the Void Hunter veterans were no longer encumbered by the massive warheads, and gave fierce battle to the slobbering xenos.

 

After two more days, Moray and twelve terminators battled their way up far enough for the Teleportarium aboard the Emperor’s Light to lock onto their homing signal. Even as the Abhorrents lurched and stumbled towards their location, the Chapter Master and his trusted veterans were translated safely back aboard the flagship.

 

Once aboard, Moray ordered the fleet to withdraw, and sent the detonation signal to the warheads. As he had anticipated, the mass of fusion weapons ignited the frozen hydrogen, causing a catastrophic chain reaction that blew out a continent-sized section of the space hulk, and altered its trajectory enough to turn it from the agri-worlds in its path towards the Anza primary.

 

The few Abhorrents that survived the explosion took wing and fled towards Anza Secundus, intent on reaching their prize. The Void Hunters fleet pursued them, ever reducing their numbers, but a new problem presented itself: massive fragments of Typhon’s Vault were tumbling towards Anza Secundus, each one large enough to cause a nuclear winter on impact.

 

Moray dispatched the rest of the fleet to deal with the fragments, while he and the First Company (all but twelve in standard power armour) shuttled as rapidly as possible to the Sword of Aneas, the fastest frigate in the fleet. There were six Abhorrents still on course towards Anza Secundus, and precious little time to catch them.

 

The Sword of Aneas accelerated at full burn towards the fleeing xenos, rapidly overtaking them. Moray and the First Company boarded Thunderhawks, loading as many Void Hunters as possible onto six vessels, and launched for the Abhorrents. The xenos monstrosities were powerful but clumsy fliers, and could not avoid the incoming gunships.

 

The Thunderhawks landed on the broad, swampy backs of the behemoths, kilometres from the beating void-wings. The Void Hunters First Company poured out onto the creatures’ backs, pushing doggedly towards their pulpy heads. The gelatinous flesh of the Abhorrents dragged many brethren down, but most made it to their targets.

 

Led by the terminators, two to a Thunderhawk, the Void Hunters desperately blasted their way into the heads of the Abhorrents, taking the fight into the fibrous skulls of their adversaries. Burning, blasting, and hacking their way in, each detachment eventually found the loathsome, fortress-sized mass of shuddering tissue they sought within the heads of the xenos abominations.

 

Even as they hurled themselves towards Anza Secundus, the brains of the Abhorrents were torn apart from within by the fury of the Void Hunters. Dead and derelict now, the lifeless hulks of the astral behemoths tumbled slowly towards the atmosphere of the planet below, while the Void Hunters fled out of the corpse-tombs.

 

Four Thunderhawks tore free from the gelatinous fetters holding them; two more were not so fortunate. The doomed Void Hunters chanted praises to the Emperor over the vox-net until they were consumed in the fires of re-entry.

 

Chapter Master Moray was among the fortunate who escaped. The Void Hunters’ fleet reduced the planet-bound fragments of Typhon’s Vault to harmless size; they burned up in the atmosphere and caused no harm. Likewise, uncontrolled and incapable of manoeuvring, the corpses of the six Abhorrents burned up in the skies over Anza Secundus. Typhon’s Vault itself spun slowly towards the Anza star, its final, fatal flight closely monitored by the Ordo Xenos when they eventually arrived. On Stheno IV, a featureless black stone obelisk was raised to honour the sacrifice of the brethren who had died to save two worlds.

 

Moray’s report on the incident was sealed for many centuries, until the invasion of Hive Fleet Behemoth made it imperative to revisit the horror of the past. To this day, the true origin of the Abhorrents remains unknown, and the Void Hunters have maintained a vigilant guard in case they should ever return.