Zander
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Chapter 20 – Into the Maw
🕑 Added 2025-08-31 01:47:37 +0000 UTCChapter 20 – Into the Maw
The fortress-ship shook as the boarding torpedoes hit.
The sound was like thunder inside the metal beast, echoing through its halls. Walls bent, steel groaned, and fire burst from the cracks where molten edges still glowed.
From the torn holes, blue and gold armored giants surged forward. The Ultramarines.
They moved as one. No hesitation. No wasted motion. Every step was measured, every weapon raised and ready.
Gaius was the first through the breach. His bolter barked three sharp bursts, and three twisted slaves dropped where they stood. The recoil barely moved his massive frame. He didn’t slow.
Behind him, his brothers fanned out, spreading into a tight circle to secure the entry.
The smell hit them almost instantly. Burned oil, rotting flesh, the stench of a ship corrupted from within.
From the darkness ahead, the first wave came. Human slaves, if they could still be called that.
Metal spikes were drilled into their arms. Wires stuck out of their backs. Their eyes glowed dim red from cheap augmetics. They rushed like animals, screaming as they charged.
The Ultramarines answered with fire.
Bolter rounds tore them apart, each shot exploding inside their broken bodies. Blood, sparks, and steel fragments sprayed the walls. Chainswords growled as they ripped through bone.
One slave got close enough to leap. Gaius didn’t even raise his weapon. His gauntleted fist met the man’s head mid-air. The skull exploded like fruit under a hammer. The body dropped twitching to the ground.
Naruto: “Wait, he just punched that guy’s head clean off! That’s… that’s insane!”
Tony: “…okay. Okay. Reminding myself again to never get on his bad side.”
Saeko: “Efficient. No wasted effort. They cut through them like weeds.”
Mindy: “It’s… it’s scary how calm they are. Like this is just another day.”
Naruto: "What were those people, they have Metal stuck in them and are crazy."
The corridor was clear. Smoke drifted, the floor slick with blood and oil.
“Form up,” Gaius said. His voice was calm, steady, carried through the comms with weight.
The Ultramarines tightened their formation. Their boots thundered on the deck as they pressed forward.
Slaves kept rushing them in waves, but it didn’t matter. Bolter fire answered every charge. Chainblades cut down anyone who slipped through. The Astartes marched like a wall of iron.
For every dozen that came, none lasted more than seconds.
Tony: “I get it now… this is what soldiers look like when they’re made for war, not just trained for it.” Tony now truly thinks that Gaius Or Ultramarines are similar to Captain America, Truly A Super Soldier of their times.
Naruto: “They don’t even stop moving! Not even for a second!”
Saeko: “They are very discipline. They don’t break formation.”
Mindy: “…it’s like a machine made of people.”
The deeper they went, the louder the ship sounded. Pipes groaned. Engines rumbled somewhere below. The heat grew.
And then, the first real enemy appeared.
Iron Warriors.
They stepped from the shadows, massive in dull gray armor scarred with battle damage. Spikes jutted from their pauldrons. Their eye lenses glowed red like furnaces.
Heavy bolters and autocannons roared almost instantly. The corridor shook under the weight of their fire. Walls exploded in sprays of steel. Shrapnel tore through the air.
The Ultramarines took cover, returning fire in short, precise bursts.
Bolter shells cracked against the Iron Warriors’ armor, but the traitors stood firm, firing without pause.
Tony: “Oh great. Bigger guys with bigger guns. Of course.”
Naruto: “They’re just shooting nonstop! How do they not run out?!” as Naruto was also briefly Introduced to firearms, so he has some knowledge of it.
Saeko: “Gaius enemies are shooting Non-stop like they don't care about ammunitions.”
Mindy: “….”
Pinned down by the storm of fire, Gaius raised one hand. A silent signal.
The squads shifted. Weapons covered different angles. Firing arcs overlapped. The kill-zone tightened.
And then, he moved.
He surged from cover, bolter in one hand, power sword in the other.
Rounds screamed past him. Sparks flew as shells cracked against his armor. But he didn’t slow.
Slaves rushed into his path, trying to shield their masters. Bolter shots from his left hand tore holes through them. His sword flashed in his right, cutting apart anything that got close.
The Ultramarines laid down covering fire, forcing the traitors to adjust. The pressure cracked their rhythm.
Tony: “…Gaius.. well it was quite Dangerous, but expected with the strength of his armor.”
Naruto: “That’s crazy! He didn’t even flinch!” seeing Gaius just ignore the enemies Shots at him and running straight to it.
Saeko: “That’s not madness. I think that's confidence. He knows exactly how much he can take.”
Mindy: “…I don’t think he even doubts himself.”
One Iron Warrior broke ranks to meet him.
The traitor roared, chainsword swinging.
Steel clashed with crackling blue as the power sword met the spinning teeth. Sparks exploded, the sound like grinding thunder.
The two giants slammed into each other. Their blows shook the walls. Each strike could have cut a tank in half.
The Iron Warrior pressed hard, his chainsword screaming. But Gaius didn’t give ground. He shifted, blade flashing faster, sharper, precise.
And then, one clean cut.
The power sword sliced through armor and flesh in one stroke. The traitor fell, his body split and sparking.
Gaius didn’t stop. His momentum carried him forward, deeper into the line.
Naruto: “He just cut that guy in HALF! That was insane!”
Tony: “…this is… this is like watching a tank fight a tank, only in close combats.”
Saeko: “Not brute strength. Precision. He used the enemy’s own weight against him.” as she is also highly skilled in kendo, though she would looked like a beginner compared to Gaius
Mindy: “…he makes it look easy. That’s the scary part.”
The biggest Iron Warrior loomed at the end of the corridor, hefting a massive cannon.
He swung it to fire
but Gaius was already there.
The power sword flashed. The gun-arm fell to the ground with a shower of sparks.
The traitor roared, swinging his other fist, but Gaius met it with his own. The Ultramarine’s punch crashed into the helmet, caving it in like tin.
The Iron Warrior staggered, somehow still alive.
Gaius didn’t hesitate. His sword came down again and again, each strike tearing apart armor, each blow breaking the body within.
Finally, the traitor fell in pieces at his feet.
The rest of the squad broke under the Ultramarines’ fire. Bolter rounds hammered into them until silence returned.
Slaves lay in torn heaps. Shattered armor marked where Iron Warriors had stood. The air was thick with smoke and the stink of blood.
Gaius stood tall, his armor scarred, glowing faintly from the heat of impacts. His sword dripped with oil and blood.
He raised his bolter, scanning the shadows.
“Forward,” he said. His voice steady, calm. “To the engine room.”
The Ultramarines reloaded in silence. No words wasted.
The march continued. Boots pounding, bolters ready, formation unbroken.
Deeper into the maw of the fortress-ship.
With the chat members floating above gaius and watching the fight very clearly.
