As the First Talon burst out of the corridor, all they saw were rows of cogitators, watch posts, omen arrays, and engineering terminals surrounded by a cloud of fire and smoke.
Debris and shattered material flew out under the influence of the atmospheric breach, and new alarms rang throughout the bridge, competing with the screams of the air leak.
Under the action of the early warning mechanism, the heavy explosion-proof wall began to seal, and the broken ceiling debris blocked the crack while the atmosphere of the bridge stabilized.
Iron shards and crystal shards fell like rain, the metal groaned slowly, and the bodies of the crew were everywhere on the ground.
"Brothers, attack and recapture the bridge."
When Talos's roar sounded, the Eldar were already prepared.
Although there were only a dozen of them, they all wore robes covered with stones and strange runes and ornaments, which indicated that these alien creatures were psykers.
They react quickly, and psychic tricks surround them, making them move at a speed that seems to blur the edges of reality.
Bolter fire responded to their assault, and the ruins of the bridge echoed with the roars of the Space Marines.
But none of them hit.
Talos looked away from his brothers, for a wizard was already lunging at him with a long, elegant blade.
He remembered this wizard as the one who beat him to pieces in the corridor. It was obvious that he had not left the cursed echo.
Talos tried to resist, but he was too slow.
The war witch sword scratched Talos' breastplate, almost slicing his chest open.
The Prophet swung his power sword back with its powerful, crackling blade.
But he couldn't get close enough to hit.
The War Witch was no longer where he had been before, sliding with unnatural grace to Talos's right, while another of his kind came in front of the Prophet, the blade screaming toward his throat.
Once again, Talos's life was saved by the precognition inherited from his primarch, as he saw the enemy's attack in advance and deflected the blow with his weapon.
He tried to rush among the alien guards and grab their robes, but it seemed to move smoothly in his hands.
In a few rapid heartbeats, Talos realized that he was surrounded.
The momentary pause was just enough for Talos to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then they attack -
The sword blades struck like a rain at a speed that his eyes could not keep up with. He felt one blade cut into his right shoulder armor, another cut into his left leg guard, and the third cut into his left thigh.
His power armor screams and sparks, nearly crushed by the relentless onslaught.
Talos roared and waved, but the sword touched nothing.
The aliens leaped and lunged around him with a grace he could never match.
Eventually, one of the aliens' weapons became stained with blood.
A spear passed through Talos's left legguard from behind, piercing flesh and bone.
The prophet knelt down on one knee with a pop.
The pumped stimulants overcame the pain and the wound soon became numb, even as he felt blood dripping into his boots.
He stopped.
There was a short pause before the aliens gathered together to launch the final blow.
Opportunities disappear in an instant.
Talos seized the opportunity.
"come!"
With a loud roar, Talos raised the power sword off the ground.
A war wizard had already pounced on his exposed head, and the sword blade turned into a silver phantom.
But in doing so, it finally allowed itself to get too close.
The Eldar's vision failed.
The power sword struck before he could dodge, and the energy was released and echoed through the control center.
The alien disintegrated easily, its robes began to burn, and its body was blown away into a ball of flesh.
Talos poured all his strength into the swing of the power sword, causing it to smash to the side in a 360-degree arc, breaking the other six blades facing him.
The Eldar fell back, forming a circle around him, their remains falling onto the twisted deck.
Talos gritted his teeth and stood up, holding the sword tightly with both hands.
At this time, a movement outside the encirclement attracted his attention.
An alien is cursing the work of the Echo's cannon console.
Runes crafted from a strange, slippery material have been plugged into the launch ports and data of the main cogitator node, no doubt used to override the Cursed Echo's targeting system.
The Eldar's long fingers were at work on the rune table, which was mainly used to control the laser array on the side of the battleship.
"Face me, witch!"
Talos roared, and a silhouette left the circle surrounding Markarian.
Her armor and robes are more embroidered than those of the surrounding aliens, and her helmet is engraved with intricate runes.
The Eldar war wizard wields a groaning psychic sword, its blade hungry for blood.
The red eyeglasses on the tall helmet of the War Witch stared into Talos's eyes, and then a contemptuous voice floated into his ears.
"Fallen Monkey."
Even if the helmet's visual shielding is activated, these words can still enter Talos' mind.
"Your presence will only put us in deeper danger."
"Get out of my head, alien scum!"
Talos spat at the opponent, and the war wizards surrounding him immediately raised their swords.
The air vibrated with suppressed psychic power.
"Useless resistance will only lead to pain."
She raised her hand, the first and third fingers extended and pointed at him.
Pain suddenly erupted in Talos's skull, and his whole body staggered forward.
She was in his mind, he could feel her.
Her mind is at war with his own, as an alien invasion seeks to conquer and shatter his consciousness, and the very nature of his existence.
She's digging into the darkness of his memory.
Talos saw the lightless Nastrom—his home world, the home world of the Eighth Legion.
He saw it burning.
He saw nuclear flames engulfing it, burning cities, oceans, and devouring all life.
In the end, only barren rock and ashes remained, all because of the Primarch's orders.
He took another step forward.
The wound on the back of the calf had solidified, but it still throbbed.
He gritted his teeth and tried to concentrate, trying to keep the Eldar witch out of his thoughts.
He saw Charles, his old friend and battle brother.
He saw Charles lying on the ground, helpless and defeated.
He saw how Reuven had changed, how the filth had corroded his pale skin, stirring up a color of warp pollution in his eyes.
Talos saw the bullet used to execute Reuven, shattering his skull.
Fired from his own bolt pistol.
Gritting his teeth, he took another step.
Ursus tried to save Talos, but he was already severely injured and rushed towards the Eldar wizard with his battle ax.
"Blood sacrifice——"
However, several Eldar wizards around him exerted their strength at the same time, and lightning bolts shot out of the air like giant pythons, easily passing through Ursus' power armor and hitting his body half a second later.
Ursus roared sharply, and fell to the ground with sluggish limbs, until his flesh was scorched, and excessive lightning still penetrated his armor.
Talos couldn't see this.
He closed his eyes tightly, and his whole body tensed and trembled.
In his mind, he saw another destruction, Sargulhasa, being torn apart by cyclone torpedoes.
Once again, the destruction of a world passed through his hands.