As Tiberius walked towards the distant Communication Dish, he had attempted to Vox his comrades and tell them he's alright. But all he got was static and after many attempts with the same result he just gave up. He also noticed somethings, this world didn't seem ravaged by War, a rare sight indeed, but a welcome one. Tiberius would never admit this but, he often theorized what planets looked like before War found them, growing up on Ignis a world of mountains, volcanos and flames he never seen or witnessed the beauty that was nature. But in some cases, he caught glimpses of nature before it was destroyed on many worlds. Some nature disturbed him, but some did seem pleasant. Not typical for a Space Marine whose purpose is combat and war, but the Phoenix Fighters weren't normal.
For one thing, they rejected the Dreadnoughts for use. They did have them, but they don't like using them. They think it gives a dishonor to the warrior who pilots the machine even in death. The Phoenix Fighters value honor above all else, second only to the emperor himself. They also have warrior spirits but are driven by their honorable values to not necessarily fight dirty. However, if an enemy is dishonorable or disrespects them, they will defeat that foe in the most dishonorable way possible. It's somewhat a miracle that the Imperium didn't cast them aside for their many, many differences to the other Chapters. But they were at odds with many Chapters in the Imperium.
Tiberius can only recall the times the Phoenix Fighters got into arguments with the Ultramarines or those who remain strictly aligned to the Codex Astartes. Though there was one Ultramarine he could tolerate, Titus. He met Titus a few times but the two, while different, forged a bond as warriors. Tiberius liked him for his warrior spirit and tactics. Though, Tiberius hadn't seen him in ages. Tiberius secretly wished he could see Titus on the battlefield again; their friendship having been forged through conflict. Tiberius can dwell on his history on a later date as he was coming up upon a structure that looked damaged. Burn marks scarred the walls, holes blasted through the side and roof and dead bodies of Humans civilians scattered the area.
He walked closer and looked around before he stopped in front of the structure. He knelt to inspect the corpse of one of the civilians. It looked like they had been stabbed through the chest by some kind of energy blade. Though, he couldn't come up with a culprit as the scars didn't match anything he'd seen before. He then looked at the building before he approached it. He placed his hand on one of the scorch marks and knew it had to be some kind of Plasma weapon. So, either it was Heretics or Xenos that did this. Suddenly his senses spiked as he heard something behind him. He quickly turned around and aimed his Stalker Bolt Rifle. He saw nothing. Confused, he looked around before he heard something land on the roof of the building. He turned around again but still saw nothing.
But it was clear to him. He was being hunted. But he would not be the prey, he would be the predator. Knowing he was being hunted, he moved away from the building and kept himself on alert. He decided to try and bait out his enemy by faking to lower his guard. He put his Stalker Bolt Gun away and hovered his hand over his Heavy Bolt Pistol. He then stood still and made no movement. Just stood and listened. He then heard something land behind him and run at him. He quickly grabbed his Heavy Bolt Pistol and turned as quickly as he could and pulled the trigger twice. The next thing he knew, purple blood painted his armor as the head of the creature that tried to kill him had been terminated. The body of the creature fell and thuds on the ground in front of him.
He lowered his pistol and looked at the corpse. It was definitely a Xeno. But he was unfamiliar with its body shape so it must be a new Xeno species. Before he could make more theories, he heard more heavy steps hit the ground around him. He looked around and saw nothing before the same creature he just killed, but more of them, appear out of thin air. Active camouflage. Tiberius had encountered it before with a Lictor, seems these Xenos could do the same thing. The Xenos wore blue armor and hand mandibles on their faces. They were also tall, but he was taller. However, one of the Xenos wore white armor with a different headpiece. This Xeno held a hilt of some kind with no blade, that was until an ignition sound is heard and a blue energy blade emits from the hilt. Tiberius grabbed his power sword and prepared to fight these Xenos.
"Come at me, Xenos Scum!" Tiberius shouted in a challenging manner.
The Blue armored Xenos aimed their guns and charged forward while firing plasma at the Space marine. These Xenos had no idea who they were about to face. They were facing a Space Marine. Tiberius opened fire upon the Xenos with his Heavy Bolt Pistol. The first Xeno was hit and some kind of energy shield shattered like glass before the bolt tore the Xeno's head apart. This Xeno fell to the ground dead before the next Xeno got closer to Tiberius. With a single swing of the blade, Tiberius's power sword destroyed the Xeno's energy shield and cut deep into them causing them to fall to the ground below, dead. Tiberius then takes aim at the next two Xenos who were shooting at him. Their plasma bolts struck his armor and left scorch marks, but Tiberius was fine. He shoots twice and takes down both Xenos as their shields break with ease.
The last blue armored Xeno steps back, fear evident in his eyes before the white armored Xeno pulled out his own Plasma weapon and shoots at Tiberius. Tiberius dodged the plasma bullets while charging he two. The blue armored Xeno grabs a ball and soon it begins to glow before he threw it at Tiberius. Tiberius's instincts told him to dodge so he did. The orb of plasma hit the ground and exploded behind him as he ran towards his prey. Tiberius shoots at the Xenos and takes out the last blue armored Xeno but the white armored Xeno's shields fare much better against his bolts. The shields did break eventually but Tiberius was already close. So, he thrusts his sword forward, but the white armored Xeno dodged his strike and slashed their energy sword as he twirled around.
The energy blade struck Tiberius's shoulder, but the armor tanked the attack. This surprised the Xeno. Tiberius then backhands the Xeno in the face causing its mandibles to break alongside its helmet. While it was staggered, Tiberius thrusts his sword into the Xeno's stomach and lifted it up into the air before he swung his blade to the side and sent the Xeno's body crumbling to the floor. Tiberius looked at the carnage he caused before he put his weapons away and grabbed his Stalker Bolt Rifle. He then heard lighter footsteps coming from the structure, so he aimed his weapon at it but quickly lowered it as he saw some civilians. He wondered how they survived. Must've been in some kind of shelter.
"What, are you?" The Civilian asked.
They spoke Gothic. Good.
"Never seen a Space marine before?" Tiberius asked.
The Civilians shook their heads saying no silently. He should be surprised, but for some reason he isn't. Maybe this planet had never witnessed the War, so they never saw Space Marines before. Most likely just the Astra Militarum.
"Can't say we have." The Civilian said. "Are you from the UNSC?"
UNSC? Now that was a foreign name. He guessed it was an acronym for something. What that was he had no idea. Perhaps this world isn't a part of the Imperium, and if it isn't that's a problem. A big one. It means he is potential deep behind enemy lines, or on an undiscovered Human world that wasn't found by the Imperium. He was about to start and interrogation with these civilians before he remembered his original objective. Reach that Communication dish. He figured maybe he could use it to contact his brothers, or better yet, call for reinforcements. It's clear this world has been invaded by Xenos.
"I'm not familiar with this, UNSC." Tiberius admits with complete honesty.
This made the civilians confused. They thought he was some kind of Super soldier given how he easily dispatched those Xenos.
"Tell me, what were these creatures?" Tiberius asks.
This made the civilians even more confused. But one of the stepped forward.
"Those were Elites, warriors from the Covenant." the other civilian answered.
Elites? Covenant? More questions and yet little answers. He can worry about that later, he needs to reach that Communication dish and report his findings to the Imperium.
"Get back inside your haven. There's no telling how many of these 'Elites' there are." Tiberius instructed.
The civilians didn't dare say another word and did as he instructed. They quickly went back inside the building before Tiberius turned and made his march towards the communication dish.