Nimrod noticed the gray spheres. They looked like bizarre fruit.
Some showed signs of movement inside, as if something were lazily writhing within them. They were Joegall young.
No sooner had he finished sizing up the Egg Tree than he sensed several massive xenos bodies lunging in this direction.
A low rumble spread through the sand beneath his feet. A crackling like breaking bones rang out, and the trees around them began to sway and bend, leaves drifting down from their crowns.
Five Titan-tall behemoths forced their way through the Egg Tree and pounced at Nimrod.
An ordinary adult Joegall was only slightly taller than a Primarch, but a Joegall Enhancer was ten times larger than them.
Its appearance closely resembled the basic form of a Joegall, only magnified more than tenfold. Their height reached all the way to the canopy, as if they were a fusion of scaled flesh and metal.
The bodies of the Joegall Enhancers were clearly different. Inside the glass spheres on their bodies, the original forms had completely vanished.
They had no arms. What writhed instead were gray steel tentacles, growing out from every armpit-like socket across their upper bodies.
Some tentacles coiled against the Joegall Enhancers' chests, while others jutted out like striking vipers, lashing over...
One hundred and thirty-two Honor Guard selected from twelve Chapters raised their Bolters.
A storm of rounds engulfed the Joegall Enhancers, sending oil splashing everywhere.
The Joegall Enhancers possessed vitality to match their enormous bodies. They did not fall.
Their metal feelers lashed out, sharp tips tearing through turf and roots, carving trenches into the ground.
One Honor Guard member was sent flying, tumbling until he smashed beside the trunk of the Egg Tree.
"Big boys, have some bolts."
Nimrod pressed the Bolter's fire selector, switching it to