The Battle of Baal IX

The battle was not entirely one-sided. Amid the Swarm Tide's ceaseless frenzy, the allied forces still found and seized limited opportunities, dealing the enemy heavy blows.

At a breached section of the eastern wall of Angel's Fortress, a Swarm Titan creature like a moving mountain was using its massive bio-cannons and crushing limbs to wreak terrible chaos and casualties among the defenders. Wherever it went, fortifications collapsed and soldiers were ground into pulp. Conventional weapons were nearly useless against its heavy biological armor. Its presence posed a grave threat to the stability of the eastern defenses.

Facing this enormous threat, a carefully planned joint counterattack swiftly unfolded. Under Dante's personal orders, a squad of Blood Angels Terminators charged from cover on the flank. They used Storm Shields to withstand the attacks of the Tyranid guards surrounding the Titan, while concentrating Meltagun and plasma cannon fire on its relatively vulnerable leg joints in an attempt to restrict its movement.

At the same time, the Dark Angels Deathwing, led by Grand Master Belial, launched a desperate assault from the other side. Their objective was clear—draw the Titan's main fire and create an opening for the final blow. The heavy Terminator armor of the Deathwing Knights flashed violently beneath the Titan's bio-cannon fire, but they advanced without wavering, clearing a path with Assault Cannons and Power Weapons.

Just as the Titan's attention was firmly drawn by the attacks on both sides, a strike descended from orbit. Although the Imperial fleet had been heavily suppressed, the Indomitable Truth still seized a brief firing window. A precisely calculated lance barrage fell from the heavens like divine punishment, striking the Executioner Titan's relatively weak rear armor with pinpoint accuracy—the location of its primary energy core.

A violent explosion erupted from within the Titan, and dazzling green