"Dakka-dakka-dakka!!!"
The roar of heavy Autocannons tearing through the air thundered ceaselessly across the heights, thick with gunsmoke and the stench of blood.
Warriors of the Emperor's Children Legion clad in Cataphractii Terminator Armour had turned themselves into mobile steel bastions, standing at the very front of the Defense Line.
Their hulking bodies, as massive as small vehicles, trembled slightly under the recoil as long, thick Autocannon barrels spewed an unbroken torrent of destruction.
The metal storm of armour-piercing and high-explosive rounds swept like a gigantic scythe through the enemies surging up the hillside in a black tide.
Hours of slaughter, tempered by blood and fire, had swiftly taught these battle-hardened Space Marines an effective way to fight the terrifying xenos.
The days of blindly pouring out firepower were over.
Along the battle line, duties were clearly divided, coldly efficient.
The warriors in standard Power Armour no longer aimed their Bolters, Plasma Guns, or Melta Weapons at the seemingly most threatening targets—the heads or centres of the torsos.
Their lenses locked onto the joints of the giant spiders' rapidly moving limbs, the relatively vulnerable seams in the carapace at the roots of their claws, and the load-bearing points supporting their enormous bodies.
"Bang!"
A Plasma Orb screamed out, striking the joint socket of a giant spider's forelimb just as it began to climb.
"Hiss—boom!"
Blue-white plasma erupted violently, instantly vaporizing the carapace and tendons at the point of impact!
The giant spider shrieked in agony. The limb immediately lost its strength and sagged limply, sending its body tilting off balance.
Then a searing white melta jet pierced in from another angle like a lance of cutting flame, sweeping across the roots of several limbs along another giant spider's flank!
The terrifying heat instantly reduced the carapace and internal structures to