"God-Emperor above..."
Over the vox channel came a young warrior's involuntary exclamation, mingled with awe and despair.
"It really is a Titan!"
Hierophants were usually the vanguard and battering rams of planetary invasions launched by the Tyranids.
They strode forward with unstoppable might, drawing and weathering the enemy's fiercest fire to clear obstacles for the swarms surging behind them.
They carried enormous bio-cannons powerful enough to corrode anything, and their entire bodies were deadly weapons.
Even their relatively vulnerable abdomens were covered in barbed tendrils.
They were walking natural disasters created by the Hive Mind.
Although earlier reconnaissance had already picked up signals suspected to belong to a Bio-Titan.
Witnessing its arrival in person still brought a sense of fear and oppression rooted in the instincts of life itself, so intense it was suffocating.
But Cassius's squad was not unprepared.
"Are the anti-Titan weapons ready?"
Cassius's voice was like tempered steel, calm and resolute.
"All ready, sir!"
Since entering the nest, large numbers of Servitors had been deploying heavy guns under the direction of several Skitarii.
Two heavy Melta Cannons, their barrels as thick as tree trunks, gave off the dark red glow characteristic of charging weapons.
Two heavy plasma cannons hummed dangerously as azure energy surged through their accelerator coils.
And a portable anti-vehicle missile launcher consisting of a quadruple launch unit.
Several heavy Servitors were operating it together, and the missiles' seeker heads had already locked onto the enormous target.
These were the anti-Titan weapons Cassius had requisitioned from Necromunda's Planetary Governor with the highest priority.
They had been transported and initially set up by the Planetary Defense Force's (PDF) special weapons units.
Every round was extraordinarily precious, a trump card prepared specifically to counter a "potential Titan-class biological threat."
Now, that trump card was finally revealed.
But first, they had to deal with the obstacle before them.
The already wounded Haruspex had been briefly overlooked because of the Hierophant's arrival.
But it remained an enormous threat and had to be dealt with first.
"Eliminate that Haruspex first!" Cassius's order was utterly succinct.
He then led the other two Cataphractii Terminators away from the Haruspex.
The weapons were operated not by mortal gunners, but by dedicated, rigorously trained Servitors whose nerves were directly linked to the weapons systems.
Once the Cataphractii Terminator squad had put some distance between themselves and the Haruspex.
"Hiss-BOOM!!!"
Two searing white melta rays and two azure heavy plasma beams fired almost simultaneously.
They traced dazzling trails through the air and struck the Haruspex with precision.
Terrifying heat sufficient to melt Imperial tank armour instantly bore down on its biological shell!
The Haruspex let out an agonized death screech as its chitinous armour, several metres thick, rapidly melted and vaporized like snow beneath a blazing sun!
An enormous hole more than three metres across, its edges molten, appeared in its chest!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Immediately afterward, four slender anti-vehicle missiles painted with red-and-white warning stripes.
Roared out of the launcher, trailing long plumes of flame!
They made minute adjustments to their attitude in midair.
Then, like sharks scenting blood, they followed the "passage" opened by the melta and plasma cannons.
And plunged straight into the enormous, unprotected wound in the Haruspex's chest!
"BOOM!"
The Haruspex's enormous body was utterly torn apart from within by unimaginable force!
Green flesh, shattered carapace, and broken bone blades erupted in every direction like a volcanic eruption!
The violent shock wave even cleared a swath through the swarms within several dozen metres!
A mighty Haruspex was annihilated.
Yet no one felt the slightest joy.
Every gaze turned anxiously toward the even larger shadow.
The Hierophant seemed enraged by the explosion and the death of its kin.
Its head, covered in compound eyes, turned toward the anti-Titan weapons array.
The enormous pair of bio-cannons on its forelimbs adjusted their angle slightly, and a heart-stopping green glow lit up deep within their muzzles.
"Evade!" Cassius had barely voiced his warning.
"Thoom!!!"
The Hierophant fired!
But what shot out was neither an energy beam nor a solid projectile, but a vast mass of writhing, maggot-like biological tissue wrapped in mucus, expelled at tremendous speed!
The tissue rapidly expanded in the air, its surface covered in strong acid and deadly poison, even trailing corrosive green smoke as it tore through the air!
The terrifying mass of biological ammunition slammed into the translucent shield field that had risen in front of the anti-Titan weapons array!
"Ssszzzt~~~"
The shield field flickered and warped violently.
Its brightness faded at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Return fire! Don't let it get close!"
Cassius knew that once the Hierophant charged into their lines, even the strongest defenses would crumble beneath its terrifying strength and weapons.
The heavy plasma cannons and Melta Cannons fired again!
Searing beams crossed hundreds of metres and blasted into the thick carapace covering the Hierophant's front.
Yet attacks powerful enough to grievously wound a Haruspex in an instant.
Merely burst into dazzling flares and showers of carapace fragments when they struck the Hierophant!
But all they could do was pray they could kill it before it reached their lines.
This thing was not like a Haruspex, which could still be engaged in melee with Terminator Armour.
Its entire body was covered in symbiotic hooks and claws, and once it caught hold of someone, its terrifying poisonous spores could easily corrode their armour.
Quickly killing the target.
Soon, the Hierophant's next attack came.
This attack was swift and savage, far surpassing the previous bombardment.
Deep within the enormous bio-cannon muzzles, green energy gathered furiously, even making the surrounding space appear to warp.
The threat detector inside Cassius's helmet sounded an alarm so shrill it almost split his eardrums.
The energy readings instantly exceeded the critical threshold!
"Quick, take cover behind the formation shields!"
Cassius roared the order as his Cataphractii Armour's power systems ran at full output.
Yet the area covered by the Hierophant's attack was so vast.
"Thoom, thoom, thoom, thoom!!!"
More than a dozen enormous, viscous, highly poisonous shells rained down on the entire position held by the Sons of Medusa squad!
The shells burst in midair, becoming a deadly downpour mixed with strong acid, lethal poison, and corrosive spores!
Even though the formation shields covered a sufficiently large area, some units still failed to take cover in time.
"Aah!"
A brief, agonized scream came over the vox channel.
Cassius whipped his head around and saw a warrior at the left-hand position, wielding a flamer to suppress the swarms on the flank.
He failed to dodge in time, and a splashing glob of venom struck the upper half of his Power Armour squarely!
The thick, dark green liquid instantly corroded the ceramite, making a horrifying sizzling sound as white smoke rose!
In no more than three seconds, the warrior ceased all movement, and his heavy Power Armour crashed to the ground.
Their first loss.
The Sons of Medusa's first casualty on this Hive World had come so suddenly, so cruelly.