The engines roared to life, the screams of chanting guardsman echo around the vast chamber. Suddenly a mechanical whirring noise pierced the air. The massive assault ramp shuddered to life, light began to fill the massive hangar. The soft scuffling of nervous guardsmen preparing for battle accompanied by the muffled explosions of tyranid bio-shells exploding uselessly against the hull of the cruiser. The ramp abruptly hit the dirt, we got our first glimpse of the battlefield. Wrecked warmachines littered the ground, fragments of metal rained down in waves. Tyranid fiends ripping space marines to pieces, guardsmen dropped by the previous cruiser were engulfed by the swarm in the blink of an eye. The guardsmen erupted into a wave of bloodthirsty cries. The first to clear the ramp where the conscripts, prisoners sent into battle for one purpose, to take the brunt of the hits. As they advanced forward the first wave of tyranid bullets rained down on them. They were nothing but a smoking pile of acid and flesh in seconds. Next the guardsmen ran to take cover. Scurrying to find any piece of concealment to protect against the flesh melting acid-bolts of the tyranids. the vehicles rolled down the ramp, including the Leman russ punisher that I was assigned to. The leman russ is built tough. Fourteen inches of solid ceramite to protect against even the highest penetration xenos shells and firepower to match. Even the famed land raider can't compete with the sheer devastation a single leman russ can bring to the battlefield. The punisher variant is armed with a massive Gatling cannon capable of expelling 30 rounds per second. With two plasma cannons mounted on sponsons. And a single hull mounted heavy bolter. Designed for the extermination of tyranid swarms, the punisher is more than up to the task. We rolled off the ramp while mowing down any of the swarm in our path. The satisfying tink of bullets ricocheting off the armour was more than enough evidence that the tyranids were no match for this war machine. We belched our firepower onto the battlefield eliminating tyranids by the dozen, as we cleared a path for the hoards of guardsmen, the swarm fell back. “Victory will be ours”! The commissar yelled as the imperial forces advanced. Unfortunately the commissar was being painfully optimistic, as we were soon to discover.
|