Prey
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:26 pm
With a skittering of claws, the hormagaunt leapt onto a fallen log. Throughout the darkness beneath the thick green canopy of the forest it's brood mates moved with it. It hissed as it sniffed the air, thick ropey strands of drool hanging from its fanged maw. The highly attuned sensory nerves in the hormagaunt's snout could easily detect the heady scent of a lictor's pheromone trail, despite the variety of prey-spoor and bio-matter smells found deep within this fetid jungle. The lictor-scent told the gaunts that prey was nearby. Soon their purpose would be fulfilled in a rain of claws and the tearing of prey-flesh. As one the brood-pack moved through the trees, heads darting left and right as they moved, scanning for prey to kill.
Ahead the scent grew stronger, the gaunts bounded out into a large clearing to where the scent originated. The lead hormagaunt bounded up onto a large mound of bio matter. It's claws scraping across a shattered carapace as it poked its head down into the splayed chest of a lictor. The hormagaunt managed a click of warning before the booby-trapped tyranid corpse exploded in a shower of gore and spinning metal fragments. Almost simultaneously, seven emerald green clad warriors emerged from the edges of the clearing, their bolters spitting fire and death into the startled gaunts. With the roar of an enraged dragon a sheet of burning promethium swept across the brood as a heavy flamer was brought to bear. Lacking the co-ordination granted by the presence of one of the larger Tyranid breeds, the gaunts milled in confusion or leapt forward to engage their attackers piecemeal.
One gaunt made it through the flames and bolts, lunging out with talons engineered by the sinister will of the hive-mind to shred armour and tear flesh. With a crunch that would have sickened any sentient being, the gaunt's extended talons broke against a field of crackling power surrounding a giant green fist. The word Hasedoa inscribed on the back of the fist was as alien to the hormagaunt as the gaunt was to the warrior bearing that name. The hissing gaunt's life was brutally aborted as the emerald warrior blew it's head away in a shower of chitin with a single point blank shot fired from his bolt pistol.
Around the clearing the last of the gaunts were herded by jets of burning fuel and torn apart by concentrated bolter fire. Sergeant Hasedoa blink clicked the deactivation rune for his power fist and clamped his pistol to his thigh.
'A good day's hunting brothers,' chuckled Radean over the squad vox, 'It feels good to be free to stalk once more.'
Hasedoa didn't respond, his thoughts flitting back to the most recent tragedy to befall the Warriors of the Mantis. After making planetfall to help with the evacuation of civilians under attack by the xenos, the Mantis Warriors had suffered horrendous losses defending an Adeptus Mechanicus facility as the Tyranids had devoured the plants, creatures and corpses that littered the world. At the end of the siege dozens of Mantis Warriors were dead and those who still lived had suffered some form of injury from the alien horde. Radean had suffered acid burns to nearly 90 percent of his body holding back a hissing bio-construct whilst guarding a vital intersection. Hasedoa himself had several new augmetics courtesy of an encounter with a genestealer brood.
'Place mines in case any more of the xenos are drawn to the blood spilled here. Be ready to move out in 5.' The six warriors under his command moved with smooth efficiency, swiftly digging shallow pits and dropping mines into them before covering them with topsoil.
Moving swiftly through the dense jungle with the ease of those accustomed to dealing with tangling vines, quicksand that could bury a man in seconds and deadly creatures both native and foreign, the seven man veteran team pushed on to their rendezvous point. Master Mantodea and the remainder of the chapter's first company were involved in similar clean up operations across the continent. The chapter's fleet had pursued a splinter of the original hive fleet to the verdant arboreal world of Janus Tertiary. As the Tyranid bio-ships had moved in towards the planet the Imperial fleet had swung out from behind the planet's second moon and crippled several of the enemies capital ships. Those that survived had launched spore pods towards the surface, only to find the First Company of the Mantis Warriors, the famed Tranquility Veterans, waiting for them.
Named for a battle fought almost 100 years before, the first company had held for weeks against a numerically superior force amongst the yellow and green forests of the far distant planet, Tranquility. As the dull grey drop-pods of the Carcharadons had crashed into the forests on jets of flame, the First had been preparing. So used to the brutal clash of arms and the furious onslaught of combat, the dread Carcharadons had been ill suited to the war of attrition which followed. Waiting in well-planned ambushes, the emerald warriors had struck swiftly and moved on before any reprisals could be directed their way. Paying particular care to target senior officers, tech-marines and especially apothecaries, the veteran sniper teams had dealt the hulking beasts of the 'Space Sharks' a blow that their chapter was still feeling. The loss of experienced warriors and the destruction of the fallen's gene-seed had weakened the chapter far more than the loss of line-troopers would have. Of all the actions the Warriors of the Mantis had seen during the tragic Badab War, the destruction of the aberrations of that ignoble chapter was the one least regretted. With the revelation of the Blackheart's web of lies and deceit, the Mantis Warriors had surrendered to the true authorities, the spilling of their brother Astartes blood weighing heavily on them. The result of the Mantis Warriors actions had been a penitent crusade and the loss of their chapter's home worlds. For nearly 100 years the chapter had been forbidden from recruiting new warriors or replacing it's losses. During those years the chapter had suffered greatly, but Master Mantodea, formerly captain of the third company had led them through fire and damnation towards the purification of the chapter's sins and the redemption of their honour. Now a handful of years remained before the survivors would stand before a council of their peers and recount the chapter's deeds of valour in the hope of being judged worthy to once again count themselves alongside the other champions of mankind.
The seven warriors made good time through the jungle, their long strides ad powerful physiques carrying them further and faster than any unaugmented human could manage. A shaft of daylight streaming through the trees was the first hint they got that they were nearing their destination. Pushing on, they broke through the tree line and out onto a small area of grassland. This was to be their rendezvous and extraction point once the enemy had been dealt with.
Massardon was the first to notice the grim omen 'Smoke at bearing 327 brothers!' All eyes turned to the heading given, and surely enough, all could make out the rising column of smoke in the distance. With a sense of foreboding, Hasedoa brought up the map on his helmet display. The column of smoke was dangerously close to where they were heading. 'Double time from here. All weapons at ready, be prepared for combat. The Emperor Protects!'
'The Emperor Protects!' the squad chorused.
Moving rapidly through the tall grass, the squad made for the smoke. Whilst the Mantis Warriors speciality was for stealth and guile, they were no cowards to shy away from danger and were just as capable of meeting a foe head on as any of the Adeptus Astartes.
Pushing on the squad found themselves before a long crater, the ground gouged as if by a giant claw, grasses burnt away and the dirt rent asunder. At the far end of the crater lay the source of the smoke and a worrying sight for all of the marines. A great, green wreck lay burning, it's nose buried in the ground and pieces of metal lying all around it like a bird with its feathers plucked.
'Throne!' exclaimed Radean, sweeping the muzzle of his bolter left and right, all trace of his good humour gone from his voice, 'Those thrice accursed Xenos will pay for this.
Hasedoa waved his men forward, the warriors fanning out to cover more ground and to present smaller targets to any hostile presence. Moving slowly and with great care the Mantis Warriors approached their downed craft. As Hasedoa rounded the remains of the left wing his targeting reticule lit up, settling across a green armoured figure lying before him. The squad advanced at a faster pace, their guns trained on the tall grass that had escaped the flames and on the holes in the side of the wrecked thunderhawk. Hasedoa reached the side of the fallen marine and dropped to one knee. With his deactivated power glove he rolled the marine over to find that the front of his armour had been dissolved.
Ahead the scent grew stronger, the gaunts bounded out into a large clearing to where the scent originated. The lead hormagaunt bounded up onto a large mound of bio matter. It's claws scraping across a shattered carapace as it poked its head down into the splayed chest of a lictor. The hormagaunt managed a click of warning before the booby-trapped tyranid corpse exploded in a shower of gore and spinning metal fragments. Almost simultaneously, seven emerald green clad warriors emerged from the edges of the clearing, their bolters spitting fire and death into the startled gaunts. With the roar of an enraged dragon a sheet of burning promethium swept across the brood as a heavy flamer was brought to bear. Lacking the co-ordination granted by the presence of one of the larger Tyranid breeds, the gaunts milled in confusion or leapt forward to engage their attackers piecemeal.
One gaunt made it through the flames and bolts, lunging out with talons engineered by the sinister will of the hive-mind to shred armour and tear flesh. With a crunch that would have sickened any sentient being, the gaunt's extended talons broke against a field of crackling power surrounding a giant green fist. The word Hasedoa inscribed on the back of the fist was as alien to the hormagaunt as the gaunt was to the warrior bearing that name. The hissing gaunt's life was brutally aborted as the emerald warrior blew it's head away in a shower of chitin with a single point blank shot fired from his bolt pistol.
Around the clearing the last of the gaunts were herded by jets of burning fuel and torn apart by concentrated bolter fire. Sergeant Hasedoa blink clicked the deactivation rune for his power fist and clamped his pistol to his thigh.
'A good day's hunting brothers,' chuckled Radean over the squad vox, 'It feels good to be free to stalk once more.'
Hasedoa didn't respond, his thoughts flitting back to the most recent tragedy to befall the Warriors of the Mantis. After making planetfall to help with the evacuation of civilians under attack by the xenos, the Mantis Warriors had suffered horrendous losses defending an Adeptus Mechanicus facility as the Tyranids had devoured the plants, creatures and corpses that littered the world. At the end of the siege dozens of Mantis Warriors were dead and those who still lived had suffered some form of injury from the alien horde. Radean had suffered acid burns to nearly 90 percent of his body holding back a hissing bio-construct whilst guarding a vital intersection. Hasedoa himself had several new augmetics courtesy of an encounter with a genestealer brood.
'Place mines in case any more of the xenos are drawn to the blood spilled here. Be ready to move out in 5.' The six warriors under his command moved with smooth efficiency, swiftly digging shallow pits and dropping mines into them before covering them with topsoil.
Moving swiftly through the dense jungle with the ease of those accustomed to dealing with tangling vines, quicksand that could bury a man in seconds and deadly creatures both native and foreign, the seven man veteran team pushed on to their rendezvous point. Master Mantodea and the remainder of the chapter's first company were involved in similar clean up operations across the continent. The chapter's fleet had pursued a splinter of the original hive fleet to the verdant arboreal world of Janus Tertiary. As the Tyranid bio-ships had moved in towards the planet the Imperial fleet had swung out from behind the planet's second moon and crippled several of the enemies capital ships. Those that survived had launched spore pods towards the surface, only to find the First Company of the Mantis Warriors, the famed Tranquility Veterans, waiting for them.
Named for a battle fought almost 100 years before, the first company had held for weeks against a numerically superior force amongst the yellow and green forests of the far distant planet, Tranquility. As the dull grey drop-pods of the Carcharadons had crashed into the forests on jets of flame, the First had been preparing. So used to the brutal clash of arms and the furious onslaught of combat, the dread Carcharadons had been ill suited to the war of attrition which followed. Waiting in well-planned ambushes, the emerald warriors had struck swiftly and moved on before any reprisals could be directed their way. Paying particular care to target senior officers, tech-marines and especially apothecaries, the veteran sniper teams had dealt the hulking beasts of the 'Space Sharks' a blow that their chapter was still feeling. The loss of experienced warriors and the destruction of the fallen's gene-seed had weakened the chapter far more than the loss of line-troopers would have. Of all the actions the Warriors of the Mantis had seen during the tragic Badab War, the destruction of the aberrations of that ignoble chapter was the one least regretted. With the revelation of the Blackheart's web of lies and deceit, the Mantis Warriors had surrendered to the true authorities, the spilling of their brother Astartes blood weighing heavily on them. The result of the Mantis Warriors actions had been a penitent crusade and the loss of their chapter's home worlds. For nearly 100 years the chapter had been forbidden from recruiting new warriors or replacing it's losses. During those years the chapter had suffered greatly, but Master Mantodea, formerly captain of the third company had led them through fire and damnation towards the purification of the chapter's sins and the redemption of their honour. Now a handful of years remained before the survivors would stand before a council of their peers and recount the chapter's deeds of valour in the hope of being judged worthy to once again count themselves alongside the other champions of mankind.
The seven warriors made good time through the jungle, their long strides ad powerful physiques carrying them further and faster than any unaugmented human could manage. A shaft of daylight streaming through the trees was the first hint they got that they were nearing their destination. Pushing on, they broke through the tree line and out onto a small area of grassland. This was to be their rendezvous and extraction point once the enemy had been dealt with.
Massardon was the first to notice the grim omen 'Smoke at bearing 327 brothers!' All eyes turned to the heading given, and surely enough, all could make out the rising column of smoke in the distance. With a sense of foreboding, Hasedoa brought up the map on his helmet display. The column of smoke was dangerously close to where they were heading. 'Double time from here. All weapons at ready, be prepared for combat. The Emperor Protects!'
'The Emperor Protects!' the squad chorused.
Moving rapidly through the tall grass, the squad made for the smoke. Whilst the Mantis Warriors speciality was for stealth and guile, they were no cowards to shy away from danger and were just as capable of meeting a foe head on as any of the Adeptus Astartes.
Pushing on the squad found themselves before a long crater, the ground gouged as if by a giant claw, grasses burnt away and the dirt rent asunder. At the far end of the crater lay the source of the smoke and a worrying sight for all of the marines. A great, green wreck lay burning, it's nose buried in the ground and pieces of metal lying all around it like a bird with its feathers plucked.
'Throne!' exclaimed Radean, sweeping the muzzle of his bolter left and right, all trace of his good humour gone from his voice, 'Those thrice accursed Xenos will pay for this.
Hasedoa waved his men forward, the warriors fanning out to cover more ground and to present smaller targets to any hostile presence. Moving slowly and with great care the Mantis Warriors approached their downed craft. As Hasedoa rounded the remains of the left wing his targeting reticule lit up, settling across a green armoured figure lying before him. The squad advanced at a faster pace, their guns trained on the tall grass that had escaped the flames and on the holes in the side of the wrecked thunderhawk. Hasedoa reached the side of the fallen marine and dropped to one knee. With his deactivated power glove he rolled the marine over to find that the front of his armour had been dissolved.
I forget that most people dont go around trying to remember which imaginary armies fought which imaginary battles at which imaginary place.