Miral Prime

Glancing over his shoulder Sergeant Chine caught a fleeting glimpse of movement in the dense, silent jungle - a flicker of teeth and scales that instantly melted into the undergrowth. Chine lifted his auspex from his belt and thumbed the activation rune, muttering a prayer under his breath. The patina'd screen revealed what he had feared - close behind the yellow icons representing his small command was a swirling, seething mass of red blips, closing on their position with inhuman speed.

"Prepare brothers! They are upon us."

A trio of Tyranid warriors surged out of the dense foliage, each standing twice the height of a man, countless termagants swarming about their feet, the very ground seeming to writhe in sinuous horror at the abominations bestriding it.

One of the warriors raised its organic weapon, which spasmed grotesquely before ejecting a gobbet of burning slime towards the marines. Chine dived to one side, too late to avoid the acidic splatter, the ceramite of his armour hissing and melting, as diagnostic runes flashed in front of his eyes. There was a roar as Adorno and Chavez simultaneously launched krak missiles at the alien, the creature thrown around like a rag doll as the missiles impacted, spraying chitin and boiling tissue into the air.

Abruptly the termagants were among them, swarming over the marines, using sheer numbers to bring them down. Chine swept his chainsword in a wide arc, the purring of the blades rising to an ear splitting screech as flesh and bone were torn apart. An icon blinked in front of his eyes, and he whirled as a termagant leaped at him from behind. Chine raised his chainsword, but the creature was too fast, its claws raking down the side of his faceplate, damaging the autosense array, leaving him blinded. Chine cursed and tore his helmet off. The termagant leaped forward again, Chine feeling its fetid breath on his face. He thrust it back and swung his fist into the side of its draconic head, stunning the beast long enough for Chine to raise an armoured boot and stamp down, snapping the long neck.

Chine glanced up to see a tyranid warrior stop in its tracks and slowly turn, before launching itself through the melee towards him. The upper arms formed bone-swords that twirled, spinning and crossing in a dizzying pattern. A whip of living sinew snapped out, wresting his chainsword from his grasp, as another wrapped about his legs and sent him crashing to the ground.

The monstrous alien reared back, raising its clawed arms to strike. It paused as an intense blue nimbus grew around its head, before slumping to the ground, life draining from its black eyes. Chine rose to his feet, the servos of his power armour whirring, and saw the termagants fleeing as the third tyranid warrior collapsed surrounded by the same bright aura. Turning he saw the lone figure of Brother Librarian Forecks, the azure glow fading from around his outstretched fingers.

"Our brother Scythes lay atop the Giant's Coffin." Forecks gestured to the mighty promontory a few clicks to the south. "By the Emperor, we will wipe this alien menace from the face of Miral Prime"