The various departments of the Imperium had received intelligence regarding the unique xenos of Zeg III on more than one occasion. However, with the Tyranid Hive Fleets consuming entire sectors, the Imperium—which had recorded thousands of distinct insectoid species—hadn't given the "Zerg" much weight. It was only recently, as the threat level surged, that the Ordo Xenos and the Battle Sisters began to pay attention.
The Primal Lurkers did indeed rely on vibrations to track their prey, but the Imperial forces couldn't remain stationary forever; without movement, there could be no advance. Yet the slightest step triggered bone-chitin spikes to erupt from the floor. These were massive, specialized units; if a soldier was skewered, death was instantaneous.
The Storm Troopers turned to the Battle Sisters: "We can use our jetpacks to leapfrog the kill zone. What about you?"
"Ignore us," the Sister Superior replied grimly. "There seems to be only one of those creatures buried beneath this car. We will create a diversion—you push forward."
High-speed movement was the only counter; if you ran fast enough, the Lurker's predictive strikes would miss. But in a crowded corridor, someone was bound to die.
"Then let's begin."
The Storm Troopers ignited their jetpacks, propelling themselves tens of meters through the air. In the low-gravity arc of their jump, they were momentarily untouchable by the floor-dwelling Lurkers.
But Zehaka hadn't just left Lurkers behind.
Before the Storm Troopers could land, they were met by a new wave of fire. Primal Hydralisks emerged from the side vents. Having swelled to enormous proportions, the spines they launched were no longer mere needles—they were the size of anti-tank missiles. The impact was catastrophic; gangers' chests and heads were vaporized instantly.
"It's practically the same as the 'Warwolf' missile pods," the Overmind observed, referencing the old Terran walkers from the First Great War.
When the surviving Storm Troopers finally hit the deck, they realized the real battle had just begun. An enlarged Primal Hydralisk stood six or seven meters tall—a towering monstrosity of muscle and blade. With a single sweep of its scythe-like claws, several unlucky troopers were cleaved in half at the waist, as if struck by a heavy industrial shear.
Despite the carnage, the Storm Troopers were fearless. They primed their thermobaric melta-bombs, set the short-fused timers, and hurled them at the giants. The Hydralisks attempted to dodge, but the gangers had timed the cook-off perfectly.
The explosions were devastating. At such close range, the molten metal bombs bypassed the thick chitinous shells that small arms couldn't dent. One Primal Hydralisk was blown off its feet, its torso a scorched ruin.
"One down!"
The remaining Hydralisks surged forward, and a brutal melee erupted. Even when struck by concentrated melta-fire, a Primal Hydralisk would only lose a chunk of flesh rather than falling. They were simply too large and too resilient. However, the Storm Troopers had brought a massive supply of explosives. They traded lives for progress, blasting the pack to pieces at the cost of dozens of their own men.
"Keep moving!"
The jetpack-equipped troopers advanced much faster than the Sisters of Battle, though the Sisters eventually broke through the ambush zone after losing several of their order.
"Damn it," the Sister Superior hissed, her armor scorched. "This is nothing like the reports on the Zerg 'chaff.' If I survive this, I'm personally going to execute the bureaucrats at the Departmento Munitorum who filed those briefings!"
Even with a Battle Sister's enhanced reflexes, dodging a Primal Lurker's spike was nearly impossible. The strikes were powerful enough to punch through a Chimera's hull, let alone power armor.
"No time for reinforcements. Move! The Storm Troopers have cleared the path ahead. We must reach the locomotive before the train hits the gate!"
With only an hour remaining before the train reached the Great Gate, Zehaka could finally see the massive naval-grade batteries on the city walls. Those guns were the greatest threat to his pack; they had to be neutralized.
"Prepare the Igniters."
The Primal Igniters (Fireflies) lined up behind Zehaka. These were no longer the size of dogs; they were comparable to super-heavy tanks, and their biological mortars had been significantly upscaled.
"Target those artillery positions. Fire."
The bombardment began. Despite the vast distance, the plasma-fire arched through the air, streaking toward the land-based batteries. The Imperial gun crews scrambled to rotate their massive turrets, but the Zerg struck first. A volley of white-hot plasma slammed into the wall, melting through a gun emplacement and detonating the ammunition stored within.
"What?! How can they range us from there?!"
On the ramparts, the Tech-Priests worked frantically to aim the surviving guns. They loaded a shell half the size of a man and fired. The massive projectile screamed toward the train, but Zehaka moved with impossible precision. He fired high-speed bone spikes from his shoulder carapaces, intercepting and detonating the shells in mid-air.
"He... he shot down the shells?!" a Tech-Priest stammered. "To intercept a projectile in flight requires the processing power of a Cogitator-Array! No biological mind can calculate those trajectories!"
"An ordinary mind can't," the Overmind thought. "But Zehaka is a leader-caste unit. He doesn't just think; he processes."
"If he can intercept our fire, we have to wait until he's closer! Shorten the fuse!"
"We don't have time! Our fortifications are being melted!"
Another battery was vaporized by plasma, the secondary explosion shaking the entire wall. If this continued, the gate's primary defenses would be silenced before the train even arrived.
"Call for Valkyrie support! I don't care if they get shot down—they need to distract that beast so we can get a clean shot! We cannot lose those turrets!"