TURN TWO - Tau: As the morning sun peered out over the horizon, a celebrant cheer went up from the ranks of the Tau. There would be no more of this pathetic display of marksmanship. Now the foul insects would feel the might of their combined arms!
Unfortunately, there was one squad of Tau that had more pressing matters on their minds than watching the sun rise. The Fire Warriors that were in close proximity to the lingering and throbbing spore mine decided it was best to abandon their post and move away from it, rather than endure the same fate as the band of Kroot some distance off. Their boxy armor would not protect them any more than the hides and leathers of the Kroot did them.
The Kroot of the same name who had formerly executed the straggling Biovore now took several shots at the Tyrant and its Guard, but none of the rounds could seem to penetrate their stout carapaces.
The Stealth Team strode forward through the forest cover--on foot--so as not to incur any unnecessary casualties. Last week, Bob'o managed to smack his exhaust port on a low branch, and he spun in the air like a top until the rest of the tree stopped him. It was a sight to see.
The roar of a Krootox gun was followed by the nasal bleat of the creature--as the rider kicked it in frustration. The intended target, the Carnifex, was clearly missed.
The Hammerhead hovered closer into the battlefield, nosing through the terrain and then firing its railgun at the Carnifex, and succeeded in blasting out a huge chunk of the building behind the monstrosity. Muttering Tau curses, the pilot then used the ship's multi-tracker to triangulate a smart missile barrage onto the nearby Genestealers. The foliage must've been thick, as none of the unseen missiles returned a status back to the on-board computer as striking their targets.
The Fire Warriors all fixed on the Carnifex, but the massive Tyranid's carapace was as sturdy as a tank and withstood every single hit. That carapace extension was really starting to pay off...
Through the girders and rotted timbers of the Imperial building, the Gun Drones opened fire on the Hormagaunts, spraying them with a tremendous amount of rounds from their linked guns. Five Gaunts soaked the damage, shielding the rest of the pack with their bullet-riddled corpses.
Adjacent to the drones, the crisis suits of the command squad moved into action, launching bolts of plasma and missiles at the Carnifex that seemed to avoid being hit despite its tremendous size. While a heap of garbage and bones deflected the plasma shots, a missile struck the beast's underbelly and it howled in agony as the smell of burnt ichor and shrapnel filled the air. Finally, the thing was taken down a notch!
The Stealth Team, confident in their move forward, again opened up on the Genestealers, slaughtering all but one that happened to be outside the range of their burst cannons. Instinctively, the Genestealer slumped to the ground, pretending to be dead among its slain brethren. The Team resigned itself to not risk checking it out up close and personal...
TURN TWO - Tyranids: As Termagants dashed around the perimeter of the building, they paused at the strange site of the robotic drones hovering in the air before them. Was this food? They didn't look like food...or smell like food. An impulse entered their collective mind and overrode their animalistic sense of reasoning. Food or not, these silver creatures with glowing eyes will die. With fleet of claw, the Termagants closed on their strange mechanical prey.
As the Stealth Team lowered their burst cannons seeing the threat of the Genestealers turned away, the sound of several snapping branches came from overhead. A huge shape, a Lictor, landed behind them. As the squad whirled about, the creature's wriggling mouth seemed to form a gelid grin. Appendages lashed out, and talons and barbs appeared from nowhere as the Lictor readied to pounce on the squad.
The minds of the Hormagaunts were ignited with a singular spark: a directive to again make a frontal assault on the Fire Warriors. They turned from their backwards dash, and again lunged over barrels and sandbags to attack the Tau. This time, the photon grenades were anticipated and the 'gaunts scythes ripped apart four screaming Fire Warriors. Those holding the blockage managed to beat down three of the insectoids with rocks and rifle stocks, and held the line--undaunted by the swarm closing around them.
The Lictor bit into one of the Stealth Team member's heads with a gushing crunch. The body jerked spasmodically, firing off one ineffective burst cannon round before falling limp. The rest of the squad was too spread out to effectively counterattack the beast, and used up their movement by surrounding it--hoping to pummel it to death before it claimed any more of the highly-trained Tau or--perish the thought--the Ethereal hiding nearby...
The Termagants leapt upon the hovering Gun Drones, swatting them with their less-developed forelegs in an attempt to break them open and rend their internal circuitry. The Drones, undamaged yet highly disoriented by the attack, calculated that their odds of survival were best somewhere else--so they fled and disappeared into the edge of the forest, not to reappear. The Termagants, also unscathed, decided to consolidate into the nearby Fire Warriors.