HEAVY BOLTER GAMEPLAY: Blood Raven vs Tyranids! - Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 

As the shots were fired, was this it? As the blood flowed, could this really be it? As the heart beat, had death finally come for him? For everyone? For his brothers? For the imperial guard? The civilians? Despite his training and centuries of service, even if he’d been worked to harden like all the legions, Irontus could not suppress his humanity. As his heavy bolter roared, uncertainty crept back into his bones. As his brother Salamander thrust with sword and smashed with shield, questions pushed forth into his mind. As his fellow Dark Angel sniped the enemy leadership from above, whispers of fear started to claw at his senses. Death. It was everywhere. Blood forever marked its presence. Yet, its gaze had been directed elsewhere… until this moment, this stand, this defiance, against the Tyranid swarm. The civilians were still being loaded onto the thunderhawks, the three ships firing their guns in every effort to stave off the oncoming horde. The oncoming end. Under the combined munitions of space marine and imp, the bugs fell in waves, crushed beneath the clawed feet of their followers who surged forth with fangs, tongues, claws, tentacles, acid, instincts. Irontus gifted the nearing enemy with his last grenade, using the resulting explosion and confusion as a means to reload his gatling gun; his amplified movements, strength and senses allowing him to exchange bullet magazines so much faster - a blur - than any imperial guard could comprehend. Even as the thrown away magazine lodged into the head of a smaller tyranid, Irontus had already secured the newly full magazine into his weapon. With a pull, he racked the heavy kill machine, set his powered feet, leveled his aim… and pulled the trigger. While the imps fired the laser rifles as fast they could, their Blood Raven ally let loose a stream of bullets that outdid them all. Tyranids exploded, flew and scattered in bloody heaps in all directions. The Salamander was swarmed by the bugs, sparks flying from his armor as it held against their claws. He was unbothered, his sword cleaving through the mass in professional angles while his shield smashed them aside. A tyranid warrior swung back its whip to hamper him… only for its head to vanish, thanks to the shot from the Dark Angel’s sniper above. An Imperial scout walker - a Sentinel - made its way into the fray, stomping its feet to intimidate the enemy. It worked for a moment, the bugs hesitating before focusing their cold instincts upon it. As they swarmed it - crushed beneath its metallic feet - the walker suddenly waded further into the foe. Irontus was distracted for an instant, his mind racing and eyes calculating. Why did the pilot push such a thing? For the Emperor? Such a death might be glorious, yet- The walker’s gun was damaged. Distraction and stomping was all the pilot had left to slow the Tyranids for at least a moment, to allow the civilians to escape. The exhaust filters upon it seemed spent, crackling with sparks and electricity. The Sentinel was meant to self destruct. The bugs would make it so with enough damage. Even so, it might take too long. The pilot would be ripped apart and tortured long before. But not it Irontus could- Even as he aimed at the damaged exhaust exits, someone beat the Blood Raven to it. The Dark Angel had noticed the imperial guard’s intention/sacrifice. And with his sniper rifle, his focus, his reflexes, he shot the mobile bomb fuse first. Instantly, perhaps with the pilot braced or not, as its feet stomped sluggishly on the swarming insects, the Sentinel exploded. All was blinding light for a moment before sight returned, showing the remains of the walker collapsing into the piles of wounded, shaken, dead Tyranids underneath it. “The hawks are loaded and ready!” A voice hurriedly and fiercely shouted over the coms, the announcement reaching the ears of every combatant over the battle’s roar. “I repeat, all hawks are loaded!” “Depart!” Another voice - that of Titus - shouted back over the communications. “Take off! All imperials retreat! Brothers, in the name of the Emperor, cover their escape.” “Affirmative!” Irontus simply yet powerfully answered, his two brothers echoing him. At this, Irontus added on with a snarl, “For the Emperor! All guardsmen retreat to the second takeoff point. We will see you off! Retreat!” As some of the imperial guards hesitated in leaving - in running away, as they saw it with frustration - the experienced veterans among them commanded immediate obedience. The three brothers needed no backup or worries. They were the Emperor’s Angels. The Blood Raven, Salamander and Dark Angel were his everything. As a pair of Tyranid warriors charged with their boneswords, the Dark Angel sniped one through the skull. As its limp body fell, its twin lunged for Irontus. The Blood Angel readied his gun, only for the Salamander to intercept the foe, his shield taking the sword strike before his own thrust through the bug’s torso. As the pair of opponents struggled, Irontus casually directed his gatling gun’s aim and smoothly fired. His spray of smoking bullets ripped through the sword Tyranid easily, cutting through it before being aimed towards the hesitating bugs next. The three space marines stood together as if part of the same legion. They faced the stirring enemy with their cold stares, the imperials falling back in the meanwhile. And none of the three moved anything when a roar echoed out. A Carnifex. It was coming. The three brothers gripped their weapons tighter. (I apologize if I messed up anything. Enjoying the multiplayer. The game seems worthwhile, good on everyone who worked on it. God bless!)

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