"Strong life signals detected, one kilometer away! Right in front of us! It's a Tyranid Hive Tyrant!"
A soldier, who had been monitoring the auspex, suddenly shouted. Everyone in the position immediately grew serious. The Tyranid Hive Tyrant was approaching much faster than they had imagined. As the bridge was already engulfed in smoke and flames, no one could clearly see the Tyranid Hive Tyrant's exact location.
But everyone could feel an extremely oppressive, suffocating psychic force rapidly approaching. This psychic force was even much stronger than that of an zoanthrope, which specialized in psychic abilities. Under the enhancement of this psychic force, the already ferocious Tyranids immediately became even more bloodthirsty. Both their speed and strength had improved to a certain extent.
The already struggling defensive line immediately faced increased pressure. No matter how hard the four fought to kill the approaching Tyranid, an endless stream of Tyranids continued to crawl up from below the platform and attack the Astra Militarum behind them.
Soon, the first soldier in the Astra Militarum fell. A venom cannon from a Tyranid Warrior pierced through the steel barrier in its path. The hit soldier didn't even have time to scream before his upper body was blown off. Although Marcus quickly raised his hellgun and blew off the Tyranid Warrior's head, everyone present knew that the battle had reached its most intense phase.
They had to buy enough time until the Tyranid Hive Tyrant reached the designated location. Then, they would detonate the bombs and crush the monster with the giant statue. Without armored units as meat shields and support, the Astra Militarum soldiers could only use their flesh and blood to form a wall and buy time.
The flesh and blood of the Tyranid and the Astra Militarum soldiers began to fly. Green, deadly venom and scorching red laser beams intertwined.
Finally, after sacrificing the lives of dozens of Astra Militarum soldiers and delaying for several minutes, a terrifying, earth-shattering roar came from the distant bridge. From within the smoke that enveloped the bridge, a towering, six-meter-tall terrifying figure slowly emerged.
The Tyranid's battlefield commander, the node creature that commanded countless Tyranid creatures, the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, appeared in everyone's sight. He stood on the overturned train, brandishing his giant bone blade and tentacle whip, and let out a roar to the sky. Around the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, there were also a dozen Tyrant Guards, all covered in thick carapaces.
Accompanying the deafening, terrifying roar, a chilling psychic wave rapidly swept across the entire battlefield. The three members of Talasa Squad and Marcus, relying on their powerful physiques, stood at the forefront of the platform, staring directly at the Tyranid Hive Tyrant in the distance. Many of the mortal Astra Militarum soldiers, however, bled from their ears and noses and lost their combat ability due to this psychic roar.
Only when truly facing this terrifying, living weapon, whose every part was designed for slaughter, could Marcus deeply feel the horror of the Tyranid Hive Tyrant. For a moment, Marcus even felt some regret. He would rather go on a mission with Titus Squad and face three Exocrines simultaneously than face a single Tyranid Hive Tyrant.
But after taking a deep breath, Marcus quickly calmed down. Waving his chainsword to repel the Hormagaunts in front of him, Marcus quickly retreated. Until he reached the detonation device, Marcus stared intently at the Tyranid Hive Tyrant on the bridge, observing his every move.
At this moment, the Tyranid Hive Tyrant was brandishing the giant bone blade in his hand, leading countless Tyranid forward. Twenty meters, fifteen meters, ten meters… With each step forward, the Tyranid Hive Tyrant was getting closer and closer to the optimal position for the explosives.
A few seconds later, the Tyranid Hive Tyrant finally stepped into the trap meticulously designed for him by everyone.
"Now! Detonate the explosives! Kill that filthy xenos leader!"
The other members of Talasa Squad, who were also closely monitoring the Tyranid Hive Tyrant's movements, immediately shouted. No reminder was needed; the moment the Tyranid Hive Tyrant stepped into the trap, Marcus immediately pressed the detonation button beside him.
After a half-second delay, the bomb detonated. In the high tower on one side of the bridge, the meticulously placed bombs destroyed the tower's structural supports, causing it to collapse directly. Along with it, the nearly hundred-meter-tall giant Tech-Priest statue above the tower also began to collapse in the predetermined direction. Tens of thousands of tons of reinforced concrete crashed down onto the Tyranid Hive Tyrant's head with an irresistible force.
This sudden attack was unexpected even by the battle-hardened Tyranid Hive Tyrant. Although the Tyranid Hive Tyrant made a swift dodging maneuver at the last moment, he still did not escape the statue's collapse range. However, Marcus could vaguely see that at the very last moment, the Tyrant Guards, who had been circling the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, rushed to his side with incredible speed. And used their incredibly thick carapaces to form a makeshift defense line.
Then, countless reinforced concrete slammed onto the bridge. Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, countless rubble and dust spread outwards, enveloping the entire nearby battlefield. For a moment, the previously noisy battlefield suddenly fell silent. And the Tyranid seemed truly affected, falling into a brief state of confusion.
Until the smoke cleared, the bridge in front of the position had a huge gap several tens of meters wide, directly smashed by the statue. Marcus and the other three came to the edge of the platform and looked down, but only saw a large pile of rubble.
Straban from the squad opened his communicator.
"Talasa reporting, xenos leader eliminated!"
A few seconds later, Titus's slightly distorted voice came from the communicator.
"No, he's not dead!"
"The tactics were well executed, but could you elaborate, Commander?"
"After the Tyranid Hive Tyrant dies, the Tyranid will disconnect from the Hive Mind and should lose control, but their focus is still on the mid-station."
At this moment, Captain Acheran's voice also came from the communicator.
"Report confirms the Commander's assessment, enemy cohesion was only temporarily affected, that monster is not dead!"
As soon as his voice fell, below the platform, the Tyranid, who had been in a state of chaos, began to regain order and continued to assault the defensive line. Perhaps it was due to the suicidal protection of the Tyrant Guards, or perhaps it was due to the Tyranid Hive Tyrant's own formidable vitality.
In any case, the Tyranid Hive Tyrant survived the collapse of the tens of thousands of tons of statue.
"It seems we're going on a hunt."
Varius from the squad said in a deep voice.