Race for the Gate

Tyranids & Crimson Blades v Dark Eilte & Pernicious Host | Tim v Peter | 40k | 55 | 133.997.M41

Erasmus Bachmann grinned. The Pernicious Gate was within his grasp at last and this time nothing was going to stop him.

The jungle gave way under the tracks of his Predator and Land Raider as he strode alongside the monstrous Daemon Prince Bel’Akor. Drawn perhaps to the psychic reverberations of the Pernicious Gate, the Tyranids lurked close by it, not infesting the jungle at every step as they had on previous expeditions. This was going to be too easy, especially with the secret power Erasmus commanded.

He threw up his arms and scorched the air with the brazen syllables that spewed forth from his mouth and suddenly reality curled and tore as dozens of daemons poured out from the warp into the jungle. Muscular Bloodletters charged through the underbrush in front of gargantuan scuttling Soul Grinders, massive daemon engines on metallic crab claws, and in response the Tyranids came forward to meet them.

A huge Broodlord led the assault at the head of a swarm of Genestealers, bringing down two hulking Bloodcrushers of Khorne before the mighty beasts could react. The daemonic horde was led by a huge Bloodthirster that leapt into the air on pinioned wings and crashed into the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, ripping it limb from limb with a mighty war. Skarbrand, an even taller Bloodthirster, this one wingless, ripped into a unit of Tyranid Warriors and quickly dismembered them with its mighty metallic claws.

Meanwhile, the advancing Dark Elite took long range pot-shots with their vehicle-mounted heavy weapons, gravely wounding the larger monstrous creatures. The Bloodthirster landed next to a mighty Carnifex and ripped that apart too before it could strike back. There was still a long way to travel through the jungle but the resistance was crumbling. With the support from the daemons, the Pernicious Gate would be theirs!

Then there was an energy spike and suddenly sections of foliage caught fire as three squads of Space Marine Terminators materialised near to the Pernicious Gate.

The Crimson Blade had been monitoring the Chaos Space Marines since their assault on the Fortress Bastion in Escavar and they and quickly realised the intention of this mission. Stopping the Chaos forces taking the gate was absolutely critical and they had committed their most valuable asset to stop them.

It was an impossible situation. With only limited space to land, the Terminators had been forced to teleport in deep in the infested area for fear of being enfiladed by the Dark Elite. Now they had to fight the Daemons and the erstwhile “allies,” the Tyranids.

Bachmann commanded the Daemons to devour them but he quickly realised the mistake he’d made in deploying so far from his objective and gave the order to accelerate. The transport vehicles went into overdrive, pushing through the dense terrain as the Crimson Blades let fly with Storm Bolters, Assault Cannons and Cyclone Missile Launchers.

The Daemons were falling and although every faction fought a war on two fronts, the Tactical Dreadnoughts were simply too tough to be taken down. The last of the Daemons were taken down and shortly afterwards the remaining Tyranids were picked off as well.

Bachmann gave the order to halt and roared in frustration. There was simply no more time to recapture the Pernicious Gate and more Space Marine drop ships were coming down from the cloud cover to consolidate their prize. He had risked everything to take this potent weapon under his control and he had failed again. All he could do now was withdraw.

Chaplain Kato and Captain Knot watched the vehicles of the Dark Elite circle and pull away from them from the raised dais of the Pernicious Gate.

“Should we go after them?” asked Kato.

“No,” replied Captain Knot. “We’ve got what we came for. They did the hard work, clearing the jungle of Tyranids; we reap the rewards. That’s a good enough day for me.”

“Well,” said Kato, looking up at the sizzling stone of the Pernicious Gate. “The question now, is what are we going to do with it? If we can open it then we gain the power to control a vast swarm of daemonic creatures.”

Kato narrowed his eyes and looked into the dark pits of his friend’s skull mast. “Tempting, isn’t it?”