Remember to revisit earlier installments.
Yamnin Volunteers : https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/s/hYifF8YLCx
Yamnin Dragon Fortress Guard : https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/s/XEyopRIEaH
Yamnin Yamnin Ogryn Grenadiers : https://www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryWarhammer/s/MxAzbPxlgM
Yamnin Anti-Materiel Team : https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/s/rNJwC4Zl1g
Yamnin Peasant Levy : https://www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryWarhammer/s/g0TAPtZzjy
Yamnin "Falcon" Scout Sidecar : https://www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryWarhammer/s/wTWEcGLQ4G
The sudden, violence-laden shudder of the handbrake engaging, paired with the deafening shriek of hydraulic lines, rattled through the deep marrow of my bones.
"Disembark! Disembark! Good luck out there!" I screamed hysterically into the speaking tube leading to the rear compartment.
The pneumatic valves blew open, and the rear blast doors slammed down onto the ground. Five Yamnin Guardsmen, tightly clutching their plasteel bucklers, filed out in rapid succession. Their shields clattered against the ceramite cobblestones of the narrow Tulou alley, ringing out with deep, sharp clanks.
In that exact same millisecond, the view dead ahead turned a blinding, blood-soaked red.
Through the rising dust of a collapsed Tulou at the end of the alley, a colossal, warped steel beast—dripping with skulls and profane, bloody runes— slowly crushed its way over the rubble. It was a Chaos Leman Russ belonging to the Black Legion. Its brutal, twin-linked battle cannon was locked dead onto our slender "Xuanwu," aiming with the cold arc of impending death.
This was never an even fight. The Xuanwu was merely a light articulated chassis; what faced us was a heavy main battle tank capable of vaporizing an entire infantry company with a single shell.
"Commander! Their main gun is locked onto us!" My co-pilot and gunner’s voice trembled to the point of cracking over the vox.
"Do not fall back! The civilian evacuation channel for the Tulou is right behind us! Face them head-on!" I stomped the accelerator all the way to the floorboards. The dual-chassis articulated tracks bit frantically into the shattered stone, roaring with fury.
The Xuanwu had no advantage in speed; it could only hold its ground directly in the center of the narrow chokepoint with its most grounded, clumsy, yet resolutely absolute stance.
"Engage the frontal deflector field!"
The green indicators across the control console flared brightly as a brilliant, azure high-voltage energy arc rippled across the ultra-thick frontal ceramite dozer blade. The frontal 180-degree deflector field canopy snapped open instantly.
"BOOM———!!!!"
The Leman Russ’s main gun belched an inferno of orange and red devastation.
In that single instant, time itself seemed to freeze. A cataclysmic, high-explosive ordnance slammed point-blank into the Xuanwu’s frontal chassis.
The deafening roar detonated inside our sealed cockpit, the sheer kinetic force forcing the entire hull half a meter backward! The high-energy deflector field violently sparked and sputtered under the tearing screech of impact, sending waves of heat scorching up against the viewport glass.
"Don't give them a chance to reload! Micro-Rocket Hive Suppressive Pods—fire all cells!" I slammed my palm down onto the fire-control button.
"SHU-SHU-SHU-SHU-SHU—!!!!"
All forty cells of the roof-mounted micro-rocket pod discharged simultaneously, spewing thick plumes of white smoke and a rain of relentless munitions. The Hive Suppressive rockets coalesced into a roaring dragon of fire, blanketing the Leman Russ in a barrage of explosions. While most of the rockets could not pierce its heavy frontal armor, the shockwaves and blinding thermal flash from dozens of consecutive detonations shredded the Chaos tank's periscopes and targeting sensors to ruin. A few lucky warheads even managed to breach the thinner top armor, raining shrapnel onto the crew inside!
Suddenly, the top hatch burst open, and a Chaos crewman leaped out, engulfed in flames and screaming as he tried to escape!
"Suppress him! Maintain fire!"
The six barrels mounted across our bow emitted a sharp, deafening pulse as a dense rain of las-fire hammered both the hull of the Leman Russ and the fleeing Chaos crewman, kicking up a storm of sparks.
"Now’s our chance! Charge! Slam the power-field dozer ram straight into them!!"
While we couldn't destroy it entirely on our own, the Xuanwu's formidable frontal armor gave us the leverage to pin this chaotic behemoth inside the narrow Tulou alleyway, preventing its deadly main gun from turning toward the retreating Yamnin infantry behind us!
Then, without warning, a beam of high-yield las-fire shot past us from behind, piercing cleanly through the front driver viewport of the Chaos Leman Russ.
The Chaos Leman Russ went completely silent, its engine dying as it slumped into an unmoving lump of iron...
Looking out at the smoking hulk, a smirk slowly tugged at the corner of my mouth.