The Hive Mind Denied

Lolan Quay, Yuion's major processing center and transportaion hub was usually the epitomy of efficiency, but now looked like a sick nightmare of mechanical consumption. Cargo loaders full of people and precious food stuffs were being feed into the mouths of large interplanetary cargo haulers being shipped off to Kandavar. Those given into fear tried to push their way past PDF forces and make way to the haulers without waiting in line causing further congestion and delay. Panic was ripe and fights broke out in the streets, casualties started to rise even before the Tyranids made planetfall as Adeptus Arbites units worked to beat the population back into normalcy.

There was very few static defences on Yuion and none of them were used for space defence. The bioships made planetfall onto Yuion with out a single shot being fired. Mycetic spores dropped in their billions disgorging the swarm at the remaining population. The mouths of bioships snaked down from the heavens to assimilate the vast biomass of the planets oceans. The Devourer was here and little stood in its way.

On the verdant fields outside of Lolan Quay Commader Isaac Vistrowski of the Cadian 794th Tank Brigade stood in the command hatch of his beloved Vanguisher and watched as the sun was eclipsed by the decending Tyranid spores.  As stoic as any Cadian he prepared his brigade to form a cordon around the city. His force would hold the line allowing as much food and civilians to make their way off until reinforcements arrived...

A wall of dust heralded the proximity of the swarm. Commander Vistrowski, gave the order to fire as soon as that wall was almost with range , knowing there was no need to aim at this point. The tanks roar at the bugs charge was deafening as hundreds of them opened fire at the same time. Thousands of the creatures died in that instant, but it might as well just been a cold wind blowing against them as the swarm paid those deaths no mind and charged forward all the more. With those shots being heard throughout the city real chaos broke out. The population no longer cared about being bludgeoned or shot at and the strongpoints were overran by the hysterical crowds.

Shot after shot of the main cannons were fired at the swarm, but nothing could slow its advance.  Soon the crews were forced to open fire with their secondary weapons and more care was devoted to felling the larger, controlling creatures. As those monsters went down, the defenders started to see their first reprieve. Their second came on trails of fire. Space Marines of the Emperors Shadows arrived from Tanacus and began their assualt. They arrived with earth shattering results, blowing chunks of land, trees, and bugs meters in the sky as 30 pods landed simultaneously on the western flank. Bolters, autocannons and flamers scythed down the lesser organisms in their hundreds in that initial landing, but as ammunition became scarce even the Emperor's finest were hard pressed to hold back the onslaught.

In the center and eastern flank things faired worse for the defenders as Trygons burst forth from the rumbling ground knocking over tanks, or sending them tumbling down the dark holes from which they emerged. The defenders were forced to fall back towards the city as their lines started to become overrun.

Up above The Sons of Medusa and Charcadons were fighting  a void battle to break the siege on the planet. The two chapters couldnt be anymore different. The Sons of Medusa choose to allow their long range to pick apart the bioships from range as they were occupied feeding on the planet, and the Charcadons charged their more heavily armoured ships headlong into the mass, dislodging boarding torpedos so their marines could tear apart the foe blade to blade. The combined assualt was devastating and many of the bioships burst apart under the barrage or ceast movement as they were blown apart from the inside.

With the majority of the bioships dying above the swarm began to faulter. With the Hivemind unable to send more synapse creatures into the fray the Tyranid assualt fell apart. The Sons of Medusa now sent in thunderhawks to deploy reinforcements  and Commander Vistrowski wasted no time in pressing this new advantage against the broken enemy.

Orbital lances fell from the sky breaking apart the last pockets of resistance and the combined might of the Imperium punished them for ever coming to this planet. The Tyranids were held back at Yuion at great cost to the planet and lives of the defenders.

Commander Vistrowski meet with Captain Jonus Kiln of the The Sons of Medusa 3rd company as protocal demanded. The meeting was short. Captain Kiln told Vistrowski to pack up his men and send them to Kandavar. A larger Hive Fleet is inbound for the capital.