CARNIFEXES?

Carnifexes are living engines of destruction, towering monsters of unyielding armoured chitin and knotted alien musculature. They are one of the toughest and deadliest of all a hive fleet's warrior creatures, created to spearhead assaults in massed battles. Though the Hive Mind has since created larger warrior-organisms, few are the Carnifex's equal in terms of size to strength, nor in terms of sheer destructive potential.?

泰倫劊子手是活生生的毀滅引擎，是由堅(jiān)硬的幾丁質(zhì)裝甲和虬結(jié)的異星生物肌肉組織構(gòu)成的高大怪物。他們是蟲(chóng)巢艦隊(duì)的戰(zhàn)士生物中最強(qiáng)健也最致命的物種之一，是作為在大規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗中進(jìn)攻的矛頭被創(chuàng)造而出的。雖然蟲(chóng)群意識(shí)后來(lái)創(chuàng)造出了眾多的戰(zhàn)士生物，但在大小、力量和純粹的破壞潛力方面，都幾乎沒(méi)有能與劊子手相匹敵的。

The Imperium's first recorded Carnifex encounters occurred in the battles leading to Hive Fleet Behemoth's invasion of Macragge. As the great star-vessels of Mankind strove with the unearthly living ships of the Tyranids, Carnifexes were to be found at the head of many boarding actions, tearing the defenders apart with scythe-shaped talons and immolating the survivors with incandescent bolts of bio-plasma. These creatures swiftly became known as 'Screamer Killers', named for the terrible ululating shriek that accompanied their bio-plasma discharges.?

在貝希摩斯蟲(chóng)巢艦隊(duì)對(duì)于馬庫(kù)拉格的入侵行動(dòng)中，帝國(guó)第一次記錄到的與泰倫劊子手的遭遇。當(dāng)人類(lèi)巨大的星艦與泰倫異形那怪異的活體飛船交戰(zhàn)時(shí)，劊子手被發(fā)現(xiàn)在許多次跳幫行動(dòng)中擔(dān)任先頭部隊(duì)。它們用鐮刀狀的利爪撕碎防御者，并用熾熱的生物電漿矢彈燒死幸存者。這些生物很快就作為“尖叫殺手”而廣為人知——它們因釋放生物電漿彈時(shí)伴隨產(chǎn)生的可怕嘯叫尖聲而得名。

The Screamer-Killer was long thought by the Magos Biologis to be the only breed of Carnifex, but as the Tyrannic Wars grind on, many other iterations of this bioform have emerged to wreak horrific carnage upon Imperial forces. A particularly notorious example is the much-feared ’Thornback’: Created by the Hive Mind to excel as much at range as in the crush of melee, the Thornback can launch a volley of spines from its dorsal thorax plates with lethal force, and can wield an array of ranged bio-weapons. Doubtless there are many more Carnifex strains that have yet to be encountered by the Imperium, each with their own horrifying methods of slaughter.?

生物賢者們?cè)L(zhǎng)期認(rèn)為尖叫殺手是唯一的劊子手品種，但隨著與泰倫異形戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的繼續(xù)，這種生物的許多其他迭代都已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)，它們對(duì)帝國(guó)軍隊(duì)進(jìn)行了可怕的屠殺。一個(gè)尤為臭名昭著的例子是令人恐懼的“棘刺背”:蟲(chóng)巢意識(shí)的創(chuàng)造令其對(duì)于遠(yuǎn)程作戰(zhàn)和在混戰(zhàn)中碾碎敵人同等擅長(zhǎng)，它能以致命的力量從胸背板上射出一連串尖刺，也能使用一系列的遠(yuǎn)程生物武器。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，（銀河中）還存在著其他更多人類(lèi)帝國(guó)未曾遭遇過(guò)的劊子手種類(lèi)，而每個(gè)種類(lèi)都有屬于自己的可怕屠殺手段。

Even as the Hive Mind creates increasingly complex organisms to enable it to hunt and kill its prey, the Carnifex has remained the combat standard, a reliable and relatively simple bioform that can perform well in any form of front-line conflict. Unlike specialised organisms such as Maleceptors and Toxicrenes, which require extensive time and resources for the hive fleets to spawn, the Carnifex can be generated swiftly and in great numbers; it is a rare Tyranid assault that does not include at least one brood of these mighty creatures. This allows the hive fleets to create a force perfectly suited to overcome and destroy a prey world's defenders. Worse still, Carnifexes are protected by a reinforced exoskeleton that is at least as dense as ceramite. Combined with their massive bulk and unnatural vitality, Carnifexes can shrug off an obscene amount of firepower and endure horrendous wounds before succumbing to death.?

雖然蟲(chóng)巢意識(shí)還在越來(lái)越多地創(chuàng)造出使其能夠捕獵和殺死獵物的復(fù)雜生物，但劊子手仍是泰倫生物的戰(zhàn)斗標(biāo)桿——這種可靠且相對(duì)簡(jiǎn)單的生物能在各種類(lèi)型的前線沖突中表現(xiàn)良好。諸如靈腦獸和毒鞭獸之類(lèi)特化的生物體需要蟲(chóng)巢艦隊(duì)消耗大量時(shí)間和資源去生產(chǎn)，劊子手則能夠快速且大量地生成；不包含至少一種劊子手在內(nèi)的泰倫異形進(jìn)攻幾乎是不存在的。這使得蟲(chóng)群艦隊(duì)能夠創(chuàng)造出一種完美適合戰(zhàn)勝并摧毀獵物世界防御者們的部隊(duì)。更糟的是，保護(hù)劊子手（軀體）的強(qiáng)化外骨骼至少和陶鋼一樣致密。劊子手憑借著自己巨大的體型和非自然的生命力進(jìn)行戰(zhàn)斗，在屈服于死亡之前，它能對(duì)數(shù)量龐大到驚人的火力不屑一顧，并忍受住駭人的傷口。

Though Carnifexes lack the swiftness of other creatures in the Tyranid swarm, they more than make up for it in sheer brute force. A Carnifex's thunderous charge starts slowly, steely sinews straining as the beast propels its improbable bulk to top speed, making the ground itself shake. Its heavy footfalls beat out a sonorous drum-beat of doom as it strides forth. As the beast reaches full speed, its prey scatters before it or is trampled to death. A charging Carnifex is likeness to be a battering ram，for their immense bulk can crush any opponent that bars its way and smash through almost any obstacle. Indeed, only a hardened fortress wall or super-heavy tank has any hope of surviving the impact and stalling the Carnifex's stampede.?

雖然劊子手缺乏泰倫蟲(chóng)群中其他生物的敏捷性，但他們完全用蠻力彌補(bǔ)了這一點(diǎn)。劊子手雷霆般的沖鋒是緩慢開(kāi)始的，當(dāng)這些野獸將自己不可思議的軀體推動(dòng)到最高速度時(shí)，它們會(huì)繃緊自己鋼鐵般的肌肉，其沉重的步伐會(huì)令地面晃動(dòng)。當(dāng)劊子手大步向前時(shí)，它沉重的腳步發(fā)出鏗鏘有力的末日鼓聲。當(dāng)這只野獸全速前進(jìn)時(shí)，獵物要么是在它面前四散奔逃，要么就是被它踩死。人們將一只沖鋒中的劊子手比作一柄沖擊錘，因?yàn)樗鼈兙薮蟮纳碥|可以碾碎任何擋路的對(duì)手，沖破幾乎任何障礙。事實(shí)上，只有堅(jiān)固的堡壘護(hù)墻或超重型坦克才有希望在劊子手的撞擊中幸存下來(lái)并讓狂奔的劊子手減速。

Sometimes, not even this proves sufficient, as the few surviving records from Macragge's polar fortresses bear testament. The best way to survive a charging Carnifex is to be elsewhere when it arrives.?

但有些時(shí)候，即便是堅(jiān)固的堡壘護(hù)墻或超重型坦克也被證明不足以抵擋劊子手的沖鋒，馬庫(kù)拉格極地要塞中極少數(shù)幸存下來(lái)的記錄證明了這一點(diǎn)。從沖鋒的劊子手面前幸存下來(lái)的最后方法，就是在它抵達(dá)時(shí)躲到其他地方。