Helsreach

'Commander Korten Barasath,' Sarren introduced the next man, 'of the Imperial 5082nd Naval Wing.'

Korten, a lean figure still dressed in his grey flightsuit, saluted smartly.

'My men were in the Lightnings that guided you down, Reclusiarch. A pleasure to serve with the Black Templars again.'

Grimaldus narrowed his eyes behind his helm's false grin. 'You have served with the Knights of Dorn before?'

'I have personally - nine years ago on Dathax - and the Fifty-Eighty-Twos have on no fewer than four separate occasions. Sixteen of our fighters are marked with the heraldic cross, with permission given by Marshal Tarrison of the Dathax Crusade.'

Grimaldus inclined his head, his respect solemn and obvious, despite the helm.

'I am honoured, Barasath,' he said.

The squadron leader suppressed a pleased smile and saluted again.

And on it went, through the ranks of senior Steel Legion officers. At the end of the line stood two men, one in a clean and decorated uniform of azure blue, the shade of skies on worlds much cleaner than this one, and the other in oil-stained overalls.

Colonel Sarren gestured to the thin man in the immaculate uniform.

'The most honourable Moderati Primus Valian Carsomir of the Legio Invigilata, crewman of the blessed engine

Stormherald.'

Grimaldus nodded, but made no other outward show of respect. The Titan pilot inclined his gaunt face in turn, utterly emotionless.

'Moderati,' the knight said. 'You speak with the voice of your Legion?'

'A full battle group,' the man replied. 'I am the voice of Princeps Majoris Zarha Mancion. The rest of Invigilata is committed to other engagements.'

'Fortune favours us that you still remain,' the knight said. The Titan pilot made the cog sign of the Mechanicus, his knuckles interlinked over his chest, and Sarren finished the final introduction.

'And here is Dockmaster Tomaz Maghernus, lead foreman of the Helsreach Dockers' Union.'

The knight hesitated, and nodded again, just as he had for the soldiers. 'We have much to discuss,' Grimaldus said to the colonel, who was sweating faintly in the stifling afternoon air.

'Indeed we do. This way, if you please.'

* * *

Tomaz Maghernus wasn't

sure what to think.

Back at the docks, as soon as he walked into the warehouse, his crew flocked around him, barraging him with questions.

How many Astartes were there? How tall were they? What was it like to see one? Were all the stories true?

Tomaz wasn't sure what to say. There had been little grandeur in the meeting. The towering warrior with his skull face had seemed more dismissive than anything else. The ranks of knights in their black armour were silent and inhuman, utterly separate from the hive's delegation and not interacting at all.

He answered the questions with a level of vagueness lessened by a convincing false smile.

An hour later, he was back in his crane's command cabin, strapped to the creaking leather seat and turning the axis wheel to bring the loading claw around again. Levers controlled the claw's vertical position and the grip of its magnetic talons. Tomaz slammed the claw onto the deck of the tanker ship closest to his station, and hauled a cargo crate into the air. The markings alongside the sturdy metal crate marked it as volatile. More promethium, he knew. The final imports of fuel for the Imperial Guard's tanks were arriving this week. Dried food rations and shipments of fuel were all they'd been unloading on the docks for months now.

He tried not to dwell on his meeting with the Astartes. He'd been expecting a rousing speech from a warrior armoured in gold. He'd expected plans and promises, oaths and oratory.

All in all, he decided, it had been a disappointing day.

A

city.

I am in command of a

city.

Preparations have been underway for months, but estimates pit the Great Enemy arriving in-system within a handful of days. My men, the precious few knights that remain with me on the surface of Armageddon, are spread across the sprawling hive. They are to serve as inspiration to the human soldiers when the fighting becomes thickest.

I recognise the tactical validity of this, yet lament their absence. This is not how a holy crusade should be fought.

The hours pass in a blur of statistical outlays, charts, hololithic projections and graphs.

The food supplies for the entire city. How long they will last once nothing can be brought in from outside the hive. Where the food is stored. The durability of these silos, buildings and granaries. What weapons they can withstand. How they appear from the air. Ration projections. Sustainable food ration planning. Unsustainable food ration planning, with appended lists of estimated sacrificial casualties. Where food riots are likely to break out once starvation is a reality.

Water filtration centres. How many are required to be fully operational in order to supply the entire population. Which ones are likely to be destroyed first, once the city walls fall. Underground bunkers where water is currently stored. Ancient wellsprings that might be tapped in times of great need.

Estimates of disease once the city is shelled and civilian casualties are too heavy to be dealt with efficiently. Types of disease. Symptoms. Severity. Risk of contagion. Compatibility with the ork genus.

Lists of medical facilities. Endless, endless screeds of how each one is supplied as of the most recent stock reports, to the most minute detail. New stock-checks are constantly performed. Updated information cycles in all the while, even as we review the previous batch.

Militia numbers, conscripted and volunteer. Training regimes and training schedules. Weapon supplies.

Ammunition supplies for the civilian population currently under arms. Projections for how long those supplies will last.

Hive Defence Forces, straddling the line between militia and Guard. Who leads the individual sector forces. Their weapons. Their ammunition. Their proximity to significant industrial targets.

Imperial Guard numbers. Throne, what numbers. Regiments, their officers,