Helsreach

'Follow your assigned leaders,' the sergeant had yelled above the noise of so many men and women gathered in one place. 'Every dock gang, and every group of fifty people, will have a storm-trooper with them. Follow that storm-trooper the way you'd follow the Emperor Himself if He descended from the sky and told you what to do with your sorry arses. He will tell you when to fight, when to run, when to hide and when to move. If you do what this trooper tells you to do, you've got a much greater chance of getting through this in one piece, and not messing up another unit's movements. If you don't listen, there's a greater chance you'll be fouling it up for everyone else, and getting your friends killed. Understood?'

General assent answered this.

'For the next few days, you're in the Imperial Guard. First rule of the Guard: Go forward. If you get lost,

you go forward.

You lose your way?

You go forward.

You fall away from your group?

You go towards the enemy.

That's where you'll do the most good, and that's where you'll find your friends. Understood?'

General assent answered this, too. It came with a little more reluctance.

'Right. Next groups!'

With that, Maghernus's gang and several others filed from the warehouse, making room for others to get exactly the same lecture.

Outside, dozens of Steel Legion storm-troopers in their ochre jackets and heavy, thrumming power generator backpacks were directing the flow of human traffic. Maghernus led his gang to one that waved him over. The man was slender, unshaven, scratching his forehead under the domed helmet he wore. His goggles were raised up, fastened around the helmet, and his rebreather mask was hanging slack around his neck. He had the look of someone who, if not lost, was at least not entirely sure where he was.

'Hello,' Maghernus swallowed. 'We need an assigned soldier.'

'Ah, I know this already. That is me. I am Andrej.'

'Thank you, sir.'

The storm-trooper laughed, slapping the dockmaster on the shoulder. 'That is funny ''Sir''. I may keep you after the war is done, to make me feel good, eh? I am not Sir. I am Andrej. Perhaps I will be Sir after I make sure none of you are dead. I would like that. It would be nice.'

'

I…'

'

Yes, it is a big pressure. I understand this. I would like a promotion, so you must all stay alive. We play for big stakes now, no? I thank you for this idea you have given me. You have made the day more fun.'

'I…'

'Come, come. No time for making friends now. We will talk much soon. Hey! All of you dock-working people, come with me, yes?'

Without waiting for an answer, Andrej began to walk through the crowds, followed by Maghernus's gang. The storm-trooper would occasionally wave at other soldiers, most of whom offered silent nods or gruff greetings. One of them, a pale beauty with black hair so thick and rich it had no business being leashed in a plain ponytail, smiled and waved back.

'Throne, who was that?' Maghernus asked as he trailed just behind Andrej. 'Your wife?'

'Ha! I wish. That is Domoska. We are squadmates. She is nice to look at, no?'

She was. Maghernus watched her leading another group through the masses. As Domoska was lost in the teeming crowds, his gaze fell on the men she was leading. Maghernus prayed he didn't look as nervous as they all did.

'It is very funny, I think. Her brother is the ugliest man I have ever seen, yet the sister is touched by fortune with great beauty. He must be very bitter, no?'

Maghernus just nodded.

'Come, come. Time is running away from us.'

That had been an hour ago. Now, they stood with Andrej, unfamiliar weapons held to their chests, pressed against quickened heartbeats. Andrej was occupying himself by picking his nose. This was something he struggled to do in gloves of thick, brown leather, but he went about the task with a curiously stately tenacity.

'Sir,' Maghernus started.

'A moment, please. Victory is almost mine.' Andrej flicked something grotesque from his fingertip. 'I can breathe again. Emperor be praised.'

'Sir, shouldn't you say something to us?' He lowered his voice, stepping closer. 'Something to inspire the men?'

Andrej frowned, absently biting his cut lip as he looked around at the other groups spread down the dock lines. 'I do not think so. No other Legionnaire is talking. I was going to wait for the Reclusiarch's speech, you know? Would you prefer me to speak now?'

'The Reclusiarch will speak?'

'Oh, yes. He is good at this. You will like it. It will happen soon, I am thinking.'

A blast of screeching feedback slashed through the air as across the docks - kilometre upon kilometre of them - every vox-tower came alive in a distorted whine.

'See?' Andrej grinned. 'I am always right. It is what I do best.'

For several seconds, the people of Helsreach heard nothing but breathing - low, heavy, threatening - over the vox-speakers.

'

Sons and daughters of Hive Helsreach,'

the voice boomed across the shore districts, too low and resonant to be human, flavoured by the slight crackle of vox-corruption. '

Look to the water. The water from which you draw the wealth of your city. The water that now promises nothing but death.

'For thirty-six days, the people of your world, the people of your own city, have been selling their lives to defend you. For thirty-six nights, your own mothers and fathers, your own brothers and sisters, your own sons and daughters have been fighting the enemy to ensure that half of the hive remains in human hands. They have battled, road by road, sweating and fighting and dying so you can enjoy a handful of days of freedom.

'You owe them. You owe them for the sacrifices they have made so far. You owe them for the sacrifices they will make in the days and nights yet to come.

'Here and now, you will have the chance you deserve, the chance to repay them all. More than that, you will have the chance to punish the enemy for daring to lay siege to your city, for breaking your families apart and destroying your homes.

'Watch the tides. See the scrap fleet that sails into your port, bearing a horde of howling beasts. When the sun sets at the end of this week, every single invader in those surfacing ships will no longer draw breath from the sacred air of this world. They will fall because of you. You are going to save this city.

'Fear is natural. It is human. Feel no shame for a heart that beats too fast in this moment, or fingers that tremble as you hold a weapon you have never wielded before. The only shame is in cowardice - in running and leaving others to die when everything comes down to your actions.

'You are led by Guard veterans - the best of your Steel Legions - Imperial storm-troopers. But they are not alone. The forces of Helsreach are coming. Stand and defy the enemy