The corridor heading towards the bridge of the Word Bearers strike cruiser Annunciation was heavy with shadows. Walls, floor and vaulted ceiling were black marble veined with crimson runes. Muzzle flashes lit the hall as the defenders were cut down. Two Word Bearers, slow to retreat, tried to hold back the Destroyers while the rest of their squad pulled back quickly up the corridor. Hierax’s squad rushed them, each legionary wielding two bolt pistols. The hail of mass-reactive shells punched through armour and blew apart the flesh inside. The traitors staggered and fell, blood splashing out behind them.

Leading the charge, Hierax fired after the other traitors, alternating blasts with his pistol and his volkite serpenta. The shells cracked open one Word Bearer’s helmet. The serpenta’s heat ray incinerated his skull. Flame burst from inside the helmet, followed by the cloud of ash that had been the legionary’s head.

The rest of the squad reached an intersection. As they turned off the main hall, one of them pulled a detonator from his belt.

The corridor flashed white before Hierax could shout a warning. A series of demolition charges blew out the sides of the vaulted ceiling. Tonnes of marble and ferrocrete crashed down. Hierax threw himself back with his men. They were at the edge of the destruction and narrowly escaped being crushed. A chunk of the upper decking struck Hierax’s shoulder. It was a glancing blow, but still hard enough to smash him to the side. He hit the starboard wall and shattered the cladding. When the dust settled, Legionary Kletos said, ‘We aren’t getting through that.’

The rubble blocked the corridor completely. The charges had gone off down a length of more than a hundred yards. There was no point trying to punch through the wreckage with melta bombs. There was no corridor at all, only compacted decks.

Hierax cursed. His squad had moved fast since the three Caestus assault rams had struck the upper levels of the Annunciation’s superstructure. He estimated they were a few hundred yards from the bridge. The strike cruiser had undergone dark transformations, but the layout of the decks was familiar enough. As close as he had come to the goal, though, he might as well be miles distant now.

‘Aphovos,’ Hierax voxed the sergeant of the second squad, ‘we’re blocked. Tell me you have the bridge in sight.’ Hierax and Aphovos were leading attacks along parallel paths, port and starboard, direct runs straight to the bridge.

‘The Word Bearers just tried to drop a ceiling on us, captain. We can’t go any further in this direction.’

The simultaneity of the demolitions made the tactics look less crude. ‘Hold your position, sergeant,’ Hierax said. ‘We need to understand the trap they’re trying to set for us.’ He opened a channel to the third squad, advancing two decks below. ‘Gorthia, has the enemy demolished your way forwards?’