Three more troopers threw themselves down next to him. And a fourth. Yedrin had never seen them before. ‘The heavy bolter is there!’ one said, pointing. ‘I’ll go first,’ he said. ‘You cover me.’

A thrill of delight went through Yedrin. They were Cadians. Real Cadians.

‘I’ll cover you,’ he said, and he put his lasrifle to his shoulder and fired as the Cadians moved forward.

Blanchez ran forward, threw herself down and rolled to the side. There was a pile of bodies scattered at the bottom of the dunes. ‘Throne!’ she cursed. She was lying right beneath a rockcrete pillbox. Heavy stubber fire was raking the ground before her. She put the sight of her long-las to her face, and looked for a target. It was hard to see anyone inside and this angle was no good. She had to get a shot through the narrow opening and hope she would hit someone.

She waited until she thought she saw movement and fired.

The return came instantly in a hail of stubber rounds. Trooper Apraksin was hit right next to her.

‘You all right?’

‘No,’ he said.

Apraksin had been hit in the leg. She could see the entry wound. It had torn a hole in his trousers and there was bare flesh beneath, blood as well, soaking his trousers.

She crawled over to him. She had a medi-pack on her hip. She tore it open and her fingers searched for the tourniquet. She could hear the heavy tread of booted feet coming up the beach.

‘Forward in the name of the Emperor!’ a voice shouted.

Blanchez pulled the tourniquet out and used her teeth to rip off the ties.

‘Up!’ a voice commanded. She heard the click of a bolt pistol.

‘He’s wounded,’ Blanchez said but Commissar Knoll aimed his pistol and fired. The shot went right through Apraksin’s chest. It punched him back into the sand.

Blanchez scrambled forward and dived down next to Yedrin.

‘That bastard shot Apraksin!’ she hissed.

Yedrin turned. Sand was kicked up all about the commissar as he stalked up the beach. The pillbox was twenty yards ahead of them.

‘Cadia stands!’ he hissed and scrambled forward.

He grabbed the demo charge from one of the dead Cadians and kept running. Blanchez was right behind him. Incredibly they reached the rockcrete base of the pillbox and slammed themselves against it.

‘Ready?’ he said.

She nodded.

He set the time, counted to five and then flung the charges through the opening.

Seven

SEVEN