It was only through the timely intervention of one warrant offi­cer that the blast doors were shut, saving the troops further behind. He himself did not survive, however, and his act of selfless courage went unnoticed, unrecorded and unknown by all whose continued existence relied on it.

For those traitors who did witness the explosion, it was the last thing they saw. They were buried by landslides, crushed by Baneblade-sized fragments of rock, burnt by fountains of magma, scalded by hissing blasts.

Minka was halfway down the steel grappling cable when the mines under the Lone Redoubt went off. She had no idea what it was. There was a sudden roar in her ears and the chain she was hanging from lashed up and down like the tail of a thrashing grox.

She clung on until she thought her shoulders would be ripped from their sockets. Dust and debris rained down upon her and got in her nose, her eyes, her mouth, down the back of her neck.

But she knew she could not let go. She could not fall, because Baine was right beneath her and she could hear his grunts to stay on.

Asko was thrown against the cliff face as the cable shook. He clung for dear life even as the steel rope stripped the skin from his palms, half-smoked lho-stub clenched between his teeth. Next was Maenard, but the demo expert couldn’t maintain his grip. As the cable thrashed in his hand he was thrown clear. He tumbled silently, arms and legs spread like a child’s rag-doll, disappearing into the darkness.

Near the bottom of the chain, Allun was the fastest to react. He held on, one arm locked through the cable as Karni slid ten feet to land on him. Allun held both of their weights as Karni struggled to pull herself up and away.

She was almost there when Orugi slammed down onto her.

Allun felt the weight and grunted in pain. ‘Up!’ he hissed. ‘Wrap it about your arm!’

Karni did as he said and it gave her purchase. She used the tension to pull herself upwards.

‘Good!’ Allun hissed through gritted teeth. ‘That’s it!’

It was impossible. Aftershocks were jolting them all free. Above Orugi, Baine would not let go of the heavy bolter but it slipped from his grasp anyway, and then his other hand gave way and he could do nothing to slow his descent.

He hit Orugi with the force of a dead grox. They both slammed into Karni. The chain shredded the fabric of her uniform, flaying the skin from her forearm. She saw it come away in shreds but she didn’t feel any pain, not even when she saw tendon and bone. She was in such a deep state of shock.