Poor troops never recovered. Panic swept them up like leaves before a gale and blew them away. Average troops fell back a safe distance, before going to ground to work out what the hell was happening. Good troops fought for every inch. The best, like the Cadians, counter-attacked immediately.

The Swabian Fusiliers were solid guards. They tried to rally a number of times, but the Cadians were running rampant. They plunged into the upper defences, killing, spiking, setting off ammo dumps, overloading void shield generators, setting plasma reactors to overheat. Demo charges were exploding all about them. Towers collapsed and ammo dumps set off chain reactions that went deep into the fortress.

Bendikt’s charge carried the Cadians right through the enemy trenches. The Cadians crashed like a wave against the ruins of Tor Tartarus and the Elnaur Chasseurs roared hatred and defiance as they charged. For a moment the two armies struggled one against the other, locked in a vicious hand to hand battle.

The Elnaurs were dressed in their black carapace and visored helmets. They were a veteran force, honed like steel on the tough world of the Cadian Gate. But they were no match for the Cadians. The elites of First and Second companies shrugged off las-bolts, while the Elnaurs’ armour was no protection against their hot-shot weapons.

Bendikt was always at the fore of the Cadian charge, his banners marking him out to friend and foe alike. The enemy threw themselves against him, desperate to gain fame or honour by killing the Cadian general. But Bendikt was a deadly warrior, with one augmetic hand that could punch through steel and rip out spines, and Ignatzio Richstar’s sword swinging in the other. Nothing could withstand that blade. It carved through bone, flesh and steel as he cut a path deep into the enemy.

Mere was right beside him, power sword in hand, protecting Bendikt’s back. And Colonel Baytov was beside him, power fist crackling with the blood that dripped from it.

They drove forward up the slopes, leaving a train of dead behind them. And all the time he called out the name of his enemy.

‘Where is Holzhauer?’ he demanded. ‘Where is the undefeated general?’

Dido heard the thunder of battle and pushed herself up. She gritted her teeth as her body twisted, wracked by agony. The first time she fell back, and she had to go through it all again.

Sweat started to bead on her forehead and the small of her back. At last she managed to slip her hand inside the pillowcase.

She had to push with the opposite elbow as her fingers scrabbled into the corner where the pills had gathered. She pulled as many out as she could, and held them in her mouth as she reached in for more.