The Last Ditch
Page 31
90. Not entirely true; they also had three Aquila class shuttles on the roster, although one of these was undergoing a routine refit at the time and was unavailable for use.[back]
91. An assumption which was most certainly correct.[back]
92. Some sites, like the remaining power stations, were too vital to abandon completely, their skeleton staffs supplemented by no doubt terrified PDF troopers, whose Valkyries stood ready to pluck them to safety should their defences be breached.[back]
93. Fungi of various sorts being a staple on many worlds where the bulk of the population live underground, for obvious reasons.[back]
94. If it suited him to believe that, far be it from me to take the credit.[back]
95. A Nusquan slang term for those living in small, outlying communities; the faintly pejorative implication of the phrase being that the townships in question are so small and lacking in resources that they’ve only been dug out of the ice and snow, instead of the bedrock beneath.[back]
96. As the Commissariat doesn’t have a hierarchical structure, like that of the Imperial Guard, seniority is determined purely by length of service and number of commendations. In the last century or so the convention of referring to the longest serving and most decorated veterans as Lord (or Lady) Commissars has gained some currency, although Cain, who would most certainly have qualified for such an honorific, disdained the practice, and always refused to be addressed in such a manner.[back]
97. One of the many indications in the portion of his memoirs dealing with his time attached to the 597th of the unusual closeness he shared with the senior officers of that regiment. Very few commissars would be prepared to exchange friendly banter with the officers they served with, or feel comfortable doing so.[back]
98. Something of an exaggeration, although, as noted before, flying conditions on Nusquam Fundumentibus were far from ideal; and there were indeed prolonged periods where nothing could take to the air.[back]
99. As on most worlds, the Planetary Governor of Nusquam Fundumentibus was also the Commander in Chief of its planetary and system defence forces, at least on paper; although only the governors of highly militarised societies, such as those of Cadia or Gulfsedge, tend to actively participate in their activities on a day to day basis.[back]
100. Though Cain spent most of his life in the Damocles Gulf and adjoining sectors, he did range further afield on occasion; there’s some evidence that he visited Valhalla towards the end of his attachment to the 597th, for instance, and he makes reference on a few occasions to having set foot on Holy Terra itself, although the circumstances under which he may have done so are hard to imagine. The vast majority of the datafiles making up his memoirs have still to be examined in all but the most cursory fashion, however, so it’s quite possible that these may shed a little more light on the subject.[back]
101. Not an option which Cain generally favoured, incidentally, being both possessed of sufficient charm to sway opinion his way under most circumstances, and conscious that resorting to more direct methods of persuasion would generally result in bad feeling, often expressed in an equally straightforward fashion should the opportunity to do so arise.[back]
102. More likely she’d simply seen the opportunity to distance herself from a potentially unpopular decision, and seized on it.[back]
103. Cain seems to be missing the point here; no doubt Sulla was taking personal charge of security for the convoy because of his presence.[back]
104. Which implies, although he doesn’t bother to mention their intended destination, that the convoy he joined was bound for the cavern city of Underice, the second largest settlement on Nusquam Fundumentibus.[back]
105. Presumably the tops of the shafts which afforded natural illumination to the inhabitants of the cavern city.[back]
106. Though roads as such were unknown on Nusquam Fundumentibus, the easiest routes between cities became well worn from frequent use, and could often be distinguished by the naked eye.[back]
107. Perhaps typically, it doesn’t seem to have occurred to him that most of the passengers were simply in awe of his reputation.[back]
108. It’s unclear here whether he means the other passengers, or Sulla, who would of course be listening to him over the vox-net.[back]
109. A widespread belief among Imperial Guardsmen who’ve encountered these creatures, and who therefore regard them with particular horror, although the very notion is, of course, ridiculous: anyone swallowed whole would expire almost instantly from suffocation, and being crushed in the bioform’s constricting gullet. Which isn’t all that reassuring, come to think of it.[back]
110. In fact, her account of the incident goes on at some length about his keen intelligence and unrivalled insight, so clearly she was impressed by the accuracy of his deduction.[back]
111. Though Sulla appears to have been in overall command throughout the engagement, the 597th’s Sentinel troop was attached to 3rd Company, along with the other specialised units; so, on paper at least, wasn’t under her direct authority. Even if it had been, Sentinel pilots have a well-deserved reputation in the Imperial Guard for acting on their own initiative without reference to the command structure, so Shambas’s display of independent thought here is far from untypical.[back]
112. An impression which Sulla’s rather more long-winded description of their actions confirms; the detached squadron (she mentions a third Sentinel, so either Cain forgot the name of one of the pilots, or they were so used to working together it wasn’t necessary to issue specific orders to him or her) were able to trap the approaching warrior forms in a withering crossfire, using their speed and manoeuvrability to remain beyond the effective range of the devourers most of the tyranids carried.[back]
113. Presumably because they were too busy being killed to act as an effective conduit for the hive mind.[back]
114. It’s unclear where the rest of the Sentinels were at this point: although it’s probable that they found their lines of fire blocked by the other vehicles in the convoy.[back]
115. Like most Imperial Guard units, the command squads of the 597th at both company and platoon level consisted of an officer and four specialists to assist them, occasionally supplemented by advisors of one sort or another; chief among which was Cain himself.[back]
116. A common modification to Valhallan vehicles, although their use on the move is not without hazard.[back]
117. Nusquam Fundumentibus having a roughly thirty-five hour day.[back]
118. Housing, as it did, the main PDF base, this area was closed to civilian traffic.[back]
119. Much to the irritation of generations of scribes and codicers, who are thereby obliged to amend cherished inventories, often to something resembling objective reality.[back]
120. An excuse I’ve heard a few times too, although once you’ve mentioned you want information on behalf of the Inquisition, even the most obdurate of bureaucrats generally becomes remarkably helpful.[back]
121. Not to mention the fact that, if she tried, Kasteen would simply declare martial law, leaving the erstwhile governor completely without influence.[back]
122. Typically, it doesn’t seem to have occurred to Cain that a considerable amount of Forres’s change in attitude was due to her following his example; or at least what she fondly imagined that to be.[back]
123. A striking natural feature in one of the caverns, which had been preserved as a park.[back]
124. First and Fifth Companies undertook the surface defence of Primadelving, along with the Sentinel troop; the other line companies were still engaged in harrying the outlying swarms.[back]
125. Rather a grandiose title for half a dozen rockcrete pads, standing next to tunnels giving directly to an underground staging area, which enabled passengers and cargo to embark or disembark with a minimum of exposure to the freezing temperatures on the surface.[back]
126. A main highway connecting the industrial caverns to the residential units on the upper levels.[back]
127.
As Soon As Possible, one of the more exotic examples of the Imperial Guard’s mania for abbreviation, in that it consists of four letters rather than the usual three. Somewhat disconcertingly pronounced ‘ae-sap:’ I ask you, what’s wrong with plain Gothic?[back]
128. Like many cities on worlds with inhospitable surfaces, many of the buildings were partially buried in the sides of the interconnecting caverns, so that a series of terraced structures and streets rose up the walls, making maximum use of the space. The gubernatorial palace would, of course, be sited where it was most prominent, reassuring the citizens of the Imperium’s constant vigilance.[back]
129. The Spiral wasn’t a literal one, but was so named because the highway descended through half a dozen different caverns, each lower than the next.[back]
130. And beyond, the broad highway of the Spiral terminating comfortably close to both the shuttle pads and the crawler park.[back]
131. The popular image of these units is of cavalry, and the vast majority of rough rider units do, of course, use horses or other riding beasts to great effect: horses are at home in terrain no vehicle can tackle, are self-fuelling in many environments instead of relying on the proximity of a promethium supply, and are able to replace their own losses to some extent. Some regiments do use light all-terrain vehicles instead, however, particularly those from iceworlds or other environments where the raising of livestock is less than practical.[back]
132. Slate of Organisation and Equipment, a slightly archaic term referring to the inventory of regimental assets and their disposition.[back]
133. Almost certainly the only human ever to have survived such a transit.[back]
134. Though the few surviving active tyranids were swiftly dealt with, the campaign to track down and eliminate the remaining greenskins from the Great Spinal Range was both protracted and bloody; and even now the planetary defence force remains on permanent alert against a resurgence of either foe.[back]