Rovi opened the top hatch and climbed halfway out.
In the cold wind and rain, he raised a high-powered loudspeaker.
He swept his gaze over the numb faces around him.
Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, like a herd of livestock waiting to be slaughtered.
"Raise your heads!"
Rovi's voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, drowned out the rain and rang across the assembly area.
"Look at what you are now!"
"What do you look like? A pile of abandoned trash? Or rotting meat waiting to grow mold?"
A stir ran through the crowd.
Countless eyes turned toward the young man standing atop the vehicle.
Most of them did not know Rovi, but they recognized the Agricultural Advisor's uniform.
"I know what you're thinking."
Rovi shouted rousing words.
"You think the Imperium has abandoned you."
"You think going to the front means going to your deaths."
"You're wrong."
Rovi gestured for them to look toward the Burden of Terra.
"Look at this ship. It crossed fifteen thousand light-years to come here."
"It took away the food, the fuel, and all of you."
"Why?"
"Because the Imperium needs Fertility II! Because the front needs Fertility II!"
As Rovi delivered his speech, the Chimera sped past formation after formation.
Inside the vehicle, Priest Alpha had just locked onto the fifth target.
Rovi roared through the rain, "You are not expendable supplies."
"You are currency."
"The hardest, most valuable currency of the Imperium!"
"In the trenches of Armageddon, upon shattered city walls."
"When you pull the trigger, when you drive your bayonets into the enemy's chest."
"You do not represent yourselves."
"You represent the dignity of this planet!"
Rovi's speech turned low and solemn.
"A hundred years from now, the people of this planet will speak of this conscription."
"They will say that the