Leki leaned against a section of cold concrete pipe, slowly exhaled the last lungful of acrid smoke, and dropped the synthetic cigarette butt, burned almost down to its filter, onto the ground. He crushed it beneath the thick sole of his military boot.
He raised his head, his gaze passing by habit through the layers of Hive City buildings that towered into the clouds, toward the sky rippling pale blue beneath the shield field.
How many times had he looked up at the sky like this since arriving on the Forge World of Xana?
He could no longer remember.
The seemingly magnificent pale blue shield that covered the entire Hive City looked as fragile as an eggshell to him. Every blinding flash of violently released energy beyond the heavens, every enormous, silent ripple that burst across the shield like waves on water, made his heart tighten.
He knew that was the Imperial Navy battling the Rangdan Xenos fleet. Every second, countless tons of metal, energy, and lives turned to ash in that cold vacuum.
The enemy's orbital bombardment could shatter that "eggshell" at any moment, pouring annihilation down on their heads.
Over the past few days, however, something seemed to have changed.
The violent tremors that continued day and night seemed to have weakened.
They were no longer the seemingly endless drumbeat of the apocalypse, but intermittent booms, though still terrifying.
It was a subtle but crucial sign. Perhaps the Imperial Fleet's reinforcements really were making a difference, tearing a breach in the Rangdan's absolute control of orbit.
It reminded him of the broken fragments of a transmission, threaded with static, that he had accidentally overheard while passing the officers' tent yesterday.
"...reinforcements...multiple routes...approaching...Word Bearers..."
That last name had struck him like an electric current.
The Word Bearers.
Lord Lorgar's