Adeptus Astartes Chapters, the Reclaimers numbered around a thousand warriors, operating in company or smaller sized units, often isolated from the others for decades, or even centuries, at a time.
[94] Evidently the older Corvus-pattern, which the Reclaimers generally awarded to those showing particular bravery or initiative on the battlefield.
[95] Hardly a facility most tech-priests were likely to need, I’d have thought.
[96] The Techmarine who crafted the fingers, and who subsequently became the closest thing to a friend Cain had among the Reclaimers.
[97] Typically, it doesn’t seem to have occurred to Cain that the good opinion Zyvan had of him almost certainly played a large part in his willingness to listen.
[98] Having had the opportunity to interact over a prolonged period with members of the species, becoming a familiar enough presence to catch them in the occasional unguarded moment, I can confirm that they do indeed look just as gormless as the average human while lost in thought.
[99] The tau word for humans, one of a handful of simple phrases Cain apparently picked up during his occasional contacts with members of the race which didn’t involve physical violence.
[100] No doubt a number of messenger drones had come aboard the Imperial flagship with him.
[101] Ha!
[102] Despite my best efforts, I have thus far been unable to determine the world on which this stood; or, equally likely, was burrowed into.
[103] Actually a fair-sized suite, although, to be fair to Cain, he probably remained unaware of the existence of the rest of the rooms.
[104] For a Death Korps trooper, dying in action is a given; although the majority do try to put it off as long as possible, to be of the greatest service to the Emperor in the interim.
[105] Considerably more, if the defensive armament of the armada of merchant ships continually arriving and departing from the forge world is taken into account; although this would be so feeble against the might of a hive fleet Cain can be forgiven for apparently discounting it altogether.
[106] In the apothecarion, recovering from his ordeal on Interitus Prime.
[107] An informal Adeptus Astartes designation for a squad of about five Space Marines, typically a full-strength tactical squad split into two teams for mutual fire support. Nowhere in Cain’s account does he give the actual number of Reclaimers on Fecundia, if he even knew, but, given his familiarity with Space Marine nomenclature, it would be safe to assume about half a dozen, plus Sholer and the neophyte Techmarines referred to in passing.
[108] No doubt the press gangs had been busily making up for any combat losses.
[109] The first time Cain mentions the class of ship Zyvan had set up his command centre aboard. If he’s being literal, rather than using ‘battleship’ as a colloquial term for an Imperial Navy vessel, it was probably the Retribution-class Throne Eternal, the only ship of its size involved in the defence of Fecundia.
[110] Probably intended as a piece of self-deprecating humour, since, as previously noted, the relationship between the two men was far warmer than would normally be the case between a senior officer and the member of the Commissariat attached to his command; a happy knack Cain seems to have had throughout his career (cf his accounts of his service with the Valhallan 597th.)
[111] Spaceborne interceptors and anti-ship attack boats respectively; both unlikely to be found aboard a Retribution-class battleship, so Zyvan’s flagship may have been one of the many cruiser class vessels among the fleet rather than the Throne Eternal after all. A ship so equipped may also have carried a complement of Shark-class assault boats, but, since attempting to board a tyranid vessel would be the action of a madman, no attempt appears to have been made to deploy them if present.
[112] Which implies that the vessel, whatever it was, had no dedicated fighter hangars, and that the docking bay being used to arm those Cain saw inside may well have been used only for utility craft in the normal course of events: which in turn means that the flagship may have been the Throne Eternal after all. I give up.
[113] A clear figure of speech, as sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum; something the producers of pict shows seem curiously unwilling to admit.
[114] Probably the subspecies of vanguard drone classified by the Navy as ‘stalkers,’ although his description is sketchy enough to have applied to innumerable other variants; tyranids not being all that big on uniformity.
[115] An odd choice of weapon for a spacecraft, where the recoil would