Caves of Ice, page 23
[42] Actually, given the relationship between most commissars and the troops they serve with, this is pretty remarkable. As so often in his memoirs, Cain gives himself far too little credit for his own achievements.
[43] Since Cain makes no subsequent mention of any medical treatment, we can infer that this is either exaggeration for effect or hypochondria rather than an accurate diagnosis.
[44] Presumably meaning a group the size of an Imperial Guard squad, as ork mobs can vary greatly in size, and wouldn’t recognise the concept of any formation as organised as this in any case.
[45] I must confess to remaining undecided about that myself, despite having fought alongside him on a number of occasions.
[46] Generally a safe assumption.
[47] Though brutal and primitive by the standards of other races, orks have an instinctive understanding of combat second to none.
[48] A common symbol of authority among the greenskins, apparently meant to prove that they’ve overcome something even bigger and nastier than they are.
[49] Ironically this part of the archive appears to have been composed only a matter of months before the thirteenth Black Crusade engulfed most of the segmentum, and Cain found himself dragged out of retirement despite his advancing years.
[50] If not more so. The eldar corsairs appear to be touched by the Dark Powers in some way, and the enmity between them and their untainted kin seems to run as deep as that between the loyal subjects of His Divine Majesty and the traitors who seek to subjugate humanity in the name of their blasphemous gods.
[51] I can attest from my personal association with him that Cain was one of the most accomplished swordsmen in the sector, if not the entire segmentum. Even well into his retirement, and his second century, none of the combat instructors at the schola were able to match his skill, honed as it was by innumerable victories in the field. (Much to their chagrin, I might add.) Oddly, his memoirs give little detail about the actual techniques he employed in the mêlées he describes; probably because his fighting style was so instinctive he never bothered to analyse it.
[52] Actually they do, although not in any fashion we would recognise as good medical practice.
[53] The closest the orkish larynx can come to the gothic word ‘humans.’
[54] He was not wrong in this assumption.
[55] Despite decades of intensive study by both the Ordo Xenos and the Adeptus Mechanicus the sensory mechanisms of the necrons remain a mystery. Sometimes they seem almost preternaturally able to detect an enemy, while at others, as in this instance, they overlook targets almost literally under their noses. At this time the Inquisition has no explanation to offer for this paradox; and if the Adeptus Mechanicus has one they’re not sharing it.
[56] An understanding which the Ordo Xenos would give a great deal to achieve, incidentally. It goes without saying that whatever inroads the Adeptus Mechanicus may have made into the problem, they’re keeping to themselves.
[57] Cain is almost certainly the only human in the galaxy to have survived a transit through a necron warp portal, during the adventures on Interitus Prime to which he has previously referred. His account of the incident is elsewhere in the archive, and need not detain us further at this time.
[58] Cain is generally imprecise about the passage of time in his memoirs; it’s usually possible to infer roughly how much time has passed between the incidents he describes, but this is about as specific as he ever gets.
[59] Sulla had clearly had little prior contact with Jurgen.
[60] Cain is, of course, joking here. Probably.
[61] The identification of those responsible for the decision wasn’t difficult, but, as Cain surmised, hard evidence of conspiracy rather than an unfortunate coincidence continues to be elusive. Anyone with information which may prove helpful in resolving this matter will find an interested listener in Inquisitor Kuryakin of the Ordo Hereticus.
[62] Actually there have been a few xenologists who argued precisely this, claiming their actions make perfect sense in the context of their own barbarous society, but such views are generally considered eccentric at best.
[63] Probably some variation of ‘Nob’ or ‘Boss,’ which appear to be the only major signifiers of rank and status their language possesses.
[64] Cain was evidently still hungry at this point, judging by the sudden flurry of culinary metaphors; hardly surprising given the amount of energy he had expended over the last couple of days.
[65] Indeed not. As yet the world or worlds at the other end of the necron portal remain unidentified, despite the best efforts of the Ordo Xenos.
[66] Quintus’s minutes of the meeting are singularly unhelpful in filling in this gap, concerned as they are chiefly with the way the overhead lighting struck highlights from Kasteen’s hair.
[67] The system where a tyranid attack had decimated the imperial defenders, necessitating the amalgamation of the 296th and 301st to create the 597th in the first place.
[68] Because the real reason for the practice is to provide properly indoctrinated foot soldiers for the Inquisition. Of course fewer than five per cent reach the exacting standards required, leaving the ones who don’t make the grade to be palmed off on the Guard.
[69] Most unlikely, as at this point in her career she had yet to see either. Unless you count holopicts, of course.
[70] Presumably for the same reason their harvester fleets abduct the populations of isolated colony worlds. Whatever that is.
[71] Perhaps correctly. The aura of terror projected by necron pariahs appears to be at least partly a psychic phenomenon, so it’s quite reasonable to assume that a blank would repel them and mask the effect. However, since no other record exists of a blank coming into such close proximity to a group of pariahs, and they’re far too rare and valuable to risk in deliberately testing this hypothesis, it must remain conjectural.
[72] A contraction of ‘ground pounders,’ a Navy term for the Imperial Guard units sometimes billeted aboard their warships. Less common among merchant crews, Durant’s use of it here implies that this wasn’t the first time the Pure of Heart had been pressed into service as a fleet auxiliary.
[73] How Cain came to this conclusion he doesn’t bother to explain; it was probably something to do with his affinity for underground environments.
[74] This is the last time Cain mentions the tech-priest in his account of these events. His subsequent career in the Adeptus Mechanicus can best be described as unspectacular, rising to the rank of Magos without doing anything further to draw attention to himself. His last known assignment was at the Noctis Labyrinthus mine complex on Mars.
[75] Fuel/Air Explosive, a type of bomb which releases a volatile gas before detonation to magnify its power and area of effect.
[76] More likely they simply waded through the flooded levels until they broke the surface.
[77] Subsequent examination of the site showed no signs of an active necron presence, although if anything was left of their installation it would have been buried far too deeply to have left much trace of anything. I for one would not be at all keen to start digging holes to find out for sure.
Sandy Mitchell, Caves of Ice
