On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn’t be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for.READ IT BECAUSEIt's a sharp, incisive look at the first hours of war for a new Guardsman, and at all the terrors attendant with that…THE STORYArvin Larn is terrified. On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn't be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for. The trenches of the 41st millennium are filled with worse things than rats and trenchrot. For one, the world they fight for is being contested by the monstrous barbarian orks. The orks live for battle and know no fear, so it's no wonder that the average life-span of an Imperial Guardsman on this forsaken world is only fifteen hours.

    Fighting a desperate rearguard action, the Imperial Battlefleet has no choice but to sacrifice dozens of worlds and millions of lives to buy precious time for their fleets to regroup. But what possible chance do they have when Abaddon's unholy forces have the power to kill men and murder entire planets?

    Under the assumed command of Captain Alexis Polux and seemingly forgotten by the rest of the Imperium, they hope yet to complete their mission and report back to their primarch Rogal Dorn, so that they might return to the greater conflict. But destiny calls as old rivalries are rekindled, and the treacherous Iron Warriors await their moment to strike – the feud between Dorn and his wayward brother Perturabo promises now to erupt into open war.ABOUT THE BOOK'The Crimson Fist' is a novella from the Shadows of Treachery anthology.

    Argus Brond, berserker champion of the old World Eaters Legion, has called upon his old comrade Kharn for assistance – surely, this legendary warrior will break the deadlock and secure victory for him? But Kharn, known with good reason as ‘the Betrayer’, is far more than just a crazed killer, and his own agenda will always come first...