I’ve a lot of work to do this half week before we head off to Berlin so here’s a very brief extract from the Imperial Guard book I am currently writing. The usual disclaimers apply— this is a work in progress, subject to change and editing, no Titans were hurt in the making of this extract, etc.

An enormous shadow fell on our position. The gigantic humanoid shape of a Titan loomed over us. I looked up, an insect confronting an angry god.  The Warlord’s monstrous head scanned from side to side like a predator looking for prey. I sensed the ancient, terrible spirit within it. This was not some inanimate unthinking engine. It was a living thing, bred to war, intended to kill and full of dreadful fury. Just the sight of it made me want to throw myself back into the wreckage and hide.

Massive pistons hissed in the Titan’s limbs as it moved. The God Machine’s huge Volcano Cannon swung around. The rush of the air it displaced ruffled my hair.  The vibrations of the metal giant’s stride passed from the earth through the shattered hull and echoed through my body. My skin tingled from the halo effect of its void shields.

The Titan fired.

The smell of ozone and alchemicals filled the air. The high-pitched whine of the weapon’s capacitors hurt my ears. I ground my teeth in pain. A heretic Shadowsword went up in flames. There is ancient hatred between the God Machines and those tanks. It is said that the Shadowswords were built to kill Titans and the Titans return the favour any chance they get.

Ivan braced himself on a maintenance node in the shattered fuselage, pulled out his magnoculars and studied the destroyed vehicle, a thin line of drool dribbling down the rusted metal of his prosthetic jaw.

“See anything interesting,” Anton asked.

“There’s an idiot standing beside me,” Ivan said.