Талларн

‘Executioner’ is the story that shows the experience of the rag-tag human tank crews facing the Iron Warriors immediately after the invasion. There could be different stories about any number of other tank crews, but by focusing very closely on Tahirah’s squadron, I wanted to try and convey not just the action, but the very human aspect to the battle, facing off against legionaries purely because they have to. ‘Siren’ goes back and gives the answer to why the battle blooms out to an even larger scale after the Iron Warriors meet this slightly unexpected resistance on the surface.

‘Ironclad’ looks at why the Iron Warriors came to Tallarn in the first place, and why they later quit the field, leaving the loyalists victorious…

…and ‘Witness’ is a brief footnote about the price of that loyalist ‘victory’.

The stories are all largely unconnected by characters (that three-headed son of the Hydra, Jalen, not withstanding), but was does connect them is that they are all stories of individual heroism, betrayal and tragedy. However, the decisions made by the characters in these stories do have wider and deeper implications, implications that they themselves are unaware of and will never live to see. Tahirah, Akil, Brel, Kulok, Lycus, Kord, Iaeo, and Hrend all reflect the idea that huge events can hinge around the actions of a few whose deeds will never be remembered, and whose lives are overlooked in the annals of history.

Personally, I reckon that’s more interesting than ten million tanks.

John French

December 2016