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The legendary Commissar Ciaphas Cain, lauded as one of the great heroes of the Imperium, finds himself thrust onto the battlefield again. Cain wants nothing more than to keep out of trouble and get to the other side of his commission in one piece, but the war-torn 41st millennium has other ideas. Confronted with the powers of Chaos and hordes of alien foes, our intrepid Commissar seeks to sidestep danger and talk his way out of trouble. Yet each time he survives his legend only grows, and his life is in ever-greater jeopardy...

Defender of the Imperium contains the novels:

• Death or Glory
• Duty Calls
• Cain's Last Stand

Plus the short story 'Traitor's Gambit' and a new introduction from author Sandy Mitchell.

In the war torn future of the 41st Millennium Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, is respected by his peers and an inspiration to his men - at least that's what the propaganda would have you believe. The reality is very different, for Ciaphas is simply looking for an easy life and a way to stay out of peril. However, fate has a habit of throwing him into the deadliest situations, and luck (mixed with self preservation) always manages to pull him through and onto the loftiest of pedestals. To survive Commissar Cain must dodge, bluff and trick his way out of trouble, even if it increases his status beyond his control!

Written by Sandy Mitchell. This omnibus edition contains the novels:

• For the Emperor
• Caves of Ice
• The Traitor's Hand

Along with the short stories

• 'Fight or Flight'
• 'Echoes of the Tomb'
• 'The Beguiling'

On an Imperial outpost world on the fringes of tau space, the renowned Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his fractious regiment of Valhallan Guard, newly created from the remnants of two devastated units, find themselves in the middle of a war. As the Astra Militarum struggle to contain worldwide civil insurrection, can the wily Commissar Cain identify the real villain before the planet is lost to the Imperium forever?

On the ice world of Simia Orichalcae a spate of mysterious disappearances is causing unrest amongst the mine-workers, and, as senior officer of the Astra Militarum, Commissar Ciaphas Cain is nominated to investigate. Unbeknownst to him, the planet is right in the path of a major ork incursion and, as the savage greenskins attack, a malevolent evil begins to stir deep in the ice caves.

Ciaphas Cain's latest missions takes him and his Valhallan regiment to the planet of Adumbria to defend against an approaching Chaos invasion. However, infighting with fellow Imperial Guard regiments from the world of Tallarn, commanded by an old "friend' of Cain's from the Schola Progenium, and the uprising of a sinister cult on the planet puts paid to any hopes of an easy life.

Once again, reluctant hero Commissar Cain is catapulted into glory in the fourth instalment of this tremendously popular series. Escaping from a disastrous space battle, the commissar and his malodorous sidekick Jurgen crash-land behind enemy lines. Even the sly Cain can't avoid a straight fight this time, as the only way out is to round up what few troops they can find and fight their way back to safety. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of barbaric alien orks stand in their way.

On Periremunda the populace are rioting. With local forces unable to contain the widespread civil disorder, Commissar Cain and his regiment of Valhallans are called in to help. However, it seems there is more to the rebellion than first appeared and Cain suspects sinister forces at work behind the scenes. When the commissar is reunited with Inquisitor Amberley Vail it seems his fears are realised. In this the fifth book in the popular Ciaphas Cain series our hero is thrown into a deadly conspiracy that even he might not be able to emerge from alive.

After a long and distinguished career defending the Imperium from its many enemies, Commissar Cain is enjoying a well-deserved retirement on Perlia, teaching in a schola progenium. But when a Black Crusade threatens the sector, all able-bodied citizens must rise to the defence, including Cain and his cadets. As the forces of Chaos overwhelm Perlia, can the wily commissar prove himself to be a real hero of the Imperium one last time?

Commissar Cain is called to duty once more, saving a governor's daughter from aplanet over-run by rebels. The uprising hides something far more sinister however - genestealer hybrids! The search for the source of the alien threat leads Cain to a drifting space hulk - a far safer place than beside the obsessed governor's daughter. But when the Reclamator Space Marines suffer devastating losses at the hands of the Great Devourer, Cain and his trusty aide Jurgen must go it alone.

With the tyranids waking and a group of stow away orks on the loose, there are no safe places to run or hide, and Cain must use all his ingenuity and cunning to escape the space hulk alive.

Imperial commissar Ciaphas Cain returns to Nusquam Fundumentibus to crush the ork attacks which have been plaguing the frozen planet. But when his ship crashes into the wastelands outside the capital it disturbs a far greater enemy, one which has lain dormant under the permafrost since long before the Imperium came to this world, and could now threaten the whole sector.

Faced with ongoing greenskin raids and keeping an over-enthusiastic novice commissar under control, Cain must rally his men and confront whatever emerges from beneath the rapidly melting ice...

When the world of Quadravidia comes under attack by the insidious tau, only one man can defeat the aliens and save the planet in the Emperor's name: the legendary Hero of the Imperium, Commissar Ciaphas Cain. When the aliens call for a ceasefire, Cain expects the worst, and his fears are answered in the form of the dread menace of the tyranids.

As a hive fleet approaches Quadravidia, Cain must try to forge an alliance between the Imperium and the tau - but can he truly trust the inscrutable xenos?