Intriguingly subtitled ‘A Black Ships Story’, Rob Sanders’ short story Soulfuel sees palatine Adrianna Verletz and her Battle Sisters of the Order of the Ebon Chalice hunting down a rogue psyker on an Imperial shrine world. Possessed of a fearsome psychic banshee wail, Xenobia Nox is destined to be soulfuel for the Emperor of Mankind, and Verletz is determined to see her prize safely to Terra. Even once safely aboard the Black Ship Divine Imperative, however, Nox proves to be a particularly troublesome charge for Verletz and her warriors.
All the ingredients are there for a fantastic story – Sisters of Battle, a creepy witchbreed, a sinister Black Ship, even an inquisitor – and things get off to a great start with a frenetic chase through the streets of the shrine world. Sanders handles the Battle Sisters well, portraying them as swift and deadly warriors, and sets up Verletz’s character nicely. After a fresh, fast-paced first third, however, it falls into a more predictable rhythm for the remainder, which is executed well enough but goes through the motions with standard action scenes and a disappointingly predictable plot that fails to develop the characters or their mission beyond basic stereotypes. Overall this starts really well, but doesn’t quite live up to its early promise.
