A sort-of sequel to his novel Fire Caste, Peter Fehervari’s short story Vanguard sees Magos Caul, leader of the Adeptus Mechanicus contingent on Phaedra, send his skitarii into battle against what remains of the T’au forces. Tasked with retrieving ‘Objective Skysight’ from within a well-defended T’au enclave, Caul’s skitarii push on through everything the T’au throw at them without questioning exactly what their objective is or why it’s so important, but as the battle continues small scraps of their original personalities begin to show through their machinic logic and programming.
This was originally published alongside the release of the new Adeptus Mechanicus army, and to a certain extent that does show through. It’s a more straightforward story than most of Fehervari’s but it’s much more than just a tie-in – the different unit types are there, but they don’t detract from a compelling story. Not as overtly dark and twisted as most of his other stories, it’s still more sinister than your average 40k tale, with Phaedra once again exerting a strong influence. It’s probably best read after Fire Caste, not least for the chance to try and match some of the characters up, and it’s another intriguing piece in the wider puzzle Fehervari’s assembling with his Dark Coil stories.
Check out Vanguard on Amazon; anything you buy via this link will help support Track of Words.