A standalone short story, available as an e-short or within the Servants of the Machine God anthology, Josh Reynolds’ The Zheng Cipher tells the tale of a maniple of Vanguard skitarii sent to save a vital artefact from destruction at the talons of a tyranid invasion. Alpha 6-Friest directs her troops in battle against the xenos hordes as they race to reach the last remaining Mechanicus outpost before it’s overwhelmed, putting their rad-soaked weapons and bodies to good use. Despite appalling odds, 6-Friest and her warriors drive relentlessly towards their goal, laying down their lives in the Omnissiah’s name.
It’s quite a short, straightforward story – there’s little attention paid to the wider scope of the conflict, just the mission at hand. Rather than worrying about a complex plot the focus is more on the realities of life as a Vanguard skitarii, and the mindset engendered by living and fighting in such close proximity to appalling levels of radiation. Despite its brevity, there’s plenty of grim power in Reynolds’ depiction of what that radiation has done to 6-Friest and how non-skitarii view her and her fellows, not to mention considerable satisfaction to be had in watching the contrasting styles of the calm, interconnected skitarii and the savage tyranids. It’s short, but suitably dark and enjoyable.
Click here to buy The Zheng Cipher.
