Included in the special edition hardback of Dark Imperium, Guy Haley’s short story In the Grim Darkness offers a quick glimpse into the slightly sinister world of Bellisarius Cawl as he works to perfect his new type of Space Marine in the wake of the Great Heresy War. Eleven-year-old Decimus Androdinus Felix was about to fulfil his dream to become an Ultramarine when his name was called and he was taken away. Waking some time later and escaping his captors, he finds himself in the company of a monster who speaks like a man, and who offers him a choice.
Captain Felix plays a large part in Dark Imperium, but here we learn a little of the boy before he became the Space Marine, while also catching a fleeting impression of what Cawl was up to and how he saw his work in the years after the Heresy. It’s a lovely little character study, which might leave you wishing for more – especially when it comes to Cawl – but does a great job of implying depth for both of these characters, and likewise the processes being undertaken. It’s not an essential read in order to enjoy Dark Imperium, but it’s nevertheless the sort of satisfying story that fleshes out another tiny corner of the 40k universe.
