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.
