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Title:
Blood Sands
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra
Militarum
Author: Victoria Hayward
Rating:
3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages:
28
Words: 8K
Publish: 2023
Some Imperial mech drivers are supposed to be fighting a Chaos Gene Cult (chaos infects the humans and turns them into mutants) and putting an electronic marker on some supply dump so the rest of the Imperials can blow it to kingdom come. Only they are ambushed at every turn and it becomes obvious their top secret mission has been leaked to the mutants. Only two people could have done that, the Commander of the base or the Commissar. The final two mech drivers survive and blow the dump and return to confront the traitor. Turns out it was the Commander and that a bunch of other Imperials might be infected too. The story ends with the two survivors joining the Commissar on a hunt to cleanse the compound.
Like I noted in Less than Human, these stories are simply meant to keep my toes in the WH40K universe. This story, while short, did that admirably. You had violence and mayhem, you had the threat of gene cultists and then you had the ever present fear of Chaos infecting the Imperials. Just little bits of seasoning to give my literary taste buds something to remember everything. Obviously with so little page time characterization is almost nil, but in all fairness, even most WH40K novels have almost no characterization either, so it wasn’t exactly a great loss.
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher:
An Astra Militarum Short Story
The Astra Militarum stands as a redoubtable bulwark in the face of endless attacks on the Imperium from xenos empires and warp-born horrors alike. From Cadia to Catachan, Krieg, Mordian, and Armageddon, the Emperor's will wields the Imperial Guard in the defence of Humanity.
READ
IT BECAUSE
The Astra Militarum has been infiltrated by an
insidious foe – but how far has the corruption spread?
THE
STORY
A squad of Sentinels crosses a desert on a covert mission
against the Genestealer Cults. But is there a traitor in their midst?
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