Edmund Latham

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Thirty-Two

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The next two warp jumps proceed without incident. On the third, the warp currents drag us towards an angry, churning star, a system with a blue sun and a single planet.

We wait a week at the ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Thirty-One

After an emotional rest, I walk around the thunderhawk, directing a stream of nanites to sublimate the ice and level it out. Starting with the tail, I excavate the damaged craft.

With fewer immediate threats, I realise that even if the thunderhawk was destroyed, the gravity lift is still fu...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Thirty

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I dash over to Quaani and prop him up. He falls limp and I ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Nine

The next morning, I sit on the bridge command throne and watch the screens. Quaani stands next to me. Both of us are smiling.

Landing on a planet is a mundane, though complex, procedure in the Imperium. I am incredibly excited. This ball of mixed ice and minerals represents survival and the...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Eight

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The chapel is plain and even more warded than the navigator’s thro...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Seven

While on my daily walk, I reflect on the last four months. I spent the first month learning sufficient imperial cloning technology and designing, with the help of the research matrix, a generic servitor and its equipment and implants so that I can grow the clones around the implants, rather than ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Six

I don’t move from the bench for two days, my mind far too busy whirling with ideas and absorbing data. Eventually, I calm down and have E-SIM put me to sleep.

Good sleep puts everything in a new perspective.

I’m making dumb decisions.

I have not looked at a single mechanicus...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Five

The first time I came back from the dead was a real shock, even if I knew it was a possibility.

The second time leaves me terribly confused.

Didn’t I get shot in the head?

I sit up and look about. I’m lying on a gurney under an automated medicae. Bright lights shine on my fa...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

I head back up the stairs. Aruna appears on a nearby screen as a cartoon cat, “Accelerating to six gravities. Artificial gravity systems online and compensating. Time to maximum acceleration, four hours.”

“That sounds slow to me,” I say, “though I suspect...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Three

While Odhran prays, I quietly limp around the auto-temple, admiring the macabre and austere beauty of the frescos, carvings, and tapestries. Examples of important technologies lie in glass cases with holographic text popping up as I examine them, little labels and arrows pointing to specific poin...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-Two

A heavy gauntlet rips my weapon from me and yanks a canister from my belt. E-SIM talks Odhran through my janky weapon and he sprays every tyranid with it, he grabs my last nanite canister, and drives sedately from the vat room and back out into the corridor.

“Machine spirit, what’s in t...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty-One

Thoughts flit through my head. Half of them are curses, the others going through a loop of ‘why’, then I realise I’ve fucked up.

I left my warp-tap on.

Well, at least I can lure them all into my traps. Praise be my master baiting skills.

“What direction are they coming f...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twenty

My heart accelerates as adrenaline pumps through me. How the hell am I supposed to win this!? The numbers are overwhelming, my defences are barely functioning, and my only support is an injured space marine.

“What’s wrong with the turrets? The ones in the vents are apparently doing fine...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Nineteen

“E-SIM can you get the codes from his implants?”

++No. The cyborg is unpowered, nor will it power up without a command from its organic processor, which has been critically damaged.++

“Anything else I should be searching for?”

++A vessel like this will require more than ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Eighteen

I spend twenty minutes searching the thunderhawk for a screwdriver and two minutes rewiring the switch Mr Cygnus wanted fixed. By the time I’m done, Sergeant Odhran has been treated.

I approach the marine, trying to keep my nervousness hidden. Even though he’s injured, I would stand no ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Seventeen

I put my helmet back on and shake out my limbs, “Alright Aruna. Please forward the permitted route to E-SIM and the passcodes for those doors. Instruct two servitors to meet me at the warp drive with a gurney that can transport a space marine. Two should head to the hanger to power up the thund...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Sixteen

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Aruna bats Explorator Epoloch299’s faceplate twice with its hologr...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Fifteen

I blink. I’ve seen a lot of weird shit since I got here, but this cat is officially at the top of the list. Not quite sure what is going on, I decide to remain polite and carry on.

“Hello. Pleased to meet you. What would you like to be called?”

The cat gets up, stretches, then t...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Fourteen

The blasts knock me to the floor, and fill my chest with shrapnel as my valiant armour fails. With me on the floor, E-SIM opens fire with the shuttles and absolutely shreds the hanger and everything in it.

Explosive rounds sweep across the room for a full twenty seconds. The five shuttles e...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Thirteen

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A battered door, stuck ajar, absorbs my focus. Move! Move! ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Twelve

After travelling with Bola and his crew for thirty minutes, I head for my own territory. Returning to my room, I hug a few meal packs and climb into the bath of metallic beads and have E-SIM put me to sleep until I have fully healed.

While the life-support module does a fine job of sealing ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Eleven

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With care and precision, I gear up, careful not to set myself or my ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Ten

I debate my options with E-SIM for far longer than is necessary. Eventually, I calm down from my fight. I discard options that would let E-SIM safely draw more from the warp, or improve my existing modules. Instead, I chose two modules that will increase my strength and toughness.

Before I ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Nine

I stare in disbelief. Where’s my super weapon? My ‘Nope’ cannon? The plans for the Astronomicon?

My hope.

Where did it all go?

I close the file in disgust, unwilling to look at it. I know I am being foolish, but when you’re stuck between demons, orks, tyranids, and Emper...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Eight

I gear up, grab my nanite sprayer, and unlock the barricade. It takes twenty minutes to reach the drop off. A lot of noise is coming from the red-marked room.

“Where’s da ‘umie, grot? We be waitin’ here for two days. Boss wants a word.”

“Dat’s ‘cause yer missin’ two ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Seven

Returning to my room, I lie on my cot and stare at the ceiling. I’m still in shock. I talked to a fucking alien. Me, Aldrich Isengrund, 21st century British plumber, husband, and father of two, now a demon hunting cyborg.

It’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard and most of my days used ...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Six

The STC library is huge. The scanner tells me it’s sixty thousand cubic metres; shelves are jumbled and tumbled everywhere, all blackened with soot and thick with ash. At the far end, the deep black and actinic crackle of a void shield maintains the room’s atmosphere.

Here lies the rema...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Five

Leaping upright, I grab my pipe and water pistol.  I rush to the barricade and stare down the long, grey corridor. Beyond, a cacophony of pale white bodies twirls and prances in a grand parade.

All are naked and beautiful, dazzling beyond comprehension, yet my body shakes with fear and...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Four

The corridors are dead silent. No banging and clanking of machinery, or the endless thrum of engines, just me. One quiet thump at a time. At the junction to the canteen, rather than head right again, I walk straight ahead. I pass multiple rooms and side corridors. Most  of the rooms are unto...

Herald of the Stars: Chapter Three

I wake dirty and refreshed, then I remember where I am an all my joy flees, screaming bloody murder.

What I want to do is curl up and cry, the constant threat of imminent death, however, is a powerful incentive; instead, I pour a little water into a salvaged mop bucket, strip down, and try ...