Vanguard

Adeptus Mechanicus #Short Story

by Peter Fehervari

On the world of Phaedra, a force of skitarii - the front-line soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus - embark upon a dangerous to assault a stronghold of the xenos tau and recover a priority asset for their tech-priest master, Magos Caul. As they face the diminutive drones and hulking battlesuits of their alien foes in the jungles of the Dolorosa Coil, their target draws nearer. But just what is Objective Skysight, and why is it so important to the tech-priest?

Read it because
Ancient clashes with the cutting-edge as the Omnissiah's holy technology combats the soulless heathen tau. And a secret objective leads to more than the lead character, tech-priest Magos Caul, could ever have bargained for.

Genres: 40k, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 13, 2015

Reviews

[Alina Zabiyaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We are the teeth of the Omnissiah. ... War is our sacrament. In its absence we are but empty vessels awaiting the hallowed promethium of spite.”

“The Omnissiah condemns!” (Of course he does)

For more than ten years already, Peter Fehervari has been creating Warhammer characters that, even (mostly) without the concomitant miniatures of their own, feel far more grimdark and more alive that a fair share of “trademark” 40K heroes. Vanguard – a gritty standalone story, the fourth in the “Phaedran arc”, and a thrilling sequel to his first full-length BL masterpiece Fire Caste – brings the loyal readers back to one of that novel’s most memorable locations, the Iron Diadem, and reveals even more of its masters’ role in the decades-long war. Which is not just a war of two different factions against each other but against the world itself, and it is still going on more out of habit than anything else. But while the previous parts of the saga tell chiefly about the T’au and the Imperial Guard, this particular story places the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the spotlight – as well as disclosing some less commendable doings on the blueskins’ part.

For a long time Phaedra’s local Mechanicus leader, Magos Caul (yes it’s like Cawl... well, not quite) has been teetering on the edge of heresy, and yet he still believes in the purity of his purpose in accordance with his credo: “Know thy enemy and decode it well”. One day, this righteous explorer-hierophant sees a certain aberration steadily spreading in the skies and decides it is finally time to leave the planet, but understandably (for an Imperial at least), there’s only one way to do this – and so the magos arranges a special mission to secure a valuable target – the mysterious Objective Skysight… who is in fact a representative of my most favourite 40K sub-faction, the first of the “old three-eyes” in Peter’s writing yet; and can it possibly be the one from the Sky Marshall’s warship, the Requiem of Virtue?..

Actually, in no way does Phaedra – this little branch of the Garden of Nurgle in realspace, a mesmerizingly obnoxious bitch of a planet – qualify as a right and proper forge world, behaving no less inimical toward the servants of the Machine God than the warriors of just flesh and blood... Still, needs must; ergo, the cogheads have to make do with a rather peculiar skitarii contingent of the Omnissiah’s holy war cyborgs – and not just any cyborgs, since many of them – especially of the Squads Irridio, Thorium, Uridion and... Ferrum (?) – are the (un)lucky survivors of the half-century war between the Imperium of Man and the T’au Empire... and even though only scant traces of their former, pre-Mechanicus existence still cling to them, guessing who had been whom is a pleasure all in itself. However, even Magos Caul’s powerful, centuries-old logic has obviously proven insufficient to reveal all the much wanted secrets of this unwelcoming, rotten-through world – and the uneasy truth that it’ll be pretty hard, even for himself, to remain unscathed after encountering one of them...

Vanguard was written as part of the 2015 Adeptus Mechanicus series; hence the rather bland story title: after all, its primary goal was to showcase the new Vanguard Skitarii – which the author did brilliantly, while at the same time also making his characters feel decidedly and pleasingly “Fehervarian” (after all, their worship of the pretty singular Alpha Primus – to say nothing of her own personality – is somewhat... unorthodox by the Mechanicus standards). This is Peter’s most matter-of-factly, action-packed story for now – as befits the chosen faction, really – but even so, it offers some of the most original takes on the Adeptus Mechanicus, discloses even more of the T’au and Mechanicus respective agendas on Phaedra, and – for an especially inquisitive reader – presents another subtle thread of the coil that weaves through each and every one of Fehervari tales, linking them into a wide, neat and ingenious web of destinies. After all, as one Phaedran skitarius muses, “every cog has its consecrated place in the machine”...
Or, for that matter, in the Coil.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this novella is a bit tedious - a cold, mechanical succession of Admec military engagements against a T'au position - and I was close to put it down despite the few pages. Fortunately, the payoff at the end, however abrupt, was worth it.

[Ian Waddell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much combat and not enough exposition/exploration of just what the Tau were doing with the Navigator. Pretty neat little continuation to Fire Caste, though.

[Rostislav Markelov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vanguard.
I have interesting connection to this short story. This is not first story written by Fehervari that I read, but my fascination with this author began here. And even if I reconsidered my attitude to his works only after I read Fire Caste (and Vanguard is the stealth-sequel to that book), my journey starts here. Moreover, because I started reading this short story before I realize existence of the Dark Coil, I had opportunity to appreciate Vanguard as independent story and as part of the complex plot created by Fehervari.
And I can say for sure that this story may be interesting and enjoyable reading even if you know nothing about Phaedra and about the drama that unfolded there. To my mind, the main virtue of the story is how author convey skitarii’s point of view. Sensation of being barely pathetic remains of human (or not only human???) identity, how they perceive themselves and the world around them – all of this was captured perfectly in this story. The main intrigue and resolution of the story also were elaborated well.
But if you had already experienced the Dark Coil and its secrets, Vanguard would become shine on completely different level. It becomes much more enjoyable. All this sensations when parts of the puzzle fall into place, feeling of recognizing, realization of characters tragic fate and bitter irony that follows it… Also there is grim implications and hints at the events that you can’t see.

But as for the case with the Fire Caste, you should know that not everyone can enjoy this story. If you don’t appreciate bitterness, despair and other “dark” emotions even when they were executed right, I recommend you to read something else.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The war for Phaedra has smoldered to an end, and neither the Imperium or the T'au emerged victorious. With what little forces from both sides left to rot and a warp storm brewing, Magos Caul has decided to head for greener pastures off-world. To do so, he first must acquire a key component from the T'au, sending a task force of Skitarii to retrieve it.

Vanguard serves both as an epilogue to the novel Fire Caste and as a stand-alone story. There are references that you would catch if you had read the novel first (like the identity of some of the Skitarii) but nothing that would leave you staring at the story and scratching your head in confusion.

Having gone through and read all of Peter Fehervari's Warhammer stories, I found Vanguard to be one of the more average ones. The majority of the story concerns itself with the Skitarii laying siege to the remaining T'au forces and with these being unfeeling cyborgs, there isn't much character shining through. Really, the thing that drove me through the story was trying to figure out who of the Skitarii was from Fire Caste.

However, I will admit, Vanguard helped give me a good idea of what the Skitarii are and does show the fighting efficiency of apathetic cyborgs.

[Anthony Giordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is a fairly basic, yet direct, premise, and it works just fine for a 40K short. What Fehervari gives us is an excellent story that truly showcases these militant cyborgs. Now, I will say this; Vanguard is a bit of a departure from the other titles in the Phaedra Arc. This title showcases less of the mind-bending, emotional resonance that were the cornerstone of the previous works. What remains is well-rendered armies, superb world-building, and a ton of blistering action.

If it seems that I am insinuating that Vanguard doesn't measure up to other Phaedra stories, allow me to explain. There is, logically, less of a chance for emotion present, as our combatants are the memory-wiped Skitarii and the Tau, who eschew individualism for the perpetuation of the Greater Good."

You can read the entirety of my review of this excellent Skitarii short here:

http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...

[Станислав · Rating 3 out of 5]

Потасовка на парковке
Рассказ из цикла "Adeptus Mechanicus", хотя также входит в личный авторский цикл "Dark Coil" Питера Фехервари, которые объединены связанными сюжетами, персонажами , местами. Не знаю за что про что Фехервари понадобился собственный цикл, я что-то из него читал, там про генокрадов вполне толково.

Вопрос: чем занимался Б. Коул между событиями Ереси Хоруса и Падением Кадии? То есть 10 000 лет ? Много чем. В том числе застрял на непонятной планете с плохой флорой/фауной и странной штукой в небе. Также на планете засели таусята. Белизарий подумал обо всяком и решил, что с планеты пора сматывать, но для этого надо выпилить таусню. И бодрой механической походкой отправились скитарии выносить нечестивых ксеносов, оскорбителей Бога-Машины. Здесь , главным образом, про скитариев "Авангада" - это которые с рад-карабинами. Приятно для разнообразия почитать про жестянщиков: другие фракции империума их не жалуют, что-то вроде продвинутых сервиторов, но на самом деле нет. Уних там свои бинарные (хм!) мечты и истории. Так что я считаю нужно больше книг про Механикус.
+PRISE THE OMNISSIAH+
PS. Коул же не настолько тупой чтобы смотреть
навигатору в третий глаз?

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sort-of sequel to the novel Fire Caste this 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.

Not as overtly dark and twisted as most of his other stories, it’s still more sinister than your average 40k tale, with Phaedra once again exerting a strong influence. It’s probably best read after Fire Caste, not least for the chance to try and match some of the characters up, and it’s another intriguing piece in the wider puzzle Fehervari’s assembling with his Dark Coil stories.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/04/...

[Skaragrimson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short. The realisation of the Skitari was particularly memorable. Although this piece can stand-alone readers will probably get more from it if they familiarize themselves with the planetary setting (Phaedra) and some of the characters from the same author's novel Fire Caste. It's a lot of fun picking up where some of the characters left off (in varying unpleasant ways) and hunting for Easter Eggs- there are quite a few tucked away. Yes, it's certainly grimdark but what else would/should you expect from the 40K universe... Thoroughly recommended for anyone who's getting their feet wet with the Mechanicus but also wants something just a little bit different.

[Robert McCarroll · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a sucker for the Adeptus Mechanicus, but I should have done more research before buying this story.

It is a quasi-sequel to Fire Caste , which I summed up as "Unpleasant to read and mean-spirited". The author's writing style has not changed, though the short length and the sanitized worldview of the Skitarii mitigate the unpleasantness. It is still just as mean spirited. A good yarn makes you hate the villain. This one made me hate the author.

[Andrey Nalyotov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is ONE AWESOME short. With great foreboding and stellar continuation to 'Fire Caste' novel. which was one the the grimmest and darkest novels in W40K in the last 5 years. Peter foreshadowed great events in this short, and gave us hints - to what actually happened to some dead, or almost dead characters from the novel. And trust me - the hints are great! To fully appreciate what Peter have done here - you should read the 'Fire Caste' novel, before you read this short. All in all, this one is an epic. Ty Peter for an AWESOME read