Apex Predator

Warhammer 40,000

by Gavin G. Smith

A Warhammer 40,000 story

Imperial Knight pilot Sethana faces her greatest fear – Traitor Knights from an age long lost. As she hunts – or is hunted – across a ravaged world, new tactics are required to seize victory.

READ IT BECAUSE

ind out what scares the pilot of an Imperial Knight. When you bestride the battlefield like an iron colossus, it takes something special – and very, very dark indeed.

THE STORY

On Turris, an army of the Imperium wages interminable war against the forces of Chaos. Hunger gnaws at the brave defenders as they fortify themselves in the world's battle-scarred cities, and none have been left unscathed by the horrors they have seen. For Imperial Knight pilot Sethana, the greatest terror is those of her own kind who have fallen under the sway of the Dark Gods. Chaos Knights stalk the darkness, and only by facing them head-on can Sethana master her fear. But when fighting those who have piloted their Knights since the Imperium was young, new tactics will be required…

Written by Gavin G. Smith

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2019

About the author

Gavin Smith was born in Dundee in the same year that Iron Butterfly recorded Inna-Gadda-da-Vida. He has also lived in Camberley, Hayling Island, Portsmouth, Hull, Leamington Spa and is currently living a near feral existence in Leicester (if you see him in the streets he will write science fiction for sweeties). Anyone who has been to any of these places will understand why his fiction is like it is.

He has a degree in writing for film and a Masters in medieval history. Veteran is his first novel but he is patiently waiting for one of the 2.5 scripts that have been optioned to be turned into films.

He likes to travel and dive when he can afford it and in his free time he enjoys getting the s**t kicked out of him whilst practicing Silat. He is hoping that his books do well so he can buy a motorbike.

Reviews

[Arcangel1175 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The world building and setting of the world of warhammer is as awsome as always. The plot was really generic and predictable however.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of Knightly rivalry stretching back millennia, as Sethena of House Cadmus and the remnants of her lance desperately try to survive while outnumbered and hunted by Traitor Knights. With Imperial forces stretched to breaking point, Sethena’s Knights remaining battered and under-resourced, and a full-strength lance of enemy Knights on the prowl, the war on Turris appears all but over. At the edge of endurance, Sethena looks for any possibility of fighting back, and the ghosts of her Throne Mechanicum offer tantalisingly vague hints of new tactics to employ.

It’s a clever story about the symbiotic relationship between a Knight’s current pilot and the spirits of their long-dead predecessors in the Throne Mechanicum, along with the strengths and weaknesses of chivalric Knightly conduct and how that forces Knight pilots to think and act. Look elsewhere for a Chaos POV, but if you like your 40k to feature on-the-edge-of-broken characters and (awesome) giant robots there’s plenty to enjoy here.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/11/...

[Kassar Krennic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two very interesting parts of the Imperial Knight lore are explored in this story.
Chaos Knights and the 'ghosts in the machine' that inhabit the metal form of the Knights.
The story follows a band of broken, miserable, hopeless Imperial Knights as they strive to defend the vital world of Turris. During this grim war, they've suffered horrible losses, been all but abandoned by the Imperium and they are running dangerously low on supplies lending the story a rather bleak tone.
The tone turns from bleak to dark as fuck very quickly, however, when a force of Chaos Knights arrives intent upon capturing, defiling and corrupting both the Imperial Knights and the pilots within. We get to see the horror that comes with battling the corrupted war machines, we get some interesting flashbacks to the Horus Heresy and we get fun action, with some decent attempts at characterisation sprinkled into the mix.
It's far from the greatest story ever written, but if you're looking for a story that explores the lore of both the Chaos and Imperial Knights of Warhammer 40K while also having a very dark, helpless tone, then this is the story for you!

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet about mech pilots at war.

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Liked the ghosts in the machine.