Field Guide to the Gaunt's Ghosts Series

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 21 and last

TWENTY-TWO: THE VICTORY

"‘When were you hit?’ asked Mabbon. ‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Rawne. ‘You’re hit?’ asked Varl. ‘I said it doesn’t matter,’ said Rawne." I think you'll find it very much does, Rawne. You idiot.

"‘Oh feth, Eli,’ said Varl." I know Rawne's in a bad way when Varl says that and he doesn't snap at him.

"‘Now I’ve met the only fething pacifist objector in this whole fething galaxy.’" Technically not, since he met Dorden a long time ago. Though Mabbon's the only one now that Dorden's dead.

"He felt himself slipping into the dark place he’d spent his life fighting to avoid." ;_;

"The launcher tube had been buckled when the blast slammed it against the wall. He’d noticed that the moment he’d picked it up." Aww, darn.

Poor Mabbon. He may be done with war, but he lives in the world of always war.

"‘A curse,’ said Mabbon. ‘It let me see the truth. The deranged hell of the immaterium and those gods which dwell within it. I saw them all. I saw myself. I saw how he had changed me. I saw what he had made me. It was enough. I turned my back on war forever.'" Interesting, that he saw how Chaos works and responded by turning away from it, instead of going insane or joining closer.

"‘I never asked for it,’ said Mabbon. He spat yellow blood, his eyes neon fire. ‘I never wanted it. But he blessed me anyway.’" And he turned it on Sek as much as he could.

EPILOGUES: ONE WEEK LATER

There's now eight stones in Imperial custody, four mostly burned. That's more than five, but less than the ten that would indicate two sets (one fake). It's gonna show up again.

"But something either side could use." So they're gonna try and use it. So much for Mabbon figuring the Imperium wouldn't figure it out.

"‘I didn’t mean to disturb you,’ Criid said, wiping her eyes. ‘This is just the first chance I’ve had to come down here. To see.'" ;_;

"‘They weren’t tricks to me,’" D: ;_;

I hate this whole plotline so much, tbh. Retconning the two kids in the regiment, the hope of the future, into a Chaos sleeper weapon is just... too grimdark. Too "haha, you thought things could look up?"

"It should be easier to issue commendations now the Tanith First is the formal escort brigade of the Lord Executor." Of course they are. They won't be parted from Gaunt, if he can help it.

"It may get very ceremonial from now on." Until the next book, anyway. Ceremonial's too boring for a plot.

"He took off his cap, stepped forwards, and kissed her cheek. She stayed very still." Fucking finally. Please no more love triangles.

"But just to be on the safe side, you know, he should try to be the best fething person he can possibly be for the rest of his born days. See? Just to hedge his bets? In case the absolution didn’t take." Please, Blenner, please take this advice. Don't be an asshole anymore.

"‘Yes, that was a mistake,’ said Rawne. ‘It didn’t hurt when I was unconscious.'" And now he's feeling better, because he's instantly dry and sarcastic.

"‘We lost a lot. It’s hard to take in.’ ‘It always is,’ said Rawne." Good old unexpectedly sincere Rawne.

"‘I was holding this for you,’ Bonin said, matter-of-factly. ‘That cot’s free, so you can have that.’" Oh, Bonin, so deadpan about Mkoll showing back up. And Milo.

"The boy was never coming back" That's what you think. He's already back, he just hasn't seen you yet.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 20

TWENTY-ONE: MANY, MANY ARE THE DEAD

That's a dire title if I saw one.

"The sounds of battle and destruction from the floors below were like an approaching nightmare." And you can't wake up from it.

"‘I can help,’ said Meryn." I don't trust him.

"Meryn ran his straight silver into Fazekiel’s back. She gasped, and fell backwards as the blade came out again." And this is why.

"‘Antimat disruptor,’ she said. ‘Xenos manufacture. Very small, but size isn’t everything, as you say. I used to believe these could stop anything. But I burned out the other one on the first machine.’" Well, maybe if you burn out this one on this machine, it'll die.

"Meryn fired. The gun clacked, empty." HAH

"Rapid fire shots tore into Meryn, puncturing his torso six times and shredding off his left arm at the elbow. The final two went into his face, destroying his look of indignant surprise" Double HAH! Fucker.

"Merity looked around in surprise. It was Dalin." Isn't he the woe machine?

"The sword sliced through him from behind. Dalin lurched, ripped almost in two. His face remained impassive. Gaunt hacked again, driving the sword of Hieronymo Sondar through the husk of Dalin’s body. He struck repeatedly and without mercy, until the Ghost was mangled on the floor." That's... I mean, that's the right thing to do. It might save everyone. But Christ, what a cost to Gaunt.

"She kept it burning for almost a minute, until there was nothing left but cinders and flakes of ash, like the soot in an empty grate." ;_;

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 19

TWENTY: BLOOD FOR BLOOD

"‘Another one,’ said Gaunt. ‘Another woe machine. Stronger than the first. Is the palace evacuated?’" Oh, right, they're fucked. Like basically everyone else right now, if I recall correctly.

"‘Don’t go up there!’ Blenner wailed from behind them. ‘Fething hide!’" You hide. Gaunt's never going to do that.

"The woe machine revealed itself, a floating octahedron of grating, sliding blades locked around an inner glow." Well, it'll look cool when it kills you.

"Van Voytz. Kazader. A damn company of Urdesh Heavy Infantry." Oh, good, reinforcements! Fuck knows if it'll help, though.

"The pattern broke. Black metal fragments spun out of the fire-wash like the vanes of a rupturing turbine engine. Stray blades augured into the walls, the floor and straight up into the ceiling. Most stuck fast, buried like arrows in the stone." Ok, if you shoot it enough, the woe machine does start to come apart.

And, of course, all the reinforcements, with the really good weapons, die. Can't have too much of an advantage.

"She raised her cut-down riot gun, reached into her bag of shells, and loaded a breaching round. She stepped back, almost vanishing from view." That's one way to get into a place. Especially if the door is locked.

"‘You have a fething vox somewhere, you idle fething ball-bag,’ she said. ‘Where the feth is it?’" LOL

"Sek paused, panting, on his hands and knees, his feet in the water, blood trailing from his wheezing mouth onto the shingle." Oh, shit, he got away. To another part of the planet, but still.

But Mkoll and Milo are there, too.

"The old man had no face. Small eye sockets gazed up at the Tanith soldier. Beneath them, the rest of his face was a gaping hole. It was fringed with writhing, jointed claws like tiny human fingers. They twitched, holding the gaping mouth wide. Inside the maw was an endless blackness that the morning light could not illuminate. There was nothing in the blackness except the voice." Ewwww

"Mkoll raised his fingers to his lips and blew a goodbye kiss to mock the Sekkite salute." Ha! Get exploded, fucker!

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 18

NINETEEN: WHOSE VOICE DROWNS OUT ALL OTHERS

"‘I acquired a disguise,’ said Kater Holofurnace." LOL. Good job, big guy.

And now they can get weapons!

"Thanks to the warp incident that had broken the Armaduke’s return voyage to Urdesh, Milo was ten years older, relative. That made him over thirty standard."

"He hoped Dalin was safe. He’d grown fond of him. A brave lad. Just like Milo had been." Ouch, Dan Abnett. Ouch.

Ok, they're going to use mines.

"As they came closer, Mkoll realised it was human bone. Thousands upon thousands of gleaming skull caps bonded together." D:

"The boy piper had truly long gone. Milo had become a warrior of the Throne, as sure and committed to his function as any Astartes." I swear, if he dies right after he comes back, because that's his destiny...

Oh boy, everything's made of bones.

"A skeletal giant, its skin a mummified and flaking brown stretched taut and paper-thin around its bones. A ragged robe, decayed from centuries in a tomb. A crown of iron spikes. No lower jaw, just a yawning void." Ok, yeah, scary, but not the worst Chaos has. He's a jawless skeleton. Who speaks, somehow.

"It was female in aspect, throat, shoulders and hunched back fledged in iridescent plumage. A carrion bird’s beak, big as a power-claw, snapped and yawned to reveal the blue, rasping dagger of its tongue. A spiked silver crown formed a band above its dozens of glittering eyes. Neon-yellow pupils flashed and shone. It spread its arms, its daemon wings. It possessed a terrible beauty that speared Holofurnace’s heart like a cold blade." Oh, ok, he looks like different things to different people.

"Just a man. Just a vile old man. Mkoll could kill that." I do like that the other three are horrified by what they see and Mkoll's just like "wow, he's gross. I can kill him."

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 17

EIGHTEEN: IN THE SLOW HOURS

"During the gruelling campaign through the Fenlock Forest, night had been the most dangerous time. The Drukhari butchers had always struck between sunset and sunrise. Ninety per cent of Calahad casualties had been taken after dark." I'm pretty sure this is the first mention of the Dark Eldar in the series. Well, aside from that one assassin in Sabbat Martyr. There's no reason they'd avoid the Sabbat sector, but it is interesting that the books really concentrate on Chaos as the main enemy.

"Standing in the war room of the Urdeshic Palace, that young colonel now just an old pict in a regimental archive, Van Voytz knew the slow hours were upon him again. The power had been down for over an hour. Fear clung to every surface." Well, the shit's really hitting the fan.

"There was a ragged cheer and some small applause from the war room staff." Yay, the lights are back! For now, at least.

"But he stopped. Flyn Meryn wasn’t good company at the best of times. Hark walked the other way instead." Thank fuck, I thought he would try a heart-to-heart with Meryn for a second. And probably get stabbed or something, the way things are going.

"Dalin Criid hinged open." Well, shit. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I was spoiled for this, otherwise I'd be really pissed. Not that I'm not, just... more-so.

"Baskevyl screamed his friend’s name, but there was nothing left to answer him except a billowing mist of blood." ;_;

"It was fighting with itself. The very ingenuity of its design, human fused with warp-machine, was battling with itself." That probably saved their lives.

"The wailing woe machine gouged up into the ceiling, and vanished from view." That could be bad for whoever's above them.

"There was going to be another slaughter. And it was going to make the first one pale into insignificance." As long as Meryn dies, too, I honestly find it hard to care.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 16

SEVENTEEN: FLESH IS WEAK

"The Ghosts had fixed silver, and resorted to stabbing and thrusting as the Qimurah swept into them. Most were simply bowled backwards by the superior power and force of the Archenemy creatures. Even with bayonets driven deep into blistered neon flesh, they were carried over or dragged backwards." Well, this situation isn't going well. For the Ghosts, I mean. The Qimurah are doing fine.

"A few bags of human meat." D:

"The air distorted as grav-pulses blasted from the ends of the staves. The next two Qimurah fell back, their skulls crushed like eggs. Criid and Obel tried to fire again, but the Mechanicus weapons took a moment to cycle." Of course the really good weapons are nerfed by reload times.

"Hands grabbed him from behind and shoved him down onto his face. Wes Maggs was kneeling on his back, hosing rapid fire at the oncoming Qimurah. Trooper Galashia was behind him, lighting it up over Maggs’ head. The combined fire swatted the Qimurah off the ledge. It plunged towards the channel below just as the Ghosts’ explosives began to go off." That probably saved his life, but ow.

"The Ghosts defending the duct mouth were hurled off their feet by the hammering wave, rolling and tumbling, deaf, dazed and blind." Uh oh.

Oh, the Qimurah have the stones. That's bad.

"Big purse was actually ‘big perc’, the cover-sheet abbreviation for ‘big percentage casualty rate’, indicating forty-five per cent losses or higher. To Kolosim it always sounded like some thieving bastard had got away after a brutal mugging." That's bad, too. Will things get better before this ends or will it just be grimdark and depressing?

"What if they were about to come back? Switch the feth back on? Wake up and resume their kill-frenzy?" Yeah, that's a worry with the Ad Mech. You never know what they'll do.

"Gaunt doubted he would ever see Ban Daur flash his eager smile again." Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure Elodie's dead.

"In truth, he hadn’t known his daughter any better than Gol had known his. But the damage was primal. It defied rationalisation. A child was a child, no matter how estranged, no matter how false." ;_;

"Except she had been the war all along. The war had been dwelling with them, within their ranks, inside their trust, inside their minds and their hearts, waiting to reveal its true nature." She's kind of an analogy, that way.

"Gaunt was heartened a little to see Blenner show a simple, human response of sympathy for once." Yay?

And Daur just goes off into the darkness in search of Elodie.

"She opened it, and gently lifted out one of the four eagle stones." Oh, good, they have four of the stone back, now. One's still... elsewhere.

"Rawne wanted to slap him, but the pain in his gut was getting worse. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from making a sound." Rawne!

"‘I won’t let them be dead for no reason,’ said Varl. He sniffed, breathing fast. ‘I just won’t. I just fething won’t. So shut up about leaving you. Shut up.’" Awww, Varl cares.

"'Yes, Oysten.’ ‘Sir, are you hit?’ ‘No. What did you want?’" Stop lying, Rawne.

"Rawne took her by the face with both hands and smacked a kiss on her brow." ADORABLE

"Oysten touched her face where Rawne had seized her with both hands to kiss her. There was blood on her fingers. She’d known. Just the way he had been moving, holding himself. Always a lying bastard. That look he’d shot her." He's hiding it, but not that well.

"He put the first armour piercing hard round through Sekran’s face, the second and third through his torso. By then, there was very little left of him above the sternum or between the shoulders. The Qimurah folded and collapsed in the middle of the open yard." That's something.

"The front wall of the wrecked service shed collapsed, and the entire roof gave way. An avalanche of slabs and rockcrete roof tiles buried Aongus Brostin." Swear to fuck, he better not be dead.

"‘She said there were two of them, papa,’ said Dalin." Oh no.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 15

SIXTEEN: CLOSE QUARTERS

"He glanced at the other three, made the Tanith hand-sign for mute, and walked off along the brig." I assume Milo or someone explained that to the others.

"‘The Oratory.’" Like, a place you speak from? Makes sense with Sek, I guess.

"tech-cannibal" They... eat robots?

"‘They don’t trust digital records,’ Mkoll replied." Because they can get hacked? Or just religion? It is a bit odd.

"‘Where the feth is Holofurnace?’" And the Space Marine's wandered off. Great.

"Urdesh’s geothermic system was thousands of years old. Long ago, it had been a subtle system, expertly managed and regulated by dynast technicians who could acutely gauge, direct and govern the natural power." And now it's barely working. As per usual in the Imperium.

"‘Brostin without the, y’know, nutso pyro aspects.’" LOL

"They can’t get past this, Obel thought. Doesn’t matter what they are, doesn’t matter how fast they are, they can’t run this killbox. None of them are going to make it to us alive." That's far too optimistic.

"Four Ghosts were down. Five. Six. Boaz was hit in the throat and arm, and flopped back from the .20, which chattered into silence. Ifvan leapt in to take over, but the .20 had feed-jammed when Boaz lurched away from the tripod. He fought to unblock the receiver." See?

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch - Part 14

FIFTEEN: INTO FIRE

"‘It’s getting quieter out there,’ he said. ‘No more assaults in the last few minutes.’" Why would you jinx it like that?

"The whole place was torn apart by intense gunfire. The walls were peppered with blast holes, and the floor was covered in drifts of spent brass. Smoke fumed the air. Monitor screens hung, shattered and crazed." There's a lot of remains of past fights, not so much fighting happening now. Has it all ended without the Ghosts fighting?

"Bray nodded. Whatever it was, it was loose." Apparently there's something that had been caged in that's free, so there's... that.

"It was a bio-mech thing, a quadruped defence servitor of canine build. What organics it possessed had originally been human. The sight of it disgusted them both." Why would they use a human for that? Because grimdark?

"Eli Rawne’s plans always erred towards the simple." And usually involved either explosions or stabbing.

"The Great External Power In The Void wasn’t something Rawne had any plans to get to know on a personal level. For a start, the Great External Power probably had a face like a grox’s puckered arse. But sometimes – times like this – Rawne felt a burning desire, like an ingot of foundry-fresh steel sinking deep down in his gut, to meet that laughing fether face to face and have words." An interesting window into Rawne's personal philosophy. Which makes sense. He is the sort to think that something's out to get him.

"‘I let you keep your mouth, didn’t I?’ Rawne spat." LOL

And now, all of a sudden, Abnett's writing like the Suicide Kings have a long history in the Ghosts. As far as I recall, they started being a thing in Salvation Reach, though. And Rawne's section was seen as a criminal gang for the first few years, at least. No hand picked soldiers there. Am I forgetting something or is this a retcon?

Jesus Christ, Brostin just pasted a guy's head.

"Suicide Kings, Rawne thought. Like the old card game. It had seemed like a clever name once." And now it's just depressing, because you're all dead. Ok, most of you, but still.

"‘Yes,’ said Rawne. He decided not to mention the las-round that had gone through his abdomen. He could feel the blood running down his thigh and into his groin." RAWNE!

"Kater Holofurnace, of the Adeptus Astartes Iron Snakes, had been stripped of his plate armour and left in its ragged underskin, a tight mesh bodyglove." Mkoll may be fucked, but at least he has a Space Marine.

"‘He can’t escape if he’s dead,’ said Milo." Of course Mkoll decided to go after Sek himself.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 13

FOURTEEN: TRUTH AND OTHER LIES

"‘Your little girl, she’ll be all right,’ said Blenner beside him. ‘I’m sure of it, major.’" Oh, Blenner. She's not his little girl anymore. She never was.

Blenner's confessing all to Kolea, but idk if this'll make shit happen, since they're all stuck down in the basement.

"Zweil looked at Fazekiel, then went over to her and hugged her tightly, pressing her head against his shoulder." Aww, Zweil's a good man.

"Domor grinned at them, then gave Zweil a hug." <3

"‘I’ll break him,’ she said. ‘I’ll end his career. Once he’s confessed, it’ll be sanction for him.’" I hope so.

"It was a shadow mass three times her size, a focus of darkness penned in by her radiance, but still lashing and rending with razor tendrils. It was hard to look at, and harder still to define: a cloud of knife-edged shadow that shifted and swam in supple, geometric patterns. It had a constantly changing texture, like rippling mirror scales, part absolute void, part iridescent black, like the wing-cases of some daemonic beetle. It was a storm of whirling, midnight-black thorns surrounding a super-dense core of immaterium darkness." That's terrifying.

"A storm of heavy las-fire blocked it. Multiple weapons unloaded into it at full auto." Oh, good, reinforcements. The first good news we've had.

Poor Kolea. And Dalin. Though, Dalin... shit's going to happen.

"He looked at the Beati. When he spoke, just the one word, there was a tiny break in his voice. ‘Now,’ he said." ;_;

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 12

THIRTEEN: UP INTO THE LIGHT

"Merity seemed alert, but Meryn was either traumatised, or unwilling to hide his usual, sullen nature." It's Meryn. Could be both.

"‘In the face of an unknown threat, assembling reliable data seems sensible,’" It does help the unknown become known, as long as the unknown doesn't kill you first.

"She kept flicking her eyes in Meryn’s direction, trying to show she didn’t want to speak in front of him, but the commissar was too weary and anxious to notice the hint." Leave him behind! Not that testimony is important right now, but cut his ass loose.

"The glory days and noble ends of the First and fething Only were memories. Reality and the future was a colder place." I think this is one reason why I don't really like Warmaster and Anarch. On the one hand, they feel like a conclusion. On the other, it's a hell of an anti-climax, so far. Not the fitting end.

"‘What are you, my dad?’ Neither of them spoke for a moment. ‘Yes,’ said Kolea." Awkward.

"It was part of a human jawbone, with three molars still embedded in it. It was black because it was covered in blood, and in the odd light, the redness of the blood appeared black." D:

I swear to fuck, if Elodie's dead...

Poor Bonin.

"Yoncy was no longer Yoncy. A stifling darkness whirled out of her as though a dead star had blinked anti-light. She fractured and rearranged in a neat but complex fractal fashion, folding like some intricate, hinged puzzle. Her smile was the last thing to disappear. What took her place was still her. It was also the most abominable thing any of them would ever see." D: D:

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 11

Sorry for the delay, the holiday weekend threw me off.

TWELVE: QIMURAH

Mabbon's back! Yay!

"‘Well, I don’t understand,’ Mabbon said. ‘You want me dead. They want me dead. Stand aside and let them have me.’ ‘I can’t do that!’ Zamak exclaimed. He looked horrified at the suggestion. ‘I’ve got to get you clear–’" Zamak seems interesting, at least.

"His tangled rows of yellowed teeth, like little tusks, shaped into what was probably a smile." Eww.

"‘No, not to anyone,’ said Mabbon. ‘And yet, to everyone. My end is sought by everyone under the stars.’" Yeah, Mabbon's kind of fucked. That's what happens when he betrays everyone at one point or another.

"‘Why all of this? Why any of it? Why do we kill with such consuming intent? Why does this galaxy burn? Imperium and Archonate, eternally locked in rage. No one ever asking why. Who is right? Who is wrong? What secret domain of truth lies between those two extremes?’" Well, you see, when some people want to make a wargame and a satire of violence, things happen.

Varl saves him! :D

And Mabbon saves him back!

"‘I don’t care about my life any more,’ he said. He looked at Varl. ‘But you were always decent to me, Sergeant Varl. Fair. One of the very few who were. My submission would have meant your death too.’" Aww, that's sweet.

"He became a column of fire in which they could see his ribcage and long bones in silhouette as meat and muscle transmuted into billowing clouds of ash and droplets of burning fat." Oh, gross. On the other hand, it does kill him.

"Qimurah secrete mucus through their skin,’" D:

"Belladon will give you land and honour when you come home a hero. An adopted son." That would be a solution, for them to end up on Belladon. Whatever that's like.

"The sirdar kept walking with confidence, as though he hadn’t noticed the cry, and the guard didn’t follow it up." Walk like you know where you're going and you'll never be challenged. Well, almost never.

"‘Hello, Brin,’ said Mkoll. ‘It’s been a long time.’ Mkoll locked his arms around Brin Milo, like a man greeting a son he’d thought he’d lost forever." AAAAAAAAAAAAA, He's alive, they didn't just do a grimdark thing where he'd died right before they got there, yes!

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 10

ELEVEN: CONTACT

"Every inch of him ached. His scalp wound had finally stopped bleeding, but the whole area behind his ear was too painful to touch. Dried blood crusted his scalp, the side of his neck and his shoulder. He didn’t have a mirror, but he knew the side of his face was probably purple with trauma." Poor Mkoll.

"I have some words for you too, he thought. I’ll say them in person." Ooo, plz do! Mkoll has a plan!

"But there was a small vox handset, a short-range unit, and three small grenades. They were little silver cylinders. Two were marked with red dots, which he guessed meant smoke. The other, its casing slightly ridged, was marked with a black dot. Fragmentation. Anti-personnel." Are those general, galaxy standard or does Mkoll know this because he knows the Sons of Sek symbols? Or are they stolen Guard grenades?

"The three servitors cycled their systems in neutral, and flexed their manipulator arms ready to resume effort." I wonder, are these Imperial servitors or did Sek bring his own? What would Chaos servitors be like?

"‘Tell him immediate evacuation, including senior level,’ Gaunt said. ‘Tell him to carry Macaroth out of the palace on his shoulders if he has to. Tell him… Ibram told you this. It’s an unconditional order from the Lord Executor.’" That's a good idea. Don't want the leaders in a place where Chaos is invading.

"‘It’s tears,’ said Onabel. She kept tapping her finger, her eyes squeezed shut." Uh. Shit?

"

‘Blood levels are rising. The shadow’s in us. It makes the sound I heard. The sound at Low Keen. The butcher sound. Juniper says it smells like a woe machine. I’m so scared. Get me out. Get me fething out. Please. I’m so sorry, Ban. So sorry. I was right. I was right about her, and I should have said before. I should have said. I knew what she was. I should have made someone listen–’" D:

The Saint opens the wall, at least.

The power in HQ is going out and the enemy is attacking in the city. It gets better and better.

"‘Must be,’ said Kolosim. ‘Can’t be Sek packs this deep in.’" Uh. I think you're wrong.

"The moment he spoke, four prepped and ready companies of Ghosts opened fire. The light-shock lit the entire gate area." :D

"‘You’re not terribly good at politics, are you?’ said Sindre. ‘Don’t have much call for it,’ said Pasha." She's a fighter, not a politician. I do like her.

"The tech-priest made an urgent, buzzing sound." Probably swearing.

"Now get me the eagle stones, ready for transport, or I will stick my boot up your arsehole and go get them myself." Oh, please do it! I want to see where a Techpriest's asshole is!

The enemy is inside the Mechanicus vault? How'd it get there?

Something bad is going to happen with the Mechanicus code.

Yeah, they've been turned with some weird code from the enemy.

The Ghosts are fucked, aren't they?

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part Nine

TEN: WOE

"‘Only the best for the Tanith First,’ said Curth." As per usual.

The door to the quarters is mysteriously stuck shut and they can hear a kid crying. This is fine.

The Saint knows something's wrong, at least.

"‘It’s bound shut,’ said Laksheema. She had been stooping to examine the door. ‘The warp is holding it.’" D:

"Beltayn switched the set to speaker output. There was a hiss of static, then they could all hear the tinny yet distinct sound of sobbing. A young voice, far away, in anguish." Well, shit.

"Just before he could throw it, the noise of weeping shut off and was replaced by a hellish shrieking roar. The volume was so great, it blew out the vox-caster’s speakers. Smoke wafted from the ruined set." That's probably Yoncy turning into... something.

"Behind the burned and shattered doors, there was no doorway. Just the solid, white-washed stone of the wall, perfectly intact, as though no door had ever existed." Is everyone down there just going to die?

Elsewhere, there might be weird animals.

"It wasn’t a dog. It wasn’t even an animal, though it was making the animal growl the three of them had heard outside. It was a form of attack servitor, a grim fusion of cybernetic quadruped and human flesh." Oh, it's an Adeptus Mechanicus thing.

"He couldn’t tell. He couldn’t see to tell if his vision was tunnelling down. But he knew for a fact he’d never been so scared. Ever. And that was saying something, because he’d been through some wicked feth in his time." Poor Domor.

"Some, like Mkoll and – Domor fancied – Rawne – had been born with the knack." Rawne did probably have skills at dealing with fear early. He's cool in a lot of situations, anyway.

"He saw Zweil ahead of him. The old ayatani was trailing a hand behind him, trying to lead Domor as he groped blindly along the wall." Zweil's helping! That's good.

"In the eighth flash, Yoncy was still there, and she was starting to turn. Starting to turn slowly to face Merity." She's appearing in flashes of light. What kind of horror movie shit is this?

"‘That’s not right,’ said Fazekiel. ‘The lights have been off for days.’" And weird time shit?

"‘Yeah,’ said Dalin. ‘It’s one of her games. “There’s a woe machine coming” she’d say, and then she’d hide and you’d have to find her. She’s been doing it for years. But when she said it just now, I thought...’" Because she's not her. She's something else.

"‘Let’s find her, Dalin,’ said Kolea." She's not in danger! She is the danger!

"Meryn thrashed wildly. He refused to look into her staring eyes. His churning elbow mashed her left wrist and her grip broke." Meryn better die horribly after this.

Of course he gets away first, though.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 8

NINE: BAD SHADOW

Oh, Mkoll is so fucking awesome.

"The stink of the cellar level was getting worse, but Baskevyl thought this was probably just his imagination." No it's not. Chaos stinks. Literally.

"‘Has anyone seen Dalin?’ Kolea called out. ‘Or Yoncy?’" Uh oh.

"Shoggy Domor hadn’t waited for a stablight. He’d simply flipped his bulky augmetic optics to night vision and set off." That's one plus to having those. He can see in the dark, even if his replacement eyes look stupid.

"This time it was a dying shriek that ended in a long, warbling throb of defective speakers. It tailed off into nothing, but while it lasted, for five or six seconds, it sounded less like a broken, misfiring alarm system and more like a baby crying." Well, that's terrifying.

And then Domor's eyes fail.

"It had been her, he was sure of it. Just the flash of a pale face in the dark." Oh, it probably was. Or what looks like her.

"‘Right,’ replied Bonin in a low whisper. He shone his light at the wall. ‘So where’s the fething door?’" Oh, great, it's pitch black, there's something hunting them, and all the doors are gone.

"‘Because not a single one of them is intact,’ Baskevyl replied. ‘They’ve been torn apart.’" And it's dismembering people.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 7

EIGHT: DEPLOYMENT

"‘Well, it’s put a stink on things,’ said Blenner. ‘On me. Just now, I am not regarded with the same warmth as I once enjoyed.’" It's because you're an asshole, Blenner. You suck at being a commissar.

"He’d never thought Vaynom Blenner much of a soldier, and his lack of discipline made him a poor discipline officer. Kolea suspected he’d only ever become part of the company because he and Gaunt went back." I don't know why else he'd be there. He's not made for active conflict and he knows it.

"‘What I mean is, that’s a bond that ties a man’s soul. Children. The future, and all that. If Gendler had threatened Yoncy, or Dal, I’d like to think a good man like you would have stood up to defend them. And I’d be blessed thankful for that. You did your job.’" Nice, but he's got things wrong. And Blenner's feeling even more guilty. Which he should, IMO. He fucked up.

"‘Hello, son,’ said Gol." So they're just publicly acknowledging their relationship. I really don't like how anticlimactic this subplot was.

"‘He really likes saying that,’ Merity whispered to the Scion beside her. Relf trembled slightly. Merity realised the Scion was trying to suppress a snigger." Aww, they do have senses of humor!

"‘I’m sure it does, ma’am,’ she replied. ‘I’m sure that’s why the third, ninth and fourteenth companies of the Keyzon host are commanded by your sons.’ Ooo, burn.

"‘Trouble can kiss my Tanith arse,’ Rawne replied." LOL

"‘Then imagine me sending you thoughts and prayers,’ Rawne said." Fuck, Rawne has all the good lines.

"‘Just don’t die,’ she said." Aww, Curth likes Rawne! Like a friend! They both need one.

"No strikes came, but he would never shake the feeling of death at his heels, not for the rest of his life." Wonder how long that will be.

"‘Can we go back to being normal now? This is awkward.’" Poor Dalin, having to deal with sudden sentimentality from his dad.

"I mean, no one likes you, Meryn, but they all just think you’re a snake. A self-serving creep. They have no idea how truly toxic you are." Yeah, I think most people think he's a wannabe Rawne. They don't realize he's got zero morals and way too much ambition.

Oh, great, the lights are out and Yoncy's being extra creepy. I bet Fazekiel will die before she can investigate more. Killed by plot device Yoncy.

‘You have come to kill,’ Of course Mkoll came to kill. He's aware he's not getting out alive. He wants to kill Sek.

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 6

SEVEN: ARRIVALS

"At some point in its long history, the sea had invaded the dead cone through fissures like the one they had entered by. The immense internal flue had become a sea-lake ten kilometres in diameter. Around it, the inner walls of the cone rose like cliffs, a kilometre and a half high. Above, the cone was open to the heavens, a ragged circle of grey sky fringed with vapour." Oh, that's cool! I do like that kind of internal harbor.

"The most arresting sight, dominating all others, was the ship. It was an Archenemy cruiser, gnarled and scarred, a medium-displacement shiftship over a mile long. Like the tiny agri-boats beneath it, it had taken shelter in the cone of the Fastness. It hung in place on its grav- anchors and suspensor arrays thirty metres above the water, and the bulk of it seemed to fillthe open hollow of the cone’s interior." That would be a sight. A spaceship just hanging out inside the island. Since it's over a mile long, the island itself must be huge. One big, extinct volcano.

"Mkoll heard chattering. It was in his head, a constant hissing, like a thousand soft whispers." Oh, boy, voices in your head! That won't create problems!

"Here was the Emperor in the aspect of a sea god, coiling with scaled tentacles, and here he rose from the Urdeshi deeps in a vast bloom of algae. On another panel, he was festooned with weapon-pods, triumphing the product of the forge’s war-foundries. On another, he was so augmeticised with cyber implants he resembled a Titan war engine with a single, human eye." Interesting, that worship of the Emperor shifts how he looks according to the needs and views of different planets. As long as they worship the Emperor, the wider Imperium likely doesn't care how they do it.

"‘Nen, we respect,’ replied Olort. ‘He is no god, nor is he an emperor. But a prophet? Kha. Yes. He has seen the enlightenments of the Eight Powers and witnessed the truth of the warp. Ghost, your kind... they follow blindly. They see what they want to see. The Holy Lord, blessed of all, defying the darkness. But he stands in the darkness, beyond the curtain of death, fed by the warp and changed by it. He is a brother to us, a brother we must sadly fight to subdue until he renounces his insurrection.’" Interesting! The Emperor is a warp creature, one they're opposed to, since he's fighting them. They might not be wrong, too.

"‘This is the way of it,’ replied Olort. ‘You think we are the darkness. But you are the darkness. Your ignorance is a shadow on your eyes and a fog in your mind. We fight to deliver you from that. We fight, Ghost, to save you.’" Chaos forces with actual motivations!

"Rawne sniffed and trudged back to her, tugging his collar up against the incessant rain. He was soaked to the balls and his mood was foul." Poor wet Rawne. Like a wet cat.

Handy, that the Ghosts are now operating directly under Gaunt, once more. Maybe he doesn't have to give them up. Not yet, anyway.

"It’s uncomfortable for you, but at least I’m not sending you into a killing ground." Fucking ouch, Gaunt. Not that I'd resist, either.

Sabbat is much the same. Brin Milo isn't around, though.

"Laksheema strode in, followed by Grae. Gaunt closed the door in the faces of Van Voytz and anyone else following." LOL

"‘Brin Milo has gone,’" Oh. Well, shit.

"It was a set of Tanith pipes, old and worn, the same set Brin Milo had been playing the day Gaunt first met him." ;_;

[gauntsghostsfieldguide]

Anarch- Part 5

SIX: PROTECTION

"Gol Kolea sat alone on a low-backed chair in the corner, staring at the floor." Poor Kolea. He doesn't deserve whatever's happening.

"You’re hiding behind the rules you’re seeking to subvert, asking us to chase our tails through the Administratum, knowing we’d never get an answer. Let’s be clear. I am ratifying them. Right now. With these words." That's one plus to Gaunt being Lord Executor or whatever.

"‘I advise you not to push that point,’ said Hark quietly. ‘Say your fething piece or get your fething arse out of the door.’" Wow, Hark's usually more diplomatic.

"‘A boy? You mean Brin Milo,’" Oh, hey, Milo comes up. As a mark against Gaunt, but he's not forgotten totally.

"Gaunt glared at him. ‘Because she’s the only one of you that could knock on my door and not make me want to shoot them in the face. So use that advantage.’" That's, er, something.

"You know well that the mastery of Urdesh has changed many times over the centuries. The Throne, the rimward tribes, and back, and forth. We have worked with and for the Sanguinary Brood as often as we have distant Terra. Indeed, in some golden eras, past gaurs have favoured us more than the Throne or the forge-priests of Mars have ever done." More of the idea that the Sabbat planets have been bounced back and forth between the Imperium and Chaos and that means that some don't necessarily always side with the Imperium.

"Corrod towered over the ordinate, staring down at him. He was more than two metres tall. His limbs were longer. He was still cadaverously lean, a tall, thin spectre, but the muscles were hard under his fat-less flesh. His nose had all but receded into a cavity, and his mouth had extended like a snout, with a long, narrow chin. The teeth, top and bottom, were a tangled mess of canine points, some as long as the ordinate’s little fingers. Corrod’s neon eyes glowed, yellow heat behind a milky surface." Oh, great. They're all terrifying.

"‘Gol, you’re all mixed up,’ said Gaunt. ‘I get why. I understand. We’ve been through many hells, all of us. We’ve all faced the darkness and felt it mess with us. It’s what it wants. It’s what the Archenemy does to us. It wants to ruin our bonds, our trusts... it wants us to suspect each other and collapse in fear and hatred. And we’re not going to let it. That’s our job, after all. Our calling. Of all the citizens in the Imperium, we’re the ones that hold fast. The Imperial fething Guard. We’re the ones that are supposed to fight. You’re just messed up.’" A heartening speech, but this is 40k. Those kids are some kind of demon, because we can't have nice things.

"‘I want a secure link to Rawne in five minutes.’" Oh, good, Rawne's dealing with Mabbon again. I like when they interact.

And the enemy soldiers can just alter their bodies to make protection for themselves. Gross protection.