Gaunt's Ghosts: The Lost (Gaunts Ghost) by Dan Abnett

Author:Dan Abnett [Abnett, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Games Workshop
Published: 2018-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

Epilogue

00.07 hrs, 200.776.M41

Ancreon Sextus

The sun came out, in the middle of the night, and the step-cities died. Even from a great distance, it was impossible for observers to look directly at the bombardment without filters or glare-shades. Devastating pillars of white light came down from the top of the sky and burned deep, black holes into the world.

It took the warships of the Imperial Navy five hours of sustained orbital bombardment to wipe the ancient and cursed stones of the monolithic cities from existence.

In the days that followed, all that remained at the sites where the step-cities had once stood were gaping wounds in the earth, some a kilometre deep. Within these slowly cooling cavities, jewelled beauty lurked. The fury of the weapons had transformed the rock and sand, fusing it into swathes of glass that glinted and swam with colour in the bright sun.

Just after midnight, Gaunt was amongst the many hundreds of Imperial officers congregated on the hull-top landing pads of one of the command Leviathans to watch the distant doom of Sparshad Mons. Zweil stood by his side. He’d borrowed Eszrah’s glare-shades, and winced and gasped at every flash of light.

‘You did that, Ibram,’ Van Voytz said, coming up to Gaunt and nodding in the direction of the fearsome lightshow. ‘Hope you’re proud of yourself.’

‘Proud of something, sir.’

‘I understand they’re yours again?’ Van Voytz said.

‘It’s a field command only,’ said Gaunt. ‘Just temporary.’

‘We’ll see,’ said Van Voytz.

‘He said he couldn’t, but he could, you know,’ Zweil said after Van Voytz had moved on.

‘What?’ Gaunt asked.

‘He said he couldn’t bring things back from the dead, but it turned out he could.’

‘Who are we talking about, father?’

‘Wilder,’ Zweil said.

‘Oh.’

‘You and Rawne and the others all came back when we thought you dead. And now the unit has too.’

‘I don’t–’

‘It’s yours again. Wilder gave them back to you. Not his Ghosts. Yours again. Gaunt’s Ghosts, back from the dead.’

‘You know, you talk a lot of nonsense sometimes, father,’ Gaunt said.

The hatch of the holding cell opened and Inquisitor Welt entered the chamber. Commissar Faragut got up from the table to make room for the inquisitor.

Welt sat down beside the commissar-general. ‘How are we doing?’ he asked.

‘I think we’re getting somewhere,’ Balshin said, looking across the table at the interview subject.

‘Good, good,’ said Welt. ‘Shall we go back over the main areas, in case there’s something we missed?’

‘Fine with me,’ said Balshin. Welt looked questioningly at the interview subject.

Sabbatine Cirk shrugged. ‘Just tell me what you want to know.’

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