Tag Archives: Imperial Navy

QUICK REVIEW: The Emperor’s Grace – Nicholas Alexander

Nicholas Alexander’s Imperial Navy short story The Emperor’s Grace depicts the intense stress a rookie Marauder bomber crew are placed under during an all-out attack on an ork air base. Part of a huge squadron tasked with striking a decisive blow in the war for Balle Prime, Captain Mikal and the crew of the Emperor’s Grace wrestle with a complex cocktail of emotions as they embark on their first mission. Tensions are high within the Marauder, but once they reach the target all their focus is on surviving long enough to complete the mission and return home in one piece.

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QUICK REVIEW: Acceptable Losses – Gav Thorpe

First published way back in 1998 in issue 9 of Inferno! magazine, Gav Thorpe’s Imperial Navy short story Acceptable Losses is a slice of vintage Black Library which still feels relevant and entertaining over 20 years later. Flight Commander Jaeger’s new command, the Marauder crews of Raptor Squadron, are a little rough around the edges to say the least, but he’s determined to whip them into shape. When they’re dispatched on a dangerous mission against a vast ork hulk, Raptor Squadron have the opportunity to prove their worth in battle and justify Jaeger’s faith in them.

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QUICK REVIEW: Last Flight – Edoardo Albert

For his second Black Library story – Last Flight – Edoardo Albert delivers a tale of courage and survival in the skies over a war-torn water world. The war on Sagaraya reaches a turning point when the heretic fleet is forced into attack range of the Imperial Navy…just. Pilot Commander Baruch Neriah leads his Marauder squadron on a daring attack run against a gargantuan aircraft carrier that forms the backbone of the Chaos forces, despite knowing that his bomber, the Spirit of St. Pascale, doesn’t have the range to safely return to the following Imperial fleet.

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QUICK REVIEW: Lightning Run – Peter McLean

Peter McLean’s second Black Library short story, Lightning Run is an Imperial Navy (Aeronautica Imperialis in modern parlance) story which, while not quite as grim as Baphomet by Night, is still a powerful demonstration of the bleak realities of 40k life. On the corrupted world of Elijan III, Flight Officer Salvatoria Grant finds herself tasked with a mission vital to the flagging war effort. Piloting her Valkyrie towards a distant Imperial base and a faint glimmer of hope, she trusts to her own skills and her faith in the Emperor to see her through to survival and Imperial victory.

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Forgotten Texts: Ancient History by Andy Chambers

“But remember lads, there ain’t no words for every void-born thing.”

Set largely in the bowels of an Imperial Navy battleship, Andy Chambers’ Ancient History follows ex-smuggler Nathan as he’s press-ganged into brutal service in a gunnery deck work gang. As he adjusts to life as a slave to the Navy, he starts to learn more about the galaxy he lives in, and the oddities of the men he works alongside. It soon becomes clear that life is infinitely more dangerous than Nathan ever knew, although the enigmatic old hand Kron may hold clues to how he can survive the perils, and mysteries, of life in the deep void.

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