Peter McLean returns to the Reslian 45th for his third Black Library short story, No Hero. Abandoning the jungle world of Vardan IV to the rampaging orks, Imperial forces are pulling out and redeploying elsewhere. The troopers of One Section, D Company are finally on their way to being evacuated when their Valkyrie is hit, and the survivors must slog through the jungle on foot to try and reach the landing fields before the orks do. For one young Guardsman keeping a journal of events, it’s a journey that tests him body, mind and soul.
Subtly linked to Baphomet By Night, though featuring different characters, this doesn’t quite reach the shudder-inducing depths of McLean’s first BL story but is nonetheless a bleak, human tale of the horrors of war. It’s almost the lifecycle of a Guardsman in microcosm, as the young, unnamed protagonist faces one appalling situation after another yet somehow retains his humanity, even as his fellows fall by the wayside or fall back on looking out for themselves before anything else. McLean’s writing is vivid and powerful, falling very much on the grim side of 40k but with enough relatable, human elements to still maintain a tiny, but noticeable, spark of hope. It’s brilliant stuff, once again.
No Hero is available as a standalone e-short or within the Inferno! Volume 1 anthology. Check out The Return of Inferno! to Black Library to find out how the author describes this story.
