Black Library söker nya författare

Magnus Seter

Ansvarig utgivare
Staff member
Joined
24 Nov 2000
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12,883
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Stockholm
Bara AoS. Trist (inte för att det är min grej oavsett), men man hade ju kunnat hoppas på lite nya bra Old World-romaner.
Tja, det var ju 40k också, men jag kände direkt att deras "scope" helt låg utanför min kunskap om något i de världarna. :D

Om det hade varit Old World, då hade jag kastat mig över det, men inte AoS och inte WH40k, för det känner jag dåligt till utöver Eisenhorn-böckerna och Rogue Trader-versionen, ja, den första dårå.
 

God45

#PrayersForBahakan
Joined
23 Oct 2012
Messages
18,902
UR-025 sat motionless at one end of the table—or as motionless as its metal frame allowed on the too small chair. Its face, an immovable mask of steel, betrayed no expression, yet Elucia Vhane could sense its smugness. It radiated from the machine like static electricity. Elucia, an experienced Rogue Trader who had spent years navigating the lawless fringes of the galaxy, was no stranger to dealing with xenos or worse to achieve her goals in service of the Imperium. But negotiating with a thinking machine made her skin crawl.

Her fingers twitched, longing to reach for the long laslock pistol resting at her hip. But no—she couldn’t risk it. Between them on the table lay The Shard of Voss Prime, an invaluable artifact from the Dark Age of Technology. Fragile and ancient, it could be destroyed by a single misplaced las bolt or even a careless jostle. Just beyond the rooms door stood her loyal Elucidian Starstriders, while UR-025 had a squad of brutal mercenaries backing it up. If she fired—even if she even managed to destroy the abhorrent machine—the resulting chaos would lead to a deadly firefight. She was willing to risk her life, but not the artifact. The Shard was too important to the Imperium.

The Shard had fallen into the hands of a cult on Vigilus. When Elucia and her crew launched their strike against the heretics, they discovered that UR-025’s group was already there, mowing down the cultists. The two factions met, weapons drawn, in the chamber containing the artifact. It was there that both she and the machine had ordered their forces to stand down.

She had tried threatening the machine intelligence, but it didn’t know fear. She attempted bribery, offering riches plundered from countless xenos worlds, but it showed no interest in wealth. When all seemed poised to end in bloodshed, she had an idea. She challenged the machine: a test of skill and luck. Whoever emerged victorious would claim the artifact. Blinded by its arrogance, the machine accepted.

The hated robot had looked at its cards only once before laying them flat on the table. Elucia held her own cards in an elegant fan with her left hand. The table they played on had until recently belonged to the arch-heretic who led the cult. The artifact lay between them like a silent witness.

Elucia studied her cards, her sharp mind analyzing the situation. The game had not gone well for her. The machine’s unholy mind must have been capable of calculating the odds better than any human. She knew she would have to gamble.

“Emperor,” she said firmly, placing her cards down.

The vox-unit embedded in the robot’s body activated, emitting an unnatural voice:

“Go fish.”
 
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