No Fists had fallen, though nine of the eleven bore injuries that would grant them fresh scars.
Kantor, powering down his weapons at last, surveyed the aftermath. The stink on the air was foul, an acrid mix of fungus, spilled viscera, gunpowder and burning promethium. The dead would need to be burned. Their spores could not be allowed to take root, lest the purge never see a true end.
He looked down at his arms, the gloriously embossed blue armour now painted thick with alien gore.
I needed this, he told himself. Truly, I did.
He thought of his friend and brother, Alessio Cortez, Captain of the Fourth, Master of the Charge, who had left Rynn’s World with a single squad of brothers – more, in truth, than the Chapter could spare – to hunt down the greenskin warlord responsible for all that had happened.
Cortez would have understood only too well.
Reconstruction would one day heal the wounds of the planet and its people. New towers would be raised, new crops planted, new children born. Rynn’s World would live again as it had done in ages past, following the cycle of the seasons, the plantings and harvests. It would be a wiser world, and more wary perhaps, but it would prosper.
Only revenge, however – the most violent and bloody of retributions – would ever heal the wounds of Pedro Kantor and the unrelenting Space Marines of the Crimson Fists.
And we will have it.
About The Authors
Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Steve Parker now lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. In 2005, his short fiction started appearing in American sci-fi/fantasy/horror magazines, soon followed by a commission to write for Black Library in 2006. His debut novel, Rebel Winter, was published in 2007, followed in 2009 by his second novel, Gunheads. Rynn’s World is his third novel set in the dark future of Warhammer 40,000.
Aside from writing, his interests include reading, gaming, movies, bodybuilding, non-traditional martial arts and wildlife conservation.
Together with Dan Abnett, Mike Lee wrote the five-volume Malus Darkblade series. Mike has contributed to almost two dozen role-playing games and supplements over the years. His credits for Black Library include the Horus Heresy novel Fallen Angels and the Time of Legends trilogy The Rise of Nagash. An avid wargamer and devoted fan of pulp adventure, Mike lives in the United States.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a British author with his beginnings in the videogame and RPG industries. He’s written several novels for the Black Library, including the Night Lords series, the Space Marine Battles book Helsreach and the New York Times bestselling The First Heretic for the Horus Heresy. He lives and works in Northern Ireland with his wife Katie, hiding from the world in the middle of nowhere. His hobbies generally revolve around reading anything within reach, and helping people spell his surname.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Published in 2010 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK
Cover illustration by Jon Sullivan
Maps by Adrian Wood & Rosie Edwards, based on originals by Steve Parker
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ISBN 978-0-85787-075-9
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Warhammer 40K, The War for Rynn's World - Steve Parker & Mike Lee
The War for Rynn's World - Steve Parker & Mike Lee Page 51