The Voice (Short Story)
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| Author | James Swallow[1] |
| Performer | Emma Gregory[1] |
| Publisher | Black Library[1] |
| Series | Horus Heresy Series[1] |
| Collected in | Tales of Heresy |
| Length | 2 hours 2 minutes[1] |
"The Voice" is a short story by James Swallow in the Horus Heresy series. It is collected in the anthology Tales of Heresy.
Cover description
The Black Ships are a mysterious and fearful sight – unmarked vessels that scour the distant reaches of the galaxy, ever watchful for latent psykers and witchbreeds for the monolithic Astra Telepathica. When one such ship, the Validus, is found drifting unpowered in the nightmare realm of the warp, it falls to the Sisters of Silence to uncover the reason behind it. As pariahs capable of blocking even the most potent psychic energy, Amendera Kendel and young Leilani Mollitas ready themselves for the worst...[1]
Synopsis
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | The Voice (Short Story) |
Aboard the Black Ship Aeria Gloris, Novice-Sister Leilani Mollitas gives voice to the unease that runs through the Silent Sisterhood in the wake of the Battle of Isstvan III and the fight against the Lord of the Flies at the Somnus Citadel. Her mistress Amendera Kendel has received orders to investigate the disappearance of the Validus and its cargo of captured psykers.
The Sisters find the ship becalmed in the Warp and board it, eventually stumbling upon Emrilia Herkaaze, Oblivion Knight of the White Talons and lifelong rival to Kendel. Herkaaze explains that psychic prongs freed the most powerful psykers aboard, these coming together to form a shared consciousness, so she and her Sisters established a perimeter of focus null energy to keep it contained. Kendel, Herkaaze and Mollitas venture further, making contact with the gestalt. The latter reveals it has come to bring a message from the future, hoping to prevent the worst of the Age of Darkness, and that it is the psychic projection of none other than Mollitas herself, having sold her soul to fulfill her duty to protect humankind. Herkaaze slays Mollitas, thus annihilating the gestalt, and as the psykers' unleashed powers tear the ship apart, Kendel loses consciousness.
She awakes in a healing narthecia tank, and is shocked to hear Herkaaze speak to her, thus breaking her Oath of Tranquility. Herkaaze defends her action, revealing she is a follower of the Lectitio Divinitatus and believes the Emperor wishes for the war to happen.
Setting
- The Aeria Gloris
- The Validus, which is found drifting in the warp
Characters
See also
Sources
- 1: Black Library - The Voice (archive) (saved Sep 2023, last accessed 2 Jul 2024)
