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The Horus Heresy #Short Story
Distant Echoes of Old Night
Death Guard Chaplain Murnau has shot down an Imperial Fists vessel on a dismal backwater world, and the forces under his command are closing in on the wreckage. With his mission clear in his mind to leave no survivors, Murnau unleashes one of his Legion's most deadly units the fearsome and infamous Destroyers.
Read it because
It’s the first Horus Heresy appearance of the Destroyers – warriors who use forbidden weapons and deeply dubious tactics to not just defeat their enemies, but obliterate them.
27 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2013
About the author
Rob Sanders
112 books87 followersRob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 12, 2024
April 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XIV Shadows of the Warmaster II Lords of Death (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus series and extras.
A Death Guard exotic weapons team scour an Imperial Fists ship on a mission mandate of no survivors.
I've been in a bit of a slump since Vengeful Spirit and I am beseecbing the Dark Powers for The Buried Dagger to lift my own spirits...and this didn't help.
This is a very meat and potatoes a flavour of a flavour do something with a but of their flavour. In this case it's Death Guard and their dirty special weapons team that I can't remember the name and don't care enough to look up and heading into the deadly conditions they create, which is good, maybe? because we now know that if the Grandfather has your back there's essentially no form of biological warfare that can kill you dead dead.
This is a *fine* story that is somehow more offensive by how inoffensive it is. I'm sure the results of these specialists getting high on their own supply is going to come up later, but this seems incredibly non-essential and not one I'll return to.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 26 Horus Heresy novels, 14 novellas (including 1 repeat), 91 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 13 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and a short story...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
A Death Guard exotic weapons team scour an Imperial Fists ship on a mission mandate of no survivors.
I've been in a bit of a slump since Vengeful Spirit and I am beseecbing the Dark Powers for The Buried Dagger to lift my own spirits...and this didn't help.
This is a very meat and potatoes a flavour of a flavour do something with a but of their flavour. In this case it's Death Guard and their dirty special weapons team that I can't remember the name and don't care enough to look up and heading into the deadly conditions they create, which is good, maybe? because we now know that if the Grandfather has your back there's essentially no form of biological warfare that can kill you dead dead.
This is a *fine* story that is somehow more offensive by how inoffensive it is. I'm sure the results of these specialists getting high on their own supply is going to come up later, but this seems incredibly non-essential and not one I'll return to.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 26 Horus Heresy novels, 14 novellas (including 1 repeat), 91 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 13 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and a short story...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
March 27, 2017
Re-read in The Silent War anthology
At last we have a Death Guard short Horus Heresy story.
And when the relentless masters of biochemical warfare meet on their path the Imperial Fists, specialists of enduring sieges, in a sinking spaceship, the result can be only a deadly one.
A very good and grim one-shot tale, but Death Guard is a fan favourite Legion of mine since I've read Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Cadian Blood and I'm still waiting for an HH full-lenght novel about Mortarion and the sick sons of Barbarus.
February 2, 2025
Collected in the silent war anthology.
November 10, 2015
An excellent story that I hope is followed up at some point by a novel.
Chaplain Murnau of the Death Guard has been dispatched with a squad of Destoryers (warriors who use chemical, biological and radiation weaponry) to finish off the survivors of an Imperial Fists vessel that has been shot-down on a backwater world, a world left dying after having bio-weapons unleashed against it.
Rob Sanders has done a fatastic job of conveying the brutal close-quaters fighting in both the decaying biosphere of a ravaged world and the confines of a heavily damaged starship defended by dedicated and entrenched loyalists.
With a brooding almost clostrophobic atmosphere as the setting, the deathtoll steadily rises as Chaplain Murnau and his Desroyers hunt down their opponents and unleash all manner of vile weaponary to get the job done.
With both a suprise finding and a sombre yet fitting ending Rob Sanders tells a gripping tale that left me wanting more and has crucially left the story open in a way that leaves room for more to come at a later date. Many questions are left unanswered and with a mystery left unresolved I hope Rob gets the opportunity to revist this tale in more detail in the future.
Chaplain Murnau of the Death Guard has been dispatched with a squad of Destoryers (warriors who use chemical, biological and radiation weaponry) to finish off the survivors of an Imperial Fists vessel that has been shot-down on a backwater world, a world left dying after having bio-weapons unleashed against it.
Rob Sanders has done a fatastic job of conveying the brutal close-quaters fighting in both the decaying biosphere of a ravaged world and the confines of a heavily damaged starship defended by dedicated and entrenched loyalists.
With a brooding almost clostrophobic atmosphere as the setting, the deathtoll steadily rises as Chaplain Murnau and his Desroyers hunt down their opponents and unleash all manner of vile weaponary to get the job done.
With both a suprise finding and a sombre yet fitting ending Rob Sanders tells a gripping tale that left me wanting more and has crucially left the story open in a way that leaves room for more to come at a later date. Many questions are left unanswered and with a mystery left unresolved I hope Rob gets the opportunity to revist this tale in more detail in the future.
July 26, 2016
Full review also found here!
I rather enjoyed Distant Echoes of Old Night, but found a few things a tiny bit awkward about it.
One thing is clear, though: This is a very characterful and suitably grim Death Guard story. From the very first scene on, it gets apparent that the Death Guard's unwavering resolve and specialization on biochemical warfare are the focus of the story. And oh yes, Rob Sanders did those things justice!
What irritated me, though, relates to the ending scenes, which I do not want to spoil. I will just say that I was wondering why the Legionaries did not use their gear more effectively in the face of what they were against.
Aside from that gripe, the story was rock solid, and a much-needed piece on an incredibly underdeveloped Legion - despite appearances in various early Horus Heresy novels, short stories and cameos, Distant Echoes of Old Night delivers the first real look at the Legion's particular take on warfare. As such I am sure it will please Death Guard and Horus Heresy fans greatly.
I rather enjoyed Distant Echoes of Old Night, but found a few things a tiny bit awkward about it.
One thing is clear, though: This is a very characterful and suitably grim Death Guard story. From the very first scene on, it gets apparent that the Death Guard's unwavering resolve and specialization on biochemical warfare are the focus of the story. And oh yes, Rob Sanders did those things justice!
What irritated me, though, relates to the ending scenes, which I do not want to spoil. I will just say that I was wondering why the Legionaries did not use their gear more effectively in the face of what they were against.
Aside from that gripe, the story was rock solid, and a much-needed piece on an incredibly underdeveloped Legion - despite appearances in various early Horus Heresy novels, short stories and cameos, Distant Echoes of Old Night delivers the first real look at the Legion's particular take on warfare. As such I am sure it will please Death Guard and Horus Heresy fans greatly.
March 21, 2016
Amazing short story by Rob Sanders featuring the Death Guard in all of the sickly glory! The Death Guard ideology, weaponry, and methods were supremely interesting, and I really hope we get to see more of that in the future Death Guard books. The Destroyers were awesome, and I really hope we get to see more of those squads as well!
The only thing I didn't really like was that it wasn't an outright victory for the Death Guard.
The only thing I didn't really like was that it wasn't an outright victory for the Death Guard.
February 10, 2015
The Death Guard are still somewhat under-represented in the Horus Heresy series, but Rob Sanders’ Distant Echoes of Old Night goes some way to filling that gap. Here we see Death Guard Chaplain Morgax Murnau as he leads a Destroyer squad through a dying world to finish off a detachment of Imperial Fists from a downed ship.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
July 27, 2013
My review of this excellent short here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
April 5, 2019
Another nice but not-too-important side-story to the larger Horus Heresy series. I appreciated that certain factors were left open (who was the Knight-Errant and what was his mission? etc), and I think it showcased the character of the Death Guard Legion mid-Heresy fairly well. However, it suffers from blatantly being written entirely for the purpose of having a story about one of the then-new Horus Heresy squads from Forge World, and that does show. It doesn't ruin the story by any means, but I feel that it makes it less than it could have been.
January 2, 2025
A great short story about traitor Death Guard trying to dislodge Imperial Fists from their crashed ship.
The Death Guard in this story are just so wonderfully, terribly evil in their attempts to prove just how tough they are. It's war crime after war crime in a setting that is basically a war crime in and of itself.
The fact that the Death Guard are so, so sold on their own reputation as being the toughest and the most able to endure of the Legions and it means nothing in the end ( and in fact screws them ) is just icing on the cake.
The Death Guard in this story are just so wonderfully, terribly evil in their attempts to prove just how tough they are. It's war crime after war crime in a setting that is basically a war crime in and of itself.
The fact that the Death Guard are so, so sold on their own reputation as being the toughest and the most able to endure of the Legions and it means nothing in the end ( and in fact screws them ) is just icing on the cake.
October 23, 2025
Evil Death Guard being evil. Luckily, they make great villains. The image of them wading through phosphex sustained nothing but determination and sheer (disgusting) resilience is a very fitting one. Not bad at all.
January 21, 2024
I enjoyed everything but the cockney sgt.
March 15, 2025
Great little short
May 27, 2025
I like Destroyers
March 15, 2026
Jeeeze laweeze. That was a good one.
August 29, 2025
A short story following a Death Guard Chaplain as he leads a Destroyer Squad to wipe out a crashed Imperial Fist ship.
The title of the story seems to refer to the weapons used by the Destroyer Squad. The Legions typically only made use of the Destroyers as a last resort, as they used radiation, phosphex, and bio-alchemical weapons that came from the time of Dark Night. These terrible weapons of mass destruction would not just kill the enemy but. devestate the landscape for centuries to come.
This story demonstrates the increasingly destructive nature of the Death Guard as they have gone on a rampage across the system, utilising bio-weapons to devastating effect.
The title of the story seems to refer to the weapons used by the Destroyer Squad. The Legions typically only made use of the Destroyers as a last resort, as they used radiation, phosphex, and bio-alchemical weapons that came from the time of Dark Night. These terrible weapons of mass destruction would not just kill the enemy but. devestate the landscape for centuries to come.
This story demonstrates the increasingly destructive nature of the Death Guard as they have gone on a rampage across the system, utilising bio-weapons to devastating effect.
October 22, 2021
A suitably bleak Death Guard story with a great ending and some interesting questions left hanging. A very enjoyable short story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews