The Aegidan Oath

Black Library Advent Calendar 2016 #17

by L.J. Goulding

Almost a thousand years after the Great Heresy, the apparently insignificant backwater world of Sotha has been all but forgotten, out on the Eastern Fringe. Why, then, are warriors of the Ultramarines treading the overgrown paths to Mount Pharos once more? Chaplain Segas has been charged with a most solemn duty - to erase the last evidence of Roboute Guilliman’s greatest mistake, by dealing with the venerable Captain Oberdeii once and for all...

Read it because
It's a tale that straddles the Horus Heresy and the 41st millennium, connecting the dots between the sons of Sotha who defended the Pharos against the Night Lords and the Scythes of the Emperor who inhabit the planet ten thousand years later.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, 40k

27 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2016

About the author

L. J. Goulding is a British novelist, scriptwriter and editor, living and working in Los Angeles, California. His credits include 'League of Legends: Realms of Runeterra', the Black Library audio dramas 'Malcador: First Lord of the Imperium', 'The Heart of the Pharos', 'Scythes of the Emperor: Daedalus', and 'Mortarion's Heart', the novel 'Slaughter at Giant's Coffin', and many short stories for publishers in the UK and US.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I don't want to live forever. I see too much."

An excellent sequel to Guy Haley's Pharos set almost 1000 years after the Horus Heresy and answering to two main questions: why nobody knows abour Guilliman's Imperium Secundus in W40K and what is the origin of Sotha's Scythes of the Emperor Space Marines chapter.
A quiet and melancholic short tale about duty and honor set echoing greatness lost.

Just a must read for every Warhammer 4000/Horus Heresy/Ultramarines/Scythes of the Emperor fan.

"Pray that our primarch never awakens from his deathly slumber, or we shall know his wrath."

[RatGrrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

April 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XIII Imperium Secondus I Hope's Kindling (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus series and extras.

A cheeky Black Library Advent Calendar Warhammer 40K, or rather M32, story in the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order...revolving around the memory of the Imperium Secundus, the Pharos, and how they cake to connect and end up with a certain Chapter of Reapers on Sotha.

A straightforward story of two Astartes going to talk to an old guy on a mountain about things that could be devastating for the healing Imperium. Just two guys walking up a hill and three walking down, but, my goodness, the historical and emotional weight and gravitas with which Goulding imbues this tale with, not to mention the balance of awe and power of the Imperium past and present without tipping into jngoism. Incredible.

I didn't sleep last night, beyond a few micro nap nightmares and some kind of semi waking hallucinating C-PTSD episode at 0530 this morning when I finally gave up on the Zs, so I'm so unbelievably tired and had to genuinely fight my eyes and body that struggle to read text at the moment at the best of times and kept trying to nod off, but I could not let that happen as I was absolutely riveted by the tale. I wish I had the words and the brain to convey it, but there's some xenotech magic in them there words.

As ever, my eternal compliments to the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, and the bold choice to put a not exactly Horus Heresy story in one of their omnibussies, but it's absolutely awesome and I concur that it's a perfect button on this fantastic and consistently solid collection.

Awesome scenes!

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 24.41 Horus Heresy novels, 14 novellas (including 1 repeat), 80 short stories/ audio dramas (including 5 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.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The birth of a tragic Space Marine chapter couldn't have been better written. Another quality piece from L.J. Goulding.

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day 17 of the Black Library advent calendar brings us a supremely interesting 40k story(Well, M32 story) for L. J. Goulding. A sort of extremely distant sequel to Guy Haley's Pharos, the story sees us on Sotha some Thousand or so years after the Horus Heresy, and has 2 Ultramarines looking for something of a relic from the dark days of the Heresy. The story was well written, and full of some pretty awesome revelations that echo into the greater 40k timeline.
Another solid entry in this years advent!

[Kassar Krennic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Can't say much without it being a spoiler but know this, you need to read the Horus Heresy to really understand this.

[T R Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something of a continuation of the events of Pharos and The Heart of the Pharos, this short story a rather small scale tale about the founding of one of my favourite Space Marine Chapters, the Scythes of the Emperor, so I very much enjoyed the lore the story added to the setting. The story only has three characters (four if you count the native farmer) and is mostly talking rather than action but I still found it very interesting, and there is still has one relatively entertaining fight scene at least.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day seventeen of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar gives us The Aegidan Oath by LJ Goulding, a 40k short story…well, sort of. Set on Sotha at the turn of M32 it sees a pair of Ultramarines venture to Mount Pharos in search of Captain Oberdeii, the last of the Aegida Company. Almost a thousand years after the end of the Horus Heresy Oberdeii still holds to the oath he swore to his primarch, but times are changing in the rest of the galaxy. It’s time for the Ultramarines to finally remove the last reminder of Imperium Secundus.

Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...