All That Remains

The Horus Heresy #Short Story

by James Swallow

As Horus' rebellion consumes the galaxy, the dead number in the billions. Far greater, however, are the countless casualties evacuated from front line duties to tend their wounds and someday return to the fight. On one particular vessel cast adrift in the warp, a handful of ragged Imperial Army soldiers make a startling discovery, and the question of why so many more of their comrades have been lost is soon answered...

Read it because
Get ready for a mystery like no other. A derelict ship harbouring sick and dying men gets caught up in a secret mission straight from the Emperor's right hand man, Malcador, to create a new army to save the Imperium. Too bad the citizens on board don't know that. This story is a fascinating revelation about the birth of the Grey Knights and exactly how the seeds of their Chapter were sown.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Short Stories

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2015

About the author

James Swallow is a New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author and scriptwriter, a BAFTA nominee, a former journalist and the award-winning writer of over sixty-five books, along with scripts for video games, comics, radio and television.

DARK HORIZON, his latest stand-alone thriller, is out now from Mountain Leopard Press, and OUTLAW, the 6th action-packed Marc Dane novel, is published by Bonnier.

Along with the Marc Dane thrillers, his writing includes, the Sundowners steampunk Westerns and fiction from the worlds of Star Trek, Tom Clancy, 24, Warhammer 40000, Doctor Who, Deus Ex, Stargate, 2000AD and many more.

For information on new releases & more, sign up to the Readers’ Club here: www.bit.ly/JamesSwallow

Visit James's website at http://www.jswallow.com/ for more, including ROUGH AIR, a free eBook novella in the Marc Dane series.

You can also follow James on Bluesky at @jmswallow.bsky.social, Twitter at @jmswallow, Mastodon at @jmswallow@mstdn.social and jmswallow.tumblr.com at Tumblr.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a damaged ship filled with hurt shell-shocked/warp-shocked imperial soldiers, everyone of them psyker on some degree, wandering in the warp after they refused to join the Warmaster's rebellion against Terra, is boarded by a Malcador the Sigillite's grey armoured emissary and set course to Titan, the seeds of a new kind of warriors are sown.
A great tale by James Swallow, a "secret origins" story of W40K Grey Knights.

I think the recruiter Errant Knight is Arvida, the former Thousand Son survivor at the end of Chris Wraight's Rebirth , but I'm not sure at all.
And the talking about Thousands Sons on the side of Horus and summoning demons against imperial soldiers set this short story far forward from the current Horus Heresy novels timeline.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected in war without end anthology.

[Lee Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying these shorts and how they tie the main storylines together, along with what's going on from other perspectives.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

February 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus V Shadow of the Warmaster I Knives in the Dark (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Imperial Army soldier's perspective on the impossibility for humans to oppose the Dark Compliance of the Warmaster's forces and the horrors of service under their new tyrants!

Swallow has a great talent for writing about humans in the Dark Millennia, as clearly demonstrated in Nemesis. All That Remains builds on this with a visceral account of the experience of this slightly psy-touched soldier and the events that lead to them to where they are now and the unlikely ally that assisted them. As heightened and nightmarish as the account and events are, there is something so real and raw, which John Banks elevates with their phenomenal narration and performance.

Nicely different, horrible, and lashed me with emotional hooks. Loved it!

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 12.41 Horus Heresy novels, 5 novellas, 34 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 6 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...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.

[Lanfear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por fin un relato crudo y realista narrado por un soldado imperial. Esta es una pequeña historia de todo lo que sufrieron y vieron sufrir los ejércitos imperiales durante la herejía de ese hijo de puta calvo. (Por favor, si alguna vez se hace una serie que sea Mark Strong)
Esto es una historia de traición, de gente que ha visto la traición de Horus como lo que es una abominación cobarde y sin sentido, aquí no hay grandes discursos imaginativos buscando razones ocultas y consecuencias de este conflicto capital. Simplemente... la traición es traición.

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wounded veterans trudge through a dying ship. They do not know what has damaged the ship or what will happen next.

This story acts as a microcosm of the Heresy, looking at the rank and file soldiery that have suffered through Horus' treachery. The protagonist lost his homeworld to the Arch-traitor, through poisoned words and dark oaths.

A visceral look at the Heresy from human eyes.

This story actually ties into the Knight Errant plot line. The ship is full of warp-touched children who are bound for Titan. This is the birth of the Grey Knights.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not the most interesting book but the teasing of a certain faction was cool, and the way Horus' agents sow dissent into the guardsmen is very similar to the rampant divisions you can see around the world today.

[Alexander van der Pol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broken troopers on a broken ship in a broken galaxy, great.

The sigilites new pet was quite a surprise though.